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

Bobmitch, I do hope it does not pertain to the Seagate external HD. I purchased a sweet 1.5TB Seagate 3.0 USB external drive specifically to use on our Envy's 3.0 USB port! Please tell me it wil perform alright....When I get a chance I'm doing a vid on the tranger of a large file/files.

KJ

 

yup good thinking slotti its all part of the game. a pair of 5200s might not be that bad of an option right now if one is prepared to re-configure later with after market drives. you already have the 2nd bay caddie and cable all you gotta do is swap drives out. and raid 0 striped 2TB storage is not that bad...

 

Just as a reminder:
Hard Drive Caddy & Cable for HP Envy 17 (also works with SSD) [HP-ENVY-17] - $38.55 : NewmodeUS, Hard Drive Caddys for Notebooks
HP forces you to buy both caddies, so you end up buying what you already have, and you can't even sell it on evil bay or somewhere else, because nobody really has any use for another primary caddy.

 

slotti, +1 rep for the link ^^^ I might consider another 7200rpm.

KJ

 

Killa...

No it doesn't apply to your drive. I was actually contemplating the 2.5" hybrid Seagate drive as a drive for my son's Pavillion. Seagate claims that the extra SS memory on the drive makes it faster. Then I read reviews on storagereview.com and a few other places. The drive gets owned by Western Digital Scorpio Black 500 / 750 and Samsung (the brand HP is using). You are good. My main desktop backup drive is a eSata / USB 2.0 Seagate 750 and it has performed beautifully for two years now...

 

Any of you guys selling theirs???

!Brand New! HP Envy 17 3D Sandy Bridge Laptop | eBay

Supposedly same day shipping.

 

I hope that is not from one of us...

KJ

 

huh. Same thing happened when the envy 14 came out...(people ebaying the laptop)

 

I see someon'es trying to take advantage of the single 7200 rpm situation...

 

Sounds like I'll end up with the computer afterall, they called me and made a nice offer, so I accepted

and slotti: They never called me before cancelling my order.

 

Weird, they usually call to confirm the order.

May we ask what the offer was?

 

Woo Hoo! Just got $300.00 off my order!

I just got off the phone with HP and successfully obtained the $300.00 discount that slotti received!

If you would like to do the same, call HP Resolutions at 1-866-217-6014. If you are not automatically connected to a supervisor, ask for one. Once connected, explain that after ordering your Envy you noticed that other customers received a discount of $300.00. Explain that you are feeling a bit of buyer's remorse and that you are considering the cancellation of your order if you are not able to receive the additional $300.00 discount. Mention that you saw the receipt of a "Friend" and that to the left of his subtotal, a coupon of $300.00 is displayed. Continue to complain until the representative offers you the same discount. If you are fortunate enough to speak with a decent employee, this should only take one shot. Otherwise, don't get discouraged, just keep calling back.

It may also help to throw in compliments about the representative and HP. This seemed to make the representative more willing to help me.

Good luck and please post your success stories! My Envy 17 3D SB will ship next week!

 

Stephan. Thumbs up ^^^^^^^^^^^^
Told you guys, it is that easy.

Now back to the 5400rpm issue and a good replacement. I just found this one on amazon:

Amazon.com: OCZ Technology 240 GB Vertex 2 Series SATA II 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive (SSD) OCZSSD2-2VTXE240G: Electronics

what do you guys think?

 

Thanks! The OCZ drives tend to get good reviews from PCWorld. I get their magazine monthly and they tend to favor them.

 

Hey guys, has anyone switched to the Envy theme when you got the popup to do so?

I lost my Aero effects (aero peek and shake etc) and would like to get them back. Any advice?

Thanks!

 

If you can survive maybe 2-3 weeks Intel and OCZ are coming out with their next gen SSD's which promise to be much faster than the current gen.

 

That'll be fine.

If you are in no rush to decide I should be able to post some Envy/Vertex III benchmarks in about two weeks which would give another data point.

But you won't go wrong with the Vertex II.

 

OCZ said that vendors should be shipping "near the end of this week".

Tomorrow is "near the end of this week" and none of us that pre-ordered from Amazon have heard a single peep they are coming.

Seems like next week is looking a bit more likely.

 

How much will the next gen ssd's run? I haven't heard anything about this. Also, I have a 160g intel ssd i'm looking to get rid of for a pretty cheap if anyone is interested.

 

I read over on Engadget the new Intels will be available to purchase on the 28th of this month and they will basically fill the same price slots as their older counterparts.

 

I got $300 off total, which is more than I expected, so I went with it.

 

Preorder pricing on the 256 OCZ VIII is $500.

Pricing on the 256 VII just dropped to $380 from $400 like a week ago.

