ENVY 14 Beats Edition 1st & 2nd Gen Comparison

Having own 4 ENVY 14-1200 series i5 and i7s, and one ENVY 14-2000 series i7, allow me to do a comparison between the different series.

1200 series i5 specifications:
HP 1436, Intel Core i5-460M, 2GB 1333MHz RAM, AMD Radeon 5650M 1GB, 500GB 7K500, Broadcom 43224AG N.

1200 series i7 specifications:
HP 1437, Intel Core i7-740QM, 6GB 1333MHz RAM, AMD Radeon 5650M 1GB, 500GB Seagate 7200.4, Broadcom 43224AG N.

2000 series i7 specifications:
HP 3385, Intel Core i7-2630QM, 8GB 1333MHz RAM, AMD Radeon 5650M 1GB, 750GB 7K750, Intel Centrino 6230 Advanced N.

Packaging and Accessories
All I can say is that the 2000 series skimp on packaging. SD card is missing and the instruction manual is now thinner.

The AC adapter - slim 90W - is wider than the previous 1200 series adapter, while maintaining the same length. As a result, it is heavier.

Battery is now a Samsung made in Korea 59Whr on the 2000 series, while the 1200 series has had different 56WHr and 59Whr batteries from a Taiwan company.

FYI: There are three DIFFERENT types of RM08 battery circulating for the ENVY14:
59WHr 3800mah from taiwan company (for first few batches of ENVY14 1st gen)
56WHr 3760mah from the same Taiwan company (from Jan 2011 to May 2011 ENVY14 1st gen)
59WHr 3800mah from Samsung (Last few batches of ENVY14 1st gen and the current 2nd gen ENVY14)

Build Quality and Appearance
The external appearance is almost the same for both series, save for the black trim on the 2000 series.

While the 1200 series I received is plagued with build quality issues, the same can be said for the 2000 series I just received.

Both 1200 and 2000 series has uneven keyboard backlight.
Both 1200 and 2000 series has keyboard flex at the areas around P and W.
Both 1200 and 2000 series has tiny areas where it is unpainted.

The lid is very loose on the 2000 series; where I could not open the lid with one hand on my 1200 series, I can with this 2000 series.

The worst is that the 2000 series is likely to be using a thinner sheet of aluminium since the lid is no longer as strong as that on 1200 series; it can be depressed quite a bit. Consumers considering the 2000 series may wish to take note of this.

Graphics
The 1200 series used AMD Radeon 5650M graphics whereas the 2000 series has AMD Radeon 6630M which is about 1-10% better.

The 1200 series was using switchable graphics which allow the user complete control over the selection of GPU to use. Although the Sandy Bridge 2000 series was advertised to have switchable graphics, it does not. Instead AMD Dynamic Switching is implemented, which is undesirable due to OpenGL issues found on the DV6-6100 series.

Heat
Since the same chassis and heatsink is used, the higher amount of heat generated spells trouble for the 2000 series. As a result, 1200 series i7 quad is cooler than 2000 series i7 quad under stress load.

Under Intel Burn Test
1200 i7-740QM: 85C max
2000 i7-2630QM: 95C max with some evidence of throttling.

EDIT: Chipset Clock Modulation to 25% when both CPU and GPU are stressed.
Conversely 2000 series i7 quad is cooler under idle.

Audio
The same IDT 92HD81B1X is deployed in both series, with audio improvement in 2000 series coming from the drivers.
2000 series has better sound quality than 1200 series, but BOTH has audio stuttering due to high DPC latency.




Beats Control panel
2000 series has a revised version of IDT control panel found on the DV6 Sandy Bridge. This version can allow significantly more tweaking as shown in picture below.





Speakers:
2000 series louder than 1200 series by almost twice (from my perception).

Clickpad
The 2000 series used a Synaptics ClickPad IS Series 3 which is much improved over the Series 1.5 used in the 1200 series.

Series 3 supports click anywhere like the trackpad found on the Macbook Pro. The trackpad on the 2000 series has a protruding line which is seen on some 1200 series I had.

Screen
Both 1200 and 2000 series share the same screen from manufacturers Samsung and LG. Hence the screen quality is likely to be the same.

Screens used in the ENVY 14 series
LG Display LP145WH1-TLB1 LGD02B6
Samsung Display SEC4254

The radiance sadly has never been an option for the Beats Edition.

