The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Probook 4530s - need input

    Discussion in 'HP Business Class Notebooks' started by Davis Goertzen, Mar 11, 2012.

  1. Davis Goertzen

    Davis Goertzen Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    10
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Hey all,

    Posted this in the Owner's Lounge, but figured maybe it'd get lost in the shuffle there. I'm contemplating whether or not to get a 15.6" 4530s, and I need a little input.

    My current laptop is 3-year-old HP Compaq 6830s, which still works, but is starting to show its age, and running a bit on the hot side (but better now that I got a laptop cooler). 3 Gb RAM, P8400 Core 2 Duo at 2.26 Ghz, running XP Pro.

    I'm a medical transcriptionist. The company I work has set up a virtual machine on my current rig, and from inside there, I connect to a VPN. Trying to run a virtual machine on 512 Mb RAM can make for a bit of a laggy experience.

    Beyond this, I also use my laptop to listen to music, surf the web, watch youtube, do some home movies sometimes, stuff like that.

    So anyway, I'm considering this laptop, the i5 model. Here are some of my thoughts so far:
    - Reliability. It appealed to me that this machine is HP's business line, and that it has an aluminum body, as I understand that this should translate to a fairly decent build quality. Can anyone give me more details/info about this?
    -Longevity. I'd prefer something that I didn't have to replace for several years. I guess this is connected with reliability.
    -Ability to handle several tasks at the same time, smoothly, including the virtual machine. If the baseline 4 Gb RAM comes a little short, I'm pretty confident that I'm tech savvy enough to get some more and install it.
    -I don't really play any demanding games.
    -I realize the battery life isn't the greatest. I'm not too worried about that, for my purposes.
    -Keyboard/touchpad. The one I tried out in Staples felt decent enough, though I'm not a fan of the bilingual keyboard. But, I already have a good mouse and keyboard to use for work, and I'm sure I'll be able to manage with the stock equipment if I take the machine anywhere.

    So, what do you all think? Would you recommend something different for my purposes, or would this one work fairly well for me? Any input is greatly appreciated.

    Davis
     
    Davis Goertzen, Mar 11, 2012
    #1
  2. SArsalan

    SArsalan Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    4
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    hi Davis so did u get the 4530s??
    i am thinking of buying it and need feedback on the keyboard and touch pad or any other issues u might have experienced
     
    SArsalan, Sep 22, 2012
    #2