06.10.10 HP ENVY 13 Series

06.10.10 HP ENVY 13 Series
HP ENVY 13 Series

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I wanted to use the HP Envy 15 Beats LE for at least a month before writing the review in order to let the first few days of excitement pass and provide a decent amount of info for people considering purchasing one. <br /> <br />In summary, within 2-weeks of buying one, I was questioning the purchase since I watched other Envy 15 models receive hardware updates that the Beats didn't (and still hasn't). I am providing a 2-star rating because of the corners HP cut in general and compared to other Envy 15 models, other brand's comparable notebooks and overall value (price for what you get). I probably would have returned it, but I travel a lot and needed it so was out of town when HP's 21-day grace period elapsed and they refused to budge on taking it back. <br /> <br />There are a few reasons I decided on buying the HP Envy 15 Beats LE rather than other Envy 15s and one primary reason HP Envy over other less expensive brands with equivalent hardware. If I didn't use these factors as my primary drivers, I most likely would be with another Lenovo (formerly IBM Thinkpad), which I have used different models for many years and have always great experience. <br /> <br />Unfortunately, when researching, I couldn't find a 'real use' review anywhere - not even Amazon. I don't take reviews by the professional review sites because they typically don't use on a day-to-day basis, spend very limited time with the gadgets they are reviewing and I've learned over the years that they tend to have a lot of inaccuracies. I see there is a review on Amazon now, which is a good review, but I essentially bought it blind as HP sales couldn't answer questions beyond what is posted on their sites. Every rep I spoke with never tried the Beats LE and often confused it with the standard Envy 15. <br /> <br />My review is to answer questions I had to hopefully help others. Plus, I'm adding several things I wouldn't have expected - both good and bad. <br /> <br />Why the Envy line? Voodoo lineage, Core i7 processor availability, upgradeable to 16GB RAM, 1920x1080 high definition display, eSATA+USB combo port and the biggest for me: the form factor and looks. Magnesium alloy case rather than the cheap-looking plastic we've all become used to with Wintel Laptops. Even the latest Alienware models look cheap (to me). The closest comparison in the looks department is Apple's MBP. Like Apple or not, most have to admit they are sexy products and they get that right with most of their gear. <br /> <br />I am not going to make this review entirely a direct comparison to Apple's 15" MBP Unibody, but a few notes to help evaluate since many of us have either owned one, used one, or read about the MBP. Finding a physical Envy 15 Beats LE to see in person at is not easy so hopefully this helps. I did have a unibody 15" MacBook Pro (MBP) that was top of the line when I bought it with 4GB RAM, 2.8GHz Duo Core and anything that was upgradeable, upgraded (except the SDD). I really liked the look/feel, but OS X wasn't practical for my personal day-to-day work. Not here to rate OSes - it's just that my personal work requires Windows and Linux. The Envy has a slightly bigger screen and much higher resolulion than the current MBPs (15.6" 1920x1080 vs. 15.4" 1440x900. The Envy even beats the 1680x1050 resolution of the 17" MBP. The Envy is lighter, and you can feel the difference. <br /> <br />15" Unibody MBP dimensions (apple.com): 14.35" W x 9.82" D x 0.95" H at 5.50 pounds (15.4" display) <br />HP Envy 15 Beats LE dimensions (hp.com): 14.96" W x 9.60" D x 1.04" H at 5.18 pounds (15.6" display) <br /> <br />Windows 7 x64 Ultimate "Windows Experience Index" (MBP was using Bootcamp): <br /> <br />Envy 15 Beats LE stock + 10GB RAM - while the i7 has a 1333 FSB, this particular Envy comes with slower 1066MHz) <br />Processor: 6.9 <br />Memory: 7.3 <br />Graphics: 6.7 <br />3D Graphics: 6.7 <br />Hard Disk: 5.9 <br /> <br />15" Apple MBP: 2.8GHz, 4GB RAM at 1066MHz, 320GB 7,200 RPM HDD using 512MB Nvidia discrete GPU <br />Processor: 6.4 <br />Memory: 6.4 <br />Graphics: 6.4 <br />3D Graphics: 6.4 <br />Hard Disk: 5.9 <br /> <br />I know this "index" rating isn't the end-all, be-all definitive rating, but it's been around since Vista and easiest to make comparisons AND they are the scores I've kept for such comparisons. The MBP I had was a late 2008, first unibody edition so it performed pretty good. Shows that Win7 on "bare metal" of HP's top of the line notebooks really only has mediocre performance for the cost. <br /> <br />The MBP does get VERY, VERY hot when operating. In fact, it was too hot for my lap at times. I've even read about burns on legs. Apple designs the aluminum case smartly to do one thing aluminum does great: dissipate heat. However, this works against it too and has no vents except for a small slit along the back. Great for looks, but for me, not quite worth that trade off. The Envy I have seen all sorts of comments on "it gets too hot" as well as "it's not a problem for me." For me, it is zero problem. Smartly placed vents were integrated and don't look bad at all, but help keep the temperature down. <br /> <br />Why did I choose the Envy Beats LE rather than a "standard" Envy? Primarily looks even with the cost and tradeoffs. I am not a DJ or even listen to that much music so those had no affect on my