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

Hm, that's disappointing.

 

I'm interested in the answer to this too. Is there a battery test of how long a laptop last with dedicated cpu turned on compared to integrated?

 

At least on the MBP the integrated was taking 11w and the 330m was taking 14.5.. so 30% more drain.

 

I'd really like to see some benchmarks of battery time when using the discrete graphics + Dual Core vs discrete + Quad. Everyone seems to be under the impression that the battery life with a Quad will be SO much worse, but I'm just not sure how accurate that will be. I'm guessing the biggest savings will be with the integrated graphics activated, but I assume that discrete graphics with proper power-throttling and whatnot (ATI's drivers are usually pretty good about this, as is Intel's dynamic underclocking) will allow fairly good battery life, especially with the slice. If I can get more than 3 hours on the standard battery, I'll be happy. To me, The quad core processor + mid-high range graphics in the smallest laptop package available is the main allure of the Envy14.

 

Problem is, most people took what they said in those videos as truth (I was one of few that did not). They did state the base price and never mentioned an i3 base, but some of us knew an i5 would have to be an upgrade. Those videos were extremely impromptu and unscripted, and HP should have never posted them as a reliable source of information (or the ONLY source, other than a leaked spec sheet and some lame commercial with a horse) for the Envy 14.

Alright, I'm done threadcrapping. I hope the new owners get their units safely and don't have any build/hardware/etc. issues. I just don't want to see people get burned by jumping in too quickly.

 

Is there the equivalent of RTFM for the thread? It is shocking how many times the same questions are re-asked and re-answered. Maybe the first post needs to be an editable FAQ? Having it grow to 76 pages full of the same questions in < 1 day...

 

1. Yes

2. Yes

3. Thermaltake Massive23

 

Of course, Vaio Z if you can afford it
Vaio Z is made in Japan, E 14 is made in China,Just think about Japnese workers have like 6 times more wage than chinese workers who made these laptops. (My envy 15 was using wrong screw under battery slot . I took a picture and sent it to HP techsupport, she told me it is not a flaw..I trusted her, now...that screw is somewhere besdie motherboard/CPU....I have to say, HP's tech support is ridiculous terrible. )

So if you are going to pay about $2k, go for Vaio Z

If you only have $1.2k, E14 should be fine

 

.. so i ordered this morning in a rush b4 work and got the 500gb hdd instead of the ssd . i was guna suck it up and buy a seperate ssd and swap it, leaving me with an external hdd when i was told by an HP rep that ANY changes, including hard drive will void the warrentyyy..

 

Nah, you didn't take it far at all. Many got their hopes up high. I personally thought the Radiance screen would be an upgrade and that the i5-430M would be standard. Turns out it was the other way except the i3-470M which is said to be closely similar to the i5-430M is standard.

 

Well, they won't know you changed the harddrive if you put it back before sending it to them for repair

 

I don't think we can conclude anything about a product's quality from where it was manufactured. Macbook Pros don't get screw problems all the time but are assembled in China. Same with the iPhone which is arguably one of the best smartphones around.

 

I was wondering if anybody could answer this for me. I was looking to put the Momentus XT into my new Envy, but I have one question. If I were to clone my current hard drive onto an external hard drive, could I then clone the information stored on the external onto my new Momentus XT hard drive? I'm only asking this because I'm selling it and probably won't be getting my Envy before the buyer wants the laptop. Thanks.

 

Thanks to all of you in the Envy discussion for the helpful posts leading up to the Envy launch.

I purchased one of the TWO notebooks I need for my kids going away to college in the fall.

My son (the comp sci major) ordered this config:

Envy 14 / i5-520 / 8gb / 500gb 7200rpm HD

He really thought long and hard about the SSD vs conventional hard drive as he wanted to get the best possible performance for the buck for VMware but in the end just figured he would upgrade down the road if need be.

I really thought my daughter (the "undeclared" major ) was going to go ahead and order hers as well (i3 / 4gb / 320gb 7200rpm) tonight but she is hesitant now as she wants a Blu-Ray drive and really doesn't want to deal with an external one. She is taking a serious look at the dv5t series because of the internal Blu-Ray. Hopefully she'll have it figured out tomorrow.

My son's order got a build date of July 7th right around midnight CDT.

 

haha thats what i was thinkingg! ugh but now im looking at ssd prices! . looks like im stuck with the hdd.. i did go with the 520m and 4gb 1dimm so i think ill livee.. i could cancel the order and redo it but that would mean it would take longer for me to get my laptoppp! im on the east coast so i was up til about 4am and the website was ting itself so i went to bed for a few hours and did it in the morning (almost overslept work for a piece of plastic. i mean aluminum!!)

