HP Envy 17 3200 (17" i5 6gb 7850m) $949 AC

Got one for $1169 including taxes. Thanks!

The battery is integrated on the Envy 17, right, so as a desktop replacement that would always be plugged in, that would ruin the battery quicker over time due to constantly being charged?

Hi blackblaze,

It looks like the battery isn't removable under warranty. I found this statement on another forum "Officially it's [the battery] only removable by HP Support.You may also remove it, but there's a seal you have to break / peel with a screw underneath. This would void warranty."

But the consensus on whether this would ruin the battery or not seems mixed. Check out this discussion: http://news.tigerdirect.com/2008/...r-battery/ which says leaving it plugged in would not effect the battery life in any notable way.

DiaBlo666, congrats on your new laptop!

Removing the Battery Voids the Warranty?!?!
That is Insane!!!!
What if I want to carry a Spare Battery for when Flying or other times far from an outlet?

Can we say HP is looking for Warranty Loopholes?

Quote from Dobieguys : Hi blackblaze, It looks like the battery isn't removable under warranty. I found this statement on another forum "Officially it's [the battery] only removable by HP Support.You may also remove it, but there's a seal you have to break / peel with a screw underneath. This would void warranty." But the consensus on whether this would ruin the battery or not seems mixed. Check out this discussion: http://news.tigerdirect.com/2008/...r-battery/ which says leaving it plugged in would not effect the battery life in any notable way. DiaBlo666, congrats on your new laptop!

Yeah, that is two points of what I like about the dv7 line, that you have your choice of 6 or 9 cell battery, and put in a second battery if needed when away from an outlet for longer than usual times. It definitely takes away from having this on the road

Quote from mwgrad : Removing the Battery Voids the Warranty?!?! That is Insane!!!! What if I want to carry a Spare Battery for when Flying or other times far from an outlet? Can we say HP is looking for Warranty Loopholes?

No, not really. They make plenty of computers with removable batteries. And for the mass market of consumers that generally don't care, there is this option. I couldn't tell you what this design does but it could've been anything from making the laptop a little thinner or a removable battery didn't fit with they way they wanted to design the case, or maybe its cost saving. Either way, if you are an obnoxious person that is glued to your facebook 24/7, yeah, you'll want a different model. But a frequent flyer like you should have no problem finding something to fit your "needs."

I wouldn't get either, but for only $100 more, you can get a HP Envy 17 with a i7-3610QM processor, 8GB of RAM, and the 3D display (which does apparently mess with the graphics switching and consequently, battery life). The deal was posted here: http://slickdeals.net/f/5319118-H...-AC-LOADED

Honestly, there are regularly 3rd Gen (Ivy Bridge) i7 laptop deals on 15" and 17" laptops that meet or exceed all of the other specs on either of these Envy deals. I am still waiting for the right price on a deal with an Ivy i7, Blu-Ray and better than normal dedicated graphics.

These Envy deals are nice only if you really want an Envy.

Im typing on this laptop right now and I absolutely love it, I bought it 2 months ago.

Only downside is screen is reflective is you use it out doors. Arrow keys are so small, up/down are half a key.

Battery isnt that good. but this is with the i7. 3-4 hours tops.

Only complaints I have, well maybe they could have added more usb ports.

Anyway let me know if you guys have questions.

Quote from mwgrad : Removing the Battery Voids the Warranty?!?! That is Insane!!!! What if I want to carry a Spare Battery for when Flying or other times far from an outlet? Can we say HP is looking for Warranty Loopholes?

Hi mwgrad, I believe the HP Envy 17 battery is not meant to be removed, similar to Apple's Macbook Pro line. The battery can be removed by removing a screw, making the battery user replaceable. Doing so voids the warranty of the laptop. Generally speaking when you are looking to replace a laptop battery due to capacity degradation over time it should be outside of the laptop's warranty (in this case, 2 years).

Quote from nmunafo : I wouldn't get either, but for only $100 more, you can get a HP Envy 17 with a i7-3610QM processor, 8GB of RAM, and the 3D display (which does apparently mess with the graphics switching and consequently, battery life). The deal was posted here: http://slickdeals.net/f/5319118-H...-AC-LOADED Honestly, there are regularly 3rd Gen (Ivy Bridge) i7 laptop deals on 15" and 17" laptops that meet or exceed all of the other specs on either of these Envy deals. I am still waiting for the right price on a deal with an Ivy i7, Blu-Ray and better than normal dedicated graphics. These Envy deals are nice only if you really want an Envy.

Hi nmunafo, thank you for the link. I put an edit in referring users to the HP Envy 17 3D in case they are interested.

Do you have advice for other laptops? I personally considered the Dell Inspiron 17R with the i7 and Nvidia 650M. Most benchmarks find the 650M to be less powerful than the 7850M, however.

I also looked at the Samsung Series 7 laptops which can come with an i7 and Nvidia 650M as well, but was generally more expensive than the Dell and HP Envy series. I have previously owned a Sager laptop and found the build quality lacking. After 2 years of gentle use I had cracked plastic, bad pixels, and fans rubbing against the chassis. So while I find the specs of something like the Sager NP6370 to be very competitive with components (i7 and Nvidia 660M) and price, I felt the overall reliability would be lacking.

