Hands-on with The New Ultrabooks of HP's Global Influencer Summit
In August last year, HP declared that they would be spinning off their PC division and bowing out of the hardware business altogether. Today, things are looking decidedly different with the unveiling of HP's second generation Ultrabook lineup at their Global Influencer Summit held in Shanghai, China.
In August last year, HP declared that they would be spinning off their PC division and bowing out of the hardware business altogether. Today, things are looking decidedly different with the unveiling of HP's second generation Ultrabook lineup at their Global Influencer Summit held in Shanghai, China.
HP Envy Spectre XT
The Gorilla Glass is gone, replaced by a more familiar brushed aluminum finish.
Leading the charge in HP's newest line of Ultrabooks is the HP Envy Spectre XT. Think of the Spectre XT as the missing piece of the puzzle in HP's first generation Ultrabook range. Where the Folio 13 was designed with business users in mind, and the Envy 14 Spectre was aimed at premium consumers, the Envy Spectre XT is aimed at the everyday consumer looking for an Ultrabook with mobility and style, without having to break the bank.
As such, the Spectre XT fits more closely into conventional Ultrabook expectations: it weighs about 1.39kg, it's got a 13.3-inch, 1366x768 resolution display, a tapered body design, a brushed aluminum finish with a magnesium alloy baseplate and, of course, a long battery life - HP is claiming eight hours, but we expect that to be more like five in actual testing. The version we saw was specced with a 2.0GHz core i7-3667U Ivy Bridge processor, 4GB RAM, and a 256GB Samsung SSD, although other SKUs will also be available. Despite the Gorilla Glass being absent, the NFC compatibility we saw in the original Spectre returns in the Spectre XT.
In terms of ports, you'll find one USB 3.0 port, one USB 2.0 port, an RJ-45 port, an HDMI port, a headphone/microphone combo, and a multi-card reader.
In hand, there's an undeniable MacBook feel to the Spectre XT - that's not a bad thing, but unlike the original Spectre, there's certainly no points for originality here. We had a chance to ask Stacy Wolff, HP's Vice President of Notebook design, how he feels about people saying the Spectre XT (as well as other HP notebooks) are copying Apple's design.
Wolff said, "There's a lot of publicity about a particular shape or color that a lot of people believe one company holds. But really a lot of things cross over and are shared. With the Spectre XT, there are similarities to the MacBook Air in the shape of the tapered wedge, but that's not due to Apple, that's due to how the technology has to be laid out.
Likewise, there's a few colors in the world. I'm sure the guys at Cupertino would love to say they own silver, but they don’t, silver is a universal color. At HP we always try to advance our knowledge of what consumers want and love, and we give it to them. In no way has HP ever tried to mimic another company. Just remember that in life there are always similarities, but they're not always intentional."
Build quality on the Spectre XT feels solid, and while it may not have the distinctive high-design look of the original Spectre, it still feels like a premium Ultrabook with top notch finishing.
Inside, the Spectre isn't the most original of designs but build quality feels solid.
The Spectre XT's most impressive feature is its large track pad which looks to be about 11cm in length. Our first impression was positive, with the click pad handling well and recognizing gestures accurately. According to Wolff, part of the reason for the increase in the track pad's size is to ensure compatibility with Windows 8's gesture controls in the future.
HP's next generation Ultrabooks all feature larger track pads.
As with all Envy notebooks, audio is by Beats, with the Spectre XT packing four speakers, two front facing, and two on the sides, which provide both directional and ambient sound. While it was a bit crowded in the demo hall, audio was still quite impressive and it seems to be one of the loudest we've heard from a 13.3-inch form factor. We were impressed by the original Spectre's audio, so if HP have managed to improve on that, they will definitely have a good talking point here.
A look at one of the Spectre XT's side facing speakers.
While we're usually wary of bloatware pre-installed on a computer, the Spectre XT might actually be the first notebook that you don't immediately wipe clean, as all SKUs will come pre-installed with full versions of Adobe Photoshop Elements 10 and Adobe Premiere Elements 10. The concierge customer service hotline exclusive to Spectre users that the original Spectre enjoyed will also be extended to owners of the Spectre XT.
Expect the Envy Spectre XT to be available in Singapore from June onwards, with SKUs starting at US$999. A business oriented version, dubbed the Spectre XT Pro, with additional enterprise options such as Windows 7 Professional and a TPM security chip will also be available - pricing for the Pro version is currently unavailable.
Oh, and if you're wondering what XT stands for, while you probably won't find it on any promotional or marketing materials, according to the folks at HP, officially it's eXtra Thin.
HP Envy 4 & 6
The all black finish looks reminiscent of the Envy 14 Spectre, but this Ultrabook is finished in brushed aluminum.
