One of the most notable new products arriving for the summer is the Envy 14 TouchSmart Ultrabook, which comes with a 14-inch display at 1366×768 by default, but can be immediately upgraded to a more feasible 1600×900. Furthermore, though, you’ll be able to upgrade to a whopping 3200×1800 resolution sometime this summer, all of which is touchscreen-equipped.

The laptop has a modest starting price of $699, but that won’t get you the high-resolution display sadly — you’ll most likely have to hand over more cash in order to enjoy the 3200×1800 resolution. There’s no word on what hardware the new laptop is running, but we’re guessing Intel’s new Haswell architecture is tucked neatly inside, waiting for an official unveil next month during Computex.

The New Envy 14 TouchSmart looks to take on Google’s Chromebook Pixel and Apple’s MacBook Pro Retina-equipped laptops. However, Samsung is also in the running, as they recently announced a laptop of their own that packs a 3200×1800 display. What we once thought was insanely high-res, is now playing catch-up with HP and Samsung. Who would’ve thought?

HP also showed off their other refreshed laptops, such as 15-inch and 17-inch variants of the Envy line, as well as new Pavilion 11-, 14-, 15-, and 17-inch laptops that include a mixture of Intel and AMD processors, as well as NVIDIA mobile graphics. Furthermore, the company added on five new desktops that pack Intel’s new Haswell chips. You can grab one for as low as $289 for the HP 110, although you’ll have to cough up more for a robust machine.

VIA: Engadget

Setup

Setting up the new TouchSmart machine was fairly straightforward, with only a few roadblocks along the way. First of all, the instructions are completely worthless as far as setup goes, so if you’re usually one to rely on such paperwork, there’s no need to do so this time around. The booklet mostly just discusses maintaining the computer and troubleshooting various problems that could arise. Other than, there are only a few photos meant to help you set up the new computer, most of which were confusing and offered no text to describe the images whatsoever.

In any case, I was able to get up and running in about 10 minutes. The wireless keyboard and mouse connected right away during the initial bootup — no need to pair either devices, and I was looking at the Windows 8 home page in no time. Obviously, everyone expects a smooth and easy setup experience with new products, and HP definitely made it easy for me.

Hardware and Design

This specific review unit comes packing with incredible specs. There’s an Intel Core i7 3770S quad-core processor clocked at 3.1GHz, accompanied by 12GB of DDR3 RAM and a 3TB Seagate hard drive. Graphics-wise, we’re looking at an NVIDIA GeForce GT 630M with 2GB of memory, which provides fast, middle-class performance in case you ever get caught playing any kind graphics-intensive title on your new touchscreen PC. Other than that, there’s Beats Audio integration, which provides three internal speakers along the bottom, as well as boosts performance for any speakers plugged into the audio jacks. You also have a slot-load Blu-ray drive on the right side. Of course, you also can’t forget about the 23-inch 10-point touchscreen display with a 1920×1080 full HD resolution.

As far as ports go, you have two USB 3.0 ports on the left side, along with a SD card slot and microphone and headphone jacks. On the back, there are four USB 2.0 ports, ethernet, and a nifty subwoofer-out port that allows for deeper sound out of the relatively puny speakers that are equipped with the ENVY 23 TouchSmart. Then, on the right side, there’s a lone HDMI port for connecting to an Xbox 360, PlaySation 3, or any other HDMI-capable device that can use the computer as a monitor or display.

As far as the placement of all the ports, I have to say that it’s all pretty scattered. It’s nice to have two USB ports, the SD card slot, and the audio jacks on the side for quick and easy access, but having the HDMI port all by itself on the right side doesn’t quite make sense — it seems it would make better sense if it was with all of the other connectivity options on the back. We’re also not sure why HP didn’t include more USB 3.0 ports on the back. Those with a USB 3.0 external hard drive may be disappointed by this, since you’ll be stuck with plugging it in on the side and having a USB cable stick out the whole time.

The ENVY 23 TouchSmart sits on a big base, which takes up most of the width of the computer and leaves a giant footprint on any desk. Unlike the iMac, and even one of Vizio’s latest all-in-one offerings, HP’s newest machine doesn’t have a small base in the middle. However, that’s mostly because the entire panel is supported by two beams on the sides, which then connect to the base, providing a frame-like structure to the computer. I have to say, though, that the base and the two supporting beams are fairly sturdy. While you can easily adjust the angle of the display without much effort, playing around with the touchscreen doesn’t affect the computer’s stance — it stays still extremely well, even through marathon sessions of tapping and scrolling.

The front of the display is completely covered in a single pane of glass, so when the screen is off, it looks like it’s a borderless display. However, the display has a rather thick bezel, which makes the computer look a little bulky and ancient. HP could’ve easily bumped up the screen size without making the machine any bigger, but most likely due to circumstances that are unbeknownst to me, I’m sure there was a reason why HP kept it at 23 inches with a thicker bezel. The display is pretty glossy, though, so if you plan on using the touchscreen portion (as opposed to the mouse and keyboard), expect a lot of fingerprints and smudges.

Sadly, the computer comes with a power brick attached to the power cord. It’s not too big of a deal, since most electrics come with one anyway, but all-in-one machines are supposed to be meant for saving space, so the power brick may be an unexpected surprise if you’re interested in going with this model. The end of the cord (the end that plugs into the computer) sits at a right angle, so in order to plug it in, you have to bend the cable so that it’s perpendicular to the wall, and then have it bend downwards to feed it behind your desk to be plugged into the outlet. It just make more sense if the connector was straight, or at the very least a 45-degree angle, which is actually gaining popularity with various cable manufacturers anyway.

Overall, the design of the ENVY 23 TouchSmart isn’t too bad. There are certainly things that I would change, including a slightly smaller base and a thinner bezel, but I love the sturdiness of the stand with the ability to adjust the angle of the display easily when need be. It would’ve nice to see some USB 3.0 ports on the back, instead of just on the side, but a total of six USB ports isn’t anything to complain about. The speaker quality was fairly good, and while it did sound a little tinny, it’s definitely an upgrade from what you would get with regular laptop speakers. There’s a lot more bass in these speakers, and if you pair them up with an external subwoofer, it’ll make for a pretty decent system for personal listening.

Software

As far as software goes, there’s actually not a lot of bloatware. There’s obviously a few HP-specific apps — some you may find useful, and others just an annoyance. The company pre-installed their “Connected” Photos and Music apps, both of which are HP’s own version of a photo manager and music player, respectively. Connected Photos is powered by Snapfish, and it not only lets you manage and organize your photo collection, but it also integrates with Facebook and you can easily push your smartphone photos to the app as well. The music player is HP’s own version of iTunes of sorts. You can manage and play your music, as well as browse popular music and even buy tracks right from the app. We’re not sure that most users would utilize these two apps, since there are far superior options out there, but the choice is there nonetheless.

HP also included their own backup app, similar to Time Machine on Mac, and they also have what’s called HP MyRoom, which is a video-conferencing app that resembles most other apps like it, such as Skype (which is also pre-installed interestingly enough). HP even has its own app store called HP+, where you can download games, entertainment apps, software, etc. Sadly, though, it’s lacking in content and doesn’t have a lot of options — you’re better off sticking with the Windows Store.

Other than that, HP included some non-HP apps into the bloatware mix, including Kindle, eBay, Netflix, Norton Antivirus, and Skype. Surprisingly enough, the computer arrives clean of most bloatware, and what’s already there shouldn’t bother the user at all, except for maybe Norton, which pesters you every now and then to activate or update the software. Besides that, though, the HP apps don’t get in the way too much, and if they do, you can simply move around the app tiles to hide the apps and make the homescreen how you want.

