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The latest Ultrabook in my collection is the HP Folio. The HP Folio is a slim, business-focused 13” notebook with a rich, glossy display, and incredible battery life. Like other PCs built for business, the HP Folio comes with Windows 7 Professional, TPM, on-board Ethernet, and business-level service and support options. The HP Folio has some great user experience aspects for both work and play. For work, the keyboard and battery life are exceptional. For play, the Dolby Advanced Audio provides some of the best sound that I have ever experienced on a notebook PC. All of this comes in a 3.3 pound, 0.7” package that can be found for under $1,000. The model I tested comes with Windows 7 Professional, 4 GB RAM, 128 GB SSD, TPM and an Intel Core i5 processor. If you’re already sold on these specs alone, the HP Folio is broadly available from HP and HP resellers (including the Microsoft Store, of course).
Performance
Similar to past reviews, my test of a PC is not around specific benchmarks, but personal experience in using the device as my daily work machine for a period of a few weeks and seeing how it copes with a professional workload. Additionally, my performance characteristics will vary slightly as Microsoft’s security policies require different default programs – like antivirus – compared to the programs shipped in HP’s image.
One very nice aspect of the HP Folio for customers who do not use a custom image is that the default HP image is very lightweight. By that I mean that there are very few applications pre-loaded by default or that run automatically. The unit I tested came through HP’s business channels, which comes with a different default image than Folios sold through consumer channels. If your experience differs from what I had, you probably bought the computer through a different channel partner.
During a two-week period, the HP Folio performed nimbly and stably, using the set of applications I typically use for work, including Microsoft Office applications such as Outlook, PowerPoint, Lync, Excel, and standards such as Internet Explorer 9. The Windows Experience Index below is a rough indicator of the performance of the HP Folio.
One of the key indicators that many PC buyers look to is startup/shutdown/restart times, and the Ultrabook performed in-line with my expectations. A cold boot startup took roughly 20 seconds, doing well compared to other Ultrabooks. I recommend users to sleep/resume in Windows 7 rather than shutdown, but if you choose to power down, that process takes roughly 10 seconds. Like newer PCs equipped with SSDs, resuming from and going to sleep take less than two seconds. (As usual, I don’t typically cite times below two seconds because I don’t trust my precision with a stopwatch with such short times.)
Where the HP Folio truly shines is in its battery life. With an eight hour workday, some users may not need to plug the device into A/C power. For me, with 15-30 minutes back in my office in the middle of the day, I was able to use the HP Folio during a typical workday without needing a charger. For one working weekend, I was able to work from cafes for several hours, despite forgetting the charger at the office. HP advertises a nine hour battery life, which you might achieve by optimizing power settings. Regardless, PC buyers looking for the most battery life in a small package should investigate the Folio.
Look, Feel and Features
From the outside, the HP Folio is unmistakably an HP business PC. The brushed metal casing is shared with the EliteBook line, providing a more classic appearance. The rubberized bottom of the PC felt nice in the hand when toting around the notebook, and also clung well to most surfaces, including the glass table you see in some of the pictures I took.
The HP Folio weighs in at 3.3 pounds, which is light for a 13” notebook PC, but on the heavier end of the Ultrabook spectrum. The Folio is also a little thicker (0.7”) than some of the thinner Ultrabooks on the market. But, this form factor allows for a large battery and a robust build quality; this is a PC that feels like it will last. The hinges are sturdy and opening/closing the lid is a solid movement, and the chassis exhibits very few signs of flex.
The HP Folio provides a nice array and selection of ports given its small size. The Folio is one of the few Ultrabooks with an Ethernet port (another reason for its thickness versus other models). A multi-format memory card reader is a nice expansion option (visible to the right of the USB port). Other ports include: HDMI, USB 2.0, USB 3.0 and a combined headphone/mic jack. Some users may miss an onboard VGA port; however, even on business PCs, this is increasingly unavailable.
Opening the HP Folio portrays some of the consumer personality of the PC. One of the first visible items is the long speaker bar between the hinges – certainly not a common feature for a business machine. The smooth metal surface, chiclet-style keyboard and clickpad-style trackpad are closer to HP’s ENVY PCs than to the company’s EliteBook business PCs. But that’s the point with the HP Folio, a PC that works for both business and the user.
