*HP ENVY 14 (1XXX series) Owners Lounge, Part 1*

The HP UK website now lists the Envy 14 for £ 999 although still not available direct:

HP Laptops - HP Envy 14-1050ea

Unfortunately as we all suspected it has the 1366 x 768 display

http://h40059.www4.hp.com/uk/homelaptops/pdf/14-1050ea_ds_ene.pdf

 

Why do HP hate us so much in the UK?!? I am so glad I have ordered from the US now

 

In the bit where the price is listed, it says "call us for options" maybe that means upgrade options?

 

You're not allowed to add/remove anything once you place your order. Only thing you can do is cancel and re-order i believe. You can add accessories and stuff to your order though.

 

Yeah
In my head what I was thinking was, seeing as you can't actually order the Envy 14 (yet) through the HP website and they are asking you to call, maybe they haven't gotten around to putting other configurations, so if we call them, we might be able to get features like more ram, different processor or higher res screen.

It's clutching at straws but beyond ringing them and them saying "buy it from currys" I can't see why they'd want you to call.

*crosses fingers really, really tight *

 

Wait a minute, you can't order from HP yet? Like the US HP website? I'm confused.

 

I'm just wondering what's the difference when reinstalling windows7 using HP recovery manager against downloading from windows 7?

Using HP Recovery Manager in Windows 7 HP ENVY 14t-1000 CTO Notebook PC - HP Customer Care (United States - English)

Would it be easier to recover using the recovery manager than going thru the hassle of downloading, burning then reinstalling?

 

It has it listed on the UK HP website but you're unable to actually order it. It says

Thats why im hoping you might be able to configure it, if we get to speak to someone down the phone.

I could be very, very wrong though

[EDIT] Im pretty sure we can import from the US HP website but i've never personally done it before.

 

nope, it cant be configured.

They only want you to call as they havent got stock here.

You cannot ever configure HP's unless you order from USA's CTO range.
In the UK we get prebuilt models shipped over (ie envy14-1050ea) there is no deviation, you can only hope there will be another model later (ie envy 14-1080ea, this is not an actual model just an example)

 

Difference is, HP recovery restores the factory image back. That includes all bloatware.

A clean install can only be had with actual windows 7 media.

 

HP Recovery Manager will just reinstall all their crapware back on the machine. Doing a fresh install of Windows 7 off a "regular" Windows 7 DVD will eliminate all the crapware. You can still install apps/software if you backed up the swsetup folder though if there's a program or two you would like to install.

edit: ninja'd by 2.0...

 

That. Sucks
I can't wait much longer
Whats a guy to do!

 

hey guys, is this the SSD that you guys are thinking might be in these machines?

Newegg.com - Intel X18-M Mainstream SSDSA1MH080G201 1.8" 80GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - SSD

I ordered yesterday with the std HDD and figured I'd just upgrade to the Momentus XT, but I've had a linger thought in my mind all day whether I should have jumped on the 160ssd for the 30% off.

 

No, it's probably the X25-M (2.5" SSD not 1.8")

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167017

 

i would be nervous about those SSD's if there not some of the newest best out there there ganna burn out in half the time that a HDD would......

 

order from the states?

I used ebay, and for the specs in my sig came to £860 delivered. I am sure I will get hit for customs too though. Fingers crossed mine should be shipping later this week

 

Ummm, no. They are as robust if not moreso than a standard HDD.

Standard spec is to be able to write 20GB to a drive for five years minimum. Most, especially Intel, went 5x above this (which is the 160GB SSD they offer), so 100GB per day for five years and it would still be fine. I mean even at 20GB per day, that's a lot. First few days installing OS, etc, you might write 100GB or so to it. But after that maybe 1-2GB per day max.

 

Just making sure, but the 4 year lojack will work in Canada, as well as HP's 1 year warranty?

 

The thing(s) that im worrying about doing this are:

A) Power cables, surely i'll have to find some compatible with UK sockets or forever carry a travel adapter around with me

B) Customs, as you alluded to

C) Warranty, i've been told that a US warranty doesn't cover us over here (makes sense) so what happens if anything goes wrong?

