*HP ENVY 14 & ENVY 14 Beats (1XXX series) Owners Lounge, Part III*

the quad core 5650 tends to not be undervolted.

it is a tad bit underclocked compared to what the 3820tg comes at from stock.

however the clock range for the 5650 from amd is 450-650. we have 450. acer gets 550. it's...'bout 1-3 fps difference

 

audiophiles/sound engineers/audio geeks...whats your opinion on the sound quality of the envy??? (no, not the silly speakers it has, but the audio when plugged in with headphones)

im playing my music (320kbp and FLAC files) and though it sounds good to me...definitely ALOT better than when i listen to music on my cellphone...was wondering if getting an external DAC (looking at the NuForce uDAC-2 since its not too pricey) would make much of a difference.
FYI; my headphones are shure SE-215's.

thanks!

 

Hi petp. You can read a small but nice discussion starting here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-...xxx-series-owners-lounge-106.html#post7713367

 

thanks somnio!

 

If you really are into sound quality, buy a USB DAC/ AMP like DACPort or similar.

 

Any updates on the ability to alter the voltage or clock speed? I've got Afterburner and the OC just isn't happening at whatever the stock voltage is set to. I know it doesnt seem like much, but 3 more fps in BF3 would make a big difference given on the lowest settings with the 1600x900 screen it's churning out 24-28 fps...

 

Far too much static on the integrated audio. I just finished building the electronics for my CIEMs and the drivers are far more sensitive than anything I've had before. The static sounds like it's raining outside, it's that loud. An external DAC would improve this greatly, plan to build one sometime later.

 

I noticed the static seems to depend on the headsets I've used. Some of the lower impedence headsets like my skullcandy buds have a constant buzz and blow my ears out if I don't turn the volume to nearly zero. But the higher impedance Triton headset has no static whatsoever and also doesn't require me to turn down the volume much when switching to the headset from onboard speakers. $.02

 

Definitely. The sensitivity of the ones I just finished are around 135dB/mW for the bass driver (~47 ohm impedance @ 500Hz). I end up hearing this lowish frequency static and it drives me crazy. Even a quick DIY 75 ohm impedance adapter doesn't work well enough to decrease the volume of the static.

Probably going to just build a grubDAC.

 

yeah. I get a bit of a high pitched whine with the headphones now.

kind of annoying. ('course this may somehow be the cpu whine filtering into the audio...through some magic...or something)

 

Hey guys,

I've had my envy 14 for about 6 months now, bought it refurbished and its working great.

Unfortunately today I found that the case around where the usb ports are is starting to come away from the rest of the case. It isn't a major problem, but its really annoying and surprising because the build quality seemed so good when I got it (other than the keyboard flex).

Has anyone else had this problem? Is there any way of fixing it? My warranty has run out now, so that's not an option

Any advice would be much appreciated!

 

you may be able to open up the laptop to re settle things but I kinda advise against it due to ripping all your keyboard/touchpad/power button cords.

you don't have much clearance and they're taped to the top cover and if you try to unplug them, they will most likely just rip (found this out the hard way with my touchpad cable)

 

Thanks, I was thinking of opening it up at some point to add in an SSD in place of the dvd drive, so maybe I would do the two things at the same time.

The guide made it look so simple! Yet Im worried I could mess up the entire computer, so need to give it a think...

 

The guide makes it look simple. But there's a big "oh god no!!!" bit when you take the top cover off if you aren't careful (like I was not careful enough).

There's like 1 to 2 inches of clearance before the cable rips out and you're screwed. Think it is closer to 1 inch which made getting my hand in there difficult.

The bottom cover stuff is easy and simple.

 

As long as you are careful you will be fine.

 

Mate I'm using the Fiio E10...and it does make a hell of a difference...on my Bose QC 15 and my Monster Beats Solo....though the bose is much crispier to listen to...and yeah the external DAC will the change the way you listen to music...cheers...im using the Envy 14 beats edition...

 

thanks for the info. definitely gonna get one now. gonna research the udac and fiio.

 

Good decision.

 

Does anyone know what the part/brand is of the graphics card fan? I lost the sticker I took off of it, and I pretty much have no other way to find it. Any reference info much appreciated.

 

Hey havent been on here in a while, but I just had a few questions:

The HP envy has 2 audio out jacks, so I have my surround sound plugged into one, and my Bose mie2i earphones with a mic plugged into the other (for the mic purpose).

So is there a way to choose to choose what sounds go through each jack? I want my music to go through one jack (my surround sound) then have JUST the voice from msn go through my earphones with the mic.. is this possible?

+ while were on this topic, does anyone know anything about getting the earphone mic buttons working to change the sound and such? I have the Bose mie2i, which is used for the iphone. The buttons work on macs to change volume and pause, so I was hoping I could somehow get it to work on my envy too.

Thanks!

 

not sure if this is helpful. but try go into the beats audio control panel under speakers and headset, play around there and the mic settings, you might be able to do what you want.

 

Is it support SATA III?

 

Nope.

10char

 

For some odd reason, my backlit keyboard hotkey is no longer working even though the brightness adjuster and other upper key hotkeys are still working.


Anyone got a solution??

 

I fixed that by removing the battery/power cable and pressing the power button. I remembered that fixing some other backlight issue, and it worked.


Does anyone know why the idt/beats drivers are cutting out most of my bass?
ASIO4ALL (which directly accesses the sound card) plays sound accurately, so I know the issue is software-based.

I have the tone controls are set to zero, audio enhancements disabled, and the EQ in the beats/idt panel is set to default.

EDIT: Uninstalled my audio drivers, installed the newest ones from HP. Sound seems to be fixed.

