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HP Envy 14 now available; pre-built and CTO, starts at $1099

HP Envy 14 now available; will be built as early as July 15th

At long last, HP has finally made their Envy 14 available for order on their official website. And there’s even more positive news: you can tweak specifications to your liking via order customization and the Envy 14 (CTO options) are said to ship as early as July 15th. Things that come standard with the Envy 14 include a 14.5 inch LED-backlit display (with 1600 x 900 resolution, also standard), a full-size backlit chiclet-style keyboard, 1 GB of ATI Mobility Radeon 5650 graphics (though switchable graphics to save on battery life are only available with Core i3 and Core i5 processors) and a HD webcam. There’s also basic ATI Eyefinity support that allows you to connect the Envy 14 to two external displays via the HDMI and mini Display Port outputs built into its chassis.

HP Envy 14 with an almost maxed-out configuration

For a little over one grand, you can have the Envy 14 and its most basic configuration, though things can quickly run up to almost two grand if you like to max things out like I do…

Spotted: New Intel Core i7 Quad Mobile and i5 Mobile processors

New Core i5 and Core i7 mobile processors leaked!

HP does it again! Reading through a recently posted Service Manual of the spanking new HP Envy 17, I’ve spotted three, new and upcoming Intel Core i5 and Core i7 Mobile processors that will be coming to HP Envy’s near you in the coming months (and presumably in other performance notebooks as well). The new processors include:

• Intel Core i7 840QM Quad-core processor – With a ‘native’ clock speed of 1.86 GHz and the ability to go up to 3.20 GHz using Turbo Boost, the i7-840QM is the new flagship processor of Intel’s non-Extreme line of processors. This processor is a wee bit faster than the 820QM, while maintaining 8 MB of L3 cache and 45W TDP rating. Another interesting fact is that the i7-840QM appears as an option alongside, instead of replacing, its 820QM sibling.
• Intel Core i7 740QM Quad-core processor – This looks like the love child of the existing Core i7 720QM and i7 820QM processors, sporting the 1.73 GHz clock speed of the latter and 6 MB of L3 cache of the former, and 45W TDP shared by all the existing Quad Core i7’s (except the i7-920XM). Maximum Turbo Boost speed is 2.93 GHz: that sits somewhere between the two (i7-720QM and i7-820QM).
• Intel Core i5 450M dual core processor – This is a very strange new processor indeed. Strange because it appears like a clone of the i5-520M processor with the same specifications and info on paper. 2.4 GHz dual core, with the ability to go up to 2.93 GHz via Turbo Boost, 3 MB of L3 cache and 35W TDP.

There are also a couple of implied new processors with the appearance of the three above. Here’s what I expect to also arrive (in other notebooks) at the same time:

• Intel Core i7 940XM Quad-core Extreme processor – With the i7 840QM able to hit the same 3.20 GHz ceiling as the i7 920XM via Turbo Boost, expect to see an upgraded i7 940XM mobile processor with 2.26 GHz clock speed and ability to Turbo Boost to 3.33 GHz or more.
• New Intel Core i5 500M series processors (i5 530M and i5 550M) – These new processors will maintain their 35W TDP, while giving an increase in clock speed/Turbo Boost max clock speed.

Well, go right ahead and check out that Service Manual to see those new processor options yourself, along with a wealth of information related to the Envy 17 (like how there’s no battery slice available, the fact it uses the GDDR5 version of the ATI Mobility Radeon 5850 and not DDR3 [rejoice!], how the hard drives and RAM slots are now “customer accessible” and more!). The new processors also make an appearance in the HP Envy 15 Service Manual, hinting that the Envy 15 (and it’s rather not-so-nice keyboard) is not so dead yet… well, there’s always wishful thinking that a redesigned 2nd gen Envy 15 or Envy 16 will come out this fall, right?

HP Envy 14 and Envy 17 finally revealed

Well, they’re finally official now and I can quit receiving these kazillion emails about the upcoming Envy 14/17 models… wait, at least until the Envy 11 and Envy 18 emails start flooding in a couple months’ time . Right now, the information being provided by HP is scarce. But after some “digging around”, I’ve managed to compile a much more comprehensive list of specifications for the Envy 14 and Envy 17, more than you’ll find on other sites out there. All the info I’ve listed below are accurate/confirmed except where noted otherwise.

