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

Hi Guys,

Except for Stefan HT, did any of other Envy owners ran a battery test? If so, can you post the results?

 

I've always used Acronis True Image but never with SSDs so I was looking around their forums a few days ago and it seems they don't really support cloning SSDs. Apparently they don't preserve the alignment so you won't get optimal performance.

 

I'm interested in this too. They've had the laptops for long enough now but I haven't heard anything other than the 4:10 number from someone.

 

Well said.

So...I'm planning to jump on a 160gb SSD or higher upgrade a few months down the road when prices drop and/or new stuff's out. Can we expect the Intel G3s coming out to be well priced?

 

Wow! The UK seems to be the technological backwater of the world. I notice that Canada and Australia get similar treatment from the computer industry worldwide. Maybe it's time to build up your navy and get back into the business of colonizing the world again. Then they wouldn't dare send the UK substandard specs.

Bronsky

BTW, this thread is moving to fast to follow ... anybody other than the Germans get theirs yet?

@black-rook - your friend should have kept his forehead away from sharp pointy objects when he was younger.

 

I use Acronis on my SSDs. The alignment issue is partly true. If you are restoring an image, it keeps the alignment. Meaning, if you took the image from the SSD and later need to restore back, it keeps the alignment.

If, on the other hand, you are taking an image from a drive of a different capacity to load unto the SSD, it will not keep the alignment. The way around that is to make an image of the misaligned partition, then align the drive (using diskpart commands), then restore the misaligned image back (making sure not to restore the mbr/track0 with it) and it will then be aligned.

Sounds complicated right? Well there are tutorials on the web. OCZ's forum has a few.

 

128GB < 160GB < 256GB

capiche?

For most its about size. If you can run what you need on about 60-70% size offered, then by all means go for it. I say that because you always need room for dynamic storage: pagefile, internet cache, file copying, temporary file download copying, etc.

I'd say a large majority of people need more than a 128GB SSD. The pricing on these laptops that you can configure is actually really good. $315 for an Intel G2 160GB is great, considering you'll be pressed to find one for $400 and are solid performers. $535 for a 256GB when they retail for over $700 is also a great deal. Now take into account a 25-30% BCB offer it's a no brainer IMHO, if you can afford it still.

 

Same boat here. I plan to buy an SSD when the capacity I need hits a more reasonable price, and it will because demand for SSDs is only going to grow. I'm hopeful that will happen fast, but I'm patient.

 

Yeah, I got a 500 GB HDD...I plan to get a similar size SDD in ~2 years. According to Moore's law, it'll be much cheaper.

 

Well, expect to spend $700-$800 for a 512GB SSD in 2 years. 256GB will be probably $300-$350. Don't expect miracles. I think the smaller SSD's will drop more rapidly, so 128GB and less will be fairly reasonable like $150 or less for a 128GB.

 

If anyone has a working Battery Meter, I would run a test, but I wont sit with my watch next to the notebook and wait for the battery to die...

Even in Admin mode BEPro never recorded anything useful to me...

 

Do a ballpark estimate.

 

Do not underestimate the power of high volume manufacturing...or the force

Intel & Micron Announce 25nm NAND Flash Production, SSDs to get Bigger/Cheaper in Q4 - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News

and

High NAND cost delays SSD rampup to 2010, 2011

Bottom line, there is currently a heavy demand for NAND flash, and production has a lot of ramping up to do to meet it and they need to go to 25nm. Then, prices will come down. NAND prices are particularly high right now due to demand.

 

So did anyone that got one yet test out temps while gaming? I'm very interested how to i5/5650 heat up while playing games like crysis or BC2.

 

Weird. What does it say for full lifetime?

 

BEPro records nothing but shows adress errors..
Battery Meter shows a total Lifetime of 3:07 hours, but maybe thats based on dedicated graphics, high screen brightness etc..

 

I downloaded the Demo version of BatteryMon and am running a test now for light browsing, maximum energy saving settings..

 

thanks =). How long will that take?

 

The longer the better, dont you agree?.. Hopefully four hurs and more..

Funny, I also noticed it before:
The battery bar stays at 100% even after running on battery for already over 10 minutes... Seems to point to a badly calibrated battery...

 

Don't forget the 30% Bing that subtracted from the cost. So the 160GB SSD actually cost $220. Its really why I went for it. I figure if I don't find the boost in performance worth it or if the storage becomes an obvious constraint, I will take it out and sell it for a profit.

 

Hey guys,

Don't know if this was mentioned before but you can purchase the slice battery for $150 from the HP parts store.

Phone# - 1800-227-8164
Part # - 602410-001

It's placed as a separate order but it is cheaper than ordering it with the Envy itself.

 

Hi, how come there is two options in the store. one for $150 and the other for $126?

also, is there any discount/coupons that work on here?

 

Added return info to front page.

 

The $126 is an exchange part.

 

Have you tried Battery Bar from Osiris ? HERE The envy 15 owners have found it to be very accurate after a few discharge cycles. There is a freeware and a 'pro' version.

Also regarding the 100% reading for ~10 minutes when you first unplug, you'll find that that will vary significantly. The battery level is measured by the voltage and if you have recently charged the battery the 'float' voltage will be higher than if it has been plugged in at 100% charge for a while, the charge circuit will fully charge to a certain voltage and then turn off, from that point it does not start charging again until it senses a preset voltage level slightly below the ending 100% charge voltage point. So you'll find that sometimes you will unplug and the charge level will immidiately drop to as low as 95% (at least on the 15). You can observe the voltage level slowly dropping after a full charge with CPUID HW monitor or similar app.

 

I am already using it for a while.. I have always had readings in the 3:20 area.. Have never really evaluated it...

 

First in the states?

