ENVY 15-jXXX / ENVY 17-jXXX Notebooks (2013)

From my understanding we will have the following two (main-models) configurations for the 15'':

Envy 15 Touchsmart will come exclusively with AMD Processors and AMD Radeon GPUs. All models will come with touch screen as a standard.
Envy 15 will come in both touch and non-touch screens configurations with the new Intel 4rth Generation Processors and NVIDIA GPUs up to GeForce 750M.

Regular HardDrives, SSDs and up to 16GB RAM options should be available for both models when you customize them from hp.com

 

Yeah they did what ASUS did with their N series laptops.

I was excited that this came back but now I'm a bit hesitant in wanting to get this if it'll only matches the DV line.

 

Just to be clear from what I have seen, this is no real Envy 17 replacement (originals types, including the 15 inch design in the same league). Certainly can not compare with a MBP build, the design of the palm rest looks the most similar in colour and shape although but definitely not the same quality.

Have a look a the fourth photo I took, and the size of the black bottom plastic the thickest can be seen, it is a lot larger than the top part. The rounded plastic base hides the bottom in HP's promotional photo's, the HP's photo's are deceiving, I think HP's would like you to think the base is not there, and you are looking at the original Envy alloy. Also next to it in the same photo is an Envy 4, you can see the Envy 17-J has much more height.

Dont get me wrong, it is a nice laptop, with some improvement over yesteryear but may not be what everyone is expecting, as in a return to the old Envy.

The Envy 17-J is little more than a DV7 model in 2013 clothing.

 

You just summed it up perfectly. That's exactly how I see it. If this came out along side the older envy 3xxx series instead of the dv6/dv7s it would have been much more appealing but this is weak for 2013. also the poor screen is also an indication of where it stands...

hopefully we get word of the more premium envy spectres

 

Well I got excited over nothing, Looks like I'm going the Mac route less Dell/Asus etc steps up.

 

last time i checked the xps 15 had the wifi and grid on screen problems. asus had the u51x or w.e but it was hella expensive.... anything new from them?

----
u could always find the 32xx series at retailers and get that

 

Nope, and the 32xx is pretty dated and since I'mma be using this for the next 4 years, want to get the most updated hardware that I can.

 

I do not know about you guys, but HP surprised me very positively with the new Haswell based Envy line. And I am not alone, positive reports are coming out from everywhere including the stock market and that comes from someone who deals with HP computers almost exclusively the last 7 years, and I had it with the company and its major flaws, hardware production problems and poor support. I am on my way out, with the first chance. However I am really liking what I see so far and I may give the new Envy 15 a try.

First of all they are along the first major computer manufacturers that announce a full line refresh based on the not even available Intel 4rth Generation CPUs, and what comes with it with all the major improvements Haswell brings across the table with new design architecture, huge power management and integrated graphics improvements. Not only that but we got exact release dates which is only two weeks after the announcement and very reasonable starting prices across the new line.

The good news does not stop there. HP hear the major complaints and resurrected the pure Envy line, which was known for high-end specs in premium package. (Their previous main products Envy DV6 and Envy DV7 were just rebranded Pavilions) and even satisfied technical request that they used to previously ignore completely. Example the (powerful but problematic) AMD graphics are gone and along with them the major problems they caused in the AMD based Envy line with switchable graphics and driver updates. The latest top of the line nvidia GPUs now comes across the Envy line with flawless switchable graphics and always up-to-date drivers, USB 3.0 is now everywhere, 1080p is now available also everywhere even on the 14'', fingerprint scanner (requested from many users) also check, 4 high quality Beats speakers with subwoofer also comes with most notebooks, thin and light design is also check, a highly improved touchpad is also rumored to be included. SSD, HDD, and 16GB RAM options are also available out of the box and across the line for those interested.

The only thing I do not really like and this is personal taste, is the silver color, I prefer the dark black HP is currently offering with the Envy DV6 and DV7, but as you can see from the video below the HP lady is telling the new Envy 15 and probably the 17 comes with darker silver color similar to gun-meal and I do not really like the huge HP logo on the center behind the screen. The old style with the logo placed on the button right, was good enough.

Also check this video briefly demonstrating the new lin, I do not think it was posted before:

 

Ok I have a pretty sizable 15 inch laptop and I wanted to know how would having the 17 inch envy be like? Just curious since I'm almost skeptical of possibly getting a 17" for college.

