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

Once you install the IDT High Definition Audio Codec driver, you will have the Beats audio control panel back.

 

Can someone please please direct me to or show me the directions for updating the BIOS im kinda scared im gonna fudge it up can any one explain... thanks

 

You just download the BIOS updater from the HP website, close all programs (Just to be safe from memory errors), start the patcher, and it will reboot to a BIOS updater tool. It's actually not that difficult. I was worried too. I don't usually trust BIOS updater tools that run from windows.

 

I started getting the smart AC adapter messages this morning. Strange.

 

Thanks ian,

so when it reboots it does the BIOS Install and reboots again regular windows 7 with update applied?


thnks

 

Hi All, I have been looking to buy an Envy 17 for a while now, and this forum has been awesome in helping me decide.

The deal offered by newegg seems to be a great deal, the question I have is for buying an external SSD and replacing one of the of 320GB regular drives with this.

I have seen a few posts with usefull information on this, but had some specific questions that do not seem to have been covered, please excuse me if this has been answered already.

Previous posts have mentioned buying intel SSDs, I am looking at a WD drive from newegg:. There is quiet a price difference between this an the intel models, From the advertised stats though the power consumption seems a lot higher 2.0W (Read), 3.5W (Write) vs 150 mW Typical on the intel X25 80Gb.

1. Are there any power limitations known of using an SSD drive with the ENVY 17? if so what are they?

2. Has anybody every successfully used a non intel SSD such as this with the Envy17? If so what make and model?

3. Are there any physical limitations to getting an SSD? I am aware that you need the dual drive caddy, I am assuming as the model from newegg has dual 320Gb Drives there will be no physical issues to replacing just one of the drives with a 2.5" SSD with 9mm height.

4. Am I correct in assuming that as long as I have a dual drive model, there will be no connectivity issues with the sata cables, or will i need to buy some kind of micro sata connector?

5. Are there any software installation / setup issues I should be aware of? It would be nice to join the SSD and 320Gb as RAID0, but do not have a problem having two separate drives, one for OS one for data as long as it works. I think it would be a good idea to do a clean install of the OS without the bloatware anyways.

 

Just yesterday I put an SSD in my E17. Mine is an Intel, so I can't answer your question other SSDs, but if you are concerned about price, I am selling my extra 160gb Intel SSD for $340 in the marketplace on this forum, but honestly I would probably take $325 (no tax + free shipping ) for it. About the process of swapping them out, you shouldn't have any trouble. I bought my E17 from Amazon, and its the same model as the one from Newegg, so since it already comes with 2 drives, it will have all the necessary hardware. I used Acronis to simply clone the OS partition of the drive that came with it to the SSD, because I didn't feel like doing a fresh install, but you shouldn't have a problem with a fresh install as long as you install the necessary drivers. You wont be able to do RAID 0 though, since the chipset that comes with the E17 doesn't support it. What I did however was use my SSD for solely an OS and program drive, and kept all my data on the second drive. This included me moving the Users folder off of the OS drive (Documents, Pictures, Music, etc).

If you have any other questions, I'll do my best to answer, and if you are interesting in the SSD, which is brand new btw, just PM me.

 

Hi Lennon, Thanks for the feedback. I have been trying to keep the overall cost down for the laptop + extras, and between the SSD, wireless mouse and new case the costs are already mounting That's why I was looking at the lower cost 64GB SSD's, which are a lot more affordable at around $150.

If there are known problems / issues with these however, I may just have to fork out the extra and get an intel...

I am really interested in why there is such a large difference between the power consumption on these drives (by a factor of almost 10 it seems) and if there are limitations on how much power can be drawn by the HDs on the Envy17 MotherBoard.

Another question, if you purchase the dual SSD + HD from HP, what model SSD is supplied? I could not find any info on this from the HP site.

