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HP Envy 15 or XPS 15z with blu-ray... or something else?

Lifted

Diamond Member
It appears blu-ray isn't available on either of these. I see the XPS 15 has it, but it's quite a bit more chunky and fragile looking.

Does HP offer an Envy with blu-ray.

If not, any other laptops out there from a major OEM with a glossy 1080p IPS display, good sound (similar to Beats in the Envy 15), Intel WiDi, and a blu-ray player?
 
wtf why wouldn't bluray be available but a glossy 1080p screen is? OEMs seem to think the only thing people do with laptops is sit around watching movies but the latest and greatest 15" notebook from HP can't even do that right?

especially considering the dv6 has a bluray available (heck, it's a 'free' option right now), but of course that screen isn't IPS (at least it's not glossy 😉 )

envy 17 has bluray available but from reading it appears that 'Radiance' screen is a TN.
 
Is the 1080P screen in the XPS even IPS? I didn't think any laptops came with IPS displays except the really high-end workstation from Dell.

The 1080p display in the dv6 is not that great, really, compared to other 1080p offerings from the other companies. Still WAY better than the standard, though.

What's your price range? Might be able to get something from the smaller guys that does what you want. Check out xoticpc.com, gentech.com, and some other smaller guys that deal with barebones systems. For $1100-1200 you can get a really good display and blu ray if that's really all you care about. It'll also have a pretty good graphics card (better than dell or hp offer). I just got the Force 16f2 from xoticpc. They offer an upgraded display that's supposed to be one of the best you can get anywhere. I'll be receiving it tomorrow, so I'll be able to report back about it then.
 
The (optional) 1080p display for the 15z is absolutely gorgeous. Find some reviews of it, or see one in person.

As far as Blu-ray, I think it has to do with size. Is anybody making thin slot load drives? Remember the z series is less than an inch thick.
 
What's your price range? Might be able to get something from the smaller guys that does what you want. Check out xoticpc.com, gentech.com, and some other smaller guys that deal with barebones systems. For $1100-1200 you can get a really good display and blu ray if that's really all you care about.

I was looking at $2,300 or so for the Envy 15, before tax and shipping, but the lack of blu-ray was a bit much at that price, and then after more research I started seeing a ton of people complaining of quality issues on the Envy.

GPU doesn't really matter. Support does, so going with a smaller manufacturer would be a problem.

The (optional) 1080p display for the 15z is absolutely gorgeous. Find some reviews of it, or see one in person
If the Vaio ZE had a glossy panel it would be perfect.

As far as Blu-ray, I think it has to do with size. Is anybody making thin slot load drives? Remember the z series is less than an inch thick.

I didn't think the z was any thicker than the 15z or Envy 15.

Anyway, I've given up and told the person to wait as there's nothing really out there I feel comfortable buying as my department would have to support it.
 
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