HP EliteBook 8540 Review

The EliteBook is HP’s business-rugged notebook family aimed squarely at the Lenovo ThinkPad and Dell Latitude. Offering an attractive brushed metal finish, excellent build quality, and high-end processor and graphics options, the EliteBook-series is targeted at business users who need the power of a desktop in a mobile package. We took an in-depth look at the HP EliteBook 8540p to see how it stacks up against the competition.
Our HP EliteBook 8540p Specifications:

• Intel Core i5-520M (2.4GHz, 6MB L2 cache)
• Microsoft Genuine Windows 7 Professional (32-bit)
• 15.6-inch LED-backlit HD+ anti-glare (1600 x 900)
• NVIDIA NVS 5100m graphics with 1GB GDDR3
• 2GB DDR3 1333MHz RAM (16GB Max)
• 320GB 7200RPM HDD
• Intel Ultimate-N 6300 AGN WiFi, 1Gb Ethernet, Modem, and Bluetooth Connectivity
• 8-Cell 73WHr Battery (14.4V)
• Dimensions: 14.7” x 9.90” x 1.28”
• Weight: 6lbs 7.9oz
• Price as configured: $1,299 with 3-year onsite warranty

Build and Design
The HP EliteBooks have a very stylish brushed-metal exterior that adds a splash of sophistication to what is usually a dull or boring business notebook. The metal cladding gives the notebook a bright eye-catching design, helps to hide fingerprints, and really pulls together the look that the notebook could stand up to the rigors of daily abuse. HP even went as far as putting matching silver trim pieces around the screen hinges, showing no design element is too small. The brushed-metal finish really flows well with the black chassis and black inlays around the keyboard and touchpad. While I am usually partial to all-black business notebooks, the HP EliteBook-series really makes me want to jump to the other side.



The EliteBook feels as hard as a rock when you first pick it up. The alloy chassis and brushed metal body panels have very little give under a strong grip. The screen cover has some mild flex but nothing we haven’t seen in other business notebooks. Even with its small about of flex the screen cover does an excellent job of looking good and protecting the display housed within. The brushed metal finish resists scratching and fingerprints, keeping a pristine appearance long after most painted notebooks might be looking a bit worse for wear. Screen protection is excellent with no distortion of the LCD-panel even with strong pressure applied to the back of the cover.
When you open the notebook and start squeezing on the palmrest and surrounding panels the first thing you notice is how strong the entire chassis feels. The thin brushed-metal panels have excellent support underneath, with absolutely no flex at all under a strong grip. The keyboard has minimal flex if you squeeze it hard, showing maybe 1-2mm of movement before it stops dead like you were pressing it into a rock.

On most notebooks the strength of the lower chassis is usually overlooked, especially around the optical drive which is the widest open bay. Pressing on the edge of the opening it flexes slightly until it makes contact with the bezel of the DVD-recorder. As you move away from the edge it feels like you are trying to squeeze a wood board.
Screen and Speakers
The 15.6” HD+ panel on the 8540p EliteBook looks very nice compared to most of the business displays that have come through our doors. Colors saturation is excellent, contrast is above average, and black levels are great. This screen would be perfect for anything ranging from editing photos to watching the latest HD movies. Backlight brightness is more than adequate for viewing the screen in bright office conditions but still falls short when trying to use the notebook outdoors on a sunny day. Finding shade from a tree or getting a screen hood would probably do wonders though since the panel offers an anti-reflective coating to minimize glare. Viewing angles are above average but still fall short compared to some of the PVA or IPS panels we have seen in the past. Vertical viewing angles have a broad sweet spot of 15-20 degrees before colors start to significantly invert. Horizontal viewing angles are much better, staying true even while viewing from the far edge of the screen.

The onboard speakers fall short when compared to most consumer notebooks of the same size but when compared to other business notebooks they are par for the course. For listening to streaming music or an online video the speakers are more than adequate, but if you want to enjoy a movie while traveling a nice set of headphones is a good investment.
Keyboard and Touchpad
The HP EliteBook keyboard is designed to feel like a Chiclet-style keyboard but offer the look of a traditional keyboard. The key tops are flat with a sharp edge which drops off to reveal a surrounding border that acts as a spacer between all the keys on the keyboard. Coming from a traditional keyboard that has cupped keys the flat tops can feel off-putting at first, but it has the same learning curve as a Chiclet-style keyboard. After a few days you adapt and you produce fewer typing errors. The keyboard design is very good with a strong support-structure that resists any significant flex. Under strong pressure you can slightly bend the tray directly underneath the specific key you are pressing, but it stops once you compress it against the chassis.

Individual key action is smooth with mild pressure required to trigger each key. Noise is minimal at worst, making this keyboard great for typing in areas where people might not want to hear you clacking away on a term paper or report.

