My experience with the ENVY 15 so far.

Like:
Power in a small package, a little worse than a M15x (gen2) due to a slightly worse gpu, but it's not that noticeable a difference. The 5830 in the ENVY supports DX11, but you won't be able to run graphics on that high to actually see the DX11 improvements. The battery life with slice is very good. And if you're complaining about an extra 2 pounds for the slice, you need to work out. The matte 1080p display is VERY nice. I've loved matte displays since my Area-51m 766 in 2004 and I've been disappointed that no one has really had them available until recently. The touchpad is nice, not as good as a MBP's, but better than anyone else's. And finally, the RAID 0 SSDs are amazingly quick.

Issues:
The bezel has a gap between it and the screen, meaning when you close the lid, it makes a very "cheap" sound, as if the bezel is loose. The bezel also scratches VERY easily. I used a clean microfiber cloth to wipe it off and it left scratches. I'm quite annoyed by this, my previous two laptops had edge-to-edge glass, as does the ENVY13. If HP did this, I'd have almost no complaints about the ENVY15. Oh, and I can't boot with USB devices plugged in.

Overall, the bezel is really annoying me and I am considering returning it, but I doubt I will.

 

Do you think if putting on something like an invisibleshield from Zagg (which someone has already started a thread on) it would take care of the bezel getting scratched?

 

well yeah, but it would block the microphone and camera on top.

 

I can poke holes of where the microphone spots are on the Shield. I don't think it is too opaque to affect the camera quality as well.

 

Well, if they did end up cutting one up for the Envy 15, id assume they'd take care of that.

 

Having owned within the last 12 months a Macbook Pro 13", and a Dell M15X, I would have to say the Envy (beats for me!) while not perfect, is just about the best compromise between the 2.

Its not the most powerful (DX11 is nice though) though is certainly more powerful than the newest macbook revision. And at the same time, its not the smallest, but its not a beheamoth either (sorry M15x, couldn't drag you around). It looks better than the Dell and I firmly believe my limited edition looks nicer than a Macbook Pro.

That said, I have had some issues with my Envy, most notably the right speaker is dying, just ordered a replacement set today (sigh). If the Envy is all about sound (hello, B is for Beats?) you'd think the speakers would work better.