Envy 14 - UK Thread

yeah the recovery discs are a pain and take hours. I was lucky I work in IT, I can sit the envy on my desk and work on it and no one thinks anything of it

 

Don't you just hate people abusing there powers in the workplace

Im finally all done with the recovery process and all that jazz (just need to uninstall a few remaining HP programs), so I can FINALLY get down to enjoying the machine

 

lulz. Getting paid to hang out on notebookreview forums? God bless Information Technology.

 

Aaaaaah - love it, just ordered mine! Don't work in IT though (estate agent)... but bro does, so reckon that gives me a tad of techie prowess

Either way, eeeeee!

David

 

Is that definitely, definitely, definitely true about the i7-620M still switching to integrated graphics, along with using the HD 5650, in the envy 14 on hp.com (US)? My friend just got the 15" Macbook Pro with the i7-620M (2.66GHz). I was considering getting the same one, but didn't want to pay £1800+ for something I can't add to later, and with a GeForce GT 330M. I like everything else about the MBP tho. It looks like the i7-620M is a great processor to go for, if you need the extra speed, which I think I might. Because I've been considering the Radiance, now I'm considering the bloody i7 too. I don't need quad core, so the Arrandale 620M seems pretty good. Will be hotter tho, right? ...and use battery quicker? Any other negatives?

Comparing the price of the UK envy 14 (i5-450M, BrightView) for £950, and the US ebayer envy 14 (i7-620M , Radiance) at $1772 (inc. shipping) + customs, £1150+, I can see why the UK version is still a great deal. Comparing this with the 15" Macbook Pro (2.66GHz) at £1800... is it just me or is the Envy much better and much cheaper?!

Okay, last comparison. This i7-620M specced Envy 14 vs the 15" 2.66MHz MBP: The battery usage on the MBP is brilliant, yeah? Is this all because they've gone for a less power hungry GPU?

edit: Oh yeah, and the £1800 stock MBP is only 5400rpm, not 7200rpm. I guess that's good for battery life too(?)

 

Definitely! Ha. Exciting stuff. I'm looking forward to getting to the point when I actually BUY. I just showed my gf the envy 14, and she said "I want one!"

 

Windows services and processs are the main reasons for shorter battery life compared to macbooks!

 

Heh, yeah that makes sense to me. The close link beteen software and hardware development pays off.

I guess other things you get with Apple's price, over the HP Envy 14 specifically, are guaranteed quality - some people have had little issues with their Envys from what I can tell on the forums - and great, dedicated service. Being able to wander into an Apple store for anything, fixes, good advice, replacement units etc. I'm quite happy finding a free community support group tho'. That's you guys by the way

 

I really wouldnt waste your money on an i7 620 upgrade! money could be much better spent elsewhere.

I have an i5 450 in my 14 and an i5 540 in my 15. I cant tell the difference in day to day use.

If you really want to upgrade the cpu get the 540 instead of the 620, or get the 450 now and upgrade the cpu yourself when they get cheaper

 

It's not that I've got infinite money or anything: I don't want a MBP with an i7-620 for £1799+, but for £1150 (+customs) to get a i7-620 in an envy 14 seems pretty worth a try. It's not about spending the money elsewhere either. I'll definitely get a SSD afterwards, either way, so I was thinking about the processor comparison really.

I was looking at the High End CPU benchmarks. I see the difference between the i5-450M and the i5-540M isn't much, and the 450M actually comes out higher on that one (2.481 vs 2.457). Still not really enough to notice anything, day to day, but obviously the 450M is cheaper so that's a no brainer. From everything I can tell, the 450M is really great for power. With the i7-620 coming out at 2.736 on the passmark you're still getting something for your money ($175/£115 difference on ebay shop) but yeah, like you say, not as much of a difference as SSD or RAM would make. I'll be crunching big photoshop files, CAD etc. I'll get more RAM at a later date too, but I fancy seeing what it feels like to start off with 4GB. Plus I'm a total n00b when it comes to putting new things in a notebook myself. I can manage RAM, and probably a SSD switch. I don't know anything about CPU switching, and for £115 the i7 is available now, so... What do you reckon?

 

Awesome... Thanks man

 

Dude
Thats awesome
Im sure you'll be stupidly happy with your purchase. I would recommend doing the Minimised Image Recovery or a clean install though, it made my system feel much snappier after I got rid of the bloat

Besides that, enjoy

No doubt, take a look at the official spec from Intel ( Here)
2 cores, 4 threads and integrated graphics

 

Cheers mate! Will deffo go down that route

Incidentally, what do we reckon is the best out of the box procedure for the battery? Run down then full charge?

