HP Launches $2,299 Dr Dre Music Notebook

News
By Jane McEntegart
published

HP has announced the limited edition Envy 15 Beats, a music notebook that is the product of a collaboration with Dr Dre and Beats co-founder Jimmy Iovine.

Back in August we reported on rumors that said Dr Dre and Iovine were expanding their Beats line of headphones to include HP-brand laptops dedicated to delivering only the best in high quality sound. While there was no confirmation at the time, HP Friday unveiled a new notebook in its Envy line that is aimed at DJs and music lovers.

“When Dre and I got together on Beats, it was about an idea which was to improve the transmission of sound between the record makers and the consumers,” said Iovine in a statement. “We realized that with the digital revolution, what went terribly wrong was the degradation of sound, which is the heartbeat of music. We found that most PCs downgrade sound to unacceptable levels and when you reduce it further to a limited platform, like an mp3, the music doesn’t stand a chance.

Aside from some vague details about a specially tuned Beats audio system, HP hasn't provided much in the way of details for the notebook. The company has said it will pack Intel's Core i7 and ship with a pair of Beats over-the-ear headphones and Native Instruments' Traktor LE software. Customers have a choice of two 15.6-inch HP BrightView high-resolution LED backlit displays, and HP claims the laptop can run up to seven hours on one charge.

Availability is set for Windows 7 Day (October 22) with a nice $2,299 price tag.

Check out the Envy 15 Beats site for more or less the same information you see here. We can only assume HP will add more info as the release date draws nearer.

*Image via Slashgear

Jane McEntegart
22 Comments Comment from the forums
  • doomtomb
    Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine continue to fight the war on degrading sound quality by introducing $2300 laptops. Such a noble fight.... >_>
    Reply
  • hellwig
    I think music producers seriously underestimate the hearing of the average person. Anyone who thinks a 320-kbit MP3 is a reduced platform for music either works in the music industry or spends too much time listening to music.

    Sure, I want my music to sound good, but anyone who walks around listening to Dr. Dre thinking "man, I really could have used a little more on the high-end there when he was talking about beating down hoes" has their head up their ass.
    Reply
  • hellwig
    Damnit, I meant to say overestimate. I know I don't hear that well.
    Reply
  • r0x0r
    Right, now all we need is for online music stores to offer us DRM-free 1441kbps .wav as well.
    Reply
  • Honis
    seven hours on one charge
    Must be intel gfx too. That sound card better not be a sound blaster with "custom" drivers. You think Creatives driver support is bad for its regular drivers...
    Reply
  • SAL-e
    Anyone who describes the quality of the audio equipment with terms: "Warm", "full", "pleasing", and etc without providing technical data like frequency range, THD (Total Harmonic Distortion), frequency response, sensitivity and Dynamic range is simply crook.
    Just couple of facts:
    1. 80% of the people older then 18 years CAN NOT hear frequency higher then 17 kHz and lower then 40 Hz.
    2. The human ear CAN NOT distinguish level differences lower then 3dB.
    3. The humans practically can not locate correctly the vertical position of the sound.
    4. The humans locate the source of the sound based on were it come first not by its level.

    So if you have $2300 to give it to HP and Dr. Dre go ahead. You are welcome. If you smart will save your money and ask HP to release the specification sheet and find independent laboratory to test it. There is big difference between intended specs and resulting one after compromises are made to reduce the cost during manufacturing.
    Reply
  • sdcaliceli
    HonisMust be intel gfx too. That sound card better not be a sound blaster with "custom" drivers. You think Creatives driver support is bad for its regular drivers...
    The original HP Envy 15 is slated to come with an ATI Mobility HD4830. What I don't like about the "seven hours on one charge" claim is that they don't mention the "slim fit" battery attachment that gets added on to this thing to make it last that long.
    Otherwise, the concept for the laptop is great. Clone a macbook pro body in magnesium and slap a core-i7 w/ windows 7 into it and you've got a laptop that is worthy of carrying the name Envy. I just wish that Voodoo actually had a hand in the making of this thing. If the price were lower, I'd be all over this.
    Reply
  • wildwell
    So.... can it run Pro Tools? :)
    Reply
  • soul555top
    I am all for having better sound quality, but I still think mp3 is great in terms of file size to sound quality. I think Dre is a very talented artist, however his lyrics, much scrutinized at times, are not his strong point. He is a talented producer which doesn't only mean great beats, but high production value. The problem here, is that HP is garbage. I was at Best Buy last night and saw the Dre headphones, not only was the sound quality average, but they felt like cheap $40 Logitech headphones. They also weren't very comfortable. At home when I am on headphones, I use the Bose tri-port over the ears, and while I am not a Bose fanboy, I love them and would only replace them with the same model. Considering they are half the price (has anyone ever said that about Bose??) I just don't see a point of this Beats line.

    In all honesty, I dont care who makes, who sells, or who's name is on the headphones. They need to sound great, be comfortable, and look decent. The Dre ones don't achieve that on any level. I am going to assume that laptop is in a similar place.
    Reply
  • hannibal
    Hmmm... MP3 is great for jogging and car, but with Hifi system you can tell the difference to original. But can you get Hifi quality sound from notebook?
    All in all, you have to "learn" to hear the differences. They are there but they are guite difficult to find out without some experience, so it's true that in most normal cases 320bit mp3 is good enough!
    You need very quiet environment, very high end system and you need to switch between the original and mp3 version on fly. Allso acustic instruments are needed. In electronic music it's much harder to find out, but not impossible.
    Reply