Envy 14 - UK Thread

I most certainly will mate
Now to try and source myself a Radiance screen
As a seasoned Envy 14 owner, what would you recommend I do when I first get my machine? The plan is to put it on charge and do a Minimised Image Recovery

 

open the box and stare lovingly at it for a few minutes, then plug it in and burn the recovery disks, now look lovingly at it for another hour and a half as the disks take forever to burn
Make sure you take the time to burn them though as if you decide to sell the machine in the future its really easy to restore back to the factory state

I did a fresh install with mine as I have W7 ultimate and I hate any bloat. If you cant go down that route then deffo use a minimized recovery.

 

Haha
So you only recommend staring at it twice, for about an hour and 32 minutes in total? Interesting
I'll have to get the stop watch out!

I actually own a copy of Windows 7 Home Premium, I pre-ordered it when it was a crazy £30 but then my old laptop decided to break on me and thus it's barely been used. I was going to pawn it off to a mate seeing as the Envy came with a copy, and i'd heard about so many "issues" from people that had done a clean install on the E14 and then not been able to get drivers etc, but if a total clean install is the way to go, then I can do it.

Do I actually have to burn these recovery disks onto DVD's or can I somehow make them into an ISO or something and then store them on my external hard drive?

 

I don't mean to be negative, but I just don't see this ever being very viable.

I know a lot of UK buyers have been saying you can order a display later, but I can't believe you'll get much co-operation from HP on this.

The Radiance panel is now a $300 upgrade in the US, even when it's available. HP aren't going to sell you a panel at less than this kind of figure, as that would screw up their configure to order sales - upgrades being cheaper to buy as aftermarket spares ain't ever going to work from a business point of view. Look at the pricing on replacement keyboards... someone in another thread said the HP price for a standard US keyboard is $115, which is very expensive. So, chances are a spare part Radiance in the US will cost a lot more than $300, plus the postage and import fees to get it over here on top. If there's ever a chance to buy one from UK it's likely to be even more costly, in the same way that the base Envy 14 is more costly over here (as well as being lower spec'd).

Buying a Radiance panel seperately at a later date is likely to cost you an arm and a leg. And a kidney.

I'm sure you'll be able to enjoy your Envy 14 with the standard 1366 x 768 display, it's still a nice machine. However, I honestly think that anyone who wants a Radiance should bite the bullet and buy a model with one from the outset.

 

it is just a case of going onto HP Part Surfer finding your part.... adding it to basket.... and paying for it.

HP want you to do this rather than buying from third party so you do not void your warranty.

 

Oh, I understand HP will supply the parts, my point was over the *pricing* of doing this.

You also have the fact that HP UK don't sell any Radiance panel models, so won't naturally have a logistic set up to supply Radiance spare parts here in the UK.

 

yer i get ya...

im sure there is a way to do this even through one of HP's partners who sells the parts im sure they must do international shipping hmmm ....have to wait and see .... yet this brightview screen is still very nice definitely better than last years screens.

 

right, should be ordering tomorrow! woefully exciting!

as an aside though, did you know sherlock holmes uses an Envy! great show too, well worth an iplayer sessh

David

 

hey guys, came across this site a couple of days ago but was at work so didnt have enough time to troll through the insane amount of pages till today.

i was so excited when the review for this machine popped up on engadget as im buggering off to uni soon and needed a laptop.

As I'll be doing a design course chances are i will be using a lot of graphics intenseive programs such as CAD, Adobe CS5 etc so i need a well specced machine.

Like everyone else I am peeved to the high heavens at the shoddy excuse we UK residents are getting.

A friend is currently in HK and there might be a chance he could get me the HK model and bring it over... link: HP Envy 14-1000 Notebook PC series overview - HP Home & Home Office products

With todays conversion rates it comes out at just under £1300, but you do get an insanely kitted out machine as standard. My main concerns with getting it from HK is the whole warranty issues? i read a lot of information based on uk-us but nothing hk?

Oh, and he wouldnt be able to bring back the box which is a shame

thoughts?

