*HP ENVY 14 SPECTRE (3XXX series) Owners Lounge*

bump.

i have this ssd: MZ5PA128HMCD-01000 and i cannot find a driver for it to reinstall windows. it is so annoying.
is it possible to "extract" the device driver from my current windows 7 installation?

 

Did i read correctly that the 14" spectre has 2 hd space and keep the dvd drive?

Sent from my SGH-T989D using Tapatalk 2

 

the spectre 14 has no optical drive.

you can add another ssd.

 

Ahhhh Ok.!

Good to know...

 

can anyone give me a rough estimate on how much it would cost for me to upgrade a stock hp envy spectre 14 with more SSD GB and more memory?

and is it easy to install the upgrades?

 

Still have this problem. Any ideas?

 

As you can see i have 5 partitions left(from 0 to 4) after i deleted drive D the recovery partition and extended my C. Now i want to delete the hibernation partition but i dont know if its the Partition 0 (4197mb) or Partition 4 (4094mb)? What are the Partition 4 and 0 used for?


Edit Solved: For some reason when i deleted partition 4 it also deleted partition 0. Also removed hp tools partition and now i have drive C with 119GB.

1) Any idea why the Windows folder has over 16GB even if i just bought the HP? Program Files(x86) over 4GB? Program Files over 2GB? Should i do a clean windows 7 install?
2)SWSetup i see this folder has the HP drivers. Should i still keep it if i created a recovery media USB?
3)Can i copy the files from the 32GB USB i used to create recovery media and if i ever need it copy the files back to USB? If yes how do i copy the image from the USB?

 

I just bought one off eBay. The price was so good it was too good to pass up! Still trying to decide if I am just a buyer - in which case you'll see me around here a lot! - or soon a seller.

What is the latest on that battery drain story? I don't think this notebook provides enough battery life to start the day 20% short. Also, if it drains 20% overnight doing nothing, I would think it is constantly draining while working, thus explaining the less than stellar battery life during an average day's work. Thoughts?

 

RE: Battery Issue.

I had the same issue losing 10-15% a night even when powered off.
I have found a solution - hopefully it works for you.
Try rolling back your BIOS to the previous version. For me it was BIOS 1.04 that was the issue.
1.03 has worked fine with no battery drain.

To roll back you need to press the esc key right at start up... look for 'BIOS rollback'

Hope that helps.

Leave a comment if it works for you.

### UPDATE ###
It appears I spoke too soon, I am still having the drain issue - just seems to be at a bit of a slower rate...
This is disappointing for the money I paid...

.

 

I am still having an issue with the brightness buttons ceasing to work after I plug in the computer, put it to sleep, and wake it up again. I can still change the brightness manually, but the f2/f3 brightness keys won't function until I go into power settings, change the "choose what closing the lid does" to "Nothing", close the lid, and open the laptop again. Even then, it's only a temporary fix. Is there really no long-term fix for this problem?

Thanks.

 

Just got my new Envy today. (Originally bought it last week but it was DOA (SSD issue)).

Has anyone tried installing Win 8 on it yet? If so, does the Beats software and the rest of the HP software still work?

Thanks.

 

Can anyone help with this? Several people have reported the 103e number, but that's not a correct panel number, and does not come up in any searches or inventory lists. Could someone please run HwInfo and paste the output here?

 

Overall, how do you guys feel about you hp envy 14 spectre? Any regrets?


Mine is coming in next week- sent in as a replacement for my envy 15. I was down about it at first (mostly the shock that I wouldnt be getting my computer back and that I'd probably need an external hard drive) but man does it look nice on video reviews.

 

I love mine!
Installed Windows 8 yesterday, as far as I can see the only thing I'm missing now is the mouse gestures for the OS.
And yes, you'll need an external HDD

 

Mine's set to ship by November 1st -I'm officially done mourning my envy 15 and am excited I just hope it's durable. I want this computer to last for years. Then again, the dinosaur I'm using now is still up and running, so there should be hope

Hell, this computer is mostly for school, but if I can still play a little bit of skyrim on the side, I'll be happy

 

You are lucky. Also installed Windows 8 pro. I am getting frequent "bad pool header" errors followed by a crash. Apart from that Metro does not work at all AND the upgrade process deactivated my MS Office suite requiring a call to MS to get it going again. So all in all, very disappointing on my Spectre.

