*HP ENVY 14 (1XXX series) Owners Lounge, Part 1*

Hmm... He says nothing about where he is or where he got the Envy with the slice.

One would think he would have mentioned getting it somewhere on those forums (he doesn't, just mentions he has it), and when exactly did he get it that he's had time to test the battery life and subsequently go on a trip? Unless he's sitting on a review model, one would be inclined to be a bit skeptical...

And if it's legitimate, I'm willing to accept 6-7 hours with both batteries on 100% brightness - with the brightness of the E14's screen, I'd assume that the life could be at least a couple hours longer on lower brightness settings (even with my relatively dim Inspiron 1420, lowering the brightness can increase battery life by 20-25%).

 

@GCRUSSEL1

With an LED backlight the brightness level has very little impact on battery life. For example with the envy 15 Ultra brightview 1080p display (370 nits, yes brighter than the E14) the difference between 0% and 100% bright is 2W vs. 4W or a total between minimum to full brightness of 2 Watts, since you really can't use it at below 50% that makes the differance about 1 Watt or less than 5% of total battery capacity with the slice attached...

 

Should I get i3 or i5? Any major differences?

Any heating issues? etc

 

JJB, I am almost positive that the Envy 14 screen is brighter than the Envy 15 screen. Also, you can easily use screens under 50% brightness. I'm doing it right now. Also, your numbers about wattage may be right, but lowering screen brightness still has a significant effect on battery life. I guess the numbers don't support it, but in every laptop I've used, it does.

 

I am almost certain the envy 15 screen tops out at 300nits of brightness, not 370.

 

Correct.

@awaisuk here's one. http://forum.notebookreview.com/6452787-post5817.html

 

Sorry but you're all wrong, here are the E15 specs: View attachment 52671

You will also find that the actual measured brightness of the display will be around 200 to 220 nits, the 350 (E14) or 370 (E15) specs are based on the manufacturers tests before any drivers, software or screen images are used, they measure essentially the transarancy of the display with the pixels all in the 'open' position...

 

intel: TJUNCTION 90C for rPGA, 105C for BGA i3 370m

 

As previously posted -

DIMENSIONS • Unpackaged: 14.01"(W)x 9.33"(D)x 1.09"(min H)/1.11"(max H)
• Packaged: 17.0"(W) x 6.4"(D) x13.0"(H)
WEIGHT • Unpackaged: 5.20 lbs(12)
• Packaged: 11.0 lbs

From here - http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/image...192185196_.pdf

 

Since the Envy is a PGA988 socked installation, looks like 90C is right. Expect the I3-370 to throttle at 86C. It will be interesting to see if this holds up in the Envy too.

Bronsky

 

I usually cut manufacturer claims in half because I realistically see that figure in my "normal" usage. There is no way I would run my screen brightness at 100% because A) it looks awful to me B) it consumes more power, however slight. Manufacturers like cranking up the brightness on their TVs because people love shiny, glowing things. I crank it down to 50% and work from there, usually south. As long as I get about 3 hours I'm good.

It's like getting a V8 and complaining about gas prices. Every time I stomp on my accelerator there goes 25¢! The thrill is worth every penny...

 

That chart contradicts quite a few other spec listings.

http://www.hp.com/united-states/personal_again/press/envy_pr.pdf

 

Your missing the point, which was with an LED backlight the brightness has almost no impact an battery life compared to the old style flourecent backlights. Also with the envy 15 you really cant see much in standard room lighting at 50% or below, maybe the 14 will be different..

 

the link doesnt work for me
but the posted info is sufficient.
thanks

 

Well that link is from a 2009 marketing data sheet which makes it for the original (i7 only) generation 1 envy 15. Also the image I posted is actually from the HP E15 service manual (5/2010) which includes all the internal HP p/n's which you can use to order replacement parts from and includes the specs direct from the manufacturer of the devices (LG in this case).

You have to keep in mind that the marketing max brightness number is never close to the finished computers actual max screen brightness. As an example the Envy 13's original 1600x900 Radiance display that was marketed at 410 nits actually measured out to 250 nits on the actual computer, and the E15 goes from 370 to real world of 220 nits... That's what happens when you go from a 'trasparent' powered panel with baclighting to a image based powered panel (white base backround) which is how the compuetr ships.

 

Nice post. He says he's not german so I don't know if he still lives in Germany or how he got his envy 14 already.

 

Then, it is okay to assume the Envy 14 display will not be 350 nit?
I hope it is really bright, even if it is not close to 350.

 

Don't worry, there are not many screens out there brighter than the Envy 14. I think the only ones that would be better would be the Envy 13 screen, and then the RGBLED or DC2 screens of the business lines.

