Hewlett-Packard Co, the world’s top PC maker, is launching a new line of inexpensive business laptops with fresh features targeting users at small and medium-size companies.

The HP ProBook s-series, which starts shipping globally on Tuesday, is the company’s new mainstream business notebook, following the release of its higher-end, lightweight EliteBook line last year.

The ProBook replaces the HP Compaq line, although the Compaq name will continue to be used as a master brand name in other PCs.

The ProBook offers users a number of new features, including an optional Linux-based operating system pre-installed — Novell Inc’s SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 — for those seeking an alternative to the dominant Microsoft Corp Windows platform.

It is HP’s first-ever Linux pre-install on a standard business laptop, the company said. The PC maker does offer some netbooks with Linux.

“It’s pretty much a natural evolution,” said Carol Hess- Nickels, HP’s director of marketing for worldwide business notebooks.

“We want to provide a different option … it’s probably a little time yet before we’ll know exactly what the demand is, but we did think it was something worth trying.”

The ProBooks come with 14-inch, 15.6-inch and 17.3-inch screen sizes, with prices starting at $529. In another first for an HP business notebook, buyers will be able to add a color finish — “merlot” — if they choose.

Some models will also feature Qualcomm Inc’s Gobi technology, allowing them to use a single module to access different mobile broadband network technologies and mobile operators.

HP will also bring higher-end durability features, like its 3D DriveGuard — which protects the hard drive if a laptop is dropped — and a spill-resistant keyboard to the ProBook.

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Dell on Tuesday is expected to launch the tough Latitude E6400 XFR laptop with a touch screen, which the company claims can withstand drops, dust and high-pressure water sprays.

The rugged laptop was designed according to U.S. military specifications and is being targeted at users such as military personnel and first responders.

The laptop can withstand rain and wind gusts of up 70 miles per hour, and can work in temperatures from -20 degrees Fahrenheit (-33.88 degrees Celsius) to 145 degrees Fahrenheit (63 degrees Celsius), the company claims. It can also work for an hour at an altitude of 15,000 feet.

The laptop is also designed to withstand drops of around 4 feet (48 inches) when not operating and 36 inches when operational. The LCD screen floats a little bit within the LCD cover so it can take impacts and shock, said Jeremy Bolen, a Dell spokesman.

During a laptop demonstration provided by Dell, the laptop weathered jetted water and 3-foot drops while running, but the non-operational 4-foot drop proved to be a problem. After a third drop from 4 feet, the LCD screen’s protective plastic cover shattered.

Dell responded to the crack by saying that the demo laptop was a pre-production model that had already been dropped a hundred times. There’s a three-year warranty on the machine and a cracked screen will be replaced immediately, Bolen said.

Despite the screen crack, the laptop is protected by a chassis made of ballistic armor, which is a high-strength substance used in ballistic missiles, cryogenics and other military applications. It is a high-end polymer that is two to three times more durable than the magnesium alloy material used on most laptops today, Bolen said.

The laptop also has fixings to tighten laptop components like the smart-card reader and protect USB ports from elements like moisture and dust, Bolen said.

It is Dell’s first entrance into the rugged laptop space, where it will compete against companies like Lenovo and Panasonic. The world’s second-largest PC maker already offers semi-rugged laptops, including the Latitude E6400 ATG laptop.

The XFR is powered by Intel’s Core 2 Duo processor. It has a 14.1-inch screen and weighs 8.5 pounds (3.87 kilograms) with a six-cell battery and a solid-state storage drive. It comes with a graphics card, supports up to 8GB of RAM and up to 120GB of storage on a hard drive or 128GB of SSD storage. It runs Windows Vista and has Wi-Fi, 3G mobile broadband and GPS antennas.

It will be available starting March 10 for about US$4,299 in the U.S., Canada, France, Spain, the U.K., Germany and Italy.

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Acer on Monday launched a powerful quad-core laptop at a price that may appeal to buyers on a budget.

The company’s Aspire 8930G-7665 laptop is designed as a gaming laptop or desktop replacement. The laptop is powered by Intel’s Core 2 Quad mobile processor with four cores that runs at up to 2.53GHz and includes 12MB of cache, according to Acer.

With a starting price of US$1,799, Acer’s laptop could be a bargain compared to expensive quad-core laptops from the world’s top PC vendors. Hewlett-Packard and Dell both offer quad-core laptops as either gaming laptops or mobile workstations with prices starting at over $2,000. Acer is the world’s third-largest PC vendor behind HP and Dell, according to analyst firm IDC.

The laptop includes an 18.4-inch screen that can display high-definition images and video. It also includes 4GB of RAM, Nvidia’s GeForce 9700M GT graphics card with 512MB of video memory, a 500GB hard drive, a Blu-ray Disc drive and Wi-Fi wireless networking. It comes preloaded with the 64-bit version of Windows Vista Premium OS.

The laptop is now available in the U.S. through retailers, the company said. Acer could not be immediately reached for comment on worldwide availability.

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