Waiting for Envy 17 3D SB thread

The standard Envy 17 allows you to select a FHD (1080p) display as an option, and it appears to me that this option will remain (when the non-3D SB flavor is released). I say that only because it looks to me that HP made no changes to the display itself in the SB 3D.

that said, I honestly cannot tell from the manual if there is a difference between the 3D display and the 1080p display in the non-3D Envy. It could be the same exact 120Hz panel (3D just alternates frames and switches the glasses at the same time, so the "3D" panel will be very very good in 2D as well) But I will say that when I spec'd out a 1080p non-3D Envy 17 last month, the price was the same as the 3D version -- who knows if that will continue to be the case; I'm waiting awhile to find out ,as I don't really need 3D either.

Consider that 120Hz panel is required for 3D, and that might benefit 2D motion as well...just a thought

 

Go to the product demo > details > click third image and hover over one of the circles. It should look like this:



I have a feeling they will take the coupon but will not apply it to an EPP order where I can get an additional $166 off. But that's probably asking too much anyways.

 

no mention of improved Beats, that I'm aware of. std fare I think...

exactly right; the software does all those things. whats of particular interest to the Envy 17 gamers is whether or not the fancy fan controller is enough to cool this puppy down, or if additional work such as venting, heat pipes, etc, are included in the new version.

 

mcchea: great! (on the 1.4) my wife tells me all the time I don't notice things... lol thanks

 

yea they rarely allow coupons on top of EPP, but it doesnt' hurt to ask

 

sorry for the multiple posts guys -- but just to keep us from taking great leaps of presumption here; I for one am still at only 80% confidence that this is the January 4 Envy 17 3D. I just wanted to point out that (as mcchea mentions) the DV7 guys are finding that the product demo (for the DV7) does NOT match the product that is actually being sold. HP updated that content apparently by mistake (or not..). So we need to hang on here for confirmation as to what Envy 17 3D product is actually being sold -- is it the one described by the product demo? we hope so but lack final confirmation.

 

Well I plunged on it and the estimated delivery date is march 18 so I'll probably get it in a few days after march 18. So if the info is still not updated by the time I got it I can check to confirm if the SB envy 17 3D I bought is the one that was announced during the ces

 

sweet! way to toftt; anxious to hear your reports!

 

Hey can someone provide a link to that cNet article just we can know what exactly we're waiting for them to confirm/match?

 

I have my list, lol -- you're saying there is a cNet article that talks about confirming and matching actual to promised specs?

oh, and btw I've got an HP rep telling me he will confirm via email what the product actually is and how it compares to the "product demo". don't hold your breath, but this might be interesting

 

I think I'm in the market for the new Envy 17" 3D notebook. Question for those that have owned one: Does the bottom of it get hot like an MBP? Ideally I'd be using it on my lap often. The 2630qm, 8GB ram, 3D display, and 3 yr warranty config comes out to less than $2k which seems like a pretty decent deal. Any known issues with these notebooks?

 

Well if they use the old design style, there are several.

1) Heat due to bad cooling design (only one fan cooling everything).
2) Underclocked GPU's
3) There are few batches released with bad build quality.

Then again, this applies to the Clarksfield/Arrandale Envy 17 3D's. However, based on information we are given, if they don't change the chassis for the new refresh, those are the top three problems to look out for.

 

So basically heating issues. How hot was the CPU/GPU getting on previous clarksfield systems? I am pretty good with modding systems so I should be able to do something about the heat.

 

bad build quality == fit/finish. I've heard of some case panels that bulged up without seating properly

 

If you look at the Envy 17 Owner's Lounge, temperatures could hit sub-90 C.

Also, you could mod the Envy 17, but I can tell you that the space in therefore modifications is limited and a pain to do (even getting new TIM is a chore by the looks of people opening to the HSF), unless you are willing to cut metal or something to make more ventilation openings or something.

 

during the first few days/weeks.
now after 1 month of quite a lot of gaming for testing (bfbc2, fc2, cs:s - all maxed as far at they remain playable; crysis & assassins creed series next week), my temps are around 80°C as soon as i tab out and check them. after less than a minute they fall to around 70°C.

