HP’s thin Probook Folio 13 reviewed

HP hasn’t exactly been the fastest to jump in the Ultrabook game, but here we are with the company’s first entrant, the all business Probook Folio 13.

Features

Ultrabooks seem to be targeted at business customers first, and unsurprisingly, the first one out of HP is aimed squarely at these folk.

Announced last year, the Folio 13 isn’t the most impressive Ultrabook spec-wise to arrive on our desks, with most of the grunt switched out for a lower power processor.

While other versions of the Folio 13 exist, our review unit came equipped with a 1.4GHz Intel Core  i3 processor, one of the lowest range Intel processors released.

Outside of the chip, most of the specs are fairly standard for Ultrabooks, with 4GB RAM, 128GB solid-state storage, Intel HD graphics, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth, and a bunch of ports, including USB 2.0, USB 3.0, HDMI, SD card slot, and a headphone/microphone combo headset port.

HP has seen fit to include a Gigabit LAN port too, offering speedy wired access in places that support those high speeds, like a business.

Like the other Ultrabooks we’ve seen thus far, there’s a 13.3 inch screen, this one with the same 1366×768 resolution that graces most laptops.

Microsoft’s Windows Home Premium 64-bit is the operating system of choice here too, so you know at least that the computer will take advantage of the full 4GB of memory that only a 64-bit operating system can.

The design of the Folio is all business, with a brushed aluminium lid encasing the screen and a soft almost rubbery plastic bottom that seems to have no problems picking up fingerprints. Aluminium also sits around the black island key keyboard with a long rectangular black plastic touchpad.

Dolby speakers sit at the screen hinge, with a webcam just above the screen.