HP's new Envy 15 notebook. Click to enlarge. Source: HP

HP (NYSE: HP) today unveiled a slew of new PC models aimed at business users, enthusiasts and home theater aficionados.

One area it's targeting today is the premium notebook arena: Think flashy, high performance devices. The company unveiled 13.1- and 15.6-inch notebook models under its new HP Envy line -- a brand that supplants HP's existing Voodoo Envy lineup of enthusiast-oriented, high-end systems.

The new Core 2 Duo-based Envy 13 sports a super-bright 410 nit display, with resolutions up to 1600x900, an 8ms response time and an 82 percent color gamut -- specs that HP aims to make the unit competitive with desktop displays. An ATI Radeon HD 4330 graphics card comes on-board.

It's also super-thin, with a thickness of 0.8 inches, and light, to boot -- weighing in at 3.74 pounds.

The model's larger sibling, the Envy 15, weighs in at 5.18 pounds -- but HP says it's putting that extra heft to good use: It's the company's fastest consumer notebook to date. At the heart of the Envy 15 will be an Intel Core i7 and up to 16 GB of 1,066-MHz DDR3 system memory.

At 1-inch thick, the model includes a 15.6-inch display boasting up to 300-nits brightness, with a 1 GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4830 card powering graphics.

It's also packed with extras, like a VGA Webcam usable in even zero-light conditions, thanks to an infrared LED. It also comes with an option to include a pair of solid-state drives in a RAID-0 configuration for faster data access speed.

According to HP, the Envy 7 gets about 7 hours of battery life -- but with an additional Slim Fit battery "slice" that fits onto the bottom of the device, the battery life grows to 18 hours, it said. The Envy 15 also supports an additional Slim Fit battery, which boosts its battery life to seven hours.

Both models include HP QuickWeb technology, which enables users to load a Web browser, a read-only calendar or other key applications, without having to fully boot their system into Windows. The time savings can be huge: Most apps launch in under 30 seconds.

The HP Envy 13 and Envy 15 are expected to be available in the U.S. on Oct. 18, starting at $1,699 and $1,799, respectively.

Business and consumer notebooks

Performance enthusiasts aren't the only ones HP is targeting with its new releases. The company today also unveiled what it's describing as the world's thinnest "full-performance" notebook -- the HP ProBook 5310m -- as well as the HP Pavilion dm3.

Both models fall into the thin-and-light category, aiming to strike a balance between power and portability.

HP ProBook 5310m. Click to enlarge. Source: HP

Designed for users in small- and midsized businesses, the HP ProBook 5310m sports a 0.9-inch, 3.7 pound design with a 13.3-inch display. While other PC vendors may have thinner notebooks -- like Apple, with its 0.76-inch MacBook Air -- HP describes its ProBook 5310m as the thinnest "full-performance" model on the market, thanks to a standard-voltage processor. That is, it's not a low- or ultra-low-voltage model as used by many makers of thin-and-light PCs.

The exterior of the HP ProBook 5310m features a black anodized aluminum and magnesium frame wrapped in soft-touch paint, which HP said increases durability and reduces weight while delivering a sophisticated look.

As with its enthusiast models, the HP ProBook 5310m features HP QuickWeb technology -- however, it goes one better than the Envy line, with the addition of write (and sending) access to e-mail, calendar and contact applications.

Unlike the ProBook, the new HP Pavilion dm3 is aimed at consumers. However, it's also a thin-and-light-style notebook, coming in at 1-inch thick and 4.2 pounds.

The all-metal, brushed aluminum unit ships with a 13.3-inch BrightView display and offers a choice of Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) Core 2 Duo or AMD (NSYE: AMD) Neo dual-core processors and nVidia or ATI graphics card.

The Pavilion dm3 also boasts up to 10 hours of battery life, courtesy of a six-cell battery.

Netbooks get fancy -- and large

On the netbook front, HP hasn't remained idle.

The company took the wraps off two new HP Mini models, the HP Mini 110 by Studio Tord Boontje and the HP Mini 311. The HP Mini 110 by Studio Tord Boontje -- a specially designed take on the existing 10.1-inch Mini 110 --sports a white, lace-like multilayer case design courtesy of famed Dutch designer Tord Boontje.

The HP Mini 110 by Studio Tord Boontje. Click to enlarge. Source: HP

The Tord Boontje model also includes customized options beyond the hardware, with special Windows 7 Starter wallpapers and screen saver, along with a Boontje-style Stardock MyColors desktop theme.

The HP Mini 311 is aimed at improving the performance a user wrings out of their netbook, even while pushing the envelope of what exactly qualifies as a "netbook."

The model sports a 11.6-inch widescreen display and relies on nVidia Ion hardware for its graphics. It also includes a 92-percent-sized keyboard.

Both the Mini 110 and Mini 311 also feature HP QuickSync software, which enables users to synchronize files with a home PC when connected to the same network.

The HP Mini 110 by Studio Tord Boontje will carry a price of $399.99 and will ship with Windows 7 Starter. It's slated for availability on Oct. 18. Meanwhile, the HP Mini 311 carries a $399.99 price tag and is scheduled to ship with Windows XP on Sept. 23. A Mini 311 with Windows 7 Premium will follow on Oct. 18.

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