With Beats now owned by Apple, HP's turning to Bang & Olufsen (B&O), the Danish electronics company and audio experts, to help tune the sound in its new PCs.
The new HP Envy x360 and Pavilion x360 are the first HP laptops running Windows 8.1 to feature B&O Play audio. HP says B&O has custom-tuned each laptop for clear and crisp sound.
"A dedicated audio island isolates the sensitive audio circuits from other signals on the motherboard," HP said. "The headphone jack limits the amount of metal parts to reduce ground noise to help further perfect the audio experiencle on HP devices."
I had a quick listen, although through the non-transforming HP Pavilion laptops (more on that in a sec), and they sound pretty loud and clear. Of course, people don't buy laptops primarily for sound, they buy them for computing needs. Still, better sound is always appreciated, especially since thin and light ultrabooks usually scrimp in this department.
Envy x360
The 15-inch Envy x360 is too big and heavy to be used as tablet, but you can if you want to!
IMAGE: RAYMOND WONG/MASHABLE
The Envy x360 laptop, like the Spectre x360, has four modes: laptop, tent, stand and tablet.
The geared hinge allows it to rotate a full 360-degrees.
The geared hinge allows it to rotate a full 360-degrees.
It features a 15.6-inch IPS HD or full HD touchscreen display, fifth-generation Intel Core i5 or i7 processors, up to 1TB of hard drive storage or up to 256GB (SSD), and up to 8 hours and 45 minutes of battery on a single charge.
The keyboard is roomy and comfortable and the keys are backlit. There's even a number pad on this laptop.
Pricing is as follows: $679.99 for an HD touchscreen, Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM and 500GB of storage; $769.99 for a full HD touchscreen, Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM and 1TB of storage; and $899.99 for a full HD touchscreen, Intel Core i7 processor, 8GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. The Envy x360 will be available in the U.S. on June 13.
Pavilion x360
The Pavilions are HP's lower-tiered brand of computers. They cost less and are usually made from cheaper materials. Like the Envy x360, the Pavilion x360 transforms into four positions and features a geared hinge that flips 360-degrees backwards. It's also got the B&O Play audio.
It's made from plastic and comes in two screen sizes: 11-inch IPS HD display and 13-inch IPS HD or full HD display. The 11-inch model comes in "minty green" and "violet purple." The 13-inch comes in "natural silver," "sunset red" and "violet purple."
HP's Pavilion x360 comes in many different colors and three different sizes.
IMAGE: RAYMOND WONG/MASHABLE
Power wise, the 11-inch Pavilion x360 comes with either a Pentium N3700 or a fanless Intel Core M-5Y10c processor and up to 8GB of RAM. The 13-inch has a fifth-generation Intel Core i3 or i5 processor and up to 16GB of RAM.
Both laptops can be configured with up to 1TB of hard drive storage or up to 128GB of SSD.
Both laptops can be configured with up to 1TB of hard drive storage or up to 128GB of SSD.
HP says the 11-inch can get up to 8 hours and 15 minutes and the 13-inch can get up to 10 hours and 45 minutes.
The Pavilion x360 laptops aren't the prettiest laptops, but they look like they can take a beating. Their colorful designs also suggest they're targeted at students.
An 11-inch starts at $409.99 with a touchscreen, Intel Pentium N3700 processor, 4GB of RAM and 500GB hard drive. The same specs, but with a an Intel Core M processor is $499.99. And the 13-inch model with an HD touchscreen, Intel Core i3 processor, 4GB of RAM and 500GB hard drive starts is $529.99. These models will be available in the U.S. on May 13.
HP Pavilion Notebooks
HP also has new regular Pavilion Notebook laptops that come in 14-, 15- and 17-inch screen sizes with HD or full HD resolutions, and touchscreen and non-touchscreen options. Like the new x360 laptops, these rather gargantuan laptops also come with B&O Play audio that can be blasted through their dual speakers.
The 2015 Pavilion Notebooks will be available in seven colors and can be configured with sixth-generation AMD A-Series or fifth-gen Intel Core i3, i5 or i7 processors. They come with 16GB of RAM standard and up to 2TB of storage. More demanding users can also configure them with a discrete graphics processor.
HP's 2015 Pavilion Notebook come in 14-, 15- and 17-inch screen sizes.
IMAGE: RAYMOND WONG/MASHABLE
Media junkies will appreciate the built-in DVD drive, two USB 3.0 ports, one USB 2.0 port and SD card reader. The 15- and 17-inch models also come with number pads.
In terms of mobility, the 14-inch model gets up to 7 hours and 30 minutes of battery life, the 15-inch gets up to 8 hours and 15 minutes, and the 17-inch gets up to 6 hours and 15 minutes.
The Pavilion Notebooks start at $549.99 for a 14-inch with an Intel Core i3 processor, 6GB of RAM and 750GB hard drive.
The 15-inch is priced at $599.99 with an Intel Core i3 processor, 4GB of RAM and 500GB of storage. The 15-inch with an AMD A10 processor, 8GB of RAM, 750GB of storage and a touchscreen is priced at $629.99.
The monster 17-inch comes with an Intel Pentium dual-core processor, 4GB of RAM and 750GB of storage.
All three laptop sizes will be available on May 13 in the U.S.
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With Beats now owned by Apple, HP's turning to Bang & Olufsen (B&O), the Danish electronics company and audio experts, to help tune the sound in its new PCs.
The new HP Envy x360 and Pavilion x360 are the first HP laptops running Windows 8.1 to feature B&O Play audio. HP says B&O has custom-tuned each laptop for clear and crisp sound.
"A dedicated audio island isolates the sensitive audio circuits from other signals on the motherboard," HP said. "The headphone jack limits the amount of metal parts to reduce ground noise to help further perfect the audio experiencle on HP devices."
I had a quick listen, although through the non-transforming HP Pavilion laptops (more on that in a sec), and they sound pretty loud and clear. Of course, people don't buy laptops primarily for sound, they buy them for computing needs. Still, better sound is always appreciated, especially since thin and light ultrabooks usually scrimp in this department.
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