Review: HP EliteBook 2530P

It's rare when a laptop can pull off great battery life with either its standard battery or an extended one. The HP EliteBook 2530p ($2,099 direct)—a business ultraportable—has the battery capacity to last from a breakfast meeting to a late-afternoon powwow without sacrificing performance. Its long battery life can be attributed, in varying degrees, to the low-voltage CPU and the solid-state drives (SSD). I needed a laptop that was light, durable, and had a full-size keyboard for a weeklong business trip, so I brought the review unit of the 2530p with me. (Its internal optical drive didn't hurt either, since two DVD flicks came for the ride.) Suffice it to say that the 2530p delivered in spades.

With the EliteBook line, HP has come a long way with its business laptops. I'm used to the bland, conservative attire of Compaq-branded frames, so it's nice to see that the 2530p has the looks to go with its brains. It's completely surrounded by anodized aluminum, a moldable metal that's both durable and sleek. Its looks are more appealing than those of the Lenovo ThinkPad X200 and the X301. With a thickness of 1.1 inches, the 2530p is not as thin as the Sony VAIO VGN-Z590. At 3.7 pounds, it's heavier than the Z590 (3.2 pounds) and the same weight as the Lenovo X200. Even with the standard battery and an optical drive, the 2530p is pleasantly light and can minimize the hassle of an airport security check, since it's easy to pull out of and return to your bag.

The typing experience a laptop offers is crucial for me as a writer, and I didn't miss a beat with the 2530p's full-size keyboard. The number "1" key is about half the size it should be, but every other key is standard size. If I had to rank the typing experience, I'd say that the Lenovo X200 is easily the best, the 2530p a close second, and the Sony Z590's uniquely styled keys, third. The 2530p uses dual pointing devices: a pointing stick and a touchpad. The pointing stick is too stiff for my taste, but the touchpad is both responsive and appropriately sized. Along with those of the ThinkPad X200 and the Dell Latitude E4300, the mouse buttons are the quietest and the least resistive in the industry.

The 16:10 format, 12-inch LCD widescreen is acceptable for office productivity, but I found the 13-inch one on the Sony Z590 better equipped for viewing movies and photos. Even with a bigger screen, the Z590 is at least half a pound lighter, as well, thanks to its carbon-fiber frame. If a bigger screen is a must, the HP EliteBook 6930p has the same exact look and a 14-inch screen. A matte screen is another business feature of the 2530p and the ThinkPad X200—it offsets any glare coming from a bright light source. (full Story)

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