HP Envy 15? i7 meets 4830+15" screen!

I got an order in production notice too. Since mine is pretty much their stock model I hope that means I get mine out of production and into my hands sooner.

 

wow i guess i am a little bit behind the curve. i thought SD ram was the latest and greatest

 

I can't wait to see some benchmarks the Envy 15. Any gamers here who play left 4 dead, crysis, grand theft auto 4, etc.? I'd like to see how those games run. After watching videos of the MSI GT725 with an ati 4850, I suspect the Envy 15 will be running as good if not better with the core i7 chips!

 

Yeah, mine too. They have quick-ship models that are identical except that the quick-ship ones include an external DVD/RW. To me, that indicates that they are just waiting until the 22nd to ship them out--but who knows, we might be waiting until the 28th for them to get shipped--HOPE NOT!

By the way, just in case everyone didn't catch it, I was just kidding about the GDDR9 memory... *Quadron leads poor innocent noobs to wait forever for GDDR9 to be released...

lol, wouldn't want that to happen...

 

WHAT!!! i already canceled my envy

 

You guys are behind the times... I already have GDDR10 on my phone. I don't know what you guys are talking about.

 

Notebook check estimates the 4830 to be between 9800m GS and 8800m GTS.

That would put the 3dmark 06 score 7500+. Vantage score 3000+. Not sure what score is needed for good frame rates at native resolution.

I believe i have read 3dmark is slightly biased toward NVIDIA parts, so real world 4830 may do better. The ATI cards above and below 4830 on Notebookcheck,
4850 scored: 3d06 9949, vantage 5285
4670 scored: 3d06 6842, vantage 3005

 

I am selling my HDX and buying your phone.. what kind is it?

 

I think that 4 dimm / channel's and 16gb of Ram will boost the perfromance as well.. so I agree with real world play maybe better than advertised.

Be well, JW

 

I hear you.

My notebook is my only computer, and I want it to stay that way. There are some beautiful and cheap notebooks out there with great portability and the level of performance I need for my work, which isn't much.

To my shame, there is only one reason I bought this beast: Dragon Age. (!) And, later, Diablo III.

Please don't tell my wife.


(Actually, there are other reasons... mostly to do with HP. My current 4-year-old HP notebook is the most reliable thing I've ever owned. It has been dropped multiple times and is still going strong. This is the first time I've ever bought a new machine when my old one isn't completely dead yet...)

 

can you help me understand y you think it would run better than a 4850? Doesnt that MSI have a quad core chip?

 

For gaming the processor isn't massively relevant. And the 4830 is going to be quite a bit slower than the 4850, especially at high resolutions, on account of the 128-bit interface.

It should perform nicely but it's not realistic to expect it to game better than the GT725.

 

Hmm, I guess I was wrong to assume that the core i7's on laptops are marginally better than previous cpus. After reading reviews about the core i7 and how it beat even the highest end dual/quad core (i forget which), I guessed it'd provide some sort of boost to level the ati 4830 to a 4850 performance rate.

 

It would as long as the games are CPU limited. But these GPUs are not as good as their desktop counterparts, so I doubt CPU will help much.

 

GDDR 3

Ok fixed it...lol wow did not notice how many typos were there...damn BB with AZERTY KB, and I was in lectures...lol

BTW, I would expect the 4830 to be slower than the 4850, it has half the bandwidth, so it is comparable to a 4670HD but faster due to the double shader count...

 

If the memory is indeed DDR3 1066, I wonder what kind of performance increase if any, you would see by putting DDR3 1333 in to the notebook?

 

Wait, I have been reading on this, it seems like i7 supports only 1333MHz. Will confirm in a minute.

EDIT: Memory Types DDR3-1066/1333

Source: http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=43122

I am not sure what this thing sports. Will dig.

 

They're more relevant for some games, like the Europa Universalis series. In those, game-time speed has a certain limit, even on a decent processor, because of the calculations involved (or so I understand). Better processor also = better AI in such games, I would think...?

 

Yes, some games, like GTA4 benefit from a faster CPU, so do RTS games, but they are limited compared to the amount of GPU dependent games, more noticeably FPS ones (which are tons).

 

on my way to the movies then best buy. Hopefully they have this thing out by now. I need to see that flowery etching, amongst other things, in person before i pull the trigger.

 

Can I ask you something?

The heat? Noisy? If you can check the RAM type 1066 or 1333? The heat? if it has GDDR or DDR on the GPU? The heat? If it has the E2E screen, or layer at least? The Heat? (lol...sorry, but this is killing me to know...)

And tell us, if you can and want, of course, how does it feel? BQ? Weight? Your thoughts, basically. Thanks! And good luck!

 

so this is basically the "flowery design" enlarged...
http://www.markstechnologynews.com/...ptops-get-unwrapped-1/hp-envy-15-live-top.jpg

What do you think?

EDIT: other picture:

 

In terms of GPU / CPU dependence, where do RPGs & MMORPGs fall?

