HP Elitebook Folio 9470M Q&A

A few inquiries about this new business ultrabook:

1. Why is there only an option for a 1366x768 display on a 14" notebook?
2. Why doesn't HP include the option for a 1600x900 Super-IPS Type Display (ex. Dreamcolor)?
3. Is an external DVD drive (with USB connector) included?
4. Why doesn't the new dock include a build-in graphics module and optical drive?
5. Why doesn't the ultrabook itself include a Thunderbolt-type connector for docking?

This notebook seemed like it had potential, but HP has fallen short once again. Unless the released specifications are preliminary and are bound to change, it is hard to understand why they skipped the inclusion of these features in a notebook that has good ergonomics and solid build quality.

 

I would like IPS also, but I need 1366x768. 900p for me on a screen this size is too much, but that's me. They should definitely offer some choices. I'd probably get the Lenovo Carbon X1... but the 900p screen doesn't work for me. You should look at that one.

 

1 - Probably because these machines, albeit expensive, or purchased by people that don't want to spend the extra cash. Statistics probably prove this somehow
2 - Imagine the price increase! If they sold the option I'd imgaine that only a small minority would buy (Just look at the 8760w and 8560w... not many being sold second hand with DC panels)
3 -
4 - Extra cost
5 - Thunderbolt... just another buzz-word that offers x and y but probably delivers this and that. USB was supposed to be daisy-chain able but look how that turned out. Just another port, another cable, another reason for people to want something that they may or may not use. (I know that it has many positives)

 

While i agree that the display leaves some to be desired. I dont think any display anymore should be under 1920x1080
it would have drove the cost up to much.

I know at the 1k price point for the lower end of this ultrabook that is still a tough spill to swallow for my corporation. We usually spend about ~600 on probook 6xxx models with the dock.
This will more than likely be purchased for the employees who travel alot because it give them the portability they need while still having a hardware dock (usb replicators suck) and being durable.

 

Anybody have an idea of whether this machine would be fully capable at things like the Adobe Suite? Most of the work I do is programming and design, so I just need to be able to run Adobe stuff with ease. I wasn't sure about the ULV processors' capability, so any insight would be appreciated!

 

I would imagine that all depends on how many pixels you are trying to push around and render. We have several people using some HP Probooks with the AMD APU 2.0GHZ doing some CAD work without alot of issue
but none of the drawings here are in a crazy high resolution.I would imagine these processors are just as capable if not more than the AMD APU.

edit: I take that back a bit the graphics inside the APU's are better than intels embedded graphics so depending on the work load that might not be true

 

If the display were not rubbish I would have seriously considered this laptop

 

The screen is crap. However our HP rep has informed us that a new 1600x900 display (probably from Chi Mei, the same junk manufacturer they used for the stock 1366x768 display) will become available mid march 2013.

 

The 1600x900 screen will also be crap, look at the specs:

DISPLAY

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

14.0-inch LED HD (1366 x 768) anti-glare

Dimensions (W x H) 12.74 x 7.56 in (32.4 x 19.2 cm)
Diagonal Size 14.0 in (35.6cm)
Surface Treatment Anti-glare
Contrast Ratio 400:1 (typical)
Refresh Rate 60 Hz
Brightness 200 nit (typical)
Pixel Resolution Pitch 0.227 mm
Format 1366 x 768
Configuration RGB Stripe
Backlight LED
PPI 112 ppi
Viewing Angle ±30° Horizontal, ±10° Vertical (minimum)
30/30/20/10 (Left/Right/Down/Up) (minimum) or
45/45/35/25 (Left/Right/Down/Up) (typical)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

14.0-inch LED HD+ (1600 x 900) anti-glare

Dimensions (W x H) 12.64 x 8.11 in (32.1 x 20.6 cm)
Diagonal Size 14.0 in (35.6cm)
Surface Treatment Anti-glare
Contrast Ratio 300
Refresh Rate 60 Hz
Brightness 250 nit (typical)
Pixel Resolution Pitch 0.1935 mm
Format 1600 x 900
Configuration RGB Stripe
Backlight LED
PPI 131 ppi
Viewing Angle ±30° Horizontal, ±10° Vertical (minimum)
30/30/20/10 (Left/Right/Down/Up) (minimum) or
45/45/35/25 (Left/Right/Down/Up) (typical)

 

I'd really like one of these machines due to the docking station, the ability to fit 16Gb ram, exchange the standard drive for an SSD and then upgrade (If you can) the mSata drive. Quite a solid business machine and I'm pretty much used to the crappy screens as I've had an 8470p for ages.

