Pros (there are lots of them):1) blisteringly fast system overall even with just a hybrid hard drive (because of the solid state cache on the drive). With full SSD (Samsung 840 Pro 265 GB in one system, Samsung 830 in the other) boots to welcome screen in UNDER 8 SEC full desktop only another 4 seconds away. With just mSSD (or hybrid) and no full SSD (32 GB cache for conventional hard drive and smaller cache on most hybrid drives) still boots in ~18-20 seconds. (Samsung 840 Pro is fastest current SATA III drive see my Amazon review of this drive.)
2) superb screen anti-glare really makes a difference, with the upgraded 1080p display. Very accurate and bright color with great viewing angles. Poor man's Retina display for half the money? Intel's terrific screen utility allows for adjusting color, gamma and virtually all display parameters to get very accurate color, tone, saturation, gamma, etc. With professional tweaking, capable of extremely accurate color (notably without some of the color problems seen in the 15 inch HP Envy).
3) excellent sound system (in combination with the great display best possible blu-ray experience currently on any computer (rivaling plasma TV).
4) backlit keyboard (finally HP!) with decent feel (but see cons!) with full number keypad (can't get that in smaller laptops).
5) very decent battery life, especially for big laptop because of (switchable) motherboard graphics and other Ivy Bridge efficiencies runs very cool on motherboard graphics esp. compared to old Envy 17s with its full time power-hogging dedicated video card.
6) solid video game performance there are probably better video cards but upgraded Nvidia 650M GT offers very good performance for the money.
7) my one experience with HP service was surprisingly positive got a technically very sophisticated person who helped solve the problem quickly.
8) Relatively light for its size under 7 lbs. Lightest 17+ inch laptop with two drive bays including the overpriced but high quality Apple MBP 17.
9) Second drive bay allows for either huge total storage or drive redundancy (I have extra OS partition which has been life saver after hard drive corrupted by rogue program behavior and blue screen. Can't get that in smaller package
10) Loved the first one so much that I bought a second one for another office, and just cloned the whole system had a fully set up system after just 30 minutes of drive copying (identical hardware so all the drivers and software from one system carried over to the other without a hitch). Second one works as well as the first.
Cons:
1) internal microphone is distinctly poor quality only piece of hardware on the system that is not really first rate makes speech recognition programs unusable without an external microphone I wonder if someone left a piece of tape over it no treble sensitivity at all.
2) HP service is getting better, but still has a ways to go at least according to recent reviews
3) Windows 7 still is not the most reliable operating system particularly when compared to the Mac OS X but it is nice to look at, and much easier to customize.
4) Trackpad is about the jumpiest around must turn it off to do much typing as even brushing against it lightly will cause cursor to go crazy and start selecting and deleting text all over the page. Enabling palm check function in touchpad driver doesn't solve this problem.
5) Wish keyboard lighting could be varied one brightness level only.
6) Not able to get Win 7 much longer may even be closed out of this better debugged OS by end of 2012 (you would be forced to install Win 7 from separately purchased OS install disc.)
7) Placement of the blu-ray burner/player is on the right side of the system, and rather close to the power cord. Minor design hiccup. Also wish that the drive was slot loaded. Another minor issue.
This is the fastest system I've ever used. With the new Ivy Bridge chipset, a Crucial M4 SSD or Samsung 840 Pro (highly recommended) can load large files at over 500MB second, and it boots fully into the desktop in an honest 12 seconds. This makes it really painless to shut the system down instead of having it go into hibernate or suspend which Windows system have never excelled at frankly. Indeed the boot time is far less from a cold boot that it is from hibernate, and it starts up faster than it shuts down (another Win 7 feature of dubious value). HP has also significantly improved the sound system (relative to my previous Envy 17 which itself was pretty decent), with really good volume levels. Superb playback of Blu-rays, and unlike some previous systems, I have yet to find a Blu-ray that won't run on the included software. Even with a subpar internal microphone, I would say this is the finest and most complete laptop I've ever used and that includes the new MacBook Pros which are more than twice as expensive (and good luck trying to get blu-rays to play on Macs unless they are running BootCamp and Windows).
Great job HP!
ADDENDUM JULY 2012:
System is just a joy and a delight to work with. Continues to speed along without any real problems. Updated a bunch of drivers through HP Assistant. Best electronics purchase in a long time.
