We liked the HP Envy 13 laptop when we it was first announced a couple of months ago, but now that we've gotten our hands on one, we like it even more. This 13.1-incher is chiseled out of aluminum on top and magnesium on the bottom, as if it were created by a master sculptor. It gives new meaning to the words thin and light, where its 0.8 inch thickness and 3.74-pound weight make it easy to fit into even the most cramped carry-on.
Before you reject this laptop for its $1799 price (see specs here), one look at the stunning 1600 x 900 display, one session of compressing a video file at astonishing speed with its 2.13GHz Intel Core 2 Duo SL9600 Processor, or one listen to its special "Beats" circuitry for its headphone jack will demonstrate that you get what you pay for when it comes to premium laptops.
The highlight is the spectacular screen, LED-backlit with the brightest picture, sharpest resolution, most accurate color, and highest contrast of any display we've ever seen this side of an OLED panel. It's simply the best screen we've ever encountered on a laptop. That alone would make it worth its premium price.
If you're looking for a cheap notebook just to surf the web, wait until next month for the newest Intel Atom chip to grace the value-priced netbook lines. But if you're a traveling photographer or digital video editor who needs excellent color reproduction for proofing photos on location, or quick-rendered color correcting for video, this is your laptop.
