HP Announces ENVY 14 Spectre Ultrabook
by Kristian Vättö on January 11, 2012 11:15 AM ESTTo keep the flow of CES coverage steady, HP has announced ENVY 14 Spectre Ultrabook. The use of glass makes Spectre special: The lid, display, palmrest and trackpad are all covered with scratch-resistant glass. HP claims that the glass makes the laptop more durable, although the actual chassis seems to be aluminum too. HP didn't reveal the full specifications but Engagdet listed the specs of the entry, $1399, model:
| HP ENVY 14 Spectre Specifications | |
| Screen | 14.0" LED backlit |
| Resolution | 1600x900 |
| Processor | Core i5-2467M (2/4, 1.6GHz/2.3GHz, 3MB) |
| Graphics | Intel HD 3000 (350MHz/1150MHz) |
| Memory | 4GB DDR3 (Up to 8GB) |
| Storage | 128GB mSATA SSD (Up to 256GB) |
| Ports | 1x USB 3.0, 1x USB 2.0, Mini DisplayPort, HDMI, Gigabit Ethernet, audio in/out |
| Battery | Up to 9 hours |
| Software | Full versions of Adobe Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements, 2 years of Norton Internet Security 2012 |
| Dimensions (WxDxH) | 12.88" x 8.7" x 0.79" |
| Weight | 3.79lb |
| Price | $1399 |
| Availability | February 8th (US) - March (others) |
Spectre has a 14" screen but HP claims the chassis size to be more common in 13.3" laptops, which matches up if you compare it to e.g. 13" MacBook Pro (12.78" x 8.94" x 0.95"). The use of a bigger screen allows HP to use a higher resolution panel, as 1600x900 is more commonly found in 14" and 15" laptops (although there are 13.3" laptops like Sony Vaio SA and ASUS Zenbook with 1600x900). The stock configuration comes with Core i5-2467M but HP offers configurations with Core i7 ULVs as well (HP didn't list any SKUs, though).
At 3.79lb, Spectre is definitely heavier than most Ultrabooks we have seen. If you're wondering how is this still an Ultrabook, Intel requires +14" laptops to be thinner than 21mm, which translates to 0.83" - there is no weight limit. For sub-14" laptops, the height limit is 18mm (0.71"). $1399 also makes Spectre fairly expensive, or premium as HP says. The bundled software is worth over $200, but it's always a risky move to include shareware software as the end-user may not use it at all but still pays for it.
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B3an - Thursday, January 12, 2012 - link
You've obviously never bought anything like this thats actual quality. You get what you pay for.This also has a Radiance display, so if it's like other Radiance displays on HP laptops it should use an IPS panel. MUCH better than any MacBook or Air that use cheap TN panels and one of the very few laptops to actually have a good screen.
jramskov - Wednesday, January 11, 2012 - link
Looks quite nice, but I don't quite understand the reason for all the glass and this:"The bundled software is worth over $200, but it's always a risky move to include shareware software as the end-user may not use it at all but still pays for it."
Ugh! Remove all that extra crap and sell it to me $200 cheaper.