*HP ENVY 17 & 17 3D (2XXX series) Owners Lounge*

Envy 17 and Envy 17 3D Sandy Bridge Owners Lounge.​

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http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-envy-hdx/547794-waiting-envy-17-3d-sb-thread.html

Drivers by justinkw1

South Bridge CPU has on die Integrated Graphics:

• Intel® Core i7-2630QM Processor (6M Cache, 2.00 GHz) with Turbo Boost up to 2.9 GHz
  
• Intel® Core i7-2820QM Processor (6M Cache, 2.30 GHz) with Turbo Boost up to 3.4 GHz

Initial Setup Guide - by gunny5821

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-envy-hdx/638263-new-envy-owner-guide-initial-setup.html​

SOFTWARE:

HW Monitor for measuring temps:
http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

SYSTEM Information for Windows (SIW) to detail virtually everything about your system:
http://www.gtopala.com/siw-download.html
(scroll to bottom of page and D/L free version without installer.)

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Touch Pad Enhancements:

Configuration by JJB
http://forum.notebookreview.com/6468855-post6307.html

• Addedndum for latest driver: http://forum.notebookreview.com/6503991-post9970.html

Trackpad and hands interfere with each other significantly and PalmCheck isn't perfect while you're typing. Solved with TouchFreeze:
TouchFreeze-1.0.2.msi - Project Hosting on Google Code - submitted by poster ColdHeat
TouchFreeze-1.0.2.msi - touchfreeze - TouchFreeze-1.0.2.msi - Project Hosting on Google Code

Still the problem of right clicking? Solved by using Two Finger Scroll: Project Hosting on Google Code - submitted by poster ColdHeat
two-finger-scroll - Project Hosting on Google Code

Best option for the trackpad is a program called EvnyTouchPad by poster Reil:
Free File Hosting Made Simple - MediaFire

Latest version: http://www.mediafire.com/?tpcynrdlo2oattc
You can read about it in this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-envy-hdx/502589-e14-trackpad-discussion-only.html
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FACT:

My Envy 17 3D DOES have Intel Switchable Graphics! Dual display adapters...Radeon HD 6850 AND Intel HD Graphics. So one misnomer out of the way

ALSO

I roadtested an Asus G73SW a few weeks back. It had the Intel P65 Express chipset. Envy 17 3D has the Intel HM67 Express Chipset. Intel Centrino Advanced-M 6200 AGN and Realtek Gigabit LAN

The HP Blu Ray / DVD drive is a TS-TB23L, which I believe is made by Samsung

Also...Broadcom 2070 Bluetooth

Coolsense IS software!

 

Just got mine too. Now for the long process of transferring files and installing software...

HP CoolSense is there...it's really simple and doesn't seem to do much.

 

Yes it does. As listed on the Intel Spec sheet for the processor (on die integrated GPU):

Intel® Core? i7-2630QM Processor (6M Cache, 2.00 GHz)

Intel® Core? i7-2620QM Processor (6M Cache, 2.30 GHz)

 

nice you guys got yours. post some pics and videos. what are your initial impressions?

 

Congradts to you guys!!! I will be joining you soon, build date on March 29, 2011, hopefully they will deliver sooner.

Just a note: If anyone plans on taking an HD video of your new Envy, please PM me once its on YouTube, and I will add your video to "The Envy 17 3D SB YouTube Video Thread"

Vidoes may be of you unboxing, testing different programs, games, videos of you watching videos, reviews of the laptop....whatever you deem cool.

Most importantly, enjoy.

P.S. Thanks 2.0

KJ

 

And when you make that thread, PM me so I can link it here.

 

I am currently backing up with Acronis so I have an "Out of Box" configuration. It seems to be taking longer than I thought. I will keep posting photos...video is gonna be a pain. My wife's camera only does .mov Hate that format. This thing is INSANE! Beauty isn't the word.

I work from home...so as I do this...the phone is ringing like crazy....will do as I can...

I am only having ONE issue. HP doesn't have this machine in their database, so I am having difficulty initializing the 4 Year onsite / Accidental damage. Product ID is XW930AV on the box and when you hit Fn-Escape it says XW630AV. They are supposed to call me back

 

Something else I want to probe once my backup is done. Went into the bios setup before and thought I saw that I could enable RAID If this is the case, I just may go and get myself another Samsung 640 GB 7200 rpm drive and RAID it with the one in the machine...That would make the machine SCREAM!

