ENVY 14 vs MACBOOK PRO 15 Comparision video w/ my BACKPACK setup and Acsessories video

A few Notes before you watch please read:

- WATCH IN HD -- i just uploaded the videos so if there not in HD yet, give youtube like some time to proses the vid so HD will be available

- this is my first comparison video , SO BE NICE.

- the itunes EQ is STOCK on both machines

- BOTH screens are at their brightest

- BOTH machines are at their loudest

- MJs Smooth criminal mp3 are the same file on both machines

- I did jjbs sound tweaks on the ENVY 14

- PICTURES are the same files on both machines

- i used dB meter pro for iphone 4 for the sound measuarements
- The dB meter was calibrated to -10dB from the start

- this is a LATE 2008 Model macbook pro NOT 2009 like i said

- The Gadget i used for GPU monitoring is called 'GPU Observer'
- The Gadget i used for CPU monitoring is called 'IntelCOREseries'

- the LID flex is the same on both laptops when opening from corners/middle

- and please if i missed anything or messed up anything let me know and
ill upload another video.

- if you have a request for software/hardware comparison let me know

- THANKS FOR WATCHING

Part 1
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Part 2
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Backpack and accessories video


few notes:

- this is an INCASE NYLON COMPACT BACKPACK

- the sleeve is a 14 inch case logic sleeve

- the charger is a COMPACT TARGUS UNIVERSAL

- There is a 2 - 3 inch gap between the laptop holder to the bottom of the backpack (suspended)

- i purchased the backpack at bestbuy

- i purchased the sleeve at frys

- everything else you see came from ebay

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AGAIN THANKS FOR WATCHING AND PLEASE LEMME KNOW IF I MISSED/MESSED UP ANYTHING OR IF THERES ANYTHING YOU WANNA SEE!

 

someone should really come up with a good icc display config for the envy 14... the screen has much more potential

 

yeah, a lot of the problems can be countered with a good wb adjustment and contrast/brightness in the gpu

also, doesnt the MPB use an IPS screen? the envy's is still TFT right?

either way, the envy14 falls way down in gaming performance comparing to the envy15, BUT if gaming's not your thing, i think the ENVY14 is a great choice over the MPB

 

Damn you took alot of time out to make these videos! thanks!

If you dont mind me asking about that laptop charger, how much did it run you and how many tips did it come with?

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-envy-hdx/496739-backpacks-cases-sleeves-envy-14-thread-27.html#post6545822

You may refer to the link above for more info on the charger..

Many people are looking for this charger because of his video. Targus shld pay him commission

 

nice to see a comparison, if you do have some time do you think you could do some comparisons with gaming performance.

 

First, macs do not have most of the games windows has and it's obvious the Envy 14 is going to be more powerful gpu-wise by looking at the specs. If you want to play pc games, stay away from macs since it probably doesn't have the games you want.

You could always run windows on the macbook, but I heard it has heat, battery, and other problems because of the lack of drivers from apple.

Also the Envy 14 starts at $1,000 while the macbook 15 starts at $1,800. Is it really fair to compare the two?

Nice comparison by the way.

 

How would you compare the toucpad receptiveness?

 

Hey All,

I've seen a lot of good things about Envy 14, and I'm considering a switch. I'd really appreciate of somebody could comment on my background/expectations/and usefulness of the switch:

Background:
- I was always a PC. Ever since Ms-Dos I was always working on Microsoft platform
- This summer I pulled the trigger on brand new MBP 15 i7 ($2000).
- I loathe the system, so most of the time I spent in Win7 ( don't even have a OS X partition )
- I find that everything runs faster in Win7 (starting with games, thru apps etc)
- There's a significant heat problem with this config. My computer is running hot (even power supply is hotter when charging...)
- Trackpad issues are noticable, but I can deal with that
- Battery Life: Is down to like 3 hours top, still more than most laptops on the market


I'm considering a switch to Envy 14 because:
- I use windows7 only, no need for OSx
- Envy 14 won't have heat problems like MBP 15 ( Anybody can confirm that?)
- I can get better bang for the buck
- Battery life is better

Have anybody switch from MBP for ENVY ? I know I can sell my MBP for 1900, which would build me a nice Envy.. How does it stand against MBP?

I care about quality of build, heat and battery...


Thoughts?

 

Hey.. I just made the exact same switch. Unfortunately my reasons were a lot worse. I had to swap mine 9 times because all of my i7 MacBook Pros hanged in Windows or had some defect.

Heat is no issue with my Envy 14. It runs very cool to the touch on Intel or ATI graphics. On the other hand the fan noise is rather droning but relatively tolerable in a quiet environment. I feel the battery life on the MBP even with the GT330M running was similar or better than what I get on the Envy with the i5-520M with Intel graphics for some reason. I'm getting around 2.5-3 hours with a mix of highest and lowest brightness and 4 hours with lowest brightness while surfing the net and using excel.

There's no doubt you get a much better bang for buck. $800 makes my wallet feel real thick. However, the trackpad is no where near as smooth to use and the build quality is only somewhat reasonable. Considering the price I paid, I didn't expect it to beat the MBP.

The main thing that does delight me is the radiance display and graphics performance. Oh and my Envy 14 doesn't hang 2-3 times a week as well. Hope I've helped you make your decision.

 

Hi SojIrOu,
Thanks for your quick reply. It's good to know that somebody went the way I'm planning to.

I had some what better experience with Win7, but it's still far from stellar.

My problem with heat is that I'm afraid I'm overheating the machine *specially in Starcraft2, and I'll kill it eventually. Do you think that running Win7 is hot enough to damage the machine?

Uuuu I'm really surprised with your battery comment. I was expecting 4+ at least.. Do you have the slice battery?

