Rs 69,990
HP Envy Rove 20
This is a portable desktop—an all-in-one PC that doubles as a giant tablet
Gagandeep Singh Sapra Gagandeep Singh Sapra 02 Oct, 2013
This is a portable desktop—an all-in-one PC that doubles as a giant tablet
With a 20-inch display, HP’s Rove can be called an oversized tablet or a portable all-in-one PC that weighs about 6 kg. In a day and age where we have more than one such device, having an all-in-one that works as a portable tablet too may not seem like the most compelling idea, but when you use it, you start thinking of various uses for it.
The Rove has a sturdy hinged pop-up stand that also works as a handle. You can flatten it down to 180° on your dining table and play ping-pong till dinner is laid, or put it back on the stand and make a Skype call or use it as a desktop PC. You can operate for about three hours on its internal battery, so this desktop is portable and does not require a UPS.
Using an Intel 4th generation Core i3 CPU that uses a fanless design, the Rove manages to accomplish most of the operations you want with a computer, though this is not the most powerful desktops out there and its 4 GB of RAM may stagger a few applications. Rove also features 3 USB 3.0 ports, a headphone/microphone jack and a volume control rocker. There is an SD card slot, and just like an Apple iPad, it also has a button that lets you change the orientation of the display. There is no optical drive or Ethernet port. It has 1 Terabyte of storage using a hybrid drive that gives you a much higher speed than conventional ones. Stereo speakers with Beats Audio ensures that you get rich audio.
The 20-inch display is an HD+ display, with a 1600 x 900 LED resolution. The display has rich colours and sharp graphics. It also supports 10-point touch, and has Intel HD graphics to power all this. Rove does not have the most powerful graphics or processing capacity, but Windows 8 apps work seamlessly, and average day-to-day work is easily done on this machine. The advantages of a 20-inch tablet become evident here: you get a full-sized machine that can work as a desktop and convert to laptop mode for social and gaming applications. Also, just think of the space a desktop takes and the clunky UPS that it needs.
More Columns
World Diabetes Day Dr. Kriti Soni
An Emigrant’s Reflections on India and America Immpana Srri
The Ghost of Tipu Sultan Still Haunts India Shaan Kashyap