Selling Envy 14, need recommendations

hey everyone,
i'm thinking of selling my envy 14. it has radiance, i5-560, 2 standard batteries, 500gb hard drive, 6gb ram and a special right angle power tip instead of the traditional straight one. i also have zeroshock 14" laptop sleeve/case everything is in perfect condition. i plan on selling it for $1300 paypal.

I am asking for recommendations for a replacement laptop. i cant decide whether to get the 13" MBP or the 13" macbook air. i am leaning towards the air because i am not a power use by any means but i do use the computer and travel all day. The envy is too heavy especailly with two batteries and it doesnt last long enough for me. i've never used osx before so that is the biggest thing that is holding me back.

 

If money weren't a huge issue and if the Samsung 9-Series weren't in its 1st generation, I'd recommend it. As with all 1st generation products, I'm going to bet that the 9-Series is going to have its own share of bugs.

But if you're traveling often, I would seriously consider the Air. Yea, I know, someone is going to say "A few pounds of difference isn't worth the price premium, go use the $ savings on a gym membership!" to which I'll already respond "For regular travelers, this does make a huge difference.

 

Speaking of which, I'm contemplating selling my Envy too and replacing it with a laptop that has a keyboard that's so much easier to type on. The Thinkpad T410 comes to mind. I don't have time to game anymore and my Asus has a better GPU anyway. E14 has the best display around, but I don't watch stuff on it.

 

yeah, the people who says a few pounds dont make a difference obviously only use their laptops on a desk and dont travel everyday with it. i use it on my lap often when desk are not available. i workout and aside from two three textbooks, the last thing i need is a bulky laptop.

i just looked up the apple official forums on macbook air's battery. seems like typical bs battery estimate. apparently if you have flash/any browser running you can only max out at 2.5 hours. and the battery average is around 4 hours.. i am honestly very scared to make the switch to osx. i know about the whole bootcamp thing but that is not convienent and the virtual desktop (vmware/parallels) doesnt have full windows capatiblies with hardware.

 

have you considered the envy 13?

 

I had an Envy 14 and a new MBA 13 and of the two, I would take the Envy, though I lucked into a better compromise (see sig). All the point made in the post above are true: the MBA gets lousy battery life, especially in Boot Camp, and the "marvelous" trackpad doesn't work well in Windows mode either. It take a good 2 months of solid focus (and a good deal of frustration) to go from being a Windows user to an OSX user. I found it too frustrating to suddenly know so little about how to use my own computer!

Of course, I got lucky finding a refurb Sony Z11 for $855, (from cheetahdeals.com, but they don't have any more - check to see if they may be getting more), and it looks and works perfect! Short of that, the newest Asus U36, U45 (I may have the initials wrong, but check laptopmag.com's top 10 laptops; there are several you may like.

If you were going with the Mac, I would definitely go with the mBP, not the MBA - by next year, there will be software you can't run on the MBA, plus you can't upgrade anything in it!

 

I went from the i7 720qm Radiance to the new MBP 15".

I've enjoyed the comfort of not bringing a charger and can manage 4-6 hours on wifi with the integrated card only.

But then I'm a CS major and need the unix environments so I don't use boot camp.

 

Well the i7-720QM is your problem. You were using a quad core system that drains battery life like a fiend. MBP's use the dual-core i5's and thus, more battery life.

 

I agree with lovelaptops. If battery life and portability is what making you giving up this lovely Envy, then Asus U36 is probability the bets bet for you. I believe the U36 has about 8 hours of regular battery life and only weigh a hair over 3lbs. The standard voltage core i5 will also blow the old core 2 duo of the MBA out of the water when you're doing VM.

As with most people on this forum, I would caution against switching from Windows to OSX. You're just asking for endless incompatibility and frustration. e.g. how'd f do you maximize/resize/half window something in OSX?

If you're not a power user by any means, then the new AMD fusion based laptops should do the job just fine. HP dm1t is a great example. 7 hours of battery life, 2.8lbs, equivalent resolution as a MBA 11, all for only $400 as long as you don't mind the mediocre LCD.

 

Had I known I could start a thread and advertise my envy in the first half of it I would have done this a long time ago. So you make an ad out of the first half then ask a question out of the second half? Ok got it. No replies in the market place is about to change...

