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

I kind of did that. Minimal system recovery. It formats your hard drive and installs factory settings without the junk.

 

It seems exactly like in the Asus G73JH forum, if the owner do not touch the factor installed software ALL IS PERFECT, when one begin to uninstall something, things goes bad....

Can you confirm that IF YOU DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING SOFTWARE, the system is perfect and never goes in error or in reset and the temps are ok after hours of intense works too ???

 

According to my HP account, my order was supposed to ship on 6/4/2010. I saw it enter production on 5/29/2010 and the ship date has been 6/4/2010 for over a week. According to an HP representative, my order was to be built on 6/4/2010. This is ridiculous.

Wrong information on my HP account or wrong information on their end? I have not received any email about any delays. This is definitely leaving a sour taste in my mouth. Get your act together HP or you'll lose me as a customer just as fast as I became one.

 

I tried this and it didn't work, can't remember where it failed but i ended up doing the full recovery option to factory defaults. I would do that if you've only just got it and you haven't customised it too much. That's what HP would tell you to do if you logged a call, I suspect.

 

I been worrying about manually uninstalling factory software as well when I get mine. Would it be possible to copy the primary drive to the secondary drive and if there is a major problem like pedromartinez is having then just physically swap drives to recover? I am thinking about replacing one of the drives with a ssd anyway and if this would work then i would always have a factory state hard drive in reserve.

Thanks.

 

You can clone the drive to the second using a program like Acronis.

OR you can use this excellent free cloning program: Macrium Reflect FREE Edition - Information and download

 

No flaws, per se. Aside from the first time I booted, this unit has been flawless in terms of how HP expects it to be. There's just some design things I don't like.

 

Oh great... I guess I stand corrected on the 'no crashing yet'... But like the guy a few posts up said, I wonder if the crashing is a result of trying to uninstall the factory software/bloatware, and if it would work fine if you just left it alone.

 

That shouldn't be the case though. You should be able to get rid of the HP stuff without the system going crazy. As long as you the drivers for the hardware installed and working why do you need anything from HP software wise? I will still use their DVD and webcam software and their software for function keys etc but besides that, there shouldn't be anything required from HP. Am I wrong here? My DV9500 only has HP quick play, quick touch and HP bluetooth installed. Everything else I left off when I clean installed.

 

also in regards to people crashing etc, this forum is in no way a representative of the vast majority of people who've ordered an envy 17.

 

I'd say it's just a case of beta bugs. It's the consequence of ordering early to cash in on the 25% bing cashback deal. IMO it's definitely worth it as long as HP releases fixes for the crashes and morse code camera issue.


Really sorry that I haven't been keeping up with the forum completely, but how is the heat control? Some people seem unhappy, and others seem fine with it. Does the Envy 17 use a clickpad? How's the two-finger scrolling?

 

My order just shipped! I ordered on 5/27, had an estimated build date of 6/8 and now I have an estimated delivery date of 6/10 by 4:30pm. FedEx only has the shipping information so far. I hope they're not yanking my chain.

pedromartinez:

Have you updated Windows through Windows update? You may already have, but if not it could help. I know people like to bash Microsoft and everything Windows(not me!), but getting the OS up to date couldn't hurt. I hope your system starts to behave a little better!

 

Like many others, I have just received shipment notice for my order too. Expected delivery date is 6/10.

For many of us who have been keeping a constant watch on this thread, be it soon-to-be owners or people just interested to do their research on their next purchase, I realize that we read deeply into any feedback from the recent new owners of this laptop and we pay vey special attention to ANY negatives. Speaking from the fact that the world does not only constitute the 4 laptops that have surfaced on this forum thread, I think it is still too early to come to any conclusions yet. Afterall, the only serious stability issues so far has been documented by pedromartinez who has tried to remove some software/drives from his stock system. I am not saying that it may be human error on his part, but the possibility exists since he is the only one reporting such an issue so far.

I, for one, will be keeping notes on the early reviews of the laptop. But until I receive mine, I will keep an open mind, and come to my own conclusions only after owning the laptop.

 

where are people getting the 1TB HDD for their systems? I have looked over at newegg and tigerdirect and found nothing. Maybe i just overlooked. Also when is the Momentus drive supposed to be coming out?

