ENVY 14 SB or DV6TQE Loaded?

I briefly brought this up in the Envy refresh thread, but I just got an offer from HP:

After a long struggle with HP to get my original Envy 14 fixed, I've just been offered the following computer: (edit: just realized he sent me a select edition...i'm going to see if I can get the 2620qm quad edition)

DV6t
dark umber
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
2nd generation Intel(R) Dual Core(TM) i7-2620M (2.7GHz, 4MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 3.4 GHz
1GB GDDR5 Radeon(TM) HD 6490M Graphics [HDMI, VGA]
FREE Upgrade to 6GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
750GB 7200RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
No Additional Office Software
No additional security software
30% OFF! 9-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery (over-sized) - Up to 9.75 hours of battery life +++
15.6" diagonal Full HD HP Anti-glare LED Display (1920 x 1080)
SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
HP TrueVision HD Webcam with Integrated Digital Microphone and HP SimplePass Fingerprint Reader
Intel 802.11b/g/n WLAN with Wireless Display Support
Standard Keyboard with numeric keypad
HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope

Would you guys recommend waiting for the Envy Sandy Bridge refresh or go with this? any current dv6t owners have any thoughts?

Thanks

 

see if you can bump it up to the quad edition. My Dv6tqe just came in last monday and i love most of it. the 1080p is beautiful and also it has a good anti glare display. my sisters current envy (not SB) screen is like a mirror.
i think you should try to get quad edition and ask if they can bump it up to the 6770m graphics.! your going to get good battery life with that 9 cell battery

 

if you are gaming and do not care about having a slightly bigger laptop with a slightly lower build quiality, take the dv6 with 1080p screen and radeon 6770.
A quad i7 would be nice but is not as critical as the 6770 and 1080p screen

 

I just sent my rep and email and asked him to bump up to the 2720QM, 8gb ram, and blu ray.

It may sound a bit greedy and overreaching, but i've been without a working computer because of HP (long story) for 2 months now. i've been thrown around from rep to rep, without an ounce of sympathy...so i've pretty much had it haha.

i'm not a huge gamer, but the reason i'm leaning toward the dv6t is simply because of the screen. i don't think that the build quality and size will be too much of a difference for me, so i can handle that. it's really a shame, because i loved my old envy, and would get the new one in a heartbeat if they offered a higher resolution screen.

 

i'm in the same boat as you are. i currently have a dv6tqe, but i'm having switchable graphics issues, so i'm sending it back for sure. what i do, however, is what i'm not sure about. the dv6tqe has GREAT specs for the money, and the battery life is better than i expected. however, i'm looking for a college laptop, and now i'm heavily considering returning my dv6tqe for a sb envy 14.

the build quality of the dv6t is good, but my trim is already a bit warped. that said, i think the better build quality of the envy is great. also, the backlit keyboard is a great addition for me. the biggest thing, though, is that the envy 14 is smaller (i'm coming from a 14", so i think the e14 is the sweet spot for me). with the smaller screen and 8 cell battery, i'm expecting the envy to last me around 6-8 hours with the integrated card, which is great.

however, the specs of the envy are what's holding me back. like i said, on paper, the dv6tqe is GREAT, but in real life, i love the design and build of the envy. for me, the power isn't a huge loss as i'll probably end up being a console gamer (and the envy can still run current games with reasonable fps), but i'm really wanting at least something to make the envy feel like a premium, $1k laptop. maybe a gpu boost? radiance display? 320gb ssd (okay, that's a little bit much )?

best of luck to you in your search, and i'll be hanging out in this thread for a while until i make my own decision. i have like a week left in the 21 day return period.

 

You need to make sure to get the 6770m graphics card as well...

 

Wow, didn't think there were so many others in the same boat as I am. I'm considering the envy 14, too (just RMA'd my dv6tqe yesterday) with the smaller size and all, but the crappy specs are forcing me to salvage elsewhere. I hope the customized version will provide better options

 

keep us all updated with what you do i'll be sure to do the same! just wondering, but why'd you rma your dv6t? was it just the dynamic switching or was it another problem?

 

It won't .... regular non-SB envy with i5/3 can last up to 4h with serious resource tweaking and very light use.
The SB envy is rated by HP at 6 hours, so I would expect somthing like 4h30 to 5h00.

To circumvent that you would need a slice (Slim fit} battery to double the battery life.

All in all it depends if you will keep it on all the time or if you will make it go to sleep once in a while. For me it'll last all day or more if close it when not needed.
Regardless, I found out taking notes was way faster by hand using abbreviations.

 

oh wow, only 4:30 to 5 hours? i really only estimated, but my dv6tqe is getting about 4-5 hours, and that's with a bigger screen, a quad core i7, and only a 6 cell battery. i guess i just assumed that the envy would get substantially more battery life.

 

battery life substantially goes down after a few months of use. Mine went from 4h40 to just barely 4h. Even though I didnot change anything on my setup ...
I also noticed the capacity of my bettery went down a bit (though still 0% wear, but i suspect the bios is not reporting that correctly)

 

is it possible to get a first-gen envy with the radiance for cheap? the sb envy isn't really doing it for me, and i'd rather have a smaller, better built laptop than the dv6t i have now. don't get me wrong, the dv6tqe is a great machine, but i think an envy would work better for me, and getting a refurbished one (i'm guessing no xbox in that deal :/) for $600ish would be great.

 

I have seen a few radiance's going on the NBR Marketplace forum. The lowest was $800 and it went quick.
$600 seems a bit of stretch for such a premium screen.

Keep an eye on ebay or there : http://forum.notebookreview.com/notebooks-desktops-sale/

envy 14 with radiance do not show up often and go real quick ... unlike the gazillion alienwares there.

 

Get the dv6 since IMO there's no real point in paying for a slower Envy with no Radiance.

 

just an update guys...

I talked to my rep and he upgraded me to a dv6tqe with:

steel gray
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
2nd generation Intel(R) Quad Core(TM) i7-2720QM (2.2 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) w/Turbo Boost up to 3.3 GHz
1GB GDDR5 Radeon(TM) HD 6770M Graphics [HDMI, VGA]
Upgrade to 8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
750GB 7200RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
No Additional Office Software
No additional security software
30% OFF! 9-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery (over-sized) - Up to 9.75 hours of battery life +++
15.6" diagonal Full HD HP Anti-glare LED Display (1920 x 1080)
FREE Upgrade to Blu-ray player & SuperMulti DVD burner
HP TrueVision HD Webcam with Integrated Digital Microphone and HP SimplePass Fingerprint Reader
Intel 802.11b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth(R) with Wireless Display Support
Standard Keyboard with numeric keypad
HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope

For what he's offering vs. what I can get out of the Envy 14 SB, I feel like I have to go with the dv6t. I sent him a confirmation email earlier, so I'll let you all know my impressions of the dv6t when I get it (hopefully by next week, but with the way things went with HP it'll be august)