 

mate, take it from someone who's going into his second year - UK warranty is worth rubbish spec for student life! Yes you may be able to get yourself some sort of warranty, but the peace of mind factor was a big one for me in deciding to go UK - hope that helps a bit

David

PS. where you off to man?

 

Sorry im not sure i get what youre saying? Do you mean the warranty is worth rubbish? I do need a better spec than what the UK is offering (at least, i think i do... i7 really that much better than an i5? I do enjoy the idea of switchable graphics mind). Also, the closest alternative i was considering is a 15 MBP, but thats insanely overpriced when you compare it to the equally as beautiful E14. Also, the compatibility issues of running CAD programs on bootcamp concerns me as a friend has a MBP and can run programs on his, but its "laggy".

I'm heading to Nottingham Trent, you?

 

I think what he meant was that, in his opinion, it's worth buying the UK model and accepting the lower spec in order to get the UK warranty coverage.

I'm not sure I agree with that position myself. The HP website confirms that HP will provide standard UK warranty service on an HP Envy you purchase in another country and bring back to the UK, so there's no reason to think you won't have coverage if it breaks down. You might have problems getting coverage on non UK market components though, like the Radiance display.

Also, I think he was intimating that student life can be hard on computers, which of course is true, but the UK warranty will not cover you for accidental damage or abuse, so I'm not sure that's much of a factor.

The price for the HK spec looks a little more expensive than what you could buy if you ordered from the US. Of course, if your friend is in HK and he can bring it back for you, that would save you delivery costs, and he might be able to sneak it back through the green channel saving you import VAT (though bear in mind if he gets pulled you're going to have to pay full whack).

I'm not sure I like the spec you linked to. The 8gb of RAM would seem a good idea if you'll be doing design and CAD work, but the money spent on the i7 may give better value if you went with an i5 450 and put the extra toward an SSD (or even just kept the cash in your pocket).

Understand though, if you go with an i7 cpu, you WILL NOT GET integrated and switchable graphics, a feature you specifically mentioned you would like.

The i7 spec'ed models come with ONLY the discrete graphics card, so you take a considerable hit on your battery life.

For your usage, I don't think you'd see a huge benefit from the i7, so that battery life trade off (and extra cost) may not represent such good value.

I know nothing about the MBP, but remember as a student you may get access to a discount off the Apple retail price, and I'm pretty sure they are throwing in a free iPod Touch with all student MPB purchases, so that's something to consider when weighing up your options.

 

Hi all. What are my options for getting one of these in the UK at the moment (end of August 2010)? The one I found on hp.co/uk is the 14-1050ea. Is the spec sheet (pdf) on the site right? Is the screen anti-glare & matt?

I like the i5-450M, and know about the GPU clocking/voltage debate. What's the best way to get an SSD in?

Anything else I should know about? Thanks

 

1. No the screen is E2E glossy.
2. These seem to be readily available at the moment, dont know how long that will last though.
3. The HDD is easily removable, its right next to the battery, just remove the existing, and put your SSD in. You then have a choice of a fresh install or using the recevery discs for factory restore.

I put a 160gb ssd in place of my 500gb HDD, I then ripped out the ODD and put the 500 in there so I now have both

 

I couldnt see an easy way of doing it except burning the discs. You dont have to do it straight away, but I would recommend it.
I had my envy delivered to work so I left it burning whilst I was working, then put the discs in my envy box ready for if I ever decide to sell it.

 

Sweet!

After a thorough inspection I think (hope havent missed anything) that I've got a decent one !

Now to delete all the theyve put on it.

How do you make the recovery disks?

 

Mines here!
Talk about service
I only ordered yesterday at about 11am
I've just unboxed it and i actually really like it...the etching and colouring is not as "stand-out" as I thought it would be and it all feels really very solid.

