HP - 15.6" Envy Notebook - 6 GB Memory - 500 GB Hard Drive - Brushed Aluminum

To be fair, I've only been using the Envy laptop about 6 hours now -- so this review should be considered EARLY reaction and nothing more... The packaging is impressive and suggests you're getting something really special. The startup and configuration was easy and straightforward, though as usual HP has loaded it down with their own software add-ons. The laptop is reasonably compact and lightweight -- especially for the specs. Right off the bat, the touchpad is simply nothing short of AWEFUL!! I spent nearly 2 hours just trying to configure the synaptics touchpad driver so it would work well for me. I got marginal improvement be increasing the pointer speed, increasing the amount of required pressure, and disabling all the other gestures and scroll options. Still, it's unacceptable. The problem seems to stem from the integrated buttons as part of the touchpad area. There are not separate mouse buttons on the touchpad; the pad itself doubles as the button and clicks. The problem is your finger clicking what's supposed to be the button get's picked up by the computer as an input and causes unexpected motion and jumps of the mouse. HP has had defective touchpad issues in the past, but I haven't seen any signs my touchpad is defective -- just lousy. A $2,000 laptop with a touhpad that doesn't work worth a hoot. I'll be using this with a mouse as often as possible, but it's going to drive me crazy on the plane. The laptop comes with an extra battery, and it's a surprise configuration. The extra battery comes almost as a "pan" or a new bottom shell that attaches to the entire underside of the laptop over the existing battery. So you don't have to swap the two batteries back and forth, you simply attach it over the top. While I was excited about this at first, I encountered problems almost immediately with attaching the battery to the bottom of the laptop. The hook and locking mechanism of the battery does not secure it completely, the battery still slides around, and the hooks can come loose and uncouple -- which already happened to me just in the process of configuring it and loading software on a table. I really like the idea behind this battery, but the engineers did a poor job designing a secure attachement mechanism. On the bright side, the extra shell of this battery creates an additional barrier from the heat of the laptop if you're using it on your lap. It does make the laptop heavier and thicker. I will probably charge-up the extra battery and leave it off and separate until needed. Speaking of charging... 6 hours plugged in and both batteries are still not completely charged. I don't know if that's a first time charging issue or the charging performance I should expect in the future. I assume it would charge faster if the laptop were not on, but I don't know yet. And now to performance... Can't really tell you too much yet as I've mostly just been loading software today. Windows task manager shows 8 processors running in the window (a result of hyper-threading of the quad-core processor I'm guessing). CPU utilization has remained very low through everything I've done so far. Boot times on Win7 are much faster than any Windows version I've seen in some time, but of course the real proof will come in 6-12 months when it's been used and loaded with a bunch of software. Sound volume and quality are pretty good for a laptop. The external drive seems pretty sluggish loading software. I expected better performance. The screen seems pretty good. Viewing angles are pretty good for a laptop, brightness seems good, and the colors seem good. I wish the screen were larger vertically -- you definitely see and feel the short/squatty wide-screen style. I'm sure it will be great for watching movies, but not so great for drawing or document editing. The screen hinge limits how far the screen will open; I can't help but wonder if this could be a problem down the road for accidental damage. Also, there is no latch on the screen. It's just a clamshell. I did pay the extra to buy the 3 yr accidental damage upgrade, and given the amount of money you spend for this laptop I'm glad I did. Something tells me with the battery and screen configuration I'll probably get my money out of BestBuy on that one. I'm definitely going to hold onto the laptop for a while and see how it does over the next few weeks. While I'm not "sold" on it just yet, I'm certainly not at a point where I'm returning it. I have to check "recommend to a friend" one way or the other, so I'll pick yes for now. I hope these details help someone. PLEASE keep in mind this is a first blush review... I've only had the laptop a very SHORT period of time. Good luck!

