HP Business Outlet and New Envy Experience FYI

So I was part of the whole canceled radiance display debacle; I did two things:

1) Got a brand new non-radiance w/ a 256gb SSD for 919$

2) Got a refurbished radiance

The refurbished looked great cosmetically, there was only one large dent between the screen and the body of the laptop. The first problem I found was the keyboard back lighting, 1/2 worked and 1/2 just flickered. The next problem was the space bar didn't respond well enough, which made typing a chore. I also found my I5-450 had the CPU whine. To top it all off, the radiance display seemed faulty, some spots appearing brighter than others. I returned it for a full refund.

The new one I really wanted to keep, but the fan kept ramping up and down, it was insanely annoying. I've been in the market for a new laptop for months and at this point I can live with the BV screen. But, the fan makes it so I can't use the computer in a quiet environment. I tried all the suggested fixes on the internet, nothing worked. My POS Dell from 4 years ago is almost nearly silent. Oddly enough w/ the 256gb SSD (supposedly made by Crucial and is the C300) the computer took forever to boot and wasn't as snappy as my desktop w/ an older Vertex SSD. I returned it as well.

My experience w/ HP, take it for what its worth for those of you considering buying an Envy. After this, I give up with the Envy and HP. HP would have to make something extremely compelling for me to even bother with them again. For the most part, customer service and quality control is sorely lacking at HP. The only positive CS experience I had ironically was with the refurbished outlet, the person was very helpful. But a laptop that costs $900 refurbished should never ship with so many issues.

 

Sorry to hear that, my S+D from the outlet center. Turned out ok. A few blemishes here or there on the back, the SD card it came with wasn't the official envy14 one, and the disc drive makes a slight noise when starting. Other than that... haha. My Brand-new envy 14 had that weird fan issue too. Just constantly turning on and off and in a silent room that was incredibly annoying. Not to mention that the real-estate on the radiance made it tons better.

I'm pretty sure my 450m doesn't have the whine, but I'll have to do some more tests at home.

 

about the fan issue.

did you go into the bios and set the fan to "always on."

'cause usually what happens is that when the fan is set to passive on envy 14s it'll do that on, off thing forever ('cause well..someone screwed up. HP never really acknowledged it)

 

I liked the radiance, but all the flaws were just too much for me to stick with it for almost $900. The BV vs. Radiance is a no contest, radiance makes BV looks like crap. I gave the computer a second chance today and first thing I noticed after booting it up was the whine, it made a nice little whistle. After that I said f'it. No more.

Yeah I did thanks, mine was set to default as always on. I tried turning that off too...I think with fan always on it was more annoying, it was always on, but kept ramping up and down constantly. No matter what I was doing, the computer sounded like a mini-hair dryer. I tried running just off accelerated graphics, no dice.

I really wanted to like the computer, the keyboard on my new one was very nice. The touch pad, well that was awful, but thats been discussed to death. The only thing I really didn't like overall was the etching, the swirly design is a little fruity for my tastes.

 

Making comparisons to other laptops being silent is never fair. My netbook is always silent. I don't expect an i5 to be. Sorry to hear that you've had so many issues though. I've been hesitant to buy laptops, I typically build computers myself and don't like feeling of not being in control of repairs etc. I bought an upscale acer last, and the wiring went out in the monitor, to top it off the screen was designed in such a way that removal would break the plastic tabs holding the monitor assembly together. The entire chassis was subject to bending if held at a corner as well as numerous other issues.

So far, I've been pleasantly surprised by my hp. It is a solid machine. Now I just wish they would hurry up and ship my second one that I ordered for my wife.

 

I agree with you - I'll probably use this laptop for a few years, but I won't be buying from HP again. After paying as much as I did for this laptop, then having to deal with a month of shipping delays with NO updates, and sitting on the phone with their CSRs from India who all have their heads up their asses... I don't think my opinion of HP can be repaired.

I'll probably be going back to Dell. I had my Dell Vostro 1400 for 4 years and that thing was bulletproof. When my AC adapter crapped out under warranty, they overnighted me a new one. Great customer service.