 

Amazon.com deal is even better now that it comes with Blu-ray drive!
The spec sheet pdf is out... link here

 

Yes! My shipment is finally moving as was forecasted on the delay email, granted, it seems some of the late orders are getting early shipping now. If this is what the customer service supervisor mentioned as "we'll watch your order carefully to make sure things get there on time", they just did the bare minimum... -_-


About the system crashing after the uninstallation of bloatware-

Maybe that uninstall software you're using is unintentionally deleting important shared system files (that are required by the programs you haven't uninstalled)? I used to use those uninstallers that everyone advertised, but I realized it was doing my computer more harm than good. I suggest you just stick with the stock Win7 uninstaller since it gets the job done. If after a clean install the stock uninstaller crashes your pc, then you have a problem that goes beyond this matter.

 

I think everyone that has ordered and not received this laptop are hoping that this is pedromartinez's first laptop, scratch that, first contact with a computer ever and has little to no Idea of how to work one, let alone uninstall software. So pedromartinez, if you could kindly let us know that you are 95 year old lady that ordered this laptop thinking it was a battery powered typewriter that only weighed 7.5 lbs, I think we could all sleep a little easier until our computers arrive. (lie to us, please, just lie..)

Also, you know you can't run these things under the water right? Just in case...

 

Haha...

But seriously, as nohm and I have speculated, pedro's issues may stem from human error. Unless several reports surface with the same issues, I think its safe to state that it's a one-off. Even though I have built many desktop units from scratch, I do make mistakes at times which end up causing stability issues.

We do not doubt pedro's experience with computers.

 

Don't forget the dual batteries...I'm sold over this!!!!

 

I placed my order last week as well. Now, with the official spec sheet released, I don't mind waiting for 3 weeks to save like 800 bucks.

 

I'm pretty sure others will get it posted soon (I think some have already been posted), but if not, I'll add my own results once it's delivered on the 10th (probably the Vantage scores depending on what my friend can get me).

 

I ordered mine through costco (they let you custom configure it but it has since been removed from the store) on 5-25 and it got delivered earlier then scheduled yesterday. Unfort. I am out of town for a wedding

 

I replied back yesterday that I had also received my custom built Envy 17.
Once it finally shipped it took 2 days. I had opted for the 2 day delivery. it's funny because it showed estimated delivery on the 7th but I received it on the 4th. I was alo able to get the $39 2 day delivery charge refunded. So win win.

Since I have had some time to play with it, overall very satisfed. much much better than the Sony Vaio F I had for about 2 weeks and returned. 1080P screen is great, worlds better than the Sony 1080P screen. Build quality is great, no creaking or flexing. The ridge of rubber around the edge of the screen could collect dust but I guess it's needed so the screen does not get scratched by the body of the laptop when closed.

Speakers are decent for a laptop, I'm glad the headphone output quality is great. Again much better than the sony. Keyboard is good, no flexing.

In terms of heat i can definately feel heat on the left palm rest but it's not unbearable. the upper left side is also hot but its expected since that is where the exhaust port is. The fan is doing its job. The right side of the laptop is cool heat wise.

The only real anoying thing so far is the touchpad. Seems too sensitive and the cursor seems to jump when I'm hovering over the left or right clickable buttons. I'm sure if I mess with the many settings of the synaptics SW it may correct it.

That's it for now.

 

A third party warehouse store custom build ordered 6 days into odering getting delivered before most first day direct orders?!! Wonder who is getting priority at the factory?

 

Yeah, it's quite interesting how that works out. I was initially pushing for people to order via Costco (mainly because of the default two year warranty + 90 return policy), but I caved in to the BCB savings. It looks like for the short time Costco offered the Envy17, it actually provided a reliable ship date (their Concierge service is miles better than HP too, for sure). Congrats to those who got their 17s through Costco.

 

Mine also was running perfectly, no crashes or monkey business of any sort.

I hadn't removed any HP software or tinkered with the drivers at all, just installed some of my own software ect.

 

I posted my 3dmark06 scores a few pages back, from memory it was 11444, which I still don't know if it's 'good' or 'average' or 'bad'.

 

Anything over 10,000 is very good. The 5870 (fastest single mobile GPU out right now) gets about 14,000.

