03:02
abmallick
At 14-inches it's slightly bigger than most Ultrabooks making it great for watching movies or viewing pictures, but it features a super-thin bezel, which doesn't add any bulk. The panel itself is a stunningly bright 1,600x900 Super-TFT, making it a better laptop for movie watchers and entertainment lovers, than the Toshiba Portege Z830 and Lenovo IdeaPad U300s Ultrabooks of this world. The HP Spectre measures 20mm thick when closed, which makes it the chunkiest Ultrabook we've seen so far. The limit set by Intel for 13-inch Ultrabooks is 18mm, but as HP has crammed in a 14" panel, they're allowed to build in the 21mm or less category. It won't slip into a bag as nicely as the competition, but it still looks great. As well as being thick, it's also heavy for an Ultrabook, and the HP Spectre weighs 1.7kg, which is svelte in terms of most portables, but with most of its peers weighing 1.3kg, we did notice the step up.
All of these measurements combine to push the boundaries of what we'd expect an Ultrabook to be (the Toshiba Portege Z830 measures just 15mm and weighs 1.1kg) but there's no denying that the HP Spectre is a superb piece of kit.
We didn't get to run any tests on the HP Envy 14 Spectre, but HP told us they expect a 9 hour battery life. If that bold claim is true, then it could turn this into a real contender.
The Spectre looks sublime, and the black glass lid adds a new level of class, which makes it immediately attractive. It's certainly not an Apple MacBook Air clone like many Ultrabooks, and looks all the better for it in our opinion.
There is a drawback, however, and the black glass isn't just a magnet for fingerprints, it's a Death Star sized tractor beam. Simply examining the sharp, strong edges which define the Spectre were enough to spoil the gleaming look, and have us reaching for a cloth to wipe them away.
Under the hood there's an Intel Core i5 or Core i7 processor, and a 128GB hard drive, which is standard for an Ultrabook. Unlike the Asus Zenbook and Acer Aspire S3, there's a full range of connectivity, including 2 USB 3.0 ports, Ethernet and HDMI.
Call us greedy, but while it feels like one of the most solid and highest quality Ultrabooks we've seen so far, we can't help feeling a little short changed.
The increased size should pay off with a larger hard drive, more RAM, or even a more powerful graphics option. With Samsung doing just that on their new 530U Ultrabook, it looks like the HP might have a problem on its hands. While the look and feel is certainly premium, so is the price. HP is asking a whopping 1,299 Euros for the entry level Intel Core i5 model, so don't expect the Envy Spectre to compete on price. UK pricing is still to be confirmed.
Source: Tech Radar
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