You owned and used a Dell laptop until now. Recently you purchased an HP Envy. What factors influenced you in choosing HP over Dell or even Acer, Asus for that matter? No beer for short answer.
Posted as an answer to Ashwin’s formspring me question
I had rather definite set of requirements that I was not going to deviate from:
– A 14″ screen
– Decent graphics card
– NO Full HD resolution on the screen
– Bonus marks for looking good
– Price not exceeding $1200
Let me elaborate on each of these points:
1. The 14″ screen – Why 14″ you may ask ? Considering that my previous was a 15.4″ screen you might think this is a downgrade. My reason was – weight. The difference between a 14″ and 15″ screen, in terms of weight is perhaps about 600-800 grams (on an average ?) – and this might seem small – but boy oh boy, when you travel( I realize I don’t travel much, but when I travel its _long distance_) every bit helps (hurts?) and when you stand for hours in queue, it hurts bad – and affects my back and shoulders for the next couple of days.
2. Decent graphics card – No brainer. I’m a gamer ( though my gaming has drastically reduced) – I do go on a gaming spree once a while and I didn’t want to be limited by this.
3. No Full HD resolution – Trying to get a non Full HD screen is increasingly difficult. Full HD screen ( ie, 1920×1080 resolution) on a small screen is a joke – the text becomes so freaking small it severely strains the eyes. You can do things like increase the DPI, but the effect still lingers. ANother thing is to reduce the resolution. But hey – WHY bother getting Full HD then ? And God save you if you try to play any games at Full HD resolution with those piddly onboard graphics.
4. Hey, I’m carrying it all around!
5. Getting light laptops under this budget, with all my requirements is tough 🙂
HP Envy wasn’t my first choice – though. Had a look at various others:
Asus ROG series – but they were too bulky, no 14″ screens, and the 15″ screen model was obsoleted, and new one was introduced – and I didn’t have time to wait ( not because I didn’t have patience – but this is currently NDA 😉 )
MSI had decent alternatives, but again the weight factor, and lots of complaints from users. Plus almost nil service/support in India.
Acer – Mmm yeah, Acer would perhaps fit for bit low on the budget, but not at this price range. Also, none of their laptops have what I needed.
Alienware – AHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHHAHAAH. Um, yeah. Waste of $$$ for a below average config and freaking bulky set. Sorry, for rich n00bs only.
Dell – Wouldn’t mind Dell again, but same problems – no suitable laptops
Gateway – Again they had nothing I wanted, plus now Acer backed & no support in India.
After all this analysis, going through the ‘web and some Ad hoc queries over at Chip, concluded on getting an HP Envy.
So would that be a Keg of Beer or a 2L of Chivas ?