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

Alright, well today I got a blue screen... Not sure why, but it started with the screen flickering, and windows telling me the display driver stopped responding, but recovered, then a few seconds later I got the blue screen. I wasn't doing anything but surfing the web, and the temperatures of the system were pretty low, so I'm not sure why it acted this way... I just hope it doesn't happen again. And for anyone that is wondering, this is day 13 of me having the Envy.

 

Has anyone used the IntelBurnTest (v2.50) for temperature monitoring on the i7 or i5 series?

This causes a 40degF delta on my home computer. I was wondering what it does to the Envy 17.

If this is what people have been using (instead of Prime95) then I stand corrected. If not, then I recommend it. Strongly.

I'm planning on using this for many hours straight as a burn in for my new laptop whenever I get it. It has helped me track down defects in my 3 year old desktop that I've had a devil of a time fixing. Of course, it hasn't helped me resolve those issues... but still I think that for someone who wants to be sure their laptop is working well, it will max out the CPU. And it's made by Intel... at least the dataset and the libraries are.

Thanks!

 

OK everyone,

I called am I'm sending my Envy 17 back today! Darn it! I really wanted to like this machine, but it is just not performing how I expected. Let's forget the insane temps for a minute, and talk about performance. Here are my basic test results:

3DMark Score P6600 3DMarks
CPU Score 11523
Graphics Score 5777

During the test all my temps were 78C / 170F or above.

I'm sorry, but the Toshiba X505-880 performed better with a slower processor and slower NVidia card.

I will be ordering an Alienware M17x this week as I do not think I will have the same temp or performance issues.

Thoughts and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

See Heat Testing on the first page of this thread for a link to my testing, or go direct to the link here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-envy-hdx/484905-official-hp-envy-17-owners-lounge-203.html#post6385578

 

@jarh3d

You failed to mention the settings you ran 3dMark at. Furthermore, what version of 3dMark? What were to settings and 3dMak version that were run on the Toshiba?

 

i need to send mine back to HP for warranty. electrical noise. does anyone know if HP usually just replaces the notebook with new or removes the motherboard and puts a new one in the existing ?

i've upgraded the display to 1920, swapping back to the 1600 is going to take an hour, just not looking forward to it. also will be putting in the original hdd's as i don't want to have to mess with backups and reinstalls....

 

I read that post, apparently not well... the IntelBurnTest did not stand out for me. Thanks for reminding me.

I was also wondering if there had been a comparison that extensive done with the i7-740QM... probably not, but I can ask anyway.

 

Do the ATI reference drivers work on HP laptops? Has anyone tried this with the 5850? Am I stuck with using the drivers HP produces?

Please advise.

 

The service cente will replace the faulty part.

You don't need to change the screen. An I wouldn't bother with the HDD's, just make a backup on DVD, way less hassle.

I remember when my dv2000's fingerprint reader stopped working, they replaced the motherboard for that, didn't need any data backup, it didn't affect the HDD in anyway.

 

Newegg has the best deal

$1549.......

Newegg.com - HP ENVY 17-1011NR NoteBook Intel Core i7 720QM(1.60GHz) 17.3" 8GB Memory 640GB HDD 7200rpm BD Combo ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5850

 

I installed, and am running, the latest drivers and software suite from ATI with no issues. Is this what you were asking about?

 

LOL! I did that too! I was trying to play SC2, and was like "Why the HECK is my envy lagging!?!" and my brother was watching... he said "Heh. I'm not envious of your envy."

Switched it back to HP recommended and it was like someone hit the afterburner. Haha

 

so, the service center is willing to take apart the entire laptop and fix rather than replace ? i bought the screen on my own, so if i send it that way and get it back with a 1600x900 display, then i'll be a bit agitated. not sure if i should mention to HP that i swapped out the display, may void my warranty.

 

Newegg.com has an Envy 17 fully equipt for $1549 shipped...They raised the price $50 since yesterday...I would have a ook at Sager if I were you. They have been in the gaming laptop business a lot longer than HP and their machines have two cooling fans that are user replaceable. No hat issues there.

