Should I buy the Envy 14 Beats?

Ive been jumping around a lot on my decision for which laptop to buy. At first I was thinking the Envy 17 but then realized it is too big and battery life is going to suck. Then I was thinking about the Asus G73/53, then I realized Im not going to be gaming on the road as much anyways. Plus if I do, my girlfriend's Asus U50F with an i3 and integrated graphics can run SC2, WoW, and BC2 so anything else would be an improvement to that.

So now I jumped ship back to the Envy 14. Im thinking Beats edition just for the looks and price is only about $100 diff so I get a Beats headset for the road. (I got my Sennheiser PC350s at home)

There are 2 main things holding me back.
1. Brightview vs Radiance: So I guess there is no way Im getting the Radiance anymore. Is the brightview that bad compared to the radiance? I wasnt a big fan of the 13**x768 on my girlfriends 15.6in asus. How does the Brightview fair?

2. The touchpad: I played with the Envy 17 touchpad in store and it was just horrible. I was reading the thread on this. Has the tweaks helped at all?

Im looking to buy this soon. I signed up for an Amazon store card just so I can finance my laptop and getting 12 months no interest with them.

Amazon.com: HP Envy 14-1160se Beats Edition 14.5-Inch Black Laptop PC - Up to 6.5 Hours of Battery Life: Computer & Accessories

Soo tell me yes or no =D

 

I love my E14 BE, but note that it no longer includes the headphones. So, the extra $100 is basically for the different look/feel. Everything else is the same.

Edit: My bad. HP isn't selling the unit with the included headphones, but it does appear that this Amazon unit does include them.

 

These are both personal preference items, so I'm not sure how well we can help.

The touchpad is annoying, but I can get used to it.

The screen resolution, however, is unforgivable. I would never subject my eyes to 1366x768 on anything bigger than a 10-11" screen. This makes all current versions of the E14 unsuitable for my ownership. Especially for $1k+. Some folks apparently have no issue with the low resolution, but I presume they also prefer their novels to have giant, bolded text.

 

I myself have no issues with the resolution. I'm not a serious photographer or designer and it's fine for me as my main machine. My old computer had the same resolution but a 16 inch screen, so this screen actually looks a lot better to me. But then again, it is all personal choice. I think it will look better to you than your girlfriend's screen because it's smaller, but if you can I'd recommend looking at one in person. Then you can know for sure if it's a good enough screen for you or not.

Personally, I love the machine and haven't had any major problems with it. It's perfect for my needs, but since computer purchases all come down to personal preference, I think you need to see one in person if you can before deciding.

 

So where can one go to see an E14 in person (California--LA county specifically)? I'm also very interested, as various ppl been telling me I should get an E14 also instead of G53 since it'll basically take care of all my needs.

On behalf of OP and myself, TYIA!

 

I'm personally love my Envy too. The brightview screen is fine to me, it does have pretty nice colours, and the resolution isn't fantastic but it's certainly not annoying. The 5650 is also not really suited to power the radiance screen in games. But if you really want the resolution, nothing's stopping you from plugging in a bigger monitor at home, 720p is enough on the go IMO.

My experience with the trackpad is good too, although I agree the two finger scrolling is dodgy. Switch to the 1-finger chiral scroll and you'll be fine. I find the surface nice and well textured for gliding your finger across, real solid too.

The beats edition, besides the aesthetic differences, is also slightly thicker, resulting in it being heavier but cooling better, and that's about it. So you gotta ask yourself if you're willing to pay $100 extra for some black and red paint, and a worse screen.

I don't live in canada so I'm not sure where you can find them, but from my experience in Singapore you'd more likely be able to find them at hp's own dealers and support centres. I haven't seen one anywhere else.

I'd advise you to consider the G53 carefully. Sure, the specs are great but at 4kg and 2.5" thick it really borders on what's portable. Add an i7 and a power sucking Fermi to that equation and you can pretty much forget about bringing it anywhere. Might as well get a G73 in that case. The Envy 14 is a good balance of portability and power in my opinion, the acer timeline series ain't bad either.

