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MBP vs HP Envy

graphics drivers

I owned an envy before I purchases my macbook pro and a problem I had was you can not download drivers directly from ATI because if the graphics switching capabilities the envy has. This wouldn't be a problem except HP is not keeping up on the video drivers at all. They have only one release and that was the original. Games like RIFT and WoW run with corruption in areas and i am convinced this is why. I like the fact apple will continue to update video drivers with each system update release.
 
shansoft said:
You do realize that Envy 15 the original version have heat issue right?
And the price wasn't 2000 when launch. You must be either customizing to the max on that laptop, otherwise its around 1400.

The second revision of it which comes with 5830 solve the issue, and was priced around 950 in HP store for quite awhile with core i7 720M with 1080P resolution.

Also, tell me when 2008 that MBP sells out @ 800 dollar price.. Because it never will..
Who the heck is going to buy 2008 with such a price tag?
MBP 2009 is also pricing between 500-700 ish on ebay.

The money loss is always higher on higher end MBP than any other laptop, unless its a gaming laptop.
Click to expand...

Here you have a base 2008 MBP 15" with 2 bid @ 850dlls
http://cgi.ebay.com/MacBook-Pro-Uni...ple_Laptops&hash=item415a992f61#ht_500wt_1156

And here you have a top 2008 MBP 15" with 3 bids @ 980dlls
http://cgi.ebay.com/Late-2008-MacBo...ple_Laptops&hash=item20ba1e2d4f#ht_566wt_1141

I want to clarify that I'm not criticizing HP, I'm just stating in a brief and quick way, what I've come to realize after a lot of research, which eventually came to be the main reason I decide on a MBP.

Also is important to mention that after 3 years, those 800 dlls, are actually worth less than they were worth when the MBP was purchase, because of inflation. But the real difference (if you take good care of the computer that is) is actually less, than the 700dlls price tag difference.
 
mac00l said:
Here you have a base 2008 MBP 15" with 2 bid @ 850dlls
http://cgi.ebay.com/MacBook-Pro-Uni...ple_Laptops&hash=item415a992f61#ht_500wt_1156

And here you have a top 2008 MBP 15" with 3 bids @ 980dlls
http://cgi.ebay.com/Late-2008-MacBo...ple_Laptops&hash=item20ba1e2d4f#ht_566wt_1141

I want to clarify that I'm not criticizing HP, I'm just stating in a brief and quick way, what I've come to realize after a lot of research, which eventually came to be the main reason I decide on a MBP.

Also is important to mention that after 3 years, those 800 dlls, are actually worth less than they were worth when the MBP was purchase, because of inflation. But the real difference (if you take good care of the computer that is) is actually less, than the 700dlls price tag difference.
Click to expand...

Not hard to figure out there is something behind it..

Look at the winner rating on it.. :rolleyes:

Don't wanna talk about ebay auction cheat in here, but go google it..
you will see..
 
Dude, I was in the same position as you.
HP Envy 14 Beats or MBP?
Well... I'm about to choose/get my MBP when/if Back to School Sale Start.
Why?

MBP, Well, it's really portable and powerful at the same time. Apple finds the balance in power and portability. It last quite a bit, aprox 6 hours.
The MBP I know will help me get my work done.

HP Envy... I hear battery problems... 2hours max if you're lucky.
Great for playing games, etc.

BUT...
I'm going to be college... and I need to be more responsible, I love playing games and I'm a gamer, but I believe the MBP will help me in the long run cause it's better if the MBP can't play games as well as the HP Envy so I can keep on track. I'm sure if you have free time, you'll be hanging out with your friends or find something else to do that is productive.

If you believe a $1700 MBP is going to help you and you're a "broke-ass college student", then you're wrong. Cause that $1700 in debt will cause a lot more pain to you. You're better off getting the base line of 13" inch and upgrade it by buying the stuff on Amazon.

UNLESS.... YOU ARE MAJORING IN VIDEO PRODUCTION, then you really need that $1700 MBP. Otherwise... don't bother. You're a college student, you're here to learn, not try to spend as much money as possible to impress other kids with your $1700MBP then get it stolen.
 
That's a good idea. As for laptops and college, you could probably be just as well served by the $300 Wal-Mart special because computers really don't matter that much in college.

Design/art majors use expensive software that despite being discounted for students is STILL quite expensive, and many schools have design labs with nice big Macs and all of the necessary software.

Liberal arts students seldom need anything other than MS Word. Again, no need for a crazy laptop.

