HP Envy 17 - coming to the US in May 2010

hp really messed up not having switchable graphics in the envy 17. It has the HM55 which does support it all HP had to do was add the proper hardware to allow the screen to connect to the discreet and the IGP. Im sure the second screen connection couldnt of added that much more cost to the laptop.

 

The post I was replying to only asked about form factor. And the 8740w has 16:10.

 

Not really, they weren't marketing the HP Envy 17 as a mobile machine. Switchable graphics is nice, but the market for people who want 17 inch laptops and care about long battery life is very small. People don't normally use 17 inch laptops to travel around. For someone looking to buy it, I don't think it's a deal breaker unless battery life is serious issue for a DTR type laptop.

Also adding switchable graphics adds to production costs, so leaving it out makes the price lower. It's a nice to have in a 17 inch laptop, definitely not a need to have.

If you need it so bad, there is always a MBP 17. Have fun with that GT 330m

 

I really don't think adding switchable graphics significantly adds to production costs.

 

why would i get anything else, I already have a laptop that smokes the envy 17

 

That is true. That is one specced out AW.

 

well... this guy certainly seems to be.

*cough*

perfect it ain't, but seems serviceable to me. no?

 

He was running 3dMark06 at 1024x768, overclocked it, and still didn't break 10,000.

 

He seemed to be basing numbers off a resolution of 1280x800 or 1280x720...

My calculator could give those numbers at that paltry little resolution. Good lord, it takes so much to root for mac gaming. So very many self deceptions.

It kind of reminds me of a time years ago while waiting on a graphics card while playing wow on the integrated graphics my motherboard came with... Oh I could run wow alright, I just had to use windowed mode and have the screen like a quarter of the screen resolution, then it played.

 

laststop 311
1920 x 1200 LCD w/ custom matte finish

How did you get a custom matte finish on your screen? Is it on your Alienware?

 

So if FULL HD were 720p we should all have lower resolution screens so we could watch movies? That seems silly.

 

some people prioritize watching movies on their laptops. I don't know who these people are...but yep. for some people, they spend more time using their computers as toys (surfing web, watching movies) than they do as productivity devices and creation tools. I guess to them, "full hd" is an optimal format. I'll accept it if I have to, but it's an inconvenience. so long as the screen quality is good, I can work with it.

and yet the guy is enjoying himself when he decides to play.

point is, people seem to be more than satisfied when gaming on their MBP. perfect? nope. do they care? nope. it's nice to be able to do it if they want to and to subsequently get the most out of it...but they didn't buy the machines to play videogames on in the first place, as it appears many of us do.

you know an argument is poor when someone compares midrange dedicated graphics that are capable of pulling down good frames for recent releases to...integrated graphics. A gold star of stupid for you.

the 9600M in my old Vaio wasn't the best ever, but it ran every game I wanted to run well. I didn't get "zomg 122 frames per!" but I got enough to enjoy the games on a system I didn't buy to play games, but get work done. your purpose may be different. don't begrudge people for having a different set of priorities than you and are willing to pay for the things that they value. and don't be upset when they seek to max out the performance of whatever they buy.

I don't begrudge the guy who buys an Audi A5 2.0T (205hp?) because it looks good. It costs the same amount as my modded BMW 335xi (now around 375HP), but couldn't keep up to save its life. But you know what? His/her priorities were different. And he's enjoying his purchase just as I'm enjoying mine, but for different reasons. More appreciation, less butthurt and whining about how other people are spending and enjoying their money is a far better way to live. learn the lesson.

 

It gets even more depressing for those who want to play games in Mac OS X.

But the point of the matter is the Envy 17 is some kind of hybrid gaming and entertainment laptop, unlike Macbooks which seem to be more processor focused as of late.

 

I have no problem with that guys choices or his want to squeeze out as much performance as possible, I just find it interesting the number of slights of hand used to suggest that there is some parity in terms of functional gameplay on a mbp to a machine with more powerful graphics.

Yes, there is parity, but to achieve it you play a game at something other than full screen or native resolution, not an ideal tradeoff.

If he is content with that, as he seems to be, fine. Good for him. But Something that always irks me is apples to oranges comparisons, which is what that was.

 

actually, the problem here was apparently bugs on Valve's end. there are reports all over MacRumors of an update that came out in the last several hours that significantly ramped up the performance.

and the problem here isn't the CPU or GPU relative to the Anandtech article, as people who are running Windows on the MBP and playing the same game (Portal) are getting much better frames.

Valve simply needs to clean up their game a bit. And maybe MBP owners will get a few more GPU driver updates from Apple. Actually, they'd be best served if people got back to writing GPU-overclocking apps for the OS again. They've only been hard to get because well...people were bootcamping to play games. the other problem with Mac gaming (from what I've read) on OSX is that because the userbase is small, conversions of PC games to OSX are either wrapped in WINE or are otherwise half-hearted conversions. As such, they suffer from framerate issues that the hardware isn't causing.

