HP Envy 15 Discussion

m3ta1head

m3ta1head

777
Joined
Feb 22, 2006
Messages
6,365
I know a bunch of you guys ordered this machine during the crazy $450 off sales that HP was having, so I figured we should have a central thread where we can discuss this awesome notebook.

I've had my 2nd gen (specs in sig) for a little over a week now and it has been an absolute joy to use. This is easily the fastest computer I've ever used (SSD helps a lot of course). All I've really wanted this entire year has been a slim, sexy notebook that will play BC2 and other current gen games maxed. The envy can't quite pull off BC2 maxed at 1920x1080, but 1600x900 runs quite nicely. I have my 5830 overclocked to 550/1100, which helps quite a bit in boosting min fps. Most other games seem to run maxed @ 1080p with a few notable exceptions (just cause 2, crysis). The 1080p screen is gorgeous and is total eye candy to look at. I think 1920x1080 in a 15.6" is just perfect.

IMG_5116.jpg


IMG_5117.jpg


IMG_5118.jpg


IMG_5121.jpg


IMG_5123.jpg


IMG_5130.jpg


IMG_5134.jpg


idle temps (in socal!)
temps.png

load temps
loadtemps.png


3dmark06 (550/1080)
image-441E_4BD67035.jpg


Post your experiences here!
 
Last edited:
those are nice temps...certainly much cooler than my stupid macbook pro.
 
My Envy15 just arrived this morning. I'll check it out in a few hours after work. Pretty excited to play with it :).
 
How are you getting those idle temps? Seriously cannot be right. Mine idles just where I expected at around 45C. I have the i5 430.

Anyway I'm liking the laptop. Just looking at it and picking it up it doesn't feel huge and just seems like a great size. I didn't realize how much bigger it is than my UL30VT until I set the UL30VT on top then those extra inches really show.

The quality of the laptop just feels great. I am a little miffed that it came with a couple of scuff marks on the left side of the laptop, looks like it was rubbed against something. The overall feel and texture of the laptop just screams quality built to me though. Some people have complained that there is no "click" when you close the lid, but I really like how it closes. Sure there is no latch, but it still feels like it kind of settles into a nicely closed position. It's the same feeling as closing the door on a high end german/italian car.

The 1080p display is to die for. I didn't realize how amazing a laptop display could be. A lot of people complain about the max opening angle on the lid, but I don't see this ever bothering me.

The trackpad hasn't blown me away yet. Sure overall it feels nice and now that I have the multi zone set up to allow middle/right clicks it's working better for me, but the two finger scrolling seems very jumpy and non responsive compared to my UL30VT. Also I still am bothered by the fact that I can't two finger tap for a middle click and three finger tap for a right click. Again, setting up the zones on the pad is side stepping this problem so it hasn't become a huge problem.

I got around two hours on battery life last night. That counts me rebooting the computer a ton because I installed windows 7 and ubuntu, plus all the drivers and all that. The battery life is exactly what I expected because I knew what I was in for, but I really miss 9 hours of the UL30VT. I really want to be able to carry around the envy 15 and take it to my 4 hour classes and not worry about battery life. The lack of switchable graphics is what really digs under my skin because I know I could get an extra couple hours.

Anyway those are some initial impressions. I've only used it for a few hours but I'm liking it and when I remember I only spent $850 after all the discounts it makes it easier to forgive the drawbacks. Especially considering my UL30VT was almost that same price.
 
joia said:
How are you getting those idle temps? Seriously cannot be right. Mine idles just where I expected at around 45C. I have the i5 430.

Anyway I'm liking the laptop. Just looking at it and picking it up it doesn't feel huge and just seems like a great size. I didn't realize how much bigger it is than my UL30VT until I set the UL30VT on top then those extra inches really show.

The quality of the laptop just feels great. I am a little miffed that it came with a couple of scuff marks on the left side of the laptop, looks like it was rubbed against something. The overall feel and texture of the laptop just screams quality built to me though. Some people have complained that there is no "click" when you close the lid, but I really like how it closes. Sure there is no latch, but it still feels like it kind of settles into a nicely closed position. It's the same feeling as closing the door on a high end german/italian car.

The 1080p display is to die for. I didn't realize how amazing a laptop display could be. A lot of people complain about the max opening angle on the lid, but I don't see this ever bothering me.

