Envy 17 pops up on HP.com begging to be officially launched
By Joanna Stern 
posted April 21st 2010 3:27PM
posted April 21st 2010 3:27PM
[Thanks, Ali]
posted April 21st 2010 3:27PM
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@hero785 Yeah, the 5850 is an awesome card for that machine, but only because they're using the GDDR5 version.
@anexanhume
I also think they will have a slot load dvdw..that will be awesome
Larger case, means more room for cooling. That is the most important aspect of this size increase. A 15" with an i7 in it got WAY too damn hot.
@Prevacator
I agree. Here's hoping they offset the hotter components towards the numpad end so my palms can chill in peace.
my hdx18 still rides strong... but this sure I'd cool
@skyblaze
IS... not I'd
God forsaken touch screen keyboards....
@skyblaze
HDX18 FTW!!! I take mine with me everywhere I go....
anything on a new touchsmart notebook?
@bender o http://bit.ly/92WMk8
It's the TM2. It's been out since January. There were actually pretty subtle with their release, though.
@N900 That's what I thought but the guy at the store I was going to buy one told me they were going to release a new one yesterday and felt weird to me, maybe is that the TM2 is arriving in Chile and not a worldwide release. Thanks for the info though :)
now where is my Envy 14?
The wording on the specs page is rather vague when it comes to the lack of a optical drive. I agree with most posters though, that I havent used my optical drive on my current laptop for anything but a few games that have required the disc be present in the drive. Some future games like Starcraft 2 also require this as well.
HP will have to make this thing thin, cool (temp wise) and powerful before I consider purchasing it. I really liked the Envy 15 when I looked at it back when I was buying laptops. I plan to look this one over when it is released!
why are nice things always expensive?!?!?!??!!
Did they just wait to see what Apple did again first... they cocked up with the design flaws they couldnt get right...
@MVMNT do you really think they can do that just in a couple of weeks?
@bender o well it's not like the externals have changed ;)
So this is good. Make it 1080p, don't need 1200p. Put a slot loading drive, have at least 5hr battery (I wish) and sell it for
My specs
Corei7 820
4GB DDR3 1600
720 GB HDD
ATI 5850
Windows 7 HP
..I'm allowed to dream lol
Come on HP... release some nice Core i5/i7 Convertible Tablets already...
All I see is Elitebook 2740p which looks great and has everything but a decent graphics accelerator.
WAAAAAANT!
I took a look at the slightly larger product shot- it looks like they answered some prayers and removed the lame quick launch keys from the left of the keyboard. Goodbye to misfired "calculator+" shortcuts!
MacBook envy.
I'm still waiting on the Envy 14 OR better yet, an Envy 15 with switchable graphics so I can get some half-way decent battery life.
MacBook Pro Battery Life ~ 8 Hrs vs. HP Envy 15 ~ 2.5 hrs = HP FAIL
BTW if you look at the Overview page it says it comes with a 5850...
thank goodness they did not castrate it like the editor was hoping for... Nvidia Optimius in a 17" powerhouse... what a Nvidiot!
Lets face it... while nvidia has produced some nice desktop chips they have nothing faster than the gtx 280m...128sp (desktop 8800gts)
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-280m,2353.html
vs ATI 4870 800sp and now 5830 which unfortunately suffered from mobile castration... also 800sp... I wonder what the 5850 announced will have...
and I hope they offer in internal optical in trade for that second hd bay...
but for $100 I wouldn't mind an external bluray player that I would only take on trips... lighter laptop the rest of the time...
If the i5 15incher had switchable graphics, I'd be begging my parents for the cash to replace my POS already but the obvious (and completely inexcusable) shortcoming has me really hoping they get it right the third time around with the 14 and/or theoretical revision of the 15 (whichever size I like better). I'm not feeling the ULVs on the 13 which is more expensive to begin with
I really don't need a 5830 anyway so I wish they'd offer a more midrange option that's not quite as power hungrey regardless of switchable-ness. Why haven't more companies picked up on the idea of a mainstream class laptop with moderate specs, good battery, and good build quality that actually looks nice. There always seems to be one of those missing except maybe for the YouKnowWhatBook, and then you might as well be paying for a higher end one anyway :\
Totally bullshit. A 17" laptop without an optical drive! That is a complete joke. Hp could be seriously competing with the macbook pro with this laptop. But no!
Apple puts a slot loading dvd drive in every macbook pro laptop they made. Why can't hp!
@spidertaker23
My guess is that it is for heat. If they are throwing in that GPU you are going to need a hell of a heat sink. The Macbooks use the 330 which will get blown out of the water with this gpu.
Is there still going to be a slice battery option? I can see a 17in slice lasting for a day or so!
WTF, no optical drive in a 17 inch laptop? That's just stupid.
My laptop is 13 inches, weighs 3 pounds and STILL has an optical drive.
Look Apple! A NUMBER PAD on a 17 notebook.
Are you writing this down?
@demonicpascal: they can write it down on the postit blocks they can fit on either side of their mbp 17 keyboard.
@demonicpascal If the MBP had a number pad, I probably wouldn't have bought one. I find the offset layout extremely annoying, and am glad I can stay centered when typing or using the trackpad on my laptop.
I always made it a point on my previous Windows machines also. Call me quirky, but I cant stand everything being off center.
