HP unveils new quad-core high-end Envy laptops

Hewlett-Packard started unveiling its fall line of premier laptps today with the introduction of two new HP Envy notebooks.

Born from the Voodoo PC brand (which HP acquired) and meant to take on Apple’s best, the Envy line of laptops exudes power, performance, high-tech technologies and craftsmanship.

HP’s new Envy machines come with 15.6-inch or 17.3-inch screens. They have backlit keyboards with an advanced proximity sensor that illuminates when a user gets near and then deactivates after the user leaves. The machines have Intel quad-core and Advanced Micro Devices Radeon HD graphics processors.

The Envy notebooks feature Beats Audio with six speakers and a subwoofer. The Radiance displays have higher resolution, richer color, better brightness and wider viewing angles than traditional notebooks. The Envy 17 display is 50 percent brighter than standard displays. Users can connect up to three external displays with HDMI or DisplayPort connections. The Envy 15 has a battery life of 9 hours while the Envy 17 can hit 9.5 hours in ideal conditions. The Envy 17 can support a 128-gigabyte SSD and up to two 1-terabyte hard disk drives.

HP Envy 17 3D version allows for stereoscopic 3D viewing. HP also introduced new Pavilion dm4 notebooks that balance mobility and performance. And HP introduced two new accessories: HP Wireless Audio and the Wi-Fi Touch Mouse X7000.  The HP Envy 15 has a starting price of $1,099. The HP Envy 17 starts at $1,249 and the HP Envy 17 3D starts at $1,599. Availability is Dec. 7.

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat at VentureBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.