Performance

The computer comes with top-tier specs all around, so most users won’t have a problem with performance — the 3TB hard drive will hold plenty family photos and videos, as well as all the music you can think of. The processor is fast enough that apps open quickly, and nothing lags behind, which is great for those older folks that can’t stand anything slower than the Millenium Falcon at light speed. Benchmark scores from Geekbench were actually really decent, and it scored better than most of the newer all-in-ones that we’ve reviewed in the recent past, including Acer’s Aspire 7600U, which has a higher price tag, and it even beat out Apple’s newest iMac, although just barely. The ENVY 23 TouchSmart even kept right up with HP’s Z1 Workstation, which carries a hefty price tag of $2,700.

As far as everyday use, the TouchSmart boots up in about 25 seconds from the time the power button is pressed to the time when the desktop is ready to use. That’s certainly respectable, but considering that HP stuffed a 3TB hard drive inside, we can’t help but feel that the company could have also slipped in a solid state drive as well, just to boost the performance even more. As for the display, it’s a 10-point touchscreen, meaning it will register all ten fingers if need be. In brief, it’s basically feels like a 23-inch upright tablet, and it’s extremely responsive and smooth. It takes little effort to scroll through home screens and websites, and multi-point touch capability is pretty fantastic — pinch-to-zoom works well, and playing around in the painting app with multiple fingers was both fun and impressive.

Wrap-Up

In the end, the HP ENVY 23 TouchSmart can do pretty much anything you throw at it, and it can certainly handle the demanding needs of an entire family, from the little kids all the way up to the impatient grandparents. It comes with most of the features that you would want on a high-end all-in-one desktop — it’s got the large 1080p touchscreen display, a huge hard drive, gobs of RAM, and a super-fast processor. While there are definitely things that I could nitpick about, such as the large base, no USB 3.0 on the back, and a less-than-decent keyboard and mouse combo, I can’t really see how this computer wouldn’t cater to the everyday man or woman. And while the $1,700 may not look too great, the company’s 20-inch models start at around $1,000 if you’re looking for a smaller build. It’s certainly not a desktop that’s aimed towards a specific group of users, so if you’re looking for an all-around Windows 8 machine for the entire family, the ENVY all-in-one series meets the mark.

These units come in 20 or 23-inch flush-glass displays that bring 10-point touch touchscreen capability to you and yours. This set of computers are right in the middle of HP’s next-level all-in-one lineup, with the HP Pavilion 10 all-in-one PC sitting below them in price and the HP SpectreONE coming forward as the hero of this generation – top class! The ENVY 20 and ENVY 23 TouchSmart PCs act as a perfect in-between with price and power reflected in their made-for-everyone packages.

These computers come with HP Connected Remote, Photo, Music, and Backup and bring the full Windows 8 experience in late October. That’s right around the time that Windows 8 is currently expected to be unleashed upon the earth, with every manufacturer in the field shooting off every different concoction of hardware they can muster with only the best of the best ready to shine through. With the HP ENVY TouchSmart PCs you see here, HP is more than ready to take on the general public with smooth, simple designs and all-in-one greatness for everybody.

The HP ENVY 23 TouchSmart all-in-one PC will be appearing for what’s expected to be $1099 USD MSRP. The HP ENVY 20 TouchSmart all-in-one PC will be appearing for an expected $849 USD MSRP. Both computers are scheduled now for the end of October here in the United States at all of your favorite HP sales outlets.

With the HP SpectreXT TouchSmart Ultrabook you’re getting a full touchscreen experience on a lovely 15.6-inch display and a high quality keyboard and giant touchpad besides. This unit also has a Thunderbolt port for ultra-fast data transfer, and the whole thing only weighs in at 4.77 pounds in the end. It’a also just 17.9mm thick and will be blasting your eyes out with brightness with that IPS technology behind the screen – outdoors time!

The HP ENVY TouchSmart Ultrabook 4 brings you a 14-inch HD display up top with full touchscreen capabilities. This device is actually quite similar to the SpectreXT TouchSmart Ultrabook, but here you’ve got a slightly different size and no Thunderbolt. Also it’s got a slightly different feel to it, but you can certainly tell that both the ENVY TouchSmart Ultrabook 4 and the SpectreXT TouchSmart Ultrabook are made by the same folks – best buds!

Finally there’s the hybrid PC known as the HP ENVY x2. This device runs Windows 8 as both a notebook and a tablet, with an 11.6-inch touchscreen to make it all bright and optimized for the next generation in HP computing. This device will be coming in at just 3.1 pounds for the whole unit or 1.5 pounds for the tablet on its own. The display on this unit is also rather bright at 400nit working with IPS LCD technology. The HP ENVY x2 also has NFC capabilities – so watch out for the wireless future!

This device uses its seamless magnetic latch to work as a perfectly solid notebook or as a tablet, both in one device. The device weighs in at 3.1 pounds with the keyboard attached or just 1.5 pounds with just the top half. This device has a 11.6-inch diagonal HD touch display for you to work with whilst entering the Windows 8 world this Fall.

You’ll be getting ultrawide viewing angles galore with this device’s 400nit IPS LCD panel that’ll have you working well both indoors and outdoors alike. You’ve also got an HD webcam on the front of the device above the display and an 8-megapixel camera on the back. Inside you’ll also find Beats Audio integration for high-quality sound delivery, and HP has shown off an optional stylus accessory you can purchase specifically for this unit as well.

The HP ENVY x2 has solid-state memory integrated within for both fast startup times and improved reliability, and you’ve got an NFC chip integrated in the tablet portion as well! With Near Field Communication technology you’ll be able to share content with devices around you with a single physical tap.

Inside you’ll be working with a collection of software that makes this HP device unique. With the HP Connected Photo application you’ll be able to connect your photos across multiple devices and sync them for editing from any device you’re working with. This app also works with instant-sharing abilities for several social networks as well. This HP machine also has HP Connected Music inside powered by Meridian – you’ll be able to download music, stream media, and work with internet radio as well.

The HP ENVY x2 will be appearing in the USA near the end of the year right in time for the holiday season. At the moment no pricing is available – check back soon!

This may not be HP’s ultra high end, but the ENVY series has always been one of their better offerings. Back in May we got our first glace at this Ultrabook, and then late last month we were able to unbox it and dig in a bit deeper. To get you started off with full specs, details, and the unboxing you’ll want to start here.

Chassis

This aluminum wrapped machine hit the shelves last month for about $800 and today we’re going to give you a better look, as well as our review and impressions on the laptop. It certainly isn’t HP’s nicest wrapped device but the aluminum has a great feel. For some reason the tip on top has been replaced with plastic, and the aluminum doesn’t extend to the entire edge of the casing. This gives opening and closing it a rather cheap feel, because the plastic is indeed very cheap. Otherwise the entire body is well built, and feels like it too.

The top has that midnight black brushed aluminum look and the only change is the neat and small HP logo on the bottom corner. As you curve around the sides to the ports however, you’ll quickly notice the aluminum design ends for a soft-touch red matte texture instead. This makes it easy to hold, but causes an area that may separate in the future if it takes too much abuse. The entire sides and bottom are bright “Beats Audio red” and is soft to the touch. This makes it easy to hold, and comfortable to carry.

All in all the ENVY 4-1030us (that we have here) comes in under 4 lbs (3.86 to be exact) and only 0.78″ thick. We’ve seen thicker, but for $800 the package is quite sleek and decent. We’ll talk about ports more below so for now the star of the show is the TrueVision HD front camera for Skype and video chat, and of course Beats Audio.

HP’s integrated dual-stereo surround sound Beats Audio speakers, and they are actually quite decent. Obviously you won’t be getting the bass you’d like, but for music, videos, and even gaming I found them sufficient. Even near full volume the distortion levels are minimal, and I’d give them a solid thumbs up for the price, even if they still have that tin-can sound. Ultrabooks and laptops the speakers can always improve, but these didn’t leave me wanting too much more.