I don't have any issues with build quality, there aren't any scratches, gaps between the touchpad etc, the light on the lid even lights up the HP logo perfectly. So far, so good

I think Windows asks you to make backup discs when you first start the computer, I might be wrong but I remember W7 doing that when I installed it before. Im not sure if HP have another way of doing it

EDIT: Ignore that, had a quick look around, if you go into Start Orb > Programs > HP > Recovery Manager, then it will ask you if you want to create recovery DVDs (but you can only do this once)

EDIT 2: Dammit, it says it needs 4 DVDs and I only have 3

 

It looks like you can trick it into allowing you to make a second set of recovery discs, see this post:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/6595871-post2816.html

I'm not positive, but I think a second set of recovery discs might be useful in overcoming the bios incompatibility problem people have mentioned in other threads...

It seems that if you make your recovery discs then subsequently update your bios to latest version for any reason, your Envy will then refuse to accept the discs as valid because they were created on a machine with a different bios.

Maybe make your first set, then a second set using the above instructions if you ever apply a bios update to try to fix batery issues or whatever. That's what I'm going to try anyway, when my US version arrives.

 

Yeah i hear what you're saying about the spec, in an ideal world i'd have the i5 over the i7 but sadly, like the UK, HK doesnt offer BTO option (Screw you HP). It's time like this that i appreciate apple for at least offering the same product no matter where you live.

Another possible issue with getting it from HK... the keyboard and general OS, will it be oriented for the asian market or should it be the same as a UK layout? And if he does manage to get one, he'll be taking it in his hand luggage (but no box sadly) so shouldnt be charged VAT?

 

I don't know for sure, but wikipedia suggests that Hong KOng uses both standard US and Chinese keyboards:

Keyboard layout - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So, if you're friend is careful to ensure he picks up a US keyboard model you should be good to go. If he gets a chinese keyboard, good luck!

The import duty VAT thing, just because he's bringing it through in his hand luggage doesn't some how exempt the laptop from import duty. Technically he should declare it and pay the VAT, but if he just waltzes through the green channel he'll probably not get pulled, it's only a very few people who get pulled for random checks. If he does get pulled though, they ain't stupid and will most likely twig that it's a new laptop, they'll look it up online in HK and charge you full whack on the tax.

 

Thats a nice find, thanks
Though I hadn't planned on updating the BIOS

In the options to create the recovery DVDs it also says that I can use a flash drive/removable device, i have a spare portable hard drive hanging about (a small 40GB PATA drive) so I could use that but I was wondering how it would work if I ever needed to actually use the recovery data? It doesn't seem to be as simple or logical as inserting some DVDs

 

oh man, this is all new to me and is just adding doubt to whether or not i should go through with this
If he does get caught (fingers crossed he wont) i take i'll be adding another 17.5% ontop of the £1300? All that money for a laptop without the most ideal spec i'd like... hmm...

If i do get a US keyboard layout, configuring it to a UK one is possible, right? I'm not the most clued up person when it comes to these kinds of things.

 

@dlau77
I've been reading your posts, if you end up with a US keyboard you'll be able to configure it within Windows 7 to operate like a UK keyboard, it's just the pictures on the keys itself will be wrong. The Wikipedia page Here has a good amount of information and pictures with the differences (notice the @, # and £ symbols etc)

Hope that helps you

EDIT: I forgot to say, I really, really, really want to use my Envy now but until I pop out to somewhere like Argos or a supermarket later to get the DVDs, i can't and I don't really want to install lots of stuff now, just to do the clean install in a few hours time!

I've been sat here basically just looking at it since about 3pm hahaha

 

Yes, the VAT is 17.5% on the total purchase price. So if it cost the equivelent of, say, £1300 in Hong Kong, they'll make your friend pay £225 at customs.

Of course, that's assuming they collar your friend when he's coming through, and the probability of that is pretty low, he could well just walk rigth through without any bother. It's a risk though.

The US keyboard layout probably won't cause you any difficulty. US and UK layout is very similar, with just a few small differences, such as the " and # symbols being in different places. Most people get on fine with US keyboards, quickly adapting to the new locations of those very few differences.

You can google for US and UK keyboard differences, there are lots of pages that detail them specifically.

 

Thanks for all your help guys, really cluing me up!

Just one more question incase I decide to spec it from America and purchase it through eBay like some members here have done.

