HP’s latest brand laptop HP Envy 13 is truly an amalgam of few qualitative capabilities, that make it different from many other series, and even from HP past series, like its carrying along Bluetooth, dual-core multi-core processor technology, Intel Core 2 Duo 2.13 GHz Processor, and 250 GB HDD either.
This Envy series originated as part of HP's premium Voodoo line, that Voodoo branding is now gone, leaving this a pure HP-labeled product. Indeed, compared to some of the more outre Voodoo designs, the Envy 13 has more of a traditional HP look and feel, although significantly spruced up. The aluminum body, with a magnesium base, is reasonably slim, and the anonymous gunmetal gray lid contrasts nicely with a semirandom pattern of imprinted dots on the wrist rest.
This gadget feels a bit heavier than it looks, and when you add the secondary slice battery, which is a thin flat battery that clips onto the entire bottom surface, it's positively bricklike at 5.2 pounds. Still, unlike some of the thinner 13-inch models we've seen, the Envy 13 feels extremely solid and like it could withstand a lot of abuse.
The internal mechanism of this string is sparse, with a sunken keyboard made up of widely spaced, flat-topped keys and a single power button. There are no quick-launch or media control keys, but the row of Function keys now has their media control and other attributes as their primary mapping, with the actual F4, F5, and so on, tasks requiring you to hold down the Fn key at the same time.
The important keys such as the Backspace, Tab, and Shift buttons are thankfully full size, and the only real keyboard compromise we noted was small up and down arrow keys. The keys have a solid feel and a pleasant matte finish that made them comfortable to use. However, we did miss the backlit keyboard--quickly becoming a standard feature on many even-slightly upscale laptops.
The overly bigger looking touchpad is a welcome addition--it's our primary laptop navigation method, so it's a shame so many laptops keep them small and hard to use.