HP ENVY 15-1050NR 15.6-Inch Laptop (Magnesium Alloy)

by HP

• Intel Core i7 Processor 1.6GHz
• 6GB DDR3 RAM
• 500GB 7200RPM Hard Drive
• 15.6-Inch Screen, Mobility Radeon HD
• Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, 2.5 hours Battery Life

Product Description

Those who demand the absolute best in everything now have a mobile PC option: The HP ENVY 15. We took a no-compromises approach in designing a notebook PC that straddles both art and performance. Wrapped in an exquisite, laser-etched magnesium chassis is a performance powerhouse packed with top-end components.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Sleek Lightweight Powerhouse March 1, 2010

By Kit Menlove

I have had the Envy 15 for over three months and have enjoyed almost every minute of it. I have been very pleased with its performance and ease of use. The processor is simply amazing, the video card is more than enough for my needs, and the screen is the best I've seen in a laptop. I consider myself a pretty heavy user, often running more than 150 processes at a time, and rarely feel any lag. For the power you get, the size and weight are pretty impressive. The laptop does get warm when under heavy use, as is to be expected with a quad-core machine, but its quiet, effective cooling system does a great job of keeping the system within acceptable/tolerable temperature limits.
The drawbacks, as I expected, relate to its battery power. The processor is restricted to a "Low Frequency Mode" when running on battery power, which for the i7-720QM limits the processor speed to 931 MHz per core. This results in a noticeable difference when doing anything more than simple tasks such as reading e-mail or browsing the web while running on battery power. Despite this restriction, the battery life still isn't very impressive. Under normal use, it runs for just under two hours; under heavy use (3D gaming or streaming HD video), it only runs for about an hour on a charge.
In short, if you find yourself near a plug most of the time, this machine is awesome. If you need more portability, this probably isn't the best choice - you might want to consider something with a dual-core i5 processor.

33 of 40 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Lightning Fast But Serious Graphics Card Problems April 10, 2010

By moviemarketing

Pros:
(1) Incredibly fast when working with memory/graphics intensive applications; editing large files in Photoshop, Illustrator, etc.
(2) Looks fantastic - slim, gorgeous FullHD glossy screen
(3) Reasonable battery life when using optional slice battery

Cons:
(1) Freezes up or crashes to black screen approximately 10-15 times per day. Many other buyers experienced the same exact issue.
(2) 4k read speed for the SSD is 10x slower than it should be (slower than the 4k write speed!)
(3) extremely expensive
(4) Annoying placement of special function keys to the left of the keyboard.

I purchased an Envy 15 about 1 month ago with the following specs:

i7-820QM processor
320GB Dual SSD (Raid0)
16GB RAM
ATI Mobility Radeon HD5830
Windows 7 Professional 64-bit

The complete price including tax for this customized model was well over $4,000. On the very first bootup on the day I received the model in the mail from HP shopping, I went through the process of setting up windows and then the system froze up. The screen became filled with a colorful static effect with moving black horizontal lines.

On restart, the windows error reporting was as follows:

"You received this message because hardware or software on your computer caused Windows to shut down unexpectedly and restart. This is a serious problem, commonly referred to as a stop error or blue screen. If you have received this error more than once, we recommend that you do the following: Back up your files to avoid data loss in case of a complete hardware failure. Contact the original manufacturer of your computer to determine the specific component which is failing. Although we know the problem is caused by a hardware component, the error report does not contain enough information to tell us the specific component. It is likely that the problem is being caused by one of the following computer components: Random access memory (RAM) System board Central Processing Unit (CPU) Power supply"

I called HP Envy tech support and they put me in touch with the customer support rep who sent me a shipping label to return the laptop and get a refund. She offered me a $170 discount in the event I decided to keep it, so I thought I would continue using the model and see if it was perhaps a one-time problem on setting up windows for the first time.

Over the course of 2 weeks, I experienced black screen crash or freezing (with repeating loop of 1 frame of corresponding audio) approximately 10-15 times per day. The only way to get out of that screen was by hard reset.

I also noticed when running the crystalmark benchmark my 4k read speed was 10x lower than it should have been - in fact, the 4k read speed for the SSD Raid0 was slower than the 4k write speed!