Anyway, I'm sure MBP owners are getting some Valve love and we know Valve will get the bugs worked out. But everyone who has more games that they want to play install Windows for their gaming fun (or for those games that will never be ported).

 

Certainly Valve's source engine is not entirely optimized for OpenGL rendering compared to Direct3D but I doubt that the difference is entirely due to poor optimizations, but rather poor driver support. That is entirely Apple's fault and no one else (Nvidia provides a world class OpenGL implementation). Considering that Apple has closed their hardware ecosystem it is their responsibility to provide stable, up to date and high quality drivers. Boot Camp users lucked out by having different drivers available... Perhaps more game friendly ones.

Obviously it isn't CPU or GPU related as the Anandtech test was conducted on a desktop, not a MBP. It is due to some form of software problem, as it is only exhibited on Mac OS X, not in Windows on the same hardware (again it is using the Direct3D in the GPU however). When Microsoft provides a new abstraction layer that slows game performance a fraction of a percent they get yelled at by practically everyone. Apple can provide suboptimal drivers and still see praise. Odd. /rant

Anyways, I can confidently say the Envy 17, 15, and 14 will play games (just look at the benchmarks) better than the current MBP. Considering that is one of my key issues I'm staying away from MBP until they are price competitive.

 

Some people prioritize acceleration and high horsepower numbers from their car. For some people, they spend more time using their cars as toys (autocross, circuit, drag, drifting, canyon runs) than they do as actual transportation, going so far as to remove the shotgun and rear passenger seats to save weight (among other things).

People use their stuff for a variety of reasons. I'm glad you realize that some people enjoy using their laptops as multimedia centers, and that a lot of games these days, particularly console ports, run natively at 1280x720 (16:9), not 16:10. Scaling up (or down) is fine, but stretching makes movies and games look bad.

The Envy17 is arguably designed primarily as a multimedia computer, a gaming computer second, and a business computer third.

The Probook and Elitebook lines seem more suited to you, I think they have 16:10 aspect ratios and thus more screen real estate in the same form factor.

Slippery slope is slippery.
If FULL HD were 720p, we'd still have 1920x1080 monitors. The aspect ratio matters more than the actual pixels.

For a long time, monitors had much higher resolution than video, but the same 4:3 aspect ratio. Logically, the same would happen if HD stayed at 720p. Fortunately, 1080p happens to be about where adding resolution in a 26" or smaller monitor doesn't make a whole lot of difference, and is actually sometimes detrimental.

 

Urgh, the wait for the 19th to come is taking forever...

I seriously hope the 19th isn't just a pre-order date, while the actual shipping begins sometime in June.

 

Wow, that sucks.

 

One game that should do well on mac is starcraft 2. Blizzard puts a lot of effort in thier games and it should be a proper convert.

 

And now back to Envy 17 news. An ENVY 17-1011NR is up on Amazon. Nothing new except for pricing. It's 1649 for i7-720, 8GB, dual 320 HDD and DVD. Pretty aggressive when compared to 1799 (discounted) on the HP site for the Envy 15-1050NR with i7-720, 6GB, 500GB and DVD.

Amazon.com: HP ENVY 17-1011NR 17.3-Inch Laptop: Computer & Accessories

 

Wow that an amazing price. Rather have an i5-540 then an i7-720 which will make it even cheaper. This notebook is gonna make some major sales with prices like that.

 

But there is no description of which display(?) There might be an adder for the FHD display.

 

Called Amazon and they're checking -- half the info on the listing is for the Envy 13 so there are definitely errors but the Amazon rep did not know what the display is. Since HP description of the Envy 17 refers to the "standard" display as the HD+ size, and the FHD as "optional" I'm pretty sure this price does not include the FHD.

 

Am I the only one who found this hilarious?

Jobs 3:16

For Jobs so loved the world that he gave his one and only Mac, that whoever believes in him shall not think but have eternal faith.

 

Well it looks pretty on that amazon link, though I was hoping it'd be cheaper than that. Eyeball comparing it to a G73, you pay $100 for USB3, eSATA and a clean mac-like look, but give up some power and cooling... tough choice :/

 

I love my Envy 15 Beats, but I may be willing to sell my Gaming Desktop and some stuff for the 17 also as my desktop replacement.

 

How big of a difference is there between a 5850 and a 5870?

 

20. Sorry I couldn't resist.

Seriously though... They both have 800 shaders with 128 bit memory interfaces (and should use GDDR5). The 5870 is clocked at 700 mhz while the 5850 is clocked at 625 mhz. The 5870 also has higher power draw and more heat due to that higher clock rate however. So I think if you really wanted a 5870, you could try and overclock for it. Otherwise the difference shouldn't be too extreme, benchmarks should about a ~10% difference.