Other manufacturers simply don't make 17" laptops of the desired specifications, or are geared towards "gaming" laptops such as the MSI G Series GE70 (i7 and 660M) which are made of plastic instead of metal and (in my subjective opinion) atrocious design choices.

Anyways, happy to hear further suggestions so we can get folks the best laptop possible!

Quote from Dobieguys : Hi nmunafo, thank you for the link. I put an edit in referring users to the HP Envy 17 3D in case they are interested. Do you have advice for other laptops? I personally considered the Dell Inspiron 17R with the i7 and Nvidia 650M. Most benchmarks find the 650M to be less powerful than the 7850M, however. I also looked at the Samsung Series 7 laptops which can come with an i7 and Nvidia 650M as well, but was generally more expensive than the Dell and HP Envy series. I have previously owned a Sager laptop and found the build quality lacking. After 2 years of gentle use I had cracked plastic, bad pixels, and fans rubbing against the chassis. So while I find the specs of something like the Sager NP6370 to be very competitive with components (i7 and Nvidia 660M) and price, I felt the overall reliability would be lacking. Other manufacturers simply don't make 17" laptops of the desired specifications, or are geared towards "gaming" laptops such as the MSI G Series GE70 (i7 and 660M) which are made of plastic instead of metal and (in my subjective opinion) atrocious design choices. Anyways, happy to hear further suggestions so we can get folks the best laptop possible!

I'm no expert, but have been following i7 laptops for the last few months as I am getting ready to upgrade from my 4 year old HP HDX16.

Personally, I've been looking at the Lenovo Y580 (15"), which comes with the i7 and a 660M. It has its issues, such as a flimsy back of the screen, (possible) overheating, and delayed arrival time if ordering directly from Lenovo. There are mid-range Asus models (15" and 17") that are similarly equipped in the same sort of price range, but I'm sure there is some issue with those too.

These seem to be a nice middle ground between the Dell Inspiron 17R / HP Pavilion and the higher end (MSI) gaming laptops. They have been consistently coming in at under $1000 for good builds. The other day, there was a nice Y580 build at the Microsoft Store for $999.

However, there were much better deals around Labor Day for both the Lenovo ($850 AR) and Asus. So, I'm hoping to see something nice for Black Friday.

If anyone has any better ideas, I'd appreciate the input.

Read my story before you get one.
(I got both HP Envy 3200, Ivy i7 3 Gen and HP Envy 2nd Gen Sandy i5)

Got the 2nd gen Envy last year (2011 Sept), has VARIOUS software and hardware issues. Software don't work, the build quality is way below sub par. i.e. I have never seen a laptop has gaps around the chasis before I got this "Premium" laptop.

Contacted HP customer care and going back and forth with hundreds of phone calls over a 6 months span and my laptop gone back for repair 2 times (one time the tech guy even lied about he fixed it but nothing has seems to be done.) Hp finally agreed to send me a replacement.

They send me the 3 Gen HP Envy (same look as today) with the sandy i5. It arrived Death_on_Arrival DOA!!!!! and that's already 8 months after my initial complaint.

This time the customer care agreed to send me another one right the way and gave me the Ivy i7 since they don't carry Sandy i5 for the Envy line anymore. (Some of you might think, wow! that's great! HP gave you an update for free! but for my side of the story, I paid HP the premium for "not" having a functional computer to use for over 9 months.)

After another month, the New HP Envy arrived with Ivy i7. I noticed there's a small piece of hair at the lower bottom of the screen. The chassis is uneven along the edges. But hey , i really needed a laptop to use since I don't have one for 9 months. So, after I carefully testing the laptop has no other issue, I kept it without calling in.

After I used the laptop for 3 weeks, the laptop pop open on the upper left corner right next to the dvd entrance when I lift the laptop just holding the lower left corner. A laptop POP Open just by holding it, Fxxk me!

This Will be my last HP purchase forever. And you'll be the judge of your purchase.

Btw, a friend of mine just got his two weeks ago and the screen just went dead yesterday. He asked me what to do. I only said one thing, "I told you so!"

P.S. I play video and they are not very demanding in terms of CPU n GPU power. But the Envy get SO hot on the upper right corner that Im afraid to play any game on this laptop. I actually did call HP tech support and the rep told me to get one of those fan to put underneath the laptop to cool the machine, classic! On top of that, she told me she has helped "a few" customer to replace their laptop because they played Video game and the Envy got overheated.

Well, brave it or choose something else? you choice.

The 3rd generation HP Envy isn't plagued by the same problems the 1st and 2nd generation were. I would highly recommend it for gaming, productivity, and entertainment. I get 4-5 hours out of the battery (not while gaming), and the screen/keyboard are both very nice. The chassis is second only to the MBP, and only by a small margin, and the audio is the best I've heard from a laptop (which isn't saying much - but it's surprisingly good). Runs cool even when I'm playing Metro 2033/Borderlands 2 on high settings for hours at a time.