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

Yeah, the recovery disks contain everything in the recovery partition.

 

That is what I said! kinda useful UNLESS the HDD fails. So that 200 mb partition IS an EFI partition, interesting...

 

Man, I miss that guy smoking a cigarette and looking cool!

 

*glances at the service rep who put him on hold*

whelp I hope this doesn't go how I think it'll go.


no way am I sending the entire computer back in if it's just a hdd error and wait a month. I'll just buy a new one for $60 instead.

edit: they say it'll void the warranty if I don't send them the computer itself so they can put in the hard-drive. What the hell HP.

Also 60 screws. damn. I know this isn't true but how would you even hold a hard-drive down with 60 screws.

 

Cigars are ten million times better, and even healthier (thats relative).

 

edit: nevermind solved it. =)

 

When I turn on my computer or wake it up from sleep/hibernation the wifi is always off and I have to hit the key. Is there a way to make it start on / blue?

 

I got my envy a lil while ago and its fan is allways audible in the background. i540 cpu, 6gb ram. The temps while surfing is around 45 degrees celsius on the cpu core and the fan makes a clearly audible noise. Seems to be the first step tho, as when its cold the fan will cycle on and off for a while before staying on continously.

So im wondering if this is normal for this laptop or if i should return it for a new one. Ive updated to the last BIOS version.

 

This was already answered but you can hit fn+esc and it will bring up the machine info, too.

While I'm writing I want to say something about the HP websites and how they lose things online. A few months back I was looking to buy the HP ZR24w monitor when it was first released and selling like hotcakes. Well, everything we were looking at on the HP Small Business site was changing by the day--specs were wrong, ship dates were wrong--no one was sure what we were going to get and the reps had no idea why the wrong info was being posted on the website. Well, after a few days they got the specs and stats fixed on the order page and we all ended up getting the correct monitor with the correct specs--guess HP also has people doing their website that hit the wrong buttons from time to time and delete stuff. Not to defend HP so much as to say this happened to me in the recent past and it all got restored within a few days. Hoping they will get the Radiance screen back online as it really is a killer. BTW, the HP ZR24w is, too.

Also, seems when I switch between graphics modes my icons get thrown and moved all over the desktop. Not sure this is an HP thing or more a Vista/Windows 7 thing. Vista especially and Windows 7 not so much have always been pretty flaky with their icons. Are any of you having the problem of your icons moving around on the desktop when you switch graphics and if so, how do you resolve? Or am I just doing something wrong? Thanx

 

What? They kinda eluded that to me too when I first was trying to get my SSD replaced. Then I asked them why they designed an easy access panel for the hard drive and easily removed with four accessible screws.

Finally they agreed to send me a replacement drive. It takes like two minutes to replace a drive. If you can replace a battery, you can replace a hard drive.

 

I think you misunderstand me, my wife told me that in older movies they had people smoke cigarettes like the guy in 2.0's original avatar to make it look cooler... Cigars smell like Poop

 

After the things you guys have said about being on the phone with obviously uninformed people, I doubt that their "service technicians" would do any better or any worse than any of us.

Like when my DV8 was having problems waking from sleep, they kept insisting it was a hardware problem to which I told them "when I start the computer from being completely shut down, it boots up every time, all the time." It was like they wanted my computer so bad that I was just thinking they have to have an ulterior motive. Like charging me for service or something even though I had the onsite warranty thingy with that computer. I will Never buy the extended warranty from them again... I doubted if I sent the thing in they would have figured it out anyway. I put WAY more time into troubleshooting my own problems than I believe anybody would. What's the saying? "If you want something done right, do it yourself"

 

yeah. she went on hold a few times but was adamant about it.


I probably need a different rep and be a bit more firm.

 

should we keep the hp tools partition? is there a way to back it up or something?

 

Not sure if you can back it up, I suppose the files on it are copyable, I'm just leaving it as I think it's nice to have diagnostics built in in case something goes bad. You can just boot to the tools and check it. It's already worked out well for MagusDraco in finding out his HDD was going bad...

 

You would use a drive imaging program like Acronis or Macrium Reflect to copy the partition to archive it to another medium.

 

guys hi, i'm new to the forum and i'm thinking about getting an envy... My only concern is that if i get it it will probably be one with the 1366x768 screen, i dont mind the resolution but is the visual quality (contrast, etc) on par with the 1600x900 screen? even if it's not, is it alot better than most other notebooks?

 

has anyone deleted the system partition?

need a partition for data transfer between ubuntu and windows =/ at the moment got ubuntu, windows 7, hp tools and system partitions.

Advice would be much appreciated

 

You can't delete system partition. Your latop won't boot. Best thing to do is either image the HP Tools partition, which is only used for BIOS updates (at the moment at least) and/or your system restore partition. There are ways to install windows without the system partition, but that involves a clean install, and not system recovery. Google it, there's plenty of guides out there.

 

Yep, you can remove it but you'll have to reinstall the OS. Erase all the partitions you don't need, and set the main OS partition as primary active partition using cmd. By setting only 1 active partition, you're forcing Windows to put the necessary boot files on your main OS partition (C:\). I done it this way, and I only have two partitions- my main W7 partition, and HP_TOOLS.

If you want to set this up, just hit me up.

 

Well, that's kinda what I said. You can't just delete it, it requires a full reinstall. I don't understand why MS does this especially considering the 4 partition limit that's been imposed on hard drives since forever. And thumbs down to HP for adding two more system partitions so you can't even create an extended one.

 

If cigars smell like poop, then I've been flushing the wrong stuff all these years. I love cigars. I haven't had one since before my first child was born, and it's fast approaching 3 years, yikes! I'm long overdue.

