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

oh, nice

I don't mind not having a factory made hard disk though...I'll just make one after I download it.

 

does anybody have any advice on whether you should delete your pagefile.sys file on your SSD

 

It's $30. For anyone.
See my above link

 

yeah, that's what I was planning on getting. I thought you were suggesting getting W7Pro from the bookstore.

 

You need it.

 

Confriming something with HP is about as useful as asking a chat bot.

 

i7 Quad core CPU's do NOT have integrated GPU's therefore no switchable graphics. Check the Intel spec sheets:

Compare Intel® Products

Look under "graphics specifications" - Integrated graphics = NO

 

The i7 620M has switchable graphics, but they're not shipping them in the Envy 14 right now. So for the i7's available in the Envy 14, all of which are Quad-core, no switchable graphics.

 

Yep. The i7 quads do not have switchable graphics, the 620M does however it is not available in the Envy 14.

 

the speakers on the envy seem pretty small considering it is "Beat Audio".

 

Yes, I said i7 quads. i7-620m is a dual core.

 

Yep. Was just trying to make the same point you were.

 

Does anyone know if the i7-620m is supported? I bought a i7-620lm and it looks like the right socket.

 

It'll fit the socket, but supposedly with these laptops the BIOS has to specifically support that chip.

 

Anyone else got their laptop? I wanna see more pics

 

I too would like to see more pictures, but an in depth review or unboxing video would be even better.

 

I honestly don't know who listens to laptop speakers and expects them to be high quality.

Buy a nice pair of headphones/buds or a nice speaker system if you want to take advantage of the sound quality.

I love my Logitech Z2300 =D


Speaking of Beats Audio, is it actually that good? The usual integrated audio on most motherboards these days isn't that bad. I'm wondering if any 15" owners can actually hear a difference.

 

What? No kidding..... I am starting at MCG Aug 9 and I don't recall anything about that... then again at GSU (the boro, not state), they never mentioned anything like that before. How do we go about getting these?

 

Does anyone know of any keyboard skins for the E14? I don't want to get dust and whatnot between the keys. I would prefer a skin like the Sony Vaios; not some latex/silicon sheet that you just place over the keys instead of fitting onto the keys. Ask for clarification.

 

It might be a bit early for that as few have gotten their hands on the E14 yet.

 

Any idea when they would start producing them? I really wish HP made some like Sony. From the pictures online, the Vaio skins are really nice.

 

The Audio out is phenomenal for a laptop. As stated, a good set of speakers (I personally use the Klipsch promedia 2.1s) or headphones (grado, nicer sennheisers) will yeild amazing sound. As for the speakers... I was less than thrilled with the max volume on the 15 until i explored the interwebs some more... if you go into the control panel and the "beats audio" section, you can raise the volume of everything to '15' and everything is more than loud enough. Quality wise... the speakers are really nice considering how tiny and compact they are (my buddy's MBP 17" still sounds louder, not sure if better though. another's MBP 15" can't compete)


Speaking of Beats Audio, is it actually that good? The usual integrated audio on most motherboards these days isn't that bad. I'm wondering if any 15" owners can actually hear a difference.[/QUOTE]

 

Could I reinstall windows using a windows 7 home premium upgrade disc? Then use the license that came with the laptop? Or would I have to have vista or XP installed first before I could use that?

 

heres just one quote in refrence to this (and yes im aware this person does EVENTUALLY side for getting an SSD)

"A single NAND flash die is subdivided into blocks. The typical case these days is that each block is 512KB in size. Each block is further subdivided into pages, with the typical page size these days being 4KB.

Now you can read and write to individual pages, so long as they are empty. However once a page has been written, it can’t be overwritten, it must be erased first before you can write to it again. And therein lies the problem, the smallest structure you can erase in a NAND flash device today is a block. Once more, you can read/write 4KB at a time, but you can only erase 512KB at a time.

It gets worse. Every time you erase a block, you reduce the lifespan of the flash. Standard MLC NAND flash can only be erased 10,000 times before it goes bad and stops storing data." The SSD Anthology: Understanding SSDs and New Drives from OCZ - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News

 

All of which adds up to a lifespan that will exceed the usable life of any notebook you install these in. And you'll likely be able to use the same SSD in the next notebook.

I have 5 SSDs, 3 of which are almost 2 years old. Not a hitch and still have years to go based on the drive's SMART info.

Unless you're writing the entire capacity of the drive everyday, 365 days a year, you won't have to worry about the SSD going belly up anytime soon. And thanks to wear leveling, you really don't have to worry. One thing that can kill an SSD is a bad firmware flash. But the good news is, you don't have to flash the firmware. Purely voluntary.

 

Beats audio is really an overwrite of the IDT audio drivers with beats graphics. The audio preamp components on the envy 15 (assume the 14 also) are what is really being marketed, they are much better than your typical computer, there is a dedicated power circuit and very clean processing. You will not really notice this on the notebook speakers but on good headphones or using the audio output to a good sound system it blows away any other portable device I have ever used.

A good example is iTunes music, I use the Apple lossless format which sounded the best when played on my ipod touch through the dock and high end stereo or headphones. What really shocked me was when I first listened to good headphones on the envy with iTunes, WOW, I had no idea that the Lossless format could sound so good, it's much cleaner with more detailed imaging playing through the envy than on any Apple device. It's even more impressive connected direct to a quality stereo system.

The 15's suffer from very low maximum speaker volume, hopefully the 14 will be better. I actually put together a detailed list of audio tweaks to maximize sound quality and volume on the E15. I am posting a link to it below. For the most part it should be applicable to the envy 14...

http://forum.notebookreview.com/5668647-post3614.html

 

Thanks for the great responses JJB and krugoh!