Specs

As far as the hardware specs of the device, if you didn’t catch the full breakdown in my video above here they are again. You’ll get a clear and vivid 14-inch Brightview LED 1366 x 768 display, 1.7 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor (3317U), 4GB of DDR3 RAM, a 500GB HD (no SSD here) 3 USB ports, Ethernet, HDMI, SD slot for storage, then integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000. There’s no dedicated GPU here, but Intel’s HD graphics were enough for the casual game here. You won’t be playing Battlefield 3, but then you shouldn’t expect to.

The 14-inch 1366 x 768 resolution display is rather decent, but obviously we’d always like a higher resolution. Like the Retina Display Macbook Pro for example — but then again this is only $800. The screen is still HD and playing YouTube videos was a breeze. I even used the HDMI-out on the side to stream some Olympics to my HDTV since NBC failed us on their coverage, and it worked wonderfully.

Keyboard and Trackpad

Now here’s one area that I wasn’t to pleased with the ENVY 4. The keys, while backlit, and chicklet style had a rather cheap feel to them. Being a 14 inch device I wasn’t expecting it to feel very compact and low on space, but I found myself struggling to get comfortable — but that will come in due time. The keys while still feeling cheap have a good firm click during use, but certain areas on the keyboard felt weaker than others. The back-light option has a simple on/off setting, but that was all. Being able to manually control this would be nice but for $800 we’ll gladly just accept the fact we have it.

My biggest concern however was the trackpad. I know HP’s been doing this circular diamond-cut like design for ages, but I find it extremely frustrating. You can see the lines all aim for the center from the image above, but I find this type of feedback to be rather difficult. It makes operation feel rather choppy and the “smooth” feel I wanted was certainly missing. The sensitivity was another minor issue. Nothing you can’t get used to, but even after changing it in settings I still found myself having to repeat my taps. Overall I’d take a few points off here, but nothing major as this is all subjective and depends on user preference.

Ports

As mentioned above, the ENVY 4 Ultrabook has 3 USB ports (two left, one right), Ethernet, HDMI, and full size SD slot for storage. Then off to the right side is your power port, 3rd USB, headphone and microphone ports. They all felt great and weren’t too tight, as I’ve had that issue with newer laptops in the past. Here’s a look at the ports:

Performance

This device runs an Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, which we should all know plenty about by now so I’ll stick to the results. Performance was rather decent, although I quickly replaced IE but that’s just me. Working with a 3rd Gen Ivy Bridge Core i5 dual-core processor and 4GB of DDR3 RAM performance was great, but I’d love to see 6GB for the price point. We have no SSD so hard drive results weren’t impressive, but that was expected.

All this equals a rather powerful mid-range Ultrabook all for a great price. It has a few compromises here and there, but this could still be the device for you. As usual here at SlashGear we’ve ran some Geekbench benchmark tests. You can see those results below and compare with previous Laptop Reviews.

Wrap-Up

All in all this is a rather great machine. It’s lightweight, portable, thin, powerful, sounds great, and has a bright and vivid screen. Oh and did we mention affordable. For everything you get this is certainly an affordable Ultrabook, I just wish it had USB 3.0 and possible slightly better build quality. If you’ve ever used a Macbook for an extended period of time you’ll surely notice the build quality differences. Compared to most others in the price range however, this ENVY 4 Ultrabook is impressive, and will leave many in the dust. Using the ENVY 4 for browsing and a few videos on NFL.com I barely managed 5 hours of battery life, so that is one other thing worth mentioning.

This isn’t quite as impressive as the Acer Aspire S5 we recently reviewed, but then it’s also much cheaper too. For the mid-range price and great “Ultrabook” specs this will surely make anyone happy for under $800. Overall the The Envy 4 is fairly named, and some others in this range will “envy” it. Featuring a premium design and attractive use of the color red certainly makes it an Ultrabook worth checking out. Enjoy the pictures and some of our other HP reviews below.

HP’s new ENVY 4 and 6 Ultrabooks have recently hit the shelves and to start things off we’ve unboxed the ENVY 4, and got our paws all over this new aluminum wrapped laptop. HP’s equipped these new Ultrabooks with a sleek design, impressive power under the hood, and kept them well in range of Intel’s “Ultrabook” standard. Coming in under 4 lbs (3.86 to be exact) and only 0.78″ thick the ENVY 4 is what we’re looking at today so here’s our quick unboxing video:

As you saw from the video above, the specs are rather decent for an $800 machine. You’ll get a clear and vivid 14-inch Brightview LED 1366 x 768 display, 1.7 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor (3317U), 4GB of DDR3 RAM, a 500GB HD (no SSD here) 3 USB ports, Ethernet, HDMI, SD slot for storage, integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000, and more.

The build quality for our initial impressions are nice, but certainly no MacBook Air. It’s topped in a midnight black brushed aluminum, and finished with a soft-touch matte coating on the sides and bottom — which nicely fits the Beats Audio red color scheme. All of this comes in under an inch being only 0.78″ thick and weighing less than 4 lbs.

Of course you’ll be running on Windows 7 x64, and you’ll probably want to upgrade to Windows 8 — or will you? The HP ENVY 4 Ultrabook has a nice sleek design, a slim bezel around the 14-inch LED display, a mildly powerful processor under the hood, and we’ll surely be taking it all for a spin in our full review early next week. The lack of an SSD for storage is my only concern compared to the competition, but this does come in at a decent price. Stay tuned and let us know if you have any questions for our full review.

This notebook line has what HP quotes as up to 7 hours of battery life, has a 1-year contract with Absolute Data Protect right out of the box as well as 2 years of NIS, and works with HP CoolSense to keep you off the hot side. This notebook has a TrueVision HP Webcam for next-level quality in video chat and photography and comes with Adobe Photoshop Elements as well as Premiere Elements installed. It’s also quote the looker with an aluminum exterior and interior and a lovely slim black bezel around its ultra bright display.

This notebook will be available in the USA starting on the 3rd of June and will be starting at $999.99 online and in stores. Have a look back at our HP Envy 14 Spectre Review to get a good idea of where the last step for this machine sat, and get ready for the heat this summer! Also check out our HP portal for all the HP action you can handle this whole explosive HP-filled week!

The Sleekbook configuration here in this ENVY duo come with up to 9 hours of battery life and a choice of either discrete-class graphics with AMD or discrete-class graphics with Intel. The Ultrabooks here on the other hand work with up to 8 hours of battery life with the 14-inch display option or 9 hours of battery life with the 15.6-inch display option. Both Ultrabook sizes come with 3rd generation Intel Core processor options as well as mSata SSD.

The Ultrabook options here also have Intel software features galore including Intel Identity Protection, Intel Smart Response, Intel Smart Connect, and Intel Rapid Start. Both ENVY Sleekbooks and Ultrabooks in this new lineup come with HP CoolSense, HP ProtectSmart, and HP TrueVision HD Webcams as well. The ENVY Ultrabook will be available starting on May 9th, 2012, and will have starting costs of $749.99 (14-inch) and $799.99 (15.6-inch). For the ENVY Sleekbook line, we’re also looking at a May 9th release date, but only for the $699.99 14-inch model. There’s also an ENVY Sleekbook in a $599.99 (15.6-inch) iteration that’ll be out on the 20th of June.

Hardware

The first thing you’ll notice upon taking the Spectre out of its premium packaging (after sliding off the complimentary neoprene case) is a lid that isn’t so much glossy as glassy. Gorilla Glass, to be specific: not only does it cover the screen, you’ll also find it on the touchpad, palmrest and the jet-black lid of the laptop itself. While this is certainly a unique approach (and much appreciated on the screen and touchpad) it makes the lid a rather predictable magnet for fingerprints and smudges. If the Spectre catches your eye for its looks, be prepared to lug around a microfiber cloth to keep it attractive.

