*HP Envy 15 Owners Lounge! PART 1*

Just finished watching Ballmer's W7 launch. They showed the Envy's but couldn't really see the screens clearly. It was almost dark there and the screens looked bright enough, but I'll see later at BB.

Well, brightness is just one of the parameters to judge a display, but definitely not the only one. Even the best plasmas out there today are not as bright as some 5-yr old LCDs. Does it mean they are bad? Hell, no.

We have to also check the contrast, viewing angle, color reproduction, glare etc to name a few. Unless someone is buying this laptop to work in the field (bright outdoors), I suggest the buyers check other aspects also.

 

is it fair to compare the Envy 15 screen to the MBP 15" when they have different resolutions? Won't the MBP seem more "readable" due to the lower resolution in a line of laptops on display?

 

It depends on you. Some people are fine with WUXGA, some other might find it way too high.
I suggest you see the screen before purchasing a WUXGA, so you know what you will be dealing with.

UPDATE: Added the same old videos from YouTube, but they are nice to have there.

 

Here a picture of the screen from the Beats edition which has the same screen:

http://www.chipchick.com/wp-content/gallery/envy_15/_dsc0152.jpg

Stefan

 

im not sure you are referring to my first impression of it. But i may have chosen the wrong choice of words when i said hard to read. It wasnt because of the resolution it was because it didnt get very bright i thought. I just came back from bset buy AGAIN! had to return a camera. I really think the culprit is the glass. It just makes it seem like you have to glare through ice to see the screen. And it shows a lot of reflections. Its still an awesome laptop im sure based on whats inside of it. Looking around at other laptops it may be my only choice as to getting close to what i want.

 

For me WUXGA IS too high, but from what I've read, Vista and 7 have good scaling (XP didn't).

 

Wait... so the screen is dim?? If so, I'm going to have to cancel my order. This is really depressing seeing all these posts from people who have seen them at Best Buy.

 

Thanks for the pic stefan. (BTW, I asked for it to be resized, it is too large)

Oh, those fingerprints ruin the look, but it is indeed not E2E

 

funndementals and serg, I was actually referring to the impressions by electrosoft and the comment in particular "Macbook Pro screen was easily readable under the BB lights."

Since the MBP is lower res the text and icons are going to be a little larger and when looked at in a row of laptops may appear more readable. That's all I'm suggesting. If that 15" MBP was at 1920x1080 then it would be a more equivelant comparison. Also, do the MBP have the Matte screen option?

I appreciate the first impressions as much as anyone as I already have my Envy 15 on order with the BCB but I'm thinking the Bestbuy units aren't going to be samples for us to judge by.

Kevin

 

its dim TO ME. May be fine for you. I would not cancel your order! lol.

 

Has anybody tried the keyboard?
Is there any flex?
And in the palmrests?

 

I don't understand why they wouldn't be. How can they have a laptop out and sell you a different version of it? Everything i saw on the model suggested that it was the same one on the HP site for 1999. Has this ever happened before? I hope you are right cuz i need a laptop pronto..hence me posting on NBR all day.

 

I tried the keyboard. It was cool. Nothing awesome/nothing bad. It seemed a little cheap, but it wasn't anything wrong with it. The palm rests kinda reminded me of those rubber covers you put on a laptop to protect it. Felt fine to me. What exactly is flex?

 

There was no flex on the keyboard since each key is separate instead of all on a plastic sheet like most other laptops. Also, I didn't notice any flex at all on the palm rests, it felt very solid.

I am really hoping that the display models on the Best-Buy floors are pre-production models and that the laptop I get from HP is Edge to Edge.

 

The HP site does show a E2E screen, so some variants are possible?

 

Flex occurs when you apply pressure to certain parts of the laptop and it dips in. The only place I saw a little flex was on the back of the screen.

EDIT:
Serge - Yes, that's what I am hoping for.

