Name: Envy 14 Beats Edition (HP)

Type: Laptop

Specs: Click here for full specs

Price: £1399 direct from HP

Image Gallery: Click here

When HP first launched their aluminium-build Envy laptop range back in 2009, it was clear that they had their sights squared solely on Apple's MacBook Pros. A lack of polish in those early models held HPs contenders back from true greatness then, but a refresh of the line, complete with celebrity endorsement from rap godfather Dr Dre, sees them produce a far more capable machine this time around in the shape of the 14.5-inch HP Envy 14 Beats Edition.

Like its predecessors, the Envy 14 has a lush aluminium chassis that, while weighty at around 2.6 kg, is reassuringly sturdy. A curved finish to the edges again brings to mind the unibody MacBook Pro computers, though we found the lip where our wrists rested just a little too sharp for our delicate skin. The laptop lid has a large red "Beats" logo sitting in the middle of the matte black coating which, while certainly eye-catching, may not be to everyone's taste.

The great island-style backlit keyboard with red detail was a dream to type with. Smooth and well spaced, we could easily see ourselves tapping away without any discomfort for long stretches. The trackpad however gave us some concern. The mouse buttons are built into this pad, with only a red line rather than a physical marker dividing them. It was far too easy to push the wrong one, or for our thumb to lean out of the cursor movement zone and hit the buttons, sending our pointer everywhere but where we wanted it. It's a real shame, as the rest of the build is damn good.

The laptop squeezes in a generous amount of ports and connectivity options for a machine its size. A HDMI port is bolstered by a mini-display port, 3 USB 2.0 ports (one shared with an eSATA port), an Ethernet connection, headphone and mic jacks and a 2-in-1 card reader. 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi is built in, along with Bluetooth and a HD webcam just above the screen.

The real magic of the HP Envy 14 Beats Edition however sits under the hood, where enough processing and graphics power to trouble a reasonable desktop resides. An Intel Core i7 720QM processor (clocked at 1.6 GHz, with "Turbo Boost" overclocking of up to 2.8 GHz) paired with 4GB of DDR3 RAM meant that we could happily multi-task with multiple intensive programs, such as Photoshop, video playback and Flash content simultaneously with barely any stutter at all. The fans, while a little noisy, did a great job of keeping the system at a comfortable heat too, so you shouldn't have to worry about char-grilled thighs when working. Note that you'll also get a copy of Windows 7 Home and Student edition, as well as Adobe Photoshop Elements and Adobe Première Elements with the £1399 price tag.

Graphics duties are carried out by an ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 5650 chip with 1GB of dedicated DDR3 memory. Again, the HP Envy 14 impressed here, passing at a quick glance as a pretty decent mobile gaming rig too. We played a fair chunk of Mass Effect 2 and Borderlands at system-stretching settings and the Envy 14 fared reasonably well. A DVD+R/RW optical drive will also help for installing games if you're not a fan of digital downloads, as well as being an obvious aid in backing up files stored on the 500GB hard drive. Be under no illusions that this will match dedicated gaming laptops from the likes of Alienware, but it was reassuring to know that it would hold its own should you need a portable gaming fix.

The screen was also well suited to media and gaming playback. While the 1366 x 768 resolution wasn't particularly impressive, the 14.5 inch LED screen managed to keep up with the capability of the graphics card, with good colour accuracy and deep blacks. The screen finish is a little glossy though, so you may want to keep it out of direct light if possible. Battery life was acceptable, if nothing to write home about, averaging around 200 minutes at a full charge.

HP are keen to push the audio capabilities of the Envy 14, what with the "Beats Edition" moniker and Dr Dre's blessing. They've put together a bespoke stereo system that gives a really warm sound, far more rounded than you'd usually expect from a laptop. The Envy 14 Beats Edition also comes packaged with a pair of "Beats by Dre" Solo headphones, especially tuned to work with the system. Plug them in to the headphone jack and they go frighteningly loud thank to the placement of the soundcard adjacent to the input socket. Keep them at a safe volume and you'll find the laptop and Solo headphones are a real joy when used in tandem, particularly resonant if you're into the booming bass of hip-hop sounds that Dre made his millions with. Keep in mind that the headphones alone are worth around £150, and that slightly frightening price tag looks far more reasonable.

