Envy 15 going back

Oh, I so wanted to like it because it does everything I need in such a portable package but whoever created the trackpad design should be freaking shot.

I've tried all of the various settings and the latest drivers but all of them freak out pretty badly if you leave you motion finger on the trackpad at the same time as clicking. God forbid you actually want to click and drag something (in the normal "hold down the button and move the pointer" method, not any custom gestures).

The limited tilting on the screen was really annoying (use thee laptop a fair amount at home standing up) but it would have been workable if it weren't for the trackpad issues.

Guess I'll be looking at the elitebooks and precision workstations instead (giving up on the portability for a better screen and usability)

 

ugh. do all envy's have this problem or is this just one bad apple?

 

The screens all have problems with limited range of motion.

As far as the touchpad, people have had different opinions about it. Some love it and others hate it.
I don't know if it is a hardware issue or driver issue. I do know the majority of owners had to do some tweaking to the settings to get it to their liking

 

I think the trackpad sucks. Sometimes just clicking will mess it up.. as in you'll click and the cursor will slide over and miss its target. Two-finger scrolling is wonky, will skip around (sometimes all the way down the scroll bar)...

I see no benefit to the lack of buttons in the first place... who decided this was a good idea?

 

Make sure you have latest synaptics driver; It wasn't working good before the driver update but now its as good as it gets. Its no mbp but still up to the mark.

 

I hated the trackpad in the stock configuration but after updating the driver and tweaking the settings (mostly sensitivity stuff) it was fine.

 

I had the latest driver from the drivers thread (on a completely clean install). Is there a newer synaptics one that works better? All I really want is for it to behave like a trackpad with discrete buttons - no more, no less.

 

If you already have latest drivers than goto synaptic settings
Control Panel > Hardware & Sound > Mouse > Device Settings > Settings


You can change senstivity, palm pressue, gestures all to your likings and even map functions for the keys.

 

Is there a setting that disables the button part of the trackpad from acting like part of the trackpad? That's fundamentally what I couldn't get configured because one of the things I do frequently is hold the button down while moving the cursor and no matter how I configured it the trackpad would always see both fingers as part of the motion.

(I don't have it in front of me right now or I'd be looking myself - wasn't sure about the dead zones and if those could be configured to do it but they didn't appear to work that way).

 

@pc_geek the simplest you could do is enable tap and drop so you just double tap and hold finger on trackpad its much easier than traditional method and you will get used to in no time.

If you still want old method a simple tip is to keep your fingers a finger space apart and it won't act like on crack.

 

I'm kinda old school and avoid the gestures (other than side scrolling). Even when I had my fingers 1-2" apart it was acting like it was on crack. I'm home now so I'll take another stab at the settings to see if anything works before I drop it off at fed ex.

 

I tried again but the setting I really need is "ignore any motion in the bottom area of the touchpad" which doesn't exist.

I'm sure it's mostly me but I typically move the cursor with my index finger and hover my thumb over the button (even laying on the button but not pressing with my normal laptop). If my thumb ever touches the touchpad in this mode it completely screws up the pointer motion.

If they're going to go the virtual trackpad route the least they should consider is a setting that makes it behave like a typical touchpad - should be doable in the driver.

 

The thing is, the touchpad doesn't really have a "button". It has an area that you can click on, but it's still part of the touchable area. That's by design, because it allows a much larger total touchable area on the pad, which I love because of the huge number of pixels on the screen. I'm not aware of any way to create a "non-touch-sensitive" area.

Unfortunately, it's a habit thing. You do have to change the way you do things a bit, just use your single finger to move the mouse and tap to click. Don't use the "button" except to click and drag.

 

Actually they should be able to fix this. I work the same way on my MacBook and it has no problem with my thumb on the bottom. the ENVY freaked out at it.

I think the MacBook sees HOW MUCH area is covered by my thumbs are realizes "oh its just resting there" and pays attention to the small pressure points my finger tips make.

 

There is no design or hardware flaw, its basically drivers and app that screws it, its easy to monitor pressure and design if finger is resting or clicking and act on it. I don't use clicks because I have made myself used to tap-lock-drag which is much faster and efficient than click and drag.

 

There should be a setting in the new Synaptics drivers to let you change that, possibly in the palm detect? Have you installed the new drivers yet?

 

Yep, had the new drivers but even with tweaking the palm detect settings I couldn't keep it from flipping out. I don't mind learning a new way to do things to make it faster but I'd really prefer that if my old way was just less efficient, not unusable.

 

Its unfortunate for you as it works perfectly fine for me even with your way.

 

I think I might return mine soon too.. the case is (ever so) slightly warped. On a flat surface, only 3 of the 4 rubber nubs touch down. The 4th is 1 or 2 mm off... if I put a few pieces of paper underneath it stop rocking... but that's annoying.

The temps are pretty high and I can't really use it on my lap while on battery power (too hot in the front bottom area). Plus the trackpad doesn't function that well.

Got the laptop a week ago... so I have 2 more weeks to try it out. It's a tough decision between just getting the GX640 and getting another Envy. The Envy is much nicer looking and weighs less... that's really the selling point right now.

If I get the GX640 I would definitely keep its base config, which would be $200 cheaper than the Envy was, although the processor will be worse (430m vs. 520m). The thing is that I feel like I would get much better service if I bought the GX640 because I'd be buying it from a small reseller.. and a 3 year warranty standard crushed HP. It all comes down to the GX640 reviews.

 

There's an i5-520M in the for sale forum for $190 if you're interested

 

I dunno if I can justify buying that.. I'm sure the difference to me would be negligible. It's sad to think that I'll most likely be sending my envy back There seem to be greener pastures though.