HP ProBook 6540b review

It’s not flashy, but the dour-looking ProBook ticks the right boxes elsewhere: Intel’s Core i5 processor means that there’s plenty of power available, battery life is on the right side of five hours, and build quality is top-notch.Couple this with an excellent keyboard and bright, accurate screen, and it’s clear that HP’s latest ProBook is perfect if you’re after a capable corporate laptop.

HP ProBook 6540b

HP has done a good job with the ProBook's specification. Intel's Core i5-430M processor runs at 2.27GHz and, aside from this impressive stock speed, comes with a host of new benefits: the two cores benefit from Hyper-Threading so the system sees the CPU as a quad-core part and Turbo Boost enables one busy core to borrow power from an idle one, so the 2.27GHz core clock can be boosted to provide extra power.

The result is an impressive benchmark score of 1.51, which isn't too far off the performance we've seen from many business desktops and more than enough to power through all bar the most intensive productivity applications. It's also far in excess of last year's ProBook models, which made do with lowly Core 2 Duo chips and scored around 1.1 in the same tests.

The Core i5 chip also includes an integrated graphics chip on the die itself and, while it's not powerful enough to accommodate any after-hours gaming, it proved capable with HD video, decoding our 720p test clips effortlessly.

The 32nm processor architecture and lack of discrete GPU contributed to excellent battery life, too. The six-cell power pack lasted for 5hr 22m in our Light use benchmark tests, with this figure dropping to 1hr 22m in the heavy use tests. Still, it's more than enough to cope with trips away from the mains.

The rest of the specification has been sensibly thought out, too. Four gigabytes of RAM is plenty even if the inclusion of 32-bit Windows 7 Professional is an odd choice and there's a 320GB hard disk and DVD writer, too. Connectivity is provided by 802.11n wireless and Bluetooth 2.1, and security is enhanced by a TPM 2.1 chip and fingerprint reader. Those looking for 3G connectivity should be sated by more expensive models in the ProBook range, too.

Mike Jennings

 

Mike Jennings has worked as a technology journalist for more than a decade and has been fascinated by computers since childhood, when he spent far too long building terrible websites. He loves desktop PCs, components, laptops and anything to do with the latest hardware.

Mike worked as a staff writer at PC Pro magazine in London for seven years, and during that time wrote for a variety of other tech titles, including Custom PC, Micro Mart and Computer Shopper. Since 2013, he’s been a freelance tech writer, and writes regularly for titles like Wired, TechRadar, Stuff, TechSpot, IT Pro, TrustedReviews and TechAdvisor. He still loves tech and covers everything from the latest business hardware and software to high-end gaming gear, and you’ll find him on plenty of sites writing reviews, features and guides on a vast range of topics.

You can email Mike at mike@mike-jennings.net, or find him on Twitter at @mikejjennings