HP Envy 14: Availabilty, etc.

Specs link of the envy 14-1007tx if anyone is interested:

HP ENVY 14-1007tx Notebook PC Product Specifications - HP Customer Care (United States - English)

 

Hey, just thought I'd let you know I had a Sony laptop with the Athlon XP 1800+ (I think) for almost seven years and sold it for $250 on eBay. I guess Sony did something right with those older laptops.

 

I am rocking on a 5 year old Toshiba m400 with similar specs, but it does have original 1.6 Core Duo and running Windows 7 perfectly!

 

i7 in a 14.5in is just insane.

 

You can have an i7 in the 13" Vaio Z as well. No quad core, though.

 

I agee canada sucks

 

Look at the envy 17. They were supposed to get seven hours but it's really 3.5

 

Yeah, blame canada:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAYMJnO9LBQ

 

/yawn

Actually, being Canadian is pretty awesome, thank you very much

 

Oh, look, a donut with hockey-puck shaped sprinkles.

 

Sorry in advance because I'm sure this has been answered in one of the 327 pages but can confirm with me if the Envy 14's ONLY GPU choice is the Ati 5650? Will there be any other choices/customizations? ... I'm loving the Envy 14 but I really wanna stay future proof and go for a 58xx series as I am a moderate gamer and will be editing HD video. Thanks!
Hang in there guys, four days!

 

You will never have a future proof anything in computers, see Moore's Law, especially with notebook hardware. The 14 only comes with a 5650.

 

Yes, the 5650 is the only option. If you want something with more power that isn't too much bigger (15'' screen) check out the MSI GX640 with the 5850, but be warned it pumps out a lot of heat and the battery life isn't great.

 

True, but there's always a desire to ensure your notebook stays as "modern" as long as it can be.

I personally don't care as I don't expect SC2 or D3 to get too graphics for the 5650 at low/medium settings before it's time to upgrade. By the time I have to upgrade, the 2nd expansion to SC2 will be out.

 

I was able to run Cod 4 for 36 hours at the nvision world record attempt with my HD 3650 mobile...terrible detail settings low resolution but it was still fun to play and at minimum settings warm knife through butter smooth.

 

You will be able to play SC2 easily with this laptop

 

Does ENVY 15 have switchable graphics, or just 5830 all the time? I see some people drawing conclusions of ENVY 14 battery life from ENVY 15, but in the HP website it does not explicitly say ENVY 15 has switchable graphics.

 

The i5 has intel integrated graphics, so i5 --> i5 and i7 --> i7 are reasonably fair comparisons, sort of, but i7 --> i5 is just a terrible comparison. I personally wouldn't compare the two because of their different battery sizes and the 15's larger screen - despite the radiance's bonus pixels and brightness, I'd imagine the 15's greater surface area takes more juice to light up and to brighten up over the 14's.

 

The supposition is that the envy 14 will have ~5 hrs battery life without the slice. My question is how can the battery life be btter than average with the Radeon 5650? I assume this mean only dedicated graphics and no switchable to save battery.

 

Does 15" Envy have radiance screen?

 

i7 has a dual core model and quad core models. The quad core models have no integrated graphics, while the i7 dual core is identical in silicon to the i5 dual cores.

 

you are correct: "I assume this mean only dedicated graphics and no switchable to save battery"

 

So ENVY 15 with i5 or i7 620M does have switchable graphics? I was wondering about this since the CTO webpage it does not mention it is switchable.

If that 3.5 hour figure is with discrete graphics turned on, then it isn't all that bad.

 

The envy 15 does not have the chipset that supports switchable graphics.

In my opinion, the screens of the envy 15 were already stunning,

I just can't imagine how the Envy 14 radiance screens will turn out.

 

Screen and smaller form factor. Also, I don't know if the dv6t can have a slice battery or a slot loading disc drive.

 

Thanks for clarification.
ENVY 14 with switchable graphics should easily be able to top that then.

 

So I assume the Envy 17 is not neutered like the Envy 15 is (i.e. you unplug from a wall and your Premium laptop turns into a 1GHz netbook).

Truth trumps fair. Take a look at the Envy 15 forums... unplug = underclocked.

 

Is this just one person's problem, or is this common with all of the Envy 15s?

 

i dont own an Envy 15 but i own a HP DV6 and when i unplug mine is under clocked which is seriously noticeable at times! Maybe it a HP thing?!

 

I chuckled at your post... lol.

" saw a beats envy 15 for sale, and am so tempted just to pull the plug on it."

Dont do that... they dont work without a powercord!

 

Gah! This is not boding well. It sounds like they even drop the speed to less than stock. The Envy 15 post said 1.2GHz for an i5-430m which has minimum clock of 2.26GHz. They damn well better not do this on the Envy 14. I hate it when they don't give users the choice for something like this. Let them decide if they want the power or battery life.

 

Envy 15's underclock when not on plug.

Your 1.6 i7's drop to aprox 900MHz at that point. Ive not seen anyone be able to change it with any bios/voltage tweaking to this day.

Edit: When you unplug your Envy 15, it goes into "LFM mode". Therefore an i7 720qm turns into a 933MHz netbook, an i7 820qm turns into a 1.2GHz netbook, and an i5 turns into a 1.2 GHz netbook.

On Battery:
i7 720qm = 933MHz
i7 820qm = 1.2GHz
i5 = 1.2 GHz

 

That's a total shame. If I want to game while on battery, I should have the right to do so. Otherwise, why does battery life matter?