 

Previously posted:

8740w: 15.6 x 11.2 x 1.4 in
Envy 17: 16.38 x 10.83 x 1.25-1.52 in
MBP17: 15.47 in x 10.51 in x 0.98 in

Also the Envy 17 Service Guide is on-line with a wealth of detail (but nothing about a 3D screen ).

 

The Specs are a little sketchy. It seems to have 8GB of Memory and 640GB of total HD space. Does this mean its a RAID config? If so, that means the chipset is NOT a HM55. The price is pretty good considering the i7-720qm upgrade is a +$400 addition on an Envy 15 so that means the Starting Price is probably $1299. There other spec missing of course is the display type i.e. whether its a FHD or HD screen.

 

Nice Price. I'm wondering how much a screen upgrade would increase the price though. Nevertheless aggressive pricing by HP.

EDIT: This also probably means the upgrade from the base model to the i7 720 is likely around $200, $250 if that is stock hard drive config.

 

Oh and read the product description on the Amazon page, do you guys see anything wrong with it?

 

Nice price for sure. I don't understand how it could be priced so aggressively. Assuming the base model at $1400 comes with i5-430M, then an upgrade to the i7-720QM will add $400 (based on the config option for the Envy 15). That alone should make the 17 cost $1800, but the Amazon price is $1650. Even if the upgrade to i7-720QM is adjusted to the $200-$250 estimate, that alone makes up for the Amazon price.

I'm expecting a very good deal for my configuration options.

 

In the Service Manual it is written that the chipset is HM55 and it supports RAID 0/1.
Hah, a custom made board?

 

great price over at Amazon.

very excited to see the reviews!

several things, as it were.

 

Not if we assume it was weighed on Mars.

 

Hopefully they are correct on the release date

The HP Envy 14 and Envy 17 are available on June 27 and May 19, respectively, at www.hpdirect.com. The 14 starts at $999, while the 17 starts at $1,399.
Hands On with the HP Envy 14 and Envy 17 | News & Opinion | PCMag.com

 

For an Envy 15, upgrading from HD to FHD is $75 for the matte screen and $100 for the glossy.

 

I'm guessing you're referring to the May 4, 2010 availability date?

 

The dimensions and weight seem to have been copied from the Envy 13.

 

Yes, when I called Amazon, their rep looked at it and admitted they "mixed" the two products in this listing. She pointed out that, since the Envy 17 is not yet released, they don't have much info (wonder how they set the price?). I suggest we take their advert with a grain of salt until the formal release by HP next week.... if we keep an eye on the Amazon advert we might have early input on HP's specs and pricing, though.

 

Oh right lol

 

good preview. here's hoping we hear good reviews. it's too bad that the form factor forces comparisons to the MacBook Pro...as it means everyone will remind the world that the trackpad isn't as good. oh well.

looks like it will be such a good product. and probably only $1800 well equipped.

 

who actually uses a trackpad, lmao. Even the best trackpad in the world doesnt compare to a high quality gaming mouse with programmable macro buttons, adjustable dpi on the fly, memory inside the mouse to keep all ur settings with you wherever you take the mouse. Dont care what anyone says a high quality gaming mouse owns a trackpad no matter what. I've never even touched my trackpad the entire time ive owned my laptop, trackpad functions mean zero to me. I wouldnt even mind if I could remove the trackpad and get money off my system.

 

couldn't agree more with you

 

I have a nice usable mouse, but some people like a trackpad that is decent so they are more mobile (ie no room for using a mouse).

 

forces? uh its a pretty fair comparison. But the trackpad isnt the differentiating factor between these two laptops. Im on a macbook right right now, I know the difference, its better, but its not a night and day difference.

And if you dont use a trackpad, its probably because you have it as a desktop replacement. I use the trackpad, its all I use.

 

And again, this article by pcmag.com is another article that claims that the envy 14 AND the envy 17 will have switchable graphics.
"The Envy 14 and 17 are expandable to 8GB of RAM and run a switching graphics paradigm with an ATI discrete chip and Intel integrated graphics (No graphics switching with the quad-core configuration, though)".
Yet other articles insist that the envy 17 does not have swichable graphics options. Headache.. I guess I should give up trying to get any reliable info on the switchable graphics until the 19th(if it is even the 19th) and just see what options they give when you click to buy it, since hp just doesn't seem to want to spill all the accurate details on the 17 just yet (like weight, gpu options, battery life, etc.) Or maybe they are just trying to still be half-way secretive about their new envy up to the very last minute, in their quest to be half-way apple on seemingly everything lately

 

Well, I think there is a slight problem with that statement. I use the track pad whenever I don't want to pack (the power adapter/mouse) which is about half the time. I have a mouse because I play strategy game. No one in their right mind would be able to play a real time strategy game with a track pad and still have any control over their movements (shortcuts can only go so far). All in all, it is all relative to what you use the laptop for at the time. I use my laptop as a laptop and as a desktop replacement.