Radiance Screen on Envy 14.

I know you can still find the Envy 14 with the 1600x900 Radiance Screen in other places, but how much of a difference is it compared to the 1366x768 BrightView?

I guess on a scale of 1-10, 10 being majorly different and 1 being not too big.

That's the only thing stopping my purchase.

 

Bump for knowledge and curiosity

 

The Radiance screen on the HP Envy is very good. Measured at 835:1 contrast and 240 nits brightness.
Tests - HP Envy 14-1010eg - Mobilitätsverlust vs. 3D-Leistung auf notebookjournal.de

A normal TN display gets about 150:1 contrast and 190 nits brightness.

 

Numberwise, I see there is a difference, but I'm not tech savy enough to fully understand what it means. I just want to know if it's noticeable.

 

It's extremely noticeable, and I'd say it was absolutely necessary for me to get the Envy (I'm a photographer). But it's a personal decision I'd say. You have to weigh the extra price versus the real estate. Do you like to put windows next to each other, like having a word document open on the left and a web page on the right?

The colors are better as well, but in my opinion it's not that important unless you do photo editing. I think the brightness of the regular display will be fine as well.

 

I haven't seen the BrightView display so I can't comment as to how it compares, but to my untrained eyes the Radiance display is astonishingly bright and crisp. The blacks are beautiful. At maximum brightness it is actually too bright so needs to be turned down a bit, especially at night.

 

It depends on your perception. For me it is extremely noticeable. For my mother it isn't.

Can you tell the difference between low contrast and high contrast?
Can you tell the difference between a mediocre laptop display and an excellent one?

 

See this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-envy-hdx/522692-fight-envy-14-radiance-display.html and this: http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-envy-hdx/509589-radiance-display-no-longer-option-envy.html

 

Havent seen the Radiance yet but the Brightview looked pretty much like any other screen.

I guess the backlit keyboard and metal casing makes the Envy more expensive than other brands. I wouldnt pay extra just for good looks (Brightview) but the combo with good screen and looks made me bite the bullet.

 

To me without the radiance display I find no reason to get the Envy 14 over the DM4 which is vastly cheaper and has a similar build quality. The only thing the dm4 is missing is a backlit keyboard and I think that was intentionally omitted from the dm4 for the very reason of making it not compete with the Envy 14.

 

Best thing to do is go to your local Best Buy, Fry's, Microcenter and compare any Macbook Pro screen with the Envy and see for yourself. My Envy 14 has a Radiance screen and to me it looks just like the Macbook Pro screens.

 

Is the ENVY 14 available at BB or Frys (in store) ?

 

No, the Envy 14 isn't available instore at Fry's, BB or Microcenter. Staples might have it instore though.

 

Having done a side-by-side comparison with my Envy 14 / Radiance vs. a friend's 2009 Macbook Pro 13, the Radiance is noticeably better in terms of contrast (better blacks), viewing angles (slight vertical-angle pink tinting but not bad, horizontal angles are very good), and at least on par in terms of brightness, but probably a bit better. The MBP may have slightly better color accuracy off the assembly line (whereas the Envy 14 seems a bit over-saturated), but I'd hazard a guess that the Envy 14 could be calibrated to be far superior in the end. I'd take the Radiance screen over a MBP's screen any day of the week.

I've seen the BrightView display in the dm4. Assuming it's the same panel as the Envy 14, it's not a bad screen, and it's good enough to get the job done. It just doesn't pop like the Radiance does, and the 1366x768 resolution is just average for this size class of notebooks. So, if the Radiance gets a 10/10 overall, the BrightView gets a 6/10 (whereas half the junk screens available today from Asus, Dell, Acer/Gateway, etc. all get 2/10, 3/10, etc.).

Personally, I think the lack of the Radiance display really detracts from the allure that the Envy series has. They're still great machines regardless, but without the Radiance screen, they only have the metal chassis that really distinguishes them from the competition, and oh look what the dm4 shares in common...

 

Keep in mind that the MBP 13" uses several displays. The one reviewed by Notebookjournal has similar contrast and is slightly brighter than the Envy 14 screen.

But in all fairness, they're in the same league.

MBP 13
Envy 14

 

The Envy is available in BB but in the web page its not called envy, you can find it for...
HP - Pavilion Laptop / Intel® Core™ i5 Processor / 14.5" Display / 4GB Memory / 640GB Hard Drive - Carbon Relic
Model: 14-1110nr | SKU: 1287364

 

So seriously... Are they gonna bring back the Radiance screen or not? They should just stop producing the crappy 1366x768 resolution altogether. Why bother hyping/advertising about how the E14's gonna be revolutionary with this 1600x900 screen if you're not gonna even sell it?

Since HP's merger with Compaq, they've been nothing but disappointing. I'm glad for you folks that were able to buy the Radiance option though.

 

I think what he was getting out is you can go to Best Buy and compare the MacBook Pros to the HP dm series that are both on display and get a pretty good idea of the screen difference between Radiance and Brightview. Not exact but close enough. And I agree with your conclusion. Without the Radiance screen, there is very little reason to buy an Envy. Get a MacBook Pro if you need a nice screen and save your money and just by the dm4 if you want a Envy without Radiance.

 

Microcenter does carry the Envy although my closest store (Yonkers NY) doesn't have them with the radiance display nor do the have then out on the floor...

 

the microcenter near me (houston) has the brightview envy14 on display

 

I called sales support last night and I was trying to combine student discount with the $400 off coupon there are listing. I was disappointed because they couldn't but it seemed like they were trying to clear stock. Luckily I asked the question again, will the Radiance screen be back. She replied yes, but she said she doesn't have any official dates. So I am guessing soon.

 

Clearing stock = imminent refresh = awesome

Thanks for the screen update. I asked the same a week or two ago and was given the standard "we cannot speculate" answer.

 

Cool since I just bought one

 

Is it just me or does that Radiance display kinda suck ?
It's ultra high brightness messes up the picture, everything looks so over-saturated and not natural...

I like the brightview more...

 

I asked on Monday the same question and got, "I have no heard of any update on the status of the return on the Radiance screen, but I can't imagine it not coming back." = Keeping my hopes up.