Returning my ENVY 14 Beats Edition...HELP!

Hello,

Just received my ENVY 14 Beats Edition (Quad-Core).

The laptop is great but the battery life with the i7 is just not cutting it for me...I wish I had found this forum before ordering.

Anyways I have some questions:

1. I know that I do not need the power of the i7 right now. However, I am curious as to whether new software will "demand" that kind of power. I plan on keeping whatever I get instead for 1-2 years and want to make sure that I am not making a mistake by getting the i5-580M instead. I don't really use anything too CPU intensive...

2. I didn't get a SSD in this one but definitely want to get one in whatever I order. I would imagine that all SSD's are not created equal so I want to know if I am better off going with the HP's option or ordering a different one.

-What do I need to look for in aftermarket SSD's? (connection type, speed, etc.)

-Any recommendations on the more popular SSD's?

-I searched but couldn't seem to find any information about how to replace the optical drive with a SSD. Any advice here would be great...

3. I use a monitor to extend my desktop. Is there a quality difference when connecting with HDMI vs Mini-Display vs VGA

4. What is the proper way for me to delete all of my information before sending back to HP? Fresh install of windows?

5. Has anyone had both an ENVY 14 and DV6T Select Edition?

-What is the difference in build quality?
-What is the difference in BEATS vs Dolby

 

Hello espett, and welcome to NBR. I have to ask, are you returning the Envy 14 simply because of poor battery life?

 

That is the main factor...

I know I can get the Slice battery but I think I'd rather get something with the i5 and a SSD instead...

 

I asked because you did not mention any serious defects....ok, lol, its its just buyers remorse and not knowing about poor batter life? Lol, well, yoiu should read about the Envy 17 and the 3D version..they barely last a couple hours.... yeah. Hope you find a laptoop with long life.

KJ

 

this computer im using now Toshiba a300 lasts about 2 hours on balanced with lowest brightness and all power saving on.



I don't believe there will be MUCH of a power vacuum when you go to the i5 processor. The general consensus seems to be that 4 - 4:30 battery is the average for most e14 owners.

The SSD's you can buy on the HP website cost more (atleast in Australia) but you can save money by purchasing one from a retailer. Im not sure what brand they use, but you can just ask someone.

I guess when looking for after market SSD's look for quality, and if you know the brand. Try and get the read/write speeds fairly close to each other for maximum performance. A 250gb corsair will set you back 500$ last time I checked.

there is a entire post on how to change the optical drive into a hard-drive bay, I think it might be a couple pages back but you will surely find it. Alternatively you can find one on Google.

When connecting to an external monitor, (assuming here) HDMI output will make the screen look better. I don't know personally to much about this subject but I'll just stick to my statement.

If you can do a factory reset, it will be easier for HP to do all the magic that way.

The build quality on the e14 is exceptional, it feels strong and sturdy will still maintaining a certain lightness to it. The only plastic component is the bottom panel, Im not to worried about that myself.

The audio on the E14 is amazing ( beats and regular share the same drivers/software I think *correct me*) Its big enough to fill a room but you will truly love it when you can plug some headphones in. The bass does not overload it and the high's sound crisp and clear. On the beats edition and regular (?) you can change the pitch and treble through the HP software.

I hope you enjoy your e14!

 

Hello espett,

Welcome to NBR.

Orange Canary did a pretty good job addressing your questions, but I figured I'd give my input on some of them as well just to provide yet another opinion.

You will not be making a mistake by getting an i5 processory instead of an i7 processor when it comes to performance and the "demands" of new software, especially if your timeframe is only 1-2 years. Based upon the general feedback on this forum it seems that the vast majority of buyers, including gamers and professional graphic designers, chose to purchase an Envy with an i5 processor because of its switchable graphics feature and extended battery life with absolutely no qualms about its ability to perform. So even if you did use your Envy for something CPU intensive, you should be just fine with an i5.

You are correct in assuming that not all SSDs are created equal. As HP is currently only offering the $525 256 GB SSD, I would recommend purchasing your Envy with the stock HDD and then replacing it with a cheaper SSD you purchase elsewhere. For one, although $525 for a 256 GB SSD isn't a bad deal as far as prices go, $525 is a lot of money, and you can find much cheaper SSDs with less space. If it were me, I would get a cheaper/smaller SSD and an external enclosure for the stock HDD and use that as my storage device for less frequently used things. I'm no SSD expert, but I have heard good things about a lot of SSD manufacturers. I personally have the Intel X25-M in my Envy which I purchased from when it was a configureable option directly from HP and couldn't be happier. If I were you I'd put some decent effort into investigating different SSDs before buying. There are many discussions about them on the Hardware section of this forum which may be useful. For what its worth, the SSD currently offered by HP is a Samsung and has received generally positive reviews from what I've read, although whether or not it supports TRIM may be questionable. Look here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-envy-hdx/502434-official-hp-envy-14-beats-owners-lounge-part-deux.html on the first post under the SSD section for further information.

Yes to all of the things you listed. I would also look for TRIM support.

I'll have to refer you here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/hardware-components-aftermarket-upgrades/429972-ssd-thread-benchmarks-brands-news-advice.html for this one, this simply isn't my area of expertise.

Look here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-envy-hdx/499592-envy-14-uk-thread-55.html#post6695204

And here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-envy-hdx/517376-adding-second-hdd-envy-14-replacing-slot-loading-optical-drive.html

Unfortunately I'm not sure about this. You could try asking here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-envy-hdx/502434-official-hp-envy-14-beats-owners-lounge-part-deux.html if you don't get a reply in this thread.

I would recommend, as Orange Canary mentioned, simply using the recovery disks you made and/or your RECOVERY partition to restore your Envy to factory status and just not back up any of your information.

Yes, I have. For my comments on build quality and other things look here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-compaq/536929-hp-dv6tse-vs-envy-14-a.html

As far as Beats vs. Dolby, I'm not sure about the specifics, but it is widely agreed that Beats really shines with headphones and external speakers. The internal speakers are a little quiet, but decent.

Good luck!

 

Thanks for the advice! I decided on the i5 580m ENVY 14...