*** Envy 14 vs Envy 15 vs dv6tse - Side by Side Shootout! ***

Stay tuned for my in depth review of the Envy 14, Envy 15, and dv6tse, compared side by side. I figure lots of people will have a tough decision trying to decide among these three. Let me know if there are any particular issues you guys want to know.

 

details on the GPU performances would be nice

 

Let me guess... the one which has the most upright screen that doesn't go back further, yet is th best laptop in every other way, is the envy 15.

...sorry I'm still bitter at HP for ruining a great product

 

great pics fadegs! I look forward to your review. do your dv6 and the e14 both have the 5650?

@jamus28 i'm able to push mine back to about a 60 degree-angle, farther back than is shown in the pic

 

I second that. A comparison of the DV6Tse vs. Envy 14 would be nice.

 

I'll third the gpu comparisons. I'd also like opinions on the envy 15 vs envy 14 display (assuming the 15 is 1080P). Any noticeable differences in build quality between 14/15, such as keyboard flex, bezel vs. e2e would also be good.

Anything that might help me decide between the 14 & 15. I'd be bringing it to work and back every day doing arcgis & occasional python programming.

Btw, nice line-up!

 

what generation of envy15 is it? what are the specs of each? and how/why did you happen to get all 3 of these???!!!

 

Exciting!

Three laptops that many consumers are stuck between, all having a shootout.

I ordered my Envy 14, but I really want to see your results.

I hope you will be thorough, and consider all differences and similarities as well as the pros and cons of each laptop.

 

Very cool! More pics with brighter lighting please. And one with the E14 and E15 closed next to each other for height comparison.

Also, is the E14 screen (1600x900 glossy) brighter than the E15 screen (1080p glossy)?

Thanks!!!!

 

Could you darken the room (night), place them all side by side with an image showing at full screen that had lots of contrasting colors and range on brightness, and take a HEAD ON picture with a dedicated camera for higher quality?


Basically, trying to see a replica of something like this direct shot of the vaio z screen and the mx11

http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/7254/vaiozvsmx11.jpg


If you have a camera with a wide angle lens, all the better to get a wider shot of the 3 machines with identical images on them.


hmm, not sure what image would be to best showcase the differences in quality... any photo people have any ideas?

If nothing comes to mind as a standard image to show on all three, just use the firefox nebula wallpaper or something

http://mortuux.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/71793-firefox_nebula_1920_1200.jpg

 

I'd request that you post the width and height of the Envy 14 screen. HP says it should be 13.1" wide and 7.4" high. I ask because it doesn't look a full inch smaller than the Envy 15 in your pics. It looks bigger than 14.5" diagonal.

Thanks!

 

Thanks for the interest guys. I will address all the issues soon, but here are the relevant specs on the three laptops (the dv6t I'm giving to my bro, the Envy's are mine):

Envy 15
- 1080p Glossy LCD
- i5-520m
- 500GB 7200RPM HD
- ATi 5830 Mobility

Envy 14
- 900p LCD
- i5-520m
- 320GB 7200RPM HD
- ATi 5650 Mobility (underclocked 450/800)

dv6tse
- 768p LCD
- i5-450m
- 160GB SSD
- ATi 5650 Mobility (clocked 550/800)

 

Hi, could you possibly comment on the dv6t screens quality in comparison to the envy screens?
That was the only thing that put me off the dv6. The res didnt really bother me, just the quality.

 

Cool thread, I have two of those 3 myself. Looking forward to reading your review.

 

why does the smaller envy 14 heavier/weight more than the 15....

Also, do you notice any difference between the Radience display and the Ultrabight view?

 

odd 10char

 

The Envy 14 has an optical drive, which adds significantly to the weight of the laptop.

You could, of course, remove it and replace it with another HDD, or an SSD, which would likely make it lighter than the Envy 15.

 

Ah, I see. I am thinking of removing it but get afraid of breaking something when taking off the front cover...

 

Main thing I wanna see is the performance of the GPU

 

Thanks for reviewing these three competing laptops!

 

I look forward to the battle

 

BENCHMARKS PLEASE!!!

resolution = 1366 x 768

hopefully they all have the same amount of memory?

 

Please compare how hot these laptops get at full load (feel rather than temperature measurement).

The cooling system is very underrated and most do not pay attention to it. A good cooling system is worth at least $100 to me.

 

most interested in gaming performance side by side in 1920 by 1080

 

Please add that to your first post. I'll be waiting for this comparison.

 

I cant wait to see the comparison of Envy 15 & Envy 14.

 

All I'd like to know is if the E14 screen looks brighter than the E15's. Thanks so much if you can find this out.

 

I can't wait for the comparison of the screens and gaming performance. I hope this gets updated soon!

 

I have the Envy 15 and Envy 14.

The Envy 15 screen is slightly brighter! But the Envy 14 screen has better colours.

If there is anything else you want compared between the two just ask away

 

which one do you prefer? Does edge to edge glass make a difference? Design wise and just based on look which one looks better?

 

Which laptop or screen do I prefer?

On both fronts it would have to be the envy 14.

Screens, although the laptop is marginally brighter on the 15, the E14's screen is stunning. Dont get me wrong the E15's screen is above average and also 1080p but when you put them together you get the wow factor from the E14's.

Aesthetics, form factor I prefer the E15 (sleek and slightly lighter) but the E14 looks better, the E2E front looks much nicer although serves no other purpose. The colour of the E14's case is slightly darker.
The keyboard is much nicer on the E14, they both have great function but the E14 has backlit and doesnt have those annoying shortcut keys to the left. The E15 has less flex.

