HP Folio 13 Pro Reviews

An affordable combination of Ultrabook luxury, great battery life and classy looks, with only a few compromises

The Folio 13 is a solid effort from HP that, instead of blindly shedding features and usability in the name of thin-and-light, strikes a reasonable balance. It's probably a tad pricey for some shoppers, but including a solid-state drive always drives up a laptop's price. This model should definitely be on your short list of Ultrabooks to consider.

We have a number of great things to say about the HP Folio 13 after spending a few weeks using this modestly-priced ultrabook. For starters, the build quality is second to none in the ultrabook category. The aluminum construction makes the Folio 13 extremely solid without making it too thick or heavy. Not only that, but HP didn't sacrifice something important like a media card reader just to save a fraction of an inch or an extra ounce of weight. Yes, it stinks that you can't easily replace components or swap the battery, but these are pretty standard issues with ultrabooks. The LED-backlit keyboard is quite nice and the battery life is more than enough to get you through a typical work day (particularly if you let the notebook go to sleep during lunch). Combine all that with a price tag of $899 or less and this is a pretty good deal for an ultrabook. However, the Folio 13 isn't perfect. The glossy screen with average resolution and contrast combined with an annoying clickpad makes for a frustrating user experience. The fan is quiet most of the time but develops an equally annoying high pitched whine if you push the Folio 13 with extremely stressful applications. Bottom line, if you can live with the average glossy screen and twitchy clickpad the HP Folio 13 is an very solid, affordable ultrabook with a good balance of performance and features.

HP sells the Folio 13 as a business Ultrabook, but to be honest, we have hard time seeing what makes this an enterprise laptop. Build quality, though robust, is not up to the level of a Lenovo ThinkPad or HP EliteBook. There’s not even a matte display option. Fortunately, this marketing mishap doesn’t ruin the product. This is one of the best Ultrabooks on the market today, no matter what it’s labeled. The user interface is excellent, build quality is high, performance is solid and battery life is much better than average. All of this is made sweeter by a reasonable price of $999. Some improvements could be made. A display resolution of 1366×768 isn’t going to make anyone jealous, and the high-gloss coat isn’t a good choice for a laptop that’s otherwise so well suited for travel. HP’s bundled software suite could use some work, as well. Despite these minor issues, the Folio 13 is easily one of the best Ultrabooks on the market today. The combination of price, performance and portability offered by this laptop is impressive. Some Ultrabooks are quicker, but much more expensive. Others are cheaper, but less attractive and not as well built. Don’t be fooled: This so-called business laptop is perfectly suited for your home and your backpack.

I can confidently say that the Folio 13 is the most well-rounded ultrabook on shelves right now. That’s not to say it is the flashiest or the most portable, but the machine is well-built, lasts the longest on a charge, is the most comfortable to use in terms of typing and navigating, and packs more performance than the others priced at $900. If you’re looking for something thinner, lighter, and with a much better display, the MacBook Air is the obvious choice, but it will cost you $400 more. And that’s why the Folio 13 is the first ultrabook to live up to Intel’s dream — for less than the competition, you get a very nice blend of portability and performance without sacrificing the essentials. And with that I'd say HP's got the right momentum as it stays the course in the PC business.

If you've been wondering whether you should buy the HP Folio 13, the answer is probably yes. (After all, we're guessing people who want a higher-res display and lighter build have already moved on.) There's just so much to love in this $900 machine: it boots quickly, includes a robust selection of ports, can be configured with helpful business features and offers a refreshingly comfortable typing experience. The biggest things we'd change are the stiff trackpad and the dim, glossy display, which frankly, we expected to find in a machine this inexpensive anyway. We also wish it managed to be as light as the Toshiba Portege Z835, though this is hardly a deal-breaker. If you can adjust to the touchpad and aren't picky about screen quality, we think you'll be as pleased as we were, though it might still be worth holding off and waiting to see what CES brings next week.

HP's Folio 13 is a $900 revelation, with a comfortable keyboard and broad port selection at an undeniably attractive price.

The Folio 13 is a good showing for HP, combining solid value, admirable build quality and excellent longevity into a package that’s only slightly bigger than other Ultrabooks. If you’re looking for an ultrabook that won’t have you scrambling for a power outlet, this is pretty much your only option at the moment – for an afternoon outing you can even leave the AC power adapter behind. The screen is an unfortunate fly in the ointment, but it’s counter-balanced by the best all-in-one touchpad I’ve ever used on the PC side of things. If you’ve got a budget that won’t stretch beyond a thousand dollars and a desire for all-day computing in a light package, the Folio might be the best in a field of one. That said, with all the Ultrabooks shown at CES 2012 (including HP’s own stunning ENVY 14 Spectre) you might wait a couple of months before making your final decision.

When it comes to Windows ultrabooks, the HP Folio 13 is the best of the bunch in terms of performance, price, and ergonomics, provided you can live with a less-than-razor-thin design. This laptop is targeted at small businesses but it's really for anyone who wants a reliable ultrabook that isn't a MacBook Air.