 

The differentiating feature is turbo boost in the i5s, where they can overclock themselves based on what you're doing. I opted for the i5-430m (25 bucks over the i3) which is now no longer an option. You won't find any major performance differences amongst the various i5 options unless you're encrypting NASA secrets or something.

I imagine that for office use, multitasking, web browsing, music, movies whatever the i3 will be fine. I got the i5 because the turbo feature helps single threaded CPU intensive apps like games perform better. This link, which isn't working for me right now, has a graph that shows the various differences in performance with PC Mark Vantage. The reason I discount the i5's higher than whatever the lowest one is that theres a marginal power consumption difference and a marginal performance difference except in the comm suite which tests encryption which very few people realistically use intensively enough to justify spending money on the upgrade.

 

@IKilledYourHamster

If it were a true 350 nits it would be like looking into a 100 watt lightbulb from a foot away, LOL. That's way to bright to view comfortably. For proffessional photo editing I use a brightness level of 80 nits (industry standard), which is about 60% brightness on the E15.

 

It'll be awesome!!!!! It'll almost always be at like 70% or less, but when you want it you got it!

Ok time to go to the gym

 

you may want to get the i5 since the i3 can only max out at 90 * C (ok 86 *C if the Acers are any indication) before it starts throttling itself.


most likely you won't reach that temperature but well *shrugs*

the i5s can get up to the lower 100s

 

It should be bright.

Unless someone actually does a physical check by sticking some sort of light sensor on the panel, this is all speculation. But until proven otherwise, expect the "radiance" displays to be brighter, and more color rich. Emphasis on that last.


Remember, typical notebook displays are rated in the 200 nit range. So even with some BS in terms of real numbers, it should be much better than average. I believe the 1080p panel on the 15 had a 60% color gamut range. the envy 17 goes up to 72 %, the 14 hits 82%.

Now what does that actually mean? I have no reference by which to tell what the difference is. Are there diminishing returns after a certain color range? etc etc. This is for someone who knows more about technical panel details to answer.

 

Anyone not using their 25$? I would really appreciate one, and would trade a newegg exclusive coupon for it .

edit: email me at [email protected]

 

I guess I forgot to mention that my company has several custom color calibration systems and that the E13 and E15 real world numbers I posted were from actual measurements and the higher numbers from the specs were from HP or LG

 

been trolling this forum for a few days now and FINALLY reached the end, so time to ask my first question...

i know its early to start talking about it, but anyone think they might refresh with USB 3.0 sometime this year? i dont understand why the laptop market is so slow to adopt. we saw a few laptops come out with it in Q1, but not much since.

 

Thanks, everyone.

Does the Envy 17 use the same 1080p display as the Envy 15? The display description says Ultra BrightView Infinity. I guess there is no Radiance display for 1080p. I've been thinking of canceling my Envy 14 for the Envy 17 on Amazon.

 

Are ATI really good these days? With gaming (Crysis 2 anyone? ), professional, scientific/engineering computation (CFC, fluid dynamics, physic simulation, CAD, research and data on unknown , 3D modeling/cad)? I know that fermi is on top on the notebookcheck.com (are they to be trusted?)

I mean gfx card really make the deal breaker for lappy's. Btw aren't consumer and professional gfx card the same, just the difference is in drivers

 

Apparently USB 3.0 drains more battery life and isn't as fast as the "textbook" says it is. I doubt they would refresh just to put it in unless they plan on updating a major hardware component (CPU/GPU/Battery/etc).

 

If anyone is interested the link below is to the full benchmark test results of the E15 1080p screen that shows the calibration results of 95% sRGB color gamut, 220 nit brightness, 485:1 contrast etc. These tests were done with a Spyder3 elite v4.0 calibration and measurement system.

If anyone with an E14 on order has this calibration system I would really be interested in seeing the comparable test results for the Radiance screen.

1080p E 15 Calibrated display test results

 

I'm not sure how well the 5650 will handle something like crysis or metro2033 or crysis 2.

if you're wanting to go for that stuff you may wanna take a step up and get something with the 5870.

or wait on the asus g53 and see what it has.


sure battery life is going to go to hell but optimus and/or ati's switchable graphics stuff is not going to be in a card stronger than mid level til next year if we're lucky.

 

Or you could take a look at this Site which tells you benchmarks of Metro 2033 and Crysis and a bunch of other games.

 

Has anyone had a chance to look at the Sager NP5125 yet? I think if I'm not happy with the Envy 14 I have ordered, I'll return it in favor of the 5125. Both machines are similarly spec'd, but the Sager also has USB 3.0. The GT 330m is fairly comparable to the 5650 (scores a mite lower on benchmarks), aside from DirectX 11 - however, it does have PhysX, CUDA, and Optimus technologies.