 

Flex in a laptop is if the body parts or components tend to bend when under pressure, for example, when resting the hands on the palmrests, the body does not feel like it is sinking/giving up?

And when typing it is when you notice some keys sink and go deeper than other, normally recognized by a louder sound and different feedback.

 

I don't see any reason why it should be dimmer than a Mac's. For $1500 (+500) from Bing, why should I settle for a compromise that saves the manufacturer 25 cents? Is this their flagship laptop, or is it not?

A screen that's too bright is good to have, because all backlights get dimmer with age, even LEDs.

 

The 15's screen is stated as 300 nit, and the 13's screen is 400 nit.
http://www.gadgetarena.com/hp-envy-13-and-envy-15-dressed-in-beautiful-beasts-equipment.html

 

well that im pretty sure of. IT was definitely dimmer than the macs. I think the best description would be like comparing a lcd tv to a plasma. With the mac being the LCD.

 

The thing is why would best buy have pre production models? I saw them put out all the other new laptops and they came straight out of the pallets. Can someone who has Envy's at BB ask if they can actaully buy from the store? like at my BB they said I have to Order it from the warehouse. If they dont' have any in the store and only these sample ones maybe they are sample machines.

 

well to me it seems stupid to have a glass surface and not edge to edge especially on a laptop in the price range bing cb or not and dont get me started on the beats. if its gonna have a bezlle then it should be matte(which i prefer)

anybody get theirs shipped yet? mine is still in production.

 

Okay, okay, okay... so I just got back from Best Buy... and... The Envy is an incredibly nice laptop. It looks great with its aluminum finish, thin design, excellent keyboard, etc....

I tried typing on the keyboard. I didn't notice any flex. The keys are easy to press and comfortable to type on. I really did like the keyboard a lot.

I tried using the touchpad, and like everyone is saying, it can be kind of tricky to use since the left and right click parts of the pad are only on the bottom half of the pad. It worked best just to "tap click" the entire time and not use your thumb at all. I tried using the two finger scroll, and it worked pretty much flawlessly in Internet explorer, but it sometimes struggled to recognize that I was trying to scroll down when I was using other programs.

While it was idling and running the "Best Buy" specs screen, it was only slightly warm to the touch. It was warm though... I don't think you'd want it on your lap for extended periods (like 2+ hours at a time) because you would notice the heat build up on your legs, but having it on your lap for an hour or two would certainly be doable.

I brought my ounce scale to the Best Buy store and measured the weight of the Envy 15 with the slice on it and without the slice.

The results are in:

With the Slice || 118.2 ounces = 7.38 lbs
Without the Slice || 86.4 ounces = 5.4 lbs
Slice when weighed seperately = 42 ounces, 2.6 lbs

My scale was probably off just a little bit, so don't expect it to be exactly right. More like ball park figures... especially since if you minus 5.4 from 7.38, you get the slice's weight being only 2 lbs. I'm not sure which is more accurate 2.6 lbs or 2 lbs. I just know that it is probably right at 2 lbs or slightly more.

Either way, the slice weighs a lot more than I had expected. I was expecting closer to half a pound... and certainly not more than 2 pounds....

The great thing about the slice was that it acts as a heat barrier, when I removed the slice (two latches, one front and one in back), the bottom of the laptop was warm, but the bottom of the slice remained cool. Expect to be able to use the laptop in your lap perfectly fine if you have the slice on the bottom.

I tried downloading 3DMark06 onto the laptop using the internet, but while I was waiting for it to finish downloading I think someone closed the lid and put it to sleep, which turns off all the currently open programs... I think. Either way, the internet wasn't really that fast and I didn't have a half hour to wait for it to download, lol. But I did get a picture of the Windows Experience Index scores... Here you go:

From Laptop

I brought my dSLR camera, but when I got it out to take pictures, I found that it was missing the SD card... bah!! So I took a picture of the screen rim with my iPhone 3GS. The Best Buy model did not have a Edge to Edge glass display, but I don't think that HP would advertise that the production model actually has one and not give it to you, so I think the ones that will come in the mail are going to have edge to edge still.