 

lol calm down spencerp, I have an Envy 14 beats for sale too... We all know the pain.

 

In case you really do want to switch, there's a utility called HyperDock that allows win7-style aero peek and half/full size window snapping.

 

...cos half window is a deal breaker? Per-lease

If battery and weight are your issues, on top of what the Envy 14 offers, a 13" MBP, i5, maybe with an SSD would be a decent option. The trade offs are no Window vs. more battery life, and just integrated graphics (Intel HD 3000?) vs more battery life. If you start going for i7s/better GPUs I guess the weight goes up and the battery life goes down so you're not gaining much. Depends what you need more.

 

I have an Envy 14 and an 11" MBA and if I had to choose only one, I'd take the MBA any day. I don't do enough gaming or intensive tasks anymore and the MBA works just fine for all my other needs.

I travel with this every day and use it away from the outlet constantly. I don't know about the 13" MBA, but the battery life on the 11" is just as advertised. Every day I get between 4 1/2 and 5 hours with WiFi, Bluetooth, and Flash all on, with the screen at half brightness while browsing the Internet, writing in Word and working in Excel. If I turn off Bluetooth and Flash I can easily get 5 1/2 hours.

Also, learning OS X is not that difficult. The MBA is my first Mac, and the learning curve was minimal. If you're an experienced computer user, it shouldn't be a big deal.

If you don't have any intensive requirements, I can't recommend the MBA enough. I went with the 11" because it is much more portable. It was a lifesaver while I was traveling around during the earthquake here in Japan.

 

I walk a couple miles a day back and forth to class with my envy and some books and its never weighted me down. Even with the slice it isn't that bad especially in a backpack. I guess it depends on what kind of traveling you are talking about and what exactly you really want the laptop to do. I don't game or do much intense anything but i like to be able to have it if i want. Plus close to 4 hours with a pretty powerful laptop with brightness all the way up and no clean install is pretty awesome. Maybe even 5 hours with things turned down.

 

yeah thanks. i am thinking about the 13" mba. i wish it had backlit keyboard, i am worried about the small hard drive. i already have about 300 gb used in my current envy. but i could easily drive that down to 200gb.

 

Get the Thinkpad X220, nuff said.
Portable. Powerful. 19 hours of real time battery life with slice battery. IPS panel... Can you ask for more for true portability?

 

The X220 is definitely an awesome computer and a good choice. I was considering it when I was looking for an ultraportable. After looking at it, I realized it was a bit hefty for a 12" system and for my purposes. At 3.8 pounds, it's almost a pound heavier than the 13" MBA, and adding in the slice adds another 1.5 pounds. That's a lot heavier than the 2.9 pound 13" MBA and the 2.3 pound 11" MBA, so all that battery life makes it a bit less portable. But if battery life is your main concern, the X220 is probably the best that's out there.

It has way more processing power than the MBA and is a really fast machine. The matte screen is a very welcome inclusion, too. The MBA has better graphics though (integrated Intel vs. integrated Nvidia), so it depends on what you want to do. I wanted to have more graphics muscle for some casual gaming in my downtime while traveling and I don't need 20 hours of battery life, so I chose the MBA.

 

4 hours is hardly a portable laptop (MBA). This is made fairly clear by many people looking at ultraportables such as The Dell 13, and others.
Also:
The laptop is weighed in at around 3 lbs not 3.8 pounds, so it's more like .1 pounds heavier. This is with the 6 cell battery option, which last I checked gives a whooping 7:14 minute battery life. The 9 Cell battery does take the weight to about 3.6lbs~ according to sources (not 3.8 lbs), however it add battery life to around 12+ hours. With 9 cell battery+ extended battery pack, it's rated for 19 hours of real use as tested by reviewers not by manufacturers.

So please tell me exactly how the MBA competes now that I did your research for you.

Lastly the graphics options on the x220 (Intel HD 3000) are in fact more powerful then the weak 320m.

 

I get up to 5 hours of battery life, which is enough for me. The importance of battery life is up to the individual, and is very subjective. If you have some scientific data to back up the claim that a computer that gets 4-5 hours of battery life is automatically determined to not be an ultraportable, I'd love to see it.

