HP’s Elitebook 1030 fleshes out the range with decent specs

By Jon Martindale May 17, 2016

HP’s “offer something for everyone” strategy is a strong one — it sells systems. That’s why you can find so many iterations of the same design in its various lineups, because often just a tweak of the hardware here or there and you have yourself a new market to target. That’s what it’s looking to do once again with the Elitebook 1030, which slots itself between the 1020 and 1040, along with some decent hardware offerings.

Internally, it sports a sixth-generation Core M series CPU, offering (according to HP) around 20 percent more general processing power than last year’s model. This has been paired up with 16GB of memory and 512GB of solid state storage.

All of that is packaged inside a 12.2 x 8.3 inch frame, measuring just 0.62 inches thick at its widest point. At 2.55 pounds too, this is not a heavy laptop.

Better yet, all of this comes with a battery life that is said to last up to 13 hours, which is a big jump over previous iterations of the Elitebook design.

That’s a decent lineup which is more than the average web browser and email checker needs. For people doing the odd bit of photo editing, or business users who simply want a snappy and responsive system while on the move, this could offer a great package for that.

This goes doubly so for the display, which comes in either a 1080P or QHD+ configuration, offering up to 3,200 x 1,800 resolution on a 13.3-inch display, coated in Gorilla Glass to make it scratch- and crack-resistant.

Connectivity-wise, the Elitebook 1030 packs two USB 3.0 ports, a single USB Type-C for charging, and an HDMI output for hooking it up to a larger display. You can also connect it wirelessly, with built-in support for the latest 802.11ac standard of Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 4.2.

Set to go on sale at the end of this month, the starting price is said to be $1,250 (as per TechSpot), though we would imagine that the higher-resolution display and a few optional extras will quickly see that rise by a few hundred more.

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