For the past few years these high end notebooks had an edge on the original MacBook Air in terms of specs and were competitive on pricing, but after the MacBook Air refresh last year they lost an edge on pricing as well as weight and thickness. And, as it turns out, many users looking for an ultraportable are willing to use a slower Core 2 Duo processor if it means they get an all day battery and an incredibly small form factor.

Why MacBook Air Competitors Can’t Compete

High Power, High prices: The current MacBook Air is succeeding in part due to the great balance of price and power. While the older competitors chose to try and beat the original MacBook Air in the Specs department, this also meant that they couldn’t compete as well on price — and even less so when the new MacBook Air models came out with lower starting prices.

Apple Store – Ping Ping on Flickr

No Retail Presence: It turns out that the lack of a retail presence isn’t just leading to higher tablet prices, it’s hurting the ability for ultraportables from Dell and HP to gain traction. If you can find someone with an ENVY 13 or a Dell Adamo, go take a look at the notebooks. They are really nice looking machines, that product photos can’t do justice. Similarly the image of the MacBook Air are nice looking, but don’t do the machine justice.

Now remember the first time you saw a MacBook Air in person at retail or at a coffee shop? Being able to see how thin it really is, is important to the buying process. Because HP and Dell don’t have retail locations and you couldn’t find the Envy 13 or Adamo in Best Buy, there was really no way to get a look at the notebooks, which is pretty much essential to developing an appreciation for their key features.

Niche Products: As it turns out the market for incredibly powerful ultraportables is small. No, like really small. Apple showed users what can be accomplished with a fast SSD and an older processor and it turns out, that’s enough power for many users that want a truly thin and light ultraportable notebook. Apple has positioned the Air as not only entry-level Mac, but also an entry-level ultraportable.

Best Buy – jiazi on Flickr

Market Demands of Average Consumers: Most shoppers are looking for a larger 15.6″ notebook or a small netbook, which means that there aren’t a lot of ultraportable 13″ or 14″ notebooks on the shelves in retail. Unfortunately for consumers looking for something more, the market responds to the demands of users and buying habits have made it clear that large low resolution notebooks are what they want. Hopefully the MacBook Air and new thin and light notebooks will spark a desire for something more.

The Future of MacBook Air Competitors: So, what’s a PC maker to do? Go thin and light in 2011. The good news is that from the looks of it pretty much every major manufacturer is planning a thin and light notebook this year from Acer, Asus and Lenovo to Dell and HP. We’ll have to wait and see if these companies can get to market before the next MacBook Air models arrive and if they can compete on price.

4 Reasons MacBook Air Competitors Can’t Compete: Envy 13, XPS 14 Axed is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

The HP ENVY 13 is officially gone from the HP online store, a move we have seen coming for several months now. The HP Envy 13 was pegged to take a final shutdown back in May when HP introduced the HP ENVY 14 and HP Envy 17 notebooks but we weren’t expecting the HP ENVY 15 to say goodbye as well, which it did in the past few weeks.

You can still find the HP ENVY 13 or HP ENVY 15 in some stores, but they are no longer showing up on the HP website.

Also missing is the high res Radiance screen option on the HP ENVY 14 which provided a 1600 x 900 resolution workspace. We noticed that the Radiance display wasn’t a part of the HP Envy 14 Beats edition, but assumed it was just a quirk of the special edition, but sadly it seems that it is another victim of “clueless consumers”.

Given that Apple has finally opted for a decent resolution display on the company’s smaller notebooks will more manufacturers and consumers wake up to the joy of a high-res display or will it still be a luxury that we pay for dearly with each new notebook purchase.

HP ENVY 13 and Envy 15 Disappear, Envy 14 Loses Radiance High Res Display is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

The HP ENVY 13 debuted in September of 2009 and caught many eyes for its MacBook Pro like looks, its amazing screen (as in Wow Amazing!), the ability to run for 18 hours with a second slice battery and all metal design. Combine all of this in a beautiful small form factor designed to put use Windows 7 to the full potential and you can consider me interested. It didn’t hurt that in addition to having a beautiful display it offered a 1366 x 768 resolution; something Apple still hasn’t managed to include in the 13″ MacBook Pro.

Unfortunately, while it did offer some amazing features and a brilliant display, the price may have proven too much for many users. When I shared my envy of ENVY owners several of my friends, diehard Windows users, suggested that at $1499, I simply buy a MacBook Pro and put Windows 7 on it. It wouldn’t surprise me if many users made that move when comparing the costs, but I couldn’t help but be excited by a manufacturer paying attention to practical design elements.

I’m excited to see that the ENVY line is still going strong with a small refresh to the HP ENVY 15 and the introduction of the HP ENVY 14 and HP ENVY 17 notebooks. The HP ENVY 13 is still available for sale, but don’t expect to see it receiving upgrades or on store shelves for long.

While you mourn the loss of the HP ENVY 13, check out the video of its cheaper brother, the HP ENVY 14 below.

HP ENVY 13 Cancelled: A Look Back is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

The team’s car races at speeds of up to 220 mph. With the car traveling the length of a football field every second, it’s incredibly important for the crew and driver to understand exactly what’s happening in real time. During races, crew members gather around a car with several HP Envy 13 notebooks and external displays. They can see exactly what’s going on with the car so they can advise the driver to make adjustments and figure out what to tweak on his next pit stop.

