HP Folio 13 Review: Deviating From the Norm
by Dustin Sklavos on April 17, 2012 12:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
- Intel
- HP
- Sandy Bridge
- Ultrabook
Battery Life
HP's engineers seem to have short-changed some of the hardware itself in the Folio 13, but those sacrifices (along with sacrifices in form factor) were made in an effort to cram as large a battery as possible into the Folio 13. Indeed, it does include the biggest internal battery of any of the ultrabooks we've tested; the Acer TravelMate's battery is bigger on paper but it sticks out of the chassis slightly, while the Alienware M11x R3 can't really be classified as an ultrabook.
Interestingly, despite having a bigger battery than much of the competition, HP's Folio 13 is only able to provide middling efficiency. Battery life isn't poor by any stretch of the imagination, but ultimately the gamble doesn't seem to have paid off as much as HP would've liked as it's clear there's still some optimization that needs to be done.
Heat and Noise
Another area where the HP Folio 13 benefits tremendously as the result of HP's engineers willing to go a little bit thicker than the competition is in its cooling system. Noise even under load is a fairly quiet whine, and the system does a good job of keeping the i5 running frosty.
Having gotten used to seeing systems running in the 80s and higher, it's refreshing to see the Folio 13 only peaking in the mid-70s where full-sized notebooks tend to hang out. That said, I'm still not thrilled with the idea of having the fan intake on the bottom of the ultrabook (or on any laptop, really). As systems designed to be as light and portable as possible it stands to reason these are going to be used on laps most of the time, and while HP smartly positions the intake near the back and center of the bottom of the notebook, it still seems like this could cause problems. I feel like there has to be a better way to turn ultrabooks into true laptops.
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Jamezrp - Tuesday, April 17, 2012 - link
I agree with pretty much everything said, but what about comparing the scores to the MacBook Air? That's probably the most popular ultrabook available, and frankly all of these tests were done on it. I hate to have to go back and forth to see the comparisons, especially since I own a MBA and am thinking of trading it in, potentially for a different ultrabook, or maybe just for the next model.Pneumothorax - Tuesday, April 17, 2012 - link
Just keep your MBA for now. With the exception of exception of sonys $2000 overpriced ultra book, you have the best screen, keyboard, and trackpad currently. It's funny how everybody claims apple is overpricing their stuff and claiming they're making 50% profit, but how come no pc manufacturer has released a sub $600 ultra book with a hi res screen, decent trackpad, and blacklit keyboard?snuuggles - Thursday, April 19, 2012 - link
Agreed. I personally despise OSX, but the hardware is quite clearly superior to anything I've seen. It's not even a close call.ImSpartacus - Tuesday, April 17, 2012 - link
Unless you have the $2000 original MBA, you should keep your machine.Wait another year, then Win8 Ultra-Mega-Tablet-Books will be reasonably mature.
You have a solid machine, don't waste it.
kmmatney - Tuesday, April 17, 2012 - link
I'd rather get a refurbed MacBook Air for $1099 than this. Much better screen, and thinner and lighter. I've never owned a Mac in my life, but I have to give them credit for making a product that still sets the standard.jabro - Tuesday, April 17, 2012 - link
This is really not a mystery:"HP also inexplicably uses only one memory channel on the i5's controller...."
HP is being cheap, just like most laptop makers. These days a 1 x 4GB DDR3 DIMM configuration is cheaper than a 2 x 2GB module configuration, and the "upgrade" option to 2 x 4GB comes with a very premium price. In fact, you are seeing the 1 DIMM configuration in TONS of the laptops on sale today. The prevalence of the single DIMM/single memory channel configuration is just another example of why, in many ways, PC laptops today are not as good as they used to be a few years ago (just like the dearth of true 8-bit color LCP panels, or 16:10 ratio screens, and decent keyboards, etc.). Yes, PC laptops are cheap, but there seems to be less and less differentiation in the market with each year. While I do acknowledged that there are some exceptions at the high end of the price range, I think that this is also partly why Apple has cleaned up in the high end of the laptop market (bless them, they still ship 16:10 monitors in the MB Pro line).
Dustin Sklavos - Tuesday, April 17, 2012 - link
The difference is there isn't any way to configure the Folio 13 in dual channel, and that's what I'm getting at.jabber - Tuesday, April 17, 2012 - link
HP/Compaq have a history of doing this. Even back as far as 2004/5 they were producing AMD and Intel based laptops only using single channel ram setups when dual channel was available.I know, I had a couple of them over the years. Bizarre.
It's annoying when you know that your prized laptop is missing it's last 5% of performance due to HP not spending 5c to allow it.
arthur449 - Tuesday, April 17, 2012 - link
What's really impressed me lately about HP's notebooks, compared to others, is their keyboard. Starting with the HP DM1Z (AMD E-350 "Brazos" debut) they've had surprisingly large and capable keyboards in their smaller laptops. The fact that this ultrabook includes a backlit version is also somewhat impressive as, last I checked, that HP only made that option available on their ENVY product line.And, while I don't have any physical experience with this particular computer, the lack of SATA 6Gbps and dual channel memory don't seem like they're hurting its overall usability.
You're right Dustin. There are no perfect ultrabooks on the market right now. They're all creatively finding some way of shooting themselves in the foot. But, if I had to choose one, it would probably be this one, simply for the keyboard and cool ('n quiet) operation. That is, I would choose this one if it didn't have that hilariously awful LCD panel. As it stands now, this ultrabook and those that include panels like it can go die in a fire.
apinkel - Tuesday, April 17, 2012 - link
I agree that the folio is the best of the PC ultra-book lot at this point in time.Every ultrabook keyboard has been a non-starter for me. Sounds like this one actually has a bit of travel and is decent enough. I also need an ethernet port so I'm glad they included that here. I've currently got an x301 with a ULV 1.4ghz chip and since it's performance is enough for my needs I'm sure this machine would be more than sufficient.
The screen (16:9 and too low-res) and the clickpad are the only knocks I have with this machine.