After
Avatar kickstarted the current craze for 3D movies and
games, it was almost inevitable that HP would devise something to rival
NVIDIA's 3D Vision technology. And the laptop computer they've chosen
to showcase their 3D alternative is the HP Envy 17 3D.
Two words immediately sprang to mind when we first laid eyes on the HP Envy 17 3D laptop: "classy" and "massive".
Let's start with the "massive" aspect. We're talking about a
whopping 17.3in monster, measuring 275x416x387mm, and weighing a hefty
3.41kg.
Heavyweight perrformance‘Desktop replacement' is a term
often bandied about with cavalier abandon - but the expression could
have been coined especially for the Envy 17 3D. It will only just fit
inside an executive briefcase, and is certainly not the kind of thing
to be tossed casually into a rucksack.
Yet at the same time, the Envy 3D is sleek and sexy. Its solid
chassis is made from its subtly patterned silver aluminium, and bears a
backlit HP logo on the corner of the lid. Inside it has a deliberately
minimalist look, with a single slender silver power button on the
expansive work surface, and both the keyboard and (surprisingly less
user-friendly than it should be) touchpad jet black and subtly recessed.
The Envy 17 3D is a thing of beauty, with carefully understated
white backlights under the keyboard (the sturdy chiclet variety so
beloved of the latest generation of notebooks, which comes with a
complete number pad).
Bristling with ports
As you'd expect from a high-end
laptop, the Envy 17 3D bristles with ports, including VGA, HDMI, one
USB 3.0, 3 USB 2, eSATA, Ethernet, a 5-in-1 memory card slot and a
mini-display port - in other words, everything a high-powered business
executive (or an avid gamer) might desire.
Under the bonnet lurks an Intel Core i7-720QM CPU clocked at 1.6 GHz
with 6 GB DDR3 RAM. Decent as the 500GB SATA hard drive is, we were
slightly disappointed HP couldn't stretch to a 1TB model. Graphics are
supplied by an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5850 chipset with 1GB of built-in
memory.
Total entertainment
Naturally, that '3D' tag betrays the
ultimate aim of this machine - not just to look chic and perform plenty
of multitasking (both of which it fulfils in spades), but to be an
entertainment machine. Hence the inclusion of a Blu-ray optical drive
and with a Full HD (1920x1080) native resolution 3D Ultra BrightView
Infinity display that fairly leaps out at you, it's so vibrant. Colour
photos in particular are so rich you almost need shades to view them,
and 2D videos really come alive.
Audio on this machine is superb by the standards of regular
notebooks, thanks to the Beats sound system with its integrated
subwoofer.
As for the heart of the matter, the 3D operation, HP makes use of a
similar active-shutter style of 3D glasses as the NVIDIA system. It
comes into its own when watching Blu-ray 3D films - we tried it on the Shrek movies, and slime never looked so appetizing!
Gaming options
As far as games are concerned, only a
handful of titles (including World of Warcraft and Modern Warfare 2)
are compatible with the ATI technology, and the jury's still out about
how much it improves gameplay - even though the depth of field is
impressive.
One word of warning when playing conventional 2D FPS games on the
Envy 17 3D, though - the base becomes almost scaldingly hot and if one
of the air vents is covered, the game will crash out.
As you might expect, given the machine's powerful spec, battery life
isn't brilliant - you'll be lucky to manage two hours from each charge
- but this baby wasn't intended to be hauled about on rush-hour trains,
so I doubt if that will prove significantly off-putting.
HP - Envy 17 3D features - Verdict
If this is your first foray into 3D laptops, then you'll need deep
pockets and a strong back. The HP Envy 17 3D is a sleek, powerful
heavyweight that brings out the best in 3D movies, but still has a bit
of catching up to do on its NVIDIA gaming rival.