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

1st post says MEDIASMART for volume OSD but haven't tried myself. Read the first post, 2.0 put a lot of effort into it and answers a lot of the questions posted here.

 

Got mine today and here's a quick unboxing video with quick size comparison between Envy 14 & Dell Latitude E4310/E6410, Acer Timeline 1810t, and Apple Macbook Pro 13" 2010 edition.

haven't had a chance to actually play with it much so will return with more impressions. Hope everyone else who got it today is enjoying their new "precious"!


2.0 feel free to add this video link to your first post, thanks!

 

yeah, im hoping it would go away! its not big but its still an issue. hm... why do you have 2 envys?

 

Okay guys, Im on my new Envy right now and so far all is good!

No issues, no whine, perfect HP light, trackpad is level, got clean install all working, no blemishes, fans normal

Worst issue: TRACKPAD IS SUPER ANNOYING. I played with sensitivity and palm check but it still sucks. Ill see what I can do.
Otherwise the screen is actually very nice, even though I reported it ws lackluster before. I havent tried the battery but hopefuly no issue with that

 

One for my office and one I travel with.

 

Yes, I know. I edited my post to reflect I know about MEDIASMART.

 

Is there anyway to eject a DVD through the hardware? I'm clean installing, and my first DVD wasn't burned correctly. Can't seem to swap it for a proper one now.

 

Yeah, I just went into Task Manager and stopped process "HP Smartmenu" and the volume display thing was gone. So I'm assuming it has something to do with Smartmenu. Anyhow, the link/program you provided seems great, although I don't have my headphones on to check it out in more detail, I'll certainly +rep you for that.

 

Top right corner of your KB, left of the delete key.

 

Anyone got any tips on how to keep my temps low? CPU temps are idling at 48-50C and GPU at 60.

 

maybe try installing the hpql stuff?

 

Cheers mate

 

I'll see how difficult it is, but I'll try to make a program to switch GPUs via hotkey. (I've figured out that it'd be unsafe to do it based on active application )
I'm open to suggestions for features, and I'll need somewhere to host it. (I don't feel like using up more dropbox space)

 

Fixed the brightness issue, but wifi button still doesn't change color when I wanna turn it off. Wifi button still does turn it off though.

 

oh.

the wifi button requires the hp media smart smart menu. yeah it's annoying. I installed the one from hp's website not from swsetup.


that one also fixed the mute button light

 

I just got my envy, and I'm unsure which stuff is bloatware and which isn't. So far, I still have:
Adobe Flash Player 10 ActiveX
Adobe Reader 9.3 MUI
Adobe Shockwave Player
Alcor Micro USB Card Reader
Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3
Corel VideoStudio Pro X3
ESU for Microsoft Windows 7
Fences
HP ENVY Document Card Utilities
HP Software Framework
IDT Audio
Intel Digital Logo
Logon Studio
Microsoft Office 2010
Norton Internet Security
Realtek Ethernet Controller Driver for Windows 7
Windows Live Essentials
Windows Live Sync
Windows Live Upload Tool
Windows Media Encoder 9 Series

Any help would be appreciated.

A great laptop, just the fan keeps going nuts, and there's some flex near the P keys, but other than that, I"m satisfied

 

Corel is the free Corel.

Alcor is your sd card reader and it's drivers.

ESU is well...the thing that changed the balanced profile to HP Balanced. Even if you uninstall it the profle name doesn't change. also, it won't come back on a clean install.

Fences is Fences is that stuff on the desktop that can disappear and you can put icons in 'em. I didn't like it and got rid of it.

HP Envy Document reader is a well and e-book reader or something for your pc. I just use Calibre if I'm ever reading an e-book on my computer.

HP Software Framework is I 'unno.

IDT Audio is your audio card.

Intel digital logo is an intel thing that dun matter but doesn't really do much (doesn't run on start, it's just an intel diagnostic thing that looks at your processor and it's temp and the processes running and stuff)

Logon studio I have no idea.

windows live is windows live and WMEncoder is ya know...just windows media encoder.

adobe reader and flash need to be updated.

shockwave too I think.

 

I see. Will look into it.

 

Finally got my trackpad working to a reasonable level.

You sure have to do a lot of menus to change graphics! Can't it be easier?

Man does this thing run cool though. My Macbook was an oven by comparison.

 

yes it can.

right click on the desktop

 

Ugh, my wireless connection keeps crashing. Putting the computer into sleep and then starting it back up fixes it, but this is happening frequently now. Any suggestions?

 

did you update to the latest drivers? Ones from stock have issues.

Intel® PRO/Wireless and WiFi Link Drivers-Only for Windows 7* (win 7 64 bit)


this is assuming you have a US envy (should be using the intel 6200 then)

 

I think thats the most common problem with the Envy 14 I've seen

(also the most easily addressed and fixed)

 

Is there anyway to close the screen and still have the computer just stay on? I've changed the settings to "do nothing" when the lid is closed but it still powers down to a degree. I'm using the hdmi output and want to close the lid but I'm not able to. My 5 year old Toshiba satellite could handle this easily and I'm stumped on the NV.

 

*shrugs*


I set the lid to do nothing when closed and it does nothing.

does it lag or something?

haven't really tried to play a video from hdmi with the lid closed.

