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

They just have really, really bad cons.

Except for the second one, which I'll agree on.

 

im not sure if this is the same thing but ive had the dimming happen a few times when using mafia 2 demo on steam (whenever i exited the demo after just loading it - to restart after changing graphics settings in the game) - it looks as if the'd be a system change pop up (or whatever they are - where windows needs admin permission or something) despite there being no pop up.

every time ive just ctr alt deleted, which returned to normal brightness, then clicked cancel and it went back to normal. not had to restart.

if its the same thing it might be worth a try next time it happens, saves rebooting.

 

So I did a clean install of Win7 Home Premium a while ago.

I finally decided to activate it and it tells me that the product key I'm using is invalid for activation. But this is the same product key from the bottom of the notebook. So it should work right?

Any one have any ideas why/how do I activate this then?


Edit: Does it make a difference if I installed to Home Basic first, realized that it was supposed to be Home Premium and then just upgraded to Premium. Would that be the reason why my product key doesn't work? Just a thought...

 

lol i posted that a week or two ago

 

It may be that you installed a retail copy. If you installed an OEM, call up microsoft to get it activated.

 

Would I need to download the Windows 7 iso?

 

Why aren't there any NBR reviews for the e14? Or e15, and e17 as a matter of fact.

 

This thread and all of the other threads linked on the first page is an extremely in-depth review of the Envy line in which many people have contributed to.

 

does anyone think it'd be worth updating my bios from f.06 to f.12??

 

at the moment...eh. no unless you're having some issue that the new bios fixes.

 

I currently have 2 Envys, 450 and 520 processor. Both of them are in good condition, light whining. Clean installed and benched marked with 3DMark06 3 times at original settings and catalyst 10.7a.

Results were:
450: 6888, 6893, 6889.
520: 6910, 6909, 6913.

I'm planning to return the 450 back since I am under the 21 day. But I have a question, can i exchange the battery between both of them ? the 520's battery is already 1.5% worn and the 450 is .5%.
Do HP keep records of the battery's serial # ? I'm probably going to ask them tomorrow with the return of the 450.

Another question, do I have to make another 4 dvd backup for my 520 or can I use my old 450 Backup discs? I still have my Recovery drive in my 520 and I feel like formating it.

 

I believe the backup discs are tied to the computer's product and serial number and stuff.

 

Ah okay. I guess I'll just leave it there. thanks for the response in under a minute lol

 

Just got to say this RMA process is a nightmare. I've had my product for one week, noticed a small discoloration on the screen, when the monitor was turned off. Unfortunately can't wipe it off. Plus, I too have a few of those really small discolored spots on the metal trim that lines the outside of the case. I called for an rma and they basically ordered me an entire new custom computer. which they are charging me for (albeit a higher price than my original). Then when I get the computer, I send back my bad computer, they will be crediting me back a different price which is less than what they charged me. To make up for the lower credit than what I have to pay for the rma, they are going to give me another credit.

I was pissed! How come they can't just charge me one price, and credit me back the same price? Plus, I am paying interest on this temporary charge to my card (from the time I get the new computer, until they receive my rma).

My total phone call just to get the new product ordered and figured out was 1 hour and 19 minutes!

 

If possible, send back the one you have first & you will only be charged the upgraded screen increase (which they will refund shortly after the new computer ships). & good luck on getting one without paint issues on the metal bezel... my first one had them & so does the one that arrived today. Whoever is responsible for spraying that part is doing a very weak job.

 

Does anyone know if I get another Envy, do I need to make new HP Recovery Discs, or do the ones from my RMA'd Envy work?

 

Some of you may remember how I was having no luck with external sound options, the audio jacks just weren't working. An hour and a half ago, I plugged my headphones into the jack again, and nothing happened. Then, five minutes ago, I opened up the IDT/Beats management interface, plugged in my headphones (the picture of the jack lit up), hit "test speakers" on the Speakers and Headphones section, and the sound went to my headphones and only to my headphones, and now everything routes to the headphones properly... I'm not sure what was wrong before (and that always scares me a little, since it could turn out to be an intermittent hardware issue), but it fixed itself without any help on my part.

