*HP ENVY 17 & 17 3D (1XXX series) Owners Lounge*

When I asked HP sales about the disappearing SSD option, I was told

"At this time, we are unfortunately experiencing stock deficiencies of that component"

No date was given when they expect to solve the SSD "deficiency" problem

 

I explained this a couple days ago, but it got buried under all the other posts...

If you leave the one-touch shortcuts on (it looks like the service manual calls them "action keys"), you will ALWAYS need to add the Fn key to your F-key shortcuts for them to work (ie. Alt+Fn+F4, Ctrl+Fn+F4, Fn+F2, Fn+F5, etc.). You can turn the action keys OFF in bios, and once they're off, you can freely use your F-key shortcuts w/o the need to add the Fn key to the combo. If you need to use any of the action keys again, with them turned off from bios, the situation is now reversed- now you'll need to add the Fn key with whatever action key you want to use (ie. Fn+dim, Fn+volume up, Fn+lock, etc.). There's no way to partially turn on/off just some of the action keys- they must all be on/off. Does this make sense?

You can see that turning off the action keys will be beneficial for when you're using your computer for productive work. Likewise, turning them on will cater well to your media center needs. Whatever the case, I'm pretty certain that many of you, who have owned an Envy like me, can agree that the action keys are useful when in one-touch mode, but can be a lot of hassle at other times. Having to stop my work, shut down my computer to change a bios setting, adds further to the hassle. Because of this, I was hoping HP would allow us to turn the feature on/off within Windows w/o having to jump through hoops. What do you guys think?

 

About the AMAZON model, what is the screen's resolution?? 1920x1080, or the standard 1600x900?? Seems that for the price and specs, the resolution will be the second option...

 

That page says it will be the 1920x1080 option. Lucky bass-turds. I was certain that the Amazon deal was incorrect, it looked too good to be true.

 

Is there a function lock button on the laptop anywhere? I know my DV9500 right now doesn't have one but i use a wireless microsoft keyboard at work and it has a function lock to turn off the primary use functions and restore the F1-F12 functionality.

 

The Amazon option is indeed a good deal if the specs are true. However, for those for got the deal through the 25% BCB, it was still a slightly better deal for those who got Blue-Ray and the SSD included compared to the Amazon pre-configured model. Plus, you also have to factor in the extended warranty price that will not be through HP but a 3rd party vendor.

 

For those of us who ordered on 5/19 and expect to see our unit ship next Tuesday -- I just got off chat with HP.com - the price has dropped and your order may be eligible for a credit - check the configuration price today and see if it's lower -- if so you can either call them or use chat and get a credit for the difference.

 

Wow, that Amazon deal looks great. Almost too good to be true?

 

Well, that amazon is a really good deal, like $600ish less than configuring it yourself right now via hp.com! Which is why I don't understand what you mean that the configuration price has dropped, its certainly hasn't at hp.com...

 

I entered the configuration I have on order at HP.com today (I ordered on 5/19) and my price before tax and shipping was $50 lower -- HP guarantees the price for 2 weeks (maybe longer?) so if you find the same, they'll give you a refund after yours ships.

As for the Amazon "too good to be true" price -- I did a number of comparisons of the Envy 17-1011NR price against HP.com price -- if you take into account either a LogicBuy $300 coupon or a BCB (currently 10% but I got 25% last Wed) the difference isn't so great or unbelievable. If I cancelled my order and went thru Amazon I would save about $250, mostly in sales tax though.

 

Won't that screw up the 25% BCB if I used that when I checked out and such?

 

Looking at the config now it just looks like they are offering a free $50 upgrade to the 500gig HDD, up from the 320gig. Might because the SSD options went away cause of their stock problems. Really hoping the SSD shortage doesn't cause a delay in the orders placed on the 19th by everyone...

 

Ok, I am assumming that kiwi style's sudden dissappearance from NBR after receiving his ENVY 17 is a good sign. I am sure if he had issues and unhappiness with it, it would be all over the boards by now.

Now, back to the waiting game.

 

Hey Jaxxy, thanks for all the information. I would recommend HWMonitor to check the temps.

