France – Hewlett-Packard Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) announced their new laptop, Specter, at the New York Times International Luxury Conference last Monday. The notebook is now the thinnest one in the market and also one of the best designed. With 10.4 mm, the portable PC is almost as thin as a bullet and it’s not weak at all.
The company’s engineers worked with two renowned designers, Tord Boontje, and Jess Hannah. Their work with metals and jewelry respectively has made them very famous and successful. Specter is different from any other laptop HP has done before.
“It is more artisan than manufactured” says Hewlett-Packard’s promotional video on Specter.
The cover is made of carbon fiber and it was painted in a similar fashion to that of cars, and the company claims every model was hand-polished. The material is both strong and very light, so the laptop is almost weightless (2.45 pounds), it’s also somewhat resistant to impacts. The engineers chose a hybrid battery which is split into 2 little lithium pieces and it’s supposed to last 9 and a half hours. Yes, you should always carry your charger.
The screen is 13.3″, even though it’s not the first one with this size, it uses Corning gorilla glass which is very resistant to scratches and impacts. The display is full HD and it’s also borderless, so users will actually enjoy the full the screen at its full extent.
Looks are not everything.
Specter is powered by Intel 6th generation I5 and I7 processors. These 2 processors are fan-favorites in some PC communities and it’s very rare to see such powerful chips in the thinnest laptop in the world. Some people think the more powerful the processor the hotter it gets, but this is a myth. Last generation chips consume less energy doing so much more than the old ones, meaning overheating is not going to be a problem.
The notebook has 512 GB of storage and up to 8 GB ram. It might seem little, but come on, if you can afford the notebook, you can get a portable hard drive. Engineers seem to have that in mind since the laptop has 3 USB ports, the universal ones. One of them transfers up to 10 GB/S or in other words, you can send entire movies from Specter to a portable drive or computer (with 3.0 USB technology) in seconds. In case you were wondering, no, it does not support DVD/CD format, why should it?
It also has a card reader, but what is very impressive is the positioning of the ports. They don’t interfere with the charger, finally!
Fashion Laptops.
The marketing strategy used by the company to promote Specter is interesting. Laptops usually boast of their technical specifications to appeal customers. But both in the video and in the conference, HP presented Specter as a piece of art rather than a technology device or in other words, look at the design and let us worry about the details. Only two companies are well-known for this, Apple and SONY with its VAIO series.
In fact, the company announced two lavish versions from the hand of Tord Boontje and Jess Hannah. With 18 K gold and diamond designs, the premium versions will be auctioned at the Cannes Film Festival and the revenue is going to be donated to the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
“The 13.3” diagonal HP Spectre is planned to be available on HP.com and BBY.com on April 25 for pre-order with a starting price at $1,169.99 and is planned to be available in Best Buy stores on May 22 with a starting price at $1,249.99.” says an article posted on HP news website.
http://www8.hp.com/us/en/hp-news/press-release.html?id=2210082&pageTitle=HP+Inc.+Issues+Statement+about+Brussels+Attacks#.VwQ5tvkrKM8