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

You might consider upgrading to the latest Bios and ATI driver.

I think the Bios version now if F.13 , for the ATI it is version 10.8

 

For POWER ADAPTERS,

Here's my experience:

The Kensington 120W works fine with N30B tip (i think N30 might be same)... the old version (usually on ebay for cheaper) does not include the N30 tip, but the newer one does include it, however they are the same thing except the picture design. NOTE: It gets really really HOT when gaming, so be sure its not laying flay on the table or floor (both sides should be exposed to air), I actually had an extra USB fan blowing at it just in case). When it did overheat laying flat, it was still working, but had a hiss coming from it. But after I never layed it flat again, the hiss hasn't come back. I think the cord is so short it is meant to hang vertical from the wall. But when traveling, it is still fine for gaming even without the fan blowing at it. Played SC2 for hours. Again, just don't lay it flat.

The 180W HP I tried (I think it is a rebranded Targus 180W) DID NOT work. ~$45-50 on ebay. It works for like 3 seconds, then says its unplugged. It would have been nice if it did work. Runs much cooler.

The 120W HP from older models with same tip ~$30-35 on ebay works fine.

I use: 1 x Kensington 120W for travel, 2 x 120W HP (original envy 17 and older ebay) for office and home gaming.

I'm not sure what HP is charging for 120W HP Envy 17 specific models (even though its the same as the old ones).

 

Tyvm, been looking for this info. +rep

HP charges $89.99 + free ground shipping. HP 120W Smart AC Adapter | HP® Official Store

 

Well so my Envy 17 arrived from Amazon. I was a bit disturbed when the box looked like it had been opened and resealed. When I looked inside, sure enough, all fingerprinty, bent, etc. And I can see why the person returned it, the casing is cracked, not just something you have to measure, I'm talking you can see the casings of the ports in the gap.

Amazon is overnighting me another, we'll see how that one goes. (I find it promising that they did not offer me store credit to keep it, maybe there are some actual new ones in the warehouse.) But clearly, all those units that Metril sent back are still in circulation lol.

 

Please take photos and post them here.

We need to circulate these images on the web so HP stop selling crap.

 

Is there such a thing as a slim charger for the Hp Envy 17 for travel?

 

Broadcom weak signal.

I have a question - is the Broadcom chip Wifi and Bluetooth?

I am planning to replace the Broadcom with the Intel 6300.

 

Broadcom is both wifi and bluetooth. It is better than the 6200, but does not have as many antenna ports as the 6300. The Envy 17 only has 2 antennas.

 

I am only feet away from my Linksys router and I get only "good" signal.

It is only a wireless G - but that shouldn't matter should it?

 

Not from HP, I called them and was told that they do not provide any slim or travel adapters that are compatible with the Envy 17.

 

HP's slim chargers are 65w and 90w, they don't have 120w slims. (This is what HP told me on the phone.) That's why I was asking about the Kensington. It's not only slim, it does wall + air + auto. Wall/Auto/Air Ultra Portable Notebook Power Adapter - K33197US - Kensington



In reply to my question, someone noted that N30B tip fits the Envy 17, which this includes.

Thing is hard to find though, only people that sell it right now are vendors I've never heard of.

 

I don't think it should. I'm about 20 feet from my router which is also only G and I always get Excellent. I have the Intel 6200 wireless card.

 

Hey all you envy 17 enthusiasts, i have a question regarding SSDs. I have a 60gb OCZ SSD from about a year and half ago and installed it into my envy 17. i then proceeded to use the recovery disks i made to launch a minimal image recovery (bc that recovery uses much less space and would fit on my ssd). long story short the recovery software would not copy the files to the ssd. does this only work with regular hdd or can you do this on SSDs?? Thanks again!

 

Your recovery DVD's will only work on the same size hard disk that came with your Envy 17. So if your hard drive was a 320gb for example, you will need a 320GB ssd to make it work.

Your alternative is to download a legal version of your O/S from Microsoft, use the serial key that came with your laptop and do a clean install.