 

Is that with the Dedicated GPU on or off?

 

@erathostenes

Another thing that we E 15 owners have found that significantly impacts battery life is some of HP's preloaded apps (crapware) will not let the CPU's fully idle when there is no activity. The only accurate app I know of that can moniter the CPU wattage on the E15 is called everest from Lavaly's HERE there should be a 30 free trial available. It is a geat app and to get the power readings you need to select 'computer' then 'sensor' and then you can go to preferences and change the update speed to the fastest level for the 'powers' reading. It also has a great burn in program and lots of CPU benchmark test built in....

You should see the CPU dropping to full idle within a maximum of 2 seconds after completing any task (task manager + everest shows this well), otherwise something is either slowing down the CPU stepping circuit or running in the backround. The e 15's out of the box NEVER reach idle so battery life is reduced by about 40 minutes compared to a clean install....

 

On Battery I have it off usually...

 

I don't think so. But, I'm jealous.

 

Interesting... I will look into it soon.. I already disabled a few HP tasks I feel I dont need.. Lets see how it turns out...

 

Are x25m's better than the C300? Hmm... I'll have to look that up.

 

Please use some common sense and don't quote things with a huge image that was just posted

TIP to save space; try uploading your image as a .png using the snipping tool built into win 7

 

COngratulations.. How does it feel?

Your case seems to be far more ruffled and banged than mine.. Hope all is fine with your newest family member...

 

Slice weighs in at about 1 pound 15 oz or 875 grams....it feels heavier than that even.

As soon as I turned it on, there was an intense annoying electronic buzzing noise. As i've set it up, it seems to be related to processor activity. I hope I can find a way to make it go away.

 

Just curious how many processes are (were) running when you first booted up? The E 15 comes with IIRC 78+ processes running and after cleaning up I am at ~48 processes.

Also Norton when not activated but installed is nortorious for backround activity, and the only way to remove it completely (if you don' activate it) is to get a special unintsall app direct from symantec, and it is buried very deeply in their website (can't find the link), normal unistall or even REVO will not remove it all....

 

More pictures!

 

@Alaskajoel

Wow, I am surprised the slice weighs that much, the E 15 slice wheighs 2.7 lbs but it is 93 Wh. If i order an E 14 I will be getting a spare 8 cell which is how I travel with the E 15 (spare 6 cell) it is only .8 lbs and 1/4 the size.

If you get a chance could you wheigh the 8 cell ?

 

If you are still doing that battery test what percentage are you at and what is your time remaining?

 

Standard 8 cell weighs in at 12.6 oz or 361 grams

less than half of the slice. Pretty ridiculous if you ask me. I'm glad the second envy 14 I bought with 30% bing cash is coming with 2 8 cells and no slice. It's wayyyyy too bulky

 

Any comments on the build quality of your E14?

 

I am running another software now, light browsing, video playback.. Everything on battery saving mode..
Here is the current readout:

 

That isn't that bad considering you are watching a video, which is more taxing on the processor than just browsing. It is still disappointing as I can hit 4 hours with power saver mode as well and I hoped the E14 would at least get 5.

 

What are you running? E15? Cant be, could it?

 

@AlaskaJoel

Yeah, that is really crazy. I thought the E15 slice was a great design but impraticle due to the weight, but at least with the increased 93Wh you get almost another 2 internal batteries when you add it (6cell internal is 53Wh).

With the E 14 your much better off with the spare 8 cell which is what 3 Wh less capacity than the slice? HP failed on this one also......

FYI: The slice is very difficult to store in a bag when not attached to the envy, the latches stick out and hang up when sliding it in any type of sleeve type bag, also I always worry that I may break a latch when it's not attached...

 

Overall build quality (from an external physical stand point) looks very good - No gaps, blemishes, or squeeks. Came from a Vaio Z11 and it had a nasty creaking noise that came from the palm rest area when ever pressure was applied.
I still have a nasty electrical whine though, even after applying the fix from the E17 thread. For those of you that are familiar with the electrical noise present in many P55 desktop chipsets, this sounds the exact same. I had it on my i7-860 desktop build, and disabled the intel cstate stuff and turned off turbo boost and speed step and it went away. Don't really want to do that on this machine because I will use a lot of the power management functionality, given it's a laptop. We'll see what I can come up with.

Just ran a Prime95 torture test for 10 min (blend). Processor stays at about 65c! The fan kicks in hardcore at about 58c. Idle temperatures have gone back to 34-35...this is cooler than my i7-860 desktop rig with a corsair h50. (overclocked)

While idle temps are impressive, the idle fan noise is not impressive. It's not horrible, but it's audible in a quiet room. I'm not sure how I can change that though - I think this setup is capable of sub 45c temps with the fan off, I just don't know how to configure it that way. Any idea?

 

A dv6z Select Edition with an AMD quad core and ATI integrated graphics, which should definitely not draw as little power as the i5/Intel HD under light use.

Edit: I basically get the same battery life as JJB gets on his E15.

 

Their is an option in the BIOS of HP laptops for Fan Always On and it is set to Enabled by default. Just go into the BIOS and disable it.

Would you mind running IntelBurn Test if you have the chance? I find it gives truer max temps than anything else.

 

Not sure about him, looking at his signature I assume the DV6

My E 15 gets an average of 3:20 with wifi on, B/T off and screen at 80%, doing light browsing and MS office apps etc.. Doing nothing just idling I have managed a max of 4:10 with wifi off and B/T off. That is with max power saving mode and some additional tweaks in win 7.

The above post just reminded me, both my above times were with 'Fans always on' disabled in the BIOS, the E 15 has 3 large fans and it gains about 20min of battery life when disabled, depending on temps because the fans still turn on when needed....