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

I have found the retail pricing scheme for the envy14 hidden in the HTML code of the HP website, upgrades go on top of these base component prices. These are the costs to you, the buyer, of each component part. Now you can use your judgment if you are being overcharged for base+upgrades and such.

HARDWARE
i3-370M CPU Included in price (Valued at: $200.00)
4GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm) Included in price (Valued at: $100.00)
320GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection Included in price (Valued at: $100.00)
1GB ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) HD 5650 switchable graphics - For Dual Core Processors Included in price (Valued at : $275.00)
14.5" diagonal HD+ HP Radiance Infinity LED Display (1600x900) Included in price (Valued at : $100.00)
SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support Included in price (Valued at : $50.00)
HP TrueVision HD Webcam + Dual Digital Integrated Microphones Included in price (Valued at : $50.00)
Intel Wireless-N Card with Bluetooth (Note: This part is really a Broadcomm!) Included in price (Valued at : $50.00)
Full-size island-style backlit keyboard Included in price (Valued at : $50.00)
8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery Included in price (Valued at : $50.00)

SOFTWARE
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Included in price (Valued at: $60.00)
Corel(R) PaintShop Photo(TM) Pro X3 + Corel(R) VideoStudio(R) Pro X3 Included in price (Valued at : $1.00)
Microsoft(R) Office Starter 2010 (Valued at : $1.00)

 

i really wish i could scrap the $275 graphics for just an intel integrated piece

 

Word............

 

wow really? If that's the case, why the envy 14? I would not even give the envy 14 a second look if it didn't have atleast the 5650 or a 335m... if I did not care at all about graphics I think I would have a MBP again.. and I'm still looking at the MBP too. can't make up my mind

 

If it turns out to be Broadcomm HP will be getting a call from me regarding the process of returning my laptop, unless of course they throw some strong incentive for me to keep it.

 

on which pages did you find this info?

 

Okay, this picture looks hilarious and all, (and is that even sonic, or his retarded brother drawn by some guy on drugs?) but what is it exactly, and what is the relevance? Sorry for being clueless.

Also.. isn't the e14 awesome!? heh, i'm on topic, what are you talking about?

 

Right. It would be nice if it were a bit modular either for configuration or for aftermarket. Have the option at sale to get: nothing (lighter, cheaper, smidgen more battery life), second battery (heavier, longer battery life, but probably lighter than the slice), alternate HDD or SSD (now you can have a small affordable SSD for boot drive, and HDD for storage). This would make it very flexible and customizable for anyone.

 

Are Broadcomm wireless units inferior to Intel's?

 

New DV5 (gen2) might fit the bill when it comes out.

 

Not really much margin for the chassis and motherboard, haha.

 

No definitely not. In fact I find them to be more compatible with a larger variety of APs and hotspots than the Intel ones.

Especially internationally speaking.

 

$50 for the first battery, $75 for the second? xD

 

He talked about dividing by zero. There was no real response to be made, so the correct response would involve derp.

 

I've not had the best of luck with Broadcomm in comparison to Intel in regards to signal strength. I also found that the Intel finds and connects to my router faster.

 

why?
I like the construction and solid body looks, sony-style keyboard, and most importantly the radiance display

form over function for me

 

Yep you did the math on it, the chassis and wiring they must toss in for free eh?

 

Bless your heart. :yes:

 

i need equality. if this laptop was ugly, but still had the screen and all the specs, i wouldnt buy it.

 

Ohhhhh is that it? I thought it was a call to action for DerpDerp.
I was trying to decipher that~

 

Here's a link to the Intel 6300 WAN card I mentioned earlier:
Network Adapter :: Intel 6300N 802.11n mini PCI-e Wireless LAN (half-height) - R&J Technology, Clevo Barebone Notebook kits, Laptop and desktop system builder

Here's Intel's fact sheet about it:
Intel® Centrino® Ultimate-N 6300 and Intel® Centrino® Advanced-N 6200 Overview

It's just something to think about if you want to upgrade from the stock Broadcomm card.

 

yup

for probably the one thing in the world i use most on a daily basis, i want to treat myself to something with quality

 

What are the supposed benefits of the intel wifi card, that the broadcomm doesn't have? I am interested to look into it.

 

Totally my logic right there!

 

I'll concede it probably does not work as well as others out of the box, but the machines I played with at best buy had NO gestures working on the trackpad. Not even the side scroll which worked fine with the same machines at costco. When I tried to tweak the settings for the pad, I was greeted with some sort of error message as if it was not able to access what I needed.

