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

My DVD drive makes a whirring sound sometimes at computer start up. I also have to insert the discs pretty far in to get it to take them in, pretty sure it's by design. Others on the forum have mentioned this, but one thing that makes me wonder is why it only sometimes makes the whirring sound. It seems like it doesn't do it every time. Why would it only initialize the drive sometimes at computer start up? Macintosh computers initialize the DVD drive EVERY time at computer start up. Ok I hear the clicking sounds you're talking about when inserting a disc. This is normal behavior, my slot loading iMac makes this noise when I put in a disc too.

 

My DVD drive is not working properly as I just bought this laptop 2 days ago.

It does not bring the CD out fully when you press eject, and by fully I mean if you dont catch the CD and pull it out, it automatically goes back in the slot. So the drive works like this, you press eject button, you see part of the CD and you need to pull it out of the slot or it goes back in automatically. The CD does not stay out when you press eject button.

I contacted HP Support and they are sending me a new DVD Drive, but I need to install it myself.

 

Meh, the Wii's slot loading drive doesn't make any clicking noises. And it eats the disk after inserting it halfway. But it's not like I use the drive much anyway.

Oh interesting, so it's possible for the user to install the optical drive? I was afraid from the seamless design on the side that it might require sending it back in.

 

Oooh does that mean that if a blu-ray drive comes out that's this size (which I doubt) we would be able to upgrade to it? Does anyone know if we'll be able to upgrade the envy 14 when the sandy bridge quad-cores come out next year?

 

sandybridge, no probably not. that'll require a new motherboard most likely.


so yeah envy 14 won't work for that. (maybe an envy 14 gen 2 or somethin would use 'em)


and yeah you can remove the dvd drive and replace it with ..well so far all there is is some ODD tray or a different slim dvd drive.


so far no blu-rays fit 'cause they're too big but if one ever does come out fits the envy's dimensions it would probably work.

 

Yeah, mine ejects them to about half the disc so I guess you're right. There had to be something they sacrificed costs on, looks like it was the DVD drive as someone else in the forum has had a disc get completely stuck and won't come out. Slot load drives are kind of crappy in this respect. The Wii's DVD drive sucks IMHO. DVD's look like crap on it.

 

Eh, that has nothing to do with the drive itself, and more to do with the fact that getting DVDs to play on it is something of a hack. (Well, it is a hack.) The drive itself inserts and removes much more nicely than this Envy's drive, but so far that's pretty much the only defect I've noticed with mine, so I'm probably not going to RMA. The touchpad is sucky, but that was expected.

 

I just figured because DVD's looked like crap, Nintendo didn't attempt to have them play. But it's a game system as opposed to a computer. Very low on ram, pretty underpowered and not really much fun till you apply the hack. M4V's look alright streamed on it. PS3 works much better as a media hub and no hacking required.
I actually like the touchpad, not the most responsive multitouch features, but much better than my old Toshiba Satellite M35X's. What computer company besides CrApple makes a good trackpad? I haven't had a whole lot of experience with laptops.

 

That's a sadness . Maybe ill upgrade to a newer generation envy 14 when I can because because integrated graphics and better battery life plus better clock speed/performance/less heat for quad-core is worth the upgrade unless u could upgrade the mobo and processor together without it costing a fortune

 

Not sure if this has been mentioned in this monster of a forum, but there is a Bluetooth tray icon that will let you enable/disable bluetooth without Wireless ASSisstant and without going into device mangler. It's kinda convenient.
Is anyone else blinded by the brightness on this screen? I hardly ever have it at full brightness as it is... well BRIGHT!

 

Whoa. Anyone notice that the option to have the radiance display is gone?

 

Hi,

I tried playing a region 1 dvd (I'm in region 2) and I got a notice that I could change my region but only 5 times. This is ridiculous of course. How do I make my Envy dvd player region free?

 

That's interesting, I wonder what that's about. You think it's just a supply issue and they have run short temporarily so removed it from the configure to order options, or is it more permanent?

I got my order in a couple of days ago with a Radiance panel confirmed.

 

Thats not only with the envy, but with any DVD drive.

 

Yes mentioned, but thanks for the tidbit again. It's an alternative if you don't want the wireless assistant installed.

They add and remove stuff on a whim if they want to deplete stock on an item, have a significant sale coming up and want to exclude certain items, or are short on supply for a while. The Envy 15 had only quad cores available, then only dual core, then both.

 

SlySoft AnyDVD | any dvd, region free, dvd copy, copy dvd movies, dvd decoder, dvd ripper, macrovision, dvd copying software

 

I'm sending my Envy back for exchange--is it ok if I completely wipe the hdd (including the recovery partition) with DBAN?

 

I wouldn't do that. HP might ask you for cash to reinstall Windows. If anything just use the Recovery Partition and reset to factory standards.

