HP Folio – Review

HP has entered the ultrabook market with the ultra-thin HP Folio 13, and making a play for the business market with a business-oriented version of the Folio offering business-friendly features. The HP Folio 13 weighs 3.3 pounds and is just 0.6″ thick. HP claims battery life of nine hours which would give it the longest battery life of any ultrabook. A metal chassis and brushed metal on the lid and palmrest make the Folio sturdy, while rapid boot and restart times are made possible by Intel’s Rapid Start Technology and the 128GB SSD.

The Folio 13 will feature a 13.3-inch 1366 x 768 pixel display as do the Toshiba Portege Z835 and Acer Aspire S3 ultrabooks. The Folio also features a TrueVision HD webcam above the screen. The HP Folio 13 follows the ultrabook fad for chiclet-style keyboards, meaning quite shallow key travel. Again, the difficulties this brings for rapid typing might dissuade some business users. On the plus side, there’s a backlit keyboard, a rarity amongst ultrabooks save for the Toshiba Portege. The glass trackpad uses HP’s ImagePad technology for multi-touch sensitivity and has taken the Macbook Air’s clickpad route for mouse buttons.

Users will have a choice of a low-voltage Core-i3 or i5 processor. The HP Folio 13 is well provided-for (port-wise) with one USB-3 socket and two USB-2 sockets, a full-sized HDMI port, and an SDcard reader. Check out these detailed HP Folio pics:

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The consumer version of the HP Folio 13.3 inch ultrabook is starting at $898. The business version will follow in January, featuring an embedded TPM security chip, Windows 7 Professional, and an optional three-year warranty, including HP’s Care Pack. A USB-2 docking station will also be available, offering additional monitor and speaker outputs and enhanced connectivity options. There’s no word on the business model’s price yet.

Check out these HP Folio 13 pics including one of its keyboard:

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Here are some HP Folio specs we may not have mentioned.

Check out Laptopmag for test results of  HP Folio ultrabook.

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