*HP Envy 15 Owners Lounge! PART 1*

Yup.

 

I wonder if there's any reason to get the glossy screen instead of matt? Do you think the colors won't be as vibrant on the non-glossy?

I already ordered matt but kinda regret it.

 

I need some advice here guys.

Bought the lenovo Y550p (i7 720qm, GT240m, 4GB Ram, 720p screen, 500GB HD) from newegg for $999, charged cc but not yet shippped.

Sure enough now I see the deal for $300 off for the Envy. Which one would be a better buy? With the i5 Envy and the screen upgrade, external DVD drive, 2 day shipping (i need it before the 22nd), and tax, it comes out to be a little over $1.2k. Should I pick the $75 anti glare HD or the brightview for $100?

My main concern is the heat issue as I've seen a couple at 2 bestbuys and they both run real HOT. However, that's the i7 config, so with the i5 and the the switchable graphics, hopefully it won't run as hot and battery will last a bit longer.

What do you guys think? I really need to figure this out soon... Thanks!

 

The way I see it is they added the anti-glare option just recently.

So maybe the screen is a better one without the line issues?

I always have prefered anti-glare but it may look odd against the glossy bezel.

 

I thought about it too, but in the end went with the matte one as well. Having had an envy before with the glossy one, it'll save you a lot of trouble with overhead lights trust me. At least that's definitely been a problem when I had used it in lecture halls when lights were dimmed down.

As for the colors not "popping" out at your with the matte version that can have some subjective truth to it but also depends heavily on the type of panel being used. For example I have a desktop G2410 dell monitor that is a matte finish and is arguably quite a bit better than the standard off the shelf glossy screens. I do appreciate the truer film grain look you get with the matte screen. I'll do a spyder 2 calibration and check against my original envy 15 to see what differences there are in the panels themselves.

 

Anyone know what panels HP is using (ie SEC, LG, etc)?

 

Cool. The last several laptops I've owned/used have all been glossy, so that's all I really know atm. But I used to own a matte desktop monitor before I replaced it with a glossy 16:9 monitor. It seemed to me that the glossy looked better, but at a cost. They really do reflect like crazy. So if you don't have it positioned where it will reflect something, it's very nice looking. But if there's anything that will reflect, it looks pretty bad. that's my experience anyway.

I tried the Envy with glossy and thought it wasn't bad. But I didn't have it positioned by a light or anything.

I still ordered the matte screen just because so many people say it's better (mac folks) lol.

 

hi all, i have been stalking/debating on my next laptop and i have bit the bullet after 800 price reduction from HP. Contenders were MBP 15 with 9600mgt , IBM T500/510 and anything near the 15" and 5lb-ish mark

I got the i540m and the matt screen below is the math:

1449 - 300 (coupon) = 1149 plus local tax --- 1230 after all said and done.

Can you guys see if there was anything else i couldve upgraded (aside from Hardrives, ram, external drives and stuff, things i can replace myself) ? I just hope i didnt forget to uprade anything important

HP ENVY 15 customizable Notebook PC

* • Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
* • Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-540M processor (2.53GHz, 3MB L2 Cache) with
* • 4GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
* • 320GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart
* • 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) HD 5830 Graphics - For i5 Processors
* • 15.6" diagonal Full High Definition LED HP Anti-glare Widescreen Display (1920x1080)
* • Webcam Only
* • Intel Wireless-N Card with Bluetooth
* • Envy Instant On Solution, Corel VideoStudio Pro X2, Corel Paintshop Pro X2, Stardock My Colors
* • HP Color Matching Keyboard
* • 6 Cell Lithium Ion Polymer Battery
* • No Productivity Software
* • HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope


It didn't seem like there was much upgrades to do on this laptop (which made things easier)

how is the reliability of the ENVY's my first HP and i hope i dont regret it.

I will keep up with this chain closely as i am curious of the following:

• Matte screen PQ
• 4 gig ram (upgrade/hack)
• Heat and battery life with the I5

Usage is mainly web surfing and World of Warcraft when away from desktop gaming rig. Maybe counterstrike again

 

My returned unit was an LG but I had noticed several different numbers (and pricing) listed on the parts page at one time, now it's back down to 2 numbers I believe...

 

Is the External DVD-Drive powered through the usb port or is their an external ac adpator you have to use? I see the other ones on newegg have you using an external power adaptor which looks like a pain in the . The Asus external blu-ray drive has you using 2 usb cables to send the data

Also is the LoJack worth getting? The special I see on right now looks like it gives you 4 years for the price of one, but the english looks really bad.

