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Macbook Pro 15 or HP Envy 15?

G

Gata

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 23, 2010
248
149
I caught the "waiting for Arrandale" virus, and finally got tired of waiting, looked up my options, and chose between these two.

Macbook Pro 15:apple:
2.8 GHZ C2D
4 GB of RAM
9400m+9600m GT
500 GB 7200 RPM HD
Internal Superdrive
Integrated Battery
1400x900
or
HP Envy 15
1.73 GHZ Core i7-720QM
6 GB of RAM
Mobility Radeon HD 5830
500 GB 7200 RPM HD
External BD-ROM USB Drive
6-cell+9-cell slice battery
1920x1080

Primary use (from highest to lowest): Web Browsing, MS Word/Excel/PPT, Gaming (Star Wars: The Force Unleashed only), Photoshop CS3 and Flash CS3 (soon to be CS5), and occasionally some video transcoding. When I work in Photoshop, a little less than half the time, I work at resolutions equal to or greater than 1920x1080. In Flash, I usually have a w/h of 1600x900 and 72 fps. I don't make long animations, just 5-20 sec. ones.

OS Preference: I am impartial, though I have mainly used windows in my computing experience.

So, which should I go with?:confused:

EDIT: ADDITIONAL INFO
Battery life: Need 3-4 hours, under the uses described above.
Weight: Doesn't matter, I'm not extensively hauling it around.
As for the disc-drive, I really don't need it unless I install by CD or watch DVD/Blu-ray (all of which happen only occasionally).
Trackpad: Don't really need it, as I'll be using a bluetooth mouse with the notebook.
It'll be primarily situated on a desk (though I still need the portability).
The main thing I need from my laptop is performance- specifically, at multitasking, HD (720/1080p) video editing/transcoding, and some occasional gaming.
 
Go for the HP, that way you can get an i7 right now and your uses don't need Mac OS X anyway.
 
HP Envy is clearly a better deal by a long shot, especially if you don't care about portability or battery life.
 
Pretty sad when you go to a Mac fan site and ask which to buy, a MBP or HP Envy and they tell you to buy the Envy.

Apple.... WTF are you doing? Release a new MBP already!
 
Envy, but have you considered the i5 model? It'll last you a bit longer on battery.

Then again, you have a nice fat budget :)
 
Honestly, I would go with the MBP. I have played around with several Envy's and they just don't seem that great. The quality is not up to part with the MBP nor should HP be charging what they are for the machine. Yes, I know Apple haters will quickly say the same about the price of the current MBP line. You can find great deals on them and no one should pay full retail for them now.

If you are buying just for specs then a Mac is not for you. Microsoft will welcome you with open arms.
 
JoeG4 said:
Envy, but have you considered the i5 model? It'll last you a bit longer on battery.

Then again, you have a nice fat budget :)
Click to expand...

Would there be any significant performance difference?
 
We have that machine at work...and all i can say is that the trackpad alone will make you return the Envy. Trust me. The machine is great but buy a mouse.
 
I have the exact same machine and my parents have a 2.66 macbook pro. Its definitely fast but the trackpad is a nightmare. Web browsing is terrible on the machine, scrolling is a disaster. Also the screen bezel is too glossy. The pro isnt as glossy as the envy. The keyboard has some flex, my palm rests would creak so i had unscrew the bottom and make it fit tighter. With those two batteries combined, brightness at its lowest you will get 2 hours and 40 minutes tops, just idle and weighs about 7 lbs. I usually end up taking my parents pro to school. I definitely dont recommend it the keyboard, build quality, trackpad or battery is a priority to you. Your better off with an Asus or the Z or even the F series.
 
I was waiting for new mpb but it was too long.

I ended up getting a refurb 15" (pevious generation) with the 2.53 (6mb L2 cache, not 3mb) the 512MB 9600Gt and a 320gb HDD. oh and 4gb of ram. And express card slot!!! :)

For 1649 CND, probably around 1600 in the US refurb store.

400 dollars less than the 2.8.!!!

Best part, I got my macbook pro by tomorrow or the next day.. new ones probably won't be out till Q3 now.