The trackpad hasn't blown me away yet. Sure overall it feels nice and now that I have the multi zone set up to allow middle/right clicks it's working better for me, but the two finger scrolling seems very jumpy and non responsive compared to my UL30VT. Also I still am bothered by the fact that I can't two finger tap for a middle click and three finger tap for a right click. Again, setting up the zones on the pad is side stepping this problem so it hasn't become a huge problem.

I got around two hours on battery life last night. That counts me rebooting the computer a ton because I installed windows 7 and ubuntu, plus all the drivers and all that. The battery life is exactly what I expected because I knew what I was in for, but I really miss 9 hours of the UL30VT. I really want to be able to carry around the envy 15 and take it to my 4 hour classes and not worry about battery life. The lack of switchable graphics is what really digs under my skin because I know I could get an extra couple hours.

Anyway those are some initial impressions. I've only used it for a few hours but I'm liking it and when I remember I only spent $850 after all the discounts it makes it easier to forgive the drawbacks. Especially considering my UL30VT was almost that same price.
Click to expand...


Order the slice, that should net an additional 3-4 hours of battery life. As for the touchpad, check the updated drivers to see if that improves things. It is reportedly still not best in class or anything, but an improvement over the initial drivers. (assuming the latest are not already installed)
 
joia said:
How are you getting those idle temps? Seriously cannot be right. Mine idles just where I expected at around 45C. I have the i5 430.
Click to expand...

I've seen varying reports over at notebookreviews...the reason my temps are so awesome is because I applied AS5 to the i5 and GPU while I was inside swapping in my SSD. TIM application from the factory is less than ideal...they pile on the thermal grease like they're never going to run out :rolleyes: Ideally, the 32nm i5s should run cool as hell; I also underclocked the 5830 to 50/100 for extended battery life and lower heat output.

The display is the best part of this machine. It's a very high quality 1080p LED panel with fantastic viewing angles, clarity, and color depth. It really puts other laptops to shame...I compared it to a i5 MBP today and the Envy's LCD looked significantly better. The MBPs LCD starts to bleed out at higher brightness settings....the ENVYs stays beautiful all throughout the brightness range. It's VERY VERY nice.
 
Last edited:
added my load temps to the original post, as well as some pictures of the envy itself.
 
Last edited:
Was accessing the CPU and GPU for applying new thermal paste difficult? Just curious. Do you think the 5830 mobile is comparable or even better than a 4850 desktop?
 
monkeynetman said:
Was accessing the CPU and GPU for applying new thermal paste difficult? Just curious. Do you think the 5830 mobile is comparable or even better than a 4850 desktop?
Click to expand...

It's a little slower than the 4850. It is based off of the RV840 architecture, but due to the crippled memory bandwidth it performs at 8800gt/gts level. The 5830 handles modern games surprisingly well, especially considering that it's a low power card-24w TDP. The higher power 5850 that's supposedly in the Envy 17 should perform significantly better, though.

Accessing the cpu and gpu was not difficult at all-just had to remove the keyboard panel, everything is accessible underneath. Heatsinks are pretty straightforward to take off...just remove the screws and fan headers. Read the HP Service manual to get a good idea of what kind of procedures are required. The big pain in the ass was putting everything back together-the keyboard and trackpad both have short, thin, fragile ribbon cables running from the keyboard panel to the mobo...re-inserting those ribbon cables probably took me close to an hour. I had about two inches of clearance between the keyboard panel and mobo to work in. PITA.
 
Last edited:
Last night I played with my Envy some more and now I can believe your temps, especially since you replaced the thermal grease. I've also noticed that my idle temps are quite a bit lower on battery power than when it is plugged in, and the overall laptop just feels cooler to the touch. I'm sure that has something to do with the processor being scaled back while on battery power. While I was just surfing the net and moving files around it stuck around at less than 25C while on battery. Once I plugged it in I hovered at around 35C. When I mentioned 45C for my idle temps in my last post I forgot I had the 'fan always on' option turned off. I turned it on last night because I couldn't hear a difference either way, and so the temps dropped pretty good, and now as a bonus I don't hear the fan spin up to full speed for a moment every 2 minutes.

