HP Envy x2

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macuser

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#115574 30-Mar-2013 22:17

Picked up a HP envy x2 today as I had been eyeing a convertible tablet for a while (wanted a super small machine to compliment my beastly 17" laptop) and put a bit of research into the best machine in the category of convertible tablets. Didn't want to spend more than $1300 (it's regular RRP) but luck was on my side and today it was on special at DSE for $974.

So far I'm super impressed, I always had my expectations low of a Atom chip with 2GB of ram, but I couldn't pass up 12 or so hours of battery life. The dock system is great and the screen is acceptable at 11.6 (1366x768).

I have an iPad but when push comes to shove I can't get a damn thing done on it and the keyboard dock I have is just a pain as just like the MS Surface you cant use it as a laptop, I always need to pull out my hulking 17" when all I need is a small machine to do some browsing/emails/invoices.

It seems the Envy X2 is just as good at being a tablet as it is being a laptop, it's thin, light and the keyboard/trackpad don't suck if you turn off all the synaptics crap. You can't do Photoshop, you certainly can't game but you can do emails, the web and almost anything else and the battery lasts all day (well, that's what they say anyway - I'll know soon)

Touch on a laptop? It's great. I love being able to scroll down a web page with a finger, and I also love being able to pull off the screen and sit on the couch as a tablet. There aren't any fans, so no risk of piles of dust in 12 months.

This is a first generation product and I really hope it catches on, it's a super cool idea just not right for everyone.

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#789785 30-Mar-2013 22:37

Hybrids will be the way of the future, I have the equivalent Samsung version and it has basically replaced my laptop and my reliance on the wife's ipad

macuser

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#789898 31-Mar-2013 12:39

I really hope they are the way of the future, great combo of portability and ability to do business tasks.

I just realised there was an update for the Clover Trail chipset, fixed some of my issues with 3D glitches.

asjohnstone

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#792537 3-Apr-2013 17:20

I've been playing with the Dell tablet range recently, the XPS12 works well as as a hybrid device and am really impressed with it.

The Latitude 10 is also pretty good, pretty similar spec to the HP with Atom and 2GB ram.

Both worked really well for me.

(For the sake of disclosure I'm a Dell employee, but I'm not in a sales or marketing function. What I've written is entirely my own opinion, nothing else)

macuser

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#793908 5-Apr-2013 14:57

Do you find though that because the screen is not detachable from the keyboard part you have basically a huge unwieldy tablet?

So far the Envy X2 has been awesome, charge overnight and then it gets me through not one, but two full days, but during that time I spent a few hours on my workstation machine.

I love! not having to worry about my battery anymore...so cool.

macuser

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#799336 14-Apr-2013 21:31

Not only is there an Envy X2 Campaign running on Geekzone at the moment (banner ads) there is now a slot on prime time TV.

HP seems to be putting a lot of marketing dollars behind this product.

macuser

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#805668 26-Apr-2013 00:07

I've had my Envy X2 for a couple weeks now, still think it's a super cool little device but...

There are a few problems (maybe with the Z2760 chipset?) that all seem to be experienced by the Clover Trail Chipset users...

My device:

Freezes occasionally requiring a power cycle
The trackpad has a delay before it responds after loading a fresh web page in IE10 (I figure I may as well as use Microsofts browser for this device to keep the memory usage/battery life in check). This is not a system freeze as I can use the touchscreen immediately, but maybe a freeze problem with the synaptics driver.
I lose audio completely from time to time, even though the audio driver doesn't report any problems, I power cycle to fix it.

I have also had some graphical glitches and audio volume differences between the headphone jack on the tablet/vs keyboard dock... I think both of these are hardware faults and I'll need to RMA.

I really hope Intel can sort out the Clovertrail SOC...its drivers are pretty buggy, especially the freezes, audio and trackpad problems.

If these problems aren't patched out, I will probably just return the tablet for refund when bay trail comes out and use my money on that.

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Krishant007

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#805732 26-Apr-2013 09:00

oh i would have a few questions to ask you really. i was look at the HP Envy x2 last week. I was thinking of getting a tablet and a chromebook to fulfil my on the road requirements. mostly web browsing and checking things such as emails. Perhaps watching a few movies and things when i am away from home.

Have you had like an android tablet? How would you compare the x2 to having and using an ipad.

Does it slow down? One of the things that is off putting is that it is windows which from experience, i know it will slow down after an year or so.

macuser

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#806052 26-Apr-2013 18:16

Krishant007: oh i would have a few questions to ask you really. i was look at the HP Envy x2 last week. I was thinking of getting a tablet and a chromebook to fulfil my on the road requirements. mostly web browsing and checking things such as emails. Perhaps watching a few movies and things when i am away from home.

Have you had like an android tablet? How would you compare the x2 to having and using an ipad.

Does it slow down? One of the things that is off putting is that it is windows which from experience, i know it will slow down after an year or so.

The best thing about the HP envy x2 (or any windows 8 intel tablet) is the pure flexibility of the software, I have a 3rd Gen iPad...It's cool, it's smooth and the screen is great...but I can't get any work done on it...Android is the same.

The HP Envy is built great, doesn't have the highest res screen, but the display is IPS (great viewing angles and colour), the tablet is very thin and light...but larger than an iPad by a couple of inches. When keyboard is connected to the tablet...the battery life is AMAZING. I get through a whole day of light use with about 20-50% remaining for the following day.

I would get a Windows 8 tablet/keyboard device over a Chromebook and iPad, although I would probably wait until the new generation of Windows 8 tablets come out as the current 'Clover Trail atom' has some bugs that aren't deal breakers, just are a pain in the butt from time to time. They may get patched by intel...and they may not.

Windows doesn't slow down if you properly maintain it and don't fill it up with crap, you're not going to want to run Photoshop or any non tablet style games on this device, I've kep the device very clean and free of junk due to the fact I have a very fast laptop I use to do all my intense Photoshop work.

Krishant007

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#806175 27-Apr-2013 00:09

wow...thanks a lot for the information. i would have to research on when the new generation processors are coming out. I have heard of some buggy performances on the current gen processors.

Any news on when the new generation is coming out? I would be keen on one of these. They look quite interesting.

macuser

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#820779 16-May-2013 20:09

Envy x2 is around $875 this weekend at Harvey Norman?

Krishant007

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#820787 16-May-2013 20:25

i am more interested in the HP Splitbook x2 that was just announced. Have a google for it. Sounds interesting to me.

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hairy1

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#820805 16-May-2013 20:44

The Asus Transformer book TX300 looks cool too... Now you have got me thinking about whether I should flick the Galaxy Note for the Envy. The Android is good but not a work horse....

My views (except when I am looking out their windows) are not those of my employer.

Krishant007

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#820808 16-May-2013 20:49

haha.. the advantage with the transformer would be battery hands down.. if thats more important to you, then stick with note (note 10.1??)

if you want to be able to do lots more, then envy might be more appropriate i reckon

hairy1

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#820813 16-May-2013 21:01

I have an Asus Ux31 Zenbook which I take with me pretty much all the time. The Note is mostly for reading manuals and a bit of web browsing. The Transformer book could combine both those functions. I really need the performance for the work I do and I think the Envy would be a bit underpowered. However, the Envy would be way more useful than the Note.

My views (except when I am looking out their windows) are not those of my employer.

Krishant007

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#820816 16-May-2013 21:12

ahh..in that case, the HP Splitbook x2 is the thing you want... http://bgr.com/2013/05/15/hp-slatebook-x2-split-x2-spec-release-date/

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