HP ENVY 14 Review

When we reviewed HP's first-generation Envy 15 last year, we have been impressed with its chic, remarkable building and remarkable efficacy but disappointed with its insufficient an inside optical generate and its bad battery life. HP's most latest entry through the line, the Envy 14, addresses all those complaints mind on, keeping the remarkable efficacy and sturdy pattern belonging toward the original, even although packing an optical generate and much-improved battery existence in amid one of the most trendy and relaxing house windows notebooks we've examined so far.

The ENVY 14 is well-equipped and consists of the above basic spend less to the quickly 750GB 7200RPM difficult drive, which could be an $80 choice greater compared to basic 500GB drive. they are robust if not enthusiast-level specifications. As configured, the ENVY 14 can deal with almost any process which include gaming many thanks to its dedicated AMD Radeon pictures card. The just one disappointment could possibly be the low-resolution 14.5-inch screen; the previous-generation ENVY 14 was on the marketplace with an remarkable high-gamut 1600x900 screen, which supplied much a good offer more space to run with.

The 14.5-inch LED-backlit display is relatively crisp and bright. although the commodity Envy ships getting a 1,366x768-pixel screen, our product was equipped using the roomy optional Radiance Infinity HD+ 1,600x900 display. The word is smallish for the higher-res display, however it is sharp adequate that even small fonts are basic to read. The show carries a broad color gamut, and we could see a vibrance and richness in electronic pictures and digital video disc playback which is not common of the laptop at this cost point. In fact, viewing DVDs producing utilization of the slot-loading 8x digital video disc writer experienced us wishing HP supplied a Blu-ray generate choice to the Envy 14. Unfortunately, you will should opt to the a good offer bigger Envy 17 if you actually need hi-def capability. Also, even although the display appears fantastic, as with most glossy screens, it exhibits reflections through the glass; we'd adore to ascertain HP provide a matte option.

The Envy 14's Beats audio tracks plan is similarly amazing and is also just one place in which the Envy obviously outdoes the MacBook Pro. HP isolated the audio tracks components for the motherboard to prevent the interference that may accomplish guide to static on some PCs, also it also additional an amplifier and DSP to enhance and improve the audio. The last results for the built-in speakers are relatively good—volume and clarity are much above common for just about any dual-speaker notebook. Plug the Envy 14 into exterior speakers as well as a superb create of headphones, though, and you'll can be found throughout the audio tracks is practically nothing short of astounding. Even on affordable earbuds, the audio tracks clarity and punch of our tunes was drastically much better than we'd presume from the notebook. Pressing Fn-B to toggle away the Beats enhancements exhibits how the plan is adding considerable depth and extra bass toward the audio.

This laptop is just as alluring for the within since the outside. it is powered with a 2.4GHz key i5-450M processor (supporting as a good offer as 2.66GHz in Turbo enhance mode), backed by 4GB of DDR3 RAM, with 6GB and 8GB configurations available. It consists of an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 pictures processor with 1GB of DDR3 film storage for fits furthermore to other demanding 3D applications; the laptop can instantly revert toward the slower commodity Intel HD pictures made in to the motherboard chipset to spend less battery life. (This is regarded as switchable graphics, but as much as implementation is concerned, this could possibly be the minimum intuitive. Other switchable pictures options use a hardware change or do so automatically.) There's a speedy 500GB, 7,200-rpm difficult generate for storage, furthermore to the aforementioned slot-loading 8x digital video disc burner. (The inclusion belonging toward the optical generate shows the next inside generate choice found for the Envy 15 is missing here.)

The Envy 14 lasted an amazing three several hours and 17 mins on our digital video disc rundown test, a considerable enlargement greater compared to Envy 15's embarrassingly short 1:04 result. This could possibly be considered a tad short belonging toward the type common (3:26) but nevertheless much better compared to Toshiba M645. even although composing this review, browsing the Web, and hearing to Pandora, we managed just greater than 4.5 several hours on the sole charge. this could be on account of its ability to shut away its ATI Radeon GPU on battery. Unfortunatley, you will should go in to the deal with Panel to manually re-enable the GPU when operating on battery. as opposed to the MacBook professional it pays tribute to, the Envy 14 carries a removable battery. You can purchase an additional eight-cell inside battery for $75 when configuring the Envy 14, or opt to the $200 six-Cell Slim match up Extended existence Battery, which clips onto the bottom belonging toward the laptop and features in conjunction using the built-in battery.
 

HP ENVY 14 Review

With its trendy and sturdy design, exemplary performance, and stellar audio, HP earned an Editors' option to the earlier Envy 15 in spite of is pitiful battery existence and optional exterior optical drive. using the Envy 14 straight addressing all those complaints, HP has undoubtedly struck gold. The Envy 14 has looks, durability, performance, and great battery life. it is relatively relaxing to use, also it is reasonably priced for just about any laptop in its class. With its super-sharp and multi-colored screen, fabulous illuminated keyboard, and remarkable audio tracks playback, it is difficult to think about the good offer that HP could do much better here.