 

a guy 2 floors above me had a 17 in 3xxxx version one. it was big but not that bulky (thick) so still portable for college. what you might find problematic is the desk sizes in lecture halls

 

Found listed several new models as of today listed on my local department store website. Likely I could get these before 5th June, I would expect them to be in store before the end of the week if not right now.
Getting really temped to go in Friday, a promotion is expected to be on, providing there is money off and the screen is 1080p, and grab pick up the Envy 15-J008TX

The 15" models are appealing to me, these two touch screen model are to most interesting, I would prefer Intel due to Haswell and 750M. The AMD appeal is very limited due to A8 processor, I guess depends what type the GPU is, either way I would go for the Intel.
The 17 has Haswell and 750M, no touch screen. After seeing it in store last weekend, still would not go for this, when a 15 does everything the 17 does minus the screen size and drive bay.

15-J008TX
3.4GHz 4th Gen Intel i7-4700MQ Processor
8GB RAM
750GB Hard Drive
NVIDIA Geforce 750M 2GB Graphics Card
Windows 8
15.6" Touchscreen Display

15-J001AX
2.1GHz AMD A8-5550M Processor
8GB RAM
1TB Hard Drive
2GB Dedicated Graphics
Windows 8
15.6" Touchscreen Display

17-J004TX
3.4GHz 4th Gen Intel i7-4700MQ Processor
16GB RAM
2TB Hard Drive
NVIDIA Geforce 750M 2GB Graphics Card
Windows 8
17.3" Display
BDR-RE

btw. The hands on video above (presuming the panels are 1080p), I noticed the screen washing out on the new 2013 Envy 15-J, and then when the screen was moved looking from the bottom, could see the colours inverting/flipping. This is not good after HP put such an awesome 1080p panel in the 2012 models, which is comparable to IPS, if it is not then it must of been PLS. No matter what I just call it an IPS since the performance appear to be identical.

 

Would be great to have more options for 17-versions, than only 750m :/

 

again remember this is the dv6/dv7 upgrade which they renamed envy. it is not the premium laptop line of last year

 

Yeah you know that I am fully aware of that, and also pointed that out as you already know. It does not bother me that HP has changed their naming scheme, as I am intending to buy a new Envy (ex DV6) 2013.
Disappointing mostly for you owning a real old school Envy, to bad HP are not making anything to compare with for you. You might have to wait and see what HP can do for you in the future, until then I guess this thread has limited value for you

For me I am still excited about the Envy 15-J . I love my all AMD based dv6 from last year. Only thing I was disappointed last year with is that in New Zealand there was never no 650M offering, and no backlit keyboard. The Envy 15-J has a new chassis, brand new state of the art Haswell processor, including the 750M and a backlit keyboard which were never on any New Zealand models (big plus New Zealanders). And yeah touchscreens are popping up everywhere, windows 8 is a surprising plesant experience on a laptop, the Envy 15-J has this too.

Also the Envy 15-J (or aka "2013 dv6") is the same pricing here as the 2012 dv6 (which were also renamed during the last part of 2012 to Envy).

 

LoL,
Yes, you can NEVER trust any online photos of an HP laptop !
They always either take the picture at a downward angle (to hide the bottom plastic), or blatantly crop out / remove the black plastic bottom from the photo.
They are quite deceptive in trying to make the laptops look super thin, when in fact they are not.
You have to check the specs to see what the actual thickness is, to make an accurate judgement.
I have noticed that ASUS also uses misleading photos on their site to display their laptops - trying to fool you into thinking it is thinner than it actually is.
Buyer beware.

 

Any idea how much the 15in touch screen I7 with haswell going to cost?

 

Assume similar prices to the current dv line

Sent from my HTC6435LVW using Tapatalk 2

 

In New Zealand all models are pre-built models (no CTO custom option available), pricing is exactly the same as lasts years Pavillion-dv6-/Envy-dv6 models. Definitely expect the pricing to be the more or less the same world wide.

If this is anything to go by, I have yet to see any indication of an SSD cache drive on nay of the NZ pre-built models. This maybe something that HP are binning this year, unless it is an exclusive to CTO models.

 

So far I'm not really impressed with or feeling the new Envy (or really new dv6/dv7).

Still holding out hope that there will be a true upgrade to the old school beast Envys.....the Envy 17 that was in that vid just looks like a 17 inch MacBook Air.....

 

What if I don't use my laptop for lectures?

