For business folk who can afford to splurge on their office ultrabook, the HP EliteBook Folio 1040 G1 is definitely a sleek, sublime laptop worthy of their consideration. It's slightly more bright and cheery compared to the regular dull and dreary business laptop, which is nice to see. It has a silver aluminium screen cover which exudes premium elegance on touch. Small charging adapter and cable accompaniment are included in its package.
Contrary to most conventional laptops, but a trend popularized by ultrabooks and hybrids, the HP Elitebook Folio 1040 G1 has a single-slab back panel with a large grille in the centre for heat dissipation. You can't easily replace its battery, nor its internal peripherals like RAM, SSD, etc, without having to take off its entire panel. But on the other hand, the panel has a nice rubberized feel and rubber stoppers to hold it in place on pretty much most surfaces, which is nice.
Prop it open, and the HP Elitebook Folio 1040 G1 starts to look like any other business laptop. It has a 14-inch anti-glare screen (no touchscreen here, sorry) and chiclet-styled isolated keys that are nice to type on and a pretty large touchpad area. Also, there's a fingerprint sensor on the right edge of the palmrest for security and quick login.
For internal hardware, the HP Elitebook Folio 1040 G1 comes with an Intel Core i7 4600U CPU, 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD, and onboard Intel HD 4400 graphics. The SSD and Core i7 chip really help the Folio to get off the blocks at near lightning speeds, which is expected at its price point which is about a lakh rupees.
What's great about the HP Elitebook Folio 1040 G1 business ultrabook is its slim design and light weight. It weighs only 1.46 kg, which is a feather in its cap, and despite its petite frame, the business ultrabook is very well built. Jetsetters can take it on a flight or executives can use it in a boardroom with equal amount of class.
On the left edge of this thin business ultrabook, the HP Elitebook Folio 1040 G1 has the following connectivity options = a Kensington lock port, heat vent, USB 3.0, microSD card slot, and a SmartCard reader (just like the one found on the HP ProBook 640 G1), which is great from a business use case scenario.
On the right edge of the HP Elitebook Folio 1040 G1 business ultrabook, there's a SIM card slot, 2-in-1 microphone-headphone 3.5mm hack, USB 3.0 port, DisplayPort, and a side docking port through which you can addon a VGA or Ethernet port, if required.