Are you looking for a notebook that serves
both travel and entertainment purposes equally well? The Dell Inspiron
14z and the HP ENVY Sleekbook 4t are both thin-and-light 14-inch
consumer models starting at just $699 and weighing around four pounds.
Read on to see which one makes the better vacation-friendly laptop.
Let's take a look at the specifications of the models in our roundup:
Off the bat we're noticing a few things; the most important one is
that $85 price difference. The Dell in our comparison has standard
equipment only; I added nothing to it. It offers more for the money
compared to the HP no matter how you look at it. To the HP I added
Bluetooth for $15, the 32GB mSATA SSD
for $50 (it helps performance in Windows), and just to even out some of
the other disadvantages compared to the Dell, added the backlit
keyboard for $20; Dell does not offer one. That said, there's some
things the HP just can't get and one of them is an internal optical
drive; HP only offers external ones for this notebook. But as we'll see
later in this article, the HP has other advantages.
Design
HP has dominated the mainstream consumer PC market for years in terms of design and they're not about to discontinue that with the ENVY Sleekbook 4t-1000 (that is a long name, isn't it?). Its slick black brushed aluminum exterior and rubberized merlot-covered base inspire confidence that this is a quality product. The Inspiron 14z on the other hand has great quality too and feels quite solid but just doesn't inspire the same cutting-edge impression. And despite the fact it is almost identical in height to the HP, it looks and feels bulkier. I can't help but feel the Dell's design is somewhat generic.
Winner: HP Sleekbook 4t-1000
Screen
I'm unimpressed with the quality and resolution of the screens on both of these notebooks. Generally all 1366x768 resolution models (and that's the lowest screen resolution money can buy on a computer, by the way) are going to be of low quality and no exceptions are found here. Both displays have a cold hue and washed out colors. On top of that the screen resolution is too low to use more than one window at a time. At this price range there?s not a ton more we can expect.
Winner: TIE
Keyboard/Touchpad
These notebooks both have "Chiclet" style keyboard with extra spacing between the keys. The HP has a more positive and encouraging feel but what ultimately makes me pick it over the Dell (despite the fact the Dell has an available backlit keyboard) is the layout. Dell for whatever reason decided to relegate the home, end, pgup, and pgdn keys as secondary functions into the arrow keys. It's ironic -- Dell managed to fit in an internal optical drive but could not accommodate a slightly larger keyboard.
Winner: HP ENVY Sleekbook 4t-1000
Input/Output Ports
The Dell and the HP are pretty evenly matched in terms of ports but the Dell wins thanks to the built-in optical drive. The only advantage the HP has in this area is that it has a grand total of three USB ports versus the Dell's two. Both the Inspiron 14z and the ENVY Sleekbook 4t offer Ethernet and a Kensington Lock slot (very handy on a notebook that's traveled with) but the Dell has an internal optical drive. Attention infrequent travelers -- airport wireless is slow, expensive, and unreliable so don't think you'll always be streaming Netflix. That internal DVD drive could come in handy.
Battery Life
Dell wins big again here; the Inspiron 14z clocked in at seven hours (web surfing, medium screen brightness). The ENVY Sleekbook 4t-1000 (there's that long name again) manages between four and five hours in the same scenario. One of the reasons is that the Inspiron 14z has a more powerful battery pack.
The Winner?
Part of me likes the HP ENVY Sleekbook 4t-1000 for its killer looks and great keyboard but from a long-term relationship standpoint, the Dell Inspiron 14z is the better machine. Let's consider: it's cheaper, has the same level of quality, gets two hours more battery life, weighs the same, and has an internal optical drive. The HP would be a tough sell as a true vacation companion even if it were the same price. If Dell were just to improve the keyboard a bit, this wouldn't even be a comparison.