 

Zero,

Tough position.

Do you still have 1600X900 display? I would swap back. Some of those places just run procedures, no notes on particular job or due care. If something doesn't match up your note may not be on the same desk as your notebook.

 

i still have it .... just dragging about taking the whole thing apart again. your sig says to me that the core i5 models were configurable with the 1920 display. but an astute tech may notice i upgraded it, since my model is the 1010nr. unsure at this point. if i mention to hp they could void me. on the flipside, could be the wireless module or ram. if its the motherboard, not sure what theyd do.
i will put back the original hdds since i dont want to risk my financial data getting in the wrong hands. regardless, i have 2 backups of everything.

 

Hey guys,

When I put in a blu-ray HP Mediasmart DVD says format not supported. What are you supposed to play the blu-rays with? the drive in my computer says

BD ROM Drive (B: )
KING_OF_NEW_YORK_BD
0 bytes free of 22.9 GB

When i put in a DVD it wont play in HP Mediasmart DVD but when i double click it it plays in windows media player.


Also i changed the BD ROM drive to another letter is that why this is happening? I did that because i make my external hard drive F: cause my library in itunes comes from my external and the path has to be F:... i dont even kno if this would effect this. On my other laptop i changed the letter of the DB ROM and it was still fine and would play the bluray..


when I double click it it tries to open in Mindows media player but says its not supported... can someone please help

thanks

 

i don't want to risk it, i put the original display back on. wow, 1920 display is so much sharper & tighter with colors/backlighting.

 

That's good news. I know the temp difference doesn't make a difference to everyone, but a cooler + better performing processor is definitely a plus in my situation.

The Newegg deal is definitely nice, but it only comes with the 720 (which is a great processor) but I'm looking for the 840.

I've looked into the Sager, since many have gone with that for the gaming aspect. Though the specs are VERY nice and the price is competitive, the battery is small and therefore the battery life is fairly poor. I guess I'm looking to have the best of both worlds! I'm going to get the 9-cell upgrade so hopefully I'll have decent battery life (after some tweaking) for this type of processor.

Now I'm frantically... *eherm* PATIENTLY waiting for a nice coupon!

 

So i changed back the drive letter to F: now it loads the move in HP Media Smart but when it says disk ready for playing press play i hit it but it just flashes and I also notice that when i try to press eject it does not work. so therefore iit seems like i cant access the drive or sumthin to play the Blu Ray from inside HP Mediasmart DVD i even installed the latest driver of HP Media smart DVD... please help.. is there another software i can use to play blu rays what should i do?


I dont want to restore to factory settings i just installed everything besides how can i not change drive letter i did it on a previous laptop n it was no problem. Please advise im still in my 21 day window but my laptop is perfect (externally at least) and it would freakin kill me to have to send it back cuz of this..

 

Hi everyone,

I have a problem when playing starcraft 2. The computer froze once while playing and the second time it just went to a black screen and wouldn't let me do anything. After trying to play starcraft for only an hour I am really disappointed. Anyone else having this problem. I might just contact amazon and refund... sigh.. after returning the first one and getting a flawless envy 17, I now end up with this problem. The settings are on medium and the resolution is on 1080.

 

@citizenal

Did you clean install or did you use the factory image?

I ask because when I ran the factory default image, I found a lot of errors in Event Viewer. HP Assistant and some other programs were causing conflicts. Even uninstalling them left their respective services still running on reboots. I did a complete clean install and have been error free for a week now.

 

Hi, I'm running it on factory default image. I didn't know a clean install would make that much of a difference. I guess i'll go buy a copy of windows then.

Thanks

 

Is there any way to increase the fan speed with a program? The left side gets really hot, almost too hot to bear.

 

I have yet to find any way to manually increase the fan speed.

You don't need to go buy a copy of windows. If you have already made the recovery disks, you can pop them in and do a minimal image recovery, which will give you a clean system with drivers and none of the HP crap. Well, not all of the HP stuff is crap, but I personally thought all of it was crap.

