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

I thought BCB ended Jul 30th. Just a thought...

 

it's not the 30th yet depending on where you are

 

WOOOOT!!!! I got Ultimate Ears 700 FREE!!! It'll go perfectly with the Envy sound card during my study breaks!

 

1. agreed
2. how did you tweak audio?? the volume is very low compare to other laptops.
3. i3 370m HD 5650 ran Crysis max on everything except shader (medium), postprocessing (medium), and volumetric (high)
4. very decent quality

*brightness control (fn + f2/f3) after resuming from sleep, with AC disconnected does not work!

 

Hook me up.

 

turn off any ad blockers if you have them.

go to bing.com

search "vostro"

at the top of the page you'll see a dell advertisement with the link next to it "Bing Cashback". Click on that link and it will take you to a new click-thru window where you have to input your bing cashback email and then it will take you to Dell where you can buy whatever you want, check out, and you will get a confirmation email from Bing usually less than 24 hours saying you're getting cashback. Just don't use coupons or student discount AT ALL or it will void your bing cashback.

 

I got crysis to medium everything. ? you're performance sounds bogus, or mayb you just like gaming at 10fps?

 

lucky! I just missed that

owell I got em' for $70, thats not bad

 

WHA? They were free!? Confirmation?

 

Try these audio tweaks, from the link on the O.P. : http://forum.notebookreview.com/5668647-post3614.html

 

Yes, they were free for the first 1,000 people. Website got so hammered it took me 3-4 minutes to get in. Thought I'd get a cancellation e-mail, but I just got my UPS tracking # from them. It just shipped from Tennessee. Bad news is it won't get here til the 4th. I MIGHT have to have someone ship them to me in a small box.

 

ooh i had adblockerplus on. thanks!

 

I'm sorry that you can't trust a fellow Envy 14 owner, and quite frankly I do not care. I just know that Crysis runs surprisingly well, even though I read about Envy 14's 5650's core speed is set at 450 mhrz. fps well over 40. did not feel any lag whatsoever. SC2 runs everything on ultra except shader and another option (can't recall). one downside is the temp; scorching hot...

 

According to their Twitter everyone who got an order confirmation managed to get in on the deal. Considering it lasted for upwards of 30 minutes I wonder how many units they actually shipped out.

 

Yeah.

My Mobile Checklist

Laptop backpack - Swiss Pegasus- - Check
Laptop - Envy 14 - Check
MP3 player - Sony S639 from 2 years ago, still running strong - Check
Laptop skin - Envy 14 skin - Check
High quality earbuds - UE700s - Check


Okey dokes. I am GOLDEN!

 

Mayb I had it on high idk, was one of the first things I did. That's exactly what I have starcraft on though!

*edit* I'm not usually an arse hole like that, srry >.<

/cry why didn't I know about this! ;'(

 

Could someone here recommend me a good notebook stand for providing incline?

 

Wow I'm seeing an EnVy 14 commercial every ten minutes. Almost makes me want to get one. Oh wait.

 

Aww, I could really use some new earphones..

 

I hope somebody finds a way to manually control fan speed!

 

Glad to see HP now has a notebook worth advertising.

 

Still doesn't beat the UE Super.Fi 10s (Retail: $400) for $50 back in December. Tons of people on SD got in on it and still talk about it to this very day.


I'm not that wealthy, so all I can provide is my advice. Make an account on slickdeals and set up alerts for terms like "headphones" and "ultimate ears." Deals come and go, so it's up to you to get in on steals that pop up.

 

where'd you get the envy 14 skin? and what was the deal with free earbuds(i know the deal is over but when and who was giving it away)?

 

I'd recommend a Notepal U2 since it's light, flexible, and it fits laptops that are 14" wide. Best part is that you can slip the Envy between the leg and the top base, though the Envy would probably fit better if you put the skin on first.

As for free deals, you should bookmark Slickdeals (the Hot Deals forum) since I've gotten a ridiculous amount of awesome stuff for way below MSRP/street price (this summer esp.)

Ultimate Ears was giving out free earbuds (the UE700) last night for having 10,000 members on their Facebook page.

 

I guess it's more so a case, not a skin. Got the case cheap from Cost Central. It's the same one HP is selling on their website. The earbuds were given free by Ultimate Ears themselves. Check their facebook and twitter announcements.

 

I was hoping for something more portable. This stand seems to do the trick.

 

Well I wrote it in the first thread but I'm gonna write it again. To control the fan speed this little tool called SpeedFan is quite handy for this. Additionally you can monitor your fan-speeds and temperatures in diagrams and get a better idea of how your system is performing. To get manual control over your fan speed you just need to fine tune some settings and it should work perfectly .

 

would that void my warranty?

 

Thanks. Will look it up. If I can figure out how to work it, reps for you.


EDIT: Any chance you could link to a guide on how to configure the settings????

EDIT2: I saw your post in the other thread. You just suggested using Speedfan to post temps. Monitoring temps and controlling fan speeds aren't exactly the same. Speedfan is unable to detect the motherboard.

 

Some questions on maintaining the shell life of the battery..

1. If the battery that i received has been partially charged, should i let it drain fully before giving it a full charge?
2. How long do you recommend i put the battery on charge for the first time?

Thanks in advance!

 

Where are you seeing these commercials?

 

Fast thread is bleeping fast.
I'm not interested in your offer, kind sir.

