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

Hmm...I still have my HP Tools partition, I didn't touch it. =/ Any ideas on how to update it? Am I supposed to place the update file in the HP Tools partition?

 

Is the sling battery still available? I don't see it as an option. Is is called the oversized or slim fit?

 

meant slice

 

It's the slim fit battery.

 

Contacting HP for a battery replacement.. My battery wear is now a 8.4%

 

Just update the ini file to force flash. Worked for me...

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-envy-hdx/504068-envy-14-bios-wont-update-f-05a-7.html#post6614675

 

How did you check your battery wear?I didnt use the laptop others then on my desk plugged in..so I dont know how my battery is.

 

Its listed on batterybar

 

CPUID shows battery wear too, though I'm not sure how accurate it is. My battery wear keeps going up and down in battery bar. It was at 1.3%, now it's at 0.9%, but CPUID shows it as 0%, so I don't know what to go by...

Flash drive method worked for my BIOS update. I blew the HP tools partition away... ran the update again, and it still updated BIOS. As I have said before, I don't trust WinFlash. All people in motherboard forums recommend using some kind of boot floppy or flash drive to update BIOS. They totally do not recommend WinFlash. With the boot flash/floppy method you don't have Windows unneccessarily using computer resources while such a delicate process is going on.

 

HP is ridiculous... Im getting 2.5 hours on an i5 and they say they can't replace my battery since it passed their battery test.

Trying to call them again now...

 

Can someone give me the direct link to HP website with all the drivers for Envy 14?

And how to find out if any new drivers are released?

Thanks.

 

support.hp.com

 

Hey guys I read a post about the envy and it sounds like a deal breaker for me The Next Bench - Widespread Envy 14 graphics issues. - The Next Bench

Is this true?

 

Software & Driver Downloads HP ENVY 14t-1000 CTO Notebook PC - HP Customer Care (United States - English)

 

Yes, this has been known for quite some time. Check out the gaming thread. IMO, it was probably implemented this way due to heat considerations.

 

Hey guys quick question. I just want to know how many people are updating their bios, and what improvements people are seeing from it. I know on the hp website it only documents theft protection or something, but if there are other improvements i'd appreciate it if you'd let me know.

Thanks!

 

I don't really know what kind of improvements though I could swear that disabling Lan Power Saving is something they added to the options. No one has ever answered when I asked if it was a new setting or if it was available on the old BIOS....

 

So does that mean the envy 14 is an incapable gaming machine?

 

It's capable of playing pretty much any game you can think of, but the settings need to be lowered to low-medium settings for these newer games coming out for it to run smoothly.

 

Does anybody like mediasmart? I think it's actually alright, if not a little better than the iLife that Apple offers... I have used iLife programs like almost next to never on the iMac, another glaring omission from Snow Leopard is a media server. Win 7 was ready to stream to my PS3 right out of the box, but I had to go find some software for this same functionality on my Mac. Graphically, Mediasmart is miles ahead of iLife, and the Webcam mediasmart software is really fun. Anybody got any thoughts? Win 7 media center is another win IMHO for Win 7.

 

you know how teenagers use that apple software and take goofy pics for hours?
i think that's what HP was trying to do: offer you the same goofy picture options so you can put your awesome envy against a silly macbook and take even better pictures. lol.

 

Hey, just thought I would post my NBR Envy Team Banners from the other thread:

HP Envy Team Banners

Like the one in my sig, but different colors, models etc.

I might do more tomorrow, I'm too tired to do it today.

Enjoy

 

Yeah, their webcam software kicks the crap out of Apple's. I am constantly cracking myself up with the distortions and avatars. The integrated microphone array is really good too. I recorded some of my guitar playing with them and it actually sounds really good. Not too shabby HP, not too shabby....

Edit: is it really teenagers that are giving Apple all this reputation? Since when did anybody take a teenagers advice?

 

Thanks for all the work, +1 rep, just like you like

 

ive only played 2 games on mine so far (and a few demos) - nothing too cutting edge, but ive been running bioshock 2 and mass effect 2 both at 1600x900 with all graphics options on their highest and they both run perfectly (and look beautiful, especially me2 compared to the console version) - im more than happy with its gaming performance for the type of laptop it is. if you want a gaming machine buy a gaming machine, the 5650 is hardly at the tip top of mobile gpus..

for me personally, though ive been doing more gaming on the envy 14 than i imagined, im over the moon i decided on one of these rather than a more gaming dedicated notebook. the build and performance is absolutely incredible. - saying that i must be in a minority with no issues whatsoever (no cpu whine, build problems, keyboard flex fan cycling issues etc etc) - though i did get to check mine in store before i bought it, and the display model certainly did have some keyboard flex and whine.

to be honest i should imagine even if the card was rated at something around 550 then we'd only be getting a couple more fps in games, i honestly dont think its that much of a big deal as everyone makes it out to be.

 

Yeah, we should give HP's engineers more credit. I'll take the less heat tradeoff over the 100mhz. It should help the longevity of the notebook shouldn't it? I always heard less heat means longer lasting.

 

AAAH! Can someone please tell me how to update my BIOS? I still have F.02 version and it refuses to update to F.04, F.06 or F.12. I downloaded it, and double clicked on it, it extracted, and asked if I wanted to flash BIOS, I clicked yes and after a few seconds the computer restarted but it didn't update! I check in BIOS and using Advanced System Care. How the hell do I do it?

 

Hi, i was hoppinh you could explain the boot flash methond in more detail.
I.e. what files are needed on the flash drive and how exactly do i make it bootable.
Cheers

 

So I finally get enough cash to buy a envy come back and the radience is 300 bux now? !

 

Check the first post or a few posts back.

