Quick Look: The HP Folio13

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I need a work laptop that doesn’t look like a work laptop or force me to lug around a fanny pack full of plugs. Don’t get me wrong, work PCs are great.  When done correctly, like say, with an EliteBook, you get a boatload of business-minded features baked inside. (Subtle, I know.)  Then there’s the Folio¹³. Let me put it this way: I’m told the Folio¹³ will run the whole work day (9.5 hours on a single charge) without holding you back (no dongles required – it’s got the ports you need) or weighing you down (it’s 3.3 pounds). Oh, yeah, and the Folio¹³ has some guts to it under the hood. So if I were to distill this down to marketingspeakese, HP built this to be the only thing you need to carry around for the work day. And maybe show off after-hours to buddies.

The Folio¹³ was designed to hit all the above bullet points while selling at a reasonable price (starting at $899) and keeping a sleek, slim profile. Does that mean you’re looking at the executive techno-equivalent of jewelry? Here’s what it means to me: The Folio¹³ looks like a nimble machine at work – it has a lot of the security software that we put into our business machines…and it looks kinda cool when you have to whip it out at the local café.

My buddy, HP’s Mike Hockey, got the skinny on the Folio¹³ and why it is well-suited for all you “suits” reading the blog. Check this out.

I practically had to yank the production demo (NOT a final unit) out of Mike’s hands for a minute, but let me give you my quick take on the thing. It is svelte – less than an inch deep and weighing 3.3 pounds. Despite it being so compact, the keyboard was big enough for a goon of my caliber and the clickpad mousing surface worked fine. It’s lined with most of the ports you need, already on board. The only exception: If you’ve got to deal with VGA connections, you’ll need an HDMI – VGA adapter. Besides that, the Folio¹³ is road-ready. And, I’m willing to bet you won’t sweat it if you forget your power supply at home for the day. But I digress. I literally had enough time for one test: Audio. So, when I started blasting a test track, it actually got pretty loud. Surprisingly loud considering there really isn’t much room for, well, anything under the hood.

And yet, with that awesome segue, I’m going to quickly mention everything we somehow manage to jam into this little guy….

CPU: Intel Core i5–2467M at 1.6GHz (starts at a Core i3 processor)
RAM: 4GB
HDD: 128GB SSD
Display: 13.3-inch screen w/ 1366 x 768 native resolution
Video: Intel Integrated HD Series, 1 HDMI
Audio: 1 headphone-out, 1 mic-in jack, Dolby Advanced Audio
I/O: USB 3.0 ports

 

Boot to Windows 7: 25.1 seconds
System Shutdown: 8.5 Seconds
System sleep:  5 seconds
System wake-up: 4 seconds

Look at those startup, shutdown times – this guy is built to fire up quick before you hop on a flight and quickly park in sleep mode when the flight attendant asks you to stow electronics. As for performance stress tests, I unfortunately didn’t get the chance to see how far I could push this thing. (Check those hard drive and 3D graphics scores above! That’s on a scale with 7.9 being the highest.)

Curious to learn more about the $899 Folio¹³? I hope to get proper hands-on time prior to its launch on December 7. And if you have things you’d like to see me test out on this laptop, let me know!

Darren Gladstone

Darren Gladstone (@Gizmogladstone) TNB's Blogger-in-Chief geeks out over games, gadgets and hot laptops.