HP Envy x2

W.A.Khan,                                                                                                                                                26/4/2013,                                                                                                                                                                                   The Envy x2 impressed us. Its outstanding industrial design really shows the potential of a tablet/laptop hybrid. The HP Envy x2 has a clean, comfortable design and feels lightweight in tablet form. It has excellent battery life, and works just as well as a laptop as it does as a tablet.
But, The laptop mode is top-heavy, and the awkward tablet detachment mechanism isn’t perfect; it has limited ports; and a slower Atom processor means in performance it's far behind most ultrabooks, even though it’s priced like one.                               Performance;                                                                                                                                                                          Performance isn't going to rival an $849 laptop, though. The X2 is available in only one configuration: an Intel Atom running at 1.8GHz, a modest 2GB of memory and 64GB of solid-state storage.
The Atom produces an unimpressive score of 1402 when running the PCMark 7 benchmarks, but that's adequate for basic tasks such as web browsing, streaming video and running Microsoft Office. Don’t even think about trying the latest Windows games – Batman: Arkham City ran at a slideshow-like 2fps even on the lowest graphics settings at the native 1366x768 resolution.          Software and Interface;                                                                                                                                                             There's no question about the potential of the Envy x2. In theory at least, it's a dream machine, able to do double-duty as both a laptop and a tablet. Imagine, after all, if your iPad could run MacOS X. That would be an incredible do-it-all machine. If the Envy x2 could run iOS, then it would be even better. The problem, in functioning as a tablet, is that it is running Windows 8.
The number is growing, but right now, there just aren't that many apps optimized to run on Windows tablets. Of course you can run practically any standard Windows application, but most Windows applications are designed to run best with keyboard and mouse. Tablet-optimized applications, which are so abundant on Android and iOS platforms, are still limited on Windows.

The situation isn't all bad. The Envy x2 comes preloaded with several popular apps like Netflix and Kindle, so you can watch movies and read books right off the bat. The Microsoft Windows store functions like its Android and iOS competitors, offering thousands of apps.
However, as of this writing there are some serious limitations to app availability. For instance, no Google-created apps are available. Instagram doesn't yet have a native app. The number of games is also very limited. Over time, as Windows tablets and phones get more widespread, this situation is likely to improve somewhat, but Android and iOS have such a head start that it's hard to imagine Windows catching up anytime soon.
Being able to run normal Windows apps makes up for a good deal of the lack of tablet-optimized apps. For instance, even though Google Earth isn't available in the Windows store, you can download the normal Windows version and run it, either with the keyboard and mouse or just using the touchscreen. Most Windows applications are usable using just the touch screen, though the user experience is going to be much better for apps designed specifically for tablet use.
To offer an example, if you launch Internet Explorer from the Live Tiles, you get an interface optimized for use on tablet. The input methods available, including handwriting recognition, are presented as options at the bottom of the screen. If you go to Desktop mode and run the standard Internet Explorer, you are presented with the typical mouse-and-keyboard user interface. It's possible to use this interface using just the touch screen, but it's clumsy in most cases.
There some key apps like Microsoft Office are available only for the Windows platform. We shouldn't understate the utility of having a tablet on which you can edit natively edit your PowerPoint presentations or Excel Spreadsheets. If you are an aficionado of Microsoft apps like SkyDrive, Outlook and Calendar then the Windows 8 versions with Live Tiles will be ideal.
There's little doubt that we can expect Microsoft to further develop the potential of Windows 8 tablets. Already the Xbox SmartGlass app lets you interact with and control your Xbox console via Envy x2 as well. Since it has acquired Skype, that's also likely also to see further integration into Windows and special features for tablet like this.                                                                                     Battery life;                                                                                                                                                                                Battery life is impressive, living up to HP’s claim of seven hours when we streamed video from BBC iPlayer. And, of course, there’s a second battery in the keyboard, which provides an additional seven hours of battery life. No ultrabook that weighs a similar amount can claim to last this long.                                                                                                                                                                      Price; $849                                                                                                                                                                                    Finally, The HP Envy x2’s capacity to be a full Windows 8 tablet or dock with a keyboard works as well as advertised, provided you’re willing to live with slower performance at a high price. You’re paying for style.