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

Now I see some really really great prices on the Envy 2XXX series. I can get a full HD with 8 gigs and blue ray for about 500 dollars less than the newer envy's. My only concern is the heat issue. It seems like everybody had problems. The benchmark difference between the 2630 and 2670 are so close it is almost negligible. What are your opinions of the current gen vs waiting?

 

According to what I just read the highest end Thames GPU (Thames XT or 7690m) will have a TDP of just 25w..

AMD Radeon HD 7000M GPU Series Unveiled

It is NOT a rebrand it is indeed a brand new 28nm GPU.

 

What I'm interested in is hopefully having the USB ports powered sufficiently to charge something like an iPad or another device which uses over 1 amp of charging current

 

Will envy 15 be able to compete with other high performance laptops? I don't want to be disappointed with it D:

 

You can think of it more as a multimedia notebook than a gaming one, it's not a super-powerful GPU, it's a 25w TDP chip with switchable graphics, it is essential equivalent to the GPU in the MBP 15, and the only real difference is the fact the MBP has a 1680x1050 screen and the Envy has a 1920x1080 screen, other than that they're exactly the same.

 

Hej Alf Tanner I was very very curious if your Envy overheats. I am this "" close to buying one 2050 17 today and I really want to know if it runs very very hot when gaming and if there is a problem with bottlenecking? I am not a hardcore gamer but I have heard so many people have had problems with it. The difference between the next gen and this are negligible especially for 500.00 dollars and almost exactly the same specs. I just do not know what to do. I am willing to wait but I have a huge project due in 4 weeks that needs some substantial computing power. It is not cutting it on my Lenovo edge.

 

Same here. I'll wait for more information, and hope I'm wrong.

Unfortunately, I think the optical drive did it. It occupiesa huge chunk of potential heatsink space, and so despite all the improvements in GPUs, it can't take the same TDP as the older Envy 15. Unless the posted benchmarks turn out to be completely bogus, this looks like a step backwards for gamers.

 

Just wondering if there is anyone here in the know on when this might be available to purchase in Canada?

I was hoping to get a 17" with the best screen for me and my wife for Christmas

 

I was about to get a vostro but i ll wait for the envy 15. Since this is my first, is there an easy way after a clean install on a new drive (ssd) to download and install the drivers with the right order? From the HP website i got the impression that HP support assistant does that. Correct?
The volume key rocks!!

 

any new on UK release dates?

 

Does anybody think these are going to get the new Ivy Bridge chips from Intel when they are coming out for retail in March? I could wait 3 months for upgraded processors.

AnandTech - Intel's Ivy Bridge Architecture Exposed

More power, less energy.

 

Probably not right away but there will most likely be a refresh soon after they release with ivy bridge.

 

If I had to guess ... HP will come out with a new HP Envy 13 when ivy bridge comes out that follows the same design language as the new 15 and 17. I think HP will probably ditch the 14 since the screen is such a odd size and getting a radiance for the 14.5 inch form factor is hard

 

Ya I agree too.

HP will probably first come out with these Envy 15 and 17. Then when Ivy Bridge comes out they might come out with an Envy 13 and refresh the processors on the 15 and 17.

 

If you put the bigger slice battery that elevates the back of the envy then in my case it hasnt overheated and I have throttling turned off.

I want a new one, or an ivy bridge one if it will run cooler, longer, and have a better instruction set for the chip and also a better GPU

 

This whole "Ivy Bridge" thing is really depressing. I"m trying not to think about it but I know somewhere down the line this new model will get it....oh well I need a laptop now. I can't wait till March of 2012 when I've got the SSD right now and the HDD now and I need a computer now.

I guess we'll see how much of an improvement the Ivy Bridge Envys are when the time comes but for now I'm committing myself to get this new line asap.....

 

I am a bit ... envious of this new laptop. I plan to keep my current 3D for at least a year, though. Hey, I can always remind myself I can write blu-rays with mine. The funny thing is that I am not sure I like the new design better -- it's just that I like new. lol

 

I would wait...

AnandTech - Intel's Ivy Bridge Architecture Exposed

Intel to Sell Ivy Bridge Late in Q4 2011

Its going to be released to the hardware developers first in Q4 then to the public sometime in March. Being they can use the same mother board and only need a simple firmware update to be compatible, I would say they are going to put them in ASAP. They will definitely try to beat the MBP

But I really don't know what I am talking about..

 

I agree that the 14 is probably going to be ditched for a while, and that's a real bummer. I would much rather see them keep the 14 in a more common screen size than 14.5 than ditch it entirely - the 15's bigger than I'm willing to go (and its rumored GPU is underwhelming for a 15" Envy compared to the last releases). If they went the real premium route and offered the 15 with a minimal bezel to keep it closer to a typical 14" form factor it would be terrific, but it doesn't look like that's the case.

