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What should you look for in a new notebook? In this economy, price ranks
first followed closely by reliability and security. Way down at the bottom of that list
comes styling, bells and whistles.
With that in mind, consider the Hewlett-Packard ProBook 4510s, a well-priced, reliable
yet attractive 15.6-inch widescreen laptop.
Prices range from $529 to $949 and HP offers both pre-configured models and custom
configurations.
The unit we tested, model FM849UT#ABA, came with Windows XP Professional, 3GB of RAM,
a 300GB hard drive, 2.1 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, Intel Wi-Fi Link wireless network
adapter and standard CD-DVD writer. Price: $799. Dell’s Vostro line, also aimed at the
small business market, costs about the same.
Reputation for Reliability
While there certainly are less expensive brands, HP laptops have a reasonable
reputation for reliability, and as the top-selling laptop maker in the world, HP has the
market presence and infrastructure to provide better-than-average after-sales
service.
That said, in a recent customer satisfaction survey published by Forrester Research,
Gateway was the only Windows-based PC maker rated above 65 percent – equivalent to an
“OK” rating. HP, Dell and others scored less than 65 percent, while Apple scored 80
percent. (Customer satisfaction isn’t a pure measure of product reliability,
however.)
The 4510s warranty includes one-year parts and labor, pick-up or carry-in (HP pays for
shipping), plus toll-free 7/24 hardware technical phone support (for the life of the
product). You can upgrade the warranty to get on-site service, and the primary battery
comes with a one-year limited warranty.
Sturdy and Solid
The quality of the 4510s appears solid, though the notebook is mainly
plastic. One nice feature: the keyboard has less space around keys, which should make it
more resistant to spills.
HP also claims that as part of its HP Total Test Process, it performed more than
95,000 hours of quality testing on this product – which of course doesn’t preclude the
possibility of getting a lemon.
HP’s 3D DriveGuard helps protect the hard drive against bumps or drops – although HP
makes no claims about how high a drop. Like similar systems it uses an accelerometer that
notifies the system software of any sudden movement and sends a command to temporarily
park the hard drive to help avoid the worst damage.
While Windows Vista (boo, hiss) is the standard-issue operating system for this model,
you can arrange to have it shipped with XP Professional, which will certainly make it
more reliable.
Serve and Protect
HP builds in some security features you won’t find standard on other makes and models,
and it provides HP ProtectTools software to manage them all in one place.
The tools let you manage and secure Windows accounts on the machine, making it easier
to use the computer even with the kind of strong security in place that usually causes
users headaches. You can also configure HP ProtectTools to prevent unauthorized people
from tampering with BIOS (pre-boot) settings.
Most importantly, you can use Drive Encryption for HP ProtectTools to encode data on
your hard drive so that it’s unreadable by an unauthorized person if the computer is lost
or stolen.
Functionality
In our testing, the 2.1 GHz core duo processor with 3 GB of RAM was more than adequate
for running common business applications concurrently – browser, Outlook, Word, Excel and
even Photoshop. It’s not for power users or gamers, but it provides horsepower for the
rest of us. (Yes, even if you’re using Vista.)
The 15.6-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit HD display screen (1366 x 768 pixels), features
HP’s BrightView technology, a coating that provides a glossy, but easy-on-the-eyes,
low-glare finish.
The screen is very easy to read with good, bright contrast. But dot-pitch, the
distance between dots – a specification not generally cited for laptop monitors – looks
to be fairly high, giving an appearance of coarse grain. This won’t be an issue for most
work-related applications, but it does mean it’s not the most pleasing screen for
watching DVD movies or working with photography.
Note that HP’s ProBook line – the 4710s series – now includes models with 17-inch
screens. Pricing starts at $900 and up.
The keyboard is unconventional-looking with its square keys, but the generous spacing
and the travel – the distance the keys move – provides a comfortable feel.
The look might remind some people of unsatisfactory computer keyboards from the last
century that featured similar “chiclet” keys, but once you start typing on it, it feels
like any other lapboard keyboard, better than many in fact.
The standard Synaptics touchpad also works well. The bar along the right side, which
allows you to scroll down a page with a stroke of a finger, works more smoothly and
reliably than on some laptops we’ve tried recently.
Connectivity
The 4510s doesn’t have every connection you might want. Notably, it lacks the older
PS2 mouse and keyboard ports, and an RJ-11 (telephone) jack is optional. But it does have
a standard VGA monitor connector, four USB ports located on the sides – which you could
use for external mouse and keyboard – and an HDMI port.
The HDMI port allows you to plug your laptop into a high-definition (HD) TV for movie
watching using the highest-quality all-digital connection. Or you could use it with an
HDMI-DVI adapter or cable to connect the 4510s to an external monitor – again, using an
all-digital DVI connection which will give the best image quality.
Good Looks
The 4510s is surprisingly slim for a standard laptop – i.e. not a ‘thin-and-light’
variety. It measures 14.6- x 9.83- x 1.24-inches and weighs as little as 5.7 lbs.
(depending on battery and other options.)
The notebook features the same modern squared-off look as the keyboard design.
Available in either Merlot (pictured here) or a glossy piano-black chassis (HP calls it
Noir) the 4510s might remind some of Apple’s MacBook Pro – as, indeed, might the line’s
name.
Is HP deliberately trying to compete with the MacBook Pro with this product? We’re not
sure, but if you move in circles where industrial design matters – if colleagues and/or
clients like to flaunt their work-of-art Macs – the 4510s should let you hold your head
up a little higher.
The 4510s doesn’t come with a vast array of pre-installed software, but it does have
InterVideo’s WinDVD software for playing DVDs. And it does come with Microsoft Office
2007 pre-installed – but don’t get too excited: it’s only a two-month trial version. If
you want to use Office 2007 permanently, you’ll have to shell out $230 for a Small
Business license.
Bottom Line
The price is reasonable and HP includes reliability extras – hard-disk impact
protection, disk encryption – that not all laptop makers offer. As for functionality, the
4510s does the job for all but the most media-intensive tasks.
Article courtesy of Small Business Computing.
