Do you like red? Because that's what you're getting here. The $1,049 HP Envy 23xt Beats Special Edition (about £670, AU$1,260) is available exclusively in a red so bright and bold it's a bit flabbergasting, though right in line with Beats headphones' signature style. The lack of alternate colors strikes me as a bit of a missed opportunity here, though. But don't get me wrong: I like red. And maybe you'll like the bright, aggressive stance this all-in-one takes -- many of the passersby here at CNET's offices certainly did.
But if you miss this model, there may not be another. Following Apple's purchase of the Beats brand earlier this year, HP can only develop new products with Beats branding and technology through the end of 2014, and can continue to sell existing products, such as this one, through the end of 2015.
Its attractive display is soured by a glossy coating that makes it overly reflective, and integrated graphics means you can rule out high-end games. But good looks are coupled with decent performance for casual games and streaming media. For music lovers, its 23-inch HD screen sits on a great set of speakers, and HP includes a few custom music and mixing apps for amateur DJs.
Specs Compared
HP Envy 23xt Beats Special Edition
Acer Aspire AU5-620-UB10
Apple iMac (21-inch, 2014)
Price as reviewed
$1,049
$999
$1,099
Display size/resolution
23-inch, 1,920x1,080 touch screen
23-inch, 1,920x1,080 touch screen
21.5-inch 1,920 x 1,080 screen
PC CPU
1.9GHz Intel Core i5-4460T
2.5GHz Intel Core i5-4200M
1.4GHz Intel Core i5-4260U
PC memory
8GB 1,600MHZ DDR3 SDRAM
8GB 1,600MHZ DDR3 SDRAM
8GB 1,600MHZ DDR3 SDRAM
Graphics
1,792MB (shared) Intel HD Graphics 4600
1,792MB (shared) Intel HD Graphics 4600
1,792MB (shared) Intel HD Graphics 5000
Storage
1TB, 5,400rpm HDD
1TB, 5,400rpm HDD
500GB, 5,400rpm HDD
Optical drive
DVD-RW
DVD-RW
None
Networking
802.11b/g/n wireless, Bluetooth 4.0
802.11b/g/n wireless, Bluetooth 4.0
802.11a/c wireless, Bluetooth 4.0
Operating system
Windows 8 (64-bit)
Windows 8 (64-bit)
OSX 10.9.3 Mavericks
Design and features
Josh Miller/CNET
This all-in-one sits on an easel-like stand, and can lean back a fair amount to give you a more comfortable surface for gaming and doodling. It can't lie completely flat, and the hinge is a bit stiffer than one I saw on the Acer Aspire U5-620, but it's still fairly easy to shift about.
You'll run into no compromises with the four speakers and subwoofers running along the bottom of the display. Beats headphones have a bit of a reputation for being overpriced and gaudy, but I'm going to leave that discussion to the style mavens. I rather like the bold, almost aggressive grille, and these speakers sound as impressive as they look, pumping out clear, rich audio that will easily fill a room with sound. In typical Beats-style they're a little bass-heavy, but there is a Beats Audio configuration tool buried among the pre-installed apps that offers an equalizer you can tweak to your liking.
This PC is otherwise relatively light on bloatware. McAfee Antivirus rears its head, but that can be silenced if you like your virus protection a little less naggy. The WildTangent Games portal that seems to turn up on every new PC purchase is here too. A Vevo app serves up music videos from the Web, and there are a few pre-installed music apps, including Edjing, which loads up music files on your PC and turns the display into a pair of faux turntables. Real DJs will probably turn their noses at it, but I think it's cute. All told, the preloaded apps are relatively unobtrusive -- except for McAfee, which is still pestering me to register something -- and are easily uninstalled.
That leaves plenty of room on the 1TB storage drive. It's a relatively slow 5,400 RPM model, however. For an extra $35 on HP's site you can get a model with a 1TB solid state hybrid drive (SSHD), and that'll be worth the upgrade. You can also spend a bit more to replace the DVD burner with a Blu-Ray drive. I'd recommend bringing your own keyboard and mouse though. The bundled pair are wired, and while not bad, not very good either -- just your standard, generic pack-ins.
The PC's 23-inch touchscreen has a 1,920-by-1,080 pixel resolution, and image quality is rather good. Colors are reproduced faithfully, and look bright and vivid on the display. More importantly, I noticed no color shifting or contrast degradation as I looked at images on the display. Text looks crisp, which makes for a great reading experience. Video quality is similarly strong, and HD movies look sharp.
There is a problem here: the screen's glossy coating makes for a very reflective display. In brighter environments, you'll run into a lot of glare, and often be staring right back at your reflection. I found I could get around that by adjusting its position on my desk, but some might not have that luxury.
Loud design, louder speakers
No comments:
Post a Comment