First, a word on that speaker bar. The speaker bar advertises Dolby Advanced Audio. While I’m not sure how that differs from the Beats Audio found on other HP PCs, the HP Folio has loud sound and great quality for an Ultrabook – certainly a best-in-class for a business PC. Audio/video conferencing sounded great as well, and I can imagine the HP Folio being used for the occasional movie or album in a hotel room. While the HP Folio won’t replace my external speakers, there were a few times that I didn’t feel the need to plug in speakers or headphones.
The keyboard and trackpad were very nice to use on the HP Folio. I found the keyboard to be a delight to use. The keyboard is roomy, with plenty of travel in the keys to register feedback. Touch typists should have no trouble adapting to the HP Folio keyboard. In the picture above you can see the strong backlighting available via a hotkey (F5 or FN+F5 depending on how you set the HP to use the function keys). The trackpad is a clickpad-style, meaning that it has no physical buttons. After adjusting the default settings to become less sensitive to the touch I found that I had little trouble with registering unintended touches. There are also some handy multi-finger gestures available in the trackpad settings for scrolling, window management and other features.
The display of the HP Folio is closer to the consumer-personality of this machine. The glossy display adds to richness, but at first it can take a little fiddling to find the right angle to maximize image quality and also avoid viewing yourself in the screen reflection. Like most PCs, the screen will also pick up some impressions from the keyboard. The glossy screen can accentuate that issue. Overall the display is not remarkable, but certainly serviceable.
Fan noise is sometimes a concern on smaller units. I’m happy to say that while the Folio does have an audible noise it’s not too distracting and will blend in with any background noise. This did require some modification on my part. I’m not sure why, but the BIOS setting defaults to “Fan Always On”. After adjusting this setting, the fan cycled on far less often.
Final Thoughts
The HP Folio is a great choice for someone looking for the feel of a full notebook in a thin and light package. HP has combined a solid build with a very usable keyboard, great battery life and affordable price to deliver an experience that should satisfy most users.
But if you’re looking for something with a little more power, HP recently released three new Ultrabook options for business users: the HP EliteBook Folio 9470m, the HP SpectreXT Pro and the HP ENVY Pro. The HP EliteBook Folio is only a fraction heavier and thicker, but packs a bigger punch with 16 GB RAM, up to 256 GB SSD, and even comes with the VGA port the HP Folio is missing. If you are a small business professional, Leigha’s blog post describes the new HP ProBook S-series and EliteBook 2170p that are designed to help small businesses become more efficient, tech savvy, and successful.
In the coming months I’ll continue testing some of the business-focused Ultrabooks available on the market. Ask me questions and request reviews here in the comments or on Twitter @Sabowtage13.
For the past few weeks I have been working with the sleek and stylish Toshiba Portégé Z830. The Portégé Z830 is one of the lightest 13” PC on the market, weighing in at just under 2.5 pounds, and incredibly thin at just 16 mm (a literal hair over 0.6”). The Portégé Z830 is an Ultrabook built for business with features that include a spill-resistant LED backlit keyboard, Trusted Platform Module (TPM) chip, Gigabit Ethernet port and VGA port. The version of the Ultrabook I tested ran Windows 7 Professional and came with 4 GB RAM, 128 GB SSD and an Intel Core i5 processor with vPro support for a MSRP of $1199. Models are available with up to an i7 processor and 6 GB of RAM direct from Toshiba and other resellers (including the Microsoft Store, of course).
The Toshiba Portégé Z830 is a strong performer in my non-scientific, real world testing. I test PCs by using them as my daily work machine for a period of a few weeks and seeing how they cope with a professional workload. It’s important to note that because I use this PC for work, my performance characteristics will vary slightly as Microsoft’s security policies require different default programs for things like antivirus compared to the programs shipped in Toshiba’s image. For enterprise customers and the customizers in the crowd, you are probably used to creating your own images, but for many others this is something to consider when comparing your PC performance to a review.
