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

I don't have any issues with static noise coming from my laptop. Same model as yours.

 

Dang it. Did the bios update too just now, no help. I guess I will bring it back to stock tonight and ship it back to newegg tomorrow. Sad really as it means that i will be with no computer for at least a week.

 

hey guys, I'm trying to figure out how to make my taskbar on my envy 17 transparent like kind of blurry but still see through because mine is a solid grey bar. If anyone knows how to, please help me out! thanks

 

Screenshot? if I am understanding correctly, then your aero isn't enabled.

 

right click personalize, themes, choose aero theme

 

^that didn't work. The windows for internet explorer are transparent but the taskbar isn't. i'll upload a screenshot.

 

Captureofdesktop.PNG - 4.68MB

 

Next time I would use imageshack.us to upload files as it won't make us wait 50 seconds to view your image lol.

Anyways, it looks as if you have some theme installed. I don't know if that's the way HP ships envy now a days, but it is not a stock windows 7 taskbar. Right click on your desktop and go to personalize, should let you change it. Also, if you go to control panel, under stytem, make sure your windows experience rating is present, otherwise aero (transparency) will be disabled by default.

 

I changed the theme to windows 7 but the taskbar is still the same way

 

Checking in again guys, although I bet nobody noticed my first reply on the forum anyway. I've had my HP Envy 17 for about a week now. For those who didn't see the specs, they are the following:

Intel Core i7-840QM
1GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5850
8GB DDR3 ram
1TB 7200RPM Dual Hard Drive (500GB x 2)
17.3" diagonal Full HD Display
Bluray drive

Well of the stated problems, mine has a slight gap on top of the VGA port. But it isn't very big, but noticeable if you get up close. There is no wobble, and no keyboard flex (although if there was I wouldn't care). Now people have complained about heat problems with the i7 720qm. So I was expecting MORE heat with my configuration.

The first time I powered up the laptop I was doing regular tasks (hearing music, typing up a document, surfing the web, downloading "stuff", etc). The exhaust got REALLY hot. I really mean hot, it was burning to the touch. I couldn't keep my hand on the exhaust from how hot it was.

Anywho, I decided to do a clean install of Windows and I upgraded to Windows professional. I reinstalled everything, including essential drivers and I found that after a few days the idle temperature went down considerably. Now when I touch the exhaust it feels warm, but not hot. Idle temperature is about 57 to 62C. Which is pretty warm, but I am always running in high performance. If I change it to balanced, the temperature drops to under 55C. When I'm gaming the max temperature is about 77C.

I want to point out that I decided to buy this laptop directly from HP, since I noticed there were a couple of older versions in circulation in Amazon and Newegg. Overall I am very happy with the purchase and the quality is very good. I am very picky about a laptops condition, and was preparing to send it back if it had a wobble or major gaps in the frame. But these problems were not present, except for a very minor gap on top of the VGA like I stated. But with some pressure I was able to close the gap.

Gamingwise, I am very pleased. I can run COD 4, COD MW2, Blur, Split Second, Sniper Warrior, Dirt, and Dirt 2 in high to ultra settings. I always keep the resolution in 1920x1080. The audio is also very good. I thought the placement of the speakers was bad, but the sound somehow sounds like it is located on top of the laptop. Its clear and powerful enough to fill the room. Sound through the headphones is just phenomental, really good.

The display is ultrabright, crisp, and clear. No issues here. I have yet to try out the bluray, but I doubt I will have issues here.

Overall I am glad I purchased this laptop, very solid desktop replacement. I've always wanted a simple and elegant laptop with high performance. I will say that HP outdid themselves here. I was never a fan of HP laptops, since most of them were low quality and too flashy in their chrome and plastic chassis. I definitely would recommend this laptop.

 

any help? i really want that taskbar transparent, its so ugly on mine

 

there isn't a hit or miss here ... this is an issue due to a low-power state of the cpu that's being driven either by the os or the hardware.

if you do return it, notify them that the problem appears when plugging something in via usb. include the device you are plugging in.

fair warning, they may scratch your laptop while it's there, they don't realize the bottom is metal, and apparently used metal tools to pry open the panels.

 

But the RMA is for a replacement, they should be sending me a replacement laptop, not try and get mine working. Am I wrong?

 

Bennypac, good work, +rep. Is that stuff copied to first page? Should be.

Munoziyoshi, when I game temp seems to max out at 160 F. The vent area does get pretty hot when gaming; I don't know that the rig is running hotter, the metal casing might make it feel much worse to the touch. 1080p dxva put me in 125-130 F category.

Well probably not it but just to make sure: there are two Windows 7 themes, an aero one and a basic one. Make sure it's the aero version you have enabled.

 

^ i did. the aero one was enabled. i've been trying everything and i've spent 4 hours trying to resolve this.

 

if you've paid for the hp care package, then you should get a replacement. if not, then they would fix it.

 

4.68MB for a screenshot is hilarious! Next time, reduce it down to 200KB or below. Not everyone here has a high speed connection.

Here is how, you take a screenshot, you go to your imaging software, press new, press "Control +P", go to edit and resize image to 40% original size, save as jpg, now move the slider to 70%, click save.