There is a detailed instructions on how to do a clean install on the first page of this thread.

Good Luck.

 

i second this ... it's set to install on a hard drive of the same capacity as the one the recovery resided on.

i used the hp laptop out of the box guide and the 3-file method to make a win 7 disc, and the product key that came with the laptop. you already paid for your copy of windows, so you're not doing anything wrong by reusing the key with a fresh install.

 

When I first got my Envy 17, surfing was so slooooow. I knew there was something wrong. When I did a fresh install - my internet access improved a million folds. To much bloatware and useless apps.

 

interesting tidbit of info i came across ... it's been a while since i trolled web sites searching for a laptop with the configuration i wanted ... dell, hp, sony, etc....

decided to visit dell's web site today and found they added blu-ray burners to the xps 16 lineup as standard ...
hp envy and sony vaio F are still the same offerings for optical as they were 2 months ago ...

 

guys thank you so much!! hey but what if i use windows to make up a back up and then try it on the ssd...like a full backup. or will it be the same problem.. just trying to think every angle ya kno

 

Afaik, Envy 17's factory installed OS is Premium, and only Pro has OS backup & restore.

 

So you want to backup all the bloatware? What software are you planning to use to do your backup? Ghost, Acronis or Clonezilla?
What is the Windows 7 package that came with your laptop?

 

In my case I found the easiest way to do it was to use my mates' Windows 7 DVD for the clean install. Easy.

 

hey guys thanks for all your responses...ill just perform a clean install once i buy a new ssd. im thinking ill go with an intel 80 gb one for my OS and some core applications. however, i wanted to install a 2nd hard drive in the other bay. what size does it require? i already have the cable caddie from newmode.. thanks again!

 

Please read the first page of this thread. It give you all the information you are asking.

 

Hi guys I just got my fully upgraded Envy 17, and it is absolutely perfect.
used it to play on, no crashes, absolutely no gaps or wobbles.

Im in love with it.

Now Im thinking of doing a fresh install, and want to know which of the programs that was on the OEM install, did you install back on once fresh OS was installed?

 

which model did you buy? 1011nr? are you having any heating issues?

 

It was a CTO. It can get hot but not so Im affected by it.

 

So my replacement Envy 17 arrived. It's got a gap



which I can live with, so I'm keeping it (assuming nothing else turns up). No wobble, no other blemishes I can see.

Burning recovery discs right now, but first impressions:

-Looks nice, not very metallic in feel or look.
-I don't notice any keyboard flex, kb is in fact very nice. However, if you carry it by the spine, you definitely notice the screen/lid flex inward between the hinges.
-Keypad is nice and responsive. No problems scrolling upward etc. Multitouch is sooooooo nice lol been so envious of Mac users over two fingers scroll.
-Getting hot jus burning the recovery discs. Upper left is low hot already, left palmrest is warm. [edit: fan kicked in high speed and the heat in both areas lowered considerably.]
-Screen seems rather dim to me, but I'm on the default HP Envy theme which is all greys. [edit, lol so wrong, screen burns with the power of 10,000 exploding suns. do not use this screen on full bright in a dark room, I'm still seeing spots.]

After the recovery disc burn I'm going to do decrapify, burnintest, 3dmark06, I'll post results here and more thoughts if I have any to share.

So far I'm pleased with it, it has a nice look and feel. Only thing that concerns me is the heat but I knew that before I bought it. It's not nuclear or anything lol, just enough so you remark on it.

 

I think a few taps with a rubber mallet should fix that gap up for you.

 

Ok I ran Reva to uninstall as much of the crap as possible, then installed 10.8 drivers, and then ran basic benches. Here they are.



Is 10666 good or bad? The first 3dmark06 score posted in this thread is jaxxy, and his is much higher than mine, but he has Pro and runs his at a resolution different from the demo default, which is what I used.

It looks so much worse in that pic than it does in real life. It really is nothing. For these specs, for this price, this rig is such a great deal. Very happy with it so far. It looks really sleek and elegant, open or closed.

