HP ENVY 15 Quality Control (Or The Lack Of It)

As mentioned in the Samsung forum.

I just went to the HP concept store and tested the ENVY 15-3006TX A9Q58PA. The keyboard is not as good as on the Series 7; key travel is shallower and feels like hitting your fingers abruptly against something, just like on my ENVY 14. I looked at the screen alone and cannot really tell the difference. When I compared the screen to the other models then it became obvious it is a prosperous orange colour (good way to celebrate the Chinese New Year). The screen ID was LGD0323, same screen used on the SONY VAIO SE. The screen is definitely the best screen in terms of contrast and viewing angle for the current laptops. I decided to buy and asked the salesperson to open one unit to check.

As expected of HP quality (or the lack of it), there was a dead pixel and fibre from the black paper they used to protect the screen was stuck in the speaker grill.

So I waited an hour for an second ENVY 15 to be transferred from the warehouse. To my dismay, this unit also had a dead pixel but now in the centre of the screen.

The high contrast made it very easily to see dead pixels.

It is noteworthy that both ENVY 15 units were quite dusty and had lots of yellow gunk stuck on its body where the ports are. Could be cleaned easily.

Hence the result: No holes in my pocket and the search for a replacement continues. The SONY VAIO SE looks good.

For reference, these are the units I tested. Same batch Factory build date 21 Dec 2011.
A9Q58PA#AB4
CNU1500S67
CNU1500RDV