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 also launched a couple of new consumer-level Pavilion models today. Looks like they’re heading towards a new direction with a full rehash of their 14 to 17 inch Pavilion dv models. These new models no longer have those overly glossy lids and keyboard decks (you know, those that people were complaining about being fingerprint magnets) and, with the exception of the glossy display, have lost all things “shiny” (those touch sensitive, lit keys included). Instead these new Pavilion models now have a much more subtle, more aesthetically pleasing I must also comment, design – with aluminum cases with fairly low profile (Except the Pavilion dm4) imprints, full-size and color-contrasting chiclet style keyboards (the Pavilion dv6 even “borrows” the Envy 15’s whole keyboard design, trashy quick launch buttons included! But thankfully the rest have regular keyboards… for, you know, typists who don’t want to hit the wrong keys) and of course, big and buttonless multi-touch trackpads – it’s pretty evident that the Envy series had a pretty big influence on the guys who designed the new Pavilion dm4, Pavilion dv5, Pavilion dv6 and Pavilion dv7 notebooks we see today. Oh, these new notebooks also have more airvents and more LOGICALLY placed airvents (ie the vent for outward airflow isn’t placed facing the bottom anymore) than their predecessors. Note that the latter three models (dv5, dv6, dv7) share the model designations as their predecessors, but have completely different designs – so watch out before you buy!
HP Pavilion dm4
HP Pavilion dv5
HP Pavilion dv7
Specs to come…
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.
So the Elitebook 8740w didn’t exactly appear to the hungry masses last week as rumored… but there’s word that orders have already been placed for this elusive notebook, from those who know the right people.
On the consumer side of things, there have been sightings over the past week of a certain notebook melding together Envy with Touchsmart tm2 style, plus some sort of “3D” imprint and is rumored to boast the title “smallest powerful notebook”. More on that to come…
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.
