Envy 15-3200 Or 2012 Sony S 15.6?

I'm really torn between 2 laptops. Originally I wanted to get an HP Envy 15, but found I can get a 2012 Sony S 15.6 at the same price, but with some trade offs. Both laptops would have: i7 3610qm, 8 GB Ram, 15.6" IPS screen, and both would have internal bluray. The Sony comes with the bluray drive, while the Envy will have to have it added to it (panasonic UJ167). Factoring in that change, both come out to about $1400 with tax. The differences are:

Sony S - ~4.4 lbs, ~.8" thickness, Nvidia GeForce 640LE, 640 GB 7200 RPM HD
Envy 15 - ~5.8 lbs, ~1.1" thickness, AMD 7750M, 720 GB 7200 RPM Hybrid HD

I would like to play some games occasionally at medium to high settings (if possible), such as Starcraft 2, Diablo 3, and the occasional shooter. Obviously movie watching is a big deal to me if I want bluray, which I'll ensure both have. Thoughts?

 

You're buying and installing the blu-ray for the Envy 15 yourself?

 

Yes, it's not that big of a deal. I've installed one in my Envy 14 (with radiance soon for sale), and the Envy 15 shouldn't be any harder to do.

 

I know, I was just curious. The shopping page for the Envy 15 shows that there is "blu-ray optional" but I have come to the conclusion that this is an error. Your post just made me wonder if I missed something.

 

the 640le is trash, its a fermi rebadge. even tho we don't know where the 7750m stands, it will prolly tie gt 650m. that is about like 2x performance...if u would like to play those games I would recommend going with the envy.. look up the fps differences b/w the 640m LE (its in the y480 atm btw so look up review for that) and the 650m ddr5 (look at dv6t benchmarks)

I personally think the gpu performance increase is worth the extra weight and thickness but its up to u. good luck.

 

I forgot to mention, I can get a free PS3, VITA, or 8% discount on the Sony which I didn't factor in. The one thing I don't like about some of the Sony's is that the lid/lcd feels very fragile, but otherwise I love the thinness. For now, I have an envy 15 on order (ordered a few days ago), but haven't decided to cancel or return it after a test drive.

 

I was facing the same question as you until I saw the machine in sony store. As you said, the lid seems to be quite cheap. I love the thickness and weight though.
PS: 640 LE has both fermi and kepler version. Sony vaio S15 is using the kepler version.

 

Have you looked at the Samsung Series 7? It's also very thin at 0.97 inches. The only drawback I've seen is that the display is average at best. It does have a matte finish if that's important.

 

So what was your impression of the Sony?

 

Light 15 inch laptop with a decent quality and spec. I may buy it if my envy 15 gets delayed. But when it comes to perf/price ratio, sony vaio s 15 is way behind envy series.

 

I have been looking at these 2 laptops aswell, however the problem that I have is that the HP is not available in the UK
However I hear that the new Dell 15 XPS is coming soon (imminent) and that will probably rival both these and rumour has it, that it's got a 650m gfx card & msata

 

I asked about the hp envy in the uk on their facebook a rep got back to me and said that it will be coming and possibly as soon as july. I'm in the same boat have about 3-4 laptops that I'm after but only the sony is available.

 

Not only myself but both my brothers have had only problems with their Sony laptops. I don't think I will ever go back to them.

 

It looks as though the Y580 is available in the UK now.
See my other post here Looks like I might be buying that one.


Cheers
Satpal