From Laptop

The screen brightness seemed to shift quite a bit because of the ambient light sensor. I would definitely disable that feature if I got the Envy 15. The screen was bright, but I think even when I tried turning it up, it wouldn't turn up all the way because of the ambient light sensor.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask.

Personally, I think I'm going to stick with a desktop + small laptop. I was kind of hoping the Envy 15 would be able to replace both of them in one machine, but I realize now that it just doesn't have the portability + battery life that I need considering that it weighs 7.4 pounds with the slice. I was originally thinking I would take the slice with me everywhere, but now I see that would add too much weight to the old backpack.

While I was at BestBuy, the dm3z really caught my attention though. I thought it looked absolutely fantastic + it has switchable graphics (HD3200 + 4330), is less than an inch thin (it's tiny...), has a 6 hour battery life. I think it will meet my portable needs better than the Envy 15 would.

One thing I will say... if 3 hours of battery life is enough for you on the go, I'd definitely buy the Envy 15. It is a gorgeous machine, excellently designed (except for maybe the touch pad drivers), with tremendous amount of power. Just know that if you want battery life on the go, you're going to have to suffer through some hefty lifting. This is, however, definitely the ultimate portable power machine. I would highly recommend it if you're a graphic designer/video editor and you need something on the go and only need less than 3 hours of battery life or you don't mind taking your power supply with you and finding an outlet. To me, the slice is just too heavy to take with you.

 

I honestly don't know what you mean by 84 or 85 - as I stated in my post this is was a test of the 17" non-glare. Here's a link:

http://www.notebookcheck.com/Test-MacBook-Pro-17-Unibody-Non-Glare.16733.0.html

 

Great first impressions Quadron. Wow, I can't believe the slice weighs that much. I knew it felt like it added a good amount of weight but didn't think it was that much.

 

no offense to those before quadron who wrote their impressions but this is more of what i want to hear!! thanks buddy for making me feel better about my purchase +rep just because i stopped biting my fingernails

 

Well holy cow looking at the windows benchmark numbers and comparing that to my Thinkpad W500, 2.5ghz, SSD.

My P9500 CPU is 6.1 versus Envy at 6.2
My SSD is 5.8 versus Envy at 5.9
My Memory is 5.5 versus Envy at 7.3
My 3D graphics score is 6.3 versus Envy at 6.8

Really surprised on these numbers, thought the CPU and graphics would be higher.

 

Thanks for the info Quadron. I might check out my local BB but the website doesn't show them as being in stock.

 

yeah, WEI scores aren't exactly reliable, since they change as Win7 is being updated. My Nvidia 275 GTX card only has a WEI for gaming graphics as a 6.5... and uh... it's more than twice as fast as the 4830 in the Envy, so yeah... WEI aren't actually the tried and true benchmark, but they can be kind of fun to look at though...

 

awesome review quadron. I knew i wasnt crazy. That thing was heay as a rock with the slice on. I know you commented on the screen, but do you agree with tme that the screen seemed kind of dim compared to the other laptops?

 

Actually I think MBPs are woefully underpowered for the price demanded, but they do make up for it in other areas. I, personally, only own and use Windows notebooks and PCs.

 

Well of COURSE you want to be assured your hard earned and spent money isn't going to something that is lesser than previously thought.

The Envy is definitely nice. The keyboard is sweet, it is visually pleasing and with an i7 and support for two drives in a ~5.4lb package, 4830 chipset and 1080, it is very, very nice in quite a compact package. But that doesn't negate its flaws. It isn't like no other 15" form factor laptop with decent hardware doesn't have their own heating issues too including the MBP (Uni), Asus (51 series), Dell (M4400, Studio 16) and others. No laptop is perfect, and I'm sure you are going to love it.

