HP ProBook 4425s Review

Our HP ProBook 4425s Specifications:

• AMD Phenom II P920 Quad Core (up to 1.6GHz, 2MB L2 cache)
• Microsoft Windows 7 Professional (32-bit)
• 14.0-inch LED-backlit anti-glare HD display (1366 x 768)
• Integrated ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4250
• 4GB DDR3 1066MHz RAM
• 500GB 7200RPM HDD
• LightScribe DVD+/-RW Optical Drive
• Broadcom 4313 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1, 1Gb LAN
• 6-Cell 47WHr Battery
• Limited 1-year standard parts and labor warranty
• Dimensions: 13.23 x 9.15 x 1.07-inches
• Weight: 5.05lbs with 6-cell battery
• Price as configured: $1,208

Build and Design
The HP ProBook 4425s has a very neat and professional look with brushed metal covers over a plastic body. The panels on this current generation of ProBook are dark copper or bronze in color and can be found on all sizes, including AMD and Intel models. Compared to the first generation models with only plastic showing on the exterior, the newer design looks great and adds strength to the notebook. The brushed metal finish is used throughout the notebook, including the screen cover, palmrest, and speaker grill. To compliment the finish, the surfaces not covered in metal are glossy black plastic, adding another touch of class to this stylish small business notebook.

Build quality is very good and a step up from the older model. The brushed metal lid gives the 4425s some much needed strength and screen protection that the plastic lid on the previous-generation ProBooks lacked. The palmrest and speaker grill show little to no flex under strong pressure, perhaps feeling stronger than the 15-inch or 17-inch siblings. The keyboard tray has some minor flex under pressure which wouldn't be a problem on the more expensive HP EliteBook models. The chassis looks and feels much nicer than the first revision ProBook series, but is just slightly behind business notebooks that use alloy as a primary component.

Users looking to quickly swap out components will be in for a bit of a shock. To access the processor, hard drive, or even the system memory, you need to fully dismantle the ProBook 4425s. On this small and medium business notebook HP opted for centralized support and maintenance, with very little work being done by the end user. In terms of looks this gives the bottom a clean appearance without any access panels, but in terms of difficultly, it adds a lot of work to swap out components. To open the system, you remove four screws underneath the battery, pop off the speaker bezel, remove four additional screws that hold the keyboard in place, slide the keyboard up. This gives you access to the system memory. To get at the hard drive, you remove three more screws that hold the palmrest in place, slide it carefully to the right to release it from its clips. Once that is removed you simply take out three more screws that hold the hard drive in place, and take it out (with four more screws holding it into its cage). To say upgrades on the ProBook are difficult or confusing is putting it lightly.

Ports and Features
Port selection on the ProBook 4425s is very nice for a small and medium business notebook, featuring three USB 2.0 ports, one eSATA/USB combo port, VGA and HDMI-out, LAN, modem, and headphone/mic jacks. The notebook also features a SDHC-card slot and ExpressCard/34 for future expansion.

Front: HDD activity light, SDHC-card slot, headphone/mic jacks

Rear: Battery

Left: Kensington Lock slot, DC-power input, VGA-out, Ethernet, HDMI-out, eSATA/USB combo port, one USB 2.0 port, ExpressCard/34 slot

Right: Two USB 2.0 ports, modem, optical drive