Ports and Component Selection
The 2000 series is using a revised Intel B3 HM65 chipset, which eliminates the flaw found on earlier Intel B2 Sandy Bridge chipsets

The 2000 series has sacrificed a combo USB/eSATA port on the right for a USB3. The Renesas Electronics USB3 port is unusable until a driver is installed.

The DVD Supermulti Drive is interchangeably used between the 2000 and 1200 series. The drive models are hp DVD RAM UJ897 and hp DVD RAM GS20N.

The additional mSATA/WWAN port is no longer soldered on the 2000 series, so if you want to add a mSATA SSD, you will have to have it factory-installed.

Networking wise, the Realtek LAN on the 1200 series has been replaced by a Atheros AR8151 LAN controller. The under-performing Broadcom 43224AG N adapter on the 1200 series has been substituted by an Intel® Centrino® Advanced-N 6230 adapter which has better range and signal strength as observed using InSSIDer 2.0.

Conclusion
The ENVY 14-2000 series is not worth the price, if you already own one of the 1x00 series models. The DV6t quad edition is a better buy specifications wise.

The pros:
Good sound quality
Substantially better speakers
Improved clickpad

The cons:
Heat issues especially with Intel i7 Quad cores, resulting in throttling and reduced performance.
Audible clicks and pops with some audio stuttering as before
Poor build quality with keyboard flex
Uneven keyboard backlight
Dismal screen like before
Cost cutting measures on packaging and accessories

 

cool comparison I have the 1200 beats and the only feature that would make me regret the purchase is a better screen in the 2000s but for now the first gen core i are enough for me.

 

I checked out my friend's SB Envy 14 Beats, and I have to disagree with a few of your points (I'm looking at buying a regular SB Envy 14, so hopefully I've done my homework and have my stuff right )

Are there really heat issues? I've heard of an occasional throttling issue with the SB i7, but I thought heat altogether was better due to SB processors being more efficient? Also, my friend noted that his i7 Envy runs incredibly cool, although I guess it's not a fair test as it hasn't been put under all the rigor.

The keyboard seemed great to me. Also, I wouldn't deem "keyboard flex" as "bad build quality." I personally think keyboard flex is thrown way out of proportion because most keyboard flex requires pressing the keys down way harder than normal typing. The flex on the lid did bother me, so that's pretty viable. It didn't feel "weak" per se, but it didn't feel as solid as I would have liked.

Man, I really hope I didn't come off as harsh or critical--I thought I did my first time typing this up . This is a nice comparison, but for the sake of those deciding between a first-gen Envy and a SB Envy (me about a month ago lol), I wanna try to clear up some issues.

 

I have the first gen i7. I bought it about a month before SB came out. I'd say what he says is about right. Any weak points on the first gen seem the basically carry over the the 2nd. I can run it on high performance playing some older games and temps are reasonable. I also have an envy 17 SB i7. Both under the same kind of stress seem to be within a few degrees of each other.

The one thing I would like is switchable graphics for my i7. I'd say the main point was that if you have a previous gen 14 then there's no real reason to upgrade, unless the marginal performance boost is absolutely necessary for you. I enjoy mind and am not kicking myself for getting it before the refresh.

It's late I wonder how coherent this is.

 

I am speaking based on my experience with the 5 ENVY14s I've had.

Heat- Probably because I live in a tropical country where the ambient is 30-35C all year round, so it's quite possible that the overheating is occurring since my ENVY experiences thermal throttling from 90C upwards; it is very apparent if you do a stress test and monitor with Throttlestop. Then again, the Turbo Boost 2.0 is the main contributor of heat; you have the best idles and worst load temperatures.

The keyboard on the 2000 series is the worst among all 5 ENVY14s I've had; uneven backlight, could be depressed quite a bit more than those in the 1st gen.(I believe the factory did not install it tight enough or the thickness of metal is reduced)

The reason why I mention bad build quality was that the bottom panels were quite loose and the screen hinges were loose, with the screen tilted at angle to the horizontal plane (meaning the left hinge is slightly higher than the right hinge)

Anyway this unit has some dead pixels and dust embedded in between the screen and plastic, which I've raised with my case manager.

 

Updated first post

 

I do sense a little bias...but a overall a deliberately detailed comparison

 

Also I saw videos of the new SB Beats models...didn't they d away with the chrome band around the base of the laptop?

 

I have first gen beats edition with black metal around the laptop instead of chrome

 

The laptop plastic E2E LCD developed a crack two days after the review was done and multiple issues. Sent back to HP for DOA...

 

is msata possible on the 1st gen envy14 with mini-pcie slot?