HP Envy 17 - coming to the US in May 2010

My bad. I was under the impression that it had two DIMM slots. In that case I can't uderstand why the 17 has only two.

 

yea, it's an unusual decision. tbh, I thought all systems that featured a QuadCore could hold 4 mem sticks.

maybe we're wrong on that one? but it doesn't seem that way.

 

Why are there so many HP bashers in these forums? Envy 17 with 5850 GDDR5 will be a winner since 5850 is a downclocked 5870. Is there another laptop that has i7, 58xx series GPU with GDDR5, magnesium body and weighs less than 8lbs with a 17" screen?

 

The MSI GX740 weighs 7lbs and is 17", for one, though the Envy is better-looking. The lack of switchable graphics on the 17" is a mistake, but the Envy 17 should still be quite a nice laptop as long as it's reasonably priced.

 

dimm slots (and mxm slots and mini pcie slots and switchable graphics) cost money in terms of design and manufacturing complexity.

everything comes down to the cost to build and sell.

If a feature isn't going to sell enough additional machines to make the cost of including it worth the $$$, it will be removed from consideration in the design process. Doesn't matter if 10 or 100 or 1000 vocal fanbois scream that they want something. If the maker doesn't believe that the fanbois will in fact follow up with an actual $$$ spend, forget it.

And yes, these design/build decisions sometimes come down to pennies per unit.

 

I don't think the lack of switchable graphics is a bad thing. It is a 17 inch.

 

The 17" MBP has switchable graphics, and not without reason.

 

Apple can and does charge a premium price for much of the MBP line. Their evaluation of the design/build costs are skewed by the willingness of their user base to pay those higher prices.

 

Perhaps they traded off that space for another HW component or for clearance for airflow?

 

lol. because there are no 17" consumers who wish they could have decent performance AND good battery life?

*raises hand*

 

prospective consumers will complain when features they really wanted are not included. rightly so.

switchable graphics should have been on the 17" if they could do it on the cheaper 14".

people will complain at having less memory DIMM slots on the 17" than the 15", because some of us considering the 17" found that to be a key feature.

others would have complained if there were no backlit keyboards.

I don't see why you or anyone else is surprised that people speak up when there's something perceived to be missing. if this surprises you, you should check out the MacBook Pro refresh threads.

 

@ajreynol

I know there are 750 GB HD's out for laptops. But the Envy 17 so far is the laptop with the highest storage capacity.

No switchable graphics on the 17 inch? Meh, it's not too big of a deal since it is a 17 incher, not really for the mobile crowd (mostly). But it still would have been a nice touch.

And another thing, it looks like the Envy 14 has excellent port selection, VGA *and* HDMI, thank goodness. I'm pretty sure there's eSata so I think I'm set. If the reviews are solid, I think I'm in for it.

 

Which is a design/build cost decision.

 

The $500- G60/70 series all have VGA & HDMI. That particular combination isn't all that uncommon anymore.

The G60 was just uprated to the G62 and the G70/71 might be uprated to a G72 (i3/5 cpus) shortly after the Envy 17 comes out.

 

Oh I know other laptops have it, it's just that the Envy 15 didn't, so I was kind of turned off. But either way it's not VGA it's a mini display port, which is still fine with me.

 

Just noticed that it has 3D capabilities also. Damn, HP really went all out lol.

I wonder how large their profit margins are going to be, they can't be incredibly high with those prices.

Now all that remains is the last part, hands-on experience and reviews.

 

but that statement isn't accurate, my friend.

"highest storage capacity" suggests maximum potential storage.

and what I'm saying to you is that any laptop that can hold 2 x 12.5mm HDDs can also have 2TB of ram installed. just buy them off a website and put them in the computer.

More accurate would be to say that the Envy 17 has the highest optional manufacturer-configured HDD setup.

as in, no other manufacturer is installing HDDs of this size right now. that would be correct.

 

-_- Are there any other laptops that hold 12.5 mm HDDs besides the one you mentioned previously?

 

By "fanbois" do you mean somewhat affluent and intelligent customers?

You do realize that adding 2 DIMM slots (for a total of 4) possibly reduces the overall cost of the system for the manufacturer, right?

