Customer Reviews

HP EliteBook 2530p KS035UT 12.1-Inch Notebook PC (1.60 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo LV SL9300 Processor, 2 GB Ram, 160 GB Hard Drive, Windows Vista Business)

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The HP EliteBook 2530p is the best business-grade 12-inch notebook currently on the market. Despite a large number of business notebooks from Dell and Lenovo that I've used, I firmly believe the 2530p is currently the best all-around choice in the 12-inch form factor (as of late 2008). If extreme portability, durability, and long battery life are important to you, the EliteBook 2530p makes an ideal choice. However, while it's fair to say the 2530p is "best in class" that doesn't mean it's perfect.

The biggest potential criticism you can leverage against the EliteBook 2530p is the same problem every notebook in this class has to deal with: In order to provide long battery life and maintain low heat levels in such a small notebook you have to use low voltage or ultra-low voltage processors. This means that some applications that rely heavily on the CPU (such as video editing applications) will run a little slower than they would on a notebook with a standard processor. That said, people interested in this notebook generally won't be trying to edit feature-length 1080p movies.

Again, that's just something you have to expect if you want a notebook in this class. The Lenovo ThinkPad X200 offers a more powerful traditional processor in a 12-inch notebook, but lacks an optical drive, has fewer ports, doesn't have a touchpad, and doesn't feel as rugged. The EliteBook 2530p doesn't make those kind of sacrifices.

Bottom line, if you're looking for a business-grade 12-inch notebook then the HP EliteBook 2530p belongs at the top of your list.

Pros:

* Attractive and sleek design.
* Extreme durability in an extremely small package.
* Excellent overall performance in its class.
* Fantastic screen with good viewing angles and excellent brightness.
* Great port selection for a 12-inch notebook.
* Small form factor and low weight WITH an optical drive!
* Excellent battery life for road warriors.

Cons:

* Less than ideal location for tiny mono-speaker.
* Cooling fan can run a little loud.
* Too much bloatware for a business notebook.