HP Envy 17: HP's MacBook Pro Killer?

Introducing the HP Envy 17

HP's Envy line-up has been so often requested around here that actually having one on the test bench feels like both a major win and a kind of letdown. These notebooks (particularly the 14, for which a review is forthcoming) are so well regarded by their user communities that it's kind of hard not to expect the most out of HP's prize series.

There's some merit to that. The Envy 17 is a stylish, powerful piece of kit. Unlike a lot of consumer notebooks, HP's Envy series are understated and clearly designed to be both attractive and functional. So now that we've finally got one in hand, let's pop the hood and see what makes this bad boy hum.

HP Envy 17 Specifications
Processor	Intel Core i7-720QM (4x1.6GHz + HTT, 45nm, 6MB L3, Turbo to 2.8GHz, 45W)
Chipset	Intel HM55
Memory	1x4GB DDR3-1333 (Max 2x4GB)
Graphics	AMD Mobility Radeon HD 5850 1GB GDDR5 (800 Stream Processors, 500MHz core clock, 3600MHz effective memory clock)
Display	17" LED Glossy 16:9 1920x1080 (LG LGD0283 Panel)
Hard Drive(s)	500GB 7200 RPM (Seagate Momentus 7200.4, one spare drive bay)
Optical Drive	Slot-loading Blu-ray Reader/DVD+/-RW Drive
Networking	Gigabit Ethernet Broadcom 43224AG 802.11a/b/g/n Wireless Bluetooth 2.1+EDR
Audio	IDT 92HD81B1X HD Audio Beats audio stereo speakers with subwoofer Headphone and microphone jacks
Battery	6-Cell, 11.1V, 62Wh battery
Front Side	Speakers
Left Side	Exhaust vent D-SUB Ethernet jack Mini-DisplayPort HDMI USB 2.0/eSATA combo port USB 3.0 Microphone jack Headphone jack
Right Side	2x USB 2.0 Card reader Optical drive AC adapter Kensington lock
Back Side	Exhaust vent
Operating System	Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Dimensions	16.3" x 10.83" x 1.25"-1.52" (WxDxH)
Weight	7.51 lbs
Extras	HD Webcam Backlit keyboard with dedicated 10-key Flash reader (MMC, SD/Mini SD, MS/Duo/Pro/Pro Duo, xD) Dual drive bays
Warranty	2-year limited warranty
Pricing	Starting at $1,299 Priced as configured: $1,699

With Sandy Bridge not terribly far away, the specifications for the HP Envy 17 we have on hand are going to seem a little pedestrian, but make no mistake: it's still a powerful notebook. At 1.6GHz the Intel Core i7-720QM may be the slowest quad-core in Intel's mobile line-up, but it can still outpace their fastest dual-core in properly threaded tasks, and it can turbo up to 2.4GHz on two cores to make up a lot of the difference (or 2.8GHz on a single core).

The other major selling point of the Envy 17 is the AMD Mobility Radeon HD 5850 graphics part. Given the relatively svelte profile of the Envy compared to other 17"-class notebooks, the 5850 is fairly powerful by laptop graphics standards. 800 of AMD's stream processors purr away at 500MHz, and unlike NVIDIA, AMD is able to coax some halfway decent speeds out of its mobile GDDR5, running at an effective 3.6GHz. Still, the 5850 can be considered something of a disappointment: this is AMD's second best mobile part, but it's still a substantially underclocked desktop Radeon HD 5770, a card that goes for around $130. Worse, the 5850 in the Envy 17 appears to be underclocked even by Mobility 5850 standards, running about 125MHz below spec on the core and 400MHz below spec on the memory. It's probably reasonable to assume this is to assuage concerns about heat, but it still takes a healthy bite out of potential gaming performance.

The remainder of the Envy 17 is pretty by-the-book, with the increasingly common Seagate Momentus 7200.4 hard drive pulling storage duties along with an attractive slot-loading blu-ray reader/DVDRW drive. The card reader is accounted for, and there's USB 3.0 and eSATA, but sadly no ExpressCard or FireWire. What's odd is HP's decision to ship the review unit with a single 4GB DDR3 DIMM instead of a pair of 2GB or 4GB sticks, but that's neither here nor there: when you go to order the Envy 17, it actually starts at 6GB of DDR3 these days.

HP Mini 5103: Looking at the Dual-Core Atom N550

Meet the HP Mini 5103

Netbooks are all so similar in terms of performance that it’s difficult to get excited about reviewing “yet another netbook”. Aesthetics and build quality may change, but outside of features like NG-ION or the use of an SSD, there’s not much new under the sun. However, one Atom variant that we haven’t had a chance to actually test in house is the dual-core Atom N550. With support for DDR3 memory and a second Hyper-Threaded core, can this “high-end” Atom change our feelings? If you read our ASUS 1215N review, you probably already know the answer, but it’s always good to get concrete numbers.

