*HP ENVY 14 & ENVY 14 Beats (2XXX series) Owners Lounge*

Xps comes with a 1920 by 1080 ( the higher spec version), but I'm slightly disappointed that it doesnt come with a quad core i7 and that the graphics cards ( 2 x gt525) aren't amazing, especially seeing as it costs £1200.

 

the screen on the 15z is not up to the same level as the normal xps 15, so is the speakers, the cpu, the gpu, only the weight is up to it, since both weight about the same thing, pathetic to say the least

 

But the xps15 is as bulky as laptops come, might as well just get an alienware.

I just don't understand how no PC manufacturer can make a laptop that is as thin (<1inch) and as powerful as a macbook pro ...

 

problematic is that no manufacturer produces a decent 14''

the 14'' market is dead as it is.

you have to make some trade off, like in the vaio CA, where the chassis is plastic, although the quality is good, the gpu is the same one that they equip in their 13'' models

the lenovo y470 another option due to the more powerful gpu, however the screen is just average.

The asus U series have terrible chassis, they flex too much, and the screen suffers from the same problem

The dv4 was a good option, but its restricted to only some markets with the 6750m, and its quite bulky

You either go with the 13'', thus getting better screens and the same gpu, or you go with 15'' with better screens and more powerful gpus.

the mbp form factor is difficult to beat

 

don't mbp's have heat issues while gaming ?

 

people say that its like an oven, never saw one gaming to be sure, but according to temp figures of notebookcheck under load the max temp is 41C (the case that is), so its not that hot as people hype about it

 

Macbook pro 6750M is not missing drivers for the dGPU in bootcamp. It uses the same ones found on guru3d.

 

what you cant do is to switch the cards, between the dgpu and the igpu, which is kind of sad, since it gives similar battery life than notebooks using switcheable gpus

 

/nod

I played games on the 15" MBP with 8GIG 1600mhz DDR3 and a 6750M. It works fine, no "oven" or anything like that, no real battery drain 1% in 5 hours. I'm like you guys, I ran furmark, and all the fun stuff. It's an i7 with a 6750M, pretty simply.

It just costs $2.5-$3k

 

thats the problem and the bless, with this price you direct your buyers to a higher niche, and that is where apple make its sale and its corporate identity, high end products with high quality materials and great design

the real problem is that I cant afford one

and that I need a more powerful mbp 13''

 

I agree, I think that the xps was too rushed. Dell could have made the XPS thinner without compromising power and cooling. The XPS 15 is about the same thickness as Alienware m14x... and Alienware's is a gaming machine!

Then Dell came out with the xps 15z which is almost exactly like a MBP 15 except it has less performance.

I really hope that Samsung comes out with a beefier 15'' version of their 9 series.

 

Yep 2 days remaining, you would think if they could not produce high res or radiance screens they would of removed the 14" inch envy instead of the 15". I believe if they did that it would have been a great success but now people will just be left looking for alternatives for the most part but then again maybe there will be decent options for people from the USA for customizable laptops with better screens/gpu lets hope!

 

I read a bunch of the posts but 47 pages is a hefty amount i must say. I am in the market for a laptop and I want one either now or within the next 2-3 months. From my research I've come to the conclusion that the envy 14 (refresh on the 15th) and the pavilion dv6tqe series(Sandy quad core) are the closest ones I can find to what I want. When the refresh finally comes out this week hopefully I can choose (after fiddling around with the customization of course).

I want a laptop 14.5"-15.6" with a good graphics card (if possible within class 1 of this list but high class 2 may suffice) for starcraft 2 in high/ultra settings. Less than 6 lbs, more than 5 hrs battery, and Sandy bridge Quad Core. Basically mid size for decent portability with the juice to handle starcraft 2 caliber games. And it can't be an obvious gaming laptop like alienware or msi b/c my parents would flip out(they think I have a gaming addiction as it is).

LG P330 sounds amazing if only it weren't so small... From my research the xps 15z just looks ugly and doesn't have anything compelling enough to pick over the envy and pavilion. Sony seems over priced for what they're offering. Asus and Acer seemed like only clunky computers could handle the specs i wanted. LG are too small and samsung/lenovo aren't customizable enough/didn't have a lot of sandy bridge laptops.

