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

Yep, and before someone asks...I'm using the right GPU when launching it

 

seems like you hardly used the thing before you decided to return it, kind of odd for a product that i would assume you have been waiting for for over a month

 

so is it true the fan goes crazy and you cant turn it off? ?

 

That's kinda disappointing considering we were told it's glass.

 

looks like the driver isn't installing right..show sup as an unknown device.

 

2.0 can I be added to the list please? I need me some warranty : )

Also how does everybody feel about the Samsung 256gb ssd? Been catching up on last 20 pages so haven't read any reviews yet on the sammie.

Also, thoughts of upgrading to another 1x4gb Samsung DDR3 memory for $100? Worth it or not necessary?

Thanks for the help

 

Anybody else get one yet with a 720/740/820? Dieing to get some battery life numbers from one of these...

 

The original 4830's came with a weird HP specific AMD driver and OC'ing did not work until we were able to figure out a work around to get an actual AMD driver to update, which at the time required a mobility modded desktop version. This has not been an issue with the 5830 since AMD's new drivers update without issue.

You may want to see what happens after updating to a new AMD driver and then try the clock tool. Warning; there have been issues with AMD updates without first removing all the existing AMD drivers AND software, and then running driver sweeper prior to installing the new packages which you need to do from the generic Win 7 MS VGA driver and make sure all the 'auto update' features in Win 7 and HP support assistant are disabled. Caution: If you are not familiar with doing this type of driver update use extreme caution or get help from someone familiar with this process!

 

I agree to an extent. If you go to the Envy 14 configurator, it doesn't make any mentions of glass at all. It does say "infinity" in the display's name, but that simply means 'edge-to-edge' in HP-speak. "Infinity Glass" is their Glass E2E design. So, technically, it's not like the product page is promising anything other than what we're getting. However, I think most people expected it to be glass from the press shots and everything (maybe they even said glass in some of those early videos about the system?).

As I said before, the display looks and feels great. It doesn't have the rock-solid feel of glass, but it also doesn't have the weight of glass which is a very big plus for a 14" laptop. Glass or no, I'm still pretty happy with it.

 

ok after further inspection, I can only hear the idle processor whine when I put my ear an inch from the keyboard. It really isnt a big deal to me. I will try some of those sound tweaks once I reinstall windows, if the recovery discs would ever finish

 

Rather comfortable with the above, thanks

I thought someone in the thread mentioned the newest catalyst drivers didn't work...something to do with the switchable graphics interfering?

 

Ya, some director guy in some video said it's "flush glass". Not really sure what that means but I guess it's some kind of flexible glass so it might actually be glass though it won't feel like it.

Surprisingly, there's not much information on flush glass in google.

 

That's impossible from the scale that she's doing it in. If you read the HPA policy you can only order 2 laptops per year. She's got something else going for her.

 

I don't know. Maybe.

Yeah, you're on.

 

"Flush glass" would be glass that is flush with the build - in other words, it doesn't stick out, it's even with the rest of the screen.

 

If they told people it was glass...and it looked, smelled and sounded like glass...i dont think they were counting on people pressing on the glass to make sure

 

Could be employee purchase program, or she might be an authorized distributor (unlikely) getting bulk rates or something. Or maybe she just creates new accounts every two purchases, though HP could catch on and burn her.

 

She's using the 10% employee discount. Someone mentioned on here that she works at HP.

 

If it's going to be an issue, I'll figure out something. Mine comes tomorrow too- and though I may want to, there's no point in potentially losing $570 bcb over a $25 return.

 

Can someone point me to where the touchpad setup guide is that JJB provided? Thanks

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-...hp-envy-14-owners-lounge-631.html#post6468855

 

You are correct, I just checked the release notes on the newest WHQL 10.6 driver. Intel switchable graphics is not supported . For what it's worth, when I installed the 10.6 'alpha' (non WHQL) it said intel switchable grapics was supported.... So It sounds like it failed in WHQL testing, I assume they will be working to fix that for the next update....

This may also be why the clock tool does not work (switchable graphics I mean).

 

I was going to give it a shot anyway... interesting thing. After uninstalling the driver and rebooting you get no display what so ever...nice black screen. had to go into safemode and delete the driver from the control panel..which somehow reinstalled

 

Yeah, win7 or hp support assistant somehow finds any copy of the resgistered 'most current' driver and automatically reinstalls it, it is a real pain. I honestly forget how we stopped that from happening to get the first update to 'take'. After the 1st update it goes much smoother the next time...

 

One annoying other thing about the Envy:

When you put it to sleep, there are annoying blinking lights on two sides of it. Anyone know how to disable this?

I've also had a couple of instances where (even with no other apps running) I was unable to switch from ATI to Intel GPU. It just wouldnt do it. But a reboot has always fixed it...

 

Mine just came in.

Dumb question for you guys: the quickstart guide (which normally I would toss aside) says to plug the laptop in and wait for the battery light to turn white (fully charged). Since I want to keep the battery in the best shape possible, I plan to listen. However, when I plugged it in, the battery light immediately turned white. Is that usual? Do they ship them fully charged? Should I just turn it on?!?!

