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

My HOPE is that we wouldn't NEED to resort to Reil's, which I incidentally am extremely grateful for. Synaptics should've gotten their hardware/software right in the FIRST place in order for us NOT to have to resort to 3rd party solutions. That alone was my biggest complaint against my former Envy 14, and one that almost led me to returning the thing before I discovered Reil's.

There hasn't much info about the touchpad for the 3rd gen Envy's, other than vague confirmations both by HP and elsewhere around the web that it will be an "improved" touchpad. In my experience so far, none of the 3 notebooks with synaptics touchpads have been fluid in usage, especially when it comes to multi-touch capabilities.

 

In the little "hp envy redesign" videos on YouTube there are a ton of references to the complete overhaul of the trackpad. Although somewhat vauge they reference "much higher precision" and "greatly enhanced" multitouch/gesture support and even more touch points on the multitouch side.

I too thought Reil made my 14 complete, and felt in general the trackpad was the last bastion of advantage the MBPs had over other machines.

I would looooove a trackpad that good out of the box!

 

Hiya Loading... - welcome to NBR.

No idea about sound specs yet as far as I know.

Shipping dates are up in the air. I doubt they'll be any later than the estimate - HP sometimes ships a few days to a week in advance of the estimate but my only experience with HP is not immediately after a product launch. My money would be on shipping right around the 23rd, maybe a day or two early.

I think there is still a 33% off coupon for the 15 but I don't have the code handy - it's in this thread and might still be on Techbargains (listed as expired?)

 

You seem to have missed the best coupons for the ENVY 15 - there was a 33% off coupon just a day or so ago, but that's been discontinued now. Only thing left at the moment is a $50 off coupon.

Answering the sound board question, it is using a slightly enhanced version of what was found on the ENVY 14s. It's nothing completely new, but it's a slight step up from what you had before.

For the shipping, we don't quite know. It might either be a precaution on HP's part, or a glitch. I think we all assume that it doesn't take them 2 weeks to build a laptop, no matter the load of production. I'm assuming it's just HP covering their asses in case something goes wrong or there are too many orders to fill.

Also, thanks for the compliments.

 

This is the coupon code I got from Yoda a bit back and it was still working a few hours ago; look back through posts on how to get it to work on the website or just call and talk to a human at HP:

code: NBH7589

 

Targus makes messenger briefs that comfortably fit 17s plus cords and other accessories. Not the most stylish, but biz-appropriate and functional.

 

YodaGoneMad

You dog you!

I ordered a Envy 15 with a i7-2670QM and Radiance panel with ground shipping and 12 month free financing. Total with tax $1125.59

After your logic

I just reordered the same with a 160g SSD and two day shipping with 2 day free shipping and 12 month free financing for $1364.68

Differance of $239.15 including 2 day shipping is a better deal all around.

With the 12 month financing it will be seamless as far as the money flow.

Thanks YodaGoneMad you hound you!

 

Is there anything that looks kind-of like the HP Gear Messenger or the Deviant Art Backpack?

 

Can't see the link to the HP bag - site says not working. I have a Merrell bag that looks like the DA one you pointed out. It's no longer made but easily holds a 17". The new Merrells do to. Some of the Oakley's will hold a 17", but I don't recall which ones. I tried a few at an Oakley store while on vacation in November. Stylish but I don't need one.

 

Welcome to the forums... and to the Envy 3rd gen frenzy

I intend to run Sonar Producer on mine. HP Envys are no stranger to the DAW world either, as you'll find an Envy 14 shown on MOTU's webpage for their "4pre" usb audio interface box.

If you're getting it shipped via UPS, as soon as you know a tracking number you might be able to get them to hold it at the local UPS distribution center nearest your home address and you can then pick it up in person: UPS: Hold for Pickup

Or you can try for a delivery intercept to redirect it to another destination: UPS: Request Delivery Intercept

 

Anybody know the full W/D/H dimensions of the 15? I know i've seen it somewhere but can't find it now only the 1.11 inch thickness. Wishful thinking I know but I'm hoping it's close enough to the macbook pro in size that it will fist in this:
Thule-Gauntlet 15" MacBook Sleeve

 

Hope so too. Reil's touchpad allowed for smooth two-finger scrolling and perfected two-finger tap to right-click, something Apple's Macbooks never quite got down correctly. Tossing in Paradisoft's Touchpad locker made the Envy 14 user experience much more bearable. I'm personally a bit puzzled as to why no PC notebook maker has managed to work alongside Synaptics to try standardizing smooth two-finger scrolling and multitouch gestures.

