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HP refreshes the Pavilion dm4 with a subwoofer, unveils requisite Beats Edition
It's shaping up to be a wild day for HP: in addition to revamping its Envy laptops and announcing its first Ultrabook, the outfit went and refreshed the mid-range Pavilion dm4. While it has the same metal-heavy design that bowled us over in our review, it trades Altec Lansing audio for Beats and gains a subwoofer. Otherwise, its entry-level specs -- a Core i3 CPU, 6GB of RAM and a 640GB 5,400RPM hard drive -- closely match the starting config available today. And, while the company was at it, HP also announced a red-and-black-spangled Beats Edition. An inevitable move, if you ask us: HP has been pushing its partnership with Dr. Dre so heavily that it went so far as to redesign its Envy laptops with a prominent Beats dial. Then again, this is the first time HP's given the Beats special edition treatment to anything other than a top-shelf machine. In any case, you better be pretty sweet on that red backlit keyboard -- the gussied-up, Dre-approved version starts at $900 (headphones not included). Then again, at least you get beefier specs for the money: a Core i5 CPU, 8GB of RAM and a 750GB hard drive. If nine hundred bucks isn't what you had in mind, the classic dm4 starts at $630. Both will be available December 18th. If you're curious, find the full PR after the break, along with some rubbernecking hands-on shots below. %Gallery-137823% %Gallery-137824%
HP Envy 14 Beats Edition gets a slice of Sandy Bridge silicon, costs $1,050 at Amazon (updated)
HP's Envy 14 is quite the looker of a laptop, with its etched aluminum skin beckoning you to explore the capabilities of the Sandy Bridge CPU that lies beneath. For those who prefer the murdered-out look, the HP Envy Beats Edition is the preferable PC, but until now it lacked the upgraded Intel innards of its showy stablemate. That's right, Amazon's offering a second-gen Intel Core i5-2410M chip clocked at 2.3 GHz to go with those dark Dr. Dre aesthetics you crave (oddly it's not yet for sale on HP's website). The inky Envy with the big red "B" is priced at $1,050, or half a hundred more which is actually 30 bucks less than than buying its equivalently-equipped cousin direct from HP -- awfully nice of the good Doctor to give us a discount.
HP Envy 14 Beats Edition no longer available with Dr. Dre endorsed headphones, results in price drop
The differences between the HP Envy 14 Beats Edition and the plain ol' Envy 14 have been primarily aesthetic -- it's got a black Beats branded lid and red backlit keyboard -- but HP's also included that set of Monster Beats Solo headphones you see up there. Sadly, that last differentiator is no longer. We'd heard from a few readers that their Envy 14 Beats Edition laptops arrived sans headphones, and HP has confirmed for us that due to "supply constraints" the Dr. Dre Solo from Monster headphones are no longer included with the snazzy black and red laptop. Hopefully those customers that paid full price for the laptop and didn't receive the Solos will get a refund, but we're told by HP that the price has been lowered by $100 since the cans went out of stock -- the starting price was originally $1,249.99 and is now $1,149.99. We're not entirely sure why you'd pay $150 more for the Beats version now, considering you get the same audio experience with the standard $999.99 Envy, but what do we know? There may be tons of diehard Beats Audio fans living amongst us. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
HP unleashes Envy 17 3D, HP Envy 14 Beats edition and specially-cooled Pavilion dm3
We know, it feels like it was just a few months ago that the new Envy 14 and 17 hit the market, but HP isn't quite finished tinkering with its aluminum laptops. First up is the new Envy 14 Beats edition, which just like the previous Envy 15 Beats has a totally different black and red design than the rest of the Envy line along with a pretty awesome red backlit keyboard. Apart from the different aesthetics and bundled Beats headphones, it's essentially the same as the regular Envy 14, although the $1249 starting price is for big fans of beats or Dr. Dre only. The Envy 17 gets the most interesting update, though: it'll be available sometimes this holiday season with a 17.3-inch 3D Ultra BrightView display and active shutter glasses. Powered by AMD's 3D technology, the Envy 17 will also support 3D Blu-ray discs, and by that we mean Avatar when it finally hits in November. We got a chance to check it out a few weeks ago and the 3D content looked pretty, well... three-dimensional. HP says the rig will be priced south of $2,000 and claims it's been working very hard on improving viewing angles. On the much-more-thin-and-light end of the spectrum, HP's also unveiling the improved Pavilion dm3. Starting at $549, the 13.3-inch dm3 will be available with Intel Core i3 and i5 processors and boasts HP's new CoolSense technology, which the company says combines hardware and software to keep the entire chassis cool. Beyond all that, the laptop is less than an inch thick and has been given a major makeover -- it has a very soft-to-the-touch lid and the same chiclet keyboard and ClickPad as the Pavilion dm4. We're planning to review a few of these, but until then head below to check out some hands-on shots and the full press release after the break. %Gallery-100738% %Gallery-100739%
HP and Dr. Dre team up to shill a limited edition Envy 15
When we saw the HP-branded Envy leak a whole four days ago we certainly didn't expect to get any news on the beast so soon, but 'lo and behold! The new Envy is here, and we've been getting plenty of positive feedback from HP fanboys the world o'er regarding the new sub-brand. Who could find fault with a Windows machine that features everything we love about those new MacBooks, including the chicklet keyboard, unibody aluminum chasis, thin-and-light physique, multitouch trackpad, and all the Microsoft OS action you so obviously crave, wrapped ever-so-lovingly in a Hewlett Packard shell? We'll tell you who: Lady Gaga. That's right, the popular recording artist and all-around good American just found out that HP has teamed up with Dr. Dre to create a limited edition Envy 15 laptop and is a little perturbed that she wasn't involved in the branding. How dare they think that a matte black chassis and bright red "Beats" logo would be enough to sell this bad boy? We'll tell you what -- if you feel for her plight, you might think about spending some of your heard earned cash on a pair of her headphones. The rest of us can feel content to peep the gallery below and think about what might have been. %Gallery-73404%