I'm going to use this right up until before the NEXT NEXT update. and I will probably only take a 200-300 dollar loss, especially if they give me a discount on 3 years AppleCare like they did with my last macbook pro. I'm pumped, I get virtually the same machine as the 2.8 (CPU's are basically exactly the same, other than the 2.8 being a bit faster... same L2 cache and all)

plus I'm going to be running snow-leopard off a 48GB SSD in my express card slot. so it will be wayyy faster than the 2.8 without a SSD. when I go to sell this I will undoubtedly get around the same amount selling the 2.8 because there is always someone out there who will need the express card slot. and I will probably have a new battery in the bitch by then too! :eek:

if you see the 2.53 up in the refurb store again.. I'd consider buying it. it will do everything the current 2.8 can do, but it's almost 400 dollars cheaper and it has an express card slot... you can't lose. (plus once the new ones come out, i don't think you will even see this model in the refurb store, and even if you do it will probably only be down 1550 or something by then... any lower would be selling it at a loss... or well not a loss, but not at enough of a profit for what Apple is used to :p )
 
Here's a little something that makes touchpads a little more bearable in windows

http://code.google.com/p/two-finger-scroll/downloads/list

it's not the whole multi gesture, but you can at least have two finger scroll back ;)

O/P: The envy is probably the superior machine, but HP is *NOT* known for great customer service. HP product quality is also not first rate. I'm not saying don't buy it, but be well aware of exactly what you're getting for your money.
 
If you decide to go with the envy 15, be careful not to buy the 1050 model. The one the guy suggested up in this thread is the old model, which is more expensive and yet comes with the ati 4830. You're looking for the 1150 model with the ati 5830.

There are also lots of deals on the envy. I myself found a couple of weeks ago some coupon codes that instantly saved 250 or 200 bucks. So just a little search on the web and you get $200 off.

Also the only way you can get USB 3.0 on the Envy 15 is if you get i7. That also applies to the memory dimms. If you choose the i7 you get 4 dimms, if you choose i5/i3 you only get 2.

The coupon codes expire after X number of uses so watch out because you never know when they're gonna be over.

I believe whichever one you pick you will enjoy ;)
 
If buying the hp, skip the quad core i7 and the battery slice, and instead, get the i5 dual core. I saw the quad core model at frys in Dallas, and it had literally fried, I am guessing, and could not get past the bios posting, not a good sign. Where as I have read much better things about the updated envy with i5. I would skip the external blu Ray player as well. Surely, you can buy an internal blu Ray drive and USB enclosure for less.

Personally though I would just be patient and buy the new MacBook pro when it's released. They are built much better and feel like much nicer machines during use.

Also whichever you decide on, get the matte screen ( save $25 on the envy and costs $50 on the MacBook).
 
Fasailmac said:
I have the exact same machine and my parents have a 2.66 macbook pro. Its definitely fast but the trackpad is a nightmare. Web browsing is terrible on the machine, scrolling is a disaster. Also the screen bezel is too glossy. The pro isnt as glossy as the envy. The keyboard has some flex, my palm rests would creak so i had unscrew the bottom and make it fit tighter. With those two batteries combined, brightness at its lowest you will get 2 hours and 40 minutes tops, just idle and weighs about 7 lbs. I usually end up taking my parents pro to school. I definitely dont recommend it the keyboard, build quality, trackpad or battery is a priority to you. Your better off with an Asus or the Z or even the F series.
Click to expand...

Exaggerated much? Even my F series with its puny little battery can pull 3 hours on lowest brightness + power saver mode. EASILY.
 
JoeG4 said:
Exaggerated much? Even my F series with its puny little battery can pull 3 hours on lowest brightness + power saver mode. EASILY.
Click to expand...

The envy does not have switchable graphics, so the estimates are probably not far off.
 
The Envy is a much better choice seeing Windows 7 is kick ass and you don't really need OS X.
 
Envy

I would recommend the Envy. It's a great machine for day to day use if can live with the short battery life.

I got one myself after waiting too long for the updated MBP. I have the new i7 version and it's even cooler on the surface than my old SR MBP 15" with 2,2 ghz C2D, so don't worry about the heat.
 
I went to have a look out of curiosity at the Envy and damn that think is cheap looking/feeling. When all the chatter about it being a macbook pro clone was doing the rounds before release the press photos etc made it look really nice quality but in reality its cheap and nasty.

Specs don't need to be spoken about in the decision as everybody knows and can see in black and white.

To me it has all the appeal of a chinese iPhone copy.
 
Well, do you want 8 hours of battery life, or half an hour? ;)

get the MBP, but wait until tuesday to buy, and if they don't come out, that gives you 2 FULL weeks to return it (which means 2 more tuesdays!!)
 
Because the MBP is running OSX, I'd say go with the MBP over the envy. From what I've read about the envy it does not have the same solid build feel as the MBP. If you can wait then I'd say give it a week or two to see if apple finally releases their new MBP.
 
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