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H . P . Envy sixteen Spectre Review

The HP Envy 14 Spectre adopts a daring glass-clad design, providing a unique alternative to the current crop of MacBook Air lookalikes.

Rahul Sood founded Voodoo PC in 1991 and quickly grew the boutique manufacturer into an iconic brand, producing a number of trend-setting desktop and notebook PC designs. HP acquired Voodoo HP HSTNN-UB1A Battery— and Sood’s services — in 2006, probably in the hope of combining Sood’s money-is-no-object design ethos with HP’s global manufacturing presence to produce boutique-style machines at mass-market prices. It never really happened.

The first ultraportable to emerge from the collaboration—the Voodoo Envy 133—was a carbon-fiber beauty; unfortunately, it was widely panned for being underpowered and way too expensive. Sood and HP parted ways HP HSTNN-OB17 Battery two years later, and HP now seems to have dropped the Voodoo brand altogether. Looking at the Envy 14 Spectre, however, we can see that some of Sood’s juju lives on in at least one little corner of HP.

The Envy 14 Spectre is a beautiful machine that could easily be mistaken for Apple’s MacBook Pro when it’s open. But you’ll never confuse the Spectre for Apple’s notebook when it’s closed, because HP has encased the entire top of the lid in Gorilla Glass and HP G62 Battery. And when you look closer at an open Envy, you’ll discover the same material covering the entire wrist rest. You might think this would render this ultrabook as fragile as an unprotected iPhone, but HP maintains that it’s actually more resistant to scratches than an aluminum shell. Dropping any portable computer is bound to result in trauma, but a device enveloped in glass will suffer compound damage. Then again, perhaps it would just remind you to handle the machine with care.HP AT908AA Battery

 The glass certainly renders the chassis extremely rigid, but it likely contributes to its weight, too. At 4 pounds, 0.8 ounces (4 pounds 13.8 ounces when you factor in the power supply), the Spectre weighs nearly as much as a MacBook Pro (4 pounds 7.8 ounces, or 5 pounds 0.4 ounces with its power supply), which includes an optical drive that the Spectre does not.

HP does manage to cram a complete array of ports into the Spectre’s thin form factor (it measures just 0.79 inches high when closed). On the left side, there’s both a Mini DisplayPort and full-size HDMI, two USB ports (one of which is USB 3.0), a memory card reader, and gigabit Ethernet (the port is ingeniously hinged to shrink its profile when it’s not in use). The right side harbors the connection for the power supply and an honest-to-goodness analog volume control (this is one of those few situations where analog is vastly superior to digital). Two buttons flank this thumbwheel: One toggles HP’s BeatsAudio on and off, and the other mutes and unmutes the sound.HP 570228-001 Battery

Each key on the Spectre’s keyboard is backlit by an individual LED, and the light shows through just the letter on the key. The backlight automatically dims when you’re away from the computer, and it comes back when you approach. This is not only a cool feature, it preserves battery life, too. We like the look very much; more importantly, we like the way the keyboard feels under our fingers. The keys don’t travel far, and they hit home with a satisfyingly solid thud. They’re spaced just far enough part that we were able to touch type quickly without making a lot of mistakes.HP 462853-001 Battery

Like the wrist rest, the Spectre’s trackpad is covered by glass. Fortunately, it doesn’t seem to interfere with the trackpad’s performance. The pad responds to taps as well as button presses, and it distinctly recognizes one-, two-, and three-finger strokes. You can use two fingers to scroll a page, for example, and you can pinch to zoom. The bottom quarter of the pad has embedded right and left mouse buttons.