So I have to hand it to HP. I LOVE my Envy 14.

I finally got a chance to take my Envy 14 and use it for a good amount of time tonight. Previously I had used it on and off, toyed around with it a bit, etc, but I hadn't really worked on it or done anything else extensive.

We had to run out to visit my fiancée's son, who was camping with his grandparents and got really sick tonight. Things like this always come up when you're already slammed with work, of course, so I bought the laptop with me, hoping to get a bit done while we were there. My previous laptop was an ASUS UL30A-A2 which was very thin and light and got excellent battery life - perfect for doing web design and programming while bouncing from place to place. I expected the Envy 14 to be significantly more bulky and difficult to use comfortably, just like the Envy 15 that I returned (primarily due to the shortcut keys and battery life).

After working for about half an hour, I snapped out of the coding trance and noticed how well the machine really works. It isn't too big, and the uniform thickness makes helps it to sit comfortably in my lap. The entire thing is sturdy, and the screen tilts back just far enough. The keyboard is an absolute pleasure to use, and the trackpad (with updated drivers - thanks Windows Update) works great. Best of all, of course, the screen is wonderfully vibrant and still easy on my eyes. I worked for about an hour and a half, crunched into a folding chair outside their camper with only my lap for a work space, and I would have gladly continued working for several more hours.

So, my hat's off to you, HP. Thanks for making a system that I'm more than happy to have spent $1200 on.

 

Approximately how much battery life are you getting? I take it you don't miss the battery life of your ASUS?

Or are both of these laptops serving different purposes now?

 

It's not perfect but it is indeed a great laptop.

 

I'm not 100% sure on battery life. I've done a clean install and tweaked my own power profile (maximum savings, bluetooth off, etc.) but I haven't had time to do a real test. I'd estimate (and it's a very rough estimate) about 4.5 hours, and I could probably get in the 5-5.5 hour range depending on what I'm doing.

I somewhat miss the battery life from the UL30, but honestly, if I'm going to be working for 6-8+ hours at a time I should be near and outlet anyway. I'll gladly take the better keyboard, better screen contrast, and higher resolution in trade for half the battery life any day of the week. The fact that I can game on this thing if I so choose, the fact that it has a backlit keyboard, and the fact that it has an all-metal chassis is just icing on the cake.

The UL30A went to my fiancée for college, so she doesn't have to lug her XPS M1530 around anymore. I'm out of school now, so it's not a big deal for me.

 

I love mine too, and I am also using it for web design!

 

How far will the monitor open up? Anywhere close to 180 degrees?

 

just a small question... isn't the envy 15 only .9in wider and .3in or something
deeper"

i'm deciding between the two and since youve had experience with both AND returned the envy15, id like to hear what you have to say!

 

Envy 14
14.01" (L) x 9.33" (W) x 1.09" (min H)/1.11" (max H)
5.2 lbs

Envy 15
14.96" (L) x 9.60" (W) x 1.04" (H)
5.17 lbs

 

... the Envy 15 is lighter?

 

Yeap the dvd drive is external on the envy 15.
That means an envy 14 with the ODD swapped for a SSD/HDD will be lighter than an envy 15.

 

The Envy 15 only gets something like 1:30 on battery, does it not? That alone would be enough to turn me off from getting it.

 

Maybe with an i7, but I'm certain it gets more with an i5. JJB seems to be the resident Envy 15 expert around here, and I recall him saying he got something like 3:30 after he tweaked it to his satisfaction (he has an i5-540m).

Course, I don't think you can get it with anything other than an i7 quad core anymore. So maybe it's a moot point.

 

Sorry for this post. Fail reply.

 

True, I didn't consider that I could be looking at only i7 results.

Though I agree it is kind of moot as they no longer offer an Envy 15 with Core i5 options, so you will be stuck with poor battery life. Still, the Envy 15 is the better gaming machine, since the 5830 will outperform the 5650 significantly.

 

Not as significantly as you'd think. Notebookcheck's GPU charts, 3DMark06:
Mobility Radeon HD 5650 - min: 5874 / avg: 6874 / max: 7870
Mobility Radeon HD 5830 - min: 7410 / avg: 7730 / max: 8050
Mobility Radeon HD 5850 - min: 7885 / avg: 9949 / max: 12027

So the HD 5830 is an improvement over the HD 5650, as expected, but it's not as big of a jump as HD 5830 -> HD 5850 (primarily due to GDDR3 vs. GDDR5 from what I've read). Personally, if I were buying the laptop for gaming, I'd at least get the HD 5850. Also keep in mind that the Envy 15 with the upgraded screen is 1920x1080, and the Envy 14 is 1600x900. I prefer the higher resolution myself, but it also detracts from the HD 5830's performance lead if you only take the Envy 14 and Envy 15 into account.

 

I have heard this argument before and I'm having difficulty understanding. if something runs well on another laptop at 1600x900 resolution, can't you simply run it in 1600x900 on the E 15 and get better performance and visuals? What I mean is, you're not forced to run everything at 1920x1080, and if you run it at 1600x900, it's not going to look worse than it would on another laptop that maxes out at 1600x900, correct?