 

exactly. and this is why it is so important for us to note the following:

1. the Sandy Bridge model has an even stronger GPU, and when using it we can expect just as much heat, imho.

2. Even the Sandy Bridge processors themselves (particularly the i7s) will still generate copious amounts of heat

3. HP's thin and light case design is a piece of awesomeness, for this level of performance in a laptop. but this creates a challenge for heat removal, and I don't see any significant changes to the case itself (yet. TBD) in this regard

And given the above, when we consider the total amount of heat that needs to be disapated (just energy in vs energy out), and the capability inherant in the forced air system, one has to ask: is a fancy fan controller (CoolSense. in SB ENvy 17) enough to keep things cool?

 

I mean the cNet January 4 article that talks about what the SB Envy 17 should be?

 

Uhm, mcchea, you think you might be able to kindly share this $500 coupon code? Or is it only because you had the defect? Guess then its only a one time use for you....hmmm

KJ

 

I think he mentioned somewhere it was because he had the defective dv7 that's why he was given the 500$ coupon as a compensation

 

ahh -- yes to compare what HP promised with what they delivered. For that we ignore blogs, rumors, and sites that get paid on page hits instead of accuracy and turn directly to the January 4 HP press release itself

The above is where I get my list from:

• After describing HP CoolSense Technology as the combination of (1) usage detection (2) strategically placed vents and (3) a fancy fan controller, HP then states that the Envy 17 'now has it'. So to verify this we need to know if the SB Envy has different venting, auto detection based on accelerometer, and if it as HP Thermal Assistant software. But more than that we need verify that running temps are controlled under heavy use.
  
• Without distinguishing between the 3D and the non-3D flavors, HP said the Envy 17 gets AMD switchable graphics with the Radeon 6850. So I want to know if the SB Envy 17 in fact has this card, and how well it automatically switches to on-chip graphics when playing non-3D, non-DX11 content.
  
• HP said that the Envy 17 is getting WiDI. So we need to test that
  
• The product demo says HDMI 1.4, USB3, and gigabit ethernet, so those need to be verified
  
• The product demo says DDD TirDef 3D Experience Ignition Game player is included, even though the press release did not commit to this except in "future models". so is it there is is it not!
  
• The product demo says 1600 MHz RAM so that needs to be verified (might only be available with the 28xx processor)

 

by the way, does anyone find it odd that the standard Envy 17 is now claiming to have CoolSense, 1600MHz RAM, HDMI1.4, WiDI, and USB3, even without Sandy Bridge Processors? go check out the product demo-- its changed, and its not just a duplicate of the ENvy 17 3D either

 

Heck, I can't even get the demo to load! Whenever I click the "demo" button, it opens a blank second window, which then closes (in IE9) or just sits there (in Firefox 4.0).

 

It has to open a popup to work, so if you have any blockers of any kind, it won't.

 

They didn't give anything to me because of the defective dv7 I bought. The time I bought it there was a $500 of $1399 coupon available. I believe I found it via Slickdeals.

 

For those that opened up the Envy 17: Is the CPU heatsink held down by spring loaded screws? If they are, then a CPU retention mod to increase the force of the heatsink on the CPU may be key to bringing down temps dramatically. We've done the same for the M17x-R2 with fantastic results although it can be a dangerous modification if done wrong (will crack the CPU die and/or destroy the mainboard). Furthermore, if the GPU is not integrated and has it's own heatsink, a retention mod can be done for that as well.

I'm almost certain that I'll be getting this new release since I have no interest in buying the new Alienware M17x-R3 or Asus.

 

That's the strange thing: it DOES succesfully make a popup, but it's empty, and it closes itself automatically.

 

Anyone have any idea if this will support SATA III? I kinda doubt it will, but I'm going to be installing my own SSD. If it will do III I don't mind springing the extra for a Crucial (Or maybe a Vertex 3 when they are out).

If HP doesn't publish this info, is there any way to tell using a system utility (short of plugging in a SATA III drive and running a benchmark) ?