Actually, that statement was accurate. The Envy 17 does have the highest storage capacity in a laptop. There is no laptop with higher storage capacity that I am aware of, unless Clevo released some gigantic laptop recently with 3 HD slots. It is true that there could be other laptops with equal storage, but that won't remove the attribute of having the highest storage capacity, it'll just be a capacity that's shared among multiple laptops. And it's not like many other laptops can claim this... not only does the Envy17 have two HD slots, which is fairly rare these days, but each slot can hold 12.5mm HDDs, a trait that very very few other laptops can claim.

 

The question is, how many users here actually require 16 GBs of RAM? If your doing a project that requires that much memory, you should be working on a desktop.

 

They may or may not have 4 slots for the RAM which we don't know yet. Also this one has a integrated optical drive. I am not surprised with people complaining. Yes, these units are not perfect. There is no suck thing as a perfect computer. I actually wanted to see something without the optical drive and about 6lbs with these specs. Well may be I can uninstall the drive and put some cushion. That should give me at least half a pound of less weight.

 

I like having 8 GBs of RAM in cheaper 2GB sticks.

Also, I haven't owned a desktop in about 10 years, yet I do 3D gaming, 3D modeling, graphic design, programming, and movie editing. I move around a lot. A desktop is completely impractical for me and many other people. The only time you'd ever need a desktop these days is for running Crysis at 60 FPS with FRAPS on in Dx10 and Ultra settings... which probably means a giant PSU and triple graphics cards. Besides that, you can do literally everything on a laptop.

Except for hardcore gaming at the highest resolutions and settings, desktops are obsolete.

 

The HP Envy line is also a premium laptop line, and it's a direct competitor to the Macbook Pro. In fact, you'll find that in many parts of the world the Envys are actually significantly more expensive than the MBPs. For example, in Australia the base 15" MBP is A$2200, while the 15" Envy starts at A$2800.

I'll say it again - as it is a direct competitor to the 17" MBP, leaving out switchable graphics in the 17" Envy was a mistake. Nowhere near as much a mistake as the lack of switchable graphics in the 15" Envy was, I'll admit, but it was a mistake.

 

Everything seems great expect *one thing*: the cheap looking light up logo on the lid. I am really disappointed they screwed that up to save a couple bucks.

Can't believe they're making this premium lappy look like a cheap old dv7t or whatever on the lid.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by "cheap looking". It's a logo, and it lights up, and it has the letters "hp". Seems normal.

 

now the real question is should I return my 15 for the 17

 

I'd like to see switchable graphics too but I'd rather have a backlit keyboard. Or an improved trackpad. Or an integrated optical drive. Or two disk spindles. Or a non-sharp edge. Or multiple monitor support. Or.....you get the idea.

 

Well it looks like cheap plastic chrome, plus making it light up looks very toyish and cheap. Nothing like the very nice E15 brushed metal look.

 

so I was right I just failed to realize it.

 

Oh, I see what you mean. But I kind of like it, but that's just my preference for light up logos on the back of laptops.

 

I would need to take a closer look, but some of the skin options in the refresh to the Pavillion line actually look nicer in the photos than the Envy skin.
http://images.anandtech.com/galleries/665/hppaviliondm4entertainmentpcrearopen.jpg

Compared with most Windows laptops, the Envy case feels slim, sturdy and the overall impression is great. However the 2 skin options are floral dot pattern in bronze-ish or black in the Beats edition.


In most of the marketing artwork, the HP Envy line has a gorgeous silver tone, like this:


However in the real world, the actual skin is much a darker, brownish metallic color bearing little resemblance to the artwork.

 

You have a point with the cheaper RAM sticks. However saying desktops are obsolete, well that's a big stretch there. People uses desktops ALOT still. There are plenty of things a laptop can't do that a desktop can in the same amount of time. Professional video editors and producers can't do everything on a laptop because it would take too long. Desktops have ultra-powerful CPU's that professionals need to render projects quickly. Laptops doing the same job would take 2-3 times as long. Powerful desktops are invaluable to engineers, and especially animators who need like several ultra powerful desktops to compile a finished animated movies in a reasonable amount of time. So yea, I think desktops are here to stay for awhile.

 

is the 17 inch really going to have a 3d screen? Does this mean it will play 3d movies and have a pair of shutter glasses?