Shopping: after reading various reviews on the 'net, I went to a local BB store and check this out in person and love the way it looked and decided to pick it up. BB had this on sale for 300 less than MSRP. Unboxing: packed very nicely in a iPod-like way, very clear and attractive desgin. But the entire box, which includes an external drive, power supply, second battery, and other packaging material is pretty hefty in weight. Not exactly a portable laptop if you are considering carrying everything with you on a daily basis. On the other hand, if all you want bring is the laptop, it does tip the scale at a nice 5 lbs or so, which is remarkable for its performance. Performance: All I have to say it WOW! Now, this replace my old laptop, a 2-year-old Gateway P-7811FX, (you can look it up, it is no slouch by any means), but the gaming and video performance by Envy 15 just blows me away. So far, I have done Crysis, Call of Duty 4 and NFS Shift on max performance, and it had none of the little stutters and occassional slow downs the 7811 gave from time to time. I have also tried many of my RTS games, they are not resource hogs, but things usually slow down when you have a whole lot of units generated ready for the final attack if you know what I mean, and the Envy handled them without any problem. And the display is utterly gorgeous, best I have ever seen, even though it is very glossy, it does not reflect too much when the screen is dark (I watch a lot of Hulu, so this is really helpful compared to my old laptop). The laser etched metal every where is a nice touch, instead of usual shiny plastics that drove me crazy with constant cleaning and wiping. The speakers are clear at all volume levels. The touchpad performance leaves a lit to be desired and this has been well documented, but since this is mostly a desktop replacement type for me and I use a gaming mouse for the most part, not a deal-breaker at all. It comes with one network port, two USB, one SATA, and one HDMI, and you gain one USB port when the external drive is plugged in (since the drive has two USB ports). Every port is placed on the right side of the laptop, except for power supply, which is on the rear left. I could have used a few more USBs for convenience, but that's a minor detraction. Final Impression: I have only had it for a few days, other than the few shortcomings I have pointed out, it's everything I expected it to be. Sure it's expensive, but compare its performance with dedicated gaming laptops like Alienware, you absolutely get your bangs for the buck. It is definitely not for people who just wanted something to surf the web, email and watch some video/DVD, but if you want a high performance gig in a VERY attractive package, you can't go wrong.

I bought this yesterday although I have been researching it since last December. It has the specs and the styling to set it apart as a luxury laptop. I purchased this to replace a 13" Sony Vaio that I use for professional presentations and traveling. When the new HP Envy series came to Best Buy I thought I finally found a worthy successor to my Vaio. I was first attracted to the HP Envy 13 because of its extraordinary battery life, the "beats" branded speakers, and bright LED screen. Of course when I saw the HP Envy 15, its big brother with the intel i7 processor I really fell in love. For the sake of size and performance I wanted the 13" Envy. However, for the sake of the superior performance of the i7 processor, the discrete graphics card with 1 GB of DDR3 memory, and the modest bump in price (only $100 more than the Envy 13) I wanted the Envy 15". When I was finally ready to make my purchase both units had been clearanced out. The price of the 15 inch Envy was reduced to $1899 and the 13 inch Envy was reduced $1799. This made them even more attractive as a purchase however the units are now difficult to find in most local Best Buy stores especially if you want a new unit in the box. While I would have preferred the 13" Envy I had to settle for its larger more powerful 15" sibling. I was afraid because there were several complaints about heat issues with that model however I haven't had any problems like that yet. Initial impressions: - The box was huge and Heavy!!! When I got it home and opened it up I saw the reason for the extraordinary weight. It was immaculately packaged, the laptop was covered by a microfiber cloth bag, the quick start guide and supporting documentation was stored on a SD card -- Sharp, very sharp! - Windows 7 startup was slow and slightly glitchy but when I finally got logged in and downloaded some updates things worked a little better. - Tons of bloatware were preinstalled...I will spend the better part of the next week or two removing unwanted software and native HP configurations. - The first thing I did was remove Norton and installed ESET NOD32 Internet security suite. - The screen is gorgeous! - I love the comfort and spacing of the keyboard...No backlit keyboard though :-( Well I should stop there for now. I will update this review more after I have taken my new Envy 15 through its paces.

This is the first gadget to excite me for the release of Windows 7. I have been using this OS for 5 months now and have loved every second of it. I bought this laptop with the rule in mind of upgrading when something is at least double of my previous gadget. 2 cores - 4 cores, 3 GB of ram - 6GB, etc. Cons I am however disappointed for the first time ever with HP. The build quality seems a little less than previous HP laptops owned. The Display will not open all the way, leaving me to wonder / expect for it to crack or break on accident. The track pad is VERY hard to maneuver about the screen and click on the desired area. The edge of the laptop itself will dig into your wrists over time. The cooling fan sounds like a mini jet. Pros This laptop is the fastest booting windows 7 laptop if used or tested minus a SSD. The screen is very crisp and VERY bright. The colors are rich due to the LED backlighting. I have not been able to max out the processor % yet. Secure Digital card reader. Nice packaging. Audio is above average. Feels solid minus the screen. Don't get me wrong, this laptop is an absolute powerhouse in terms of performance. I simply think they might have rushed this product. My overall verdict is this. If you are looking for a laptop comparable to a desktop pick this, just understand the physical build of this computer seems unfinished. Go check it out at your local Best Buy before purchasing to make sure it will work for you.

