Need a New Laptop, ENVY 17?

Are you upgrading to the Envy? I'm sorting out hard disks. If i get a momentus xt hybrid for booting, i'll officially own 5 laptop hard drives and I'm not sure how i'd like to configure them.
 
KnoxHotch said:
Are you upgrading to the Envy? I'm sorting out hard disks. If i get a momentus xt hybrid for booting, i'll officially own 5 laptop hard drives and I'm not sure how i'd like to configure them.
Click to expand...

I haven't decided yet. I like the Envy 17 a lot. Love the fact it has dual hard drives. And I would be really happy putting a couple of SSD's in there to maximize speed. But I also think the I/O connectivity is kinda weak. I don't use the Expansion slot on my Sony, but it's kind of nice to have if I do ever want to do something. I think the HP having the eSATA is what is really pushing me to that way though. I may even go for the 3D full 1920x1080 screen just cause I can. I think I will go for the HP.
 
This is probably what I would be looking at:

Operating system Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-740QM Quad Core processor (1.73GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) w/Turbo Boost up to 2.93GHz
Graphics card 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) HD 5850 Graphics [HDMI]
Memory 6GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
OS and recovery media System Recovery DVD with Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
Hard drive 800GB 7200RPM Dual Hard Drive (SSD 160GB + 640GB 7200RPM)
Office software No Additional Office Software
Primary battery 50% OFF! One 6 Cell (standard) and One 9 Cell (over-sized) Lithium Ion Battery
Display 17.3" diagonal Full HD HP 3D Ultra BrightView Infinity LED Display (1920x1080)
Primary optical drive Blu-ray player & SuperMulti DVD burner
Personalization HP TrueVision HD Webcam
Networking Intel Wireless-N Card with Bluetooth
Keyboard Backlit Keyboard
Included Software Bundle Adobe(R) Photoshop(R) Elements 8 & Adobe Premiere(R) Elements 8
Included Accessories HP 3D Active Shutter Glasses
Your additional options:
Click edit to modify. NOTE: These items are in stock and will ship immediately.HP Care Pack Services HP 3-year Care Pack House Call Service with Accidental Damage Protection for Select Pavilion or Envy Laptop (with 2-yr warranty)
 
Looks nice, about what the pre-built option has except for the hard disk configuration. Just like when I bought this one, I have to buy the second hard drive caddy and install the secondary drive, wipe windows, etc. on the first day.
 
KnoxHotch said:
Looks nice, about what the pre-built option has except for the hard disk configuration. Just like when I bought this one, I have to buy the second hard drive caddy and install the secondary drive, wipe windows, etc. on the first day.
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I may go that route too depending on cost savings, or just order the regular drive and clone to SSD
 
http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/04/hp-updates-envy-17-dv6-and-dv7-with-sandy-bridge-gives-mini-2/
Looks like it's offical now, new envy 17 sometime soon. Ugh, probably not soon enough to drop the price of the old one on amazon.

Oh, and I found that benchmark again:
"Sony Vegas Pro 9; HD 1080p MP4 (4minute 55sec music video) rendering:
Intel Core i7-720QM 1.6Ghz: 6Minutes and 14 Seconds
Intel Core i5-540M 2.53Ghz: 9Minutes and 03 Seconds
Intel Core i5-430M 2.26Ghz: 9Minutes and 48 Seconds
Intel Core i3-320M 2.13Ghz: 12Minutes and 29 Seconds
Intel Core Duo T2250 1.73Ghz: 1hr 52Minutes 38 Seconds
---------------------------
---------------------------
If your going to be video editing a lot then the i7-720QM is usually the way to go.
BTW I purchased a HP with the i7-720QM as I do a a lot of video encoding"

Source: a user from another forum http://whrl.pl/RcjdqR
 
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Yeah, I'm going with the i7-740 processor. i would go with the i7-840, but its another $300 and a bit overpriced at the moment. It didn't give any reference as to when those changes will be taking place? Hopefully soon.

I like the benchmarks, I need to do some research and see if I can find some other benchmarks somewhere.
 
I don't use premiere for too much right now, but would love an nvidia card that works with the hack. I'm probably ordering tomorrow, anyway.
 
Blit said:
Hi

This refers to Desktops, but has links to mobile.
I would read it before making a decision.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/...el-core-i7-2600k-i5-2500k-core-i3-2100-tested

I am already seeing Sandy Bridge ads for shipping units.
http://www.torrebella.net/hp/hp-laptop-sandy-bridge-al-powered-shipping.html/

I think you will be happy with any of your choices.

A CUDA GPU, Nvidia with 1GB of DDR5 memory is worthwhile if you are running Adobe CS5.

Good Luck, Enjoy
Click to expand...

It says nothing about the Sandy Bridge shipping in their current Envy 17, as far as I can tell, and that is precisely what we have been discussing. Knox (the op) and I are running Vegas 10, that's why it's posted in the Vegas forum :) Hopefully they will be shipping Sandy bridge VERY soon, like by next week. Thanks for the info Blit, long but informitive read.
 
I'm hoping May or late April at this point, since I'm hoping to order the old one today (gotta see if some stuff clears at the bank first).
 
Well, that would probably work, but we'll have to see how much the new one is and how attatched I get to this one. In any other circumstance, I would wait it out since I like to buy the latest tech to prolong it's useful life, but my laptop's busted now and I need something to travel with.
 
KnoxHotch said:
Well, that would probably work, but we'll have to see how much the new one is and how attatched I get to this one. In any other circumstance, I would wait it out since I like to buy the latest tech to prolong it's useful life, but my laptop's busted now and I need something to travel with.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm not going to wait too long either. We will have to see what happens over the next couple of days at CES.
 
I did, and I'm pretty excited about its arrival. I'll be waiting for the UPS man between 3 and 4pm. It seems all I'm sacrificing with the new model is a bump in speed, battery life, and cooling, though time will tell how much of a sacrifice.
 
Well, the price of this model is bound to fall, but if the new ones come out in april or at least sometime next month I'll be OK. It's feeling like christmas all over again, I've got text message alerts for shipping. Will try to post pics. I'm assuming the display is IPS because of wide viewing angles and color gamut.

Edit:
Amazon's price just went up by $15.38 :)
 
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Got it! It's definitely a premium experience, packaging and all. The only fit an finish problem is the trackpad not being flush with the palm area, but It's not bothering me enough to return the notebook.

Comments I can make so far:
The screen is absolutely gorgeous! Native 1080p video and high color gamut is a wonderful thing to look at.
The notebook is big, but it's lighter than my old 17" HP.
Native eSATA is also awesome, no more expresscard required! A USB 3.0 enclosure would be nice to have speed and bus power simultaneously.

Looking forward to installing my 7200rpm drive and a clean version of Windows 7 Professional. Once I do that I'll let you know how it handles Vegas, Adobe, etc.
 
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