No idea on the intel and crucial pricing, I'd expect them to be maybe a bit higher than OCZ but I'm not going to pretend to know. I'd also be surprised to see the VIII still at $500 by the end of summer. Probably depends on how big the stockpiles of VII's are.

 

So you will be an Envy 17 3D owner after all? Or should wait until you finally unbox it? Lol....

Glad that you're sticking around though

 

You think? $1,599 for a new Envy 17 3D SB at HP.com, but this person wants an extra $100 for a whopping $1,699..... really? On what planet? Lol, sorry. It made me smile. I supppose its America so go make some money.

KJ

 

Apoxxx, welcome to the Envy fold! You gave me a bit of a scare before talking about going to the Alienbeast side! Although, you never lost my respect.

KJ

 

I'm selling my C300 after seeing how much faster the V3 is. Kinda sad cause I bought it in December thinking I'd get a laptop soon, and it's just been sitting around getting old as new technology gets developed, and I haven't even used it

And thanks guys, I know I've been alot back and forth, but this last thing was really not my fault, I wanted an Envy, but HP made it hard and pissed me off. I would have went somewhere else if they didn't call me. But it's all settled now, and the order is through
And all the talk about Alienware: Yes, I would have went there instead if they had offered their 3D laptop with the 6970HD (as they do the non 3D one). But seeing as they only have the 460M for the 3D, I'm willing to tradeoff the loss of 20-25% performance for better aesthetics, and the 10% rebate on HPAcademy sealed my choice.

 

For a brief time I was considering going SSD....but I think I'm gonna stick with my 640GB 7200rpm as my primary for now.....maybe if I fill it a bit I might get a 1TB 7200rpm for a secondary drive if I get a good price....otherwise, I do have my new Seagate 1.5TB external to store my vital info/stuff.

I'm thinking down the line in about 3 or so years when its time to get the Envy 17 3D, or Envy 18 3D, lol or whatever version of Envy (new name as HDX became Envy, wonder what Envy will change to?) Hopefully SSDs will be much more afforadable to match new tech. I mean, for my needs right now...for work, net, a bit of gameplay, I should be fine with my current config...but I still will have an open mind.

KJ

 

I've gone SSD once and never going back. The difference is just too noticeable to be able to use a mechanical disk for the OS once you've tried SSD
And I plan on getting the Vertex3, so I'll still be able to tell you if the Envy supports Sata3, if nobody has gotten around to it by then

 

I spent a few years complaining to people about the cost of SSD's and stressing about wear level and trim and other stuff.

Last summer, after the firm insistence of a coworker and a long talking to about Windows 7 I finally broke down and installed a Vertex in my primary laptop.

After spending about 5 minutes of normal activites, I decided that I was stupid for not having done this years ago. It literally and completely changed my life.

It's better than cocaine and I don't care what it costs. I spend all.freaking.day. in front of a computer, watching the little HDD light flash and listening to fans whiz and disks grind, if I'm going to do that I might as well do whatever I can to make it a pleasant and enjoyable experience.

 

Winning!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Im starting to fall into KJ's camp in regards to the SSD thing...

It's just too expensive for way too little space. If I get the Envy chances are that it will be 4 years before I get a new notebook and surely by then the prices will be more reasonable....

 

You don't buy an SSD for the space though, and with the envy you're lucky enough to have a secondary drive bay for your storage needs.
Get a small SSD like 64gb or even 32gb and use it as a systemdisk. I promise it's worth it

 

By system disk do you mean just install Windows on the SSD and put everything else on the secondary hard drive?

 

yup, windows and the most used programs/games. Then use a normal HDD for your storage needs.
The performance increase is amazing.

 

Hey guys. I'm awaiting my envy 17 3D. I picked up this SSD any comments about performance or anything?

FRYS.com | Corsair

After $20 rebate and a $50 gift card I had laying around total cost comes out to around $110.

 

Almost forgot. Here is the external 1.5TB USB 3.0 HD from Seagate. She looks very hot. Not much bigger than a deck of cards, very cool.



You can read more about it here. Is shows graphs and compares performance.

http://www.everythingusb.com/seagate-freeagent-goflex-ultra-portable-drive-20554.html

By the way, for a limited time, Costco has this baby for sale...just $119.95 I believe either until 4/1/11 or 4/3/11. I should be able to finish my install on the Envy with this by this Saturday.

Note: Beats Newegg.com's price by $10

KJ

 

Hey Killa Joe, what made you go with a traditional spinning HD rather than a flash HD? I'm always afraid that I'd drop those things and break it instantly losing all of my data. They seem so easy to break and I really wouldn't want to risk losing my data.

