Berlin (Germany) – So maybe Rahul Sood’s cutting of a birthday cake with a Macbook Air wasn’t really a stunt after all.  In Berlin today, HP has announced a new line of ultra-thin notebooks that are actually thinner and more powerful than Apple’s Air.  The Voodoo Envy 133 is .7 inches thick and weighs less than 3.4 pounds.  Notably it comes with an “instant-on” Linux variant and a power brick that doubles as a Wi-Fi router.

Inside the Envy’s carbon-fiber case will be an Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8/1.6 GHz processor and either an 80 GB 4200 RPM hard drive or a 64 GB solid-state disk.  The 13.3-inch with 1280 by 800 pixels resolution is powered by an Intel integrated X3100 graphics chip.  While there’s no DVI port (this thing is just too thin), there is an HDMI port and HP helpfully includes a remote presenter unit.  The other ports on the chassis include two USB ports and one of the USB ports can be used as an eSATA port.

Like Apple’s Macbook Air, the Envy doesn’t have an optical drive.  However, HP has one-upped Steve Jobs by including an optical drive with these new laptops.

There are three noteworthy ‘flourishes’ that make this notebook errr noteworthy.  The touchpad has a proximity sensor that turns itself if you are typing on the keyboard – I can already hear the cries of joy from some journalists over this feature, nothing is more annoying than typing 100+WPM in Microsoft Word and having the cursor magically teleport to another paragraph.

The 56 watt power brick doubles up as a Wi-Fi router.  You simply plug the Ethernet cable from the jack or your WAN/LAN connection into the port in the brick.  Oh we almost forgot, HP claims the Envy 133’s battery will last up to 3 Hours and 45 Minutes.  Finally, a Linux variant cleverly called Voodoo IOS (VIOS?) can be fast-booted for quick access to common applications like a Firefox browser or Skype.

The Envy should be available later this summer starting at $2100.  Not a bad price that all those features, I’m glad I held off buying the Macbook Air.

Way to go hp! Macbook Air gone right

Jun 10, 2008 10:07     

Now that is what I am talking about. So much more machine than the air. Still a little pricey, but you always pay for convenience.
crawlgsx report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +2

This is awesome, because it provides more and cheap...

Jun 10, 2008 11:59     

This is awesome, because it provides more and cheaper alternatives. I am glad that technology is improving. If they keep it up, these and the Eee PC's will steadily drop in price.
Sean report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Eee PC? no the same class

Jun 11, 2008 14:57     

yea, the Eee PC has smaller screen, slower cpu and small harddrive and worse GPU...it's not even in the same class of this $2000 laptop... how would this lower the price of EeePC ? There are already plenty of competitors that has lighter, faster more function laptops compare to the air...the air is nothing but air. not useful for business travel...and I bet the farm HP's version has exchangable battery...which is a must for traveller...it's hard to find juice on the airplane...you go for a euro flight or asia business trip and your mac air for sure will sit juiceless in the bag after an hour or 2...and no way to recharge.. it's for hippies.

wow report abuse vote down vote up Votes: -1

I like how they call it the "envy" - sort of a slap...

Jun 11, 2008 22:57     

I like how they call it the "envy" - sort of a slap in the face to anyone that bought a Mac Book air as that I believe that was the primary selling point of the product above anything practical.
iamacyborg report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0