Sell MBP and get new envy? Thoughts?

Curious to see thoughts from you Envy 15/17 owners of the 3XXX series. I was thinking about selling my MBP 17 and buying this new Envy 17 or 15, but the reviews and threads here haven't been exactly favorable. I'm curious to get opinions of people here on the quality/speed/bang for buck in comparison. hopefully some of you have had experience with both?

I have the current mbp 17 model:
17" mbp 2.4 sandy bridge
8gb
ATI 6770
240gb agility 3 (6gb, and really needs 6gb to shine) + 750gb in opti bay


Love to hear opinions, fire away

 

I would keep the Macbook.

 

Hmm. Which one do you have, or reasons why?

 

I was considering the 15 until I read stuff like this thread has about the panel.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-...arms-lets-get-hps-attention-about-envy15.html

I guess the 17 would be my only option

 

If you want Windows, or enjoy saving money, go with the Envy. If you don't mind sticking with OSX, or your living depends on having 100% color representation, go with the Macbook.

And I cannot emphasize this enough - this computer is great. Unless you depend on color representation for a living, you wont notice it. The reds don't look orange, they're just a tad warm. I'd say the only other issue is the mousepad is a little tweaky - I'm still getting the settings right myself, but it's probably not as effortless as a MBP. But for $400+ less money and Windows, I'm ok with that.

 

Good points, I don't think I'm as picky as some around here. I code and I like good high Rez, good viewing angles etc, but colors don't bug me as much as the pros or photographers. I think I could live with the displays, I was just worried about the quality in comparison. On the other hand, the Envy costs about $1000 less than my mbp....I could save some cash for sure. I like and use both osx/windows, so either OS is not an issue.

 

I've owned (and returned) both a MBP 15 and an ENVY 15. There are issues with both machines. The major flaw I found with the MBP was poor Windows performance in bootcamp. Since you don't mind OSX, this is really kind of a non-issue.

As you know, with the ENVY, it's the display. The ENVY really is an amazing machine and was honestly so close to perfect for me. But the display is really, really bad. Describing the reds as "a tad warm" really isn't fair, IMHO. It is just plain orange. See my pics here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-...5-ips-red-vs-orange-tally-12.html#post8241643

Really awful. But hey, maybe it won't bother you. I know there are plenty of people that are ok with it here.

Bottom line, if I were you, I'd test out the ENVY and decide for yourself.

Personally, though, there's a good chance I'll be going back to the MBP.

Good luck.

 

I second minazaki's advice. Buy the Envy 15 and see for yourself. The good news is that HP has a 21 day money back guarantee. Starts from the day of delivery. if you don't like it, call them up and ask to return it. HP will send you a postage paid box to ship it back in and refund 100% of your money when they receive it.

Can't beat that.

 

Care to expand?

 

Sure, see this thread that I started right after I returned my MBP: http://forum.notebookreview.com/apple-mac-os-x/625838-mbp-15-2011-windows-only.html

Here's basically what I found to be the major limitations of Windows 7 on a MBP, cut and pasted from that thread:

and

 

I also have a MBP 15inch early 2011 model and i would not trade it for the ENVY 17inch. According to info 7690m-XT has 480 shaders same as my MBP's 6750m.

Secondly the MBP looks more elegant it maybe a personal taste thing but i like the MBP look than the ENVY 17 BEATS.

But if audio is your thing get the ENVY because my MBP sucks in audio quality i found my friends ENVY sounds much betters.

EDIT: About the issues presented by minazaki in the above post i use Win7 with my MBP all the time and the following are my observations-

-No major EFI problem
-GPU only results in lower batt life but still much more than normal laptops.
-Found drivers on the net no real problem.
-Throttle control results in almost no heat issues
-Third party trackpad software fixes the trackpad, i am also good without the 3rd party software.
-Fn keys create some problems

 

Thanks for the responses everyone, I appreciate it. I don't think I'll be looking at the 15" envy for a few reasons. One reason is the display complaints on this forum and the other is that I'd like a dual hard drive configuration. Also, I don't know about any of you, but 1920 on a 15" laptop is just too high of rez....I'm far sighted and it tires me after a while. 1920 on a 17 is about all I can handle for a full day of work.

As far as windows on the Mac, the only way I can deal with it is to use vmware fusion or parallels. I tried bootcamp too, but had the same issues that minazaki described....the battery life would be great but Apple doesn't give windows access to the intel 3000, they just run it full boogie on the ATi (why?). I've found vmware to be plenty fast as long as you have 8gb ram, dedicate 4gb to each OS, then 2 cores to windows and it's good....all of this is running from my SSD though. I think I did have speed complaints back when I was on a spindle.

I may consider the Envy 17, I can get about 15% off right now so it's not a bad deal, and I'll likely lose about 10% on my MBP if I sell it. I guess I just need to decide if it's worth the $1000 savings .

 

One additional point to consider is resale value. MBP retain value better than any laptop on the market. In 1-2 years you may be able to resell for a significant percentage of initial purchase price (~50-60%, just a guess). The HP on the other hand, will probably not be worth much at all in the same time frame.

In effect, you'd probably break even in the long run.

 

That's a very good point actually...didn't think of it that way. They do hold their value...I always say they are like the Toyotas of the computer industry.

 

> Sell MBP and get new envy?

NNNOOO! Don't do that. MBP is a much better built machine. Unless and until you are sick of OSX or facing some other issues or in dire need of 1000$, stick with MBP. There is no such thing as savings when you have already spent. There is only cutting corners to make ends meet.

 

Your pictures are damning.

 

I would wait and maybe look at the envy later this year. I think eventually hp will get its head out if its you know what and release an upgraded envy 15 with a better fhd screen. It may also have an upgraded gpu and even the ivy bridge cpu all for the same price as the present model. And this is why I returned mine. I have a feeling that a better model of the envy 15 will come eventually. The foundation is already there for an awesome laptop. Hp just needs to fix a few things. And I bet that once an updated envy comes out with a corrected screen and better gpu or cpu options everyone who has the present envy will try to sell theirs to get newer model. The problem with that of course will be who in the used laptop market will want to buy the envy model with the "defective screen". I can already see the buyer posts on ebay:

Buyer "Is this the model with the orange screen?"
Seller. "Well the reds are a little warm but its a great laptop"
Buyer. "Eh ok thanks for the response."

 

Yeah I have ruled out the 15 but still considering the 17. I'm guessing the screen is similar to my mbp on the 17. The rest of the specs are similar....just unsure of overall build quality. Looks like the 17 is a safer bet.

 

I can't see deciding a purchase like a laptop on what you can sell it for later. This isn't a house.

 

I think the point being made was that I could save $1000 now but maybe gain a lot of that back when reselling later if I keep the MBP. He's right in that regard, and I will be selling whatever I get within a year or so (envy or mbp), I always do and always upgrade to the latest, so resale plays a part. I think the angle taken in the reply was valid.

 

The laptops may as well be, people get so doe eyed at the thought of owning a mbp they will gladly shell out hundreds and hundreds of dollars for stale 2 year+ old tech if they are budget constrained. It's a reality, and so I can see why the thought of capitalizing on the intense fealty to the apple brand comes from. It pays.