The HP ENVY 14 Spectre was easily some of the promising ultrabooks we saw at CES 2012, and some months of waiting hasn?t dampened our enthusiasm. The premium notebook combines high-end features and unique materials right into a 14-inch body that?s distinct from essentially everything that you can buy, that?s something you could not say for plenty of HP?s previous entries within the ENVY line. Does this unique machine rise above the pack? Let? discover.
Hardware
The very 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 won?t loads glossy as glassy. Gorilla Glass, to be specific: not just does it cover the screen, you?ll also find it at the touchpad, palmrest and the jet-black lid of the laptop itself. While it is certainly a novel approach (and plenty appreciated at the screen and touchpad) it makes the lid a slightly predictable magnet for fingerprints and smudges. If the Spectre catches your eye for its looks, be prepared to lug around a microfiber cloth to maintain it attractive.
The remainder of the body is either hard or soft-touch plastic, which helps keep the burden no less than akin to 13-inch ultrabooks. Like Dell?s XPS 13, the HP claims to cram a screen right into a body one size smaller than otherwise possible. Observing the tiny bezel on each side of the Spectre(but not the tip and bottom) it is simple to believe them. Indeed, the screen is without doubt one of the laptop?smost impressive features: an entire 1600?900 LCD ?panel with downright dazzling brightness, i?m able to say without hesitation that it?s the perfect laptop screens I?ve ever used.
Surprisingly, the keyboard and touchpad measure as much as this high standard. While the keyboard is not the best (that honor still goes to Lenovo) it?s plenty comfortable for extended typing, and the backlight and entire 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 nearly as good as any Windows laptop I?ve ever used, and higher than the overwhelming majority.
Even with all this style and usefulness, HP manages to cram more ports into the Spectre 14 than some other ultrabook in the marketplace. Along the left side you get an SD card slot (a feature all too often ignored within 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 big advocate of multiple monitors, I appreciate the flexibleness. At the right you get an analog rocker dial (a miniature version of the only found at the ENVY 15) with a glowing Beats logo, and a mute and Beats equalizer button on both sides. a couple of indicator lights and the facility jack round out the hardware.
The Envy 14 Spectre is not the slinkiest ultrabook around, or the lightest, and even the prettiest. But for a mix of serious screen and trackpad, solid keyboard, and all of the inputs and outputs you?re more likely to need, it?s an excellently compact design. It is the first ultrabook I?ve seen which can viably replace an entire-sized laptop for the entire functions one may need it, save heavy gaming or popping in a DVD.
Software
HP?s usual mess of packed-in software accompanies the Spectre, besides Norton, Microsoft?s Office, Silverlight and Bing Bar, and the HP MovieStore. But just like the HP Envy 15, they?ve included both Adobe Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements no cost (or more accurately, included within the price ticket). As a typical user of both programs in?their?CS4 flavors, that?s a giant plus, seeing because the bundle costs $150 at most retailers.
Otherwise Windows 7 Home Premium is equal to it ever was ? if you?ve used any variant of Windows 7, you can be right at home. It?s the 64GB version, so if HP ever offers greater than 4GB on the time of purchase you may utilize it right out of the box. Aftermarket upgrades?are neither?supported nor recommended. As with essentially any machine with a current-gen processor and many RAM, the software is responsive and fast, at the least at 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 could be good enough for everything however the most intensive of media tasks. No one?s been capable of cram discrete graphics into an ultrabook form factor yet, so current high-end gaming is out, however the Intel HD 3000 series should handle older or simpler games well enough.
System ? Hewlett-Packard HP ENVY 14 SPECTRE Notebook PC| Hewlett Packard | Notebook | |
| Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) | ||
| Hewlett-Packard 17CA | ||
| Intel Core i5-2467M | ||
| GenuineIntel Family 6 Model 42 Stepping 7 | ||
| 1.60 GHz | 1 | |
| 4 | 2 | |
| 32.0 KB | 32.0 KB | |
| 256 KB | 3.00 MB | |
| 4.00 GB DDR3 SDRAM 666MHz | 99.8 MHz | |
| Hewlett-Packard F.02 | ||
| Integer | Processor integer performance | 4328 |
| Floating Point | Processor floating point performance | 7292 |
| Memory | Memory performance | 4653 |
| Stream | Memory bandwidth performance | 4096 |
I did notice that the boot up time for the Spectre is downright amazing, even if compared with the remainder of the ultrabook crop. From a chilly boot (stay up or hibernation) the machine gets to the Windows login screen in only over 25 seconds. Restores from sleep were basically instantaneous. For the street warrior who often needs easy accessibility to the entire power of a computer, that?s a godsend, and in all probability due to a high-quality SSD, for this reason made by Samsung.
If you would like a more powerful option, the upper configuration currently offered by HP uses a Core i7 processor and a 256GB SSD, however the same 4GB of memory. If you?d like the speedier processor and extra space, you?d better be willing to pay for it: the better tier is a $500 premium over the bottom model.
Media & Battery
The small form factor of the Envy obviously limits your options in terms of disc-based media, but beyond that small limitation it?s an entertainment powerhouse. The aggregate of that fabulous screen, Beats audio, and strong if not fantastic speakers make for an enjoyable?experiences?for streaming video and music. And for the constant traveler, having both DisplayPort and an entire-sized HDMI-out really broadens your options for presentations of films.
With that giant, high-res screen and a comparatively powerful processor, i used to be afraid that the Spectre will be another poor entry within 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 six:39. While not the fitting battery life accessible by a protracted shot (that goes to HP?s own Folio 13) it?s plenty for a cross-continental plane trip or a protracted session of labor in a coffee shop with out outlets. On that note, HP continues to provide three-prong plugs in its adapters ? a shame. But at the plus side, the adapter has a built-in USB charging port for giving your phone a jump without turning at the computer.
Wrap Up
Without a doubt, the HP Envy 14 Spectre is among the best ultrabooks we?ve ever tested. Solid performance, unique style, lots of inputs and a pretty high-resolution screen make it a joy to take advantage of. Here is the primary ultrabook that?s seriously tempted me to renounce my hulking full-sized daily driver laptop, because there really aren?t any compromises, as long as you?re able to live and not using a disc drive and down?t mind giving the glass lid a wipe down every from time to time.
However, all this luxurious and utility comes at a worth ? literally. At $1399, the Envy 14 Spectre could also be the costliest ultrabook we?ve tested, coming in far above the generally expected $1,000 entry. It?s worth every penny, mind you ? but you have to have the pennies available, and be willing to position them towards a machine which you hope will last several years. With the present pace of advancement within the ultrabook form factor that can be ?a hard pill to swallow. The Spectre is additionally considerably larger and thicker than its 13-inch contemporaries, though to not a point that?ll make a big difference in a carry-on bag.
The base line is that this: there are thinner, lighter and maybe more stylish options available, and ultrabooks that may last more while not having a charge. But when you prefer the appearance of the Envy 14 Spectre, desire a laptop that?s compact, flexible and has the best screens available, and you?re willing to position down no less than $1400 to get it, there?s nothing in my experience that should?dissuade?you. Spend your money, and also you shall not be?disappointed.
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Source: http://www.tywigs.org/gadgets-reviews/hp-envy-14-spectre-review
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