decision. While I do like the metal casing of the standard Envy, I am not a fan of the etching on the lid. Plus, I was specifically looking for black. <br /> <br />Choosing the Beats edition for looks means a number of tradeoffs. First, the standard Envy has already seen USB 3.0 arrive. The Beats LE has a plastic keyboard cover/palm rest that is both a positive (runs cooler) and negative (looks cheap) whereas a standard Envy is all magnesium alloy. The standard Envy has the ability to insert two hard drives internally, but for some reason the Beats LE does not (haven't opened it, just what I've read). The Beats is only available with the i7-720QM vs. the standard having the choice of the i7-820QM. I suspect you can upgrade the processor yourself, but for $2,400 - I don't think I'm going to spend another $600 for an 820. Also, for whatever reason, HP made the not-so-wise choice to use 1066MHz DDR3 rather than using 1333MHz that the standard comes with. You can certainly upgrade to the higher speed RAM yourself since the i7's FSB will handle it, but again, I'm not going to for the price I already paid and performance isn't that big of a difference (really unoticeable), but it is another example of them cutting a corner. I suspect they may have decided those buying the Beats LE are music people and don't care. Also, the Beats LE has an ATI 4830 graphics processing unit (GPU) rather than the better ATI 5830 in the standard Envy. <br /> <br />The Good: <br />- Beautiful, bright, clear, hi-def 1920x1080 display <br />- 1" thin and very light for its size <br />- Magnesium alloy case <br />- Looks great - better in person than in pictures <br />- Core i7 Quadcore Processor <br />- 6GB RAM expandable to 16GB <br />- 1GB dedicated video memory (ATI 4830) <br />- Accelerometer so great drive protection (seems to work better than IBM's/Lenovo's) <br />- Ambient light sensor that works good, though I've read it's irritating to some so you can just turn it off. <br />- Low light "night vision" camera with Infrared LEDs to help light you up in the dark - works great <br />- HP's support assistant software included seems to work good. Has provided a number of updates including a BIOS update (though not to the most recent BIOS). <br />- HP's MediaSmart software is great <br />- HP's Recovery partition that has everything you need to recover the OS and software to "new from factory" settings - I have used it once and it is great. Nearly 100% automatic, but does take over an hour. You can remove the partition if you want, but with 500GB, why bother? If you do, you can make ONE set of DVDs that do the same thing. They must be single-layer and can't be re-writeable (RW) - software won't progress (so I had to buy 10 DVDs just to get 3 discs out of it. You can also order a set from HP for $30. <br />- HP's Wireless Assistant tray software that allows easy access to quickly enable/disable WiFi and/or Bluetooth seperately, or a convenienty hardkey to quickly disable/enable both. <br />- Great keyboard: spacious, laid out great, tactile click (some may consider it a bit noisy) and dedicated shortcut keys for email, mediasmart, browser, printing and calculator (my favorite). Dedicated key to fully enable/disable all wireless (WiFi and Bluetooth). <br />- Windows 7: Ability to easily upgrade to a "higher" version (e.g. Ultimate) using the Control Panel - no software needs to be installed, just plug in a new key and it unlocks additional features (Windows 7 design) so don't worry about paying for an upgrade later if you are done using the computer you had Windows 7 on - unless it's OEM Win7 that doesn't allow it. <br />- 3 USB 2.0 ports, 1 is a combination USB 2.0 + eSATA <br />- HDMI out port <br />- Dre's Beat Headsets are very nice <br />- I am one who likes the bezel around the display - holds in my privacy filter much better than a completely flat format like the MBP, which is almost pointless to use a privacy filter on unless you want to use duct tape. <br />- Built-in low light, infrared camera is very cool and works great - especially in low light. Colors aren't that vibrant, but most built-in cameras lack - even the iSight on the Macs. <br />- Beats speakers built in. I don't know what that means and have read they are very good. All I can say about them is they sound very crisp, clear and have decent bass for the size. However, they don't go very loud - at all. Sometimes I have to put on my headset to hear even though my volume is all the way up - hopefully I remember to turn it down because it is far too loud with headsets. <br />- Included 9-cell slice battery for additional power capacity (but it is heavy) <br /> <br />The Not-so-good: <br />- No choice for more than an i7-720 processor <br />- RAM is not 1333MHz, it's 1066MHz <br />- No VGA/DVI port(s) - just HDMI so you'll need a converter (probably) <br />- No ExpressCard port <br />- Terrible throttling of the processor. When on battery or a power supply with less than 120-watts (i.e. a more lighter, more portable supply than what's included), you are stuck with 931MHz on the i7 and no choice is given to the user to change this. There is something going else on with the poor battery life that providing the ability to run the i7 at full speed on battery or a 90-watt power supply (for example) wouldn't affect it that much. Particularly, why require 120-watt power supply to run at full speed? Both batteries will charge fine, just more slowly. <br />- Ridiculously large power supply. It is literally the size of a brick and reminds me of what came with my Dell 386 laptop in the early 90s. HP specs publish that it is 90-watts: that's incorrect, it's 120. If Kensington can put 90-watts in a power supply 1/3 the size (with airplane charging ability), why can't HP put 120-watts in a more reasonable form factor. In fact, both my 65 and 90 watt Kensingtons power it just fine and HP does sell those smaller sizes for it as well. This is a PORTABLE notebook after all, yet they give you something that won't fit well in laptop cases/messenger bags. Further, if you use less than 120-watts, the processor is throttled as if on battery meaning it is stuck at 931MHz slow. <br />- Cheap looking and feeling keyboard cover/palm rest (but doesn't get too hot) <br />- No USB 3.0 like its brothers are receiving <br />- ATI 4830 GPU rather than a 5830 that its brothers have <br />- No TPM on board. If you want to use bitlocker to encrypt your drive you'll have to use the least secure way: USB thumb drive that is almost guaranteed to be in the same bag as your notebook. You can't use a PIN unless you have a TPM chip. Even if this isn't a business notebook, many people I know do encrypt their drives on personal machines whether bitlocker, Apple's FileVault, or other. For $2,400 in a machine this large, you'd expect a TPM. <br />- No smartcard reader so no good for work/VPN in many F500 companies. <br />- Battery life is... what's worse than terrible? Super-duper terrible? You'll get a maximum (usually less) of 1-hour using power saving settings with max processor at 50%, display on lowest brightness setting, WiFi on high power saving, etc. just browsing the web and you're lucky to get an hour out of the battery (common complaint: some blame it on HP's 'new' battery technology). As another reviewer mentioned, if you are doing ANY traveling, you'll need to buy extra batteries or carry around the large, heavy (2.5 pound) 'slice' battery. With the slice and 'internal' battery fully charged to 100%, you'll get 3-5 hours of use depending on what you are doing. I have seen reports of 7-9 hours with the slice, but never experienced it myself. <br />- Sleep mode literally eats the battery alive. Leave it in sleep mode with the battery at 100% for 24-hours and it'll be drained or nearly drained. I'll take it to bed with me some nights to finish work and put it to sleep with 30% battery left and when I wake up 5-hours later, it's shut down and battery is fully dead. HP tech support said "this is normal" <br />- Internal hard drive performance is mediocre. A common complaint and known issue is that HP hasn't done well with its SATA implementation (drivers or what I don't know), but it is really noticeable with the eSATA+USB external port. I get better speed using USB 2.0 than using 3GB/sata external drive and cable. <br />- I'm simply not impressed with the performance. I run a lot of VMs (many OSes), encode a lot, etc. just no gaming and it really doesn't scream "YES, I'M A QUAD CORE WITH HYPERTHREADING ABLE TO RUN 8 THREADS WITH TURBO BOOST PLUS 10GB RAM" - it's not at all what I expected and nowhere a a huge leap from a 2.8 Duo Core and 4GB RAM. <br />- No backlit keys on the keyboard (like a Macbook Pro) or an LED light to shine on the keyboard (like Thinkpad has had for many years) making it very difficult to see keys in low light situations. This is particularly odd for the Beats LE because it is made to be used in low-light situations (HP gives examples of DJs 'spinning' at parties/concerts and it has a "night vision" camera with Infrared LEDs to help with lighting in the dark). Another cut corner. <br /> <br />It is important to note that unlike the Core i5, the i7 does not have an onboard GPU so you have to build these laptops with a discrete video chipset requiring its own fan and space. So, it is expected to use more battery/power, but HP should be able to get more than an hour out of the laptop. However, it is also important to note that if you are looking at an Envy 15 with an i5, HP does not take advantage of the built-in GPU and only uses the discrete graphics. There is no choice to switch and no way (that I've seen) to make it switchable. Some models use boards that will never allow it to be used so hoping for a BIOS or driver update won't do you much good. Apple's Macbook Pro definitely excels here since most of us don't need the discrete graphics on a day-to-day basis. <br /> <br />Overall, it's a decent notebook, but not awesome. For the price, even if it is limited edition (whatever that means), it is still too expensive when comparing to what else is out there. <br /> <br />Would I recommend the HP Envy Beats LE? Not as-is unless you are as weird about looks and having a machine that not everyone else will have as I am. Even though it's limited edition, I suspect there will be a refresh of some sort so I'd wait. If not as particular about looks, but want decent (not out of this world great) power in a great form factor with a fantastic screen, check out a standard Envy, but make sure you get the LED LCD like the Beats LE has. I haven't wanted buyer's remorse any more than I have so haven't looked around since, but if I were to do it over again and have more time to make a decision w/out a dead laptop sitting next to me 2-days before a trip, I'd probably avoid HP anything and get a Lenovo again, but did notice Acer and Toshiba had some very good reviews. <br />