 

I got mine a few weeks ago - used, but you'd never tell by looking at it. In short, I'm in love! I do not expect an awful lot from this laptop - it's a Sandy Bridge i5, 4GB, 128GB and I have found everything to be working perfectly - and I'm not an easy grader!. It isn't as fast as my Sony Z2 but it's as fast as my Z1, which is more than I need as my "living room laptop". It is so classy looking you literally have a hard time not looking at it with affection! But the keyboard is outstanding, the touchpad among the best Windows clickpads I have used, the screen is quite good, glossiness and reflections being the only thing less than ideal of this laptop, but you can live with it nearly anywhere except in direct sunlight.

All in all, this was a laptop I coveted the first day I saw it and finally went for it because I won an eBay auction at such an obscene (-ly low!) price that I offered the seller the right to re-do it, but he needed the cash and it was my good fortune. I might suggest anyone thirsting for one of these but turned off by the price consider getting one used from a reputable seller, preferably with return rights. Seems like some of them had out of the box issues, which were generally remedied by the first owner.

Buy it if you need or want a mid-power laptop or a second laptop, especially one that might be "seen" a lot. It is just a stunning piece of work!

 

Just got around to upgrading the ram and adding an extra SSD into my Envy. I went with this over other ultrabooks due to the use of user replaceable parts and so far I've been pretty happy with it. I am going to do a clean install of Windows 7, and I've downloaded the available drivers but can't seem to find the Beats Audio utility on the HP site. Does anyone know where to get it?

Also, any luck on getting this to run OSX?

 

My spectre just came in! Oh man, talk about UPGRADE lol

 

I just got the envy spectre 14 and love it.
How much of a bear is it to upgrade the ram? Does opening the laptop automatically void the warranty? Also the touch pad sometimes doesnt work is there a fix for that? thx

 

I heard this laptop have screen problems is that true? Is there any other problems that's significant? I'm planning to get one. Any suggestions?

 

Apparently some of the early ones had screen problems but I think they've long been taken care of. Be careful if you're buying a used one.

 

has anyone ever had any problem with the touchpad before? freezing and resetting position to the corner?

Thanks

 

I was having that problem on my internet browser then i disabled the norton plugin for the browser and it works fine now.

 

Guys, a few questions before buying a Spectre 14...

1. Is the screen of it better than the average 720p TN crap ? I sold many 720p laptops because of trash screens ... Is this something else ?
2. Is the build quality as good as it's looks ?
3. Generally reliable machine ? No known QA issues like keyboards that stop working etc ?

 

1. Way, way better than "average" 720p TN crap! While it is TN, it has fabulous contrast and colors and decent brightness and excellent viewing angles, for a TN, though not up to IPS levels. It's a lovely screen as long as you don't mind glossy.

2. On mine it is. Best build on any laptop I have ever owned. Tight as a drum,beautiful design and workmanship

3. You'll need to read this thread but I believe some early "teething pains" have been worked out: definitely problems with early screens (you'll know it immediately if you have it) and I haven't heard of many other chronic issues. Keyboard, backlighting and trackpad are best of any Windows laptop bar none.

 

Hi!


I'm considering to get a new Envy 14 Spectre (or an Envy 14 Radiance of the previous generation). However, having taken a look at several European retailers' sites I'm a bit confused, since some of them state that the model 14-3000eg has a Brightview 1600x900 display, whereas the 14-3100eg is said to have the Radiance one.

Is that a typo or are the cheaper Euro-Spectres really fitted with the Crapview-screens?

Take a look at this information sheet from HP Germany.

 

I shall answer my own question with the following quote from HP Germany:

Glad we got that sorted. BTW, are these still suffering from excessive fan noise or has there been a some kind of a remedy for the issue?

 

Any of you guys having trouble loading videos?

 

No - videos working fine here.


Anyone else having problems with mouse buttons losing their click. Left half of click pad no longer clicks when pressed. Instead feels mushy. Right click works normally. Weird thing is I had the same issue several months back & was considering warranty return. Then overnight it got its click back and worked fine again until now.

Cant tell something is stuck under touchpad or if something has flexed and bent. fingers crossed it comes good again.

 

Is this laptop being discontinued soon????

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...t_Packard_A9P67UA_ABA_ENVY_14_Spectre_14.html

 

I've had my Envy for about two weeks now and it's absolutely fabulous! The Ivy Bridge i5-3317U/HD4000-combo seems to be surprisingly energy-efficient: the fan doesn't come on at all if I'm working with Firefox and Excel - it kicks in only when I start watching HD material from Netflix and even then it remains fairly silent and cool.

Anyway. I'm so glad that I decided to put my prejudice about HP aside after the nasty dv2000 motherboard incident.