The rest of the body is either hard or soft-touch plastic, which helps keep the weight at least comparable to 13-inch ultrabooks. Like Dell’s XPS 13, the HP claims to cram a screen into a body one size smaller than otherwise possible. Observing the tiny bezel on either side of the Spectre(but not the top and bottom) it’s easy to believe them. Indeed, the screen is one of the laptop’smost impressive features: a full 1600×900 LCD  panel with downright dazzling brightness, I can say without hesitation that it’s one of the best laptop screens I’ve ever used.

Surprisingly, the keyboard and touchpad measure up to this high standard. While the keyboard isn’t the best (that honor still goes to Lenovo) it’s plenty comfortable for extended typing, and the backlight and full function row are welcome additions. The all-glass trackpad seems to have finally caught up with Apple’s lofty Macbooks: tracking, gestures and recessed clicks are as good as any Windows laptop I’ve ever used, and better than the vast majority.

Even with all this style and usability, HP manages to cram more ports into the Spectre 14 than any other ultrabook on the market. Along the left side you get an SD card slot (a feature all too often ignored in the form factor), a combined microphone/headphone port, one each of USB 2.0and 3.0 ports, an Ethernet jack, and both HDMI and DisplayPort video-out options. As a major advocate of multiple monitors, I appreciate the flexibility. On the right you get an analog rocker dial (a miniature version of the one found on the ENVY 15) with a glowing Beats logo, and a mute and Beats equalizer button on either side. A pair of indicator lights and the power jack round out the hardware.

The Envy 14 Spectre isn’t the slinkiest ultrabook around, or the lightest, or even the prettiest. But for a combination of great screen and trackpad, solid keyboard, and all the inputs and outputs you’re likely to need, it’s an excellently compact design. It’s the first ultrabook I’ve seen that could viably replace a full-sized laptop for all the functions one might need it, save heavy gaming or popping in a DVD.

Software

HP’s usual mess of packed-in software accompanies the Spectre, along with Norton, Microsoft’s Office, Silverlight and Bing Bar, and the HP MovieStore. But like the HP Envy 15, they’ve included both Adobe Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements free of charge (or more accurately, included in the price tag). As a regular user of both programs in their CS4 flavors, that’s a big plus, seeing as the bundle costs $150 at most retailers.

Otherwise Windows 7 Home Premium is the same as it ever was – if you’ve used any variant of Windows 7, you’ll be right at home. It is the 64 bit version, so if HP ever offers more than 4GB at the time of purchase you’ll be able to make use of it right out of the box. Aftermarket upgrades are neither supported nor recommended. As with just about any machine with a current-gen processor and plenty of RAM, the software is responsive and fast, at least on the “clean” installation.

Performance

The base Envy 14 Spectre that we tested comes with a 1.6Ghz Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB of DDR3 memory and a 128GB SSD drive. This should be more than enough for everything but the most intensive of media tasks. No one’s been able to cram discrete graphics into an ultrabook form factor yet, so current high-end gaming is out, but the Intel HD 3000 series should handle older or simpler games well enough.

I did notice that the boot up time for the Spectre is downright amazing, even when compared with the rest of the ultrabook crop. From a cold boot (not sleep or hibernation) the machine gets to the Windows login screen in just over 25 seconds. Restores from sleep were basically instantaneous. For the road warrior who often needs quick access to the full power of a PC, that’s a godsend, and almost certainly thanks to a high-quality SSD, in this case made by Samsung.

If you want a more powerful option, the higher configuration currently offered by HP uses a Core i7 processor and a 256GB SSD, but the same 4GB of memory. If you want the faster processor and more space, you’d better be willing to pay for it: the higher tier is a $500 premium over the base model.

Media & Battery

The small form factor of the Envy obviously limits your options when it comes to disc-based media, but beyond that small limitation it’s an entertainment powerhouse. The combination of that fabulous screen, Beats audio, and powerful if not fantastic speakers make for an enjoyable experiences for streaming video and music. And for the constant traveler, having both DisplayPort and a full-sized HDMI-out really broadens your options for presentations of movies.

With that large, high-res screen and a relatively powerful processor, I was afraid that the Spectre would be yet another poor entry in the ultrabook battery department. Not so: across three separate tests with the screen at half brightness and doing my regular regimen of heavy browsing and emailing, I managed battery times of 6:23, 6:37 and 6:39. While not the best battery life out there by a long shot (that goes to HP’s own Folio 13) it’s plenty for a cross-continental plane trip or an extended session of work in a coffee shop devoid of outlets. On that note, HP continues to offer three-prong plugs in its adapters – a shame. But on the plus side, the adapter has a built-in USB charging port for giving your phone a jump without turning on the computer.

Wrap Up

Without a doubt, the HP Envy 14 Spectre is one of the best ultrabooks we’ve ever tested. Solid performance, unique style, plenty of inputs and a gorgeous high-resolution screen make it a joy to use. This is the first ultrabook that’s seriously tempted me to give up my hulking full-sized daily driver laptop, because there really are no compromises, so long as you can live without a disc drive and down’t mind giving the glass lid a wipe down every once in a while.

However, all this luxury and utility comes at a price – literally. At $1399, the Envy 14 Spectre is also the most expensive ultrabook we’ve tested, coming in far above the commonly expected $1,000 entry. It’s worth every penny, mind you – but you’ve got to have the pennies on hand, and be willing to put them towards a machine that you hope will last several years. With the current pace of advancement in the ultrabook form factor that may be  a hard pill to swallow. The Spectre is also considerably larger and thicker than its 13-inch contemporaries, though not to a degree that’ll make a huge difference in a carry-on bag.

The bottom line is this: there are thinner, lighter and perhaps more stylish options out there, and ultrabooks that can last longer without needing a charge. But if you like the looks of the Envy 14 Spectre, want a laptop that’s compact, flexible and has one of the best screens out there, and you’re willing to put down at least $1400 to get it, there’s nothing in my experience that should dissuade you. Spend your money, and you shall not be disappointed.

Check out the video hands-on below:

This computer’s least costly model is again $1399 and includes a Core i5 processor running at 1.6GHz per core with 4GB of memory and a lovely 128GB of SSD. That’s more space than any normal person could possibly want, yes? You can upgrade to a full Core i7 processor for $200 more if you wish, and if you’re in the mood for more space you can get another whole 128GB for $300 more. Any setup you get at the moment will be set to ship on the 17th of February, 2012, so get em in now!

As for how lovely this device is in person – we’ve got you covered! We had a look at this laptop of true power back at CES 2012 and we’d just love to let you in on some hands-on knowledge. Though this laptop certainly isn’t the thinnest Ultrabook in the world at the moment, it more than makes up for it in odd bits and pieces. Have a look here in our hands-on video or head down to the timeline to get all the information you need!

[via HP]

The laptop is a little heftier than the other ultrabooks we’re trying out at CES – considerably more so than our road test HP Folio 13, for example. But there’s a lot of solid build for your buck. The glossy black LCD cover feels luxurious, but the piano finish (also seen on the palm rest) is a fingerprint magnet. Inside you get HP’s standard touchpad and a backlit keyboard, plus a light-up beats logo.

Output includes an HDMI and Mini Display, along with USB 3.0. SSDs come standard at the $1399 starting price, tougfh of course you can upgrade most of the usual components. It’s a stylish laptop with the solid feeling we’ve come to expect from the ENVY line, and we can’t wait to send that pretty chassis through the ringer in a full review session.

The teaser from HP is timed just in time before CES, and makes the Spectre a very viable candidate for the Las Vegas tech show. Although there isn’t much information at the moment, there could be a very good possibility that this move shows that HP will be competing more directly with Apple’s MacBook Air, as well as other ultrathin notebooks, rather than trying to avoid jostling around with those competitors in the ultrathin laptop ring, instead.

