Windows 7 Sale HP Envy 14 Review - ComputerShopper

Trend Micro 32-Bit Editors'
Rating



The laser-etched pattern to the lid is trendy and helps preserve the Envy 14 from seeking too much like a MacBook Pro clone—though the light-up HP emblem is not just an original notion.

The Envy 14’s keyboard is exceptional, with well-spaced keys and cozy crucial action.

The correct facet functions combo USB/eSATA, HDMI, mini-DisplayPort, Ethernet, and energy connectors, as well as a lock slot.

The left aspect sports activities the slot-loading DVD generate, a pair of USB ports, a combo headphone/microphone jack, as well as a individual headphone jack.

The backlit keyboard is handy for nocturnal typing.
HP Envy 14 ten Stylish; stellar audio; wonderful keyboard; excellent overall performance No Blu-ray push alternative; extra-cost dongle needed to output to VGA projectors The Envy 14 delivers top-notch functionality, styling that may generate a MacBook Pro fan jealous, exceptional multimedia, and an amazing keyboard—all at a sensible price tag.
Price (at time of evaluation): $1,289.99 (direct, as tested)
Crucial Specs Processor: 2.66GHz Intel Core i5-450M 2.40GHz (Turbo Increase)
Memory: 4GB RAM
Storage: 500GB difficult drive
Optical Generate: 8x slot-loading dual-layer DVD writer
Display: 14.five inches (1,600x900 native resolution)
Graphics: Integrated Intel Hd graphics and ATI Mobility Radeon Hd 5650 (1GB, switchable)
Excess weight: 5.two pounds
Dimensions (HWD): 1.11x14.01x9.33 inches
one.11x14.01x9.33 inches: Windows 7 Home Top quality (64-bit)
HP Envy 14 Review Reviewed by: Denny Atkin
Evaluation Date: August 2010
When we reviewed HP’s first-generation Envy fifteen last yr, we ended up impressed with its chic, high quality construction and outstanding efficiency but disappointed with its lack of an internal optical drive and its poor battery existence. HP’s latest entry within the line, the Envy 14, addresses people grievances head on, preserving the exceptional overall performance and sturdy design from the authentic, whilst packing an optical drive and much-improved battery daily life in one in the most trendy and comfy Windows notebooks we’ve examined so far.
There’s no denying the MacBook Professional will need to have influenced the Envy 14’s layout team. Its laser-etched, aluminum lid with light-up logo, black-framed glossy LCD, backlit Chiclet keyboard resting inside a sculpted depression, rounded edges, and buttonless touch pad are all quite reminiscent of Apple’s high-end notebooks. It is not a slavish copy, nevertheless. The primarily aluminum circumstance isn’t of unibody construction—the bottom is black plastic—and in this latest revision HP gave up on looking to cram every one of the ports onto a single side and instead incorporated some connectors lacking on previously Envy models. Overall, the design is tasteful, elegant, and useful,Cheap Office Professional 2010 How to Recruit IT P, and it feels incredibly reliable and durable. Measuring 1.11x14.01x9.33 inches and weighing in at 5.two lbs, it is a bit smaller compared to Envy fifteen (however it's the identical weight), despite the addition of the optical generate and beefier battery.
The 14.5-inch LED-backlit screen is really crisp and brilliant. Even though the stock Envy ships which has a one,366x768-pixel screen,Buy Office Professional Plus 2007, our model was outfitted using the roomy optional Radiance Infinity HD+ one,600x900 exhibit. The text is smallish around the higher-res screen, but it’s sharp enough that even tiny fonts are simple to read. The show features a extensive color gamut,Office Standard 2007, and we could see a vibrance and richness in digital photographs and DVD playback that is not typical of the notebook at this price stage. The truth is, viewing DVDs utilizing the slot-loading 8x DVD writer had us wishing HP supplied a Blu-ray push alternative for the Envy 14. Regrettably, you’ll must choose the considerably bigger Envy 17 if you want hi-def capability. Also, even though the display seems to be fantastic, as with most glossy screens, it reveals reflections inside the glass; we’d enjoy to find out HP supply a matte option.
The Envy 14’s Beats audio method is similarly impressive and is also one particular region wherever the Envy evidently outdoes the MacBook Professional. HP isolated the audio components on the motherboard to prevent the interference that can outcome in static on some PCs, and it also extra an amplifier and DSP to improve and enrich the audio. The results to the built-in speakers are extremely good—volume and clarity are far higher than average for a dual-speaker notebook. Plug the Envy 14 into external speakers or a excellent set of headphones, even though, and you may locate the audio is nothing limited of astounding. Even on inexpensive earbuds, the audio clarity and punch of our tunes was substantially greater than we’d expect from a notebook. Pressing Fn-B to toggle off the Beats enhancements exhibits the program is adding substantial depth and extra bass towards the audio.
The excellent Chiclet keyboard has excellent response, very good spacing among keys, and is also quite at ease to sort on. The keyboard now has a backlight, which can be toggled making use of a purpose key. The perform keys double as media controls; you hit Fn in blend with them to enter an real F1-F12 essential press.


