HP Envy 14

The 14.5-inch version of HP's premium laptop line Sony VGP-BPS13/B Battery combines style and fast performance with a great display and audio quality.

About a year has passed since HP released its Envy 13 and 15, high-style notebooks aimed directly at Apple's MacBook Pros

. We generally Sony VGP-BPS13 Battery liked the designs of these metal-bodied machines, but their high prices and mediocre ergonomics dampened our enthusiasm. Now here comes the Envy 14, which starts at $999 ($1,289 as configured). HP has tweaked the design by adding Dell Vostro 1510 Battery an optical drive and a backlit keyboard, but the most intriguing change is the new display size of 14.5 inches. This screen puts the Envy 14 smack dab in between the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook, and its Core i5 processor and ATI switchable graphics offer comparable performance to Apple's premium portables. More imporantly, HP has updated its touchpad so that it's much easier to use. The brilliant Radiance display is ideal for movies and games, Sony VGP-BPS13A/B Battery and the notebook's Beats Audio is a pleasure for the ears. So is the Envy 14 the complete package we want it to be?

Design

Stylistically, the Envy 14 looks the same as its predecessors: it has a taupe aluminum and Sony VGP-BPL9 Battery magnesium body with a paisley-esque etched pattern on the lid and deck. We also like little touches like the backlit HP logo on the lid and the mostly smooth black bottom (where you can attach the optional slice battery).

As it Sony VGP-BPS9 Battery now accommodates an optical drive, the laptop's dimensions-- 14 x 9.3 x 1.1 inches--make it slightly thicker than previous Envys, but it's still easy to slide into a messenger bag. Disappointingly, the Envy 14 weighs even more than the Envy 15 (5.4 vs. 5.2 pounds). While it's a pound heavier than the 13-inch MacBook Pro, it's slightly lighter than the 15-inch MacBook Pro (5.6 pounds). Overall, the Envy 14 doesn't look radically different than the Envy 13, but it's still easily one of the most elegant notebooks Sony VGP-BPS9/B Battery on the market.

Heat

One of the biggest problems we had with the Envy 15 was its poor heat dissipation; Sony VGP-BPS9/S that notebook's quad-core CPU raised the touchpad to 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and the wrist rest to 103 degrees. Fortunately, the Envy 14 exhibited none of those issues. After playing a Hulu video at full screen for 15 minutes, the touchpad measured 81 degrees, the space between the G and H keys was 82, and the middle of the underside was 98 degrees, all acceptable temperatures for their locations.

Keyboard and Touchpad

Like previous Envys, Sony VGP-BPS9A Battery the Envy 14 features a black island-style keyboard. New, though, is backlighting: while it only has two settings (on or off, as opposed to the gradient lighting on MacBook Pros), it's a nice addition. While typing, we liked the smooth surface of the keys and the lack of flex, but we sometimes had to press slightly harder than usual. We were pleased that we didn't need to hold down a two keys at once to change settings like the screen brightness or volume; simply using one of the function keys by itself Sony VGP-BPS9A/B Battery was enough.

As before, HP integrated the mouse buttons into the touchpad, which is a spacious 4.25 x 2.5 Dell Latitude E6400 Battery inches. We wish it was moved slightly more to the left, but we didn't encounter the problems we had with the Envy 15--namely, our palm accidentally moving the cursor. Overall, navigating the desktop was easy--as it should be.

Historically Dell Inspiron 1545 battery with all non-Apple touchpads of this style, those who use two hands to navigate will find that the cursor moves abruptly when they click; this was less of an issue on the Envy 14, though we noticed it still happening on occasion. Multitouch gestures worked fairly well, but when pinching to shrink an object, we had to remember that our thumb could not start out in the area where the buttons were battery.