The EliteBook 8540p offers a moderately sized Synaptics keyboard that is easy to use and has no noticeable lag. The touchpad responds quickly to inputs and has a fast enough refresh rate where it never experiences any “cursor-trails” when quickly drawing or moving towards objects. The touchpad surface is a mildly-textured surface with a fine-matte finish that is easy to glide across even with a damp finger. The EliteBook also offers a pointing-stick interface if you chose to use that style of input. The pointing-stick interface was quick to respond to movement and didn’t have any problem with movement when not in use.
One cool feature that I love about the EliteBook 8540p is the addition of a middle mouse button for the touchpad and pointing-stick. Most notebooks only include a left and right mouse button, which can be annoying if you frequently use a tab-interface. The middle mouse button when properly set in the control panel can be used as a middle-click button that lets you open links as new tabs or quickly close opened tabs without activating a context menu.
Ports and Features
The HP EliteBook offers a wide range of ports, including a few we have not seen on any other notebooks in for review. The 8540p offers two USB 3.0 ports which are perfect for connecting high-speed storage devices without needing a second cable to connect to an eSATA or FireWire port. In addition to the USB 3.0 ports the notebook also offers three traditional USB ports, FireWire 400, eSATA, DisplayPort, VGA-out, and audio connections. This machine easily packs more ports into the design than we have seen on any other notebook in its category. Expansion and security features include a smart-card reader, an ExpressCard/54 slot, and a SDHC-card slot.

HP Elite-Book 8540

Our review unit of the HP ProBook 5310m features the following configuration:

• Intel Core 2 Duo P9300 Processor (2.26GHz, 6MB L2 cache, 1066MHz FSB)
• Microsoft Genuine Windows 7 Professional (32-bit)
• 13.3-inch LED-backlit anti-glare HD display (1366 x 768)
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD
• 2GB DDR3 1333MHz RAM
• 320GB 7200RPM HDD
• WiFi (802.11a/b/g/draft-n), Ethernet, Modem, and Bluetooth Connectivity
• 4-Cell 41WHr Battery (14.8V)
• Limited 1-year standard parts and labor warranty
• Dimensions: 12.9 x 8.7 x 0.93 inches
• Weight: 3.81lbs
• Price as configured: $899

Build and Design
For those people who aren't already familiar with HP's ProBook laptops, the formula is very simple: Take HP's popular EliteBook line of durable business-grade notebooks and make them more affordable so small and medium businesses can buy them. This is where the new ProBook 5310m comes to the table ... and it's why this is the first laptop with the "ProBook" name on it that we really, really like.

The previous generation of ProBooks all tried to deliver a good balance of features and security at a low price. Unfortunately, those notebooks sacrificed build quality and design (two of the hallmarks of HP's EliteBooks) in order to create a low-cost business laptop. The new ProBook 5310m is the first ProBook that lets you have your cake and eat it too. The 5310m succeeds where previous ProBooks failed by offering a thin-yet-solid magnesium alloy chassis with durable rubberized paint, aluminum display enclosure and a design that looks like a premium business notebook rather than a budget laptop. Sure, like the rest of the ProBook line, the 5310m has a square, industrial-looking exterior, but that's part of the "all business" look that made the EliteBook line such a success.
So how did HP go from an all-plastic ProBook to this new-and-improved design and still make it thinner and lighter than previous models? The answer will probably get a mixed reception among our readers: HP got rid of the optical drive. That's right. There's no built-in DVD or Blu-ray drive with this laptop. Honestly, as someone who frequently travels for business, I can tell you I never use my notebook's optical drive. However, there are still plenty of business travelers who like to watch DVDs during flights, so the lack of a DVD drive might bother some business buyers.
The outer shell of the screen casing, as previously mentioned, is made of aluminum. This is significantly more solid than the plastic-covered screen on older ProBooks, and along with the magnesium alloy bottom chassis the 5310m should survive anything a typical business traveler will throw at it. While I wouldn't recommend standing on this notebook, you could easily stack a dozen or so heavy books on top of the 5310m without any concern for the safety of the laptop.

Tthe 5310m also features the now standard hard drive shock protection in the form of HP 3D DriveGuard which will help to protect your hard drive in the event the laptop gets dropped or violently bumped. HP also includes HP ProtectTools with drive encryption, Device Access Manager, HP Spare Key (a program that helps employees access their computer in case they forget their password), HP Disk Sanitizer, File Sanitizer, and McAfee Security Solution for those small businesses that need reliability and ease of use but don't have the resources of a dedicated IT department.


