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

I have managed to open one part of the laptop but I think I might break or damage something so I have left it as is.

Is it worth taking it to a repair shop and getting them to pull the DVD out?

This thing is such a mess, and its only been 1 day.

 

by screen cut off, i mean it is covered by the bezel, like the screen was put in off center. There is also a little bar of black at the bottom where the screen should be.

But the only problem is, I go to school august 24th. Would i get the laptop back in time? and also what was that hdd nonsense?

 

I managed to get the DVD out using 2 cards.

Now when I insert any new CD, and I press the eject button the CD comes out 25% and then it goes back in if I dont pull it out.

Is this normal? Is the CD suppose to come out FULLY?

Because if I dont pull that 25% of the CD out, it goes back in automatically.

 

Something's definitely broken. It should come out about 50% and stay there.

 

Here's the run of 3dMark06 at 525/965.




I must say, HP did a great job with the cooling system in this.

 

RAGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. My laptop came in a day earlier (yay!). However, there's a 2x3inch puncture to the shipping box. Upon opening, there's a smaller gash to the box containing the laptop oh say 1/2 inch long. When I take out the laptop, at first glance, there's no damage. But when I run my finger over the area, you can definitely feel a dent.

See pictures: Picasa Web Albums - allen lu - Problems with...

 

Im now waiting for my E14 and when I get it I just want to get sure that everything works like it should. So what kind of tests should I take on it?
CPU- temp, GPU-temp, Screen-temp, battery time and a benchmark test or so?
I have never taken any of these tests so a little help would really be nice. Which tests and how? Is it any other test I should take? Just to see that everything (ram, i5, GPU, etc.) works like it should?

You see, Im from Norway and I had to order my envy from the US, so if anything is wrong with it I need to find it out right away when I get it.
The waiting time when you order something online is a real pain!

 

I called HP Support, they are willing to send me a new DVD Drive as this one is messed up and I will have to install it myself.

Will it easy guys? or its hard?

 

I would refrain from sending your Envy in because of HP's horrible customer service. I sent mine in for repair on July 28th and was supposed to receive it by Aug 4th. Had to call Aug 5th to find it was pushed back to the 18th, the same day I need to leave for college. I specifically asked about this and they assured me I would have it back in time. Well so much for that.

 

there's a maintenance manual on the first page but it may not be 100% accurate (it apparently isn't)

HP's first gen manual always has an issue or two.

it shouldn't be too hard. It is a bit hard to reach apparently, but eh.

 

Easy, if you have experience. But following the manual should get you pretty far, just be careful taking things apart and not force it.

 

Anyone else's microphone jack not working at all? WHen I Plug something in, sometimes it thinks it's the headphone jack, and sometimes it triggers both (but none work).

 

Even if the laptop works fine, I would still send it back noting the damage to the box. You never know if something else internally got jarred because of it.

 

I can't seem to get mine to work either. I did a clean install. Works fine with another pair of headphones but not as a microphone

 

Ok now that you have a thread dedicated to the mic/headset combo jack, please direct all further convo there about it. Otherwise, it will be considered crossposting and you'll be banned for life and for the first half of eternity.

 

Curious, what is ∞ ÷ 2 ?

 

Still ∞　　　　　　　

 

Oy vey! Where did you chaps learn mathematics?

That's why I can divide by zero and YOU can't.

 

Ok, I got my second Envy and everything is perfect..touchpad is flush, no whine, etc..the only thing I am kind of worried about is the temps. This laptop has 6gb RAM instead of the 4gb 1 dimm I had in the other laptop. Does the extra stick of ram give of enough heat to make a 4-6C difference in idle temps? When I play SC now for a few hours my GPU gets up to 74C but before it didn't get close to that in my first one.

 

RAM can heat up, but I'm not sure it'd cause that. Honestly it can just be normal variation in the quality/build of the pieces. At the scales we're around now, it's impossible not to get varying quality, which is also the cause behind the wildly different overclocking potentials from chip to chip of the same model.

4-6C isn't too bad, though, so I doubt anything's wrong. You made sure to be testing in the same conditions? Same ambient temperature?

@2.0: I give you ∞^∞ HA!

 

That's what I did. Sent it back after placing a new order, which they allowed to price match since I'm returning an exchange. x.x Surprisingly, the final price is about cheaper than what I would have paid for the original system. Go figure.

But now I gotta call HP up again. Because of the damage to the box, they will not ship it because additional damage might occur. So I had to pay $15 to buy a new box and have them pack it.

 

I don't think the extra stick of RAM has anything to do with it. Those temps seems about normal though. I wouldn't worry about it, still well within tolerable limits. I think Tmax for GPU is over 100C and so is CPU.

 

Kinda like this guy ... to infinity...

<param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/sGIevO3BNBA?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/sGIevO3BNBA?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width='640' height="385"></embed>

 

Nevermind. I miscalculated and I'm paying the same price as I did for the first machine. Now I really gotta call and demand my $15 back.

 

So I have removed a lot of my bloatware so far but there are still some programs I'm not sure about.

-HP Mediasmart Webcam
-HP Tone Control
-Intel Digital Logo
-Windows Media Encoder 9 Series
-HP ENVY Document Card Utilities
-and Logon Studio

If anyone can help me Id appreciate it.

 

keep digital logo (it doesn't run at the start, it's some intel super task manager if you wanna use it)

tone control is half your soundcard stuff (or the tone control portion of it, let's you increase/decrease bass and treble)

webcam software can be replaced with 3rd party (that's not the driver)

document card utility is some sort of ebook reader software

windows media encoder 9 is stuff for windows, might as well keep it.

logon studio...hell if I know.