Besides being our first look at a dual-core Atom N550 netbook, HP’s Mini 5103 packs in just about every other extra you can imagine. The test unit includes a multi-touch 1366x768 display, 2GB DDR3, Bluetooth, Gigabit Ethernet, and a Broadcom Crystal HD decoder—just in case you want to watch a 1080p H.264 movie on your 10.1” LCD. As with the Mini 5102, the 5103 is also one of the best looking and well-built netbooks to hit our labs. Unfortunately, the pricing puts it into the realm of much faster ultraportables, but if you want the combination of features HP provides—and your company is willing to foot the bill—it’s a decent little machine.

HP Mini 5103 Specifications
Processor	Intel Atom N550 (2x1.50GHz + SMT, 45nm, 2x512KB L2, 667FSB, 8.5W)
Chipset	Intel NM10
Memory	1x2048MB DDR3-1333 @ DDR3-667 5-5-5-15 Timings
Graphics	Integrated Intel GMA 3150
Display	10.1" Multi-touch LED Matte 16:9 768p (1366x768) (CPT CLAA101WA01)
Hard Drive	2.5" 160GB 7200RPM 16MB (Western Digital WD1600BEKT-60V5T1)
Networking	Marvel Yukon 88E8059 PCIe Gigabit Ethernet Broadcom BCM4313 802.11b/g/n WiFi Broadcom 2070 Bluetooth 2.1 WWAN (Optional)
Audio	IDT 92HD75B2X5 2-Channel HD Audio (2.0 Speakers with headphone/microphone jacks)
Battery	4-Cell, 14.8V, 1900mAh, 29Wh
Front Side	None (Speaker Grille)
Left Side	2 x USB 2.0 Heat Exhaust VGA AC Power Connection
Right Side	SD/MMC reader Microphone/Headphone Jacks Gigabit Ethernet 1 x USB 2.0 Kensington Lock
Back Side	None
Operating System	Windows 7 Professional 32-bit
Dimensions	10.3" x 7.09" x 0.91" (WxDxH)
Weight	2.64 lbs (with 6-cell battery)
Extras	2.0MP Webcam 82-key keyboard Broadcom Crystal HD (Optional) Office 2010 Starter HP DayStarter HP QuickSync HP QuickWeb HP ProtectTools
Warranty	1-year standard warranty
Price	Starting at $399 As configured: around $688

Outside of the change to the CPU and memory, about the only other noteworthy update compared to the older 5102 is the move to an espresso (dark brown) finish. HP informs us that this was done in response to customer feedback, and the espresso color doesn’t show fingerprints quite as much as the old black. We do have to point out  a few items on our test system that we could no longer find on the HP site. First, our netbook shipped with Windows 7 Professional as opposed to Starter or Home Premium. Second, it has a 768p multi-touch LCD, while we could only find a 1024x600 multi-touch option online now.

With all the upgrades in place, the final price comes in just under $700. For that much money, you can find a wide variety of netbooks and laptops, but HP includes some other value added items you won’t find in most netbooks. As with the 5102, build quality and the keyboard are substantially better than any other netbook we’ve encountered, which adds to the cost. The basic model at $400 lets you get just the build quality and a typical Atom N455 + 1GB DDR3 setup. If you want more, you have to go to a configurable model and start choosing extras (with prices starting at $522). Unless you get a discount code or other special offer, the configurable models carry a hefty price premium; luckily, such codes are frequently available, and you can always try calling HP direct to see if they can make you a better offer.)

Breaking down the upgrades: $40 moves you up to Win7 Home Premium (and Professional would cost even more!), and you also need $25 for the 2GB RAM upgrade (not available with Win7 Starter); add $25 for a 768p LCD, and an additional $25 to go to 600p with capacitive multi-touch; the CrystalHD decoder is a big add-on at $45, and Bluetooth is another $18; finally, the N550 model costs $20 more than the N455 version. Put it all together and you basically get what you pay for—provided you think the starting price is acceptable. As a point of reference, the ASUS Eee 1015PEM-MU17 starts at around $340 online, with an Atom N550 and 1GB, but it lacks Bluetooth, Gigabit Ethernet, and several other features on the HP. Barring any other discounts, you’re looking at a nearly $200 premium to move to the 5103.