Is it worth paying HP for the 8GB of RAM or am i better off opting for the 4GB 1 DIMM and then buying another stick here in the UK? Or would i need to get the 4GB 2 DIMM option to do so?

 

A 4GB SODIMM stick over here is probably the best part of £100/120, so thats entirely up to you and your finances. Compare how much HP are quoting for upgrading from 4GB to 8GB against the cost of buying the stick in the UK

 

I was just going to post again suggesting you have a play with the HP configure to order models on the US website, to see what you think. You could tailor your build with the i5 etc and still get it here, duty paid for less than the £1300 HK price.

FYI, the ebay sellers UPS shipping works out at about £100 - £110, and (with a bit of helpful marking down of the declared value) most of us UK buyers are hoping to get away with about £75 in import duty.

On the RAM question, I had to make exactly the same choice you asked about... the price of upgrading to 8GB through HP or getting a single stick and then buying another 4GB here in the UK is about the same. I think HP are being gouging bar-stewards on the pricing of this thing so I decided to buy as little as possible from them, and spec'd my order with a single 4GB dimm, and am going to buy a second from Crucial when my unit arrives.

See here:

Crucial Envy 14 Memory

Crucial are the dogs bollocks when it comes to supplying RAM, and will send you guaranteed compatible memory for your machine, and they are great over accepting returns or exchanges etc.

 

Well ive finally managed to get mine up and running correctly.

It arrived last thursday, and i only managed to create the recovery CD's before the weekend, and then i didnt get back on it until Monday night, which i spent removing the bloatware as ive seen too many clean install issues. So tonight im managed to get it set up how i like it. Im still excited by it, its fantastic. Typing is a joy, nicer then my mates macbook pro i reckon.

I do have just one single problem though, the volume keys dont seem to work. All the other action keys, including the mute key, work fine, but vol up and down dont. I really dont want to have to send it back after taking so long to get it how i want it. Has anyone else had this problem?

 

Can I ask again, what are the options for UK buyers?
1. hp.co.uk's 14-1050ea with a glossy screen. It say's it's a "14.5" High Definition Anti-Glare LED display", but the spec sheet says it's a BrightView, so that's not right and I don't want a shiny screen.
2. Get someone to buy one in the US with a better screen and bring it over for you on a plane?
3. Buy from an ebay shop that ships to the UK?

Option 3 looks best to me at the moment. Is that what other UK people have been doing then? What are the pros and cons?

edit: Also, opinions and pros and cons of i5-450M vs i7-620M please. i5 a bit slower but... uses less battery power (both 35W so maybe not)? i5 lighter weight? i7 will get hotter? i7 is faster, but more expensive? Is that the only negative for the i7-620M?

 

Do you have the sound icon in windows mobility centre?

 

has anybody had any experiances with computerupgradeking from eBay?

 

I got my UK Envy 14 today
1) The Brightview screen is really glossy, you get a fair amount of reflections but it's not distracting from whats on screen. If that makes sense? It's certainly no worse than any other laptop screen i've ever used and from what i've seen of the radiance screen, thats pretty similar in the reflection department, it just has the ability to be "brighter" which obviously puts reflections into the background.

The other options you mentioned are pretty much it

I had been in the same position as you are right now since the E14 was released, USA or UK, especially after I learnt what spec HP were offering over here. Eventually what swayed me towards the UK version was A) The warranty and B) Cost.

A) People said that the warranty was international and so if I got a spec imported from the US that used parts being sold in the equivalent UK spec then HP would do repairs etc, which was great but I wanted a warranty longer than a year. If im going to be spending out £900+ on a machine then I want it protected in some way. HP UK were also offering an extended 2 year warranty for free (which bought the UK price down to £918)

B) I have a post somewhere in this thread that compared the cost of buying from the US against buying the UK model and whilst I can't say for definite that the amounts I listed are 100% correct, it can be used as a rough guide. You'd be making a saving of about £160 if you buy the UK version (providing you get it £918 and not the listed £999)

I know that still doesn't get you the excellent radiance screen but it's a couple of things you have to weigh up against importing

In the end, for my own peace of mind it just made sense for me to buy the UK Envy and potentially upgrade to the 900p screen in the future if I can get my hands on one.