I met up with de Ferran and Hamilton in Los Angeles yesterday and got the rundown on exactly how important PCs are to their team.

HP Envy 13 Notebooks Aid IndyCar Race Team is a post by Xavier Lanier from Notebooks.com.

The HP Envy 13 is a premium notebook which comes with Magnesium alloy casing (metal) chassis, Intel Core 2 duo processor, 3 GB RAM, ATI HD 4330 Graphics card, Windows 7 Home premium 64 bit, 250 GB Hard Drive and only a thickness of only 0.8”. This ultra portable laptop is very handy for traveling and can run up to 18 hours on single charge with the extended slice battery.

HP Envy 13 base configuration starts at $1499.99, recommended configuration starts at $2,219.98 and the quick ship model (ready to ship model, not configurable) is available for $1,899.99. Please visit HPDirect.com to get this deal.

HP ENVY 13 Series Specification:

Deal: HP Envy 13 for $1499.99 at HPDirect.com is a post by Rajesh from Notebooks.com.

The $1,299 configuration of the Envy 15 comes with an Intel Core i7 -720QM processor, 4GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5830 graphics. Adding an external DVD burner pushes the price up to $1,499 for HP’s recommended configuration. Features like the external Blu-ray drive, SSDs and 8GB of RAM can push the price of the Envy 15 back up above the $2,000 range.

The HP Envy 13 now starts at $1,499 after a $300 markdown from its original MSRP.

This aggressive markdown appears to be permanent rather than a sale or limited-time discount.

HP Envy 15 Now Starts at $1,299, Envy 13 Slashed by $300 is a post by Xavier Lanier from Notebooks.com.

For the most part he is sharing the experience through posts at GottaBeMobile with reports on airplane seats made for geeks and how he uses the HP Envy 13 to get work done and even play Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 while out on a wedding shopping excursion.

Xavier, an avid photographer, has also been taking plenty of photos during his trip and recently shared many of them in a 5 minute music video which he created on the HP Envy in just 15 minutes using Muvee. You can watch “My time in Mumbai So Far” on Facebook and personally I’m blown away that you can create a music video like that with photos in 15 minutes. It blows a traditional slideshow out of the water!

If you want a chance to win your own HP Envy 13″ Notebook they are giving one away at the Wheel of Questions.

Here’s Xavier reporting from the street, literally, and you can hear a bit more about his trip and the technology he has with him.

Going Mobile in India – Xavier Tests the HP Envy 13 on the Road is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

The DJ was using an HP Envy 15, an application called Tracktor Scratch Pro and Beats by Dre headphones as part of his setup.

What’s nice about the HP Envy 15 is that it has a 1920 x 1080 pixel display, which means it has plenty of room for application, toolbars, and windows. Most 15-inch notebooks have much lower display resolutions, which makes it tough to work on some creative applications.

The HP Envy 15 definitely looks at home in a nightclub-the DJ told me he’s enjoyed using it over the past several weeks. One thing that’s sorely lacking from the Envy 15, and Envy 13 for that matter, is a backlit keyboard. It would add to the functionality of the notebooks and make them appear a little more luxurious.

Partying with the HP Envy 15 is a post by Xavier Lanier from Notebooks.com.

The Envy 13′s design has little in common with the rest of HP’s consumer lineup. I got to see the Envy 13 on a couple of occasions and can assure you this thing looks even more impressive in person than it does online. It looks and feels like a fine piece of machinery.

The Envy 13 comes standard with a single four-cell battery. A six-cell battery slice attaches to the bottom of the Envy 13. The slice battery is nearly seamless and allows for all-day computing and then some. The slice battery design is a concept borrowed from HP’s 2710p tablet.

The ENVY 13 is equipped with a superior display which provides a richer visual experience when compared to standard notebooks. This notebook is powered by an  Intel Core 2 Duo SL9400 processor and comes with 3GB of RAM. The HP ENVY 13 is equipped with ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4330 graphics. When the notebook becomes available in October, it’ll ship with Windows 7 Home Premium pre-installed.

The Envy 13 weighs just over five pounds. It’s highly portable, but far from the lightest 13″ notebook. It’s pretty thin though and most users should be able to easily tote it around all day.

At $1,699 and up it’ll be tough for most users to justify buying an Envy 13, but those lucky enough to buy one will have fun showing it off. Here are a few photos I took at an HP event a couple of weeks ago:

It’s easy to compare the Envy 13′s metallic case and dimensions to a MacBook Pro or MacBook Air. The Envy 13 does not have a uni-body design like the Dell Adamo and current MacBooks, but it feels extremely rigged. In fact, I prefer how robust it feels.

This is how the Envy 13 looks with the extended battery installed. It’s the black slice that looks like part of the notebook.

The Envy 13′s ports are easil accessible and not hidden beneath an overhang. Notice how there’s a flat face around the ports. The port on the far right is HDMI, which can be used to hook the Envy 13 up to a TV or external monitor.

The shiny silver slice beneath the HP Envy 13 at an angle is the optional six-cell battery. It is very thin and doesn’t add a whole lot of weight to the package.

HP ENVY 13 Photos and Specs is a post by Xavier Lanier from Notebooks.com.