 

games look significantly worse if you use a resolution that's not the native resolution of the screen is what i've heard from gamers

 

I'd still say those results are significant. The 5830 significantly outperforms the 5650, while the 5850 significantly outperforms the 5830.

Well, I suppose the best Envy gaming experience will come from the Envy 17, so if you really want maximum gaming performance, the Envy 17 is your best bet.

This is true on LCD panels. You always want to run LCDs at their native resolution. CRTs are not affected by this, but you're not going to be seeing a CRT on a laptop anyways.

 

Envy 15 suicides itself by running at 1080p, that alone puts the 5830 behind a normally clocked 5650.

That said if you don't want to game on 1080p and use an external screen like a 22" 1650*1050 the 5830 > 5650 still holds.

But on native resolutions, and to play on the laptop screen itself, the envy 14 5650@900p would still perform as good if not better than the 5830 @ 1080p. On the same topic, a 14" acer 4820TG 5650@1336*768 resolution will even perform better.

That's why I join curse in the sky in the "really not as significant as the branding supposes"

Only the 5850 is worth it if the graphic performance is the only thing leading you toward a laptop with a bigger screen.

And no, running at 1650- on a 1980- native LCD will worsen the image quality (mainly blurriness) compared to a native 1650*
The only moment LCD manages to do perfect downscale interpolation of their native resolution is when it is divided by 2. Some people don't care about the blur and can game with it, but I personally can't, since the reason you buy a higher resolution laptop is to actually profit of a better pixel pitch.
That said to be honest, between a 15" @ 1980 and a 14" at 1650, there is no real difference to the naked eye at the normal distance you'd use and look at your laptop, 1650 on 14" is already a pitch (pixel size) beyond the capacity of the average human eye. (Remember the retina display kool aid ?) rofl

 

I was under the impression the Envy 17 came with a 5850 in the base model. Am I mistaken?

 

Arn't we speaking of the envy 15 there ?
Well yea the envy 17 is 5850 which is another league (and a fit one for 1080p gaming) than the 5650/5830.

 

I was saying among the Envy line, the Envy 17 will give you the best gaming performance.

I guess it's debatable between the Envy 14 and the Envy 15, as I was under the impression the Envy 15 had a 1600x900 option (base) and a 1920x1080 option. I can see the 1080p option giving the 5830 trouble in gaming.

In terms of raw power, the 5830 is still a significant jump from the 5650.

 

Yea, but that's still "raw power" (and raw heat lol), when what matters is the actual framerate.

 

Well, again, that all depends on configuration.

If someone gets an Envy 14 and an Envy 15 with the base screen, the Envy 15 is going to win. Has anyone actually tested if the 5830 at 1080p will be slower than the 5650 at 900p?

 

The resolution gap is even bigger than from 1336 to 1650 when we were comparing the ACER and the envy 14 at gaming, and the result is without doubt, the envy 14 doesn't manage to run for example the last battlefield on high like the acer can @ 1336.

Theres a 10 to 15% performance loss from 1336 to 1650 so just imagine what the gap is between 1650 and 1980 (in pixel number... the gap is nearly twice as big as the 1336 to 1650 gap). 1000 poor points in 3dmark is not what's gonna save the 5830 at 1080p.

 

So far, I haven't had any opportunity to see the Envy 14 in person, hopefully they will get some in at the Fry's in Burbank - I would love to take a look.

With the 5830 clocked to 540/1100, I've found that I'm able to run about any 3D game i've tried at 1920x1080, all settings maxed, vertical sync on, at a minimum of at least 30-45FPS, and usually double that. The only game I noticed that sometimes dipped below 30FPS on max detail settings was Crysis Warhead.

1080p looks gorgeous on this screen. I've tried at lower resolution settings and everything still looks fantastic. I often run the HDMI out to my 1080p projector, and the projection area is about 12' x 6.75', still looks great. If there is a specific resolution that would look bad on a 1080p screen, let me know what that would be, I can try it to see if there is any significant difference.

 

Yeah, you can still game at a lower resoltion. I'm sure dropping to 1280x720 wouldn't look half bad either. I play games on my 1680x1050 notebook at 1280x800 frequently and doesn't look so bad. Some people are graphics detail elitists, but if thats the case then get the lower res screen so you never have to go less than native res.

 

Lol what? Only? If that's how you look at it, you can talk yourself into a 17.3" laptop in no time.

 

Gaming power aside, the Envy 14 is superior to the 15 in nearly every way. You'd have to pay me to go back to the Envy 15 with those stupid shortcut keys on the side. Backlit keyboard, better battery life, slightly more portable, edge-to-edge glass, easily removable hard drive, etc. There's not much I don't love. Once again, thumbs up to HP for this one.

I'm toying with the idea of removing my optical drive and replacing it with a HDD + caddy. I need to check the manual to see how difficult it is. Considering I swapped the HDD twice in the Envy 15, it can't be that bad...

 

I have to agree with you on the shortcut keys!