As a parting shot on pricing, you can also find pre-configured HP Mini 5103 netbooks from a variety of resellers; the cheapest starts at $384, and it looks like Atom N550 would only bump the price up around $40. Unfortunately, no one appears to offer any pre-configured N550 models, so you have to go straight to the source. We’ve heard comments in the past that suggest you can get substantially better pricing on the configurable models if you call HP (one reader claimed a 28% discount on an EliteBook), so if you’re in the market for this type of netbook it can’t hurt to call; $500 would be far more impressive than the current $700 price tag.

CyberpowerPC's Compal NBLB2: Affordable Gaming

Introducing the Compal NBLB2

I don't know about the rest of you, but I've been wanting to get my mitts on a Compal notebook for review for a while. Compal has had essentially this same chassis on the market for years, periodically updating and refreshing the components as new hardware became available, but reviews of this line have been scarce. It wasn't until we got in touch with CyberpowerPC and let them know how difficult it's been to secure one that they sent us a review unit.

And what's not compelling about it? We know there's a demand for 15.6" notebooks with 1080p screens and reasonably powerful graphics, and this Compal model has generally been reasonably priced across the different vendors (much less across generations of hardware). So what is our review unit packing?

Compal NBLB2 Specifications
Processor	Intel Core i7-640M (2x2.8GHz + HTT, 32nm, 4MB L3, Turbo to 3.46GHz, 35W)
Chipset	Intel PM55
Memory	2x2GB DDR3-1333 (Max 2x4GB)
Graphics	AMD Mobility Radeon HD 5650 1GB GDDR3 (400 Stream Processors, 550MHz core clock, 1600MHz effective memory clock)
Display	15.6" LED Glossy 16:9 1920x1080 (AU Optronics AUO10ED Panel)
Hard Drive(s)	500GB 7200 RPM (Seagate Momentus 7200.4)
Optical Drive	DVD+/-RW Drive
Networking	Atheros AR8131 PCIe Gigabit Ethernet Realtek RTL8191SE 802.11b/g/n Bluetooth 2.1+EDR
Audio	Realtek ALC272 HD Audio Stereo speakers Headphone and microphone jacks
Battery	6-Cell, 11.1V, 57.72Wh battery
Front Side	Wireless switch IR port Card reader Microphone jack Headphone jack
Left Side	Kensington lock USB 2.0 Exhaust vent Ethernet jack D-SUB HDMI
Right Side	3x USB 2.0 Optical drive AC adapter
Back Side	-
Operating System	Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Dimensions	14.84" x 10.04" x 1.06"-1.48" (WxDxH)
Weight	5.95 lbs
Extras	2MP webcam Fingerprint reader Flash reader (MMC, SD/Mini SD, MS/Duo/Pro/Pro Duo) USB charging
Warranty	1-year limited warranty
Pricing	Starting at $945 Priced as configured: $1,112

Our review unit comes to us equipped with Intel's fastest dual-core mobile chip, and our testing has shown that the Core i7-640M's nominal 2.8GHz stock clock and blistering 3.46GHz Turbo clock allow it to trump the entry-level i7-720QM in all but the most heavily threaded tasks. Note that this chip is a $134 upgrade off of the standard and still reasonable Core i5-560M, and represents the biggest jump in price for our review configuration. You can upgrade to a quad-core chip, too, but we're not entirely certain how well this chassis would cope with the increased heat dissipation and it would most certainly have a catastrophic effect on battery life.

By now the rest of Arrandale and the PM/HM55 platform should be old hat. Cyberpower ships the NBLB2 with 4GB of DDR3 standard, but what we're really interested in is the AMD Mobility Radeon HD 5650. This wouldn't be the first time we've tested the chip, not by a longshot, but it's actually going to be the first time our testing platform (updated months ago) is going to see a 5650 that isn't encumbered by a slow AMD mobile processor, low stock clock, or worse, both. As a result, the 5650 is going to get to stretch its legs here. At 550MHz it's not running at the fastest spec clock AMD defines for this particular chip (that would be the HD 5730, clocked 100MHz higher), but it's not the brutally slow 450MHz we saw before either.

The hard drive in our review unit is one you should all be familiar with by now: the Seagate Momentus 7200.4, a 500GB 7200-RPM hard drive that seems to have become the de facto standard for all industry players large and small. It's likewise coupled with a bog standard DVD+/-RW drive.

That leaves the other highlight: Compal doesn't ship this notebook with anything but a 15.6", 1080p screen. It has been increasingly our experience that these high-pixel-density screens offer substantially improved viewing angles, backlighting, and overall quality than the usual cheapo 1366x768 panels. Hopefully our testing will bear that out again, but subjectively the panel is very attractive.