Design
At 5.8 pounds and 14.6 x 9.8 x 1.4 inches, the ProBook 6545b is portable enough for a 15.6-inch business notebook, but it’s certainly not the lightest in its class. The Lenovo ThinkPad SL510 (15.0 x 9.8 x 1.5 inches) and HP ProBook 4510s (14.6 x 9.8 x 1.5 inches) are both a tad larger, but weigh 0.2 pounds less. The Dell Vostro 1015 (12.8 x 9.8 x 1.5 inches) also weighs less at 5.3 pounds.The 6545b won’t win any beauty contests, either. Its black plastic body and faux silver plastic lid and deck are tasteful but somewhat bland. The ProBook 4510s, with its shiny black deck and rubberized keys, looks more modern and attractive. On the plus side, this notebook is built to last; the 6545b features a magnesium alloy support structure and metal alloy hinges.
Keyboard and Touchpad
The 6545b’s keyboard offered impressively strong tactile feedback with no noticeable flex. Using the Ten Thumbs Typing Tutor test, we were able to achieve our typical 80 words per minute and 1 percent error rate. Normally it takes us a couple of tries to get used to a new keyboard and lower our error rate down to 1 percent, but with this notebook’s highly responsive keys, we were comfortable from our very first stroke. The keyboard also helps protect the notebook from spill damage, as a layer of mylar film underneath its base collects any liquid that seeps through the keys and funnels it through a drain hole in the bottom.The ProBook 6545b offers both a pointing stick and a touchpad. Though the pointing stick’s indented shape isn’t as comfortable as a ThinkPad’s TrackPoint, it was still very accurate and pleasant to use. Those who prefer a touchpad will be pleased with the 6545b’s offering. Though it’s not the largest, we found it to be highly accurate, and the two discrete mouse buttons offered just the right amount of resistance.