For both the Envy 14 and Envy 17, the following things will come as standard/available features:

• Choice of Intel Core i5 dual core, Intel Core i7 dual core and Intel Core i7 Quad core processors (yes, the Envy 14 can be configured as a quad-core machine!)
• Fully backlit, chiclet style keyboard; NO annoying ‘quick media/quick launch’ buttons to hinder typing
• Metal/aluminum chassis with metal etching design (same patterns on the lid/palmrest as Envy 15)
• HP True Vision “HD” webcam (I think they can record/webconference in 720p; haven’t confirmed, I’m not really a big webcam user)
• Built-in slot-loading optical drives (contrary to earlier documents and HP info; somehow someone managed to squeeze in those optical drives)
• 7200 rpm hard disks will come standard; solid state drives (SSD) will also come as an option
• Dual built-in microphones
• Extra large button-less trackpads with brand new trackpad firmware/software for improved operation (really)
• Much improved cooling/airflow and heat dissipation
• LAN port for you network cable users
• Dedicated audio in and audio out ports for microphone and headphones respectively (unlike the single combo port on the Envy 15)

And looking at them individually now, first we have the HP Envy 14:

• 2 dedicated USB ports + 1 combo eSATA/USB port
• Standard full-size keyboard without numeric pad (doh!)
• 14 inch 16:9 aspect ratio “HD” (at least 1366 x 768; higher resolution panel options unconfirmed) LED backlit display; this one’s an “extra-bright” HP Radiance display (similar to how the Envy 13 had a 13 inch Radiance display)
• Two speaker Beats-branded (or logo stamped) speakers
• Single hard disk bay
• 2 or 4 DDR3 RAM slots
• 1 GB (confirmed) of ATI Mobility Radeon 56xx or 57xx graphics(unconfirmed; dm4 has ATI 5400 series graphics so the Envy 14 should have something higher)
• Optional (or probably standard in some countries) slim battery slice (styled ala Envy 13/Envy 15 battery slices) brings battery life to “up to 13.75 hours”
• Mini Display Port and HDMI port (No VGA out)
• Thin design, around an inch thick

The HP Envy 17

Next up is the much-discussed Envy 17:

• 3 dedicated USB ports + 1 combo eSATA/USB port
• Standard full-size keyboard WITH numeric pad
• 17 inch 16:9 aspect ratio full HD (1920 x 1080) display; appears to be a non-Radiance display
• Two speaker Beats-branded speakers plus “Triple Bass Reflex” (fancy name!) miniature subwoofer
• Dual hard disk bays (HP says you can have up to 2 TB of storage, not sure if they made a typo there because 2 TB in a notebook sounds… wrong)
• 2 or 4 DDR3 RAM slots
• 1 GB ATI Mobility Radeon 5850 graphics with Eyefinity “enabled”
• Optional extended primary battery juts out the bottom of the notebook
• Whopping THREE display output ports: Mini Display Port, HDMI and VGA out
• ATI Eyefinity support allows you to hook up three displays to the said three display output ports without any adapter needed
• Thin design, around an inch thick

And finally, we have a bunch of question marks floating around which I’ll post answers to when I get more information:

• Do the HP Envy 14 and Envy 17 support USB 3.0? If yes, how many of the ports are USB 3.0 and how many are USB 2.0?
• Is dual monitor “Eyefinity” enabled/do-able using the Envy 14?
• Seeing the Envy 17 has a  “stick out style” optional primary battery, will there be any (if at all) sort of slim battery slice for it?

I’m sure one of these days, either the Envy 14 or Envy 17 or both is gonna show up at my door, so meanwhile let’s discuss. You can start shooting me your questions so I can find answers to them the minute I get the chance to test out the new HP Envy’s.

HP Envy 17 appears briefly on HP website, tells us what to expect

The HP Envy 17 and its overview/specifications pages recently appeared on a HP website, and thanks to that, we now know a whole lot more about this 17 inch “luxury” performance notebook. First off, there really IS a number pad on the right side of the full-sized chiclet keyboard (turns out the info sent by the guy who apparently “bought” an Envy 17 two months ago was right, huh?). Also, in more keyboard-related news, those annoying quick launch buttons in the additional row to the left of the keyboard (found on the Envy 15, and annoyed the heck out of me) are gone on the Envy 17! Nice – now I can finally crouch in games (Ctrl button) without accidentally pressing the stupid calculator button and bring up Left4Dead’s command console (~ button) without hitting the e-mail client button.