SlashGear readers, what do you think of this barely revealed glimpse of the Spectre ultrabook from HP? Do you think that the company’s potential move into ultrabook territory is a good thing, and will be successful? Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

[via Engadget]

The first thing you’ll notice when handling the ENVY 15 is its heft: a largely metal construction makes for a big, heavy unit, even for the relatively mainstream 15-inch screen size. That weight isn’t wasted, however. The premium feel of the ENVY line is present in full force, with minimal seams and laser etching everywhere. The front of the laptop is bare, save for stereo Beats speakers. On the right you’ll find the SD card slot, Kensington lock port, a single USB port, Display Port, full-sized HDMI, a stylish Beats manual analog volume controller, an Ethernet port and the power jack. Switch to the left side and you get the optical drive, two more USB ports, a pair of headphone ports and a microphone in jack.

Lift the matte black lid and you’re greeted with the standard ENVY interior, plus a few surprises. The keyboard steps inside the body via a stylish red ring that matches the Beats audio dial, a nice tough that adds just enough flair to set it apart from the Macbook line (which, let’s face it, early ENVY models aped pretty shamelessly.) Black backlit chicklet keys are comfortable, if not as springy as the ones found on Lenovo’s ThinkPads. The power button, volume dial and a mute switch are the only extra controls on the unit.

The screen is gorgeous, thanks to both HP’s Radiance LED display. A full 1920×1080 resolution is a treat on a 15-inch panel, though the standard base model has only the more common 1366×768 resolution. A relatively thin bezel combined with edge-to-edge plastic (not glass) makes for a well-defined if glossy viewing experience. Flip the laptop over and you’ll see minimum legalese and just one access point for the battery, which HP figures good for 9 hours. The body is considerably thicker than the same-sized Macbook Pro, but not to an extreme degree.

Previous ENVY models had trouble with the Apple-style clickable touchpad. For the most part these seem to be resolved, thanks in part to a small rubber strip that give a separation of the main navigation area and the “buttons”. Two-finger scrolling is unfortunately still iffy – I’ve yet to see a PC notebook that nails the multitouch gestures as well as a Macbook. More’s the pity. The analog volume dial emblazoned with the Beats logo is a nice touch, and allows for quick, tactile changes in sound.

Our ENVY 15 came with Windows 7 Home Premium, in the 64-bit flavor to take advantage of 6GB of DDR3 RAM. Combined with a 2.4Ghz Intel Core i5 processor, a speedy traditional 500GB 7200 RPM hard drive and a 1GB AMD Radeon 7690M, this laptop should fly through high-end applications and the latest games – we’ll be sure to put it through its paces. Looking through the included software, I’m happy to see full versions of Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 and Premiere Elements 9, useful tools for any would-be media dabbler. I’m less pleased to see the predictable inclusion of Microsoft Office trial versions, as well as HP and Bing-branded bloatware. It’s by no means the worst that I’ve seen, but a clean Windows experience is always preferable. There are no OS discs included in the package to allow for manual re-installation.

As for the packaging itself, it’s the high-quality stuff we’ve seen on previous ENVY models. The laptop itself gets a free cloth baggie/shammy (necessary, considering how fast that black top accrues fingerprints) and another baggie for the large 3-prong AC adapter. The standard documentation and a few marketing flyers round out the extras. As configure this ENVY 15 would cost $1249, with the base model starting at $1099.

Take a look for yourself in our unboxing video below:

We’ll be going over the HP ENVY 15 for our in-depth review later this week.

Hardware

This gigantic HP ENVY 17 3D review unit is a fabulously large at 16.38″(W) x 10.83″ (D) x1.25″ (min height) / 1.52″ (max height). It weighs in at 7.37 lbs – more than you’ll want to be carrying around in your packpack, if you know what I’m talking about (unless of course you’d like to bring it to a LAN and impress your comrades of course, then weight is never an issue.) I wouldn’t expect a 17.3″ notebook to be any less heavy than this, but hey, we’re in an age where a MacBook Air can be so small and thing that it gets thrown away with the mail on accident, so what do I know?

The casing on this machine is nothing but lovely and beautiful brushed aluminum in carbon relic. Aesthetically it’s totally lovely with a random dot pattern across the wrist area below the keyboard as well as across the top of the case, with a light-up HP in a circle in the lower left (when it’s stood up open.) There’s a generous amount of space (about an inch) of smooth depressed space around the keyboard inside with a full-sized keyboard plus number pad in black with white printing keys that are all back-lit. There’s a singular metal power button in the upper left above the keyboard, and a gigantic 4.2 x 2.5″ trackpad with some questionable clickability.

The trackpad on this machine isn’t questionable in the way that’s difficult to work, but in the way that, if you’ve never used this kind of extremely sensitive pad before, will take some getting used to. Even after a week of working with the pad (being used to a more traditional sensitivity pad) I found it much more natural to take out the ol’ mouse and connect it via USB. The pad can be clicked (right and left) and can be tapped in a way similar to a button. Because both of these can happen at the same time, lots of mistaken clicks were made. I can imagine that once you’re extremely used to this system, however, you might find it super helpful to be able to click without the extra physical depression of the pad – hello easy gaming click? Lots of mistakes made but neat after learning.

Inside you’ll find a 1.60GHz Intel Core i7-720QM processor with 5.94 GB RAM and a 640GB 7200RPM Hard Drive. Graphics are handled by a 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) HD 5850 graphics card. This card powers the massive 17.3″ diagonal Full HD HP 3D Ultra BrightView Infinity LED Display (1920×1080). Viewing angles are basically perfect at all angles except starting at about 20% below the screen. But heck, unless you’ve got the thing sitting at the top of a staircase and you plan on sitting at the bottom, you probably wont need to worry about this. The screen doesn’t do much for reducing glare, so that’s an issue if you’re using this machine as your television (which I hear a lot of people do these days [like my wife and I,]) but keep it away from windows and bright lights and you’ll be fine.

Connectivity includes Wifi b/g/n, external 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN RJ-45 connect, 3 USB (3rd shared with eSATA port), HDMI, RJ-45, Blu-ray player & SuperMulti DVD burner, two headphone jacks, 120 W power adapter, mini-Display Port, 1 extra SuperSpeed USB 3.0 port, internal slot-load optical drive, HP TrueVision HD webcam with built-in mic, 5-in-1 integrated Digital Media Reader, and a partridge in a pear tree. If that’s not enough ways for you to get connected to other devices and the outside world, I don’t know what’ll satisfy you ol’ stick in the mud. Every little thing you could possibly need, right?

In the box you’ll also find a pair of super hot gigantic ugly pair of HP 3D Active Shutter Glasses that employ the use of the, again, Full HD HP 3D Ultra BrightView Infinity LED Display. These come in a whole separate box and drawstring storage pouch so you know they’re trying (with success) to make you feel like they’ve put some effort into this 3D experience. There are several nosepads included and the glasses themselves are substantial to be sure.

For a video of a hands-on with this machine as well as LOTS of pics of everything that’s in the box, head over to the HP ENVY 17 3D Laptop Hands-On and Unboxing post from when we first received the package.

Software

The HP ENVY 17 3D runs Windows 7 Home Premium which of course includes an unacceptably vast amount of pre-installed applications which we’ll more than likely never use including, but not limited to: Acrobat.com, Adobe Photoshop Elements 8.0, Adobe Premiere Elements 8.0, Adobe Reader 9 Desktop Gadget Gallery, Hulu Desktop, Internet Explorer (64-bit), Internet Explorer (yes, two separate applications,) Microsoft Office 2010, Microsoft Security Essentials, Stardock MyColors, Windows Anytime Upgrade, and more. We of course immediately downloaded Google Chrome to use for internet, with Firefox as a backup – both of which work just excellently.