 

Hey guys, I just did the clean install with the SSD and I'm running into a problem.

I used Driver Magician to copy all the factory drivers, and honestly, it didn't work.

It apparently didn't install several drivers so I've been trying to install the missing ones manually from the HP 1011nr Envy 17 driver section.

I'm having an issue installing the Turbo Boost driver, because when I go to install it, it fails and says "your computer does not meet the minimum system requirement."

What gives?

 

I didn't think there was a turbo boost driver. Turbo boost is a BIOS thing. At least that's what I thought. I have nothing special installed on my desktop and turbo boost works just fine.

 

Did you try applying the default Windows 7 theme?

 

That's what I thought as well, but I"m just going off the list of drivers on HP's driver section for my model of the Envy.

It's clearly marked as "Intel Turbo Boost Driver."

 

Please read my explanation of turbo boost. You should be able to find it if you search "turbo boost" and my name as the poster.

 

Thanks, I figured it was something like that, and I got called away at work and could not say much more in that post.

Turns out the latest ENVY models have not yet arrived in KSA so I may have to purchase in Australia next trip home.

Any AUSSIES on here with purchase recommendation?

Thanks, John (Brisbane)

 

I agree, and get rid of Firefox too CHROME is the way to go

 

Have you figured it out yet?

It's most likely a "color intensity" issue. On your Desktop right click and select Personalize. Click on Window Color and look at the "color intensity" bar. If it's all the way to the right your windows will have some transparency, but your taskbar will be mostly opaque. Scroll this setting to left of center and see how that changes things for you.

Good luck!

 

^ This! :yes:

 

Guys I type pretty well. But it seems when using the HP Envy sometimes the spacebar does not work. Any suggestions?

 

Regards my where to buy in Australia question previously - the HP online store only lists 2 models of 17" and NO options to select from; I guess they are not big on selling online, at least not like Dell......

HP online ENVY 17"

I might go to FLEA BAY and spec one up like this, the way the Aussie dollar is powering up, it's cheaper everyday!

Base price $1,445
Windows 7 Professional $85
Intel(R) Core i7-840QM, 1.86GHz $350
8GB DDR3 Memory $100
1920 x 1080 High Definition Ultra Brightview Widescreen Display $100
800GB (160GB SSD Intel X25-M SSD + 640GB 7200RPM) $400
Blu-Ray ROM with DVD-RW $100
Shipping & Insurance $235
---------------------------------------------
Total ----------- $2,815 US
Or Aussie = $2,963

A lot of computer for less than 3 grand............. ah, might wait for the 3D model to list

How does that compare to any online buyers in USA?

 

I don't think the care package would matter as i am not sending it back to HP. Here's a quote from an RMA response I got from newegg.

Doesn't that specifically mean that I get a replacement machine regardless? If they are simply going to try and fix it, then there is no point in even going through this process .

Although, it also states in the RMA form...

RMA Type: Repair
Restocking Fee: $0

No point in the RMA if they are simply going to try and repair it, they might even doing more harm than good and I would end up without a computer for a week... I sent them another email specifically asking if I am going to be getting a replacement.

 

You didn't mention you got it from Newegg.

Zero assumed you ordered it from HP directly.

If you got it from Newegg they'll replace your unit if they deem it defective.

 

Yeah, this sometimes happens to me as well. My space bar also squeaks when depressed sometimes. It's not working as smooth as the rest of the keys, could be a design issue.

Not worried about it too much just yet. certainly not going to start prying it open.

Enjoying my i5-540 1080p bluray E17 for two months now.

What's interesting is that a couple of times now I've turned the machine on for browsing, lightroom or whatnot and the left palm rest was at room temp after 30 minutes of usage. Normally, it gets as hot as what most of you are familiar with. Strange, huh? I thought it was the Momentus XT working off of SSD memory but I doubt it's as simple as that. Anyway, great laptop. Space bar sucks. I am loving the screen... still wash my hands before sitting down to work on it... keeping it nice and crisp... sometime soon though the honeymoon will be over and I'll type while eating greasy croissants.

I'm worried about the longevity of the portion of the rubber screen surround that is right under the thumb notch, or the part one uses to pry the screen open with thumb or finger...

 

Newegg will give you a replacement if you tell them you want a replacement. RMA'd two Envys through newegg and they gave me a replacement. Since newegg is out of envys I won't be getting my replacement for a while. ETA says Oct 04 on their site so hopefuly I get mines next week.

 

Hey.


Does the Envy 17 with Intel i5 cpu's have same heat issues as with the i7 ?

 

Just bump this up as the Aussies are waking up about now - another thought - any Canadians following this thread?

Where could I spec and buy the 17" ENVY online in Canada? I'll be there in November so that will be quicker than the Australian option.

Could I get the GST back on a laptop purchase?

Thanks, John

 

to add to this. third parties dont normally allow returns on computers unless you get confirmation from the manufacturer that it is truely defective in some way. most times this means you have to get it in some written form. otherwise you are left to return the unit to hp for repair.

so when a store allows an rma or exchange then they are just doing right by thier customers.