However, the Envy 13 isn't coming back. Perhaps you read the press release and saw the Folio? A new Envy 13 would be a direct competitor to the Folio - after all, the Envy 13 was basically an ultrabook before they called them ultrabooks. The way I see it, branding what might have otherwise been the Envy 13 as the Folio makes business sense because it indicates a strong entry into the burgeoning ultrabook market. Additionally, Folio as a name evokes a successful businessman tucking the notebook under his arm as he leaves an important board meeting, whereas Envy as a computer name evokes a young technophile who may or may not be eating cheetos in a dark basement while using the computer. Maybe that's just me - I'm the proud owner of an Envy 14, but I feel like it's more directed toward technophiles than the slick professional demographic that would be drawn to a Folio.

 

there will always be something new around the corner, I'm not waiting until half way through next year to order this

 

And in the meantime get what? A small laptop sure but I know by the time I buy something that satisfies my needs I'll be hitting $1,000+ easily when I really should limit my budget to just $500...

Sigh decisions decisions....

 

Waiting for new tech is a good idea for people who are satisfied with their current tech for a while longer and want the benefits of the new tech when it comes out. It's not a good idea for people who need or desire something new now.

 

I get the impression the backlit keyboard will finally be worth it. I said when I got my Envy that I wanted to keep it and not throw it away for the newest thing, so I'll try discipline. If I do buy this, I'll only want the Envy to come a year later.

 

I'm just curious why did HP did not also redesign the 14 inch version of envy, I would like to see one.

 

My guess would be that it is either a market they do not see much need in or it will be the first Ivy Bridge ENVY to be done.

 

I truly believe that sourcing an awesome 14.5" display is pretty tough. Nobody else has one worth anything. Also, though there's 14" laptops out there, I'm not aware of any awesome 14" displays either.

Not gonna speculate on the performance of the 7690 yet (I'm not gonna get disappointed on something that hasn't been officially announced yet), but I also believe that space/heat/power concerns are big reasons why HP didn't put something better in the newest Envy 14. Not saying I know, but it makes sense to me.

 

You mean 15?

 

HP Envy: Beats Series Refresh 2012

 

Nope, I meant Envy 14. Like the 2xxx series. I was talking about why they didn't put something better than the 6630M in it.

 

The 14 runs very cool even under heavy loads - judging by the size of the DV6T and the fact that I've not heard anything about those overheating, I would say that the Envy 14 could probably handle a 6770 just dandy. Why go to all the trouble to design a machine that has great cooling if you're just going to put underpowered components in it?

 

Maybe it was some sort of space or power concern then.

 

Why spend $500+ on a laptop just to 'hold you over' till the laptop you really want comes out? that seems like a massive waste of money and you'll end up spending double what you wanted to spend to begin with.

That's the point though, it's not 'underpowered' components so much as over-cooled components, you want your laptop to stay cool under heavy heat, I've heard complaints about the Envy 14 getting hot with the quad core in it, I don't know if those were resolved but there were definitely some heat issues going on with the quad. If it can handle the 6630 very well then why are you complaining? You know what's coming in it to begin with and if it can cool properly then that's all you can ask for. I'd be ecstatic if my laptop never got warm no matter where I put it.

Or they just wanted to keep the laptop cool period, plus it probably would have forced them to have a larger power brick.

 

I don't know about the quad core issue you're talking about, so I can't comment on that. My issue is that an Envy 14 with a good screen and an upper-mid-range GPU like the 6770m, which I believe it could support just fine, would be exactly what I want in a laptop, whereas the old generation had a gimped mid-range card and the current generation has a lower-mid-range card and a rubbish screen. I'm complaining because HP could create essentially the perfect laptop for someone who wants a mobile laptop with a good screen, good build quality, good battery life, and good gaming power, but instead they chose to fall short on one or more of those expectations. If they reduced the bezel size so the notebook was closer in size to a typical 14" instead of being notably larger in the horizontal dimensions then the weaker GPUs would be justified, but considering that the 14's almost as big as some 15.6" laptops, they should have at least offered a better GPU as an upgrade, if not standard.

 

Why do you say that the 15.6" isn't portable? I'm just curious, I have a skewed view on portability because I'm tall, and I'm sure they could put a higher powered card in there, but I'm sure there's other design issues they didn't want to forfeit in order to use the higher powered card (ala 6770m). Plus that would cannibalize dv6t sales. The notebook can't be closer to a typical 14 due to the size of the screen, if they were to drop .4" and go to 14.1" screen then they could probably source the part easier and be able to provide an actual 14" that can game. It seems all of the 'gaming grade' 14" laptops are really closer to 15's in size, just with a smaller screen and lower resolution, using the m14x for example, it's nearly the size of smaller 15's.

 

I'm 6'3" and a pretty fit 220 lbs, and I think that anything larger than a large 14" is borderline for portability, especially if you have to carry an adapter as well. Then again, I bike a lot and carry a messenger bag rather than a backpack, so my views on portability are skewed by the viability of carrying a laptop in that particular situation. Still, I think a lot of people would agree that 15.6" is bigger than you want for a laptop you'll carry around regularly.

As for cannibalizing dv6t sales, the Envy is supposed to be a premium line and as such should provide a higher profit margin as a prestige product. Instead of Envy 14's cannibalizing dv6t sales, the opposite has been happening - the dv6t has proven a more-than-ample competitor to the Envy 14 for a great deal of the Envy 14's run - it provides more power for less money in a slightly bigger and less-attractive package, and I'd say that the proportion of potential Envy 14 buyers who ended up going for the dv6t as a direct alternative would add up to a rather significant number of sales.

That's one reason to be skeptical of the Envy 15 - if it uses a 7690 it'll have less GPU power than the current-gen dv6t for way more money (and that 7690 will not be an adequate 1080p performer for most modern games). If the 15's Radiance screen is really IPS that will be a big selling point, but the slick looks and quality screen will come at a huge price disadvantage compared to the dv6t for similar performance, especially if the screen is an upgrade.

 

Do we know yet whether the 3D will finally output 3D to external monitors/TVs? That would get me more interested.

 

In the short few months I've been on this board, I've seen a lot of people who have really been unhappy with the choice of 6630M.

I love my Envy 14, and yeah, I'd prefer something beefier. But I've got to say that I don't think HP deliberately tried to screw people by forcing them to choose a weak (though the evolutionary chip of the 5650, so technically, it's the same level as the first one?) GPU. I believe that there's a reason HP put the 6630M in instead of something better. It could be power-related. Perhaps there's a mobo design consideration that differs between the 6630 and 6770, and it was the same with the 5650. That could mean that they didn't want to re-engineer the mobo. Perhaps they had a particular goal for battery life with Radeon enabled. Or maybe, just maybe, they listened to all the heat complaints of Envys past, and thought you know, the way the airflow/heat dissipation is with the current design, the 6630 will be cool but the 6770 might be warm.

All I know is maybe the 6630 was a disappointing choice when the 2nd gen was released, but for people to say HP was lazy or terrible at engineering or something, I think they probably had a bunch of valid/logical reasons behind why they chose the 6630. I'm not saying they were good, as neither me nor anybody else were there when they chose. What I'm saying is that though the Envy is far from perfect, being able to get an Envy 14 for $800 is a pretty dang good price. And if being able to get one at that price meant that (as seeing the 2nd gen is not going to be a long-term design) they didn't want to re-engineer the design to accommodate some sort of difference that we aren't privy to in order to use a stronger GPU, well, from a business perspective, perhaps they made the right choice if the lower price meant they sold 1500 more than they would have.

And now we have these (potentially) sweet new 15 and 17 models to choose from. 14" laptops with real graphics performance are pretty uncommon. If you want portability, get an ultrabook. If you want performance, get a gaming laptop. If you want both, save your money and get a Vaio Z. Sadly, the perfect laptop doesn't exist yet at a price normal people can afford.

I also think that any sort of benchmarks we see of this 7690 prior to release should be considered preliminary. I wouldn't get too bent out of shape either way just yet.

 

The bottom line is that many of us saw the Envy 14 as a chance to create a unique combination of power and portability. Something that might not be as powerful as a bigger laptop or as portable as a smaller one, but that nevertheless could reach a hitherto unprecedented amount of both. In other words, we were hoping for something that blurred the lines of power and portability, and many of us are of the opinion that HP was too conservative in their design to deliver what we wanted.

Don't get me wrong, even a proper 5650m would have been acceptable in the first generation, but it was gimped to 450 mHz clocks instead of the standard 550 mHz. Then they upgrade to the 6630m, which is, to be fair, the direct successor to the Envy 14's 5650m, but the nomenclature taking a step backward from 650 to 630 just serves to further highlight that it's a gimped GPU, which doesn't sit well with many people who are out to buy a "premium" product.