Disclaimer - I returned mine after two days, and it could be a faulty item from the start. However, if I had a chance to swap it for a working one, I still wouldn't do it. Here is why. 1) This laptop is NOT portable as advertised, and the 'weight' specification is misleading. It comes in 4 parts - the laptop, the extra click-on battery, an optical drive and a charger. The laptop itself, without the extra battery, charger or the optical drive is indeed reasonably light. But the charger is a huge 1990-es styled brick which makes the whole thing not portable. It's really huge and heavy. The built-in battery, for which the 'ultra-portable' weight is given is not sufficient for much, that's why they provide an extra, which weighs another ton. If you need to take it on the go, you probably need the whole system which weighs closer to the heaviest models on the market. 2) The screen has the best resolution on the market. That's on the paper. In fact, this resolution on a 15' screen is not practical, as everything becomes too small to see (I have perfect vision and do not need glasses). Lesser resolutions for some reason cause huge distortions. In the end I could not use the maximum resolution cause it's too small to see nor reduced resolution cause it was severely distorting everything on the screen. 3) My laptop worked, but had some funny issues. It was too slow, even when not running anything. The issue was there on native Windows 7 home, then with Windows 7 professional, then with Linux, with practically no applications running and both on power supply or the battery. After 2 days I tracked it to screen update issue - screen updating process took 100% of one of the 8 cores and the screen was not updating when you just type on the keyboard. As I said, I had to return the thing, had to spend another day to reconfigure a Dell (a 15' Studio SKU 9684515, with less powerful configurations, but works better and also twice cheaper).

The notebook performance is great it is fast and starts quickly, also it looks amazing the aluminum case is a nice touch. Keyborard is very response as well as is the mouse pad once you get used to it. It has a very clean design no cluter and easy to navigate. However, it gets very hot too hot to keep on the lap, also even with the additional battery attached batery life is above 4 hours. Luckily i don't use optical drive that much so external one is not a big deal for me but some it might be. If you are looking for a light weright portable and stylish laptop at the sacrfice of heat and battery life this is for you.

If you don't mind a heavy laptop with extended battery and the edge below the mouse pad being uncomfortable then buy this computer because it is very fast and the display is excellent. I returned mine for a lighter, slower and more comfortable Sony Vaio that was actually $500 cheaper. Same battery life but a little slower.

If you are looking for a mobile desktop replacement that is light and can play games, this it. I needed a laptop that can keep up with my desktop gaming rig (just built a new i7-920 with an ati 5870). For the last week, i have been reading reviews and comparing prices. I was leaning towards a Sager laptop, but once you add the options it is quickly over 2k. I finally went to bestbuy to look at the Asus, HP dv7 and this laptop. All the other laptops had an ugly glossy finish and the touch pads were awful. Also, the combo of this processor with a nice video card is hard to find in this form factor. I really did not want to buy a huge 10 lbs monster built out of ugly cheap glossy plastic with an unusable touchpad. I was also looking at the mac Pro, since I am that price range now, but I just cant spend that kind of money for old technology that can barley play video games at 1280x768. Apple is also slated to do a refresh with maybe a i7 cpu sometime in Q1 2010. You definatly do not want to drop 2k and 2 months later they come out with a new laptop that crushes yours for the same price. if you look at the windows performance ratings, this was by far the best at Bestbuy. If you want a Mac that has everything you want in hardware, this is it. So people will bash this for having an external dvd drive. All my computers have an external drive and you will barley use them. Just about everything is downloadable or can be installed on a fast usb stick. I think it is better to have the external drive out and have a second drive bay for a SSD. Plus, you now have a USB dvd drive for all of your other computers. It does get warm, but have you ever had a mac book pro one your lap, it will burn you legs. Also, I bought this laptop for 1899, they priced matched.