HP Elitebook 6930P Review

The HP Elitebook 6930P is the latest business notebook from HP’s stables. It competes directly with Dell’s new Latitude series. It is equipped with the power of Intel’s new Centrino 2 platform. the 14.1″ Elitebook 6930P offers you a mix of stylish and elegant design, sturdy build quality and superb performance in a slim form factor. It is one of the best business notebooks currently available in the market.

HP Elitebook 6930P Specifications :

• Processor : Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 2.40 GHz with 3 MB L2 cache
• RAM : 2 GB DDR2 800 MHZ (Upgradable to 4 GB)
• Hard Drive : 160GB SATA 5,400 rpm
• Optical Drive : 8X DVD+/-RW DL
• Display : 14.1″ at 1280 x 800 px
• Graphics : ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3450 256 MB (Default: Intel GMA X4500)
• Wi-Fi : 802.11 a/b/g/draft -n
• Bluetooth : Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR
• Operating System : Microsoft Windows Vista
• Ports : 3 USB 2.0, Ethernet, Firewire, Headphone, Microphone, Modem, VGA, 2 in 1 Card reader, Expresscard
• Dimensions : 13.0 x 9.6 x 1.2 inches
• Weight : 5.2 pounds
• Price: $1399 (Approx)

Design and Build quality :

The Elitebook 6930P is exactly what they intended it to be - a sturdy, rugged and portable business notebook. At dimensions of 13.0 x 9.6 x 1.2 inches, it is much more compact than other notebooks of its class, however it is a bit bigger than the Dell Latitude E6400, its main opponent. It weighs about 5.2 pounds which makes it very light and portable compared to others. It features a brushed metal design which is both tough and elegant and exudes a rugged feel. It has a anodized aluminium lid with a magnesium alloy chassis which provide a very strong shell to the notebook. It can easily survive some drops and bumps and emerge unscathed.

Display, Keyboard and Touchpad :

The Elitebook 6930P features a 14.1″ display supporting a native resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels. It offers optimum brightness and has decent contrast. It also has superb viewing angles from the top and sides. The matte screen is ideal for outdoor viewing. The Elitebook 6930P has loud stereo speakers located below the notebook, the sound can easily be heard through out a medium sized room. The sound quality is good and clear too.

The 6930P comes with a spill and scratch resistant black keyboard with a smooth feel around it. It is fun to type with, the key spacing and travel is perfect. The keys are adequately sensitive and make slight noise when clicked. The keyboard is a godsend for touch typists. The keys are coated with HP’s “Durakeys” fingerprint resistant coating which is much more scratch resistant than the coating used in previous notebooks. There are touch-sensitive controls located above the keyboard for HP Info Center, Wi-Fi, Presentation Options, Mute, and Volume settings. The touchpad is sensitive with good responsiveness. The only grudge would be the rather stiff touchpad buttons which require some force to press.

Performance :

The HP Elitebook 6930P is powered by a Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 2.40 GHz processor with 3 MB L2 cache at 1066 MHZ FSB. It is one of the best mobile processors available today and provides a potent mix of power and power efficiency. It comes with 2 GB DDR2 RAM clocked at 800 MHZ which is enough to run most applications and games. If need be, the RAM can be upgraded to 4 GB. It comes with a 160 GB SATA HDD at 5,400 RPM by default, which can be switched with a 7,200 RPM for increased speed performance. You also have a 8X DVD +/- RW bundled with the notebook. Finally, the base 6930P comes with the Intel GMA X4500 onboard graphics solution which can be substituted with a ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3450 256 MB for increased performance for a nominal cost to obtain much better gaming and graphics performance.

It comes loaded with the Microsoft Windows Vista Business operating system. It boots up in about 1.2 minutes. To instantly access your emails, calendar, tasks and contacts, you can use HP’s Quick Look 2 software before the system boots. In Vista, the performance is great and fluid, with no signs of lags or sluggishness at all. The Elitebook 6930P comes loaded with nifty little utilities by HP like QuickLook 2, SpareKey, HP Privacy Manager and HP File Sanitizer which improve the functionality of the notebook greatly.

For wireless connectivity, the Elitebook 6930P comes loaded with built in Wi-Fi supporting the 802.11 a/b/g/draft-n standards and a Bluetooth adapter with EDR. The Wi-Fi reception is average and the speeds decent. The 6930P also comes with Mobile broadband support.

Other Features :

The Elitebook 6930P features an array of ports, it has three USB 2.0 ports, a Firewire port, Ethernet port, Modem jack, VGA out, an Expresscard slot, a SD and MMC card reader and headphone and mic jacks. In addition to all these it also comes with a standard 2 MP webcam and a fingerprint reader for added security. The 2 MP webcam performs decently but gives slightly grainy picture quality. Also the Mic situated next to the webcam isn’t very sensitive and captures only loud sounds. The Elitebook 6930P also comes with a business card reader software - Presto Bizcard. To read a business card, you need to position it in a slot on the front side of the notebook and tilt the lid such that the webcam faces it directly, and then wait for the software to do its part. The 6930P also features a accelerometer which detects sudden falls and shuts down hard drive function. This increases the durability of the notebook and adds to its ruggedness.

Due to its excellent configuration, the HP Elitebook 6930P triumphs above its competitors in the portable category in just about every aspect. It however falls back a bit when it comes to battery life. The default 6 cell battery dies out after about 3.5 hours of moderate usage. To improve battery life, you can follow basic tips life switching off Wi-Fi when not in use, lowering the display brightness, decreasing the speaker volume, and the Elitebook 6930P manages about 4 hours. To get much better battery life, you should buy the powerful 8 cell battery which provides about 6 to 6.5 hours of battery life.

Pros :

• Stylish and Elegant Design
• Sturdy Build Quality
• Superb Performance
• Great Display

Cons :

• Average Wi-Fi reception

Final Words :

The HP Elitebook 6930P is an almost perfect combination of elegant design, superb performance, a great display and sturdy build quality, all in a slim and portable package. It is one of the best business notebooks we have reviewed and is the best buy at its price. We definitely recommend it to all our readers.

Our Rating : 4.5 / 5.