 

Maybe a tiny, little bit... but I think that was from the ambient sensor, not because the screen couldn't go brighter. Know what I mean?

 

Shoudn't the lights in BB be bright enough to let it go to full brightness? Then again it's preproduction and doesn't even have the edge to edge glass.

 

well is this switchable? Because I looked high and low and slid every brightness slider to the top on the machine and it stayed the same.

 

Nice review Quadron. +rep (tomorrow since I cant today).

I have been digging the 720QM quite a bit with Kevin O'Brien (NBR Site Admin) and I will post the results later today. Although they are not that promising...

 

Where is the light sensor? If you shine a bright flashlight on it in the store, that would make it allow max brightness

 

OK, I had a look in PC World this evening as I saw they had the machine already - unusual for a UK retailer! I'm cancelling my order.

The machine was warm to touch on palm rest when it was sat there doing very little. When I got them to play a demo game on it, it became a fair amount warmer. Not overly uncomfortable, but enough to cause me concern.

However, the main reason I'm cancelling is due to two things you generally are stuck with: the keyboard and touchpad.

Whilst the keyboard is ok, I was hoping for something resembling the sony style of keyboard. However on this machine the keys feel very tacky and plasticky (spelling?). The keyboard layout is odd in the extreme, with lots of buttons on the left hand side, which after playing with, I just can't say I will ever like. Buttons on the top please, or the right hand side, but never on the left. We're used to having function keys on the top, and to the right is fine because on larger keyboards we're used to having keys there.

The touchpad, whilst actually not bad to use, the disable feature, well it took me maybe 20 attempts to change.

The display was nice, but didn't feel like it quite belonged. In itself this wouldn't throw me off though.

I'm sure many of you will enjoy this computer; it did look stunning and incredibly thin. It was not that heavy; maybe in comparison to a mac it felt heavy, but otherwise not really. The pattern is actually very nice on the lid and palm rest, but for me, this notebook is not what I'm looking for.

So upset

 

i know how u feel. I had high hopes for this laptop. You're cancelling even with the bing deal?!?!? I have been let down so far, but if i had got that deal i may have ridden it out..lol

 

Fragilexx, what do you mean about the display not belonging?

 

Yes, bing deal or not.

To me, money does not matter. The reason being that in 12 months time the money spent wont be much more than a memory and a line on my bank statement; but if I'm unhappy with the notebook I will still have to deal with that.

 

OK, so if you look at the display on a decent Sony VAIO, it feels right. The quality is as you would expect from the price tag.

Somehow the Envy didn't do that to me. It's difficult to explain exactly what I mean by this except that it just didn't quite seem to "fit", that's the best I can do. Nothing to do with the display not physically fitting, just how it felt. Like seeing potatos mayonaise being kept in the cupboard before it's been opened - you know it's ok, but somehow it doesn't seem right.

 

Are there any reasons to get an edge to edge screen (if offered) vs a bezel screen? Vice versa? I was just wondering if one screen as better than the other or if it was just a preference of the looks.

 

After seeing it at Best Buy I just canceled my order.

The palm rest was warm though not much more than the MBP. The underside was very hot. I'd agree with others that the display really didn't look as well integrated as on the E13. I do think the brightness was in-line with the MBP when brightness was turned up.

Stefan

 

wow...its a lot of people jumping ship

 

That's a + for the screen, but without E2E screen like SXPS16, I am suddenly happy that I haven't placed the order yet. BTW, my local BB didn't have it on display and the guys there had absolutely no idea that HP ever released a model called Envy 13/15

 

Interesting... HP gives us 21 days for a full refund so I'm gonna keep my fingers crossed. If I don't like it in 20 days I guess I'll go back to the Dell 1645 and risk cooking my Tea Bag.

 

Edge to edge = glass = scratch resistant

 

And also better contrast (dark level) while adding more glare to it.

 

What do you mean? The Dell and HP both have edge to edge glass. That doesn't mean the LCD itself is edge to edge.