I do believe Synaptics attempted it to allow for custom multitouch gestures with its software suite, which I tried out a couple years ago, only to find that the actual implementation was often too imprecise and riddled with bugs.

I'm a realist. I'm going to give the PC notebook industry Windows 8 as its last card to play on touchpads. Microsoft is working right now to try to make the touchpad user experience a much better one. Whether they deliver on this promise is something we may not see until much later.

 

First off, thanks for the links, exactly what I was looking for.

Second, you're absolutely right, they're rock solid so far. The two 14's we have are almost 40 events in and have never failed period. They're ran in series (exact same thing happening on both machines) with Ableton synced on both to an external device. If one fails the other is in the exact same state, but we've never (knock on wood) needed it.

We use a pair of desktops at home to produce, so these laptops are just dedicated Ableton machines with a clean install-*-, but otherwise bone stock like they came from HP. I'd say that's a pretty good track record in DAW / interface handling.


* = (in full disclosure if anyone were actually using this as a reference point, these machines had no third party VST plugins of any kind installed which absolutely contributes to that kind of stability)

 

This doesn't really answer your question, but not likely since the ENVY is a 16:9 screen, and the MacBook Pro is 16:10.

 

HP Envy15 | HP Envy

14.9”W x 9.6”D x 1.1”H

 

good to know. i was impressed with the audio handling from my 14 even before I got my DAC

 

Is anyone ordering international and using a parecel forwarding service?

That is was I'm considering I was wondering if anyone knew of some reputable companies that they have had success with.

I live in Newfoundland, Canada so I can't take advantage of any easy cross border shopping / shipping.

 

Depending on where you live by the border, you will have to use a different company. I'm using "Ship Happens" - I'm in BC, Coquitlam to be exact.

 

I see the difference between the Envy 17 and Envy 17 3D max battery life according to HP is about 1.75 hours (Envy 17 with 7 hrs, Envy 17 3D with 5.25 hrs). This is mostly up to the screen since specs can be the same otherwise.

So my technical question is, if I take the brighter 3D screen and put it at the same brightness of the normal 17 and adjust the refresh rate in graphics settings from 120hz to 60hz, would that be able to increase the battery life at all and/or would it be able to match the normal Envy 17?

 

Most OEM Spare parts cost less with shorter warranty extension. I would say that all Intel 320 OEM product lines are limited to 2 or 3 year warranty period instead of 5 full year of retail packages.

 

Impact Protection bag(d3o patented Technology) from Tech21 maybe worth the try.But due to the limited retail Channels/Resellers and maintenance service, it is better to go over the store with hand-on experience.

 

HP ENVY 15 customizable Notebook PC

• Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• 2nd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2860QM Processor (2.5 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 3.6 GHz)
• 1GB Discrete Graphics AMD Radeon(TM) [HDMI, DP]
• 8GB 1600DDR3MHz System Memory (2 Dimm)
• 750GB 7200 rpm Hard Drive
• No Additional Office Software
• 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
• 15.6-inch diagonal Radiance Full HD Infinity LED-backlit Display (1920 x 1080)
• SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
• HP TrueVision HD Webcam
• Intel 802.11a/b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth(R) with Wireless Display Support
• Full-size Radiance backlit keyboard
• Adobe(R) Photoshop(R) Elements 9 & Adobe Premiere(R) Elements 9
• 2 year limited warranty included
• HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope

Estimated ship date: December 27, 2011

$2,069.99 = $1,386.89

$683.10 savings. Couldn't be happier.

Edit:

One question. I ordered mine on the 10th just wondering how long it took for peoples custom orders started dropping into production. My status is "Order dropped to factory
(Estimated to ship on December 27, 2011)" but I just want to know when they will start building it. Thanks ahead of time!

 

For God Sake, what is it? • 1GB Discrete Graphics AMD Radeon(TM) [HDMI, DP]

 

If it sucks, 21 day return policy.

 

Gunny, I'm very interested in your offer but can't seem to find the PM button. Can you let me know how this would work?