 

I just recorded a little guitar, I know that the webcam microphone isn't the best device for this but it's all I got and it sounds like this really cool effect that I used to have on an old no longer functional pedal I have. Why does it have this sound? It's kinda like a wah wah but I got no wah wah. anybody know why? It actually kinda made what I was playing sound cooler.

 

Question, while I have my headphones plugged in, before any sound happens, I hear a little beep. Before I play a song, before I start a game, before I watch a video. That beep is there only while listening with headphones.

Anyone else have this? I didn't use headphones with my last envy so I dont know if this is intentional.

 

Go into the Beats audio and turn off the advanced power saving. It could be that.

 

Yep that was it! Thanks!

 

I have a very faint purple discolouration on about two inches of the entire right hand side. Does anyone else have this problem/is it something that can be fixed by adjusting settings?

 

Ok anybody know of a good quality cheap microphone?

 

Ok thanks Ill just leave everything as is then.

 

nvm.. 10 char

 

zalman clip mic is what people recommend for a good cheap mic. i know its made by zalman but dont im not sure if that is the actual product name.

 

Interesting. Thanks for that tidbit, this should be added to the front page.

 

The brightness up and down button does not work for some reason. When I press the FN + Brightness up button, it opens SEARCH?

I have factory default envy so have all drivers, etc.

 

Just press F3 (brightness up)

You can switch it around in the BIOS so u press Fn+F3 instead

 

Thanks, I thought it was FN+F3

 

Does anyone know how I can get the fn+b beats audio on/off OSD back?
Where is the EQ beats changes? I want to shut beats off and/or disable it if I can't get the OSD back.

EDIT: re-found this which helps a bit

 

I have got my Envy today and I will have to get a new one ...

touchpad isnt fitting the body correctly, right side is higher than the left side + there are yellow schemes on the aluminium body I have seen here a couple of times ...

My question is: did u ask for any rebate?

They just offered my a 20 € coupon ...

 

That's the same as mine. It's hardly noticeable though but I don't really care. I'm not waiting another 3-4 weeks for another RMA that might have a more serious issue.

With my first RMA, they didnt offer me any rebate.

 

Wow, these last two posts might have answered my question for me. I recently got an Alienware M11x, and it is built like garbage. It arrived falling apart at the seams. I want to return it and was thinking about an Envy14 but was concerned about the cpu whine issue. Now it looks like some of you have poorly built Envys. Does anyone make a properly built laptop these days because I cannot one that seems solid.

 

You can't even really notice the gap in my trackpad unless you really stare at it from like 3 inches away. Any further than that and it looks normal.

The envy is a great laptop. Im surprised how good the cooling system is. My first one had a stupid fault (The latch for the battery cover wouldn't open). This one is perfect apart from that tiny gap in the trackpad, but like I said, you don't notice it unless you're staring at it close.

For getting it for $830 after refunds and cashback, I'm extremely happy with it.

 

Well tracpads are off center a bit on MacBookPro's also and they cost $1,800+.

Aside from the board whine, and any possible damage from shipping what should I keep an eye out for?

 

Well, to be honest it feels very good built except the yellow scheme at the body, its just a 1- 2 cm spot, but its annoying ...

To be honest I am very picky, but if I pay 1200€ I think I can expect a well built notebook ...
The touchpad was in the right position if u push it down, but after some minutes it flips into the old position ...

This is my 3rd hp unit, two tm2s and now one hp envy by hp store and they all have had defects. I dont get it, who is actually controlling the production?

Its such a shame that a company of that size deals with such problems ...

You have got ur envy for 830 $? ? thats ridiculous ...

 

Ok I'm having a few problems with mine after using it for a week... would appreciate if someone can help.


First of all I can't clean install Windows 7. Well I haven't been trying for a week; I just tried today, but it doesn't work.

I downloaded the files, made an iso image, and burned to a dvd. When I boot from the DVD, the screen says "loading files" and then goes into the windows 7 splash screen. After the splash screen the mouse cursor appears for about one second and then the screen goes black. The laptop is at that point completely unresponsive and I have to press the power button in order to shut down. After waiting a few minutes I can hear (what I think) is the CD/DVD drive slowing down or something.

I searched online and it seems it may be a bios problem so I flashed it with the latest bios update, but the same exact problem holds. I've verified the DVD with the iso image using imgburn and it's not corrupted or anything.

What gives?


Secondly running Starcraft Brood War on this thing seems to have screwed up aero glass permanently because it doesn't work in the start menu nor the icon previews anymore (but does in windows borders). As in the right side of the start menu and the border around the icon previews are just solid gray now. How do I revert this? I don't have a system restore point handy.. transparent glass and all that stuff is enabled, and I ran the aero troubleshooter with no results.


Also occasionally switchable graphics don't work... when I click "change" it'll show a tooltip saying the change was successful, however the change actually doesn't occur. I need to restart in order to get the switchable graphics working again.



About the CPU whine, does anyone have a video/sound recording of it so I can make sure? I can hear a really high frequency noise, but it's really faint and only audible if I put my ear to the keyboard. not sure if it's what you guys are talking about. it doesn't seem bothersome at all, but does it signal some hardware defect, as in I should return/swap this thing?


Also is it normal for the C:/Windows folder to be ~14.7GB?

 

Sorry if this has been discussed already, but does anyone else have slight white noise with the head phone jack?

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-envy-hdx/504259-static-e14s-headphone-jacks.html

 

It cost 1100 after tax and I got $56 back from discover. Then I got a $200 dollar credit from them and finally when I rmad, the tax came out cheaper since they just applied $200 coupon instead of a refund so that was 14 cheaper.
So 1100-200-56-14.

I'm pleased with the quality of my rma and both times (the original and my rma) I received the machine nearly 5-7 days before the expected date.