Like a true computer enthusiast, the first thing I did when I opened it was pop the battery compartment open and start poking around. SSD swap will be later today.

 

I got my baby about an hour ago!! <3 the box was beat up lookin... but everything inside is fine.

 

can anybody with the 256gb confirm which firmware you have? it seems only the latest fw supports TRIM and would love to know if it comes standard out of the box or if it requires an update

 

Anyway we all rather have glass like plastic than real glass, you know what happens to the "glass" of dropped iphones/ipads right.

 

So... I'm pretty new to this...
How exactly do you do a clean install of Windows 7? I don't want to try it out myself and then mess up the laptop the first day I get it. The stuff on google talks about mounting virtual drives and whatnot?
Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

Where are the pictures for those of us who have delayed shipments?

 

Yea i would like to know too please

 

So, since we're pretty much getting our E14's by the masses, can a self proclaimed "expert" give the rest of us a guide on how best to optimize the E14? Starting with "step one: open the box." Just kidding.


It must start with "1. Wet your pants on arrival of E14."

 

I just got it.

This is crap.

You know the 4 rubber things on the corners at the bottom of the laptop?
One's smaller than the others and it wiggles. the ?

 

Does anyone have plans to replace the ODD with another HDD? Is that even possible?

 

Hah! I'm the same way. I hadn't even turned the thing on before I had it upside down with the entire underside off and the battery/SSD pulled. I love poking around inside computers

What do you want to see? Lucky for you guys, I'm at work doing nothing but playing with the E14 and brought my digital camera along Only thing is I'm currently burning recovery discs (TAKES FOREVER) so I can't go flipping it over and taking it apart right now.

 

Question- when reinstalling windows 7, do I wipe out all the partitions? C, Recovery (D) and HP_tools (E)?

 

Personally, I'm going to back up the HP Tools partition onto the SD card that the computer came with as it has tons of extra space (I'd suggest also putting your Windows activation backup on there as well). I don't really know what the HP Tools stuff does, but it can't hurt to have it on there with the manuals. Also back up C:/swsetup, but obviously onto something other than the SD card because it's quite large. Burn recovery discs before deleting the Recovery partition.

Then, yes, delete the D and E partitions and set everything up so you just have the one large C drive.

 

Mine has already froze on me 4 times in less than 24 hours. Most of it revolves around switching the graphics. The first time I switched to the ATI GPU it locked up, and most of the time I return it from putting it to sleep, it locks up and I have to hard reset, then when I get it to windows, the switchable graphics don't work.

I already planned on returning this one since I have a 30% BCB one coming, but now I'm second guessing this. Anyone else had any of these problems?

 

Well, I installed 10.6...which works fine ...it just doesn't have switchable graphics. But, The AMD GPU Tool still hard freezes the device.

 

When I put my windows cd in, do I just run the setup, or do i boot from that CD? because going though that setup doesnt let me erase the other partitions....

 

One guy said he would but I guess since he's not from the US he can't get his until later. But he said he'd post a detailed guide which I'm waiting for.

Maybe someone else will post a guide cause I really want to install a 750gb hdd.

 

Well, first, have you checked out this thread? I'm assuming you have already; if you havn't, do so and back up the important stuff it tells you to. Then proceed with installing a fresh copy of W7.

When you're ready to install Windows, boot from the CD and it's pretty straightforward.

 

Wow, that sucks!

 

thanks harb. Yea I am following that thread, but it doesnt say to boot from CD lol

 

If you have the Recovery DVDs and they work, wiping out Recovery partition will be fine. I am not sure what exactly is stored on the HP_tools directory, but probably nothing you cannot get from the HP website.

To do a clean install of Windows:
1. Create the recovery disk, if there is an option, verify the disks after burn
2. Backup the drivers directory (probably C:\SWSetup) to flash, external HDD, or optical media
3. Boot the first DVD/CD
4. Follow on screen guide

Windows should allow you to reinstall while moving the old windows install to C:\windows_old or something like that. If this is your first time, this may be a good idea so you still have everything that was installed before, however it is probably impossible to revert back to that image without booting into a different CD, like a linux live CD, and even then I am not sure if it is possible. To really do a clean install you will want to reformat the partition, and possibly remove the recovery partitions. Since an install only takes an hour or so, I would recommend installing once without a reformat or removing the partitions. If that is successful, then do it again, completely cleaning the system. This will give you the assurance that the install _should_ work.

 

its better to have your OS on its own partition seperate from your data so that if you need to reinstall then you can format it and clean install while your data remains safe instead of having to pick apart your whole drive and save things off out of it, and hoping you didnt forget to save anything that was mixed in with the OS before you formatted it. C windows, D data = better.

 

That's high on my to-do list. I'd love to swap a 500 or 640gb drive in place of the ODD, and as soon as I get the 14 set up the way I like it and get comfortable with it, I'll start doing the research to figure out what I need for the ODD->HDD swap. If nobody else has a guide up by then I'll post one as I go along, but I can't make any estimates on when it will be other than "not yet".

 

Can you tell me if your fans turn off completely. I set mine in passive mode and they are still on.

 

Just go crazy with the pictures! lol