 

Bobmitch, do you have a small dent in the keyboard frame between the Windows and Alt keys?

 

Man I am not going to get anything done today other than refreshing this page. Good work guys thanks for posting its appreciated!

 

I yanked the drive so I could take an image, which is currently running. Normally I use Acronis but today I tried Paragon Drive Copy which so far I'm quite pleased with.

Not going to have much time to mess with this thing until much later tonight, I have a bunch of work to do. IT'S KILLING ME THAT THE ENVY IS SITTING IN THE OTHER ROOM WAITING!

 

temps! we need temps!

hwinfo is a popular utility. I'm running it now on my dv8000 and my 6530b.

note-- this link is direct to the download itself, so you don't have to wade through all the attempts to get you to buy something else

 

HW monitor is another temp measuring program. CPUID - System & hardware benchmark, monitoring, reporting

 

yea that would scream. HP doesn't supply or might not support TWO 7200 rpm drives though, on account of heat.

 

^^^^^ Indeed, temps!

Also, I am dying to find out how the USB 3.0 is working out for those of you who have an external 3.0 USB, is it really 10x faster then USB 2.0 as advertised? I have a Seagate 3.0 can't wait to transfer some files over to the Envy once she's here.

The HDMI 1.4. Anyone have a 3D Bluray movie? I know, I know, there aren't many out there yet, but if you guys have one, please try to play it using the HDMI cable into your 3D HDTV and see if it really works as expected, than also try with the wireless to your tv, assuming you have the neatgear box, or whatever you need for wireless....

You guys are so so lucky.

P.S. fiver5, nice to see that HP finally geared the instruction booklet specifically for the Envy 17 3D. Lol, I recall from my first 2 Envy 17 3Ds the booklet said Envy 17.... bah... speaking of which.... does the bottom of your laptop say Envy 17, or Envy 17 3D? Again, I'm asking because the 1st gen Envy 17 3D used the same case that the regular Envy used. I would assume its still says Envy 17 on the bottom.

KJ

 

fiver5, thanks.

KJ

 

Something else I'd like to see pictures of: the complete BIOS menu structure. Bonus points if it has this secret:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-pavilion-notebooks/558891-hp-dm1z-advanced-bios.html

 

come to this forum is the right thing to do!

I would never thought of backing up the hard drive first if I didnt come to the forum.

since HP does not ship OS disk, I should do that as well.

one question for five5, when you taking out the hd, do you had problem with lifting the HD cover? It was really tough for me with the old envy 17 that I have...hard to lift it...almost break the cover last time I did.

 

Anyone know when the UK is getting the envy 17 SB? not seen a uk model on hp's site

 

Pull two screws, pry and wiggle gently but firmly. I don't like the way it snaps in and out but I haven't manged to break it yet

BTW, you don't have to pull the drive to take an image. All of the modern drive copy tools can either boot from a CD or be installed onto the source disk and ran.

It's just easier for me to pull the drive because I already have a workstation all set up to image drives and drop them on my NAS.

 

and temps! lol :yes:

 

thats what I was talking about. the cover snap in really tight on the old one that I had. I can only lift the two end, and it almost snap in half...

I kind have to open the cover anyway because I want to install a SSD on it as OS HD, and the original as 2nd HDD.

now the question is my SSD is smaller than the 640GB HDD(which I ordered), would I still be able to copy the OS over to the SSD?
I was think about using Ghost, but it maight need the new drive equal or bigger than original.
what tool should I used?

 

I'm paying a good bit of attention to this forum. I'm leaning towards a DV7....but I'm so ticked off that HP pulled the back-lit keyboards on the new DV6's that I may go with another brand....unless they can give me a screaming deal on an Envy 17 3D.....

 

I'd like to make a small request, if any of you owners can run GPU-Z and tell us what the clocks are on the 6850 it would be much appreciated. A couple of benchmarks like 3DMark would be awesome as well Thanks.

 

I just got my Envy 17 3D this morning and there seems to be something wrong with the system tray icons. Some of them are blurry and look pixelated (not the default Windows icons). I have theme set to the default Aero and the resolution is at its native 1920x1080. Anyone know how to fix this?