Engineering students use expensive software that isn't discounted at all o_O Then there's almost no point because you'll only ever use your own computer for MS word anyway. :\

Comsci students get lucky because everything needed is free and/or provided for free (windows users tend to get to use MSDNAA for free Visual Studio, and Mac/Linux users can just use gcc/eclipse/xcode/whatever) ;) Then you have a lot more fun with your computer. *smirk*

YMMV, if you're taking out a student loan you might as well get the cheapest you can because in a few years the computer will be a piece of junk regardless of Apple Junk or HP junk, and you'll still owe the money.

^ from another student lol. Yes some of it is generalized, please don't hate me! XD
 
JoeG4 said:
As for laptops and college, you could probably be just as well served by the $300 Wal-Mart special because computers really don't matter that much in college.
Click to expand...
Oh my goodness. No :)

Liberal arts students seldom need anything other than MS Word. Again, no need for a crazy laptop.
Click to expand...
Oh no. No, no, no.

Yes some of it is generalized, please don't hate me! XD
Click to expand...
OK. I won't add anything else, except that I don't agree :)
 
shansoft said:
Not hard to figure out there is something behind it..

Look at the winner rating on it.. :rolleyes:

Don't wanna talk about ebay auction cheat in here, but go google it..
you will see..
Click to expand...

Possibly, but when you constantly see those prices, you end up thinking otherwise.
 
Having just come from an Envy (17" model), the MBP is a huge upgrade in build quality and battery power. The Envy had basically the same CPU/GPU power, but got 2.5 hrs of battery life with an extended-life battery sticking out of the bottom. I'm still amazed that Apple can pack so much processing power AND such a long battery life in such a thin and light package. Of course, the Envy was about $600 cheaper though...
 
mac00l said:
Here you have a base 2008 MBP 15" with 2 bid @ 850dlls
http://cgi.ebay.com/MacBook-Pro-Uni...ple_Laptops&hash=item415a992f61#ht_500wt_1156

And here you have a top 2008 MBP 15" with 3 bids @ 980dlls
http://cgi.ebay.com/Late-2008-MacBo...ple_Laptops&hash=item20ba1e2d4f#ht_566wt_1141

I want to clarify that I'm not criticizing HP, I'm just stating in a brief and quick way, what I've come to realize after a lot of research, which eventually came to be the main reason I decide on a MBP.

Also is important to mention that after 3 years, those 800 dlls, are actually worth less than they were worth when the MBP was purchase, because of inflation. But the real difference (if you take good care of the computer that is) is actually less, than the 700dlls price tag difference.
Click to expand...


Here is a price for an HP Envy 15-
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-VM247UA-...15241795?pt=Laptops_Nov05&hash=item27bf6bdd43

2009 MacBook Pro- http://www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-MacBo...80973611?pt=Apple_Laptops&hash=item336d882f2b
 
If the ENVY14 still had a 1600x900 display option I'd own that over my current MacBook.

Also, only on a mac forum will you see people bitch about resale value. I'm a member on MANY tech sites, and until I joined here did I never know anyone even cared about that. If you want a laptop buy it for what you want to do with it, not for what you can resell it for in 3 years. That's just stupid. Every time I see these resale arguments I want to start punching people in the face.
 
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The apple tax is more like a deposit - if you bought a Windows laptop for $800 and a Mac laptop for $1800 with similar specs, the Windows laptop would be worth a $50-100 in 3 years (maybe nothing), while the Mac would be worth around $1000. (Maybe, just maybe).

In the long run, it's still cheaper to buy the similarly spec'd PC laptop. However, unless it's a Thinkpad, a Vaio, or an Envy purchased on Black Friday, you won't have nearly as favorable experience. A friend of mine barely had enough $$ to buy a decent laptop - I steered her toward an i5 Gateway that fit her budget. It works great, but the keyboard sucks!

I'll still stand by what I said! What point is there in a college student owning a laptop? To take notes in class? There are some classes where you can get by on that - but I've found them to be few and far between. Call me biased, a lot of my classes REQUIRE drawing on paper - not just linear notes.

For most other things a desktop is far more comfortable. :>
 
Get the Envy.

Once you go Mac, you'll be screwed for life. Sure, you COULD switch back to a Windows notebook and platform down the line but you'll always feel that the hardware quality just isn't the same. You COULD export your entire life you've been saving in iPhoto and iTunes and (maybe) MacJournal to alternatives or Windows versions, but you won't want to. When you have to install a Windows virus scanner after not having used one in years, you're going to want to shoot yourself in the head.

