NOW AVAILABLE - Updated ENVY 15, ENVY 17 / ENVY 17 3D

Yeah, I think in reality they should have just delayed releasing these notebooks until the true 28 nm 7000's were out. 7850m on 28 nm would probably use a lot less power than 6850m and they could shove that into the 15 inch.

 

I bet they'll make more money by releasing these new models now. They may not have the video cards everybody dreams of (there is no perfect laptop out there sadly), but from the whole picture, including price, looks, construction, materials, mobility (thinness, weight, and battery life) and decent performance, the Envy 15 (not going to speak for the 17) is almost unbeatable.

It's actually portable. It may not have the most powerful video card out there, but it still gets (a claimed) 7.5 hours of battery life (my SB Envy 14 had a claimed 5.5, I get about 5 in real life) and won't scald your hands or lap. I honestly think after reading so much about first gen Envy 13s, 14s, 15s, and 17s that the heat thing was a big concern for HP. My Envy 14 gets warm at best, never hot.

I'm not trying to say that the Envy 15 is the greatest laptop out there... everybody's got a different list of what they care about - some people don't care if their laptop looks or feels cool and that is just fine by me (I want mine to look cool). I just feel that for what it provides at the price point it is, it's better balanced between performance, mobility, and style. If you want any other combination of things there's probably a better laptop out there for you, but for that combination, the Envy 15 is unbeatable at its price.

 

*glances at HP*

AMD Radeon Discrete 1gb DDR5 memory gpu?

...ya can't just come out and say radeon 6770 can you?

 

If I am just watching 1080p Anime and Movies, browsing the web, and listening to music, which should I get? The most demanding game I will play would be skyrim, and even then, I don't expect ultra graphics.

The HP ENVY 17 (Customized with $400 off from Dealzon)
OR
The ASUS G74SX-A1 (Better GPU, but otherwise not as good) for $55 more?

 

Everyone chooses what they believe. I'm not going to knock you for it, but keep in mind that Intel has a financial motivation in convincing people that the high-end CPU supports faster RAM speed (in this case, a $100-$150 motivation!). Believing in engineers is one thing, but let me tell you, as one in the field, folks putting up specs for the public are not engineers. They're from the business department, and they want the most profit for the company, plain and simple.

Again, if you believe that it is a good choice to get the 2760QM for support of faster RAM speed, by all means do it. I say the same thing to people wanting to upgrade from 1.5GB GT555M to 3GB GT555M card on the M14x. If you have the money, and trust that there is a difference, feel free.

In real world scenario, 1333MHz and 1600MHz (or even 1866MHz) make negligible performance difference. I've tested this myself with a W520 with 2920XM CPU. So in the end this discussion is purely technical.

If you want the most bang for the buck, get 2670QM and 1333MHz RAM, period.

 

My Envy 17 (with the 6850) plays skyrim on High flawlessly. Looks amazing. Get the Envy, it looks a ton better than the Asus, has better battery life, is lighter/thinner, and just more betterer.
Also I believe the screen is better than the Asus (I too was thinkgin about getting that same Asus, decided on the Envy and have loved every minute of it)

 

Skyrim will probably play on medium settings on the Envy 17 if it's got a 7690m (which will probably equate to a 6770m with slightly higher clocks). The Asus should play on high, maybe a couple things tweaked up or down. The Envy's a sexier machine with much better battery life for less money. If you don't really need the better GPU, I'd say the Envy 17's a much better choice. Look into speccing the same machine with the 33% coupon on an Envy 17 3D - you might get a better screen for a better price even if you don't need the 3D functionality.

First bold: I always assumed that they would report the specs that the engineers gave them, but maybe that's not true. Either way, while I might not trust the marketing department at Intel to advise an informed decision, but I feel like the spec sheet for an Intel processor should inform one fairly well. Perhaps I'm wrong, though - what do you do to consider yourself "in the field", if you don't mind my asking?

Second bold: Agreed - RAM is rarely a bottleneck in modern systems, so it's mostly moot anyway. Definitely not worth the $170 to go from 2670QM to 2760QM and 1333mhz to 1600mhz, at least not for most people.

Third bold: This.

 

Holy *&(^ - It's 200 cheaper. Probably because some of the upgrades for the other model come standard on this one, and the discount is larger. Haha! I'm a happy camper - I just need my money back from my return, and I'll be set!

EDIT: Ugh.. It expires tonight though - I won't be able to get it.. The regular 17 discount lasts until the 18th though.

 

Pull the trigger quickly, the coupon's apparently set to expire in a couple hours and you may not see another offer like that for months...