DBAN is overkill. Trust me. Unless you're hiding illegals or Government secrets, you shouldn't need it.
I really doubt HP is gonna run recovery software on the HDD anyway. Or anyone that possibly buys the HDD.

 

I can't play games near full quality and I think it is the catalyst drivers. (Oblivion lags on low or medium no AA). Anyways, I tried to download the catalyst drivers and the beta ones black out my screen and I have to hard turn off the pc. Can anyone please give me the link to the most up to date catalyst drivers and how to set them up to play games at the level the card should handle

 

See my sig "Update E14 Video Drivers"

 

Fixed it (10char)

 

what's the difference between ATI 10.7 and 10.7a? I usually avoid alpha/beta drivers because I always had problems with them, especially drivers from ATI (on my desktop's hd4850).

 

Fixed it (10char)

 

Where's my 1600x900 screen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is basically the only screen under ~15in that's not bloody 1366x768.
Heck, hard to find a bloody 15in that's not 1366x768...but at 15+ I want 1900x1200...which is bloody impossible.

Bulldonkey HP.

 

There are 1920x1080 for 15+. You're not gonna find 1920x1200. BTW, trust me, almost ALL laptops out there now have the 16:9 ratio... I originally wanted a laptop with 1680x1050 (like my 22" desktop monitor) but theres NONE!

 

why is there no option for the radiance display anymore on the hp website?

 

HP removed the 1600x900 option
Anyone know if/when it is coming back - they killed this laptop

 

whhhyyy hp?

 

I am sure it isn't gone forever..prolly a stock issue

 

Well why would anyone buy this notebook over a dv6tse now? same screen res and specs for hundreds of dollars more?

 

probably can't.

also dunno if there will be a next gen envy with sanybridge (probably will be since the envy14 is doing so well, but it'll probably take a year or so after sandybridge is out for it to show up)

 

I have just configured two Envy 14s for the same price. The only differences between the two is that one has an i5-520m processor with 6gb Ram and the other has an i5-450m processor with 8gb Ram.
So, which configuration seems better?
Thanks.

 

Post removed, I mis-read someone's question. Mod remove please?

 

Eh, so I was burning the recovery disks and it wasn't making progress and it was clicking again, so I ejected the disk and canceled the process. I put it back in and then the disk got stuck... after 5 minutes or so it finally ejected. The weird thing is I installed SC2 from disk fine yesterday. Still, I should probably call HP about this. The annoying thing is that the recovery media creation doesn't let you install to a USB hard drive, it has to be flash, which is stupid.

Edit: Like the guy who sticks his finger in the socket multiple times to see if it still hurts, I'm going to try burning the recovery disks again. I stuck the disk into my desktop and it read it fine.

Double edit: Strangeness abounds, it's working now, no clicks or anything. Fingers crossed...

 

In addition, remember all dates released are desktop release dates. Mobile chips usually take another 3-6 months before release.

 

The 520 is hardly an upgrade up from the 450, and 8GB is hard to utilize for most users.

I'd say go with 2x2GB RAM and the 450m, unless you'll be running VMs or other software that'll use the 8GB. Get the one stick of 4GB if you think you'll need to upgrade at some point. If you want virtual machines to have direct access to your hardware, go with the 520, otherwise it's not much of an upgrade (especially for $100).

Oh, and wait for the Radiance display to return It's beautiful.

 

The dvd drive is better than the one on the wii IMHO. The wii's scratches discs when it grabs onto them.

EDIT: sorry about the double post- I'm used to at least one ppm (post per minute)

 

Grr, it burned the disk fully and then got to the verify stage and started clicking again. Gonna need to call HP it seems...

Rather annoyed that they don't take USB hard drives for the recovery creation. 16GB flash drives seem to cost more per GB than SSDs, it seems.

So is the customer resolution line a 24/7 thing? Can I call it on weekends, i.e. today? This is fairly annoying right now, because I want to use the MIR to install onto my SSD, but I can't if the optical drive is broken. Can't really hope to do a clean install either that way...

 

I was going to order the envy 14 today (no sales tax weekend here in MA) when I saw the radiance screen option was gone. Called HP and they said it's out of stock and will probably take 2 weeks to a month for it to be back.

Too bad, I was all set to go.

 

Hello forum

As someone about to purchase one, I have some questions that perhaps you lucky owners can aid me with:

1) Can anyone confirm if you purchase an Envy 14 with i7-840QM, that it comes with 1333Mhz memory (I assume so, as that would be the FSB speed)?

2) Additionally, I will be using mine for business, does it make any difference or sense to go HDMI -> VGA or MiniDP -> VGA for projecting presentations?

3) There appears to be no expansion (i.e. ExpressCard) slots of any kind, and all the docks are of the USB port replicator variety. Is there any obvious upgrade path to USB 3.0? The only options that come to my mind are either replacing the USB/audio board (per the manual ps.59-60, assuming an updated 3.0 part were to be made), or some kind of adapter for the combo eSata/USB port (given that USB 3.0 -> eSata drive port adapters exist, the reverse might also be possible?)

