HP Fansite

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 Eliteboook 8740w specifications leak; plus leaks roundup

Picture by reader T.Y.: Is this the 8740w's lid?!

It looks like we now have enough information to construct a rumors + specifications roundup, with special thanks going out for a few anonymous tipsters, a person by the name ‘HP Fan‘ who has seen an Elitebook 8740w datasheet (!!) and plenty of internet searchers =). First off, a little update about announcement time: a reliable source is “pretty confident” that the Elitebook 8740w will be coming out this month along with other products targeting designers and people who do graphics work (ie DreamColor 2 and new external display panels) – I can see the adrenaline build-up in the crowd already!

HP Elitebook 8740w processor options (Thanks, Google Cache!)

And here’s what’s been confirmed about the HP Elitebook 8740w so far (I’ve included links to old/related posts in case you’ve missed them in the past):

• Intel Core i7 720QM 1.6 GHz quad core processor and 820QM 1.73 GHz quad core processor; ‘other’ Core i5 processors
• 4 DDR3 1333 MHz RAM slots for up to 16 GB of total RAM
• ONE hard disk bay with optical drive; removable optical drive doubles as expansion bay
• NEW ATI FirePro M7820 workstation graphics; with 1GB GDDR5 memory
• Choice of new ATI FirePro M7820 graphics above, Nvidia Quadro FX3800M or Nvidia Quadro FX2800M
• 17 inch display (up to full HD); optional full HD DreamColor 2 display (same tech, but obviously different size, as 8540w DC2)
• Full-size keyboard with number pad; partial-chiclet style!
• Selective number of USB 3.0 ports
• Single-touch trackpad with pointing set; 2 sets of 3 mouse buttons
• 7.86 lbs weight AKA 3.57 kg

Oh, the Elitebook 8740w will also be compatible with some sort of new “2010 Advanced WKS Docking Station”… whatever that means, along with other newly launched Elitebooks (except 2540p and 2740p).

Got something to share? Pictures? Info? Post a comment or email me! (Email at the top right of the site’s sidebar!)

Super HP belated Valentine’s day rumors roundup

Okay, fine, so this may have little to do with Valentine’s day… but let’s spread some love for the several HP notebooks that have been and continue to stay elusive.

Elitebook 8740w: So it seems a lot of people have a couple of grand lying around and are all set to drop it on this long-awaited Mobile Workstation on the precise millisecond it comes out. Question is WHEN?! There was a gap of roughly one month between when the Elitebook 6930p and 8530/8730w series were announced back in 2008. It’s been over a month since the Elitebook 8440 and 8540 models were announced at CES 2010, so where is the 8740w?! (And oh, before I forget 8740w, where are your smaller friends as well?). I suspect the Elitebook 8740w’s elusiveness has something to do with ATI launching FirePro mobile, HP launching DreamColor 2 displays or both. Most likely DreamColor 2 is the culprit. You see, DreamColor displays are a wonderful technology that you don’t see on notebooks everyday… so what a great party/bash it would be for HP to launch the flagship Elitebook 8740w FEATURING DreamColor 2?! It’s very, very, very likely that the 8740w and DreamColor 2 will debut hand-in-hand, at least that’s the way speculation seems to be pointing…

Envy 14 and Envy 17: Cooler than ever. Not that the Envy 13 and 15 aren’t cool enough, in the cool dude sense of the word, because they look awesome. Word is the Envy 14 and Envy 17 will not only LOOK awesome, but stay cool as well… as in, not burn up your palms and thighs as you work on an Office 2010 document or play Crysis 2 at high settings in the future.

Envy 17′s first sale?! Everyone rush out and check your local consumer electronics store(s) now! An enthusiastic reader claims (multiple times) that he’s bought an Envy 17 less than a week ago, from some place that he would’ve never gone to buy a computer from (he doesn’t mention where) and that he got a good deal on it. In another of his comments, he emphasizes that it has a “number pad”, though little else is mentioned. False alarm? Or could someone else really hit the jackpot and find a store selling the Envy 17? Pictures or it didn’t happen!

Shifting things around: If anyone has noticed, HP has shifted their new 8440 and 8540 forwards on their Elitebook page, and relegated the 6930p, 8530p and 8540w to the back seat (or right edge of the page). Perhaps this is a sign of the Elitebook 8740w to come? Or is this just HP doing some website spring cleaning, again?

Okay, I’m done shifting through rumors and whatnot for the day. Back to putting on the finishing touches to my Envy 15 + ATI Mobility Radeon 5830 review…