HP ProBook 5330m Review Discussion

The HP ProBook line of business notebooks has always attempted the meet the needs of businesses and consumers alike. The new HP ProBook 5330m looks like the perfect solution if you want a powerful, aluminum-wrapped laptop for work and play but can't afford a MacBook Pro. Is it possible to find a lust-worthy business laptop for $899 or less? Keep reading to find out.

Read the full content of this Article: HP ProBook 5330m Review

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Probook 5330m


Titanium Powerbook G4

Anyone notice the similarities?

If the 5330m had bigger battery life, an extended battery, or a way to charge two batteries at once, I woulda had one instead of this MacBook Pro. Looks like a solid computer for the price.

 

Looks like a solid but not remarkable update to the 5310m/5320m - nice review Jerry.

The 5330m weighs a tad more than the 5310m probably because it includes a 6-cell battery. But otherwise, it has a backlit KB, eSATA - all things the original lacked. An upgrade all around.

And lol @ the Beats audio. I tested an HP ENVY notebook with them not long ago, they're hardly better than normal laptop speakers (given the amount of marketing that goes into them). HP used to use harman/kardon speakers a long time ago, those were implemented far better.

 

That's the same thing I was thinking. It's the tiBook reborn!

 

Just wait to for Apple to sue HP for patent infringement.

 

What? Don't you see the black screen bezel on the HP? It's a HUGE difference.

 

Wait a minute, this does not have a 6 cell. From HP's site, "Battery type: 4-cell (41 WHr) Li-Ion Polymer"

This is a bad typo on this review being that this is the Achilles heal of this machine. You probably won't get more then 4 hours battery life from this max. Otherwise, I probably would have bought this already, I really like this machine allot but the battery life is a deal killer. The one other question I have is if the headphone jack doubles as a microphone jack or does it lack one completely? Is there one by the web cam?

HP really needs to refresh this so it has a extended battery option and maybe redesign the speakers. Because of the lack of decent battery life, this pretty much kills it off for business use. And I doubt many will buy it for personal use. HP missed the mark on both accounts. I highly doubt they will sell many of these. But I still like the look of the 5330m allot.

I think the far cheaper refresh of the dm1 offers more, with bigger battery, longer battery life, nicer audio, dedicated mic/headphone jacks for half the price of this machine. Being HP killed this off completely for business use (4 cell battery) it can only remain viable for personal use at which the dm1 makes more sense.

 

Yeah if this thing had 7-8 hours of battery life it would be a HUGE winner. I was a huge fan of the TiBooks as my mom used it as her primary machine for 8 years for her law practice, just this summer she upgraded to a new MacBook Pro... but I might ask for it just because I adore the design so much.

I kind of like when companies bring back old designs and make them seem a little bit more modern.

 

I thought beats audio had to do with some improvements to the sound when listening through headphones, not to mention some software that suppose to enhance the overall sound. Or did I get it wrong?

 

Based on what I see, there's a beats logo on the speakers. If it only improves the headphones, that's kind of a joke - other brands offer good speakers (for a notebook, anyway) such as Toshiba with harman/kardon.

With the 5310m/5320m, you could get a 6-cell battery though; it's simply none of the configurations came with one standard. Additionally it did not sit flush with the notebook; rather it extended out the bottom and made the notebook bulkier.
I'm not sure if a 6-cell is available for the 5330m. It took a few months for it to become available on the previous models.

 

I was thinking Dell Inspiron circa 2006 with the white trim around the edges. That was ugly.

 

Dell's industrial designers for their consumer line have always been some of the worst in the industry, imo.

Even the old Dell XPS series that looked decent had some SERIOUS design flaws. Now the XPS line looks like a $500 consumer line... and even Dell's new Latitude line just looks god awful.

I have always appreciated Sony's higher end models, Apple, Thinkpad, and HP's business lineup when it comes to design... Currently studying industrial design now and if I ever make it into a big computer company those are the companies I would model some design aspects from while adding ideas of my own.

 

The difference is supposed to be more pronounced with headphones and external speakers. I definitely think Beats is overhyped.

 

I chatted with HP a few weeks back and a no go so far on a 6 six cell. This machine looks really nice and I am trying to talk myself into pulling the trigger. I can overlook the speaker weakness but the 4 cell kills it. Its really hard to find a business machine that has all the consumer stuff like web cam, hmdi, and beats audio etc.. and still have a strong chassis with matte screen. It just has that one achilles heal, the battery.

 

Someone looking for a small portable laptop, I don't know why you'd look outside either the X220 with the IPS or the MacBook Airs. Those are the best portables in my opinion. The X220 can be had for less than $900 if you know how to work the system.

 

I think HP/Monster(or is it Dre?) line of thought is, that most people come to expect laptop speakers aren't going to be the best so might as well improve sound through the headphone ports that what most people are going to use. I could be wrong. Can't say much about Harmon-Kardon on notebooks, but with my limited experience hearing them on a Land Rover, I must say I am impressed. But, that is a shame to hear they drop them and went with this marketing gimmick.

 

I'd say their E6400/E6410/E6500/E6510 though had excellent design. I'm typing on one right now, and there are flaws, but overall it's a very, very well designed laptop with beautiful angles. The flaws are the small touchpad on the 15" models, and the groove around the edge of the interior attracts dust. In fact, the whole finish attracts/shows dust really well.

 

I think that's a decent line of reasoning, but if that's HP's reasoning, the "beats audio" symbol should be next to the headphone jack instead of on the speakers.

Besides, onboard speakers can be pretty respectable. I've heard nothing but positive stuff about the XPS 15's onboard audio.

 

I wanted to clarify that for the most part, their consumer lineup is poorly designed, although most of the new models are god awful.

 

"Marketing gimmick" is a good way to describe it. Dr Dre/Monster/Beats is sustained on marketing alone, not quality. This isn't a strange concept of course, lots of companies do it. But buyers "in the know" can figure this out rather easily.

Also you would be surprised how many people rely on the internal speakers in their notebook alone.

But yeah, even the Altec Lansing speakers HP was using in its circa 2008-09 Pavilions were much better than the Beats.