Adrenaline Shot: The Aston Martin DB9 Special

James Bond started it with the DB5. Let us take an inside look at the latest iteration of the DB series, the DB9.

Showing posts with label HP. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HP. Show all posts

Analyzed: HP Envy 6

A couple of days ago we reviewed one of HP's latest offerings, the Envy 4 ultrabook. We also got a chance to play around with the other offering from HP, the big brother to the 4 (at least in terms of size), the HP Envy 6. Honestly there isn't much to be said since we tested the Envy 4 since the specs are virtually identical. We have listed the differences between the two below:
  1. Screen size is 15.6" on the Envy 6 vs. 14" on the Envy 4
  2. 4 speakers instead of 2 (and no built in sub woofer)
  3. Digital media card reader
  4. Weight: 4.75lbs
That's it. The display on the Envy 6's 15.6" screen is definitely not as striking as compared to the Envy 4. Yes they have the same dedicated graphics card but you don't get the same clarity on the bigger display. It would have done HP some good to bump up the resolution at least on the bigger display. And despite having the same battery capacity we definitely did not get the same amount of time on a single charge. We clocked a little over 7 hours with the Envy 6. A 500GB hard drive is standard on all machines but we wish the option to replace it with a SSD was available (just like the Envy 4). You do get the choice of Windows 7 Home Premium or Professional for your operating system. With its brushed metal finish, the packaging is very sleek and the options are the same as the smaller version. Sound quality is also above par but lacks that little extra oomph you get out of the built in subwoofer in the Envy 4.

At the end of the day the Envy 6 costs more than the Envy 4 and unless you want a bigger screen, we would recommend sticking with the smaller version. It is definitely more bang for your buck. And you will definitely want to uninstall a lot of the bloatware that comes pre-installed on the system.

Our Rating: 

The HP Envy 6 is currently on sale in India at a starting price of around Rs. 47,000 (~$850).

Analyzed: HP Envy 4

Here is one of HP's next generation ultrabooks. If you have read our previous reviews, we absolutely LOVED the HP Envy 14 Spectre. HP's newest offering, the Envy 4 has some really big shoes to fill as far as we are concerned.

The Envy 4 is offered in four variants, two of which have Intel's i3 1.4GHz processor and the other two which have the i5 1.7GHz processor. 4GB DD3 RAM is standard on all models but you can bump it up to a maximum of 16GB. You also get a 14" diagonal HD BrightView LED-backlit display on them at a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. What this laptop makes up for in lack of resolution it makes up for in its fantastic 2GB AMD Radeon HD 7670M video card. It really makes a world of a difference if you compare it to the base Envy 4 version that comes with the built in Intel HD Graphics 3000 card. Gaming and movies look absolutely great on the Envy 4 and the experience is further amplified with the Beats Audio speakers. A 500GB hard drive is also standard on all machines but we wish the option to replace it with a SSD was available. You do get the choice of Windows 7 Home Premium or Professional for your operating system.

One of the nice features of the HP ultrabooks is the CoolSense technology. If you are one of those people who like to keep your machine on your lap while working this will come in real handy. We wouldn't recommend doing it for extended periods of time but for a short duration, the CoolSense works. The built in HD webcam is nothing out of the blue and gets the job done. Battery life is very very good and you should be able to pull about 8 hours on a single charge. And you get all this in a very sleek brushed metal (and affordable) package that weighs a shade under 4lbs. Performance is definitely a lot better with the Envy 4 beating the Spectre in cold starts, restarts and waking up from sleep mode.

So, does the Envy 4 beat the Envy 14 Spectre? Honestly, we wanted to stick with the Spectre, but from a performance stand point the Envy 4 beats it in every way. The Envy 14 Spectre wasn't just a loaded machine, it had a cool factor going on with simple touches like the big volume knob and the Radiance backlit keyboard which senses your approach and gradually lights up every row. The only gripes we had with the Spectre were the lack of a dedicated graphics card and the price. HP has definitely addressed those two issues with the Envy 4. We are pretty certain sales figures for the new generation Envy will be stronger than before.

The HP Envy 4 is currently on sale in India at a starting price (depending on the spec) of around Rs. 43,000 (~$800) which by the way is a lot lower than the HP Envy Spectre.

Our Rating: 

Analyzed: HP TouchPad

This is totally our bad. How could we have ever overlooked HP's WebOS platform and the TouchPad? We really must have been stuck in the middle of the desert to not hear the callings. Well, it's never too late... so let us see how the HP TouchPad fares in the ocean of Android and iOS tablets.

