Envy 14 now or wait for Sandy Bridge?

Just wanted to get your guys collective opinion on this. With the return of the radiance screen, an Envy 14 is looking mighty tempting. However, I don't need a laptop immediately, and have been hearing good things about Intel's new processors. Will Sandy Bridge really make laptops that much faster and energy efficient? Or is it all a bunch of hype?

 

Wait! There's absolutely no sense in getting computer hardware if You don't need it desperately right now. It's a general truth. New versions/refreshes/price cuts in the future are bound to happen - HP would be stupid to kill one of their more profitable laptop lines.

It's mostly not about Sandy Bridge - I don't believe they're that much of an improvement over current i5/i7 lines. However, I believe a new Envy is worth waiting for because they'll surely upgrade the GPU - current CPU power is more than enough, but it's always better to have higher graphic capabilities. Plus, they might fix some of current Envy 14's problems - maybe replace the touchpad with the new Synaptics version?

The Windows PC ClickPad finally improved? Synaptics ClickPad IS Series 3 preview -- Engadget

That's what I believe will help most. But as it hasn't been added in Envy 17 refresh, I doubt it'll happen for 14. Pity...

 

Actually then 2nd gen i5 outperforms the top of the line i7's of last year, New Sandy Bridge Intel Core i5 vs old Core i5 - APC labs test This is comparing it to a last year i5, and the increases are pretty dramatic. As far as energy efficiency, you wont see a significant increase until they capitalize on switchable graphics with the IGP. If you were to order one today, the estimated delivery date would be around Jan 30th. You have 21 days from that date to return it, And I assume that if there were going to be a refresh, we would get word of it within that time frame and you could just send it back, get the new one & pay the difference. Thats exactly what I'm doing.

 

I have a feeling the Envy 14 SB will not be available until they do a complete refresh. This mean they could discontinue with the 14.5" and go back to the 13.3" and 15.6" instead. It's hard to tell. I still think late February is too early for something new from HP. I hope I am wrong though. I myself am contemplating returning my Envy because I ordered it before the Radiance screen became available. The brightview screen doesn't get as bright or have as high of a contrast as the Radiance, but the speckle really bothers me.

 

Unless you are constantly maxing out your current i5 the only benefit that the SNB will give you is less power draw. And unless thats going to give back another hour of more of my battery I dont really see it as a big deal.

 

So there is really no point in waiting for sandy bridge if you don't use ur laptop to the max? If your just a casual wow gamer, and only use ur laptop for homework, surfing the web, watching movies and playing wow sandy bridge isn't really worth it? or is it? :S
or is it worth the wait to buy a SB laptop and have it for a few extra years?

 

Not really. I'd expect laptops to mostly just see small heat/battery gains. I don't think the average person will see any difference. In speed as its already the HDD that limits them.

 

With SSD, this statement is no longer entirely true. But I agree with you, you won't noticed he difference on 95% of the things you do. The major break will be heat/battery. But the Envy14 is really cool already, so that's really not an issue for me.

I would take advantage of the coupon now, because you will not see that for a good 6 months after SB is out.

I am expecting 10-20% increase in raw performance, and around 33% in battery performance.

 

I think it would be pretty crazy to buy a 1st gen core notebook right now when the new chips are already out.

Sandy Bridge outperforms the older models by 50% and draws less power. It has SATA 3.0 ports and other improvements in the motherboards as well.

Plus for those saying they don't think the Envy line will be refreshed by Feb, HP already showed off the Envys running SB at CES and I would be surprised if the Envy 14 or 15 doesn't have SB by the end of Feb.

I'm just trying to decide if i want to wait that long or go with the dv6t quad which is available now at a pretty good price.

 

No doubt SB performance is great. However, it's more like "up to 50%". I think overall or average gain may be more around 20% or less. But $500 off $1399 coupon active now though...I think that changes things a bit...

 

where can i find the copun ?

 

HP will be having a big presidents day sale in Mid Feb and also an even bigger "PC Refresh" sale in March.

Not sure if I can wait all the way till march but thinking of waiting till Feb.

 

Check this out for the $500 coupon

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-envy-hdx/547646-radiance-back-7.html

 

That $500 coupon is pretty sweet and you can use it on the pavillion dv6t quads also.

Maybe some of you gamers would rather have a better display but I'll take the better processor and chipset.

Another sweet thing about the Sandy Bridge chips is Intel WiDi which can wirelesly send 1080p to your TV.

 

These comparisons are on Desktop i5's where cooling and power gains are most efficient.
I don't think the laptop ones will bring such massive improvements, especially when you consider the limited space and cooling capacity of 14" laptops.

As others pointed out, they will bring a slightly longer battery life and maybe a ~15-20% gain at full load. Which will not be worth the premium over the discounted Arrandale's until they start discounting them 6-8 months after release (which is still unknown).

 

Then why would you get a laptop? If you get a 14'' is because you want some kind of mobility, and thus the battery life is an important aspect of the notebook. Otherwise you should get a 15'' from Sager and put a incredibly powerful gtx 485.