 

I think you mean 5870.

 

Yes i did, and fixed. Thanks

 

I like the Amazon deal too, but.... on their website they still have the standard DVD drive not the Bluray drive listed. Can we be certain that the spec sheet is the model that will be shipped?

 

Can someone confirm if this is the correct matching 4gb 1 dimm for those of us who ordered with 4gb 1 dimm? I think it is but I am unsure of the CL9.

M471B5273BH1-CH9 Samsung DDR3-1333 SODIMM 4GB Notebook Memory - DDR3 SODIMM 200 Pin - SuperBiiz.com

If it is and anyone is interested in it the sale ends 6/8. I believe it is %15 off up to $15.00 max, so $15.00 off.

 

Placed a preorder with Amazon. The deal is amazing. I have 21 days to return my HP order so, I will test it out and then return it after a week and wait for Amazon to ship out.

 

i'd sooner the question the quality of pc operation from the users who've experienced problem than the laptop itself.

 

So, from all those who owners who have replied so far, only 1 laptop, pedro's, is having stability issues after he removed some software/drivers. I think that's a really good sign for the rest of us. However, I do hope that pedro manages to find out what is truly causing his system errors.

Once I receive my laptop, I plan to run it stock for at least 2 weeks before I do any system software mods so that I can be certain that any issues that appear after the system software mods are probably caused by me, and not due to the hardware itself.

Btw, it would be great if someone could confirm Itarmstrong3's question about the RAM in their laptops as I am sure there are many who opted only for the 4GB 1 stick option so that they could purchase the 2nd 4Gb stick on their own.

 

yes. maybe if people would use standard uninstalls rather than using "advanced" uninstallers.

here's the image i have in my head of people using revo uninstaller... revo asks: delete? user goes: select all next select all next select all next select all next! yeah, very advanced user operation there! i'd say 99% of people here have no clue what type of effects a registry key can have on Windows after an uninstall...in most cases, no effect at all. there isn't an overall practical reason someone can give me to use revo over windows uninstall. now there are some programs that are coded very badly with horrible uninstallers which begs the question...what kind of serious, advanced user would install these types of programs to begin with? i think it's a horrible tendency to blame hardware for user operation. one guy complains about a noise that not even his wife can hear and now everyone is chiming in with negative commentary about a laptop they haven't even seen before. it doesn't have a sound problem...someone's got a vivid imagination or ears tuned OUT OF THE NORMAL RANGE...which means it's an isolated problem. what heat problems? a guy says it gets warm from the top left vent and now we have an overheating issue? does it get warm? yeah, probably it does...it's supposed to be thin chassis and i'm expecting some trade-off with having a thinner body... it's like ordering a ferrari and then complaining it doesn't have coffee cups holders. a guy on this forum uninstalled programs with a program he probably didn't use correctly (my assumption is that this guy wouldn't know the effect of deleting the number of specific registry entries involved in an uninstall along with shared common files) and now he's crashing and he's calling it failures on the envy? come on, guys. if you don't know how to operate a laptop blame youreslf not the product. if you are reckless with removing programs from windows don't complain afterwards about instability. you could have the best hardware and still run into crashes if you are reckless with your operation.

everyone should take what these early receivers are providing as evaluations with a giant grain of salt...

you know how many computers or laptops i've returned to vendors because of faulty hardware (and i purchase and setup for companies as well as myself)?? zero. i've NEVER had to return a computer because it doesn't work. in my experience, USERS are responsible for the clear majority of system failures.

sorry, this forum seems to be biting my nuts the wrong way...

nevian

 

thank you.

 

fyi, my fedex tracking shows that my envy is in Alaska as of June 5th 823am Alaska time.

on previous orders, it takes approximately 2-3 complete days after it lands in Alaska to be delivered in California (if there isn't an int'l clearance delay which could add considerable time if there's a problem).

I'm expecting this to arrive on Tuesday - Wednesday latest. Wednesday, is actually the estimated delivery date per Fedex.

 

Yes, everyone should read the information presented here and judge for themselves what's what. On the other hand, your post makes it sound like all the reported issues are not real, when in fact there may be serious design/hardware problems.

