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

I'm in the same boat, and FWIW, I'm on the west coast and it's scheduled identically. I remember the same thing happened w/ my Envy 14 order... I regretted not paying for 2-day shipping (as I regretted for this 15 ), but it looks like in this case as well as with my 14 that it's arriving fast/early anyway.

BTW: Ordered on 7th.

 

My envy 15 shipped today, ordered on the 7th

 

Hey all,

I know that there have been a couple on-going questions about the AMD graphics and why I only had limited information to pass along. Well, the short version is that I had very little time with the machines (we're talking hours) during the initial tests -- and when I ran my initial story on the ENVY 15 & 17, the new graphics chips were under NDA. So, we couldn't even mention it.
But I wanted to share as much info as possible at the time on the blog - which I did...and continue to shoot for. The holidays aren't making it easy to get all the info I'd love to pass along to you guys.

....and the sad part is, I still haven’t gotten my ENVY yet – and I work here! I’m looking forward to hearing what you think as well, Stefan!

Darren Gladstone
HP’s TheNextBench.com
(I may work for HP, but these words are all mine)

 

Two Envy 17 3D's, ordered 2:00PM CST on Dec 7th.
Still in production as of 11:45AM Dec 19th
Estimated ship date still the 23rd.

 

Stefan, be our hero and post a screenshot of GPU-z on that thing already!

 

I assumed it was under NDA but isn't it strange to sell a laptop with a videocard that is under NDA? I assume that's why when I bought the laptop it had no info on the type of video card.

 

@Darren,

What model(s) will you be receiving and with what specs? Curious as to what your test machine(s) will be.

 

Stefan the Envy 17 looks great. Enjoy it!

I'm anxious to see the GPU-z for it. I remember seeing somewhere in this thread the CTO and pre-built Envy models might have different GPUs, anyone know if that is the case ?

 

I think strange is an understatement. If I were a tech journalist, I would release the info unilaterally, and assert that as the product is on open sale to the public, that there is no validity to an attempt by the manufacturer to maintain a nondisclosure agreement.

 

Thank you for all the effort!

 

I would be careful about making claims like this. Journalists who sign NDAs are bound by those NDAs regardless of what some other part of the company says or does.

You're right that it doesn't make any sense to sell a laptop without announcing those details, but probably HP itself has an NDA with AMD - I can't think of any reason HP would want to keep us in the dark.

Either way, the 'A' in 'NDA' is 'agreement' -- if you don't agree, don't sign it. There are tech journalists out there who won't.

 

My first impressions is that the initial setup was fast it only took a few minutes but the oh so important burning of the recovery dvd's is taking forever, 2 out of 5 done so far. Fan noise is impossible to tell because of the dvd burning noise and my dv7 fan but it feels really cool to the touch after running for an hour and a half. I will put up some gpu-z shots and a 3dmark06 score later after the dvd's are done.

 

congrats stefan, ur the first person in the world to grab an envy 2012 !

 

Nice, I don't really care about the gpu Z since its gonna be a 6850m rebadge.
But is the radiance screen on the 17" an IPS or a TN (wide viewing angles / deep blacks... or at best get us the panel serial number from a tool like Sandra system info or lavasoft ^^). If you could provide the pannel numer it would be great, that's the last thing blocking me from chosing between the 17 and 15" >.<

 

For those wondering about what's exactly included with the standard 2 year warranty "My Friend" pulled some details off HP CSN ("My Friend" is a csn support provider). 5BD=5 Business Days.

*NOTE TO CANADIANS* It recognizes the serial/product number so getting warranty service in the great white north will be no issue!

