HP Envy 14 user reviews (Summer 2011)

Pros Sexy design and build; high end specs (2nd gen Core i7) for reasonable price = super value.

Cons HP Customer Service was awful.

Summary I spent over a month debating on the Envy 14 vs Macbook Pro vs Dell XPS 15z. Decided the HP was the best option and best value.
Upgraded to 2nd gen Core i7, 8gb Ram.

Worked well for less than 3 weeks and then decided it wasn't going to boot up ever again. Tech support couldn't fix it. Fortunately, I was just within the 21 day return/exchange timeframe...I had planned on doing an exchange as sometimes a bad machine happens. BUT, the customer service was so absolutely horrible and inept that I returned it for a refund and am going to buy something different. In total, I was on the phone for 3 hours over 2 days. I had to tell the same story to each person I talked to; for the exchange, their systems didn't work so they would have to call me back...which never happened. Call after call, no one could take me through the process. Even supervisors weren't helpful. I'll spare you any more details, but bottom line is that I will not consider purchasing another HP product anytime soon. The thought of dealing with their customer service is enough of a deterrent that I will go with almost anyone else at this point.
If you get one, hope that you don't have any problems - otherwise consider yourself warned!

Pros I got essentially the same specs as the one reviewed by Dan and I really am satisfied. The latest i5 processor saves power and can handle anything I could have imagined so far. Runs rendering software like AutoCAD and Rhino seamlessly. 6g ram is more than

Cons The touchpad IS sadly not as good as a mac but still help productivity anyway. My biggest issue was the touchpad's stiffness. Mine takes effort to even click anywhere other than the buttons on the bottom anyway, but that might just be the one I got.
Yes

Summary Alot of experience with laptops and computers and can easily say this makes top 3. Very Durable and tough, while powerful enough for almost anything. Not the best when it comes to battery life, screen resolution, or user-friendlyness. Still, great in many categories and at A GREAT DEAL at these prices. If you have serious games to install, Serious work and programs to get going, and need a portable TANK of a machine to get em done, This is your best bet.

Pros No overheating, snappy performance, superb display (1600x900) , backlit keyboard, slot-load BD player/DVD burner, big touchpad, nicely built, REALLY nice audio specially w/headphones. Output to a 1080p 52 incher runs smoothly(HDMI).

Cons Fan a little loud, sometimes the switchable graphics won't actually switch untill reboot. Mini displayport SUCKS (VGA kicks in whenever it wants, sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't).

Summary Best laptop I've ver owned. A head turner indeed. If you won't use VGA, it's excellent. If you need VGA, be sure the high performance graphics are enabled. Cool looks, kind of like if Microsoft and Apple had a love child.

Pros Great battery life (4 hours with internet, music, and mid brightness); Very good keyboard; touch pad is very responsive after some small tweaks; Very good build quality; Dedicated graphic card

Cons Screen is ok but deserve a better resolution (Radiance screen should have been an option...) ; cover is a fingerprints magnets

Summary Really great laptop, I'm a university student here in Montreal and do type a lot. The keyboard's perfect for me!
Payed around 1000$ CAD with a student discount... really good price for what the Envy offers. I actually highly recommend it to any student out there who are looking for a great looking machine that is both durable and powerful.

The only drawback is the screen resolution, i was used to a Dell XPS M1530 with a 1680 by 1050 screen which provided a some extra real estate useful when comparing windows or working with MS Office. You should consider that if you are in a similar situation.

BTW, if you're expecting a MacBook Pro experience out of the Envy, well forget it. A Mac is a Mac and a PC will always be a PC, stop comparing them. If you want a MBP go buy one, Apple do makes amazing products. But if you're cheap and looking for an excellent windows laptop that offers great bang for your bucks, stop looking.