Office 2010 X64 HP Envy 14 Review - ComputerShoppe

Pattern Micro 32-Bit Editors'
Rating



The laser-etched pattern on the lid is trendy and helps preserve the Envy 14 from seeking an excessive amount of like a MacBook Pro clone—though the light-up HP emblem is not specifically an first notion.

The Envy 14’s keyboard is exceptional, with well-spaced keys and at ease key action.

The correct side functions combo USB/eSATA, HDMI,Office 2010 Sale, mini-DisplayPort, Ethernet, and electrical power connectors, as well as a lock slot.

The left side sports the slot-loading DVD generate, a pair of USB ports, a combo headphone/microphone jack, plus a separate headphone jack.

The backlit keyboard is helpful for nocturnal typing.
HP Envy 14 ten Stylish; stellar audio; great keyboard; outstanding overall performance No Blu-ray push option; extra-cost dongle necessary to output to VGA projectors The Envy 14 delivers top-notch efficiency, styling that might produce a MacBook Pro fan jealous, superb multimedia, and an awesome keyboard—all at a affordable price.
Price (at time of review): $1,289.99 (immediate, as examined)
Crucial Specs Processor: two.66GHz Intel Core i5-450M 2.40GHz (Turbo Increase)
Memory: 4GB RAM
Storage: 500GB difficult drive
Optical Drive: 8x slot-loading dual-layer DVD writer
Display: 14.5 inches (1,600x900 native resolution)
Graphics: Integrated Intel Hd graphics and ATI Mobility Radeon High definition 5650 (1GB, switchable)
Bodyweight: five.2 pounds
Dimensions (HWD): one.11x14.01x9.33 inches
one.11x14.01x9.33 inches: Windows seven Home Top quality (64-bit)
HP Envy 14 Critique Reviewed by: Denny Atkin
Review Date: August 2010
When we reviewed HP’s first-generation Envy 15 previous year, we have been impressed with its chic, high quality building and exceptional functionality but disappointed with its absence of an inner optical drive and its inadequate battery daily life. HP’s most current entry within the line, the Envy 14, addresses those complaints head on, sustaining the superb performance and sturdy style of the unique, even though packing an optical generate and much-improved battery existence in a single in the most fashionable and comfortable Windows notebooks we’ve examined to date.
There’s no denying the MacBook Professional must have motivated the Envy 14’s design and style staff. Its laser-etched, aluminum lid with light-up emblem, black-framed glossy LCD, backlit Chiclet keyboard resting in a sculpted depression, rounded edges, and buttonless touch pad are all extremely reminiscent of Apple’s high-end notebooks. It is not a slavish copy, however. The mostly aluminum circumstance isn’t of unibody construction—the bottom is black plastic—and within this most current revision HP gave up on looking to cram all of the ports onto one particular aspect and instead integrated some connectors lacking on previously Envy versions. Overall, the design and style is tasteful, sophisticated, and practical, and it feels extremely reliable and durable. Measuring one.11x14.01x9.33 inches and weighing in at five.2 lbs, it’s a bit smaller as opposed to Envy 15 (even though it is the very same weight), in spite of the addition in the optical generate and beefier battery.
The 14.5-inch LED-backlit display is really crisp and vivid. Though the stock Envy ships with a 1,366x768-pixel screen, our design was outfitted with the roomy optional Radiance Infinity HD+ 1,600x900 screen. The text is smallish within the higher-res screen, but it is sharp sufficient that even modest fonts are easy to study. The exhibit has a broad color gamut, and we could see a vibrance and richness in digital photos and DVD playback that’s not standard of the notebook at this value point. In reality, viewing DVDs employing the slot-loading 8x DVD author had us wishing HP presented a Blu-ray push option for that Envy 14. Sadly, you are going to should opt for the significantly more substantial Envy 17 if you would like hi-def capacity. Also, while the display screen seems wonderful, as with most glossy screens, it exhibits reflections from the glass; we’d enjoy to view HP provide a matte choice.
The Envy 14’s Beats audio system is similarly extraordinary and it is one particular place where the Envy evidently outdoes the MacBook Pro. HP isolated the audio parts within the motherboard to avoid the interference that can outcome in static on some PCs, and in addition, it extra an amplifier and DSP to improve and enrich the audio. The results to the built-in speakers are very good—volume and clarity are far previously mentioned regular for the dual-speaker notebook. Plug the Envy 14 into external speakers or even a excellent set of headphones, although, and you are going to locate the audio is practically nothing quick of astounding. Even on low-cost earbuds, the audio clarity and punch of our tunes was substantially greater than we’d assume from a notebook. Pressing Fn-B to toggle off the Beats enhancements exhibits that the method is adding significant depth and extra bass on the audio.
The exceptional Chiclet keyboard has outstanding response, great spacing in between keys, and it is very comfy to sort on. The keyboard now has a backlight, which can be toggled utilizing a perform key. The perform keys double as media controls; you hit Fn in blend with them to enter an real F1-F12 important press.