The Envy line up adds two new models to its range in the form of the 14-inch Envy 4 and the 15.6-inch Envy 6. Both models feature the same design, with the Envy 4 using a slightly smaller form factor to go along with the smaller screen. These models will likely form the backbone of HP's Ultrabook range in 2012 with a wide variety of SKUs to cover all demands, ranging from low-end models starting at USD$699 all the way up to premium models with discrete GPUs.
Sleekbook Vs Ultrabook
HP introduced a new term to the tech industry today with the unveiling of the HP Envy 4 and 6 Sleekbook. No need to be confused though, essentially a Sleekbook is just a thin and light notebook PC that doesn't qualify for Intel's Ultrabook specifications. For now, that just refers to internal components as both the Envy 4 and 6 Sleekbook and Ultrabook will be using the same base design, although we're told that HP may in the future make Sleekbooks using lower-cost materials such as plastic.
Overseas, many HP Sleekbooks will be fitted with AMD A6 or A10 processors, however, for Asia-Pacific, we're told that all Sleekbooks (and of course Ultrabooks) will be using the same low-voltage Intel processors.
We had a chance to take a look at the Envy 6 Ultrabook, which has a weight of 1.79kg and measures about 19mm thick. Specs on the model we were looking at weren't retail finalized, but for now, we saw a core i5 Ivy Bridge processor, 4GB RAM and a 500GB HD with 32GB SSD.
Our model was using integrated Intel HD4000 graphics, but we're told that models with discrete AMD Radeon HD 7600M GPUs will also be available. Unfortunately, all SKUs will be using the same 1366x768 resolution screen, which was just about passable on the 14-inch Envy 4, but looked rather poor on the 15.6-inch Envy 6.
We were surprised that the supposedly 'premium' Envy range opted for such a low resolution on their 15.6-inch display and fortunately we had a chance to ask Kevin Frost, HP's Vice President of Consumer Notebooks, as to why 1366x768 is now the only resolution available on their new Ultrabook range, especially considering that their previous generation Envy 14 Spectre was available in 1600x900 resolution.
Frost answered, "Many consumers just don’t want to pay the premium for higher resolution screens but we do understand the desire for them. For our current range, we’re trying to make our Ultrabooks as accessible as possible, so that’s why you’ll see the HD 1366x768 display. However, in future, in fact, by Holiday season this year, we will definitely be introducing full HD Ultrabooks, so you’ll have the option to choose between both HD and full HD."
Frost refused to comment on whether the upcoming full HD Ultrabooks would be updated versions of the existing range or completely new models altogether.
For now, with the current batch of Envy Ultrabooks, it will be interesting to see how well they fare, especially when faced with competition that already boasts higher resolution screens such as ASUS's Zenbook series (and of course, Apple's MacBook Air).
Both Envy 4 and 6 come in two colors, either a black brushed aluminum lid with matching keyboard and red soft-touch plastic/glass composite base, or a black lid with silver keyboard and a black soft-touch base, again made of the same plastic/glass composite. Both look fairly stylish, although we much preferred the black keyboard with red base version, which looks more interesting. The red base is particularly slick with the Beats branding.
The silver keyboard version looks much like the Spectre XT and Envy 15 notebooks on the inside.
We much preferred the black wrist rest, which makes a nice change from all the silver ones out there.
The black keyboard Envy 4 & 6 comes with a slick red base plate. It's an interesting place to put color but we love the bold look, which adds an interesting feature without making the whole thing look tacky.
In terms of ports, both Envy 4 and 6 feature two USB 3.0 ports, one USB 2.0 port, an HDMI port, an RJ-45 port, and a multi-card reader.
Like the Spectre XT, the Envy 6 boasts a nice, oversized track pad that looks to be larger than 11cm in length. The track pad is finished with a circular brushed metal finish that looks very similar to the finish used by ASUS on their Zenbooks. While the track pad doesn't seem to be glass, it is very smooth and has a unique feel to it. In our quick test session, it felt comfortable to use and gesture recognition seems much improved from HP's previous efforts - two finger scroll worked surprisingly well at least.
The Envy 4 & 6 track pad has a circular aluminum swirl pattern that looks very similar to the one used by ASUS on their Zenbooks.
As mentioned above, Beats audio can be found on both Envy 4 and Envy 6 models, with both Sleekbook and Ultrabook designations packing a 4.1 speaker setup, with a hidden subwoofer concealed in the base. It was a bit too loud on the show floor to pick out the bass qualities of the Envy 6's sound system, but we're impressed that HP was able to cram a subwoofer into a relatively thin design. Whether it's actually any good or not will have to wait till our full review.
The subwoofer on the Envy 4 and 6 is hidden, so instead, here's a shot of the Beats logo!
The Envy 4 and 6 line will be available in Singapore from the end of May, with prices starting at USD$699. Like the Spectre XT, a business oriented 'Pro' version, with additional enterprise options such as Windows 7 Professional and a TPM security chip will also be available.
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