{[['
']]}
']]}
HP Folio 13 is one of the ultrabooks that deviate from the formula in a bid to keep the prices down.
In the last one year, we have come a long way as far as ultrabooks are concerned. One year ago, it was just an idea in the labs of Intel, the company that makes microprocessor for laptops. Now, we have dozens of ultrabooks selling in the market. But not all of these ultrabooks follow the rules laid down by Intel.
HP Folio 13 is one of the ultrabooks that deviate from the formula in a bid to keep the prices down. But are these changes for the good or bad? We find out.
Looks different
Compared to most of the ultrabooks in the market, Folio has a different design. It's quite sleek but cannot match the wafer-thin ultrabooks like Asus UX31. Also, like most other ultrabooks, it lacks the unibody design. It has brushed aluminum on lid and palm rest but the body is plastic coated with soft rubber. By all accounts, Folio is a very good-looking laptop. However, the plastic means it doesn't feel as sturdy as other premium ultrabooks.
In terms of hardware, Folio is well-equipped. It is powered by Core i5 2467M processor. There is 4GB RAM and a 128GB solid state drive (SSD). The screen size is 13.3 inches with a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. One peculiar thing that we noticed about the screen is that it looks to be an edge-to-edge screen with very thin bezel. But once you power on the laptop, you will realize that even though bezel is very thin, the display area has black borders around it. In terms of ports and connectivity, there is one USB 2 port, one USB 3 port, HDMI, Ethernet port and a card reader.
User experience
In the last few years, the core hardware - processor and RAM - has become so better that nowadays it's difficult to find a laptop that feels slow for average work. If web browsing, watching movies or doing office work is all you are going to do, any laptop - even the cheaper ones costing less than Rs 30,000 will do a great job. Instead, laptops nowadays are categorized good, bad or great on the basis of the experience they provide. The experience that depends entirely on form factor, quality of screen, quality of keyboard, quality of touchpad and battery life.
For a device that carries a tag saying "premium experience" we found Folio to be a mixed bag. Of course, it is a very fast laptop. The hardware, as we said earlier, is good. RAM is adequate. And presence of SSD means that there are virtually no bottlenecks that can lead to a dip in performance. In real life, Folio feels very responsive. Whether you are browsing with 20 tabs open in Firefox or making PowerPoint projects, Folio doesn't break into sweat.
Its design, though not very sleek by ultrabook standards, is good enough to make it stand out from the crowd. With a weight of just 1.5kg, it makes for a perfect companion to a backpack.
Another highlight of Folio is its keyboard. Keys don't travel too deep but have decent amount of feedback. This will help people who type a lot. Also, keys are backlit, something that will allow you to use laptop in the dark or in poorly-lit places. Touchpad is good and multi-touch gestures like pinch-to-zoom or two-finger scrolling work very well.
Folio has a good battery life. In our battery test where we loop a high-definition video at normal brightness (around 70% to 80%) it lasted four hours and seven minutes. For average use, this translates into an all-day computing.
So far so good
The problem with Folio is its screen. Not only the 13.3 inches screen has a low resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels for such a premium laptop, it also has very poor viewing angles. Even by the standards of TN (twisted nematic) panel, which is used to make laptop screens unlike IPS panels that are put in tablets like iPad, the screen of Folio is bad. The poor viewing angles make browsing and watching video or pictures on the device virtually impossible.
This is a pity because otherwise the screen is decent. It's not very bright, something users will notice while using the laptop outdoors, but is sufficient. Similarly, colours look nice, though little warm.
The second problem with Folio is that compared to other ultrabooks it tends to run hot. This is surprising because given its thicker body it should have been cooler. Unlike other ultrabooks, Folio has vents for hot air on the underside of the chasis. This makes Folio unsuitable for use on the lap unless you are sitting in a room with AC set to less than 10 degrees Celsius.
Sum of it all
Folio is a good laptop. It's fast and has a stylish design. Unfortunately, the good is not enough anymore. The world of computers has changed considerably in the last few years due to the arrival of tablets, which are very good devices for browsing web and consuming media due to their fantastic screens. Intel realized it and hence developed ultrabooks in a bid to make laptops sexy again.
But it seems the laptop makers are yet to fully embrace the idea of ultrabooks. They believe they can continue to get away by doing things the old way - that is by not focusing enough on screen, keyboard and touchpad.
Compared to several other laptops in its class, Folio is an above average package. But its poor screen means that it is not going to give users the premium computing experience that HP is claiming to offer. With its design choices, HP had hoped to undercut other ultrabooks. Unfortunately, with Folio even that has not happened. It has the starting price of Rs 69,990. At this price, laptops like Lenovo U300S and 13-inch Apple MacBook Air are better choices.