 

That sucks cause on the product intro videos that have been published, the HP rep/manager stated that the Envy would feature a Core i5/4.0GB/Radiance @ $999. I feel rather deceived but perhaps I should blame my own gullibility in this case.

C.

 

I find it odd that HP would say that the HDD change would void the warranty but at the same time made the E14 have very easy access to the HDD (it is under the same panel as the easy to reach battery). I believe most companies allow for changes to the RAM and HDD under warranty, but it's always best to send it in specced the same way you bought it.

 

i know! thats why i was shocked and why i posted it on here so everyone knows. she even put me on hold to look it up.. i dont think she lied to me..

 

So is there a slice battery coming out soon? I know this thing is 1 day new but I'm waiting on reviews, slice battery, processor comparisons, and most importantly, places to keep track of coupons we could take advantage of.

Are there any sources for this besides this thread?

 

I am not that unhappy with the german configuration now...
The HP ENVY 14-1010eg configuration figures quite well against the recommended offer by HP USA, and the price is almost comparable...
Yay!
Now I hope they can deliver in the next 3 days..

 

I ordered my E17 very early the morning of release day. While there was an on-going 25% Bing CB program in effect, it was gone by noon and did not return for weeks. Nor was there a $300 coupon at release; it too came later. Also, BCB and coupons are never stackable.

To make matters more interesting, Amazon listed a loaded preconfig model for $850 less than an identically configured CTO on the HP site. Only problem was that there was no ship date. Then, over last weekend the Amazon model finally showed shipping (in 2-4 weeks) and at the same time the HP CTO prices took a HUGE drop, to a level compatible with the Amazon model.

Clearly HP is aware that many early adopters will pay a premium to be guinea pigs to help work out the teething problems of new hardware. In return, they offer a 21-day full refund.

 

I double this!

Sales told me that delivery was slightly postponed and should start by tomorrow (day after tomorrow at latest). If this is true, we would hold or E14 in hands even before the US habitants. Wow!

Now it just takes the Slice battery to appear in Germany for under 250 EUR (that's what I planned to spend at max) to make me happy!

 

I can't believe I just spent the whole night reading through this thread.

Canada always gets screwed, not only is it not available for us yet but be sure we will get royally screwed on marked up prices.

Anyways, I am interested in the 450m vs 520m. I know the 520 is faster when it comes to single core turbo.

HOWEVER, the i5 450m are the newer released chip but the biggest thing I want to know is that it has 4.8 GT/s system bus compared to 2.5 GT/s to 520. Then I thought maybe 4.8 GT/s is too high anyways to notice any difference but then someone posted a link where it shows not only does the i5 450 BEAT i5 520 but also beats i5 540 by one!!!

Am I missing something here?

Here are the links that have posted in this thread:

Compare Intel® Products

PassMark Software - CPU Benchmarks - List of Benchmarked CPUs

P.S. htwingnut, +1 rep for the correct info at the start about the turbo working on both cores and not only one as it was stated before.

 

Jeez, told you that the new 370m/450m were THE cpus to get. Since hp is pricing the cpus according to their ghz and not real efficiency and doesn't give a nut about their generation.

As for the two core turbo, it is true but it will over overclock both core by one bin (133mhz on one and 133mhz on the other for example) or at best two bins per core if theres no heat or power consumption limit kicking in, that said you'll never see both cores at a 3+ bins max turbo frequency (thats only for single core threading) and that's only as long as the cpu is under a certain temperature and power. It's pretty much a reverse throttling

A 450m will much likely always run both cores at 2.6 ghz while a 430m will most of the time run one core at max turbo frequency on short loads (before the heat kicks in).

 

I also gived +1 rep to you and blahblah232.

I need to read more about bins as I don't really don't understand it. Although I get the concept of of how the turbo's work and that it clocks higher on single core (1-2 threads) and it can still turbo both cores (3-4 threads) but at a lesser speed.

 

I love you for informing about the 370m/450m

 

Glad we could help.