While the weight and poor trackpad (meaning you'll always feel inclined to carry a mouse around) knock a point off in the portability stakes for the HP Envy 14, this is a seriously high-powered machine. The i7 processor in our £1399 set-up was blisteringly fast and more than capable of handling intensive multimedia and multi-tasking, while the ATI Mobility Radeon 5650 graphics chip makes this a machine even gaming connoisseurs won't turn their noses up at. Add in the clever audio tech and you've got a very capable desktop replacement. We're sure the good Dr Dre himself would approve.

4/5

Tech Digest.tv has teamed up with Jolicloud to give one lucky reader the chance to win a limited edition Jolibook by Vye!

Jolibook by Vye gives you powerful, up to the minute, web connectivity at the touch of a button. Within minutes you can access over one thousand web applications when on the move, in the workplace or at home! Catching up with friends on Facebook, watching videos on YouTube, or streaming music from Spotify, from the comfort of the sofa or bedroom, has never been easier or more cost effective.

Powered by the highly anticipated Jolicloud OS and entirely designed in HTML5, you can now enjoy faster, more beautiful, next generation web browsing and high definition video with zero technical expertise.

But the instant fun doesn't stop there!

With its vibrant and edgy limited edition cover design the Jolibook by Vye brings high design to any location and will be the focal point in any room. The limited edition Jolibook by Vye is the ultimate way to access everything the web has to offer. Launch favourite web services from YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Boxee, Gmail, Spotify to Google Docs as local applications. What is more the Jolibook by Vye also comes pre-loaded with more than sixty top UK apps including favourites such as Absolute Radio, BBC iPlayer, BBC News, Jamie Oliver and Top Gear to name a few! This limited edition Jolibook by Vye is the must have web travel companion this season.

Enter today by answering this question:

What version of the Jolicloud operating system is now shipping?

Not Sure? Here's a tip: you can find the answers on the Jolicloud website: http:// www.jolicloud.com

To enter the competition go to Tech Digest's Facebook page, www.facebook.com/techdigest.tv and leave your answer as a comment on the Jolibook competition discussion board.

(Competition closes on Friday 18th February 2011. Only Tech Digest Facebook page fans will be eligible to win the prize. Winner will be picked at random.)

Like Street Fighter? Like DIY? Like Lenovo laptops? Then you're going to love this mad case mod from Dan Liou, which turns a netbook into a fully-functioning arcade machine.

Housing an arcade stick and appropriately chunky buttons, the control buttons fold away to reveal the Lenovo laptop's keyboard, while another sits below the screen, sliding out when you just cant bear to drop your dragon-punching defences.

We spoke to Dan about his creation, which remarkably took a mere ten days to put together!

Hit the video above to take a look.

Sainsbury's are now exclusively offering Medion's Akoya P6624 laptop alongside your spuds and sprouts this Christmas. And it's got a spec sheet as tasty as a stuffed turkey by the looks of things.

A 15.6 inch LED backlit HD screen is the focus, running off of an Intel Core i5-460M processor with 4GB memory and a 640GB hard disk. Hyper-Threading technology allows for four-way multitasking, letting each processor core run two tasks simultaneously.

NVIDIA GeForce GT425M DirectX 11 with 1024MB of dedicated RAM is on graphics duty, with "Optimus technology" allowing to switch to a power saving mode for less intensive tasks.

Yours from Sainsbury's for a reasonable £499.

Absolute Software, a leading provider of computer theft recovery and data protection solutions have had a pretty busy year, returning around 100 laptops every week that had been reported stolen by thier users around the world. While it's a headache for those involved, it can also lead to some pretty fantastic, and fantastically funny stories to go along with the recovery.

They've established the "Laptop Loss League Awards", and have picked the top tales behind some of this year's many thefts. You can read them all below.

1 - The long arm of the law: After buying a laptop on the Internet, the new owner was very keen to connect to the web and he rushed to his friend's house, who also happened to be a policeman, to go online. Following a tip off from Absolute Software, the policeman was alerted to a theft by colleagues, which revealed that the laptop in use was stolen. The laptop was quickly returned to its rightful owner.