Heat management is better in the E14 as the right side gets hotter but the left side stays cool, as a gamer this is peftect for me, the E15's top gets hot to the touch under heavy gaming on the left and right touchpad and the whole base. Its no where near as bad as a Dell sxps 16 but it does get a touch uncomfortable for long sessions.

Noise - The E15 wins this hands down. Both on Idle and load. On idle it is just a quiet hum, the E14 has an annoying fan motion where it cycles quiet/medium every few seconds (although I am sure this will be fixed in a BIOS update) on Load the E15 is again much quieter, it has 3 fans to do the work and so they never spin as high as the E14. Also the intake vents are much better on the E15. The E14 is by no means load tho, my M11x and M15x sound like jet engines in comparison.

Hopefully this covers your questions, but just fire away if there is anything else you would like to know

 

thanks very much man, my dad should hopefully be picking me up a canadian envy 14 in a couple of weeks XD so excited for it. i5-430, 640gb HDD, 6gb RAM with price match should be about $1510, not too bad huh

 

Yeah thats pretty good! Mine came in at £860 and I havent been hit with customs yet so not sure how long that takes.

Make sure you get your dad to check it over before he comes back, at least if you get a lemon he can exchange it whilst there.

 

yer definitely will do, do you reckon you can gimme a list of things to check if that's not too much hassle?

Also, how does COD MW2 run on this?

 

Things to look for:
Dead pixels
Damage to the chasis
Make sure it boots ok and get him to run 3dmark or something.
CPU Whine (I havent got any but some people report an annoying high pitched whine)

I cant think of any other issues, but you might want to check through the owners lounge. I hope your Dad is more IT literate than my Dad

Oh and sorry dont have MW2, but it runs COD WOW at 900p with high settings. This is with stock GPU clocks. I played a few full servers with no problems or lag.

Also plays BFBC2 at medium settings, 32man servers. Well pleased with it.

 

nice, sounds good. Doubt i'll get 3dmark running on it, is it something that should be done or a if you want kinda thing? I'd rather run it after i get it but if it's to check for something then i shud be able to get my dad to have a look

 

It doesnt need it, but its good to stress the system so you can check temps/fan noise/stability etc.

If you Dad is into tech and he doesnt mind then great, but if not, dont worry, maybe just get him to run the WEI test as that heats the system up a little.

 

Hey ninja2000, how is gaming on the 15 compared to the 14? So that's medium settings on BFBC2 for the 14, right? What settings can you play it on with the 15? Thanks.

 

15 you can pretty much max out any game on 1080p, only game that has given envy 15 owners any real trouble is crysis, have a look on the envy 15 2nd gen thread

 

Thats correct. On the E15 without OC I can play it 1080p medium settings for over 30fps or with OC to 550/1000 I can play it 1080p high (low shadows) at over 30fps

 

@ninja2000

Which screens do your E14 and E15 have?

Did you ever get around to installing that e14 hdd caddy? Mines shipping so I'm still waiting...

Which one are you keeping?

Seems like the E15 will be updated anytime now. Wonder if they'll include the E2E and switchable graphics. I hope they release G3 soon so I can return my E14 and get it.

Thanks for all the info!

 

Are they ever going to give the envy 15 back light and an intergrated optical drive?

 

Probably Envy 15 Gen 3 may have a backlit keyboard and optical drive.. who knows..

 

E14 - radiance 1600x900
E15 - ultra britght 1920x1080

I installed the HDD yesterday. It was really easy except my caddy was the wrong size (I had a 12.5mm for standard ODD bay, you need a 9.5mm) I just ripped the connector out of the caddy and taped the drive in the bay. This is only temporary whilst I order a 9.5mm bay.

One point of note, the only pain was the sata ribbon cable is taped to the DVD drive! Make sure you disconnect cable from the motherboard, then remove the DVD and carefully peel off the cable. They are quite delicate

 

Have you tried running the same game on 1600x900 on the E14 vs. 1920x1080 on the E15? Or playing 1080p video files?

there seems to be a pretty noticeable difference with 1080p video files on my wife's MBP, which is 1600x900.

Also, have you tried overclocking the dv6tse and the E14? I understand some have reported higher OC with the dv6tse

 

Tagging along here. I really want the E14, but man, configuring the dv6tse comes out significantly cheaper.

 

I want the envy 14 but it has a problem with the graphics card, so i looked at the dv6tse which has the upper end 5650 and extra but seems cheaper. Finally the envy 15 which has a great graphics card but lacks the features of envy 14. Could you address these issues in the review?

 

Cool! Thanks for all that info dude!!! So, I take it everything works fine with the 2nd hdd? JJB thought the BIOS might not work with a 2nd hdd.

Are you keeping the E14? I so wish they'd update the E15 super soon. I prefer the size and 1080p of E15 but like the backlit, E2E, and battery life of the 14, plus the odd caddy for 2x2.5" hdds (unlike the E15).

 

Second that, if they released a 3rd gen E15 I would buy it straight away.

 

Yeah definately keeping the E14. The main reasons for me keeping it is:
Runs cool, even on my lap whilst using intel gfx, this means I can surf/watch movies in bed
Good battery life, I am averaging 4hrs.
Backlit keyboard
stunning screen
great performance when I need it.
SSD + 500gb storage (which works perfectly BTW). Means I have the speed to SSD but still have all my media on the go (I keep a lot of ISO/Movies/Music/Pics and there is no way they would fit on the SSD)