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
Conclusion: A Mixed Bag
Of the ultrabooks I've tested so far, the ones I've personally liked the best have been the Dell XPS 13 and this one, the HP Folio 13. Both have fairly good keyboards and both deviate from the norm a little bit, displaying some ingenuity and thought in their designs. I particularly appreciate the Folio 13's more boxy design; it seems silly, but the lack of a wedge shape is refreshing and more than that, helps to both distinguish HP's entrant visually and gives their engineers some elbow room.
What we're still looking at, fundamentally, is the first generation of ultrabooks. The first generation of netbooks wasn't so hot, either, and most of us remember the first generation iPad being derided as a giant iPhone. All of the vendors seem to be working out kinks, and it doesn't help that Sandy Bridge isn't quite as ready for this form factor as Ivy Bridge will be (and Haswell especially, further down the line). Intel's spec is forward-looking in a way that's good for the future, but leads to compromises in the here and now. Hence, working kinks out so that the second generation should be a lot more impressive.
To that end, I think the form factor, design, and the aesthetic of the HP Folio 13 are fundamentally the strong points. It has one of the best keyboards available in an ultrabook, and it runs nice and frosty. What HP needs to work on for the next revision is eschewing the clickpad and going back to a traditional touchpad with dedicated buttons, increasing the customization available (including running the system's memory in dual-channel instead of single-channel mode), bumping the mSATA speed up to 6Gbps for future-proofing's sake, and further optimizing power consumption. That the screen needs to be replaced with something better goes without saying, but I'm optimistic that the days of lousy, low-resolution TN displays in notebooks are numbered.
None of the ultrabooks available right now is perfect. With Ivy Bridge en route, hopefully we'll be seeing refreshes soon that work out many of the weaknesses of this generation while building on their strengths. In the meantime, if you need a system right now it's going to come down to which one feels the best for you. Performance is generally comparable (excepting the Toshiba Portege Z830 and its turbo-free Core i3) between the systems as such that you don't really give up anything tangible going with a slower processor, and battery life is essentially the same way. As such, it's a matter of preference.
Personally, I like the HP Folio 13 more than most, and pricing is decent at around $1000 for our review unit. However, like the competition the Folio 13 just doesn't seem quite ready for prime time yet. It's also important to remember that Ivy Bridge refreshes within the next month could substantially alter the ultrabook landscape.
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nitram_tpr - Tuesday, April 17, 2012 - link
HP have appeared to create a chassis that can fit so much, yet all they do is chuck in a big battery that is, well, quite frankly useless.If they have loads of room for cooling, why not put an i7 in it?
Only one stick-o-ram :(
And a pretty aweful screen, oh dear oh dear, why they hell would anyone buy this?
And yet you seem to recommend it?
One of your recommendations is based on the battery, but the battery performance is poor when compared to other ultrabooks with less powerful batteries.
Is the keyboard worth the $1000 cost?
Gunbuster - Tuesday, April 17, 2012 - link
From one side of their mouth they say they want to compete with the macbook airFrom the other side they say how much they need to get the price point down to $600
When all is said and done we'll have the same bottom of the barrel $499 lowest common denominator HP/Acer in Best Buy and the only difference is that it will be painted silver.
ExodusC - Tuesday, April 17, 2012 - link
I stopped reading at 1366x768 display.Are you even trying, manufacturers?
quitesufficient - Tuesday, April 17, 2012 - link
stopped readingDustin Sklavos - Tuesday, April 17, 2012 - link
Comments like these help no one.french toast - Wednesday, April 18, 2012 - link
I agree, its a fantastic article most tech sites dont even bother to engage with the readers.Can you have a look at my request comment please?
andrewaggb - Tuesday, April 17, 2012 - link
I've spent years dogging apple for overpricing everything... I could always build a way better machine for the same price.Then laptops came along and you can't build them yourself anymore... surely somebody can build a DECENT laptop for less than apple?
It's ridiculous. I have a friend who wanted an all in one, we looked at all the options and he ended getting an imac because it has hands down the best screen and graphics card (and more than double the price). He runs windows 7 on it.
And if the best ultrabooks still have crap screens by my next laptop refresh, I'm going to end up running windows 7/8 or whatever on an overpriced mac too because we are seriously hurting for options.
I understand having an entry level model, mid range (what I consider the folio), but they seem to get lost in the high end. There's high end that you'd use for gaming or 3d content creation, and then there's high end that you'd use for writing, publishing, software development, etc which is where I see an ultrabook with a great screen and great keyboard really being an asset. That's what I want. I can play games on my desktop. But a computer with a lousy screen and/or keyboard really isn't good for anything in my books. Might as well just use an ipad if you're that casual.
ReverendDC - Tuesday, April 17, 2012 - link
I got a cheap HP for $379. It has a 1600x900 (granted, it kind of has to, being 17.3"). Mine's an A4, but there is one at BestBuy with an A6 for $429.99...with a 1600 x 900 screen. Again, granted, these aren't the best in terms of quality of picture or tint. I bought a PNY 8GB set of 10666 RAM and installed. It now has the same or greater power than an i3, and very close to an I5 in terms of overall performance (also upgraded with a spare copy of W7Ult).How could HP actually ask me to go with a system that has less power, a worse screen, no dual channel memory support, and a middle of the road battery life for $600+ more dollars? So my laptop is a little less portable (3 pounds Folio vs about 5.5 pounds G7). So I don't have the admittedly awesome SSD drive (i get by with a little help from my 500GB mechanical drive). So I don't have a backlit keyboard. Are those three things worth $600+ dollars?
Why, HP, WHY?!?!?!
Beenthere - Tuesday, April 17, 2012 - link
An Intel CPU with HD3000 graphics? You MUST be kidding.Pirks - Tuesday, April 17, 2012 - link
FUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!