One of our primary criticisms about the older ProBook 4510s and 4710s was the fact that it was too difficult to make upgrades to those notebooks. Thankfully, HP engineers made it quite easy to access the RAM, hard drive, and wireless cards inside the 5310m. RAM and the hard drive are located on the bottom of the notebook beneath the palmrest area and the WWAN card is easily accessed after removing the battery. Speaking of the complexity of making upgrades, it's also worth mentioning that buying a pre-configured model is still the only way we can recommend purchasing the 5310m (or any ProBook) at a reasonable price. This configuration of the ProBook 5310m is available for only $899 on the HP website as a pre-configured system, but if you attempted to customize a 5310m with identical specs it would cost you more than $1,100! That's a painfully overpriced premium to charge for custom orders.

Screen and Speakers
The ProBook 5310m comes equipped with a 13.3" anti-glare display with a 16:9 widescreen ratio. At 1366 x 768 pixels, this 720p high-definition display is perfectly usable and features good color and contrast. The LED-backlit panel offers excellent brightness and we typically left the brightness set to between 50% and 70% when using the notebook indoors. We know many people are concerned about the transition from 16:10 to 16:9 ratio screens (because this means less vertical resolution) but the difference between 1366 x 768 and 1280 x 800 is pretty minimal.
Horizontal viewing angles are pretty good and you only start to notice some color shift after you get 75 degrees off center. Vertical viewing angles are only average as the screen begins to wash out from above and colors begin to invert from below after about 45 degrees in either direction.
HP generally impresses our editorial staff with the quality of the speakers used in their notebooks. Unfortunately, this isn't the case with the ProBook line. The speakers in the 5310m are good enough for watching a webcast or hearing system sounds, but the built-in speakers sound tinny and lack a good range of highs, middles, and lows. The highest volume settings are loud enough to fill an office with sound for a presentation, but the audio sounds distorted at the highest volumes.

The combo headphone/microphone jack on the 5310m works well with the two different brands of earphones I used during the test. No static or other noise was noticed through the jack besides imperfections in the audio source itself.


Keyboard and Touchpad
The full-size keyboard on the 5310m is a chiclet style design and provides fantastic spacing between keys for typing. Each key is relatively flat with a nice matte texture and the keys sit above a glossy black support frame. The support frame surrounding the keys is quite firm thanks to the design of the chassis which adds additional support for the keyboard. On the larger ProBook 4510s and 4710s we noticed some flex in the keyboard above the optical drive, but the keyboard on the 5310m is quite firm and a joy to use.
The individual key presses are quiet without loud clicking sounds as you type. The depth of each key press is excellent, though some people may dislike the flat, chiclet-style keys. Overall the keyboard layout is extremely nice for a budget 13-inch laptop.
The touchpad is very responsive to my touch with a scroll zone on the right side that works exactly as it should. The glossy touchpad texture is okay, but the low-cost material used is sure to develop wear over time and use. The plastic touchpad buttons are about the right size and have the correct amount of depth or throw when pressed. We would have also liked to see a dedicated touchpad disable button (like the ones HP uses on their consumer notebooks) so that you can disable the touchpad if you're using an external mouse ... but that's a minor complaint for what is otherwise a great keyboard and touchpad.
Ports and Features
The 5310m features a good number of ports on all sides, despite the lack of an optical drive, so let us take a brief tour ...

Left side: Here we see the power jack, heat vent, one USB 2.0 port, DisplayPort and Ethernet jack.

Right side: Heat vent, memory card reader, combo audio jack, two USB 2.0 ports, and Kensington Lock slot.

Rear side: The battery and hinges.

Front side: Nothing here but a status light and more heat vents.

HP MINI 311 AND 110

HP MINI 311 AND 110


The HP Mini 311 and 110 are now available subsidized from Verizon. Purchase the devices along with a wireless contract from Verizon and you will definitely save some money.

The HP Mini 311 is famous for being the first Atom netbook with a Nvidia ION graphics. The machine is quite powerful and can handle 1080p HD video content with minimal efforts. It runs on Intel Atom N270 with 2GB of RAM, a 160GB hard disk drive and Windows 7 Home Premium. Verizon offers the notebook for $249.99 when purchased along with a contract.

The Mini 110 isn’t as powerful as the Mini 311. It comes pre-installed with Windows XP and has the regular netbook specifications. Unlike Mini 311, the Mini 110 doesn’t have ION graphics. The 10.1 inch netbook will be available from Verizon for $199.99 when purchased with a wireless contract.

The Mini 311 is now available at the subsidized price. The Mini 110 is expected to be available from mid-November.

HP Mini-Notes

Rumors are circulating that HP is planning on releasing three new Mini-Notes, including new 11.6 and 13.3 inch models.
The 13.3" Mini-Note is tagged as "low-cost", and both it and the 11.6" version are slated to be released in June. Well before these come out, the 10.1" version with a 16:9 aspect ratio is due to be released in the beginning of February for around $567.
The larger sized laptops will still be considered Mini-Notes, possibly because they are still going to use the Atom Zxx series processors.
As of now this is a rumor, with digitimes claiming to have gotten this information from "sources at notebook makers". We'll see how this pans out in the coming months.