# HP ENVY vs HP Pavillion.  Little help please?



## ChrisUlrich

I can't find the difference between the two?

I also can't find anything about differences between the HP Envy and the HP Envy BEATS Addition.  

Anyone care to help me out here?


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## wolfeking

AFAIK, The only difference between the ENVY and the Pravillion are the case stiling and the ENVY has more options available. 
The BEATS edition has a better sound system. 


If your looking into buying one, look elsewhere. HP has the worst quality laptops on the market, unless you get the Probook or other business class machines.


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## ChrisUlrich

What's so bad about them?  My brother has the DV7t and it works great.

What laptop would you recommend then?


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## Ethan3.14159

ChrisUlrich said:


> What's so bad about them?  My brother has the DV7t and it works great.
> 
> What laptop would you recommend then?



Laptop reliability survey

That's what is so bad.


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## wolfeking

ChrisUlrich said:


> What's so bad about them?  My brother has the DV7t and it works great.


 The fail rate on these are more than any other brand.  I had a DV7 that was AMD powered, and it didn't even last a year before the Mobo was gone. Wasn't covered under warranty either.



ChrisUlrich said:


> What laptop would you recommend then?


Asus is good, along with Toshiba and Lenovo.


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## ChrisUlrich

You can't buy Asus from Asus.com.  You can't even build them.  And Toshibas are more expensive than a HP.  

Is this a rumor about older HPs?  My brothers is just about a year old and it still works great.


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## ChrisUlrich

Are the HP Envy's much nicer looking than a Pavillion?  I am looking for a decent looking piece of equipment as well.


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## wolfeking

ChrisUlrich said:


> You can't buy Asus from Asus.com.  You can't even build them.  And Toshibas are more expensive than a HP.


You have to pay for quality. Asus is the parent company of Toshiba. You get the same quality with either.  



ChrisUlrich said:


> Is this a rumor about older HPs?  My brothers is just about a year old and it still works great.


No. Quite the opposite. The 2003-back HP's had quality that reviled Asus and Toshiba. Every company has its goods and bads, but as a company, the newer HP's are bad computers. 
The DV7 and DV7t are a good example. They (the DV7((t)) ) has a design flaw of excessive heat when the GPU is under strain. This leads to Mobo failures. (the entire G series has the same problem)

Chances are that if you have the money for a Dv series, or a Envy, then you would have enough to get a Toshiba.


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## ChrisUlrich

The DV6T is what i'm looking at.  But I can't find a Toshiba that's comparable price/performance.  I have no ties to HP.  I'll change to a Toshiba no problem.  

I had an i3 or i5 processor
500 or 640gb (7200rpm harddrive)
4 or 6gb of DDR3
HD5650 graphics card
backlit keyboard
15" monitor
Win 7 64 bit

Think you can help me find something like that for $900-$1000?


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## wolfeking

http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/cdetland.to?poid=496499   everything you wanted except the HD5650.

http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/cdetland.to?poid=496198  everything with Gforce graphics (same level as the HD5650)

http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/pdet.to?poid=490984 has everything, but a Phenom 2 quad core.


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## ChrisUlrich

Thanks so much!  I really appreciate the help!

You suggest the phenom tri core N850 or the i3 370m?  How much of a difference do you really think there is?  I prefer the i3 system because of the GT330m vs the AMD which has the Radeon 5145 (I imagine the 330m is better).  

But the i3 outperforms the 2.2ghz tri core, no?


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## ChrisUlrich

What about the Macbook Pro 13" vs these i3 Toshiba you picked out?


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## wolfeking

the macbook is good. Good quality, but at a price. Also, there are many programs that will not work on the OS* platform.

The i3 system will out perform a 2.2 Tricore. 
I am unsure on the graphics. I always just used what came with the computer. 
The HD4200 is a good card, but eats into the RAM quite a bit. I have never had a Nvidia to compare to so i cant attest to which is better.


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## ChrisUlrich

Only real concerns are Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, Excel, and that's pretty much it.  And I saw that those 3 programs will work on both Windows and Mac.  Did I read that right?  If my girlfriend does her homework using her Microsoft Office on Apple (Word and Powerpoint mostly), she can save it on a thumbdrive and transfer it to windows, right?

If I were to get the macbook pro... is adding hard drive space as easy as Windows?  Just buy an external drive and hook it up via USB?

Reviews on youtube look fantastic with it.  Using the Core 2 Duo and GT320m, it plays Crysis on Medium and World of Warcraft on all high at its native resolution.  I don't think a Windows 7 system could do that.

And it's only $300 more.  I am looking for longevity and convenience.  This is for my girlfriend and schooling mostly.  I'd like for her to have this for around 4 years without having to upgrade to a newer laptop.  I feel that the safest bet would be a Mac.


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## wolfeking

Office is available for MAC. they are always one number value above the windows version. (2001,2004,2008,2011). They are are the same program, so yes, she could work on yours, and transfer to hers. 
External HDD's I can not attest to. As far as it is mac compatible, and usb 2.0 you shouldn't have a problem.


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## ChrisUlrich

You think the macbook pro 13" will perform as well or better than the Toshiba or HP DV6T?


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## wolfeking

it will perform on par with them. 
You will have more room for future upgrade with any microsoft computers. Macbook is excellent quality. yu will have to make the final call yourself.


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## ChrisUlrich

Thanks for all your help.  I think I will be choosing the Macbook Pro 13".


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## wolfeking

I hope that you have good luck with that.


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## ChrisUlrich

Well, I went out and got me a Macbook Pro 13".  It's a very very nice machine but I am not sure it has the performance I was hoping for like an overclocked i7 machine.  hahahaha   I always hear about how it takes less hardware for a Mac to compete with a highpowered Windows machine and I sorta see what they're talking about but it's not the fastest machine i've ever been on.  It has excellent built quality and the screen is beautiful.


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