After tweaking the touchpad last night and adjusting to it I have to say that I really like the touchpad now. The key for me was just being a bit more gentle and sensitive with it. This contrasts the the asus i'm used to where I needed to be a bit rougher with it. I installed the latest drivers as well as the scrybe drivers and I'm really liking the short cut gestures. The only thing that doesn't work well is the pinch to zoom/zoom out, which isn't a huge deal. Also with the latest drivers the touchpad cannot be tapped on if you tap it off. Pretty stupid mistake of them to break that functionality.

I'm not willing to plop down a hundred bucks or whatever it is on the slice. I don't want more bulk and weight. I have to admit I'm pretty tempted to return the 15 for the new 14. Though the 14 does have weaker video, it has everything else that I want (battery life, switchable graphics, backlit keyboard). And it starts at pretty much the same price I spent on the 15.
 
My Envy 15 (v2) has a hella overclocking GPU. Best I've seen on ANY video card, laptop or desktop. Received on Wednesday (May 5)


core/memory
500/800 stock
790/1125 stable OC :eek::eek:

that's like 58% and 42% core and mem, lol?

3DMARK06 I got ~10800 @ 1280x1024 default



Seriously, you need to do a fresh install. The factory envy 15 install redefines bloatware. Even with the dual 160gb ssd config its noticibly faster, boots in like 15 seconds from button press now :)
 
m3ta1head said:
I've seen varying reports over at notebookreviews...the reason my temps are so awesome is because I applied AS5 to the i5 and GPU while I was inside swapping in my SSD. TIM application from the factory is less than ideal...they pile on the thermal grease like they're never going to run out :rolleyes: Ideally, the 32nm i5s should run cool as hell; I also underclocked the 5830 to 50/100 for extended battery life and lower heat output.

The display is the best part of this machine. It's a very high quality 1080p LED panel with fantastic viewing angles, clarity, and color depth. It really puts other laptops to shame...I compared it to a i5 MBP today and the Envy's LCD looked significantly better. The MBPs LCD starts to bleed out at higher brightness settings....the ENVYs stays beautiful all throughout the brightness range. It's VERY VERY nice.
Click to expand...

Sounds like an incredible laptop screen. Mind if you post pics of it during operation? I need to see this to believe it.
 
How are the heat and battery life? I'm contemplating getting one of these or the upcoming Envy 14s as a replacement for my desktop. Also, I heard bad things about the original Envy touch pads, but they're supposedly fixed in the new 14 and 17 models. Did they update the 15 and 13 touch pads, or are they still the same?
 
okashira said:
My Envy 15 (v2) has a hella overclocking GPU. Best I've seen on ANY video card, laptop or desktop. Received on Wednesday (May 5)


core/memory
500/800 stock
790/1125 stable OC :eek::eek:

that's like 58% and 42% core and mem, lol?

3DMARK06 I got ~10800 @ 1280x1024 default



Seriously, you need to do a fresh install. The factory envy 15 install redefines bloatware. Even with the dual 160gb ssd config its noticibly faster, boots in like 15 seconds from button press now :)
Click to expand...

Be really curious to see what the performance difference was in vantage, that is more telling for a more modern gpu than the dated 3d mark 06.


mind trying?

The big bottleneck for the 5830 is supposed to be memory, so I suspect there should be a solid gain from that overclock.
 
*copied from my post in Hot Deals*


Goto bing.com

search laptop.

Find hp.com BCB link.

click.


This is especially a great deal for the Envy 15 (great gaming laptop, at half the size, weight and price and twice the looks of the Alienware M15x) if you choose a particular config with some seriously discount Intel SSD G2 drives. The 15 also simply has one of the best screens available in a laptop, period (I like mine better then the UXGA IPS Flexview on my old Lenovo Thinkpad T60p; way better contrast, gloosy surface is much much better for clarity and sharpness and color "pop", LED for less power consumption, brighter AND darker, faster response; not quite as good view angle, but honestly given this one has better view angle then the typical TN, and the Thinkpad's IPS was "below average" for an IPS, I have no complaints.)

Generally everything is top notch in the system, the quad core model has 4x DIMM slots for 16GB (or 32GB) ram support, USB 3.0, entire laptop (frame, shell) is aluminum/magnesium, super thin considering the specs. Even comes with "the best" Wifi card - Intel 6200 which I get an actual 150 megabit of throughput with in my apartment with an insane amount of networks and interference. Balanced "high end" gaming video yet super lower power consumption; quad core i7 support; dual 1.8" hdd support (SSD RAID!).

