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Battery Life and Wireless
The HP PowerBook 4530s' 6-cell battery lasted 4 hours and 53 minutes on the HSTNN-LB2R LAPTOP Battery Test (web surfing via Wi-Fi). While that's a half hour longer than what we see from mainstream machines, the Tecra R850 (6:34) and the ThinkPad Edge E420s (6:41) both lasted much longer. To be fair, the latter notebook is a 14-inch system. An extended nine-cell battery for the 4530s costs $59.
Using an Atheros AR9285 Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n radio, the PowerBook 4530s turned in good wireless performance. It offered 36 Mbps at 15 feet away from our test router and 21.5 Mbps at 50 feet, nearly identical to the mainstream laptop averages (36.2 Mbps/21.7 Mbps). The 4530s also comes with Bluetooth 3.0, which allows pairing with hands-free Bluetooth headsets and speakers.
Case
Equally at home in the conference room, living room, and the coffee shop, the HP ProBook 4530s is the most attractive notebook in its class. Its sturdy lid and interior are crafted from brushed aluminium with metallic gray accents, which HP calls deeply anodized. The screen is framed by dark-black plastic and swings open (and down) on silver drop hinges. A long perforated metal speaker grille runs across the deck above the notebook's black keyboard. The underside of the laptop is made from simple black-hued plastic. Overall it's an elegant look. The ProBook 4530s lacks some of the advanced durability enhancements of its corporate sibling, the HP EliteBook 8460p, such as a rubber ring around the screen and a magnesium base. It does, however, feature a similar spill-resistant keyboard and number pad. The Asus P53E-SO102X and the Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E535 can't quite compete here with their fully plastic cases. The ProBook 4530s' case appears well made.
With a wide rectangular frame that sits high on rubber nubs, the ProBook 4530s weighs 5.6 pounds and measures 14.8 x 10.1 x 1.1 inches. Slightly heavier than the Toshiba Tecra R850 (5.4 pounds), it isn't easy to carry on long trips, but transporting it from room to room won't prove difficult.
Connectivity
The interfaces are similar to the already tested Probook-4530s-Model. Unfortunately the fingerprint reader is missing here. The comparison with the ThinkPad Edge E535 and the Asus Pro P53E-SO102X looks good for the ProBook. With the Asus notebook you are stuck without USB 3.0 or an Express Card reader. The Edge E535 does come with three USB 3.0 ports; although it is still missing an Express Card slot.
Keyboard and Touchpad
Thanks to its wide-body design, the ProBook 4530s boasts a vast keyboard complete with a number pad on the right side. Its black chiclet-style keys are slightly concave, click softly, offer deep travel, and provide comfortable feedback. The arrow keys right next to the number pad often caused us to press "0" instead of the right arrow button, though.
The large, 3.6 x 2.1-inch touchpad on the ProBook 4530s provides a nice balance of friction and glide. Made by Synaptics, the pad is correctly placed below the G and H keys and supports multitouch gestures such as three-finger swiping, pinch-to-zoom, and object rotation, all of which worked well. That said, two-finger scrolling through documents felt jumpy at times, and you can't adjust this feature's sensitivity. We do like the two discrete left and right mouse buttons, which clicked with authority without feeling stiff.
Display
The basic specifications of the display have not changed from the already tested ProBook 4530s model. It comes with a matte 15.6-inch display. This uses a native resolution of 1366x768 pixels and is illuminated by LEDs. Other display options are not available. The average brightness of 239.7 cd/m² (X-Rite i1 Pro 2) is clearly above its predecessor (186 cd/m²). The Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E535 is even brighter with 259 cd/m², and the Asus Pro P53E-SO102X falls far behind the others with 165.2 cd/m. (HP ED494AA adapters)
With a black level of 0.58 cd/m² and a contrast of 436:1 the display of the ProBook 4530s leaves its competition far behind. The ThinkPad Edge E535 delivered very poor scores (2.24 cd/m², 123:1). The Asus Pro P53E-SO102X (0.96 cd/m², 173:1) was also not able to get close to the good scores of the ProBook 4530s. The color range sRGB and AdobeRGB are not successfully reached by the display.
While running on battery power the display reaches a maximum brightness of only 190 cd/m². This value does limit outdoor use. Overall the display profits from its matte surface and good contrast ratio, meaning use in the shade is possible.
The drawback of the display is the usual problem with cheaper notebooks, limited viewing angles. Moving the vertical angle of the display results in a quick break down of the image. The horizontal viewing angle appears more generously sized.
Heat
Under stress, the HP ProBook 4530s kept its cool. After playing a Hulu video for 15 minutes, we recorded temperatures of 91 degrees at the touchpad, 86 degrees at the keyboard center, and 82 degrees underneath the laptop. These readings never reached what we consider too hot to handle (95 degrees) and were below the typical mainstream notebook's temperatures.
Speakers
The stereo speakers of the notebook are placed above the keyboard and behind a perforated cover. The imprinted logo 'SRS Premium Sound' promises more than the speakers can live up to. They produce a full bodied sound, but lack any bass. For an office device the speakers are more than sufficient enough. A better sound result can be found through the use of headphones or external speakers.
Verdict
Some of the positive features of the HP ProBook 4530s include the great case, the bright and high contrast display, the comfortable keyboard and good application performance. These features alone show this is a good notebook. The current price level makes this notebook even more interesting. Anyone who takes advantage of the current Cash Back offers will get a good notebook with a two year Collect and Return warranty and a Windows 8 upgrade for just 398 Euros (~$518). The biggest drawback of the notebook is the constantly audible fan. Anyone who finds constant fan noise annoying should probably stay away from this notebook.
The competition here, the Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E535 and the Asus Pro P53E-SO102X, are also good notebooks. The current price of the ProBook 4530s makes it a better deal. The ThinkPad is worth a closer look at when you want a quiet working notebook. The Asus notebook is better for people who want the longest battery life possible.
More info: laptop-batteries.com.au , laptop-battery.org.uk , battery-store.eu