 

can you suggest me if it is worth spending 1150 for below specs? I do multi tasking and i5 may be enough, opting for i7 just to have latest and powerful

HP envy beats CTO
i7 2670QM
8GB
160 GB SDD
Others default

 

how do i find out which series my envy 14 is? also how do i get the audio drivers to bit stream via hdmi?

 

Got a question about installing a new SSD I just bought. I'm planning on doing a fresh install of Windows 7, but I'm unsure of whether or not I can transfer my OEM activation code to the fresh install I'm going to do on the new SSD. The first post says to use ABR to backup your Windows 7 OEM key, which I did, but I'm not sure it will work since I'm using a new drive, not a clean install on the old one.

Will I be able to use my OEM key or am I going to need to use other sources to obtain Windows 7?

 

Should work fine.

if not all you'd have to do is call microsoft to get them to activate your windows 7

 

Hi, I've been having a problem recently with Firefox where with a few files I seem to not be able to download them. It's kind of hard to explain so I will give an example. I might be downloading a game that's 50 mbs. Sometimes the game will not finish downloading and will get stuck at 20 mbs. When this happens Firefox will either report that it is still downloading at the same right but not moving at all or it will just state "Unknown time remaining." I have searched this problem on Google but cannot seem to find the right solution. Has anyone else had this problem before? I don't think it is only on the Envy 14.

 

is the hdmi audio connection through the 5650 or the intel controller?

 

5650. and the audio drivers are in the HP driver installs and the hdmi audio is controlled by windows and/or the IDT/Beats audio control panel (basically this tells it to turn on and sometimes it is not told to turn on and be the default audio when you plug the cord into the computer)

edit: the hdmi port is disabled/cannot be accessed when you are on the intel gpu

 

Just a quick question, after installing a new drive, I will need to update the BIOS again right?

I have the latest one downloaded from HP's website, the F.26 one. Do I just run the executable to update the BIOS? Can I update from stock BIOS or do I need incremental updates?

I've never performed a BIOS update myself, usually HP Support Assistant prompts me to do it and everything works well after that.

Any tips? I really don't want to brick my computer.

 

You don't need to flash your computers bios if you install a new disk drive. However, your new disk drive might have it's own firmware that might need flashing. The HP Support Assistant generally won't help here. The manufacturer of your drive generally supplies a program you download off their website to patch the firmware.

 

if the bios is already at F.26, it is at F.26

you may (will) need to install the HP System Tools and bios update UEFI files onto your hard-drive so they create that HP_TOOLS partition in case you ever need to update the bios again.

as for hdd firmwares. generally unless it's a SSD that really requires firmware upgrade you won't need to mess with firmware on your hard-drive itself.

 

I'm running F.23 at the moment, but as long as I don't go back to F.06 or whatever was stock I'm okay with not messing with the BIOS.

It is an SSD by the way. It should hopefully have updated software (according to reviews) but if it doesn't ill have to figure it out when I get it later today.

Thanks for the help

 

thanks magus. i installed the realtek ati hdmi drivers and it works perfect.

 

huh. didn't realize realtek had ati hdmi drivers at all.

well, glad it worked.

 

Ah, my bad, will repost there

 

you're on a 2xxx series envy 14 http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-...-envy-14-beats-2xxx-series-owners-lounge.html

you also may have auto-swapping turned on for your gpu (which may or may not be a bit buggy still due to amd not being good at copying optimus)

 

My webcam is very very slow shutter in any type of daylight. It shoots about 2 frames per second on video. I have hp mediasmart webcam 4.1.2.3130.
Why is it shooting at such low frames per second?
I saw this on youtube and wish mine was this fast...

HP ENVY 14 Webcam Quality, - YouTube

If I moved as fast as hat girl does, it would be a blur!
Help me please?

*EDIT - I noticed when I went to computer > manage > webcam it says usb webcam and it has a driver date of 2006???

 

Hmmm topic was unsticky ...

So I have question, any settings in bios about enable vitrualization? I have problem with VirtualBox.

 

Hey guys. So I just got a 2160SE and I was wondering what are some precautions I should take to preserve the life of this beautiful thing. I've read some of you have sent yours in for repairs which scares me. Right now I have the newest BIOS and have it configured to fixed graphics instead of dynamic. I game every now and then but use the power-saving GPU when I'm not.

I do hear the fan running quite audibly every now and then which worries me.

 

eh...you're in the wrong topic. 2xxx series is other topic.

we 1xxx guys had bad gpus or just...did something dumb ("Hey let's open the topc cov...oh god I just ripped the touchpad cable")

 

Thank you very much people! I found

 

is power over ethernet supported in 1xxx series

 

...not quite sure hwat you mean.

If you mean can you turn on/turn off "disable power to the ethernet port while nothing is plugged into it." Yes you can do that in the bios if you update to Bios F.13 or higher (I think it was F.13)


If you mean powering the computer on from say a command from the router through the ethernet port or something...I have no idea.

 

Do you mean Wake-on-LAN?

 

I think he's talking about PoE, to power up routers/switches/hubs without an electric plug (á la USB devices). I did not think the Envy is capable of this, nor the majority of the notebooks.

 

Hi everyone. I have a HP Envy 14 1095la with Radiance screen.

I recently bought an LCD TV and I am thinking in using the Envy to play some games on the TV (Skyrim, Dirt, Fifa, etc).

For space reasons, I would like to connect the notebook to the TV and play with the lid closed (with external mouse and keyboard). However, I noticed that when running taxing games some parts of the notebook (above the exhaust fans) get really hot. I never have problems playing games directly on the notebook, though.

So, my question: Is it safe to play games with the lid closed? Will the notebook overheat? Can the heat damage the screen?

Thanks you.