Performance

This computer is made for business and entertainment. It’s classified as a business machine, but with big pushes on both the Beats audio and the 3D capability, we know better – this machine is made to bring you the visuals and the audio. Does this mean it’s going to deliver the sweetness to gamers as well as everyday 3D Blu-Ray disk watchers? Lets let the numbers speak for themselves. First we’ll have a look at benchmarking with Geekbench, a synthetic test of memory and processor performance. The ENVY 17 3D totaled up a score of 4450, surprising considering the scores of similar machines: Acer Aspire 5745DG-3855 at 4814, Gateway ID49C at 5042, and even the smaller HP ENVY 14 at 4830.

The ENVY 17 3D scored 26.94fps in OpenGL and 2.78pts in CPU. Unfortunately Cinebench was unable to complete the task, so no results there. As far as performance goes with everyday functions like opening tabs, playing video with audio, playing video and audio at the same time (on accident,) opening new games and old (Diablo 2 Lord of Destruction, just for fun,) everything went super smooth. No delays basically anywhere.

With the test package we’re working with here, we received a test copy of the 3D Blu-Ray disk Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. It looks, plays, and feels fantastic. While I personally am still not convinced that 3D is the way of the future as far as personal computers goes, having 3D capability in my home, right here in front of me, is fun and impressive. As far as how the 3D looks compared to say… the movie theater? It’s better here. While the movie theater for me ends up going to the back of my mind basically right away (or giving me a headache because I don’t know what to focus on at any given point,) the 3D setup this ENVY 17 3D machine uses is top-notch. When I move my head from left to right to left, the objects on the screen move with me. They don’t react in exactly the same way they would if I were actually looking at objects in real life, but it’s close, and it’s awesome.

Games that work with 3D via the ENVY 17 3D’s ATI active shutter technology (Call of Duty 4, Call of Duty: World at War, Fear 2, Left 4 Dead 2, Mirror’s Edge, Resident Evil 5, World of Warcraft,) do not just instantly pop on. To enable the 3D tech for games, you’ve got to use the TriDef ignition application. You have to do this each time to open a 3D game. Once you’ve got your games open, however, it’s smooth sailing. Obviously playing games in 3D is going to put more pressure on your GPU than 2D games since two frames are needed where before there was only one, but it doesn’t seem to matter all that much here. NOTE that I’m always hesitant to say how well games play on computers I personally am reviewing since it’s almost certain that you, being a person who plays games on your computer in addition to doing other things during the day, wont be working with a fresh out of the box version of this machine, and should therefor take the word on performance with a grain of rice since everyone’s experience is unique. Trust the numbers!

Battery

Keep your power cord handy. This machine lasts right around 2 hours without it, and that’s only playing movies. If you plan on bringing this gigantic honker to a friends house to play some games or watch some 3D / HD action movies, bring the cord, just to be safe. Two hours isn’t long, but I really REALLY don’t think HP meant to sell this machine with battery life as a point of sale. It’s a desktop replacement after all, and how many desktops do you know that sit around without the power cord plugged?

Wrap-Up

The display is bright, the display is sharp, and the display is HUGE. This is a desktop replacement without a doubt, and you’ll never go back to a tower again if this monster is slid under your nose (that’s a bit presumptuous, I know you love building your own machines and enclosures and all that, but this is a really really tasty alternative to DIY.) You will NOT be let down by the display – in fact, as mentioned earlier on, you’ll be more let down by the colors you see in the rest of the world when you look away from the screen as they’ll appear yellowed before your eyes re-adjust.

The mousepad. It’s really difficult to get used to. If you plan on using this machine without a mouse, consider testing a pad like this out, because I’ve never experienced one like it and it can get very annoying very fast. If you HAVE tested one before and have taken a liking to it, I imagine it can become quite handy in many places. Every time I switched back to another CPU after using this, I found myself tapping my pad expecting folders and icons to open. Imagine that.

Performance seemed great all around, nothing seemed to lag or chop. Trust the numbers first, trust me second: this machine flies fast, this machine works well. As with any machine, if you bog it down with crap-ware and rip it apart with a million trillion tasks, it’ll fail like any other – if you’re smart, this machine can work wonders for you.

The machine can get hot, especially along the left side of the keyboard where the fan blows out hot air. If you’re understanding of machine heat, it doesn’t seem like it will be a giant problem. If you’re used to your machine staying cool all the time, no matter what, think twice before expecting this one to do the same. It gets hot. It does.

The HP ENVY 17 3D is built for entertainment. If you plan on needing a cpu for business only, get a smaller machine, and one without 3D capabilities. If you want to watch spectacular graphics flash before your eyes on a titanic notebook, this is the monster for you. I’m not entirely convinced that the world is ready for 3D games, but it’s sure ready for movies, and when (if ever) the 3D gaming world catches up with reality, this ENVY will be ready. Bottom line is that if you’ve got entertainment in mind and you’d like it in a desktop-replacement notebook package, this is the one for you.

Gorgeousness inside and out.

Heavy metal.

This massive computer comes with it’s own pair of high quality 3D glasses (with nice rubbery rims to keep them held on your head.) The glasses are in a pouch, the computer’s in a pouch, and the pouches are in boxes and there’s a bellyband for the box! It’s such a package as I’ve never before experienced. This massive 17.3-inch beast is sitting inside just waiting to deliver monster amounts of content to our eyeballs at a speedious rate. But not before I get a look at all the boxy goodness that envelopes it.

Of course you know that besides this lovely box and its extra contents, (lots of books and pamphlets and paper and a power cord and a 2GB removable memory card and 3D glasses,) there is a laptop with a gigantic HD screen in here. It’s made basically entirely of sweet freezing cold metal, a quadcore Intel Core i7-720QM processor, 2TB of storage and a slot-loading Blu-ray drive.

There’s a ATI Mobility Radeon 5850 GPU for graphics, Beats Audio (Dr Dre’s spirit is enveloping us all) for sound, and HP’s active shutter glasses coupled with the emitter in the bezel of the notebook for 3D movies. Wild! This machine is HEAVY but that’s of course because it’s so freaking gigantic – like Chris says and I agree with, this isn’t the sort of laptop you carry around with you all day.

Take a look at the close-ups in the gallery below and check out the super exciting unboxing and hands-on video here and get pumped up for the full review coming soon!

The 3D system uses HP’s active shutter glasses, which – like with some 3D HDTVs – rapidly cycle the transparency of the lenses according to an emitter in the bezel of the notebook.  Graphics are courtesy of an ATI Mobility Radeon 5850 GPU, and there’s Beats Audio for sound with power to match.

It’s not a machine we’d like to carry around with us daily – it’s 7.15lbs of desktop replacement, after all – but the 3D effect works well and the various apps we loaded all opened instantly.  The backlit chiclet keyboard feels solid and, despite the relative slenderness of the chassis, the whole thing is flex-free.  We’re waiting to hear back on official pricing (“from £1,599″ is the HP line, but this particular machine is spec’d up considerably) but it should drop around the end of this month.

First up is the HP Envy 17 3D, which you might have surmised from the name, features 3D technology. In fact, HP boasts that it’s the first 17.3-inch notebook PC to support full 1080p HD 3D and Blu-ray. If that’s not enough for you, it also features Beats Audio, as well as HP’s Triple Bass Reflex subwoofer, tucked away inside. The display itself is of the BrightView origin, so your picture should be pretty clear, whether displayed in 3D or 2D. And with HP’s 3D Active Shutter glasses, your viewing experience should be good enough to want to do it again and again. The case of the Envy 17 3D is made of etched aluminum, and you can customize it to fit your needs, with up to 2TB of storage, if you’re really keening for more storage. You can even fit a quad-core Intel Core i7 processor, if you so wish, along with ATI’s Mobility Radeon HD 5850 graphics cards.