D) Keyboard, i think im right in assuming you (lovely <_< >_>) US people have a slightly different keyboard layout

 

I've never done a clean install before, so I'm a little nervous about it.

I'm not sure if I'm going to do that or just uninstall the apps that I don't want. How much difference in memory usage would there be if I only wanted the basic apps? Is it possible to mess up a clean install in any way if you follow the directions in the post on this forum?

 

you can buy the warranty for around £60 to overwrite the US one... or pay £104 for the top end warranty... think both options also give you 2 yrs aswell.

I am the same as you about how customs are gonna deal with the laptop and how much they may want to charge!

 

Allow for 20% which will bring mine in at £1024. I have had a couple of laptops shipped from the states and have even got lucky on one paying no customs at all.

Yes the keyboard layout is slightly difference. I often have US keyboards at work so this is a non issue for me, but no doubt you could phone HP and get a UK keyboard, easier than trying to get a decent screen in the uk

The power brick is universal, all you need is to use a UK 3pin clover type plug, these are about £2 at ebuyer. I can link you if you need.

Edit - JayJay, who do you use for the warranty? I might consider that, it doesnt seem too expensive

 

HP. I phoned them and said about purchasing the Envy 14 from the states and will the warranty work. The guy said the warranty will not work but the phone support helpline will still be covered in the UK... he went on to say that basic pick up and drop off repair service was around £60 for the envy range (think he may have said this is a 2 year warranty too) and then he said for full accidental cover its £104 on an Envy which is defo 2 yrs.

 

Brilliant! I will get on the phone and get that organised when my Envy arrives, for 2 yrs thats pretty impressive. Thanks

 

<s>My Envy 14 has hit a clearance delay in Memphis. I'm guessing this is somehow related to customs... </s>

[MOD EDIT] These types of posts do not belong in this thread. See thread rules.

 

<s>

Mine too. Hopefully this won't take more than a day but I would assume that if this was a normal part of shipping they wouldn't write "Clearance Delay" in bold red letters </s>

[MOD EDIT] These types of posts do not belong in this thread. See thread rules.

 

Yes, and not to mention you're more likely to see a mechanical failure in a HDD than you would by constantly rewriting to an SSD and having that screw up. Think about how often a laptop is moved. One aggressive shake while it's reading/writing can really screw things up.

 

The common error that people make is failing to backup folder swsetup and making recovery disks before clean install. Do those two things and there's nothing to worry about. A clean install is just installing the OS Then the drivers and whatever software you like. There's nothing to that

 

Please, guys and/or gals, there was a new thread opened called "*Quasi-Official ENVY 14 discounts, delays, "mine is shipping" lounge*" specifically to keep these kinds of posts out of this thread.

 

Yep. I plan on doing a "how-to" fresh install once I get my laptop. If everything goes according to plan, my Envy 14 should ship July 22, but considering all the existing delays we will see.

I mean same principal applies to most other PC's, but in case there's something funky with the Envy 14.

 

Since I have ordered from the US before, customs only charge the VAT rate on the price indicated on the shipping label.

@ninja2000 When did you order yours ? Has is shipped yet ?

 

i mean im not ganna just so "o no your worng", but in my experience ive put my comps through some pretty intense physical stress with HDD's and ive never had any issue with it (Yes that includes while it was running), and they know laptops are "mobility platforms" (had to throw that in there lol) so why would they have somthing in there that would break do to movement. and from what i read the SSD burn out very fast i honestly dont know why but that they havnt been perfected yet. once again just from what ive read and my experiance.

 

You might want to site your references as they don't jive with many other references or experience with SSD owners. Just sayin'.

Moreover (<---ahh, my favorite word), HDDs in notebooks fail and fail often due to bumps and the head losing alignment. Newer HDDs have shock protection and newer notebooks have free fall sensors to greatly reduce the chance of failure.

As for SSDs, they do not "burn out" fast arbitrarily. MLC type, the most common in use, have a 10,000 write cycle. That means that if you were to write the entire capacity of the drive daily, it would last for 10,000 days. Since no one actually comes even close to doing that, SSDs will outlast the useful life of the notebook that are used in. Add in the fact that all modern SSDs employ a wear-level algorithm, and their life extends even longer since they won't write to the same cells all the time.

