Microsoft Office 2010 Pro HP Envy 14 Review - Comp

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The laser-etched pattern to the lid is fashionable and will help retain the Envy 14 from looking a lot of like a MacBook Professional clone—though the light-up HP logo isn’t specifically an original idea.

The Envy 14’s keyboard is excellent, with well-spaced keys and comfortable important action.

The right aspect functions combo USB/eSATA, HDMI, mini-DisplayPort, Ethernet, and energy connectors, along with a lock slot.

The left aspect sports activities the slot-loading DVD drive, a pair of USB ports, a combo headphone/microphone jack, and a individual headphone jack.

The backlit keyboard is helpful for nocturnal typing.
HP Envy 14 10 Stylish; stellar audio; fantastic keyboard; excellent functionality No Blu-ray drive selection; extra-cost dongle necessary to output to VGA projectors The Envy 14 delivers top-notch efficiency, styling that may generate a MacBook Pro fan jealous, outstanding multimedia, and an amazing keyboard—all at a affordable price.
Price (at time of assessment): $1,289.99 (direct, as tested)
Essential Specs Processor: two.66GHz Intel Core i5-450M 2.40GHz (Turbo Increase)
Memory: 4GB RAM
Storage: 500GB challenging drive
Optical Drive: 8x slot-loading dual-layer DVD writer
Display: 14.five 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
1.11x14.01x9.33 inches: Windows seven Property Top quality (64-bit)
HP Envy 14 Critique Reviewed by: Denny Atkin
Critique Date: August 2010
When we reviewed HP’s first-generation Envy fifteen last yr, we ended up impressed with its chic, quality construction and exceptional functionality but disappointed with its lack of an inner optical push and its bad battery daily life. HP’s latest entry in the line, the Envy 14, addresses individuals complaints head on, keeping the superb functionality and sturdy design and style in the first, while packing an optical drive and much-improved battery daily life in a single from the most fashionable and cozy Windows notebooks we’ve tested so far.
There’s no denying the MacBook Pro will need to have inspired 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 very reminiscent of Apple’s high-end notebooks. It’s not a slavish duplicate, nonetheless. The primarily aluminum scenario is not of unibody construction—the bottom is black plastic—and within this most current revision HP gave up on attempting to cram all of the ports onto a single facet and instead included some connectors lacking on earlier Envy versions. Total, the layout is tasteful, classy, and practical, and it feels extremely reliable and tough. Measuring one.11x14.01x9.33 inches and weighing in at 5.two kilos,Genuine Office 2010, it is a bit more compact compared to Envy 15 (however it's the very same excess weight), in spite of the addition of the optical drive and beefier battery.
The 14.5-inch LED-backlit screen is extremely crisp and brilliant. However the stock Envy ships having a one,366x768-pixel display screen, our model was outfitted using the roomy optional Radiance Infinity HD+ one,600x900 screen. The text is smallish to the higher-res show, but it is sharp adequate that even little fonts are easy to examine. The screen incorporates a extensive colour gamut, and we could see a vibrance and richness in digital images and DVD playback that is not normal of the notebook at this value point. In fact,Office 2007 Serial, watching DVDs using the slot-loading 8x DVD author had us wishing HP supplied a Blu-ray generate alternative for your Envy 14. Sadly, you’ll should go for the much more substantial Envy 17 if you need hi-def capacity. Also, even though the display seems to be fantastic,Microsoft Office 2010 Pro, as with most glossy screens, it shows reflections inside the glass; we’d love to find out HP supply a matte option.
The Envy 14’s Beats audio program is similarly outstanding and it is one region wherever the Envy obviously outdoes the MacBook Pro. HP isolated the audio parts to the motherboard to prevent the interference that can end result in static on some PCs, and in addition, it extra an amplifier and DSP to enhance and boost the audio. The results to the built-in speakers are extremely good—volume and clarity are far higher than typical to get a dual-speaker notebook. Plug the Envy 14 into exterior speakers or perhaps a great set of headphones, even though, and you'll uncover the audio is practically nothing short of astounding. Even on affordable earbuds, the audio clarity and punch of our tunes was significantly far better than we’d anticipate from a notebook. Pressing Fn-B to toggle off the Beats enhancements exhibits that the technique is incorporating substantial depth and additional bass for the audio.
The excellent Chiclet keyboard has superb response, good spacing amongst keys, and it is quite comfortable to kind on. The keyboard now has a backlight, which can be toggled employing a function key. The perform keys double as media controls; you hit Fn in combination with them to enter an actual F1-F12 key press.