 

I'm 6'7 and 280 Anyway, the 7690 is an absolute brand new chip, the people crying rebrand have no idea what they're talking about. It is a 28nm chip based on their GCN architecture. If performance is really that dismal as the benchmarks showed it's quite possible that performance can heavily improve given time. I'd be very surprised if the 7690 is less powerful than the outgoing 5830. The IPS screen is the most important selling point I do agree, and I believe the 7690 will be an adequate performer for 1080p for modern games, not on ultra/high but medium it should do fine. I have a Targus XL backpack that I carry around all the time and I find my current 15.4" to be small, if not adequate, I used to use a 12.1" m1210 and it was just too small for my large hands, 15.6" is a pretty good size and personally I'd be okay with a 16" if it meant better cooling and better power. Don't judge a book by it's cover and we'll see the real performance of the Envy 15 once it's released with WHQL Drivers.

 

I'm really not sure why people are obsessing over this whole 14' Envy. 14....15 is it really that big a difference? Anyways I'm just gonna go with my gut and get the new Envy to replace this horrible replacement I'm currently suffering with.

Yes Ivy Bridge will be out but I've already got everything I wanted to put into the Envy and I'm gonna keep it for 5 years at the very least so by that time I'm sure something amazing will be out.

 

Ivy Bridge won't be in laptops till at least June, I don't see it happening any sooner than that and I don't know about you but my laptop isn't going to last till June so I can get the 'next best thing'. There's always better tech on the horizon, they'll be talking about Haswell in June and Haswell will completely change the mobile landscape, so just buy technology when you need it and only worry about things coming out within a month of you buying your laptop unless you need it NOW.

 

Yes, it's clear now.

 

Dunno what's the big concern about having Ivy Bridge. Will the performance improvements be all that noticeable for gaming or for loading up Word 2010? And considering how the price tag is usually high for early CPU adopters, isn't it better that HP is using SB procs as it helps them keep the price tag nice and low?

 

Every time I see better pics of the new Envy, I have to remind myself my current one is still a sexy beast. It's going to take everything out of me to avoid buying a new one.

My guess is that the bottom of these notebooks will again be plastic. I actually think the current Envy's cover looks better, but I prefer the lighter silver color of the base.

 

The rumored price for the new Envy 15 is just as high as it would be if every component was a launch-day component. A new processor generation won't cost more, it'll replace the SB's at their current price point. The main reason you could really say it costs more is because as a tech generation gets older, it gets easier to find discounts and coupons on that tech from a lot of the major resellers, so you're not likely to find $400/30% coupons on Ivy Bridge until it's been out for a few months. Then again, since the new Envys will be new themselves, expect to pay just as much as if they were carrying brand new processors until shortly before Ivy Bridge actually arrives.

 

Agreed. Aestheticswise, my Envy 14 is just completely different and unique. Specs are specs, new notebook fever will always be a risk. The one reason I'd want to get the new Envy 15 besides the specs is the IPS screen and higher resolution.

 

I'll be honest I'd take this ones looks over the old ones any day of the week. I'm sorry but I don't like flowers on my laptops personally.

 

I am getting really excited about these new Envy's, I currently have an HDX16t and it is ready for a replacement. I have been looking at the DV6z AMD Quad Core laptops and waiting for the Trinity lineup to come out. But the premium features of the Envy lineup and the IPS Radiance panel (15in) have caught my interest as a designer and photographer whereas the 17 in with slightly better battery life and numpad (I use this pretty extensively) for lite gaming and programming make me torn between the two sizes.

I would probably wait for Ivy Bridge with its better power usage. It would be interesting to see Ivy Bridge vs Trinity with the Trinity running Crossfire Hybrid (Intel better processing power, AMD better graphics in the CPU/APU, I prefer better graphics and cooler operation of the AMD APUs since any quad core will be good enough for me). I would just like to see AMD Trinity as an option in this lineup, if the Intel Ivy Bridge is better (better processing, power usage, and runs cool at the same time), will probably go with it.


Edit/Addition:
Personally I am happy that they might offer lower graphics (performance to be seen) because I thought the 6850m was too powerful for me and that it sucked too much power (I would not of bought a current gen 17 envy due to this). The 25w TDP for the new AMD/ATI graphics sounds great to me who wants to have near to all day battery life at a minimum. I hope they do offer an upgrade for the gamers out their to a higher end gpu for a decent price; hopefully memory upgrades to 12GB and 16GB will be more reasonable in this laptop opposed to the old ones, otherwise I will save money and get the memory from newegg and self install it.

 

Can someont confirm about this ips screen on the envy 15. I seriously doubt they are gonna place one. Where did you find the info?

 

I thought it was misinformation at first, but if you look at the battery life ratings of the 15 and 17, the 15 is quite a bit lower, which doesn't make sense unless it has an IPS panel (IPS panels use a lot more power, usually around twice the amount of a traditional TN panels).