Unit Details
Serial Number ***####*** Contract Number n/a
Product Number LY277AV
Product Model BU W/K PHTM 15t-3000 Country/Region Warranty CA
Product Group Consumer Notebooks Country/Region Sold To US
Wty Start Date Based On Ship date RoHS Status * Original



Entitlement (includes Factory Warranty and Contracts)
Coverage Begin Date
(MM/DD/YYYY) Expiration Date
(MM/DD/YYYY) In
Warranty
Part 12/19/2011 01/22/2014
Labor 12/19/2011 01/22/2014
Onsite n/a n/a
Pickup 12/19/2011 01/22/2014
Software n/a n/a

Current Service Level
Coverage Begin Date
(MM/DD/YYYY) Expiration Date
(MM/DD/YYYY) Contract
Number Service
Level Entitlement
Part 12/19/2011 01/22/2014 n/a 5BD FR
Labor 12/19/2011 01/22/2014 n/a 5BD FR
Onsite n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a
Pickup 12/19/2011 01/22/2014 n/a 5BD FR
Software n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a

Factory Warranty
Coverage Begin Date
(MM/DD/YYYY) Expiration Date
(MM/DD/YYYY) In
Warranty Service
Level
Part 12/19/2011 01/22/2014 5BD
Labor 12/19/2011 01/22/2014 5BD
Onsite n/a n/a n/a
Pickup 12/19/2011 01/22/2014 5BD
Software n/a n/a n/a

 

dang

with the Envy 14's the first person on here to get them was from Germany

 

I can only speak to Florida law but here's how it is:

Florida law about restrictive covenants state that a covenant requires a "legitimate business interest" to make them valid.

Among those legitimate business interests are (i) a trade secret or (ii) confidential business information.

Once a product is on public sale, it would be pretty hard to claim that it's a trade secret or that its confidential in any way. Thus the legitimacy of a restrictive covenant is out hte window.

Like I said, many states might have their own laws, but many are probably similar, and these NDA's have no real validity at this point.

You could probably avoid legal trouble, but you would still sabotage your relationship with HP regardless, and not get future review samples. Still, I wish someone had some balls instead of sucking up to the people they're supposed to be objectively reporting on.

Edit: This isn't legal advice to anyone, just my assessment of how the law works and whatnot.

 

'many are probably similar'? Why would anyone even go to court over something as frivolous as this? Or even risk going to court?

It's a re-branded GPU for crying out loud, not Sputnik. This isn't some big conspiracy.

 

I am still burning the recovery dvd's but as soon as they are done i will see if i can get the panel number. One thing i noticed immediately is that the viewing angles are far greater than on my dv7. I got the 1600x900 so it's the "cheapest" of the envy screens.

 

How is the build quality? Is the black metal on the bottom a rougher texture than the brushed aluminium on the top and lid? How is the track pad?

Let us know about these and other things while you're waiting on those recovery disks Stefanp67!

 

I think the trackpad is on everyone's mind. Lets all hope for the best

 

A few quick questions so the rest of us can prepare. Sounds like the burning option is for 5 regular DVD+R or DVD-R? Any option for DL DVD's and if so how many discs are needed?
Can you confirm that there is no HDD Bracket in the 2nd bay. It looks like it from your picture but the connector seems to be still there.

Very unfortunately I'm afraid that bracket is $65 online. I'm guessing it's going to be the "603772-001."

Lastly can you find the specific part number for the Battery?

 

Well yeah, ultimately it doesn't matter. Work is just slow around the holidays and I'm bored and crabby

 

Go Sverige! Gratz on your Envy. Keep up the great work Stefan. I too am very curious about the Radiance Screen.

I lived in Sweden for 8 years before moving to California. My mother still lives in Göteborg, great country! But I hate the winters!

 

Imo, if it's to add a SSD drive... just use double face carpet tape to stick the SSD to the frame, won't move since the HHD fills the whole frame, so that would just prevent it from falling if the back cover ever comes out by accident, 70$ for a hard drive rack is plain rip off.

 

give it a month, there will be ones for under 10 on ebay

 

I'm wondering, is that entire black rectangle on the right of this picture actually the battery? If so, that's massive!

 

Yes, that is the battery

 

Still in production. Ordered 15" on the 7th fully loaded.

