HP Envy 14 Spectre- Impression

January 13th, 2012CES 2012 • Notebooks1 Comment

HP Envy 14 Spectre is another addition in number of Intel Ultrabooks unveiled at CES 2012. Targeting style-conscious consumers, HP has come up with the Gorilla Glass covered ultrabook, which is probably the heaviest ultrabook ever. As the world knows, iPhone 4, with its glass-heavy and stylish body, is the most popular smartphone; but will it work for ultrabook? Let’s find out!

HP’s previous ultrabook, HP Folio 13, failed to make much business. It was practical model with modest design. On the other hand, HP Envy 14 Spectre is all about glam and glitter. It is surely the most happening laptop, among all other laptops, launched at the CES 2012 yet. Where many ultrabooks follow MacBook Air design, Spectre is refreshing and sublime with its glass exterior. It’s eye-catching with black glass lid. HP claims Spectre is scratch resistant with Gorilla Glass but as it goes with the territory, glass is also a magnet for smudges and smears.

Technical Specifications of entry-level HP Envy 14 Spectre

Processor: Intel Core i5-2467M processor
Storage: 128GB SSD drive and 4GB of RAM
Ports: HDMI, USB 3.0, Ethernet, and Mini Display Port
Other Specs: LED-lid HP Radiance backlit keyboard, Bluetooth, NFC support, WiDi, HP Wireless Audio, preinstalled full versions of Premiere Elements and Adobe Photoshop
Price: $1,399

With 14-inch, Spectre tempts movie watchers. It’s definitely a treat to watch movies on wide screen. To enhance the experience, Spectre is provided with the bright Super-TFT panel of HP Radiance LED display (1,600x900p). In this particular aspect, you might find it better than other laptops like Lenovo IdeaPad.

Portability is potential issue for laptops. HP Envy 14 Spectre is certainly heavy with the liberal amount of glass. This 14-inch ultrabook, with thickness of 20mm and 1.7Kg weight, doesn’t fit into the lighter category. However, it is modest with size guidelines of 14-inch ultrabooks showed up at CES. On the whole, HP envy 14 Spectre is still heavy and thick as compared to most ultrabooks but it outshines MacBook Pro in that case.

HP Envy 14 Spectre is expected to incorporate Intel Core i5 or i7 processor along with 128GB SSD Drive and an option to increase the storage. With eye-candy looks and claimed quality, Spectre disappoints when it comes to graphics and storage. Optical drive and dedicated graphics are not much to ask when it comes to the ultrabooks.

Other specifications include Beats Audio along with inset analog wheel for volume control, HP Wireless Audio, and built-in NFC support. Intel’s CES keynote described about the NFC support (Near-Field Communication) in ultrabook, and HP Envy 14 Spectre is the first one to feature it.

Read More: Ultrabooks Unveiled at CES 2012

Speaking about NFC, it’s an emerging smartphones technology. However, confusion regarding its application in laptops is not cleared yet. General idea is information like, Web pages or maps can be thrown onto the screen of Spectre from smartphone. Apps might be needed in devices for NFC functionality, but details are not revealed yet.

Last of all, HP Envy 14 Spectre is certainly an appealing ultrabook with its smart “glassy” looks but at the same time, glass loses its charm when it comes to inevitable accidental drops. We are bound to drop the laptop at least once, and in case of HP Envy 14 Spectre, results are literally “shattering”.

Pricing of an entry-level HP Envy 14 Spectre is not very pocket-pleasing; you will have to spend $1399 for this stylish ultrabook. It is obviously more expensive than other ultrabooks but we will have to wait for details to justify the price.

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