 

I am in the same boat, been burnt when I purchased a dv6000 and 9000 and both had motherboard issues. I changed to acer since then. Never had an issue with my acers. I own 9 at the moment and all work flawlessly. but I am intrigued by the spectre..

trying to get some answers from people who have owned one long term...

any reliability issues?

 

Any word if this laptop is being discontinued???

And does anyone know if this laptop with it's Intel HD Graphics 4000 will be able to run the newest Tomb Raider online multiplayer coming out in March? I really want to get it, but the only games I play are the Tomb Raider ones.

 

Please, anyone can help on this?

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-...r-no-audio-driver-after-recovery-install.html

 

Edit: problem has been solved. There as an unplugged connector on motherboard that was responsible for showing up the audio device! All is working perfectly fine now.

 

Does anyone happen to have the original Spectre wallpaper? Really liked it, but forgot to back it up when upgrading to Windows 8 :S

 

Hey guys, anyone here knows where I can actually purchase the keyboard cover for this notebook? I hate getting the keyboards dirty.

 

Just that model with Windows 7 is discontinued. The newest model number is 3210 and it comes with Windows 8.

HP Spectre Ultrabook 14-3210nr | HP® Official Store

 

Hey could anyone who has added a second msata drive chip in on what they used? I know some people earlier mentioned a Crucial M4, but I've been having loads of stability problems with it.

I think the drive itself is fine, passes all the diagnostics and SMART info is okay, yeah not happy with what seem like alot of pauses on wake and BSOD's when moving large amounts of data

 

Still waiting to see of anyone who owns this laptop thinks it could handle the multiplayer for the new Tomb Raider game this march? Any ideas???

 

I think that it won't be able to run it good since the HD 4000 really isn't that good for gaming. Might be able to run it at very low settings..


On another note: I've had my Spectre for about a week now. Really like it so far! The only problem is that, during this week the laptop has turned off itself twice! I have absolutely no idea why, but the event viewer shows a Kernel-power 41 error when i start it back up. Does anyone have any experience with this?

 

No idea on Tomb Raider. I can play Skyrim just fine on mine, as well as Dishonored on medium settings. I haven't had any problems yet.

 

Hey guys,

I'm trying to create a set of recovery DVD's with the HP Recovery Manager. I'm using an old laptop dual-layer DVD-station in an external casing, which is connected to both of the laptop's USB-ports.

As I start the program, it prompts to select either a USB flash drive or a DVD drive. After I plug it in, it asks me to insert the media (either DVD-R's or Dual Layer DVD's. As I insert a blank DVD+R DL disc, the Recovery Manager just begins to wonder and finally claims that the media is not supported.

So has anyone had any luck with DVD DL's? I have yet to try with normal DVD-R's.

Edit: According to this set of instructions, Dual Layer discs are not supported by the Recovery Manager... which I cannot comprehend, since the program itself does suggest the DL option!

 

Why not just put it on a thumb (USB) drive

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

 

Thanks for the suggestion, but that doesn't really help.

Oh well, I guess I'll have to try with single-layer DVD-R's then.

 

OpenSuse Linux 12.2 & 12.3 works out of the box, everything is working except the Backlit Keyboard sensor.

I have dual boot Windows 7 which I never use and OpenSuse 12.3

Keyboard backlight works 100% correct only it does not dim when you are not in front.

My Envy 14 3100 is installed with 1 X 128 GB SSD & 1 X 256GB SSD

The machine is much faster with Linux than Windows 7

Great Computer

 

It is a mSATA slot and can therefore only support mini SATA which all are SSD so NO you can not install a normal hard disk in the second slot

You can install 256GB mSATA in slot one and 256GB mSATA in slot 2 so you have 512GB in total

 

Hi try opensuse 12.3 everything works out of the box and the look is better than mac or Windows 7 it is much easier, so your Grandparents should be able to use it as well.

The only thing not working out of the box, is the keyboard proximity sensor, but that only switches the keyboard light off if no one are in front of the computer.

I have the original 128GB in one slot and a Curial mSATA 256GB in the other slot, it works fantastic.

of course I would like to have a fix for the proximity sensor issue, funny if I boot to Windows 7 and do restart to Linux then the proximity sensor works until you switch of the computer.

 

I've been reading up on it since I purchased my 3011tu (which I absolutely LOVE) and I decided this afternoon to purchase a 256GB drive.

I went with the Crucial CT256M4SSD3 based on price and other positive reviews from users on the forum.

Will post updates when it arrives and is installed.