 

Aaah, ok. How do I make a recovery disk? I'll go google and see if I can find any info. Thanks

 

FYI removed the HP Player put full version of POWER DVD10 works like a charm perfect blu ray

changing the drive letter must have meesd up the HP DVD player or it was bad out of the facorty first use.. never tried it w/o changing letter...

thought id share

Power10 is so much better anyway ended up working out.

 

Good call. If I understand correctly, you paid good money for that panel. There chance of a void or return w/o it was too high IMO.

 

I play sc2 on the highest graphics settings for hours on end. No problems. Do you have the latest BIOS update? it has a fix for freezing during intense graphics.

 

have you guys dealt with HP's official service/warranty repair centres before?

I have had my laptops repaired several times. If you send it back and it's something that cannot be fixed, like the wobble for instance, then they would just give you a new one.

If you say, oh it's making some noise and they see it's caused by a faulty motherboard, then they'd replace the motherboard. That's still cheaper for them, why would they dish out a brand new unit if it's a part can be replaced?

You really don't need to swap back the screen, that's OTT. You aren't penalised when/if the repair technician sees that the unit has been given an upgrade or two.

My E17 has just come back actually, they replaced the Blu-Ray drive, it was making some wierd grinding noise when reading Blu-Ray disks. I've put an SSD in it, and a clean install or Windows done. They didn't care - just repaired it.

 

I don't know if I have the latest bios. I guess i'll check after I reinstall windows.

 

just over 400 after tax/shipping ... so yeah it will be waiting here after i get the laptop back

 

any company can turn and void the warranty if they determine a change to the product could have caused the issue. as for my skills, i was pretty cautious, grounded, and did it correctly. didnt miss any connections.

as for replacing a main board in a laptop, thats a 2+ hr job by the book. not sure about them going thru with it or just giving a new one and sending the defect back to the place of manufacture. prolly cheaper to do the latter.

 

@citizenal

Not that a hardware problem is out of the question, but it's more likely a software conflict. Software can be a wonky thing, and though it is apparently as simple as ones and zeroes, entropy can still have its effects.

Make sure all your drivers (especially for the vid card) are up to date.

Make sure your power scheme is set to Balanced or High Performance. Power saver will throttle your processor.

 

Interesting seeing others having issues. I'm using the factory installed. I didn't really uninstall much that came with the laptop. I've had zero issues playing Blu-Rays and regular DVDs. As well, I've been able to play StarCraft II without issues. Both times, I either used the 9-cell battery or my laptop cooler. As well, I've updated the ATi video drivers (ATi's website) and the HP BIOS. So far, I love the laptop. Yes, there is a few cosmetic issues (the left top of the laptop having a gap and the laptop running hot), but overall, the laptop is awesome. The HP software isn't that bad IMHO. Also, I actually like the mouse pad and having to use two fingers to scroll, but that may just be me.

 

Hi all,

I just got my envy 17 today, and was wondering how to hook everything up. My main goal is to get all three monitors connected - eyefinity is a secondary if not tertiary goal. Hopefully someone can help me out here

Now, I have two monitors with dvi, vga and hdmi input and one with just dvi/vga. Since there's one hdmi output on the laptop, I'll hook one of my monitors directly into that, and the dvi/vga monitor to the vga output. Now, my third display, I was thinking about getting a passive DP->hdmi connector and hook that one up there. Should this work? If not, I'll have to get a USB hub with DVI out or something...

Cheers!

 

All,

I have had no issues at all everything works fine, im enjoying the Envy 17 soo much so far it its perfect.. I must have messed up HP Media DVD when i changed the Blu-ray drive letter which is redic but no biggie now i got a better program Cyberlink POWER DVD10 and now i can play 3D Video to my new3D TV and it plays blu rays perfect which is sweet as hell. The two finger thing i jus realized from foolin around with it, didnt need to change any settings.

I also just installed my steam account, i cant wait to get home and chekc out CS:S should look mint

 

Does anyone get BSODs on their 17? I leave mine on overnight because I torrent and some days when I wake up the computer has restarted due to BSODs.

 

I got one yesterday, but I have no idea why... It was the first and only one I ever got though.