I know closing the lid can screw up the wireless since the antennae are in it and well metal + metal = low signal

 

Received my replacement Envy 14 this afternoon....opened it up, and boxed it back up. No whine, but still have the annoying hiss from the headphone jack, keyboard flex is worse than the first, overall build quality is significantly worse than the first (gaps, and squeaks), and I have a bad Pixel in the dead center of the screen.

Screw this - HP Is dead to me. I ordered a G62 at the same time for my grand parents (because of the BCB at 30%) and it has better build quality than this 'top of the line' POS.

 

Thanks, just installed it.

 

So I did a clean install with a less than legal version of windows 7

I thought I was doing it with the 64 but i actually did it with the 32.

I have a 64 bit cd but it wont let me start it up when the os is actually running so I'm trying to boot from it in the bios but I can't find out how. It always boots to the hard drive instead.

Any suggestions?

**edit - I figured it out, had to use F5 and F6 to change the boot order...

 

doing a clean install now, hpefully everything will work out. im really anoyd by the rainbow discoloration when the view is sideways on the screen (ok, so i guess its a bigger issue to me than what i had originally thought)... guys, how many had this issue before and was fixed after some time? ugh... you guys think this is something that is reasonable enough for RMA or am i just over reacting?

 

anyone else have this problem where the touch pad is not completely flush?

 

It could be just burning in since colors are not stable when new lights are just turned on. However LEDs don't really require burn in... so I dunno.

Mine isn't but it doesn't bother me. Mine is slightly raised. Can't really see it but you can feel it.

 

^ mine isn't completely flush but it's not bad at all. the bottom right edge sticks out 1mm at most

---------------------------------------


has anyone had a problem with updating the ATI catalyst drivers? after a clean install, i tried to update the drivers from the HP support page (SP48434), but during the install my screen goes completely blank with the backlight still on. after rebooting from this blank screen, i can see the "Starting Windows" screen, but then the screen goes blank and windows loads (i can hear the start-up sound). i have to go into safe mode and uninstall the 5650 drivers. but then this just disables the graphics card, and i'm running solely on onboard graphics i've tried reinstalling it, but problem just repeats.


can anyone help?

 

Only one with the decency to do such a thing was Bronsky when unboxing his 3820tg

YouTube - Bronsky's ACER 3820TG Unboxing



Someone should also consider this section when panning the camera, but it will never happen.

YouTube - USS ENTERPRISE NCC1701


ONLY BRONSKY took the time !!!!!!!

 

Any word on whether there's a way to make Windows start up with the integrated GPU as default?

 

Anyone besides me failing the bios update? I ran the thing and then ran it again after I reboot and it still says I'm using F.02

 

Well, I'm off to bed to sleep on this. At least I have 21 days to decide. So far the presentation of the laptop is great. I love the keyboard, nice sized SSD, screen, definitely thinner and lighter. But the gaming experience so far sucks. I know its not really a gaming machine per se, but it is definitely gaming capable. Its performance even at stock 450MHz GPU is still slightly better than the GT 335m in the M11x, yet it still feels more sluggish.

I know how well it games shouldn't be an end all be all, but it is my portable gaming solution for the next couple of years. I'm sure my Sager will suffice for another year or so, but its heft just makes me think twice about taking it somewhere with me.

If I do decide to return the Envy 14 though, I may sell it instead, could probably make a few hundred $$$ on it because of that great BCB.

I dunno. Hopefully HP steps up and helps us out with some tweaks to help improve performance of the HD 5650.

I'm just talking out loud (typing really ) right now... thanks for listening, lol.

 

wow, people get overly sensitive about little things. As far as I see it, it's meant to be raised, so you could find it in the dark. Enjoy your Envy!

 

Ok. I installed the HP Mediasmart software and even tried installing the 3rd party volume software listed in OP. No luck.


Can't seem to get visual feedback for changing volume.

 

install 3rvx then run it.

it has to be setup

 

On hp's website, the first option for an accidental damage warranty is significantly less than the next option, yet they seem to cover the same thing. Can anyone un-confuse me?

 

Oh. Didn't realize I had to open it in program files to get it going. Thanks!


Now onto figuring out how to set up 2/3-finger gestures..

 

Loving my clean installed HP Envy!!! Uhm.. This is going to be a weird question but here it goes, I CANT INSTALL YM!!! I have no idea why... I downloaded using Mozilla. Is it due to Win 7 64 bit?

 

YM? what's that?

 

yeah, I'm not actually truing to nitpick though...I'm worried that the gap created from the raised touchpad (when I shine light on the area I can see some copper colored internal laptop components). I'm afraid of dust and debris getting in that crack and causing problems. At the biggest, there is probably almost a 1mm gap between the laptop and touch pad. Thoughts?

 

YM as in Yahoo Messenger... WEIRD

 

Wash your hands before use

I wouldn't worry about it. I also have 5 year old Toshiba M400 that has plenty of gaps and been through so much that I am surprised still works.

 

version 10 crashes on 64-bit I think.

Download Yahoo Messenger 9 Full Setup [ Offline Installer ]

version 9 is in there somewhere.

 

Agreed! Only weird still use YM!

 

Well, its because my mom still uses it and I want to contact her from time to time... Still weird???

 

I'd like to know this also to try and get max battery life. BTW, how can you tell which GPU is currently being used?