Considering a new HP Envy 17, questions

I'm looking for a school laptop (no gaming) of similar build quality to a macbook 17. The Envy's found itself on my rather short list, but first I have some questions to consider itself amongst my other candidates.

1. Can I disable the discrete GPU and use only the integrated to preserve battery life?

2. If (yes) to (1), how long does the battery last on internet use with medium brightness on with discrete GPU disabled?

3. I read that the Envy 17 will have the 7690M XT, as opposed to the Envy 15 which only has the 7690M. However, on the build configurator, I only see a regular 7690M. If I order a custom build today, will I get an XT or regular?

Thanks
Bernard

 

I can answer only the first question. Yes, you can switch. I've set mine up to switch automatically when the plug is removed.

 

I had the Envy 17 3D which is rated at around 5 hours, I could get 4 hours at medium settings with discrete gpu disabled and about 6 hours when surfing the internet on power save mode and discrete gpu disabled. The Envy 17 non-3D is rated at 7 hours, so I would say 5-6 hours on medium settings with discrete gpu disabled as my estimate.

Every time you unplugged the laptop, it ask you if you wish to disable/switch the graphics (turn off discrete gpu ). You can also right click the desktop and go into switchable graphics portion of AMD Catalyst and change it there. Overall pretty easy and allowed a lot of direct control.

I don't honestly know the difference in performance between the 7690m and 7690m XT, but my 17 3D came with the 7690m XT. HP's site isn't always the most accurate for information, seems marketing people who do the website don't directly communicate with the product development groups always.

Either way, the 7690m and 7690m XT are both pretty good gpus unless you want to play the newest games at this time with really high frame rates.. It is a very capable medium end gpu

 

If you're not going to game or otherwise use 3D intensive applications or rendering, then I suggest going to a more compact Envy choice like the Envy 14.

Anyways, the Envy 17 has a medium battery life, you can use the discrete graphics to increase it, but I suggest buying the 9-cell battery, because it both adds cooling when you need it and increases the battery life by a lot.

I don't own a 3rd gen Envy to know how the 7690M XT works, but I have read about it and seems to be good. It's also a relatively new graphics card so you know you are with today's standards.

 

Not sure on your questions but I will tell you I own 3 of the Envy's.
All I can say is go with the Solid State its so much faster than all other's put together. I wont ever go back now to a spinning hard drive. They are all obsolete in my eyes. That's if time is money to you. If you have time then by all means go for the old hdd system.

The 14 inch with the thin extra battery is nice but heavy. Its lightening fast and all mine were special order and it takes at least 14 days for them to make in China. After all thats where they make the quality computors now!

Order a good quality bag maybe a Alienware 14" computor bag. All of its hinges are made of steel. If you ever drop one of these cause the hinges that connect the shoulder strap breaks cause its made of cheap plastic well more than likely you just ruined you new laptop.
My new 173D 300GB SSD out performs all of my other OLD HDD style computors that why I am selling them all! I just sold my Alienware!


Envy 17 3D - 17t-2000- i7-2820QM/ HD6850M/ 16gb ram / 2TB 5400rpm HDD/ Radiance screen/ Win 7 Ultimate
Envy 14 Beats Ed -14t-2000 - i7-2820QM/ HD6630/ 16gb ram/ 128gb SSD + 750GB 7200rpm HDD/ Win 7 Ultimate/ Slice battery
Envy 17 3D - 17t-3000- i7-2860QM/ 1GB AMD Radeon HDMI / 16gb ram / 300GB SSD + 1TB 7200rpm HDD/ Win 7 Ultimate

 

Gluggo, it says in your siggy that you're using a combination of an HDD and an SSD in your newest notebook. Seems you've found a use for something that's "obsolete." IMHO, an HDD won't be obsolete -- or, better yet, obsolescent since I am sure HDDs will still outnumber SSDs for a while -- until higher-capacity SSDs are produced in greater volume and at lower prices.

That said, do you plan to keep your old Envy 17 3D? If so, what use have you found for it? I started to keep mine but just accepted that it was largely going to end up collecting dust. Frankly, it's too good for that.

 

First of all your absolutly correct I should of clairify that I was refering to the OS hard drive. In my obsolete HP Envy 3D I will be attempting to upgrade the computor with a new Intel 320 - 300 GB SSD Drive that I bought on E-Bay. I just posted the link here. I will say that this SSD Drive retails for $ 530.00 to $ 560.00 depending. I think I won the bid at $360.00. Once I get the obsolete (joking of course) 17-3D laptop with the new SSD I am hoping it will perform like the stock one!

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-envy-hdx/640516-hp173d-17t-2000-want-upgrade-300gb-ssd.html


Envy 17 3D - 17t-2000- i7-2820QM/ HD6850M/ 16gb ram / 2TB 5400rpm HDD/ Radiance screen/ Win 7 Ultimate
Envy 14 Beats Ed -14t-2000 - i7-2820QM/ HD6630/ 16gb ram/ 128gb SSD + 750GB 7200rpm HDD/ Win 7 Ultimate/ Slice battery
Envy 17 3D - 17t-3000- i7-2860QM/ 1GB AMD Radeon HDMI / 16gb ram / 300GB SSD + 1TB 7200rpm HDD/ Win 7 Ultimate

 

Cool, but what use will the old one have for you? How will you get good use of two Envy 17s? I could use another laptop, but an ultrabook would make sense. At least an ultraportable. Then I'd have a tablet, something more capable and comfortable to use that I could justify carrying around a large city as I traipse and the powerhouse for home use and trips when I have my car. Two Envy 17s don't give me any more options, though, so I am selling the last one.

 

One for work
One for home
and the 14" for travel!
Its that simple!

Ohh I see your in the big city, I'm in the small town all outdoor's. Our city has only 3 trafic light and 5 feet of snow!

 

ROFLMBO @ three traffic lights and 5 feet of snow.

I can't see myself leaving a laptop where I work. You must have your own enclosed office. I have a cubicle.