The HP Envy 15 (2012) ($1,249.99 direct) is the latest iteration of HP's premium line of desktop replacement laptops, offering a mix of style, substance, and price that's well suited to both work and play. Though it competes with current top dogs, like our Editors' Choice Samsung Series 7 (NP700Z5A-S03) ($1,299 list, 4 stars), and bears a strong resemblance to the Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch (Late 2011) ($1,799 direct, 4 stars), a number of additional features, such as deep integration of Beats Audio and an impressive number of wireless options, help set the Envy 15 apart from the pack.
Design
From its bare aluminum chassis to its large touchpad and black chiclet-style keyboard, the Envy 15 unabashedly copies everything that works well for Apple on the MacBook Pro. HP has added a few touches of its own, such as beveling the edges to increase comfort and utilizing a black lid (on our model; it's also available in gray) with a glowing HP logo in one corner. The Envy is also just a shade heavier (5.7 pounds versus 5.5 pounds for the MacBook Pro).
The black chiclet-style keyboard is highlighted with a subtle yet striking red strip that runs around its recessed inside edge. Each key is individually backlit with an LED; the letters are brighter but the light leakage is significantly reduced. It's also smarter than other backlights, with a proximity sensor that activates the backlight when you're close enough to the keyboard to need it and turns it off when you move away. The large clickpad that accompanies the keyboard continues the Apple-flavored design, with the right and left buttons integrated into the surface, though its performance was not on par with Apple's model. And though the multitouch worked smoothly, without any jumpiness or false positives, it felt plastic compared to Apple's glass-surfaced clickpad.
The Envy 15 is also the showcase for HP's Beats Audio, the same Dr. Dre?approved sound system backing several models of high-end headphones and making its way into smartphones and media players. The Envy 15 is well equipped to show off this quality 6.1-channel sound, with two top-firing speakers, four front-firing speakers, and an integrated subwoofer delivering decent bass. The audio may not top the superb sounds of the Asus N55SF-A1 ($1,249.99 list, 4 stars), but it's still better than what you get with most laptops on the market. Set into the side of the Envy 15's chassis is a volume control knob displaying a bright red Beats logo; it's designed to mimic the look and feel of a control knob from a high-end stereo system, and provides digital precision with the tactile control of analog.
The gorgeous 1,920-by-1,080-resolution display on the Envy 15 looks just as good as the Beats Audio sounds. The 15.6-inch widescreen is bright and clear, with edge-to-edge glass and LED backlighting for visibility even in bright environments. But you'll have to watch out for glare off of the glass, which might make it difficult to work or enjoy a movie outdoors or in certain lighting conditions.
Features
The Envy 15 also packs plenty of connectivity options and entertainment features. Along either side of the laptop you'll find connections for video and audio alike. First there are DisplayPort and HDMI ports, for connecting to an external monitor or HDTV. Dual headphone jacks let you share the sweet sounds of Beats Audio, and headphone users actually get a further boost thanks to built-in headphone amplification. If you want to enjoy the video and audio without all those cables, the Envy 15 is equipped with Intel's WiDi 2.0?a wireless alternative to HDMI (provided you have the appropriate adapter, like the $99 Netgear Push2TV)?and HP Wireless Audio, which streams multichannel audio to any compatible sound system or adapter without requiring a dongle for the laptop.
There are also three USB 2.0 ports, a Gigabit Ethernet jack, and a card reader (SD/MMC). Internally, the Envy 15 offers 802.11n Wi-Fi, a slot-loading dual-layer DVD drive, and a 500GB 7,200rpm hard drive?the same size found in the Apple MacBook Pro and
The Envy 15 does come with some software preinstalled, but it's far from bloatware. The Envy includes full versions of Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 and Adobe Premiere Elements 9, as well as Microsoft Office Starter 2010 Starter and a 2-year subscription to Norton Internet Security. HP covers the Envy with a two-year warranty on parts and labor along with toll-free tech support, available 24/7 via chat or email.
Performance
HP has equipped the Envy 15 with a 2.4GHz Intel Core i5-2430 dual-core processor and 6GB of RAM. This hardware led to a strong showing in our productivity tests, but the Envy naturally fell behind the superior quad-core Core i7?equipped competition of the MacBook Pro and the Series 7?though not by much. In PCMark 7 the Envy 15 scored 2,218, nearly identical to the 2,235 earned by the Apple, but not quite the 2,697 of the Samsung. The biggest difference we saw was in CineBench R11.5, where the Envy 15 scored 2.67, on par with the Dell XPS 15z (2.53) and indicating more than enough horsepower for the average user, if not as impressive as the results from the MacBook Pro (5.08) and Samsung Series 7 (4.55). The Envy couldn't keep up with them in our Photoshop CS5 or Handbrake tests, either; it needed 4 minutes 1 second for the former and 1 minute 51 seconds for the latter, compared with 3:39 and 1:30 for the Apple and 3:39 and 1:37 for the Samsung.
The Envy 15 also offers plenty of graphics power for both work and play, thanks to a discrete AMD Radeon HD 7690M video processor with manual switching. When disconnected from a power outlet, the laptop defaults to lower-powered integrated graphics, but you can switch back to the AMD GPU with just a few clicks. With discrete graphics enabled, the Envy 15 produced decent results in our gaming tests. In Crysis, it managed to crank out 62.7 frames per second (fps) at 1,024-by-768 resolution, with anti-aliasing turned off. With anti-aliasing turned up to 4x and the resolution cranked up to 1,920-by-1,080, the Envy produced an unplayable 9.4fps; this means you should have no problem playing most games as long as you go easy on the eye candy. We saw similar performance in Lost Planet 2, where the Envy 15 managed 63.9fps at lower resolution and detail, but 23.2fps at full resolution.
Though HP claimed the Envy 15 could produce 9 hours of battery life, we were skeptical of the claim?desktop replacements usually average around 5 hours. Testing with MobileMark 2007 confirmed our suspicions. The Envy 15 lasted 4 hours 1 minute, one of the shorter times for the category but still long enough to enjoy a double feature while stuck in an airport. By comparison, the Toshiba Satellite P755-S5269 lasted 5:07, the Samsung Series 7 lasted 6:41, and the Dell XPS 15z led the category with 7:13.
Its processing and graphics capabilities make the HP Envy 15 (2012) a solid alternative to pricier quad-core systems, and a true HD display and Beats Audio add polish to its entertainment side. It falters on battery life and we would love to see an option for a Blu-ray configuration, so it won't replace the Samsung Series 7 as our current Editors' Choice. But on the whole there's little to complain about, so you can buy the HP Envy 15 (2012) with confidence.
BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS:
COMPARISON TABLE
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