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July 16, 2012
PC

Sweet Basil Takes the HP Folio for A Test Drive



Carrian is the foodie behind Sweet Basil, the food blog. Sweet Basil is all about getting everyone back into the kitchen where good food is approachable and where friends and family can build healthy and happy relationships. Carrian has been writing Sweet Basil for about three years and is a wife, and mother to two girls. Carrian enjoys spending her time seeing new places, trying new restaurants, and just relaxing with the family.

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I’m a pretty easy going PC person. I don’t need multiple screens, complicated programs, or humongous processors. I do however need a reliable PC, one with correct colors so that my photos can be properly edited and a quick startup so I’m not standing around waiting on everything to load. I also prefer a laptop, one that is easy to carry around as I like to be able to travel with my laptop in order to keep up with my work, deadlines, blogging, and keep an eye on my kids while still getting work done.

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I’ve recently been able to use the HP Folio13. I love how sleek and thin it is. (That darned penny would not stay up, so I hope you can tell that if standing up it’s the same size as a penny). I have been toting this baby around to write up invoices for my blog, browse the web for inspiration on future posts, answering emails and playing around in social media etc.

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One thing that I really appreciate compared to my last laptop is that although this guy is lighter and thinner, it’s still super durable with its aluminum frame and the screen is still 13” of quality. HP definitely took into account that although we want lighter and portable, we don’t need it quickly and cheaply made. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m super careful with electronics, but I’m not perfect and so I want a computer that can take that into account (although I never actually had an accident with this one… phew!).

The Folio 13 has all the ports I need and I use the HDMI port the most -I love that! We have jumped on the “cut the cable” bandwagon and prefer to stream from a laptop. This is a huge help with the kids too. I love that we can pull up old cartoons that we loved as kids: Smurfs, Gummy Bears, and Duck Tales etc… We can plug it into the TV for the kids to watch while we make dinner or the kids love to just lay in front of the laptop with blankets and watch their favorite movie. The screen is super bright and clear. It makes it fantastic for the movies and streaming that we do.

The battery also held up for about 5 hours! That’s fantastic! Our old laptop could never have held on that long without needing to be plugged in. (Are we sensing a theme here? HP definitely did a great job holding up their end of the deal with quality in a smaller space and sleek look).

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This is how you’ll find me most evenings, or afternoons, or really whenever I need to hurry and get something done and the kids are being good or watching a movie.

So, after a few points here and there what do I think? For a laptop that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg, it is an exceptional laptop, perfect pricewhether you are a student, a mom, a business man/woman, a blogger, or just your typical American trying to keep up on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter.