Is it safe to buy an Envy yet?

Hi All,

I'm debating departure with my MBP 15 i7, as I spend most of my time on Win7 side. I tried hard to adjust to Os X way of life, but I'm just not as productive as on PC side

The only laptop that can match/challenge both quality o build and feature set is Envy (either 14 or 15).

I've been following this forum for a while, and grew really concerned about the issues people have with their Envys. Whether it's the CPU while, quality/damage problems, etc, I know it was a bumpy road for HP.

Are they safe to buy yet?

Also, do you think I'll be sacrificing a lot switching to ENVY? I'm not expecting miracles in terms of battery life, but 3-4 hours would be nice.

Anybody else jumped MBP to ENVY, or just got their ENVY recently?

I'd really appreciate your feedback,

Thanks a million,

Arv

 

I switched. If you care about the trackpad. it doesnt even compare.

 

I care about few things, and hopefully you're willing to share your thoughts with the community:

1) Trackpad: You said it doesn't even compare. Meaning better or worse than MBP running W7?

2) System responsiveness: How snappy is it compared to MBP ?

3) Quality: Feel the difference?

4) Regrets? Are you looking back saying it was a bad move?

 

I do not own a MBP nor an Envy, though I can say that both are of superb quality. The HP Envy 14 does however seem to be sturdier because of its heft.

System responsiveness: From my pov it matters on the configuration you opt for. If equipped with a quad core i7, 8gb ram, and an ssd... vs i3, 4gb ram and 500gb 7200rpm hdd...

Do you mean base config vs. base config?

 

Well, what I was looking to do is probably sell my mbp i7 and get the best bang for the buck envy14. Definitely with 6-8gb ram and SSD.

I'm in a dillema between just running mbp on Win7 or getting ENVY. Do you think it would make a difference (a positive one) to swap?

 

I'd opt for the HP Envy 14, but that may be because I'm a little biased. It all matters on the configuration you opt for, though I have heard that the Envy's trackpad does not compare to that of an MBP. You should most likely check out some of the threads about the Envy 14.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-envy-hdx/502434-official-hp-envy-14-owners-lounge-part-deux.html

 

The trackpad on the Envy is good but not excellent. The MBP's trackpad is like the reference to beat (not in small part due to the glass surface and obviously extreme OS integration). The biggest problem with the Envy's is the fact that the buttons are part of the tracking area, but offer no advantage over normal buttons (other than a slightly enlarged tracking area).

Otherwise, I think the Envy runs cooler and the closest competitor (MBP 15") is both more expensive and less powerful (GPU, CPU depending on config) than the 14. It's a lot of trading blows, really. Some like the unibody of the MBP, others feel it conducts heat more and thus feels too warm to the touch.

Both are top-notch laptops for sure. I went for the E14 because I simply can't stand Apple, but that's mostly a personal choice really. I also wanted a beefier GPU, an actual two-button trackpad and a Windows keyboard, but those are all very dependent on what you want to do and what you like about a laptop.

 

I actually get a solid amount of comments on my Envy 15 about how close it looks to a Macbook. It's a nice laptop for sure, definitely comparable in quality. The trackpad is not as good, but it's the best Non-Mac trackpad I've ever used by a longshot.

 

its plenty safe to switch... i have had no issues with mine since the day i got it

 

Right on, same here.

 

Thanks guys!

Now I need to make a decision on whether I want 14 or 15...

 

If you will be doing a lot of gaming, video editing or work with creative suite apps and don't mind less battery life and no optical drive, then go with the Envy 15 (definitely do not get the 1366x768 display, only go for the 1920x1080).

If you need longer battery life and an internal optical drive, go with the Envy 14 (I would get the 1600x900 display instead of the 1366x768 display).

 

I switched from 15" MBP to a an Envy 15. In windows, the Envy 15's trackpad is 95% the same as the MBP. Maybe even better since you have left and right click functionality built into it.

I'm actually in the process of switching down to an Envy 14 Beats because I need the battery life to go to class. Now I'm selling the Envy 15. It should sell for close to if not more than what I bought it for 6 months ago because I got it with the $300 off coupon and upgraded it a little.

Also, if you're going to be going heavy on the gaming, I'd recommend getting a lower resolution. The Envy 15 can barely play games at 1080p right now as it is. I'm going to be happy to switch to the Envy 14 with its lower resolution + slightly less powerful GPU. It'll be able to run games better than the Envy 15 on its higher resolution display.

 

I have Envy 17, just got it a month ago. I have an issue with cpu whine, but I think I will get used to it .

Anyways, I do mostly web design, do use adobe creative suite quite a bit. I am also in college and we have quite a few labs with core i5 and i7 macs there.

Doesn't even compare to me. While I do not mind Macs, I can get things done way faster with less headache on PC. I like the way Windows 7 is, makes everything organized and is way snappier than any Mac I have ever used. Personal preference though...

These machines are plenty snappy. I am coming from a Vaio, I do not think it is as good though, not display wise at least .

 

I'd urge you to wait at least through October if you're wanting an Envy. ATi's rolling out new mobility GPU's; I would not be surprised if the Envy line gets refreshed...

 

uuuu good to know. It's not like I have to switch tomorrow. I think I'll wait for the refresh.

 

It was safe to buy the Envy 5 months ago. I've been using it with great please....

 

Except for the very poor battery life, my experience has been very different from yours. We've purchased several different Envy 15s and i've generally able to get frame rates in the range of 45-70 fps (often higher than 60 fps with vsync disabled) for almost any recent demanding game, running at 1920x1080, all detail settings completely maxed. The only game I have tried that dipped below 30fps at times was Crysis Warhead, but it did not go much lower than 30 fps. RE5 was over 70 fps and ME2 and DAO in certain spots were higher than 100 fps using Fraps.

Are you overclocking your GPU? Using the ATI clock tool, you can overclock the 5830 to around 550/1150 MHz or so, as its made from the same die as the 5870. (The main difference is no GDDR5.) If I understand correctly, the 5650 on the E14 is somehow gimped so that you cannot overclock it as high as you can overclock the 5650 on other laptops.

One of the Envy 15 models my wife ordered with 1920x1080 but HP shipped with the wrong display and she received one with 1366x768. Everything looked like crap on that resolution, and there was absolutely no noticeable improvement in framerates comparing the model with fullHD display running at 1366x768 vs the model with native 1366x768.

And even if I were to choose to run a particular game at 1366x768 on a laptop that has 1920x1080 capacity, I really don't see any noticeable improvement in the experience once you get above 40-45 fps or so. If you have vsync enabled you are capped at 60 fps in any case. On the other hand, running recent and even much older games at 1080p with HDR and all detail settings maxed is an entirely different and much better experience from 1366x768.

I do agree with you regarding the trackpad, however. It took some time to adjust after being accustomed to the MBP trackpad, however, it is very convenient to be able to use tap zones for right click, and with some tweaking of the settings I have grown to prefer this trackpad.