In my case, I'm the guy with the wife who can't hear the high pitched sound. This is my second Envy17 (first one had bad RAM so was replaced) and the first one did not have this noise issue. The noise issue has also been resolved with a fix from the Sony F series forum (they have the same issue) so make of that what you will. There are also Youtubes of this issue so it's well documented.

Conclusion: noise problem is real, but not on all Envy17s, no idea how common it is but seeing as no one else has reported it thus far, hopefully it's rare.

 

LOL @ PedroMartinez being a 95 yr old Lady.

But seriously guys, you have to cool it or I'll have to get out me spanky stick.

And you don't want that!

 

My dark side is hoping that they ship you an envy 17 that doesn't even turn on Mwawhahahaw!!
Really, you make some decent points but saying that users are responsible for most system failures is just overkill. Just because you have been lucky and have not had faulty hardware on new laptops doesn't mean everyone else is breaking their own machines. My envy 15 was sent to me broken. I did not do something to it to make it refuse to turn on. Well, ok, I suppose it did technically turn on. After pressing on/off about 200 times, I got the screen to light up and boot windows maybe 4 times, during which the system randomly restarted itself about every 20-30 minutes. That was not user error. When my asus hard drive crashed on my ul50vt after only a couple months, that was not user error. A new laptop should not have problems when you first buy it. It should just work.

 

Thank you, thank you.

I completely agree with the points nevian brought up, but there are far better ways to package the message so that people can take it seriously...

Yeah, some of the people here could do well to fix the bad habit of drawing conclusions based on what little information is available thus far. Out of the 10-15 somewhat people here who have received their notebooks, only a few have reported in their evaluations, and even out of those few, only some are experiencing minor isolated issues. Even those who are experiencing their own unique set of issues seem to be satisfied with the computer otherwise. It'd make for grossly inaccurate statistics to take a fraction of a fraction and make a declaration for the whole (for all we know, our current fraction might as well belong in the margin of error).

I understand you who are still quietly watching this thread, waiting for reviews, are anxious to hear a bit of positive news so you guys can all jump on a purchase as well once the dust settles. I don't think there are haters here- just frustrated people and those legitimately interested in getting the Envy17. I hope you guys can be a little more patient and wait until the middle of next week for the general consensus to become more accurate (that is when most of us day one purchasers should get our copies). Until then, don't assume anything is one way or another. Like I said, you have to wait until the dust settles.

 

Agreed.

I do not think that any manufacturer will produce 100% fault free products. This is impossible due to the mixture of machine and humans trying to work together to put the many parts of humpy dumpty together. So I am sure, not all reported issues may be user error related.

But at the same time, we have to realize that with the power of knowledge, comes greater responsibility, and we need to undestand that there may be times when we may apply the wrong software management tools (like installing or removing incorrect drivers or system bios) that may also lead to hardware failures.

Putting myself in the shoes of anybody going through such issues, be it real hardware failures or self caused, will no doubt be a very frustrating experience, especially when the expectations are so high. I do not wish this on anyone. I hope that we can all still come together as a mature community here, put our heads together, and work for the common good of all.

Here's wishing all of us - the current owners, soon-to-be owners, and future hopeful owners, the best experience in working and playing with our laptops, and in our continuing positive collaborations on this forum thread!

 

Also remember that the people with problems are always the most vocal.

 

Actually, Amazon now updated their Envy 17 info. However it is now listed as a "pre-order" and not "ships in 2-4 weeks" as it was listed before.

Has anyone bought the Square Trade warranty with a computer? $199 for 3 years. Considering HP has a poor reliability record, this seemes like a good deal. Does anyone have experience with Square Trade?

 

Folks, take it from one who has felt that stick: he means it!

While we're on the subject, as a six month "veteran" of three different forums here, I can tell you that I've seen the really friendly, helpful, sharing and supportive ones (check out HP DV8T or, on TabletPCReview - sister site, click on tab at top of page - HP TM2t Tablet PC), and I've seen the competitive, critical, name-calling ones (not going to promote any of those!) and, man, it is such a shame and a waste to opt out of the former environment and let it deteriorate into a hostile space like the latter.