 

I have no credit card, have to use my dad's with me paying him back. I still need to get the refund from returning my MALIBAL lotus before I can order anything.....

EDIT 1: Contacted them now, turns out it expires on the 11th, so there's still a - SLIM - chance of hope.
EDIT 2: It seems that the "NBK3573" isn't applicable to the ENVY 17 3D? That's what she is telling me.

 

nbk3573 is applicable on all except the envy 17. it expires today.

i just found nbs3697 which takes $400 off the envy, making it $1100 since the $250 savings is negated. so $1500-$400 coupon. it expires dec. 31st.

 

You are right about it only affecting the 17's, but it expires on the 11th, I just spoke to them.

NBS3697 works with the 17's however. So my original price quote stays it seems. I got so excited when I though I could get the 3D for around $1350...

I don't get why it applies the code though when it's not supposed to work for it.

 

It isn't intended to work but their system applies it, so the best business for them is to allow those orders that processed to go through. In other words, if you apply the coupon and buy the laptop the worst that will happen is that HP will ask you to cancel your order, and the most likely result is that your transaction will be accepted and you'll have a bangin' laptop at a great discount. Then again, if you can't place the order before it expires, there's not really anything you can do about it.

 

You're right - if they make a mistake, it is not our fault.

Anyway, how does bill me later work? Can you sign up for it with a canadian credit card? Are there any charges for it? Any interest? I couldn't find anything like that, but I'd like to be sure.

If not, it's my ticket to getting a sweet ENVY laptop.

 

looks like this morning deal for 17 3D model Is no longer valid. Glad I got it when I could, hopefully they don't cancel it

 

ordered my maxed out envy 15 a couple hours before midnight,
i7-2860QM
8GB 1600DDR3MHz
300GB SSD
4 Year Care Pack
Radiance Full HD Infinity LED-backlit Display
Regular price: 3290.73
Sale Price: 2209.63

Can't Wait
Was leaning macbook but pulled the trigger on this thanks to coupon code. Hope the care pack service is half as good as applecare or Lenovo's extended warranty service.

I'm hoping the SSD is an intel 320 series 300GB, that's the only 300gb drive i know of, can anybody confirm?

 

I just tried and it still works fine. There is often a redemption limit on these coupons though from what techbargain and dealzon often list it at.

 

holy cow decked out baller?

 

Ah yeah, I used wrong coupon:

Basically for 17" 3d and coupon:

NBK3573 you get $577.50 off
nbs3697 you get $400 off

How about combining them?

 

If you try, it would just take the larger of the two.

 

I hope the code hasn't been disabled by tomorrow, I plan to get it tomorrow afternoon - after my math final.

 

I just ordered one. My first consumer HP notebook in a very very long time.

 

Really? The Envy 15 get's an AMD 7670M with DDR3? That is insane...why not put a GDDR5 card in it. I will probably not buy it now (if it even releases here in Europe...).

 

Really hesitating between the Envy 15 and the Samsung Chronos 7 (700Z5A).

What do you guys think?

 

exactly the same dilemma here samsung has a nicer body (smaller) but the screen on the sammy is worse.
I think that cpu wise its the same thing and gpu wise since the card in the envy is.
Overall they are more or less the same

 

The Samsung Chronos really has one of the worst screens I have ever seen, the screen is terrible. I wouldn't recommend it.

 

Hmm. Interestingly, I've found that I can actually get an Envy 17 3D for less than an identically-specced Envy 17 (no 3D).

I customized two machines with the following upgrades, identical aside from one having a 3D screen while the other does not:
-Core i7 2670QM
-8GB 1333MHz RAM
-80GB SSD + 750GB HDD

For the Envy 17, the price was $1969 - $400 = $1569. (NBS3697)
For the Envy 17 3D, the price was $2159 - $712 = $1447. (NBK3573)

I don't really care much about the 3D, but $120 cheaper is awesome. Anyone know if I'd be sacrificing something by going for the Envy 3D? Are the 3D screens noticeably dimmer/lower quality, or is performance degraded somehow?

I've currently got an Envy 14 and I love it, but I'm considering purchasing one of these so I can play newer games, particularly Battlefield 3 (it runs poorly on my Envy 14, as long as I can get 30-40FPS on an Envy 17 I'd be quite happy, even on low)

 

Yea, go ahead, unless the 3D screen is not a radiance (IPS or BVA one) and they just called it radiance too cause it's the same resolution...
I wouldn't be surprised if 2 weeks from now there is a flood of "my 3d radiance has crap viewing angles and color" on this forum.

 

Pretty sure we determined it's a 7690M XT with DDR5.

 

Can't wait to see the reviews of the Envy 17. I'm particularly interested in seeing if the display is that much better than last gen's. If they improved the track pad and the speakers then I may upgrade.

Hopefully we see some reviews soon.

 

Lets discuss this memorable event, for the first time we will have laptop with worthy screen.

I just don't understand what is "1GB AMD Radeon discrete graphics with GDDR5" cause i'm waiting for smth, at least, like ati6770 or better.

 

Is it confirmed that the envy 15 has an ips display?

 

I was looking at the Samsung Series 7 as it seems to be right in the same niche as the Envy. I found a lot of people disappointed with the Series 7, and even more people confused by the product, which seem to have different specs depending on where you bought it even though it was advertised to be the same.

Samsung to me has no credit -- not bad credit, for I've never had a bad experience with them (and know some smart people who work there) but I haven't had any experience with their PCs and don't know many people who have outside of this board. If everybody who had a Series 7 was in love then I'd have reconsidered but I'm glad I stuck with HP ... though, of course, this is the HP Envy thread, so you're likely to find some Samsung fans over on that board who will disagree!

 

I was in the position alot of you are and I'm getting the samsung. Here are my reasons. Time portability and lack of preinstalled bloat and cheaper price. The samsung is smaller and lighter. It will be easy for me to get to and from class. I can also get the samsung now instead of waiting for the hp. Finally the windows store is doing 25% off instores so the Sammy was cheaper then the hp I specced The windows store also means that the computer won't have preinstalled junk. The screen I can live with because any seriously long computing sessions I can hook up my monitor . Additionally I think the battery life of the samsung is better. Good luck to others deciding.
Edit for spelling.
Sent from my HTC Mecha using Tapatalk

 

Makes sense - if those were my priorities I'd go with the Samsung as well. Pre-installed bloat doesn't affect me as I wipe any computer I buy, but 25% of the Series 7 is a good deal.

I think the battery life is comparable, but that's going to depend on the Envy actually doing what HP says it will do, so Samsung may certainly pull ahead there.

 

Yea plus the 6750m can handle all the gaming I think I'll want. Good luck with your envy. I will be reading here to see how it turns out.

Sent from my HTC Mecha using Tapatalk

 

Okay, so I had to join this site cause this seems like such a great community. I have so many questions on this amazing laptop and can give my own insight. I put in my order and saved $800 + $75 from FW. If you guys want even more cash back I recommend using FatWallet to get a full 5% back.. so I have another $75 check coming back to me in 2 months or so.

Pros of this laptop are a given, it's amazing and I now see that HP updated the Envy 17 3D website to have the proper pictures and product demo.

Cons that I see would be the lack of expresscard ( possible Thunderbolt next year? eSata expansion for those that need it), Magnetic Slice Battery doesn't seem like it will come back. No eSata for those of us that put the time into 3Gbps eSata storage.

Overall it's amazing but some more info would be nice if anyone knows any of the following:
Sata III support?
RAID Support? (which I doubt)
Anyone have experience with mSATA? are they 1.8"? Some research shows that it would be slower and even opting to buy and install one doesn't seem like a good choice because of lack of good ratings/storage sizes. Also it looks like it would install in some sort of miniPCI slot but may require its own adapter. Any clarification is appreciated.
Plus very curious as to whether we would have to buy a hard drive bracket to install our own SSD of choice (if buying with only 1 HD). I know I did for my 5 yr old dv9t (which is currently the dv7t today), and it was pricey from the HP Parts Store and unavailable elsewhere.
It seemed like this laptop was going to have a 9 Cell Battery option.. but perhaps it will come later? I've been seeing numbers from 5 hours to 9 hours on this refresh laptop.. I'll be happy if I truly get a full 5 hours but it's not necessary.


As for graphics.. we all obviously want the best out there for potential gaming but I think we're going to get an awesome gfx card considering the slim form factor and design of the HP Envy. It is a bit disappointing that the 27nm didn't happen at least. If we want true gaming without increasing size/weight then I think HP really needs to consider external graphics cards like this Sony or perhaps Thunderbolt might the answer (which will come out next year because Apple's rights to it expire at the end of this year) considering some manufacturers are making a desktop graphics card dock that connects with thunderbolt.

 

No, all we know says no. Why are you writing this?

 

The previous Envy 15 had RAID support (if you got two SSDs, they came by default in RAID 0).

I think they ditched the Slice because the previous Envy 15 only got 2-3 hours on the 6-cell it came with as it had first-gen i5/i7 and no switchable graphics - if the new batch can do 6-7 on one battery then there really isn't much point in a slice battery, especially when the Slice added 2-3 pounds and made a sleek laptop into a clunker.

USB3 is probably beating eSATA with a lot of vendors so that doesn't surprise me.

 

I just checked and the NBK3573 code is still working on the customizable Envy 17 3D. I spec'ed out a 17" 3D with the following:

• Win 7 64-bit Professional
• O/S Recovery media discs
• Entry-level i7 CPU (2670QM - 2.2GHz)
• 8GB 1333MHz ram
• 750GB single hard drive
• MS Office 2010 Home & Student edition
• Everything else default, no extended care pack warranty.

That came to 2066.99 retail, the coupon gave 682.11 discount for a total of 1384.88 before tax, and with free ground shipping. If you delete the MS Office and downgrade the OS to Home Premium without recovery media, that that gives 1239.49 after the coupon is applied. That's a pretty good deal for a laptop of this caliber. :yes:

 

Well, its clear the envy 17 has the 7690.
Look at HP benches... the envy 15 craps itself compared to the 17...
No need to be a rocket scientist to guess that those two laptops DON'T have the same graphic card (same ship yes, but DDR no) and that translates to 30% performance loss if not more. This and HP not giving the full name of the card for the envy 15 = sure buttrape.
But I know HP is also perfectly capable of having replaced the 7670 of their benches for a 7690 at the last minute for the envy 15.
You never know when it's HP.

 

I have my fingers crossed that it is still working in 5 hours - I NEED that discount, or I'll be paying $100+ more..

 

I don't know about 30% - if I recall, the 5830 was panned by some people for having DDR3 vs. DDR5 but the difference between it and the 5850 was not 30%. Like I say, the 5830 will run Skyrim on High, and that's two years old.

The 17 has always had a beefier card than the 15 and there's no reason to think it would be otherwise in this case. Maybe if they ditched the DVD drive on the new 15 they could fit a bigger chip in there, but all the 15" laptops out there with really nice GPUs are also bricks - that's why the Envy 15 is popular. I ordered a 17 but I'd be happy with a 15 as well. I just liked the two HD bays in the 17 - my 15 has two G2 160 GB SSDs while now I can have one 300 GB SSD and a 1 TB HD. Pretty nice.

 

Dunno about 6gbps sata-III, but I think the previous generation used the HM67 chipset, which can support sata-III, so I would presume this new version probably at least has chipset support for it, whether or not the rest of the mobo and bios supports it, i'm not sure.

RAID 0 & 1 support is supposed to be there, and has been there in past Envys.

 

Interesting article on the new AMD 7000 series mobile cards. Looks like another re-badge of the 5000 series. The 2nd Gen Envy 17 had the 6850 which was a re-badge of the 5850. New 3rd Gen will get the 7600 series card which is pretty much the same, with maybe higher clocks. AMD sets clock speeds and normally HP throttles them back

AnandTech - Introducing AMD?s Radeon 7000M and NVIDIA?s GeForce 600M Mobile GPUs

 

For the time being, I expect the 3rd Gen Envy to have the same motherboard as the 2nd Gen SB. Only difference will be the video system, which will contain 7600M series vs the 6850 (pretty much another re-adge of the 5850)...

HM67 chipset IS SATA III and RAID 0 is an option, should you choose a two drive configuration. If you get the SSD / HDD combo...drives are separate, as they should be.

Read more about the new AMD 7xxx series mobile chips in my post above

 

This link has been posted a few times already.

We still have no idea about clock speeds, or what type of ram will be in whatever 76xx ends up shipping in the Envy 15 and 17, respectively. Those factors could make a lot of difference at this point.

 

Just pulled the trigger on the 173d.

I don't know why, but I did.

 

Considering pulling the trigger on the Envy 15...

How much difference am I going to see between the i5-2430M and the i7-2670M in these two areas: battery life and speed?

I will be using this laptop for Adobe CS5 (Photoshop, Fireworks, Illustrator, Dreamweaver), Office (Excel, Powerpoint), and then just the basics (email, web, IM).

 

i was thinking about switching my order from the 17 3D to the 17 as it would be about 100 cheaper after coupon, money i could use toward an SSD. but then i realized the 17 doesnt offer bluray as standard, which is a $75 addition.

i really dont need the 3D, but i have a slight worry that the screen wont be of the same quality as the 17.