I have a question about the heat. While you were gaming, how hot did the palmrests and bottom of the laptop get?

 

As far as things went for the Envy 15- no, there was no fuction lock keys. Since the 17 is a full keyboard, I'm not sure if it has one, so we'll just have to wait for an answer to that question.

That's a vague statement. The price has dropped for what- a part(s), or the entire Envy 17 line as a whole? I understand that there would be a credit issued for those who ordered either the 320gb and 500gb drives. However, they better not be crediting us for not being able to fulfill our SSD configs, while subbing our drive config without our consent. And they better not blame it on Foxconn. I'd rather have a delayed shipping than have a credit back and have to deal with BCB issues while at it.

 

What's the LogicBuy coupon? I thought the $300 coupon had expired.

 

Thanks nohm. Great! I assume it is easy to select the two choices in the bios even though I have never changed bios settings before.

Now I'm waiting to make sure tht the Envy 17 doesn't have too many problems like the HP dv8T or the dell studio xps. My wife purchased the dell xps in March and we spent over a month with multiple callls to Dell and I think we finally solved the sudden freezing issue on our laptop. It been 3 weeks or so without a problem but I don't want that to hapen to the new laptop I willl purchase. I don't have the will or knowledge to solve freezing issues. Sometimes I think the hardware to too sophistcated for the laptops being sold. I am leary of the envy until I hear it works welll from others.

 

Yes it must have. When I was trying different configurations to see if I could improve the deal I have it worked but only for $25.

 

I spoke with a sale agent at Amazon just now. They do not have concrete information on the Envy 17 that they will be selling. The agent did say that the technical details may change.

On the other hand, they do not charge your card until the item ships and they are looking at how you can initiate a return if need be.

 

I don't see why it will -- HP will notify Bing Cashback when the unit ships and the final price it sold for, so the actual cashback will drop but I don't see why it would be messed up as long as the order number doesn't change.

 

I agree. BCB wont be cancelled if HP decides to credit you some amount. According to Microsoft, it is up to HP to declare your final purchase amount , and report if your Bing cash back is valid. That's why there is a 2 month pending status to ensure that merchants have time to report any refunds, credits or cancellations to the invoice so that the BCB can be adjusted or cancelled accordingly.

 

DANG IT! Why does Dell have to have 21" 1080P monitors on sale this week for $130 a piece? I can have my eyefinity display ready to go for $400...

 

for that matter, I could have bought the 3 displays instead of the 160GB SSD... But I've been so spoiled by my micro-sata SSD in my Envy, there's no going back to mechanical drives at this point. Must raise money. Anybody need to buy some noise cancelling headphones, a PSP go, water-cooled modded 360, a kidney?

 

Selling air! Get your air here! Fresh air for only $199.99!

Does this remind anyone of a certain movie with a certain governor?

 

Does the SSD shortage mean that people who ordered with SSDs won't be getting their computers soon?

 

i don't think so. But mine has already shipped (my ssd from ewiiz, not my Envy 17).

 

I ordered mine with an SSD and it hasn't shipped yet, but estimated is June 1st, so... we'll see.

 

Here's another update on Amazon. The agent I last spoke to was right. The details of the Envy 17 are not finalized. When they are finalized, there will be a downloadable PDF containing a description and all the technical specifications of the laptop. This does not exist at the moment for the Envy 17.

Furthermore, HP will only issue one refund per order. They will give you the higher of the issued refunds. This should not affect Bing.

My plan concerning my order is as follows. I'll receive shipment of my Envy from HP. If during the 21 days, Amazon finalizes the Envy 17 and the price is still lower than what I ordered, then I will return mine and go with Amazon.

 

My order isn't supposed to ship till the 7th, so I have a good bit of waiting to do. This gives me time to consider CPU upgrades and tri-monitor purchases.

 

When I ordered mine on the 19th, and spoke to a rep a few days after that, she told me that the laptop will not arrive later than June 11th, but may most likely arrive sooner than that since the estimated shipment date was June 1st.

