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"The Good the Bad and the Ugly" on by mtunte
Pros: Beautiful, Screen, Speed, OS
Cons: The lid design, Touch Pad, Heat, Secondary Battery, Power Supply, HP Service
Summary: The Good
The Envy is a beautiful laptop, from the packaging on through the machine?s look and finishes. It is really stunning. The screen looks fantastic, very rich and bright. The speakers sound excellent for a laptop. It is a powerhouse. I use very graphic intensive programs such as AutoCAD and CS4 and the processor has yet to use more than 30% of its potential. The keyboard takes a bit of getting used to, but it looks amazing and feels fantastic. The OS runs very well and is living up to all the hype.
The Bad
Considering the processor, heat is to be expected, but the Envy really heats up to the point where it is uncomfortable to sit in your lap. The fan, while on low, is acceptable, but when it kicks into the faster mode it is very loud. The secondary battery slides off very easily and has some connection issues. I have a vertical format laptop bag and if I put my laptop in with the battery clips facing up, the whole thing becomes disengaged just by its own weight. While using the second battery, I get some strange readings that sometimes show the battery connected and sometimes not. The screen does not have edge to edge glass. The power supply is huge (2.5 x 5.75 x 1.3 ?), and very heavy. On to more serious issues, the screen lid opens to just past vertical, actually to what I measure as 117 degrees. This is not only a problem for professionals giving presentations, but does not allow one to use the computer comfortably in your lap. This is a pretty serious design flaw, rivaled only by the nearly useless touchpad. While it has all the right ingredients like, the large size and nice feel, along with being multi-gesture enabled, it simply does not work. Navigating with one finger, while clicking with another, causes the cursor to jump wildly, meaning it is useless for rapid style navigating and selecting. I really hope this can be resolved in future firmware upgrades.
The Ugly
My experience with purchasing this laptop was very frustrating, perhaps my personal worst ever. I hope it was an isolated incident, and it is far too complicated to get into here, but in summary I had serious delays with the estimated shipping date and my only course of action involved endless loops with call centers that did not provides solutions.
Summary
I decided that I would recommend this computer to a friend, however only with the understanding that they are fully aware of its serious design flaws. I have the laptop here and am generally happy with it, although if I had to purchase a new laptop, I am torn on whether it would be this one, and if I had to go through the same customer service experience, I certainly would not. I hope this was helpful.
Post Data
After about a month of use upon startup I was greeted with a black screen and a message about a possible fan problem. The computer did not allow any sort of startup or even access to BIOS. HP?s customer service could not get it started either. I was traveling at the time and their so called Global Warranty did nothing to help me so I opened the case and discovered that the GPU fan (one of three) had a bit of resistance. I worked whatever it was loose and the computer fired up just fine, but it left me wondering why something as simple as a fan error would keep me from accessing BIOS. Speaking of which, make sure you have the latest BIOS installed because the difference is night and day. HP can and did walk me through this but only after I had more than 14 errors with the GPU. Really, this upgrade is a must and you should not wait for problems. The machine will run faster, cooler and much smoother. It should also be noted that HP did not post my abbreviated review on their site, leaving me to wonder how many other potentially negative comments have been left out. -
"Good, but not great" on by mfranz8
Pros: weight (with 4-cell battery), screen size and resolution, speed
Cons: ergonomics, external optical drive, price
Summary: Funny. I originally submitted this review for the Envy 15 on November 12, before CNET's review was posted. But because they list about six different versions of the same computer, my review was not transferred to this page. Maybe they just didn't want someone scooping their review.