I find it strange, though, that the headphone jack is controlled jointly by "Speakers and Headphones" and "Independent Headphones", one would think that it would be one or the other. Anyone have any insight?

 

I think IDT/Beats did a....


suspect yeah I'll say suspect job. I know it gets pissed off in SC2 if you pick the wrong option, or change it from fsound to directsound when on the mic side (bye bye headphones, hello speakers even with the jack plugged in)

 

Separate issue.

Would it be a first gen hdmi cable (ok firstgenish, I dunno what sorta cable it is) or the radeon drivers that cause hdmi playback of a video at 1080p 60hz to get jittery during parts of the 1080p movie.

it isn't jittery while watching it on the computer and I know I've setup the codec stuff right.

So...it's either the hdmi cable (which I can't swap out to test another) or the drivers/video card.

 

DO NOT RMA JUST FOR A SMUDGE ON THE METAL BEZEL, All E14 seems to have some sort of it and it wear off by scrubbing it with a small cutter (for art project), its metal casing (so it wont scratch with soft rubbing). I clean mine with this technique and came out nicely.

I think its the setting problem, less likely will be a hardware issue. If you mess around with the setting and it works, that pretty much answer your question. If its a hardware, it wont be fixed by doing some settings adjustments.

 

Well the issue was that I didn't change any settings between it not working and then working, it wasn't working for a week or so (though I only tested it a half dozen times, and didn't do much troubleshooting), and then it started working with no settings changes.

 

*shrugs* dunno what to tell you russell.


I mean there was an update to the IDT drivers (or I installed something that was an update to those drivers from somewhere or another. Don't remember where I saw it). If you aren't (or ARE on that update) you could try the other drivers if it ever stops working on you again.


think the update was on the envy 14 drivers page on these forums (well it's not a buncha different computers combined together)

 

I'm not worried as long as it continues to work, just a bit perplexed. I'd bet on it being something wonky with settings or drivers, but since the only thing I did differently when it started working was open up the IDT interface before I plugged in, I couldn't say what the issue might have been.

I'm already updated with the IDT drivers, I've been pretty good about checking that thread once a day, though I liked it better when it was Envy 14-specific... I guess it's easier to maintain this way, though.

 

That is strange.


man I have my own envy problems but only one is serious (Hi faulty HDD that may or may not be a ticking timebomb that I'm gonna put off replacing until the Intel SSD refresh)


...yeah. I'm gonna start making weekly backups.

kinda annoyed that they aren't perfect but hey. glad I didn't wait to buy it (cost went up, man)

 

so i finally received the keyboard protector from ebay for the envy 14. its a perfect fit and great prevention from those shiny keys! 10 bucks is a pretty decent deal. I would recommend it .

 

Nice! Can you do a temperature test with and without the protector? Maybe run prime95 for 30 minutes each?

 

And a photo please?

 

and a link to the product please

 

link

Picture:

 

Hey asdad123 and ttran88, does the keyboard protector attract a lot of dust?

I heard that if its made of the silicon, it might actually leave some undesirable stains which can be hard to remove when heated up. That kind of happened to the back of my ipod touch after using a Silicon protector by Belkin. Paid so much for a high quality silicon yet it left stains nonetheless..


Has anyone tried buying the Anti-Glare Matte Screen Protector for your Envy Laptop? According to the pictures they look pretty damn awesome..

 

IDK if I would ever get a keyboard protector. I'm good with an occasional dusting. My fingers are clean and I carry a microfiber cloth with me everywhere b/c I have OCD about it so I'm not too worried.

Strangeness BTW:
My Idle CPU percentage is around 25%? What the hell?
And the whole mute button schenanigans? Did anyone ever find a fix to that laggy orange light?