Im not sure exactly how much HP are asking for to upgrade to the 620M but I remember when the new i5's came out that people were discussing which processor gave you the best "bang for buck", the general census was the 520M (i think), well the 450M is as fast as the 520M even though it is .300MHz slower, something to do with bus bandwidth size being bigger on the 450M.

The weight of the 450M and 620M shouldn't be any different at all, i don't think they'd use any other different components to affect chassis weight.

I think im right in saying that the 620M will run hotter than the 450M, it seems logical as the 620M is running at a higher clock speed but then as you pointed out the TDP's are the same.

The 620M should destroy the 450M in terms of benchmarking results but you have to weigh up whether thats worth the extra money or not

 

I forget who it was, but someone in this UK thread has purchased an Envy 14 from computerupgradeking, and found him to be reliable and efficient. He has very good feedback for these kinds of high value sales too, so he looks a safe bet.

 

It's actually cheaper to buy the UK spec from the US, even when paying for shipping and import VAT.

If you use the US HP website to order a UK spec model the price ends up at £705. Add on £200 more to cover shipping and import VAT and it's still much cheaper than buying here in the UK.

The "two year free extended warranty" offering here in the UK is just a marketing scam. HP have to provide a two year warranty on any computer they sell anywhere in the EU, it's the law.

 

Well, the i7 is obviously the more powerful chip, so it will be faster when doing cpu intensive tasks, like encoding HD movies.

It costs significantly more though, so how much value there is in that choice will depend on what you'll be doing with your laptop. For most people, who will mainly be browsing the internet, using office apps, listening to music and watching movies, there will be almost no discernable difference between the i5 and i7. The i5 is very powerful, and way more than most people will need for average usage.

The main downside to choosing an i7 Envy (other than the extra cost) is the loss of the integrated graphics option, and the consequent hit on your battery life.

The i7 models do not come with the dual integrated/discrete graphics set up, so you are running all the time on the Radeon HD5650. This eats battery power, so it's perhaps not a smart choice if you want to be using your laptop away from a mains socket.

In my view, the best option for most people would be ignore the i7, and put the extra cash towards an SSD system disc. An SSD will TRANSFORM the performance of your laptop, in almost everything you do, and will make a much bigger difference than choosing an i7.

 

@ Gertch, Did I read somewhere that because the i7-620M is dual core not quad, it would still have the integrated/discrete GPU setup?

But yeah, £175 difference from i5-450M to an i7...

I'll definitely get an SSD, yep. Getting there.

Edit: Good place to get a 160GB SSD in the UK? ebay for £240+, something like that?

 

@ demonhotrod, I didn't realise the Radiance was glossy too. That sways things to the UK Envy a bit for me.

Thanks for the great replies. I was only up to page 17 when I posted, so have caught up now and have seen most of this has been covered. Ha.

Now that the Radiance is $100 more, and the postage is doubled... that ebay deal isn't as good as it was, huh? Great effort by ninja for getting such a good catch, and the sneaky hp.co.uk deal people too. WARRANTY3 has gone now, yeah? Back to 5% off at best?

 

I haven't read that about the dual core i7 retaining the integrated graphics option. I'm no expert of course, so could very well be wrong, but everything I've seen has said that all i7 models are discrete card only.

Yeah, Ebay does look a decent source for SSD's, with the usual caveats about making sure you buy from a reliable seller, and knowing exactly what model you are getting etc.

Me? What did I pay for my SSD you ask? A friend who works in IT procurement got me my brand new Intel x25 160GB SSD for £160.

It's in the post now, and should arrive in the next day or two, which wil be a few days before my Envy is due to get here.

I thought I was gonna be able to get a second one to sell, but he could only get his paws on one.

I'm going to be doing the same mod as Ninja... fitting the SSD into the hard drive bay to use as a system disc, and then pulling out the optical drive and moving the 500GB OEM magnetic HDD into the optical bay to use as large data storage. Perfect.

