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A Broken Laptop I've Dubbed "The Matrix"! |
I
own 4 laptops, all broken in different ways. There's the computer that the kids snapped off all the keys to make
“alphabet soup”, one with spotty wifi connection, the antique that’s
incompatible with today’s technologies, and the one I’ve dubbed “The Matrix”
due to the strings of binary code it displays. But the plain truth is 4 broken computers put together still do NOT equate with 1 working computer!
Some awesome specs include: 3rd generation Intel Core i5-3317U Processor (1.7 GHz), 500GB Hard Drive, 8192MB DDR3 SDRAM, Hard Drive Acceleration Cache (32GB Solid-State Drive Cache), Windows 8, 14.0" Diagonal HD BrightView LED Display, WLAN & Bluetooth and beats audio. The BrightView LED means an excellent picture when watching movies on the laptop! And the beats audio system equates with a terrific sound for all your music and audio tracks!
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Trying Out the HP Envy TouchSmart Ultrabook 4 at the Windows 8 Party! |
When the HP Envy TouchSmart Ultrabook 4 arrived at my front door, I was surprised by how slim the box was! (Yes, I got my most-needed item on my Holiday wishlish!) The box it came in was only as wide as a dollar bill, which made me realize that the laptop inside the box was extremely slim (I had not measured it at the Windows 8 launch party, of course)!
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The Slim Box of the HP Envy TouchSmart Ultrabook 4 |
I took the laptop out of the box and measured it: only 2 cm, vs. 4 cm for my husband's old HP EliteBook work computer! The new HP laptop is literally half the thickness of it's distant cousin! Would you believe that its thickness is just bigger than a nickel, or just smaller than a quarter!
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Just 2 cms! Bigger Than a Nickel, Smaller Than a Quarter! (HP Envy TouchSmart Ultrabook 4) |
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Hey, Slim! |
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HP Envy TouchSmart Ultrabook 4: Half the Thickness of the old HP EliteBook! |
After I measured the laptop, I plugged in the unit and it literally took me minutes before it was all set up and ready for me. This is the true meaning of "plug and play" and I'm sure what HP intended for its users. I looked it over and liked that it was two toned: the top was brushed black steel, and the bottom a brushed silver.
I also took inventory and counted: 2 internal microphones, a webcam light and webcam, touchpad light, HP Triple Bass Reflex Subwoofer, 2 speakers, 1 RJ-45 network jack, 1 HDMI port, 2 USB ports, 1 security cable slot, 1 audio-in (microphone) jack, 1 audio-out (headphone) jack, 1 USB charging port and of course the power connector slot (well, could there not be one)! I also took note that they was no optical drive (dvd/cd rom drive), which was great (after all, who uses these anymore)!
I'm all about features when it comes to my laptop. As I use my computer mostly for writing and social media, the keyboard has to work well for me. For example, I love the low profile keys on the HP Envy Ultrabook keyboard--and that you can choose to have the keyboard light up when working in dim light. It only took me a few times trying to refresh using hotkey f5 to realize that this turns on and off the illumination feature! To type using the touch screen interface, simply touch the "keyboard" icon at the bottom right of the screen, and you can type directly into the virtual keyboard that appears on the screen (similar to a tablet)!
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Windows 8 Showing the New "Tile" Interface |
To make my opinion known, I love how Windows 8 interfaces with the HP Envy TouchSmart Ultrabook 4. The colorful squares and rectangles shown in the photo above, allow the user to customize the Start area with applications and websites that are the most commonly used. This is so much faster than bookmarking! As soon as I got started, I pinned Twitter, Facebook, Microsoft Outlook, My Blog, Gmail and Microsoft Word all to my start menu. Windows 8 uses "live tiles" to show current news and events, even if you are not visiting websites online. It is a very handy way to stay in the know, without actively seeking news.
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Preloaded Into Windows 8 Start Menu |
Windows 8 also has some preloaded websites in the Windows 8 menu, which the user is able to keep pinned (or unpinned). Some of these preloads include Kindle, Ebay, Netflix and lots of XBox functionality (not all shown in the above photo)! I do like that visual search engine Bing is used in Windows 8, and its horizontal layout is a refreshing change to the usual chronological top to bottom view. I also like its pictorial layout, rather than text only format.
The HP Envy TouchSmart Ultrabook 4 integrated touchpad mouse is generous in size, measuring about 2.5" H x 4" W, allowing excellent control of the laptop. Of interest, Windows 8 commands are built into the touchpad, and by learning specific swipes and gestures, the user can control Windows 8 using the touchpad.
As I tend to rest my hand on the touchpad while I am typing, I turn off this feature while working on written documents. (It can be turned off simply by touching the rectangle at the top left of the touchpad.) Otherwise, the window I am working on may temporarily disappear and a new one will open. Or the text I am working on will be resized--or my view will zoom in or out. This will take some more practice on my part using it while in active writing mode, but I do like the built-in touchpad shortcuts.

In terms of the touchscreen integration into the laptop, I love it! For me, it is all about choices and how I feel like using my laptop at the moment--or for a specific task. For example, I prefer using the touchscreen when browsing the internet, and not for written tasks. I will watch videos on YouTube using the touchscreen, or search the internet for photos and images. I do like that the Windows keyboard icon on the keyboard allows you to switch between both "worlds" (the Windows 8 Start Menu World, and the familiar Desktop World)--and that Microsoft 8 has a preloaded Desktop tile in case the desktop goes astray! An article about Windows 8 is forthcoming, so I'll save that for another day.
In sum, I really love my new HP Envy TouchSmart Ultrabook 4 and would recommend it if you are considering a new laptop this Holiday season. For just under $1000 Cdn, it is definitely a great value for what you get!
Disclosure: HP products mentioned in this post were supplied by HP Canada.
Weigh in: Is it time for you to purchase a new computer? What is the biggest flaw or concern with your current computer?