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The outputs are really not that good shielded, when connecting i.e. an external HDD to the USB ports beside the jacks I can clearly hear slightly more interference with my akg272 and definitely with my UM3x's. It also has more noise in general than my old laptop (don't remember what soundcard, just some standard crap I guess) but it's not that bad.
The reason I bought this laptop was because of it's specs first of all, and because it is made out of more quality material than the other plastic crap. It also has a relatively large touchpad, and the keyboard is VERY comfortable to use. The screen (I don't have the radiance :/) is VERY bright, but the blacks are crap. After a month or so of research I was down to this or a Mac Book Pro 13", but I hate OSX, and the price difference for an equivalently specced Mac... well, we don't need to go there..
All in all I think it's worth every penny (especially if you get the radiance display), especially if you want something not made entirely out of plastic! That being said, I'm not an audiophile
I use it mainly for Photoshop and some gaming, and for that it's very good!
Edit: Also, no, it does not overheat. It easily runs i.e. Battlefield: BC2 / Vietnam on Medium-ish graphics very smooth for many hours at a time with no overheating issues. I would actually say that a MBP under heavy load gets equally warm.
I've tried to replicate the problem you've described.
I connected an external HDD on the USB port (near the headphone jack) and also on the eSATA port.
I did file transfers of large and small sizes while listening to
musical passages from classical to alternative rock.
I listened to music also while burning a dvd in the internal optical drive,
then later the same procedure with an external optical drive connected to that specific USB port.
Using the M-Audio Q40 headphones, then later a Koss PortaPro,
I did not hear any hiss/distortion/interference coming from the headphone jack during
these operations.
Back to that PCWorld review,
"Beats audio on the Envy is aimed at headphone use, and I can confirm that the audio output via headphones
is indeed a step above the usual. It's clean, loud when it needs to be, and balanced pretty well".
Laptopmag...
"audio was simply superb when we plugged in headphones".
Endgadget...
"HP's also teamed up with Beats Audio to provide a high end hardware and software-based audio-out experience.
When we plugged our Sony MDR7506 headphones into the audio jack we could immediately hear the difference
between listening to Eminem's "Not Afraid" on the Envy and our MacBook Pro.
The fuller and more detailed sound was also obvious when we turned off the Beats option in the software
controller".
Computer Shopper...
"The Envy 14’s Beats audio system is similarly impressive and is one area where the Envy clearly outdoes
the MacBook Pro.
HP isolated the audio components on the motherboard to avoid the interference that can result in static
on some PCs, and it also added an amplifier and DSP to boost and enhance the audio.
Plug the Envy 14 into external speakers or a good set of headphones, though, and you'll find the audio is
nothing short of astounding. Even on inexpensive earbuds, the audio clarity and punch of our tunes was
significantly better than we’d expect from a notebook".
I just thought these reviews, and many others, were overly positive. Add to that
the HP audio claims, I also thought as being marketing hype. Especially in relating to audio, I was a bit skeptical.
But after testing/listening for myself, there is a positive audible difference.
Hehe! Yes, I definitely agree wth you about the build quality, keyboard,
touchpad (no problems, highly configurable in Control Panel),
and overall hardware performance.
I agree also, it's worth every penny. The quality, performance at this size/form factor is
an excellent, cheaper alternative to the MacBook Pro. In hardware, the CPU (i5 / i7 options -> Core 2 Duo)
and GPU (ATI 5650 -> Nvidia 320M), the HP Envy 14 is much better.
Same here, I don't have the Radiance display. Unfortunately, HP doesn't offer it as an option
any longer. The BrightView 1366x768 screen resolution is adequate on the 14.5" screen size.
On the positive side, tech/gaming websites concluded from gaming tests that the ATI 5650 GPU's
optimal performance is at 1366x768 resolution anyway.