The starting price is only $890. Oh, and you can get a Full HD screen, too.

Has anyone else looked at this machine or is considering it to be a viable alternative?

 

thanks for the reply! will be purchasing envy 14 next week.. hope it arrives before august 12.. =))

 

hmm the HD 5650 looks alright. I mean really will the ability to do more then 1 tereFLOPS come in handy with: gaming (Crysis 2 anyone? ), professional, scientific/engineering computation (CFC, fluid dynamics, physic simulation, CAD, research and data on unknown , 3D modeling/cad)? Or is the white paper just listing the cards potential? I want a card that can perform but also has the potential that I can exploit

 

Color gamut is an interesting thing, there are more than 5 industry standards for different things, for notebook computers the 2 main ones are sRGB and Adobe RGB (which has much higher gamut). Funny thing is that most manufacturers do not specify which color gamut spec they are using for there 'gamut %'. In my above posted link you can get an idea of the differences in the first image of the overall color gamut graph. The triangles in the graph represent: Adobe RGB (purple), sRGB (green) and the E15 1080 after calibration (red). The overall funny shaped area represents the max range of human eyesight. As you can see the 1080p screen after calibration gets to about 95% of sRGB.

 

thanks, but wouldn't that only be when active? does it draw more power when being used with input devices or accessories that don't need/can't use the extra speed?

 

you know this how? i didn't know you had the envy 14 already.

 

If you are going with 15.6 then you should consider this one, this spec is so good but for me i'm fed up with 15.6 otherwise i would get this one
Sager NP8690

 

I would, except for the fact that it is more expensive and lacks switchable graphics - something that is make it or break it for me.

 

out of curiosity, what kind of refresh cycle are you early adopters on? im working on a 7 year old desktop with a busted radeon 9800 pro video card, non-functional soundcard, and only one working case fan. oh, and did i mention u have to shove a bent paperclip into the dvd-rw to get it to open?

 

Some people are replacing their notebooks after 2 year. Others after 4. I personally just need a machine to last through my 3 years of grad school. My 8lb+ G50VT is impractical for school and is by now over a year old. I've turned it into a desktop replacement.

 

There are links to dozens of reviews for the 5650 on notebookcheck HERE They seem are very reliable and accurate source for GPU and gaming performance info...

 

yeah i know the 5650 is pretty good gamer card, but what about when it comes to professional, scientific/engineering computation (CFC, fluid dynamics, physic simulation, CAD, research and data on unknown , 3D modeling/cad)? Or is the white paper just listing the cards potential? I want a card that can perform but also has the potential that I can exploit? or is nvidia better at that?

 

Dude, if you're throwing the stock one away, give it to me! I havnt bought a PC since 10GB HDDs were considered large... Wow, I'm that old?

 

Yeah, only when active-although it goes into trickle when you stop using it and forget to unplug-which is great if your a bit clumsy like me (or just forgetful).

I'm working on a 5 year old desktop. Specs:
Intel Pentium 4 3.40 GHz (2 CPUs), 1 GB RAM, 256 MB ATI X600/X550 Series, Integrated Soundcard. My Power Supply pretty much blew up last year so I had to order one from Sony because it is "proprietary." Sadly the power fan has stopped working which has caused a great amount of grief to me in the past couple months. Not to mention my hard drive is failing (I get an error every time I boot). If I leave my PC on for too long my screen gets jacked up and my pc slows down enormously.

I've been on my summer vacation for about a month but haven't played any games (which is completely unlike me) so this E14 will hopefully be everything I need. Although Windows 7 isn't going to be compatible with most of my games - a new hassle to tackle....

 

@True_Sultan

It all depends on how large and complex of files your talking about, as you get into more complex 3D modeling and rendering the task becomes much more CPU intensive, the GPU (or IGP) could just need to process the 2D screen image with the 1.44 million pixels. This is where the i7 quad cores really shine. With the 5650 and the lower res E14 display I have no idea what the performance would be like...

 

the envy 14 will be replacing my 5 year old hp dv8280us in my sig. the screen has 25 colorful lines running through it and a wonderful opaque bar on the left side. i think the graphics card is still fine because a normal screen is shown on an external monitor. other than that, the dvd tray decides to pop out at the most random times.

 

I am still using my p3-600! Does anyone know if there is any plans for the quad cores to have built in gpu???

That would so great if that were the case, save battery and use only the cores you need, or have the horse power to run anything. If only...

 

I encounter these encryption protocols every day. Many business users do as well. I ususally recommend the I5-520M or above for business machines, becuase of the AES protocols and the other advantages of the Comm suite. I know there has been a massive debate about this and I have no desire to engage in that, this is only my opinion and what I would recommend.

Bronsky