Pros: Fantastic battery life, fast performance, good keyboard and touchpad, lots of connectivity options for an ultrabbok
Cons: Not as sleek and good-looking as some other ultrabooks, poor screen, runs hot
HP Folio 13 is one of the ultrabooks that deviate from the formula in a bid to keep the prices down. But are these changes for the good or bad? We find out.
Looks different
Compared to most of the ultrabooks in the market, Folio has a different design. It's quite sleek but cannot match the wafer-thin ultrabooks like Asus UX31. Also, like most other ultrabooks, it lacks the unibody design. It has brushed aluminum on lid and palm rest but the body is plastic coated with soft rubber. By all accounts, Folio is a very good-looking laptop. However, the plastic means it doesn't feel as sturdy as other premium ultrabooks.
In terms of hardware, Folio is well-equipped. It is powered by Core i5 2467M processor. There is 4GB RAM and a 128GB solid state drive (SSD). The screen size is 13.3 inches with a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. One peculiar thing that we noticed about the screen is that it looks to be an edge-to-edge screen with very thin bezel. But once you power on the laptop, you will realize that even though bezel is very thin, the display area has black borders around it. In terms of ports and connectivity, there is one USB 2 port, one USB 3 port, HDMI, Ethernet port and a card reader.
User experience
In the last few years, the core hardware - processor and RAM - has become so better that nowadays it's difficult to find a laptop that feels slow for average work. If web browsing, watching movies or doing office work is all you are going to do, any laptop - even the cheaper ones costing less than Rs 30,000 will do a great job. Instead, laptops nowadays are categorized good, bad or great on the basis of the experience they provide. The experience that depends entirely on form factor, quality of screen, quality of keyboard, quality of touchpad and battery life.
For a device that carries a tag saying "premium experience" we found Folio to be a mixed bag. Of course, it is a very fast laptop. The hardware, as we said earlier, is good. RAM is adequate. And presence of SSD means that there are virtually no bottlenecks that can lead to a dip in performance. In real life, Folio feels very responsive. Whether you are browsing with 20 tabs open in Firefox or making PowerPoint projects, Folio doesn't break into sweat.
Its design, though not very sleek by ultrabook standards, is good enough to make it stand out from the crowd. With a weight of just 1.5kg, it makes for a perfect companion to a backpack.
Another highlight of Folio is its keyboard. Keys don't travel too deep but have decent amount of feedback. This will help people who type a lot. Also, keys are backlit, something that will allow you to use laptop in the dark or in poorly-lit places. Touchpad is good and multi-touch gestures like pinch-to-zoom or two-finger scrolling work very well.
Folio has a good battery life. In our battery test where we loop a high-definition video at normal brightness (around 70% to 80%) it lasted four hours and seven minutes. For average use, this translates into an all-day computing.
So far so good
The problem with Folio is its screen. Not only the 13.3 inches screen has a low resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels for such a premium laptop, it also has very poor viewing angles. Even by the standards of TN (twisted nematic) panel, which is used to make laptop screens unlike IPS panels that are put in tablets like iPad, the screen of Folio is bad. The poor viewing angles make browsing and watching video or pictures on the device virtually impossible.
This is a pity because otherwise the screen is decent. It's not very bright, something users will notice while using the laptop outdoors, but is sufficient. Similarly, colours look nice, though little warm.
The second problem with Folio is that compared to other ultrabooks it tends to run hot. This is surprising because given its thicker body it should have been cooler. Unlike other ultrabooks, Folio has vents for hot air on the underside of the chasis. This makes Folio unsuitable for use on the lap unless you are sitting in a room with AC set to less than 10 degrees Celsius.
Sum of it all
Folio is a good laptop. It's fast and has a stylish design. Unfortunately, the good is not enough anymore. The world of computers has changed considerably in the last few years due to the arrival of tablets, which are very good devices for browsing web and consuming media due to their fantastic screens. Intel realized it and hence developed ultrabooks in a bid to make laptops sexy again.
But it seems the laptop makers are yet to fully embrace the idea of ultrabooks. They believe they can continue to get away by doing things the old way - that is by not focusing enough on screen, keyboard and touchpad.
Compared to several other laptops in its class, Folio is an above average package. But its poor screen means that it is not going to give users the premium computing experience that HP is claiming to offer. With its design choices, HP had hoped to undercut other ultrabooks. Unfortunately, with Folio even that has not happened. It has the starting price of Rs 69,990. At this price, laptops like Lenovo U300S and 13-inch Apple MacBook Air are better choices.
Pros: Fantastic battery life, fast performance, good keyboard and touchpad, lots of connectivity options for an ultrabbok
Cons: Not as sleek and good-looking as some other ultrabooks, poor screen, runs hot
Post a Comment