HP ProBook 5320m business laptop review

The ProBook 5320m is HP's latest ultra-portable laptop aimed at businesses. Despite this, it's surprisingly stylish. The brown brushed metal and black plastic design resembles a more compact version of HP's larger, heavier ProBooks such as the 4720s.

 

Hewlett Packard is all set to launch its ProBook 5320m – a 13.3-inch notebook fuelled by Intel Core CPU and onboard graphics. Besides, the stylish design of ProBook 5320m is a much talked about attribute.This ultraportable notebook, with just 0.9 inches thickness, is targeted on the business persons who like to be in touch with their PCs always.

 

This is not a cheap 13in notebook, but it is one whose standards of build quality and internal components are a step above most consumer laptops. An admirable condensation of high performance, long battery life and upmarket construction lets the HP ProBook 5320m stand apart from the pack.

 

It's not a case of all looks and no substance for this laptop though, as its specifications are generally impressive. A dual-core Intel Core i5 450M with hyperthreading support for four virtual cores runs at 2.4GHz standard and can Turbo-clock to 2.66Hz. It's backed by 4GB of 1,333MHz DDR3 RAM, which with its single DIMM slot is the maximum this laptop supports.

 

Unlike the model of the 4720s we looked at, which despite carrying the same amount of memory sported a 32-bit OS for greater compatibility, this 5320m comes with a 64-bit version of Windows 7 Professional, though downgrades to a 32-bit version and even Vista are available. To be honest we can't think of a single reason a user would opt for Vista over 7, and XP would have been a more logical option.

 

HP ProBook 5320 powered by Intel Celeron U3400 1.06GHz processor / 2.26GHz Core i3-350M / 2.4GHz Core i3-370M / 2.4GHz Core i5-450M processor, up to 4GB of RAM, and 250GB/500GB of hard disk drive. The display has 13.3-inch LED backlit like HP ProBook 4320s, 2M pixel webcam, wifi 802.11 b/g/n, gigabit ethernet, Intel integrated graphic card, optional bluetooth and 3G modem.

 

Specification HP Probook 5320m

• Processor : Intel Core i5-450M Processor (2.40 GHz, 3 MB L3 cache)
• Intel Core i3-370M Processor (2.40 GHz, 3 MB L3 cache)
• Intel Core i3-350M Processor (2.26 GHz, 3 MB L3 cache)
• Intel Celeron Processor U3400 (1.06 GHz, 2 MB L3 cache)
• Main Memory : Up to 4GB 1333 MHz DDR3 SDRAM
• Graphic system : Intel HD Graphics
• Display : 13.3″ diagonal LED-backlit HD anti-glare, 13.3″ diagonal LED-backlit HD BrightView
• Hard Disk : Up to 500GB SATA II (7200 rpm)
• Webcamera : 2MP
• Optical Disc Drive : HP External USB 2.0 CD/DVD R/RW (select models)
• Sound : High definition audio support, Stereo speakers
• GPS : HP Mobile Broadband (powered by Gobi) with GPS
• Wireles : Broadcom 802.11a/b/g/n, Broadcom 802.11b/g/n
• Bluetooth : Bluetooth 2.1+EDR
• Input/Output Port : 3 x USB 2.0, 1 x VGA, 1 x DisplayPort, 1 x combo stereo, headphone/mic jack, 1 x AC power, 1 x RJ-45
• Expansion Slots : Memory Card Reader
• Operating System : Genuine Windows 7 Professional 32
• Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64
• Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 32
• Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64
• Genuine Windows 7 Home Basic
• Genuine Windows Vista Home Basic 32
• Battery : Up to 10h (Primary 6-cell Battery) or up to 6h30min (Primary 4-cell Battery)
• Dimensions : 32.80 x 22.10 x 2.35 cm
• Weight : Starting at 3.79lbs. (1.72 Kg)

 

Typing on the island-style keypad is smooth and fluid, while the trackpad's two buttons have a responsive and solid feel to them that’s vastly superior to those featured on two recently-reviewed laptops from the Samsung Q series (the Q330 and Q530).

 

The overall design of the 5320m is well executed, with a nice matted finish covering the surfaces and arrangement of key buttons well thought out.

 

The HP ProBook 5320m reach the international market in August with Windows 7 or Windows Vista, with a price that starts at 599 euros, as announced the brand. I leave these two images to delight you.

 

Helping the pace is a fast 7200rpm 2.5in hard disk and 4GB of DDR3 RAM. In the lab, we saw a WorldBench 6 score of 107 points, a very nippy turn of speed for such a totable notebook.

 

And battery life of the HP ProBook 5320m is impressive too, thanks to an extended HP ProBook 5320m battery that lifts the back of the notebook slightly from the desk. We measured a little over six hours runtime (379 mins), running the MobileMark 2007 Productivity benchmark.

 

HP lauched its new laptop named HP Probook 5320m, comes with outstanding features and affordable price. HP Probook 5320m has 13.3-inch screen get vivid images with a 33.8 cm diagonal HD LED-backlit BrightView or anti-glare display, or connect to an external display with the new VGA port or DisplayPort. Let’s talk about the price, features and specification about HP Probobok 5320m in details.

 

HP ProBook 5320m Slim Business Notebook is powered by a 1.06GHz Intel Celeron U3400, a 2.26GHz Core i3-350M, a 2.4GHz Core i3-370M or a 2.4GHz Core i5-450M processor, up to 4GB of memory, and 250GB to 500GB hard drive. The HP ProBook 5320m comes with style-conscious professionals, which brings a sleek brushed-aluminum design on top, magnesium-alloy chassis as durable notebook. This notebook has a 13.3-inch LED-backlit display, an Intel integrated graphics, 2 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n, Gigabit Ethernet, and optional Bluetooth and 3G modem. Measuring 328×221×23.5 mm and weight 1.7kg.

 

The display is housed in an attractive -frame that also contains a built-in 2-megapixel webcam. Typing on the island-style- keypad is smooth and fluid- while the track-pad’s two buttons have a responsive and- solid feel to them that’s vastly superior to- those featured on two recently-reviewed laptops- from the Samsung -Q series (the Q330 and Q530). The overall design of the 5320m is well executed- with a nice matted finish -covering the surfaces and -arrangement of key buttons well thought out. A neat addition- is the inclusion of three -buttons along the right edge- of the keyboard- one for accessing email- another for the internet- and one for turning Wi-Fi on and off.

 

The first thing you notice on taking this laptop out of the box is his sense of class, with a mocha-colored brushed aluminum top and a soft-touch black bottom that is easy to keep beautiful. HP ProBook 5320m is a bit on the heavy side, starting at 1.72kg with a four-cell battery and our model with its 62 watt-hour ProBook 5320m battery lasts up to 1.83kg. However, much of the weight of the laptop magnesium aluminum chassis, which is a good thing.

 

As we'd expect from a business laptop, the 13.3in screen has a matt finish. Unlike a screen with a glossy sheen, it doesn't reflect as much light from overhead sources such as fluorescent strips. This results in reduced glare, making the screen easier to look at, but the trade-off is brightness. Although it's bright enough at the highest brightness setting, it's noticeably gloomy when brightness is reduced by 50% to conserve battery life. It's good enough for web, email and office tasks but is less than ideal for editing photos.

 

This is not a cheap 13in notebook, but it is one whose standards of build quality and internal components are a step above most consumer laptops. An admirable condensation of high performance, long 5320m battery life and upmarket construction lets the HP ProBook 5320m stand apart from the pack.