The next big flagships of the laptop world – HP Envy 13” and its brother Envy 15” – have arrived and we put them to the test. The latter is filled to the brim with the newest technologies and we expect a lot of it, so keep an eye on the site over the holidays. Some might say Apple has met their match in HP’s new Envy series, which encompasses a 13 and 15 inch edition, and we honestly think many competing OEMs wish they had come up with this laptop.
There are many similarities between the products; you can definitely see a resemblance when it comes to looks and, sadly, price. Nevertheless, this HP model is a flagship of design and performance is supposed to be superb, which is good news for all of us. We have really been looking forward to getting our hands on this exquisite creature. This product could be sold on design alone, so let us see if it really is as perfect as it looks.
The product was kindly lent to us by HP.com
Specifications
Category
Business, Students
Processor
Intel® Core™2 Duo-processor SL9400 1.86 GHz, Level-2-cache 6 MB
Chipset
GS45-based
RAM
1 x 1024 MB + 1 x 2048 MB DDR3
Storage
250 GB 5400 RPM SATA HDD
Display
13.1-inch High-Definition LED BrightView Radiance
1366 x 768 pixels
Sound card & speakers
Beats
GPU
ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 4330-graphics
Integrated Intel GMA 4500M HD
Battery
4- and 6-celled lithium ion battery (Li-Ion)
Optical drive
N/A
I/Os
2x USB 2.0 ports
1x HDMI™
1x Headphones/speaker/line-out combi Microphone-in jack
1x EXTERNAL Ethernet (RJ-45) port from USB port
1x DC-in jack for AC adapter
1x 2-1 Multi card reader
1x Webcam Crystal Eye
1x Microphone
Wireless connectivity
Wireless 802.11 a/g/n
Dimensions
32.0 cm (W) x 21.5 cm (D) x 2.05 cm (H)
ca. 1.7 kg incl. battery
Support
Support is available via HP
Warranty
1 year
Operating system
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Software included
HP MediaSmart Suite
HP Total Care Setup
HP ProtectSmart
Cyberlink DVD Suite
Windows Media Center
Windows Mail
Corel VideoStudio X2
Corel Paintshop Pro X2
Stardock My Colors
Symantec™ Norton Internet Security™ 2009 (60 day trial)
Price
About £1,500 including VAT.
Package contents
There is a manual in the box that gives you all the information you need to get started. They have really made an effort to design a particularly beautiful box, as well as give the power supply a more exclusive look.
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Included
- AC adapter
- Manuals and warranty certificate
Construction & Design
First impression
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You do not need to look long at this model before noticing the similarities between the MacBook Pro and the HP Envy. Though spokespersons from HP have noted that kind of design is used widely these days and the similarities are only a coincidence, the first impression is that such would be an incredible and, dare we say, freak coincidence. In many ways it might be irrelevant that another product looks like this model, but since they are so similar and made for pretty much the same consumer segments, I will compare and contrast the two throughout the review. Still, this hot little piece of machinery makes a great first impression.
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The exterior is aluminium, giving the computer an extremely compact look and a great feeling of durability. The surface is more faded blackish-grey, although it has the same colour as the MacBook Pro at the bottom. It generally has smooth, downward-sloping edges, but a fairly sharp edge by the keyboard and display surfaces. The difference in material choice by HP and Apple is found in the amount of aluminium. Where Apple has decided on a unibody aluminium shell, HP only made the outer layer of aluminium. That does solve a lot of issues with the necessary assembly steps, but also results in a huge difference in quality.
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Around the display we have what HP calls a BrightView surface. This surface supposedly ensures the contrasts are there and the colours are clear. That makes it highly susceptible to glare, however, which is something you will find out quickly on a summer day. This surface is based on a black background around the display, which goes edge to edge.
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The metal surface around the keyboard has tiny laser-engraved texture holes. That gives it a feeling of quality and makes it seem very professional. The keyboard is black, as is the touchpad. The touchpad buttons are unibody, where left and right are separated by a thin, grey line. Elegant. The keyboard feels great and the keys are of adequate size. They are soft squares and reminds one of – well, you probably guessed it already – a MacBook Pro, both in colour and feel, which is very positive.
