HP announces 15-inch Spectre XT TouchSmart Ultrabook, Envy 4 Ultrabook with touch

If you thought laptop / tablet mashups were trendy, we can think of at least one other theme you're going to see repeated ad nauseam over the coming months: PC makers putting touchscreens on things that didn't used to have them. That's right, in addition to all those funky-looking hybrids, you're going to see lots of familiar-looking laptops get upgraded with touch in time for the Windows 8 launch. Exhibit A: HP, which just announced two conventional notebooks with touch. This includes a finger-friendly version of the 14-inch Envy 4 Ultrabook, as well as the Spectre XT TouchSmart Ultrabook, a 15-inch version of the Spectre XT announced earlier this year. Both will be available during the holiday season. That's the short version, but if you follow past the break, we've got a lot to talk about in the way of specs. Join us, will you?

Continue reading HP announces 15-inch Spectre XT TouchSmart Ultrabook, Envy 4 Ultrabook with touch

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HP announces 15-inch Spectre XT TouchSmart Ultrabook, Envy 4 Ultrabook with touch originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Aug 2012 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Engadget’s back to school guide 2012: ultraportables

Welcome to Engadget's back to school guide! The end of summer vacation isn't nearly as much fun as the weeks that come before, but a chance to update your tech tools likely helps to ease the pain. Today we're getting down to the very important business of helping you sift through laptops -- and you can head to the back to school hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the month. Be sure to keep checking back -- at the end of August we'll be giving away a ton of the gear featured in our guides -- you can hit up the hub page right here!

DNP Engadget's back to school guide 2012 ultraportables

Given their roots -- luxury machines like the original MacBook Air ($1,800) and last year's Samsung Series 9 ($1,649) -- you'd be forgiven if you initially dismissed Ultrabooks as being too extravagant for a college-bound student. Thankfully, though, prices have sunk so low that you can now find a thin, fast, ultraportable laptop for as little as $700. The only problem, perhaps, is a paradox of choice: the selection is already crowded with dozens of contenders, and there are 100-some-odd more models in the pipeline, according to Intel. Fortunately for you, dear readers, we've had the chance to handle or even review many of them, and were able to whittle down the offerings to a handful of promising contenders. Whether you're prepared to spend $750 or $1,400, we have something that'll fit the bill.

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Engadget's back to school guide 2012: ultraportables originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Aug 2012 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HP on laptop design similarities with Apple’s: it’s a struggle as we drive to simplicity

HP on laptop design similarities with Apple's: it's a struggle as we drive to simplicity

HP's spent the afternoon here in Shanghai to share some details about its latest products and strategy, and to our delight, there was one session dedicated to "Style Meets Function," during which Vice President of Industrial Design Stacy Wolff talked about his design philosophy and design goals for the current market. Most notably, we learned that some of HP's latest laptop designs were based on the work of its research centers from 11 different cities, and the company isn't afraid of admitting that it used consultants for an outside perspective as well.

Despite Stacy's upbeat presentation and interesting stats (apparently these days men have a boring color preference, from first to fourth favorite: black, gray, blue and white), the inevitable question popped up: One lady expressed her concern that the brand-spanking-new Envy Spectre XT reminded her of the MacBook Air a lot, so she wondered if HP's ever worried that Apple might sue.

Stacy kept his initial reply pretty brief:

"I would go back to the TC1000 [Tablet PC] from about 10 years, and that's a tablet. I think if you look at the new Spectre XT, there are similarities in a way, not due to Apple but due to the way technologies developed. Apple may like to think that they own silver, but they don't. In no way did HP try to mimic Apple. In life there are a lot of similarities."

As always, we wanted more from the horse's mouth, so we grabbed hold of Stacy right after the session and had a little chat over this topic -- you can see the full and surprisingly candid interview after the break.

Continue reading HP on laptop design similarities with Apple's: it's a struggle as we drive to simplicity

HP on laptop design similarities with Apple's: it's a struggle as we drive to simplicity originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 May 2012 09:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HP unveils Envy Spectre XT Ultrabook, other thin-and-lights in various sizes

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What's that? You're hungry for more HP laptops? Good! Because we're not nearly done yet! The company just expanded its line of Ultrabooks from two to five, and that's not even counting this guy. And, the company also plans to sell so-called Sleekbooks -- essentially, thin-and-light laptops that don't quite meet Intel's criteria for Ultrabooks. So what goodies to we have in store? First up, there's the 13.3-inch Envy Spectre XT, whose all-metal body looks nothing like the glass-class clad Envy 14 Spectre we reviewed earlier this year. As with its big brother, the major selling point here is design -- in this case, a 3.07-pound machine with a 14.5mm-thick profile. As for specs, you can expect an Ivy Bridge CPU, paired with a 128GB SSD and a battery rated for eight hours of runtime. Like the other Ultrabooks in HP's stable, it makes room for a USB 3.0 port, HDMI and an Ethernet jack, and similar to other Envys it comes with full copies of Adobe Premiere Elements and Photoshop Elements, along with a two-year subscription to Norton Internet Security. We're told the warranty on this Envy is one year, not two, but users owners do get a dedicated customer support line, for what that's worth.

Moving on, HP's Envy-branded Ultrabooks and "Sleekbooks" will be available in 14- and and 15.6-inch screen sizes in each category, though the Ultrabook configs are naturally Intel-based, while the Sleekbooks will pack Intel or AMD chips. With the Sleekbooks, too, you can also choose optional discrete graphics if there's an Intel processor inside. (The AMD versions have "discrete-class" graphics, which is really just a nod to the all-inclusive design of AMD's application processing units.) If you go for the Sleekbook, you'll also get up to nine hours of battery life; with the Intel-based Ultrabooks, that rating is eight or nine hours, depending on whether you opt for the 14- or 15-inch version. Of course, the Intel-based models are also home to various Intel-branded technologies, including Rapid Start, Identity Protection, Smart Response and Smart Connect.

One thing that won't change is the industrial design: both the Ultrabooks and Sleekbooks will be offered in black and red. Both Ultrabooks are available today, starting at $750 for the 14-inch model and $800 for the 15-incher. The 14-inch Sleekbook is on sale today, too, starting at $700, though the 15-inch version doesn't debut until June 20th, at which point it'll start at $600. As for that Spectre XT, it'll start at $1,000 and is expected to land June 8th. Until then, we've got a mix of photos, along with starting specs after the break.

Continue reading HP unveils Envy Spectre XT Ultrabook, other thin-and-lights in various sizes

HP unveils Envy Spectre XT Ultrabook, other thin-and-lights in various sizes originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 May 2012 22:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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