So what you do when you’re the biggest computer
manufacturer in the world, with your competitors ripping at your heels waiting
for you to trip? Do you quiver in fear, threaten to wild up your business and
call it a day? You could do what HP did, which was get back in there, and
continue to chum out products that people actually want to use. Products like
new HP Eny 15.
To differentiate from the bottom-of-the-barrel type of
notebook, HP opted to build the Envy 15 (mostly) out of aluminum, a ‘premium’
must-have this year. Two colors – black on the lid and bottom, silver in the
middle – give the notebook a clean and classic look. But it’s when you open up
the notebook that you will really see the effort HP’s design team has put into
making the Envy 15 look as good as possible.
The Beats audio jog dial is a nice way of
controlling volume
Design touches like the red lining along the keyboard,
the large trackpad, and the omission of a numberpad (so that everything is
symmetrical) all come together nicely to form a tight, sturdy package. The
chiclet-style keyboard is also one of the best that we’ve come across recently.
The keys aren’t too far apart or mushy, just slightly shallow, and you get
individually lit LEDs under each key. The large clickable trackpad (clickpad)
is also very well constructed, and clicking on it feels very comfortable, even
though it requires you to exert a little bit more force than usual.
The final feature we want to highlight is integral (or
even a major selling point) to the success of the HP Envy 15 – the Beats
branding. HP’s partnership with Dr Dre’s Beats brand gives you a big jog dial
on the right of the machine that only controls volume and when you click on it,
the Beats branded volume control pops up. Gimmicky yes, but I wouldn’t want to
adjust the very loud sound on the Envy 15 any other way.
On the other
hand, let’s also try to forget about the
Envy 15’s actual computing performance – because unfortunately, it’s
really
nothing to shout about. Especially so when you consider that retail
units in Singapore are slightly watered down versions. PCMark 7 scores
were just average for the
components it has (Core i7, 2.2GHz, 8GB RAM), while 3DMark 11 scores
were slightly
below the competition sporting similar discrete graphics (Radeon HD
6750M).
Far Cry performance is on par with other notebooks
sporting similar graphics, so no surprises here. Battery life performance is
also pretty solid, with the HP Envy 15 lasting for about 3 hours and 15 minutes
while playing a video loop.
When you put everything together, the HP Envy 15 is
actually a pretty good multimedia machine for the family. It does what everyone
needs it to do, and does it well without any issues. However, do take note that
while HP clearly tries to emulate Apple Macbooks in terms of looks, it somehow
doesn’t feel as solid as a Mac. And for the price, it’ll be tempting to simply
fork out for an Ultrabook (faster and cheaper) instead if you don’t need all
the extra processing power. Unless of course, you’re connoisseur of good sound,
or simply want a 16.6-inch notebook to look good with Beats headphones.
|
At a glance
Display:
15.6-inch
Processor: Intel
Core i7-2670QM 2.2 GHz
Memory: 8GB
DDR3
Weight: 2.63kg
Price:
$1,999
Specifications
Graphics:
Radeon(TM) HD 6750M GDDRS
Storage: 1TB
SATA
Communications: Intel
802,11a/b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth(R) with Wireless Display
Os:
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Battery: 8-Cell
Lithium ion Battery
Dimensions:
380x244x28.3mm
|
Verdict: 8.5
Physique: 9.0
Features: 8.5
User-Friendliness: 8.5
Performance: 8.0
Value: 8.0 |
