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

Yes, as your Envy gets older, the drive compartment gets smaller, and your muscles get weaker. It would be somewhere in between very difficult and nigh impossible to install a SSD if you waited a year or too.

/sarcasm

 

lol

I just didn't know if the motherboard connections were completely different or something, making it so you would have to order the SSD *with* the original laptop.

 

So this batch of envies seems to not have the annoyingly loud cpu whine, am i right? Aside from whine have there been any other huge quality control issues? I'm hoping to get i5-450m, 4gb 1 dimm and 160gb ssd. I am in the UK so any potential problems which i could not fix myself, i would like to know about beforehand

thanks in advance

 

What firmware version is on your 256 SSD? I'm in the 2nd batch (BCB) as well, but I won't be able to check until later tonight.

 

I just got my envy about an hour ago, loving it so far. The fedex man was like wow you got to the door real quick lol.

 

has anyone experienced/reported any problems with a clean install?

when i had the dm4 and did a clean install, i couldn't get the fingerprint reader to work.

 

After getting an Envy 15 with dual Intel SSDs, in my opinion it is the single best upgrade in any computer. In laptops it's especially important, because SSDs generate a lot less heat and noise despite being considerably faster. Also, when comparing the boot time of my Envy to my desktop (has a mechanical drive) the Envy boots in almost half the time.

 

Been looking at what I think is a dead pixel (more like 2 or 3 vertically) and noticed it seems to have some color depending on the angle I look at it. I also noticed it had a shadow when I tilt the screen at an angle. Would it be possible that its just dust/dirt or something stuck on the inside of the screen? If it is, would there be any way to get it without voiding the warranty, judging by google there isn't but maybe you guys have some suggestions.

 

What version is the HDMI port, I just RMA'd mine and forgot to check?? IIRC it's 1.3c??

 

just got my 14 as well today. Looks great and I love the keyboard. Havent had much time to play with it and I will review soon. Just one quick question. Do all envy 14's come with beats audio? Mine did and I did not order it. If someone could please let me know I would appreciate it. Thanks

 

Yeah, Beats audio is just the branding of the audio system used in the Envy line (and possibly a few other HP laptops). Supposedly means better quality speakers and audio out, but I haven't tested it for myself yet. People have said it is better than your average laptop speakers though.

 

Yes, they all do

 

yup, comes standard

 

So the answer is that yes, I can rather easily install a SSD at a later point in the future, right?

Would it need to be a special SSD I order from HP or would any work?

 

Recently got my son an Envy 14 (i5-450) for college. I am quite picky but happy to report it arrived with no CPU whine, an acceptably quiet fan and excellent build quality.

Only 2 complaints so far: One is the touchpad. It is acceptable, but I think it can be better so we are still experimenting with adjustments.

The other complaint was the wireless. As most know the Envy 14 US version has the Intel N 6200 wireless card. Initially we could not get it to communicate with our wireless network (Linksys WRT54GL access point with Tomato firmware). We were initially very frustrated and confused as our network has 14 other devices that connect to it flawlessly. We initially got the Envy to communicate by disabling the wireless security but that was not a long term option. After lots of research, we finally discovered that disabling "Afterburner, aka Speedbooster" in the firmware on the Linksys AP would allow it to connect and we could again secure our network. If you're not familiar, Afterburner-Speedbooster is a proprietary format developed by Broadcom for Linksys several years ago to increase WLAN efficiency on the 2.4 Ghz G band. For whatever reason the Intel N 6200 card doesnt like it (regardless of the driver version you use). Bottom line is if you have a Linksys AP and are either having problems connecting to your WLAN, or are experiencing frequent disconnections, check to see if you have the "Afterburner-Speedbooster" option in your firmware and disable it. I just thought I would post this as Linksys (now Cisco) AP's and routers (especially the WRT54G series) are still very popular and widely used.

2.0, if you think this is important enough feel free to put it on page 1.

 

well the ones sold from hp are intel and samsung... so any SSD will work.. and should be a breeze as long as you can handle a screwdriver

 

so i just got my envy and every thing is perfect except one thing..

THE FREAKIN LIGHT BEHIND THe HP LOGO IS OFF CENTER!!

i dont know if it worth returning tho.. maybr ill just put a sticker on it..

 

lotsabs.

make sure you update the intel 6200 wireless drivers too. the envy comes with outdated ones that sometimes has connections issues (this is unrelated to that afterburner stuff)

 

i'm sorry to keep posting this, but can please someone answer this question? I have to make a decision soon and i would really appreciate info and advice.

So this batch of envies seems to not have the annoyingly loud cpu whine, am i right? Aside from whine have there been any other huge quality control issues?
I'm hoping to get i5-450m, 4gb 1 dimm and either 160gb sdd or 500gb hdd. I am in the UK so any potential problems which i could not fix myself, i would like to know about beforehand

thanks in advance

 

just got my envy! perfect condition. gonna run some benchmarks, burn my recoery dvds and do a clean install

 

Thanks, I have a speedboost modem and will check this out when i get my laptop.