 

Just got off the phone with HP Resolution Center. They wouldn't apply the $500 off coupon I used to buy the defective dv7 to the new Envy 17 3D I wanted. Apparently it can only be applied to HP Pavilions, which makes sense I guess. The HP rep said she would be happy to apply it to the "new" dv7 that just came out and I basically told her I would if they were actually the refreshed dv7 illustrated in the product demo. She had no idea what I was talking about so I asked to speak to the supervisor. Turns out she was the supervisor, or at least she said she was. The best she would offer me was 10% off the Envy 17 3D which would be no where close to the $500 off I wanted so I hung up and called again, hoping to get a different person. Of course I got the same person. So I'm just going to wait until the new, refreshed dv7 come out. I was really hoping that because of the whole Intel Sandy Bridge ordeal they would compensate me a bit.

Edit: Got it!

 

Scratch that! Just called again for the hell of it and got a different HP rep named Nancy. She quickly applied the $500 off coupon after verifying with a supervisor (wonder if it was the first HP rep?) and even applied it to my EPP order! Came out to just a little above $1000.

 

1) GPU is Integrated (HP doesn't do MXM on any consumer laptop).
2) GPU vBIOS is locked within the main BIOS. Don't expect to do any voltage tweaks the traditional way. In fact, no one has yet modded the Insyde UEFI to even get access to the vBIOS. (If someone did, I am sure everyone who have the Envy 15 would overclock their cards back to ATI stock reference clocks by now).
3) Based on my Envy 15 days, the screws are NOT-Spring Loaded, but they are Captive for my HSF. I believe the Envy 17 retains that system as well for its crappy HSF setup.

 

In case you guys haven't seen this video, an HP product manager talks about the first HP store opening up in Vancouver, BC . The new DM1 and Envy 3D are discussed. Lookin' good!

YouTube - HP Store opens in Vancouver on UR

 

dam that's an awesome deal o.o
I wish I had that 500$ wow. I am jealous LOL
If I have that 500$ coupon mine will only be $1400 :'(

 

Cool...I enjoyed the vid.....but wish they talked more about the specs of the Envy 17 3D SB but of course they did not.

By the way....was it obvious to everyone what HP is doing? Yeah....Apple store, now HP store! hahah, I don't care if Apple had the store first, I think it would be amazing to go to my local mall and play with the Envy's and other HP stuff in the HP store, MOVE OVER APPLE!

KJ

 

Great deal!

EDIT: Does the E17 support switchable graphics?

 

Wow! Your persistence paid off in a big way. Kudos and I hope your new Envy serves you well.

 

FYI. Alienware M17xR3 is availabe for order now. Just ordered one with 6970m GPU. I can't believe I spent more then 2x on it than my original Envy 17 3D. The Envy 17 with a discount is a GREAT DEAL. The Envy 17 without a discount is still a good deal!

 

I wish I had a dollar for every time this comes up YES YES YES YES

did I say yes? I did say that. yes! For non-3D, non DX11 content, the most recent Sandy Bridge Envy 17 automatically switches between 6850 GP and on-chip graphics. no one has verified this behavior yet, of course.

 

dude! nice work I am so jealous. Holy herefords you got a screaming good deal. for that kind of deal I would have added more HDD space and configured 8 GB RAM. did they tell you how close the product you purchased will match the details in the demo or did they recognize that hp's content is totally messed up and inconsistent?

 

right? What mcchea did just proves what many of us here on NBR HP threads have learned in the past months.... persistence with HP reps, be nice, oh, and did I mention persistence? LOL... yeah, they are only human..they have ideas/feelings/a life-meaning personal issues too....maybe they had a bad day? Not to drag it out, but you see the point. You keep trying and you will eventually find a happy go lucky rep who is willing to bend over for you. Excellent!

Just for this I intend to stick with HP, and their sexy Envy, and their Envy customer support, 2 year warranty, shall I go on? Ha

P.S. This is why I'm gonna try my darnest when I order the Envy 17 3D SB edition...I'll try to at least get the $300 off like vizz got. I still feel burned that I thought the $150 off the rep gave me months ago when I first ordered the regular Envy 17 3D was nice...never again! I want the BIG SAVINGS! lol

KJ

 

It would be nice if people posted how they got their big savings (barring any mistake on HP's part that allowed a super coupon to be issued). I've tried playing the game with them before and I could never get anything more than $50 off or whatever coupon I could find myself on the web. I guess I'm not that good at manipulating them even though I was informed about the deals their competitors were toting (they just told me to buy their competitors products).

