HP SPECTRE A REAL SLEEK HEADTURNER
THE battle for the laptop market is hotting up with talk Apple will bring out a MacBook cheaper than an iPhone, while Kogan is spruiking a model with a sub $500 price tag.
With quality laptops costing more like $2000-plus, many rightly ask the question “Should I really upgrade?”
It depends on what you’re using now, how long you have had it and what you are using it for.
I remember years ago, coming into a new job during the global financial crisis, I was reluctant to ask for anything new.
But after a couple of years, I had had enough and asked for my work laptop to be replaced.
The difference in speed of doing everything – and the increase in my productivity – made the request a nobrainer, not only from a personal point of view but from a company point of view.
The challenge for laptop makers, of course, is creating a product that is both stylish and functional – and not just for work but also for play.
HP is probably not the first company you might think of when it comes to sleek, super good-looking laptops, but its Spectre 13 is a head-turner.
With its ceramic white cover, snow white keyboard, and silky smooth touchpad, it has been well described as a “truly beautiful machine”.
I knew that as soon as I brought it home. I had barely got it out of the box to charge it when the teenager had seized it with the idea of setting it up as a second gaming station.
The Spectre is aimed at those who not only want to crunch numbers at work but use it to watch a movie or Netflix at night.
The Corning Gorilla Glass displays boast up to 4K high resolution, the perfect screen to check out some footage I had shot on the latest Mavic Air drone.
But probably just as impressive is the sound coming from the Bang and Olufsen speaker which spans the length of the chassis.
The Spectre features an 8th generation Intel Core i5 or i7 processor while RAM memory of up to 16GB will allow you to fly in multitasking.
From the get go, the laptop is super quick to boot up.
HP’s fast charge technology also allows you to race from zero battery life to 50 per cent – something that would no doubt be very handy at an airport terminal or on the road.
While the touchpad is arguably not as good as those onthe MacBook, the keyboard was a delight to use.
For such a thin laptop, typing was surprisingly comfortable thanks to the travel in the keyboard itself.
In terms of connectivity, there are just the three USB-C ports and a 3.5mm jack for audio, and HP includes several adapters for USB 3.0 devices and external monitors.
The Spectre uses an appbased Windows system which is well aided by having a touchscreen.
Based on lab tests in reviews we have seen and our testing, it is well up to the task of running multiple applications – whether surfing the net or editing photos. One review put the device as being faster than the 13-inch Macbook Pro when it came to multimedia editing.
HP Spectre 13 prices start from AU$2299. Ceramic white is available from Harvey Norman and hp.com.au.