HP Envy 14 vs. HP DM4T??

I'm in the market for a new laptop and am trying to decide between these two. I am not a gamer, but will use the laptop for surfing the web, light photo editing, live streaming video/TV, Skype, and perhaps some blogging. My questions re the two HP models:

1) Do I need a dedicated graphics card? From what I read, it seems that the integrated card MAY be enough for my needs; if so, I could pass on the Envy and save a few bucks.

2) Is there a big/noticeable difference in performance between the base processors for the two HPs (DM4T: [email protected] Ghz, w/boost to 2.53Ghz; Envy: [email protected] Ghz)? Is Turbo Boost a big deal? How does it work?

3) The unit will spend most of its time at home, but I will also travel with it by road/air, and will carry it (along with photo gear) on my back for hours at a stretch. Does anyone know how much weight the extended battery adds to the units?

I've pretty much stuck to basic configurations for the units at HP's website, only adding the 512 graphics card and wireless card w/Bluetooth for the DM4T, and no extras for the Envy. The DM4T costs $855, while the Envy costs $999. Paying the extra $150 for the Envy would give me backlit keys, (supposedly) better sound, 1 GB GPU, a slightly bigger screen; but it's also heavier, has lower battery life, and a less powerful (?) processor.

Which would you go with?

 

I was in the same boat and ordered 2 Envy 14 machines (for me and the wife) and after having them for a few weeks, they are going back and 2 DM4 machines are on the way ($679 from Office Depot).

The primary reason is that the 1600x900 display is too high for us. Sure, I can bump up the text size in Windows but that kinda defeats paying extra for that feature. Second is the graphics card, I'm not a gamer and ran tests on the software I use and it made pretty much zero difference if the dedicated card was running. The machines were also a bit bigger & heavier than I really wanted.

In the end, the DM4 is just a better fit for us.

 

Thanks; with the DM4T being less expensive, lighter, and w/better battery life, it seems like it would be a no-brainer. I was originally looking at the 13-inch Macbook Pro and since the Envy keeps being compared to the MBP, I keep going back and forth....

You say the Envy is bigger than what you wanted, but the dimensions seem pretty close on paper; is the DM4T noticeably smaller?

 

The biggest reason for getting the Envy over the dm4t is the higher-res display, and you'll be paying a lot extra for that. If you're not going for the higher-res display, go with the dm4 -- it's cheaper.

Edit: I'm not familiar with the Envy, but keep in mind that the dm4t is only partially metal -- just the top and keyboard side. The entire bottom is plastic, as is the inner trim around the display. I don't know if this matters to you, but be aware of this.

 

The reason I ordered the Envys was I jumped in on the 30% bing deal. Kinda funny though, when I did a chat with HP last night to get the RMA on the first order the lady offered me a $80 incentive to keep it.

My wife currently has a 15.4" HP DV6000 and the Envy 14 is very close to that in size, guess I expected with a 14.5" screen that it would be noticeably smaller. And for as thin as it is, it is relatively heavy. Nothing bad, it just feels well built....and a little heavier than you would expect.

The DM4 is a bit smaller, but a lot lighter - 4.4lbs compared to 5.2lbs. Something I'll appreciate when its in my backpack and I'm traveling.

 

The bottom of the Envy is plastic too. But yeah, the Envy feels a bit better built in comparison. HP did a good job of copying the MBP look.

 

I hear you re the weight. My old laptop is a 7-pound monster, and my work machine is about 5.5 pounds; lighter is definitely better, and 4.4 sounds great. I've had HP in the past and generally been satisfied with the build quality; I expect that DM build will be fine.

 

Good point; is the hi-res display that much better? I understood that font size would be smaller, and my eyes aren't as young as they used to be....

 

For plain email and web-surfing, most people probably don't need it. (Also, note that font and icon sizes are easily adjusted, regardless of what kind of display you have.) I wish I had the higher-res display, because I use remote desktop and VNC, and it would be really nice to be able to display larger swaths of remote displays.

Edit: people also say that the Envy's display is better, in terms of brightness and viewing angle. However, I find the dm4 to be adequately bright (in fact, I almost never use it at the highest brightness), and I have no problems with the somewhat narrow viewing angle. You might have issues if you try to use the dm4 as a TV replacement, with more than one person viewing it, though. (This is all indoors, of course.)