As much as I love my Envy, and this looks really tits, I'm still dismayed that there is no Firewire. Why bundle any version of Adobe Premiere with it if you can't even capture video in the industry standard way?
By discrete graphics, do you mean a professional GPU for rendering, or does a gaming GPU count? The current Envy series right now comes with a Radeon GPU that is capable of handling BF3 and Skyrim. This will likely come with a next gen Radeon GPU.
Personally I mean a gaming-capable GPU on a consumer laptop. If this really does have a next-gen Radeon GPU then I'll eat my words, but the current spec list does not state GPU. Usually this means the manufacturer considers the Intel HD 3000 graphics "good enough" for that laptop's target market.
Firewire isn't really an industry standard when it comes to video capturing. It's more of a legacy thing, if anything. Hi-8 and Mini-DV were the kings of passing video data via FireWire (and greatly supported on Macintosh platforms as a front runner as well), but these days, Firewire 1394 just can't hold a card to the speeds of USB 3 or the alternatives. Most major digital camera manufacturers today are utilizing HDMI/SDI output unless otherwise stated (in the film space, anyways.)
Its a new Discrete Graphics card called ATI HD Radeon 6630 swichable graphics with 1GB of DDR3 Ram.
That's a new card? I've had a Dell with the 1GB 6630M switchable graphics solution since Q1 2011.
Frankly I've been quite impressed with it. If that's what the Spectre is going to feature, it will be a good solid laptop.
The only problem with the "switchable" graphics is that any utility that works from the desktop to auto-detect your GPU in order to update drivers (such as the driver update in Steam) doesn't recognize the Radeon, only the Intel HD.
//edit: I just tried the AMD auto-detect and it successfully detected my GPU. Unfortunately, the 64-Bit Catalyst suite won't install on the switchable. I get a "product incompatible" message.
Thanks for the suggestion, Tushon. The manufacturer download works just fine, only problem is the driver is six months out of date. Anyway, I don't want to hijack the thread...
I looked at the HP product page and the rest of the ENVY line seems to sport the 6630, but those PCs specifically mention the GPU. The ENVY Spectre does not, though I just noticed that the spec page has a tickler about ULV processors. It seems the ENVY Spectre might be trying to compete in the MacBook air segment, while the rest of the ENVY line competes with the MacBook Pro.
primesuspect
Beepin n' BoopinDetroit, MI Icrontian
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And this doesn't look like any of the ultrabooks out there. Heavier, chunkier, more ports. They're just trying to cash in on the latest craze.
Everyone else:
It's basically a Radeon 5670 desktop card with ~20% more shaders.
Frankly I've been quite impressed with it. If that's what the Spectre is going to feature, it will be a good solid laptop.
The only problem with the "switchable" graphics is that any utility that works from the desktop to auto-detect your GPU in order to update drivers (such as the driver update in Steam) doesn't recognize the Radeon, only the Intel HD.
//edit: I just tried the AMD auto-detect and it successfully detected my GPU. Unfortunately, the 64-Bit Catalyst suite won't install on the switchable. I get a "product incompatible" message.
I looked at the HP product page and the rest of the ENVY line seems to sport the 6630, but those PCs specifically mention the GPU. The ENVY Spectre does not, though I just noticed that the spec page has a tickler about ULV processors. It seems the ENVY Spectre might be trying to compete in the MacBook air segment, while the rest of the ENVY line competes with the MacBook Pro.