You’ll find no built-in optical drive, either. If you want to plug in to a wired network, you must use a USB-to-ethernet dongle. The Core i3 processor in the HP Envy Rove delivers better battery life than the Core i7 in Sony’s Tap 20.Ĭonnectivity options are basic: You get three USB 3.0 ports (two on the left side, one on the right), a headphone/mic jack and volume-control rocker on the right side, and an SD Card slot. I also commend HP for providing the latest in fast Wi-Fi (802.11ac, which is backward-compatible with both 2.4GHz and 5GHz legacy standards). Still, I was happy not to have to deal with cables for these peripherals. HP provides a wireless mouse and keyboard that exemplify the quality level you’d expect from a midrange notebook: They’re certainly usable, but they have no particular design finesse. Beats-branded audio from speakers embedded in the bottom of the display is also decent. True, the 1600-by-900 resolution doesn’t look especially fine on the 20-inch screen, but its colors are crisp and bright, and the integrated 720p webcam produces acceptable if unremarkable video.
On the other hand, you don’t really need great number-crunching power in a general-purpose home computer, and the Envy Rove is perfectly up to the tasks it’s more likely to face: managing email, checking Facebook, watching YouTube videos, and calling friends on Skype. The HP Envy Rove’s Intel Core i3 processor limits its performance.