 

The only thing I would worry about with a 64GB is running out of room, but I suppose if you dont install all of your programs on the SSD you should be fine. I haven't heard of anyone installing any other SSDs on the E17 except the Intel and the OCZ Vertex. The model that comes with the E17 when you buy from HP is the Intel. The X25-M, which is the 2nd generation by Intel (These are the same drives as the ones I'm selling). As far as the power thing goes, I haven't heard of anyone having problems with the drives not working because of power restraints. I would simply suspect that using those drives would just mean less battery life. (Which frankly on this computer isn't that good regardless of what you do)

 

When it reboots, it displays an HP service screen to proceed with updating the BIOS. Once that's done, you'll be back in Windows with everything done.

 

Well after a nightmare with a refurbed M15X....and getting exited then reading about the issues with the Asus G73....only to find the new MSI GT660 taking the lead......HP and the "consumer brands" were not even in consideration because I believe they cater to people who do not know the difference or care between GDDR3 and GDDR 5 or RPMS etc and they cut corners and are not as reliable generally speaking..(especially HP which recives the lowest marks)

After ALL that I stumble upon the Envy 17-1011 on New Egg for $1499 shipped... The specs are there....Everything is there (except the 5870 which is only about 11% faster anyway)

I was about to have a Sager built because I understand they are the best and have great warranties ( as well as Asus and MSI)

SO I read this entire thread and decided people who buy HPs ARE INDEED in the know about technology not just the Sager and Alienware guys who believe HP is scrapping the barrel.....One thing I do love about the Sager 8760 are the EASILY replaceable dual GPU/CPU fans. That machine is definitely user serviceable. SO I find myself torn between that and the New Egg beauty....

The similar priced Sager does not have USB3, Blue Ray, Dual Drives (but a second bay is available for SSD, only 4 GB RAM (IMO 8 GB of RAM is overkill. ) It does have an i7 740 processor, the Radeon 5870 full HD 17.3 LCD
dual fans and very user serviceable Configured with a single 320GB 7200 and a "free" case it comes to $1580 shipped.. The Blue Ray ROM and second drive is not important to me as if I bought a Sager I would buy an SSD and move the primary to the second bay down the line.

So before I pull the trigger on this gem most of you prefer....

I have a few questions....What chipset is in the Envy? Can it be set up in a raid config? H55 or P55?

Why would you not choose the Sager? Weight? Name? ASthetics?

AT first glance and research indicates the Sager is the go to machine for power users as WAS the Alienware (before Dell) Voodoo.....while HP was just another consumer brand.

The price NewEgg has it is $250 LESS than Amazon....but New Egg does not have a refund policy. Sager does. So if I pull the trigger I HAVE to like it. No refunds only exchanges.

and the most important question How is HP Customer service?

Sager guarantees three day turnarounds. THe resellers add another couple years of Labor warranties so it is better to buy from RK or Xotic PC etc...

Did any of you check out the Sager brand before selecting the HP?

As far as Gaming goes Flight Sim X is the most I play and that takes a lot of processor power. The rest of the major use would be video and audio editing.

Thanks.....

 

Newegg price is only $150 less. The Newegg return policy states that you need to pay for the return shipping if anything is wrong with the product. With Amazon, you pay for the return shipping and then call them and they will refund you the shipping once they receive the item back.

I was torn between the NP8760 and Envy 17. I chose the Envy 17 because the battery life of the Envy 17 is leaps and bounds ahead of the NP8760. You're looking at about 2.5-3 hours on the 9 cell compared to less than 40 minutes on the Sager.

The Envy 17 has the HM55 chipset and does not support raid.

 

Ian,

thanks for the explaination i feel reassured

 

I have a 50GB OCZ Vertex 2 SSD in mine, soley for OS. Runs great.

Took me a while to get Windows onto it, was trying to use the recovery disks which didn't work, and once I figured I had to use Windows upgrade media then it was easy as.

 

Anyone hook up the Envy up to the Tv via HDMI yet?

 

Works just fine.

Also, I've been having issues coming out of sleep mode every once in a while. Eventvwr shows the following error:

"The platform firmware has corrupted memory across the previous system power transition. Please check for updated firmware for your system."