2 - Dealing with stealing: A laptop was reported stolen from a college in Cornwall and the Absolute Software team worked with the local police to investigate. The device was traced back to a part-time lecturer from the college. Once the laptop had been recovered, the situation was handled internally and the college by confronted the individual. The laptop was returned to the college undamaged.

3 - Being too hot to handle: A laptop taken in a burglary was recovered just a few hours later using information the Absolute Software team gathered from the laptop to locate the thief's home address. When the police swooped, the device was eventually found hidden in the tumble dryer which fortunately hadn't been switched on.

4 - The longest journey home: One laptop turned up almost two years after being stolen from an airbase in Kuwait after it started transmitting signals from Arkansas in the USA, more than 7,300 miles away from its original location. Forensic tools helped to identify the user who handed over the device to his local Sherriff's office so that it could be returned to the original owner.

5 - Popping out for a byte: One laptop stolen in the Czech Republic was identified after the thief started using the machine to plan menus and place bulk orders for food. The Absolute Software team deduced it was being used in a restaurant and a simple search of local eateries soon found the device.

Toshiba have just outed their latest notebook range, with the NB520 model sitting at the top of the pile. With a dual-core chip and quality audio abilities courtesy of Harmon/Kardon, it's looking pretty nifty.

A 10.1 inch notebook with TruBrite LED backlit screen running at a 1024 x 600 resolution, its sweet sonics come from integrated Harmon Kardon speakers with Dolby Advanced Audio tech. Despite beefy sound, it remains svelte, measuring 17mm at its slimmest point and weighing just 1.32KG.

Featuring an Intel Atom N550 processor under the hood and 1GB or DDR3 RAM, the NB520 should play nicely with reasonably intensive multi-media files and software. There's a 250GB HDD for storing your files on, with Windows 7 Starter OS orchestrating the show.

Connectivity comes from Wi-Fi and bluetooth 2.1 support, while there's also a VGA webcam and multi-touch touchpad built in.

This one will hit shops in January, with prices yet to be announced.

The codenames for the first Chrome OS packing notebooks have been revealed. Mario and Andretti are the monikers of the first two, as in "Mario Andretti of Formula 1, Nascar and IndyCar racing fame".

In other word's, Google are pretty confident that these notebooks, housing their super-fast OS, are going to be among the speediest around.With Google insisting only SSD drives go into the machines, you can be sure of near-insant boot-times.

Tech Crunch uncovered the names after browsing the Chromium issue tracker, which gives insight into the devices currently being tested at Google HQ.

Expect to see Mario and Andretti's first public outing at January's CES show.

Here's a story that will have Rolf Harris crying into his Cheerios this morning; a bew poll of 1,219 Brits suggests that UK tech fans are more likely to save their laptop or mobile phone from a house-fire than the family pet!

Tech won out over poor Fido, with 24% jumping to save thier laptops and 18% grabbing their mobile phones, according to the MyVoucherCodes findings. In comparison, only 14% would have risked going back for going back for their animal companions.

"These results are pretty shocking; however I can see why people would instinctively grab their mobile phone, especially in an emergency. I was surprised that more people would save their phone and laptop than their family pet; it just goes to show what a tech-obsessed nation we have become!", said Mark Person, MyVoucherCodes chairman.

"Keeping up to date with all the latest technology products can be costly, but these results show how much the products mean to some people."

Here are the top 10 things, in order of priority, that those polled would save in the event of a house fire:

10. Camera - 2%

What's better, a netbook or a tablet PC? We'll let you mull that one over for little while. OK. Mulled? Good. Well, while we don't have the answer to that question, we can tell you what's definately better than both: a gadget that combines the functionality of both a full size QWERTY netbook and a touchscreen tablet. Which is why you should be very interested in this intriguing item from Dell, the Inspiron Duo.

On first inspection, the Duo's design is that of a fairly run-of-the-mill Windows 7-based 10 inch tablet. But look closer and you'll see the Duo's unique casing folds out to reveal a hidden QWERTY keyboard.