 

I hear ya....but honestly, I don't plan on doing much traveling with that small HD. As portable as it is, its gonna stay home. All the programs I need on the spot will be installed on my 640GB of course. Anything extra for travel, I plan on carrying on my 16GB USB stick, lol. The 1.5TB 3.0 is really only for storing vital files/info for long term, not to access daily, so for me its a great deal.

If I need more on the go, then I will get a 1TB drive if needed. For my next Envy down the line, I will bite and try the SSD, but for now, I'm good....unless someone here wants to donate their SSD? HAHA

KJ

 

Cam121,

Have you had additional issues with your Envy since you reconfigured your dual hard drive? Has the heat problem been helped with the SB processor and/or the dual drive? Are you satisfied with the quality control on your computer? Would really appreciate your and others opinion at this point.

 

I haven't had any issues with my Envy since I reinstalled my OS. However, I also haven't done much with it as I'm too busy at work to go home and start the lengthy process of moving off my old computer.

I did however have it run for several hours applying patching and installing base software (and patching again). The machine never got hot. While I haven't gamed on it yet, I can just say that under heavy HDD/SDD load, the system never experienced any heat issues.

My case looks to be in near perfect condition (I don't have any bevel gaps or raised clickpad issues). I found a minor scratch on the hinge joining the main unit and the display; but honestly after I'm using this thing for a year, it's gonna look a hell of a lot worse so I'm fine with it.

In all I am very happy with my laptop. A lot of people have commented on dream systems lately in other threads and the only thing I wish this laptop had was more memory slots (for 16GB). However, 8GB should service my needs long enough. I don't do much (if any) video/graphic editing so lack of hdmi-in doesn't bother me. I just needed a good processor and memory to run VM's plus have enough horsepower to game when I go out on the road.

 

I started using my Envy a bit last night and noticed something that I don't recall that my first gen. Envy 17 3D did, but it could have and I've just forgotten. I can't help but notice when I press the button to turn her on, bluray slot drive makes the "eject" noise. At first I thought it was the hard drive for some reason... Anyway, the laptop works fine, blurays play fine...its just the eject noise on startup. Now, if I went to Start, and clicked on "Restart" once the laptop is on, it will reboot without the noise. So the noise only occurs if I totally power the Envy down then pressing the power button on, and the eject noise occurs again for a couple seconds, and that's it....

So is this normal? I tried to Google this issue, the only thing I found was eject noise is normal on slot bluray drives when pressing the eject button...but I could not find anything about people experiencing this upon pressing the power on button.

Has anyone here have the "eject" noise when starting your Envy first thing of the day?

KJ

 

I can't attest to the noise on the Envy 17, but my Studio XPS 16 with slot-loading drive would make the same noise every time I booted it up. Sounded exactly like the sound it made when ejecting a disc. I am guessing it is a built in test function, but can't say for sure. Hopefully I'll be able to tell you if it happens on my Envy 3D by next week!

 

Hey guys, first post here. Been following all these threads since last november and waiting and waiting for the SB envy. I am about to pull the trigger on either an Envy 17 3d or dv7tqe. I have had a hard time deciding and I think the only thing that is holding me up is battery life. Does anyone have a good idea on the best battery life I can expect on the E17 3d using the switched graphics. Please help!!

 

Mine does the eject noise too when I power it on. I thought it was normal o.o LOL so I didn't think it was a problem

 

nk290, thanks. Congradts on your purchase!
phendricksmsu, welcome to NBR, ask away...

mimipee, thanks. I hope to hear from others if this "eject" noise on power up is normal. I just love my Envy and don't want to return it if its not a problem with the bluray.

KJ

 

For anyone that installed SSD to their Envy 17 or laptops before, is it hard/difficult to do it? From reading I read that for Hp Envy there's something ( I don't know what is it) that people say is glued which makes it hard to take apart. Since I might install an SSD, I want to know what I'm going into. But thinking that I might messed up some cables or having to format and redownload all the drivers and windows update (SP1) makes me => :/

 

Ok you guys have convinced me, I'll be joining the Envy 17 3D club soon

I was also planning on getting a new AmEx card, so I took care of that today, when it gets here I'll order the Envy with that so I get an extra year of warranty.

Hopefully I'll be able to call and get the ~300 off that people have been doing

 

Cam...

Couple of questions:

1. Is the SSD the Intel X-25?
2. When you did the clean install off the recovery disks, did you reset the SSD first? I am reading that by doing that, you restore it to factory condition. If NOT...did you use Intel Toolbox to clean the clusters?

Thanks

 

It's normal on all computers with slot loading drives. Even my Mac Mini does that on startup.

 

Sounds like a bios / hardware check on bootup. I wouldn't worry...