ENVY 17-32XX Intel Ivy Bridge (AMD 7850M)

Hey guys. I'm someone new to laptop hardware but was way excited to hear that the new envy's graphics card (7850m) is pretty decent. I have a couple questions I suppose.

I will probably get the regular envy 17 due to reading about the switchable graphics issue. I plan to use the laptop for everyday tasks, as well as some gaming (Starcraft 2, Skyrim) etc. I have been making photoshop a hobby lately as well.

Would 16gb of ram be overkill for my uses? Is 12gb a better way to go?

I thought about getting the 300gb SSD drive. Does hp use a good drive? I heard its only SATA 2, which I also read somewhere isn't as good as SATA 3. Will I notice much of a difference if I got SATA 3? Sorry for the noob questions, just thought I'd try you guys because you seem to be cool.

Thanks.

 

TBH i've been fine with only 8GB of Ram, and i hardly ever max it out, if ever. Photoshop though i don't know how much ram that needs, and id just go with the 1TB option, then buy a 512GB Crucial M4 SATA 6Gbs From amazon for $399.99 to put in Bay 1, and the 1tb drive in bay 2 for storage archival purposes

 

I feel I have the same needs as you. I got 12 gb of ram and the 160 gb ssd and 750 7200rpm hybrid.

 

the dell xps 17 with 120hz 3D screen also does not have switchable graphics.

and yes the battery life took a beating.

just recently tried to watch john carter on blu ray at 120hz. could not make it through the entire movie on a full charge.

 

must be something like that.

91WHr is a nice battery.

 

can someone clarify if the Envy 17 3D issue is restriction that will stay with no software fix or is there a hope?

I can not believe anyone is ready to give up 3-4 hours of battery life on a laptop for stupid 3D

I will return mine for sure if there is no fix

 

suffice to say. I did infact manage 2 hours and 45 minutes. And i hope there well be some fix. otherwise doesn't look like it. I think its utter bull that they couldn't manage switchable graphics. Must be something to do with ivy bridge, and the ati 7000 series with switchable graphics. And that the drivers are simply not ready.

Sent from my EVO LTE using Tapatalk 2

 

More pics just for kicks.

In the dark:


All plugged in:

 

did anyone contact AMD see what they have to say about this mess..

 

Mav, got through your videos this morning and all the pics are great, much appreciated!

 

You're welcome. Glad it was helpful.

 

The 17 3d battery is supposed to be a 6 cell not 8. Im just wondering if you guys testing it are turning on all the energy saving features of the laptop. im sure you could try to squeeze out a bit more time with screen brightness set to low etc. I found out that the actual 7850m card isnt called switch able "according to some resources on AMD" instead they call it a hybrid card.

 

May I ask you something? Does your Envy 17-3270nr have those minor cosmetic flaws that Maverick777 pointed out and those squeaky keys? I am asking this because, like I said before, I am under the impression that pre-configured notebooks have a better build quality.

 

I have the custom configured 3200, and there is no cosmetic flaw on mine, and no sqeaky keys. In fact, there's practically zero keyboard flex like what I've seen in some Youtube videos.

Build quality is excellent on mine.

 

Can anyone confirm that the new 3d version has the graphic switching capability via AMD catalyst control center? If it does not, I will not be keeping my laptop when it arrives!

 

Speaking only for myself, while I'm bummed about the battery issue, 99% of the time I'm plugged in, whether I'm at home, a coffee shop, at work, or wherever. The only time I'm not plugged in would be when I'm in a plane or something, when I use a hacked Nook Color or Kindle Fire for watching movies.

I can't believe anyone is willing to use the power settings required to get 4 hour battery life.

 

AMD 7850m specs

ATI Mobility GPUâ„¢ 3D Graphics Accelerators

ATI CrossFireX™ Ready Yes
ATI Hybrid Graphics Ready Yes
ATI Switchable Graphics Ready No

AMD CrossFire™ multi-GPU technology: Supports dual GPU performance scaling

I can not find any info as to what HYBRID is
furthermore, the Envy 2D also uses the same GPU so how could that one be switchable and not this one.

 

Thanks a million, gnat!