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The hinges on this 13” model are made of aluminium. When the lid is closed, the hinges are kept in place by tiny magnets along the edge of the display, a solution we very much appreciate.
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The HP logo is cast in silver on the lid and looks very elegant. The model has no stickers either, so I guess they realized it does not come across as particularly smart.
All in all, HP have raised the bar for all other manufacturers besides Apple. They deserve some praise for their choice of materials and design – there are definitely no feelings of plastic on this model. In many ways I find this model is better than many of the other business models from HP, and it certainly is a product they can be proud of.
The lid
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The lid is nice and thin, and very light. We have already gone through the design but to refresh your memory, we are dealing with a reflexive surface which is black along the inside with the well-known HP logo in the middle. On the outside we have the HP logo in silver, cast against a dark and matte grey surface. It works well and looks really good.
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There are two small hinges – one on either side – with a light, silvery colour. It is different on the 15” model – actually there are several differences – so do be aware of that before you go out and buy yourself the 15 incher. The solution with the hinges is elegant and goes well with the design and the overall functionality.
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The front
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The front is broken only by some small holes which I assume let out both sound and heat.
The rear
Part of the lid slides down here when opened, so there really is little of interest except for some ventilation.
The bottom
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The bottom is black like the inside of the surfaces and seems to have been placed on top of the aluminium surface. It is quite simple and basically only has one lid you can take off. They also made some room to advertise for Windows and Intel, which is probably a compromise solution for not putting those ugly stickers on it. There are rubber feet to ensure its stability and they work well; it does not appear to glide around.
The right side
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The left side
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Overview
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HP has been given a unique opportunity here to correct some of Apple’s missteps, namely the available I/Os. You connect the power on the left, where you can also see the accompanying diode, and it is also possible to insert the SD card included in the package, which is rather nice. So, like Apple, they have put all their ports on one side. That makes it easy to keep track of them, at least.
There is a combined sound and microphone jack, 2 USB ports and one HDMI output. If you need an Ethernet LAN port, you will have use the USB-to-LAN adapter included. Sadly this means you will be left with only 1 USB port, which is much too little.
One of the advantages compared to Apple is the HDMI port rather than the impractical mini display port that does not transfer audio. However, Apple did include a LAN port and 2 USB ports as well. In other words, HP have not really improved anything, and since Apple even put in an optical drive, they actually fall behind.
Alright, enough about that, it is just a shame they have not learned anything from Apple’s small mistakes and even made some of their own. Maybe I am just being too sensitive, and maybe it is a matter of opinion.
Diodes
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The diodes are tiny round and elegant circles, lighting white and orange. They work well and are very clear. There is one by the DC-input, the power button, Capslock, sound and WiFi.
Since they have made such a high class model, it would have been truly great with a backlit keyboard, which is worth gold in my opinion. Sadly, they left that out.
Keyboard and touchpad
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The keys are adequately sized and have a great feel when pressed. There is sufficient space between them so you do not accidentally press the wrong one. Overall, I would say they did great with the keyboard. However, it would have been nice if the keys were a bit harder. They are just a bit too soft, softer than the MacBook’s for comparison. Once again though, it falls down to taste. Great keyboard in any case.
The touchpad is made as one large surface and you can now click everywhere on it. Again it brings MacBooks to mind, but enough about that. The surface is incredibly comfortable to navigate around and it is in my opinion one of the best touchpads made to date along with Apple’s. Your fingers glide easily over it, and it large enough to leave plenty of space for navigation.
The touchpad has a springy, metallic sort of sound when you click it. This is unfortunate in my opinion. They might have made the sound deeper and more button-y.
Like Apple they have added multitouch functions, allowing you to for example zoom in on websites and rotate pictures. It works alright, even if Apple really owns the market. It does come across as an attempt to copy something popular, but at least it is a good attempt.