The large touch pad supports a variety of multi-touch gestures for scrolling, zooming, and rotating images; in addition, it adds new three-finger press and flick options for quick-launching applications and navigating Web pages. The lower third of the pad integrates the mouse buttons; just press down the left or proper sides to make selections.
The previously Envy 15 had a limited number of ports because HP crammed all the ports along a single side. By spreading them out on both sides, the selection is considerably greater around the Envy 14. The number of USB 2.0 ports has been upped from two to three, one among which doubles as an eSATA port. You will also find HDMI and mini-DisplayPort outputs, a Gigabit Ethernet connector, an SD/MMC slot, and both a headphone jack as well as a headphone-out/microphone-in combo jack. Wireless support includes Bluetooth and dual-band (2.4 and five.8GHz) 801.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi. There is also a very excellent High definition webcam, which includes auto face-detection, good low-light overall performance, as well as a built-in microphone. The one particular thing you might miss in the event you use your notebook for presentations is a VGA monitor output. If you use VGA projectors, you are going to want to purchase an HDMI-to-VGA adapter cable, available as a $50 option from HP, or for a lot less elsewhere. (Even Apple only charges $29 for one.)


This notebook is just as ######y around the inside as the outside. It is powered by a two.4GHz Core i5-450M processor (supporting up to two.66GHz in Turbo Increase mode), backed by 4GB of DDR3 RAM, with 6GB and 8GB configurations available. It includes an ATI Mobility Radeon Hd 5650 graphics processor with 1GB of DDR3 video memory for games and other demanding 3D applications; the notebook can automatically revert to the slower stock Intel Hd graphics constructed into the motherboard chipset to save battery existence. (This is known as switchable graphics, but as far as implementation is concerned, this is the least intuitive. Other switchable graphics options use a hardware switch or do so automatically.) There is a speedy 500GB,Office 2010 X64, seven,200-rpm difficult generate for storage, as well as the aforementioned slot-loading 8x DVD burner. (The inclusion from the optical push means the second internal push option found on the Envy 15 is missing here.)


There’s 1 added difference inside the hardware, compared with the Envy fifteen,Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007 Key, which bears mentioning: Even though the Envy 15 would toast your lap with intensive use, the Envy 14 remains cool around the outside even when gaming and editing videos. The fan, which is nearly silent at idle, does get noticeably audible when the laptop is working challenging, but additionally, it does its job well and keeps the Envy 14 from heating up.
The Envy 14 turned in remarkable final results on our benchmark tests. It did effectively on our PCMark Vantage benchmark test, which measures overall technique functionality with productivity programs. Its score of 6,185 to the 64-bit version from the test beat its Core i7-powered Envy fifteen predecessor’s score of five,243 and was also considerably faster than five,734 scored by the Toshiba Satellite M645, a similar 14-inch, Core i5 consumer notebook that sells for $1,049.
The Envy 14’s Core i5 CPU also turned in very good numbers on our media-centric tests. It completed our Windows Media Encoder test, which measures the speed of converting a video file to a new format, in 3 minutes and 59 seconds, nearly tying (by one particular second, give or take) the Core i7-powered Envy fifteen and the Toshiba M645. It did even greater on our iTunes conversion test, converting 11 songs from MP3 to AAC format in 3 minutes, 11 seconds, compared to 3:49 for the Envy fifteen, and 3:fifteen for the Toshiba M645.
On our Cinebench test, which taxes all the available cores of a CPU, the Envy 14 held it own, marginally beating out the category typical for other 64-bit notebooks, with a score of 8,159 but this time, falling behind its closest competitors, which managed 8,348 (Toshiba M645) and 9,896 (HP Envy 15). The average 64-bit score is 6,810, showing the Envy 14 has the mettle to multitask and deliver on CPU-intensive chores, even though it’s not best-in-class.