Oh, and my 5830 overclocks from 500/800 stock to 750/1115. Thanks to the dual SSD's mine boots Win7 fresh install (don't bother with the factory bloatware) goes from pressing power button to usable in like 15 seconds. Standby/resume is just insane - faster then most MONITORS and my LCD HDTV for sure.

The "best" configuration to get the "best" deal:
Select custom config (starting 1299.99)
Upgrade Screen to 1080p BrightView (also matte available, but contrast/view angle/sharpness will be a bit behind the glossy)
Select 320GB Dual SSD hard disk option (Dual Intel G2 X-18M SSD's!!) in RAID 0! (I get an actual 7.9 for the Win 7 Experience Index...)
Everything else standard
Yes, save everything else, as you can pop in one of the refreshed Arrandale CPU's to be released this summer and the end of this year, and/or grab some 4GB DDR3 ram sticks as the prices fall (I am seeing like $120 a stick now or less.)

1949-25% BCB = 1461.75.

Consider that those SSD's are easily good for typical market value of $410 EACH (remember the 1.8" disks are less common and thus a bit more pricey then the 2.5" variants) and you are basically getting one of the best all around lappys for $1461.75 - $820 = $642.49 (without a hard disk).


Anyways, this lappy has got me considering to sell my decked out desktop, and just keeping something around for storage / backup (WHS) It plays all my games on MAX, except Crysis, which it can play VERY decently, but lower the resolution or lower some of the options a bit.

Even the display input lag is low. Between my Samsung LCD HDTV (which is really good for an S-PVA LCD TV, but "okay" for a monitor) and my Dell 2209WA @76Hz)
 
Last edited:
Kuyt said:
Sounds like an incredible laptop screen. Mind if you post pics of it during operation? I need to see this to believe it.
Click to expand...

What do you want? Remind me and I try to get somthig once I get my hands on a camera. Please also remember that using photographs to make such display comparisons is a really bad idea. This is because differing camera settings and different environments can totally skew the view.

Let me say this, though, for you. I like it better and it really is nicer then the UXGA Flexview display (was $300+ option) on my Lenovo T60p I sold ~5 months ago. That was one of the only IPS displays available on a laptop and got the system all kinds of certs for color accuracy, etc. Highly sought after as well, of course, since they were obviosuly much better then other laptop displays available at the time.

Compared to my old Flexview, the Envy 15's 1080p BrightView (glossy) screen compares as follows:


  • Much better contrast (and yes you do notice in an environment with good lighting, especially where matte display'd contrast is killed by ambient lighting, glossy displays maintain it better as long as you avoid the glare)
  • Seriously, it just looks *better* - most of this is in the contrast.
  • Colors have more "pop" but are not oversaturated. I think this is just a contrast thing, too. I don't care about actual color accuracy, just want it to "look right" and "good," accurate to the level of my perception, and no complaints here.
  • Better response time.
  • Slightly less input lag.
  • Sharper (more pixes/area).
  • Sharper - due to being a TN and a Glossy (HP Brightview) with great surface, effective anti-glare treatment. It's also pretty scratch proof, I got lucky as I used a dirty bath towel to dry it once without thinking. Maybe I got lucky that time.
  • Display antiglare coating is excellent. I notice this by shining a bright flashlight right into the screen. You can still read it there. On a matte screen, it would completely wash out and be unreadable.
  • Both brighter AND darker (more flexibility with the LED backlights).
  • Of course it is thinner and uses much less power thanks to LED and metal case design.
  • Viewing angle is actually really good. Partially thanks to the 16:9 design, I have no issues whatsoever with contrast/color variance from top to bottom when sitting stationary normal to the screen. This is/was a common issue I have with larger TN monitors, y'know, the top of the screen would be darker then the bottom thanks to the angle color/contrast shift. Combine the fact that 1.) it has a better view angle then the average TN screen (kind of the like the MBP TN screens - I have noticed they have better then the typical TN view angle) 2.) it's a glossy, which is generally better for view angle as it preserves blacks further off axis 3.) the HP "brightview" anti-glare coating is really effective with the fact that the old IPS Flexview had only "average" or mabye slightly below average view angle for an IPS, and it comes out a wash lol. Look at it head on and its perfect, which is easy for a laptop.

My only complaint that is *kind of* related to the screen is that I do wish the screen would bend back just 5-10 more degrees. Generally not a problem, though.

