Hands-on with ENVY SpectreXT, Ultrabooks and Sleekbooks

Published on May 9th, 2012 | by Helena Stone in Laptops

HP ENVY Ultrabooks and Sleekbooks

HP has introduced a whole slew of new additions to the ENVY family. These new models are all super thin – or in particular, as thin as 19.8mm. They of-course pack in Beats Audio and a super light weight chassis- starting at just 4lbs. But besides for the new ENVY Ultrabook models, which come in 14″ and 15.6″ flavors, ENVY Sleekbooks are a new category of laptops being introduced. These are thin and light laptops that are almost identical in form-factor to the ENVY Ultrabooks, but they don’t meet all of an Ultrabook’s specifications. As a result, the ENVY Sleekbooks are bit more affordable than their Ultrabook counterparts. Regardless, all of these new Ultrabook and Sleekbook models pack in a battery life of up-to eight hours, a HP TrueVision HD Webcam, Beats Audio with dual speakers and a subwoofer, USB 3.0 ports, and 4GB of ram.

But we’re especially digging the new black/red versions of the ENVY Sleekbook and Ultrabook which are obviously Beats inspired. Pricing for the HP ENVY Sleekbook starts at $699 for the 14″ models and $599 for the 15.6″ models. Meanwhile pricing for the 14″ HP ENVY Ultrabook begins at $749 and $799 for the 15.6″ models.

HP ENVY SpectreXT

If you thought the HP ENVY Spectre was sexy, check out its new sibling, the HP ENVY SpectreXT. The SpectreXT. The SpectreXT weighs even less than the Spectre – it’s just 3.07lbs light and it measures just 14.5mm thin. Under the hood you get a 128GB SSD, USB 3.0, ethernet, HDMI, Beats Audio, and a 13.3″ display. HP is also bundling the laptop with a 2 year subscription to Norton Internet Security, along with a copy of Adobe Premiere Elements and Photoshop Elements.