The 1366x768, 13.3-inch screen is passable — it looks a little washed out, and the vertical viewing angles are narrow, as to be expected with cheap TN screens — but it isn't offensively bad by any means. What is curious is HP's "bezel in a bezel" set-up, where a glossy black rim sits inside a matte black rim, the ultimate effect making the screen look smaller than it is.
Specifications:
- Processor: Intel Core i5-2467M (1.6 GHz)
- Screen: 13.3-inch diagonal HD BrightView LED- backlit Display (1366 x 768)
- Memory: 4GB
- Graphics: Intel HD3000
- Storage: 128GB (Solid State Drive Flash Module)
- OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
- Ports: USB 2.0, USB 3.0, RJ-45, HDMI, SD Card Reader
- Battery: 6-cell
- Weight: 3.305lbs
- Web Cam: HP TrueVision HD Webcam
- Dimensions: 12.54″(L)x8.67″(W)x0.7″(max H)
The lid and top half of the chassis (palm rest area) are all made of aluminum. The remainder of the notebook uses tough plastics wrapped in a soft touch rubber paint similar to a Lenovo ThinkPad. The entire frame is extremely solid and there is no flex whatsoever in the chassis (very impressive considering the thin dimensions of this 13-inch laptop).
Folks buy ultrabooks as a result of they want a skinny and lightweight laptop computer with good performance and superior construction, however the down aspect to the skinny and light-weight design is that you normally do not get a lot in the way in which of ports (and definitely no optical drive). That mentioned, the HP Folio thirteen manages to ship one USB 3.0 port, one USB 2.zero port, HDMI, Ethernet, and the extremely essential media card reader (which many ultrabooks sacrifice in order to make the laptop even thinner). The Folio thirteen additionally includes a single headphone/microphone combination jack (headset jack) however that’s all you get when it comes to audio ports.
The HP Folio 13 certainly isn't the slimmest, lightest or best-looking ultrabook we've seen so far, nor does it have the best screen. Those cutbacks, however, allow it to pack in some decent components while keeping the price low. We look forward to seeing just what your money will get you.
Great build quality, phenomenal HP Folio 13 battery life and a lovely keyboard/touch pad combo make HP’s Folio 13 one of our favourite ultrabooks. If you enjoy resting your laptop on your legs (guilty), gird your loins because those quadriceps are going to get nice and toasty.
The packaging content is pretty empty, it just comes with a setup instructions, charger and a HDMI to VGA adapter. I wish the HP Folio 13 AC adapter is to DVI instead since these days people are moving on to DVI. The keyboard is a full sized one and it is backlit. Tactile feeling is alright and the spacing between the keys is pretty comfortable as well. One small design that I liked about the keyboard is the mute and wi-fi indicator.
A quick test with CrystalMark showed that the 128GB SSD on the Folio isn't the fastest around. It had significantly lower sequential read speed compared to the Asus Zenbook UX31E, though its write speed was competitive enough. Overall, you're unlikely to feel much of a difference, but with a boot-up time of around 17 seconds, it's the slowest among the SSD-equipped Ultrabooks.
Its stiff clickpad gets tiresome; though it's fine for brief use, I wouldn't want to haggle with it for 50-plus hours a week. And, I've grown accustomed to a larger, richer, higher-res screen for watching movies. Perhaps this step down wouldn't bother me if I owned a connected TV or a set-top box with Netflix access, but I don't, and as you'd imagine, I don't enjoy streaming all three seasons of Arrested Development on a dim, reflective display. Truth be told, the new 15-inch Series 9 and its SuperBright Plus panel would likely be the perfect work-play laptop for me -- if I could afford it. But no matter. If we're talking about PCs fast, light, longevous and ergonomically sound enough to tote around when you need a break from your main squeeze, the Folio 13 is going to make a lot of people happy.
