HP Elitebook x360 1030 review: Small tweaks made to a stylish work 2-in-1

HP made the already solid business two-in-one better, but it's mostly familiar.

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[meelahi]

Type-C charging on the pen? Is this a dream?

 

[Deleted member 330960]

I've read people here report coil whine with their elitebooks. Any experience with this or lack there of? Pretty sure it should exist right from the start and it does depend on usage scenario.

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Business- ... -p/6581181

 

[Legatum_of_Kain]

Totally forgivable flaws for most of my use cases. If the loud fans make it so that the throttling is minimized, I’ll take this over certain Thinkpads, just because of the stylus.

Damn you HP, you keep making good laptops, just make sure you keep the bloatware away.

 

[mashdar]

Am I alone in thinking 1920x1080 is anemic for this price point (>$2000)?

edit: I know there's an upgade option, but I would be bummed if my office didn't take it.

 

[jeamland]

Am I the only one who wondered why Microsoft wasn't complaining about the xpad 360 name being too close to the xbox 360?

 

[Mitlov]

Am I alone in thinking 1920x1080 is anemic for this price point (>$2000)?

edit: I know there's an upgade option, but I would be bummed if my office didn't take it.

I would buy this with 1080p instead of higher, because 1080p is all the sharpness I need/want for a 13" laptop screen, and more pixels mean less battery life. Resolution, unlike RAM, isn't a more-is-always-better situation.

 

[MD107139133334]

Am I the only one who wondered why Microsoft wasn't complaining about the xpad 360 name being too close to the xbox 360?

I think the trademark wouldn't apply given a trackpad and a game console aren't likely to get confused.

 

[Mitlov]

I'm happy that HP kept one of the two Type-A ports because all users (and their workplaces) haven't made the switch to USB-C yet.

This is actually a really big deal because I routinely--on a weekly if not daily basis--get handed thumb drives full of documents. Thumb drives are still an industry-standard way of exchanging documents in the practice of law. And thumb drives are all USB-A. With an XPS 13 or Spectre Folio, I'd have to carry a dongle with me everywhere. With this, I wouldn't.

 

[Deleted member 330960]

I'm happy that HP kept one of the two Type-A ports because all users (and their workplaces) haven't made the switch to USB-C yet.

This is actually a really big deal because I routinely--on a weekly if not daily basis--get handed thumb drives full of documents. Thumb drives are still an industry-standard way of exchanging documents in the practice of law. And thumb drives are all USB-A. With an XPS 13 or Spectre Folio, I'd have to carry a dongle with me everywhere. With this, I wouldn't.

You aren't legally required to email and archive it on the server? That's weird.

 

[nahlers]

"Nevertheless, it will accompany the 400 nit and 700 nit brightness maximums of those panels well. "

It is really unclear which two panels you are talking about here. I originally thought you meant the FHD and UHD panels, but the next sentence in the article makes clear you weren't talking about the UHD panel. So I guess you meant the FHD panel with and without HP's SureView technology. But which panel has the higher brightness? Are there any other differences between these twp panels?

 

[pjcamp]

HP's power supplies are utter dreck. Every HP I've ever owned, and there have been plenty, has died in a year, in every case from a fried power supply. When my wife's went out, I did a little investigating and found that HP was running the power supply at better than 90% capacity. That's brain damaged. If it runs at that load on a regular basis, it is guaranteed to have a short and miserable life.

You won't fool me again, HP. You're like Apple. The surface looks good but the guts are dystopic.

 

[nehinks]

Thanks for mentioning that anti-glare exists even if it's not standard. HP seems to have it available less often than Dell in my limited experience. Is there an upcharge for it? [I would take issue with it being primarily a work outside issue though - I find it more of a problem inside where I don't want a mirror reflecting lights behind me (or my face for that matter). Kinda drives me crazy having to adjust the exact angle of the screen so I can read/see something beneath glare.]

 

[Statistical]

HP's power supplies are utter dreck. Every HP I've ever owned, and there have been plenty, has died in a year, in every case from a fried power supply. When my wife's went out, I did a little investigating and found that HP was running the power supply at better than 90% capacity. That's brain damaged. If it runs at that load on a regular basis, it is guaranteed to have a short and miserable life.