Before I describe my thoughts on the Envy, here's what I was looking for in a laptop:
- weight under 6 lbs. so I can use it for business travel
- screen at least 15.0"; high definition, LED backlighting
- "cooler" running dual core processor (Pentium "P" or "SU" or equivalent)
- graphics card appropriate for screen resolution, but I don't plan to do any gaming; just spreadsheets, database development, movies & occasional photo editing
- 7200 rpm hard drive, 320 GB minimum
- 4GB RAM minimum
- Bluetooth & wireless-N card
The Envy meets or exceeds all of my performance requirements (I love the HD screen, and the processor is blazingly fast), yet I will be returning it. I made the mistake of purchasing the laptop sight unseen. The main gripe I have is with the ergonomics. When I type, I rest my wrists on the bottom edge of the keyboard base. On the Envy, this edge is designed like a MacBook--it comes to a sharp point rather than rounding off . While this makes the laptop come together nicely when closed, it makes typing for any extended length of time downright painful. MacBooks aren't quite as bad because the edge is seamless, where the Envy uses a metal shell that mates to the keyboard face.
Other bothersome design choices include limited screen tilt due to the clamshell design (it only opens to about 110 degrees) and the lack of an internal hard drive. I also turned off the auto-dimming display feature that causes the screen brightness to fluctuate randomly, and I turned off the two-fingered scrolling option for the mouse pad which was rather balky.
Since Windows 7 laptops are just coming onto the market, I hope to find a better option in the next few months. Right now there seems to be a gaping hole in the market between the thin and light 13-14" travel laptops and the 16"-17" desktop replacements. I think if ASUS came out with a version of their new UL50 that was more customizable and had a better display, I would be all over it. -
"great laptop, best wait fa next gen to tke full potent." on by aplegacy
Pros: Speed, graphics, batterylife{with extra slice, i dont realize its there.}design, especially, screen, windows 7 ultimate
Cons: NO FREAKIN OPTIC DRIVE
heats up sometime after heavy gamingSummary: A great laptop, reminds me of the first iphone. It had no video camera, bluetooth, or sd. It was stupid, but soon got straighted out. Same with the hp envy 15 I hope. I can throw heavy duty applications at it and the core i7-820qm barrels them down with ease, leaving my friends unable to even catch the virtual dust im leaving for them to eat with their macbook pros 17 and lenovo's. But laugh whenever I need to get out my optic drive. i handle graphics with ease, but when i need to show a powerpoint in school, I fumble with the extra dongle. Big disadvantages, but I manage to cast them aside with this great laptop. Battery life is great also. I use the extra slice all the time, a crazy as it sounds, it works, giving me up to 8-9 hours, regular use. I dont know about gaming, usually plug laptop in for that. im hesitant to recomment this laptop to most, so wait for next time. This laptop is a real head turner!
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"Best Resolutions laptop in the market yet, HP beat Mac!" on by n3og3o
Pros: Amazing resolutions!
Envy 13 --> got 1600x900 resolutions (where Mac MBP 13" only at (1280x800)
Envy 15' --> got 1920x1080 resolution (where on Mac MBP 15" only at (1440x900)
but Mac MBP 17" only had (1920x1200)Cons: Its Expensive!
okay design.Summary: I got both HP envy 13" & 15". Honestly, the design is okay, i still like my older MBP (MacBook Pro) with alunimum keyboard
However, the first thing that made me notice something different about this laptop is detail on the screens. I was captivated by its resolutions!! Its amazingly crispy clear!
Imagine MBP 17" its resolution put into HP 15". it would be extreme clear & detail. I'm a graphic designer, so i'm picky on this particular detail (^_^)
I dont have to say that much, go and look for yourself on the store. Look at its resolutions, it will blow you away.
HP had me at 15" with (1920x1080). Period!
Hope this will help other make decision (^_^) -
"Internals for gamers, externals for business" on by CatInAB0x
Pros: Resolution, CPU, GPU, RAM, SSD option, Aesthetic, Construction Battery Life, USB 3.0, Sound, Weight, Mouspad, Wireless Connectivity
Cons: Keyboard, Screen Tilty, Wired connectivity, Price tag (maybe)
Summary: It's a 15" laptop with internal components for gamers and external components for business professionals.
I've owned this computer since December of 2009, and have been happy with it ever since.
For a base price of $1300 you get an Intel i5-430M processor, 4GB DDR3 RAM, 320GB HDD, 1GB Radeon HD 5830, and 1366x768 resolution screen.
