Envy 14 2070NR Questions

I was looking at this laptop ( Amazon.com: HP ENVY 14-2070NR 14.5-inch Notebook PC - Silver: Computers & Accessories, and I had a few questions.

1. Does this still use the X25-M G2 SSD, or has HP moved on from that old design?
2. Should I get this, or should I wait for Samsung Series 7/Ultrabooks/(insert your favorite new laptop)? I want to keep it $1,000 or less if possible.

I currently have a Toshiba M305D with a 2Ghz AMD Turion X2 CPU, 4GB DDR2, integrated Radeon 3100 graphics, a 200GB HDD, and a 1280 by 800 LCD. Pretty much anything over $500 or so will be a big upgrade spec wise, and the build quality of it isn't anything to brag about. Basically, it is a five and a half pound blob of plastic and gloss. It is a good laptop, but it isn't too powerful, has horrible battery life (<2 hours max @ power saving settings), and ... I'm just ready to move on from it.

Thanks,
JP Tech

 

If you can wait, wait to see how the Series 7s shape up (they officially come out 10/2). Wait for a couple reviews and make sure nothing crazy is going on, then I'd recommend getting one of those. I love my ENVY 14, but I only see it being better in a couple ways (14" vs. 14"): ENVY 14 has better video card, and is likely more solid (even with Series 7 aluminum).

If you don't need the slightly smaller ENVY 14, the 15.6" Series 7 with 6750 is probably better in most ways. It even weighs less.

 

1. yes, still X25-M G2
2. post above

 

Rereading your original question, for the money, the ENVY 14 is still tough to beat. Don't know if you can get a student/EPP discount or not, but the base price is $999 or $899 (if you can get the discount). Coupons are semi-common too... so an ENVY 14 will have better specs than a sub-$1000 Series 7 (the 6750 is only on the two 15" models that are > $1100).

So if that $1000 ceiling is really important, I'd actually recommend the ENVY. If you can wait though I'd still recommend waiting on reviews just in case.

 

I like the SSD in the 2070nr on amazon. Is there a way to get the student discount on that one? If so, what are the requirements? That would make it very compelling in value per $. I'm not thrilled about it being an ancient X25-M, but beggars can't be choosers. It sure beats my 200GB 5400 RPzm drive now.

 

Are you talking about this: Amazon.com: HP ENVY 14-2070NR 14.5-inch Notebook PC - Silver: Computers & Accessories?

Look at that price. It's a bargain. With my EPP discount, configuring one on the HP site with that SSD is $1215.

EDIT: Same link. It is the one you're talking about. I'd still wait the 2 weeks to see what the Series 7 is about, if you can wait. But keep that price thing in mind too though. Like I said, it really depends on 1. can you wait and 2. how big of a deal is the $1k thing.

 

I still think that is a pretty damn good deal, you don't see SSDs in anything other than netbooks for that pricing. Mac Tax notwithstanding, the base price is $999 for a 64GB model, so that's a good rate. I'd make sure there isn't anything sketchy about it before you consider it, and definitely wait a couple weeks to check out the series 7, technology rarely gets more expensive as you wait.

 

I am using this exact model (14-2070NR) that I got from Amazon a couple of weeks ago when it was priced at $1079, and, now that it's $999, I'd say to definitely go for it.

This is the name of the SSD from Device Manager: INTEL SSDSA2M160G2HP - I believe that is the X25-M G2.

I love this laptop, and it's definitely a bargain right now on Amazon.

 

If you've only had it a couple weeks, you could e-mail Amazon and ask for a price adjustment/credit. If you've never done this before, they might give it to you. They'll typically say, "Well, we don't normally do this, but just this once we'll allow it."

It doesn't hurt to try. The only thing you're out is the couple minutes it took you to type out an e-mail.

 

Thanks for all the replies. I'll think it over for a few days or so before I make any purchase,but itrealy seems to be a good deal. It fits 4 of my 5 main criteria. The only one it doesn't fit is the portability, but that was the least important of my five main criteria because I mainly will use it at my desk with my 23" monitor and the charger plugged in.

To computerwiz, how is the performance? Are application load times & responsiveness blazing fast with the ssd? I've heard that bootup is delayed by the switching graphics but is still decently fast (30 seconds).

 

It's really fast. Probably the fastest laptop I've ever owned. The SSD is getting the highest Windows Experience Index score at 7.7, and the base score is at 6.7 with the AMD graphics enabled.

As for boot up time, I haven't timed it (I usually don't shut my computer off, I just let it sleep), but it is very fast compared to even the Arrandale i5 laptops that I have owned. And Windows 8 is supposed to make the startup time even faster once it comes out (I've tried the dev preview in a VM, but I haven't actually installed it on my hard drive).

 

I really appreciate the help. It sounds like a solid laptop for the money, and while the Samsung Series 7 offers some advantages, it comes at a higher price than what I will pay right now. The ultrabooks are tempting, but they also lack dedicated graphics and an optical drive, neither of which are really that big of a deal, but I don't need crazy portability right now. I'll let them mature for a year or two before I purchase an ultrabook.

I may purchase this ENVY though. I'm leaning heavily towards it right now. There are several other laptops with easily better specs (minus the ssd) for less, but the premium feel of the ENVY, the SSD, and the cooling system are worth it to me. I say cooling system because some of these high spec, cheap laptops have major throttling issues which I want no part of. Anyways, anything is a big leap from my plastic 3 year old AMD/Toshiba laptop (gloss overload).

Thanks again,
JP Tech

 

Yeah. If you don't want to break the $1k barrier, pull the trigger on that ENVY. Like, try to do it before that price either goes away or they get sold out by that vendor.