ENVY 15 - What are the major issues?

[Ichinenjuu]

Strongly considering this laptop, however, I've heard about various issues. I already know about the red/orange color issue. Same goes for the Sony VAIO SE, another laptop I'm considering (looks like to have a "good screen" you have to orange reds, unless it's a Dell XPS 15).

Either way, what are the other issues? I've heard about sound issues (with headphones), clickpad issues, etc.

I'm just wondering what the major complaints are that people have about this laptop before I go and buy it (if I decide to do so). Of course if I did I'd get it through Costco and have 90 days to return. But I'd just like to know. Any help is appreciated

P.S.: Why no blu-ray? Seriously.

[foremi]

Strongly considering this laptop, however, I've heard about various issues. I already know about the red/orange color issue. Same goes for the Sony VAIO SE, another laptop I'm considering (looks like to have a "good screen" you have to orange reds, unless it's a Dell XPS 15).

Either way, what are the other issues? I've heard about sound issues (with headphones), clickpad issues, etc.

I'm just wondering what the major complaints are that people have about this laptop before I go and buy it (if I decide to do so). Of course if I did I'd get it through Costco and have 90 days to return. But I'd just like to know. Any help is appreciated

P.S.: Why no blu-ray? Seriously.

I think the biggest one is build quality, its hit or miss for getting a good one, another thing is that a lot of them have keyboard flex around qw and as.

Other than red and some other color issues, the 1080p screen is awesome in my opinion. Good contrast, resolution is awesome and its fairly bright.

The click pad is miles better than my tm2's clickpad that is the same design. It's not macbook good, but decent.

[event_horizon]

I'm just wondering what the major complaints are that people have about this laptop before I go and buy it (if I decide to do so). Of course if I did I'd get it through Costco and have 90 days to return. But I'd just like to know. Any help is appreciated
P.S.: Why no blu-ray? Seriously.

I would recommend that you go to Costco and try it out for yourself.

Here's my impression from trying out the in-store unit (1080p display):

• The keys had limited travel. The keys are big and well spaced.
• The trackpad was good as far as moving the mouse cursor was concerned. It felt good and had the right sensitivity. However, clicking the area where the mouse buttons usually are was hard.
• There was another model laptop next to the Envy 15. I set MS Paint to R,G,B = 255,0,0 on both. The other laptop clearly had a deeper (less orange) red. The Envy appeared orange.
• The laptop didn't feel too heavy.
• The screen was very sharp. However, it was fairly reflective.
• The lid does tilt quite a way back.

[Ichinenjuu]

Hmm, I don't think I'd mind the reflectiveness or the issue with the keys. But the buttonless clickpad...I know that's going to be weird. Really, Apple's the only company that's mastered the buttonless clickpad--I don't trust HP with it, but I will see if the Costco around here has an ENVY 15 so I can check it out.

Thanks for the info, guys

[sullymc]

I just sent a Envy 15 back primarily due to overall build quality; it's like HP has no QC at all. I cannot imagine how a major global brand allows such defects to go out the door. My unit had very visible scratches on the top plastic cover, the bottom of the unit was unsnapped from the aluminum decking (I was able to snap back together but it was never fully tight and had a little give when I typed), the left side of the keyboard had a ton of flex and the right side of the aluminum deck had a very visible mark and slight bump as if production tried to buff out some sort of damage/defect.

The guts of the machine were nice and the wireless function worked real nice. The trackpad is terrible and I found myself brushing the pad which often resulted in the cursor jumping around or the screen zooming in/out. I got the regular screen so cannot comment on the red/orange issue. I ordered a replacement to see if my experience is any better with a good built unit. If no better, I'm going to wait for one of Asus's new Ivy Bridge units since past Asus computers I have owned had what one would expect as far as basic QC.

[SDPadre7]

Had picked up one @ Costco online for my wife and noticed no physical build qc issues. With that said, the track pad was terrible (very unresponsive) and I tweaked the color profile on the 1080p display but the red is still not true red (burnt orange IMO). Anyhow, those issues were show stoppers and back to the store she went. Wife now has a new MBP and loves it! Albeit the OS takes some getting used to.

[Ichinenjuu]

Yeah, I was able to see one at Costco the other day. The red/orange didn't bother me, but that keyboard flex was definitely noticeable and the trackpad, although it didn't seem terrible, I know it's going to be bad and I want to be able to use the trackpad all the time.

I think I'm either going to go with the Dell XPS 15 or the Sony VAIO SE.

[SDPadre7]

Yeah, after returning my wife's Envy to Costco they had one on display and the top of the keyboard was bowed up and the reds were orange. It's really unfortunate HP can't seem to put out a better product as it could be a great laptop with the issues fixed. :-(

[shepdawg]

Reasons I returned mine:

1. Terrible trackpad. Two-finger scrolling is difficult, random right clicks, detects palms as fingers while typing

2. Missing keystrokes. Different letters at different times would not register as I typed them. If I pressed T 100 times, it would only register 5 of the pushes.

3. Display. The clarity of text was nice, and I didn't mind the orange issue (which is true), but a 1920x1080 in a 15inch screen doesn't work well.

4. Audio Issues. Random volume increases and decreases. Beats volume wheel will randomly increase volume as it is turned to decrease. Static through headphones when nothing is playing. Beats software stopped working after installing updated driver to fix above issues.

5. Heft. This thing was heavy.

6. Back up. It took 3 hours to burn the 5 backup disks. No way am I doing that again if I exchange. So, I'm getting a refund instead.

7. Performance. It's not much faster than my Asus UL30vt. My envy had the hybrid drive, and that only took about 5 seconds off of boot times, and 2 seconds off of Outlook open times.

[SDPadre7]

Reasons I returned mine:

1. Terrible trackpad. Two-finger scrolling is difficult, random right clicks, detects palms as fingers while typing

2. Missing keystrokes. Different letters at different times would not register as I typed them. If I pressed T 100 times, it would only register 5 of the pushes.

3. Display. The clarity of text was nice, and I didn't mind the orange issue (which is true), but a 1920x1080 in a 15inch screen doesn't work well.

4. Audio Issues. Random volume increases and decreases. Beats volume wheel will randomly increase volume as it is turned to decrease. Static through headphones when nothing is playing. Beats software stopped working after installing updated driver to fix above issues.

5. Heft. This thing was heavy.

6. Back up. It took 3 hours to burn the 5 backup disks. No way am I doing that again if I exchange. So, I'm getting a refund instead.

7. Performance. It's not much faster than my Asus UL30vt. My envy had the hybrid drive, and that only took about 5 seconds off of boot times, and 2 seconds off of Outlook open times.

Spot on feedback about the Envy. I failed to mention the missing keystrokes...definitely an issue! Thanks!