 

so this feature stopped working again. have to repeatedly uninstall and reinstall the monitor .... that sux

 

I have a HP Envy 17-1010nr that I purchased from newegg, and I don't seem to have gotten what I paid for.


It is the i5-450M model with 6 GB ram, Radeon HD 5850, and the 320 GB (x2) hard drive. My problem being with the hard drive. I am missing almost 100 GB of data, and I don't know if that is normal, or if I am clueless, or something...

When looking at how many GB each hard drive was capable of one says out of 278 GB, and the other says out of 298 GB, so neither actually say 320 GB. The people at HP wouldn't give me a straight answer, they kept trying to tell me it was all for my OS, and it was formatted that way, etc. At first I thought it could be the space the OS needed to occupy and the other "essential" files. This can't be the case though, as the first hard drive labeled OS(C only had 248 GB free of 278 GB to begin with, so the previous missing GBs can't be attributed to the OS or other files, and the 30 GB gone from that one seem much more plausible to be the OS than the nearly 100 other GBs.


I will post a picture so you can see, I have only downloaded about 5 GB worth of stuff, so the missing stuff in the first hard drive isn't all me, most of it was missing to begin with. The issue as I said being with both hard drives don't even show they are capable of 320 GB at all.




Sorry if this has already been asked or addressed, the search yielded no real results, and the owners lounge is far too much to sift through.

 

All of your space is there. There is no problem with your drives.

Add up the maximum size of each partition. You will have around 596GB. The hard drives are advertised as 320GB drives because the manufacturer sizes the drives using the base 10 number system. Computers work on binary which is a subset of the base 2 number system.

Basically, your available maximum size for a hard drive is

(Advertised size) x (1000/1024) = (Maximum Available)

Then you need to subtract the overhead for the file system and reserve sectors and you will have a maximum usable number that is less than the maximum available number.

 

never mid guys, my taskbar has been fixed. someone helped me on a different thread

 

Okay guys, I'm having an issue, which is really a deal breaker for me. I really like this laptop, but if I keep having this issue I might consider returning it.

The laptop has locked up 4 times on me while gaming. The first time it happened during Call of duty modern warfare 2. After an hour of playing the laptop stopped responding and I had a bunch of vertical lines. The fan started running high. The other 3 times it happened while I was playing need for speed world online. After an hour or two of gaming the laptop just stops responding with a black screen. Right now it happened again, with vertical white and black lines. The only fix is to restart the laptop. I have the latest ati drivers installed from the amd website.

To me this seems like an overheating issue, but my temperatures don't seem very high. I'm reading about 68 to 72C. Anybody having this issue?

 

That is damn hot man! Have you tried gaming with a fan under the laptop?

 

My Envy is telling me that my A/C power is insufficient to power my laptop. !!!

 

Well, sadly the lady I spoke to said that they will try to repair it prior to them sending a replacement. They need to find something wrong with it, I am not sure if CPU whine qualifies as it having something wrong with it though .

 

I am buying a laptop, and i want to know how loud HP Envy 17 is? Anybody know, can anyone tell if it is silent or it isnt, and where could i get some informations about noise in dB?

 

Whaaa???

68-72 is high?? 68-72 is high when gaming?!?!

How cool do you run?

 

Do we really have to buy a laptop cooler for gaming on this machine????

I have the same problem with mine, a 1085eo (i7-720QM, Mobility Radeon HD 5850) that I bought last week. My temperatures aren't very high either, I think. Running Furmark 1.8.2 reliably crashes the laptop when it's placed on a table. CPU cores reach 174-183F/79-84C. GPU temperatures reach about 185F/85C.

The laptop also freezes sometimes when playing Dragon Age Origins, with the vertical bands displaying, or simply a blank screen.

Placing the back of the laptop on some wood blocks allowed me to run Furmark for one hour straight without problems. This seems to indicate a heat issue.

Idle GPU temperatures lie in the range 129-135F/54-57C. All of the above temperatures are obtained with GPU-Z 0.4.6 and Open Hardware Monitor 0.1.37.0 beta. ATI driver is version 8.741.1.1000, downloaded from HP.

While I realize that a lot of power needs to be dissipated as heat in a machine like this, I am reluctant to buy a laptop cooler just yet. Is this a necessary measure for laptop gaming?

 

I can tell you that my E17 is infinitely quieter than my Sony Vaio F12. To me, it's a very quiet laptop. The fan is not intrusive at all.

 

I just decided to quote myself as there's some progress:

Retailer gave me a new laptop because of the speaker issue. Apparently the HDD was also a bit broken because this new laptop registers lesser temperatures on HDD.

I think I'm not gonna wait for the 2nd HDD caddy to arrive, I'll just buy the new SSD and install it in the first caddy and then I'll make a clean install on it.

I figured out that I can just reactivate my corel softwares and so on.

But I'm still wondering about the memory thing.

 

I think something is seriously wrong with my envy. It gets 70 degree celsius while browsing the web. I'm not using a cooler but seriously?! Sometimes I even get 70s when EVERYTHING is closed and I'm on my desktop. My gpu goes up in mid 90s when gaming aswell.

 

Sounds about right to me . I get similar temps on my CPU.