The ATI Mobility Radeon Hd 5650 chip offers extremely good 3D efficiency. Its score of 5,967 on our 3DMark 06 benchmark at native resolution isn’t best-in-class, but it is double the average for other thin-and-lights tested this 12 months,Office Standard, and it’s plenty fast to play modern games like Starcraft II smoothly and with a excellent level of detail. On our Company of Heroes DirectX 9 test, the Envy 14 managed a smooth 50fps at native resolution; that dropped to a still-playable 27.1fps in DirectX 10 mode.
The Envy 14 lasted an extraordinary 3 hours and 17 minutes on our DVD rundown test, a significant improvement over the Envy 15’s embarrassingly limited 1:04 consequence. This is a tad quick from the category average (3:26) but still better compared to Toshiba M645. Even though writing this assessment, browsing the Web, and listening to Pandora, we managed just over 4.5 hours on a single charge. This is due to its ability to shut off its ATI Radeon GPU on battery. Unfortunatley, you are going to must go into the Control Panel to manually re-enable the GPU when running on battery. Unlike the MacBook Professional it pays tribute to, the Envy 14 has a removable battery. You can purchase an additional eight-cell internal battery for $75 when configuring the Envy 14, or select the $200 six-Cell Slim Fit Extended Existence Battery, which clips onto the bottom of the notebook and works in conjunction using the built-in battery.
On the software front, the Envy 14 includes Envy IOS (Instant-On Solution), a preboot environment based on Splashtop technology that gives you quick access to a Web browser, Skype, and other basic functions without needing to launch into Windows. Once you do boot the 64-bit version of Windows seven Residence Premium, you're presented with a cool-looking (if somewhat dark) re-skinned version of the operating system. The provided HP MediaSmart utilities are actually worth a look, with sleek, easy-to-use modules that include a music player, photo manager, Web video viewer, basic video editor/DVD player, and Webcam controller. Bundled applications include Corel PaintShop Photo Professional X3, Corel VideoStudio Professional X3, Microsoft Works, along with a 60-day trial version of Norton Internet Security 2010. There’s also a preinstalled duplicate of Microsoft Office 2010. It is not a demo version. Rather, you can purchase or enter a product crucial to utilize the full product, or choose the free, advertising-supported Office Starter 2010, which includes stripped-down versions of Word 2010 and Excel 2010. You likely won’t use or appreciate all these applications, but aside from the 60-day trial, we wouldn’t ding them as bloatware.
HP offers some decent—though not astounding—support. You get a one-year hardware warranty within the Envy 14, complete which has a dedicated toll-free 24/7 Envy support line, free shipping both ways on repairs, and online chat support.
With its trendy and durable design and style, exemplary performance,Windows 7 Home Premium 64, and stellar audio, HP earned an Editors' Choice for your previously Envy 15 in spite of is pitiful battery lifestyle and optional external optical generate. Using the Envy 14 directly addressing these grievances, HP has definitely struck gold. The Envy 14 has seems to be, durability, functionality, and good battery daily life. It’s incredibly comfy to use, and it is reasonably priced to get a laptop in its class. With its super-sharp and colorful display, great illuminated keyboard, and superb audio playback, it is difficult to think of a lot that HP could do greater here.
Price (at time of review): $1,289.99 (immediate, as examined)

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