HP Envy 17
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We have collected 7 reviews of the HP Envy 17. Experts rate HP Envy 17 8.3/10. Reviewsor.com helps you find reviews, best prices, user reviews of the HP Envy 17 and HP Laptops.
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HP Envy 17 Reviews
HP Envy 17
Double-take, gape, gawk, ogle, ooh and ahh: That's what we did when first seeing the HP Envy 17 (2012)'s ($1,484.99 direct) screen. What HP calls a Radiance Full HD Infinity display is simply one of the best, if not the best, laptop screens we've seen, with bright whites, rich blacks, vibrant colors, wide viewing angles, you name it. Set in Control Panel to show text and icons at 125 percent size - 100 percent can be a bit small or squinty at the 17.3-inch LCD's 1,920-by-1,080-resolution - it made Windows dialog boxes remind us of hand-inked and -lettered comic or poster pages rather than computer video, and made our digital-camera snaps look like fine art. If you don't mind a glossy rather than matte finish, it's a superb screen that'll spoil you for any run-of-the-mill laptop panel. But as dazzling as the display is, it's not the only reason we're elevating the HP Envy 17 to become our Editors' Choice among media center laptops, replacing the HP Pavilion dv7-6163cl ($949.99 list, 4 stars) - although we do feel it's time our media center honoree offered full 1080p resolution instead of stopping at 720p.
HP Envy 17 (2012) Review
HP knows how to make a winner. Not only has HP redesigned the Envy 17, but it has jam-packed this $1,484 system with a slew of crowd-pleasing features. From its full 1080p display and excellent audio to its Intel Core i7 processor and AMD switchable graphics, the notebook is an undeniable multimedia powerhouse. Read on to find out why the Envy 17 is one of our new favorite big-screen laptops.Similar to its smaller cousin, the Envy 15, the Envy 17 has adopted a slick, stripped-down aesthetic. While the Envy 17's aluminum-alloy interior is MacBook Pro-like, there are enough unique characteristics to set it apart. The silver deck is accented by a brilliant red ring that borders the expansive, recessed keyboard.Click to EnlargeTo the right of the keyboard sits the most unique feature of the notebook -- an analog volume dial emblazoned with a red Beats logo. Just below the dial sits a small mute button. An engraved Envy 17 insignia rests on the bottom left of the keyboard.Unlike the MacBook Pro, the Envy 17 features a black matte aluminum alloy lid. Too bad it was riddled with fingerprints and smudges within a few minutes of use.
HP Envy 17
The Envy 17 is the biggest and most powerful model in HP’s top-end line of laptops, which are known for their sex appeal and solid build quality. The Envy 17’s 11x16.5x1.5-inch chassis is constructed of magnesium alloy with an aluminum wrapping that’s decoratively etched on the lid and palm rest. The chiclet keyboard is large, with a dedicated number pad, and the keys feel pleasant to type on. The keyboard’s backlight can be turned on and off with a key press. The Envy 17 also features a ClickPad, an enlarged touchpad that incorporates the right and left buttons under the same roof. The pad supports multitouch gestures, which can be a mixed bag—two-finger scrolling just never seems as responsive as one-finger edge motion. Two solid metal hinges connect the body to a 17.3-inch, 1920x1080 screen featuring edge-to-edge glass. It all makes for a handsome package. While the Envy 17 boasts a slender profile, it’s not dainty in terms of weight—it’s 7 pounds, 8 ounces without the power brick—or in terms of computing power. The 1.6GHz Core i7-720QM processor features four distinct cores, along with HyperThreading and Turbo capability up to 2.8GHz in lightly threaded apps.
HP Envy 17 3D
Go big or go home. That's the mantra of the HP Envy 17 3D. This large but stylish desktop replacement features an Intel Core i7 processor, powerful ATI graphics, a 3D-capable, full HD display, and a Blu-ray player. Starting at $1,599 ($1,649 as configured), the 3D version of the notebook costs the same as a similarly equipped non-3D version we reviewed just three months ago. Sounds like a sweet deal. But how does this machine stack up to laptops powered by Nvidia's 3D Vision technology? And is there enough 3D content to make donning those glasses worth the trouble? Our in-depth review reveals all.Editor's Note: Portions of this review were taken from our earlier review of the HP Envy 17.The Envy 17 3D shares the same minimalist-chic design as the smaller Envy 14, including a rock-solid taupe chassis made of aluminum and magnesium. A few touches, such as a paisley-esque pattern of raised bumps on the lid and palm rest and HP's glowing logo on the lid, mark this as a premium laptop. Between the machine's durable feel and details such as quiet keys (more on that later), the Envy 17 3D feels like a luxury laptop.
HP Envy 17
For people who either can't afford Apple's 17-inch MacBook Pro or are just stalwart PC loyalists, it would behoove them to check out HP's Envy 17 (starting at $1,399; $1,599 as configured). For much less money (the MacBook Pro starts at $2,299), this big-screen beauty offers an equally elegant design and more powerful components. Despite one noteable flaw, the Envy 17 is an excellent choice.The Envy 17 shares the same minimalist-chic design as the smaller Envy 14, including a rock-solid taupe chassis made of aluminum and magnesium. A few touches, such as a paisley-esque pattern of raised bumps on the lid and palm rest, and HP's glowing logo on the lid, mark this as a premium laptop. Between the machine's durable feel and details such as quiet keys (more on that later), the Envy 17 feels like a luxury laptop.At 7.5 pounds, the Envy 17 is a reasonable weight for a notebook this size, although you won't want to do more than tote it around the house (and then, you'll need the AC adapter, as you'll see in the battery section). With a maximum height of 1.5 inches, the Envy 17 also feels thick, especially compared to Apple's 17-inch MacBook Pro, which is just 0.98 inches thin.