 

No...the surface is completely uniform. Do you see one in the pic?

 

This machine is running as cool as one can right now

 

I have one.

 

mcchea

Can you post a photo?

 

Later tonight I will. I'm in class.

 

Here are some benchmarks of the 2630/640-7200 Envy 17 3D as shipped. I did two runs. One on AC power and one running on battery with switched graphics.

PCMark does not recognize the Radeon 6850. I don't know enough about the internals of the test to know if that will make a difference or not.

Surprisingly, while the Envy benchmarked faster almost across the board on AC power, it got a (slightly) higher overall score running on battery. This appears to be mainly due to MPG-2 decoding being appreciably faster with the internal graphics vs the Radeon.

No idea if this is a driver issue, a configuration issue, an issue with the test, or if the Radeon somehow just sucks at MPG-2 (that would make me a sad panda if true). But it sure is curious. Also notice that the Radeon absolutely crushed the onboard graphics in GPU image manipulation tests.

I don't have 3DMark 11, but based on this I just might buy it and run some detailed graphics tests later tonight or tomorrow.

Detailed PCMark Vantage results


Sorry, no temperature data yet I wanted to get some baselines of the system as shipped before I did absolutely anything else.

In other news, I pre-ordered a 256GB OCZ Vertex 3 today. So in a few weeks I should hopefully have interesting and exciting things to report

 

Aww man I can't wait for mine to come now!
I ordered 2/27 and ETS 3/18 and it's still not shipped yet but I ordered 2820

 

I can't give you any recommendations on transferring the OS from magnetic to SSD, as I always run my SSD's with fresh installs.

Paragon Drive Copy claims that it handles this job gracefully and takes care of things like the alignment, etc for you. I have also heard that the latest Acronis does as well. But since I've never done it myself I don't have the experience to tell.

 

Hey...just noticed something...kinda bummed! The machine ships with Vista Home Premium 64 Bit...but NOT Service Pak 1. Guess I will have to install it myself

 

I hope you meant Windows 7.

 

LOL, of course it HAS TO BE Window 7.
KJ

 

Radeon techPowerUp GPU-Z Validation v9dr3

Intel techPowerUp GPU-Z Validation z73nb

 

I ordered mine 3/4 and it's already shipped and by FedEx should arrive 3/16 I also go the 2820QM so you should have already gotten it.

 

Go to Control Panel - Display - Set Custom text size (DPI) and set it to 100%.

 

That's weird. I ordered like a week before you but it still says in production.Maybe I should call them to ask. Did you get 8GB ram?
Called them and they said estimated build date is march 18 so I'll have to wait till then to have any kind of complain LOL

 

Thanks! Hey wasn't the original Envy 17 3D clocks at 500/900? Looks like they were able to clock it up a bit maybe due to better thermals.

 

so i got my hp envy 17 3D SD today. everything is fine including the 3-D feature but there is one problem:
i had specified for a 160 GB SSD + 640 GB 7200 rpm and i seem to have got around 300 GB of hard disk space. The C: drive (local disk) is saying '235 GB free of 277 GB' and the D: (recovery) is saying '2.96 GB free of 20.4 GB'.

i do not know whether the hard disk i have on my envy is SSD or 7200 rpm. can someone tell me how to tell if my hard disk is SSD or not? also, if it is (approximately) 300 GB SSD, do i hold on to it or do i send my envy back to HP?

 

Show us what is listed under Device Manager -> Disk Drives

Also Computer Management -> Storage -> Disk Managment

 

Something's not right.

Go into control panel and then device manager. Expand the section called Disk drives. It will tell you the manufacturer and other details. From that you will be able to tell type of drives.

 

"SOUTH Bridge"

Shouldn't it be Sandy Bridge? Correct me if I'm wrong...anyways I hope to be joining this group asap....

 

Those pictures are amazing! Keep it coming....

 

Thanks! No idea how it set itself to 125%.

 

It probably set it that way because the screen IS a 125% (~120DPI) display. Without the scaling, people end up setting their screen resolution too low, and make everything (instead of just some things) look crappy... or they complain (to HP) about things being too small.