What they lack compared to Apple is fine-tuning, and there is definitely a problem if you for example navigate with one finger and suddenly use your thumb to click the touchpad. So, they are getting there but the perfect touchpad is still far off.
Display
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As noted already, the display has a glossy surface that makes it susceptible to glare. It is a shame you cannot pick a matte display instead. Luckily the colours and contrast are amazing, and they can be proud of the LED-backlit display. Like its bigger brother, it sports a resolution of 1366x768 pixels, a cinema style format which is good for movies. It is a fine resolution for a 13 incher but not so much for the 15 incher.
All in all a display you will like, whether it is for movies or work. Just keep in mind glare is a factor you cannot get rid of.
We have started testing displays for pixel errors and faults in the backlighting. To do that we use a program called MonitorTest. It works by, for example, blackening the entire display, which will expose dead pixels (fields that do not change colour). It also allows you to see if the backlighting is uneven.
Luckily there are no dead pixels here and the display is of the expected quality. Great with a well-made product; luckily HP seem to be making a lot of those.
Sound and speakers
The sound is great compared to the size. It has slightly more of a bass than Apple, so you can actually listen to your favourite songs on it. It falls on the good side of average when it comes to audio on laptops, so that is something to be proud of. Of course it is not a substitute for a proper sound system at a party or whatnot, but the sound is good and it can play at a decent enough level. Not bad.
Noise, heat and power consumption
This model may use passive cooling, at least to a certain extent. There is a very weak fan running continuously, so it never reaches very high temperatures. It does not get annoyingly hot, although in the high end of lukewarm. The fan ensures you will constantly hear a weak buzzing from the computer, but it is not loud enough to get annoying.
Promises of battery life are grand, especially on this 13 incher, so I expect a lot from the battery test.
Benchmark
All benchmark tests were run at high performance settings on the laptop. All other settings were left unchanged.
Windows Vista Experience Index
The computer receives a rating of 4.5, which is quite high and the first sign HP has delivered the full package, also in terms of hardware.
I have decided to compare it with the revision of the MackBook Air. They both cater to much the same segment within high-end laptops with a focus on design, and though the HP Envy tries very hard to be a MacBook Pro, it will be interesting to see by how much it can outperform a MacBook Air. Hopefully, quite a lot! In addition they share the same display size and neither laptop has an optical drive, so there are quite a few similarities even if the price difference is substantial.
The MacBook Air model had the following specifications:
Category
Office, Business
Processor
1.60 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo – 1066 MHz FSB – 6 MB Cache – 45 nm
Chipset
nVidia MCP79
RAM
2 x 1024 MB DDR3 RAM – 1066 MHz
GPU
GeForce 9400M – 512 MB DDR3 RAM (shared) – Windows
GeForce 9400M – 256 MB DDR3 RAM (shared) – OSX
Storage
1.8” – 120 GB HDD – SATA300 – 16 MB – 4200 RPM
Display
13.3” LED – 1280 x 800 Pixels
Sound card
Intel High Definition Audio
Optical drive
None
Battery
4900 mAh – 6 cells
Connectivity
Airport Extreme (Broadcom BCM43xx)
IR
Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
I/Os
1 x Power
1 x USB
1 x Mini Display Port
1 x Minijack
OS
Leopard OSX
Price
Around £1,200
Boot and out of standby times
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Boot and out of standby times are measured from when the power button is pressed until the Windows desktop appears.
The two laptops are quite even here. The MBA is slightly faster to get out of standby, but the difference is minor.
Battery life
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Idle times are measured at the lowest power profile on the tested models, whereas Classic times are measured at the high power profile. Both are tested with BatteryEater 2005 in order to find the maximum achievable battery life at the settings used.
I am not particularly impressed with the battery life. As can be seen, it does not last for all that many hours, which may be why they are selling an extra battery that fits in with the design. Regardless of that, I would have liked to see this device last a bit longer. Like so many other OEMs, HP simply cannot keep its promise (in this case over 18 hours), at least not in the way we test (and really, what good are 18 hours if your computer is Sleeping and the display turned off?). Having said that, the battery life is not particularly bad.
