 "HP Envy 13: Style and substance at a price")
If you don't own a MacBook Air, chances are your notebook weighs upwards of 2 kg. Unless you have the new line of lightweight laptops, such as the HP Envy 13. The notebook weighs a shade below 1.3 kg, and anyone who has used a MacBook Air before will fall in love with the Envy's clean lines and comfortable edges.
While trying to connect to my home network, I was pleasantly surprised when the Envy detected my high-speed 5G Wi-Fi network. I use the arrow keys a lot to scroll through documents; one such expedition inadvertently landed my fingers on the fingerprint scanner. And that opened up HP SimplePass. Basically, this program works as a password keeper, with the added benefit that in place of PINs and complex passwords, a simple swipe of the finger is all it takes to log in to a website, provided the software has saved your password. Typing in the dark is a cinch because of the backlit keyboard. A caveat: You might activate SimplePass inadvertently if you use the arrow keys a lot.
Next, I started binge-watching The Blacklist on Netflix. The Bang and Olufsen speakers flanking the keyboard give a clear output. But I had to plug in the charger after some time as the battery started hitting dangerously low levels. The touchpad, though, is ideal for all those Windows 10 gestures. A touchscreen option would have been tops, though.
With 8GB of RAM and an Intel Core i7 processor running at 2.5Ghz, I was salivating for a game to play. And what better to test the Envy's gaming chops than Battlefield 4 (thank you Origin Access)? This is when I ran into an obstacle. The review unit came with a 256 GB SSD drive. Thus, though I could play Battlefield 4 at medium settings (the notebook was spewing heat, though), there was no way it could accommodate modern space-hungry games. The webcam, though, is great for video calls.
The HP Envy 13, at Rs 89,990 is definitely not cheap; in fact you could buy a MacBook Air for a similar amount. But the Envy runs an operating system which is de facto on most offices; seamlessly integrates into many networks and is a great companion on the road. Buy it for its style and weight; others offer better bang for the buck and a better battery.
