Refurbished HP Envy 15. Good buy?

Im looking to buy an Eny 15 with the 5830 GPU, but here in Canada they only offer the 1st gen ones. So im most probably going to buy it from Ebay as they seem to have a good number of refurbished laptops that fits well within my budget.

So, does anyone here have experience on buying a refurbished laptop? Im under the impression that the laptop will be "good as new" right? The seller states that it has a 90day warranty through HP. (Is there any way to extend this?) However, will the warranty even be honored here in Canada? And even if it was honored, HP Canada does not have the 2nd gen Envy's.. I was thinking this might be a problem.

Any thoughts on this is appreciated!

 

I'd be very leery of buying a refurbished E15 on eBay. Have you tried out the E15 in person? I loved it prior to having it in my hand but was deeply disappointed once it arrived.

 

why were you disappointed?

to the OP, in my experience buying refurbs off of ebay, they are always mint. its like buying new.

 

I'd buy refurb if it was direct from HP. How do you know HP will honor that warranty from the ebay listing?

Perhaps you can buy extended 3rd-party warranty from Squaretrade or whatever.

 

Several things, but probably the most important to you would be the fragile bezel; I'd be very concerned with it if you didn't have a lengthy warranty. I am also not fond of the laser etched (once I saw it in person) or the awful touchpad. I believe these are all very important things that require hands-on experience before investing into a E15. Some people can live with it, I personally couldn't.

I'd actually feel more comfortable recommending the E14 sight unseen since it has E2E. The E14s only make or break issue I can foresee is more of the same terrible synaptics touchpad -- definitely something worth trying out to see if you can use it comfortably.

 

@MainEvent: the Envy15 im looking at Ebay is from a powerseller who only sells a range of refurbished HP Laptops. He also states there's a 90 day warranty and can buy an extended warranty through HP. I did ask him about the warranty in Canada.. still waiting for his reply.

@Niber: I havent seen one in person, but upon reading the huge threads over at the owners lounge it looks to be a good machine (apart from some issues that have workarounds). What did i miss there? What are your experiences with the trackpad?

 

i had no idea there was such thing as a good synaptics track pad...

i agree on the lazer etching, im not the biggest fan of it. i wish they offered the series in a matte black (like beats version) for all models

 

@Lvivkse: I've never seen one, I'm hoping for a miracle with the E14.

@bimmerboii: The touchpad is just awful all around. Clicking required a good bit of pressure, I couldn't rest my finger over the left button without impacting actual cursor movement and I found that the movement itself was not fluid. I suppose I could have modified my normal movements to double-tap or use an external mouse but I don't feel that should be necessary. Also, I believe if you dig a little further in the owners lounge you'll see a lot of people with hairline cracks on their bezel.

Additionally, another issue I neglected to mention is the VERY restrictive screen angle. As someone who likes to use my notebook on more than just a desktop (lap, bed, sofa, etc.) I found that because the flexibility was restricted to ~90 degrees it was difficult to get a optimal viewing angle when looking down on the screen.

 

its restricted to 90 degrees? ? really? not even any leeway?

 

Yes, here's a picture that shows it, sorta. The hinge on the Envy series was not designed very well in my opinion, an extra 10 or so degrees would make a world of difference for me but due to the additional screen hang it is impossible.

These are the type of things that you generally don't detect (or at least I didn't) when ordering online and ultimately why I would recommend doing a hands-on before making a "risky" refurbished purchase.

 

i was testing a 13 and 15 the other day....the 15 went beyond the 90* mark, i even had to move some stuff off the shelf to give it room to

....was i hallucinating?

 

I can't imagine how that's possible unless you snapped off the lower edge of the screen. Sitting in bed during my tests I found myself hunching over to compensate for the lack of flex. Given, this was probably 2 months ago (my memory fades) and there's a chance it bends slightly past 90 but it wasn't much and not nearly enough for me to be comfortable.

Also, if you're like me and sometimes give presentations on tilted podiums the restrictive hinge makes the Envy line completely unusable.

