HP and Apple face-off: EliteBook vs. MacBook

As Hewlett-Packard mulls the fate of its PC operations, this is a good opportunity to contrast HP's ultraportable workhorse with Apple's popular MacBook Air.
Just before the news broke about Hewlett-Packard considering a spin-off of its PC operations, I received an EliteBook 2560p from HP to try out. Call it uncanny. Or, better yet, call it an opportune time to take a high-end HP laptop for a spin and compare two competing design philosophies from two of the most successful--and biggest--computer companies in the world.

HP EliteBook 2560p in the foreground. MacBook Air (13.3-inch) and Dell Adamo in the background.

(Credit: Brooke Crothers)

And, yes, I wondered for a moment if this was the last opportunity to handle a new HP-branded laptop. But that thought quickly vanished. HP Executive Chairman Ray Lane has said--as recently as Thursday--that the $40 billion PC operations will either be spun off as an "HP branded" company or kept inside.
With that preamble, let's get down to business. First, some quick notes about the EliteBook 2560p. Among the business models announced in the last six months or so, the 2560p is the closest that HP gets to the Air. (Some might argue that the ProBook 5330m or Pavilion dm1 are closer, but I'm sticking with the 2560p as the best point of comparison for reasons cited below--besides, that's all I've got to work with.)
(Note: this is not a formal review but general impressions of the 2560p after using it for about three weeks. And also note that I am not comparing it to the latest MacBook Air with Intel Sandy Bridge chips inside. I'm sure the MacBook faithful will cry foul on that account. My everyday machine is the MBA spec'd below.)

Again, the 2560p next to a second-generation 13-inch MacBook Air (which I use as my backup).

(Credit: Brooke Crothers)

The 2560p is the most recent offering in a long line of high-end business ultraportables. Before the 2560p came the 2540p, 2530p, 2510p--and before that, models like the Compaq Armada m300. Previous models were actually lighter. For example, the 2510p was about 3.4 pounds. The 2560p weighs about 3.7 pounds. That said, it's HP's most portable business laptop (excluding Netbooks). And HP is all about business computers. That's its bread and butter: supplying laptops to Fortune 500 companies.
I've always thought that HP's business laptops were underexposed (if not underrated). They get relatively little media attention despite wide use. As I've said before, at airports, conferences, and hotels, the most widely used laptops I see are MacBooks, ThinkPads, and HP's business laptops. And it's obvious that HP ships a lot of these as it's the largest PC maker in the world.
So, let's get the spec comparison out the way.