 

I ordered mine on the 4th. My EDD is 16th. I will keep you updated.

Also without me even asking she said she would lower the value for customs when she ships it to me.

 

Do all Envies fly from China to Memphis first and then it's distributed from there?

 

yes

Inside the Memphis SuperHub | FedEx Global Newsroom

 

Hehe, you can be a little more conservative in your maths there i think.

Im a fairly heavy user of my desktop, and the 80GB Intel G2 SSD im running will currently last me an estimated 18 years before the lifecycle of the Flash is expected to be finished

That and the benefit of no moving parts pretty well guarantees that once you have a SSD that actually works (no DOA or something), nothing short of direct physical trauma is really going to upset the drive.

My last laptop went through 3 HDD's over 4 years before i replaced it, a SSD seems to increase the lifespan of a laptop in more then one way, considering your boot times will always be nice and snappy, and your programs will always open promptly, despite the age of the laptop.

 

check out this post.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-...-hp-laptop-out-box-guide-2-0-windows-7-a.html

 

30% BCB is BACK! Get it while its HOT!

 

my current seagate momentus in my laptop is giving me such headaches, i cant wait to install my SSD in my new envy....no more issues !

 

hey guys, where do you go for chat about your order? I can't seem to find it.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-...14-discounts-delays-mine-shipping-lounge.html

But it depends on what you want to chat about. Anyway, link is also on the 1st post of this thread under thread rules.

 

Good.

Someone with the switchable graphics on a dv6t got the new catalyst to install fine.


..'course at the same time soneone ELSE with switchable graphics on their dv6t CAN'T get them to install.


But since we know it's possible, means that in theory it'll work fine on the envy14 as well.

Other dude might not have been on the right video card. Probably was running the intel or something. maybe. Otherwise he's having some other issue.

edit: fergot mah link. http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-...ect-edition-owners-lounge-34.html#post6462809


edit to the edit: oh damn he DOESN'T have switchable and they aren't installing right. What the hell HP. I wouldn't even begin to expect that sort of issue.

 

awww... i hate threads with rules .

I heard one of the Germans tested WoW. How Well did the 5650 play the game on ultra/high? This is the most serious game i will be playing and would like to know

also Aion, how will the 5650 handle it? (im thinking about that game aswell)

 

No you don't. That's your inner child talking.

 

Hp usually has its own what do you call it special extra drive for recovery now like d drive.

When you reformat with the cd (windows whatever) you get to chose which drive to wipe out usually the c drive.

In doing this you can leave the D drive alone and the recovery should still be there.

IMO you should always reinstall clean windows when you buy a new laptop, because most the programs on there are crap.

 

envy starts with modified catalyst 10.3 drivers


(it uses 8.713. cat 10.3 is 8.712)

 

Ok, so HP Norway just posted the available configurations for Envy 14: HP Envy 14-1000 bærbare PCer Hjemme og på hjemmekontoret

It's all very depressing. There's a relatively affordable option (14-1087eo), but it's got an i7-720QM, so that's completely uninteresting to me, since it doesn't have switchable graphics, and I want battery life. There is also the 14-1090eo option with i5-450M, which is more interesting, but they have managed to blow the price out of proportion by including 6 GB RAM and the overpriced battery slice. I've waited since May, and this is what they give us??? The Envy 14 has been hyped as a mobile, yet high-performing package for a relatively low price. Well, if you don't want to pay 14499 NOK (2310 USD), the mobility part is certainly a complete failure, as you're stuck with the quad-core power drain and no switchable graphics. They need to offer a budget config! Basically the first option with an i5 in place of the i7.

I guess I could get the i7 version and switch the CPU for an i5 myself. I know this was discussed earlier, but I never got to the conclusion of that discussion. There was a lot of conflicting information. Is it possible to do this?

 

I disagree. Unless I am experiencing lower performance or don't have enough room I never do a clean install. I find it safer, easier, and faster to just get rid of what I do not need.

 

not possible.

they use completely different motherboards for the i7 setup and the i5/i3 setup