Wednesday, September 7, 2011

HP ENVY 14 Review

When we reviewed HP's first-generation Envy 15 last year, we experienced been impressed with its chic, high quality building and exceptional ability but disappointed with its deficiency of an inner optical generate and its bad battery life. HP's most latest entry within of the line, the Envy 14, addresses individuals complaints mind on, sustaining the exceptional ability and sturdy layout belonging for that original, although packing an optical generate and much-improved battery lifestyle in amid one of the most trendy and comfy house windows notebooks we've attempted so far.

The ENVY 14 is well-equipped and consists of the above conventional help save for that quick 750GB 7200RPM difficult drive, which could be an $80 option much more compared to conventional 500GB drive. they are robust if not enthusiast-level specifications. As configured, the ENVY 14 can look after almost any process such as gaming many thanks to its dedicated AMD Radeon images card. The one disappointment could possibly be the low-resolution 14.5-inch screen; the previous-generation ENVY 14 was readily available with an exceptional high-gamut 1600x900 screen, which supplied much far more space to purpose with.

The 14.5-inch LED-backlit display is extremely crisp and bright. although the commodity Envy ships possessing a 1,366x768-pixel screen, our type was equipped using the roomy optional Radiance Infinity HD+ 1,600x900 display. The word is smallish near to the higher-res display, however it is sharp adequate that even small fonts are uncomplicated to read. The show skills a broad coloring gamut, and we could see a vibrance and richness in electronic photos and digital video disc playback that is not standard of the laptop at this retailing price point. In fact, seeing DVDs producing utilization of the slot-loading 8x digital video disc writer experienced us wishing HP supplied a Blu-ray generate option for that Envy 14. Unfortunately, you need to decide on that substantially bigger Envy 17 at any time you need hi-def capability. Also, although the display appears fantastic, as with most glossy screens, it exhibits reflections within of the glass; we'd adore to ascertain HP provide a matte option.

The Envy 14's Beats audio tracks method is similarly amazing and is also one place in which the Envy obviously outdoes the MacBook Pro. HP isolated the audio tracks components near to the motherboard to refrain from the interference that will end result in static on some PCs, also it also additional an amplifier and DSP to enhance and enhance the audio. The last results near to the built-in speakers are extremely good—volume and clarity are much above standard for just about any dual-speaker notebook. Plug the Envy 14 into exterior speakers or perhaps a fabulous build of headphones, though, and you'll find out the audio tracks is practically nothing short of astounding. Even on affordable earbuds, the audio tracks clarity and punch of our tunes was substantially much better than we'd anticipate from the notebook. Pressing Fn-B to toggle away the Beats enhancements exhibits how the method is adding significant depth and additional bass for that audio.

This laptop is just as attractive near to the within since the outside. it is powered with a 2.4GHz middle i5-450M processor (supporting as substantially as 2.66GHz in Turbo enhance mode), backed by 4GB of DDR3 RAM, with 6GB and 8GB configurations available. It consists of an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 images processor with 1GB of DDR3 movement image memory space for games as well as other demanding 3D applications; the laptop can instantly revert for that slower commodity Intel HD images made in to the motherboard chipset to help save battery life. (This is regarded as switchable graphics, but as much as implementation is concerned, this could possibly be the minimum intuitive. Other switchable images choices use a hardware change or do so automatically.) There's a speedy 500GB, 7,200-rpm difficult generate for storage, as well as the aforementioned slot-loading 8x digital video disc burner. (The inclusion belonging for that optical generate signifies the 2nd inner generate option found near to the Envy 15 is missing here.)

The Envy 14 lasted an amazing three several hours and 17 mins on our digital video disc rundown test, a substantial enlarger much more compared to Envy 15's embarrassingly short 1:04 result. this could be regarded like a tad short belonging for that school standard (3:26) but nevertheless much better compared to Toshiba M645. although producing this review, browsing the Web, and hearing to Pandora, we managed just much more than 4.5 several hours on the solitary charge. this could be on account of its ability to shut away its ATI Radeon GPU on battery. Unfortunatley, you need to go in to the look after Panel to manually re-enable the GPU when operating on battery. as opposed to the MacBook professional it pays tribute to, the Envy 14 skills a removable battery. You can purchase an additional eight-cell inner battery for $75 when configuring the Envy 14, or choose that $200 six-Cell Slim complement Extended lifestyle Battery, which clips onto the bottom belonging for that laptop and performs in conjunction using the built-in battery. 

HP ENVY 14 Review


With its trendy and sturdy design, exemplary performance, and stellar audio, HP earned an Editors' option for that earlier Envy 15 regardless of is pitiful battery lifestyle and optional exterior optical drive. using the Envy 14 straight addressing individuals complaints, HP has totally struck gold. The Envy 14 has looks, durability, performance, and fabulous battery life. it is extremely comfy to use, also it is reasonably priced for just about any pc in its class. With its super-sharp and multi-colored screen, fabulous illuminated keyboard, and exceptional audio tracks playback, it is difficult to think about substantially that HP could do much better here.

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