HP ProBook 4530s review

HP's consumer laptops look stylish, so it is no surprise that we're beginning to see a new flair for design in the company's enterprise models as well. With its rounded corners and plenty of brushed aluminium, the ProBook 4530s certainly stands out from other business laptops, but does it sacrifice usability for style? Tom Morgan finds out.

IT Pro Verdict

It can’t match the extensive connectivity of some of its competitors, but the ProBook 4530s is still an excellent business laptop. Beyond the eye-pleasing styling, it has solid performance at a mid-range price. The superb keyboard makes it a joy to use and battery life is above what we would expect. If you don’t mind losing a few ports, it’s a great all-round business machine.

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{The} extra graphics performance doesn't come at the expense of battery life, thanks to an automatic graphics switching system.

Whether we were on battery power or plugged into the mains, there was a refreshing lack of noise from the cooling fans during normal use. Once we increased the workload to something more taxing other than writing this review, they quickly spun up to an audible, yet still unobtrusive level.

In everyday use, we had no trouble working on the laptop thanks to an excellent Chiclet-style keyboard that made typing very comfortable. Each key had a satisfyingly springy action, providing just the right amount of tactile feedback, and there was plenty of space between each one. We were pleased that HP hasn't made the function keys default to multimedia shortcuts like the company's consumer laptops, and we also appreciated the inclusion of a separate numerical keypad.

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