 

Pricing for the Envy 17 will start at $699, the Envy 15 will start at $529 with AMD configs and go up from there.

 

Thank you guys for the reply!

 

its easily manageable

 

Really disappointed in these new systems.

The GPU is under powered plus with announcements like the newly refreshed Razer blade with Haswell+765M gpu I think HP has finally managed to make an Envy I'm disinterested in.

 

for me they have been making uninteresting envys since the 2nd gen envy 15 with the 5830m
envy 14? almost same size and weight, +50% less in terms of gpu performance, same or less cpu performance, BUT it packed an ODD, oh wow!

envy 15 and envy 15 meh machines that were too underpowered still

dv6 and dv7, and kill me

this one? the jury is still out, but it really could have something resembling that 2nd gen envy 15

 

Hey T2050 I'm in NZ also. Have been wanting to get a new laptop for ages now. Still on a horrible Dell 1558 studio laptop. I've never had any experience with HP laptops before so I wouldn't have any idea as to the comparisons between the "old" and the "new" Envys as everyone here seems to keep being nostalgic over. The specs as listed on noel leeming seem like such great value for money especially as I have yet to see any other laptops available in NZ with the new Haswell (though I expect they'll be coming out rather soon). I have been tempted in the past by specs over quality with the end result being rather disastrous. If you end up getting the J008TX let me know how it goes.

For those of you familiar with this HP lineup, what are their battery life like? I would mainly use the laptop for web surfing, movies and note taking in lectures. Also my current dell has a rather nasty habit of being overly loud and constantly overheating for no reason at all. Do HPs fare any better? Any advice on general HP laptop quality would be appreciated!

Cheers for the help!

 

honestly i thought the 3200 series was worth the value (besides the qc issues) but to each his own. if u werent satisfied with the 3200, then this revision im like 90% sure isnt going to please u (I'm not pleased with it either) the gpu is going to be only slightly better than the 7750m from what the early benchmarks say. almost same size, weight, thickness. worse materials (not all metal), less speakers, bad screen with bad viewing angles, no volume knob (this is actually very helpful), silver screenback. (i was hoping they would go the opposite way and make it all black like the previous black screenback. that would look beastly)

 

actually the gpu should be around 20-30% better than the 7750m, which was slower than the 650m, the 3200 was a good bang for the buck, not in the same class of the first envys at all. If it were to be a real envy, the 7850m should be on the 15 and the 7970m should be on the 17, at least they had better than average screens

in the end, Im thinking HP instead of diminishing their line to consolidated R&D and higher profit margins, are going for the opposite, I think we will see more envy spectres and XTs out there, I dont really know what are they thinking, the design consolidation is clear, but line up is still a mess

 

Not sure if anyone's posted this yet...
http://m.hp.com/h20621/video-galler...smart-15-j000-notebook-video-demo---uk/video/

 

Ok I have found a user manual for the Envy 15-j and from this you can work out what everything is from the labeling. e.g. The 6 speakers, of which 2 are on the top above the function keys with 1 sub woofer under the palm rest to the left, the other 2 speakers are underneath the laptop near the front bottom with 1 sub woofer underneath.
Also the bottom has a one large square removable plastic plate, with access to the hard drive, memory, and wireless.

Definitely read the user guide below, you will be able to tell a lot but looking at the shape of it and where the parts are located and labeled. e.g page 53 is a good one, you can see the botton and what inside, and the speakers on the bottom. Also how the vents are arranged. Take note of the battery, looks like the same shape (likely capacity) as the 2012 models.

Link to the PDF user guide:
HP ENVY TouchSmart 15-j000 Notebook PC series- Manuals - HP Business Support Center

Link to the AMD driver set for the 15-j000:
HP ENVY TouchSmart 15-j000 Notebook PC series- Download drivers and software - HP Business Support Center

Promotional pictures (more higher res than we have had, I very much question the viewing angles shown) :
http://h22150.www2.hp.com/72CBDA47-61AE-4761-AA53-A3F8CEB537A5/final.html

Link to the official video to the touch screen (touch smart) version 15-j000:
HP Video Gallery HP ENVY TouchSmart 15-j000 Notebook video demo - UK

Link to the official video to the standard version (non touch screen model) version 15j000:
HP Video Gallery HP ENVY 15-j000 Notebook video demo - UK

From the pricing I am gathering, in conjunction with some limited model available in store right now. There seem to be a extra preimum on price for the touch screen models. Basically HP with split the Envy 15-j in touch models and non-touch models.

btw. Just be careful when looking at any HP Envy-15-j that has the 740M. From what I am gathering the GPU is based (or is) the GK208, which are all limited to 64bit memory bus and are just DDR3. Thus making it capable of only a quarter of the bandwidth of what a 750M GDDR5 model would be. You should expect half the memory bandwidth of last years 640M with DDR3, therefore overall slower than lasts years equivalent part.

