While 6.6 pounds may not sound light to some minds, it's positively airy compared to the old 10- to 14-pound desktop replacements of yore. Granted, you can't shrink the dimensions of a laptop much if you're going to build one with a 17.3-inch display -- the HP is 16.2 inches wide by 10.5 inches long -- but it's only 1.1 inch thick at its front edge, which together with its "expresso" brushed aluminum finish gives the HP ProBook 4720s battery a sleek appearance that belies its dimensions, as well as improving its durability.
Laptops designed to push desktops off the desk have come a long way from the behemoths of bygone times. A case in point: the HP ProBook 4720s ($1,025 as tested), a slick black beauty that can actually be used comfortably in a lap.
While 6.6 pounds may not sound light to some minds, it's positively airy compared to the old 10- to 14-pound desktop replacements of yore. Granted, you can't shrink the dimensions of a laptop much if you're going to build one with a 17.3-inch display -- the HP is 16.2 inches wide by 10.5 inches long -- but it's only 1.1 inch thick at its front edge, which together with its "expresso" brushed aluminum finish gives the 4720s a sleek appearance that belies its dimensions, as well as improving its durability.
Features:
3MB L3 cache
4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 SDRAM
7200 rpm SATA II internal drive
DVD+/-RW SuperMulti DL LightScribe optical drive
Atheros 802.11 b/g/n wireless
Bluetooth 2.1
8-cell Li-Ion battery (73hr)
Colors: Caviar, Bordeaux
Brushed-aluminum finish
Genuine Windows 7 Professional 32
Weight: 6.55 lbs
Dimensions: 16.17 x 10.49 x 1.11"
Upgradeable to 8 GB memory
ATI Mobility Radeon 4350 graphics
3 USB 2.0 ports
1 external VGA monitor port
1 HDMI port
1 stereo microphone in
1 stereo headphone/line-out
1 AC power port
1 RJ-45 port
Optional RJ-11 port
1 eSATA/USB 2.0 Combo port
Express Card/34 slot
Media card reader slot
Optional 2 megapixel webcam
Spill-resistant keyboard w/ drains
Realtek Ethernet 10/100/1000 NIC network interface
90-watt SMART AC adapter
The ProBook 4720s battery combines solid performance, strong graphics, best-in-class security, and surprisingly good battery life in a neat 17-inch package. An inaccurate touchpad and grainy video playback hold the system back a bit, but at $1,059 for Core i5 power and discrete graphics, this is a value-priced desktop replacement that businesses will appreciate.
The 4720s has a clean and stylish appearance with a brushed metal exterior finish. The brushed metal is found on the screen cover as well as the palmrest inside the notebook. The dark copper or bronze finish complements almost any business attire and looks very professional. Inside the notebook the interior trim is split between the brushed metal finish and a glossy black trim around the keyboard. Both finishes hold up to most types of day-to-day abuse, including light scratches and fingerprints.
Build quality is very good; the metal finish adds strength to the screencover and prevents excessive flex. There were no screen distortions even when heavy pressure was applied to the back of the cover, meaning it did its job in protecting the LCD underneath. Compared to the older design which was entirely made of plastic, the new design not only looks better but also feels much stronger. Overall we were very pleased with the look and feel of the HP ProBook 4710s battery.
At first glance, the ProBook 4720s’s keyboard seems like everything we’d want in a workstation keyboard; it has a numeric keypad, all the keys are properly positioned, and there’s plenty of room to stretch out. As soon as we started typing, our opinion changed. The keys were a little small for our fingers, and not as responsive as we’d like. On the Ten Thumbs typing test, we scored a weak 74 words per minute with a subpar 4-percent error rate, while our typical score is 80 wpm with a 1-percent error rate.
The touchpad is much more difficult to work with than the keyboard, and the cursor jumped around as we navigated the desktop. Because the mouse buttons are built into the touchpad, users who use both hands will have a serious problem with the pointer jumping as they try to click. The pad supports multitouch gestures such as pinch-to-zoom, but we found them to be rather jerky and hard to control.
Finally, the HP ProBook 4720s has a 17.3-inch 1,600 x 900 display that falls short of Full HD resolution. It too has the same Core i3/i5/i7 processor options, up to 8GB of DDR3 memory and up to 500GB 7,200rpm HDD, but has the Radeon HD 4350 graphics as standard. No Gobi option, but the same ports and wireless choices together with a full-sized keyboard with separate numeric keypad. HP have outfitted with a standard 8-cell 73WHr HP 4720s battery.
To be fair, these business-focussed machines lack some of the multimedia appeal home notebooks have, but they’re all well made and discretely good-looking. We’re not sure the keyboards match up to, say, what you’d find on a Lenovo ThinkPad, but they’re very usable, as is the gesture-capable trackpad. HP are yet to announce specific pricing – they’ll only say the new models kick off at $719 – but they should go on sale this month.
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