 

Hello this is my first post here but i have a question, I'm going to order a envy 17 when the new 33% coupons come out again, but i can't see to decide between this two configurations. Witch one you think will be better for the money? And I will like to buy a 128gb ssd and a gaming mouse from neweeg or tigerdirect so i have about 1400 to spend on all.
Configuration one
HP ENVY 17 customizable Notebook PC
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
3rd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3610QM Processor (2.3 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache)
Radeon(TM) HD 7850M Graphics 1GB GDDR5 Memory [HDMI, DP]
8GB 1600MHz DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
750G 7200 rpm Hybrid Hard Drive
Microsoft(R) Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word/Excel(R) only, No PowerPoint(R)/Outlook(R)
FREE 2-year Norton Internet Security subscription (a $99 value). Pre-installed.
6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery - Up to 5.25 hours of battery life +++
17.3-inch diagonal Radiance Full HD Infinity LED-backlit Display (1920x1080)
Blu-ray player & SuperMulti DVD burner
720p HD video streaming webcam supports Skype
Intel 802.11a/b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth(R) with Wireless Display Support
Full-size Radiance backlit keyboard
Adobe(R) Photoshop(R) Elements 10 & Adobe Premiere(R) Elements 10
2 year limited warranty included
HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope
Price with 33% $1175.89
Second Configuration
HP ENVY 17 customizable Notebook PC
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
3rd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3720QM Processor (2.6 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache)
Radeon(TM) HD 7850M Graphics 1GB GDDR5 Memory [HDMI, DP]
8GB 1600MHz DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
750G 7200 rpm Hybrid Hard Drive
Microsoft(R) Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word/Excel(R) only, No PowerPoint(R)/Outlook(R)
FREE 2-year Norton Internet Security subscription (a $99 value). Pre-installed.
6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery - Up to 5.25 hours of battery life +++
17.3-inch diagonal Radiance Full HD Infinity LED-backlit Display (1920x1080)
Blu-ray player & SuperMulti DVD burner
720p HD video streaming webcam supports Skype
Intel 802.11a/b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth(R) with Wireless Display Support
Full-size Radiance backlit keyboard
Adobe(R) Photoshop(R) Elements 10 & Adobe Premiere(R) Elements 10
2 year limited warranty included
HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope
Price with 33% $1293.03
Do you think that hp total care warranty is good and should i go with a 2.3 i7 or 2.6

 

It has something to do with the 3D screen operating at 120Hz... NOT the GPU per se... Is switching possible? ... maybe, but since other manufacturers do the same thing, there is most likely some issue. The real question, is how it was handled in the previous Envy series.

 

No flaws on mine that I can see so far.

 

Can anyone that got the $50 dollar credit on their laptop purchase tell me if that was $50 in addition to the the 30-33% off coupon.

Thanks

 

Question for anybody with this new laptop:

I've been out of the game for a while. I have an Envy 1010nr, and have been enjoying it for nearly two years now. I think it's time to upgrade, and I'm wondering if this would be worth the upgrade. There's simply no other laptop I've found in the meantime that offers the same combo of high performance, build quality and suits my preferences besides the Envy. Mine's got a Radeon 5850m and an i5-450m. How much difference would I notice performance-wise? In particular, how's the 5850m (HP's butchered version) vs the new 7850m?

Going from 1600x900, overheating issues and HDD to new graphics card, Ivy Bridge, SSD and 1080p screen will be awesome, methinks.

 

What is the skin you are using on your Windows setup? I think you mentioned it before, but I couldn't find that post. Thanks!!

 

its going to be a great improvement. the screen will be nicer, no overheating, ssd is gonna be such a big performance boost. the gpu is 2x as powerful

 

Yes, I got the $50 in addition to 33% off fot it being delayed.

 

May I ask what # you called, or an email addy ? When I call, Im getting folks who barely speak english and seem as if they know nothing, and are guessing on everything. Thanks very much !

 

I don't like confrontation, so I used their "chat". And I just told them honestly I didn't know what to do. My order was delayed and the new Mac was just released, and... they offered me $50 refunded immediately to my credit card. I didn't ever have to ask for it. But you can just tell them honestly you know other people in the forum are getting $50 refunded because of the delay.

 

For comparison. Samsung 700Z7C Nvidia GT650M 2GB GDDR5. Clocked to 870MHz/1300MHz which is max core OC in all OC programs I've tried, the slider just won't go further which is a pity since I'm sure I could do more. further memory clocking does nothing to performance as far as I can see.

 

7850m is one good card I wanna c how far it can be pushed

 

So far mine maxes out at 825/1250. Which isn't bad. I'm hoping with newer drivers it will be more stable at higher clocks. I have not been able to break 2700 gpu score on 3dmark 11 yet...

