It seems a common misconception among today’s manufacturers that for a model to mean business, it has to exude prim, unstylish functionality. All that is set to change though, with HP’s latest Tablet PC — the 2710p. In fact, we’d challenge anyone to do anything other than fawn excitedly when faced by its lithe and subtly-styled form.

From the off, the HP 2710p leapfrogs the competition with practical touches such as the metallic slide-action on switch, which not only looks good, but ensures that the 2710p can’t be accidentally turned on while it’s in your laptop bag. The same can be said of the lid clasp, which snaps securely shut thanks to a magnetic strip pulling the catch into place. While this proved a little sticky now and again, we’d rather that than risk something scratching the fine 12.1” display.

Flip the lid open and the 2710p continues to impress. The lid is a little thicker than a standard laptop display, but this means that no matter how hard we tapped it or however roughly we grasped it there was no sign of show-through. In its laptop configuration, the minimum of casing does mean that the display’s swivel-hinge has a fair amount of side-to-side give, but perhaps we’re being a little too picky. After all, the HP’s hinge mechanism is barely any more flexible than other significantly larger Tablets. Flip the display round and flatten it into Tablet mode, and the sturdy magnetic catch serves to hold the screen firmly in place.

And that display is equally fine whether you’re using the 2710p as a Tablet or a laptop. The native resolution of 1280 x 800 gives a spacious Windows Desktop, and although, like most Tablet PCs, there’s a slightly grainy quality across its 12.1”, it provides a bright image with good contrast. The screen is set flush into the lid surround, so there are no edges to catch your wrists on while taking advantage of Vista Business’ superb handwriting recognition software. A protective plastic coating not only keeps the display free from scratches, but also helps the supplied stylus glide easily over it for smooth, effortless handwriting.

It’s probably foolish of us to get too distracted by a business Tablet’s good looks, but the 2710p is a particularly delightful example. The wide expanse of matte aluminium wrist rest not only looks great, but makes for comfortable typing. In fact, our only ergonomic complaint is the lack of a touchpad, which given the responsive trackpoint is something we can live without.

Flip the screen back to its traditional laptop orientation and you’ll find another of the 2710p’s many strengths — its keyboard. HP’s business laptops often have superb keyboards and even this tiny laptop is no exception — the full-sized keys have plenty of travel, with no hint of the sponginess suffered by the likes of Toshiba’s even daintier R500 Portégé (reviewed in issue 9). With the keyboard stretched to the very edges of the case, HP has only had to curtail the size of a few keys here and there, but unlike some manufacturers, HP has been sensible enough to carefully choose which keys to shrink and which to leave alone — even the fastest touch-typists will have little to complain about.

The 2710p falls short of absolute perfection, though. The ultra-low voltage processor may help it achieve an impressively lengthy battery life, but its modest power requirement isn’t enough to stop the 2710p keeping your forearms nice and toasty. Peruse the list of specifications a little further and you might also think that HP has been a little too frugal with memory and hard disk capacities, especially for a Tablet cruising over the £1,200 mark. That’s not to mention the absence of an internal optical drive. But, there’s no denying that HP has performed a bit of a coup with the 2710p — it’s a business Tablet that succeeds in being both gorgeous and practical. And that, in our book, is enough to make it a very exciting purchase indeed.

Specifications

Intel Core 2 Duo U7600 (1.2GHz), 1Gb RAM, 80Gb hard disk, 12.1” screen (1280 x 800), Expresscard/54 slot, memory card reader, 802.11a/b/g, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, Windows Vista Business Part code GP590ET#ABU
Size 290 x 212 x 28mm
Weight 1.7kg
Battery Life 4h 46m
Recharge time 1h 22m
Warranty 3 years C&R

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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."

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