There are many battery options for the X220, but either way the machine is not light for its size. Lenovo's website doesn't seem to have concrete weight specs, but I found others that do, and put it at 3.4 pounds with the six cell battery and 5 pounds with the slice. Either way, that's more than 1 pound heavier than my 11" MBA. That being said, the battery life of the X220 is phenomenal.

The Intel HD3000 is not faster than the 320m, in fact from what I've read the two cards are very similar, though many of the gaming benchmarks I've seen have the 320m pulling ahead (the Intel seems to have problems with anything above low settings).

Thanks for your research, but I already did it before I purchased the MBA. If the X220 was available in my country (Japan) last December, I might have thought more about it, but I have no regrets. It's the size and form factor of the 11" that I really wanted. Traveling throughout Japan during earthquakes and blackouts over the past month has made me love the little machine even more.

Anyway, I think they are both good machines and personally I like them both. Whichever you choose really depends on your personal preference and needs.

 

Battery life is important, and yes, the 320M is more powerful than the Intel HD 3000. It's been confirmed in recent benchmarks on other blogs.

 

MBP is a quad-core. i7 2820qm but it has integrated switching.

 

Newer SB procs still use way less power than the older first gen i-series

 

Eh where did you get this information? links please.


Further Benchmarks by AnandTech
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4084/intels-sandy-bridge-upheaval-in-the-mobile-landscape/5

@eafd
Depends. The SB processors use the same amount of power as the previous generation while in use, this is reflected in many battery tests were the processor was being used the battery life dropped dramatically to the previous generation's levels.
The real power savings comes from Sandy Bridge's improved voltage power savings when on idle. Just like the core 2 duo's the SB processors will downclock as well as undervoltage themselves to conserve power. The previous generation was not capable of doing this and could only down clock but remain at the same voltage whether@ 800 mhz or 1.6 ghz i7-720QM the voltage remained like at 1.1v~.
That is the real reason for the power savings.

 

The best comparison I found of the 320M and HD3000 was AnandTech's comparison of the 2011 13" MBP (HD300) and the 2010 13" MBP (320m).

It seems that while things are close in OS X, in Windows the HD 3000 is 10-30% slower in mainstream games on low settings. On medium settings, performance goes down by an average of 20%.

 

Not trying to argue...but I also believe the 320M graphics chip is more capable. BUT...SB+Intel 3000 integrated will out perform a laptop with the 320M simply because the SB chip will give it a huge CPU advantage.

Strictly speaking, the 320M is more graphically capable, but not enough to outperform SB.

 

The MBP 13.3 has over heating problems as mentioned by Anand, hence the decrease in performance compared to the Compal with the quad core and HD 3000. Anand theorized it is likely due to heat throttling. Also the whole issue with Sandy bridge macbook pro's overheating also seals the deal on Anand's theory.

To make it short: The Apple MBP cannot be used as a viable comparison of the 320m and HD 3000 because the MBP will thermally handicap the HD 3000. In fact if you already saw other benchmarks which are NOT limited by the MBP's lame excuse of a cooling system, you would see the HD 3000 scoring higher.

Btw the X220=does not overheat like the MBP therefore it would outperform the 320m on the MBA. I won't even mention the vast difference in the processor speeds. In fact in just about every other scenario the HD 3000 would outperform the 320m...

Anything else, or should I continue doing proper research for you?

Please learn how to do a proper comparison, or how to do research properly.

 

From the article I linked to:

Seriously, what is with you? Why do you have to be so pretentious? I was just trying to provide a different perspective to help someone.

Please learn how to be a kind human being.

 

1. Good job. "It's my opinion therefore you can't prove it wrong" argument. Yeah I can't win there. Actually in most threads about ultra portables, if battery life is 4 hours or under, it is considered to be low in battery life. The word ULTRA PORTABLE means it can be highly portable. Not that it can just be carried constantly due to low weight but used without having to be strapped to a wall. By the way battery life is pretty darn objective, you either need certain amount of battery life or you don't.