 

Just ordered mine today and Im very excited. Heres the info:

HP ENVY 17 3200
• Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• 3rd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3610QM Processor (2.3 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache)
• Radeon(TM) HD 7850M Graphics 1GB GDDR5 Memory [HDMI, DP]
• 8GB 1600MHz DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
• 1TB 5400 rpm Hard Drive
• Microsoft(R) Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word/Excel(R) only, No PowerPoint(R)/Outlook(R)
• FREE 2-year Norton Internet Security subscription (a $99 value). Pre-installed.
• 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery - Up to 5.25 hours of battery life +++
• 17.3-inch diagonal Radiance Full HD Infinity LED-backlit Display (1920x1080)
• SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
• 720p HD video streaming webcam supports Skype
• Intel 2x2 802.11a/b/g/n WLAN + Bluetooth(R)
• Full-size Radiance backlit keyboard
• Adobe(R) Photoshop(R) Elements 10 & Adobe Premiere(R) Elements 10
• 2 year limited warranty included
• HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope

 

congrats. don't want a faster hard drive?

 

ur in the 670m range dw with better drivers im sure ull get it. i want to be able to get mine to 660m range aka almost desktop 7750

 

I just got off chat once again. I have been told again that mine is definitely not delayed. They said that they are going through system maintenance and that is why it is not updating the status. Lets see if that is a lie, lol.

 

Good to know actually; if that is the case I would assume I'll receive mine this week then. I am thinking about getting a 120 or 128GB SSD to add in bay 2 with the hybrid drive still in one. Does it really matter which bay they are in?

Also, since I am leaving for med school I will need a power surge protector. Anyone recommend a good one in addition to a cooling mat please?

 

Here you go:

Nova-7-Sev-dd's deviantART Gallery

 

Ya i emailed them yesterday, same thing. Just i hope someone's home when FedEx comes.... -_-

 

Thank you! +1

 

Thank you. That's an excellent suggestion, especially as with each phone call, I get more disappointed with the process, and the excuses about the delays. I will give it a try tomorrow, and report back.

 

It probably is. My Envy was supposed to ship on the 13th. They told me the same info on the 13th and 14th, and finally received an email around 10 pm on the 14th (after being on the phone with HP that same evening - advising me the Envy will ship shortly !!!) that my order was now delayed until the 26th. Frankly, I do not feel the customer service reps have a clue and are likely being told what to say by supervisors, in order to retain the order.

FWIW ? My order STILL shows as scheduled to ship on 6/13 !!! . I'm trying to be patient, but I'm very disappointed in how HP has handled this.

I hope you have better luck than I've had. Please keep us posted.

 

I placed my order on 6/7/12 and my scheduled shipping date was 6/26/12. Got an email on my way in to work today saying it was shipped . I'll check the tracking number later today since it's too early to show any information.

 

ORDER HAS SHIPPED EMAIL!!!!

Ordered on the 8th... Was supposed to ship tomorrow A day ahead of schedule, I'll take it

Sent from my SGH-i917 Windows Phone using Board Express

 

Mine shipped a week ahead of schedule today . Sucks that I chose the free shipping though

 

Im really not as proficient as the rest of you guys are in terms of knowing about hard drives and the benefits of some over the others, so It really didnt matter to me, as long as I got 1 tb of space. Although I am aware that the 750 SATA (7200 rpm) hard drive spins faster than the 1 tb (5400 rpm). Am I correct?

 

yes.

with the higher end processor, video card, and memory, the hard drive is usually the weakest (slowest) link.

but no big deal unless you care about that stuff.

besides, a solid state drive (SSD) is much faster than traditional hard drives anyway. but more expensive.

 

Oh I see. Im honestly not the kind of person to install another hard drive along with a new os and other drivers just in case I ran out of space in the future. Im sure I would mess up something and end up somewhere crying in the corner b/c I've broken something along the way of trying to do all of that hahaha.

Anyways, Maybe you can answer this question for me. What would be the best way to transfer my music to my new envy once it arrives? Would you recommend doing it by purchasing an external drive? I have all the music stored in a personal folder on my desktop pc. I vowed never to put all my music on itunes again after I almost lost all of it once upon a time because itunes has that stupid security feature.

 

You can either buy an external hard drive if you plan to continue using your desktop PC. Or depending on the amount of music, I'd upload it to Google Music, so it's available to you everywhere. They allow you to download all your music back to your computer as well. There's also the option to create a shared folder on your home network and simply drag and drop the music from PC to laptop.

 

Ah yeah, went with 2-day shipping. Got my thumbs crossed for a Wednesday or Thursday morning delivery. Im being pessimistic though, im all the way in Florida, plus the customs ordeal its gonna go through -.-

 

Oh do tell about that option! Is that a feature from google music or something else?