With that caveat, I was pretty impressed by the level of performance that Toshiba achieved in such a small package. As I went through a normal workday using Microsoft Office applications such as Outlook, PowerPoint, Lync, Excel and Windows standards such as Internet Explorer 9, the Portégé Z830 kept pace with a busy day. The Windows Experience Index below shows that the Portégé Z830 is a strong, all-around performer in its core components.
Startup on the Toshiba Portégé Z830 from a cold boot is fast. I hit the password screen in about 22 seconds. Shutdown was around 11 seconds for the rare times that you will use that function. Resuming from and going to sleep take less than two seconds. I don’t typically cite any times below two seconds because I don’t trust my precision with a stopwatch with such short times.
In such a small package it might be a reasonable expectation that battery life is one of the tradeoffs, however I found that to be far from the case. The Toshiba Portégé Z830 delivered more than six hours of working time away from A/C power on most days. For me, this typically meant that I could use the Portégé Z830 all day without a recharge if there were a few meetings where I didn’t have my laptop open. Toshiba cites 8+ hours of battery life, so your usage may vary. Regardless of the final number, the Portégé Z830 provides a very good mix of raw performance and battery life in an incredibly small package.
Style is certainly a personal decision, but I am a big fan of the Toshiba Portégé Z830’s physical appearance. Judging by the number of people who stopped by me at work or in a café to admire and compliment my PC, I think it’s safe to say that the crowds approve. For a sophisticated business user, the Portégé Z830 presents an image that would match any bespoke suit.
The Portégé Z830 is made primarily out of magnesium alloy, giving it a solid, metal shell. The honeycomb design on the inside of the chassis adds some rigidity to the construction, even in spite of the light weight. The element of the visual design that I find most appealing is the hinge that exposes a small gap at the monitor edges. With the chrome styling at these points, the Portégé Z830 has something of a classic car feel with twin fins.
The construction of the Ultrabook’s external chassis awes with how many ports Toshiba squeezed into such a small package. The picture below shows the height of the Portégé Z830 compared to my rather slim HTC Trophy. Other notebooks of such a thin and light design often compensate by only having a few USB ports, but the extensibility of the Portégé Z830 is on par with many larger notebooks by including: a USB 3.0 port, 2 USB 2.0 ports (including one with Toshiba’s USB Sleep & Charge technology that will charge accessories while the PC is sleeping – a very handy feature), a full HDMI port, VGA, Gigabit Ethernet, a memory card reader, and a cable lock port.
A couple of items I wasn’t able to test on the Portégé Z830 but are still excellent features to have on a work PC were its security and display features – including a fingerprint reader and a utility to enable logon by facial recognition via the 1.3 MP Webcam, and support of Intel’s Wireless Display, which allows you to project wirelessly in HD.
The Portégé Z830 is very comfortable to use. It’s cool to the touch, and the fan, while often on is usually only discernible at a high-pitch when in a silent room. The multi-touch-capable trackpad has a nice size with active response, although my fingers sometimes slipped off the chrome buttons. I didn’t often use the multi-touch features, but found that I was able to type well without accidental activations of the trackpad.
The display of the Portégé Z830 produces nice, bright colors. The PC comes with a matte (meaning non-glossy display), which I personally prefer to use for work. The display isn’t especially bright, but I was able to work comfortably indoors in a variety of lighting scenarios. Toshiba does make a version of the notebook (the Portégé Z835) with a glossy TruBrite display, although that doesn’t ship with TPM and Windows 7 Professional.
The keyboard of the Portégé Z830 is one of the few places where users may have to make a compromise due to the Ultrabook’s ultrathin profile. The chiclet-style keyboard is rather shallow, meaning that there is not as much travel available for the keys as found on traditional notebooks and desktop keyboards. I found myself missing a few keystrokes as a result of my adjustment to the keyboard. However, Toshiba has included both a backlight and spill-proof design for the keyboard. After a short adjustment period, I think most users will be more than satisfied with the keyboard for everyday usage.
The Toshiba Portégé Z830 is a great machine for anyone looking for traditional PC productivity in the lightest possible package. The wide array of ports (in particular, VGA and Gigabit Ethernet) help support working in any environment – even those who haven’t upgraded to WiDi, Bluetooth or HDMI, which the Portégé Z830 also supports.