4) Lastly, if I have read correctly -- the 160gb SSD is an Intel model that arrives with TRIM support, whilst the 256gb SSD is Samsung and requires a firmware update to enable TRIM? Also it looks like the Intel SSD has the upper hand performance-wise.

Thanks for any insights, oddly the Radiance 1600x900 screen is no longer listed on the website at the moment, I'm awaiting an answer from HPs rather unhelpful live-chat people in regards...

Cheers, James

 

Just made this account to tell you that you guys rock. The forum has definitely made me comfortable and excited about getting an Envy 14.

BUT like Torq, I tried to order it earlier today (3PM EST) and the Radiance option was gone. It might have been there earlier this morning.

I actually tried to order it last night but the order was declined (due to the bank wanting to confirm the order first) and I decided to call an HP Rep this morning. Because of this, I used the same order # and assumed that everything was the same. It was not until I received the order confirmation and checked the specs that I realized that the display was incorrect. I'm pretty sure the rep had no idea that there was a difference in the order when he submitted it for me.

I talked to the Rep and decided to cancel the order. They offered me $100 credit but I continued. I talked to Resolutions and they offered me $200 credit but I still couldn't do it with just the Brightview display.

I guess what I'm trying to make clear is to check your order if you bought it last night or today to make sure it is a Radiance. The other point is that they will offer you credit if you cancel but the amount may vary. Good luck folks.

Side Note: I'm actually a little angry at the cancellation procedure. I don't find out if my cancellation was canceled for two days and if it isn't, I have to go through the refund route. Mind you, I tried to cancel the order under two hours after I submitted the order.

Edit: The Rep and Resolutions could not give me a timeline on when the display would come back into stock.

 

Just a warning. If you plan on playing Borderlands, DO NOT update to 10.7. Severe memory leak issue. ATI needs to get their act together with compatibility with the Unreal 3 Engine.

 

Yes it will come with 1333MHz DDR3 RAM.

I believe HDMI to VGA is expensive because it needs d/a converter. But DP to VGA you can get a straight cable adapter.

I doubt there will be any upgrade path to USB 3.0. I believe it's more than just the controller, it's also the connectors. You could probably get away with an eSATA adapater, but you'd still be stuck with eSATA speeds and not USB 3.0 speeds.

See page one of this thread. 160GB is Intel G2, supports TRIM. 256GB is Samsung, early build parts did not support TRIM, but has its own background garbage collection. No way (yet) to update firmware at all. It's proprietary HP firmware, so HP would have to release it. Seems machines built now are starting to come in with TRIM support. Check this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-envy-hdx/505396-all-samsung-256gb-ssd-owners-firmware-trim.html

Best to call tech support and ask questions. They at least find the answers instead of just making stuff up or pretending they know what they're talking about.

 

Man I wonder if they're going to have any good coupons soon. What do you guys think?

 

Thanks much for the comprehensive answers. Apologies for my newbie mistake of not checking the initial post regards the SSD models/makes

That is a bummer - other than this omission I've found the Envy 14 to be the best blend of power/portability/future-proofing available in the laptop market today.

I'll try them next. The sales people (live chat & phone) I've dealt with have, to be quite honest, been fairly obnoxious. They are ill-informed, have no technological understanding on even a basic level, and are irritatingly obstinate with their responses.

I've had one cite me hard disk revolutions when asked for memory speed, and another insist that the Envy does not come with any other lcd resolutions, despite linking me to a page which clearly details out the radiance display on HPs own site. It was quite off-putting, and whilst I understand they are largely dealing with a casual consumer purchase crowd, if they are going to offer high-spec >$2500 laptops they should anticipate a few relatively obvious hardware interrogations. Guess I'm being naive...

 

Anyone have a morse code like sound emit from their processor under a load? My first envy 14 didnt have it...my second one does...

 

was gonna order mine soon no radiance screens? think I can get money out of them if I call?

 

thanks!
I was just about to attempt to update... with Bioshock 2, the HL2 series, and a few other games to finish, I doubt I'd have gotten around to starting borderlands soon. Especially with school in... one week??? WHERE DID MY SUMMER GO?!?

 

Hey guys just have a quick question.

So i heard about the Minimum System Recovery but i already had all my stuff n my laptop so I didnt pay it much thought.

I just read that you can back up what you have put on your lappy and get it back afterward.

Can someone shed some light on how it goes back?

1. It creates a recovery file that you run and everything goes back where it was.

2. You manually have to add every program back.

3. ???

I want to do the MSR but i want to know how easy it is to get back what i backup. Thanks!

 

I am having trouble getting my Envy to output to 1080i. When I go to the display options I only get 1600 X 900. How do I get the output to play in 1080p or 1080 i? The display supports it. I am plugged in and am using an HDMI output. Any help would be appreciated.