HP Envy 14: Availabilty, etc.

Based on the support docs that became public some time ago, we've got an Envy 14 coming. Exciting stuff.

This was last rumored back in November '09, if memory serves, but it seems that it might actually materialize. The Envy is what keeps attracting me back to Windows 7-land after having been on OSX for awhile. I'm not a fanboy on either side, so I'm always back and forth based on hardware more than software, especially since using the Win7 RC last year.

The Envy 13 has good battery life (great with the slice battery), reasonably solid performance, a touchpad that has a quirk or two but otherwise bests most other laptop offerings, and an edge-to-edge screen at 1366x768 that generally gets good reviews.

The Envy 15 has crap battery life, fantastic performance, and an apparently great (optional) 1920x1080 display. Heat seems to be an issue, from what I gather.

I'm wondering if the Envy 14 is going to be the happy marriage of the best of both platforms. The only things keeping me from selling my MBP and going to the Envy 13 are the slightly lower battery life, slightly lower resolution, and loss of a couple of inches of screen real estate. With Boot Camp 3.1 and my Win7 Pro disc, I'd be better off just dual-booting with that sort of tradeoff.

I haven't found much as far as possible hardware/specifications of the 14, but I figured here is as good a place as any to start picking up info as it becomes available. Anyone know something I don't?

 

If HP is smart, the Envy 14 will have switchable graphics, and so battery life should be decent - perhaps 5 hours or so.

 

HP Envy 15 with the i5 has decent battery life and runs very cool...

 

Or if all companies would make switchable graphics standard we'd see a nice jump in battery life... but last generation of switchable graphics (ie. Lenovo Tx00 series) really missed the mark and still has lots of issues, so I bet even this generation has the same issues - cross-company driver support (Intel + AMD/ATI and nVidia).

 

I think Optimus has basically solved all of the issues with switchable graphics, though ATI doesn't have anything like it yet.

 

hate to bump an old topic, but was curious to see if anyone knew of any updates? my envy 15 is coming soon and it would be a shame to see the 14 be released right after my 21 day trial ended.

 

i love how people beat up Apple for not refreshing products. where are the new ENVY 13 or ENVY 14 products??

 

Uh, Apple didn't refresh their line for what, two years? The Envy just came out late last year.

 

And was refreshed once since then.

 

apple's refresh of 13" MBP today was pretty weak. should be easy for the next Envy 13/14 to beat it.

 

Does anybody know when the core i5 versions of the Envy 15 will be available in germany?
I can't seem to find any info about this although they are already being sold at HP's english Shop

 

I don't think any 2nd gen Envys are available in Europe yet.

 

That's not true. You can only buy the 2nd gen in Denmark, just not the i5 versions yet. I believe it's the same in the rest of Europe.
Just to be clear, i see the 2nd gen as the one with USB3.0 and the ATI 5830.

Edit: Ok, so just saw that the UK only gets treated with the gen 1. Wauw that really sucks. Would think that country was a huge market for HP.

 

I am curious, what are you referring to with 'really missed the mark and still has lots of issues'?

I have a T400 and have no problems with switchable graphics and have had no problems while using XP, Vista and currently, Windows 7.

Ofcourse, a user may run into issues if they do not use drivers provided by the manufacturer, but that can not be blamed on anyone but themselves.

 

Yea I'm waiting for the Envy refresh too with the Envy 14 and Envy 17. Hopefully they refresh the 15 inch and put switchable graphics, USB 3, and a VGA port. Oh, and make the screen tilt back more.

 

A VGA port wouldn't be much of an upgrade.

 

Hey folks, it's official. And it's lookin' goooooood.

 

If only they would just stick a damned TPM chip in them...

 

Author implies that Envy 13 will be discontinued?

 

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
why do they always have to ruin their laptops with ugly crap like this??

 

Yes HP is replacing 13.3" machines with 14"ers.

LaptopMag Video

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It seems HP is really stepping up their game. Even their ultraportable lineup got updated!

 

why are people excited the 14 is almost the same size as the 15 has a crappier gpu. and still no edge to edge. The 17 is rockin but way to heavy

 

Slot load DVD drive, back lit keyboard, radiance screen, and longer battery life. Seem like good traits in a laptop. Hopefully the temperatures will be lower as well. Furthermore it has a lower base price...

 

I want some specs of the 14.

 

Actually the width of the envy 15 is one of the widest 15.6" notebooks out there at 14.9". The big Asus G51 15.6" is even narrower (yet deeper) at 14.5" or so. To contrast, my Sony CW 14" is 13.5".

I've owned 10+ notebooks/netbooks in past decade and the footprint of a notebook has an extraordinary impact on how wieldy a notebook is. By that I mean, how easy it is to move, shift, grab with one hand etc. Weight is far from the only factor in determining how portable a laptop is.

 

HP expands Envy laptop line with 14- and 17-inch models, plus new Pavilions | Crave - CNET

 

no usb 3 is kind of a let down, but I'm still really looking forward to this, and am definitely looking to buy it, ive finally found my notebook it seems. Although if they refresh the 15 with usb 3 and maintain similar battery performance to the 14 I'll buy it instead

also the slice battery on this looks really slim! the one on the 15 was fairly slim, but still added a fair amount of thickness to it, but the one on the 14 is barely visable

 

I'm getting the 14 for sure. The screen+battery life has me sold.

 

Oh thank you . This looks like a very appealing laptop. I may have to get me one over the summer.

 

14.5" screen. Very odd no?

 

wow the 14" looks great. longer battery life (probably closer to 3-4 hours?), back-lit keyboard, slot loading optical drive, and higher res than most new 14" laptops being released by Asus or MSI.