The only thing that does seem to work is to call in an RMA and they will usually offer you some money to keep the laptop. At least with an RMA, you can go through the entire process and once it's eventually issued, you just choose not to send it back; so its no real risk to you to manipulate all you can during the process.

 

cam121, good idea. When I order mine, I'll be sure to spill the beans as to how I got my deal. Hope its a good one since I don't plan on being suckered this time.

KJ

 

You will recall that I was the guy who posted the item about the HP sales rep promising to call me back at the end of February when the Envy 17 3D would be available with the 2nd gen Intel Sandy Bridge. He called on 2/28 and I ordered the system below. I haven't seen any verification that the new Envy will have WiTV, or 1.4 HDMI. However, the AMD Radeon website says that the HD 6850M supports HDMI 1.4a, so I would assume that new Envy will have that port. The 6850 also supposedly supports DisplayPort 1.2 which doesn't do me much good at the moment because my dual HP 2710m 27" monitors don't support DisplayPort 1.2 (too new).
I pulled the trigger on the new Envy after looking for some coupons, but only found one for $50. I did buy a 4-year CarePack reduced from $399 to $299. I paid $399 for the CarePack with the original Envy 17 3D that I had to return in January, so waiting for 2nd Gen did save some $$.
My first Envy 17 3D had dual 7200 RPM 500GB HDD, but that wasn't an option on the new system. My IT guy will therefore install a second 640GB 7200 RPM HDD when the new system arrives.
I'll have to once again loan my software - MS Office Pro, Adobe CS5 Master Suite, LoJack, Norton, etc., but at least I'll be up and running again soon.
Overall HP's return policies, support, and customer service are great in my experience - another reason to buy HP.

HP Envy 17 3D customizable Notebook PC
* • Genuine Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
* • No Additional Office Software
* • 2nd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2820QM (2.3 GHz, 8MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 3.4 GHz
* • 1GB Radeon(TM) HD 6850M GDDR5 Graphics [HDMI]
* • 8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
* • 640GB 7200RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
* • One 6-Cell and One 9-Cell Lithium Ion Battery
* • 17.3" diagonal Full HD HP 3D Ultra BrightView Infinity LED Display (1920x1080)
* • Blu-ray player & SuperMulti DVD burner
* • HP TrueVision HD Webcam
* • Intel 802.11a/b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth(R)
* • Backlit Keyboard
* • Adobe(R) Photoshop(R) Elements 9 & Adobe Premiere(R) Elements 9
* • HP 3D Active Shutter Glasses
* • HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope

Estimated build date: March 21, 2011
XW930AV 1 $2,264.99 $2,218.16

 

cam121 -- I'm all for sharing; this is a great suggestion. I just wanted to offer a note of suggestion on this point. First of all (just to make sure on this point) EPP coupons or related information is not to be shared in this forum (read the rules), although I do realize no one is asking for that. EPP aside you need to be able to convince the HP rep that you are unique in some way and not subject to standard pricing. most of the good deals you see described recently are associated with the SATA disease fiasco in some form or another, or perhaps some support experience. But, perhaps like you, I'm not unique and I'm not in the middle of a bad support experience, so std pricing will typically apply, and I expect discounts will be small.

as for manipulating the process, we probably don't want to start another ethics argument, but I persoanlly choose not to do that (like faking a return, or purposefully damaging a laptop and then sending it back during the return period). So I won't be an advocate for deliberately manipulating any HP policy beyond its obvious intentions.

 

good point! if I get the vibrations that it would be of interest, i"ll re-post the rumor roundup and capture this point, which was on the verge of being busted

bingo. you can configure a pair of 5400 rpm drives, and you can add an SSD to a 7200 rpm drive, but you cannot configure two 7200s. This is a clear signal to me that HP is concerned about heat, and this move by HP is part of their strategy to control it.

