Get the Envy 17 or DV7T?

Looking to replace my Dell XPS l701 laptop. I have been looking at the pros and cons of the Envy and the DV7t so perhaps you can give me some advice:

Envy 17 (Pros)
Faster GPU
Nicer Build Quality
Slot driver Blu-Ray Drive
Better cooling than the DV7t

Envy 17 (Cons)
Cannot replace the battery!
Glossy screen (reflections)
Can't use switchable graphics (not a big deal for me)
Discontinued Product

I cannot believe that the Envy does not have a user-replacable battery. What happens in a few years from now when that battery goes? Would HP even put a new one in and at what cost?
I like the bigger cell batteries partially because it lifts the backend of the laptop up. Does the DV7t do this?

I use this laptop for gaming and development work (programming, web design, etc..)

How bad is the heat on the Dv7t with gaming on the left palm rest and WASD keys?

It's just frustrating that I have not found a laptop without some sort of faults in it.. Any advice?

 

Well, technically you CAN replace the battery on the Envy 17... It will void the warranty, but it can be replaced. all that's standing in your way is a ribbon and a few screws.. I would say get the 17.. Depending on which one you get, you can have switchable graphics.. I have the 17-30XX, which is of the sandy bridge generation incase you didn't know.. The GPU is a rebranded and upclocked 6770. It can play most things you throw at it at high graphics pretty well. Unless you're planning on melting your laptop with BF3, you'll be fine. Since the 30XX is the previous gen you can probably find it at a heavily discounted price. I highly recommend it, and I couldn't be happier with it.

 

I have the envy 17 3200 model and I absolutely love it. The new envy model does have working switchable graphics. When you need to run the Radeon HD 7850m card then all you do is put the application in High performance mode. When you want to save battery then all you do is use the Intel HD 4000 card. I don't have any problems using the switchable graphics. I have lots of videos on YouTube showcasing the Radeon HD 7850m card in action. They run most games on Medium-High Settings at 1080p. I would get the envy over the DV7T in a heartbeat. The glossy screen isn't that big of a deal unless you're outside using your laptop. I'm not sure how HP will handle replacing the battery. Will they just send me a new one when mine dies or will I have to send in my whole laptop... I guess I'll find out when the time comes... PS. Just because it's not being sold anymore doesn't mean it's not a great laptop. Most of the problems the envy has is on the 3D version...

 

I've used the ENVY dv7t, assuming you get the Nvidia 650M graphics card you're still going to get decent gaming performance. Though admittedly it may not be quite on par with what you hope for. The 1920 x 1080 screen on the ENVY dv7t is matte and has nice color reproduction and viewing angles, though oddly it's not as good as the 1920 x 1080 screen on the ENVY dv6t which is stunning.

As far as design between the ENVY 17 and dv7t, the 17 definitely wins that one, though it does get accused of looking like the MBP it's still great looking in its own right. The ENVY dv7t is fine looking and certainly not ugly, but I don't think it will win any design awards either.

One plus for the ENVY dv7t is you can get either a 6-cell battery that sits flush or a larger capacity 9-cell battery that sticks out and elevates the laptop which can help cooling and can be better for ergonomics with typing. If you get the 9-cell I definitely think you'll be ok with cooling, I never had much issue with the ENVY dv7z.

 

Only the ENVY 17 3D has trouble with the switchable graphics.

The DV7t will get very warm in the front where your left palm rests as that is apparently near where the GTX 650m chip resides. For me it's too uncomfortable to game with it. The ENVY 17 gets warm in the back right, nowhere near your hands.