Examples:
Top-Down: Guild Wars / World of Warcraft
FPS Style: Elder Scrolls: Oblivion / Fallout 3

I had always thought that games like GW & WoW were not very taxing on either the GPU or CPU, however, i would assume that FPS style RPGs like Oblivion & Fallout would be very taxing on the GPU.

My next games to purchase will be Diablo 3 and Guild Wars 2, so this is of interest to me.

 

Definitely not for me. I would rather have it plain then have the flowery design. Has anyone heard yet if we are ever going to see the other laser etch designs like HP promised?

 

They *promised*? Please provide a link or something to substantiate that claim. I'd be more interested in something less flowery, and without a bunch of overpriced crap i dont need (Beats Edition).

 

Oh, and to answer question, it is not E2E, but it seems to have a sheet on top, based from this.

 

You won't see any performance benefit in any real life situation.

 

Oh god, Bing has not confirmed yet about the cashback, and states as if no purchase has been done. If by Saturday nothing, the E15 is not going to be mine.

 

The Envy 15 that I saw in person at Best Buy had just over room temperature air coming out of its vents, and was only slightly warm on the bottom of it. The palm rests were not hot. The screen was not edge to edge and did not have a glass cover over it.

 

Oh...ok! Thanks a lot lugnut!
But it seems like I wont be getting this...

 

I think that HP was messing around and disorientating everyone all this time (conflicting specs, etc.) to atract as much attention as possible just so they could open with all the cannons tomorrow and knock everyone down on their asses with their superb flagship and it's specifications.

 

I hope you are right if that is the matter.

On a side news, mine should ship the monday, if I dont cancel (please Bing, confirm it!!)

 

Try contacting Bing. Sometimes they respond pretty quickly.

 

Already sent a mail with the HP receipt that the purchase has been done, HP confirmed it already, but hasnt told Bing about it. Dam, I dont want to lose this one.
Suggestions? Has Bing confirmed your purchase to the ones that got this laptop?

 

I don't understand why people are calling it a "flowery" design. Whatever that pattern is, it certainly isn't floral. It's a little baroque; it might even be called arabesque.

Hope that assuages any masculine panic out there!

 

I have no problems with the design, at all. I am very manly, and I find it good (perfect for a matching hawaiian shirt!! ROFLOL!) Ok, seriously, I kinda like it...and it is not flowery, it is different haha

 

Wow... It is definately eye-catching, and distinctive. It kind of has a paisley effect/look to it. I bet people ask w t f it is when they see the E15 in public. I wish they had left the etching off of the inside of the computer. I could have delt with it if I didnt have to look at it all the time. That would probably end up driving me mad-er. I'm sure someone will be making skins for it soon. I feel much better about spending the extra on the Beats now.

should I take the ati4850 out of the GT725 and see if it will fit in the Envy!!!

 

Thermally speaking, I dont suggest it.
It consumes more (less battery life), heats more+i7 at full speed+metal body not a good combo...IMHO

 

I think its "trippy".. not exactly fractal-ish, but not flowery. I think they put it on the palm rest so that there wouldn't be the fingerprint erosion on the palmrest like what occurs to the MacBook Pros.

I hear the Beats edition looks like glossy paint, and I specifically didn't order it because of this (and of course, not wanting to pay extra for the branding). Let us know how it is.

Mine is "in production" or at the factory etc... but says something about the 28th being the ship date. It shouldn't take that bloody long if its at the factory now! Does anyone know if HP usually over estimates those build dates, and could it ship sooner?

 

I agree that matte black would have been better. My MSI shows fingerprints pretty bad so I'm used to it. Makes me keep it cleaner.

 

Hmm... the other pictures don't show that pattern so prominently. I couldn't even discern a pattern. Is it just the lighting?

 

It must be a lighting that...eeehhh...sorry, how do you say it? Hmmm...underlines? Makes it more noticeable? For the pic to show it...I hope.
But as of me, no problems with that design.

 

One of these has the pattern, one doesn't... ??

http://en.cnledw.com/collection/20090915150022633.jpg

 

the non-pattern is the E13, the pattern is the E15

 

My last HP laptop (4 years ago) shipped much sooner than the estimated ship date, and I've heard the same from others. I remember it got to me about a week before they said it would.

 

If you want it now, the 2K version has next day shipping.

 

i like how the pattern looks more or less distinctive depending on the lighting

 

You can try but most likely it won't work. Even on the off chance that it fits, there are lot more factors such as BIOS support, electrical support (power), cooling, etc.

 

I personally think it is more a crazy swirl design, not flowers. I don't see any flower pedals...

EDIT: I just looked at the design on the HP Zoom viewer on their website. The design looks hardly noticeable on their pictures of the production model. I don't think the patterns are going to even stand out in that picture. I think the patterns in that picture stand out more because of the harsh lighting from the flash. Camera flashes like that can make etched patterns stick out unnaturally.

 

instead of etching there should have been another screen on the lid