Sorry, worded that terribly, and then made worse by having to go back and edit out the naughty words that NBR disapproves of

Long and short of what i was saying, is go UK and get the 3 year pick up n return accidental damage cover, it's £171 but very worth it i reckon!

David

 

I went with the "charge it whilst im using it" route and it seems to of done my battery no harm at all, i get 4 hours out of it with medium display brightness and bluetooth off/Wifi on

I was always quite paranoid about the battery in my Dell, i used to take it out whenever it was using mains power and everything but with my Envy im going to take a much more relaxed route and just enjoy it

 

haha, i'm going down the opposite route mate - i abused the hell out my my dell, by the end (and at various points during it's life) it was quite literally held together with duck tape!

gunna take a bit more care of envy, just a bit mind

David

 

Mine's now shipped from the US. I have the tracking info and it looks like it should be here Tuesday (although maybe the bank holiday will delay it by a day).

/me rubs hands with glee

 

Fingers crossed mate
Im sure you'll be incredibly happy!

 

What ebayer did use to order this and how much did it come up to, how much will be the likely customs cost as well.

I am thinking either between a macbook pro i7 or the envy 14 but I cannot abide being sold a UK inferior product for the same price so looking to import.

Never imported specially before so can you drop the link to the ebay seller you used.

Also if you know, what is the situation in regard to warranty.

Cheers

 

I shan't answer that, I wouldn't want to give you any wrong information.

I think in regards to this, the general line of thinking is that if you get a spec from the US that has any of the components that are being sold in the UK i.e. i5-450M, 4GB RAM (2DIMM), 500GB hard drive etc then it will be covered by the international warranty that HP offer. It might take a bit of work getting past first line support if you ever have a problem though, as they generally just read from some sort of script.

Any components you import that AREN'T being sold over here i.e. the Radiance screen, won't be covered.

It might be worth giving HP a call directly before buying and just asking them to clarify this information though, you don't want to get "caught short" on a purchase so big

 

Yeah, the HP Global Warranty FAQ link has helped. Any way we can get it put on the first post/front page of this thread? My understanding is an Envy 14 bought from the US is covered to be repaired for free under the Global Warranty in the UK for 1 year. For as long as the Radiance screens (and other US options) aren't available in the UK, I don't think screens repairs (and other non-standard parts etc.) would be covered in the UK. If your Radiance screen broke, you would always be able to ship it back to the US - about £200* (£95 each way, using UPS/FedEx) at your own cost, but at least it's possible to get it fixed. HP are fine for you to do this. If you lived in the US, bought an Envy 14, then moved to the UK, this is how you would get US option parts fixed. I haven't heard anyone having screen troubles tho', so the chances are slim.

If you're in the UK and you buy from an ebay seller shipping from the US, you can often return for free within 7 days if there's any problem. After that, you'll be contacting HP in the UK for any fixes. If your US-bought Envy 14 totally brakes in the first year and needs replacing, I'm not sure what would HP UK would do. You would probably get support up to the point where they let you know it needs replacing. Maybe they would offer a UK version replacement? If that's the case, your other option would always be to send it back to HP in the US, and they would replace it. You'd be paying shipping there and back tho' (so again about £200*), but at least you're not completely screwed for £1000 or whatever you pay originally from a third party seller.

Anyone disagree with any of this?

*Maybe customs/VAT applies for this repairs shipping too. Could end up costing £300 to repair/replace?

 

An update on my import experience...

Envy 14 arrived this morning, it's flawless. Have been playing for a couple of hours and I can't find any faults at all. Build quality is great, no bumps, scratches, gaps or wobbly bits and everything is aligned very well.

It needed plugging in before it would power up, so I cut the US plug off the cable and fitted a UK 3 pin replacement, and away we went...

I can't detect any cpu whine, just a very gentle hum from the fan if I put my ear close to the case. I can barely hear that, although I' sure it will get louder for gaming etc.

The keyboard is great, it has a very nice feel to it and is lovely to type on. Backplate seems very solid and stiff too with very little keyboard flex, and only then if I go looking for it by deliberately pushing down quite hard in certain places. I won't bother changing this for a UK specific keyboard, it's definitely a keeper.

The Radiance panel is, as expected, awesome. Really vivid and intense, with sharp, crisp detail. I have the Envy sat on a table next to a larger Samsung monitor I use with my desktop pc, and the Radiance kicks it's arse . I'm very pleased with it. It will be great for watching movies and the like, but also the increased resolution gives that extra screen space which I think is going to make working with the laptop that much more efficient and pleasurable than my last (1280x800) one.

One (easily remedied) downside is the bloatware... holy cow, this thing is chokka-block with crap. I'm burning my recovery media now, and will use that to do a minimal install recovery as detailed in the other Envy threads. I'll probably end up doing this twice, as my SSD should arrive soon so I'll be transplanting that in.

