HP Envy 14: Availabilty, etc.

I disagree with sgogeta4. A ~2.5ghz Core i5 is supposed to easily match a 3.0ghz Core 2 Duo in performance. 5850 mobile vs 8800gts desktop might be a tossup but I'd like to think the 5850 thrashes the 8800gts.

same time post edit:
"desktops will always hold the advantage over desktops for several generations."
Right, but the 8800gts is from several generations ago.

 

Yes, the overclocked notebook can beat the normal desktop, but if you're going to talk about overclocking, then why not overclock the desktop? Because of this reason, desktops will always hold the advantage over desktops for several generations.

 

You meaning desktops will have the advantage over laptops for several more generations?

 

Thats good news. Numbers seem a little bit low. I was reading in a Macbook Pro thread in which they were able to get their 330m's over 8900. I hope that we will be able to get a fair bit higher.

Imageshack - screenshot013ii.jpg

From this post.

 

ignore 3dmark06, look at vantage and see the real modern difference.

 

Hmmm. I'm noticing a lot of people are concerned with the stock models.

Why not just upgrade your laptop after-market? As soon as I find out that the CPU in the Envy 14 isn't soldered, I'll be sold. You could buy a stock unit with an underpowered i3 or battery-draining i7 quad-core and upgrade it manually and then sell the stock processor.

I know some people would be up-in-arms about losing their warranty, but if you take a look at HP's Envy forums, you'd probably lose confidence in the "exclusive" customer service and warranty that the Envy line offers.

Another thought: concerned about heat? If it can cool a quad-core, it can cool the i5-540m or the i7-620m.

Theories mind you! If the CPU is soldered than I guess we'd have to accept the stock models that HP offers. ...or get all Frankenstein's monster on our Envy's! Buhahaha.

 

I severely doubt the CPU will be soldered on. One of the features they mentioned at the unveiling was easy access to the internals. I doubt they would be mentioning things like that if said internals were non-replaceable.

 

it's only natural... what else there is to do when there is not much details... speculate

 

So Bronsky, any word on the US release of the TimelineX yet? I think if they had announced in April I would hae gone for the 4820Tg but now I only have eyes for the Envy 14.

 

Depends on what games you consider playing...

 

We keep hearing the end of June. I like the Envy as well. If I can get the Acer because of its size and weight, I would probably do so. But we're just a few weeks away from the release of the Envy. So, its my backup plan.

Frankly, at this point, I just need a computer. The 11.6" display for everyday use is getting old.

Bronsky

 

Yeah. I'm planning on swapping my 15" and M11x for a single light and powerful 14" Envy 14 and Acer 3820TG or 4820TG are looking quite appetizing at the moment. Just wish they'd be released dammit!

 

I want to look into this a bit more, is the laptop called simply "Timeline X" were can I find more info on it? Thanks.

 

How is HP's Envy customer service? Is it really that bad? Am I better off going with Squaretrade?

 

Here are the two best threads to bring you up to speed on the TimelineX models. There are 4 models: 11.6", 13.3". 14" and 15.6". You will have to excuse my occasional ranting in the threads.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/acer/464512-official-arrandale-timeline-thread-317.html

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ace...nge-info-benchmarks-tweaks-mods-upgrades.html

Hope this helps. Just so you know, the problem with the Timelines is their unavailability in the US.

Bronsky

 

Customer service is overrated.

Bronsky

 

Ok...so...who do I choose for my warranty support?

HP Customer Support or Squaretrade? HP tends charge up the roof for their warranties and paying extra for in-house support often still leads to them asking you to ship your notebook back to them anyway!

 

pff, who uses customer support!?!
fix it yourself! =)

 

This whenever possible.

 

Ok, I'm not very hardware literate. I suppose I can swap out a hard drive and RAM when needed. But issues like a dead screen (happened with Vostro 1500) are ones I'd rather just let the CSRs handle.

 

Oh absolutely -- that falls under "whenever possible"! I don't wanna screw around with stuff like that either.

 

I like you will always buy the cheapest spec and upgrade myself. That said, its things like the 900p screen I cant live without and although I would have no problem installing it myself, trying to get hold of one would not be fun!
Its the same with Acers in the UK, if they offer a 5650 or 5470 we always get the lower model. And these gfx chips are soldered on so cant be upgraded.

Also the CPU's will not be soldered on but the 5650 will be. The only CPU's that are usually soldered onto motherboards are the ULV and atom models.

 

stupid uk.... always screwing us over... like sony downclocking their ATI cards deliberately. The UK just aren't as computer literate as countries like US and Canada yet imo. That's why we get all the crap...

 

Illiterate Britons? Who would've thought!

 

Neither.

Go with Visa Signature if you can.

Complimentary 1 year added warranty.

AND:

Extended warranties
Take advantage of Visa Performance Guarantee services to extend your warranties beyond the coverage provided to you by Visa—up to five years from the date of product purchase.** This valuable service gives you an easy, reasonably priced way to cover parts and labor costs necessary to repair your product in case of failure.

Laptop value | + 3 years | + 5 years
$ 701.00 - 1,200.99 | $ 81.99 | $ 122.99
$ 1,201.00 - 2,000.99 | $ 114.99 | $ 178.99

 

Damn. That sounds like an awesome deal. How have your experiences been with them?

EDIT: I've been out of work for a year and I don't have much of a credit history. I don't think I can obtain one of these cards though doing so might be slick.

 

No experience with them unfortunately. For the longest time i've been using my AMEX on big electronic purchases, but now that i'm aware of Visa Signature's perks, I will prob buy the Envy 14 with a Visa Sig CC.

