HP Envy Sleekbook 6z-1000

If you are one of those who do not agree that it's what's inside that counts, then the metal-bodied HP Envy Sleekbook 6z-1000 ($ 699.99 list, $ 599.99 from HP Direct) should be your radar. Envy Sleekbook 6z has stylish metal body and looks awesome when you take it out on your commuter bag, but its mediocre screen, lagging performance, do not want to add-on software, and other factors spoil the initial glow when you take home system. Sure, it is a lower priced alternative to Intel-certified Ultrabooks, but unfortunately we can even recommend it to bargain hunter.

Design and Features
Envy The 6z - 1000 seems like a larger version of the HP Envy 4 - 1043cl , with a similar metallic finish and larger 15.6 - inch screen ( compared to the 14 - inch screen with Envy 4 - 1043cl ) . The concept of a 15 - inch ultrabook or sleekbook seems like an oxymoron . A slimmer laptop is always welcome , although in recent years the system likely would have been called " thin and light " or ultraportable . It measures about 0.8 by 14.75 by 10 inches ( HWD ) , so it corresponds to 21mm thickness spec for Ultrabooks . It does this by eschewing the optical drive typically found in 15 - inch laptop . The system weighs 4.48 pounds alone and about 5 pounds with the AC adapter . It is still very portable : the current 15 - inch entry -level desktop replacement laptop Editors' Choice Sony VAIO E15 ( SVE15116FXS ) weighs 5.97 pounds .

The Envy Sleekbook 6z - 1000 is a 15 - inch screen with a 1,366 -by - 768 resolution . This is a much lower resolution than , say , the 14 - inch 1,920 -by - 1 , 080 resolution screen visible Asus Zenbook Prime UX31A - R5102F . You get less screen real estate of your sleekbook cheaper , but then again you're saving $ 300 . While the 1,366 -by - 768 screen is chosen to save money , do not excuse the fact that you'll see a screen door effect while using the Envy Sleekbook 6z - 1000. A screen door effect is similar to how it sounds : it seems like you're watching thought the display screen door . It makes everything you see blocky and ill-defined . You can see it when there are lots of solid color on the screen , like the green background before a movie starts trailer or the white background of a website . You can pick out the individual pixels , as well as a consequence text looks blocky and jaggy . The effect is like trying to read the text and view the characters in an 8 - or 16 - bit game console . We understand that building a laptop budget necessitated the use of a panel that budget , but anyone with a critical eye will have trouble in this screen . Any decent screen tablet - the quality will look better than one of envy 6z - 1000.

The standard full - size chiclet - style keyboard is comfortable to type on . The black aluminum lid and red soft touch magnesium base is pleasing to the touch , but the same surface and the keyboard showed fingerprints and smudges quite easily . Typing on the keyboard often resulted in unwanted input touchpad , so you may want to take advantage of the touchpad on / off button on the top left corner to disable the touchpad when not in use . Speaking of which, the touchpad Envy 6z - 1000 's bear a gentle textured bull's-eye pattern , which introduces slightly more drag your finger in a traditional smooth touchpad .

The Envy 6z - 1000 is a good selection of ports here . It has two USB 3.0 ports , one USB 2.0 port , a full - size Ethernet port ( no dongle required ) , and an HDMI port . This means you should not have any problems connecting the system to an external display . The Envy 6z - 1000 is a standard built -in 2.4GHz 802.11b/g/n Wi - Fi . You also get 4GB of RAM and a 320GB hard drive ; although this combination seems to be sufficient , the system of dual - core AMD A6 - 4455M Accelerated Processing Unit ( APU ) is a strike against the system . The benchmark numbers tell part of the story (more on that later ) , but the system may start feeling slow the first time you boot up . Viewing 720p HD video in a new laptop should not be a problem , but critical users can see dropped frames and stuttering some titles featuring heavy action or encoded with an older or better - codec . We watched the video trailer from the upcoming Wreck - It Ralph movie as well as other HD video system with Wi- Fi , component video and either slowed down or lost sync including audio . Older Web videos such as 2009 Star Trek trailer also exhibited occasional slowdown during playback . It is not our Internet connection : Our office has at least 40Mbps of throughput . That said , most other 720p and 1080p videos played fine we viewed , and any - was almost imperceptible .

Because the system has a slower 5,400 rpm hard drive , booting and launching apps is noticeably slower than the newer SSD powered Ultrabooks like Asus Zenbook Prime twins , Asus Zenbook Prime UX31A - R5102F and Asus Zenbook Prime UX31A - DB51 . The Envy 6z - 1000 is not as bad as the single- core Atom powered Netbook from a few years ago , but its performance is still disappointing right out of the box . There is a version of the same system with a 500GB drive called the HP Envy Sleekbook 6 - 1010us . 6 - 1010us has the same price tag and disappointing performance .

A lot of bloatware is preinstalled with envy 6z - 1000. In addition to the shortcut to eBay , HP Games , and Office Starter 2010 on the desktop , you can see the taskbar shortcuts servants programs , Windows Live products , and an ad for Blio ( an ebook store ) . All this should be arranged in the Start menu ( and credit HP , it is mostly organized into categories there ) . Internet Explorer has three extra toolbars : Bing , Norton Internet Security , and HP SimplePass identity protection app . Add the fully populated bookmarks bar ( with ads for eBay , Amazon , and Games HP ) , and you're looking at a 1.75 inch 7.75 - inch ( vertical ) screen destroyed by bookmarks and taskbars . This is a case where the presence of lower - resolution screen is a major drawback . Sure, you can hide all the toolbars and return the screen space , but it will be a hassle trying to explain procedures to a relative on the phone . The Envy 6z - 1000 with Beats Audio and a built - in subwoofer . The sound is not blight the house , but the audio enhancements help when listening to music and watching movies . We 'd recommend adding a pair of headphones for the best audio experience . The system has 60 days of Norton Internet Security updates , better than the 30 days free you want to get online , but far too short to pay any real protection . The Envy 6z - 1000 has a standard one- year limited warranty and one year of technical support .