The large touch pad supports a variety of multi-touch gestures for scrolling,Office Ultimate 2007 Key, 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 in the pad integrates the mouse buttons; just press down the left or correct sides to make selections.
The before Envy 15 had a limited number of ports because HP crammed all the ports along 1 facet. By spreading them out on both sides, the selection is a lot greater within the Envy 14. The number of USB 2.0 ports has been upped from two to three, one of which doubles as an eSATA port. You’ll also find HDMI and mini-DisplayPort outputs, a Gigabit Ethernet connector, an SD/MMC slot, and both a headphone jack along with a headphone-out/microphone-in combo jack. Wireless support includes Bluetooth and dual-band (two.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, very good low-light functionality, plus a built-in microphone. The a single thing you might miss if you use your notebook for presentations is a VGA monitor output. In case you use VGA projectors, you are going to want to purchase an HDMI-to-VGA adapter cable, available like a $50 selection from HP, or for significantly less elsewhere. (Even Apple only charges $29 for one particular.)


This notebook is just as ######y within the inside as the outside. It is powered by a two.4GHz Core i5-450M processor (supporting up to 2.66GHz in Turbo Increase mode), backed by 4GB of DDR3 RAM, with 6GB and 8GB configurations available. It includes an ATI Mobility Radeon High definition 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 High definition graphics built into the motherboard chipset to save battery life. (This is known as switchable graphics, but as far as implementation is concerned, this could be the least intuitive. Other switchable graphics options use a hardware switch or do so automatically.) There is a speedy 500GB, 7,200-rpm tough push for storage, as well as the aforementioned slot-loading 8x DVD burner. (The inclusion in the optical generate means the second inner push choice found to the Envy fifteen is missing here.)


There’s a single extra difference in the hardware, compared with the Envy 15, which bears mentioning: Although the Envy fifteen would toast your lap with intensive use, the Envy 14 remains cool to 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 hard, but additionally,Office 2007 Standard, it does its job properly and keeps the Envy 14 from heating up.
The Envy 14 turned in extraordinary outcomes on our benchmark tests. It did properly on our PCMark Vantage benchmark test, which measures overall system overall performance with productivity programs. Its score of 6,185 around the 64-bit version from the test beat its Core i7-powered Envy fifteen predecessor’s score of five,243 and was also drastically faster than 5,734 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 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 1 second, give or take) the Core i7-powered Envy 15 and the Toshiba M645. It did even much better on our iTunes conversion test, converting 11 songs from MP3 to AAC format in 3 minutes, 11 seconds, compared to 3:49 for that Envy 15, and 3:15 for your Toshiba M645.
On our Cinebench test, which taxes each of the available cores of the CPU, the Envy 14 held it own, slightly beating out the category common 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 fifteen). The common 64-bit score is 6,810, showing that 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 High definition 5650 chip offers very good 3D overall performance. Its score of 5,967 on our 3DMark 06 benchmark at native resolution is not best-in-class, but it’s double the common for other thin-and-lights examined this yr, and it is plenty fast to play modern games like Starcraft II smoothly and having a very good 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 outstanding 3 hours and 17 minutes on our DVD rundown test, a significant improvement over the Envy 15’s embarrassingly short 1:04 outcome. This is a tad short of the category average (3:26) but still better compared to Toshiba M645. While writing this critique, browsing the Web, and listening to Pandora, we managed just over 4.five 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 Pro it pays tribute to, the Envy 14 incorporates a removable battery. You can purchase an further eight-cell inner battery for $75 when configuring the Envy 14, or go for the $200 six-Cell Slim Fit Extended Life Battery, which clips onto the bottom in 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 House Premium, you're presented using a cool-looking (if somewhat dark) re-skinned version of the operating program. 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, as well as a 60-day trial version of Norton Internet Security 2010. There is also a preinstalled copy of Microsoft Office 2010. It is not a demo version. Rather, you can purchase or enter a product essential 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 around the Envy 14, complete using 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 functionality, and stellar audio, HP earned an Editors' Choice for that earlier Envy fifteen despite is pitiful battery life and optional external optical push. Using the Envy 14 directly addressing people grievances, HP has definitely struck gold. The Envy 14 has appears, durability, efficiency, and great battery lifestyle. It’s really at ease to use, and it’s reasonably priced to get a laptop in its class. With its super-sharp and colorful display screen, wonderful illuminated keyboard, and outstanding audio playback, it is hard to think of much that HP could do better here.
Price (at time of critique): $1,289.99 (immediate, as tested)

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