Advice/Tips for a new SB Envy 14 owner?

I just pulled the trigger on the SB Envy 14 (non-beats), and was just wondering if anyone had any advice/tips to get the best out of my new notebook?

Things like:
- How to get the best out of the screen included?
- How to maximize battery life?
- How to get the best out of the trackpad?
- What things should be installed and what to be removed?
- Anything else that may be useful?

I understand that most of this information is available already, but its scattered throughout a few different large threads.

Thanks in advance!

 

Congrats on the new PC! To answer your question:

For the screen, the main thing I did was to change the gamma and brightness levels. You can do this by right clicking on the desktop>graphics properties>advanced mode>color enhancement. The settings that I find to work best are Brightness at -15, and Gamma at 1.5. This is just personal preference, but I feel that this makes the BV display look the best.

Also, there are major improvements to be had with the touchpad. I have a post on it here. Just follow the basic instructions, and tweak the settings to your preference. It really is a night and day difference. For even smoother scrolling, go to mouse properties in Windows and change the number of lines scrolled at a time from 3 to 1.

That's all I have, does anyone else have more suggestions?

 

Thanks automagical, I will differently try those out.

Another question I have is would it be worthwhile installing a clean version of Windows 7 oppose to the installed (bloated) version? Is there anything included that I would need and can hopefully reinstall on a clean Windows installation? I saw this post on LifeHacker and thought it might be easier and cleaner then manually removing things.

 

Bump.

Anyone?

 

If you're willing to spend the time and work to do it, sure! Just back up swsetup first. There actually isn't a whole lot of bloatware at all beforehand, so it's really not that bad, so don't think that you have to.

 

Check for any hardware issues that are present.
Dead pixels, scratches, or dents.
Check HDD SMART status.
Check maximum temperatures under load.
Check battery status by using the laptop on battery.
Check for any loose parts or mechanical problems (hinges too loose etc)
Analyse and decide if you can accept that particular unit, because after 14 or 21 days you cannot return or replace a brand new unit.
Software issues feedback to HP product specialists.

 

Thanks. I'll keep that in mind.

The only thing that I've noticed so far is that on the top of the keyboard right above F8 - F10 is slightly raised. Not sure if I should be worried or not about that causing problems in the future. I'm probably over thinking this, but what do you guys think? Makes you wonder why the keyboard part of the frame separate from the rest.

Also battery was showing 4hr 10min when I unplugged with browser and a few windows open. Still have about 10 days before my 14days are up too.

 

The keyboard frame should not separate a lot. When you move your fingers over that area, do you feel a bump or is your entire keyboard in a wavy shape?

 

I think its more a bump.
Here is a short video of it: Envy 14-2020nr - YouTube
Not the greatest, but it was capture it.