 

@Trojita
Just plug it in the USB port and youre ready to go.

 

Cool thanks, that is way more convenient

 

Damn I'm asking a lot of questions, but looking at the specs of the two i5 processors the "more powerful" one looks like it is such a marginal improvement that looks like it is no way worth $75. Is this true?

 

Thats how I see it too. You wont see a difference between the two, atleast to my opinion.

 

i kinda see the same as you but for the folks to keep the 300 coupon and the anti glare screen +75$ its on of those upgrades that needed to bump the price over 1399 which is sure better than the 50 dollar external DVD R for my setup.

 

this is kinda how i feel regarding the antiglare and glossy displays http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQ2CZ-nh-tk

 

I've got dual SSD's coming and was wondering if I can just load a fresh clean install of Win 7 on the second drive (I have full MS disk), then switch that drive to be the boot drive ?? If so can I just use same serial/key from the bottom of machine to activate ?? And what about the recovery partition can that be 'transfered to the other drive ??

Then I should be able to selectively load drivers and the HP crapware that I want to keep from one to the other and format the original drive for a clean slate.

 

nevermind. this was discussed but I missed it.

 

I regret getting the matte after watching a few youtube videos and researching more. I don't work outside and would prefer the more vibrant colors of the glossy. I might cancel and reorder.

 

Call them and ask them to change your order. It's not really that big of a deal.
The funny thing is that it costs them much less to produce the glossy version compared to the matte. Yet, they charge you 25$ extra for the cheaper version

 

Can they change orders like that? I ordered like 2 hours ago.

Which number do I call the 1-866-807-7196? or 1 (888) 999-4747

 

I know this has been discussed before but I don't remember what the exact verdict was...

Should I just put 8GB with the i5 even though there's a conflict? Although I feel like i5 will ultimately serve the purpose, I still want 8GB of RAM..or am I wrong and I don't need 8GB RAM since it won't even work well with the i5/graphics card?

 

@QuadAllegory
You bet, they have that stuff on file and it's not like they start building that stuff immediately, so I don't see a problem in trying.

@sparkywoo
8GB of RAM will work well in any system. More memory is more memory. If I were you I would hold off from upgrading to 8GB right now, because the price of those 2x4GB modules will drop significantly with time. By that time your 4GB of RAM will be more than enough to supply your demands.

 

I payed with paypal though, so I doubt they can charge the extra without starting all over.

 

I guess we'll have to see if the 4GB that comes with it are the easily replaceable ones that's right outside :]

 

Well here is a website that ranks the laptop processors. I don't really know how the Intel Core i5 540m outdoes the 520m by 8 posiitions. Also is it a problem that these processors have no front side boss and less cache than the 720qm?

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Processors-Benchmarklist.2436.0.html

 

The i5 versions have a new mother board with only 2 SODIMM slots, I have a request in with tech support on where the 2 slots are located and will post the answer when I get it, I'm hoping for the easy access location but with HP who knows...

 

It's part of the architecture as far as what I've come to understand. Both clarksdale and arrandale processors and chipsets have integrated memory controllers so FSB no longer accurately applies since there's no separate bridge between the memory and the cpu.

As far as the glossy screen goes quad I think you might need to reorder if you paid through paypal unless you call them up and the decide to work something else out.

 

I'm hoping that it is, I'll order it since $300 off expires soon and then I'll return it if it's not the case.

 

I'm getting a $100 credit off my order instead! Cool.

 

you switched to glossy and they're doing that?

 

Nope. They offered $100 off instead of switching, since they couldn't change the order, and canceling causes them a big hassle.

 

Haha. That's awesome!

 

Ah that makes more sense, got yourself a good deal with that then!

 

so about what sort of % difference can we see in the 5830 vs the 4830?

http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-ATI-Mobility-Radeon-HD-4830.14954.0.html

has details on the 4830 but nothing on the 5830 yet, but it is listed 6 GPU's higher.

 

Does HP charge re-stocking fees for orders returned within the 21 days? I just ordered the new envy via their web site, and I am planning to call within a few days to return the one I have right now. I didn't call to do an exchange cause then they'd ask me to return mine right away.

Do they make it difficult to return something or is it no questions asked?

 

http://www.amd.com/us/products/notebook/graphics/ati-mobility-hd-5800/Pages/hd-5830-specs.aspx

Compare the fill rates, etc to the 4830.