 

Thanks for the input guys. This makes a good impact on my buying decision..

@Niber: would you know if the Envy 15 beats have the same problem? (hairline cracks/90 deg screen?)

 

My envy 15 will go a little beyond 90 degrees no problem.

Buying refurb via ebay.... if you do it make sure you pay with a credit card and a credit card only.

Sigh, I think I'm just going to try to sell my envy though.

 

Just a '"little" beyond 90? I think that's gona be a problem... Im gona have the laptop sit on an incline (cooler).

Yeah I always pay by credit card for added protection. What makes you want to sell yours?

 

I've never seen a BE in person but I imagine they suffer the same issues. There's also an issue with a high pitched whine but I never experienced that personally.

 

if you pay by paypal, it doesnt matter if its cc or debit or cash

 

It goes out to about 120 degrees or so, well past 90 degrees. It is slightly restrictive in certain situations, but not nearly as severe as some people are making it out to be. Makes me question whether some of the people commenting even own an Envy...90 degrees? Seriously?

 

Get a refurb at Costco. 90 days return and 2 year warranty.

 

Thanks for all the input. I will hold back from buying until I personally see one in the flesh so I can inspect it. Would also revisit my other options..

 

Would you mind giving us the name of the seller? "Refurbs," unless from the actual manufacturer, are a hit or miss IMO.

 

Seller's name is colocomputer. He's in the US, but i asked him about the warranty here in Canada and never got a reply

 

well, i just bought a refurb from them, but i live in colorado. they sent it out same day, i got it the next day (no cost for shipping) and it came in an hp refurb box sealed.

So far i'm impressed dealing with them, i registered it and it showed the warranty was in Jan 2010 so i asked colocomputer what i needed to do to get the warranty to show right for the refurb, and waiting for a response. emailed them about 10 minutes ago.

i picked up a i7 720qm, 4gb ram, 160gb ssd (g2 yeah!) 250gb hdd, 5830 1920x1080 antiglare for under 1100...

i've been piling in games and testing it as hard as i can, and so far so good.

as i find out about the warranty, i'll let you know. hope this helps.
they are out of ft. collins, co.

 

how do you find the heat on the i7?

 

so far, not too bad. of course it runs warm. i come from using a good number of macbook pros which some were toasters. i've found as long as you keep the vents clear it isn't too bad. i loaded bios f28 on it last night, that might have been a reason.

but it doesn't get any warmer then my 13" macbook pro does under heavy use, and is cooler then my old macbook pro 15" was under heavy load.

i figured for some heat, the i7 generates heat, and most the i7 laptops aren't good with it, like the rog asus machines, they like to run warm.

but i haven't had any of those "hot enough to burn you" or "OMG THIS IS HOT MOMENTS"

once i finish getting everything installed, which is hard because i have to play each game after it installs, i'll start watching the temps and see how it runs.

but so far, no complaints here.

i almost picked up an i5 with similar stats, but decided that i'd rather have the quad. i'm using it for video editing as well.

 

@kabelad: Thanks for your input. I somehow knew he was a reputable seller. Although he hasnt answered my question sent 2 days ago.. And yeah he sells really cheap. That's why I wanted to get one from him

 

well, i still haven't heard back from him today, but prior, i had nothing but good response.


i just noticed after running everest that my gpu comes back as a 5850. is this normal?

did you try to call him?

Business: 970-204-6799
Cell phone: 970-581-5921
Fax: 970-204-6821
[email protected]

ColoComputer Home Page

 

what's the temperature like when you're just watching movies or browsing the internet?

 

haven't loaded any movies yet, browsing the internet it's not too bad. the palmrest is warm but not anything bothersome or hot.
as long as you don't let your clothes cut off any of the vents located all around it, the airflow is pretty good. i had it in my lap for a good three hours browsing the internet, downloading files and installing games.
i can't say it is perfect, but it's not annoying or unbearable. i have an infrared temp gauge, i'll get some surface temps off it later when i get the chance.