Seriously, games and movies look MUCH MUCH better on this display compared to my old Thinkpad systems with Flexview screens, and probably still much better then most other laptops.

I have not noticed any problems with banding, but I will admit to not actively looking for it. Too busy playing L4D2 and Just Cause 2, and watching some blu-rays (yes, I know, no drive in the system; streaming .MKV's from my Home Server - .MKV's with original blu-ray video) and they look great. Sorry high res and small screen-1080p hater-aide drinkers, it really does make a difference. I fired up Monsters Inc. and it looked absolutely stunning with the clarity and detail, lol. It almost looks nicer then watching it on my calibrated 52" Samsung LCD HDTV (LNT5271f) which has like 2500:1 static contrast, but this is probably mostly due to the small size/high-res/sharpness effect/impression and the fact I am slightly near-sighted.
 
okashira said:
*copied from my post in Hot Deals*


Goto bing.com

search laptop.

Find hp.com BCB link.

click.


This is especially a great deal for the Envy 15 (great gaming laptop, at half the size, weight and price and twice the looks of the Alienware M15x) if you choose a particular config with some seriously discount Intel SSD G2 drives. The 15 also simply has one of the best screens available in a laptop, period (I like mine better then the UXGA IPS Flexview on my old Lenovo Thinkpad T60p; way better contrast, gloosy surface is much much better for clarity and sharpness and color "pop", LED for less power consumption, brighter AND darker, faster response; not quite as good view angle, but honestly given this one has better view angle then the typical TN, and the Thinkpad's IPS was "below average" for an IPS, I have no complaints.)

Generally everything is top notch in the system, the quad core model has 4x DIMM slots for 16GB (or 32GB) ram support, USB 3.0, entire laptop (frame, shell) is aluminum/magnesium, super thin considering the specs. Even comes with "the best" Wifi card - Intel 6200 which I get an actual 150 megabit of throughput with in my apartment with an insane amount of networks and interference. Balanced "high end" gaming video yet super lower power consumption; quad core i7 support; dual 1.8" hdd support (SSD RAID!).

Oh, and my 5830 overclocks from 500/800 stock to 750/1115. Thanks to the dual SSD's mine boots Win7 fresh install (don't bother with the factory bloatware) goes from pressing power button to usable in like 15 seconds. Standby/resume is just insane - faster then most MONITORS and my LCD HDTV for sure.

The "best" configuration to get the "best" deal:
Select custom config (starting 1299.99)
Upgrade Screen to 1080p BrightView (also matte available, but contrast/view angle/sharpness will be a bit behind the glossy)
Select 320GB Dual SSD hard disk option (Dual Intel G2 X-18M SSD's!!) in RAID 0! (I get an actual 7.9 for the Win 7 Experience Index...)
Everything else standard
Yes, save everything else, as you can pop in one of the refreshed Arrandale CPU's to be released this summer and the end of this year, and/or grab some 4GB DDR3 ram sticks as the prices fall (I am seeing like $120 a stick now or less.)

1949-25% BCB = 1461.75.

Consider that those SSD's are easily good for typical market value of $410 EACH (remember the 1.8" disks are less common and thus a bit more pricey then the 2.5" variants) and you are basically getting one of the best all around lappys for $1461.75 - $820 = $642.49 (without a hard disk).


Anyways, this lappy has got me considering to sell my decked out desktop, and just keeping something around for storage / backup (WHS) It plays all my games on MAX, except Crysis, which it can play VERY decently, but lower the resolution or lower some of the options a bit.

Even the display input lag is low. Between my Samsung LCD HDTV (which is really good for an S-PVA LCD TV, but "okay" for a monitor) and my Dell 2209WA @76Hz)
Click to expand...

Heh, how do I know if BCB kicked in?

EDIT:

Nm figured it out , thanks.
 
Last edited:
Do you know how many antennae are in there and where they are, if I wanted to upgrade the wireless card?

I was considering a MSI GX640 for a while, but I find more and more that I mostly use my laptop for media and the games I do play are like SC2 or current stuff like Dragon Age, so I probably wouldn't need a 5850. Still, the price makes me cringe slightly. Even with BCB, it just seems weird that I'm trading a 5850 for a slightly better screen and weight.

EDIT: Actually, the tradeoff is bigger than that, if I decide to go for the i5 520 and the battery slice. Plus the MSI gets a 3 year warranty. Argh. :/
 
Last edited:
Sixthsense said:
Heh, how do I know if BCB kicked in?