 

Every Intel CPU will downclock and downvolt when not in use. The point is to save power, though it should work at regular speed when you need it.

 

I don't see why envy 14 would throttle like the 1st gen envy (and even second gen envy 15 cause it's still the same motherboard with no switchable graphic compatibility either). Seriously, it's an issue that comes from the use of older cpu bios protection mechanisms.
Envy 14's motherboard's level of technology is much more recent (ahah switchable graphics) why would they use a two year outdated motherboard on a laptop coming out in 2010...

And even if they were lazy to do anything about it, it's not like they can't just release or use a bios update that disables the old throttling function for good.

So in the end if simply putting maximum performance plan on an unplugged envy 17 stops the throttle... theres no worry to have at all for the envy 14... cause it'll just mean the envy 17 throttle that some user experienced was the window's throttling and not the outdated bios level one.

 

We are talking about using an Envy on battery.

 

You said you're gonna be a college student, right?

 

This is what I was thinking. If the Envy 17 is not suffering from this locked throttle situation, one would assume the 14, which shares the same technology as the Envy 17 would be the same.

 

True, but there were other laptops with i5's that did offer switchable graphics when the i5 Envy 15 came out. HP utilized outdated technology with the Envy 15... so thats why folks worry they will do it again on the Envy 14 in regards to throttling.

To this date there has been NO bios update to disable the throttling on any Envy 15. There are also NO programs (ex. throttlestop) that disable the throttling issues on any Envy 15.

Edit: HP staff have confirmed they have no plans to unlock the Envy CPU speed from low frequency mode (locked at 933 mhz for 720qm, 1.2 ghz for 820qm and i5s) while on battery power.

Turbo Mode does NOT work on Envy 15's while on battery as well.

Im not sure what that user is doing... although clearly the Envy 15 forums had many more proficient users/problem solvers to assist each other on those blogs when the Envy 15 was new. It seems as if the Envy 17 users are primarily newbies. We all gotta start somewhere, but I do wish some of those technically advanced Envy 15 forum users (like JJB, Serg, ...) would come to our Envy 14 forum when its released.

 

yeah it looked like the 17 could be upped if you changed the power profile (least one guy with a 17 saw that happen).


c'mon 14. don't be dumb.

 

For real... I hope the Envy 17's can run full power when the user wants. IF it does, I see no reason the Envy 14's should have to worry about this potential issue. Seems most of the very knowledgeable Envy 15 power users are satisfied (after 3-4 exchanges!), so they are not up?grading to the 17.... yet.

 

I agree. Its a laptop, made to be used anywhere.

The Envy 15 has a great GPU, but it seems that HP's designers dont work in the same building as the engineers. Envy designers had great ideas that were brought down by the inability of HP to secure the correct silicon to allow switchable graphics.

Same could be said of the Envy 17.

Envy designers had great ideas that now look like poor ideas thanks to the poor engineering of the Envy 17. Just look at the wobbly feet, and the large gaps in the perimeter of the body, large gaps on the edge of the mouse pad, and large screen contortions created by offset hinges.

Notice that an HP Envy engineer is NOT providing YouTube videos about its supposed Premium materials and how they lend to superior construction and build. Its the shine of the PR... that blinds us.

 

Yes, HP was not on their game for either laptop. The dv6 and Envy 15 use different battery technology as stated by HP Envy's muka3D... HP's Envy's product manager FredFrenzy states clearly that Envy 15 was designed to be underclocked and not use Turbo while on battery.

Was this crap rationale used on the Envy 17?

Will this crap rationale be used for the Envy 14?

I hope not.

 

About 3 days and 7 hours remaining.


HP, PLEASE don't let us down. This notebook has the potential of being one of many show-stealers of 2010. We know you guys are preoccupied with jumping aboard the tablet bandwagon, but don't forget about the rest of us who still do more than just consume digital content!


If I have to ditch the Envy, I might have to wait until Mac Connection releases another promotion on the MBPs...which I'd much rather not have to do! The current $1,099 after $100 rebate promotion expires at the end of June. Microcenter charges taxes in California, so the best possible deal from MacCon is another $1,049 promotion after $100 rebate.

 

Yes sir! Potential...

Yeah... if Envy is poor again, I'll do the same. Or will I? MBP was verrry late to the show with hardly any new tech options (I still cant confirm if MBP MDP will pass 8.1 HD Audio. Apple support & Genious' cant confirm either!). As with any tech, the next MBP should be fairly significant, and the Envy 14 will easily be surpassed. If the Envy 14 fails, best wait for the new year to bring in substantial MBP's, cause now they are an ill investment, hence my wait for the cheap (price only?) Envy 14.

 

If the Envy 14 is a flop, I'm not sure what I'll do. Maybe get a UL30Vt or U30Jc and spend the rest on desktop upgrades.

I guess a MacBook Pro is an option, but the MacBook Pro 15 is underpowered for the ridiculous price premium. Maybe a MacBook Pro 13 or something. I really don't want to go down the Apple road, though.

 

As time has gone on, I am leaning more and more towards a MBP 15.

 

No MBP for me either. If need be I'll get an MSI GX640. Battery life sucks though. But I'll give Envy 14 a fair shake.

Bing HP 25% is still valid, cross fingers and hope it extends through Sunday.

 

If the envy's a flop "screw it Asus G53 or bust. Optimus be damned"

 

True. Although to me, the word "fair" implies HP's opportunities to learn from the Envy 13, 15, & 17's mistakes (or designed flaws in regards to CPU throttling on battery ).

The first Envy 14 that hits my door must be better than any of the previous Envy's.