Anyway for both of you, if you don't absolutely need a laptop now, I'd suggest you wait a while. With sandy bridge and the ati 6000 series coming up next year, your new laptop could become outdated pretty fast, and the envy isn't cheap. But if you want one right now, the 14 is a good choice

 

Sandy Bridge would be awesome but Q1 2011 usually ends up being around Feb/Mar and school would be pretty much done for me by then, which is the main reason why Im getting one.

I got the Beats cause it was going for just a little more than the normal Envy and included the headphones. I dont absolutely need the headphones as they are no comparison to my PC350s but they are nicer for me to use around school. Plus the black and red is nice =p

 

Is your eyesight really so bad you need higher resolution and blinding brightness on such a small screen to read basic text? You don't need a radiance display, you need an optometrist!



OP, I wouldn't even take the radiance into consideration right now, it's not an option on any Envy so there is no reason to even consider it. If you've decided you want a beats edition E14 pull the trigger, they are great machines, you likely won't find something better for the money. The brightview is a great display, naturally not as nice as the radiance but if you get a chance to see one in person you'll realize most of these guys are just trying to justify their purchase to people who could live without the radiance. It wasn't a deal breaker for me, I ordered my BE E14 while the radiance was still an option *gasp*, as did many others.


Dookie, any retail store that carries HP's will have one with a brightview screen. I went to best buy, they had an E15 on display there with the brightview, looked just fine to me!

 

The ability to read small text on a high res screen is a mark of good eyesight, just to clarify.

Anyway, I prefaced by saying that it was a personal preference item, so you can untwist those panties. I simply hate having to scroll as much as a 1366x768 resolution requires for even basic browsing or document viewing, but I'm glad it's an option for those who do not mind it.

 

It's not that the regular Brightview screen is terrible, in fact from what I have seen in stores its slightly better then the average display in that class. The problem has always been that the Radiance display is one of the best displays on any PC laptop so it's a huge drop in quality compared to that.

Personally speaking in my case without the Radiance display I would have gotten a dm4 although I hate that it's the only HP dv/dm laptop without a backlit keyboard option.

 

yea yea, it was a very poor joke , but comparing the brightview to a large print book is more than a bit over the top. And I find it amusing you think my mood was even slightly affected by your comment . Anymore I actually find it funny how much trouble some of you guys go to in an effort to make the brightview look bad. It's a great standard display, sure the radiance is better but it's not even an option anymore so why make a fuss about it if someone is already interested in an E14 without it?

I am glad you like your radiance though, I did think about it for a minute before making my choice but ulimately decided it just wasn't worth the extra money AND I preferred the beats edition styling.

 

About as over-the-top as suggesting everyone who likes the Radiance is just talking it up to justify spending extra money. And I sincerely hope no one here gets upset about stupidity they read on the internet. That said, I don't know why you're seemingly on a mission to suppress negative opinions regarding the low-res Brightview. I'm glad you like your screen, but you seem just as critical as the critics you criticize.

I returned my E14 (w/ Radiance), actually. With new hardware on the horizon, now is honestly a bad time to buy one if you can hold out for a few more months. Most of the Envy's internals are at the end of their product lifespan, and hopefully that will give HP enough time to work out a suitable screen solution.

 

When that time comes Ill look into selling my Envy if I feel its worth it. Few more months time for me is harder as I'd be more than half way done with this school year by that time.

 

Exactly, you don't ever "hold out for a few months" on hardware because it's constantly changing and changing so fast. You buy what you need now, and this buyer clearly wants a laptop ASAP. I can "hold out for a few months" until Sandy Bridge comes out. By then, I can then "hold out for another few more months" until Ivy Bridge comes. I can hold out even longer for Haswell, so long and so forth.

On the topic of the Beats Edition, I'd also like to add that it comes with a higher base processor than the one on the regular Envy 14 CTO (i5-560m vs i3-370m), so you may want to factor that in to the price as well. Hope that helps your decision a bit.

 

That's just silly.

That, however, is absolutely fair. Enjoy the machine.