I actually got the Visa Sig by accident. I was signing up for one of those 0% APR / Balance Trans things and when I got the card in the mail I was pleasantly surprised to see the big fat VISA SIGNATURE banner across it .

And FYI when I applied, I was out of work for a long time.

My VS is from US Bank:

Credit Cards from U.S.Bank

I would apply, worth a shot for sure. Worst it will do is ding off like 5-10 points for the hard pull.

 

Just 1 VISA 0% APR is shown as a Signature cards. Get it? My credit history probably has tons of q-marks. Worked abroad a couple of years, so no record of it.

EDIT: Arg. The ones in your link now have annual fees unless I spend $24k or more per year!

 

Out of curiousity, thinking of a higher spec GPU in a laptop that you could 'downgrade' while on batteries.

5850 -> 5650. 1/2 pipelines, downclock, 1/2 power consumption. Although I don't know much about the internal architecture of the ATI / NVIDIA cards, implementation through drivers, and how much gain you could achieve.

Then you'd have a pretty competent laptop, and a powerful desktop replacement.

 

The problem is, no laptop yet has switchable gfx on 5850/5870 cards. I had a clevo W870cu with 5870m and whilst it was very powerful (its almost the same as a desktop 5770) the heat and noise were high and the battery life was 30mins on idle (I am not joking here). It would make a perfect DTR, but I want power and portability. So to me the envy 14 is a great mix of power and portability, sure I wont be playing games at 1080p with high settings and AA/AF but at least I wont be reading my emails for 30mins in a cafe before it shuts down

 

I have the best credit card for a purchase like this .... someone elses. Company buys our notebooks.

@YESHHHH - I'm probably calling Singapore tonight about the 3820TG to see if they will ship to the US. Everybody in my company thinks I have gone completely off the deep end. I'm begining to agree with them. Warranty concerns primarily.

This is probably my last shot at getting the 3820TG before the Envy is released. The Envy is a really nice back up plan.

Bronsky

 

I was thinking more in terms of future products. They make CPUs turbo boost, or the ULV platforms scale down with usage, maybe they could do the same with GPUs. That would also remove the dependence on integrated graphics, if your graphics chip can disable3D capabilities all together when not needed, and re-enable them fully or partially depending on user preference.

 

Does anyone know, based on other HP models, if you can game on battery without diminished performance? I like that I can game on my M11x for 2-3 hours with no diminished performance. I'm looking to get the Envy 14 and get rid of my Sager 15" and Alienware M11x. I'm tired of using two PC's...

 

Funnily enough I am getting this to replace my m11x and m15x if it gets good reviews.

In answer to your question, out of the box no, it will use battery 3d settings on the gfx card. It is easy to change that though for max performance on battery but I expect unless you get the slice you wont be gaming for long

 

hp envy 14 15 17 specs out here

 

Yes, we already know

The Envy 14 specs in that PDF are for a quick-ship configuration which seems to become available in august 2010.

No news about the $999 base configuration in that specs.

 

lol that is actually ridiculously old to us now, no offense... that datasheet caused much upset on this thread

 

I wouldn't be surprised it that datasheet actually represents the base config.

i5-450M
HD5650M
1366x768 BrightView LED Screen
2x2GB RAM
8 cell 59WHr Battery

1600x900 screen as an upgrade sounds pretty much what you'll be getting

 

ur company is paying?!?!

i officially despise your guts

I'm sure for the right price, you'll get your laptop shipped from Singapore.. but the warranty is a huge concern.. hope it applies to the USA still.

 

Yes, I fully expect to get the slice battery. I am just hoping I can get two hours of gaming on battery. I'm spoiled by my M11x.

I was also considering the Acer TimelineX 4820TG or 3820TG but seems they only come with 1366x768 resolution. Absolutely unacceptable for any decent amount of desktop work.

And yeah, two machines sounds great in theory but in reality its a pain in the butt. I love the build of my M11x and Sager too. A decent thin and light 14" seems to fit the bill perfectly, though, but better be up to the build qualit of both of mine. I'd prefer a little better GPU but I guess that won't happen. TBH, I am really surprised Alienware didn't choose to go with a 13" instead of the M11x and include the i5/i7 and try to squeeze a GTX 260m in there or ATI equivalent (HD 5830 or 5850?).

 

That would be super awesome... If possible.
God I would pay extra though just so it won't have that crappy design...

 

Sorry... i just heard about it. and i thought u guys would i like to see it. I'm not even getting an envy lol, i'm getting the dv6t. I saw the link on facebook so thought i would share it here.

I like how u both put smiley faces xD. but no worries im not offened... ill just keep news to my self from now on >.>

 

Yes, the dv6t looks to have more bang for the good ol buck. I don't need a super fancy screen. Heck, the one I'm looking at now is 1280x800 and it suits me fine. 1366x768 would work great for me.

 

The specs of the envy 14 are all good.

But wont it throttle(cpu + gpu). How will a 65 watt power adapter suffice for a core i7 and a 5650?

I know that the 5650 power consumption is half that of a 4670.
But HP should atleast provide a 90 watt adapter as the bare minimum.

 

I hope the envy 14 doesnt have shipping issues like the 17.

Im definitely getting it the first 1-3 hours its released XD im ocd about these things.

 

I'm going to wait a few days and see whether any coupons show up.

Anyone know about HP's tradition of coupons? How soon after the Envy 13/15 Gen1 and Gen2 launch did they release coupon discounts?