The processor
SuperPi
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SuperPi calculates the number Pi, in this case with 1 million decimals. The result is a time in seconds, hence lower is better. The number can be directly compared with other laptops that have run the same test.
With a focus on battery life and mobility, HP have opted for a processor that does not use too much power but still performs quite well. We can see that it outperforms the MBA and that is all you could ask.
SiSoft Sandra CPU Arithmetic
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SiSoft Sandra's Whetstone and Drystone benchmarks tests the processor’s ability to perform pure number crunching, which for example occurs during gaming or picture editing. The scores are measured in Mflops (Millions of Floating Point Operationer Per Second), and the higher the better.
Same as above; Envy delivers some satisfying results, as well as it should when you consider the price difference. Anything else would be disappointing.
SiSoft Sandra CPU Multimedia
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The Multimedia test in SiSoft Sandra performs calculations on a 2D figure. The result it/s) is Mandelbrot iterations per second, and here bigger is better.
Once again the HP outperforms the MacBook Air as it should, so all is well.
RAM – SiSoft Sandra Memory Bandwidth
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SiSoft Sandra’s Memory Bandwidth benchmark is used to measure the RAM performance. Bigger is better.
HP has ensured this model will last into the future by using a Windows 7 64-bit OS. You can put up to 8GB of RAM into this computer, but the old OS was unable to utilize so many for applications. Now, however, you can put in as many as you like and actually use them. They also perform better than the MBA here, and the new system is very fast.
Hard drive performance - SiSoft Sandra Harddisk Read
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SiSoft Sandra’s hard drive test module is used to measure the performance of the hard drive.
Huh, what is this? The MBA comes with a 4200RPM hard drive while HP Envy sports a 5400RPM one. For some reason though, the HP gets a poorer result on the hard drive test. That they decided to forgo a 7200RPM hard drive is in my opinion unwise. It is really a shame it performs so badly and is even beaten in this test by what should be a slower hard drive.
GPU performance - 3Dmark
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The 3Dmark tests show the performance in DirectX 9 and paints a picture of performance in newer games and applications. No tests are run in DirectX 10.1, which both cards support.
Here is one of the more interesting features of the HP Envy: it has two GPUs. It uses a combination of an integrated Intel GMA 4600MHD graphical chip and an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4330 graphics card that can be activated. This enables it to switch between optimal and power saving performance. This means that the tests run on battery used the integrated GPU, which is why there is such a large difference between the results on AC and battery.
What actually happens is that the display goes dark for 2-3 seconds while the computer switches GPUs. It works alright and seems to be a very clever solution. You can clearly see that compared to the MBA, Envy either outperforms or saves more power. Interesting.
Overall performance
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The PCMark05 results can be directly compared with other laptops that have run the same PCMark version. The program gives a score from a test that looks at the performance of the processor, RAM, hard drive, GPU and so on.
All in all we see the same tendency here as in the other benchmarks. HP Envy is a significantly better computer than the MacBook Air and outperforms. Unfortunately, Envy also compares itself with computers like the MacBook Pro, but lacks things like an optical and such to match.
I dare not forecast what will happen in the future, but it seems a little like HP has made an unfortunate and odd sort of hybrid with this product. However, there is no doubt it outperforms Apple’s Macbook Air.
OpenOffice – mostly for students
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Since we have tested a lot of laptops that cater to students, I have decided to run some average times in OpenOffice, which is a free program that can do pretty much the same as the Office Package (Word, Excel, Powerpoint).
Here are some load times to give you an idea of how quickly at starts up a standard program like OpenOffice. Most should be able to compare these with the PC they normally work on.
Gaming
Devils May Cry 4
The game was run at standard configurations which were, by default, set to get the most out of the graphics. It requires a lot from the hardware and most laptops will buckle unless they are specifically made for gaming.
