HP EliteBook 2730p First Look

The HP EliteBook 2730p is a nice Tablet PC. It has a solid chassis and a great design. I like the stainless steel look, it's very sleek. The 2730p is the update to the 2710p and has most of the same features. The 2730p has the upgraded 1.86GHz Core 2 Duo processor and a 80GB, 5400rpm hard drive though.

Design and Build

Right off the bat you notice the sleek appearance of this 12.1" tablet. I enjoyed taking it to my friend's houses because they were impressed with the design. I also like that the 2730p has both the pointing stick and a touchpad. Options are always nice.

It weighs in around 3.7lbs, so it feels lightweight. It is easy to carry in tablet mode and fun to take notes with. I am a fan of the pen. It is solid and writes like a real pen. HP has made the 2730p into a nice business tablet. Some users may want more ports, but it has the average variety, I do wish there was more then two USB ports.

Display

The 2730p has a12.1" Illumi-Lite, WXGA UWVA, anti-glare with digitizer display. The display is nice and clear. The colors are bold and vivid. The hinge is secure, so even in tablet mode the display is easy to read and locks into place. Taking notes was a breeze.

Keyboard/Touchpad/Pen

The keyboard is solid and has no signs of flex. It can be hard to read if your outside because the keys are silver just like the rest of the keyboard and casing.

The touchpad is nice and has double buttons. The touchpad is new to the 2730p because the 2710p only had the pointing stick. Well the 2730p has both options, which is nice for users because then they can choose.

As I mentioned earlier the pen that comes with the 2730p is great. It has a durable solid feel and is comfortable to write with. The pen has an eraser too and when I was taking notes I almost forgot I was writing on a tablet. That's a bonus.

Ports

Front of the 2730p

Left side of the 2730p

Right side of the 2730p

Back of the 2730p

Performance and Use

The 2730p is a peppy little tablet. I had no problems surfing the Web or doing my daily tasks like checking emails and writing documents. I didn't notice it having a problem running multiple applications either. The review unit I have not only has a 1.86GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 80GB hard drive, but it has 3GB RAM and nice wireless connectivity options.

The 2730p is a nice update to the 2710p processor and graphics wise. The touchpad is a nice addition to the pointing stick as well. I like having both. Taking notes was fun and easy, so was browsing the Internet. Although much of the ports and features are the same as the 2710p it is still a competitive tablet. It has even been compared to Lenovo's X200.

Stay tuned in the next few days for our full review of the 2730p, benchmarks and some comparison tests between it and the X200.

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