Engadget
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Engadget Review
HP Spectre 13 Ultrabook review: a good deal, but with trade-offs
Summary
There's lots to like about the Spectre 13 -- especially given the low price. For the money, you can expect an attractive design, bright display, fast performance and a generous warranty. But you should also prepare yourself for middling battery life and one frustrating trackpad.
Pros
- Attractive design
- Fast performance
- Good specs for the money
- Bright display
- Generous warranty, Adobe Lightroom included gratis
Cons
- Heavy for a 13-inch Ultrabook
- Middling battery life, especially considering the heft
- Trackpad needs a driver update
- Shallow keys have an occasionally "sticky" feel
It's already March, dear readers, which means with the exception of this post right here, you're not going to find many laptop reviews on this site. Why? Because Intel's just three months away from launching its next-generation chips and besides, we've reviewed most of the current-gen models anyway. But not HP's. We haven't reviewed a Hewlett-Packard Ultrabook in more than a year. So here we are, picking up where we left off. The company's newest flagship, the Spectre 13, has a metal-clad body, much like the older models we've tested, except it steps up to an optional 2,560 x 1,440 display and an extra-wide touchpad designed to make all those Windows 8 gestures easier to pull off. It also starts at $1,000, making it a good deal cheaper than most of the other models we'll be name-checking throughout the review. So does that make it a good deal?