You won't fool me again, HP. You're like Apple. The surface looks good but the guts are dystopic.

1) Running a modern powersupply at 90% of capacity is a non-issue

2) Then you should be happy the x360 is powered by usb pd so you can use any usb-c charger.

 

[BigDragon]

Does the 4K screen provide a pen accuracy boost?

1080 seems ideal in the 13.3" screen size. I'm not sure that I'd want such a small 4K display. However, an increase in PPI should necessitate an equivalent increase in pen accuracy. I'm not looking to replace my 2-in-1 for another couple years, but I love how tilt support and higher pressure levels are becoming increasingly common on tablet pens!

 

[Mitlov]

I'm happy that HP kept one of the two Type-A ports because all users (and their workplaces) haven't made the switch to USB-C yet.

This is actually a really big deal because I routinely--on a weekly if not daily basis--get handed thumb drives full of documents. Thumb drives are still an industry-standard way of exchanging documents in the practice of law. And thumb drives are all USB-A. With an XPS 13 or Spectre Folio, I'd have to carry a dongle with me everywhere. With this, I wouldn't.

You aren't legally required to email and archive it on the server? That's weird.

When opposing counsel needs to give you 200 gb of documents, no, that doesn't have to be transferred via email. He/she hands you a thumb drive, and when you get back to your office, you copy it over to your server. I'm not saying you store it long-term on the thumb drive. But if you want to be able to use it during that meeting where you've first received the thumb drive, you better have the ability to read USB-A on the laptop you have with you, and not just the desktop sitting back at your desk.

 

[Voldenuit]

Totally forgivable flaws for most of my use cases. If the loud fans make it so that the throttling is minimized, I’ll take this over certain Thinkpads, just because of the stylus.

Damn you HP, you keep making good laptops, just make sure you keep the bloatware away.

I've had the opposite experience with Thinkpads, where I've found they usually prioritize cooling over silence.

There's a reason why TPFanControl has been a thing for over a decade.

 

[vortex_mak]

I'd rather have the AAAA battery in the pen instead of yet another device that becomes useless once the battery inside it dies.

 

[Legatum_of_Kain]

Totally forgivable flaws for most of my use cases. If the loud fans make it so that the throttling is minimized, I’ll take this over certain Thinkpads, just because of the stylus.

Damn you HP, you keep making good laptops, just make sure you keep the bloatware away.

I've had the opposite experience with Thinkpads, where I've found they usually prioritize cooling over silence.

There's a reason why TPFanControl has been a thing for over a decade.

Usually, but I have had two where even sounding like a jet they throttled, which was doubly annoying.

Then again, most people don't max out graphics and CPU most of the day, so my use case is a bit excessive.

 

[Voldenuit]

Totally forgivable flaws for most of my use cases. If the loud fans make it so that the throttling is minimized, I’ll take this over certain Thinkpads, just because of the stylus.

Damn you HP, you keep making good laptops, just make sure you keep the bloatware away.

I've had the opposite experience with Thinkpads, where I've found they usually prioritize cooling over silence.

There's a reason why TPFanControl has been a thing for over a decade.

Usually, but I have had two where even sounding like a jet they throttled, which was doubly annoying.

Then again, most people don't max out graphics and CPU most of the day, so my use case is a bit excessive.

Have you tried repasting? I repasted my asus GX501 w liquid metal, and dropped CPU and GPU temps by ~10C.

 

[Legatum_of_Kain]

Totally forgivable flaws for most of my use cases. If the loud fans make it so that the throttling is minimized, I’ll take this over certain Thinkpads, just because of the stylus.

Damn you HP, you keep making good laptops, just make sure you keep the bloatware away.

I've had the opposite experience with Thinkpads, where I've found they usually prioritize cooling over silence.

There's a reason why TPFanControl has been a thing for over a decade.

Usually, but I have had two where even sounding like a jet they throttled, which was doubly annoying.

Then again, most people don't max out graphics and CPU most of the day, so my use case is a bit excessive.