HP Product Page
Dell Product Page
|
|
Dell Inspiron 14z |
HP ENVY Sleekbook 4t-1000 |
|
Starting Price |
$699.99 |
$699.99 |
|
Price as Configured |
$699.99 |
$784.99 |
|
Operating System |
Windows 7 Home Premium |
Windows 7 Home Premium |
|
Screen |
14" Glossy 1366x768 |
14" Glossy 1366x768 |
|
Processor |
Intel Core i3-2367M dual-core |
Intel Core i3-2367M dual-core |
|
RAM |
6GB |
4GB |
|
Storage |
500GB 5400RPM +32GB mSATA SSD |
500GB 5400RPM + 32GB mSATA SSD |
|
Graphics Card |
Integrated Intel |
Integrated Intel |
|
Battery |
6-cell 44Whr |
4-cell |
|
Optical Drive |
8X tray-load DVD burner |
NONE (external only) |
|
Weight |
4.12 pounds |
3.98 pounds |
|
Thickness |
0.81 inches |
0.78 inches |
|
Bluetooth? |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Ports |
2x USB 3.0, Ethernet, HDMI, Kensington Lock slot, 3-in-1 card reader |
2x USB 3.0, 1x USB 2.0, Ethernet, HDMI, Kensington lock slot, media card reader |
|
Keyboard |
Full size |
Full size, backlit |
|
Warranty |
1-year limited |
1-year limited |
DesignHP has dominated the mainstream consumer PC market for years in terms of design and they're not about to discontinue that with the ENVY Sleekbook 4t-1000 (that is a long name, isn't it?). Its slick black brushed aluminum exterior and rubberized merlot-covered base inspire confidence that this is a quality product. The Inspiron 14z on the other hand has great quality too and feels quite solid but just doesn't inspire the same cutting-edge impression. And despite the fact it is almost identical in height to the HP, it looks and feels bulkier. I can't help but feel the Dell's design is somewhat generic.
Winner: HP Sleekbook 4t-1000
Screen
I'm unimpressed with the quality and resolution of the screens on both of these notebooks. Generally all 1366x768 resolution models (and that's the lowest screen resolution money can buy on a computer, by the way) are going to be of low quality and no exceptions are found here. Both displays have a cold hue and washed out colors. On top of that the screen resolution is too low to use more than one window at a time. At this price range there?s not a ton more we can expect.
Winner: TIE
Keyboard/TouchpadThese notebooks both have "Chiclet" style keyboard with extra spacing between the keys. The HP has a more positive and encouraging feel but what ultimately makes me pick it over the Dell (despite the fact the Dell has an available backlit keyboard) is the layout. Dell for whatever reason decided to relegate the home, end, pgup, and pgdn keys as secondary functions into the arrow keys. It's ironic -- Dell managed to fit in an internal optical drive but could not accommodate a slightly larger keyboard.
Winner: HP ENVY Sleekbook 4t-1000
Input/Output PortsThe Dell and the HP are pretty evenly matched in terms of ports but the Dell wins thanks to the built-in optical drive. The only advantage the HP has in this area is that it has a grand total of three USB ports versus the Dell's two. Both the Inspiron 14z and the ENVY Sleekbook 4t offer Ethernet and a Kensington Lock slot (very handy on a notebook that's traveled with) but the Dell has an internal optical drive. Attention infrequent travelers -- airport wireless is slow, expensive, and unreliable so don't think you'll always be streaming Netflix. That internal DVD drive could come in handy.
Battery LifeDell wins big again here; the Inspiron 14z clocked in at seven hours (web surfing, medium screen brightness). The ENVY Sleekbook 4t-1000 (there's that long name again) manages between four and five hours in the same scenario. One of the reasons is that the Inspiron 14z has a more powerful battery pack.
The Winner?Part of me likes the HP ENVY Sleekbook 4t-1000 for its killer looks and great keyboard but from a long-term relationship standpoint, the Dell Inspiron 14z is the better machine. Let's consider: it's cheaper, has the same level of quality, gets two hours more battery life, weighs the same, and has an internal optical drive. The HP would be a tough sell as a true vacation companion even if it were the same price. If Dell were just to improve the keyboard a bit, this wouldn't even be a comparison.
HP Product Page
Dell Product Page
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