HP Launches Elitebook Folio 1020 Laptops; Lighter and Thinner Than Macbook Air

HP on Tuesday introduced two new Windows 8.1-based laptops, the HP Elitebook Folio 1020 and HP Elitebook Folio 1020 Special Edition, for business-oriented consumers. While the company did not announce the pricing of the laptops, it has detailed that the standard Elitebook Folio 1020 notebook will be available in February, and the Special Edition will be available in April.

The two notebooks - Elitebook Folio 1020 and Elitebook Folio 1020 Special Edition - are not only inspired by the Apple Macbook Air in terms of design, it appears as if HP has gone out its way to ensure they are also thinner and lighter than the MacBook Air. The ultra-thin notebooks are just 15.7mm thick, and while the Elitebook Folio 1020 weighs up to 1.2kg, the Elitebook Folio 1020 Special Edition is lighter of the two models at 1.029kg, being made out of carbon fibre and magnesium-lithium alloy. The 2014 13-inch MacBook Air is 17mm thick, and weighs 1.35kg.

HP says that the two machines pass military-grade drop and shock tests. The "always on" capability of new Elitebook Folio 1020 laptops can help track them, even when they are turned off. The company says that in case of theft users will also be able to remotely wipe the data from the notebooks. Also, since it is targeted at business users, it comes with a proprietary enterprise port, certified Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 1.2/2.0(6), pre-boot authentication, and a fingerprint reader for additional security.

The HP Elitebook Folio 1020 features a 12.5-inch full-HD (1080p) display, and is upgradable with an optional touchscreen. The HP Elitebook Folio 1020 Special Edition includes a 12.5-inch quad-HD display, but doesn't include the optional touchscreen.

Both Elitebook Folio 1020 notebooks comes with the Intel Core M processors with 8GB of RAM, and SSD hard drive storage from 128GB to 256GB. Both machines are fanless for quieter operation, and HP claims that the battery is rated to deliver up to 9 hours of usage time.