 

To me this looks pretty nice.
It seems to me that the touchsmart 15 is HPs answer to the Ativ Book 8 and whatever refresh to the u500vx that Asus reveals(and I guess sony/acer might announced new things)
But this is definitely a contender for high-end touchscreen 15" laptops

 

Any estimates on battery life???

 

What's with the combined headphone/mic jack? Both this and the new Asus n550 seem to have it. that's not very 'Beats' like, HP.
Anyways, it's not like there isn't enough space on the chassis for it or something.. I don't know what to think of it, Every release it seems like better CPU and GPU by a few percent but you have to sacrifice some detail or feature for it..
/scratches out jxxx and n550 from 1564 successor list
~Aeny

 

Just found this
HP Envy 17 Notebook Hands On - YouTube
Is the gt750m going to be ddr3 or gddr5?

 

Today I have had some brief time hands on with 3 different Envy 15-j models, in stores.

Envy 15-j - Non-touch (Intel Haswell)
Envy 15-j - Touch (Intel Haswell)
Envy 15-j - Touch (AMD Richland).

Both Intel models had ultra terrible 1366 x 768 panels, these would be about as bad as they get. Viewing angles have always been poor with 1366 x 768 panels from anyone company, but these panels are shockingly bad. The touch models glass display did not enhance the panel at all, so nothing to claim there. I would recommend to totally avoid these at all costs. As I say the panels are about as bad as they get, colors looked pale and washed out, even looking directly straight on.

I have now seen the 740M on 3 different systems, ALL of the 740M models have a stripped down memory bus of just 64bits, with a very low 14 GB/s bandwidth. Advoid these castrated memory bus GPU's at all costs. If you are wondering why, put it this way, the memory is DDR3 (just like last years 640M kelper and that includes the older non kelper 630M) and last years models which actually have 128bit memory bus, thus bandwidth is 28 GB/s with the usual DDR3 models seen. The only good thing is you will have Kelper GPU, but not good with a massively a strangled memory bus running DDR3.

Also not that that the wireless card in the machines were RaLink make on all pre-built model, these are the same cards the only allow a 72 Mbit/s speed max. You should be able to customize these out, if you country has a CTO option for at least an Intel card.

All machines had backlit keyboards, appears that this is a standard issue from now on, which is nice.

I am almost 100% sure the laptop lid is made out of silver plastic for all non touch models, the hinges are terrible and sloppy. Also the entire lid flexed heavily.
The touch model, I am almost certain that the lid is actually alloy. The hinges on this model are much better, I can only think the hinges are heavier duty due to the extra weight the glass carries, but mind you the 1366 x 768 touch model was surprisingly wobbly. The FHD 1080p hinges were the best.

The AMD model had a FHD 1080p panel. Being a touch model with glass, is unavoidably glossy. The panel with your typical acceptable 1080p panel, there is nothing special about it. The colors and contrast are good but nothing to write home about, and the viewing angles are just ok (much better than a 1366 x 768 model), but does however invert colors when the lid is tilted forwards. Looking down from the top, the colors washed out significantly.
I can say without a doubt, you will not be getting the very nice FHD 1080p (likely IPS or the sort) panel of 2012. If you were hoping to get one of 2012 FHD panels under the glass (like I was) then its not happening in 2013 in the new models. The 2013 is just a standard 1080p model with a glass touch overlay.

AMD model top end has a A10-5750M with a 8750M. This will be as fast as you can get it, there are no other higher options. Make this very clear, the 8750M is a DDR3 model only (no GDDR5) with a clock speed of 825 MHz and memory is at 900 MHz for a bandwidth of 28.8 GB/s
The Richland APU is a 8650G (unfortunately I did not get a photo of this), but HP must be using 1600 MHz RAM as the memory bandwidth is 25.6 GB/s. In essence you would want the RAM speed to be higher (DDR3-1833 MHz) to help with APU both in single and dual graphics mode.