For bins here's a quick reminder:
-1 bin = 133 mhz stepping up
- All active cores have always the same clock
- Only one core is active when only one/two threads is requiring cpu load.
- If a cpu is said to be +2/4 bins turbo boost it means it'll get +2 bins in dual core mode (provided heat & power is optimal) and +4 bins in single core mode.

ex. 450m (2,4 and max 2.66) is +2/2 while 520m (2,4 and max 2.933) is +2/4 turbo boost type.
So the 450m is definitely a more price efficient multitasking processor than the 520m. And since someone linked one of the first bench (that was probably a multitasking bench http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_test_info.html) showing that improved DMI bus (80% sure? since thats the only change made on 2nd gen i5) made the 450m nearly as powerful as the 540m I say it's a no brainer, i3 370 and i5 450 are the best values around for everyday computing.

Some more info on bins
Processors &mdash; Intel® Turbo Boost Technology frequently asked questions

I'm eagerly awaiting more extensive benchmarking of the new i5 if you guys find any.

 

This business model has worked well for Apple as well. (And I'm pointing the finger right back at me - I own several Apple products - despite seeing through their marketing hyperbole and less-than-truthful advertising.)

I am surprised to see HP's pricing on the E14 so out of whack - especially the lack of a $999 base model. And if you go back and look at the introduction videos, the HP reps themselves were implying that the $999 included the Radiance display - there was never any mention of a lower res option.

 

Personally I don't think HP was dishonest on that 100$ increase since theres actually a 989$ or less configuration for students. But including the new i5 wave and having radiance as base, cheap single dimm option, free photoshop software was all really kind of them.
If hp didn't screw up little details like on the envy 17 line (heat, minor cosmetics) I'll forgive them that 100$ worth lie.

That said, the current warranty and slice battery prices are indeed apple outrageous like, if they don't lower them to their normal prices within 3 weeks (21 day return) so that early purchasers can ask a refund of the price difference, I'd just put them right under apple as the "lesser evil". Remember that atm the warranties you buy on the envy configurator are cheaper to buy separately in the hp warranty section of the website or with a separate phonecall... Or well just point that out to the rep, he'll just give you back the price difference on your order...

Meh, now I'm off to work, don't write 50 pages within 4 hours please.

 

I had assumed one or two of it but nice to get a better understanding, thanks.

Now when you say 2 bins for dual core, is that 2 x 133 for each core, which would be 266 for each one so a total 532 mhz?

Or 2 bins in terms of 1 bin for each core, 133 + 133 for 266 total combined, so 2.4 > 2.66 which is what I believe I've been reading in this thread.

For dual core like 450 which is 2.4, each core is 1.2 correct? I am so tired from staying up that I can't think straight haha.

 

I thought I was 100% positive that I'd be getting the i5-520m. I will be using it for average tasks and also CAD/CAM software. I hope to not be multitasking much when using the software (maybe just w/ firefox).

Is the general consensus that the i5-450 is better for the average user who multitasks a lot? In my case, would it be better to get the 520?

 

Can anyone confirm the screen of envy 14 available from amazon is really the plain standard screen or it is a typo ? ( isn't the radeon screen only option available for envy 14? )

 

"The i5-450M should be similar to the Core i5-520M, but the 450M does not offer AES functions."

People are just saying it's not worth $100 for aes functions.

 

I just contacted amazon about this issue. they said the laptops they will be selling are NOT built yet, and the information they recieved was not confirmed.

So theres a very good chance now that the screen is 1600x900.

From amazon:

"I've reported this to the appropriate department to look into this and correct if there is any error with the release date on our website, and they're working on taking care of it. We'll make sure to update our website listing and the order details once it is been corrected."

"I need to look into the problem with this item, and it'll take a bit more time than usual.

I just wanted to let you know I'll write back in 2-3 business days with more information.

Thanks for giving me time to find the best solution."

 

Alright, just ordered last night:

Envy 14 + i5 450m + 500gb HDD + 3 year warranty / accidental

now the wait :S

 

Intel sets up their "Turbo Boost" feature by "binning" in 133MHz increments. So for the i5's here, they have a bin of 2/4, meaning +2x133 CPU speed bump for dual core use, or +4x133 for single core use. So bottom line:

Single core Max speed = 2.4GHz + 533MHz = 2.93GHz
Dual Core Max speed = 2.4GHz + 266MHz = 2.67Gz

Don't forget VT-X Virtualization as well.

 

Excellent. Thank you for the update. This is possibly a good news (hopefully good pricing with great spec)

 

Perhaps HP did mislead people a little but I think a lot of people were expecting the world for $999. Lets not forget that this is HP's premium line, it's going to cost some money. You simply can't have it all especially not for $999. I wasn't surprised by the fact that the it came with an i3 in the base model. There were a few differing spec sheets when it came to the screen. The price is $100 off the targeted $999, sure that stings a little. $25 upgrade to an i5 should not be anything to complain about, it's $25 bucks after all. So in essence it's $125 more for what was said. I don't think that should deter anybody.