I repped you guys but I don't think I did all that much since I'm fairly new.


I've started mixing some techno and a few of my friends have wanted me to try being a dj for them so before I invest in some expensive dj equip/mixers, its good to hear that the laptop I'm getting should have great audio out =D

 

Took a double look at the Drivers used on the DV6 and DM4 at costco today...all it says is synaptics version 7.4 - Think that's short for 17.4 which is the last numbers of the current version? I sure hope not, because those pads are useless.

On an unrelated note, that chat-bot thing is pretty fun!

 

LOL! That is pretty funny.

 

Zagg doesn't make skins for ENVYs. Anyone that wants to help change that should fill this out. Choose "HP envy 14" plsthx
https://www.zagg.com/hotgadgets/index.php

 

@nachthawk

I concur with 2.0 100%. (Edit: divided by 0 of course)

Do the Math! 1,200,000 hours MTBF (mean time between failures) = 136 years.

5 year minimum life cycle based on 20GB read / writes per day = 362 Terabytes minimum

IMHO you could spend the next 10 years trying full time to wear out an intel SSD and not even get close....

Why do you think most major corperations are going to servers based on SSD's instead of HDD's?

Here is the intel data on reliability (remeber they also have no moving parts to fail)

 

Alright, this is slightly off-topic but somewhat relavent(ish).... With this laptop arriving shortly and with it having the whole BEATS audio, that would mean that my $10 walmart headphones I bought when my other pair broke would be like driving a Ferrari with only spare tires (good analogy? ehh). anyway, does anyone have any good recommendations for some sub $60 headphones that would be a good match with the onboard sound that the Envy 14 will hopefully produce?

 

Actually that would be more like driving a ferrari with no wheels or any gas in the tank........:yes:

 

I'm going to UWG, and they literally just handed out copies at orientation. I thought it was for the entire system but I guess it's just us. It must be included in our tuition or something.
http://www.westga.edu/its/index_5035.php

Well, you had better luck than me...
http://johndm.com/uploads/chatbot.bmp

 

I personally like skullcandy, you could get the earbuds or the actual headphones with pretty decent quality and mine work great with my current dv4t

 

Amazon.com: Creative EP-630 In-Ear Noise-Isolating Headphones (Black): Electronics

These are by far the best (cheap) headphones I've ever used. The cords tear up and fray really easily because the insulation is really soft and rubbery, but for the sound quality @ the price, superb. They're a little bass heavy, and with the BEATS stuff, these will make your head thump for sure. Maybe you're into that?

Also, if you look hard enough you can occasionally find Sennheiser HD-280's for <60. They are heavy and bulky, but are super comfortable and sound like jesus whispering sweet somethings in your ears.

 

I hope the 256 gb toshiba has the new firmware that supports trim.
Toshiba's new 32nm HG3 and SG2 Series support the TRIM Command implemented in Windows 7.

If the ram is samsung that's great you can buy 4gb stick for 95$
W1066SB4GS Super Talent DDR3-1066 SODIMM 4GB Samsung Chip Notebook Memory - DDR3 SODIMM 200 Pin - SuperBiiz.com

 

I noticed on the first page initial battery tests showed 4:10 - I'm curious to know if that was on discrete or integrated graphics. I hope the laptop gets good battery life on its 8 cell battery on integrated graphics. Anyone have any metrics on this? Thanks in advance!

 

I would check out HeadFi forums and just read around old threads. Really depends if you want something portable or just at home. If you like IEM (the ones that plug your ears) I recommend the Nuforce Ne6 for 40$. Larger headphones are usually more comfortable and better sounding.

 

This made my day. Thanks for everyone's help. Time to do some research and reading

 

Dang dang dang! There goes my budget. Now that I've confirmed that the sound card's better than average, I'm now tempted more than ever to get some Logitech Super 10s!

 

I just bought the NE7's w the iphone mic, I'm waiting for them to ship. How are the NE6's? I bet they would be good with my envy when it gets here sometime next summer

 

The Sleek Audio SA-1s, shop around and you'll find them for 60. Nice Rosewood body, and changeable tips (the part with the meshie stuff on it). and if the cord ever breaks, you can just buy a new one. xD
Been using these for 7 months now, and am loving the sound quality. No muffled Hi-tones like those bass heavy buds.

 

That was German Envies, US Envies get double battery life

 

The Germans must be envious.

 

They sound great! The puffy pillows are kind of stiff so maybe I'll swap them out, but the NE6 is supposed to be the exact same as the 7's with the lack of a mic. Why can't you use the NE7's with the Envy also? I have a set of Denon's for home use.

 

I can't wait to try it with my Beats headphones.

 

Do not waste your money on the Logitec headphones (I assume you mean the 'triplefi' 10 or 10 vi) they are junk and not even worth $25.... All they are is loud and they have no high end frequency response which is where all the imaging detail is.

By far the best earbuds I've ever heard are the high end Sony MDR series HERE they are amazingly accurate and the imaging is perfect. You should be able to find them for less than half the price shown on the sony site. The next models down in the series are very good also and will compete with anything in the same price range. I am an audiophile and have listened to or owned just about all the high end ear buds out there and these are still the best I have ever heard. BTW stay away from the Beats earbuds, they suck, unless you want the bass so loud and distorted that you can't hear the rest of the music or vocals...

 

@JJB: what do you think of my current set of Senn's HD 202? If you got nothing good to say about them, that won't hurt my feelings since I'm just a poor college student and I couldn't afford anything better. But if on the off chance, you got fantastic thoughts about them, I'd go to sleep happy knowing I bought them for $40.