Analyzed: HP Envy 15

If you have been on the look out for the best packaged Windows laptop, look no further. The HP Envy 15 fits the bill perfectly. With its sleek and compact looks coupled with almost every imaginable feature you can expect in a laptop, it is a fantastic introduction by HP into the laptop market. It is almost like HP is saying, "Hey! We are still around and know how to make laptops that people will actually WANT to buy."

Let us get through the feature list of the machine we tested real quick: 8GB RAM, 1TB hard drive, slot loading DVD-RW, memory card reader, Ethernet jack, 3 USB ports, 2 headphone jacks (unique to the higher end HP models), 1 HDMI and 1 DisplayPort (which can use at the same time for extending the video across multiple screens) and a 6 speaker Beats audio system (the one endorsed by Dr. Dre) make the HP Envy a very juicy proposition. And for good measure HP also throws in the complete versions of Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 and Adobe Premiere Elements 9. To say the machine was blinding fast is an understatement. But in the interest of full disclosure we did not exactly try to push the limit with the machine like we normally do. Still, it performed more than satisfactorily when we attempted graphical design work as well as some video editing in addition to the usual tests (listening to music, browsing the web, watching videos etc.).

The Envy is a beautiful looking laptop and if you took out the logos and looked at just the keyboard, you might even confuse it with the MacBookPro. Until you look harder. It has a lit keyboard and a proximity sensor that turns off the keyboard lighting if no one is in front of the screen to conserve power. It also has a volume knob that is reminiscent of old school amplifiers (and the high end ones of today) with the Beats logo. A nice touch we might add. The speaker system is absolutely amazing on the Envy and we can't think of any other laptop that sounds this good. Lows, mids and highs sound great for a laptop. At 3.7 lbs (~1.4 kgs) it isn't too heavy to carry around either. So, is it finally the case where we have the perfect laptop? As much as we would love to say yes, we found a couple of flaws in the laptop, one of which frankly we find inexcusable.

The biggest flaw, and honestly what was HP thinking, in a package this loaded, why would you skimp out on the display? Why even offer a display where the maximum resolution is only 1366 x 768? Yes there are other options with the HP Envy 15 where the video resolution is 1920 x 1080, but why not make that a standard on the laptop, especially when you have a 1GB AMD Radeon graphics card built in? We must mention that the version HP introduced in India comes with the 1366 x 768 display which means you are getting less for your money. Battery life is on par with other laptops in this segment, and a full charge should get you close to 5 hours.

All things considered, it is great to finally come across a laptop that is loaded with the *almost* right combination of features without pricing itself out of the market. Based on our look at the choices currently in India, we would have to say this is probably the best laptop in the market. We still have the nagging thought though, if only the better display was made standard across the Envy 15 range.

The HP Envy 15 is currently on sale in India at a starting price of Rs. 79,990.