A good start, but if you're looking for something to last a while: an i7-720QM processor is only $400 more, 8GB of DDR3 RAM (1366MHz) is another $300, 320GB SSD is another $550, and a beautiful 1920x1080 screen is another $75 and batter slice adds $125.
Brining the final price for an incredible machine to $2,750. And worth every cent.
The screen is crisp and bright and the resolution superb, the contrast ratio is strong and the viewing angles are great. If you're looking to throw some video, game, or presentation on a bigger better screen and HDMI port is ready and able. The processor can pull even the meanest of tasks with ease, and simple tasks become nearly instant. The GPU helps makes games and videos strong and smooth with no hiccups at all, and don't tell ATI but the GPUs can easily be over clocked. The 8GB of RAM ensures you'll never exhaust physical memory supplies, I've run 3 instances of Windows 7Ultimate each conducting memory intensive tasks simultaneously and the RAM never became an issue. The SSD means boot-times are always under a minute- with my suggested configuration expect your PC to boot into Windows 7 in 35second if it's clean and 50 seconds if it's cluttered. The machines has a laser etched design that offers a comfortable tactile sensation and elegant eye-candy that is as welcome at a conference table as it is at a coffee shop. The magnesium chassis feels sturdy and there is no flexing or creaking if you're carelessly holding the Envy 15 by only a corner, it is of such solid construction that you may be comfortable playing Frisbee with it. The battery life (with the external slice) isn't really 6hrs, but 2.5hours of normal computing, if you squeeze, you can pull 3.5-4 hours out of it though. Without the secondary battery, the laptop is 5lbs and an inch thin. The mouse pad supports multi-touch, and has both left and right click without hard keys, this keeps functionality while enhancing aesthetic. The audio is IDT, but has been tweaked by HP and approved by Dr. Dre meaning it won't fill a dance hall, but it has a deep lows, crisp highs and admirable mediums. The Bluetooth 2.1 works great, and the WLAN b/g/n has great reception. USB 3.0 is fast and backwards compatible. There are 2 dedicated ports for it and another that doubles as an eSATA port. The remaining ports are Ethernet and standard (3.5mm) audio jack. The lock slot also permits you to ensure no one walks away with your beauty. There is also a convenient SD card slot at the front masquerading as a latch. The built-in IR camera and mic work great.
Unfortunately, all the connectivity ports (except the power) are on the right side of the machine, which means even if all of them are in use, the Envy 15 remains attractive. It also means some cables may be getting in each others space. Additionally having only 3 USB ports will be uncomfortable for some people, but port replicators are available if it's an issue. Of more concern is the keyboard, which has great response and a nice island design. It does not, however offer back-lighting. The keyboard also has an extra row of keys on the left side for HP quicklaunch functions, which I find worthless and annoying, accidentally hitting the email shortcut key instead of hitting the esc key is surprisingly frequent and unsurprisingly frustrating. Finally, the screen doesn't tilt very far back, which is rather disappointing if you're in sub-optimal seating. There is no built-in optical drive and many will be upset by that, but I'm rather pleased with it as that permits 3 fans, 2 SSD, 4 RAM slots, and everything else that fits into the tight 1-inch case.
Finally, many compare the Envy 15 with the MacBook Pro 15-inch. I find such comparisons demonstrate that HP is willing to be innovative and place cutting edge technology in consumer laptops, although Apple does offer time-tested advantages too.
A MacBook Pro 15-inch configured with an identical processor, 8GB of RAM (1066MHz) and 256GB SSD is available for $3,250.
We find that the Mac lacks an HDMI port and is still dependant on USB 2.0, but has a firefwire port and Mini Display port. The screen on the Mac is far inferior to that on the Envy. The Mac has switchable graphics, but is limited to a GeForce GT 330M (512MB) video card, which can't compete with the HD 4830 or 5830. The RAM is also faster on the Envy than on the Mac, the SSD is lower capacity in the Mac (but for another $650 can be 512GB). The Mac is also slightly thinner but slightly heavier. The camera isn't IR.
The Mac does offer a back-lit keyboard, built-in optical drive, and switchable graphics. Is that exchange worth $500-1,150 more? No.
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