HP Envy 14: Availabilty, etc.

Well you are wrong wrong wrong so wrong. The processor options will go i5 450 -> i5 520 -> i5 540 -> i7 720 ->i7 820 the sweet spot in price/performance ratio is the i5 520 the 450 to 520 is like a nice 15-20% jump in performance uses the same wattage and creates the same heat for a 75 dollar upgrade (estimates) the i5 520 to i5 540 is about an 7-8% jump for about a 100 dollar upgrade. And the i7 720 is a massive + 300 upgrade and on programs only optimized for 1 or 2 threads it will actually be a tad slower or just equal to the i5 540 while consuming a ton more watts creating a ton more heat and burning a much larger hole in your pocket. The i7 720 is the worst way you could spend your money for 90% of us. The only time the i7 720 will out perform the i5 540 is if you are running any special professional programs that can make use of 4-8 threads or if you are running a system tray filled with 25+ icons and running many programs at once on a regular basis and when i say many i mean 6-10 programs at once constantly or if you have many family members that log out of thier user name but keep thier programs running. 90% of us will get faster performance for a 300 dollar cheaper i5 540, yes i know it goes against all your logic that spending 300 less will get you faster access times to almost every program but it is a fact. You will also get much longer battery life as under load the 720qm uses around 25 more watts of power (i5 = 55 watts of power draw under load 720qm = 80 watts of power under load and dual core i7 = 65 watts of power under load [just for reference proc not an option]) and last but not least the processor generates only 3/4 of the heat the 720 generates under load. That means the fans run less which means even more battery life saved and when the fans do run they dont have to spin as fast which means less noise since they spin less and also slower. This also leads to more longevity as heat is what degenrates a system over a time. This also means it will run more stable for a longer period of time without needing restarted. Less heat also means turbo boost can activate freely without being throttled down to stay below a certain temperature. Also the envy 14 is a very compact light wieght design which means things are fit in their pretty tightly, getting rid of the heat will be a concern especially for a quad core so help the tight fitting system by producing less heat in the first place if its built to be able to remove the heat from a quad core then it should deal with the heat from an i5 quite well and shouldn't ever throttle even under heavy loads. Basically the benefits of the i5 540 blows away the i7 720. I recommend (if you can afford it) to go for the i5 540 even though it's not a huge increase over the i5 520. This is because they draw the exact same amount of watts and produce the exact same amount of heat so its additional performance at no penalties such as heat or battery life, the only penalty is the extra 100 dollars but since the processors will most likely be soldered and not socketed since this is a lightweight compact laptop so you will never ever be able to change the processor at a later date but you will be able to change the hard drive the ram and even the optical so if you plan on havin the laptop for a long time your best bet is to get the best dual core you can now and considering 1.speed 2.power draw 3. heat production (in order of importance) the i5 540 is by far the superior choice. The only negative to it is the extra money and if you only have limited funds for upgrades the processor should be the first thing you upgrade as you can always upgrade the other parts (ram, HDD, ODD, LCD screen even) at a later date when you have more money and install them yourself. You cannot with the processor due to it not be socketed but soldered.

sorry for the huge paragraph just trying to hammer some valuable information into your heads. everyone get the i5 540 its the best choice for having the fastest laptop while keeping the battery life up and the heat down and since you cant upgrade later it's now or never so please choose now.

 

Does anyone of you know a specific release time for it, including time zone? I'm in Europe, and it's already June 27th here. Waiting is a major pain.

Edit: F5F5F5F5F5F5F5F5F5

 

That is a good idea. Then I could even utilize some of RAM in my old computers, or I wonder if my sister would notice a stick missing...
You've got to love HP's level of customization, never going to get that from apple.

 

Next year in this case means November next year.


don't worry.

 

woah now laststop, the enter key is your friend.

 

Well, kinda, yeah. If you get a 2GB module later, but you can always sell the existing 2GB module to make up some difference. Also you won't get dual channel with a single memory module. It might hinder performance depending on applications a small % (maybe 5-6%), and maybe worse performance for Intel GPU memory utilization, although with the arrandale setup I don't know how much this is affected.

