Small business notebooks are finally getting a little sexy. HP's new ProBook 400 series of notebooks feature a more consumer-friendly design while still retaining the performance and durability of its previous generations of small biz systems.
The ProBook 400 Series will be available in screen sizes ranging from 13.3 inches to 17 inches, and will be up to 18 percent lighter and 36 percent thinner than HP's previous small business notebooks. They will feature a Meteorite Grey casing with aluminum accents. The Duraflex lid has a soft-touch finish that's comfortable to the touch, and resists fingerprints well.
At launch, the ProBook 430 will be the only model that supports Intel's upcoming Haswell processor; everything else will come with either a 3rd Generation Intel Core processor or AMD for now. The second number in the name (for example, the 3 in 430) indicates the screen size, while the third number indicates the type of processor--0 for Intel, and 5 for AMD.
Small business-friendly features include a spill-resistant keyboard, fingerprint reader, Microsoft security Essentials and a Kensington lock slot. All the ProBooks will have a removable battery and an easy-access latch to upgrade the hard drive and RAM. Other options include a hybrid hard drive, 4G WWAN, and HP ClientSecurity. And, you can expect to keep your ProBook around for a while. HP says that these notebooks have undergone 115,000 hours of reliability testing.
The HP ProBook 400 series will be available in May, and start at $499.
