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HP joins the tabletop PC club with the Envy Rove 20

An all-in-one that folds down flat, the Rove 20 most closely resembles the similarly named Sony Vaio Tap 20.

Dan Ackerman Editorial Director / Computers and Gaming
Dan Ackerman leads CNET's coverage of computers and gaming hardware. A New York native and former radio DJ, he's also a regular TV talking head and the author of "The Tetris Effect" (Hachette/PublicAffairs), a non-fiction gaming and business history book that has earned rave reviews from the New York Times, Fortune, LA Review of Books, and many other publications. "Upends the standard Silicon Valley, Steve Jobs/Mark Zuckerberg technology-creation myth... the story shines." -- The New York Times
Expertise I've been testing and reviewing computer and gaming hardware for over 20 years, covering every console launch since the Dreamcast and every MacBook...ever. Credentials
  • Author of the award-winning, NY Times-reviewed nonfiction book The Tetris Effect; Longtime consumer technology expert for CBS Mornings
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Dan Ackerman
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HP is joining the small circle of PC makers getting into the tabletop PC business with the just-announced Envy Rove 20. Calling something a tabletop PC is our shorthand for a large tablet or all-in-one that can fold down flat, and to date, we've seen versions from Dell, Sony, Asus, and Lenovo, with screens between 18 inches and 27 inches in size.

The new Rove 20 from HP most closely resembles the Sony Vaio Tap 20. Both are 20-inch designs, and both use a built-in kickstand that folds into the chassis, rather than having a display that detaches from a base (as in the case of the Dell XPS 18). Like the Tap 20, the Rove 20 is heavy, nearly 12 pounds, and too thick for anything but occasional lugging around the house.

HP says this new model will include WiDi for sending video signals to compatible external displays, Beats-branded audio, and 802.11ac Wi-Fi. Details beyond that are not yet available, as the Rove 20 is expected to have Intel's not-yet-announced next-gen Haswell processors. The system should ship sometime in July, and HP says it'll start at under $1,000.

A rear view of the Rove 20. CNET/Dan Ackerman

The Rove is part of a summertime update to many HP systems, including the Envy 14, 15, and 17. More interesting is the HP Pavilion 11 TouchSmart, an 11-inch semi-sequel to one of our favorite laptops, the low-cost, AMD-powered HP dm1.

With HP joining the tabletop PC club, the mini-genre is getting a serious shot in the arm. To date, the Dell XPS 18 has been our favorite for flexibility, with a lighter, but slightly smaller, screen; and the Lenovo Horizon was well-liked for its ambitious larger size, clever tabletop gaming accessories, and custom software interface. Check out the current lineup of tabletop PCs here.