At the HP APJ Summit 2014 in Mumbai, India last week, HP unveiled a colorful new lineup of consumer notebooks. The new HP notebook series - HP Pavilion 14 and Pavilion 15, HP Pavilion x360, and the HP ENVY 15 – features unique designs in eye-catching colors, combining style and function.
I spent some time with the HP Pavilion x360, the touch convertible PC designed for productivity and entertainment. The x360 features a 360-degree hinge that enables users to easily convert the notebook into a stand, tent, or tablet mode.
Design
The HP Pavilion x360 boasts of a pretty good design, and the vivid red one I tried looks impressive and would definitely stand out in a crowd. The unibody notebook is a single color unit, unlike several colored laptops that only have a colored lid with black or grey bottom. The style is not limited to the design, but reflects in the build quality as well.
The 360-degree hinge allows one to easily convert from notebook to stand to tent to tablet mode for different entertainment and productivity scenarios. At a little over 3 pounds though, it's not very light or thin, so it wouldn't really work as primarily as a tablet device to carry around if you are a field professional.
The keyboard is great in form and function. While the typing experience is smooth, the black keys on a grey base looks very good.
Hardware
The x360 features an 11.6-inch HD LED-backlit display with a 1366x768 resolution. The anti-glare, widescreen display is impressive, and the colors are vibrant at normal brightness level.
The convertible is powered by a Pentium quad core Bay Trail processor and 4 GB of RAM. It's not the latest and greatest processor, but good enough for the price point and the positioning. The included 500 GB hybrid hard disk is decent too. There's two USB ports – a SuperSpeed USB 3.0 and a USB 2.0 – and an HDMI as well as a RJ-45 Ethernet port. The last one is a good addition, as it's increasingly becoming a relic of the past in most modern ultrabooks.
The notebook also packs in Beats Audio dual speakers optimized for use in any position. The chic branding aside, the speakers offer rich sound, and are loud enough. There's also the HP TrueVision HD webcam checking all boxes on the feature list.
Accessories
HP also unveiled a variety of accessories to amplify the notebook experience. There's a nice and compact Bluetooth-enabled speaker and a range of colorful headsets. The speaker range starts from INR 1,200 while the HP headphones and headsets range starts from INR 1,900. These would be available in the Indian market from August 7, 2014.
Summary
The HP Pavilion x360 is priced at INR 39,990 in India and at US$ 399 in the US. For a mid-range device, it's a great touchscreen convertible. A little compromise in specifications brings the price to almost half the price of a decent ultrabook in the market, and that should be a pretty good deal for students and average working professionals. You can find the x360 at various retailers or directly through HP.com.
Do you like the x360, with all its style? At this price point, would you prefer a normal laptop or the innovative convertibles of today? Tell us in the comments!
