*HP ENVY 14 (1XXX series) Owners Lounge, Part 1*

[dookie11]

I saw on hp.com today, something about "Free Upgrades for all Laptops." How does that work, and does anyone know if it applies to E14?

[ExodusC]

Went to B Buys today to check out the build of HP latest machines to get a feel for the Envy 14. First the good. Fit and finish of even the lower-end consumer line was fantastic. Envy 14's finishes must be close to MBP. They've definitely separated themselves from the cheap, plastic, boxy Dells. The bad. The trackpad on every single HP laptop was horrendous. I now know what people are complaining about. That trackpad would drive me nuts. It drove me nuts in the first 30secs. On top of that, it's over 5lbs. It was really between the Envy 14 and the Vaio Z. It's just not a comparison. If it was just the weight, I might have let it slide. They really need real buttons or Apple's glass trackpad.

So Best Buy already has the Envy 14 in their stores?

I really might have to make the half hour drive to go toy around with one tomorrow... Assuming my Best Buy even has it. They didn't have any Envy laptops last time I was there.

[Tee.Kay.]

Went to B Buys today to check out the build of HP latest machines to get a feel for the Envy 14. First the good. Fit and finish of even the lower-end consumer line was fantastic. Envy 14's finishes must be close to MBP. They've definitely separated themselves from the cheap, plastic, boxy Dells. The bad. The trackpad on every single HP laptop was horrendous. I now know what people are complaining about. That trackpad would drive me nuts. It drove me nuts in the first 30secs. On top of that, it's over 5lbs. It was really between the Envy 14 and the Vaio Z. It's just not a comparison. If it was just the weight, I might have let it slide. They really need real buttons or Apple's glass trackpad.

Was there actually an envy 14 in store or were you looking at another envy? Supposedly they made improvements on the trackpad on the envy 14, so hopefully it will be better than the old ones. But if you were in fact using an nv14...that would be very unfortunate for all of us.

[nexus14]

Went to B Buys today to check out the build of HP latest machines to get a feel for the Envy 14. First the good. Fit and finish of even the lower-end consumer line was fantastic. Envy 14's finishes must be close to MBP. They've definitely separated themselves from the cheap, plastic, boxy Dells. The bad. The trackpad on every single HP laptop was horrendous. I now know what people are complaining about. That trackpad would drive me nuts. It drove me nuts in the first 30secs. On top of that, it's over 5lbs. It was really between the Envy 14 and the Vaio Z. It's just not a comparison. If it was just the weight, I might have let it slide. They really need real buttons or Apple's glass trackpad.

you obviously weren't looking at the envy 14. because they aren't in brick and mortar stores yet. BUT, HP is using the same "clickpad" across its laptop line so the touchpad is probably as bad as you say it is

evidence touchpad sucks? look at envy 17 thread.

[Tee.Kay.]

Well...just gonna have to use a mouse when I can lol

[dookie11]

Comeon coupons!

[sonny]

oh and repost my earlier question: besides SSD, if i were to upgrade one part of a laptop for an engineering program, what should it be?

I would say cpu then other then ssd.

[FatskiRatski]

does anyone know how well the computrace lojack thing works? i read online it's embedded in your laptop...but will a full system wipe render it useless? i don't want my envy 14 jacked in the first week of college =[.

I just read NBR's review of Lojack and it seems to be a pretty legitimate program.

Here is the link for the review: LoJack for Laptops Security Review

If you don't want to read the whole thing you can just skip to the "trying to break the software" and "conclusion". In answer to your question it sounds like a full system wipe will render it useless though the reviewer says this is really the only way to stop Lojack.

Safe to say though that based upon the review it might not be a bad idea to buy it if you are a college student on a big campus. I am debating whether or not to shell out the extra $50 for this thing since I will be one of them come September.

EDIT: Does anyone have any experience with this program? Is it worth the extra $50?

here is the thread for Lojack on NBR forums: LoJack for Laptops Security Review

[nexus14]

you obviously weren't looking at the envy 14. because they aren't in brick and mortar stores yet. BUT, HP is using the same "clickpad" across its laptop line so the touchpad is probably as bad as you say it is

evidence touchpad sucks? look at envy 17 thread.

this is on the envy 13 but it seems to echo what envy 17 owners are complaining about

And at last we arrive at the real bone to pick with this laptop: the horrible trackpad. At first blush it doesn't look too bad, since it's large, non-glossy and relatively unadorned. It's lacking buttons, like Apple's recent MacBooks, but that didn't end the world or anything, did it? Well, somebody botched this part bad. HP apparently forgot that axing the buttons means making darn well sure the software is pitch-perfect. And it isn't. Whether Synaptics is to blame for its drivers or hardware, or HP for the configuration, at the end of the day HP is the one that's selling this $1,700 laptop to people with a basically non-usable trackpad. The primary problem is that the pad is designed to be clicked when there's only one finger on it, so if we're using an index finger to mouse and a thumb to click, we have to lift the index finger when we click. The other problem is that when the thumb is present, it has a tendency to throw off the tracking of the index finger. There are also problems with sensitivity when it comes to scrolling and other gestures, but we find ourselves getting better at tracing gestures over the soft touch material -- it just takes a steady hand and a little bit of luck. We're sure some crazy person could eventually become adept at the trackpad, and we could see how some executive at the company could've rubber stamped the part after spending 30 seconds with it and declaring "it kind of looks like Apple's pad," but we're not sure how a computer company that's been building laptops for a couple decades could really send a computer out the door in good conscience with a primary input device that's this abysmal.

HP Envy 13 review -- Engadget

[IKilledYourHamster]

Comeon coupons!

I'm giving it one week. I'm hoping for a $300 coupon. If not, I will use my APP discount.