Thanks to HP's built-in CoolSense technology you should be able to work comfortably with the laptop in your lap, though the fans can get a little noisy at times. Over on the left side you'll find a slim, little vent, which pushes out cool-to-warm air, depending on how much you're taxing the PC. That power button, by the way, is very narrow, and slightly recessed, which makes it tricky to press with the pad of your finger you might need to dig a nail in there, which is unfortunate considering how often you'll be turning on the machine. Returning to the keyboard deck, there's a fingerprint reader tucked on the right side of the palm rest above the keys is the power button, along with dedicated buttons for muting the sound and turning off WiFi. The only compromise here seems to be the lack of an HDMI port, though perhaps that's of less importance to business users than VGA output or a DisplayPort. That said, it's still easy to carry around, especially if you're used to schlepping something in the five-pound range.Ĭontinuing our tour, other ports include three USB 3.0 connections, a VGA socket, a DisplayPort, a headphone jack, Kensington lock slot, an SD slot and a SmartCard reader. It's also thicker, at 0.74 inch, but that makes sense: it has an Ethernet jack and the Carbon doesn't. Still, at 3.6 pounds it's quite a bit heavier than the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon, which tips in at three pounds, flat. The fact that this meets Intel's Ultrabook specifications should tell you this is a fairly thin, lightweight machine. Then again, unless you own a gaming rig with a fire-breathing dragon spray-painted on it, any laptop would be appropriate, no? If you look closely enough, you can tell this is a business machine - that tracking stick, for one, is sort of a dead giveaway. At the same time (and this should go without saying) it's still conservative enough that you can safely whip it out during your next business meeting. All told, it feels a little less buttoned-up than other business notebooks, a little more consumer-friendly. And though the keyboard deck is still made of brushed aluminum, the effect is much more subtle this time out. Whereas HP's previous EliteBooks were clad in serious-looking brushed metal, the Folio has a more playful feel, with a soft-touch finish coating both the lid and bottom side. Even so, it's more stylish than we would have expected a corporate system to be. If you look closely enough, you can tell this is a business machine - that tracking stick, for one, is sort of a dead giveaway. So does it perform well enough to use as a work-play machine? Read on to find out.īy subscribing, you are agreeing to Engadget's Terms and Privacy Policy. The thing is, though, the EliteBook Folio isn't your typical corporate box: with a magnesium frame and soft-touch finish, it's attractive enough that it could pass for your personal laptop. We know, we know: "pre-boot authentication" aren't exactly the sexiest words in the English language, and indeed, we usually just review laptops aimed at consumers. The EliteBook Folio ($1,049 and up) has a 14-inch screen this time, and is the first Ultrabook in HP's high-end EliteBook line, typically aimed at corporations and other businesses with IT departments. Now, though, almost a year after we reviewed the Folio 13, HP is back where it started with another business offering. Ultrabooks that aren't actually Ultrabooks! It's a vast, sometimes confusing selection. Since then, of course, HP's gone a little overboard with the ultraportables, with glass ones, metal ones, expensive ones, budget ones. HP made five, with the Folio 13, an ultraportable that was aimed at the business market, but that ended up being our top all-around pick thanks to its stellar battery life, comfortable keyboard and wide port selection. So few, in fact, that we could count them on one hand: Acer, ASUS, Lenovo and Toshiba. It's sort of wild to think that at this time last year we had only reviewed a handful of Ultrabooks. HP unveils second business Ultrabook, the EliteBook Folio.
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