 

They look pretty tight.

 

This has not been confirmed to work on a clean install... so if you have clean install refer to the .7z method. If you have minimized recovery or regular HP install here goes...
1. download HP Diagnostic utility and HP BIOS update utility from their drivers site.
2. Format USB flash drive as FAT/FAT32 and name it HP_TOOLS (the name is important.)
3. Install Diagnostic Utility to thumb drive first
4. Install HP BIOS update utility to thumb drive second.
5. Download the BIOS update and extract it to where ever it defaults to (SWSetup I believe)
6. Make sure you have USB flash drive attached to your system
7. Run the BIOS update utility, your computer should automatically reboot
8. When you get to the BIOS update utility it will say press enter, do so
9. It will run saying it is writing to the Blocks or whatever, it'll take a minute or two and after it has written to blocks it will verify what it has written, don't mess w/ anything... After it completes it will do a countdown to reboot or shut down I don't remember, just wait and when it reboots or shutsdown or whatever, when your computer restarts it will have updated BIOS.
Like I said this has only worked for me so far on minimized recovery, if you have clean install refer to another method.

Edit: If you have the HP_TOOLS partition still on your HDD, I believe it could interfere w/ the update. Not positive on this one, But before I did this, I moved the Folder on HP_TOOLS HDD partition to my C:/ drive... Polly should do this too to be sure.
Edit: Step 7 should say WinFlash Utility, sorry for any confusion...

 

Ok, I've previously made my recovery disks. Now I need to make a backup of the SW_Setup folder which iirc is at C:\SW_Setup. Do I need to do anything else, or do I just navigate to that folder and then copy it to a disk?

 

Use Windows back up service. There are some hidden files on the drive and a secure rom thingy. I just copied first, but alot of the programs wanted me to insert disc to install (I have no disc) so use Windows back up to be sure it gets everything.

 

I wonder if we can use SD card for the HP tools instead of the USB thumb drive..I have a clean install and HP Tools partition untouched..the only BIOS update technique that is successful for me is the one from shaolinx.

 

I don't really know... It says on their website USB flash drive specifically, but tonight when I get home I will try to boot the diagnostics off SD to see if it works. HP should be releasing another BIOS that will address "Power Distribution" in a couple of days according to a couple of people in the battery life log forum. They talked to HP support for Envy and the reps said in a couple of days, so hopefully we might get better battery life or at least more accurate readings from battery estimating software. Have you downloaded their "sofware framework" and tried? I don't know if it would work or not, but my method only works for minimized/factory installations, not for "clean installs"

 

i'm a teenager....well 18 is considered an "adult", but eighteen has the word "teen" in it; so i guess i'm in the middle of both worlds

but yes, teenagers take goofy pics and laugh all the time with macbooks. in the apple store, on their friend's mac, etc; they know they have that goofy software and they love camera (filtered word)'ing with it. then follows the facebook and tumblr uploads.


even though i've never did this personally (usually girls do it), it's useful to know i have this function so that if my friend gets attention because his mbp has that software, i can steal his crowd with the supposedly superior (or goofier) mediasmart software. ftw hp, ftw.

 

I just created a few more designs, a little more clean:


























I also have the others on the other thread, but these are just the new ones I made today

 

wow, can you personally design everything for my desktop? xD.

what is "team envy" anyway? is it just for owners in this forum?

 

Does anyone have pictures of the Non Radiance screen? I want to see how it looks. Just need to see if the difference is $300 worth. Also, since it's not radiance, would poer consumption come down a few? (since its brighter)?

 

looks badd@ssssss

 

Its just Envy owners I guess, someone requested it so I made em.

Theres also team Dell, HP and Linux from what I've seen.

 

Just wondering if anyone here knows the detailed specs on the provided 1 dim 4 gig ram. Looking to do an upgrade and I'd like to know all timings and the voltage. My lappy ships on the 30th, I can't wait to get my hands on it.

 

Another BIOS update?Wow..they do took the effort for the Envy line...good job HP. At the moment, I always use shaolinx BIOS update technique since its seems to be the only way I can update my BIOS.

I will definitely tried that way for the new BIOS. What do you mean by "software framework"?I didnt see this patch is available on E14 support page. I dont know why HP make it this way for E14, I bought a mini 311 for my gf and do a clean install and the BIOS update just works, doesnt need any workaround.

Everyone seems to be getting either samsung or hyundai, I get a samsung chips. So once you get yours, you can check it by using a software.

 

to answer your question:

hopefully that does you some justice; search on youtube for envy 14 and you should be able to find radiance vids.

 

It's under the software solutions section. If you have clean install it won't work for you You'll have to use the .7z method detailed on page 1 of the forum. My method so far has only worked for well, me, with minimized recovery/factory HP install. Anyone else who has gotten it to work hasn't said so. I really don't know if the HP software framework would help to update BIOS, I just know they have to have some piece of software installed that allows their BIOS updater to run on HP installs, because it dosen't seem to run on clean installs without some fiddling around...

 

i shall try the bios update (after minimal system recov.) when i get my envy and post back. i'll try to just slap it on with the bios utility thing, and if it doesnt' work, i'll try your method

 

I don't understand what that video of the Brightview screen is trying to show, or what "leaking light means. Can someone explain this to me? Sorry if this is a stupid question; I'm just getting into computers.

 

eyyy I see mine/our banners are on the front page

I might make more to add

 

Ok, I know I have said this, but WinFlash has the potential to brick your motherboard...
Proof HP Community - bios flash using winflash on DV9535 killed my lapt... - Enterprise Business Community | HP Online Forum HP seems to have a pretty bad reputation in this area... just food for thought before you use WinFlash.