 

This could be a huge win for HP if our Envy's meet I'm sure our hgh expectations and the company officially or unofficially continues to contribute here!

 

I thought the battery wasn't user replaceable. Looks like you could take that out and swap another one in pretty easily, unless the connection is soldered in or something?

 

and those are two HDD slots?

 

wow the trackpad on the 17 is so small compared to the rest of the body. the palmrest area is huge.

 

So now the question becomes: What component is delaying yours?

 

We're an impatient bunch! Shipping ETA is 23rd and they're 'delayed' because they haven't shipped on the 19th.

I'll bet the 17s will ship by tomorrow. I have no evidence. I just say so.

 

I had ordered one with the the i7-2860QM proc, 1080p display, SSD, 16GB of RAM. I believe that's all I could really customize anyway. I regret the RAM (way cheaper if bought aftermarket.)

BTW, does anyone know if anyone will make form fitting cases for this? I saw the HP 16" sleeves but I think they're generic and not form fitting.

 

Build quality is superior compared to my dv7, the whole envy feels solid, no flex anywhere and no dead pixels. The black metal feels smooth but not as smooth as the topside. I only found 2 tiny flaws, not dealbreakers for me but see pics below:

Flaw 1: metal under usb port bent



Flaw 2: mark to the left of the ctrl key

 

I don't think those will be common things, probably just mishandling the system during building. Other than that, the entire thing looks amazing. Can't wait to see some more impressions!

 

I remember seeing you could burn the dvd's to a usb-memory, 5 dvd's (i use dvd-r) and DLDVD i think there were 2 or 3 of those.

There were no hd bracket on the free harddrive slot but the connector was there. I guess newmodeus should have the brackets in stock sooner or later (i bought a bracket for my dv7 from them).

I can not find the battery partno anywhere but the specs says it should be a 6 cell. Maybe Sandra or Hardwaremonitor can tell some more. I am on my last recovery dvd so i can start checking it out more closely soon.

 

Officially, it's not user replaceable per manual/HP. But I would think it'll be just as easy as on the MBP. It'd be silly to have it soldered in.

 

hey stefan,

can you comment on the beats speakers and hd camera?

 

I hope they all come with the cable. I don't need the bracket.

 

I am almost ready to pull the trigger on the 15, but I have one crucial question which is a matter of go for it or don't for me.

Do you guys know if the problem with AMD switchable graphics which so many users complained about in some laptops exists on this one, and if so, is it possible to set GPU choosing in bios to Fixed? I'm using Adobe CS and Avid Media Composer a lot so proper OpenGL is a must for me.

Stefan, would you be so kind and check the bios for this setting for me?

Thanks in advance.

 

Here's a screenshot of the "standard" tools:



And a screenshot of 3dmark06:

 

lol so much for it being something other than a Whistler core. Thanks for posting!

Now does someone want to try to explain to me how that's different from the non XT screenshot that was posted yesterday?

Other than saying "XT" on it, it is identical...

 

Can you tell us how the switchable graphics works? Is there a key combo to switch them, or do we need to go into graphics settings?

 

12200 on 3d mark is a lot more than the 6850m which scored less than 10000. bearing in mind this is immature drivers stiill. i wonder what the 7690m on the envy 15 will be like!

 

Some fps benchmarks on this would be appreciated - something to show how it differs from the original ENVY 17 and the ENVY 15's 7690M.

Also, how close does the 7690M XT get to the 560M or 6990M? Considering it is much better than the 6850M.

 

How much did the GPU score increase vs the CPU score. That's the number that really matters. I don't know where to find info of that off the top of my head, but i'm sure someone can.

 

Beats is ok, very clear and much louder than my dv7, i havent tried anything other than the demo songs from win7 though but from what i heard it sound really promising (i can't play to much right now since it's late over here).

Camera is ok, not as sharp in low light but in light it looks like same q as a 2 megapixel camera.