But I am here for your expert advice, am I missing something amazing (either out now or within the next 2-3 months) or is this pretty much the deal for laptops right now.

 

Not missing anything, pretty pathetic the choices we have. For a sleek high performance 'luxury' laptop that is not bulky at 14"-15" the choices are very poor its absolutely pathetic.

 

I have said several times on this thread that releasing the SB Envy 14 without at least a 1600x900 premium (read: as good as Radiance, if not better) screen will be tantamount to brand suicide! With all the excellent 15" and 17" FHD screens recently made available to value priced consumer laptops with brightness of 300 nit +, 600-800:1 contrast ratio, 85-95% adobe color gamut, how could it not be possible for HP, with the kind of volume they generate, to contract to have a 14" or 15.5" screen with comparable specs? I'll bet they would sell far more Envy 14s thus equipped than Dell will sell XPS 15s, maybe even than HP itself will sell DV6ts with the FHD screen option, so you can't say there isn't enough volume to make it worth their while. The LCD industry has enough players that HP has enough clout to get a premium screen made for the Envy 14 (possibly even making it a 14" screen that could be offered on the DM4 as well and, for the LCD mfr, unless HP paid for an exclusive, there would be many other takers for a premium 14" screen.

Yet is is increasingly apparent that no such premium screen is going to be available for the June 15 release - though I'm not sure the Malaysia spec sheet is definitive for the US market, especially if they are planning a huge surprise announcement - but the "brand suicide" approach is indeed looking more and more likely. Such a shame, and such a major corporate blunder if they do not have a premium screen whenever it's released in the US. They all but killed off the brand when they had the TWO Radiance fiascos: first, running out of them only 3 months after launching to rave reviews, then the January 2011 fiasco, when they all but gave away all the remaining 14.5" Radiance screens in existence so that they could not even do warranty replacements on the "orphaned" installed base! So now the lowly DV6 has a high quality (not just high res) 1080p screen, as does the Envy 17 3D (and the DV7), but the Envy 14 will be all dressed up with no place to go, as we saw that even its fine design and build quality with, for the time, pretty strong components, made it an also-ran in the market once there was no special screen anymore. What a blown opportunity! Tsk, tsk.

A great way to turn a year old E14 with Radiance into a speed demon. I believe you could also overclock the 5650, no?

Yes, a fantastic, high volume, huge brand cache, destroyed. Man, can big companies ever be dumb!

 

The LG P330 is looking to be a beauty, it's just a shame that it won't be coming out during the summer since I need to buy a laptop before I head off to college in August.

 

We're in the final hours guys. Lets hope HP pulls a 1600x900 w/ 6750 out of their.... and has a surprise announcement.

 

You've got the basic options covered. Really, though, all you need to play SCII on high is a GT 540M, which can be found in a lot of different computers in the 14.0"-15.6" range including the XPS (15") and Acer Aspire line (14"-15"). The Asus N53 has a GT 550M, which is a step up of course. And you can get a GT 555M in a Lenovo Y570. I don't know a whole lot about any of these options, but I'll throw them out anyways. And have you checked out Sager/Clevo's NP8130? XoticPC has some great builds with high-end graphics that are within the MSRP range of a dv6. You'll have to sacrifice a bit of weight and battery life though.

As a final note, have you tried talking to your parents? I'm actually in your exact situation - my parents don't want to buy me a "gaming" PC. But I'm going to argue with them until I'm blue in the face if it'll get my grubby paws on a M14x.

I commend your elegant prose! This is what a lot of people are thinking, I believe, but no one's said it better yet.

 

Man, I'm hoping it comes out in the UK same time too.

 

I'm hoping the date here (Scandinavia) isn't too far away either. Let's cross our fingers eh

 

Prices are too inflated in Australia so I just get mine forwarded to me from the US via ComGateway works out so much cheaper.

 

Do you pay customs charges, import duties in australia?

 

Only if its over $1000, I'm hoping I'll be able to use a coupon to get the price below a grand

 

The MB pro might be a difficult form factor to beat, but if apple can do it, why can't Dell or HP? If Dell or HP could be bothered to produce a laptop as powerful as Macbook Pro and <1inch I'm willing to bet there's a huge market for it and it would sell like hotcakes. Even if was $$$$$ it can't be as expensive as a MB pro.