 

I'm pretty sure. Don't think it will include the shutter glasses though.

 

Really? You remember what was missing in the envy 15 right? an optical drive.

The 14 and the 17 have it, space is finite, less ram slots. As to whether this is such a terrible thing, they probably did a survey to see how many envy users went all out with the 16GB of ram, and it was probably only a very select few, and if they REALLY need all that, there are still the 8740w elitebooks they can go for.

 

Im kind of skeptical about the 3d support... its got to be a misprint. ATI doesnt have any graphics cards with 3d support. NVIDIA does with their adaptor. Maybe they just ment it is geared toward gaming

 

That's what I was thinking also. I don't think ATI announced any cards with 3D. Or did I just miss the memo? But I don't think a company can make that big of a typo? or can they?

 

is the 17 inch screen LED backlit? OR RGB?

 

I'm pretty sure it's LED backlit, not RGB.

 

they should offer these in black

 

that would be so freaking sweet. Maybe I'll get my notebook color anodized, that'll cost a bit though. But a black Envy 14 sounds so cool. You know you'll look bad*ss carrying that around.

 

actually I was wrong.... looked at ATI's page and sure enough it does have 3D stereoscopic display/glasses support... but it has to be offered by the manufacturer. If HP adds 3d glasses support I may get one of these bad boys rather than an alienware m17x!

 

The first laptop with a 3D display, the Aspire 5738DG, has a ATI Mobility Radeon 4570.

People use desktops a lot because they're generally cheap. Laptops are not 2-3 times slower in processing power than desktop. And finally, animators can do their job perfectly well on a laptop. When studios render movies, they don't do it on ultra powerful desktops, not by a LONG shot. They do it on massive server farms. If a small company can't afford their own server farms, they send the files to a company that rents render farm time. Servers are not desktops.

So while desktops are cheap, yeah, they'll be around. But again, besides extremely high-end gaming, there's nothing they can do that a laptop can't do.

Some proof: a huge percentage of the population can complete their computer tasks on a netbook. Some can even complete all their computer tasks on an iPhone. Many professionals in design do all their work on a macbook pro with an external monitor plugged in.

 

Production studios still use powerful desktops, I've been in productions studios. And "many professionals" does not account for all professionals. Of course professionals always have a notebook for the lighter tasks, but they save the big ones for the desktops. And yes laptops are 2-3 times slower doing heavy desktop tasks

And while it is true final and post rendering is done on server farms, preproduction stuff is still done on powerful desktops. They are needed. They have faster processors, more RAM, more storage, and more reliability.

It is true that laptops technically can do anything a desktop can do, it's just that desktops do them faster, and time is money. For that reason, desktops will stay.

Your not going to see an i7 960 or something of equivalent power anytime soon.

Either way this is kind of off topic if you want to continue the discussion you can PM me or start a new thread in the proper section or something.

 

Really? I assume the laptop parts perform at a slightly lower level but 2-3 times slower seems extreme. If you look at the benchmarks individually, it appears that mainstream laptop processors (Arrandale) may be 25-50% slower in common "art" tasks than their mainstream desktop counterparts (Clarkdale).

The number varies highly by application and task, but the numbers never near the 2-3 times slower you claim.

 

Envy 14 will come with 5650, the HP representitive said that in the video, 5830 will be too much for a 14-inch. 5650 for a 14-inch is a big deal man, and with i5 is really nice.

 

Totally agree, if HP improve their build quality, it will definitely kick MBP's a*s.

 

Nice! I returned two envy 15's, but I was impressed by Envy 14 and 17, if they have good build qualities, then I finally found my dream laptops!

 

Totally agree, the envy 17 just easily kicked Alienware M15x's a*s, 17''/7.5lbs vs. 15''/9.3lbs, 5850 w/GDDR5 vs. GTX260m, much cheapter price. I really hope the new envy line will have the real premium quality.

 

I prefer my desktop. and my quad-core i7-920 + 4890 GPU...where it is 2x faster than any laptop (specs combined).

and it's cheaper and easier to upgrade, has more ports, more disc drives, 4 hard drives, and a GPU several times more powerful than any of the laptops being discussed in this thread.

Dismiss desktops for your personal use...but don't assume they suddenly don't have a place.