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

The blob in the LCD should go away if you use a blow dryer set to low heat.

 

Uh... thats kinda scary... =). Ok so you know what, I will just use this laptop for a month. If the problem is still there after a month, I will send it out for an LCD replacement already. Agree guys? I do not have wine, no scratches, no issues on anything except for that freaking blob that I dont really see that much...

Sorry for being a pain and complaining in this forum, but I just want to get everyones expert opinion on what I should do since you guys are the expert on these things.

 

No worries, dude. Each and every problem noted here provides a reference for current and future owners.

 

By the way, SSD is definitely a BIG BOOST when it comes to Notebook experience... Ive had several Notebooks with HDD and this thing just instantly boots up, instantly accessess files, and is much more snapier! Im surprised at how fast this thing is.

 

The mics seem good (no complaints from people over Skype), but the webcam is frankly somewhat mediocre in terms of picture quality and lighting. It may just be my machine though as I've already identified the webcam image to be off-center (going in for repairs after I test the machine a bit more)

 

Apologies if this has been addressed but didn't find in OP. Is installing an SSD a matter of swapping out the regular HDD and replacing it with the SSD? Is there a caddy or an extra cable I'll need?

 

Nope. SSDs come in the exact same form factor as standard notebook HDDs.

The Envy 14 HDD might come in a caddy, but all you'd do is take the HDD out of the caddy and replace it with your SSD. So the most you'll likely need is a screwdriver.

I'm sure someone who has gotten their Envy 14 could tell you. On a related note, my Envy 14 got delayed, it should be here August 3rd.

 

Trust me. You'll be glad you waited. Batch #2 seems to have far fewer problems. I still thank my lucky stars we didn't have the same problems many of the Envy 17 owners had. I can't imagine myself going through 3-4 RMAs.

 

Did the Envy 17 really have that many problems? I only kept up with it until the launch of the Envy 14.

 

^ can anyone help me find the battery meter>battery life section? i dont see it in the Power Options screen.

all i see is the "Select a Power Plan"

 

Trust me. Everyone's fears of gaps/seams between the palm rest and bottom metallic portions were derived from complaints in the Envy 17 thread. Photos aplenty of this problem. Last I saw, people were RMA'ing their units left and right.

I think there were maybe 1-2 people in the Envy 14 threads that had that problem.

 

Alright, my second Envy just came in the mail and she's fully charged.

I am going to do a clean install on it, and I've never done one before. I'm going to follow the instructions in another post/blog (shown in the first post), but I just want to know if there is anything that could go seriously wrong? And if I have questions, you guys and girls are here to back me up, right?

 

After sleeping on it, I am definitley RMA'ing this one. I don't think the gap would necessarily allow so much debris inside the computer that it would malfunction...but I have always had a really good eye as far as symmetrics, like if a picture is hung off center by 1/16'' it wll bother the heck outta me. I can definitley see this gap even from a normal usage distance, and it just bothers me, esp since I paid a premium price for a "premium" laptop. My wife has the sony Z and that thing definitley has nothing even close to this kind of problem.

 

Does anyone else's DVD drive make a noise when you first turn on the computer? It's not a huge deal but it surprised me the first time

 

Just opened mine and I was a little surprised too haha. So far the build quality on mine is great, that little square between the two speakers is a little off but i don't really mind. There is minor flex around the p key, but that's only if i'm trying to flex it otherwise I don't notice it :\. I don't notice any cpu whine either.

I know this question has been asked, but I forgot the answer. What exactly is HP Tools?

 

something to do with the bios update utility. it's apparently repairable if you delete that partition though, so no worries.

 

anyone find a resolution to the problem below yet??


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?

 

For those people still battling with their trackpad settings -OR- if you just want smooth macbook like two-finger scrolling, try using this modified version of the TwoFingerScroll app that I made:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/6511981-post25.html

Using this I really didn't need to tweak my settings that much, here is what I changed from factory:
-Synaptics: disable two-finger scroll
-Synaptics: (OPTIONAL) change palm check and sensitivity to suit my preference
-Synaptics: (OPTIONAL) disable tap-to-click (I just don't like this)
-Custom TwoFingerScroll: enable "smooth scroll"
-Custom TwoFingerScroll: (OPTIONAL) disable coasting (just my preference)

I find with these settings the mouse cursor doesn't jump when using thumb to click and two finger scrolling is super smooth and responsive.

