Is it worth waiting for the Sandy Bridge refresh for Envy 17?

Hi, I'm living in Denmark currently, and the Sandy Bridge refresh for the Envy 17 hasn't arrived here yet apparently.

But I'm afraid that when it finally comes here I won't have the option to get the 7200 rpm HDD options, since the new refresh seems to have taken those options out.

Now, I'm really hurting to get a new laptop as soon as possible because my current one is in a really bad state and I need one for work purposes (movie editing, 3D modelling and game level design).

Is the refresh really worth the wait AND the slower HDD? Am I really going to feel a huge performance and battery life improvement with the Sandy Bridge (i7 lowest end I suppose) and the Mobility Radeon HD 6850?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,
Anchel

 

Sandy Bridge has been out for a few days maybe a week for the Envy 17.
Please recheck the Hp.com website.

Actually there was a recall a month go for Cougar point, the chipset (motherboard) for the Sandy Bridge processor. Intel had a recall and is now shipping the revised version with NO hard drive problems.

So I'd say give it a wait, as the sata ports have been fixed in the new revision.

 

My advise after working with both 7200rpm and 5400rpm.... Stay away at all costs from the 5400rpm!!!

My temporary laptop which I am using now, a dv7-4283cl with a 5400rpm, has better ram, and a faster processor than my previous dv7-4183cl with a 7200rpm.... but the new laptop runs very very slow I feel like smashing it!!! For real!!!!! Its a difference between night and say. So, yeah, if nothing else, upgrade to a 7200rpm, or get an SSD. Good luck.

The SB version is worth it for cooler temps, and better processors.

KJ

 

@Crimsoned

Thanks, but as I said the refresh is still not available in Denmark. HP.com is the US site, which is different.

@Killa Joe Thanks for the input. It's that speed problem what has me concerned. And the SB refresh only has faster hard drives for a hefty price upgrade.

 

Hi and welcome to the forum. I perceive the lack of a (single) 7200 rpm drive to be a temporary supply issue. in the U.S. the 7200 rpm 640GB drive is available when paired with the 160GB SSD. this tells me that HP is reserving the 7200 for those users who spend more for the SSD combo. Can't blame them; supply issues are what they are.

So by the time the SB Envy is available in Denmark, its possible that the single 7200 RPM drive might be available, but of course no one can predict that.

The energy efficiencies of Sandy Bridge, by itself, are only about 5% when the discrete GPU is fully utilized (gaming for example), so I would not expect battery life to be substantially advantaged by Sandy Bridge alone. But the Sandy Bridge performance improvements are on the order of 20% compared to the 1st gen processors. All these things combine for a very attractive package in the Envy 17, in my view.

3D modeling sounds very CPU intensive. Movie Editing will require a 7200 rpm drive (although that can be external), and I would personally NOT put the OS on a 5400 rpm drive. minimally I'd say the i7-2630 for you -- the 2820 offers additional L3 cache which might benefit your work, depending on how intense your modeling software is, and how well it makes use of quad core processors. the 6850 GPU should be sufficient for gaming design although it isn't the strongest gaming GPU out there -- HP appears to have used the strongest one possible within the thermal (cooling) capabiities of the Envy 17.

Generally you won't see substantially better battery life on the Sandy Bridge ENvy 17 (compared to previous models) unless you are using "switchable graphics" i./e not using the discrete GPU. When in "switched" mode the 150w GPU is shut down and the 35w i7 itself does the graphics work.
That is what saves battery power. So -- if you are running 2D content and not using DX11, the integrated (power saving) graphics 'card' in the Sandy Bridge processor itself will offer noticable savings in battery life. If your work requires 3D and/or DX11, then you won't be able to take advantage of switchable graphics because these require the 6850.

 

Dlleno, thanks for your thorough response
This was very helpful!

Right now I'm still working on a Core 2 Duo (2.8 GHz) so if the performance gains of SB aren't extremely better than the previous ones then I won't feel bad about it. If battery life isn't going to be much of a change then I don't see the point of waiting either.

As I said I'm in kind of a hurry to get a new laptop, so my compromise was between waiting or going for the current one I can get already. The HDD speed is also really important to me.

I still don't do heavy 3D modelling, I'm actually studying game design but I don't require the best state-of-the-art laptop for that. Movie editing and level design are more of a priority.

I am considering getting an Envy 17 with the i7-720QM since it is readily available to me at a very fair price. So far I think it will suit my needs

Once again, thank you very much for your help!

 

your welcome the present (legacy) Envy 17s are very good in their own right, and if you truly have an immediate need (really, I mean you cant wait another month), then sure the 720QM will work nicely. the only thing I would caution you about is the heat. Odds are that you will get one of the later models where heat has been addressed (or so we think) but be prepared to test your CPU temps and engage with HP if you see core temps above 90c while gaming. Older models of the Envy 17 are known to run very hot. uncomfortably hot on the left palm rest, to be specific. Guys here have fought and fought with HP over this issue and some have actually returned their laptops for that reason, and had some painful and lengthy exhanges with HP support.

So thats the only risk with the ENvy 17 currently available in your region. you should be able to get a good deal, however, as HP is probably clearing inventory and getting ready to introduce Sandy Bridge all around the world, and if it were me I'd wait if possible for the new stuff, but at the end of the day if you get a good price on a latop that meets your needs, then go for it.