Thanks for the advice on the RAM. I'm just gonna go with 6.
I've needed more RAM on every laptop I've ever had; this behooves me to cram this thing with the stuff.

 

Can anyone suggest a webcam software? sorta like the one that HP provided minus the locked resolution? I like the fact that it would zoom in on your face but it's not doing it once I uninstalled HP Webcam media...

 

this thing is quite cool if you like cool little apps.

Luxand - Blink! - Login to Your PC by Simply Looking!

dunno any decent webcam software tbh, i would check the free windows software thread.

 

thanks! i didn't know free softwares like this existed. yay for saving 3 seconds of pw typing each time i log in

 

D*** it ... ok i didn't know that Speed Fan can't detect the MB of the Envy14. Did you run it in admin mode ?

To get manual control go to Configure>Advanced and then check in the list for the right controller. In there you should look for something like "PWM 1"
and set it to manual control.

Unfortunately i am still waiting for my Envy. So i can only extrapolate from my old ASUS. But it should work similar.

EDIT: Yeah i know that i was talking about monitoring temps ... its just that i use SpeedFan for years now and i kinda ignored that you might don't know it. Sorry for that.

EDIT: found this http://www.sudhian.com/index.php?/forums/viewthread/101642/

 

Potentially. But it would be very hard for HP to make that case since there's no proof that it didn't come with the keyboard you installed. But that assumes that one of HP's script tech monkey's would discover that the keyboard was changed. Odds? You'd win the lottery first.

 

1. No, just charge it fully either overnight or while using the notebook.
2. Until it is charged to 100%.

 

Tried to follow the guide. The settings I was shown were too different. Dunno what I'm doing and I'm going to leave things as the are as my i5-520M tends to run much hotter than my Asus's P8600.

 

thanks 2.0. If i leave it charging even after 100%, it may cause some damage to the battery right?

 

No. It stops charging when it reaches 100%. I know you might have heard or read things on the web to the contrary, but those things are old school knowledge that don't apply anymore and haven't for years.

You really can't prolong the life of the battery. Just use it and enjoy.

 

Hello all! This thread has been very helpful in my decision to go forth purchasing a HP Envy 14 for college (I'm a comp sci major).

I was wondering if someone could give me thumbs up on this configuration and answer my questions below? Thank you.

A few brief questions:

• Is the "slice battery" the option that has the 8 cell and 6 cell for $200 on HP.com?
• Should I go with the I5-520 with the slice battery or the i7-840QM with the standard 8 cell battery?
• Are there any special configurations needed to run a SDD or is it regular swap like that of a desktop?

Operating system Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit edit
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-520M Dual Core processor (2.40GHz, 3MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 2.93GHz edit
Memory 8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm) edit
Hard drive 500GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection edit
Graphics card 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) HD 5650 switchable graphics [HDMI] - For Dual Core Processors edit
Display 14.5" diagonal HD+ HP Radiance Infinity LED Display (1600x900) edit
Primary optical drive SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support (Slot Load) edit
Personalization HP TrueVision HD Webcam and Dual Digital Integrated Microphones [For Radiance Infinity Display] edit
Networking Intel Wireless-N Card with Bluetooth edit
Included Software Bundle Corel(R) PaintShop Photo(TM) Pro X3 + Corel(R) VideoStudio(R) Pro X3 edit
Keyboard Backlit Keyboard edit
Primary battery One 8 Cell Lithium Ion (standard) +One 6-Cell Extended-Life Lithium-Ion Polymer Battery (over-sized)
​

The cost isn't an issue as my college fund account pays for cost of the computer. (Within reason)

Thank you for your help/input!

 

Slice is the 6 cell. 8 cell is standard internal battery. See first post of thread.

i5 and slice will net you 6 to 9 hours. i7 with standard batt will yield around 2 hours.

No special config is needed for the SSD.

 

Thanks for the info.

Would I be better off with the I5-520 or I5-450?

 

i5-450 since the +.27 mhz in turboboost of the i5-520 is not worth $100.

See the comparative chart link on page 1 of this thread.

 

If my university was paying for my laptop, I would get the i5-520M.

Any little bit of performance is better. Since I had to pay for mine, I went with the i5-450M.

 

Though the 450 has a faster system bus. Something which may overcome the minuscule .27 mhz turbo boost of the 520. And considering that turbo boost is only used occasionally, and at .27mhz at that, the economics of the two heavily favors the 450.

 

Alright I'm settled on the I5-520... thanks for the info guys! Looking to order mine tonight!

 

Yeah, in hindsight I should have saved that $100 (well $70 with BCB). Plus HP told me the SSD was a Western Digital too. I am feeling weasely and may call them to see if I can get some sort of price adjustment for the SSD since they lied to me (how can they not know what components they put in their laptops? especially a $565 option?) and performance for 4k read/writes is about 2x as good on the WD over the Samsung. And plead stupid on the 450m vs 520m.

 

YO guys,
So I'm sure you guys have this too, but I have WAYY too many drivers on the Comp.

RECOVERY
HP TOOLS
SYSTEM

I right clicked Computer -> Manage -> Select undesired drivers -> Right click -> Change Drive Letter and Paths -> Remove

That took off the letters.

I'm on SYSTEM right now, but it displays a scary message lol

Is it safe to remove them all? Cuz I only wanna see the C drive, my personal partition, the CD, USB, and SD card on it. + my daemon tools