*HP ENVY 15 (3XXX series) Owners Lounge*

[shazam26]

Hey Envy Clones,

Few questions for the masses who know 1st hand:

1. Screen Glossiness: I'm looking to use this for home/work. So, how bad is it? Is it Macbook Pro 15" bad?
2. Flashing sensor: In some videos I saw this flashing red light in the middle of left side of the screen. Is it part of Envy? If yes, how often does it flash.
3. Longevity of Envy: Since I have been following this thread others have been really disappointed on the Longevity of the HP laptops like dv6 or something like that. How are the Envies? Do these last a while (may be some previous gen owners)? I did buy 3 year onsite extended warranty but it wouldn't help if mine will be worked on all the time.

Your feedback is greatly appreciated.

[stephen_liu]

Hey Envy Clones,

Few questions for the masses who know 1st hand:

1. Screen Glossiness: I'm looking to use this for home/work. So, how bad is it? Is it Macbook Pro 15" bad?
2. Flashing sensor: In some videos I saw this flashing red light in the middle of left side of the screen. Is it part of Envy? If yes, how often does it flash.
3. Longevity of Envy: Since I have been following this thread others have been really disappointed on the Longevity of the HP laptops like dv6 or something like that. How are the Envies? Do these last a while (may be some previous gen owners)? I did buy 3 year onsite extended warranty but it wouldn't help if mine will be worked on all the time.

Your feedback is greatly appreciated.

1 - the screen looks to have some treatment to make it less reflective. it's not as reflective it seems as my macbook pro.
2 - that's the proximity sensor beam i think. i turned that off first thing when i got it. you can uninstall that software. it's a useless feature imo
3 - can't say as i've only had it a few weeks but i've had no issues with it. i think the older envy's had heat issues. i have coretemp constantly running on mine and it avgs 40c idle/low load, going to around 77c with prime95 running for a while, which is pretty good (i have the base quad core--2720qm). i do hear humming if it's really quiet but when i put my ear to it the noise isn't from the rear (where the cpu exhaust fan is) but from the near right (where the hard drive is). if you replace with an ssd, it should be nearly silent at idle/low load.

[chocobo481]

I just returned my dv6t SE and bought an Envy 15 with the upgraded screen. I can also confirm that the representative I talked to said the "HP Engineers have rectified this issue" in regards to the orange/red push.

[khruby]

Do you guys think it's better waiting for the new Ivy Bridge CPUs coming out rather than getting this laptop, even though the new CPUs will only have a 2-8% gain

I think you just answered your own question. Is a 2-8% gain worth it to you? In theory, you should only notice it when you're doing demanding tasks, it depends on how often you do that. My 5 year old laptop surfs the web just as quickly as my new envy. I sent back the envy though because of the bad screen and noisy keyboard. I've decided to wait for ivy bridge even if I have to wait a year before it's in a laptop I want. I'm not looking for more speed but more efficiency and less heat. I realize it will be a small difference from sandy bridge, I'm sure. But I can afford to wait so I will. If you can't afford to wait, certainly don't. An upper-mid level sandy bridge will outperform a mid-mid level ivy bridge. If you're worried about power, just get a more powerful processor now.

[khruby]

I think you just answered your own question. Is a 2-8% gain worth it to you? In theory, you should only notice it when you're doing demanding tasks, it depends on how often you do that. My 5 year old laptop surfs the web just as quickly as my new envy. I sent back the envy though because of the bad screen and noisy keyboard. I've decided to wait for ivy bridge even if I have to wait a year before it's in a laptop I want. I'm not looking for more speed but more efficiency and less heat. I realize it will be a small difference from sandy bridge, I'm sure. But I can afford to wait so I will. If you can't afford to wait, certainly don't. An upper-mid level sandy bridge will outperform a mid-mid level ivy bridge. If you're worried about power, just get a more powerful processor now.

The other thing to think about is, yes, ivy bridge may be coming out in a few short months but how long will it be before it's in a laptop you want?

[ekovalsky]

My replacement Envy 15 arrived yesterday, it was shipped three days ago. Screen most definitely still has the orange 'issue'. I'm curious to see if this has indeed been fixed - if so, and assuming it is not a firmware/BIOS/driver update, I will be asking for yet another replacement or a refund, and new order if there is a working 33% coupon.

One thing I thought worth mentioning here, the 90w AC adapter of my Dell XPS Studio 16 works perfectly with the HP Envy 15 - surprisingly it uses the exact same connector and it has an LED on the connector too. It has about the same length and width of the HP, but thickness and weight are about halved. So if someone is looking for a smaller and lighter brick, consider getting a Dell one!

[lobo0311]

The other thing to think about is, yes, ivy bridge may be coming out in a few short months but how long will it be before it's in a laptop you want?

Yes, you are right maybe it's gonna take long for a laptop that I like to come out with the Ivy Bridge, I really like the design of this envy 15 and with the 33% off coupon my price goes down to $1190 including tax so I guess it's a pretty good deal for the price, I don't know how expensive the Ivy bridge CPUs are going to be...

I'm not in a hurry but I've been wanting to get a laptop for a few months now and when I saw that Hp was releasing this Envy 15 I got really anxious to get my hands on one, I will think about it before the coupon expires

[devsk]

One thing I thought worth mentioning here, the 90w AC adapter of my Dell XPS Studio 16 works perfectly with the HP Envy 15 - surprisingly it uses the exact same connector and it has an LED on the connector too. It has about the same length and width of the HP, but thickness and weight are about halved. So if someone is looking for a smaller and lighter brick, consider getting a Dell one!

Make sure to match the voltage and amperage. Same connector doesn't mean a thing if those two don't match. You may silently kill the battery on your Envy.

[iglaze]

Make sure to match the voltage and amperage. Same connector doesn't mean a thing if those two don't match. You may silently kill the battery on your Envy.

Quoted for truthfullness. I did that before to my laptop because the connector from my girlfriend's laptop fit mine.

Just make sure to read up on it and confirm that they are giving out the same wattage and all that stuff.

[CompUG]

Just received my HP envy 15.

No QC control issue.
Screen is amazing when compared to my Gateway. The sound on this is amazing as well.

The red/orange issue is only apparent when you blow it up, like in paintbrush, but when browsing it doesn't seem 100 percent appreant.

Second person come forth and said they spoke and the red/orange issue has been fixed. Might send this back for a replacement..

My question is how does the 21 day thing work? If i was to do a RMA next week, would my new 21 day return policy kick in when I get the replacement?