Adam

 

Yep. Mine does that too.

 

maybe a corrupt download?

did you try grabbing it from here?
http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-drivers-software-forum/496027-drivers-hp-envy-14-intel.html

 

I don't want to sound like a rabid Apple fanboy, but this may be worth considering:

Hands-on look at Apple Magic Trackpad | Crave - CNET

 

yeah i grabbed it from there and tried just the ATI catalyst drivers alone as well....i cannot get the machine to see the ATI card....

 

Yeah, mine does that as well in addition to the fans kicking in full speed for a second. Hope its just a harmless quirk. Just got back with a new 50 pack of DVD-Rs so, time to make a quesadilla and some nachos while I wait for the disc to get made.

 

hmm. have you already installed the chipset/intel stuff? did you do those first?

 

yessiree....installed it in the order shown in the out-of-the-box thread

 

Hmm, I'm in a weird dilemma, I need some opinions from the NotebookReview board.

I have two Envy 14's, same specs, except one has 320 GB HDD and 1 Dim. 4 GB RAM stick----------->The other has 160 GB SDD and 2 Dim. 4 GB RAM.

Now, both have the annoying high pitch CPU Whine with i5-450M CPU. And from what I can tell, the SSD is performing at around the same speed as the HDD (only a few seconds faster). Now I'm confused on whether or not I should return both, and get my 320 GB one replaced, or if I should keep the 160 GB SSD laptop and live with the whine.

I'm guessing if I return the SD Envy 14, my BCB will become invalid, which means I'll have to pay $1500 out of my own pocket, whereas if I replace the 320 GB Envy 14, I would have only paid $800 (I got the $200 back when BCB was up).

I'm so confused....I've tried to stop the CPU whine from reading the first page, no success.

 

hey, so i'm the one that had that problem...got it fixed 15 minutes after that post.

i'm not completely sure what i did, but i uninstalled the 5650 drivers in safe mode, restarted windows after which it will automatically install "Standard VGA something something" driver. then i just installed the ati drivers from HP which went to completion and it seems to be working perfectly now.

 

how bizarre...i dunno :/

is a system restore back to before your first attempt at installing the ati drivers possible?

 

Hi I've been reading the forum posts about the Envy 14 for the past month and I have 2 questions. Is there going to be a noticeable increase in performance with 6gb or 8gb or RAM compared to the 4gb (I do gaming, especially since Starcraft 2 just came out) and did anyone pay 200 for the slim fit battery?

 

It's official. I'm a new e14 owner. Doing the recovery media thing. I get to see first hand the design. I'm pleased with what I'm seeing.

The "flex" isn't an issue for me. Based on what some were reporting, I figured I'd be putting my pointer finger through the computer - not so much. The touch pad reminds me very much of the Wacom Bamboo. With a little calibration, it's a non-issue for me anyway.

The cpu whine is inaudible for me, but I'm in a room with 2-3 other computers, AND my room is right next to the furnace/central air - I couldn't hear the cpu if I wanted to. Honestly, the only thing audible is the ODD spinning up and the cooling fan. I'm not overly sensitive to most sounds (ie: I can't hear the best.), so you need to keep that in mind when reading my comments.

I did notice one other thing which I'm not sure if it's been reported or not - using the function keys with the Beats software is odd, because the f-keys do not match what's displayed on the key. For instance, I hit the antenna button to increase volume and the speaker mute to decrease volume. I haven't checked, but this is probably configurable somewhere. I'll try to get some pics and a more thorough review once I get it: backed-up, freshly installed, and completely set up.

NOTE: For those backing up you cannot use DL DVD media. Probably reported elsewhere, but I figured I'd throw it in.

 

Ok I'm going the "recovery media creation" right now, and my laptop is making this clicking/humming noise. It sounds like someone is riding a bicycle and someone else is holding a stick to the spokes.

