HP EliteBook 8560p Review Discussion

The HP EliteBook 8560p is the latest generation of 15-inch premium business notebooks from Hewlett-Packard. This aluminum-clad workhorse is designed to serve as a mobile desktop replacement for business professionals who need cutting-edge technology wrapped inside a durable shell. Keep reading to find out if the new EliteBook is as "elite" as it looks.

Read the full content of this Article: HP EliteBook 8560p Review

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To be honest, I just can't get past the ugliness of HP and Dell laptops these days, even if they borrow their designs from Apple. Even though I'm someone that prefers function over form, I just don't think I could stand to work and stare at such laptops all day. I'm sorry, but I fail to see how shiny aluminum with glossy cheap plastic looks "elite".

 

I actually rather like the new Elitebooks--they have a more uniform and cohesive look (glad they dropped the flashy touch-buttons) than the previous generation. I like the darker metal panels of the w-series Elitebooks more, though.

And a serial port? Now that's something I haven't seen in years

 

Did the offset keyboard bother you at all? They seem to be more common now that the 15" laptops are 16:9 and thus can include a touchpad.

 

I think they look fine, too. Although, I would have liked different font on keyboard.

 

Nice review as always, Jerry.

HP dropped the ball with the new EliteBooks, IMO. The new ones look much more like consumer notebooks (not in a good way - like toys). The 8560p's predecessor, the 8540p, had a much more business-like and interesting design. These look like upgraded HP G-series budget consumer notebooks, even if they feel like tanks.

Also, no center touchpad button ... that is disappointing considering the old ones had it. And still no backlit keyboard option (they can make up all the excuses they want - competitors offer it). And no apparent improvements/innovations in other areas from reading your review.

Moving sideways and slightly backwards, HP ... please do better next time kthanks.

 

Charles,

As usual, your comments and my thoughts are pretty much in line with one another. That said, I can't complain too much about the overall look/design being a bit more consumer is appearance.

Honestly, most notebook manufacturers are moving at least "some" of their business notebooks into designs that have more consumer appeal (Dell Latitude Z, Lenovo ThinkPad X1, the entire HP ProBook line, etc.) because many companies (and existing customer feedback) are telling the manufacturers to make business notebooks more attractive/appealing to end users.

The trick is taking the best elements of consumer notebooks (such as clean, visually appealing lines) and not sacrificing things that are important to business like performance.

I'm sure HP will argue that they offer the Workstation-class EliteBooks with better graphics, and that's fair, but I have to acknowledge that the top-end graphics in this year's EliteBook p-series doesn't technically provide as much power as the graphics in the previous generation of p-series notebooks.

 

Hi Jerry,

Does it have a working SATA III interface? Or is it limited to SATA II?

 

I think the new Elitebooks looks really ugly, they have choosen a design from the 80's, bye bye HP.

And also they are thick like a brick, come on, who designed this at HP?

 

I happen to own one of these and I must say that I have been very satisfied with it thus far. It is very sturdy, the keyboard and trackpad are very nice indeed, and in terms of raw function ability I have absolutely no complaints. For me not having a backlit keyboard is not an issue. I have never used a middle mouse button on any machine I have ever used (desktop or laptop) so it's not being present is not an issue for me either.

The main thing I dislike about the machine is how the designed the lower half (something echoed by other owners of this in the 8560p owner's lounge thread). They angled the lower half of the laptop base in, and then put a few things on that angle, like the optical drive and the sd card slot, for example. It makes it very inconvenient to use these.

All in all I really like the machine, but I think the designers could have made it a little more convenient.

 

Yeah. Consumer notebooks and business notebooks are coming together more, you are spot on with that analysis. The image of a "work" machine is changing.

As long as business notebooks don't lose the features that make them business notebooks - better warranties/support line, sturdier chassis, extended battery options, docking solutions, advanced management capabilities, Smartcard readers, to name a few - then all else can be forgiven within reason.

 

I think it looks great, but I wonder why the full HP option is not available, when it clearly states in the specs that it exists, at least in the Danish link:

39,6 cm (15,6") (diagonalt) LED-belyst HD refleksfri
39,6 cm (15,6") (diagonalt) LED-belyst HD+ WVA refleksfri
39,6 cm (15,6") (diagonalt) LED-belyst FHD WVA refleksfri

HP EliteBook 8560p bærbar computer specifikationer - HP Små og mellemstore virksomheder produkter

 

I am the sort of person who would be in the market for this sort of computer if I didn't already own this sort of computer. So far I don't mind the design but the lack of a center button with the pointer stick does suck. My older Latitude doesn't have the center button while my current Precision and my Lenovo both have it. I've become very used to using the track stick to scroll. When I try using my older Latitude I really miss that center button. The serial port is almost certainly customer demand from companies that program hardware. While RS232 is dead on consumer PCs it lives on in real time hardware such as robotics and automation. The ability to interface with such systems is useless to most buyers but probably gives HP a unique edge in the business market since most companies don't have that feature.

 

Pointer stick? Never used it, in any case, I'm waiting for the 8560w with IPS screen, that's for sure the best option for me

 

My thoughts exactly!

 

I used it some with my Dells but I'm really getting used to it with my Lenovo. I think the Lenovo version just seems to work much better than that of the Dell. It's really nice to keep your hands on the keys while using the "mouse".

 

On the topic of the pointing stick

HP pointer stick is okay if my 2510p is anything like the 8560. I would say that the Thinkpad trackpoint is noticeably better though. I think that the lack of the middle button was a bad decision though by HP.

 

Lack of the middle mouse button is probably a strategic decision rather a bad decision, to sell more W series.

 

The keyboard is very robust (in a good way), but the layout could have been better:
- the left enter key is a bit too slim
- arrow keys are too small and weirdly positioned
- ins/del/home/end/pg up/pg dn are difficult to find (but that may me be, i'm not used to a laptop with a numeric keypad)

The popout led is okay to me although it's not very bright. A backlighted keyboard would of course have been better.

Opening the dvd drive is very difficult! I cannot do that blindly and have to turn the laptop to look for the eject button.

Besides of that no complaints.

 

Reading your discussion about the absence of the middle button, let me just say that you can use two-finger scrolling on the touchpad to move up and down the screen.

I just got today this laptop, a little bit disappointed with the feeling of the keys and the overall weight. For the time being I feel happy that I will use it via the docking station.

Although the touchpad seemed a little bit too much skewed to the left, as I am typing these lines I realize that it provides sufficient space (and at the right location) to support the wrists while typing.

Since I only have it for a few hours I cannot comment on the battery life yet.

 

They do look nice but dont they look like their envy line.

 

I personally prefer the circular scrolling for touchpads, but that isn't the point. The middle mouse button + trackpoint makes life easier as its far superior to any touchpad scrolling solution imho.

I don't see why they couldn't have included it. I think the price difference would be very small and there obviously is enough space for one. I don't think its required to divide product lines either.

 

It's almost useless to add to this thread in 2013 but I can't help feeling that the screen, keyboard and touchpad of the old 8430 were better than the ones of this newer pc. It was 1680x1050px, three buttons touchpad + three buttons trackpoint, plus the touchpad and the keyboard were aligned with the center of the screen. HP went backwards and after two years didn't do any better.

 

I'm sure that 1920x1080 is more pixels than 1680x1050. But the other stuff isn't all that bad (except for the lack of a middle-click button, something I found lacking in the 8570p).