Would you say trackpad is worse on Envy than MBP's on Win7? How usable is it?

Build quality of a mbp is pure joy... how much worse are we talking in your opinion?

Last question: If your Win7 MBP didn't hang, and money was not that much of a concern. Would you stay with your MBP or still get Envy..?

Best,

Arv

 

I didnt have the i7 MBP but i switched from a 13 in unibody macbook pro to an envy 14. My macbook was always idling at 70 degrees Celsius and during use it would go up to 80! With the envy 14, its always 30-40 during idle and 50 max during use. The battery life was about 4:15 minutes which is really good for windows. I recommend the i5 if you want to be able to switch graphics cards in order to save battery life. i5-520 is what I have and its really fast and I can't be anymore satisfied. I also didnt get one with CPU whine so maybe HP has fixed it. One thing you may notice is the trackpad. Macbook pro is definately way better but once you install one of the trackpads one of the users on the forums made it will be much much better.

Hope this helps.

Cheers!

 

@arvean
I've never felt it go hot playing starcraft for 2-3 hours at a time. The cooling is really superb unlike the lap burning experience I got with my MBP. So I believe they've done a good job with the cooling. Even though the fans spin up they do not sound unpleasant or overpower the speakers.

As I'm in Australia, I've had to order the slice battery from the HP parts store and will be getting it in a week or so. I'd say the battery could last 7-8 hours easily.

I love the MBP trackpad even in Windows. Though it lacked functions like OS X, the trackpad is smooth and easy to click. The one on the Envy is tougher to press down and jumps here and there when you rest your thumb on the "buttons" below. Scrolling is also finicky but tolerable once you've gotten used to all it's quirks. I'd say test out a pavilion at a shop first to see how it responds. If you only use 1 finger on the track pad at a time, I'd say you'll have no problem.

Build quality wise, I'd say that it doesn't come close. The keyboard flexes around the "O" key and bulges out slightly at the function keys, the track pad sticks up at the bottom left edge, there was an oil rainbow effect on the screen (but it disappeared), the metal on top of the screen feels thin and not so rigid. However, most of those issues are minor and I can live with them. It does not affect my usage at all and I rest much easier at night knowing I won't lose work while using my laptop.

I'd definitely keep my MBP. That's probably the reason why I kept swapping it. I only gave up because the Apple genius snobs blamed Windows for the problem when I even had evidence to show other people hanged the exact same way in OS X. All in all, the Envy is a good laptop and I won't regret purchasing it but the MBP is the best out there.

 

please delete double post

 

Really great review, and a very good comparison. Helped me a lot. The MBP is hard to beat, but the Envy 14 has quite a few plus points, huh?

Like the extra stuff too (3rd video). REALLY like the charger. Thanks for sharing.

 

I don't understand how you're reviewing the laptop here...

First of all... you haven't accounted for the third light source in the the room being the lights. Having the two laptops pointed in different directions does add a significant difference.

Secondly, dB is no measurement of audio quality. Volume wise fine. But anyone who's serious about sound isn't gonna use the laptop speakers anyway.

EDIT: You did mention the CPU in the forum post so that can slide.

TBH the comparison video in itself is flawed and unscientific b/c some of the main selling points of the Envy have been squashed due to enviormental issues.

 

I think it's a comparison video really. Maybe I mislead you by saying it was a "great review"(?).

For me, it was looking at the things that you can't feel just by looking at the marketing images, or by looking at the spec sheets, or by looking up the GPU/CPU benchmarks and performance charts.

Ha. They're both really shiny screens! No getting away from it, however you look at it.

Of course. Don't think anyone would disagree with you there.

This isn't a commercial pitch to see which one wins, is it? It's a comparison video. They're both great notebooks, and they both come across really well. Everyone's talked about all the pros and cons already, right? What do you see as the main selling points of the Envy 14, and what do you see as the main selling points of the Macbook Pro 15?

 

hey guys, the HP ENVY 14-1010NR is latest model? im thinking about buying from this guy but wonder if it the latest.

 

But he's not comparing the points well.
He hasn't even showed us the fan speeds and temps for the MBP. Not to mention that more than likely, the Envy hasn't been optimally configured.

Also GPU temps don't really matter when you're not gaming. And it looks like he was on battery, are we sure he used the 5650?

I would like to see a DJ or someone who works with audio review the sound also graphics quality on the two laptops gaming-wise.
Secondly, the screen should be configured. OOB laptops are usually unnecessarily saturated and such to be eye catching.

Again its really an unfair review given that Macs are optimized whilst PCs are not. Im amazed that the Envy did so well without proper optimization tho.

 

Audio engineer here.

The S/N ratio on the output is really low. I mean, it's better than some other laptops I've heard, but on the e14 it seems like there's a constant noise floor somewhere around -50dB. That's insanely loud and something I would never subject my recordings to. But then again, no one who does this for a living would ever use the 3.5mm output for serious work.

The whole Beats Audio thing is a gimmick, plain and simple. The fn+b thing just raises the bass to a disproportionately loud level above all the other sound information, and I don't think they tried too hard to reroute the signal chain to cut down on noise, despite what that promo video said.

Also, this was a pretty poor comparison. You needed to have a more controlled environment and better testing methods (if any). I appreciate your effort, but I would suggest this video to anybody looking for a true comparison for a buying decision.

 

Lol thanks I've been waiting to read a post with some info on the beats audio. I've heard the noise floor as well. Its quite annoying with headphones on but its not terrible. I can't even hear it when I'm listening to music.

I knew that about Beats it self but in comparison to other laptops and the MBP does the Beats sound card offer any real difference to the listening experience? I'd say it offers a little. Not an amazing amount but enough to like the sound more.

Surely you meant 'wouldn't'?