HP Folio 13 Review

Model:
Folio 13-1029wm Notebook PC

HP Folio 13 showing the Windows 7 desktop

Pros:

  • Very reasonable price at $498
  • Very nice size and weight
  • Good looks
  • Solid build quality
  • Fairly good display quality
  • Bright backlit keyboard
  • Excellent battery life (6-7 hours)

Cons:

  • Difficult to upgrade the RAM or replace the SSD
  • Up/down arrow keys are combined with Page up / Page down and are MUCH too small
  • The cooling fan is on quite often and is rather noisy when you have the laptop on your lap
  • Glossy ‘glare’ type screen, reflections are  not too bad though if you are in the shade (like on a screened in porch) or inside with good lighting
  • HD3000 graphics the CPU are too slow for even moderate gaming at medium settings, though they will do fine with flash games etc.
  • Resolution is merely adequate at 1366×768
  • The screen has a significant bezel at the top and bottom, even the sides have room to spare. It would have been nice if they had fit in a 14″ display and kept the rest of the laptop the same size.

Just different:

  • The ‘function’ keys (i.e. F1, F2, etc.) actually default to their alternative function. For example, F5 turns the k eyboard backlight on. To actually press ‘F5’ you have to press Fn+F5. This behavior is adjustable in the BIOS.

Rating:

To be added once I have had more time with the machine. If you have any questions about it, just post in the comments!

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