Other than that, there’s also:

• Choice of Intel Core i5 dual core and Core i7 dual and quad core processors (as you’d probably expect)
• Up to 4 DDR3 RAM slots (presumably on Core i7 models; we’ll probably see just 2 RAM slots for Core i5 models like on the Elitebooks)
• 1 GB of GDDR5 ATI Mobility Radeon 5850
• NO optical drive (but that’s not an issue for some people like me)
• Thin profile

What’s strange is that the Envy 17’s front lip looks a whole lot like that of the Envy 13 with just two small grills for the speakers in front (the Envy 15 had big, large air intake vents on the front), which either hints to improved cooling efficiency that HP could remove those big (ungainly looking, to some) vents OR the Envy 17 will be a nice and toasty 17 inch frying pan! Hopefully it’s the former, and not the latter. More Envy news as it comes out… I’m sure now that the Envy 17 page has made a short appearance (HP has since pulled down the page), the Envy 14’s pages should be hiding somewhere around too…

HP Envy 15 appears again in Lady Gaga music video: Telephone with Beyonce

Today is the premiere day of Lady Gaga’s new music video + mini-drama (is that the word?) combo for her single “Telephone” featuring Beyonce, as you might have already noticed if you saw “Lady Gaga” and “Telephone” popping up as two of Twitter’s top trending topics several hours ago, or around the net. I would’ve posted this earlier had I not been busy completing my review of the HP Elitebook 8440p and another notebook.

And look what we have here… the HP Envy 15 Beats Edition (which, oddly, seems to have disappeared from HP’s website… hmmmm? I wonder why) makes another appearance in yet another Lady Gaga music video (a troop of Envy 15’s first appeared in “Bad Romance“)!

HP Envy 15 Beats Edition seen in Lady Gaga and Beyonce's Telephone music video

In “Telephone”, the HP Envy 15 Beats Edition appears for roughly 5 seconds in between 4:23 and 4:28 when Lady Gaga is bailed out of jail and a police officer, slacking on the job, is seen using the notebook to surf the net. See that big red Beats logo in the center… and also the small silver HP logo to the bottom left side of the notebook?

HP Envy 15 Beats Edition shown running Windows 7 and Firefox in Gaga's "Telephone" music video

The camera zooms into the screen of the HP Envy 15 Beats Edition at around 4:27, showing some dating website the old lady is visiting. Okay… Moving on… While the “dating website” is obviously some fictional site oops, turns out even the dating website is real and part of product placement in this almost-ad-filled music video (thanks, Robert!)… we can also spot other things in the HP Envy 15’s screen in Lady Gaga’s music video; notably using Windows 7 (and the default Windows 7 background) and Mozilla Firefox!

HP Envy 15 Beats Edition product picture

Oh, and before you skip off to watch “Telephone” by Lady Gaga, and featuring Beyonce, two things you have to keep in mind are… One, not recommended for kids to watch it (if you read gossip and celebrity tabloids and the news in general, you’d probably understand why Lady Gaga is a somewhat controversial woman) and two, the music video is filled with product placements from various companies/brands scattered throughout its nine-and-a-half minute length… which might actually scare people because of the sheer amount of product placement in the video is the most I’ve ever seen in a music video.

Mark your calendars: Mid March 2010 (UPDATED)

One of the more reliable sources out there has recently picked something up on the radar: *something* will be announced somewhere in the middle of next month, perhaps biased a little towards the end, but nevertheless, something. *Something* because it is currently unknown what exactly it will be, but I’m sure many of us are all hoping it will be the some things we’ve been waiting for, huh?

Nope, don’t look at the categories I’ve listed below as hints I know something you all don’t – it’s just wishful thinking because my guess is as good as your’s. The time of month has been confirmed (mid-end March), but announcement/event is unknown. So remember to take some time off this weekend to do the lucky dance and hope it’s the new Elitebooks and/or ATI graphics options.

UPDATE: In case you were thinking the Feb 28/March 1 announcement of the Elitebook 2540p and 2740p and updated Probook models were “IT”, you’re wrong. Expect another round of announcements in March. So this time we can narrow things down to either the flagship Elitebook 8740w with Dream Color 2, the new Envy 14 and Envy 17, new Pavilion notebooks, one or more of the above, or something completely different (remote possibility: HP Slate pricing and availability?). And the speculation goes on….