 

Then let's get a ban bet going here since you feel so strongly that I'm wrong about no 620M option.

If there is not a 620M option, you get perm-banned. If there is, I'm on the chopping block.

 

4 hours for EST~

 

You have so much to lose with your 3 posts.

We should all find out in the next 24 hours anyhow.

 

well, it doesn't just get released whenever it hits 12am for those concerned. It will be at the same time for everyone. The question is, what time

 

hahaha i know that XD. I just like countdowns :]

 

I'd prefer keeping my head over any ban.

 

I'll give him props though, he trolls harder than I do.

 

By the way did anyone else see the Acer Aspire Timeline on sale at Tigerdirect for $400 yesterday? I was so tempted to get one as a low powered complement to the ENVY 14.

 

It's midnight somewhere.

Now where'd I put those glass slippers?

 

Somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean

 

Like I said, I'm HIV positive about my position on the processor choice, so I have no qualms about raising the stakes on my end. It's like offering a 5 to 1 payout on a monetary bet.

 

btw guys. the radiance display is most likely standard (another +)

HP® Official Store —Buy HP Laptops, Notebook PCs, Printers, Desktop Computers, Handhelds, Scanners, Monitors, and Calculators direct from HP

on that link, its advertised with the display with a blue sticker, while others when you need to upgrade show their standard sizes.

 

I know. I was commenting him questioning your bet when it was his account (with lots of posts) banned vs your head.

 

Hare
I'm three hours ahead

 

Did everyone see the $200 off pavilions over $1300?
HP coupon: Extra $200 off $1,299 on laptops - dealnews.com
Do you think this will be applicable to the ENVY?

 

the envy is not a pavilion, so no.

personally i have a certain coupon for 200$ that i will use, i dont want to share it yet though in case it runs out before i use it XD

 

Considering an Envy is an Envy and not a Pavilion, no.

Edit: too late.

 

Hello everyone.

I'm not sure if this has been posted yet, but I found this quite of interest:

http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/sale_guide.do?landing=july_4th_sale_2010&aoid=35252

Luckily this promotion begins tomorrow so hopefully we will see some price cuts on the Envy 14.

 

God Bless America! I sure hope so.

 

Rampant by callling me a troll you just proved you are the troll trying to start crap.

 

Speaking of HP's laptop sales, it seems like the ENVY 13 and 15 have been on sale more and more recently (like the 13 for $1200 today). That would seem to point to HP being on target for release and the obsolescence of the older models.

 

and unless you can only afford the base 999 model every 1's first upgrade should be to the i5-540. CPU's are soldered you will never get another chance to upgrade later. Take the lowest ram, lowest hard drive, lowest optical drive, even lowest rez lcd (but its a tough do it yourself addon so make this your second upgrade) if you can only afford 1 upgrade make it the i5 540 since this will give you the most longevity for your laptop.

Don't settle for the lower dual cores which can never be upgraded later and spend money on a bigger hdd or more ram when you can just get the best proc and upgrade the ram and hdd later

 

Also if you do end up getting the 720qm 100% for sure get only 2GB ram because hp's ram is only 1066mhz and the quad core i series mobile chips support 1333mhz ram so you will want to get 2x 2GB sticks of perfromance kingston hyperx 1333mhz ddr3 ram. Faster ram = faster load times for programs.

 

The difference between 520m and 540m is pretty much negligible for 99% of apps unless the work you do on it will save you time by crunching numbers 5% faster. I'd save the $50 to get 4GB RAM if it only comes standard with 2GB or put it towards the higher res screen. But to each their own.

 

False, according to intel's website 450m's can't be soldered (embedded) and yet they are in many envy 14 configs out there on the web for pre order.
That's also stupid from a RMA point of view and custom configuration logistic for hp support / production not to be able to remove cpus from the motherboard.
I'm 99% sure hp doesnt solder on the envy line, ask envy 17 owners.

