Built largely from aluminum and magnesium, the 2560p completes its macho metal trilogy with supersturdy titanium hinges. The 2560p passes the U.S. military's MIL-STD-810G drop test, which few laptops even attempt. Another outstanding feature of the 2560p--one that every vendor should consider duplicating--is the extremely easy access to components. Slide a latch back, and the single panel that covers the entire bottom of the laptop slides away (it may be locked with a screw) to reveal all the major components inside. The unit is slightly heavy for an ultraportable at nearly 4 pounds, but the extra heft lends to the system's solid feel.
Though not the fastest ultraportable we've tested, our EliteBook 2560p test configuration proved more than competent. Carrying a Core i5-2410M CPU, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, and a 7200-rpm, 320GB Toshiba hard drive, the laptop delivered a score of 114 in . That mark is a little below average for the category and configuration, but subjectively the 2560p is pretty responsive.
In our tests, gaming frame rates from the integrated Intel HD 3000 graphics were playable only at the very lowest resolutions and detail settings. Battery life using the 62-watt-hour battery included with our test unit was 6 hours, 45 minutes--good, but well shy of the 8 hours or more we've seen from some other ultraportables.
The EliteBook is available in a variety of flavors, ranging from the $1099 no-optical-drive budget configuration we tested to $1699 for a version with a DVD burner and a 128GB solid-state drive (prices are as of August 23, 2011). No Blu-Ray drive is available. A 1366-by-768-pixel, 12.5-inch display is standard on all models and offers a crisp picture with extremely even backlighting. Video playback is as smooth as can be, and the speaker sound is actually decent for an ultraportable, though it has little in the way of bass response.
Ports and connectivity are largely up to snuff, although is absent. The company's reps explained to me that USB 2.0 was all that was required. (They're probably correct--for the next six months.) The 2560p has four USB 2.0 ports (one of which is always powered as long as the laptop is plugged in), as well as another of the dual eSATA/USB type, mitigating slightly the lack of USB 3.0. Another deliberate omission is an audio input jack: For audio input, the laptop relies on the dual microphones bracketing the HD webcam on the screen bezel. The ethernet connection is gigabit, the built-in Wi-Fi supports both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, and Bluetooth is included.