I would rate this more a 4.5 This laptop has it all. I'm going to review this a bit backwards with what I don't like first, because there's so much I do like.
Fan noise loud (It seems to run constantly, even when I'm just browsing. Yes, running as I type this review).
Screen Resolution seems limited considering the resolution screens are coming out with today.
Missing touch screen capabilities and Stylus, so all windows 8 perks would be lost.
My first thought unboxing this was how large this is. I'm use to a 13" ultrabook.
Part of me wishes it came in a 13" model, but the 14" is growing on me. This is thin and very solidly built.
HP has answered basically every issue I've had with existing ultrabooks on the market these days with the above exceptions. Most laptops are always missing a few of these features below, but not this one.
Backlit keyboard yes
Full SD Card Slot yes, no usb card reader needed
Big touch pad yes, also nice size wrist/palm rest.
VGA port yes, no dongles needed
Network port yes, no usb adapters needed
User Expandable!!!!!!
RAM, up to 16 GB (2 Slots)
HD (If you want to exchange for a larger SSD)
Battery can be swapped out.
Comes with an option for an extended battery (haven't seen yet, but supposedly thin and clamps to the bottom to provide almost 20hrs work time so probably more like 12-14 hrs real time, but that's all day computing without plugging in.
Nice features
Dedicated Mute button
Bio metric reader
Filled only 1 of 2 RAM slots, one slot remains open, so to expand to 8 GB, you do not need to purchase 2 4 GB chips, only 1 needed.
2 USB 3 ports next to each other great for that external DVD recorder that you may need from time to time (Most DVDs require 2 USB ports)
Sim card slot
Rubbery like coating on the outside case, minimizes finger prints and makes it easy to grip.
Docking station capable
180 GB SSD vs. typical 132 GB SSD.
Sound, not too bad
Missing
Front Camera good for recording meetings
Would like to of seen a higher resolution screen
10 point touch with pressure sensitivity screen with digitizer stylus for pen input
My other ultrabook has an i5 processor, but this is so much faster. Part I belive is the SSD,the other part though is because it's new and not alot of software has been loaded to slow it down.
I can't get over how smooth and thin this is. Although it's long / tall. Typing on this is not bad, keys have plenty of travel.
I've installed MS Office 2013, a pdf converter, picasa, Fujitsu scanner software and a few utilities. HD space avaliable is around 95 GB out of 144GB. The extra HD space given helps (180 vs typical 132 GBs). I still need to load lightroom, camtasia, captivate, proshow producer pdf converter and a few other utilities.
I'm on the fence debating if I should upgrade to the 516GB SSD. I've already ordered 2 8 GB Ram chips to expand the memory to 16GB Ram. I'll update this with my findings. I'm also posting pics for reference.
The power brick is also nice and small so if you are a road warrior, this is an ideal travel companion. Only thing missing is the ability to convert to a tablet and having a stylus and touchscreen. Perhaps the next version.
Hope this helps.
UPDATE: I've upgraded the SSD to a 512GB and I'm loving the quick response and large capacity it now offers. Makes quick work of video rendering also, very little heat noted also.
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INTRODUCTION:
There are many laptop users that all want different things. As a desktop computer enthusiast, I knew that I wanted the slim ultrabook design, great battery life, and the ability to add/replace components whenever I wanted. Unfortunately, our good friends at Apple have started the trend of unibody designs that basically gives the consumer relatively no serviceability whatsoever. Then came the Elitebook Folio 9470m, HP's newest business grade laptop, and it has lived up to my expectations! That is not to say there are no faults, however (more on that later).
PROS:
+ Form factor is great. Not too thin, not too thick. And the 14" display was always my favorite. 13" is great, but is a bit too small for productivity at times. And 15" is too big to lug around.
+ Elitebook build quality. No flex on the chassis at all! The outside has a rubbery feel which gives it grip and avoids finger prints. The inside of the laptop has a metallic/brushed aluminum feel, similar to Macbooks. At first I was a bit surprised by the contrast in texture. After a few days, I've grown accustom to it. I wouldn't do it any other way.
+ Battery life is outstanding. I managed to get about 5 hours of Skype/video streaming before hitting 10%. On a normal day, I can bring my laptop with me to campus (I'm a student), and not have to worry the battery at all. All day computing for me. There is also an optional slice battery that more than doubles the current capacity.
+ Serviceability. Replaceable battery (great when the battery deteriorates after 2-3 years), one open DIMM slot for more RAM, access to the HDD, and even an open mSATA and mPCI-e slot for more components!
+ Input devices are fantastic. Keyboard is backlit and has great travel considering the thickness (or should I say thinness) of the laptop. No unreasonable short keys other than the backspace being a little bit smaller than it should, and the up and down arrows sharing a normal letter key space. Mouse nipple is there if you like that, large trackpad works as good as Synaptics get and I have not had any issues with the palm rejection yet.
+ Dedicated hardware airplane mode and mute are a very good touch. As a Windows user, I do envy OS X users that get to change their sound without holding an FN key with the function keys, so this gets me a step closer to that.
+ Speed. There are many configurations of the laptop, but to give you an idea, I have the i5 3427U with 180GB SSD. Boot up is less than 30 seconds, everything is speedy. It felt like I just built a new rig and booted it up for the first time ever.
