Friday, September 18, 2009

HP ENVY - New Premium Laptop and Shameless MacBook Pro Ripoff




Let's get this out of the way first and stipulate that the ENVY line's design is a total ripoff of the MacBook Pro design, shamelessly so actually. And why should they be ashamed? The MacBooks are by far the best looking, best constructed laptops on the planet and there is no shame in learning from your rivals. Isn't imitation the highest form of flattery? These new HPs actually out gun the Mac books in a few ways (and they ought to, they are a newer design after all), the 13 inch version ponces into the local Starbucks sporting what is purported to be the brightest screen on the market, a core 2 duo low voltage processor and a very slick, ultra thin extended battery pack that magnetically adheres to the bottom of the case, kinda like an ultra thin docking station. All said it's nice to see HP move their design into more restrained territory than their current, sometimes over-blinged, mass market consumer lineup. The new ENVYs also come with "premium" support, whatever that means. And herein lies the rub, I was a victim of the HP ZD7000 debacle and have not bought an HP product since. Like the new ENVY line the ZD looked great, but was poorly engineered where it counts, poorly documented and almost unsupported. So, as much as I like these new HP's I will wait and see. HP has been on somewhat of a roll since Carly F left (coincidence? I think not) but time will tell if they have really changed.




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