HP Ventures Back Into Tablets With Envy x2 Hybrid

It’s been a year since Hewlett-Packard‘s disastrous first dive into the tablet market with the short-lived TouchPad, so it’s understandable that the company is hesitant to dip back in the pool. This time, HP debuted the Envy x2 (does that stand for second try?), a hybrid computer that morphs from laptop to tablet and back again.
Like the Samsung Windows 8 hybrids we saw yesterday, the x2 transforms via a keyboard dock. Detach the 11.6-inch monitor, and suddenly you’re holding a Windows tablet that’s begging to be touched. What’s more, it remains a full Windows PC, powered by an Intel Atom “Clover Trail” processor for maximum portability.

During our brief encounter with the device, we were impressed with how solid the machine feels as a complete unit. The keyboard’s clasp holds it firmly, and the weight feels just right (unlike Samsung’s, which felt a little wobbly). HP puts more battery power in the keyboard, so the tablet and dock have about the same weight (1.5 pounds each), making for a nicely balanced machine. The keyboard is full-size and feels great to type on, though it’s sadly not backlit.

HP is positioning the Envy x2 as a laptop that just happens to become a tablet when you need it to be. The Intel mobile processor effectively gives you the best of both worlds: Not only does it have full Windows so you can use all those old Windows 7 and XP apps, the laptop also includes a “connected standby” mode (unique to Windows 8) that enables the machine to last for weeks while in a kind of enhanced-sleep mode.

Rounding out the features, the Envy x2 has an 8-megapixel camera in the back, an HD webcam in the front and a Beats Audio sound system. It also includes NFC connectivity for quick sharing of information, such as URLs, between devices. The hybrid comes in one storage configuration, 64GB of solid-state memory.

Unfortunately, HP hasn’t specified the one key spec: price. Our hands-on experience had us rooting for the product, but without knowing the cost, it’s tough to say whether it’s worth it.
If you’re not a fan of hybrids but like the idea of a touchscreen laptop, HP’s got something else for you: the Spectre TouchSmart Ultrabook. It’s a plus-size model, sporting a full-HD 15.6-inch screen, and weighs in at 4.77 pounds. Still the touchscreen has got the goods to be your PC. At $1,399, it features an Intel Core i7 processor, a 500GB hard disk (with 32GB of solid-state memory to boost performance) and, yes, Thunderbolt.

How do you like the HP’s newfound love of hybrid PCs? Share your thoughts in the comments.