I really really really hope HP don't disappoint when they unveil the E14 tomorrow, but I think we are going to need a frikken miracle ...

 

brand suicide indeed...

Hey... at least it's one less laptop for consumers to consider when they're deciding between an Apple MBP, LG P330, AW M14X or Sony Vaio Z.
HP Envy can compete with Acer, MSI, and Asus budget laptops now. I suppose if HP drops the starting price to under $800, it'll survive...

 

I think they (think they) already generated the brand name. And the beats sticker probably sells 4x more than the Radiance option. They're cashing out and leaving the hardcore notebook people (read 1% of the market) for mainstream. After all it's really not a full refresh, just enough to be considered by the less informed masses.

I honestly feel like HP is caching out the Envy, possibly to fund their tablet in the accelerating ultra portable wars.

 

This is true although if they wanted to offer the radiance they would it just isn't possible after their supplier went out of business.

 

It seems to me like you're assuming that everyone knows, and cares, about having a high res screen. I highly doubt the average prosumer (college students, other people that want something fancy) are going to be that put off by the screen. HP is targeting the MacBook Pro audience, and that's a group that generally doesn't know much about actual hardware.

So while some hardcore crowds (like the people of these forums) might be upset about the screen, you have to remember that this is a small crowd compared to the entire market.

 

Upgrading most of the internal components is a refresh, and that's exactly what we got. What we didn't get was a redesign.

 

Whilst I broadly agree with what you are saying, it is still unacceptable to fit such a poor screen on a premium laptop (Unless the Envy 14 comes down a lot in price). Without a decent screen the Envy 14 could hardly advertise itself as being great for 'video and photos' which it would need to attract macbook pro users. As it stands a macbook pro user has no reason to swtich to an Envy besides price, and if they already are macbook pro users then chances are price probably isn't that much of an issue anyway.

 

So basically HP is scammin us by not giving us the best hardware...

At least Apple put's in the best hardware. But they scam our wallets...

 

What HP need to do is just create an exact replica of a macbook pro, stick it in an envy case (bit more space for heat sinks and cooling etc..) and shave £500 off the price and Voila.

 

Maybe another option to consider, Toshiba's 'P Series"

Toshiba outs blingtastic Qosmio X770 for the US market, new P, C, and L series laptops -- Engadget

 

Also, it seems Apple will launch its back-to-school promotion tomorrow along with the release of the Envy 14, however, unlike in years past where a $200 iPod was given out, they will only be giving $100 gift cards?

Apple's Back to School Promo Launching Wednesday With $100 iTunes Gift Cards? - Mac Rumors

 

Does anyone know when exactly (GMT) the Envy 14 will be released tomorrow? (assuming that it will be released)

 

From browsing through the thread where people eagerly awaited the Envy 14 release last year, it seems like the hp webpages were updated quite quickly after midnight on the date they promised. The HP hq is in California, and midnight in Cali is about 7am in GMT (which means that all of us in Europe can sleep first and check the webpages tomorrow morning )

 

With a 540M, the P series won't have enough GPU power for a lot of people on this forum

 

for once I mostly agree with you

 

They should do this. Even better, ship it without Windows and shave another couple hundred off the price ;-).

 

The acer aspires had weak graphics cards and weren't customizable. The Sager/Clevo is a beast but its super heavy and low battery life as you said. The Asus N53 seems like a contender but once again battery life... Then I saw the Lenovo Y570 n peed myself haha. That laptop looks like a beast with all its bells and whistles and then I saw the 1366x768 and 4 hr battery life which made me want to beat a baby seal... Why do they torture me l0l Now I'm even more lost but I may have been brain washed by the Lenovo y570. Anybody have thoughts about this beast and its 10 second boot up?? I blame this guy for brainwashing me... YouTube - ‪Lenovo IdeaPad Y470/Y570 Laptops: Key Features‬&rlm;

 

The guy can't really claim that it's an uncompromised tool with a 1366x768 resolution

 

Yup every laptop in its class seem to be missing key elements that make a superb machine. I guess I'm trying to find the lesser of evils and call it a day before my brain explodes.