 

So just received my Envy 14 today and I gotta say I'm not too impressed. It's a great looking laptop and very mobile but the keyboard and touchpad bug me so much. The keyboard just feels cheap and I feel like I'm banging on the keys in order to type properly. My Sony CW is much better so far. Thinking about returning this

Can I disable this multitouch crap? I like using the physical buttons, I remember there was an option for disablting multitouch or at least disabling it for a few seconds so that your fingers dont interefere with each other.

 

you can disable tapping, two finger scroll, pinch zoom, and keep one finger scroll disabled if you want.

still might have issues with your palms on the edges of the touchpad

 

I know no one cares but it arrived today and I returned it. The HP CSR was really nice and even offered $100 credit to keep it. Envy 17, here I come!

 

Why did you return it? You just want a bigger size or were there issues?

 

I just got my envy 14 and I am creating the backup disks right now. At the beginning of burning the first disk it sounded like it was doing quiet drill dental work if that makes any sense to you guys. Is this normal?? It only did it for the first 25% or so of the disk. I am worried my drive is broken or destroying disks like a xbox 360 that has been moved.

 

That doesn't really solve the multitouch issue. Like sometimes I'll be using the touchpad with one finger but one of my other fingers might accidentally tap it and the mouse goes haywire.

I think I'm just gonna stick to my Sony CW. It's not as cool looking but definitely more functional for me. The Envy 14 is not worth $1200.

 

well the latest drivers fixed that stuff somewhat.


also setting palm check to max and sensitivity to 75-85ish% (towards heavy touch, towards the right) helps.

also the latest drivers added a (small) deadzone around the buttons.
it's from the bottom of the touchpad to about halfway to the white line and extends across the entire touchpad lengthwise

 

Hey guys,
computer noob here...

Just got my envy and am trying to create the recovery / backup discs or whatever they are called.

I went into control panel - system and security - backup your computer - create a system repair disc.

I put in a DVD-R (even though the prompt listed DVD-RW for drive F as my only option)

The process finished in about 3 minutes and told me to label my disc as Win 7 64 repair disc.

3 minutes seems real short - did I do something wrong, or is their another recovery disc I need to create?

TIA

 

Taken from the clean windows install thread:

"To create these discs, click the start orb, and type in recovery. Click the program called recovery disc creation, and follow the prompts."

My backup is 4 DVD's big so something is definitely wrong.

 

That is only the windows recovery disk, it's not the HP recovery media.

You can go to Start Menu, All Programs, HP, Recovery Manager, Recovery Media Creation

 

It looks to me like I can see how hard the hard drive is working with the status lights on the side, one is for power and the other seems to be for the drive. Excuse me if u meant exactly how hard its working

 

he means it's hard to look at that side light during regular computer use.



also man oh man I just used twofingertouch (envy modded edition thing that one guy did) and it works nice.

to the point of holy crap I can just leave one finger on it and scroll stuff down by moving the other finger.

 

got mine no big dings, but the quality is a lot worse than the first one I got. The top inside seems to be on incorrectly as there are random shifts in space between the two sheets. And it looks like the metal part has been beat up because there are scratches all around the edge of it. Keyboard flex is obvious, though not horrible, you can type well on it. The space bar is terrible though, it comes off very weird.

There is no CPU whine on my computer and the fans are quiet.

I will probably call and tell them to send me a new one.

 

What problems do you guys still have after doing a clean install? I haven't really been keeping up with this thread since i RMA'd mine.

 

*shrugs* I haven't had any problems.

sure bluetooth didn't wanna wakeup and install the drivers until randomly after a restart.

besides that no real issues

 

I just meant its not in the line of sight, so you have to crane your neck to the side to see if it is working or not.

 

wait can i ask them to send me a new one, or do I have to send mine back if I want to keep the BCB?

Its not too bad where I can't keep it.

EDIT: scratch that got my answer. its not too bad but I will keep it. nothing is really moving around so I can't complain too much. Plus no CPU whine

 

ATI Catalyst 10.7 released today

 

Hey guys, need you to test something for me

volume icon, right click.

click sounds, then playback tab.

highlight speakers and headphones and click the configure button in that window.

When you click Test, do you have sounds coming out of both speakers?


I only have sound coming out of my left one....

 

My speakers work fine

 

Damn it. Here i get a computer with absolutely nothing wrong with it cosmetically....and it has a bad speaker....

Any potential this is a software/driver issue? please tell me it is.

 

Could just be a lose connection. If you're brave you could go inside and check it out.

 

It's all SATA power and data

 

Ugh... 10char

 

oh snap we are all out of DVDs , can I put it on CDs or will that be too many?

 

Is the slot load drive supposed to suck in the disc, like the wii, or do you just push it in all the way? Sorry if this has been asked before.

@vladmonkey, on my old HP it said it would take a bunch of CDs, at least in the teens. I know the feeling though, I only had three dvds left, one too short

 

Okay, now I gotta try this out. Do you have the link for it? I don't think the one on the first page is the modded one.

 

I needed more horse power. Also, the gaps and yellow glue(?) were a little annoying.

 

contemplating just doing this lawl