Originally posted on February 23, 2010 @ 8:51 pm
Engadget has a great review of HP’S 13-inch Envy laptop out, and I’m here to digest the review and present the most important parts for you guys. It’s been called a Macbook Pro clone, and from the looks alone, it really does deserve the title. It has an aluminum body, chiclet keys, even a buttonless trackpad. But how does it stack up to Apple’s premiere notebook?
Hardware-wise, it’s already supposed to be an ok notebook. Just look at the specs: Intel Core™ 2 Duo processor, ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 4330, and a 13-inch screen with a 1600 x 900 resolution. The “Beats”-branded speakers actually sound slightly better than in other netbooks as well. However, there is a bit of a drawback: the buttonless trackpad, obviously patterned after the Macbook’s trackpad, is a little, well, clunky. And of course what kind computer manufacturer would not install any crap and bloatware on a Windows 7 install, rendering the usually-snappy OS to slow down? HP does just that, true to form.
Here’s what Engaget says about the HP Envy:
Overall we’re very conflicted about the Envy 13. Hardware wise it’s one of our favorite laptops ever, but the trackpad almost destroys all of that good will built up by the other elements — no matter how great a laptop is, if it’s painful to interact with on the go (without an external mouse), what’s the point? We also have to say that Windows 7 doesn’t make this laptop crazy delicious in any particular manner. It’s certainly a better OS than Vista, but it’s not so much better to make it a huge selling point in our book or a lure for folks who don’t normally walk the Windows path, since many of the traditional pitfalls are still present. All we can say in summary is that we hope HP manages to update the trackpad drivers very, very soon, and that other PC manufacturers steal a bit from HP’s and / or Apple’s in other respects, since it seems to be working.
What do you think? Is the HP Envy worth it, or do you think you’re better off going for a cheaper netbook?