I think there is something above the normal trackpad issues when one of the versions of archie is installed at the best buys. It was not one machine with the new trackpad, it was all of them, and that is not the case with machines without that software. This was not a case of the gestures being finicky, it was a case of them not working, AT ALL. I had no problems pinching web pages and zooming in and out at the costco models, sans archie. Might be something else causing the issues on the displays, but I doubt it.

 

Ah, thank you for that. I have now just enlightened myself to the derp meme I was missing out on all this time!

 

Derpderp.

10char

 

I don't doubt the archie thing, but I was able to go to settings etc on the BB machines and change them and they accepted it. As for getting it to work... pretty bad.

 

So, the 160GB SSD is an intel g2? What about the 256GB? Anyone?

 

here's an interesting analysis I conducted:

Thread Page Generation per Time for different ENVY models on "*OFFICIAL* owners" topics

Model____________100 pages_______200 pages_______300 pages
ENVY 15 (gen1)------7 days-----------8 days-----------28 days
ENVY 15 (gen2)-----17 days----------15 days-----------29 days
ENVY 14 ------------7 days-----------3 days------------2 days

Conclusion: Woah...

NOTES: I did not correlate these numbers with release and regular update dates so that may have some effect. Funny coincidence, both the e15 (gen1) and e14 hit their first 100 pages from the 21st to the 28th of the month.

 

Well, in order for the Envy 14 to meet my budget, I'm going to have to go with the i5-450M, which should be adequate for my usage. I would, of course, prefer the i5-520M, but I can live without. If a deal comes up, I might opt for the i5-520M. If the slice drops in price, I might jump on it as well.

Quite honestly, if HP for some reason retroactively decided to add a CULV i5/i7 option to the Envy 14, I would jump on that, probably regardless of price.

I think many have reported HP to be shipping Samsung drives (which I have heard in the past). I'd certainly prefer an OCZ (with Indilinx or SandForce controller) or Intel drive. I think with the latest firmware, the Samsung offerings support TRIM and have a decent garbage collector.

 

The 160GB SSD is Intel. Not sure about the 256GB but I think it should be intel too.

 

Intel doesn't make a 256GB SSD. 160 is their biggest, so the one thing we know is that its NOT an intel lol

 

Do you guys think it'll be possible to install a hdd caddy in place of the odd?

 

Oh ok. But is the 160GB defiantly Intel? Because if it's not I'm not going to get it.

 

I'm guessing one of these will work:

OBHD Matrix 3 050510 M

perhaps someone who knows more can tell us if one of those will work for envy 14.

edit: actually, i don't think any of those will fit after looking at the pictures. well.. i'm sure they'll make one for envy 14 since it seems pretty popular... after a year or so.

 

wow really? hmm....i like this idea....

 

when playing games with this laptop, will I have to lower the resolution to 1366x768?

 

Good question. Someone asked this earlier, and also mentioned that the motherboard would also need an additional plug to allow this to work.

Is this true, and if so does the Envy 14 have the necessary connector or will the additional SSD/HDD be using the previous optical drive's connector?

So Im guessing Envy 14 owners that want both an SSD for applications and a HDD for data would need this caddy to replace the optical drive?

 

It depends what games. Super-demanding games like Crysis might not run at full detail at 1600x900, thus a lower resolution would help. On the other hand, if you're asking if the 1600x900 resolution is supported in most games, well, that depends again on the games that you play. Most modern games support a wide variety of resolutions, and 1600x900 should be one of them.

 

Are you kidding, after a year?? I'll have mind sold just around then upgrading to the next MBP or Envy. lol

 

So does anyone actually know for sure if the 160GB SSD is Intel?

 

And the official Envy 14 reviews ...

 

okay guys lets get to 400 tonight

 

5650 has the same power as the 4670 I have... so 1366*768 is your go to choice for resolution, in there you can have high details on almost every game, it won't max things out.

 

HAHAHA YES!

 

Why would it need an additional connector? Seems it would just plug into the ODD's SATA connector. ??

 

This may work:
Optical Bay HDD Caddy to replace Slot-Loading Optical,9.5,SATA [OBHD9-SATA-SATA-NF] - $42.00 : NewmodeUS, Hard Drive Caddys for Notebooks

 

Oh snap, that's a mighty good explanation, bud.

Thanks! So cores is the multiple tasks being able to be done at once, and threading is the ability for both cores to work on one task=twice as fast completion?

Also, does having multiple cores/threads make transferring multiple files onto ONE external hdd faster? Or is that a hdd thing?