HP Elitebook 1040 Folio G1 Ultrabook: Durable, Secure, Powerful
“Thinner than a dime”, HP’s EliteBook 1040 Folio G1 is the company’s latest answer to business professionals seeking a lightweight and secure laptop. But this laptop has a lot of great hidden features. You can even watch me dump water on the machine and throw it down!
I am no stranger to HP laptops. I’ve had a few in my lifetime, including this G-60 that now sits behind me. Of course that was the day of laptops. Today, we live in the world of Ultrabooks – machines smaller and more powerful than ever before. Is it the best business laptop?
HP Elitebook Folio 1040 G1 Ultrabook – Thinner than a Dime
Measuring a maximum 1.59 cm at its widest, the G1 truly is thinner vertically than the diameter of a U.S dime. The scarcity of its profile is complemented by the laptop’s weight, clocking in at a mere 3.3 Lbs. Yet, the machine’s size doesn’t follow this trend, as the product still manages to boast a 14″ LED-backlit display with 1080p resolution. Perfect for some late-night movies.
In the speed department, the G1 has fairly hefty specs for a laptop of its size, this one boasting only 4 GB of DDR3 SDRAM, a 256 GB solid state drive, and an Intel® Core™ i5 processor.
It doesn’t mean you cannot get a beefier model if you need it. HP also has it as an i7-4650U with Intel HD Graphics 5000 running at 1.7 GHz.
The first week I got this machine, I had to go to New York. After a quick test I realized that even this machine can create the videos I needed to make out there. 5 minute interviews took 15-20 minutes to process.
The G1 takes the clutter away with a decreasing number of peripheral ports located on the base machine.The device comes with only two USB 3.0 SS ports, one including sleep-and-charge functionality.
Get the HP Elitebook 1040 Folio G1 from Amazon
Besides that, the machine comes with a micro-SD card slot – instead of a standard SD slot for the kinds of cards used in most digital cameras but perfect for those in an Android device. The G1 also comes with a DisplayPort adapter, AC power port, and a combined headphone/microphone port so you can use a smartphone headset for Skype calls. Finally, the machine is equipped with a “Smart Card” reader, NFC and a thumbprint reader used for security purposes in an Enterprise setting.
This slim selection of options might suggest more USB ports could have been added, however, it’s all about the organization that is INSIDE the machine to make it as small as it is. Additionally, this is meant for an Enterprise user trying to log into their Virtual Private Network without having to remember all their passwords.
HP does offer a few docking options if you use this more in a desktop setting. The only part that I was dispirited with was the additional adapter to connect Ethernet and VGA. After all, both of these options could be USB adapters instead of a proprietary cable.
By the way, for an additional $19, you can get the Display port to HDMI adapter for those HD presentations.
The G1 carries an excellent 6-cell Polymer Long Life battery, which will last up to 12 hours on a single charge. It also comes with standard wireless features such as 802.11a/b/g/n (2×2) WiFi and Bluetooth® 4.0.
In response to a possibly unfair bias that Windows 8 is less suitable in a business environment than Windows 7, the G1 ships with 64 bit Windows 7 installed on the machine, making it one of the few laptops on the market still offered with this as the primary operating system. At the same time, the product comes with an OEM license to install Windows 8 Pro.
As it is marketed to business professionals, the G1 does very well in its areas of specialty, which include lightness, durability, security, and novel computer features. For example, in place of a regular spring-based mousepad, the G1 comes with a pressure sensitive ‘TouchPad’ which responds to touch without tactile response. Along with Multi-touch features, you can move around this Elitebook like you would a tablet or smartphone.
The G1 business Ultrabook comes with a host of security features, such as a biometric authentication device (fingerprint reader), and TPM 1.2 Embedded Security Chip which works alongside HP’s rewritten BIOS software.
The Elitebook has HP encryption software to make sure nobody can read data even if the SSD was removed from the chassis. In fact, you can set this up so if someone connects a USB drive, they need to either verify with smart card, NFC, fingerprint, or pin number.
Add the Absolute Software package that comes inside the machine with the subscription – if you lose the Elitebook, you will be able to get it tracked, lock the data, or erase the machine remotely – from a company that has forensic specialists that have even brought back devices that have been shipped overseas after they’ve been stolen.
Now, with all that, let’s talk durability. This machine was tested and proven to withstand extreme conditions, such as high and low temperatures, dust, humidity, and shock from being dropped.
You could be in the desert, down in the freezer, in a manufacturing warehouse where computers become dirt magnets, or just accidentally drop this machine while you are running from emergency to emergency and still have it functional.
The spill proof keyboard feature also helps if that morning cup of coffee accidentally gets dropped on the machine.
This is a great secure Ultrabook for the IT professional, or someone that works in a high-security environment. The machine can be set up to lock everything down if stolen and keep you working in some really tough environments.
A good business laptop that has a starting price tag of $1,299. Like I said, I wished there were a few different options in the SD card, attachment dongle or HDMI port. But the power outweighs those issues.
For more information, check out the HP Elitebook Website
Want More information about the Elitebook 1040 G1? Check out my other friend’s reviews:
- John Obeto from AbsolutelyWindows
- Jake Luddington of Delighted Robot
- Hector Russo of GeeksRoom (Spanish Website)
- Ernesto Pellegrino of 1CloudRoad
- Judie Stanford of GearDiary
- Helena Stone of ChipChick