HP Envy 14: Availabilty, etc.

430 should have better battery life

My conifg is kinda basic, depending on coupons/discount im going for:

Radiance display
i5 430/520 (depends on discounts)
base HDD (dont need much space).
4gigs ram

 

I got the same from my sales representative.. I hope they can live up to their promise as my other laptops power supply just got fried..

I will know more on monday when I will call again or when I get my UPS tracking number...

 

Hi hope this is not marketing bla bla!

Keep me posted as I will keep you posted, ok?

 

As I shared with LaptopNut, my desktop's AMD Athlon 64 3200+ OC'd to 2.20ghz+Radeon 9600PRO+1gb ram can run Dolphin (F-zero, Mario Kart DD, SSBM, and Ikaruga) at max 15fps but averages at 5fps... Will the i5-430m be capable of 60fps? Or would I def need to get a 520/540m?

Please advise.

 

I've heard a lot about the Momentus XT (hybrid?) drive. Is it better than the standard 7200rpm hdd and how does it perform against an intel ssd? Is it as expensive?

 

As I said before emulators being often single threaded a 520m would run 10% better than a 430m because of it's higher turbo frequency. If the newest PCSX2 is dual threaded (I think it is) the difference will be insignificant...
If you need power on a single threaded emulators you better go for the highest turbo frequency cpu you can get. That means 540m/520m or even 620m.

But to be frank, even on a two year old core 2 duo 2,2 ghz I was running ikaruga at 60fps already
If you're not planning to run something like a future PS3 emulator I don't think you need more than a 430m to run what you quoted at 60fps +

And I am pretty sure the price difference between 430m and 620m for example is best used to buy a next gen i5 or i7 (like the 450m but with higher turbo clock hopefully) next year.

Edit: found a dedicated thread to pcsx and processor http://forum.notebookreview.com/gaming-software-graphics-cards/489421-cpu-pcsx2-emulator.html
This 620m even runs both dolphin and pcsx at the same time on the same game ahahah http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMWD7TsIqQc

 

uh repost or something...

 

You can go to hp asia and look at the specs. It is sunday there
Not sure if this helps, but this has everything on the envy 14 on page 10.

http://h20424.www2.hp.com/campaign/consumer_notebooks/ap/en/resources/HP-ENVY-brochure.pdf

 

Envy 14
Processor 1,2 Intel® Core™ i5-430M processor 2.26GHz with Turbo Boost up to 2.53 GHz
Intel® Core™ i5-520M processor 2.40GHz with Turbo Boost up to 2.93 GHz
Intel® Core™ i5-540M processor 2.53GHz with Turbo Boost up to 3.06 GHz
Intel® Core™ i7-720QM processor 1.6GHz with Turbo Boost up to 2.8 GHz

Operating System 3
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64bit
Genuine Windows® 7 Professional 64bit

Chipset Intel® HM55 Express Chipset
Graphics ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 5650 switchable graphics with 1GB VRAM
ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 5650 Graphics with 1GB VRAM (with Quad Core CPU only)

Display Panel 14.5” diagonal HD+ HP Radiance Infinity LED Display (1600x900) 4

Standard Memory DDR3 System Memory with Dual Channel Memory 5 Support – up to 8GB max supported

Hard Drive 6 160GB Solid State Drive Flash Module, 250GB/320GB/500GB – 7200RPM Hard Drive;
640GB – 5400RPM Hard Drive,
HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection

Optical Drive SuperMulti 8X DVD±R/RW with Double Layer Support 7
Networking/
Wireless 9
Integrated 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN (RJ-45 connector),
802.11a/b/g/n 10 WLAN + Bluetooth, 802.11a/g/n 10 WLAN + Bluetooth
Media Card 2-in-1 integrated Digital Media Reader 11 for Secure Digital cards &
MultiMedia cards
I/O Ports 3 USB 2.0 (3rd shared with eSATA port) 12 , mini-Display Port, HDMI, RJ-45, Headphone-out,
Headphone-out/Microphone-in combo jack
Webcam HP TrueVision HD Webcam
Audio Beats™ Audio
Optional
Accessories
HP HDMI to VGA Adapter, 8-Cell Lithium-Ion (59Whr),
HP ENVY Slim Fit Extended-Life Battery
Keyboard/
Touchpad
Full-sized island-style backlit keyboard; clickpad with On/Off button
Security Kensington® MicroSaver lock slot; Power-on password;
Accepts 3rd party security lock devices
Battery 13 8-Cell Lithium-Ion (59Whr)
Power 90W AC Adapter
Software Product Support ^
HP Total Care Setup 14, HP Wireless Assistant, HP Support Assistance,
HP Software Update, User Guide Documentation, Symantec™ Norton Internet Security 2010
– Consumer (60 days live updates), Motorola SoftStylus,
HP ProtectSmart (HP 3D DriveGuard)
Productivity and Lifestyle
Windows® Live applications
Multimedia and Entertainment ^
HP QuickWeb, Cyberlink DVD Suite 7, Omnifone™ International Music Store #, Adobe Flash
Player, Adobe Shockwave Player, Stardock My Colors, Corel VideoStudio X3,
Corel Paintshop Photo Pro X3, HP MediaSmart V3.2
Approximate
Weight
Starting from 2.38kg
Dimension 35.6cm (W) x 23.7cm (D) x 2.77cm (min H) / 2.82 (max H)

 

Oh, darn!

Did you ever get the BCB for the gift cards? (sorry if you answered this already...there's a lot of pages..)

 

Hey guys, this isn't really envy related, but I don't feel like creating a new thread..

Can someone explain to me what the physical difference between a 100 GB HDD and a 500 GB HDD is? What makes the 500 able to hold so much more?



Oh, and back on topic...does anyone have any knowledge of this hard drive?: Seagate ST31000528AS Barracuda 7200.12 Hard Drive - 1TB, 7200 rpm, 32MB, SATA-3G, OEM at TigerDirect.com
I'm not TOO concerned with speed, but I do want it to be at least as fast as the stock HDD. And I am quite concerned with reliability. The reviews seem fairly good.

 

um, you realize xbox live has games on demand, right?

not to mention you can download games to console. the only real purpose of discs on console now is for anti-pirating

 

No, but hp gave me $150 because to compensate because they told me it would work.

 

hmm wonder if 1600x900 is standard.

 

Only Radiance display is available?

 

number of platters and their capacity

same as how a dvd has less than a dual layer dvd, etc.

 

the Momentus XT is suppose to have speeds close to SSD drives, but have a much higher capacity and a much lower price. The 500gb one is only $130 at newegg. being a web designer, I have always dreamed of having a SSD drive for all my big programs to boot and save fast =]

 

i've had bad experience with momentus so far, not the XT one though

1st one ran hot AS , like, ridiculous, and it was noisy

current one is quiet but its having problems....needs to be replaced...

two strikes....does WD have an answer to the XT?

 

I'm pretty out of the loop when it comes to hard drives...how much of a difference would one be able to tell between a Momentus XT and the stock 500 GB HDD when running CAD/CAM software?

 

Did you get $1500 or $1000? But that's pretty sweet, nonetheless.

 

It was the only option on that sheet. I'm guessing it's standard, but a 1366x768 display will exist on one or more prebuilt options.

 

No the speeds are not close to SSD drives.. they're still way closer to other 7200 rpm drives. Commonly run tasks are faster than standard HDD's but no, just because there is a ssd in it, no data is actually written onto the ssd.

 

Will the XT at least bootup/shut down faster than a standard hdd?

 

i still say the higher res is standard.

 

Hopefully..it would be nice to save the $100 or whatever it would cost

 

That's a 3.5" HDD. It won't fit in any notebook.

 

If Radiance is standard I will upgrade from 520 to 540

 

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3734/seagates-momentus-xt-review-finally-a-good-hybrid-hdd

As you can see by the second run of the computer after OS installation, windows is boot is cached and it boots nearly as fast as an SSD installation. Expect same behavior for apps you use everyday.

 

:confused2: ah, you see my ignorance...

 

The 520m is better on battery than the 430m. See this earlier post for a link to a place with a direct comparison between the processors.

Personally, I think getting more power (even if it is only 5% more) while consuming less battery makes the 520m worth the upgrade over the 430m. If it's a choice between the 450m and the 520m though, I'll probably wait for a set of reviews.