The large touch pad supports a variety of multi-touch gestures for scrolling, zooming, and rotating images; additionally, it adds new three-finger press and flick options for quick-launching applications and navigating Web pages. The lower third of the pad integrates the mouse buttons; just press down the left or proper sides to make selections.
The previously Envy fifteen had a limited number of ports because HP crammed all of the ports along 1 facet. By spreading them out on both sides, the selection is significantly much better around the Envy 14. The number of USB two.0 ports has been upped from two to three, one of which doubles as an eSATA port. You are going to also find HDMI and mini-DisplayPort outputs, a Gigabit Ethernet connector, an SD/MMC slot, and both a headphone jack along with a headphone-out/microphone-in combo jack. Wireless support includes Bluetooth and dual-band (two.4 and 5.8GHz) 801.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi. There is also a quite good Hd webcam, which includes auto face-detection, great low-light performance, and a built-in microphone. The one particular thing you might miss should you use your notebook for presentations is a VGA monitor output. Should you use VGA projectors,Microsoft Office Professional 2007, you are going to want to purchase an HDMI-to-VGA adapter cable, available as a $50 selection from HP, or for considerably less elsewhere. (Even Apple only charges $29 for 1.)


This notebook is just as ######y around the inside as the outside. It’s powered by a 2.4GHz Core i5-450M processor (supporting up to two.66GHz in Turbo Boost mode), backed by 4GB of DDR3 RAM, with 6GB and 8GB configurations available. It includes an ATI Mobility Radeon Hd 5650 graphics processor with 1GB of DDR3 video memory for games and other demanding 3D applications; the notebook can automatically revert for the slower stock Intel High definition graphics built into the motherboard chipset to save battery life. (This is known as switchable graphics, but as far as implementation is concerned, this will be the least intuitive. Other switchable graphics options use a hardware switch or do so automatically.) There’s a speedy 500GB, seven,200-rpm hard push for storage, along with the aforementioned slot-loading 8x DVD burner. (The inclusion in the optical generate means the second internal drive choice found to the Envy 15 is lacking here.)


There’s a single added difference within the hardware, compared with all the Envy fifteen, which bears mentioning: Whilst the Envy fifteen would toast your lap with intensive use,Office 2010 Sale, the Envy 14 remains cool to the outside even when gaming and editing videos. The fan, which is nearly silent at idle, does get noticeably audible when the laptop is working hard, but in addition, it does its job nicely and keeps the Envy 14 from heating up.
The Envy 14 turned in outstanding benefits on our benchmark tests. It did well on our PCMark Vantage benchmark test, which measures overall technique functionality with productivity programs. Its score of 6,185 within the 64-bit version in the test beat its Core i7-powered Envy 15 predecessor’s score of 5,243 and was also drastically faster than five,734 scored by the Toshiba Satellite M645, a similar 14-inch, Core i5 consumer notebook that sells for $1,049.
The Envy 14’s Core i5 CPU also turned in great numbers on our media-centric tests. It completed our Windows Media Encoder test, which measures the speed of converting a video file to a new format, in 3 minutes and 59 seconds, nearly tying (by one second, give or take) the Core i7-powered Envy 15 and the Toshiba M645. It did even far better on our iTunes conversion test, converting 11 songs from MP3 to AAC format in 3 minutes, 11 seconds, compared to 3:49 for your Envy 15, and 3:15 for the Toshiba M645.
On our Cinebench test, which taxes all of the available cores of the CPU, the Envy 14 held it own, marginally beating out the category typical for other 64-bit notebooks, using a score of 8,159 but this time, falling behind its closest competitors, which managed 8,348 (Toshiba M645) and 9,896 (HP Envy fifteen). The regular 64-bit score is 6,Windows 7 Sale,810, showing that the Envy 14 has the mettle to multitask and deliver on CPU-intensive chores, even although it is not best-in-class.