The HP Envy 14 Beats Edition is primarily aimed for the music fanatic out there. The notebook obviously features Beats Audio ,which was developed by HP and Beats by Dr. Dre. The laptop is also made of aluminum, much like the Envy 17, and it centers its color scheme around the Beats traditional red and black. It even has a red, back-lit keyboard. HP says that you’ll get about 6 and a half hours out of the standard battery from this guy, but you can get an extended slim-fit battery which will offer you up 13 hours of life while unplugged.

As for the HP Pavilion dm3, it’s a notebook that HP is proud to suggest keeps its cool no matter what you find yourself doing. It features innovative HP CoolSense Technology, which can automatically adjust cooling levels all based on your particular preferences at any given moment. The materials created in the laptop were all designed with this in mind, and strategically placed vents makes it so that the air continues to flow through the notebook in all the right places. In addition, there’s HP’s Thermal Assistant software, which will keep track of how the notebook is being used, and will shift between maximum cooling mode, or maximum performance mode, depending on what it deems necessary. The display on the dm3 is 13.3-inches, and it is HD. There’s a proffered 7.5 hours on the standard battery, so that should be good enough to keep you going.

Press Release

HP Unveils Stylish New Consumer Notebook PCs Featuring Advanced 3-D and Cooling Technologies

PALO ALTO, Calif., Sept. 1, 2010 – HP today revealed new consumer notebook PCs that fuse advanced technologies with stylish designs to deliver a superior computing experience.

- For maximum sensory appeal, HP delivers the thrill of 3-D entertainment to the HP ENVY 17 3D – the first 17-inch notebook PC to support 1080p 3-D and Blu-ray – and superb audio to the HP ENVY 14 Beats™ Edition.

- The HP Pavilion dm3 notebook PC features an HP-developed intelligent cooling system to minimize heat and provide consumers with advanced comfort.

“With these new technology and design enhancements, we offer customers visually stunning entertainment and an overall better computing experience. These new HP notebooks and accessories deliver breakthrough technology, power and advanced styling to satisfy the most discerning user.”

- Kevin Frost
Vice President and General Manager,
Consumer Notebooks,
Personal Systems Group, HP

HP ENVY 17 3D

With advanced 3-D technology as well as Beats Audio and an HP Triple Bass Reflex subwoofer, the HP ENVY 17 3D has the power and performance to deliver an unbelievable entertainment experience – just like in movie theaters. Offering the best stereoscopic 3-D visual experience without compromising 2-D content, the 17.3-inch HP 3D Ultra BrightView Display provides 1080p HD viewing and an ideal visual experience for 3-D Blu-ray content.

HP 3D Active Shutter Glasses provide a seamless viewing experience by wirelessly synchronizing each frame of the 3-D content between the display and the glasses, enabling a higher quality image . In addition, select models include sizzling 3-D action from the 2010 NBA All-Star Game and a 3-D movie trailer for the upcoming animated film “MEGAMIND” from DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc.

Crafted in precision-etched brushed aluminum, the ENVY 17 3D includes up to 2 TB of storage, powerful quad-core Intel® Core™ i7 processors and ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 5850 discrete graphics.

HP ENVY 14 Beats Edition

HP ENVY 14 Beats Edition is designed and engineered to offer power and performance along with state-of-the-art audio technology and an overall superior PC experience. The Beats Edition notebook includes Beats Audio, a unique, high-performance technology developed by HP and Beats by Dr. Dre™ to provide the optimal sound experience – the way the artist intended it – when playing music or audio through headphones or external speakers.

In a sleek, precision-crafted aluminum design, it maintains the signature Beats Audio black and red design style and includes a red backlit keyboard and three custom Beats-themed wallpapers. Each HP ENVY 14 Beats Edition comes with Beats by Dr. Dre Solo™ Headphones from Monster.

Offering up to 6.5 hours of battery life with the standard battery, and up to 13 hours with the optional HP Slim Fit Extended-Life battery, the HP ENVY 14 Beats Edition includes powerful Intel Core processors and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 graphics for demanding tasks.

HP Pavilion dm3

Thin and light, the HP Pavilion dm3 notebook PC is literally a cool notebook. Innovative HP CoolSense Technology combines advanced hardware and intelligent cooling software to pioneer a notebook that feels noticeably cooler and automatically adjusts cooling levels according to a customer’s personal preferences.

Advanced materials plus strategically placed vents minimize heat and channel it away from the bottom of the PC for optimal comfort. In addition, HP Thermal Assistant software detects how the PC is being used and automatically shifts into either a maximum cooling mode or maximum performance mode based on the customer’s choice.

It includes a 13.3-inch diagonal HD display, up to 7.5 hours of battery life and a stylish and durable metal finish with soft-touch surfaces in matte black.

While the ENVY 14 range kicks off with Core i3 CPUs, our particular review unit gets Intel’s Core i5-450M dual-core paired with 4GB of DDR3 memory and a 500GB hard-drive. Graphics include both the integrated Intel HD chipset and a dedicated ATI Radeon Mobility HD 5650 with 1GB of its own GDDR3 memory, driving the 14.5-inch 1600 x 900 display.

Connectivity, meanwhile, includes WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth, HDMI and a trio of USB 2.0 ports (one of which doubles as an eSATA). There’s also Mini DisplayPort, gigabit ethernet, a multi-format memory card reader and slot-loading DVD burner (no Blu-ray option, sadly). OS is Windows 7, but HP also splash a considerable amount of third-party apps and bloatware on the ENVY 14: as well as various Adobe Elements apps (including Photoshop Elements), Cyberlink DVD Suite, Roxio backup and several Corel apps, there are trials of Office 2010, Norton security and others. To be blunt, we’d far prefer to see these trials offered as mere links or on bundled DVDs rather than preloaded; we seem to spend the first hour with a new system wiping off unwanted apps.

HP’s final surprise is Beats Audio, a collaboration with the company better known for their headphones technology, and which is billed as studio-quality. It’s part of an attempt to lift the ENVY 14 out from the morass of mid-range notebooks, along with the backlit chiclet keyboard and broad multitouch-capable trackpad. It’s certainly not hard to see where the frequent MacBook Pro comparisons come from, but it’s also worth noting that a similarly priced machine from Apple would run to $1,899 versus the $1,289.99 of this HP.

We benchmarked the HP ENVY 14 with Geekbench, a synthetic test of processor and memory performance. The notebook scored 4830, slightly lower than Lenovo’s IdeaPad Y460 which uses the Core i5-520M CPU and the same amount of RAM. We then turned to PCMark for a broader perspective on the HP’s overall abilities; it scored 6427 PCMarks, with particular strength in the music (6433), productivity (5517) and gaming (5482) categories.

Practically speaking, the ENVY 14 runs surprisingly well, with the Core i5 certainly sufficient for everyday multitasking. We comfortably multitasked between several browser windows, media playback and IM in the background, while the discrete ATI graphics make the HP usable for gaming. Video editing, too, proves well within the ENVY 14′s capabilities, though when under load fan noise is considerable. On the plus side, we didn’t notice undue levels of heat passing through the alloy chassis, so all that fan activity is obviously doing something useful.

The chiclet keyboard offers some of the best response this side of a MacBook, while the oversized trackpad is precise and accurate. Meanwhile the audio quality is a revelation for a notebook; there are only two speakers, but the performance is stronger than many multi-speaker laptop setups than we’ve tested. Happily – for media playback – the ENVY 14′s display can keep up; our review unit has the higher-resolution 1600 x 900 “Radiance Infinity” panel rather than the standard 1366 x 768, and is bright and crisp. It’s a shame HP don’t offer a slot-loading Blu-ray drive, at least as an option; while neither panel would support Full HD playback, the HDMI output makes hooking up an HDTV simple.