Have you tried repasting? I repasted my asus GX501 w liquid metal, and dropped CPU and GPU temps by ~10C.

I bet that would help, but I don’t think my boss would like me voiding company warranties on laptops.

 

[meanderthal]

I'm happy that HP kept one of the two Type-A ports because all users (and their workplaces) haven't made the switch to USB-C yet.

This is actually a really big deal because I routinely--on a weekly if not daily basis--get handed thumb drives full of documents. Thumb drives are still an industry-standard way of exchanging documents in the practice of law. And thumb drives are all USB-A. With an XPS 13 or Spectre Folio, I'd have to carry a dongle with me everywhere. With this, I wouldn't.

You aren't legally required to email and archive it on the server? That's weird.

Our organization has USB drives with legal docs snail mailed quite often. Not weird.

 

[affinity7]

And thumb drives are all USB-A.

Not all Thumb Drives are USB-A. Now all the ones you work with, that maybe the case. Every model is not going to fit your needs that's why they have different ones.

 

[Mitlov]

And thumb drives are all USB-A.

Not all Thumb Drives are USB-A. Now all the ones you work with, that maybe the case. Every model is not going to fit your needs that's why they have different ones.

Let's say 95% of thumb drives in daily use are USB-A (in my personal experience it's 100%, but I'll say 95% for the sake of argument). This laptop has both USB-A and USB-C. It can accept 100% of thumb drives you'll encounter without a dongle. An XPS 13 or something else with only USB-C can only accept 5% of thumb drives without a dongle.

 

[l27]

I wish Elitebooks had Nvidia graphics, 1050/60 and 32GB ram optional. It's keeping me on the fence from buying one.

 

[Tcee]

I went for a Toshiba Portege x20w instead. It felt lighter (probaly it is - any chance of putting weight/dimensions in international units in Ars articles?) and the edges were more pleasant to the touch. Matte screen at 1080 res is ok for this size imho, for office work.

 

[jeblis]

I had a HP for work a few years ago. Too bad they couldn’t be bothered to update the drivers for it.

 

[satai]

WTF is "2.76 pounds"? Is this some kind of historical imperial unit joke?
Is it really hard to use SI that makes sense instead?

 

[studentx]

Seems like Thunderbolt is becoming a standard on the premium machines. This is good to see, since Thunderbolt is an all-in-one port that connects to just about anything.

It's great they kept a single USB-A port too.

 

[GreenReaper]

Totally forgivable flaws for most of my use cases. If the loud fans make it so that the throttling is minimized, I’ll take this over certain Thinkpads, just because of the stylus.

Damn you HP, you keep making good laptops, just make sure you keep the bloatware away.

I've had the opposite experience with Thinkpads, where I've found they usually prioritize cooling over silence.

There's a reason why TPFanControl has been a thing for over a decade.

Usually, but I have had two where even sounding like a jet they throttled, which was doubly annoying.

Then again, most people don't max out graphics and CPU most of the day, so my use case is a bit excessive.

Have you tried repasting? I repasted my asus GX501 w liquid metal, and dropped CPU and GPU temps by ~10C.

I bet that would help, but I don’t think my boss would like me voiding company warranties on laptops.

Undervolting might help, too. It makes a world of difference to my Thinkpad x120e - the cooling is limited and the CPU is hot, but if you can drop by 0.075V and tweak the fan curve you can get it to run silent, or nearly so.

 

[StevieSleep]

Type-C charging on the pen? Is this a dream?

I'd mark it as a defect.There's no way I want my pen charged separately from the device, It should charge through contact and magnetic lock. Everything else is a hassle cause you know you're gonna forget to charge it and end up looking dumb rummaging around with a couple of cables to get it all sorted out.

 

[fikikond]

I'd rather have the AAAA battery in the pen instead of yet another device that becomes useless once the battery inside it dies.

I agree at least in part. When i couldn't find replacement battery for my dell studio 17 i replaced the cells individually and was grateful they used standars cell size.
But after several year's using stuff with integrated batteries i am yet in need to replace them. Quallity lithium polimer batteries can last long time if they are taken care of and are from quality manufacturer.

Usually the customer will change the laptop long before the pen battery becomes an issue.