In the coming months I’ll continue testing some of the business-focused Ultrabooks available on the market. Of course, feel free to request some reviews and ask me questions here in the comments or on Twitter @Sabowtage13.
Last month we talked about how Windows 8 is Windows reimagined for our business customers and earlier this week we shared information on the Windows 8 editions we’ll be making available to customers when Windows 8 becomes generally available. I wanted to take this opportunity today to also talk about what the Windows 8 Enterprise edition will offer customers when it becomes available and how the Software Assurance benefits are changing to better meet our customers’ needs.
Introducing Windows 8 Enterprise
Windows 8 Enterprise features include all the capabilities that customers get with Windows 8 Pro (as outlined in Monday’s blog), plus premium features designed to provide the mobile productivity, security, manageability and virtualization needs of today’s businesses. Here’s an overview of some of the key features that will be available exclusively to Windows 8 Enterprise customers (and note this is not an exhaustive list):
In addition to these features, customers will get improvements to the fundamentals, including end-to-end security and better manageability. Businesses will also benefit from the immersive, personalized experience Windows 8 has to offer and the no-compromise business tablet that will mean businesses no longer have to choose between the functionality of a tablet or the productivity of a PC. There’s a good summary of these features in a press release we issued last month.
Enhancing the Windows Benefits in Software Assurance
As we reimagine Windows 8, we’re also enhancing our Software Assurance (SA) benefits to meet the needs of today’s workforce. I know you all see firsthand how technology has influenced the way people work and how employees need to stay connected to their data, apps and other people from anywhere, at any time, from a range of devices. We will be making improvements to Windows Software Assurance that provides business customers with better ways to enable these flexible work styles.
So let’s take a look at some of the details of the new licensing benefits. After Windows 8 Enterprise becomes available, Software Assurance customers will have the following new use rights:
Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack
In addition to Windows 8 Enterprise, Software Assurance customers also have the ability to subscribe to MDOP. MDOP helps enterprise customers take advantage of desktop virtualization, manage Windows features, and restore user productivity after a system issue. We have recently also added User Experience Virtualization (UE-V), which allows individuals to change their device without reconfiguring applications or settings in Windows 7 or Windows 8.
Windows Intune
Windows Intune offers PC management and security from virtually anywhere via the cloud. In addition, we just announced that the next release of Windows Intune will support mobile device management, a self-service Company Portal and the ability to leverage user accounts, in addition to several other enhancements. Windows Intune is available as an add-on for Windows customers with Enterprise Agreements and gives you a way to manage multiple devices for each employee under a single license.
Enhancing Enterprise Value
Windows 8 Enterprise, MDOP, Windows Intune and our new Software Assurance benefits will help you deliver the experiences people love while maintaining the security and manageability you require.
If you haven’t already, I encourage you to download the Windows 8 Consumer Preview to experience first-hand the beautiful, fast and fluid experience that includes the mobility, performance and security features your business needs. I also encourage you to stay tuned here to the Windows for your Business blog for more information on the enterprise value we’ll be delivering.
Today at the Microsoft Management Summit, Brad Anderson, Corporate Vice President of Microsoft’s Management and Security Division, shared an early look at some of the updates and new features we’re working on for the next release of Windows Intune.
Windows Intune is our cloud-based management solution that provides tools, reports and an upgrade license to the latest version of Windows to help keep organizations’ PCs up-to-date and secure from virtually anywhere. In the next release of Windows Intune, we will expand management and security benefits to cover mobile devices and add people centric management capabilities. We focused on these areas of development for the next release because customers have been telling us that device proliferation is one of the most pressing challenges they’re facing in their business, and we saw an opportunity to help with Windows Intune.
These new features will help businesses keep costs low and simplify management by offering one cloud based solution for both PC and mobile device management. More and more users are bringing their own devices into the workplace, including smartphones and tablets. Whether corporate or user-owned, one of our goals with Windows Intune is to help manage and secure mobile devices without adding onerous cost and complexity. Staying true to this goal, the price of Windows Intune will remain the same at $11 USD per PC, per month, even though we’re adding the ability to also manage up to four mobile devices per seat.
