HP Envy Spectre XT

A Windows Ultrabook that is as good looking as a laptop gets

Don't think of me as shallow when I say this, but I love pretty little things. And one of the prettiest things I have come across in recent times is the MacBook Air. I didn't think I would see another laptop as pretty, till I saw the Spectre XT. It is thin, measuring 1.45 cm at the edge; and light, just 1.3 kg even with a 13.3 inch (34 cm) WXGA display.

And when you look beyond its looks, you find a Core i5 processor, 4 GB RAM and HDD or SSD for storage, depending on the configuration you go for. The machine is preloaded with Windows 7 Home Premium, and will soon be available with Windows 8.

As in the MacBook series, the Spectra XT is without an optical drive and has a host of expansion ports: USB 3.0 and 2.0, Ethernet, HDMI, charging port, an adapter connector with LED, combined audio-in (mic) and an audio out (headphone) jack. There is also a versatile multimedia card reader.

Once you open the lid, there is a riot of logos on the machine, not counting the big power button. I like how the machine is designed using mainly black and white colours, but I can't understand why HP had to spoil the machine's clean look with these logos all over the place.

The keyboard is well laid out, but could have been better. Some of the keys are way too big. But what I love about it is that even after you turn off its backlight, the key that enables the backlighting stays aglow.

HP says that the XT has an all-day battery, but mine could not give me more than six hours. It is not bad, but not 'all day' either.