Battery life from the standard 8-cell Li-Ion pack is estimated at up to six hours using the dedicated graphics and up to eight on the integrated Intel HD chipset. Unplug the mains adapter and the ENVY 14 automatically flips to the low-power option. We’ve managed just under 4.5hrs of browsing, audio playback and IM using the Intel HD graphics; with the ATI graphics active, that fell to more like 3.5hrs, while actively gaming in this mode pushed it well under the 3hr mark.

As a package, we’re impressed by the ENVY 14. Apple’s machine undoubtedly offers more battery longevity, but the HP throws in a broader selection of ports and for a lower price. The etched alloy case might not to be everybody’s taste, but it’s extremely well built and, in the metal, looks far more impressive than in stock photos. While it’s a little thicker than the MacBook Pro – 1.1-inches versus 0.9-inches – it’s also lighter, at 5.25lbs versus 5.6lbs from Cupertino.

Where Apple can afford a relatively leisurely upgrade cycle, HP is forced to compete in a far faster moving ecosystem; buyers of PC laptops are spoilt for choice, complete with some bargain-basement pricing on offer too. The ENVY 14 could be seen as HP’s attempt to push through into a premium segment that would allow them a little more breathing room, though they’ve not short-changed the buyer in the process. Apple’s extra budget goes on the nicer elements of garnish – the HP’s power adapter lacks the finesse and magnetic connector of the MacBook Pro’s, and the ENVY 14′s ports protrude from the angled edges of the chassis rather than feeling punched through a unibody – but we imagine many buyers would prefer to have the cash in the bank. It’s a balancing act, and HP has done well with it; Blu-ray is the glaring omission, but generally the HP ENVY 14 offers a strong mixture of performance, style and quality.

Quick Look Video

Gallery

The machine starts at $1099.99 and has a 1.1-inch thick profile and the weight starts at 5.25 pounds. The machine uses Windows 7 Home Premium and has an Intel Core i3 , i5, and i7 CPU options. The screen is 14.5-inches wide and LED backlit with a resolution of 1600 x 900.

The notebook also has an ATI Radeon HD 5650 graphics card with 1GB of RAM. The machine has 4GB of RAM inside and can be expanded to 8GB. Other features include a slot load DVD burner, backlit keyboard, 8-cell battery, WiFi, Bluetooth, HDMI 1.3c output and more.

The ENVY 17 has, unsurprisingly, a 17-inch LCD and a choice of Core i5 or Core i7 processors paired with the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5830 graphics and up to 2TB of storage.  It also supports ATI Eyefinity for running multiple displays, as well as Beats Audio and a separate subwoofer.  Connectivity includes Mini DisplayPort, HDMI and VGA.

For full details of all the new models, check out our hands-on with the Pavilion dm4, dv5, dv6 and dv7 here and the ENVY 14 and ENVY 17 here.  The HP ENVY 14 is expected to go on sale in June 2010.

HP ENVY 14 and ENVY 17 hands-on:

HP Pavilion dm4, dv5, dv6 and dv7 hands-on:

[via DEALZON]

A CVA file called “HP Support Assistant CVA documentation, SP47326″ includes references to the ENVY 14 and ENVY 17, though of course beyond the product names there’s nothing so exciting as a spec list or release date.  Previously we’ve speculated that HP could use Intel’s Core i5 processor line, slotting in-between the Core 2 Duo based ENVY 13 and the Core i7 based ENVY 15.

Meanwhile, the same digging has turned up another unannounced HP notebook, the HP Pavilion dm4, this time in some LightScribe documentation [CVA file].  The dm4 is believed to be a 14-inch machine with integrated optical drive, switchable graphics and a choice of Intel or AMD processors, and with an estimated price of $650-850.

[via CrunchGear]

The HP ENVY 15 is one of the most distinctive PCs on the market right now, and it doesn’t hold back with the power, either. HP have paired the Intel Core i7-720QM processor with an ATI Mobility Radeon HD4830 1GB GPU and both WiFi b/g/n and Bluetooth, together with 4GB of DDR3 memory, a 500GB 7,200rpm hard-drive and slot-loading DVD drive.  There’s also an Instant-On option which quickly gets you online when you don’t want to wait for Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit to boot.  ENVY 15 owners also get access to a special, premium support line to cut the queues.

To enter, head over to this forum thread and let us know what you might do with the HP ENVY 15 and how this awesome laptop would fit into your life. Entries can be submitted up until midnight pacific standard time on December 20th 2009 and after that we’ll pick one entry at random to take away the prize. HP will ship the ENVY 15 out for pre-Christmas delivery, so one lucky SlashGear reader will be using a new laptop by the end of next week!

Rules

Competition is open to residents of the US over the age of 18. Family members of HP and SlashGear are not permitted to enter. Competition entries are only accepted via the specified SlashGear forum thread; entries left in the comments section of this or any other post will not be recognized. Entries should be submitted before midnight pacific standard time on December 20th 2009; one entry per person (and yes, we check).

The winner will be contacted via email; they will be expected to respond within 24 hours else their prize may be forfeit and another winner selected. Editors decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. Winner agrees that their name and details of their entry may be used for promotional purposes by, but not limited to, SlashGear.

Prize consists of one HP ENVY 15 laptop. There is no cash alternative. Should this prize become unavailable, SlashGear and HP reserve the right to substitute another prize of equal or greater value. HP will endeavour to ship the notebook for delivery on Wednesday December 23rd 2009, but will not be liable in the case of shipping or other delays.

The document lists two potential machines, currently unnamed beyond “Envy 14-1000″, and there’s no sign of any specifications regarding the hardware.  The existing Envy 13 uses an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, while the Envy 15 gets a Core i7 chip; it’s possible that the Envy 14 could slot in-between with one of Intel’s new Mobile Core i5 processors, expected to arrive in Q1 2010.

Still, that’s all speculation, and so we’ll have to wait and see whether this pans out to a real product or gets cleaned up as sloppy support housekeeping on HP’s part.  More on the Envy 13 and Envy 15 here.

[via NotebookReview]

Graphics are ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4330 512MB for the Envy 13 and Radeon HD 4830 for the Envy 15, while they support up to 5GB and 16GB of DDR3 memory respectively.  Connectivity includes WiFi a/g/n, Bluetooth, gigabit Ethernet, two USB 2.0 ports (three on the Envy 15, the third being a combo eSATA/USB), HDMI and audio in/out, together with a 2-in-1 memory card slot; the Envy 13 has a 250GB 5,400rpm hard-drive, while the Envy 15 kicks that up to a 320GB 7,200rpm drive.

The Envy 15 has an integrated DVD burner while the Envy 13 has an external optical drive.  As for battery power, the 13.1-inch machine comes with both a 4-cell Li-Ion internal power-pack and a 6-cell battery slice that the ultraportable can optionally sit on top of; together HP estimate they’re good for 18hrs of runtime.  The Envy 15, meanwhile, has a 4-cell standard battery.  HP loads both notebooks with HP QuickWeb, a fast-booting Linux shell that offers speedy Internet and media access without booting into Windows 7.

We had a chance to catch up with HP and spend some time with the two new Envy notebooks, and came away impressed.  The widescreen displays are clear and particularly bright, while build quality is very high.  Their obvious competitors are Apple’s 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pro notebooks, and though it’s too early to say conclusively – without proper longer-term review units – whether they equal or exceed the well-respected Cupertino machines, the combination of solid metal construction, capable specifications and lengthy battery life do leave us hopeful.

The HP Envy 13 starts from $1,699, while the HP Envy 15 starts from $1,799.  Check out the hands-on photos below for more details.