HP EliteBook Folio 9470m Ultrabook Review: Ultrabooks in Enterprise
by Dustin Sklavos on March 29, 2013 12:01 AM ESTConclusion: This Just Isn't Okay Anymore
Whenever I ask a vendor what the resolution of the notebook they're releasing is, the reply of "1366x768" is always tinged with either sheepishness or defiance. I'm reasonably certain that somewhere in the bowels of the HPs and Dells of the world there's a product designer who just knows that some bean counter is going to hamstring his or her beautiful design with a dismally low quality display just to save a few bucks per unit. The race to the bottom was good for democratizing technology, but that time has passed, and Apple's success should be ringing a clear indicator to these vendors: people want quality, and they're willing to pay for it. You won't ever be able to compete with Apple at their price points (as the first generation of Android tablets proved), but if you can deliver something comparable with a good display at a lower price (not hard given how much Apple inflates their prices), people will go for it.
How is this relevant to enterprise? Because despite the fact that the MacBook Pro offers virtually no allowances for business class use, it's still gaining a foothold. People are taking hits to serviceability and ease of administration solely to get a better product, and when you look at a unit like the HP EliteBook Folio 9470m, it's not too difficult to see how such a thing might happen.
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The price tag for the 9470m isn't that bad for an enterprise notebook. $1,349 should get you more than 4GB of RAM, but HP did at least spring for a high quality SSD in the Intel 520. You get vPro, you get near-total user serviceability, you get a Smart Card reader, you get USB 3.0, you get docking capability, you get a fingerprint reader...really you get a heck of a lot from HP's EliteBook. As far as value goes, in the enterprise the 9470m really isn't that bad, and the potential for twelve hours of battery life is nothing to sneeze at.
It's probably not fair then that the EliteBook Folio 9470m is essentially becoming a whipping boy for problems pervasive within the industry, but despite some fantastic advances forward when it comes to the internal design and bringing useful enterprise features to the market, it's also indicative of a lackadaisical attitude possessed by both HP and by the industry at large. This chassis design is attractive, but I'm less and less enamored with it in this form factor. Like the dire panel it comes with standard, I feel like the chiclet keyboard's time has really passed.
If you can get the Folio 9470m with the 900p panel, the unit will undoubtedly be vastly improved from a productivity standpoint. Unfortunately HP's enterprise site leaves an awful lot to be desired as far as even finding that model, and it skirts the real point here: aren't we done compromising?
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Colin1497 - Friday, March 29, 2013 - link
Does anyone actually pay list price for this stuff? When I was last involved in IT budgets, Dell used to give us pretty steep discounts on everything and we were a relatively small company. I'd guess that loyal HP customers pay $1000 or less for this $1300 laptop, or more likely, right around $1300 with all the upgrades you'd expect (screen, RAM, etc.)gostan - Friday, March 29, 2013 - link
So, the razer edge with a 13x7 display @ 2k is an interesting beginning. the elitebook folio with a 13x7 display at 1.4k is not ok?marc1000 - Friday, March 29, 2013 - link
338mm x 231mm x 18.9 is not groundbreaking compared to 329mm x 226mm x 23.8-27.8mm, found on the LG P430 released 2 years ago with a Sandy Bridge CPU. sure it thinner, but it is not smaller in any other dimension. I guess the wheight would be more of an advance. It is a nice evolution though, it just has to happen to ALL notebooks, including the cheaper ones.darwinosx - Friday, March 29, 2013 - link
It is ridiculous and ignorant to say Apple inflates their prices. Thats the sort of linkbait and immature comment I would expect to see on Engadget, not Anandtech. They have some custom components, much higher quality panels that they actually calibrate, and far superior service and support and quality control which costs money.You can buy a 13-inch retina display Macbook for as little as $1299. Show me a PC laptop that remotely approaches that. Plus you still have to use Microsoft's latest mediocrity of an OS.
Asmodian - Friday, March 29, 2013 - link
Apple's margins are much higher than the industry norm. It costs them less to make their devices than they sell them for compared to other manufacturers. What else would you call it?scottish_usa - Friday, March 29, 2013 - link
As a business consultant I've been a road warrior for the past 16 years or so and a good dependable laptop is key. I have had a couple of iterations of the HP EliteBook for the past two years and they are rock solid. Quiet, light, sturdy, reliable and with good battery life. I'd take a thinkpad over this if the option was there but compared to the lucklustre offerings of Dell this is a good work machine.As with most, I dock and use a large bright LCD panel at work. In meetings it's connected to a 1080p conference room projector. The built in panel only gets used if I am working remote or using it in transit.
Specs don't tell you the full story and you don't really think a customer buying 1000 units pays full retail do you ?
Little Elephant - Friday, March 29, 2013 - link
My previous Fujitsu NOTEBOOK is lighter, cheaper, have a bigger volume of hard drive and not the less battery life than this "Ultrabook". What's wrong with hp's engineering?gamoniac - Friday, March 29, 2013 - link
I agree with the other readers. Why waste our time and bandwidth reviewing a laptop with 768P screen? Sorry, Dustin, but I skipped this article. Thanks for your time.bradcollins - Friday, March 29, 2013 - link
I have sold a handful of these to our business customers over the last 6 months and I completely agree with the review, the laptop is well put together and being an ultrabook with a dock is the main reason why we sell them. The feature I like the most is that they actually have buttons for the touchpads which actually work unlike the horrible clickpads most companies seem to use in Ultrabooks - maybe due to the overall depth of the notebook?We have just sold a 9470m with a 1600x900 screen, the 1366x768 screen is complete crap and when I saw the higher res panel get launched a few weeks ago I got quite excited. This one will be about the highest spec one can buy, an i7 3687u, 8gb ram, 256gb ssd (I assume it will be a micron) and of course the 1600x900 screen.
The 1600x900 screen still has crappy viewing angles according to HP's specification sheet, so I don't expect I'll be amazed by it, but at least it will have a larger resolution
The0ne - Friday, March 29, 2013 - link
Can't agree with you and others more on this subject. It's depressing and ludicrous to see laptops like these. This unit is 3.5+lbs, that's not an ultrabook. The screen is a real shame and anyone in their right mind shouldn't be buying this at all. This is one where I will agree to some boycotting via your wallet :)