 

Looking at getting one of these and trying to work out an eGPU option. I saw on a teardown that there was an unused mPCI slot under the covers, which is use-able. the Internal IT guy says im up for an upgrade, so he'll be able to hook me up with one of these, a 512 ssd, and docking stations and all the fun stuff. An eGPU would set this thing off for sure. (Working with a friend to flesh out USB 3.0 roadblocks with eGPU)

 

Well... I have ordered one for the MD here but suddenly noticed the HP Revolve! Might also consider that...

 

Just found out that it uses an i7 that's a dual core, threaded for quad core, instead of the higher threaded 8 virtual core i7's. Does anyone know if a new model range will be coming out soon to include 8 virtual cores? (along with the new screens maybe?)

 

*UPDATE*

The Folio now comes with 1600x900px HD+ Display. I didn't notice any other updates.

HP EliteBook Folio 9470m Ultrabook (ENERGY STAR) -

 

Still waiting for it to arrive, over here in the uk, while the docking stations are here.

 

I checked out that link and clicked on find a reseller and i get this: Buying options for discontinued products - HP Small and Medium Business

Does that mean that it's actually been discontinued and only the 1366*768 version will be on sale? Has anybody actaully got their hands on the 1600*900 one? The screen is a real deal breaker for me :/ especially where there are 1080p screens available on the UX31A.

 

I am currently writing this on a 1600x900 px display. I've had it for a few weeks now and I love it. (The folio, and the display). I think the link I left you went to the old model, which I think are still available in cheaper folios. Be sure to get the non-base-model folio for the enhanced display.

 

Maybe have a look at the maintenance manual and if that includes a quad cpu then you could attempt to fit yourself (Otherwise the white-list may stop a quad from working. Example: The 8470p next to me was shipped with an i5 but I fitted a Quad)

 

Googling "9470m fan noise" returns some pretty disturbing stories. The 900p screen versions are hovering around ~1250€ atm, but that is definitely way too much for an annoying machine. Whats your guys experience with the noise here?

 

Hi jvander,
I am also considering buying the HD+ version, but, as lkravovicz points out, what about the noise?

Cheers

 

I'm seriously considering just skipping these half-assed efforts at a business machine and waiting for the Haswell-based Dell E7440 with hopefully a decent FullHD panel or something similar.

Buying a new laptop model is hardly ever a good idea due to the guinea pig effect. Buy a new laptop model that has known problems and weak specs (like the ChiMei panels) is even worse of an idea to me.

Of course we never know what kind of problems pile up with next-gen..

 

The noise? What noise? On a cold start there is no fan, and in BIOS settings you can disable the Fan Always on AC option, so the noise is literally no issue.

The screen is nice. I compared it next to a few of my co-workers 760p displays and the extra resolution is awesome. The color is pretty washed out, and you have to ensure the tilt is correct (no IPS here) but hey, I'm not doing any photo editing, and with no dedicated gphx card, I doubt you will be either.


Mine is currently the 2.1ghz i7, 8GB ram, and a 256GB SSD and a 512GB SSD for storage. Never had any issues with it, and with 2 docking stations, it's a real charmer. I love the finish, the weight, the battery life and everything else.

 

Hi all, same experience here. This little PC is nice, good looking and decent performance. Mine has the 128Gb SSD but with the mSATA it's possible do cache a bigger 500Gb disk, while keeping SSD performance (when using Intel Smart Response with read/write mSATA cache).
I'm just wondering if the mSATA connector is a SATA III, I guess so as there are no other connectors and the QM77 chipset offers 2 SATA III connectors.
It might be possible to setup a RAID0 volume between the mSATA and the a standard SSD disk. It would make extreme disk performance in a small PC

I've seen lot of bad comments about the screen, so I was expecting worse than what I see now.

I can hear the fan noise in quiet environments but it looks like the fan is not getting air from below the computer, which is a very good idea.

Cheers.