Intel has made quite a pressure for the SB pcs to come with the same prices as of todays pcs, meaning they will come cheaper (if you count the inflation of course)

 

For those that really want a sandy bridge laptop NOW, lenovo has a coupon $500 on their gaming 14" Y460, go there :
Laptop Deals - Deals2buy.com
Then scroll down to : Lenovo IdeaPad Y460p Laptop - 439524U, Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM (2.00GHz)
Only 200 coupons, and it still works at time of writing ...

I searched, the 2630QM is a 45W CPU, so it should get similar results as a well tuned i7-720QM ... so no real big gains in battery life. After some research, the ATI 6550 is just a renamed 5650 ... so I strongly think the next envy 14 will be very similar.

As for other SB CPU's , according to Sandy Bridge (microarchitecture) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2649 and 2629 will be the most interesting for a compromise between power and battery life (the 17W CPUs seem way underpowered).

I will stay with the deal i got for a great radiance screen
I almost went to try it out since they offer Bill Me Later, but they have a 15% restocking fee... no wonder HP is more popular. 15% for a 20 days lease is a bit steep.

 

Ooo this excites me; Maybee i can get an extended warranty and still be under $1000 with the sales....Im not sure if i should wait until march though... mmm...Apparently i3/i5 SB will be out at the end of February? so they wont be in laptops until march? Someone said September but that seems strange...

 

Apparently according to HP's facebook, the Envy 17s are looking at a late Feb refresh while the 14s wont be ready til Sept..

 

the 6550 is NOT a re-badged a 5650, it is one card lower than the 5650 I've checked notebookcheck. Its faster than the 5650 however by 8%.

 

what is that then ?
AMD Radeon HD 6550M - Notebookcheck.net Tech

quote : "The AMD Radeon HD 6550M (or ATI Mobility Radeon HD 6550) is a renamed version of the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650."

My 5650+i7 envy scored ~7700 on 3dmark06 with a 10% OC , and this one has an average of 7500. Which means it'll probably OC'd to ~8500. It's not bad but not enough to wait for SB Envys.

 

Huh somebody told me it wasn't, anyway your correct thanks for the info.

 

I couldn't pass of the 500$ coupon and just purchased an Envy 14 with the i5-580m and the radiance display. 1070$ total (+tax/shipping)
Est. build date: February 1
Can't wait

 

I'm tempted to go with the envy 14, but I feel like it would be too small and not be pumped up enough to game with... The radiance screen is simply...

I dunno.

All this waiting for the new envy 17 has my mind wandering haha.

 

Dont be afraid of games , I am amazed at how this laptop runs everything i throw at it (left 4 dead , killing floor, bad company ...).
Of course I usually set it on medium, NOT high. Some games may require low to be butter smooth (nothing annoys me more than shaky sub 40 FPS, so I prefer to take some eye candy down, it's hardly noticeable in some games).

Consider getting a good laptop cooler is you plan to use that as a main gaming rig (i have my i7 desktop for heavy gaming)

 

lol I want to build a new desktop too but unfortunately I don't make great money, I'm getting married later this year and I'm trying to buy a house in a few months... so my eyes are much bigger than my wallet lmao.

 

Congradts!!!!! Hope it all works out for you..... hope lots of money comes your way and you get the dream computer you always wanted...

KJ

 

lol thanks...

I have to get all my financial ducks in a row if you know what I mean...

I most likely shouldn't be spending any money at all on a laptop right now (let alone $1500+ )

I'm doing it anyway I don't care what the fiancee thinks haha.

EDIT:

I'm working with a 6 year old desktop with 1 gb of DDR ONE ram lol, a x2 3800+ and an old 8600gt...

blah. It's time for an update lol

 

where on HPs facebook do you see that? Sept seems like a long time.

 

I sincerely hope it's not Sept. I have to have a new laptop by end of June and I want this baby to last for 2-3 years.
I'm looking at the new Envy 14 or new dm4t or new Sony Vaio SA.

 

if you want sandy bridge for cheap now, buy the lenovo y460p using the $450 coupon.

There is also the sager NP5160 thats pretty affordable.

 

ASUS N53SV also affordable SB laptop if you don't mind 720p resolution the 1080p version is already for sale in other countries, not in US yet

 

Hi guys,

I have some information, there are caveats attached so you can take it as you will.

I was told that in a couple of weeks there will be news about a new Envy series. The caveats are that my best friend has a buddy who works for HP in NZ. He was looking for a laptop, I had told him previously about the envy and he had enquired about it. So as the info moved down the line, some key aspects could have been lost.

Lastly my mate does not really care much for the technical stuff and he may have just misunderstood. For the record, Envy 14's and 17's are available in NZ so please no comments about us being backwards It sucks enough having to wait 2-3 months in the freaking UK for new laptops to come out once they're out in the US.

Cheers!

 

maybe he was referring to the envy 17? i believe it's rumored to be refreshed with the i7 sandy bridge in late february

 

As far as Im aware the high performance sandy bridge chips (the i7's) were released during CES and the 17 envy's were announced. My mate got the impression that there was more than one envy version being released. 9th of Feb is when the mid-range, i5's come out. Be a good time to announce a new laptop range

Anyway's my fingers are crossed...that or I buy the new all metal Samsung Zx310....that is one sexy, fast beast...

 

how about the beastly crysis? what do u have to set it to with native res.