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The game actually ran alright on the good GPU. It is not quite good enough to play it smoothly, but during the best of times it actually went above 30 FPS, which is decent for a laptop. If you lower the graphics a bit you can go above 50 FPS, making it quite playable.
On the integrated GPU, the game was unable to run. That illustrates the integrated GPU is only for standard use and saving power.
Stalker: Clear Sky
Another demanding game, but here a shooter that may have greater hardware requirements than Devils May Cry 4. Once again it was run at standard settings, meaning details on high and a resolution over 1300 pixels.
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Here you can see the game is in fact more demanding. At the best of times it just sneaks above 20 FPS, but not much more. At minimum settings, it only goes up to about 40 FPS. This is simply too hard for the HP Envy; it does okay and delivers a decent result, but it does not have what it takes to be a gamer.
Once again the IGP cannot run the game, but that is alright since this is not its purpose.
Conclusion
HP Envy is definitely a sweet product when you look at the combined package. Other OEMs that make high-end laptops need to beware and step up their game. So far Apple has been leading and now HP is trying to follow, and they do so very well. Personally I think it a shame it has to look so much like an Apple computer.
It does very well with respect to looks and quality of materials. It feels great and the materials – primarily aluminium – are great for computer and many will probably be happy to get their hands on such a quality product!
This is a sleek product both in mobility and quality; the weight is low but it is still sturdy and you never fear it will break. The shapes are comfortable to use and beautiful to look at, and the keyboard and display along with the hardware are decent if not outright great.
In my opinion, the greatest things about it are the design and quality of materials.
The benchmark test reveals the battery is not as good as it could be, and the hard drive is surprisingly slow and actually beaten by what should be a slower drive. A shame they did not aim for the highest quality and went for a 7200 RPM hard drive, just as it is a shame they borrowed Apple’s design without following up on it with a backlit keyboard, which would have been a fine detail.
The GPU is great though, and the extra GPU is a fine detail, especially since the switching is automatic whenever it is not running any programs.
The touchpad has not received the fine-tuning it so desperately requires to be more like one from Apple. There are problems when you use two fingers at once and the multi-touch functions do not work perfectly.
It is excellent for a laptop in terms of audio, though. You can easily use it to play your favourite songs, but you probably will not use it for parties and so on. Still, it is very nice with a computer you can watch movies or listen to music on, without getting annoyed by poor audio quality.
So, the HP Envy is a very sleek product in many ways: hardware, software and physically. However, there is a problem in them challenging the MacBook Pros, because the Envy cannot quite keep up in terms of quality or performance. It lies somewhere between the MacBook Air and Pro, as does the price. They have made a weird sort of hybrid in my opinion, and I am not convinced it is a good idea.
However, it will probably attract some PC people who do not see Apple as an alternative, because then HP is really the only one in the genre or at least the leader. It is actually amazing to see a company take a leading position and going for something that many PC users have been wanting for a long time.
They deserve praise for this product, for it is a great take on a high-end laptop and has really raised our expectations of them in the future. Until then though, others can simply be jealous of this product. We are very close to give this our Finest Award, with only the minor details in the way. Still, Envy gets our highest recommendations.
Remember to follow the site as we will soon have a review of Envy 15” that has all the newest hardware.
Pros
- Design
- Materials
- Superior keyboard
- Display
- HDMI
- Weight
- Quality
- Optional extra, specially designed battery
Cons
- Touchpad
- Connectivity
- Price
| Battery: |  2 / 5 |
| Graphics: | 4 / 5 |
| Construction: | 4,5 / 5 |
| Mobility: | 4,5 / 5 |
| Software: | 4 / 5 |
| CPU Performance: | 4 / 5 |
| Innovation: | 4,5 / 5 |
| Price: | 2,5 / 5 |
| Design: | 4,5 / 5 |
| Weight: | 4 / 5 |
| Performance: | 4,5 / 5 |
| Overall: | 4,5 / 5 |
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in Hardware & Accessories by MaryTenderLOS, 01-12-11 09:20