 

just got my envy =]. about to make recov discs and stuff.

it seems to be a perfect unit

 

Heh
I've just finished doing my Recovery discs. I need to backup the Envy Wallpaper folder (i know but it makes me feel better) and the SwSetup folder, then hopefully i'll be ready to do the Minimised Image Recovery.

Is there anything else I should think about backing up? (it's a brand new machine so no documents or anything)

 

i only found one picture as the envy background.....idk what other envy wallpapers you are referring to; i emailed the background to myself lol.

also, iirc, minimized system recov won't require you to backup swsetup...but it wouldn't be a bad idea to back it up anyway.

 

I found 3 different images (Blue, Bronze and Warp) with various sizes in Local Disk > Windows > Web > Wallpaper

Wish me luck, im going for the minimised recovery now

 

Ok, does anybody else's trackpad, when using 2 finger scrolling and reversing from scrolling down to up, sometimes have the cursor go up instead of scrolling up? It only happens sometimes, and only when I'm reversing scrolling down to scrolling up.

 

as of right now, its works fine. it is sort of rubbery and "grippy" when you touch it. I had one for my macbook pro but it wasn't as grippy when you touch it. It was more smooth and not grippy. I would prefer the smooth and not grippy but this still works and I can be worry free from hairs, dust and shiny keys.

 

you got to make sure your fingers are spread apart by like 1-2 mm

 

I have a few glitchy things happen such as at the end of a scroll it will jump back the other way.
Sometimes it slowly goes the wrong way.
Sometimes it jumps far down the page.

I thought the latest BIOS may have helped a bit, but it still does it sometimes.

And this is with fingers apart enough.

 

I've adjusted all my settings and now its smooth almost like a MBP. I use reil's software/synaptics together with firefox's smooth scrolling. Its almost really like a MBP.

 

Can anyone tell me as Envy 14 has a hot air ventilation on its back and when we full open the lid of envy 14 it covers that air ventilation and coz of this the hot air flows through the display of the envy 14 making it hot when running for a large time..so my question is does this will effect the display on the long run..

 

The thing is, when it does this, I can actually move the cursor with two fingers. Usually, if you try to move the cursor with two fingers, it won't move, but when it does the move up thing, if I leave my fingers on the trackpad I can move the cursor with both of my fingers. Does anybody else think that the mouse settings in Quick Web make it almost unusable? The cursor is so slow in Quick Web.
I'm not hating on the trackpad, I think it is pretty smooth, it's just this one glitch that's a little annoying, but it doesn't really happen too often. It'd just be better if it didn't happen.

 

Does anyone know how to disable the disc drive so it doesn't make that noise when I turn on my Envy?

 

Mine does this too. Really annoying.

 

I found a little app called desktop lighter at Softpedia. It allows much smaller jumps down in brightness levels from the Envy's top setting, if that's what you're looking for. It has some quirks on the Radiance screen, such as adjusting contrast as well as brightness, and washing out the image above the app's own 70% brightness level. But it's harmless and with a little fiddling you can get the brightness just where you want it.

Hopefully, a future BIOS update will give the Envy better brightness control.

 

created recov discs, backed up swsetup and wallpapers...

anything else i should do before minimized system recov?

 

Haha im one step ahead of you at the moment. Just finished doing the minimised recovery! The three things you mentioned are the only things that I backed up

Now I have to uninstall all the other HP stuff thats been installed (MediaStart for DVD/Music etc, Network Assistant or whatever it's called) but I have to leave StartMenu to keep the on-screen prompts for things like volume and brightness right?

 

i think i'll keep those for lulz.
after this MIR tho, there's so much to do....install all of my programs, set up my rainmeter, mess with touchpad settings, audio settings, external monitor settings, busy busy busy.

 

Seems the touchpad is messing up most on up scrolling for me. Does it quite a bit. Acts like I'm not trying to scroll.

 

Urgh tell me about it, still im one step closer to "the fun stuff" than I was 2 hours ago. Yippee?