Sure, there have been twist-and-fold laptop desings in the past, but these have traditionally been unwieldy stylus-based affairs that have weighed a ton. Designed primarily as a tablet, the Duo has the portability of a slate with the typing smarts of a lappy, making it as much about productivity as media consumption.

The dual-core Intel Atom boasting device is expected to be officially launched next week on the 23rd of November, so head back then for more news on this exciting little gadget.

Via: CNet

ASUS have teamed up with Lamborghini to bring you their latest notebook.

The ASUS-Lamborghini Eee PC VX6 ultraportable 12.1" notebook, was co-designed by Lamborghini, inspired by the Murcielago LP640 Roadster. The notebook comes complete with dual core Intel Atom D525 processor, next generation NVIDIA Ion 2 graphics and NVIDIA Optimus technology to deliver quality graphics and audio. It also comes with a multitude of connectivity features including USB 3.0 and Express Gate.

To launch the notebook they have made this Fast and the furious style video to show off the design inspiration.

The ASUS-Lamborghini Eee PC VX6 is available for £499 inc VAT from retailers such as PC World.

Tech Digest got heavy with the latest super-light 11 inch MacBook Air model from Apple over the weekend for our in-depth review. Faster than its spec sheet would initially have you believe, it's the best iteration of Apple's svelte laptop range yet.

Its stunning design has to be seen to be believed though, cramming all the Air's circuitry into a chasis no thicker than an axe head. We got camera trigger-happy and put this gallery together just so you can see what we mean.

Scroll down to see the MacBook Air in all its glory, and then click here to read our full review.

Name: MacBook Air (Apple)
Type: Laptop
Specs: (Click here for full specs)
Price: Prices start at £849.99 direct from Apple

Though you could always moan about the relative lack of processing power and ports on previous builds of the MacBook Air, there was never any denying that it was a slick looking piece of kit. Quite remarkably, Apple have not only managed to slim down their size-zero range even further this year, but have also managed to give its internal specs a much-needed kick up the proverbial backside too.

While there is also a 13 inch model being launched, we've got our hands on the 11.6 inch version to test. No more than 0.68 inches at the rear and tapering to an axe-head like 0.11 inches at its front, it's a sight to behold. At 1.06 kg it's similar in weight to an iPad, and will fit quite comfortably in a messenger bag or handbag. It's a completely metal build apart from four rubber stoppers on the bottom too, but once bought you wont be able to upgrade any components, so make sure you get your configuration right before you leave the Apple shop.

The choice between 1.4 or 1.6GHz Core 2 Duo processors, and 2 or 4GB RAM may seem a little behind the times, but the decision to make solid state flash drives the de-facto storage option in the new MacBook Air gives the machine a very snappy feel. In either 64GB or 128 GB flavours, the 11.6 inch model boots up in a fraction of the time a HDD sporting Macbook Pro would, with the the Air arriving ready for action in under 20 seconds. It's also near near silent in operation, with next to no fan noise at all.

Our test machine provided was the basic model, that comes equipped with 2GB RAM. While the device never felt like it was running out of puff during everyday tasks, at this price and in this day and age it seems a little miserly for the device not to come with double this amount of memory as standard, particularly with upgrading at a later date not being an option.

In terms of connections, there is thankfully a USB port on either side of the Air now, though the SD Card reading port is exclusive to the 13 inch model. Both a webcam and microphone are built in, as well as a headphone jack and miniDisplay port for hooking up an external monitor. Again, there is no optical drive onboard, but most frustrating is the omission of an Ethernet port. You'll have to make do with the 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi, or sacrifice a USB port and some extra cash for the sold-separately Apple USB Ethernet Adapter. The keyboard and multi-touch trackpad though are both very comfortable to use; despite being only 11 inches across, you still get a full size keyboard with keys spaced sensibly enough for extended typing sessions.

Battery life is very impressive, itself aided by the less power-hungry flash memory drives. You'll get a reasonable 5 hours worth of use when connected to a wireless network, but pop the Air into sleep mode and it'll sit in standby for as many as 30 days. The "Instant-on" feature means it'll boot straight back to the state you left the laptop in right away too.