 

Merry Christmas Guys!

These coupon codes confirmed to be working on Envy 17 3D and Envy 17 as of the time of this post. Confirmed to Not work on the Envy 15.
Will not work with Academy Student Discounts. Also you can save additional 5% by clicking 1st through FatWallet or using Discover Card (sign into that account)

$500 off HP Pavilion laptop $1,399+ w/Code: NBY3757
Excludes HP Folio 13 and Envy 15. Valid: 12/11-12/18 or after 1800 uses

$400 off HP Pavilion laptop $1,149+ w/Code: NBS3697
Excludes HP Folio 13 and Envy 15. Valid thru 12/18 or after 1165 uses

 

STM ( bags for MacBook > for MacBook 15 > STM Bags) makes very nice bags. If the Alley vertical fits, I'm probably going to get it. They fit MBPs so I see no reason why the Envy 15 won't fit. Wish they made them for 17s.

 

Yup, I live in Edmonton, Canada and I ordered one of these. I've scoured the web and the best mail forwarding service for us canucks (cheapest too) is shipito. They charge 8.50 per package but unlike most companies they do not jack up the shipping charge itself.

 

anyone know if the envys have battery protection software, eg only let it charge to 50% etc?

 

Has anyone's order gone beyond the "Order in Production" stage, if so, when did you order it and when did you find out it moved from that stage? (just trying to get a feel of how long it take for mine to go through this stage)

 

Nothing yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if it took right until the estimated ship date seeing that this is a new model. You can always cross your fingers tho.

 

i would hope but i believe i read that lenovo has a patent on that which is why others dont do it.

perhaps i'm wrong though as i've used nothing but thinkpads for years.

 

Been here since Dec 7th. Finally I pulled my trigger to buy this beauty. Been living with the lenovo t61 for 2 years. Although it is a solid machine, still work great, I need more horse power for gaming.
HP ENVY 15 customizable Notebook PC • Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• System Recovery DVD with Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• 2nd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2670QM (2.2 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 3.1 GHz
• 1GB Discrete Graphics AMD Radeon(TM) [HDMI, DP]
• 6GB 1600DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
• 500GB 7200 rpm Hard Drive
• No Additional Office Software
• 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
• 15.6-inch diagonal Radiance Full HD Infinity LED-backlit Display (1920 x 1080)
• SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
• HP TrueVision HD Webcam
• Intel 802.11a/b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth(R) with Wireless Display Support
• Full-size Radiance backlit keyboard
• Adobe(R) Photoshop(R) Elements 9 & Adobe Premiere(R) Elements 9
• 2 year limited warranty included

After using coupon I saved 540$. It came down to 1188$(tax included) from 1634$ with free 2 days shipping. Pretty good deal for a new preminum laptop. Never own a hp before in my life, I hope I won't regret making this purchase.
Thanks guys for all the info to help me make my decision.

 

I'm from the UK. I got a mate in New York to pay for it through Paypal. I transfered the money into his paypal account first.

When he gets it, he'll just DHL it across or send it with someone who is coming to the UK.

The price in $ is £1100 (with 33% discount). Would easily be £2000 in the UK for the same spec.

 

ive got a w520 and i dont see that option...also have a sony vaio and they do it...

 

I see the new Envy 17 can be ordered from HP Sweden, are there any coupon codes i can use?

 

So what happened to 'The Verge' releasing that video with the look at the new ENVY line? And it doesn't seem like other sites have that stuff up either..

 

all thinkpads have it. its in power manager.

and if vaios have it they must have licensed the patent, or perhaps theres no patent at all.

 

Well, with the last generation of Envy laptops the 17 3D literally had the exact same base as the 17 (as in the base had a Envy 17 sticker with no mention of 3D) so it makes sense to assume everything but the screen will be the same.

HP has said that the 3D screen is twice as bright as the non-3D screen. Thus, if they test them at a preset brightness (like halfway) then the 3D is going to be twice as bright. 3D users could use half the brightness and get the same as the non-3D and probably improve battery life.

However, driving liquid crystal fast enough to display 120 distinct frames per second takes more power. Even if you switch to 60Hz it is likely the voltage to drive the display will not change and will still be forcing the crystal to be fast enough for 120Hz. Because of this I would not expect to be able to get the same battery life as the normal 17 since the faster screen will always take more power.

