HP Elitebook 840 G1 review

With its rounded corners and aluminium chassis, the HP Elitebook 840 G1 is one of the most attractive business laptops we’ve ever reviewed. At 21mm thick and with a 1.58Kg weight, the Elitebook is both light and easy to carry.

The Elitebook 840 G1 is more than a pretty face, though. HP has subjected its Elitebook range to rigorous durability tests, including drop tests from a height of 60cm and tests for spill resistance. The Elitebook 840 G1 has Windows 7 Pro preinstalled, but it also comes with a Windows 8 Pro licence should you prefer to upgrade to the newer operating system.

As the Elitebook 840 G1 is the mid-range model in the Elitebook range, it has four USB3 ports instead of the five USB3 ports of the larger 15in 850 Elitebook. Even so, four USB3 ports should be more than enough for most users. The Elitebook 840 G1 also has VGA and DisplayPort video outputs, which are ideal for connecting the laptop to projectors and external monitors. However, we think a HDMI output would’ve granted wider compatibility with digital displays than the still obscure DisplayPort connection. Other connection ports include an SD card reader, a Gigabit Ethernet port, a SmartCard slot and a combined headphone and microphone jack, which gives you plenty of options for connecting external devices and removable storage. The Elitebook also has a docking connector and a port for connecting a second battery, but you must buy the dock and extra battery separately.

The Elitebook 840 G1 is a joy to use for everyday tasks, as its comfortable and springy backlit keyboard gives lots of tactile feedback despite its flat keys. It also has a replaceable touchstick, which is nestled between the G, H and B keys, and you get a choice of three touchstick types. Be aware, though, that it can be lifted clean off the keyboard with a rough brush of a finger, so you’ll need to take care when using it.

Consequently, we much preferred using the touchpad to navigate the desktop. The touchpad has separate buttons, which are great for clicking and dragging files into place. The buttons are much more responsive than the integrated buttons in all-in-one touchpads.

HP has used the very latest components for the Elitebook 840 G1’s underlying hardware. Our review sample had a dual-core 2.1GHz Intel Core i7-4600U processor and 8GB of memory installed. This processor can Turbo Boost to 3.3GHz for extra performance, and it helped the Elitebook score 53 in our multimedia benchmarks. This is one of the best scores we’ve seen from a dual-core Core i7 processor, and puts it on par with the Dell XPS 13 and Asus Zenbook Prime Touch UX31A. The Elitebook 840 G1 certainly has the speed and power to cope with demanding office tasks comfortably.

The Elitebook 840 G1 even has a dedicated graphics processor: the 1GB AMD Radeon HD 8750M. This is unusual for a business laptop because many corporate professionals won’t require the extra power of a dedicated graphics processor, but we were pleased to see it.

We were pleased with the Elitebook 840 G1’s screen, too. The Elitebook 840 G1’s 1,920×1,080 resolution looked razor sharp on its 14in display and its matt finish diffused reflections very well. The screen’s image quality was also excellent. Our colour calibrator showed it was displaying 89.4 per cent of the sRGB colour gamut, which is high, and reds, greens and blues all looked bright and crisp. Our black level reading of 0.25cd/m2 was equally excellent. Solid blacks appeared deep and inky onscreen, with no signs of backlight bleeding whatsoever.

Contrast levels were superb. We recorded a contrast ratio of 1,253:1 and could see a very high level of detail in our high contrast test photos. Areas of dark shadow detail were particularly impressive and the surrounding colours looked rich and vibrant.

READ NEXT: The best laptops you can buy today

Thanks to a long-lasting battery, the Elitebook 840 G1 will also get you through the working day on a single charge. It lasted 9 hours and 21 minutes in our light use test with the screen set to half brightness. This is good for a business ultraportable, and there’s potential to lengthen your time away from the mains if you install a second battery (HP ST09, £127 inc VAT from www.hp.co.uk).

You don’t need to worry about security either, as the laptop comes with a fingerprint reader, TPM and HP’s security management features. The Elitebook 840 G1 even comes with a three-year warranty for extra peace of mind.

Our only concern is the price. The Elitebook 840 G1 is expensive compared to consumer laptops, but the Elitebook’s toughness, excellent screen, touchpad, security features and warranty are worth paying for if your business depends on your access to a laptop. Not only does the Elitebook 840 G1 have powerful hardware and lots of ports, it also has a great battery life and a choice of operating systems. It wins a much deserved Business Buy award.