 

I was the OP in that thread. I'm sticking with the 520M for now.

 

Sure for loading applications used every day you'll get near speeds. If boot speeds is the main concern then yeah the XT is a great option. Read/write speeds though are not up there, and not to mention the other benefits of an SSD in a notebook - heat, vibration, durability. I've heard of machines locking up due to the HDD sensors.. anyway separate debate. $130 for a 500GB drive is solid for the speed provided nonetheless.

 

Tick Tock... who will win, the tortoise or the hare?

 

lol I dont get it..
hiv positive?

 

depends what time zone they are in

 

How are people ordering this already? Can you order by phone? HP told me they would call when I could.

 

lol its from south park, im not just sure im HIV positive

get it?

 

Why aren't many people getting more than 4GB of RAM? I just don't understand why you would have a 64 bit OS with only 4GB

 

we're speaking of +/- 0.5 w there that could be testing variations. all i5 430 to 540m have the same power consumption. It's the 620m that eats a lot more watts (+15w).

 

i would say power consumption for all the i5 are the same. the difference can be attributed to statistical error.

 

Because even in 64bit os an app running on 32bit compatibility can only use at max 2gigs of ram.
Only very specifical apps for developpers and such can override the limitation and use 4go per application.
So in the end even on 64 bits (which lets say will as an example take up 2 gigs of the ram), having 8 gigs of ram is useless if you don't run one of those special 32 bit apps or if you're not running 4 apps (32bits) using each 2 gigs (which is kind of massive and incredibly rare multitasking there).
Of course if you use (more like find lol) a 64 bit apps you can use the full 8 gigs...

 

I'd like to repeat ChemE's question as I will also be using CAD software. Is there a difference between those hard drives in relation to this?

Also, would there be a noticeable difference in performance between the 430 or 520 processors when running CAD?

 

Sorry if this has been posted before, but this is a looooong thread to look through for it, but is it true that if you go with an i7 upgrade that you don't get the integrated graphics? I think I heard that somewhere, but it sounds a bit weird to me... do only the i5 options come with switchable graphics?

 

it's because the the integrated graphics card is on the processor itself.


i5s have an onboard intel gma hd card.

i7s don't. not yet. not til sandybridge comes out next year

 

Ah, that makes more sense now. Thanks for the quick answer

 

Anything more than 4GB is overkill for 99% of users and applications. You can "futureproof" by getting 6GB or 8GB, but chances are by the time you need it, it'll be much cheaper anyhow to upgrade. If 6GB is no more than +$50 I may bite, otherwise, not worth it to me.

 

FOR ALL THOSE LOOKING AT WHICH PROCESSOR THEY SHOULD CHOOSE:

i5 430m - This is the processor for those looking to simply to use the computer for note taking, web browsing, media, gaming, and other basic tasks. It is also sufficient for the light video/photo editor.

i5 520 - For those who are doing tasks mentioned above along with some video editing and photo editing. If you multitask heavily you should probably upgrade to this or above. CAD users should get this processor at the least. If you plan on playing CPU intensive games such as GTAIV, BFBC2, and perhaps Starcraft II [for this game, I don't think it's really needed], getting this processor over the i5 430 will probably make the game run smoother.

i5 540 - If your an avid photo/video editor, I would choose this as it's the fastest i5 currently available. Also if your doing CAD programs and rendering projects and you need them done quickly I would get this processor or above.

i7 720 - If battery life of the laptop isn't a concern for you and your willing to accept a hotter laptop, get this processor if you qualify for the i5 540 description. Will get rendering and video editing jobs done faster. Photo editing usually does not benefit too much from an i7, but it really depends on the program. i7 is also a good deal faster at video encoding than the i5 series.

P.S. Video editing also includes video encoding.

 

shhhhhh. Don't mention that something better is coming out next year because we will start getting those..."Should I buy this envy or wait until next year posts?"

 

Thanks for the quick answer. I guess I've just always had the "you can't have too much memory" montra drilled into my head. But I guess I can always upgrade later.

 

If you want to take a small step toward future proofing on the memory, if the $25 option to have the 4GB on a single Dimm is offered like it was when the 17 was released, get it. That makes the upgrade so muhc less expensive.