The LED-backlit screen is also very impressive. Bright and vibrant, it's running at a native resolution of 1366x768. It's great for watching videos on, though we did notice the Air chug a little when dealing with the odd 1080p clip, but this appeared to be down to the lack of onboard RAM rather than the graphics card not being up to the job.

By beefing up the specs a little and slimming down the size even further, Apple have made genuine improvements to a range that could previously have been accused of weighing in favour of style over substance. Though it remains incredibly expensive (£849 for the entry model) and is still by no means a powerhouse of a machine, this latest revamp of the MacBook Air will handle most everyday tasks with ease, and is sure to make you the envy of your pals with its stunning design.

4/5

Click here to buy the MacBook Air direct Apple, with prices starting at £849.99

Apple head-honcho Steve Jobs took to the stage once again last night to reveal a whole host of new products heading out and into stores worldwide. Whilst the new MacBook Air model was expected, Jobs also dropped in a few surprises. Read on to find out what they were.

MacBook Air

Leaked before the event, we knew this one was coming. Two new models in 11.6 and 13.3 inch sizes were launched, getting rid of hard and optical drives in favour of SSDs ranging from 64 to 256GB.

LED-backlit screens feature on both, powered by Core 2 Duo processors, Nvidia GeForce 320m GPUs and 2GB of RAM.

Full keyboards, glass trackpads, stereo speakers and a camera for the newly announced FaceTime for Mac feature across both. They are available to buy now.

Mac App Store

Macs are about to get their own App Store to go along with the one already available on iPods and iPhones. Launching in 90 days time, it'll be available to all Snow Leopard users, and will include a similar interface and functionality to its mobile counterparts. The 70/30 Apple/developer split on takings remains the same.

iLife 11

After a two year wait, Apple have updated their iLife suite of lifestyle programs. It'll cost a reasonable £30, and brings the following improvements among others to iPhoto, iMovie and Garageband:

-iPhoto: Send images to email straight from application, location aware slideshows, full screen mode.

-iMovie: Instant replay mode, trailer feature, improved sound editing.

-Garageband: Groove matching feature, new music lessons.

Mac OS X Lion

2011 will see the release of a brand new Apple desktop OS X, codenamed Lion. With a greater emphasis on touch, it'll attempt to bridge the gap between OS X and iOS X, making greater use of the Magic Trackpad.

With the Apple launch circus once again rolling into town on October 20th, the Cupertino rumour mill has once again kicked into overdrive as the blogosphere tries to second guess what's on Steve Jobs's menu this Fall. While many are expecting a peek at Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, it now looks as though it will be flanked by two new MacBook Air models.

Apple Insider are suggesting that 11.6 and 13.3 inch models are on the way, touting new unibody designs just a touch thicker than a USB port, one-button trackpads and an array of ports that would bring it in line with the MacBook Pro.

That'll be two USB ports, an SD card reader, mini DisplayPort, and a MagSafe adapter. While the above leaked image from Engadget shows the 13.3 inch model sporting the same 1.86GHz Core 2 Duo SL9400 chip seen in previous air models, we'd expect to see this get a boost once out of the prototype and into the retail stages.

Crafted by Bang and Olufsen designer David Lewis comes this new mega-sized laptop from Asus, the NX90.

Boasting a massive 18.4inch high definition screen and mirror-like finish, it features a pair of huge speakers either side of the screen. On board are Intel Core i7 processors, 6Gb DDR3 RAM and USB 3 connectivity.

Storage space is a healthy 1.2 terabytes - which should be enough for your music and video collection!

Says designer David Lewis: "What we were going for was a piece of design and art that people could place in the centre of their home and take great joy in its appearance. To me, it's not just a machine, the objective was to create a style to challenge the way people regard notebooks".

Retailing for £2499, the Asus is available from a number of retailers including Harrods, Micro Anvinka and Selfridges.

See images below

Apple may be looking to release a 3G enabled version of its popular Macbook laptop range.

A patent application uncovered by Patently Apple goes into significant depth as to how "multi-band cellular telephone antenna and...multi-band wireless local area network antenna" could both feature within the same machine.

