I went from a 17" Dell to a 15.6" Toshiba then to this 14" HP ProBook 4430S with i5 processor & 4 Gb of RAM. I think 14" is really the ideal laptop size, way more comfortable to carry around than 15.6 or 17 and still easy on the eyes. I played with a 11 inch Ultrabook one day & squinted the whole time, very hard on the eyes.HP has done a fantastic job with this laptop in terms of software stability. My Dell & Toshiba always had occasional freeze-ups & consequently required reboot and lost data.
Aluminum panels with a matte/brushed finish is a huge improvement over plastic panels; no squeaks & doesn't flex when you grab it.
This laptop is well "prioritized", upon boot up it immediately connects to Wi-Fi or Wireless Networks. It is definitely a working man's laptop, not a toy that's designed to impress.
Finger print scanner is a bonus, but in my opinion a waste of money. I was under the impression that one simply swipes his finger across the scanner then it unlocks. Wrong, you have to run your "pre-programmed" finger across the scanner at least twice before computer unlocks.
You have the choice to turn it off & use the standard Windows log-on which I highly recommend because the scanner software is bundled w/ HP Security bundle. If you activate it, the boot-up time increases 8-10 seconds, and you must make one of three choices before proceeding: (1) Password (2) Finger Print Scanner (3) Facial Recognition. Pain in the rear end for those of us just want to sign in & goes to work.
Windows Experience Score is only 4.7 & it is mostly due to the mediocre video card. I upgraded my RAM to 8 Gb to help offset its deficiency but honestly I don't think that's an issue unless you are a hardcore gamer. Keep in mind Windows Exp Score is calculated based on the lowest performing component, not an average. So don't get discouraged because the processor, memory, HD, software, OS all work very well.
Battery life is dissapointing: HP claims 6 hours, I average 3.5 4 hrs tops, based on a combination of web surfing, typing & some videos on Youtube. Speakers for some reason have better "vocal" clarity than the Dell & Toshiba.
Would I buy another? you bet. It does everything well and is build well. But if you plan on playing video games, I'd recommend that you step up to HP Elitebook with dedicated video memory, it'll do a better job at gaming.
Cons: It does not come with any Back-up/Driver/Windows disks. You'll have to create the disks yourself by going to the HP Recovery Partition (E-drive), takes 3 blank DVDs. If you don't feel like going thru the hassle, my advice is don't get any virus !! Leave the Firewall ON, download Window's Security Essentials & keep the virus definition updated & you'll be fine.
Side note: Don't ever buy a laptop/PC based on its processor speed alone. A slower processor(say a 2.5 GHZ) w/higher voltage & more cache will perform better & more "stable" than a faster processor w/lower voltage & lesser cache. So do your home work, dig-in a little deeper before getting sold on all the bells & whistles.
i upgraded this to 8gb ram maximum and i thought it would be able to play gta iv but gta iv needs 256mb dedicated ram and this laptop only has 64mb dedicated ram. this is a great laptop but i just wish it can play gta iv i bought gta iv 3 years ago but it didnt work on my old laptop and i needed a new one so i just bought this. it is a great laptop i am using it to write this review i ordered it sunday it came today (friday) it is better with a 4gb ram upgrade which i did before i even booted the laptop up the webcam is also great
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Just like the one i use for work, almost, but quite solid and reliable. If you prefer HP, this is indubitably one of their best.Read Best Reviews of HP ProBook 14" Core i5 500GB HDD Notebook Here
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