EDIT:

Nm figured it out , thanks.
Click to expand...

.... did you already order? It's really quick. Check your BCB account.

...HP has a really good return policy for these if they fuck it up. They can be accommodating.
 
okashira said:
.... did you already order? It's really quick. Check your BCB account.

...HP has a really good return policy for these if they fuck it up. They can be accommodating.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the heads up ,anyway for anyone looking at this deal. I think this ia a STEAL with the dual SSD's. Don't get greedy and add the HP coupons floating around with BCB. 25% is more then enough. Thanks again going to stop looking for the G73. I just ordered the Envy.
 
Jaerb4 said:
Do you know how many antennae are in there and where they are, if I wanted to upgrade the wireless card?

I was considering a MSI GX640 for a while, but I find more and more that I mostly use my laptop for media and the games I do play are like SC2 or current stuff like Dragon Age, so I probably wouldn't need a 5850. Still, the price makes me cringe slightly. Even with BCB, it just seems weird that I'm trading a 5850 for a slightly better screen and weight.

EDIT: Actually, the tradeoff is bigger than that, if I decide to go for the i5 520 and the battery slice. Plus the MSI gets a 3 year warranty. Argh. :/
Click to expand...

Upgrade the wireless card to/for what? The 6200 is top notch. I am leery of the 6300 b/c of power consumption - only consider it if you have everything in order to actually take advantage of the 450mbit.

if you need a 3rd antenna, sorry, I think you will have to manually rig one up. I think it's got 2. I know I only saw 2 plugged into the 6200 - unless there's another floating around you'd have to custom rig one up through the screen, etc.
 
Sixthsense said:
Thanks for the heads up ,anyway for anyone looking at this deal. I think this ia a STEAL with the dual SSD's. Don't get greedy and add the HP coupons floating around with BCB. 25% is more then enough. Thanks again going to stop looking for the G73. I just ordered the Envy.
Click to expand...

You're welcome. The SSD combo really makes the deal. It's basically a buy one get one free, completely insane when we're talking about G2 intel 160 SSD's. :D $550 upgrade price - 25% BCB = $412.50 for two drives. The best part, is you get the brackets/cables for the dual 1.8" drive setup, so you can sell one of the intel SSD's for cash ($380 easy) and swap in a 500gb 1.8" SATA hard disk later for storage when they are available. Best of both worlds.

It's kinda weird having SSD's in the lappy, still not used to it. I'm so used to carrying my laptop all carefully when it's on for fear of comprmising the rotating hard disks. With the SSD's it's like nothing. :eek: Not only that, but this was the last real barrier for having a full portable desktop performance, IMO. Evey thing is blazing fast, from windows to game load times and anything except "super high end graphics" gaming for the desktop ATI 5870 / desktop Fermi setups. There are/were some concerns on this system's and other HM55 and PM55 laptops performance, esp regarding 4K random read performance. It doesn't seem to have a real world impact, thankfully. Mine actually boots a fresh install of Windows 7 Professional slightly faster then my desktop with a Q9450 locked @ 3.46GHz and an Intel 80GB G2 with TRIM enabled. Also gets an actual 7.9 in the windows experience score for storage, first I've seen.The PM55 in the Envy15 seems to be a lot faster then the HM55, at least. Up next, I'm going to try and figure out why I am only getting ~350MB/s sequential read - I think its something to do with the 32kbyte stripe size...
 
okashira said:
Upgrade the wireless card to/for what? The 6200 is top notch. I am leery of the 6300 b/c of power consumption - only consider it if you have everything in order to actually take advantage of the 450mbit.

if you need a 3rd antenna, sorry, I think you will have to manually rig one up. I think it's got 2. I know I only saw 2 plugged into the 6200 - unless there's another floating around you'd have to custom rig one up through the screen, etc.
Click to expand...

Oh, it's a 6200? I thought I read somewhere that it was a 5100. That's great.
 
tybert7 said:
Be really curious to see what the performance difference was in vantage, that is more telling for a more modern gpu than the dated 3d mark 06.


mind trying?

The big bottleneck for the 5830 is supposed to be memory, so I suspect there should be a solid gain from that overclock.
Click to expand...

Actually both produced solid gains.

