To buy or not to buy HP Envy 15-1104tx

[Klosteral]

Hey guys,

Just came across the HP Envy 15-1104TX in Australia for $1300AUD. That is with the i7-820QM, 8GB RAM and ATI 5830M!

It looks like a bargain, however rumor has it that it is very prone to dangerously high levels of heat and short battery life. Also, for some reason it doesn't seem to have an in-built DVD drive...

I am going to take this laptop travelling with me; gaming on desks and stuff with a proper mouse. Will the heat singe my hands/legs when using it?

-Klosteral

 

[xyzionz]

Don't risk your legs, if you throw a frog in hot water, it will jump right out. if you put it in cold water and boil it slowly, it will boil it to death. Same thing happen to a lot of people out there.

Yea, that kind of specs will drain your battery like drinking water. Also I hate HP due to their poor chassis design that always prevent users from accessing it, hate to tore it apart when needs to be clean from the inside, and I've heard some news last time where Intel said their chassis is not ready for quad core heat, moreover a 5830m...

Better ask more people 1st before buying a laptop this big.
Is it a 2nd hand or new?

 

[Klosteral]

Umm... ok?

Didn't really understand the frog reference, I prefer steak

You can see for yourself what I am looking at here:
http/www.affordablelaptops.com.au/contents/en-us/d360_gaming-laptop-notebook-cheap-budget.html

At first I thought it was too good to be true - i7-820, 8GB RAM, 5830M GPU - then I read up some more and found there was no inbuilt DVD drive (why?!) and that many people say it is very prone to overheating.

I was looking at ASUS Tek before;
-N61JQ @ $1259AUD
-G51JX @ $1639AUD (out of stock)
-G53JW @ $1799AUD

But the specifications of these are junk compared to the HP Envy...

 

[xyzionz]

I meant don't put any laptop while running on your lap, it will burn your skin if it is not getting enough cold air. It will not burn immediately but when it slowly cooks up, it will burn your skin without you knowing, cause it warm up slowly that your skin will became adapted until the point that you suffer from burnings, same with the frog lol.

I don't trust HP, Toshiba. They both gave me headaches always. Funny thing about Toshiba, you need to remember where you buy your laptop(Country), if not you will having trouble finding drivers later.

What games you play and what applications you will use on the laptop?

 

[lostandwandering]

At first I thought it was too good to be true - i7-820, 8GB RAM, 5830M GPU
-G53JW @ $1799AUD

But the specifications of these are junk compared to the HP Envy...

Just fyi, the GTX 460M in the G53 is better than the 5830. And it doesn't seem to have the heat issues the Envy has. So i wouldn't call that junk...

 

[Klosteral]

lostandwandering, you always appear and give good information; its a shame I cannot give you a medal or something

The thing is that this HP Envy is worth $1299. The ASUS N61 is $1259 and my precious G53JW is $1699 at its CHEAPEST!

That said, I am really really tempted to get the G53...

I was only wondering about the Envy because it was so damned cheap.

 

[lostandwandering]

^Well, the price does seem to have some disadvantages. As you read, the Envy 15 does not come with an internal Optical Drive. It also has heat issues which most HP laptops are notorious for (you can try a notebook cooler). It's also not currently in HP's lineup, being replaced by the Envy 14 and the 17. It's a nice looking computer, you just have to decide whether it's worth the potential problems, just keep in mind that you may have to spring for a few extras like an external DVD drive and a cooler.

 

[Klosteral]

It comes with an external USB dvd drive but the question is:
"Is the HP Envy worth the price for so many good components, or is the heating issue too bad; likely to burn the user and melt the internals?"

 

[raza715]

brother you seem very confused about your decision, just get G53 when available GTX460M is very good GPU for playing games on even 1080p, but i would recommend you to wait another 1 month atleast or sandy bridge and new GPU series

 

[Klosteral]

Hmm. I would like this laptop and I have no idea what is going to come out when the SandyBridge architecture is released. My current desktop is an ASUS socket-775 with a 2.8 Dual-Core (running Win 7 x86). The next upgrade on the list here is an ATI 5850 or 6870 to replace my 9600GT...

I built my desktop as an experiment in 2009 to see if I could get the best stuff for the lowest price. Already, some 18 months later, I have discovered that this computer cannot run the latest Call of Duty and thus needs upgrading.

What I am saying is I want something powerful that will not be outclassed in the near future (3 years) because it is not easy to upgrade laptops.

Also, after consulting some more people I have firmly decided to buy the G53JW for $1700AU (the cheapest it can be found in Australia).

 

[raza715]

it would be clever to update your desktop as much as possible and buy an energy efficient laptop like Lenovo thinkpad or Acer Timeline because no one can predict future of gaming on laptop.

 

[Klosteral]

1) Why did you contradict yourself? First suggesting I get the G53 and now saying I should get a netbook?
2) The main question here is where along the line I should jump in; G53 is top end and the N61 is mid-range. I still want to be able to game on the laptop even if it is at different levels. They are my two choices. The cheaper, (slightly) lighter ASUS N61JQ or the heavy, powerful beast of a G53JW.