Somehow this thread has gotten a few nasty vibes - maybe you're all impatient, but frankly, I've been on several "anticipation" threads, where no one had the new machine yet, and they were, well, boring as all get out (EG, "I just checked my tracking number, it left Shanghai at 1:01 AM, does anyone know if that's Shanghai time or US time?" I kid you not, there was such a post ) but again, friendly and supportive in their minute by minute tracking reports .

EDIT: Sorry nevian (post # 889), I just saw that you did exactly what I made fun of: you reported your exact date and time to the minute when your Envy had a rest stop in Alaska; I did not mean to be making fun of you - I didn't even see your post until after I posted this one. Obviously, it is comforting for some to track and report on their new "baby's" journey. Cool, just try not to rag on people who may actually have received defective products; with a newly released HP product, it's the rule, not the exception, consider yourself lucky if it's never happened to you.

So really, do try to chill and turn this thread's karma around because this is a really important new product and it is going to sell huge and generate a lot of questions and issues and could attract a lot of interesting and knowledgeable people and make this a great place to learn from and get your problems solved as well as meet some cool new people, or you can turn it into a ghost town if the downer, sarcastic attitudes are allowed to remain - and Mr. 2.0 here really will take you out in the back and shoot you (like he did me, but I got resurrected )

(This is all just selfish on my part; I am seriously considering getting a 17 and really want to see how you brave early adopters fare )

 

You should check them out for yourself, but I have used them twice and only needed a bail out once, but they are good to their word and pay fast. It's well worth getting the Accidental Damage rider (for around $50 more) if you are going to be moving it around a lot.) Square Trade is the exclusively promoted third party warranty for both Amazon and eBay (though I do not believe either owns a financial interest in them) and that is a pretty good endorsement in its own right. If you Google them, you will find they are well regarded as well. Unlike many third party extended warranty companies, they are in the business of both selling warranties and paying claims. So many in this field - especially with autos - have their operations - and the fine print on their contracts - rigged to avoid paying claims. ST is privately owned and backed by a pretty large and fairly highly rated insurance policy (not the highest rating in the industry, but plenty safe) and they have a very slick, heavily automated system for registering new warranties (paperless) and making claims. You make a claim and, if they don't or can't fix it to your satisfaction in 5 days, they send you a check, no delays or stall tactics, at least not in my experience. I haven't Googled them lately though, and it's always good to keep getting up to date reports, as good companies can over expand, get into financial trouble and become "bad companies," and it can happen pretty fast.

Finally, it's not just HP. Most notebooks fail within first three years, so you're not only protecting against a defective product, you're probably giving yourself a 50% chance of simply getting your money back to buy a new computer when yours dies a natural death. Not bad for about 15% of the purchase price.

 

First: +1 rep for you! Couldn't have stated reality more precisely! Surprised more people on this thread don't realize this. And your examples are the top-rated, top-selling power notebooks of the past 6 months.

Second: Just another comment about tone on this thread. Really, some of you (just some) really should try to chill and not get down on your fellow members so hard. I am sorry to hear even a mod laughing at a pretty cruel remark about an obviously well meaning and very unhappy man with $2,000 less than he had last week and a malfunctioning computer. (To you, Mr. Martinez: rest assured, HP does some things badly, but they are superb about replacing your machine or refunding your money. Just don't let it go past the 21 day "free trial" period. I have purchased (for me or clients or friends) 20+ notebooks from HP over the past year, had to return 12 for replacement or refund and never had a problem, even past the 21 days a few times, and often they throw some extra discount refunds at you for your trouble.)

Third: Please chill out and be kinder to each other. Oh, I already said that Well, can't seem to say it enough on this thread. Golden rule, cool?

 

It's not a laugh with, it's a laugh at. At the statement. Because the statement is outrageous and nonsensical all things considered.

And if I'm wrong and PedroMartinez actually is a 95 yr old woman, then she would be one awesome, clear-minded, tech savvy granny. We should all wish to be as such when and if we should reach that age.

 

I certainly didn't mean any harm pedromartinez! I was just hoping to spread a few grins as we impatiently wait and constantly refresh our browsers until we get to play with our very own envy 17. That whole post was supposed to be "outrageous and nonsensical." Though, I do love the thought of a 95 year old woman named Pedro Martinez using her new "typewriter" in a sink full of water, desperately searching for (and never finding) the carriage release lever.