HP EliteBook 8470p Pro Reviews

When on the hunt for a business notebook that reaches high demands, sooner or later you will certainly find yourself looking at the HP EliteBooks. The EliteBook 8470p is a representative of the 14-inch segment and builds on the success of the previous 8460p. The manufacturer sticks with the known strengths of the predecessor, such as the robust and rigid aluminum case and the very good input devices. The excellent variety of ports and the good computing as well as overall performance are also very convincing. Unfortunately, such 'porting' translates the weaknesses onto the next generation. Once again, the EliteBook 8470p presents a very chunky look. With a thickness of about 3.5 cm the device is a bulky example from the notebook market. As it should be with a business device, HP offers the EliteBook 8470p with various security tools and features. Both hardware based and software based security measures have been thought through. For most things you will not have to pay, but with Computrace you will be asked for money.

The HP EliteBook 8470p is a solid business-class laptop armed with enough firepower to justify adding "multimedia powerhouse" and "gaming rig" to its resume. For those who don't need a ruggedly designed system, though, comparable laptops with cheaper price tags will get the job done.

Its removable battery and easily accessible innards are big parts of what makes the EliteBook a better option for many businesses than, say, a ThinkPad X1 Carbon or other ultrabook. And with robust security and IT-friendly options like HP's ProtecTools and Intel's vPro (the latter of which allows for low-level malware protection and secure remote monitoring and troubleshooting), HP's EliteBook 8470p certainly has the features to make it a solid choice for corporate clients and businesses that want a secure, compact, rugged laptop. We just wish battery life was better with the standard six-cell option, especially considering how boxy the design is, which seemingly allows more room for a large battery. Also, it's disappointing that mSATA cache storage isn't available for a little extra. You can opt for a solid-state drive for more durability and faster load times, but that's a pricey option that generally offers less storage space than a mechanical hard drive. An mSATA option would offer much of the speed boost without sacrificing storage space. We hope HP integrates that feature in its next iteration of the EliteBook line.