HP Envy 14

[fenrisx]

I'm almost ready to get this laptop.. Just have to wait for fall semester to start(student money).

I was pretty psyched about it because I can get 10% off with student discount. Plus my laptop is really old, and has seen better days. Then I remembered something about Bing cash back.. which would give me 30% off! But they're no longer doing it! I found info saying sometimes early in the day it'll show up on Bing. With that much of a discount I could really spec out the laptop for a reasonable price.


Anyone seen these in person? I've read review after review, and videos galore on youtube. I can't wait...

[Crinale]

I think one of the guys on here just bought one a month or so ago... i cant remember who though. He got it with dual SSDs, 16gb ram, etc :thumbup:

[fenrisx]

Ah nice...

I wish I could have been in the market a month earlier. Bing was doing 30% cashback. I configured the 14 I want out with the fastest i5 they offer (skipping out on i7 for battery sake), 6gig ram, and a SSD.. was like $1908, but cash back on it was nearly 600$. They stopped that on 7.31.2010 from what I read. Someone said that offer still pops up early in the day sometimes.. so I'm hoping I see it once I have the $$.

Otherwise I'll be using my 10% student discount... no SSD..and 4gig ram. Still sticking with the core i5-520 though.

[Cebby]

I have the Envy 15. Slightly different animal than the 14, but I'm sure pretty similar. What do you want to know?

[Crinale]

ah, it was you Cebby.. i knew i remembered reading bout someone getting an Envy.. :-P

[fenrisx]

I have the Envy 15. Slightly different animal than the 14, but I'm sure pretty similar. What do you want to know?


Does your have one of the radiance screens? How do you like it? It's going to cost $300 extra for a that option, but I really want a good screen.

Does the 15 have the 'beats audio'? The reviews say it's pretty good.. but do they just mean it's good for a laptop, or does it actually sound good?

[Cebby]

Yes - I have the radiance screen - for normal use it's way too bright (I have it turned way down), but it has plenty of brightness to use outside in sunlight.

I didn't get the Beats Edition (only could get up to 8 gb ram), but mine has the Beats audio. It sounds OK - much better than my old one. It's good for a laptop, but didn't knock my socks off - they are small internal speakers... The one thing that's annoying is that the HDMI out (audio part) doesn't get loud enough on my external monitor when using it's speakers, so I've reverted to either using the laptop speakers or headphones.

[fenrisx]

Yes - I have the radiance screen - for normal use it's way too bright (I have it turned way down), but it has plenty of brightness to use outside in sunlight.

I didn't get the Beats Edition (only could get up to 8 gb ram), but mine has the Beats audio. It sounds OK - much better than my old one. It's good for a laptop, but didn't knock my socks off - they are small internal speakers... The one thing that's annoying is that the HDMI out (audio part) doesn't get loud enough on my external monitor when using it's speakers, so I've reverted to either using the laptop speakers or headphones.


That's kinda nice I guess. Even when not in direct sunlight this screen is hard to see sometimes. I have to turn slightly away from the window.

Oh, yeah that's what I meant. I didn't know if the 13's and 15's had 'Beats Audio.' I've got no interest in the actual Beats Edition. I figured they weren't 'that' great. I'm sure there a step up from the ones on my current laptop though, so that's nice.

Were you able to do the Bing CashBack on yours? At one point near the end of the BCB program it was @ 30% cash back for HP's website. If that was still going on I would definitely grab an SSD, but now I'm just going to stick with the smallest HD option, and upgrade to SSD later. Same with ram.. going to just keep the 2x2gb, and upgrade to 2x4gb later. I shouldn't need that much.. so I should be good on that front.

[Cebby]

I know someone who works for HP, so I got it on their EPP.

To change to SSD from regular drives, you'll need some sort of bracket (and cable?).

Search here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-envy-hdx/

[fenrisx]

Dang, that's nice. How much is the EPP?

[Cebby]

I think it worked out to only about 20% off. I thought it would have been more, but it was certainly better than no discount. The more I use this thing, the more I like it, so I'm happy.

[fenrisx]

That's cool. I need to befriend someone who works at HP, lol.

My educational discount is 10% which certainly isn't bad. Works about to roughly $150 off my build.

I've still have another 8 days of waiting before I can order. I'm now having a hard time justifying the purchase. I can get a HP DV6tse for $200 less, and get a bigger HDD(500 vs 320), more ram(6gb vs 4gb), same gfx card, and a core i5-540m(vs i5-450m). Plus, although it's the same GFX card, the one in the Envy 14 is underclocked from 550mhz to 450mhz for some reason. The downside to the DV6 is the 1366x768 resolution. The Envy 14 has a 1600x900 radiance display which not only is a higher resolution, it also has a really good color gamut.

If it weren't for the Envy 14 being smaller, and having a better display I wouldn't be having this problem. It'd be the DV6tse hands down.

[fenrisx]

Going to be ordering it tomorrow!

[Crinale]

:thumbup:

[fenrisx]

Says it'll be built by the 21st. Most people on the Notebook Review forums have typically been getting there delivered a a few days before the built by date. So hopefully I'll have mine by next week!

[fenrisx]

So, as mentioned above, I ordered the laptop a few days ago.

Then yesterday I read about HP 'refreshing' the 14 in October. New 'hingeless' trackpad to replace the current. Rumored core i5 updates. Currently the fastest i5 you can order it with is the i5-520m. Someone is saying they're going to start offering the i5-560 or 580m thats coming out.

Theres one issue about the Envy 14 that made me consider the purchase twice..and that is the ATI 5650 that comes clocked at 450mhz, whereas most laptops with that are clocked at 550mhz, and are able to overclock up to 650mhz range.

Hopefully, for people who will be buying the Envy 14 in the future, they start shipping with the properly clocked ATI 5650. As for me.. if that does happen I will be rather disappointed and my try to get my replaced with the proper one.

[fenrisx]

I've had the laptop all of 6 days now, and I mus say it's quite nice. I have one issue with the one I received, which is the trackpad makes a noise when lightly tapped... almost as if the trackpad is loose (although it doesn't move to indicate it is loose). Also, the left click is noticeably louder than the right. If I press firmly in the top-right corner of the trackpad and then left-click it sounds right.

I'm going to exchange it for another and hope for the best with that one. I'm going to wait til near the end of my RMA period in case they release the Envy 14 with the hingeless trackpad by then.

Otherwise it's all good!