3D Notebook can make you the envy of the crowd!

Welcome to your first 3D Christmas. Just when you finally have that great HDTV setup rocking in your media room, you get nailed with the sword of inadequacy because HD isn’t good enough — no, 3D is what all the cool kids are playing with.

While there really isn’t nearly enough 3D content yet to justify the cost nor the humiliation of wearing 3D glasses in public, there are some 3D options that are worth considering. If you’re interested, and want to dip your toe in the 3D world without breaking the bank or choosing the wrong technology horse, you should have a gander at the the new line of 3D notebooks on the market led by HP with the Envy.

The top of the line, HP multimedia notebook comes with a 3D display that uses AMD’s active shutter technology. It is the bee’s knees for watching high definition and blu-ray videos and games. It has been dubbed as a monster entertainment machine, but you can still button down and do real work on it as well. It may be that guilty pleasure notebook you can slip by the spouse-boss, who thinks you are getting a real computer to work with, when in fact you are all about the fun.

The new Envy has a 17 inch display in full HD with 1920×1080 resolution. Users can enjoy excellent graphics edit photos, videos and work on graphic intensive projects with its streamlined interface. It has a 3D Ultra Bright View display, AMD technology and Active shutter glasses. This notebook uses wireless powered glasses to achieve a 3D effect, making it more real compared to the regular polarized glasses being used by some 3D laptops.

Active shutter is a way cool take on 3D technology where the display and glasses work together to cycle through the colour spectrum producing far superior 3D imagery.

The downside is the glasses are matched to the system, and are somewhat more cumbersome as there has to be connectivity between the 3D glasses and the player — in this case the notebook. The results though are outstanding; not necessarily the answer to 3D in the media room, but as a personal player or game platform the Envy will make you the envy of your friends.

The notebook also features an Intel Core i7 processor, able to process normal business applications, HD videos and graphic intensive games with no sluggishness whatsoever. Emailing, Skyping and other multi-media functions should be no problem whatsoever.

It features a backlit keyboard, which allows users to work in the dark without straining their eyes to see which keys to press on. The Envy also boasts of an HD low light webcam and the Beats Audio feature completes the 3d experience with superior sound.

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3D does not come without at least some impact on the old credit card, however. The Envy comes with a 2-year warranty and retails for C$1,999.99.

I am not sure if I am ready to don those 3D glasses while sipping a caramel macchiato at Starbucks, but in the privacy of my office, bring on the Envy!

Steve Dotto is Canada’s most respected geek. For over 15 years, as host and executive producer of Dotto Tech, a nationally syndicated TV show, Steve has entertained and educated millions of Canadians on all aspects of technology. Steve has a passion for understanding the social impact of technology. His DVD Cybersafe with Steve Dotto , teaches parents and caregivers about the opportunities, dangers and challenges of social networking.