So, stay with the Envy. That way you'll be used to all the problems and endlessly tweaking things so they're just the way you like it. You'll never know that there was 'a better way', and so you'll never miss it.
 
Please do yourself the favour and DO NOT buy the HP Envy.

I bought one in early 2011 before the new MBP's came out because I liked the MBP's design but not the idea of using OSX. So I paid the same price as for a MBP, just for a HP envy. Then, the disappointments came.

- The envy is absolutely unusable on battery. I suspect that the battery doesn't provide enought wattage (or whatever electrical measurement) to power all of the computer. I experienced lags, freezes and so on... on a new machine!
- Battery life sucks big time. I could get like 1.5h (tops!) when doing nothing but surfing with 50% screen brightness. I'm not even gonna start on other tasks...
- The quality overall was poor. I had an uneven touchpad and a rambling sound inside that sounded like a loose part from day one on.
- The thing is loud. Even when idle, you can clearly hear it.
- It feels like it weigs 10 pounds

I asked HP if they would take it back, and luckily, 10 days later, they did and gave me a full refund.

I then bought an early 2011 high end MBP 15" and could not be happier... And I got used to MacOSX pretty fast.

TL;DR: Do yourself a favour and buy the MBP. :)
 
Why do you have to compare two?
If you need to run Mac based program, buy Mac.
If all programs are Windows based, buy Windows PC.

I need both and I don't want to waste time switching between Windows and Mac. I also need full speed so VM is not the solution for me.
So, I have both Vaio and MBP.
I'm planning to switch to a new Vaio Z series soon.
 
i don't know why this thread was resurrected. but, i'll add my two cents to what essentially boils down to the endless windows vs. mac debate.

does it matter what you get? the hardware specs for pcs will generally be better and you'll get them for less money (there are some exceptions, like the 11" air). comparing specs alone the choice is easy. go pc. and, it seems that gamers generally enjoy the pc stuff, so that seems the way to go if you are into that.

if you compare style (how beautiful is the device) the pcs are getting a lot better. but, only rarely are they even comparable to something like the mbp (which i think is a design masterpiece). if you care about this kind of stuff, then pcs are going to look a little less appealing. the envy isn't bad. it certainly isn't great, though, and it is laughable next to the mbp (an old design, i might add).

in the end, doesn't it come down to the os? i like using my mbp. it is actually a lot of fun. i cannot say that about windows, even though i think with 7 they have actually done a lot of things right. i still use windows on a daily basis. i have a windows computer at home and at work. i don't like them as much, but for some stuff they are sometimes needed (it's kind of technical and specific to my field of research, but it turns out that word in windows has a couple of really nice functions that word in the mac doesn't have).

decide your priorities and your budget, and then the choice will be a lot easier.
 
Don't listen to the people here ranting about PC quality control- Apple's is just as bad, if not (in my experience) even worse. Be careful when buying a Mac, open the box in the store, take the machine out and inspect everything. I'm on my 5th 2011 15-inch, not because I'm a computer buying hypochondriac, but because I was given 4 MBPs with various deal-breaking issues. The kind of issues that the genius bar simply gave me a replacement machine each time without argument. My first machine had a crappy keyboard with keys that would sink below the aluminium unibody and also had a defective graphics card that would die under load. My second machine had another defective graphics card, it died under load. My third machine had a defective headphone jack, sleep/wake issues and another crappy keyboard. My fourth machine was perfectly fine... until something went wrong with one of the fans, it needed to be replaced too. I'm now on my 5th machine, which has thankfully been working issue-free, as it should be, for a month now.

I've never experienced that buying a PC. Sure, some lower-end PCs are a bit crappy, they have noisy fans, average keyboards etc, but at least you know what you're in for and even with the noise etc that they aren't defective and do what's advertised.
I got 2 1/2 years worth of excellent service from an $800 Compaq laptop. Other than the crappy battery life, I couldn't fault it. It got me through the majority of my uni degree and still works perfectly.

As for the OS, well... the grass wasn't greener. I think OS X has degraded in quality recently. I clearly remember enjoying using Tiger over Windows XP (which I can't stand)- Tiger was great, I wish I could install it on my MBP, at least as a 2nd partition. Windows has improved immensely since then though, while OS X's changes have been love/hate. I tend to dislike most of the Lion specific changes, I'd love to get Snow Leopard back.
 
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