The patent was part of a batch that was granted alongside ideas for new iPod Touch and iMac hardware.

Whilst 3G-touting laptops aren't all that unusual these days, it's the first time we've seen cellular tech within an Apple portable computer. With the MacBook Air well overdue a revamp, don't be too surprised if a 3G web connection tops the list of specs for any forthcoming super-slim Air models Apple may have in the pipeline.

Via: Patently Apple

Not content with putting together the monstrous Big O gaming desktop, Origin are now preparing to launch a new high-powered gaming notebook. Customisable down to the last detail, the EON 17 has a price tag as hefty as its spec sheet.

Starting at a whopping $2,499 for the most basic set up, the Origin EON 17 top-spec build will set you back a staggering $13,086.

For that, you bag yourself a 17.3 inch HD display, six core i7 980x processor and dual NVidia GTX 480M graphics chips.

Storage comes courtesy of either a 2TB HDD drive or three 512GB Kingston V+ series solid state drives. 24GB of DDR3 memory is included, along with a 6x BD-R Blu-ray burner. A 3Mp webcam, fingerprint reader, HD TV tuner and multiple card readers round off the package.

Click here to create your own custom EON 17, and scroll down for some more shots of the notebook.

Apple are rumoured to be launching a new smaller version of their MacBook Air laptops. Orders placed with Taiwanese manufacturers seem to suggest that an 11.6 inch model could be hitting Apple stores by Christmas.

Quanta, Apple's main notebook manufacturer have reportedly had 400,000 to 500,000 new units be requested to be made. Lighter and nearly two inches smaller than the 13.3 inch model available now, it'll be only the third update made to the range following a speed boost back in the summer of 2009.

The MacBook Air, while beautifully svelte in design, received criticism for removing too many features for the sake of its ultra-portable design. The lack of a DVD drive, and more importantly, Ethernet connection, was not appreciated.

More news once we get confirmation on this one.

Via: Digitimes

Got a spare £1,700 lying around? Then you might want to take a look at MSI's top-end GX660 gaming laptop, which packs in enough high-tech audio gear to please even the most ardent of audiophiles.

At 15.6 inches in size, it's a very capable bit of kit, with an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870 on graphics duties and an Intel Core i7-720QM processor that can be overclocked, 8GB of RAM, Blu-ray drive, two USB 3.0 ports and two USB 2.0 ports and 1TB of storage.

But it's in the audio department where MSI are most proud of the GX660, working closely with audio specialists Dynaudio.

"Dynaudio have worked with MSI to meticulously place speakers inside the chassis to provide users with the finest audio experience. MSI and Dynaudio have designed high quality speaker units as well as an optimal sound card circuit based on speaker and system configuration," says the MSI release.

"Over 1,200 hours went into testing and tweaking each frequency to obtain ideal tone and balance for crisp, clean sound at all frequency levels. MSI has also added Surround Sensation|UltraPC technology from DTS to help fulfil the virtual surround sound experience either from the built-in Dynaudio speakers or through a set of stereo headphones."

Click here to head over to the GX660's pre-order page.

If you're into watching films on your laptop but don't have the readies for a portable media powerhouse, take a look at this latest mid-range offering from MSI. Aimed at those who "demand style, functionality and power from a notebook", the MSI FX600 packs in some pretty specs for its sub-£600 price tag.

Packing in an Intel Core i3-330M, 2.13GHz CPU and Nvidia GeForce GT 325M graphics, it's got enough brawn to breeze through playback from the optional Blu-ray drive, with four-speaker THX TruStudio surround sound and Cinema Pro technology adding to the silver-screen effect.

However, the MSI FX600 doesn't run at full HD, instead a resolution of just 1366 x 768 on its 15.6 inch display. You could argue that the differences between 720p and 1080p on a screen that size are negligible, but it's worth pointing out if you opt in for the Blu-Ray drive.

Elsewhere the "jet black" notebook features 4GB of RAM, 500GB of storage, a multi-point touchpad, three USB ports, a HDMI port, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and a 1.3 megapixel camera.

The MSI FX600 is out at the end of the month, with prices starting at £599.99.