 

You're probably right. Although I would argue that less people knew or cared about the Beats audio than the Radiance screen.

I'll agree that most consumers don't know or care about high res screens. But the average consumer that is buying a PC probably doesn't know that the Envy exists. Being a flagship model, I think the consumers that are attracted to the Envy know a thing or two about what to look for in a laptop. My opinion... but there's a reason why the Radiance screen flew off the shelves, the demand was there and it appears HP underestimated it. Even when the price was increased to $300 for the Radiance option, it was out of stock in a matter of days. Also, look at HP's refurbished outlet... those Envy refurbs w/ Radiance don't last very long. Of course, this is merely speculation on my part since I don't know exactly how many Radiance screens were produced and how many Brightview screens were sold, but the trends are quite clear.

You're right, most MBP owners don't know squat about the actual hardware, but they buy it because Apple has done an excellent job of marketing their brand. Part of their successful marketing comes from building a reputation of not compromising with cheap components and that's why consumers are comfortable with paying a premium for an Apple product. Although consumers may not care about screen resolution, I'm willing to bet they've noticed the top notch screens on MBP, MBA, iPads, iPhones.

The way I see it, it's like Toyota and Lexus. Toyotas are your typical budget laptops (HP DM4, DV4). Lexus are your premium/flagship laptops (HP Envy). The average Toyota buyers don't know much about cars, they just want a reliable and affordable car. The average Lexus owner has a certain level of expectations, they expect more horsepower, luxurious interior, improved sound system, etc. If they take some cost cutting measures on the Lexus and it has nothing to offer beyond what the Toyota offers, sure... some people will still buy a Lexus because they don't know any better and simply like the looks of it, but overall... the sales for Lexus will drop.

 

1 Moar Dayyyy!

 

I don't think it makes sense to equate the HP Envy series with a Lexus. I'd think a more boutique computer manufacturer would be the equivalent of a Lexus, and the Envy would just be a nice model from a major car (less boutique) manufacturer (call it a Camaro or maybe lower end Corvette). Semantics really, but I think it helps to not think of the Envy so highly as a luxury Lexus and instead as a flashy offering from a mainstream manufacturer. Less disappointment that way, and makes more sense.

 

True. I know, it's really apples to oranges.
But the point I was trying to make is... Toyota brand is marketed to the everyday consumer that is more budget conscious. Lexus brand is marketed as a premium/luxury/flagship vehicle. When you label a product as your premium line or your flagship model, it's only natural to expect it to have the best components. As a result, the price tag is higher and limits your target market. Take a look at the Sony Vaio Z... it's Sony's flagship model because it has a premium screen, case materials, hardware, and innovation. If it fails to deliver in any of those categories, I guarantee it will fail (unless the price is drastically reduced). Obviously it is not worth any consideration for your average consumer that only wants to spend $400-600 and Sony is fine with that and is not making any compromises to the Vaio Z.

So the problem most of us have with the Envy 14 missing the Radiance is that HP wants us to believe that it's a premium laptop, when clearly it is not. My conclusion... you can't create a niche flagship product and market it to the majority. The Envy 14 may still be successful in sales, but HP's marketing failed to create a respected brand name; it's no longer taken into consideration by buyers that are willing to spend a lot of money. Anyway, that's my 2 cents

 

Hmmm...what are these new AMD Llamo laptops from HP? They are basically replacing most of their consumer lines with them at the end of the month? Are they better than Sandy Bridge? Better not be, I waited to damn long for this.

Also, the majority of people could care less about the Radiance or have no idea what it is. The only reason the Envy interested me was because of the Beats edition, and for a pretty long time I could care less about the Radiance until I read about it being in the new refresh, and I would consider myself more of a prosumer than 90% of HPs customers.

 

News on this refresh is hard to find: Will the refresh open the option for Radiance screen?

 

Your logic doesn't make sense. The majority of people can't care less or have no idea. If you careless then you have some idea. If you have no idea then you can't care less. lol

 

Has this thing been refreshed yet in Europe or any other country ahead of the US?