 

Caution?

To use Intel's WiDi on the Envy, you need one of the following WiFi cards/technologies:

Intel® Centrino® Wireless-N 1000
Intel® Centrino® Advanced-N 6200, 6205, 6230, or 1030
Intel® Centrino® Advanced-N + WiMAX 6250 or 6150
Intel® Centrino® Ultimate-N 6300

I don't see any options for those when configuring a Sandy Bridge Envy 17 3D so this causes some concern for buying an Envy if you planned to use WiDi too.

Source:
Intel Wireless Display

 

nice catch/way to be precise! imho, the lack of choice means there isn't a choice, because HP is only building Envy 3Ds with the right card . It is certainly not intuitively obvious, but according to the legacy Envy 17 manual, the only Intel card supported by either the 3D or the std flavor is the Intel 6200, and this has been the case since the product was introduced last year. Therefore, since the only choice for today's Sandy Bridge Envy 17 3D is the Intel a/b/g/n card, I do believe this refers to the 6200, unless they are now using one of the newer cards in your list.

I think we can have confidence here that WiDi will work

 

ITs been 10 days, and I got vibrations to update the Sandy Bridge rumor roundup

summary: HP broke silence on 27 Feb, with the availability of thy SB Envy 3D, although the hp.com content describing it is still very inconsistent. There Still no word on the std Envy 17, although this one (according to the product demo) appears to have been refreshed with "everything else" except Sandy Bridge!

credible: the information makes sense and the source appears credible
plausible: emerging information that may strengthen in credibility over time
not credible: the information is inconsistent, no references have been cited, and/or the source has not demonstrated credibility
busted: The weight of evidence indicates that the information is false

dlleno and Killa Joe have suggested, based on the strength of facebook comments by Molly Athp, those coming from the HP Sales call center, and based on how the Dv7t-quad was introduced, that we should hear from HP on or before 2/15 and that products could be available in some U.S. retail stores by the following weekend and available for online order by February 20. status=busted. this rumor apparently got bit by the SATA disease

timcfox reports that a sales rep has scheduled a purchase callback for February 27, which implies that the SB Envy introduction could occur over that weekend instead. status=confirmed!. HP started accepting orders on 2/27, and timcfox got a call back on 2/28 to order his.

several NBR members have speculated that the SATA disease will not affect the ability to order a SB Envy by end of february, but that delivery may be pushed out. status=confirmed! Orders were accepted on 2/27 with first ship dates approx March 21st.

NBR member andyguk has learned from the HP Store UK that they do not expect an SB refresh "within the coming weeks or months". and also mentioned that the U.S market is "more advanced in trialing newer products". The implication here is that some countries may lag the U.S. in new product intros and that the non-US countries may in fact be later than February. status = confirmed. I loaded up the hp.com uk ordering page and the SB Envy 17 is not available

charlesspivak and dlleno have speculated that HP might add features (maybe a new click pad?) to the Envy 17 beyond those announced on January 4 – perhaps by making use of the forced delay relating to the Intel SATA disease status= confirmed. HP released the hardware described on Jan 4, but it appears that they added the TriDef Ignition gaming software, which was supposed to be "on future models" I guess the future is now. no knew wow hardware though...

 

Awesome news all around. Also I may be missing something, but I just checked out the new specs on the m17x and except for better hard drive and memory options, it didn't seem to have anything the Envy didn't when both were maxed out...except the m17x was over $300 more. Am I just blind? I remember a few years ago the alienware was more expensive and HP couldn't even touch their specs. This may confirm me getting an Envy after all

 

I guess there is a difference between faking a situation to extort better pricing versus haggling to get a fairer price. A lot of manufacturers increase prices in order to give discounts. Coupons have been part of our society for generations. Even with a heavy discounts and coupons, most companies are still making a sizable profit margin to cover costs. Chances are very high that these computers are shipping from china with material costs cheaper than what it takes to market a single laptop and/or pay a sales rep to sell one. For example, you don't just walk into a car dealership and pick out a model; instead, you haggle with them to get better pricing or eventually you tell them what you are willing to pay and they'll usually try to meet you in the middle if they want your business.