CrystalDiskMark 2.2 (C) 2007-2008
--------------------------------
Sequential Read : 469.045 MB/s
Sequential Write : 155.626 MB/s
Random Read 512KB : 253.068 MB/s
Random Write 512KB : 133.743 MB/s
Random Read 4KB : 10.294 MB/s
Random Write 4KB : 55.438 MB/s
Test Size : 100 MB Date : 2010/03/10 1:54:01

I eventually returned my unit for complete refund; however, as it was the most lightning fast experience I have ever had (during the times when it did not freeze or crash on me) working on very large photoshop and illustrator files, I definitely want to order the exact same model once they correct the graphics card and 4k read speed issues.

From a bit of research, it appears many people with other brands of laptops have experienced exactly the same "black screen" issue with similar ATI Radeon graphics cards that we are having with the 4830 and the 5830 used in the Envy 15, leading me to wonder whether many of these ATI graphics cards are simply defective. I'm surprised that HP did not test them more rigorously before choosing to implement them in the Envy 15. I am eager to order another HP Envy 15, but do I need to wait until HP refreshes the line with an entirely different graphics card? Is anyone who has ordered the Envy 15 NOT experiencing this black screen issue? I wonder the percentage of users who are experiencing black screen issues with the Envy 15. Is it limited to those who have custom orders? Are people who bought the "quick-ship" models also experiencing this?

Here are several links to postings regarding the "black screen" issue with the ATI Radeon HD5830, HD4850 and HD4830 in various brands of computer:

[...]

On an aesthetic level, this model is fantastic. Very slim, even when using the optional 9-cell slice battery. Others have complained about the heat issue but when I used a Zalman NC1000 notebook cooler, I had no problems whatsoever with overheating, in fact the underside of the laptop was cool to the touch.

The only gripe I had about the design was the plethora of special function keys on the left side of the keyboard. I kept accidentally opening the Print menu or web page, email, etc., when playing a video game or working in Photoshop. I had a great deal of difficulty to attempt to disable those keys and even with using the keyboard layout menus in control panel, I was not able to disable them. I was tempted to purchase special software for customizing keyboard layout for the sole purpose of disabling those annoying and poorly located special function keys.

The touchpad was slightly less sensitive and slightly more difficult to use compared to the MacBook Pro. Hopefully this will be resolved with driver or BIOS update.

When using the 9cell slice battery I had about 4 hours of battery life, which is not great, but much better than my previous laptop. For long international flights I would recommend taking along 2 fully charged slice batteries.

Again the graphics performance was amazing except for those 10-15 times per day that the graphics card crashed or froze up. Other than that it was lightning fast. As of today, the only solution I am aware of for the graphics problem is replacing the graphics card. I don't know if replacing the SSD with a third party dual SSD Raid0 will improve the 4k read speed.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars One hot piece of machinery October 1, 2010

By Serban Tanasa

I have owned an HP Envy 15 1050NR for about a year now. I have rather mixed feelings about it.

On paper, the combination is unbeatable:
- The i7-720QM Quad Core processor really shines. With hyperthreading, it is as if you have 8 processors. This machine is fast. I use it for advanced statistical work in SPSS with massive databases and I will say that is absolutely eats alive all the desktop machines at my research university. What used to be 10 minute coffee-breaks between commands before purchasing this machine have been replaced by blazing, 10-second runs.
- The hard drive is big for a laptop and is about as fast as you can go without SSDs or high-end Velociraptors.
- The 4 memory slots!! Two are located inside, but two more are easily accessible behind the battery pack. It comes standard with 6GB DDR3, which is more than most laptops still give you today, but it can be expanded to 16 GB. That is neat.
- The high end graphics card allows you to connect a second HD display at max resolution with no problem (the HDMI port helps). In terms of sheer crunching power, this machine can easily hold its ground very well as a gaming laptop even a year after I bought it, but see caveat below.
- The screen is gorgeous. I have been so spoiled by its high Dots-per-inch ratio that I find it hard to use regular monitors now. It's also very bright and the colors are truly intense. Shaped in the 16:9 ratio, its top resolution is 1920x1080. It's a bit reflective, so glare can be a bit problematic at times, but I simply love it.