Mobile Device Management
The next release of Windows Intune will integrate with Windows Server Active Directory and Microsoft Exchange Server, allowing IT to manage the many devices brought into the workplace, even if they’re not owned by the organization. IT will also be able to use Windows Intune to set security policies for mobile devices and enforce password protection, encryption and even kick off a remote wipe if a device is compromised. Windows Intune’s mobile device management will support any device with Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync capabilities, including Windows Phone, iOS and Android.
People Centric Management
Like Office 365, the next release will offer the ability to manage user accounts with accounts created in the Windows Azure Active Directory, so that IT can provide users with software personalized to their role, ensuring they have the tools they need to be productive. IT will also be able to link onsite Windows Server Active Directory to the Windows Azure Active Directory service so that user accounts and security groups can be synchronized with Windows Intune, allowing IT to easily manage users and devices.
Company Portal
Windows Intune will offer a self-service, customizable Company Portal that is simple to create and will allow IT to provide employees with the apps and tools they need to stay productive. IT can target the portal to user profiles and employees can access it through a range of mobile devices including Windows PCs, iOS and Android devices. This enables IT to post apps that users might want to use, rather than push out to their PCs. When a user arrives at the portal they will see all of the available apps ready for download. As with previous releases, the next release of Windows Intune will include upgrade rights to the latest version of Windows as part of the monthly subscription. This enables IT to standardize on the most up-to-date version of the OS, reducing costs while keeping Windows-based PCs up-to-date and secure from virtually anywhere.
Stay Tuned for the Next Release of Windows Intune
With Windows, our goal is to give end users the experiences they love and offer enterprise grade solutions that organizations need. The next release of Windows Intune will do just that – it will help solve the consumerization challenge that businesses are facing today, and because Windows Intune is cloud-based, partners and customers get to take advantage of innovations as soon as they’re available.
We hope you’ll take a look at these new features in Windows Intune and consider how they can help you in your business. For those of you interested, we’re offering a limited opportunity to try out some key features coming in the next release, including the self-service Company Portal. To learn about the new features, see What’s New in Windows Intune.
I also encourage you to check out and test the current version of Windows Intune and see what it can do for your business – you can sign up for a free 30 day trial or purchase the service and receive updates to the next release when it becomes commercially available.
I know a lot of folks are testing the Windows 8 Consumer Preview; however, please note that Windows Intune will not support Windows 8 until after it is generally available. If you choose to test Windows Intune in an unsupported environment and need help, we recommend visiting the Windows Intune Forum on TechNet or the Windows 8 IT Pro Forum.
Back in October we celebrated the anniversaries of Windows XP and Office 2003 and took the opportunity to remind everyone that on April 8, 2014, we will officially end support for these versions of Windows and Office. Today, we want to acknowledge the two-year countdown to the end of Windows XP and Office 2003 support, which was this past Sunday. If you still have some PCs running Windows XP and Office 2003 in your organization, now would be a good time to start migrating them to Windows 7 and Office 2010.
Windows XP and Office 2003 were great software releases for their time, but the technology environment has shifted. Technology continues to evolve and so do people’s needs and expectations. Modern users demand technologies that fit their personal workstyle and allow them to stay productive anywhere anytime, while businesses have an ever increasing need to protect data and ensure security, compliance and manageability. It is in a company’s – and its employees’ – best interest to take advantage of the modern Windows and Office software that is designed with these needs in mind.
Now you may be asking yourself – should I wait to upgrade until the next versions of Windows and Office are available? We don’t recommend waiting. Not only is it important for companies to complete deployment before support runs out, but they should also be aware that by upgrading to Windows 7 and Office 2010 today they can gain substantial results today while laying the foundation for future versions of these products. And with over 525 million Windows 7 licenses sold since its release, many customers are already taking advantage of everything Windows 7 has to offer.
If you haven’t yet already, we do hope that you take this end of support countdown as an opportunity to migrate your PCs to Windows 7 and Office 2010 so that your business and employees are more productive and secure. Below are some tools and resources we offer to help you with your migration. Additionally, in the coming months both my team and the Office team will be posting tips on deployment guidance so you can get the most out your new software.
Tools and Resources to Help with Migration