There’s no sign of the Folio hitting European shores any time soon but I see that it’s available in Taiwan and China [Link including images, specs, prices in Chinese] already and orders for the base (Core i5) version at the HP.com site will ship out before the end of the month. With a spec list that closely matches the Toshiba Z830, a competitive price of $899 and a 59Wh battery that should, assuming it’s well-designed, give you about 8 hours of web-working time and 6 hours of average battery life, the HP Folio has to be near the top of your list. Unless you’re concerned about weight and style that is…
The HP Folio weighs 1.5KG (More than the non-Ultrabook Core i5-based Samsung NP350) and is, in my opinion, anything but stylish.
As far as ports go you’ve got everything you need except the VGA port, there’s a keyboard backlight and an Intel Wifi module with Wi-Di support. What a shame there isn’t a hi-res matt display, something that HP is usually good at offering.
I’ve updated the specifications page here and there are already links to hands-on and even a review from PCWorld which menations the keyboard. Take a look.
Have you ordered a Folio? Was there a showstopper for you? Let me guess, the 1366×768 resolution?
We have a request out for European availability information.
Great specs, but its chunkiness is getting close to traditional laptop specs. The Folio is 2mm thicker than the Toshiba Z830 and weighs 8/10 of a pound more.
I already have a traditional “ultralight”: my Vaio Z11, which weighs about as much as the Folio (3.3 pounds)… and let me tell you, the difference in weight betwen the two units is NOT insubstantial.
In the 3-4 pound range, there are plenty of options, some at lower cost than the Folio.