My big question is, did they fix the screen tilt angle? because it doesnt seem like it on the video preview =/

 

im gonna go out on a limb and say it'll get pretty close to achieving the kind of battery life HP is claiming. But we wont know for sure till we get some reviews

 

maybe on a 9-cell battery with that big butt

 

Hi, I am new to the Envy series and I have a question.
Can the hard drive, memory and battery be upgraded by users later on? The reason I asked is because I saw the hands-on pictures from Engadget and one of pictures show the bottom of the notebook, but it doesn't seem to have any opening for user upgrades.

Here is the link to the picture:

HP Envy 14 and Envy 17 hands-on - Engadget Galleries

Does the current Envy (Envy 13 and 15) has the same kind of design for the bottom?

Thanks

EDIT- ok, a closer look at the picture does show that there are 2 "locks". Does that open up the whole bottom panel for hdd/memory/battery access?

 

The picture shows the laptop with the slice battery attached. When the latches are opened, the slice battery can be taken off. Also note the small button and the 4 LED's above it. They indicate battery level when the button is pushed.

 

Does the Envy 14 feature only the Radeon 5650? How well does this card handle games compared to the 5730 on the Asus N61JQ I'm considering? I think I'm willing to wait a bit more if this laptop is worth it.

 

If they don't let you enable the Intel HD graphics... ima be upset.

 

take a look here:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Comparison-of-Graphic-Cards.130.0.html

i'm relieved that it only has a 5650. this way i dont' regret getting my envy 15. lol

it does look pretty sexy tho. and honestly, if they could've included a 5830 and gotten rid of the slot load drive, i'd take it

 

some news said that Envy 14 comes with 5830!!
I think the 14 is a replacement of 15 and i am considering returning the 15 for an pre-order of 14. However, the available date of 14 is quite late @ 26/6....

 

on gizmodo, they're reporting a 5830 on the 14". i'm thinking that's very difficult to pull off with an optical drive in the same chassis.

 

wow sounds like the 14 is the answer to everyone's requests! I even noticed they removed the stupid shortcut keys!!

 

a refresh on Envy 15 is great too, HP.

 

Yeah, and backlit too. This is like a slap in the face on those who just bought the 15. If it does have the 5830 (standard or optional), it'll be a kick to the xxxx. And it does look like the screen is E2E glass, real glass hopefully.

And look at the rounded off edges on the palm rest.

 

Read gizmodo/engadget/laptopmag and none really gave all the details that CNET did:

"The Envy 14 is 1.1 inches thick, weighs 5.25 pounds, and offers Intel Core i3, Core i5, and Core i7 processors. The 14.5-inch 16:9 display runs at 1,600x900 pixels, and the system supports switchable graphics, pairing integrated Intel graphics with an ATI Mobility Radeon 5650. The Envy 14 also adds a backlit keyboard, one of the key upscale features missing from the more-expensive Envy 13. At $999, the magnesium/aluminum alloy Envy compares very favorably with the current $999 MacBook, which has a polycarbonate body and an older Core 2 Duo CPU."

So ah. Ya. HP seems to have taken all our suggestions to heart.
The 1600x900 screen will be E2E, as it's the high-radiance display, same offered on the Envy 13, and it was E2E. We just have to hope HP doesn't pull the plug on it, at least anytime soon, as it did on the Envy 13, then again, that whole thing had the plug pulled out.

Really has everything then. If it runs cool.... sign me up.

 

hard to figure how the 14" model can accommodate a 5830 along with optical drive. a 5650 is more likely.

edit: the specs given at CNET sound right to me. excellent for a 14" but that $1000 price tag will only get you a core i3 (still, plenty fast). no weight savings over the 15" model either.

 

Well you do bring up a good point. It only seems logical that the smaller casing requires lower tolerances for heat thus a cut down gpu. It's weird though that the 5650 is reported by CNET but HP has a press release about both the 17 and 14 featuring the 5830.

"Both ENVY notebooks feature powerful Intel® processors(1) and ATI™ Mobility Radeon high-definition (HD) 5830 discrete graphics for gaming, videos and 3-D images. They come with a backlit keyboard, slot-loading optical drive, HP TrueVision HD(2) webcam, a mini DisplayPort Connector and the latest in wireless(3) and connectivity options. "

HP Expands Design Leadership with Updated Consumer Notebook PC Portfolio

I'm literally sold on the 14 already LOL but it seems that even if we pre-order on June 26 (seen earlier on this thread?) we're likely to wait a month ro have it in our hands. My replacement envy 15 is slated to come later this week or early next; tbh the experience so far has not been so great on the RMA/customer service side. So I'm on the fence about what exactly my game plan will be.

The smaller size will for sure be more comparable to the MBP 15 in terms of case dimensions. I hope the 1600x900 panel is a good one; my experience with 16x9 laptop panels hasn't been all that great so far ><

 

This site is also talking about the ATI 5830 on the envy 14 as well.

HP Envy 14 & 17 Specs & Features Now Official [HP Announces New Envy 14 & Envy 17 Laptops; Prices Start at $999 & $1,399] TFTS – Technology, Gadgets & Curiosities

check it out.

Hp also talks about a quad core cpu in the envy 14. Doesnt quad core = i720QM or above ???

 

Check out the videos of the HP envy 14 and 17

YouTube - HP Envy 14

and

YouTube - HP Envy 17 and HP Envy 14

Eyefinity with 3 monitors from the Envy 17 !! amazing stuff.

And longer battery life for the 14 inch with a slim batery extension!

I cant wait for it to come out!!!

 

RE the 5830 onthe 14 inch,

The video i just posted reports that the 14 inch has a hd5650 and 17 has a hd 5850