The HP Envy 6 Sleekbook represents
AMD’s answer to Intel’s Ultrabook; in fact, the only difference between this
Envy 6 Sleekbook and the Envy 6 Ultrabook is the processor inside.
Both Ultrabook and Sleekbook use the same
chassis. We like the modern design of brushed black aluminium on the lid and
around the keyboard, with a red matt-finish plastic base. The down side to this
is a mass of uninvited fingerprints.
HP
Envy 6-1006ea Sleekbook
For a 15.6in laptop, this 2kg HP is easy to
handle, if a little big to be a true ultraportable. In common with the Envy 6
Ultrabook, the keyboard is of a good quality, and we found typing smooth on the
plastic Scrabble-tile-style keys.
The trackpad is large and responsive, with
two integrated buttons below. But HP’s software implementation is poor, so
clicking the button moves the mouse cursor.
HP CoolSense is touted, and in use we found
the wrist rest remained cool. We weren’t so impressed by the audio, labelled
Beats Audio.
In
common with the Envy 6 Ultrabook, the keyboard is of a good quality.
The Sleekbook trumps its Ultrabook
counterpart in price, with $150 off the ticket. That’s because it runs a
cheaper AMD A6-4455M, a 2.1GHz dual-core APU that includes Radeon HD 7500G
graphics. HP has added 6GB of memory, which is 2GB more than is found in Its
Ultrabook. Storage is a 500GB regular hard disk.
In WorldBench 6 the Sleekbook scored a
disappointing 82 points. That’s 30 points fewer than its Intel-based
counterpart. We also ran PCMark 7, in which it managed 1,493 points. But while
the benchmark figures are low, in normal Windows use the laptop feels
responsive.
The integrated graphics averaged a playable
51fps in Fear at Maximum detail, beating the Intel equivalent by an impressive
31fps.
The display’s native resolution of 1366x768
pixels doesn’t provide high detail across the 15.6m panel. It has far from wide
viewing angles, and suffers a glossy, reflective finish.
The
HP Envy Sleekbook 6 is a brilliant mid-range laptop.
The selection of ports is good for a
thin-and-light laptop, comprising HDMI, gigabit ethernet, two USB 3.0, one USB
2.0, headphone-out, mic-in and an SD card reader. There’s no room for an
optical drive.
HP lists longer battery life for the Envy 6
Sleekbook than the Ultrabook. In our tests, however, it ran dry 26 mins
earlier, managing 6 hours 40 mins.
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Details
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Price: $899
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Contact: www.hp.com
Specification
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2.1GHz AMD A6-4455M dual-core
·
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
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6GB DDR31,600MHz RAM
·
500GB hard drive
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15.6in (1366x768) gloss LCD
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AMD Radeon HD 7500G
·
802.11b/g/n
·
Gigabit Ethernet
·
Bluetooth 4.0
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1x USB 2.0
·
2x USB 3.0
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HDMI
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Kensington lock slot
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SD slot
·
Beats Audio
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59Wh, non-removable battery
·
374x253x20.5mm
·
2.07kg
Verdict
·
The HP Envy 6 Sleekbook is $150 cheaper than
HP’s Intel-based version, and features improved graphics. Raw performance is
much lower, however.
·
Build: 3.5/5
·
Features: 3/5
·
Performance: 3/5
·
Value: 3.5/5
·
Overall: 3/5
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