I mean we can complain, , and moan all we want but no other laptop is going to have a Radiance 1600x900 screen, a backlit keyboard, aluminum/mg2+ casing, slot load odd, and the 5650. For example, the Acer 3820TG/4820TG makes for good competition. Except they use typically average screens with a low resolution, no backlit keyboard, a mix of plastic and aluminum, and mushy keyboard. I've tried the 3820T in store and I can't say I like the board too much as it kind of teeter-totters at the edge of keys (typing on my 1810tz as I write this, same keyboard). Plus the 3820TG will not likely see the day of light in the US. The 4820TG w/ 5650 is not released yet so we don't know how much it will cost, nor do we know what cpu it will come with. Asus has announced quite a few different laptops since CES2010, yet none have actually come out in the US at least. At this point you could wait for another 3 months for them to come out with something.

While the $100 price hike on the Envy 14 is upsetting to some, when you start to look around there really isn't any competition as an all around package as the Envy 14. Time can only tell when Acer will release the 4820TG and at what price. When will Asus release something comparable, we'll see. Right now, the Envy 14 is the best you can get for $1100.

 

agreed. How can you expect to get a premium laptop for 999? You can get a decent one with great specs for that price, but great specs and a great machine overall? not likely. Although i like to think of the extra 100 dollars as radiance built in.

 

^ we don't know how great this Envy 14 really is though.. It looks like it can be everything we want, but we just don't know yet. What about heat, build quality, trackpad etc. Hence why we need the reviews. I mean the Envy 15 looked great but I heard quite a few issues with that one..

 

Bottom line is that you can never trust anything until its released. It's like people saying to wait six months for this or that laptop, well, it may sound great but in reality you never really know what will really be in there or when it will be available. The people in those videos were probably told those specs and pricing and was true at the time. Stuff changes. If HP had an advertisement running constantly for the Envy 14 "starting at $999" then that would be different.

People also need to keep an open mind once reviews do come in. When I ordered my M11x, I was scared because of all the negative user feedback about the "bad screens", hinge issues, screen overflushness, lid warping, excessive fan noise, etc. After I got mine it was perfect. Screen definitely could have been brighter, but other than that, it was a masterpiece.

 

the build quality on the 13 was incredible. the 15 was decent.

mix them together. thats how im guessing why the 17 isnt all that great but still good.

 

Good news there on the i5-450m. I'm drifting back into the likelihood of buying. I'm hearing that 3-year care pack = not international, so that's down the drain, which means $319 more in my pocket (and I'm frankly willing to accept the risk), so that would be +75 for the 450, +25 for 1 DIMM, and +200 for the slice. BCB or Education Discount (I hear Alumni are eligible?) would basically negate tax, so $1400 for my setup with 1 year of international protection (base warranty).

I'm gonna hold back and cross my fingers for a better deal for another week or so, and then I'm probably gonna pull the trigger... Here's hoping for bigger BCB before the Fourth!

 

How do you sign up for the HP student discount? It looks like Alumnus are eligible. I went to sign up but it says I already have an account with HP, but it doesn't give me the discount.

 

Thanks to both derpderp and htwingnut for all the info.

Now in terms of the the system bus being 4.8 GT/s (450m) compared to 2.5 GT/s(520m).

That seems like a huge difference in bus speed and would explain why it out performs the 520 AND 540 (by 1) although it was only one bench mark site.

What I want to know which I have been searching google and although I came across something where it said GT/s x bus width or something but I think that was for desktop.

Anyone know what factors in using the full speed of 4.8 GT/s bus speed, and how much practical difference it is between 4.8 GT/s (450m) vs 2.5 GT/s (520m/540m) ???

 

What's this warranty called exactly?

 

320 GB HDD with plans to purchase 500GB Momentus XT,
or
500 GB HDD from HP?

That's the last option I'm deciding about, then it's order time!

 

Hmmm, I just had student discount added to my account. Rep says it's not eligible for Bing Cashback, and they can't remove the student discount from my account if Bing Cashback is higher than student discount. That sucks because my email is same as my Bing Cashback. I guess it shouldn't matter because after July 30 you can get your money regardless of how much is in there.

Are coupons usually usable with a student discount?

 

I would say go with just the 320 GB and upgrade by yourself later

I've never found any coupons that worked with the student discount :[

 

i would say 320gb. it'll take you some time to fill that up. by then, who knows, you might have enough cash for a SSD.