I'm pretty sure that's causing my sleep mode problem. It usually happens when I'm using maximum performance power mode.

 

To answer one of your questions, the Envy does not support mirrored raid of drives.

 

hey, so when you hook up the envy 17 to the TV via HDMI would playing a game thru steam work fine meaning display perfectly and be able to use wireless mouse and keyboard lookin at TV with laptop closed?... if so, its as simple as connecting the two and adjusting the display settings?


thanks 4 the info

 

Exactly. Just set display settings to project, adjust in ATI control panel I think or something to 1080p, and your set. I think you might need to keep the laptop slightly open so it doesn't go to sleep, or just go to the power options and change it so that closing the lid doesn't do anything. Just make sure you remember to change it back.

 

My Amazon unit 1011NR came with 2 batteries - one already installed in PC and second larger one in sealed black packaging.

Q. Is it normal for computers to ship with battery already in bay? When I turned on PC the battery was never recognized by o/s or the HP diagnostics, so was dead from start. I notice another post about 200 posts back in this thread with dead on arrival battery issue as well.

Luckily the second larger battery works fine, so I ended up with one only. As I am based in SE Asia it would cost too much to return dead battery and easier to buy another locally. Ah well.

 

Yeah,

That was me.

I also thought it was strange to have it ship in the unit. That battery was DOA.

There is a rhyme and reason to all these failures and defects. (no, not really.)

I'm loving the Synaptics drivers and Scrybe software. If you haven't you have to download it.

Also, and this is back from when I first had the Vaio, there's an app called Battery Pro, the base version is free the pro is a donate whatever you want kinda deal...

It's a third party battery app that manages to look stock. The task bar readout is great (min or %, left or until full)

No affiliation or anything, just tested a few and found this best.

 

Yeah $150 my bad...but still significant. I think I was seduced by the Newegg price and USB 3. When I really take personal inventory of what is important I guess the HP has a lot of what I don't and not enough of what I do.

Battery life..Not important I keep my notebook plugged 99% of the time and it doesn't travel at all so even weight is not an issue. Blue Ray nice but not necessary Where I use my notebook I have a 50" TV.

I do want two drive bays but don;t need two drives as I want an SSD drive when they come down in price and don't need the extra 320GB drive especially if raid cannot be configured for performance. But for the price of the Envy the second drive is practically free. as is the Blue ray when compared to the Sager config at the same price.

I definitely don't want heat issues due to aesthetics.
Great Audio is not important as I use Westone 3 IEMS which sound great on any notebook.

The Sager I priced doesn't come with an OS which is fine because I already have Win 7 Ultimate, Just need the driver's disk.
Sager has 5ghz wireless, a more powerful processor and the fastest video card available right now and, neither are or need to be under clocked. Alienware and Asus have had some throttling issues with Nvidia cards. Huge dual fans one each for GPU and CPU are easy to replace and thermally repaste. Very User serviceable. Major Service would be through independent resellers rather than a large corporate system which is a plus because you get to speak to an American who likely works on the machines or even runs the small company.

I know it Sounds like I 've made up my mind......I guess. Although I can see from reading this thread the only PIA issues are really heat related and a few aesthetic imperfections. That's far better than the Asus forum where BSODs and BIOs issue are still being delt with. It seems Asus is not really supporting the unit yet their supposedly have the most reliable product according to Four Square....Doesn't seem that way in the forums.

The Envy is a cool notebook though.........I think I will sleep on it and keep reading this and other forums before i pull any triggers. The first review on New Egg is troubling though......But I still really like the Envy 17......at $1499 it is an amazing package.

Thanks all for your input.

 

L3vi Thanks a ton! im tryin it out tonight! gonna be sweet

 

I was copying some files this weekend from the E17 to an external USB 3.0 enclosure. However, when plugged into the USB 3.0 port on my E17 the transfer speeds were no different than the USB 2.0 ports. What gives?

Am I'm naive to have expected the 3.0 drive, cable, port combo to be significantly faster?