 

That is not so obvious. Not many applications are designed to be that highly multi-threaded so they can utilise all 4 cores and since the clock of the i7 720QM is considerably lower than most dual cores in many cases the performance of the quad will be lower. And do not forget the power savings of the dual cores due to the different manufacturing process plus the option of switchable graphics not available on quads.

 

I appreciate what you're saying but I have a couple of things to ask/say.

1) Why would you order a Envy from the US, with the same spec as the UK model? To save yourself what, £80? And thats based on paying £999, I paid £918 so i'd be saving myself £10 and that doesn't even include any savings I get back via quidco, so it would probably end up more expensive buying a US machine with the UK spec. Not to mention i'd then have the "hassle" of having to order it via eBay, shipped thousands of miles further etc. The only reason in my eyes, to import an Envy from the US or wherever would be to get the radiance screen.

I'd also like to say that i'd pay £10/20 for the pleasure in receiving my Envy the next day after ordering, I wasn't expecting it that quick but I ordered 11am and received it 1pm next day. I'd have to wait much longer for any shipment from across the pond

2) You say it's a marketing scam, and maybe it is, they have to be making there money somewhere right? but A) It reduced the price of the Envy by £80 and B) If you're importing from somewhere outside of Europe, like many people will, then that whole arguement/pro point is gone. You'll end up being covered by the basic warranty which is a year (and might not include accidental damage/pick-up and return, i've not checked the base warranty details).

So as far as I can see, it's win-win if you order the UK version.

The 620M, even though it's an i7 is actually still an Arrandale processor so it will come with integrated graphics.

Depending on what you plan to do with the Envy when you get it of course, but I too would rather get the 450M/520M and put the "savings" towards getting an SSD, you notice the performance increase far more than a processor upgrade*.

*based on the average user

Haha not a problem mate, this thread has a lot of info
Pro-tip: you might want to change the number of posts displayed per topic in your user control panel to 50...makes life much easier and less clicking!

The Radiance is glossy, it's just really bright and vibrant, so you don't notice the reflections as much. Im sure ninja or someone will be able to give you a better idea of the screen than I will. It's just what i've noticed in all the videos/pictures etc.

WARRANTY3 ended today I think
Im not sure when exactly but the 26th sticks out for some reason
If you are a member of quidco I think they have a section on Hewlett Packard and one of the options was 5% off and 8% cashback or something. I wasn't able to use it though because I was already using WARRANTY3

 

Yeah thats correct, the radiance is still very glossy, in fact all E2E screens are glossy! Its all about the aesthetics

With regards to the radiance, it is without doubt the best laptop screen I have ever owned. The brightness is nothing like the quoted 350nits, I would guess its more like 250. But the colours, contrast and blacks are amazing! Its a joy to watch movies on. I used to use an m11x for watching movies/ufc etc whilst the misses was hogging the TV for soaps, but that screen was so awful I had to sell it.

Demon, how are you finding the 1366 display?

Just been playing BFBC2, COD WAW and GTA4 and I guess the benefit you guys have is being able to play games at native res with good fps! I cant max out the settings and keep it over 30fps on the 900p screen. I have resorted to running them at 720p with AA and AF. I wish they could have given us the 5730.

All my RTS games are running at 900p though

 

could someone try connecting there envy up to an amp to see if it decodes dd or dts via the hdmi cable for mkv. I have ripped some of my blurays to this format and would like to be able to view them

 

After reading all the comments about an SSD being more noticable than opting for an i7 processor, I'm thinking of choosing the i5, and then optinf for an SSD. However, the price HP is charging for a decent sized one (256GB) is absolutely insane.

The only experiance with computer 'modding' I've ever done was adding RAM to my current desktop How difficult am i going to find say, swapping the HD in the Envy to an SSD?

Also, how much should i be expecting to pay for a decent sized SSD? I have an attrocious amount of media files to store and dont particularly want to carry my WD Passport everywhere i go.