+ Ports are numerous. Full SD card reader, 3 USB 3.0 ports, 1 VGA, 1 Display port, Full sized gigabit Ethernet. I understand the choice of VGA over HDMI, which is that most projectors in board rooms are older and have an analog input, but I do wish I had an HDMI out. There is also a docking station that you can attach to the bottom/back of the laptop to give you access to even more ports.
+ Tons of business features. I don't know anything about what businesses like in a laptop, but from what I know, there is a smart card reader, finger print reader for bio-metric logins, a kensington lock, and tons of HP business software.
CONS:
Display. Without paying an extra $200-$300 for the recently released 1600x900 panel, you are stuck with the 1366x768 resolution. Not to mention the fact that HP decided to put a lousy TN panel which is absolutely unacceptable. I personally can get over the lower resolution and lower quality display panel, but I do not think laptops in the $1,000 range should come with this. However, if you're like me and have only used TN panels you're whole life, this won't bug you all that much :P
Fan noise. Like other reviewers have said, the fan is there. And more often than not, it will be giving you an audible whirl unless all you're doing is note taking/simple web browsing. Configuring Windows 7 to passively cool the processor (lower the frequency before turning up the fan speed), and turning off the "Fan always on during AC" does give me moments of silence (it's off as I currently type this), but this can be slightly annoying at times. The best way to illustrate it is to say it sounds like slightly louder white noise.
Power button. I don't understand why HP gave the dedicated hardware mute/airplane mode buttons a nice finger friendly circle but gave the power button a thin rectangle. It's not too hard to press without using your nail, but it's small enough to give you a challenge when you're holding it down to force a shutdown.
CONCLUSION:
Ultimately, HP has a winner here. If you're looking for a serviceable ultrabook, the Elitebook Folio 9470m is a solid choice. The only thing that can be a deal breaker is the TN panel. The power button will take some time getting used to, the fan noise shouldn't bother you if you're looking into an ultrabooks (unless you're okay with short-living your processor with improper cooling), and the 1366x768 is upgradable. What I mean with this is that, if you're brave enough, you can purchase a 1600x900 display for $50, making sure it is the display for the Elitebook Folio, and install it by yourself. All in all, if you can overlook the TN panel, there is absolutely no deal breakers for this laptop. Solid ultrabook. Solid battery life. Outstanding future proofing with the serviceability. And this something you simply can't find in any other laptop in this category.
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I bought this laptop from someone on Craigslist a few months back, so I don't have anything to say about packaging since it wasn't shipped from Amazon (or affiliates).
What I can say though is that this is great laptop. I had used a MacBook for the past 4 years when I decided I was getting tired of Apple's proprietary ways. I bought this laptop for a bargain price, slapped Linux Mint on it and it has truly delivered. The reason it gets a 4 instead of 5 is really some design choices made by HP.
Pros:
+ Backlit keyboard keys are responsive and don't feel cheap
+ Great performance with i5 + SSD harddrive
+ Trackpad (hasn't gotten in my way while typing!)
+ Matte screen (non glossy, non reflective) I had no idea how great life would be without glare!
+ Very thin and light
Cons:
Design choices... why did HP put the displayport so close to the front of the laptop? I use a mouse and this sometimes gets in the way!
Charger I know, I'm spoiled by Apple's design here, but it seems like we could all move past the old style circular DC charger. I don't like that this is on the left side (chargers should be in the back if they are breakaway like Apple's).
Speakers They sound horrible. Get some headphones.
Another review mentioned fan noise being an issue. It's not much of an issue if you are running on battery power, unless you get into CPU intensive activity, which of course ratchets up the fan. When you plug the laptop into the charger, the operating temperature increases by about 4C (degrees) and the fan turns on. There is an option in the BIOS to NOT have the fan run while charging, but I haven't been brave enough to try this just saying it's an option. I usually have some music going anyway though, so fan noise isn't an issue for me.
As far as operating temperature, I'm impressed. My old MacBook (white style) would crank up to about 60-65C when playing youtube videos and having a couple of browser windows open which would then accelerate the fan (talk about noise...). The Folio 9470m seems to operate (browser (10 tabs), text editors, IM, Qt Creator, LibreOffice Writer/Calc) in the 40-50C range (with ambient temps at 17-18C). The first core seems to constantly chart between 3-7C higher than the second. The hottest I've seen this laptop get is compiling Qt [-j4] (for the uninitiated, this is a VERY CPU intensive task utilizing both cores) both cores were in the 62-70C range for a fair amount of time.
Overall, this has been a very, very nice addition to my life! As sleek and strong as a MacBook, powered by Linux, and solid under the hood.
(Btw, the displayport adapter I got works great with a DVI connection it's here http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0045JTAC6/)
Honest reviews on HP EliteBook Folio 9470m C6Z63UT 14.0' LED Ultrabook - Intel - Core
I received this product from B Plus media. I began to use the laptop the day it came in the mail as I am a teacher and my previous computer became very temperamental. I was impressed with how thin and light weight it was and how fast it started up. As a teacher, is important to me to have the ability to reliably connect to a projector, and have full productivity. At the same time, I love the fact that this laptop can fit into any of my bags that I use with all the other supplies that I have to carry with me. The HP Elitebook Folio meet all those needs. The only reason I am giving this laptop a 4 star instead of a 5 star is that it was supposed to come with Windows 7/8 preloaded and did not, but that could be an issue with the vendor and not the laptop.
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Excellent. The notecook was purchased for my wife who must travel for her job. My son recommended it because it can sustain some travel abuse and not crash.