 

Was anything else plugged into the USB port next to it? And the USB 3.0 port is also the e-SATA port IIRC. I want to say these 2/3 ports are shared, so that could possibly explain the crippled speed.

Edit: http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/electronics/detail-page/17-1011nr_r1_rk_05-24-10.pdf

 

That's not true. The E-Sata is also a USB2.0 port. The port next to that is the USB 3.0. You can tell because it has a SS usb logo which stands for 3.0.

 

Nothing else was plugged in. Actually, the 2.0 port was slightly faster. On both attempts I copied to and from the same directories.

FYI, the external enclosure is an Icy Dock

Am I doing something wrong? I got a hardon for 5GB transfer rates (I'll settle for 1GB) but instead I'm getting 1.1MB.

 

Wow 1.1 is ridiculously slow... With my usb 2 external, I get up to 20MB.

Also, I had a dead battery on arrival too, but HP sent me a new one, and even paid for return shipping, so its worth a shot to give the, a call.

 

Yeah, I'm at the office now. Same Icy Dock 18MB/s copying some music for my iTunes library via 2.0 port.

I'll look into the USB controller when I get home.

 

Hey NAZ,

"I'm loving the Synaptics drivers and Scrybe software. If you haven't you have to download it."

You get that right off the HP drives n support, this isnt already installed on the system, those two items are updates to the software that comes with the machine?

 

Try copying bigger files, e.g. 1 GB, if you want to test speeds.

 

I went to the Synaptics site: SYNAPTICS | Scrybe

 

I played SC2 for 6 hours straight. Everything runs smooth and fine, but now I see how hot it gets to the touch, and I can only imagine the heat inside. People have been posting all the temp results...

... but does anyone know the safe operating temps or limits of hard drives, video card, processor? I don't want something to fail on me.

 

I've been lurking here for about 3 weeks, and I've pretty much read the entire thread. I appreciate all the honest reviews and benchmarks. The thread reads a bit like a novel, especially watching Metril's story finally have a good ending!

I am inches away from buying through the HP store, but I have a couple of questions concerning the CPU and GPU.

I planned on buying the 840qm since I buy a laptop every four years or so, and figured that was as future proof as I could get now. I am concerned that it seems to run hotter than the 720 when the earlier theory I read was that the 840 should run cooler since it's a higher binned processor. I work in fairly hot climates (ambient temps usually around 80-90F) so I would like the coolest running i7 I can get. Just an FYI, my 4 1/2 year old Dell E1705 with a T7200 C2D consistently runs around 98C under load, and 50-60C idle, and it's still kickin'.

I'm also interested in the voltage of the 5850. I like to overclock every now and then when I'm gaming (and it's not 85F in the room!) I found this website about overclocking/unlocking voltage of the 5850 and wondered if someone a little more tech savvy than me could tell me if this was applicable to the Envy's 5850. 5850/5870 Poor Performance Fix and Unlocked Voltage BIOS

Thanks in advance!

 

While the ton of built-up heat can wear out the components faster, the computer will automatically shut itself off (and tell you) if any temperatures are too high.

 

My power adapter is chirping and buzzing. Started today afternoon and it's been consistent.

 

So if I have the Broadcom wireless card in my E17, then does that mean it has BCM2070?

In the drivers section it has the BCM2070/HP Integrated Bluetooth driver lumped together, what's the difference?

 

BCM2070 is the bluetooth module on the Broadcom card. The wireless card is the BCM43224AG. Both the wireless and bluetooth are on the same half-mini pci express card.

The advantage of the Broadcom card is that power consumption is lower compared to the Intel Centrino Advanced 6200, for which you need a separate bluetooth module if you want bluetooth.

 

Wow, I had a really duh moment today. My Envy was being extremely slow, and I couldn't even do things like streaming video without having the video skipping.

...I eventually noticed that my power plan was still set to Power Saver from when I took it with me in the car yesterday. lol

 

Thanks for that.

It's cool that it supports Bluetooth 3.0 as well. I wonder which Envy's ship with the Anthros card?