I bought from one of the US Ebay sellers and my Envy cost me £987 in total, including shipping and the credit card currency exhange percentage.

That's less than the retail price of the UK version, but of course I have upgraded with the Radiance panel, the 500GB HDD and I also went with a single 4GB DIMM so I can chuck another one in. I'm very happy with the deal.

It looks like I've not been charged any import VAT, which is a result that saved me probably £75 ish. That's the cherry on top

 

well done mate, another risk taker

Who delivered yours?

I paid no Import VAT on my 14 through UPS but got stung for £60 on my Envy 15 through TNT (It had been marked down to $500 so still a lot less than it should have been)

Also TNT sent me an invoice through the post and it arrived 2 weeks after the laptop

 

Mine was delivered by FedEx (and he was the most cheerful courier I've had at my door in years).

I realise I might get a bill through the post in a couple of weeks but they'll have to be quick, I'm moving house in a fortnight so any later than that and they'll have missed the boat!

Like you, mine was declared at $500, and was also marked "GIFT" (although that shouldn't make any difference). Anyway, no bill so far *crosses fingers*

My recovery discs have just finished burning (blimey, that takes a while), so re-install coming up.

 

i wish you guys would stop posting success stories regarding importing, might tempting!

which ebay seller did you go with?

 

If it's like other electronics I've bought from the US, you'll get an invoice in the mail in a month or so, unless they really have missed it!

 

There are posters in this UK thread who (I believe) have purchased from ebay sellers opal_cadet and also computerupgradeking with no problems. You're welcome to pm me if you want info on my purchase experience (which was excellent).

 

I'll post this here in case the other few guys who have imported an Envy 14 might find it useful...

I'm really happy with the US keyboard and prefer to keep it set up as US in the windows regional settings so that the printed keys properly match the key output. If I do that though, I have no native £ key.

Solution via this tiny little hotkey app:

RapidShare: GB Pound Hotkey app

Have that autorun each time you boot (it's only 284KB, won't slow anything down) and it will provide a handy hotkey function for the £ character - just hit Ctrl+Shift+2.

 

Gertch, just curious about the charger/power plug.

Since you cut it, is the cable permanently secured to the charger? Got the impression its a cable that can be replaced by a UK or EU cable instead of having to cut it off, like in the pic below?



Fedex usually sends me a invoice 3-4 weeks after goods have arrived but I wish you luck.

 

The supplied powerbrick and lead is just the same setup as in your photo (except I think that one's a euro plug, not US?). So, yes, it comes in two pieces.

You're right, I could have purchased a new UK standard powerlead bit, to connect the powerbrick to the wall socket, but I figured why spend the money when it's quick and easy to cut off the US plug and just bung on a spare UK 3 pin?

Thanks for the good luck on the import VAT bill. I realise one may come, but even if it does it won't take the shine off the purchase for me. I factored in the import duty when making my decision, and it will still be only about 50 quid more expensive than the UK price, which is a small price to pay for the upgraded spec (imho).

 

I placed my UK order three times and had it rejected three times! Whats worse is i probably spent 100 pound in international calls and data services on my phone and have also missed the free warranty deal!

 

@ Gertch

Did you buy before the Radiance screen/shipping costs were put up in price? I work it out as $1415/£920 without shipping, $1601/£1039 total(?).

I was 99% going with the UK version this week/tomorrow cos' I get VAT off through work, +5% voucher gives £807, but no Radiance. £230 difference for the Radiance seemed just a strech too far. Argh. Would be nice tho'. Will the Radiance use a little bit more power? Clutching at straws, Ha.

 

Yes, I ordered mine when the Radiance panel was $200 extra, not the $300 that it is now. Shipping for me was $165 ish?

I understand your dilemma. If you can lose the VAT and get a 5% discount, the UK Envy looks much less like bum r_pe. I agree that an extra £230 seems steep for the Radiance and I'd be more inclined to go with a UK model.

TBH though, now that I've seen it in the flesh, the 14.5" laptop size and the 1600x900 resolution screen seems a really good combination, I wouldn't want to go back to using a 1366 x 768 display. It feels like Goldilocks porridge, "just right!"

I'm sure you'd enjoy the UK model though, it's still a very nice machine and you'd have bought it for a much more reasonable price.

 

ooooh, Envy arrives tomorrow!!!!!! (apprantly)

feels almost christmasy

David

 

@ Gertch, I know what you mean about not wanting to go back once you've made an upgrade. Ignorance is bliss, so as long as I never see a Radiance screen in the flesh I'll be fine. Shopping is such a pain in the arse sometimes

Any more updates and tips from anyone on their latest purchase? Clocked GPUs, SSD experiences, accessories, etc.?