 

the 520 preforms almost the same as the 540. I'll keep my $50-$100 thank you.

 

the 450 isnt even a config option according to the pdf link a few pages back which is probly why it isnt an option. Almost all small compact thin and light laptops use soldered chips. And lith thats your choice I say get the 540 because you will never be able to upgrade later. Two years from now that 5-7% increase in power may make the difference between being able to play or use something and not and you wont be able to upgrade. Also the increase in power in the 540 uses no extra wattage and produces no extra heat it's essentially a penalty free performance gain.

Well my opinion is every 1 getting the 520 instead of the 540 is making a mistake. You will be stuck with the 520 for life. You can always add more ram or a bigger hdd later. Take the money you are using for more ram or bigger hdd and spend it on the component you are stuck with for life. Use some reason people

 

I wouldn't count on faster RAM leading to noticeably faster start times. The bottleneck there should by far be the hard drive, and, depending on the program, I'd guess CPU comes secondly. The RAM is way faster than modern hard drives (especially spinning ones), and shouldn't have much problems loading what's read from the disk.

 

I wonder who's going to be working for HP tonight when they release the E14. The site better not crash

 

yes an extremely small performance gain, that has the penalty of at least $50

 

KZ I meant once the program is loaded into the ram, meaning the HDD is no longer needed for program access. It will speed up the program in those situations when its RAM to CPU the data is travelling.

Yes lith and in a few years that 5-7% performance gain may mean the difference between a smooth running program and a stumbly running program

 

if a 520 wont run something you need to use, a 540 wont run it either. but hey, if you have plenty of money to blow, go for it.

 

Not everyone needs the best of the best. The i5 450 and 520m will be more than enough. The small percentage gains from the 540m are not worth the price, unless money isn't a concern. I know everyone on here is big ballin.

 

laststop311:

In a few years time, I'll be switching out with a new laptop I would think.

 

I don't know the name of any mainstream, ~bug-free program that has loading times for data that's accessible in the memory, but I see your point.

 

3 hours left~~~

So has anyone seen any nice laptop sleeves for this laptop..I have been searching around but haven't seen anything good. My baby will need protection ^_^

 

heck... I have to decide whether to use my 13% EPP in Canada, or take a 7% EPP in the States to get a better Envy... but that kinda sell will push me into the States.

 

Yea I see what you mean, but the extra 10% performance of the 540m over the 430m translates in gaming into... 1 or 2 frames per second at best.
So no, the only thing that I'll do faster from wasting 250$ in an upgrade from 430m to 540m is unzipping 10% faster. Even if I can't change the cpu (it's the macs & CULV cpus that are mostly soldered to the mainboard actually, envy is not a culv) I'd have 250 bucks saved to buy let's say a next gen envy 14... Given I can resell a first gen envy (with 2 years of warranty remaining) for 750$ next year that makes me 750$+250$ saved previously... 1000$ to get the next year refreshed envy all new... And who knows with coupons and I may even be actually winning some money though warranty extension costs some bucks 150$ if I remember... ( so 1150$ on this year's envy... reselling at around 750$ next year to one of my friends that'll drool over it all year long.. that gets me only 150$ to pay again for an all refreshed envy duh).

And I don't want to go into the troubles of changing hard drive later anyway because it means transferring a lot of data...

 

Hey, does anyone have any figures on battery life with and without slice?

Also, how much does slice cost?

 

Both of these statements are false. There is no way that the difference between the 520 and 540M is going to make a difference in whether or not you can do something, just how fast you can do it (and we are talking seconds here) and you could always upgrade the processor as I am fairly certain all core i processors are socketed.

 

expect 5 hours with GPU off. 2-3.5 with it on.

also, slice is around 100 i believe.

 

no, i am sure that if it's a game, the limiting component will be your graphics card.

how about this? what if u invest that $50 in a 5% savings account for 3 years? you'll get at least $7.50 not counting compound interest

 

yes, i agree with these more realistic battery estimates. not the 7+7 from stock(+slice)