 

Played the last mission of SC2 yesterday on the plane on the 9 cell battery. I think at full performance power setting, maybe get a little over an hour or hour and a half.

I wonder if the girl sitting next to me minded the heat blowing at her? haha

Speaking of Power Bricks, I keep my HP one at the office. I am using my old Kensington 120W slim travel adapter... which can be found on ebay pretty cheap. But the older one doesn't come with the N30B or N30 tip, which you can order from them. However, mine went bad after 6-8 months, I called customer service, and they sent me the newer Kensington 120W slim which did include the tip.

My 180w Targus APA030 Super Brick for my house doesn't have the tip. I need call them, but not sure because it's pretty old.

 

My mistake. Thanks for clarifying. I was wondering what the SS is for

 

Hi guys!

Im new here on the forum, as a member, but have spent time here reading on the debacles of envy 15, now decided to go for the 17 as the graphics card is better, and I intend it to be my Desktop Replacement.

I found this on Amazon, and could have it with a 256GB SSD instead of 1TB drive, for 250$ more. Note that the screen isnt FHD which is disappointing.

Amazon.com: HP ENVY 17 Series Notebook (Intel Core i7 EXTREME i7-920XM Quad Processor - 2.00GHz with TURBO BOOST to 3.20GHz, 6 GB RAM, 1 TB Hard Drive 1000 GB, BEATS AUDIO, 17.3-inch WIDESCREEN display, Blu-Ray drive, TWO BATTERIES, Windows 7) DESKTO

What are your thoughts about this?

Thank you all in advance

 

Hey guys, I just wanted to resay that my Envy 17 is simply amazing and Im sooooo lovin it. I Finally got around to the webcam and it is so sweet.

One thing is for some reason my touchpad wont scroll... like normallly you can press down on the right and scroll down on a page or list or w/e but i cannot firgure out how to get this to work..

 

@Seleckn

The majority of the 840QM do run cooler than the 720/740QM, however this is when both models run at the same frequency (speed). The reason why some 720/740QM run cooler than the 840QM is because the chips were probably binned to be an 820/840QM, but due to demand, they were sold as 720/740QM.

On another note, I noticed my temps drop about 5-10C across the board after about a week of use. Seems that the thermal compound needs to cure.

 

Are you talking about one finger scrolling? It may not be enabled. Check out the Synaptic touch pad settings.

 

L3vi,

Yeah, where you can scroll thru a page without havign to use the "bar" on the right... I went into the settings and could not locate the option or the instruction on how to do it. its my only gripe with the pad so far and i guess its due to my ignorace but every other laptop ive used/owned has this automatically you kno?

I must also note he touchpad is freakin sweet.. i love the double tap to turn it off and the backlight keyboard is freak awesome... someone before said its not bright but even with my lights on its so visible with the light off it looks like a god damn show! which leads me to a question... is it bad to leave the keyboardlight on or will it never die... meaning should l keep it off and only turn it on when its needed or does it not matter especially considering it came wiht it turend on? thanks!


Also.... has anyone installed steam and been plays CS:S, TF2? hows it runnin? any problems? graphics sweet? Im about to"migrate" my accout and d/l and install the games in my envy...

 

To be cautions about the keyboard, don't overdo it I guess. I use the one on my Envy sparingly. But I'll admit it does look cool. However I wouldn't worry too much about it.

To enable 1 finger scrolling. Go to Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Mouse

Go to the rightmost tab Device Settings select the device and click "Settings" On the right hand side navigate to the one finger scroll section and enable it.

 

L3vi,

Yeah i think imma keep it off unless i need it lol that makes sense.

Thanks for the info its crazy to not have that! .. im gonna do it when i get outta work.


Thanks again!

 

With Scrybe, to scroll down I simply place three fingers on touch pad and gesture downwards.

Scrybe rocks. If I want a new Google window I hold shift+ctrl with me left hand and draw a "G" on the touchpad. My email program of choice is just an "@" symbol away. You can also scroll up and down by making a expanding circular gesture in either direction...