SEPT 2012 UPDATE:
Still having problems with a jumpy trackpad that moves the cursor all over the place just disable the TP when trying to do much typing. Also, I had first serious problem (hard drive failure due to some kind of malignant program interaction between Flash, Office and Dragon Naturally Speaking). Don't blame HP for this. Fortunately, the second drive bay allows me to back up the system partition regularly to another drive (the original 1 TB mechanical hard drive) and this saved me. Would recommend other users do the same, as system restore won't work if you have a hard drive failure and trashed system files (see my negative review of Naturally Speaking 11 and 12 they are probably the culprit, or at least in the mix with some other misbehaving programs). Still believe that in terms of basic hardware, this is the best large screen laptop out there, including the MBP 17. HP's service looking better and better. They appear to have really made a major effort to clean up their act. Highly, highly recommended.
OCT 2012 UPDATE
Recommend users get DriverMax for driver updates great freebee that beats HP's system, which is better than many, but still not adequate. Superb system, best computer I have ever owned, even with the jumpy trackpad and lousy internal microphone. Screen quality, speed, keyboard, all first-rate. Some blu-rays more enjoyable on this than on big living room plasma. Updated Intel MB graphics drivers allow customizing of gamma, color saturation, hue, so that you can get screen to be very accurate for color in terms of photos and videos. Love the anti-glare coating on the screen also couldn't go back to stock screen. Best computer purchase ever. Will buy a second one for upstairs office before being forced to go Win 8. Not everyone wants a tablet interface and operating system. They really (finally) have the drivers for this running nicely almost no blue screens (outside of Dragon Dictation). Runs like a top. Not just the best computer system I have ever used (have owned several dozen), the best one by a HUGE margin. Buy one before you can't get Win 7 anymore.
DEC 2012 Update
This system continues to blow me away with its reliability and overall excellence. Some of this is just dumb luck frankly if you have a bad device driver, this can make any Win 7 system a nightmare, and right now (knock on wood) there are no bad device drivers on the system. Have used DriverMax to get all updated drivers one at a time, and only one per week, just to make sure that the new driver is not a blue screen waiting to happen. The second cloned system in my other office works flawlessly too.
This is, as I said earlier, not only the best computer I have ever used, but the best by a large margin. Hard to get one from HP with Win 7 anymore with just a few left in their inventory. Don't know about Win 8. Too early to tell but would predict the usual video and sound card driver problems and other teething issues. Buy one now with Win 7 before they are all gone.
JAN 2012 Update
Both systems are just rock solid and never blue screen. As I said earlier, I think that some of this is dumb luck, but some of it is HP finally taking driver support more seriously. I have never had such smooth functioning from a Windows system over the last 20 years (going back to the original buggy mess of Windows 3.1, Win 95, Win 98, Win Millennium, Win XP). Occasional troubles with Flash and its locking up of Firefox (I believe that Abode is just this side of a rogue software outfit, in terms of how seriously buggy Flash and Acrobat Reader both are). But this is really minor stuff, and I have never had a system work this flawlessly for this long and run this smoothly and quickly.
Get Win 7 before it is too late. Win 8 appears to have lots of problems. Can't say enough about the overall excellence of these two systems (identical DV-7 7000 except for the different SSDs in each, and the mSSD in the one I am using now).
I spent four months researching the perfect computer via the internet. I had settled on either the HP Envy 17-3270, or the Samsung Chronos 17". Before I made my final decision, I decided to go to Best Buy to get a feel for my two remaining options.
I saw the Samsung, and I was quite impressed. It had great build quality, a wonderful keyboard and was a real pleasure to use. Then came the Envy. Despite its "premium" materials, it felt cheap and flimsy. The keyboard felt kind of mushy. I was very disappointed. But right next to the Envy was the new DV7.
Well when I picked up the DV7-7000, I was pleasantly surprised by its build quality. It simply felt better in my hands than the Envy. That is, it was lighter, the lid felt stiffer, and the keyboard and mouse were quite responsive. Oh, and as a classically trained musician, I can tell you that the speakers narrowly beat the Envy's and Samsung's -both of which have very good speakers, for laptops.
So, I went home and did some research, and I saw that the DV7 can offer the same specs as the Samsung and Envy at a price tag that is over $200 cheaper.
I was sold. I still am sold.
The computer arrived in perfect condition. No dead pixels, no scratches. The only issue with the build quality is a very small wave in the keyboard, between K and L. For me, this is not anywhere close to a deal breaker. But when I was doing my pre-purchase homework, I saw that other users also had this issue.