One thing to note, I noticed the bottom black plastic of the bottom of the laptop, tappers a lot like a mac-book air style at the front (likely due to the removal of the optical drive). While thinner than the the previous dv6, the back end is almost just a fat and thick.
This one I am sure is going to see some quality control issue popping up for some people. On all 3 of the Envy 15-j notebooks. Where the black plastic bottom meet the top alloy palm rest at the front edge of the machine, there a gaps of about half of 1mm on each of the corners, you can actually see light coming out through the chassis from a small LED inside the notebook. The entire seal of the plastic and alloy is bad, HP has not done a good job here. E.g. if you had a lose bit of cotton on your sleeve it would certainly get caught on the edges, and what ever else could end up in the cracks along the seam.

Also battery is a 62 WH type, and looks the same shape as the 2012 models.
Intel Haswell Quad and 740M = 120w adaptor
AMD A10-5750 and 8750M = 95w adaptor

Reading back over quickly, it looks like doom and gloom. It is difficult to say much positive things about the new 2013 range when the 2012 range is really well done.

 

That's really odd they'd be using a different chassis for the touch vs. non-touch model and still put it in the same class. I only hope some of the CTO models over here have better options than what they seem to have put in the stock retail configurations in NZ, that doesn't sound good at all. What kind of Haswell processors were inside the ENVY 15.

 

The bottom chassis is identical on the 15-j. There is nothing different here. Speaking of the very bottom, the vents that strand the entire length of the underside look like the unit should get decent air flow over the majority of the area, hopefully cooler running for the components inside, but maybe not so good for getting dust and the likes inside.

I suspect the lids are different, in which, the materials used for:
Non-touch = Plastic (alloy color) finish
Touch = Alloy (actual silver).

Can't be certain as I don't have the machines my hands to keep looking, but pretty sure the non touch is plastic lid.
All the 17's should be plastic on the lid also, as I have now seen 2 of the 17's models, and both are non-touch. I don't think is going to be a touch 17 model on the cards either.
The touch appears to alloy lid, with glass fused across the entire screen, edge to edge. There is a super hard rubber, or more like a soft plastic that surrounds the entire outer edge of the glass (like a mac-book pro), and it has a similar filler at the very bottom where the screen cannot fill, just like the mac-book does. It is not the same soft rubber as the mac-book pro. The touch model is why it weights in heavier than the non-touch, there is definitely the glass, and maybe the alloy.

I just seen my 4th 15-j, this was non-touch, the lid felt like plastic. Hinges were very sloppy just like the other non-touch models. The 17 have the same characteristics with the lid, but worse due to the larger size. Another thing about the fourth 15-j model is the crack with again evident along the front, where the plastic meets the alloy, especially noticeably on the corners. I you have an OCD of some kind this will bother you, as it does not scream out perfection.

Out of the four 15-j and two 17-j, only the AMD with FHD panel model appears to have a hinge that felt acceptably tight without to much screen wobble.

The Haswell processors are i7-4700MQ in the four 15-j models. See the bottom photo of this post.
Edit here, links to the new processors, seems Intel have just put up on their website http://ark.intel.com/products/family/75023

At the moment I have shifted my attention to the AMD touch models, I have been considering getting this one. However there will be little gain in performance over my current A10-4600 with 7730M.

One thing is for sure the 2012 dv6 Envy and the 2013 Envy J are a lot different in may ways how they are designed, although very similar in build. They are much the same machine, and if I was to place money on it, I might go as far to say the 2012 is just a little better. To hard to tell though, some things like the keyboard on the J model looks more appealing, but does not meant that is is better, same layout, shape, and size.

Also check out the way the power adapter is plugged into the unit. This year HP have gone for a very small right angled type (like the Acer power plugs), does not look as sturdy as the older type from last year and before.

I have a couple of new photos to upload, these are just photo camera ones.

First of all (4 photos), this is the machine that I am now thinking of purchasing maybe tomorrow, although is a hard sell, since I already have a excellent A10-4600M and 7730M (512 stream processors) with wicked screen. The newer model offers a touch screen but minus a Blu-ray drive (which I havent bothered to use much anyway) with the dv6 I already own. I am getting the feeling the new Envy 15j crossfire and higher APU core clocks of the A10-5750 and 8750M should play pretty well together with matching stream processors of 386, but then again the 7650G is still the old VLIW4 architecture and the 8750M is GCN architecture.