It is a breath of fresh air the HP TouchPad. We are so used to seeing the Samsung Galaxy Tab or the iPad 2 that frankly it is easy to overlook other offerings. It might not be the lightest or the thinnest tablet in the market, but what it does is give people another option. A very cheap option. The HP TouchPad comes equipped with a 9.7" screen with a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels. You also get a 1.3MP front facing camera, an option of either 16GB or 32GB storage and a dual core 1.2GHz processor. So it's not exactly loaded. It is very simple to use and didn't take much time getting used to considering we have never played around with WebOS before. Graphics (pictures and videos) are pretty average for a tablet and despite turning the brightness on all the way, we still felt the display was a little dull and fuzzy. It might not look the best, but you can still do what most people do with these tablets, play games, watch videos, listen to music, browse the web (the built in browser is very good by the way) and possibly use it to video chat. So for your day to day use, it is a good option to have.

This tablet is going to go on our list of ultra-low cost tablets because of its price. You can actually get one (if you can find one) for $99 for the 16GB version. Bet you weren't expecting that from a company like HP. Then again there is probably good reason for that. The TouchPad hasn't exactly been a hit. This is most probably attributed to the WebOS that comes installed. While it is very good at multi-tasking and easy to navigate, the lack of support like the Google Play or the App Store is probably its biggest downfall. You can't just sell a product for cheap and not have the support and expect it to do well. In fact, we know a lot of people that purchased the TouchPad, didn't even bother using it with WebOS, and then installed the Android OS on it. It is probably the most hacked tablet out there! If you are looking for apps, HP has hundreds of dedicated TouchPad apps in its store, and the tablet can also run about 70 percent of the more than 8,000 apps designed for HP's WebOS phones. The phone apps run in a little phone-sized box on the tablet’s 9.7-inch screen, though. Still, it is no match for the big boys at Mountain View and Cupertino.

It looks like a combination of the issues we mentioned has made HP cease production of the TouchPad. Let's hope they take the lessons learned from this debacle and are able to come out with a product that people would want to buy, a la the Envy 15 or the Envy 14 Spectre laptops. We don't feel so bad that we waited this long to test the TouchPad by the way... doesn't look like we missed all that much.

Analyzed: HP Envy 14 Spectre

Just when we thought HP dropped the near perfect laptop on our laps in the HP Envy 15, they come out with another stunning piece of machinery, the HP Envy 14 Spectre Ultrabook. For the first time you get to use such an extensive use of the scratch resistant gorilla glass not just on the screen, but on the casing of the machine itself. The palm rest, lid and the HP ImagePad (read: track pad) are all covered in the special glass. They also managed to very cleverly fit a 14" screen in the body of a 13.3" notebook. How's that for being creative?

The Envy 14 Spectre pushes the definition of an Ultrabook with its weight (a little under 4 lbs or 1.8 kgs) and display size. But we don't care. The display resolution is 1600 x 900 pixels (and it is gorgeous), you can either get it with 4 or 8 GB  RAM, and a 128 GB or 256 GB SSD. Standard features include the very suave HP Radiance backlit keyboard which senses your approach and gradually lights up every row, a Beats Audio system with 2 high-performance speakers and subwoofer (if you read our earlier review on the Envy 15 - this is probably the best system available on a notebook), a mini DisplayPort, a USB 3.0 port, an HD webcam and a microphone-in/headphone stereo-out jack combo. Also included is the old school volume knob similar to the Envy 15. You also get a battery than will last you the better part of 9 hours (this is currently the best in the market), complete versions of Adobe Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements software and 2 free years of Norton Internet Security 2012. We just wish for the price (which is not cheap and is our only gripe), HP gave the option of a separate dedicated GPU (video card) instead of integrating it with the core processor.

If the prior versions of the Envy are any indication, it would seem we have an absolute winner on our hands. Looks like Apple (with the MacBook line) finally has worthy opponents in HP and Dell (with the XPS 13 Ultrabook). It will be interesting to see the next iteration of Apple's notebooks especially considering their new retina technology display that was introduced in the new iPad.

The HP Envy 14 Spectre Ultrabook goes on sale in India on April 10, 2012 with a starting price of Rs. 99,999 (~$2000). And just FYI, it starts off in the US at $1,400. That makes us sad :(

Analyzed: HP Folio 13 Ultrabook

We have been playing around with quite a few Ultrabooks that are currently in the market, and the HP Folio 13 is one of the most economical versions out there. But don't think HP has skimped on the goodies just to keep the price low. Despite its industrial looking design much like the HP EliteBook, it is packed with enough fire power to get the job done.

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.

Analyzed: HP Pavilion dv6

If you are interested in purchasing a laptop for your entertainment needs, you might want to consider the HP Pavilion DV6. With 4GB RAM, Intel Core i3 chip, Windows 7 Professional pre-loaded, 500GB hard drive, 2MP built in camera, all for under $800, this deal is going to be pretty hard to beat.