The touchpad is large (110x62mm), smooth and completely brilliant. It's the best touchpad we've used in an Ultrabook so far. In our tests, it was responsive, didn't feel resistive, performed multi-finger gestures without any problems (including three-finger swipes) and we never had to repeat an action while using it. Its left- and right-click buttons are located under the touchpad, and the extra area over the buttons can be used to move the pointer. We didn't have any problems whatsoever when pressing these buttons to perform drag-and-drop operations.
Once full HP FL04 battery tests have been completed, we'll return to fully review the HP Folio 13. Right now, it's looking like an excellent consideration for anyone in the market for a no-nonsense, well-built, well-performing ultrabook, albeit one that lacks the fanciness of some of its competitors. Practicality, you win...this time.
Deskbound users will look in vain for a Kensington lock slot, but they'll find a full-sized Gigabit Ethernet port as well as Wi-Fi for connecting to office networks plus Bluetooth for sharing data with smartphones. The Wi-Fi worked fine for Web surfing and Windows Update sessions. There are also one USB 2.0, one USB 3.0, and HDMI ports, as well as a headphone/microphone jack and the SD/MMC card slot that's missing from the Lenovo U300s and Dell Inspiron 13. The only thing missing is a VGA port for connecting older monitors and projectors, but HP sells an HDMI-to-VGA adapter for $40.
The HP Folio 13 offers solid performance, fast boots, fantastic sound, and the best HP Folio 13 battery life of any Ultrabook on the market. Business users will also appreciate the sturdy design, backlit keyboard, and Ethernet port, though they'll want to make sure they buy a version that comes with HP ProtectTools. However, the device also suffers from a stiff touchpad and the dimmest screen in its class.
HP has made a point of extolling its 9-hour life in advertising, so I made sure to put the little laptop through its paces. I’m pleased to report that it broke the 8-hour mark in two tests and made it all the way to 9:15 on a third before dying. That’s almost exactly as much as my ThinkPad T420 with an extended 9-cell Dell Studio 1736 battery – that’s it dwarfing the Folio in the photo above. While there’s no replaceable HP FL04 battery option, this should be more than enough for anything short of a cross-continental flight. I performed my tests with 60% brightness and medium-to-heavy web browsing, with some Flash video thrown in – if you spend all your time on Netflix or YouTube, expect that figure to dip a bit.
And cost, at least, is one area where the HP Folio is extremely competitive. HP is going to sell the machine for just $899.99; the Best Buy exclusive Toshiba ultrabook is thought to be that manufacturer's response to a potential HP product. For those nine hundred dollars, you get a reasonably robust set of specifications, including that spacious 128GB mSSD:
Because it’s sold as a business laptop, the HP comes with some pre-installed security software. One prominent program is HP SimplePass, which manages your online passwords. It also acts as a shortcut, making it possible to launch a specific web page and log in by pressing Ctrl and a number key. It’s a handy program if you take the time to set it up.
In stark contrast to the Folio 13's minimalist outward design is the busy Windows 7 Home Premium desktop you encounter when you first boot up. HP Games (Wild Tangent), RaRa music, Zya music, and HP downloads--as well as a number of more staid HP utilities and Microsoft Office 2010 Starter Edition--look gaudy in contrast to the elegant externals. HP's background images don't match the unit's appearance particularly well either.
As for that plastic bottom, it's here that HP installed a pair of vents. If you enjoy resting your laptop on your legs (guilty), gird your loins because those quadriceps are going to get nice and toasty. Although this makes use of HP's CoolSense technology, expect to feel some warm (but never scorching) air on your HP Folio 13 charger, even if you're just surfing the web. Throughout our testing, we also noticed an incessant, but not-too-distracting whirring coming from the vents. After awhile, it registered as white noise, but it's worth noting that this sound doesn't go away, and is especially discernible if you're working in an otherwise quiet space.
The HP Folio 13 is a solid effort from HP that, instead of blindly shedding features and usability in the name of thin-and-light, strikes a reasonable balance. It may be a tad pricey for some shoppers, but including a solid-state drive always drives up a laptop's price. This model should definitely be on your short list of Ultrabooks to consider. Thicker and heavier than the average ultrabook, the Folio 13 may actually be a more sensible option for many users.
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