2. Sources who have handled the laptop weigh it at 3.0 lbs with a 6 cell battery, this is a basic model. In fact the MBA is heavy for it's dimensions. It is thinner, and tapers AND still weighs as much as a thicker notebook. Lenovo's specifications: < 3.0lbs (1.3kg) That is under 3 pounds.
Also understand using an IPS panel adds to the weight, hence why certain reviewers clocked it at a higher weight. I am going to guess you are referring to a PCmag review, 2 ounces does not make sense for a 6 cell and 9 cell difference and I would know considering I have had dozens of 6 and 9 cell batteries. The weight different is quite significant, perhaps closer to around one third to half a pound, and sometimes in the case of high capacity 9 cell batteries almost 3/5ths of a pound.

3. I won't even argue with you anymore about the GPU's0. I am unsure what benchmarks you are looking at but I see them both exchanging blows on a game by game basis. Sometimes the HD 3000 beats it, sometimes it matches it, and sometimes it looses. This is however very much driver related, I am sure as the HD 3000's drivers mature we will begin to see much clearer results. I am pretty sure the HD 3000 will leave the MBA's 320m GPU in the dust once it gets much better driver optimization, something which the 320m has had plenty of time.

4. Yes heavier then an 11 MBA, but about the same weight as a MBA 13, which would be a far fairer comparison. Once again may I recommend you do your research, and do proper comparisons.

Anyways I am glad you are happy with your MBA, and somehow you and the computer are closer due to earthquakes, etc. (not sure how this is relevant, I mean I am fairly certain just about any other ultra portable would of had that same effect had there not been personal bias.)

 

1. There's nothing wrong with stating your opinion, but stating that it is essentially fact - as you did - is what I take issue with. Case in point:

There are no facts in the above statements. It is merely your opinion that because other people consider that the MBA is not a portable laptop, it is not. What makes a laptop portable or ultraportable is up to the needs of the user, and there is no right or wrong definition.

For my use, 4-5 hours away from an outlet is fine enough to make it ultraportable. For you, I guess it is not. Fine.

That need varies from person to person, which is why I feel that the importance of battery life and how it applies to a specific line of products as a whole is subjective. If it is a fact that computer A gets 10 hours of battery life, it is not a fact that the computer's battery life is enough for everyone. For some it is, for others it isn't, but it is something that is based on individual needs, and not an overarching fact, therefore I described it as subjective.

You stated that because many people think that anything under 4 hours is not ultraportable, then it is a fact that the MBA is not only not an ultraportable, but it also can hardly be considered to be portable. Your statement is based on subjective opinions about battery life, not facts.

For each person's needs, battery life may be objective. But, in my humble opinion, applying a small set of personal needs to everyone else is something that is not based on fact, hence it is subjective.

2. I was referring to the Laptop Mag article. Perhaps they got their weight wrong. Nevertheless, personally I still think it is heavy for its size.

3. My whole point about GPUs is that as of now, neither seems to be clearly better than the other. You were stating that the HD3000 was clearly better, even though, to my knowledge (and I could very well be wrong), there is no comparison available of the GPUs in the exact same hardware configuration, thus making a factual statement difficult to determine.

I agree with you, the HD3000 will probably get much better as the drivers mature.

4. I think the X220 could be fairly compared to both, but that's only my opinion. The difference between the X220 and the 11 MBA is 0.9" and between the 13" MBA is 0.8", so it's right in between the two. I don't think 0.1" makes that much of a difference, but factually speaking you are right, that 0.1" makes it technically closer to the 13" MBA.

I am sure that my brief comparison between computers on my down time is not perfect, but I still believe it is a viable, albeit general, comparison. Not everyone needs 20 hours of battery life, so I do not see the harm in recommending alternatives.

Yes, I am happy with my MBA, and yes, you are right that I'm sure any similar ultraportable would have helped me just fine during my situation here in Japan. My computer and I are not "closer", I simply have grown to like it, more so because it really helped while I was traveling and working in difficult circumstances.

Perhaps I have a personal bias because I like the MBA and it has been useful to me, and perhaps you have a personal bias to the X220 and/or against the MBA. Computers are personal choices, after all, like the clothes we wear or the music we listen to.

 

This thread is kinda getting off topic, but IMO battery life really depends on the person and how they use their computer.

However, I do have to add that ultraportables = will be moved around a lot

Chances are that if it's being moved around a lot, there won't always be a plug available.

Battery life, performance, and weight in an ultraportable factor in differently for different people. There's no laptop to rule them all.