AMD Envy 15-j touch model - A10-5750M with 8750M, FHD 1080p, 10 point touch, 16 GB RAM



System info



AMD Device Manager



AMD 8750 hardware info



Intel Envy 15-j Non-touch model (Haswell i7-4700MQ)



Intel Envy 15-j Non-touch model (Haswell i7-4700MQ) device manager

 

Thanks for such detailed posts T2050! Did you happen to try the 4 speaker sound? On paper, this was really looking to be like my next laptop, but it seems I'm going to be disappointed and may have to look elsewhere. This doesn't look like a return to the 2011 Envy and Envy Spectre at all

 

I didn't have time to test the sound.

If you are the market for a new dv6 (or dv7) then you should consider theses new models. Depending on you needs e.g. Processor type, if you need a optical drive, Screen type.

If your in the market for a Envy 15 (or 17) replacement then this is not for you.

If anyone is a first time buyer (not replacing existing dv6 or as such) then by all means go for it, as long as it does what you want. Still is very nice.

Or if you are a die hard geek like myself going through the trouble about hunting down this model. It really makes it near impossible not to go out an buy it to take it home.

 

Does the 15 inch model have an optical drive?

 

Won't the Envy 15 come with the 750m options, idk 3 days till we see what HP delivers.

 

No 15 models will have a internal optical drive. Only the 17 models have internal optical drives

The 15 will come without doubt with a 750M, there has not been any in the retail chain here yet.
Best advoid the 740M as a option though if you are going to place a custom order, memory bandwidth is only 14 GB/s due to DDR3 on a castrated 64 memory bus.

 

Like I'd go for the lowest offered GPU The 750m should be a rebaged 660m so it should do well for my needs. And if I save a bit from getting this, A desktop might be an option if i ever needed more (Probably won't).

 

Found a link with tons of photos about the 14, 15, and 17 models

TouchSmart Review

Look at the chassis thickness, and view angles of the screens, should give you a reasonable guide line to what to expect to its shape and screen quality.

btw. Click at the top of the page "TouchSmart Review" there seems to be tons of info on this page.

The below link is not the Envy 15, but could interest some people looking for a better touch screen (overall build) as an alternative to the Envy 15-j, as in FHD 1080p with IPS, which I don't see on offer with the new Envy 15-j.
Although the below review shows that it is Ivy Bridge dual core, it looks new and no doubt it will end up with a Haswell in there in the coming months.
http://www.slashgear.com/hp-spectre-xt-touchsmart-notebook-review-26283468/

 

for these all, except maybe the touchsmart with the 1800p resolution one, the name ENVY is completely misleading, as these are cheap mainstream pavillion successors, pretending to be something special just because theyre called ENVY.

unless their GPU is at least 760 for the 15'' and 770 or better for the 17'', these are no real ENVY notebooks.
hope for an refresh with one of these ( Nvidia officially launches GTX 700M GPUs), and a 3D model, or even better with the new 20nm GPUs next year, by both, AMD 9000 series and nvidia geforce 800.

 

Ok guys, so on the first of this month (2 days ago) my family bought three HP Envy 15.6" Laptops from Best-Buy. HP ENVY 15.6" Laptop 8GB Memory 750GB Hard Drive m6-1225dx - Best Buy
Now obviously if these new ones are in the same price range, and release in the 15 day window of Best-Buy's return/exchange policy, we will go in and exchange them. But some things aren't fully clear to me so maybe you can clear them up.

1) The prices said $699 for the 17" Envy and the 15" being like $5xx something. Those are the base models prices right? I know the Envy 15 we bought from Best-Buy wasn't the base model.

2) What I personally am hoping to exchange my Envy 15" for is the new Envy 17" that has a Blu-ray drive and Haswell. Do we know if both the Envy 15 and the Envy 17 will have Haswell?

3) You guys think the same day HP releases them on Wednesday (5th) they will be released in Best Buy right?

Wow I just looked at the pictures and the 15 doesn't have an optical drive bay? That is BS. (Don't get me wrong I know we are going in the way of digital and no disc media) but still what about all the DVD movies and things that come on DVD's to install? How is it more convenient for them to shave a few mm off the size by getting rid of the drive bay yet if you want one you what...have to pay $30+ for a external that you have to carry around and plug in? Finding that out might make it so my brother and mother (other two Envy 15 owners) wont want to exchange...which is a flippin shame cause in every other single way the new Envy 15's are better. Damn.
The only way that could possibly be acceptable is if they make a external DVD bay for super cheap like $20...and if they make a external Blu-ray drive that isn't super expensive like $60.
Anyone know if they do/will for the new 2013 Envy's?

