HP EliteBook 2760p Review

HP EliteBook 2760p

Review Summary:

The HP EliteBook 2760p is an excellent addition to the convertible market, and certainly worth considering for anyone interested in a powerful and well-built machine.

Pros

• Excellent performance
• Great speakers for video conferencing
• Tough build

Cons

• No USB 3.0
• Display lid won’t close fully when in tablet mode

HP EliteBook 2760p Full Review

 

Those in the market for a business-class convertible laptop have a new and powerful option in the new HP EliteBook 2760p. The 12.1-inch pen- and touch-enabled tablet sports Intel’s second generation chipset, better known as Sandy Bridge. We’ve seen the performance boost the new Intel chips bring to tablets and notebooks, so in terms of benchmarks, the EliteBook 2760p should blow away the competition from 2010. 

The new EliteBook also promises to be more than speedy. HP claims the 2760p meets military standards (810G) for drop, vibration, dust, temperature, shock, altitude and high temperature. That doesn’t mean the new EliteBook is a rugged tablet, but it does mean it should easily shrug off the wear and tear of everyday business use. 

With a base price of $1,599, users have the right to expect a quality build and superb performance. Does the EliteBook 2760p live up to its promise?

BUILD & DESIGN

EliteBooks have a reputation for toughness, and the 2760p is no different. At a glance, it resembles last year’s model, the HP EliteBook 2740p, complete with the same silver and black color scheme. HP refers to the chassis as a magnesium-aluminum hybrid as it features both materials. The magnesium elements include the back of the display and bottom, while the brushed aluminum can be found surrounding the keyboard and touchpad, as well as on the sturdy display hinge.

The black bottom half is slightly rubberized and easy to grip. The display panel is also grip friendly, with a segmented chunk of the back sporting a slighter coarser grain than the border. The aforementioned screen hinge protrudes slightly from the rear of the device, but not enough to function as a comfortable grip point. 

The display rotates 180-degrees to the right and folds back over the keyboard to engage its tablet mode. One slight design flaw is that while the display snaps into place, there is a small amount of space between the keyboard and the screen’s back panel. It should be flush and the 2760p should function as one solid unit when in tablet mode, instead the display slightly “bounces” when pressed.

Overall, the 2760p feels solid, and though I didn’t test it, I gather it can withstand a few drops. In fact, HP claims it was tested to withstand 26 drops from 30 inches. The body displays very little creak or flex when stressed, with only the screen panel lid giving in slightly when pressed.

 

Turn the EliteBook 2760p over and you’ll see a flush battery and large access panel secured with three screws, which remain attached when the panel is removed. Underneath is the hard drive, RAM slot, and the Wi-Fi and WAN card. My review unit only had one accessible RAM slot, though there is another, factory-set RAM slot under the keyboad. Access is easy (though one screw securing the hard drive case was extremely tough to budge). Those looking to upgrade shouldn’t have any issues. In addition, the attached screws are a nice touch considering they are very small and easy to lose.

Ports and FeaturesThe HP EliteBook 2760p has a similar port selection as the 2740p, which was fine in 2010, but a bit disappointing in 2011. While all the standard inputs are there, the most glaring omission is USB 3.0, which is nowhere to be found on the device.

Front: Power switch, indicator lights, speakers, display release switch
Display: Antenna

Rear: AC-power, LAN, VGA Out Display: Scroll knob, esc button, orientation button, ctrl+alt+del button 

Left: Pen slot, fan, SD/MMC card slot, ExpressCard/34 slot, wireless switch, 1394a port, USB 2.0 charging port 
 

Right: Browser quick launch button, 3.5mm headphone/microphone jack, SmartCard reader, USB 2.0 ports x2, modem, security lock slotDisplay: Fingerprint scanner  

There are a few features on the 2760 display, including a pop-out wireless antenna extender, scroll knob for navigating and selecting items in Windows, esc button, orientation button, fingerprint scanner and a recessed ctrl+alt+del button that requires a pin or paperclip to push. Also, atop the display sits a small pop-out reading light that illuminates the keyboard. It’s a great feature for planes, and a good alternative to a backlit keyboard.

