For anyone shopping around for a great Ultrabook deal or perhaps an excellent Christmas gift idea, Harvey Norman’s 30% discount on all Ultrabooks is definitely worth checking out. The 14 inch HP Envy4 – 1045TU is likely to be the cheapest Ultrabook (selling for $682.20) currently on the market due to the massive discount. But don’t look down on this laptop solely because it’s the cheapest, for it has the same functionality of other mid-range Ultrabooks. Inside the chassis there is a 3rd Gen Intel Core i5 processor, which instantly puts this laptop above entry level Ultrabooks. When it combines the processor with the integrated Intel HD 3000 graphics the laptop can still run some not-so-graphic-intensive games on low settings. The 4GB of memory (RAM) is fairly standard and while the 500GB hard drive is quite average, it also comes with a solid state hybrid drive that allows fast loading of programs and boosts overall performance.
In short, the Envy4 – 1045TU is a super portable, mid-range performance laptop discounted to the price of a low-end to mid-range notebook, well below the $1,000 similar laptops could be found at just a couple of months ago.
See a summary of the specs below:
PROCESSOR - The laptop's engine
The Envy4 - 1045TU features a 3rd Gen Intel Core i5-3317U (1.7GHz), a mid-range low-voltage processor that can run productivity applications and some intensive software. It can burst up to 2.6GHz using Turbo Boost 2.0 Technology if a particularly demanding program is running. In other words it has enough power to easily get through common computing tasks.
GRAPHICS - Control what you see displayed on the screen
It comes with an integrated graphics solution called Intel HD Graphics 3000. It’s on par with a low-end dedicated graphics card, and is sufficient for modern games at the lowest settings.
RAM - The memory used for computation
4GB of RAM is enough to run several programs at once smoothly. It’s more than enough to ensure fluid overall system performance with Windows 7 Home Premium.
STORAGE - The long term store for data and programs.
A 500GB hard disk drive is about average in size for a standard laptop, but excellent for an Ultrabook. The Envy4 1045TU also has a 32GB solid state drive that is used for caching programs, resulting in faster overall performance and program loading. This hybrid approach is followed by several Ultrabooks.
SCREEN
The HP Envy4 - 1045TU sports a 14 inch (1,366 x 768 resolution) screen, The resolution is decent for the screen size.
PORTABILITY
The Envy4 - 1045TU has great portability, because it weighs 1.8kg and is 19.8mm thick. It can be carried around very easily and remain quite inconspicuous in your bag.