Well anyway, here are the pros and cons.
Pros
-Fast system.
-Beautiful Screen. Frankly, it seems like the same one used on the Envy, but with an anti-reflective screen (yay).
-Wonderful Audio.
-Highly Responsive Backlit Keyboard, Including Numpad.
-Fingerprint Reader allows you to store passwords for the computer and websites, thus sparing us the trouble of remembering dozens of passwords.
-Blu-ray Player
-Limited Bloatware
-Left and right click buttons on the mouse.
Cons
-The touchpad is a little too sensitive. Nothing that I won't get used to, but I will have to get used to it.
-Small wave in the keyboard.
-VGA port is right next to the HDMI port, so you can only use one of those two ports at a time. For me, this is the only area where the Envy 17-3270 has the DV7-7000 beat.
That's all I have for now. I'll update as needed.The HP dv7-7000 quad edition is all about what is "under the hood." The prospective buyer will be hard-pressed to find a notebook with these beefed up specs for under $1600 with any other manufacturer. I narrowed my search down to three: The Dell xps 15, Asus N56VM, and the HP dv7. The Dell XPS takes the cake from a build quality perspective (aluminum, magnesium, gorilla glass, and a silicone base) but to get the same specs as the HP, Dell starts you off at $1600. The Asus N56 offers similar specs at around $1000, But appears a bit cheap. The dv7 is the more bang for the buck choice as it lies somewhere in the middle of the other two. Although the outside is mostly plastic, it is supported by an internal aluminum chassis; this gives it a sturdy feel. The monitor lid is extermely stiff to open, but this is a good thing because it stays put. I expect the lid hinges to loosen over time. Windows 7 boot times are significantly reduced due to the "hybrid" ssd cache. This is nice feature if you are accustomed to slower windows boot times. The backlit keyboard is roomy, well-illuminated and comfortable for extended typing. Some have complained about the number pad causing a slight shift in the keys, but this has not bothered me in the least. The touchpad is average at best, but why does anyone use these? Just purchase a wireless mouse. I would never let the the touchpad influence my decision to purchase a notebook. The beats branded audio exhibits good sound quality, with plenty of volume and clarity. The subwoofer on the bottom of the notebook really isn't discernable. After all this is a notebook, so temper your expectations a bit. HP provides an excellent user interface for driver/software updates, customer support, diagnostics, etc. I found the interface to be helpful and user friendly. The notebook recognized my home wireless network instantly and provides good signal strength throughout my home. I have an HP wireless printer, which the wizard failed to install drivers. To remedy this, I went to the HP site and downloaded the driver; works like a charm! the dv7 has 3 usb 3 ports (very nice) and a usb 2 port. I am not a gamer, so this unit will probably never be tested to the limit. That said, the unit stays cool under normal conditions (web browsing, word processing, file downloading). I have not used the BD drive yet, so I can't speak to it's performance or quality. Early on, everything is speedy and performing well. My major complaint with the dv7 is the HEAVY, anchor-like 9 cell battery, which also functions as a stand that elevates the rear of the unit. I understand that this is a desktop feature meant to facilitate ventilation and ease of typing, but it is a nightmare when used on the lap OUCH! I am ordering a flat replacement battery. The 1920x1080 FHD monitor is bright, but lacks sharpness. The colors appear slightly washed out. This judgement is based on the look of internet explorer and Netflix HD streaming. My Dell 22" 1080p desktop monitor blows the dv7 away! Still a nice monitor though. Overall, the dv7 posesses a great deal of value and performance. If you are more concerned with external aesthetics and are willing to take a downgrade in specs to remain in the $1200 price point, the Dell is probably a good choice. However, I believe this has it all for a better value. Another final perk: A two year warranty is included in the purchase price. This will tack on around $250 with a Dell purchase. I easily recommend this unit!This Product is amazing! I love it the core i7 procceser is so amazing great windows experience index and also it stays pretty cool unlike what the other guy said. I was in between this and Samsung series 7 but i decided on this because they are in the same price range but this laptop has way better graphics cards like the intel hd 4000 and the gt650m which uses ddr5 which is about 15% faster than ddr3 version of the same card. But overall this laptop is so good has all the high end stuff in a affordable package.AND the audio is to die forThere are so many good things i can say about this laptop. The display quality and color accuracy is very similar or slightly better than my other Macbook pro laptop!
It's very fast and battery life is superb.
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