I haven' even put the DVD in yet, it's just splitting image now. I've never heard this noise from the first computer, but I never tried this task...problem or ok?
edit-It's not high pitched.

edit2-I'm now burning the first DVD and there's an incredibly high-pitched whine. Is that the DVD drive or the processor?

 

Most likely, that is your Optical Disk Drive. (DVD) Are you going to be conducting a clean install?

 

Envy 14 why do you do this to us?

The box opens, you seduce us with your beautiful looks and design, then you fail us miserably and whine and ***** and make a lot of noise.

You're like a *****y model girlfriend.

The biggest problem is now that I've had a sexy thing like that in my hands I don't want to get a laptop that is plain or without an extremely slick/cool design.

 

specs? 10char

 

Yes, I am. I'm on disk 2 of 4...53% complete on it. This is going to take awhile...

 

Happy to say no whine, knicks, cranies, or imperfections with my Envy!
Just picked it up yesterday off MrDisturbed. Great piece.
Only one problem I'm finding:

My battery won't charge past 98%. And according to BatteryBar it has a wear level of 10.4%....
I just put on batterybar though, will it calibrate and fix or do I need to call HP? Ha

Also, how do you know which model you have on the site? Theres like 15 different Envy 14's

 

@sas specs?

Mine had the 160gb SSD and the i5-450,

Why?

I mean it seems to be a common problem, people have huge flaws in their system.

The second one I ordered has the same specs.

We'll see how it goes

 

The right side of my laptop gets freaking hot, my temps are decent though. GPU idles at 53 so...kinda worries me cause it will only get hotter in time.

 

Ok, I just did a fresh install.

First things first, I couldn't install off DVD or USB flash drive. I ended up having to use GParted Live and make a CD to blow away all the partitions. Then the Windows 7 install went swimmingly.

Now after getting everything installed, I have one unknown device in device manager. Only thing under Device ID I can get is ACPI\HPQ0004.

Anyone know what that is? Thanks.

 

that's either one of the misc1-misc4 drivers or, if you installed everything in the drivers folder in swsetup, it's instead the hpprotecthdd stuff.

 

i've noticed whine on the second batch more with the i5-450 on this forum, whereas in the first batch it was the i5-520

 

which video driver did you install, and are your switchable graphics working? i cannot get my system to detect my ati card, only the intel graphics is being detected...i loaded all the chipset drivers...

 

Great.

I need a premium model now that I've had one in my hands,

both my previous laptops were ~7-800 dollars, but now... I don't know.
I've seen these new MBP and a Sony Vaio Z and held the Envy 14,

And in an earlier post I talked about the amount I use my laptop, in terms of hours/cost a model like the Vaio Z is still under a dollar per hour of usage, which I like in concept....

Guhhhh.

If an Envy 14 was flawless, other than A) crappy ethernet placing and B) crappy optical drive noise,

It would be my perfect notebook...

Problem is, I don't like RMA'ing things, its a painful process and one that makes my bank account run empty, in an emergency almost half my cash right now is waiting to be returned by HP =_=, so if I don't get a flawless one soon...

 

I installed the ATI drivers from the Envy 14 Drivers thread. Then I installed the Intel Management Engine Components. Then I installed 10.7 Mobility drivers over those downloaded from AMD's site.

 

Well I installed the drivers downloaded from the Envy 14 drivers thread and seems I installed one of everything that was in SWsetup, unless there's something from one of those MISC folders that isn't in the newer drivers.

I have an SSD so don't think I would need that hddprotect.

 

*shrugs*

probably the hdprothp thing or something.


not in the drivers folder. is a driver after all

 

I'm about to take the dive and order my Envy, did anyone pay 200 for the slim fit battery? Or is it better to just get 2 8 cell batteries?

 

In my opinion, get the 2 8 cells. $200 for a battery is absolutely insane.

 

If you get a chance, can you expand all your devices in your device manager and take screen shots so I can compare with mine? That would help immensely! Thanks.

 

Sooo I really don't like the envy flowery front cover....
I've been tempted to buy carbon fibre and just wrap it. Theres a 3M Vinyl wrap that works wonders, I've done it to several things. Car keys, phones, car accessories, etc. Not sure if it would affect the heat dissipation on the screen though.

Any ideas/concerns?