HP EliteBook Folio 9470m Ultrabook Review: Ultrabooks in Enterprise
by Dustin Sklavos on March 29, 2013 12:01 AM ESTSystem Performance
At this point in Ivy Bridge's life, performance is a fairly known quantity. I'm kind of curious to tease out the differences between the newer (and very similar) Intel Core i5-3337U with the older i5-3427U, and thankfully I can do exactly that. HP's EliteBook Folio 9470m should be ever so slightly faster than the Dell XPS 13 due to its higher turbo clock, but we'll see how that works out.
As a general rule, the 9470m's i5-3427U is ever-so-slightly faster than the XPS 13's i5-3337U. It's consistent (excepting the Cinebench single-threaded performance), but it's there. That said, it's still pretty negligible, and again I would find it difficult to recommend upgrading to an i7.
Interestingly but unsurprisingly, the Folio's missing second memory channel (due to only one of the DIMM slots being populated) has a consistent effect on the HD 4000 IGP's performance, taking about 10% of its performance off of the table. For enterprise users, the HD 4000's performance shouldn't be a big deal, but if you're interested in getting a little extra zazz out of it, install a second DIMM.
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JDG1980 - Saturday, March 30, 2013 - link
Windows 7 already does DPI scaling quite well. Some apps do manage to screw it up, but that's really unavoidable unless you are going to force a walled garden. All the normal stuff that people use on a regular basis works fine at high DPI settings.nerd1 - Friday, March 29, 2013 - link
$1349, 1.63kg and 1366*768 screen?I always thought rMBP 13" are overpriced, but it seems to have better value than this one...
VivekGowri - Friday, March 29, 2013 - link
Actually, after the price drop to $1499 ($1399 with student discount) the rMBP13 is a pretty decent value - an equivalent MBA13 costs $1299, you pay $200 more for the rMBP13 and get a vastly better screen, more ports, and faster CPU/IGP. The only ultrabook I could even think about recommending over it is the Zenbook Prime and ZBP Touch, because they play in lower price ranges.nerd1 - Friday, March 29, 2013 - link
Personally I think samsung series 9 is the best ultrabook out there, which is 1/2lbs lighter than other ultrabooks, looks gorgeous and packs a good matte PLS display. It's quite affordable too (I remember $800-900 deal for sandy bridge models... which are still pretty good)That said, I just found out that one reseller now sells 13" rMBP at $1299!! This makes the 13" rMBP ironically the best value ultraportable (including ultrabooks) out there. :[
meacupla - Friday, March 29, 2013 - link
Or how about a surface pro 128GB ($1000) with wedge keyboard ($50) and razer orochi mouse ($60)?ananduser - Friday, March 29, 2013 - link
Vivek...the rmbp13" does not have vPro, nor any other mac. That's before we get into the fact that it also lags under normal usage. You also forgot to add the Windows8 Pro cost, which is almost 300$; Windows8 Pro and Intel vPro are pretty standard requirements in this sector.Penti - Saturday, March 30, 2013 - link
Nah, volume license upgrade covers the mac. vPro/AMT is obviously why we have machines like this HP.jonup - Friday, March 29, 2013 - link
I just grabbed 3 Vizio CT15s for $600. I think that is better value than anything you mentioned including the MBP. Even at regular price <$900 this thing is a still. 15.6" 1080p IPS is just gorgeous. It has its shortcomings and the connectivity sucks, but with all the money saved I can purchase Bluetooth peripherals and call it the day.Penti - Friday, March 29, 2013 - link
So it supports 2 SODIMMs in dual-channel, HD+ screen as well as mSATA SSDs and docking station? It shouldn't be so lackluster but HP's always seem a bit tricky to get customized. Might not be an issue if your an large customer though, but for everyone else it might be difficult.One question though, does it support two screens / monitors using the two DP-outputs that the combination with the ultraslim dock gives you?
biostud - Friday, March 29, 2013 - link
HP has Probooks and Elitebooks for business. If their naming scheme should make any sense, probooks should be average consumer notebook with business build and support. The Elitebooks should be the best money can buy, no compromises. When HP dropped the IPS screen on the Elitebooks, they stopped being Elitebooks.-written on a hp probook 6360b