The only issue present with the display features is that there is no indication on the front of the display as to the location of the fingerprint scanner. I know it’s on the right and toward the bottom, but too often I found myself swiping blindly at the panel. I suppose I could have placed a little sticker on the display myself, but it’s still a small oversight on HP’s part.

That said, the fingerprint scanner was a breeze to set up and it was very responsive, often requiring one quick and correctly placed swipe to register.

HP also offers a thin optical drive expansion base that seems to be the same offered for the 2740p. With it comes a VGA port, Ethernet port, eSATA, USB 2.0 x 3, DisplayPort, audio in, audio out, power connector, notebook lock slot, and an optical drive.

Our review unit of the HP EliteBook 2760p features the following specifications:

• Intel Core i5-2540M (2.60 GHz, 3 MB L3 cache)
• Windows 7 Professional (64-bit)
• 12.1-inch diagonal LED-backlit WXGA UWVA, pen and touch (1280 x 800)
• Intel HD Graphics 3000
• 4GB DDR3 (1333MHz) RAM, two slots (one accessible)
• 320GB 7200 rpm SATA II
• Intel Centrino 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR
• HD webcam
• Fingerprint reader
• 3 USB 2.0 port (one charging), VGA, 1394a, 3.5mm, SD/MMC, Express Card 3/4, Smart Card
• 6-cell (44 WHr) li-ion, optional slice battery
• Dimensions: 11.42 x 8.35 x 1.27 inches (W x D x H)
• Weight: starting at 3.97 lbs
• Price as configured with expansion base: $1,749

Display and Speakers
The HP EliteBook 2760p has a 12.1-inch LED backlit WXGA ultra-wide viewing angle (1280 x 800) anti-glare display. It supports up to two touch inputs and the Wacom pen that ships with the device. The familiar screen haze found on convertibles is definitely present and the screen is not incredibly bright. Still, I found it useable outdoors at certain angles with the sun beating down thanks to the anti-glare. However, with the screen simply not being especially bright, prolonged use outside will probably cause eye strain. An optional outdoor view display is available, which I assume makes sunny day operation a bit more pleasant.

As for colors and contrast, the 2760p display has a very apparent red tone that’s especially evident when viewing white webpages and blank office docs. The contrast levels are superb however, complete with deep blacks. Viewing angles are also very good, topping off at approximately 80-degrees. There is a 15- to 20-degree sweet spot, and then a dip in brightness and contrast mostly caused by the screen’s reflections. Even at severe angles, the colors never invert.

I found the Wacom pen to be extremely accurate without calibration, and even more so afterwards. It will register with the EliteBook when hovering a few centimeters above the display and has a slight pressure sensitivity. In addition, it flows very nicely when inking, with the screen offering just the right amount of friction. The pen top can function as an eraser where supported and the pen has one long button that can function in various capacities. The HP EliteBook also supports flicks for navigation and editing.

Touch input was also sensitive, but difficult due to the level of precision required navigating Windows 7. Unlike other Windows 7 tablet PC makers, HP did not include any touch-friendly utilities to make the icons larger, and that's no big loss. Those skins typically feel tacked on and are mostly ineffective. Besides, it’s still possible to get around with just a fingertip, and the EliteBook 2760p supports common two-finger gestures.

It seems like HP paid special attention to boosting the speaker performance for this EliteBook refresh. The 2760p still has the front-mounted speakers like its predecessor, but HP added some additional sound controls, including an equalizer and presets. As a result, the sound output is some of the best we’ve heard on this class of device, and the speakers output enough decibels to fill a large conference room with clear audio. The fidelity is still not up to multi-media notebook standards, and can get a bit garbled at high volumes, but the overall speaker performance is perfect for all forms of video chat.

Keyboard and TouchpadThe EliteBook 2760p has an 84-key keyboard with the same black on grey color scheme. The keys are large, flat and square with a thin and recessed border, and they closely resemble the Chiclet style with only a little space in between. Ultimately, keyboards are a matter of preference, and I happen to prefer Chiclet keys to the curved alternative, so typing felt natural and comfortable.