I think 6 hours might be reasonable, and with the 9-Cell probably over 8 hours is easily attainable, so I feel the battery life is pretty good. Of course we don't know anything for sure until reviews start coming out or people get their laptops.

That means it is sitting in the queue waiting to be started. Mine took maybe a day before switching to production. Then it takes 5-7 in production, and keep in mind these are built in China so then they normally get shipped by freight to America and finally given to UPS. I would expect the estimated dates to be pretty close.

Still early on the west coast, where many of the tech sites are located. Hopefully we start to get more information this week.

 

As I am thinking about ordering the Envy 15, faced with the choice of the 750 GB 7200 drive for $40 less than the 1 TB 5400 drive under recommended config. Cannot make up my mind prefer the storage increase but really how much performance would I be losing with lower RPM. Don't want SSD because even the 300 GB is not big enough yet for my purposes and thanks.

Gary

 

A lot, I mean, A LOT. I don't know how else to describe it, HDD speed matters. After you have tried Raid 0 or SSD you can't stand even 7200 RPM. With modern computers most of your waiting is caused by the HDD, since it cannot read fast enough to keep up with the other components.

 

SSD is obviously king. But is there still a huge gap between SSD and 2xHDD (7.2k RPM) in RAID 0?

I heard RAID 0 doesn't really increase access time, just transfer rates.

 

Not really sure, but I do know some of that RPM difference would be made up by the fact that a 1TB will inherently be faster than a 750GB, since the data is more "dense" on the platters. How much difference though, I don't know. May not even be perceivable. I say go with 1TB if you really need that extra 250GB. You'd be more frustrated running out of room, than waiting an extra 1-3 seconds for your HDD to spin up, IMO.

 

From their "On the Verge" show? They just showed MetroTwit on the ENVY 15 for about 30 seconds and called it a Macbook Pro clone. You aren't missing much. Is there another video?

 

I don't really know, especially in terms of laptops. I haven't ever had a Raid using laptop drives. In general most people in most applications could not tell the difference between an SSD and a Raid 0. The thing about Raid is that with a good controller there is no downside (aside from the obvious increased failure potential). Not only will you double your read speed, but also your write speed. SSDs tend to have great read speed, but much slower write speeds.

SSD is not always king even in read speed, given a good Raid controller and fast drives Raid 0 can be faster then the fastest SSD. In desktop machines you can also have more than 2 drives in a Raid 0 or Raid 5, which further increases performance. Of course the real cream of the crop is an SSD powered Raid 0. Max performance, almost no increased chance of failure.

The real quality of an SSD for a laptop is that its fast with no moving parts. A Raid 0 on a laptop with spinning drives is incredibly risky, since laptop drives fail more often, and if one fails out of your array you lose everything. A SSD also reduces heat, uses less power, etc.

 

Wow, really..? That's a disappointment, I was actually liking their site too. Too bad.

Anyway, hopefully other news for it comes out soon.

 

well it is a macbook pro clone and isnt exactly doing anything new.

i expect short write ups of the changes but not large, in depth reviews.

 

They mentioned at the show that a review was on its way. Maybe that is what someone was referring to?

 

I think that while it does look similar to an MBP, it does outdo it in many regards.

For one, when I tried to match the price of my Envy 17 3D to the price of a similarly equipped MBP 17", the MBP cost over 1K more for 750GB less space, 2 years less warranty, and more.

Also, the HP has the audio dial, which is much, MUCH better than pressing two keys in tandem just to change the volume level.

And lastly, the HP isn't actually a full on copy. Apple didn't invent aluminium bodies and black keys - plus, the radiance back lighting for the keyboard looks much better than the bleed-fest coming out of a MBP's keyboard.

I could keep going, but the main factor on why this line of ENVYs will succeed is that they are so much cheaper than any similarly specced premium laptop. At least in my opinion.

 

I'm dissapointed when people dismiss the HP Envy because it has resemblances to a macbook. It's a solid laptop with a solid build quality (from what we can tell).

I think any sleek aluminum body laptop will be labelled macbook-esque, which is not a bad thing. I love the design of the macbook, but I prefer to use a windows based machine. And I think the HP Envy has enough differences in the design to make it unique. I for one, also love the look of the analog sound dial.