I dont think the shortage of the SSDs will affect those who ordered earlier(on the 19th) as it was about a full 7 days before it was noticed that SSDs were no longer offered on the HP site. These days, the lag time in the manufacturing-supply chain is very short, and any shortage of supplies on one end will cause an automated trigger on the other as in the case of the web inventory of HP. I think there is a higher chance of delay for people who configured theirs with SSDs a day or two before the web inventory was taken down.

 

Will HP provide XP drivers for the Envy series?

 

No they stopped doing that for consumer line back in 2008.

 

Bummer. Is there any way to get them, or should I look at the business line if I want XP?

 

Business line is the best way in all honesty.

 

Hey all, sorry I haven't posted anything recently. Last night i put my Envy through a rigorous After Effects session and I have to say it really performed well. I was encoding plenty of video, and then I decided to open up my Sony software to rip through some AVCHD. The heat coming out of the top left vent was of a more than acceptable level. Temperatures around the front left panel were warm as expected but nothing to write home about and certainly not uncomfortable. Remember my Envy only has 4GB RAM. I was very much expecting to have heat issues with this computer before I brought it, and I was under the impression a cooler would be a necessity. But after giving it a good workout under what I'd consider were above-average conditions it pulled through bloody well on the heat and performance.
Noise is great so far, the fan is so quite, just cranks up a bit when you have a few applications open, but again, nothing to get the heart pumping.
Touchpad is fine to me, much better than my previous dv8000. The only thing would be as JAXXY mentioned, the left and right buttons aren't separate, they just have a line showing you where to press. Isn't a major at all, just find myself hitting the trackpad when I want the left click.
Keyboard is nice and the backlight is just right I think. It's not really bright, but like another member mentioned, the point isn't to make the backlight so noticeable and bright that it's distracting. The keynoard glows comfortably and is easy to see in low-light. There doesn't appear to be any options to adjust backlight as far as I can see (other than on/off).
What else to say...? I really haven't had the chance to use it that much right now, I'm at work now writing this. haven't used the webcam yet. I plan to backup the OS then do i clean install.
If I can answer more questions let me know... Cheers! Hope you's all get your Envy's soon!

 

I don't see how envy 17 can handle the heat tho, it is larger than 15 but it has the optical drive and has only one fan. The envy 15 has three fans but it runs so damn hot when playing games, I thought envy 17 should at least has two fans but it only has one, why don't hp get rid of the optical drive and put one more fan in there?

 

I talked to HP about the new price for the 500GB hd and they're going to credit me $50 from my order when it ships. I recommend anyone else who got the 500gb model do the same cause I don't know if they'll do it on their own.

 

Who knows mate, HP did say they locked the engineers in the lab until they came up with more efficent cooling technologies! All I can say is so far, and like I said I have put it through it's paces with AE and Sony software for AVCHD. Has been quieter than my previous dv8000. The heat has been much better than what I had expected from a machine with such high-end specs. I haven't had enough time yet to install a game and push it.

 

Hey kiwi, that's great news about the heat. Do you have the i5 or i7 in yours?

 

I have the i7 820

 

Awesome, that makes the cooling even more impressive.

 

very eager to hear how you find the heat and fan noise during a long gaming session Kiwi?

 

So am I, I am eager to have a game on it! I'll be home in a couple hours and so can report a bit more. It's really good how the i7 puts 4 threads to sleep when they're not needed, helps keep things cool

 

glad to hear it can handle the i7 well. I may just have to swap out my 820 from my 15. have you done any 3dmark benching yet?

 

Thanks for your input, OP updated.

 

How are the internal speakers performing? Also, how fast is the laptop? Thanks for the review.

 

It seems really snappy and responsive in all areas. I have watched a couple of AVI files and listened to a few songs and the sound is good, better than my previous notebooks. Beats audio has some quite tinkery settings which allows you to get some refinded sound out of different types of music.

 

I hope the Beats audio on these lappys are better than the headsets themselve which imo are overpriced junk.

 

I wouldnt say junk, but they are definitely overpriced for what they are. Good, yes. Impressive, no.

 

When I have a 100.00 pair of Sennes that are better I call it overpriced junk.