Why do these HP Envy computers cost even more than comparable Apple's Macbook lineup? I just tried to build my own. I mean, I would get it if it had better specs, but it's actually worse in some cases (i.e. graphics card). Why not get a Macbook that can run both Windows 7 and OSX rather than an Envy that can only run windows?
Do you think the 330m is better than the 5830? If you do you are wrong.
@Robert Jordan I think it's pretty obvious I meant to type "except" and not "ie"...
@Narutogrey Well I wasn't sure considering an equivalent envy is several hundred dollars cheaper to its mac counterpart. Lets say base config envy with upgrade to 2.4 Ghz to keep it fair, stock 4 gig ddr3 1066, 320 7200rpm, ati 5850, 1920x1080 and external dvd drive comes out to $1525. The base 15 inch macbook with 2.4 Ghz, 4 gig ddr 1066, 320 5400rpm, nvidia 330m, 1440x900 with backlit keyboard and dvd drive is $1799.
So I don't see how it is more expensive. Also consider HP has deals all the time, the last one with a $450 off coupon.
They put the wrong picture, that's a MacBook Pro.
I spoke with a sales rep at HP Australia. They have only two models available now, no custom orders. Any orders placed today are shipped within 10-14 days. According to this rep there is no backlit keyboard on the Envy 17 and no changes to the 13" or 15" model yet. Also they have no information regarding the Envy 14.
Here is the number for HP Australia: +61-13-0030-5017
Here are the two models available from HP Australia:
Envy 17-1001tx
i5-540M Dual Core processor (2.53GHz, 3MB L2 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 3.06GHz
6GB DDR3 1333mHz RAM (2 slots - maximum upgradable 8GB)DVD Lightscribe
640GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
no backlit keyboard
17.3 inch Brightview screen 1600x900
6-cell battery, battery life estimated 3-4 hours
1GB Radeon HD 5850 with GDDR5
USB 3.0
HDMI port
Slot loading Super Multi 8X DVD+/-R/RW w/Double Layer
AUD2699 (2,498.93 USD)
Envy 17-1002tx
i7-720QM Quad Core processor (1.6GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 2.8 GHz
1GB Radeon HD 5850 with GDDR5
6GB DDR3 1333mHz RAM (2 slots - maximum upgradable 8GB)
1TB 5400RPM SATA HDD
Slot loading Super Multi 8X DVD+/-R/RW w/Double Layer
17.3 inch Brightview screen 1600x900
USB 3.0
HDMI port
no backlit keyboard
6-cell battery, battery life estimated 3-4 hours
AUD3399 (3,147.04 USD)
I was assured by a sales rep at Fry's that the all of the off the shelf Envy 15's have 4 DIMMs and are upgradable to 16GB, so it seems strange that the Envy 17s would only have 2 DIMMs. One of these two must be incorrect. Also if they have 6GB it would seem they are using 3x2GB, so they should have at least 3 slots.
I'm also doubting this sales rep's denial of any backlit keyboard because it clearly briefly stated "backlit keyboard" as one of the features on the HP australia web pages for the Envy 17-1000 and the Envy 17-1001tx, although all those pages seem to have been deleted now
I spoke with another rep and he confirms that there are only 2 DIMM slots in these models 1x2GB and 1x4GB 1333mHz DDR3
The dimensions are 41.6cm x 27.5cm 3.1cm
(16.4 in x 10.8 in x 1.2 in)
2nd rep had some conflicting information about backlit keyboard. He asked around again and this time he was told by his supervisor that it does come with backlit keyboard, but no backlit keyboard available on the Envy 15 yet.
no slice battery available with either Envy 17 model until next month.
This rep tried to suggest that the 6-cell battery will last 8 hours (the previous rep said it would last 3-4 hours).
I have one of the new Envy15s with the matte 1920x1080 LCD, i5 540M, and 320GB HDD.
To answer some of your complains: Like a previous poster said - trackpad is just fine in fact I really like it. It can be a little quirky every once and a while but nothing that can't be easily worked around.
As far as heat goes both palmrests are only lukewarm at most while idling or doing simple tasks such as web browsing typing etc... If I fire up a game they do get rather warm but an upgrade to the SSD would solve that problem on the right side and I usually am using a mouse anyway. It has never been uncomfortably warm on the bottom through my pants.
The performance is just amazing the i5 with 7200RPM HDD, 4GB of DDR3 and the 5830. With the GDDR3 overclocked to 1100 Mhz this NOTEBOOK GPU is (according to 3DMark Vantage) equivalent to an 8800GT.
Some things I would like changed/updated: backlit keyboard, non-glossy LCD bezel, switchable graphics (would require HM55 chipset if I'm not mistaken), more USB ports spread out on both sides of the machine as well as a VGA port for doing presentations and such.
I like the external DVD drive - I hardly ever use it and when I do it's mostly on a different machine.
Better battery life - I understand in order to keep the thickness and weight down they sacrificed battery capacity but I believe switchable gfx would help in this regard
I also wish the screen would lean back a little further.
Overall I love this machine, I believe I bought the best gaming and all around laptop in this size range with this form factor for this price (with coupon $1207.00)
I am definitely interested to see what they do with the ENVY14 though
http:// h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/ua/ru/sm/WF25a/321957-321957-64295-3955548-3955548-4158863.html