@citizenal
Did you hear about the SC2 glitch where the menus don't have a limit on how many frames per second are rendered, so the graphics card tries to render as many as it can (which could be hundreds since its just menus), which is causing a lot of peoples computers to overheat. Google it and you will find a temporary fix until they patch it, this could be your problem.

 

sgnhh,

on my prior laptop that was happening to me.

So far i have not had that problem, last night i left my computer on playing classical music and d/l'ing some of the games for my steam account.. It did not BSOD n shut down. Also when i stopped the music n the d/ls finished i left it idle and it jus went into sleep mode and came back to windows login when i touched the pad. The questions you should ask yourself is did you install any programs and di they install correctly IMO.


Which brings up another topic, do you all think its ok to leave sleep mode/pwoer save w/e on or should it be disabled?

 

My 6-cell was also DOA from amazon...

 

I don't think so, what are they meant to do with your faulty one? Throw it away? It still has to be a) repaired or b) stripped down for parts. Both of which will take time and money.

It's in their (HP) best interest to attempt to fix it first. We're talking about a laptop here, not a pair of headphones. If it's faulty headphones then sure, they replace them immediately, common sense has to prevail as well as some money-sense.

 

Hey Guys,

Does anyone know of a good bluetooth keyboard n mouse to use with the envy.

I have my envy 17 connected to my TV via HDMI and I wanna just game with the keyboard n mouse the display is so nice. I need a good bluetooth keyboard and mouse. There doesnt seem to be many options. any Ideas?


Thanks

 

My desktop PC doesn't even bat an eye at that (8800 GTS) so either it can't do "massive framerates" or it's bunk. Something else is happening to those people.

Otherwise, Quake III would kill your card too because it's pretty much unbound on modern hardware.

 

Heh. I played GunZ: The Duel on this PC once... you have to turn off vsync for there even to be useable input response, but my fps ranged from 200fps to over 1k. Game's engine is garbage anyways.


On another note, It's nice that Valve's Source engine places a variable of "fps_max 300".

 

I decided to pull the trigger on an E17 and it got dropped off today. I played a few hours of SC2 on it today and the heat wasn't nearly as bad as I would've thought. I purchased a Zalman NC3000U as well and I'm debating whether or not to return it depending on heat with some other games.

Unfortunately I'm stuck with a lot of the same build quality issues that everyone else seems to be encountering. Chassis separation and wobble, namely. Neither annoy me to the extent that I'd RMA the machine, but it seems like it's causing some kind of rattling on the right hand side of the track pad where the HDD is located. if I tap on the bottom right of machine or type without my forearm weighting the bottom right flush against the table I hear it.

I want to try to fix it if I can to save myself the hassle of sending the machine back to Newegg and running the risk of losing my BCB & running the risk of getting a machine worse than what I've got. Will prying open that HDD slot void my warranty? Anyone else experience the same problem?

 

Hey, could you please download this program? CPUID - System & hardware benchmark, monitoring, reporting

Let me know what ur temps are! i wanna see if they're similar to mine. im from the new york area as well. my notebook is close to perfect on the build quality, but i think the temperatures are a little higher than most.

 

No... its actually a legit problem confirmed by Blizzard

http://gameinformer.com/b/news/arch...rd-confirms-starcraft-ii-overheating-bug.aspx

And besides, citizenal never said his system actually "overheated" just that it was getting very hot. I was just pointing to one possible cause. Personally when I game on my E17, it doesnt get hot unless I'm doing it on a bed where vents are almost entirely blocked...

 

there is a very small scratch on the base, if it comes back that way and the mainboard was replaced ... then you're right.

 

Clem,

where did you buy it from?

Jacob,

Ill run it when i get home later on n post results.


--------------------------------
I dont get why people order these machines from these sites.....for me thats like getting a new benz at a used car dealer just doesnt make sense IMO.. Get it from HP youll pay and extra 200 or w/e but youll have no troubles, and im not talking about the first month or two worth of envy's that came out of China,
-------------------------------

I hooked up my HDMI to TV with full resolution and holy smokes it looks so sick i cannot wait to game on my TV!