SB E14 is on HP's website! Some questions raised while looking at options...

First off, the Envy product page no longer states that any of the E14s have a metal finish anymore - can SB E14 owners confirm whether this is true or not?

Second, a new battery option called 'One 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery + 6-Cell Slim Fit Extended-Life Lithium-Ion Polymer Battery' is now available for $140. Is this a new Slice option or something else?

Also, are there any good HDMI/Mini-DP to VGA adapters that don't cost $50? HP sells theirs for that much, and despite the fact that it is an actual Digital to Analog conversion (or something similar), I'm not sure a full $50 is the standard asking price.

And that's all I saw and had questions about on the build pages for the E14.

Thoughts on getting the dual-core i5 vs. the lower-tier quad-core i7? I plan on doing a fair amount of video work with Vegas and AfterEffects on the go (though tethered to an AC outlet most the time), but I'll be web-browsing/notetaking most the time (likely away from an outlet)

Oh, also, do the SB E14s come with the neat-looking black/dark palmrest we saw on the 1211NR and such?

 

Hmm, lotta questions eh?
Mini display adapters are cheap on amazon.

The "slim fit" batteries on their battery page seems to indicate it's a slice battery.

My new Envy 14 Beats seems to have a metal finish. Not sure if the regular Envy 14 has this. Judging by the pictures on HP's site, it looks like there isn't any different material from the palm rest.

Only you can decide how necessary an i7 is. If you're doing to do a lot of video editing, it might be worth it. But anyone who says with any authority that you need it is just saying that. You know yourself best.

 

If you click "help me decide" when customizing the battery, it says it's a 9-cell there??

 

Is it worth buying the 2 eight(8) cell batteries? Or could u survive with the stanard. The processor will be the i7 2630qm....so I have no clue on the battery life

Edit: going by the i7 740qm, it ate ur battery life

 

buy the slice instead of a 2nd battery if you can,

Changing internal battery is cumbersome, whereas the slice just clicks in and out.

 

well.

that's the thing.
sandy bridge i7 has better battery life. Not sure how much better, but it definitely is better than the old i7.


maybe an hour to hour and a half better. I'm not sure.

 

For a lot of people it seems to be a hassle to take out the battery and swap it, but it is that simple right? Laptop runs low, you shut down the laptop, take out the battery, swap it and start up again right?...pretty simple right?

 

it aint hard to do when its already off.

For me its a hassle to have to shut it down to swap it.
I have 2x 8cell and 1x slice, and I like the slice much more.

 

its not metal anymore??

 

According to the HP website, it still has a metal finish.

 

But the slice seems to weight twice as much right?

my slice is 2 pounds whereas the original battery should be about 1 right?

 

Is it bad to swap when there is like 5% battery left? The slice for 140 is way to much for me

 

Why would that be bad? Just shut it down when the battery is low and swap it over.

 

To many rumors about battery discharge when doing that, and keeping the laptop plugged into the wall for over a long period of time will discharge the battery a lot (only a rumor I have heard)

 

It's actually better to let the battery run low before you charge it, and to only charge it when you need to.

In fact, the best thing to do if you're going to be hooked into a power outlet and don't need to charge is to take the battery out. But that's way too much hassle for me.

 

haha thank you for that, and thank you for the input above. cant wait for my envy now!