 

Be glad that we don't have Dells. Dell tends to put HPAs for the purpose of creating a 5th partition and those things are a pain to remove.

 

Ok, I am starting to become concerned. I have my lid close action to be hibernate. I was using the computer earlier today, closed the lid, computer went off. Tonight when I came back to it, I hit the power button and... nothing. I know I had about 9 percent battery left when I turned it off, and the emergency shutdown percentage is 3, it's supposed to hibernate when it does this. Now I had it go down to 3 percent once and it hibernated, but when I turned it on after that, it started up with a Windows message about not starting up completely unless I told it too and suggested me plug into an outlet. While I am charging my battery right now it seems to be charging up REALLY fast. Battery test says my battery is good. Does anyone have any ideas about what could be going on? When I plugged it in it started right up, but the no power up and fast charging is giving me cause for concern. I hit the power button quite a few times just to be sure, maybe a bad battery? Not really sure....

 

Cigar smell hurts my stomach, especially early in the morning. It could just be the particular brand my father smokes, but when I lived there I would smell them early in the morning and my stomach would ache... but i love ALL smokers god bless them every one!

 

Morning! That's the problem right there. Geez, no smoking in the morning, blech, to me that's like drinking alcohol in the morning, blech. It could be a bad cheap cigar too.

I used to smoke five or six a year. I'd buy the expensive $20-$25 ones though, because it was a treat. One cigar would last all night they were so tightly packed, and so smooth. Although I've tried some $5 cigars that are pretty darn good too.

 

Ok I think I have figured out my problem. I had the computer on it's side with the air vent facing up. My theory is that while it was sitting on it's side (don't know why I do this) that the contacts for the battery were no longer contacting the pins. Just a theory, but it would explain why I got no power at all from pressing the power button.

 

This no radiance screen s*** sucks. I am on my 2nd RMA, and now they are saying they can only ship my a brightview screen???

though, at least he offered me an addtl $50 on top of my $113 and 30% BCB

 

Not sure whether this is true or not, there has been much speculation, but I believe they are either burning off inventory, or there has been too high a demand for the Radiance screens and they are out of stock. Most people say that it should be back as an option, but again this is all speculation. Maybe some more experienced user would have an idea as to what to do, though I have heard some getting a longer trial period (like 30 or 40 days instead of the standard 21). Maybe you can call a number and get a case manager to help you out. You paid for Radiance, you should GET Radiance.

 

I'll be picking up a matte/antiglare one as long as it won't mess with the mics or webcam

 

Yeah, I don't know much about how the computer industry works, but I find it strange that no one I have talked to at HP has any sort of answer. I'm working with a guy from the customer resolution line, but he seems clueless too. I agree though, I paid for that screen and that's what I should get. I'm sure they have some unaccounted for as backup

 

I have heard of people "escalating" the matter to get to higher up people. Usually the first people that you get to can't/won't help much, but if you get to someone higher up they can sometimes work some magic. Being irrate but not completley beligerent is a good thing, as well as patient. You have already had to go through this process 2 times, they should be kissing your rear as you seem as though you have already been patient and wasted much of your valuable unrefundable TIME. Heck, for alot of people the Radiance display is THE dealbreaker, no Radiance, no go for alot of people, myself included.

 

does anyone happen to know where the built-in microphone driver is located? i just tried to skype with my girlfriend, but my microphoe is not working, i did a clean install, and thats the reason why i need a driver. I cannot seem to find it.

 

It's not in the swsetup folder?

 

isn't it built into the sound driver? The sound panel has all the microphone settings in it. Do you have beats audio control panel? I remember seeing under recording an option to make the built in mic the default communications device. If you have beats audio panel, check under recording to see if that setting is there. On a side note, HP's built in mics don't seem to play well with Skype. Does the mic work under the HP webcam software?

 

idk what the file is...i tried looking for something with "mic" or "microphone" but idk what its called. do you happen to know?

 

The Radiance screen is an extra $200. I'd tear HP a new one over this.

 

hey guys, how can i check what bios version i am running?

 

do i go to factory reset to get it back to how it was originally?

 

Yeah if you want the original HP bloatware infested install you go to factory reset, or you can do minimized recovery if you just want drivers and HP media software installed

Press fn+esc to see BIOS revision and date, or at computer startup, press esc and go to system information.

 

The Radiance Display is back

 

So HP finally got it's head out of it's rear, many users will be glad to hear this.

 

Confirmed.

However, if you can't see it, delete your cache, etc. That's what I had to do. I will also order it soon, so here goes nothing.

Update: Order has been received and is being processed. I'll wait for the e-mail confirmation and see how this goes.

 

I also encountered the Radiance Problem and I was about to order the quick ship.

Anyway, could anyone post a random screenshot of you e14 radiance and brightview? just a screenshot of your browser or something. I just want to know the difference between the displays.

Also, please tell me how's the quick ship models. Thank you guys.

 

Don't know what good a screenshot would do, and its not something that even a photo can show.

 

Nice tidbit of info. Thanks +1!

 

i do not have some special requirements on color and brightness, and I had experience with brightview screens. Just want to know if I can get used to radiance. if the fonts are too tiny for me i will go brightview.

 

You can always scale fonts. Windows 7 is good at that.

Here's Radiance Screen at default, medium, and large scaled fonts and icons in IE:

 

thank you htwingnut!! it is really kind of you.

 

Any major differences here? I would think the i3 would get better battery life and run cooler (perhaps not whine?). Not sure I can justify a $150 upgrade just for the turbo boost. And the $50 i5 upgrade just seems silly to me, that tb is barely anything. Just wondering what all you envy owners think. Thanks,