The keys on the top row are only about 40% the size of the letter keys, and that’s fine for the often-unused function keys, but I find myself often relying on the page up, page down, and delete keys, which are also found in that row, and I wish they were a bit larger.

I have no complaints about the keyboard’s performance, as the keys offer a short stroke and slightly audible click when pressed. If the EliteBook 2760p failed to register a press in the three weeks I’ve been using it, I didn’t notice. The keyboard is also very solid, with minimal bounce present only on the left side, which is only apparent if you are looking for it. Most users won’t notice it in day-to-day use. Unfortunately, some of the keys are a bit too loose for my liking and I fear they may pop off after a short while. Also, though HP describes the keyboard as spill resistant, the space between them is just large enough for crumbs and dust to infiltrate the keyboard underbelly. 

The small and very rectangular touchpad underneath the keyboard supports standard two-finger gestures like pinch-to-zoom and the double-finger swipe, and has a comfortable sensitivity level out of the box. However, it’s a little small. There is also an accurate and responsive pointing stick in the middle of the keyboard, and both have rubberized right and left buttons. Both sets of buttons feel great and are a pleasure to press.

PERFORMANCE

Our EliteBook 2760p review unit came with a second-generation Intel Core i5-2540M (2.60 GHz, 3MB L3 cache) processor, and a Core i7 is available as an optional upgrade. This is the second convertible we’ve tested with an Intel Sandy Bridge processor, and we are still blown away by the performance. You’ll notice our EliteBook configuration bests the Lenovo X220 Tablet we tested earlier in the year in some of the benchmarks, but that probably has something to do with the faster hard drive (7200 rpm) in the EliteBook Review unit.

3DMark06 measures gaming performance (higher scores mean better performance):

PCMark05 measures overall system performance (higher scores mean better performance):

wPrime processor comparison results (lower scores mean better performance):

CrystalDiskMark storage drive performance test:

All EliteBook configurations have Intel HD Graphics 3000, which will have no trouble running many older games and some new ones at lower settings.

Heat and NoiseThe minute I started running the benchmark software, the fan kicked in, which is not uncommon, especially when testing graphics performance. The good news is that the fan is extremely quiet, and the 2760p remains remarkably cool during everyday use. I could feel the warm air being forced from the left side, but the keyboard or notebook bottom never rose to temperature levels I would describe as uncomfortable. If you want to wear short shorts and run benchmarks with the laptop on your exposed thighs, you won’t suffer any burns from the 2760p.

However, should you choose to really tax the 2760p, the temps can reach 98-degrees Fahrenheit, but I only saw that after running successive benchmarks and never during actual use.

Temperatures measured in degrees Fahrenheit

BatteryThe HP EliteBook 2760p performed very well in our battery tests, which involve setting the screen to 70% brightness, turning Wi-Fi on, setting Windows 7 power to “balanced” and reloading the same web page every 60 seconds. It lasted 4 hours and 50 minutes. HP also offers a thin battery slice that adds  includes a pass-through for the aforementioned optical drive base, and that upped the battery life to 11 hours and 20 minutes.

CONCLUSION

The HP EliteBook 2760p is an excellent addition to the convertible market, and certainly worth considering for anyone interested in a powerful and well-built machine. We are really impressed by how well it handled day-to-day tasks in addition to our strenious benchmarks, and the build quality suggests it will keep on computing well into the future. I wish HP would have included an extra RAM slot, and the lack of a USB 3.0 port is disappointing. But still, the great speakers are a pleasant and welcome surprise. 

Before the EliteBook launch, the Lenovo X220 Tablet was the best convertible available. Both are now neck and neck. Which model you choose, HP’s or Lenovo’s, really depends on personal preference surrounding screen size and design choices.

Pros Excellent performance Great speakers for videoconferencing Tough build

Cons No USB 3.0 Display lid won’t close fully when in tablet mode