HP ProBook 6560b Review

The ProBook 6560b comes with loads of software to help keep your system running smoothly, protected and help you save money.

HP ProtectTools is security software that allows you to manage your passwords and how you login to your system. You can literally tell the system to require a finger print along with facial recognition before you can login. You can also require your password be typed along with your finger print and or facial scan.

Pretty cool, and something you’d want if you have classified of highly sensitive information on your system.

There is even Theft Recovery software available on the system, at a cost of 43 dollars a year for the premium version which allows you to lock the system, and or to wipe its hard drive remotely. They can even determine its location and assist law enforcement in getting it back. By the way it can even do this if the systems hard drive has been reformatted. It also works with INTEL AT (anti-theft) technology which will pretty much kill a system if it doesn’t call home within a specified timeframe. Some features require wireless broadband service to work.

There is also software in the system to help you save money on your electric bill. HP Power Assistant monitors how much power your system is using and allows you to schedule different power settings for the system at different times. It will even display a history of power usage.

Something really cool about the system is how easily upgradeable it is, you can take the bottom of the system off and gain access to the memory, wireless card, hard drive, and even CPU. All toolless I might add. Check the picture out below to see what I mean.

When it came to battery life, depending on how I used it I averaged a little under 4 hours which seems to be typical of any notebook I use. The system is a bit heavier than others but you’d expect it from the design it has and after a while I got use to carrying it around.

My only complaint about the ProBook 6560b was it didn’t come with any HDMI ports. Sure it had a bunch of USB, and an eSata port along with a memory card reader. But no HDMI. I forgot it does have display port but come on I want to connect this bad boy to my TV and stream movies and MLB.tv to the TV in the Hotel room I may be staying in. Please HP add HDMI. Oh and one more thing but it’s minor. There is AirPlane mode on the system, enabling it will disable bluetooth, wireless and wireless boradband. Airplane mode should not disable Wi-Fi anymore there’s Wi-Fi on planes. Hopefully HP will fix that!

The ProBook 6560b is a fantastic system. Its powerful, its looks great and it has so many features that if you work in government you’d want or your boss would want you to want. As I said earlier it looks kind of like the presidential Limo, this is definitely the PC I would want the President to use in fact if I ever become President I want a ProBook built like this. I’m a nickname the ProBook 6560b NoteBook. {www.hardwaregeeks.com}