 

Changing out the hard drive in a laptop is almost as simple as adding the RAM to your desktop. Remove a few screw, pop installed HDD out, pop new one in, screw it down again. Five minute job.

It will be more time consuming installing your OS and drivers onto the new SSD, which you can do with a clean install or using recovery discs. There is plenty of advice and tips on reinstalling on the other Envy 14 threads here in the forums.

You're right that large SSD's are VERY expensive. They aren't yet really suited for storing large amounts of media files, they're just too costly. Besides, you don't need the blistering access speeds that an SSD will offer for those kind of files. You want your OS and applications etc on your SSD system disc, and then use cheaper/slower HDD for your movies and music and TV and the like.

As a solution for this Ninja has set his Envy up perfectly, and I'm going to follow suit when mine arrives: Order your Envy with a plain 500GB magnetic HDD, when it arrives take out the HDD and replace with your 160GB SSD which you can then use for your OS and apps. Then, remove the optical DVD drive from the Envy and install the original 500GB HDD into that bay. This combo gives you a speedy 160GB SSD for your system disc, and a roomy 500GB HDD for all your media.

You obviously lose your dvd drive doing this, but I almost never put a physical dvd/cd in my computers nowadays, so the extra 500GB HDD is way more useful in my view.

 

The Envy 14 HDD is one of the simplest to replace. You could order it with an HDD and wait until the end of this year or the beginning of the next when hopefully the new Intel SSDs will come out.

 

Yeah, how's the 1366 display, anyone who's got their UK Envy 14?

Would speed performance be the same; running at 720p on the Radiance compared to running at native res on the BrightView? Radiance use more power?

I've got VAT exemption to throw into the mix for my impending purchase. Can I have your opinions on my options please:

1. My (VAT registered) employer buys me the envy 14 from hp.co.uk @ £999. With 5% discount code and VAT off, that comes to about £807, with no Radiance.
2. My (VAT registered) employer buys from ebay.com (US) seller, same spec but with the Radiance for about $1600 now with shipping. That's £1040 (+customs charge, maybe £60? any news on this?). On hp.com it comes to $1390 (£900), so the mark-up and shippinng from the ebay seller is £140 extra at the moment.

So from the UK, no Radiance = £807
From the US, with Radiance = £1040 (+customs admin charge)

I feel bad making them pay extra for the screen. Maybe I make up the difference myself and we go for the US import. Maybe I don't need it and we get a great item for £807. Radiance worth £230 extra?!

This is so ridiculous, considering I'm currently on a 2006 Inspiron with a detachable screen (not a design feature; falling to bits). Ha.

edit: I'll get an SSD in the UK sometime after too.

 

right, ordering my Envy right this very moment..... anyone fancy explaining quidco to me

 

I know that on the HP UK store website the codes HPDISVR5 or HPVCC5HV still work, for 5% off. Any other deals knocking around?

 

I have to say that im pleasantly surprised about the 1366 brightview display, i'll start by saying that having a bit more screen real estate to play with would be handy, handy but not essential.

When I first started the laptop, the first thing I said was "oh nice", so it wasn't a case of wow but still good none the less. It's quite glossy, in direct sunlight I can see myself staring back unless I stick it up to about 80% brightness but other than that, the colours seem good and there isn't any light bleeding.

I've not done too much with it yet as im only just getting around to making the Recovery DVDs (which may I add, are a pain in the arse!). But from watching a few items from the web and generally faffing about within the system im quite impressed.

I'll give some more impressions about it once i've done the clean install later tonight. Might take it for a gaming sessions if I can get it done before about midnight

I have a slight "issue" in that when the laptop is using the DVD-RW to write disks, it seems to be making this high pitched "whirring" sound, hard to explain but i'll upload a sound clip in a bit. As soon as it stops writing then the sound goes and the machine is near enough silent (I don't want to evoke any false panic haha)

EDIT: Here is my upload of the sound Envy 14 recoding, notice the high pitched whir, im not sure what to do about it.

 

yeah performance would be the same, there is no performance hit for lowering the resolution.