Envy 15, Several problems, looking for advice..

Well, I received my Envy yesterday and was initially very impressed with the build quality and looks of the machine.

However, upon my first boot up things went downhill fast. I got an error before Windows even booted up. It stated that it had not been shut down properly before, (even though this was my first startup). It then went thorough a disk check and it appeared everything was ok.

I got the computer set up and then ran into several "black screens" for no apparent reason. Monitor would go blank and fans would start running loudly. I shut the computer off each time and rebooted without any problems.

Then it seemed to be stable for a few hours, only to go back to another "black screen". I did some research here and it sounds like a few others have had similar problems. I figured I'd try to update to the latest bios from HP's website, hoping there would be a fix.

Well, Bios update started ok, got about half way through and then the computer completely froze up and then went black again. So, it then became completely unbootable. No way to recover it, because there was no longer any bios on the system. I called tech support and they confirmed that it was shot at this point.

So to make a long story short, in less than 24 hours my brand new Envy went from what appeared to be a great computer to an unusable brick. Needless to say, I'm very disappointed.

Has anyone has a lot of serious issues with this system or should I take my chances, order another one, and hope that I just got a lemon the first time? What do you guys think?

I really wanted to like this computer so much, but now I am skeptical...

 

It sounds like it just had a bad software image. Nothing you mention makes me think there was a hardware problem, it may have been perfectly fine if you had done a clean OS install on it.

 

I thought about trying the clean OS install with it, but the funny thing is, I was worried that by doing so I would screw it up. In the end it got royally screwed up anyway. Oh well, its on its way back right now for a refund, I'm just debating if I should try another one.

 

In this age of needless fluff and bloatware you're going to want to do a clean install for pretty much any computer you buy. Even if it had been okay you would have been running your laptop at less than optimal performance level.

 

Well, I decided to give HP one more try. I ordered another Envy and I think I am going to do the clean install this time. Hopefully, all goes well. It doesn't seem too difficult. Is there any particular order I need to install the drivers in, once I get the OS installed?

 

Nope, but you could save yourself some time and install everything at once before rebooting instead of install, reboot, install reboot. Be sure to clean out your registry and optimize your operating system as well.

 

For stuff like this, I use TuneUp Utilities. Fantastic little program. I can always tell the difference between before I run the program and after. Adds some zip, for sure.

 

Backup everything in SWSETUP folder

and now you are ready for a clean install of Windows 7. Remove the battery at the bottom of your laptop for the Windows 7 key. Use that for the fresh install.

I just completed the fresh install lastnight. In the process of finalizing all my install and use Acronis to do a recovery CD