On the third part of the video comparison by souskei (in the US)... he's got a pretty cool slim COMPACT TARGUS UNIVERSAL charger.

 

HP unleashes Envy 17 3D, HP Envy 14 Beats edition and specially-cooled Pavilion dm3 -- Engadget

 

Hi all,

...A big Envy 14 wannabe owner myself. I've read the whole thread, thinking that it will help me with the big decision (US custom built or the UK poor spec, but with 2 yrs warranty). Guess what, it made it even more complicated, especially now after all those UK discount codes are also gone .

After chewing for the whole night I decided to contact opal_cadet and she'll build a custom configuration. With Radiance screen, 8 Gig of RAM and the i5-520M, plus shipping and VAT (calculated for the whole value of the laptop) I reached a whopping £1,415 . However, I still think it's well worth it (erm... is it? ).

It will take around 24 days to have it though; can't wait to get my hands on that little jewel.

However, does anyone know about a cheaper, reliable shipping method if something goes t!ts-up and I have to send to HP for repairs or replacement? (The eBay seller's P&P option is $177 now!!)

Cheers

 

Ha. Yeah, I read the whole thread too. Interesting to see the story develop.

5% voucher codes are still knocking around in the UK.

I'd say, if you compare the beautiful 2.66GMz Macbook Pro 15" (£1799) with the Envy 14 that you're getting, the Envy is better in a few areas. The battery life on the Macs is the best around (8 hours ish), and the Apple service is very good, but for me the Envy holds its own or better on everything else (similar CPU, better GPU, similar screen, you put 8GB RAM in too, so better there), and is £380 cheaper. It's still a great buy at £1400 in that respect.

Repairs wise, you'll still be under HPs Global Warranty, so you will get the usual free repairs from HP in the UK in the first year. You might have to pay if the i5-520M or Radiance screen has a problem. Maybe HP could charge you for repairs in the UK(?), or you could always ship it back for servicing in the US under the Global Warranty again, in the same way a US buyer now living in the UK could do. UPS/FedEX is about £95 (one way) at the moment I think.

 

The red backlit keyboard is a grower. Like it. The outer case for the existing Envy 14 model looks great IMO. The inside of the Beats Edition case looks good. Not bothered about the outside.

And don't get me started on 3D Am I the only one who thinks it's a non-event?

 

Two of the 5% codes where valid up until 31/08. I tried to use them after midnight and they don't work anymore. I just checked with FedEX and the Economy option is £77 for 3kg package, one-way. If the worse comes to the worst, I will just get a quote for repairs in the UK. It might not be that bad. Dear me, let's not talk about the bad and the ugly just right now. Not that I'm superstitious...

Being fed up with the cheap plastic crap that floats around I chewed over buying the MBP for a long time (that's how I actually found out that Envy is a good candidate), but it seems that it's pretty bad at running Win 7. I've got loads of licensed software for Windows so I can't really switch to MacOS so easily (besides, I kinda hate the way that Jobs & Co. try to control every little piece of code that enters their shiny, precious devices).

All in all, I hope that after three weeks (well, perhaps a little bit more) I will receive my new, expensive toy and then come back and say "...and from my lips it drew a hallelujah". Uh, such a log wait...

 

@JoeWasEre: Sorry, mate, I forgot to say thanks for the suggestions. Bad manners.

 

I must have done something wrong. The Quidco one still works.

 

No voucher code for the Radiance screen, unfortunately

 

That's true, unfortunately...

 

I really don't get it. why oh why would they think tht we wouldn't want the radiance?! more to the point why do they think the Germans or the Americans would want it more?

 

dear lord the beats edition is beautiful...
if only it had the option of radiance display i would snap that up in a heartbeat

edit - the giant B on the lid is hideous

 

The little b on the keyboard is cool tho'

 

I find it ironic that they are hyping up the music capability of the Envy, slapping "premium" (*laugh*) branding like Beats all over it, and yet it sounds TERRIBLE.

This isn't a complaint really, it's a laptop, I don't expect it to sound good, but the Envy is shocking in this department. It's appalling compared to the Acer I had previously, and the bog standard Dell prior to that.

 

ENVY IS HERE!!!

Opened her up at 6pm, it's now 3am, need i say more....

David

 

Hi guys,

I just got an Envy 14. I formatted the hard drive and installed Windows 7 with the drivers from hp ( Software & Driver Downloads HP ENVY 14t-1100 CTO Notebook PC - HP technical support (United Kingdom - English).

I can't get the wifi to work. I installed the latest Qualcomm Mobile Broadband Drivers - Gobi2000 but the card is not recognized.

Does anyone have any insight on how to fix this?

Cheers!

 

first page of envy 14 owners lounge part deux