*HP ProBook 4430s & 4530s Owners Lounge!*

xvvvz · 07-03-2011, 12:12 AM

Welcome to the 4430s and 4530s Owner's Lounge! This is a place to congregate with other owners and share useful tips/tricks/modifications for these laptop models.

xvvvz · 07-05-2011, 05:50 PM

In case your 4430s laptop is like mine and the USB 3.0 port is not labeled/differentiated on the laptop itself, it is the USB port on the left side of the laptop closest to the HDMI port. I couldn't find any documentation on this in the laptop help files or the sparse "documentation" that came with my laptop but I did find it in the downloadable service manual you can get off the HP support site.

jcannon1018 · 07-05-2011, 08:33 PM

Which one do you have? Can you post some pics? The color of the laptop looks a little bronzeish or pinkish, is it a normal grey color or is like the older pavilions with the argento finish? I was on the fence about about a 4430s or a edge 14, but now am inbtween the 4430s and the pavilion dm4. The reason I dropped the edge from consideration was hands on with it at office depot. It looked great online and has roots from the thinkpad line that would lead me to believe it was a tank, but in person it looked cheap and even felt cheap. I'm hoping the 4430s is sturdy.

xvvvz · 07-06-2011, 12:25 AM

I have the 4430s. The color isn't as gold as the dm4. It is kind like a gunmetal with a hint of bronze. It is brushed aluminum or something over a plastic frame. I looked at the dm4 but bagged it 1) because the OfficeMax people had three in the back but wouldn't put one on display so I couldn't go hands and eyes on for an evaluation (but they would let me take it home to open it up and then charge 15% to return it if I didn't like what I saw when I opened it!) and 2) because the dm4 I was looking at didn't have USB 3.0, bluetooth, spill resistant keyboard, etc.

The build is more solid than the last dm4 I saw/touched a few weeks ago (last generation model with the first generation Sandy Bridge) but it isn't built like a T series ThinkPad. More like one of the Thinkpad lines below that. The 4430s also doesn't cost what a T series costs either. I think it is a good value compromise. Time will tell.

xvvvz · 07-06-2011, 09:54 AM

>>2) because the dm4 I was looking at didn't have USB 3.0, bluetooth, spill resistant keyboard, etc.<<

Also, the ProBook has a 7200 rpm drive.

jcannon1018 · 07-06-2011, 02:14 PM

Does the 4430s look and fell thin or thick and clunky? It looks thin to me in online pics. Compare it to the dm4, I just got some hands on with it at bestbuy yesterday.

xvvvz · 07-06-2011, 03:08 PM

It is about the same as the dm4. Look at the side pictures on the HP site. Both of these laptops are a bit deceiving with the beveled sides that angle down to second level of base/chassis. I wouldn't call it thick and chunky like some of the lower level Dell and Lenovos but it isn't super svelte like the super expensive business class machines.

jcannon1018 · 07-06-2011, 05:26 PM

Well, either way I go it will be lighter and thinner than the g73sw I'm toting around. My wrist is beginning to hurt by picking it up with one hand and I'm 6'3" 280 lbs. lol

jcannon1018 · 07-06-2011, 08:45 PM

Oh! One more question and possibly the most important for me. The touchpad! I just got back from bestbuy after playing with the dm4 and noticed that the touchpad was pretty small. Is the touchpad on the 4430s bigger than the dm4? It looks big in pics, but so did the dm4's touchpad.

Luke1708 · 07-07-2011, 01:24 AM

What's the battery life like on the 4430s?