HP Envy 14 vs. Beats Edition?

I know this has been done before, but I could never really find any comprehensive and thorough answers, so... How does each feel as a whole? Does the original have the cold metal feel and is it that much more fingerprint-resistant than the matte surface? Is the Beats Edition better for longer typing sessions? And is the difference in weight, thickness, and whatever else negligible?

Thanks in advance.

 

You didn't have to make a new thread for this, it would've been better to continue the older ones. Anyways, yes the beats edition is slightly heavier (.5lb) and slightly thicker. How noticeable it is depends on you, for me it was a pretty big difference and I think the regular Envy feels a lot thinner/lighter even though it's actually not by much. The lid and sides on the beats edition are very prone to fingerprints, but thats not a big deal for me. They have the same keyboard so they are the same for long typing sessions.
The only 2 things I like about the beats edition are the rubberized palm rests and good build quality. The matte/rubber palm rests feel really good when typing and the bottom of the notebook is of the material. I also noticed that the beats edition doesn't suffer from the same flaws as the regular Envy, such as the keyboard flex and the raised touchpad. It also felt sturdier in my hands

 

Dont forget with the Beats edition you get to be an advertising shill for Dr. Dre and Monster free of charge!

 

It's called a sticker, as in you buy one and problem solved. You are an advertising shill regardless. If you get the regular envy you get the HP light up logo. It is juvenile comment to make.

I enjoy the rubberized feel of the beats edition. The red back light on the keyboard is nice at night, I may replace it with a blue or a green later.

The logo on the lid is very well done, but I have it covered with an Android sticker. Other than that, I can't speak of any other differences. It does collect finger prints, but they also clean off very easily with a microfiber cloth.

I would honestly decide based on this, would you prefer a silver laptop with a laser etched design, or a plain black laptop with an edgier lighting option.

 

Ah, sorry for making a new thread. :/ Hmmm, I love the Beat's look, but more than anything, my favorite thing about the Envies is the metal body. Does the original have that luxurious cold metal feel though?

And thanks again everyone. I really wish here was a store where I could play with each in person. >_<

 

I hated the matte that was on the Beats. It kept getting dirty from my hands getting sweaty.

 

I thought beats was just a audio profile, like a pre-defined graphic equaliser setting?

How is a software tweak going to make the notebook any heavier?

 

I was wondering the same thing. How does the Beats gain half a pound. Also, for ALL Envys, the Beats is more than just an audio profile. The Microphone Jack has been enhanced with some kind of clarity chip to fuel better sound quality over traditional jacks. However, it is still a mute point vs. what the advertising hypes screams to us about it.

 

I would never buy the beats edition because of the blatant and tacky advertising. But hey, we can just slap an Android sticker on it and advertise for Google.

It's one thing to advertise for the actual manufacturer but it's another to advertise for a third party company that's notorious for cheap products with insane markup. It's a completely valid reason to not purchase the laptop but you can pretend it's "juvenile" (and that putting a sticker on your laptop isn't).

 

Thanks, I was going to say the same thing. I don't find putting stickers on your laptop to be a non-juvenile thing, but thats just me.

 

My sister has the normal envy and I have the beats, I much prefer the look of the beats edition. The normal one is this lame gray color that kind of looks like a macbook which I absolutely hate, the etching makes it better but the design is kind of weird. Both are nearly built identical and are pretty same size.

The beats is all black and the red keyboard is gorgeous, as far as the matte, it looks great and it does keep fingerprints but I don't really touch it so it doesn't matter and its much nicer looking than the gray etching. As far as the beats symbol, its well made and looks good. Even if you don't want to advertise it looks nicer than lite up HP symbol. I don't want a macbook clone. Also, you can criticizes beats quality but the fact is that the beats edition has better audio quality out of its headphone port. And whether you think the actual dre headphones are overpriced for the quality, the fact is that they are the nicest looking headphones and they are popular because of that.

Overall, if you hate Dr. Dre enough to hate the beats symbol then get the normal one as long as you are willing to be rocking another a mac look like.

 

Hate to break it to ya man but its the same audio quality from the headphone port on both envy's. (ive had both). Plus the beats no longer gets the headphones.

 

the beats symbol isn't really that bad since it's just the logo..the actual writing that says "beats" is not very noticeable at all so it's no big deal..I just just don't like the red keyboard, makes it look kind of childish IMO..I wish they had one with a solid color instead of all the designs/logos

 

Beats is just a SRSWOW (or similar) enhancement to the IDT audio driver. Yuck.

So you get no improvement at all in audio quality.

It truly is pure marketing drivel. I imagine the headphones are the same. The prices for Beats cans is crazy.

I think the generic Intel HD Audio driver sounds better. LOL

 

As I said, I think there is a minor-hardware implementation as well on the Microphone Jack well above the overrated software integration. I can tell a difference with headphones plugged into my old Envy 15 w/Beats and my current Elitebook 8740w. The richness and the bass was better on the Envy 15 than it is on my current Elitebook. Also, note that is with the Beats garbage turned off and no use of Audio Sandbox.

 

I've read your comment a few times, but somehow I am still confused. There is an assumption in my statement, and that is that the person will not be happy no matter if it is HP on the lid or Beats. The thing is, is that you can change it to something you are passionate about, I'm passionate about android applications and the platform at a whole. I see nothing childish about supporting a company that I stand behind.

I would accept a retort, well I like HP maybe I want that on my lid. But still, you can get all kinds of designer graphics, classic art, etc to cover up that logo. So I still think it is a silly reason to skip out on the laptop if you are, emphasis on the are, attracted to the black finish and red accent.

I'd also like to know what "cheap products" google makes. Seeing as google doesn't sell anything itself at the consumer level.

 

^Nah, the third party he was referring to is Beats

 

Nearly all computers have “advertising” on them through their logos and other third party logos (Intel, ATI, Nvidia and Microsoft stickers come to mind), and IMHO the Beats vs. Regular argument just comes down to personal opinion. There doesn’t seem to be anything massively different technically between the two, and the major difference seems to be the design. Some will like the design of the Beats, some will hate it, but it’s just personal choice. Nobody is right or wrong to choose one or the other, or to put a sticker on their machine. Again, personal choice.

Some of us though don’t actually have much of a choice, as the regular Envy isn’t sold in all markets. I live in Japan and only the Beats Edition is sold here. While I wish it had the radiance display, I personally like the design better than the regular model. I never was a fan of the etching on the lid, and the matte palmrest and red keyboard backlighting of the Beats Edition really make it a winner for me, Beats logo or not.

 

pay a premium for black and red = cool
pay a premium for beats 'audio enhancement' = uncool IMO because it is snake oil

The onboard dacs in computers these days are all more or less even in spec so I really don't think beats is more than a driver level implementation - essentially EQ preset and maybe some HRTF stereo expansion

Back in the day i was a product manager at an audio company that produces this very same technology - things may have changed a bit, but whenever I look at mobos I still see the same old parts running the same old drivers.

But I am not trolling, just expressing my opinion. Audio preferences are so subjective that there is no wrong answer.

 

I wasn't expecting hp to change the sound world when i bought an envy but i was very surprised at how good the headphone jack is. Be happy it's there because if it wasnt you have an envy that sounded worse for the same price. You arent paying extra for it. They added it it as a way to market the laptop. I don't know of any laptop with a headphone jack of equal sound quality.