 

^^ what model do you have?

 

Snip of reference ranges for mobility radeon 5850:



So, my score of 10866 is right there in range, so I'm satisfied. I was a bit nervous because some folks online are reporting 17k-20k ranges for their 5850 setups (those must be desktop??), but I'm not doing any oc or tweaking.

1011NR from Amazon, $1529. Pretty much fully loaded (8gb ram e.g.) except for having only 320gb 7200rpm hdds x 2. Even comes with a 9 cell battery for free, which I thought was stellar, and the 2gb Envy branded sd card was a nice touch.

 

anyone seen the hp envy 17-1012nr? it has an i5 processor with a 1920 resolution. It seems to be out of stock everywhere though. Maybe these will have less heat?

 

Hey does anyone know which desktop graphics card(s) is/are equivalent to the Mobility 5850? Brand doesn't matter.

 

ATI Radeon HD 5770

 

does anyone have any issues with the font being too small on google chrome or any other internet platforms? for example the google chrome platform with the menu bars and bookmarks are too cramped up. when i start this up and running first time it was normal.

i have been using other computers and it seems fine but with my hp envy it seems weird.

i tried to make things big by doing zoom but still every time it refreshes it still the same size.

besides that i love my envy its just i cant wait to get my defected screen fixed by the holidays

 

hey guys i was wondering if anyone knew what the maximum amount of ram the envy 17 is capable of using. is it 8 or 16 gb?? thanks!

 

According to the documentation the max is 8.

 

You might want to change your font settings

 

i don't believe this is the case. it depends on what windows can address. i am sure the hardware will accept 16GB.

 

If someone can prove that it can handle more than 8, that would be great news. Especially those of us who are graphics artist.

http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/product/604358/review/envy_17.html#specs

 

as i understand it, takes some $$ to get a hold of two 8GB ddr3 laptop sticks for this application ...

 

As soon as someone can confirm it can take up to 16gb or higher. I'll also up grade mine to 16gb.

 

read the bullets in the overview tab ... 16GB is possible on the envy 15:

HP ENVY 15 series | HP Official Store

 

Does anybody know the difference between gaming performance from the envy 15 vs the envy 17? A 3dmarks06 difference would be nice

 

From the beginning the Envy 15 had a max of 16gb.

All the reviews I've read from cnet, zdnet, pcworld, pcmagazine and etc have stated the max of the Envy 17 is 8gb.

 

I did a search but didn't see anything. Has there been any discussion or excitement here about the new Envy 3D laptop that HP announced? I recently have gotten really interested in 3D. I needed a new tv and as I began searching, I saw that getting 3d wasn't any more expensive than not getting it.

I picked up a 65 inch Mits, and I was blown away at how realistic and clear the 3d was, and then I recently started researching for a new laptop, and lo and behold, HP announced a 3d laptop. They will even be including the active shutter glasses. I will almost certainly be getting one, but 17.3 inches is bigger than I'd like.

 

now i am experiencing the same problem someone else had posted about the screen brightness .... when i use the dedicated keys the screen no longer dims/brightens. it no longer works via the power settings.

i reinstalled my ATI drivers yesterday to see if this would fix, it did, but again it has stopped working.

is there something up with the ATI drivers ... or a glitch in win7 ? i normally sleep my machine, don't shutdown often unless i install/remove software.

can anyone chime in on this ?

 

You need to uninstall and then install the monitor. The ATi drivers will do nothing for you. I don't have my laptop on me right now, but when I get home later on this evening 10 hours from this post (estimate), I'll look to see which driver it was. But it is the display screen driver that needs to be un-installed and then installed.

 

thanks. now is the monitor driver something that windows put there or is it from the ati install ?... if i uninstall the driver i will lose display capability or will windows reinstall its own ?

is this a permanent solution to the issue ?

 

The Envy has a Monitor driver? The one I have is the generic "Mobile PC Display"