HP B0N00AA Folio 13.3" Intel Core i5 Notebook

Stay more comfortable with HP CoolSense technology on the HP Folio 13-1020us. You control the cooling so heat is directed away from your lap. At less than 1-inch slim and under 4 pounds, this ultra-thin and ultra-fast notebook is designed to help you do everything without weighing you down.

And if you want to watch DVDs, pair your HP laptop with an external optical drive (sold separately) that can be plugged one of the USB ports. The Folio 13 is a clear evolution from HPs EliteBook lineup of professional offerings. While the Folio isnt intended to perform those same rigorous calculations, its definitely still aimed at the business user on the go, a point HP stresses several times in the promotional materials.

Of course, none of that will stop some eager consumers from jumping to order one, however, since the specifications and price point alone are enough to make any computer shopper stop and take a look. The Folio is thin. Not quite as thin as some notebooks weve seen, and when sat next to an 11-inch MacBook Air, it looks downright portly.

Looks can be deceiving, however, and when comparing the two machines directly in front of you, its easy to see just how wildly the MacBook Air tapers toward the edges in order to help maintain the illusion of mystique. The Folio, in contrast, tapers not a whit, jutting right out to its predefined edges. Now that we have covered how much the Folio looks like an EliteBook (and it should be mentioned here that this is not an attempt at criticism, as in fact the EliteBooks are some of the snazziest-looking pro-grade notebooks available).

Opening it up changes things a bit, with a black, backlit keyboard and solid back trackpad changing the overall look and feel. Like the new ENVY notebooks, the trackpad is disableable, and the keyboard has a quality backlighting feel - that sounds strange to say, but we mean that it does not bleed everywhere and blind you for having the audacity to use your notebook in the dark. For an ultrabook, the new Folio does pretty well with port selection, though it cant quite reach what Toshiba offers.

There are a total of two USB ports on the notebook, one of which is USB 3.0 SuperSpeed-capable. Other ports include an SD card slot, combination microphone and headphone jack, Gigabit Ethernet and HDMI video out. Still, those ports come at a cost - the HP Folio is thicker and heavier than wed really like.

For all that, it is a bit thicker and heavier, it is also sleeker than most of the current ultrabook competition. The display used in the Folio is a 13.3-inch, LED-backlit model. This screen offers users a resolution of 1366x768, putting it on par with all the other thin notebooks with the notable exception of Apples MacBook Air (which shows off a 1440x900 panel).