In a move to make their AMD-infused Pavilion dm3z models more attractive, HP has recently (and quietly) outfitted their ultra-thin line of 13 inch Pavilion dm3z notebook PCs with AMD’s latest Athlon II Neo processors (which also come in single and dual core flavors) that were made official barely two weeks ago. Compared to the first generation mobile Athlon Neo MV-40 of last year, these new 2010 chipsets from AMD feature two to four times the amount of L2 cache (1 or 2 MB L2 cache in the new processors versus 512 kb) and more processing power (ranging from 1.7 GHz single core to 1.3-1.5 GHz dual core choices, compared to the 1st Neo that was 1.6 GHz single core). They also are made based on 45 nm tech (versus their predecessors’ 65 nm). All while featuring the same TDP of 15 W (and an even lower 12 W for the single core Athlon II Neo “Geneva” K125).
If you spring for the more affordable single core 1.7 GHz K125 processor, you’ll get 512 MB’s worth of slightly dated ATI Mobility Radeon 4225 graphics. Going for the slightly pricier dual core 1.3 GHz K325 processor will allow you to choose between the mentioned Mobility Radeon 4225 card or a 512 MB ATI Mobility Radeon 5430 graphics option (which is ATI’s latest). The most powerful processor of the bunch (which comes at a $150 premium over the base single core option on HP’s website) will come standard with ATI Mobility 5430 graphics.
In other news, the HP Pavilion dm3z’s Intel counterparts (the Pavilion dm3t series) have not been updated and instead, have strangely disappeared from HP’s website… new Intel ULV Core i3 and Core i5 equipped Pavilion dm3t’s for summer, anyone?!
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.
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…
This week is turning out to be another “Apple week” again, with plenty of unrest on the internet about the recent announcement of Apple’s new MacBook Pro’s, refreshed for 2010, even more iPad hyping and plenty of iPhone gen 4 rumors. Let’s take a look at the new (2010) 13 inch MacBook Pro. It has a Core2Duo processor, compared to dual-core i5 and i7 on its 15 and 17 inch big brothers. And a mere 256 MB of graphics (Nvidia GeForce 320M). So far, the HP Elitebook 8440w is the smallest notebook (14 inch) with a Core i7 Quad-core processor. Do you think someone can push the envelope even further and put Quad core in something… smaller… as a little bird hinted recently?
I’m not sure what is it with HP recently, making products (or at least their product and order pages) available first before an actual announcement. But regardless, they’ve just come out with a new Touchsmart-like (similar form factor with no touchscreen here), budget net-top computer – the Compaq CQ1. The CQ1 may look a whole lot like the more expensive Touchsmart PC’s in terms of design but their similarities end there. The CQ1 has a 18.5 inch non-touch display, a dual core Intel Atom processor, 2 DDR2 RAM slots, runs Windows XP (what year are we living in again?) and has a relatively affordable starting price of $430. The CQ1 also sports its fair share of ports and a slot-loading optical drive.