However, there are a great many practical problems that I have noticed in 1 year of using the machine:
- The HEAT! Unsurprisingly, given its graphics card and its i7 processor, this beast emits a lot of heat. What is surprising is the sheer incompetence of design, which put either the graphics cards or the processor under the palm-rests. Given even moderate load, the armrest will get hot. The exhaust vents on the sides can probably fry small animals. In fact, my sweaty hands left a permanently darkened mark on the left of the touchpad.

- The gargantuan POWER BRICK. It truly weighs about half the weight of the laptop, and was my first unpleasant shock when unpackaging the thing a year ago. Unfortunately, the i7 and graphics card are power-hungry, and while you can go out and purchase a lighter alternative, you will find few that output 130 Watts, which means your laptop will automatically "throttle" your processors, making them work at 60% or even less. Not noticeable if you only do web browsing, so it may work for you. Anyway, for me this is a big deal, because carrying this monster brick around gets very frustrating.

- The dismal BATTERY life. I'd say that on average I get about 80-90 minutes on the primary battery, barely enough to watch a movie on battery power. There is an external battery slab, but the little hooks that are supposed to make sure it stays in place are a bit of a joke, and the connection with the slab will often and easily be lost, rendering the thing useless.

- The Screen Bezel does not allow you to open your display much beyond 90 degrees. If you're tall, or you're in a coffeeshop at a low table, good luck. This means you can also forget about using it on your lap, although the sheer heat burning down through your pants will probably dissuade you from such silly attempts in the first place.

- Relative dearth of ports. Sure, most of us can do with just 2 USBs and an eSata that can double as an USB. But if, unlike me, you're that type that uses the external DVD drive a lot, that will become a bother. Also, you will discover, to your chagrin, that the $1500+ machine you bought cannot connect to most presentation platforms, for the simple reason that it only uses HDMI video output, spurning the (admittedly outdated) VGA ports that are still so common. Sure, an HDMI to VGA adaptor from HP will only set you back $40, but that's no help if you're due to start a powerpoint presentation in 10 minutes and your laptop cannot connect to the VGA port on the projector.

- The heat will eventually cause the 4 rubber feet of your laptop to fall off. If you're vigilant and find them, you can probably reattach them with gorilla glue, but I was not so lucky. This will make the Envy remarkably slippery on many surfaces.

- The Web-cam has this fancy low-light "feature" which is basically an infrared sensor that will render you visible if your skyping preferences involve low light. Unfortunately, the infrared feed is not removed in normal lighting situations, making the picture produced look blue-tinted. I played around with the settings and solved this eventually, but this is probably beyond the average user.

- The keyboard. Let me say that the keys themselves have a nice, smooth feel. However, my version of this machine has this incredibly stupid design with a bunch of shortcut keys placed to the left of the regular keyboard. Since most of us assume by instinct that "Ctrl" is at the left lower end of your keyboard, you'll end up launching "Calculator" a hilarious amount of times. Equally fun is the "Launch Outlook" key located right under the "Escape" button. You can easily imagine what this will do to dedicated gamers. Fortunately, I was able to turn that off after some registry snooping, and a quick Google search will tell you how to do it, but again, this is something likely above the skill of the average user. Similarly frustrating, the function keys are set as secondary by default (you have to press "Fn" + "F2" to get F2, rather than dimming your screen) but this can be easily switched on or off from BIOS. Not so easily solvable is the fact that the edge of the machine is rather sharp, so when typing, you're basically slowly slitting your wrists.

- Pre-installed garbage. I have no experience with this, since I instructed the Best Buy people to give me a clean install, but I hear this can be a hassle.

In summary, a year later, when at home, my laptop sits on a ridiculously quiet Zalman ZM-NC2000 notebook cooler (which has solved the heating problem), I use a wireless external backlit keyboard and mouse (with the cool "unifying" software that means I can connect them to only one USB), and use both its native display and another 22" Samsung (at the same 1920x1080 resolution). In this configuration, this machine is a dream, while still being portable when I need it to be. A true desktop replacement, if you will. The system characteristics and display are great, and in the end make up for the other shortcomings, at least as far as I am concerned. Nonetheless, for the price and given that the Envy series is supposed to be HP's flagship and Mac-destroyer, as it were, I expected better. Much better. I give it 3 and 1/2 stars.