The ATI Mobility Radeon Hd 5650 chip offers extremely very good 3D performance. Its score of five,967 on our 3DMark 06 benchmark at native resolution isn’t best-in-class, but it is double the common for other thin-and-lights tested this yr, and it is plenty fast to play modern games like Starcraft II smoothly and having a very good level of detail. On our Company of Heroes DirectX 9 test, the Envy 14 managed a smooth 50fps at native resolution; that dropped to a still-playable 27.1fps in DirectX 10 mode.
The Envy 14 lasted an impressive 3 hours and 17 minutes on our DVD rundown test, a important improvement over the Envy 15’s embarrassingly brief one:04 consequence. This is a tad limited in the category regular (3:26) but still better than the Toshiba M645. Even though writing this critique, browsing the Web, and listening to Pandora, we managed just over 4.5 hours on a single charge. This is due to its ability to shut off its ATI Radeon GPU on battery. Unfortunatley, you’ll have to go into the Control Panel to manually re-enable the GPU when running on battery. Unlike the MacBook Professional it pays tribute to, the Envy 14 has a removable battery. You can purchase an added eight-cell internal battery for $75 when configuring the Envy 14, or select the $200 six-Cell Slim Fit Extended Lifestyle Battery, which clips onto the bottom in the notebook and works in conjunction together with the built-in battery.
On the software front, the Envy 14 includes Envy IOS (Instant-On Solution), a preboot environment based on Splashtop technology that gives you quick access to a Web browser, Skype, and other basic functions without needing to launch into Windows. Once you do boot the 64-bit version of Windows 7 Residence Top quality, you're presented having a cool-looking (if somewhat dark) re-skinned version in the operating technique. The provided HP MediaSmart utilities are actually worth a look, with sleek, easy-to-use modules that include a music player, photo manager, Web video viewer, basic video editor/DVD player, and Webcam controller. Bundled applications include Corel PaintShop Photo Professional X3, Corel VideoStudio Professional X3, Microsoft Works, and a 60-day trial version of Norton Internet Security 2010. There is also a preinstalled copy of Microsoft Office 2010. It’s not a demo version. Rather, you can purchase or enter a product important to utilize the full product, or choose the free, advertising-supported Office Starter 2010, which includes stripped-down versions of Word 2010 and Excel 2010. You likely won’t use or appreciate all these applications, but aside from the 60-day trial, we wouldn’t ding them as bloatware.
HP offers some decent—though not astounding—support. You get a one-year hardware warranty on the Envy 14, complete which has a dedicated toll-free 24/7 Envy support line, free shipping both ways on repairs, and online chat support.
With its fashionable and durable style, exemplary functionality, and stellar audio, HP earned an Editors' Choice for the earlier Envy fifteen despite is pitiful battery existence and optional external optical drive. Together with the Envy 14 directly addressing these complaints, HP has definitely struck gold. The Envy 14 has seems to be, durability, overall performance, and excellent battery life. It is incredibly comfortable to use, and it’s reasonably priced to get a laptop in its class. With its super-sharp and colorful screen, fantastic illuminated keyboard, and excellent audio playback, it is difficult to think of much that HP could do better here.
Cost (at time of assessment): $1,289.99 (direct, as examined)

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