HP Envy 17
In an era where truly upscale laptops seem like an endangered species, it's always nice to run across a well-built system with few compromises, such as the HP Envy 17. We've always liked the Envy line in general, and the two most-recent models, the 14-inch Envy 14 and this 17-inch Envy 17, manage to surpass last year's original 13- and 15-inch versions by coming in at much more reasonable prices. The feature-packed Envy 17 includes a Blu-ray drive, both HDMI and DisplayPort outputs, and a USB 3.0 port (although very little current hardware can take advantage of it). As the slim (for its size) Envy 17 is one of the only laptops that looks and feels like a real alternative to Apple's 17-inch MacBook Pro, its $1,399 starting price is even more attractive, as the 17-inch MacBook goes for $2,299 and up. With a not-too-thick (but slightly too heavy) aluminum and magnesium chassis, the Envy 17 is less of a desk-hogging system than many of its 17- or 18-inch counterparts, hence our comparison to the (still slimmer) 17-inch MacBook Pro. The similarities extend to the backlit keyboard and oversize clickpad (the preferred term used for touch pads that integrate the mouse buttons into the pad itself), which both feel very Mac-like.
HP Envy 17
HP's design philosophy when it comes to the Envy series of laptops is to borrow liberally from Apple's Macbook line, then add some of its own flavor. The Envy 17 is no exception. At less than 8 pounds without the power brick, the Envy 17 is barely thicker than an inch and includes robust media playback capabilities--including Blu-ray movies. The overall look of the latest Envy 17 hews to the understated nature of the product line, with muted grays and light, dimpled swirl details on the case. The packaging is plain and simple as well, and most of the documentation ships on an included 2GB SD card. At one point, I fired up the HP Support Assistant. My past experiences with HP's efforts to automate support have been less than stellar, but this time around, it detected a BIOS update, a number of drivers and other HP software updates; installed them; and rebooted cleanly. The whole process was simpler and more straightforward than Microsoft's Windows Update scheme. The Envy 17 as tested by PC World arrived with an Intel Core i7-720QM CPU clocking in at 1.6GHz, with a peak turbo boost frequency of 2.8GHz.
Prices
| Retailer | Information | Prices | |
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HP Envy 17-1191NR 17.3 Laptop (1.60 GHz Intel Core i7-720QM Processor, 6 GB RAM, 1 TB Hard Drive, BD-ROM Drive, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit) | $1199 | See it |
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HP Envy 17-1191NR 17.3 Laptop (1.60 GHz Intel Core i7-720QM Processor, 6 GB RAM, 1 TB Hard Drive, BD-ROM Drive, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit) | $1199 | See it |
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HP Envy 17-3270NR 17.3-Inch Laptop (Silver) | $1349.99 | See it |
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HP Envy 17-3277NR 17.3-Inch Laptop | $1349.99 | See it |
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HP Envy 17-3277NR 17.3-Inch Laptop | $1349.99 | See it |
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HP Envy 17-3270NR 17.3-Inch Laptop (Silver) | $1389.99 | See it |
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HP ENVY 17-2280NR Notebook PC - Gray | $1569.99 | See it |
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HP ENVY 17-2280NR Notebook PC - Gray | $1599.99 | See it |
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HP ENVY 17-1011NR 17.3-Inch Laptop | $1999.99 | See it |
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HP ENVY 17 Notebook 256GB SSD + 1 TB (Intel Core i7-3820QM third generation Quad Processor - 2.70GHz with TURBO BOOST to 3.70GHz, 8 GB RAM, 256GB SSD and 1 TB Hard Drive 1256 GB total, BLU-RAY drive, BEATS AUDIO, 17.3-inch WIDESCREEN display, Windows 7) DESKTOP REPLACEMENT Laptop PC | $2399 | See it |
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HP ENVY 17 Notebook 256GB SSD + 2 TB 16GB RAM (Intel Core i7-3820QM third generation Quad Processor - 2.70GHz with TURBO BOOST to 3.70GHz, 16 GB RAM, 256GB SSD and 2 TB Hard Drive 2256 GB total, BLU-RAY drive, BEATS AUDIO, 17.3-inch WIDESCREEN display, Windows 7) DESKTOP REPLACEMENT Laptop PC | $2599 | See it |
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HP ENVY 17 EXTREME Notebook 256GB SSD + 2 TB 16GB RAM (Intel Core i7 EXTREME i7-3920XM third generation Quad Processor - 2.90GHz with TURBO BOOST to 3.80GHz, 16 GB RAM, 256GB SSD and 2 TB Hard Drive 2256 GB total, BLU-RAY drive, BEATS AUDIO, 17.3-inch WIDESCREEN display, Windows 7) DESKTOP REPLACEMENT Laptop PC | $2699 | See it |
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HP Envy 17 : (8.3/10)
7 expert reviews
0 user reviews