The 5830 has the full 800 SP, basically it is a lower clocked desktop 5770.

 

Another quick question, is there a button to turn off the laptop display when outputting video to an external display? Sony just added one to their F Series laptops, and it would be nice to have.

I think I'm going to forgo getting the extra battery thing for now to save money. I'd have rather just had a 9 cell battery in the thing. And I figure if i'm at a place I would usually dock the thing at, I'd generally be near a socket.

 

Should be no fee etc. just tell them a good reason why it didn't perform as you expected -- battery life does not come near the advertised times would work nicely -- they will start a RMA for you and email a fedex label for shipping it back, mine allowed 4 days from the day I printed it to get it to fedex.

Did you use the $300 off coupon on the new order??

 

With the combination of the price drop, GPU upgrade and coupon code, I felt like it was Christmas in January since I was willing to part with $700 more for a (marginally) lesser laptop just a few days ago.

So I tried using the coupon, and the first time through the order, even though it accepted the coupon, I typed a piece of info wrong the credit card section. So when I hit submit, after applying the coupon and entering all my information, it said that there was a mistake with my credit card info and to try entering it again. So I did. To my horror, it put through the full amount, no coupon applied! This is after confirming on the previous screen that the discount had been applied. I guess when it took me back to the enter your info screen, everything was reset, and I should have scrolled up to check the amount (I didn't, silly me.)

After sweating bullets for a minute, I called the number on the screen. Spoke to a rep, explained the situation. She asked me for my info, order number, coupon code. Couple of 5 minute holds while she verifies stuff, then she finally comes back and says the coupon is not supposed to be for the Envy, its for 'regular' laptops and that the Envy is an expensive laptop (???? seriously lady, I don't need you to tell me it's an expensive laptop - what the hell does that have to do with anything?).

I say to her, well whatever, I just tried it minutes ago and it worked - until I messed up with the credit card entry, so go ahead, cancel my order, please. She transfers me to her supervisor, who says 'we can't change anything once the order is put through'. Once again, I say, fine, please cancel. 10 more minutes (about 30 min phone call) and my order is canceled. The sucky part? They won't credit my card for 3-5 business days ('your bank won't place the credit for 3-5 days' .. sure it's my bank's fault).

Maybe I'm naive, but I'm trusting they really will cancel the order, so I went ahead and tried again while the coupon is still valid (very carefully this time). Voila, 300 bucks off (actually closer to 320 because of the tax) and it went through just fine. I just pray I don't end up with two laptops. Anyone else trying to use the coupon, be careful!

On another note, the ATI site says the 5830 supports up to 6 displays, depending on the laptop. Since the Envy clearly doesn't have enough ports, that's not likely, but I'm wondering if splitters or hacks could really enable more than one external display?

Also for those asking about USB 3.0 - I see that there have been some Express Card USB 3.0 announcements. I also found a USB 2.0 slimline Blu-ray for $89, glad I didn't bite on the HP blu-ray.

 

They will email you a cancelation confirmation, should be within 24 hrs (if not call them), that's when the 3- 5 day timer for credit starts, mine to 2 days for credit to show up. You have a weekend coming up so not sure if that impacts it.

 

wow is the coupon going to die soon?

 

One time I called like two days after ordering and they told me they'd try to cancel and that they'd submit a request. Welp it never happened and the thing shipped to me. This time I got an email confirming the request though. Last time I didn't.

 

Thanks. That's good. Yep, $300 coupon worked great

 

I believe someone mentioned earlier how the new HDMI out supports a dual-link DVI display through a converter but I don't think that's confirmed. If there are splitters out there I don't see why it wouldn't work if the hardware and software support it (which it looks like they do).

Also what USB Blu-ray drive did you find? I'm on the look out for one.

 

The coupon still works if there was any doubt. You guys got me scared and I pulled the trigger and bought it. Hopefully the i5 is an improvement. I'm joining the Envy 15 club

 

He most likely means this one

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135198&cm_re=external_blu-ray-_-27-135-198-_-Product

I did not like the fact that you have to have an adapter plugged in and it uses two usb inputs (all the HP Envy 15 has).

 

Ah yeah this was posted earlier. I was looking for something primarily USB powered. Don't think I could deal with having to take an adapter all the time to keep it powered up.

 

I personally wont be getting an external Blue-ray until they come out with some decent Blue-ray burners (1+ years?). Until then the 50$ external from HP will do just fine

 

Or this one
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822319001

Using blue ray through wireless network will be fun.