New (disappointed) Envy 17 owner

Hi All,

I've been using my Envy for about a week now. I had gotten it to be a desktop replacement (used for gaming, virtual machines, and some photoshop). It's a great machine but I've been disappointed by the Radeon 5850's performance. Newer games like Dawn of War 2, Stalker, Resident Evil 5 have lots of performance issues on higher resolutions.

So, now that I realize I need a desktop for gaming, I still might like a laptop for virtual machines and fun. I was looking at the DV6/DV7t select editions since I liked the metal finish on the Envy, and had just a few questions

-My Envy's left wall has a visible gap as I've seen others complain about. Is this an issue with the glue heating/cooling and separating, which would worsen over time, or it just a poor fit and I shouldn't worry about it?

Does anyone know if the DV6/7 select editions have the same issue with the body/gaps?

-Unlike others my hard drive doesn't get too hot, however the vented/bottom portion on the left gets VERY hot (I'm guessing this is the video card or processor). Would a DV6/7 with the same processor but different video card get as hot, or would it run cooler? I have a feeling this is really bringing down the longevity of the machine.

-Anyone have feedback on the Dolby Speakers? Are they decent quality? I must say I wasn't too pleased with Beats, as they faced downwards from the front which made the sound seem muffled a bit

Hope someone could chime in if they have any info. Thanks guys!

 

Notebooks and gaming don't mix. If you're wanting to do it casually and with not so new titles then you could be okay for a trip but not everyday gaming. Heat is never a notebook's friend and GPUs need to be bigger to crank out continuous, acceptable frame rates. Sound also sucks on notebooks; you want external speakers.

Spend good money on a desktop and less on a notebook for convenience while you're typing forum replies while on the throne.

 

AFAIK from reviews here on this forum, the DV6tse, DV7tse, and the DM4t, do not suffer from the build quality and heat problems of the Envy 17. Actually, NBR member abbaddon4180 was impressed by the build quality of both the DM4t and the DV6tse (he's used them both fairly extensively). You know what, enough talk, here read the reviews.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-compaq-voodoo-pc/492617-hp-dv6z-se-user-review.html

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-...p-dv7t-select-edition-series.html#post6349990

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-compaq-voodoo-pc/487483-hp-dm4t-review.html

 

I own a DV7 SE with the i7 processor and the ATI-5650.

Am more than happy with the performance of the same. After playing BFBC2 for about 4 hours the max temperature on the CPU is like 70-73 C and on the GPU its in the 70-76 C.

While doing routine tasks the temps are in the 48-53 C range.

Use Everest Ultimate for monitoring.

There is no issues with the panels(the DV7 has the panels stuck from above rather than from the sides as in the E17).

Speakers are above average in terms of loudness-as you have noticed the Beats audio does not blow one away-but with good headphones the output can be rated as very good to excellent.

 

You need expensive high-end hardware to play maxed. A serious hardcore gaming laptop, one with a Nvidia GTX 480M in it. Otherwise just play on MEDIUM settings, like everyone else does.

Game developers don't want their games looking old too soon, the MAXIMUM settings are really intended to be used 1 or 2 years down the road when the performance of mainstream graphics cards can handle it smoothly, thus extending the games saleable shelf life.

Nobody was meant to be using max settings on day1, but hardware manufacturers have created a niche market for filthy rich spoiled brats who demand to do it. That is where $1000 "extreme" CPU's and $3000 4-way SLI GPU's came from.

 

filthy rich spoiled brats? i resent that, i've always bought my own hardware

my rig is nowhere near that cost, though. 9800 GX2 and a Q6600 and that combo will play virtually any game maxed....crysis 720p...

 

crysis is already 4 years old though, I have a similar system to yours and my Q6600 is overclocked to 3.4Ghz, and the RAM and GPU is also OCed, but I still cannot get it to play on the absolute maxed settings with AA and every single detail to max. I can get close, and it looks nice at a good framerate, but not maxed.

 

OK, thanks all.

I was skeptical at first but after reading online how the Envy 17 could "play Starcraft 2 @ 1920 with no stuttering" and similar super-positive reviews around gaming I gave it a shot.

I've always been a desktop guy so I will stick to that for gaming.

Am glad to hear the DV6/7t's don't suffer from the same poor build and heat issues, I'll give one of them a chance.

Thanks for the replies all.