HP's new Envy laptops get a wood option

[midian182]

WTF?! HP, having already released laptops containing non-conventional materials, has refreshed its Envy, EliteBook, and ZBook families for 2019, with the ‘Envy Wood’ series featuring, as you might imagine, different types of wooden finishes.

HP says there will be wooden variants of new Envy 13, HP Envy 17, HP Envy x360 13 and HP Envy x360 15 models. Buyers can pick from walnut and birch finishes in colors including black, white, silver, and natural wood tones. The wood covers the palm rest and touchpad, and the wood grain patterns will vary from laptop to laptop. HP says it offers a "unique sensory experience" compared to the usual surfaces found on most other machines.

Last year, HP unveiled its 2-in-1 Spectre Folio, which it said was the world’s first leather convertible PC. While a leather laptop might not be to everyone’s taste, it received mostly positive reviews.

HP didn’t reveal much else about the Envy Wood laptops, such as price or all the specs, but it did say they will come with 8th-gen Intel CPUs or second-gen Ryzen APUs with Vega graphics as options. The high-end x360 models, meanwhile, will have a choice of OLED screens.

Elsewhere, HP said it was switching to Microsoft’s Precision trackpad drivers for the new Envy laptops, adding more accuracy, reliability, and smoothness to an area that hasn’t been HP's best. As noted by The Verge, the company’s consumer machines stuck with Synaptics drivers while most manufacturers implemented Microsoft’s drivers.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/80256-hp-new-envy-laptops-get-wood-option.html

 

[TheDevopsGuy]

Looks nice but how well will it be in practice?

 

[thelatestmodel]

They're still HP though

 

[Uncle Al]

Sort of like "Ebola Light"

 

[VitalyT]

...for people who like knocking on wood, all prayers answered.

 

[Catweazle]

Actual wood, or faux wood decals like electronics from the 70s?

 

[treetops]

Reminds me of the atari, intellevision, old wooden tvs and station wagons with wooden side panels. Makes me want to puke. However it's nice to see something other then black or white. Personally I'm waiting for a stone table top laptop.

 

[toooooot]

I dig their different material design. I only wish that they actually sold these in 700 1000 price range.
Last time I checked, they sell these for way above what I am prepared to pay for a reasonably priced slim laptop.

 

[captaincranky]

I don't know how they expect to succeed without offering Atari 2600 plastic rosewood....

 

[Mugsy]

I don't know how they expect to succeed without offering Atari 2600 plastic rosewood....

I too immediately thought of the 2600. It looks nice, but I can't help but picture the new CX40 joystick next to the laptop in a promo photo with VCS Pac-Man on the laptop screen.

 

[Jtd49]

Applause to HP for daring to try new things. Though it's not my taste. As a consumer the thing I hate is that when some company makes money on some design. Then everything in the market place just becomes a clone of everything else. For the consumer it's kind of like living off the grid. You get just two choices of a product in two colors and they both look exactly the same. That does not make a person want to spend money.

Sheet metal, plastic, aluminum, these are not expensive materials. I hope all the big players in the industry start experimenting more with design/style. Give me some chunky, different looking products please.