HAHAHA $79?!!!!!! ( http://www.shopping.hp.com/en_US/ho...ccessories/Storage-and-External-Media/A2U56AA ) now that is Fraking BS. No way in hell. MAYBE if it also played Bluray.

Im going to assume this (or any other brand USB DVD external drive) would work? http://www.bestbuy.com/site/LG+-+8x...rive/5584219.p?id=1218666587572&skuId=5584219

T2050: I have read your reviews on the Envy 15 and it sucks to hear they arent much of an improvement over the Envy 15's we own. What would your recommendation be for someone who can trade them in? (assuming the price difference is $0-to-neglegable) Specifically my mother and brother who will use them for basic every day uses (word, internet, skype).
Im still hoping the price is reasonable for the new Envy 17 so i can exchange my Envy 15 for it. Im looking for 1920x1080 hopefully (I'll except 1600x900 if i have too) and blu-ray and i need to make sure the one i get doesn't have that gutted GPU you mentioned (i think the nvidia 740? I should look for the 750?)
Do we know if there might be a SSD OS option? Or at least SSD cache? It just seems weird to pay 800-1000 for this ultimate laptop, and get a 1Tb OS HDD (with a empty drive bay) ...but if you put a SSD in that empty drive bay, the OS wont be on it.

 

Put it this way, they are different in a lot of ways, the build is similar. I would not recommend you change, if the optical drive is so important to you. Otherwise given the chance I would change to the newer models, if you can without or little cost.
I wouldn't bother with the 17, but that my personal preference. The lid on the 17 seems to be plastic, lid flexes a lot, and the screen wobbles on the hinges that are far from tight.
Avoid the 740M, unless you don't care to much about graphics, and are happy with something better than just integrated.
There has been zero SSD cache pre-build models in NZ this years 2013 line, last year there were a few model with SSD cache as standard for 2012 in the higher spec pre-built models.

Don't get me wrong I like the new model, not sure I could recommend to others. I will know went I get mine soon, providing it has a FHD panel in it. Spec are few a far between to find on HP's website for the pre-built models. I have to find out myself by looking at whatever is in the retails chain.

 

That sucks so hard :/ If the price is the same/nominal I can see buying a $30 DVD external drive for my mothers/brothers Envy 15's. So it will all depend on the versions/specs/price Best Buy offers.

I get what your saying, and it totally sucks they moved away from the aluminum lid my current Envy 15 has, I have experience loose hinges before, but I don't know...I really love the idea of a i7 Haswell, Nvidia 750M (or w/e) blu ray 17 inch Envy. It will all depend on the price. Though I have the sneaking suspicion the version I just described will be like $999...and I might pay the difference ($350) if it was perfect, but your opinions definitely hurt my opinion of the laptop.

 

Maybe just don't change those people that will need an optical drive.

The 17, pretty certain the top is plastic, I had about 3 looks at this model on 3 separate occasions. Like I said I cannot be absolutely sure.

Basically what it looks like to me is. If you get a non-touch screen 15-j then the top lid is most likely plastic.

If you get the TouchSmart 15-j model which is a touch screen, then almost certain that it is alloy.

I seen both the non-touch and touch unboxed one after the other, only the touch model felt like cool alloy, and finger tapping it was much the same (as in felt like alloy) on inspection after it came out of the box.

It not all doom an gloom, I have one on order (since I am still very keen on it), there are things I like about it. I just wish I had mine already. I was hoping to do an early user review.
There 2 different models of the 15-j I was temped to get, but the 1366 x 768 stopped me from buying any of them.
There is a 1920 x 1080 model with top end specs for the AMD, but I have had trouble justify the purchase, due to the AMD A10-5750M being almost exactly the same as my AMD A10-4600M, all that the CPU has got is an extra 200 MHz clock speed.
What I want was not in stock, I have ordered a 15-j TouchSmart Intel Haswell with 750M, but I don't know if it is FHD or not (the store could not get or list the specs of the panel), but I am expecting it should be, as it is the most expensive Intel model available here. Just have to wait will it comes in.

 

Are you referring to the HP 15-J008TX from noel leeming for $1899.00 NZD? Please let us know about the battery life when you get it?