Vantage: P7060; 6803/7963 GPU/CPU
 
Last edited:
How long do these BCB deals usually last for? I'm really tempted here, but I'd like to hold off for the Envy 17 coming out next week if the deal is going to last till then.
 
Last edited:
hey guys, I have been wondering how HP is nowadays? I think I just have this awful stigma with them from a few years back in the vista days. Are they a good company? Is the envy a really quality product? As in sturdy and strong. Is their customer support good?

I have the same questions for Dell but this isnt the thread for it.
 
Kassem said:
hey guys, I have been wondering how HP is nowadays? I think I just have this awful stigma with them from a few years back in the vista days. Are they a good company? Is the envy a really quality product? As in sturdy and strong. Is their customer support good?

I have the same questions for Dell but this isnt the thread for it.
Click to expand...

I too am in the same boat. I used to own an HP laptop about 4 years ago and vowed never to buy from them again. However, the Envy 14 has me really intrigued. Lately, I have been shopping exclusively for Asus brand laptops, so how does HP stack up against Asus?
 
I can tell you guys only from my personal experience with my Envy 15. I recently sent mine in for a faulty keyboard and malfunctioning hardware. The Envy notebooks actually have their own, dedicated premium support line for handling RMA and returns. I was connected directly to a gentleman in Texas (no foreign call center at all), and had my RMA processed within 15 minutes. HP instructed me simply to drop off the notebook as is at a Fedex retail store, where it would be packaged and shipped overnight free of charge (yes, they even packaged it for me!) HP received my Envy 4/17 and had it overnighted back out to me on 4/19. It's scheduled to arrive today...overall it has been a smooth RMA experience, I have no qualms whatsoever. Turnaround time was excellent.

As for the Envy itself, just bear in mind that although HPs older consumer laptops are notoriously unreliable, the Envy is a premium notebook and is manufactured with that in mind. Build quality is extremely solid-it is lightweight and strong, thanks to the magnesium chassis. It is not as sturdy as the unibody MBP because it is comprised of 3 pieces of metal instead of 1, but it comes damn close. There is no chassis flex anywhere on the notebook, the keyboard is excellent and flex free, and so is the screen. It is definitely a quality notebook, you won't be disappointed with one.
 
Last edited:
Wow, sorry to see that, some bad shipping there. I think HP will take care or you. Over on Tabletpcreview.com there's a lot of people getting free stuff and discounts from HP when this stuff happens. They can treat people right from time to time.
 
heatlesssun said:
Wow, sorry to see that, some bad shipping there. I think HP will take care or you. Over on Tabletpcreview.com there's a lot of people getting free stuff and discounts from HP when this stuff happens. They can treat people right from time to time.
Click to expand...

Thing is... that doesn't really look like shipping damage if they used proper packaging.

Unless the shipper (fedex) dropped it (more then once?!?) when they were packing it, but HP should have caught that when they got it.

those marks look like a fall on to hard corners of table/concrete, lol.

edit: well, looks like a bunch of pics of the same thing... so just one fall. but definitely not a fall while in packaging.
 
okashira said:
Thing is... that doesn't really look like shipping damage if they used proper packaging.

Unless the shipper (fedex) dropped it (more then once?!?) when they were packing it, but HP should have caught that when they got it.

those marks look like a fall on to hard corners of table/concrete, lol.

edit: well, looks like a bunch of pics of the same thing... so just one fall. but definitely not a fall while in packaging.
Click to expand...

You have a point. I've ordered two machines from HP in the last 18 months, a tx2 and tm2 that shipped directly from China two day and they both arrived in perfect condition and the packing was first class but very simple, nothing elaborate. I just have no idea how this stuff happens.

I'll probably be ordering a tm2 refresh unit when they go on sale next month I hope and I'll be keeping my fingers crossed. So far HP has done me right from top to bottom on the hardware side though they have had some slip ups with some of their driver updates.
 
I can't believe they jipped out on a fingerprint reader. I've seriously been spoiled by the FPR and probably won't buy another laptop if it doesn't have one.
 
mobusta1 said:
I can't believe they jipped out on a fingerprint reader. I've seriously been spoiled by the FPR and probably won't buy another laptop if it doesn't have one.
Click to expand...

jipped? speak for yourself. I was quite glad to see one not there. I can't stand them in any laptop I've tried, and they look stupid when there with no purpose.

get yourself a webcam face rec app or something.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top