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

Yeah I know it's pre-installed, but important stuff like that should come on a CD or be available for a download in case of format.

My Envy should be here by mid-april.

 

Alright, how's this drive look?
Amazon.com: Intel X25M 80 GB Solid State Drive with Internal SATA and Power Cables SSDSA2MH080G2K5: Electronics

80 GB's should be plenty of storage for both Windows 7 and the critical applications that require speed right?

 

Ask and you shall receive! Although HP.com's config tool does not allow you to include the recovery disks, you can certainely order them. Here is the link. Just put in your serial number and for now looks like you can only order 1 copy? Oh well.

RECOVERY DVDs for ENVY 17 3D SB
https://warp2.external.hp.com/driver/dr_pricing_info.asp

KJ

 

KJ is correct on both counts. I returned my Envy due to a paperwork snafu that actually created issues with my warranty. My Envy 17 3D was in impecible shape. It ran beautifully and it killed me to have to return it for another...but I purchased a 4 year warranty with on site...and something happened to the paperwork to muck it up. As far as the TriDef software....I learned something today. Go back a few posts and MagnusDraco shared this with me

DDD USA Inc :: TriDef 3D for HP ENVY 17 3D - Welcome

So YES...there is a solution. The Envy 17 3D is one of the finest machines in it's class. Believe me...I not only read and partake of the Envy posts...read the Asus, Dell or others....The issues here are miniscule in comparison. Someone posted that there was a 50/50 return on these...I don't think that is even close to reality. There are a handful of us who have returned for one reason or another....mine certainly doesn't apply to hardware failure....not one bit. I used a Dell Inspiron E1505 for close to five years with some dead pixels. Even monitor makers can't guarantee a perfect screen. The only company to assure NO dead pixels is Asus...and look at that system. You call them and get your monitor replaced. You are sent a box to ship the computer in so they can send to a service center...where it might sit for two weeks before you get a monitor replacement (why...because Asus doesn't stock parts at their service center...they basically let the orders build up...send in orders for parts once or twice a week...then...as the parts come in...they fix the machines in the order that they came in). It's a crap shoot. Some Asus owners haven't seen their machines in four weeks...then others have had to have issues done three or more times. One guy complained that he has owned his G73 for eight weeks and has only had it for two.

No need for buyers remorse. I was incorrect in stating that TriDef wasn't included in the SWSETUP directory. That is the only correct thing. TriDef has the webpage where you can download the software. According to the attached site...it knows you own an Envy...so activation is easy as a button click...something I learned today. You can use your system restore disks...OR you can install and restore the entire machine....NOTHING is missing...

 

Now, certainly KillaJoe and I are about to find out if our new machines are properly configured with the 160 SSD and 640 GB HDD. If yes...then HP fixed the issue...If NO...then anyone who has received an improperly configured machine with the 320 GB RAID...has the right to go back to HP and ask for FREE System recovery discs. Cam121 comes directly to mind. He actually found a work around to fix the Master Boot record...and used the discs that came with his machine. Many of us have skills on differing levels...and some are not hardware / software saavy at all. If that is your case and you want to set things up properly on your own...I would suggest a call to HP about the new discs. I bet that they are designed for ALL configurations

Thoughts?

 

Stephan C

Not a bad price. I double check on Newegg. They are out of stock, presently...but for about $30 more...you can get the 120 GB Intel SSD. If Intel model isn't important...they have this 120 for YOUR price of the 80 GB Intel

Newegg.com - OCZ Vertex Series OCZSSD2-1VTX120G 2.5" 120GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

OCZ's drives get very high reviews...

Just a thought

 

Hey all Ive been reading up on SSDs and I have heard that if you occupy too much space on your SSD that performance will suffer? Like you can occupy up to a certain volume but once past that and it's not good. Does anyone know the % recommended not to go over?

I've got about 103GB of data and that's why I hesitate to get a 128GB....and the next step would be 256 which I'm sure would be good enough for me over the next 4 years.

However price is an issue and the whole "HP Warranty" issue. Plus the hassle of replacing the drive included with my aftermarket one....

 

Bobmitch

Are the Intel SSDs any better than the OCZ ones? If I can get an extra 40 GBs of space for the same price I'd certainly take it.

 

Stephan, you might want to take a look at this review on this very own forum:
SSD shootout: Real World Performance
They did not include the intel since it is based on an older chip set if I am not mistaken and the verybody else seems to be going to the newer sandforce controller.

 

What date was this done on? It doesn't say anywhere on there as far as I can tell.

 

By the looks of the review...nice drive. What I can share is what OCZ's support is like to deal with. A year or so ago...had 4 GB of DDR2 PC8500 memory go bad on me. One phone call to OCZ support...and deemed needing replacement. Got my RMA...sent back UPS two day...and within another two days...overnighted...two brand new sticks of memory. Really simple process...very nice people. If I were to upgrade to a 256 or so...would do OCZ or Corsair...without even thinking about it. New Intel G510's look nice but pricey

 

First Page:
By Phil, NotebookReview.com Contributor | 3/21/2011

so i would say it is pretty recent

 

Was glad to have this site referenced by the great people at Home Theater Forum - Home Theater Systems - HomeTheaterShack
I created an HP Envy 17 3D thread there for anyone that wish to DYI a 3D home theater or other related (cheap 3D projector and 3D projector screens). 3D projector & 3D screens are tricky. Have learned a lot from here. And...
if anyone has other sites for 3D projectors & 3D screens - please share!

I have a lot of catching up to do on this site, but I am packing for a week in NYC to visit Great Neck Long Island.

 

Tesla3D, welcome to NBR. As you'll find out soon, we're a good bunch here, and yes, the info isn't too bad either! Thanks for the Home Theater Systems link, I might check it out soon.

By the way, enjoy the NYC. I'm so jealous. I was there for 4 years doing residency. I miss the pizza in Brooklyn. The best "regular/normal" pizza as I call it in the USA. If you can, go to Sal's Pizza on Wyckoff ave. next to Wyckoff Hospital. You'll thank me, well, assuming you like a great pizza.

KJ

 

Lol danka....on my phone so I missed it.

 

KJ are you a doc? i'm doing clinicals at JPH in Chicago. i have a couple pals rotating through Wyckoff. small world

 

Yes I am. Ask your pals if they have tried Sal's Pizza. If they haven't kick their xxx ! Lol, seriously, tell them to get a large pizza so its made fresh...They will thank me... Sorry I know it is a laptop review forum, but couldn't help think about my fav pizza joint.

KJ

 

Before installing anything else, downloaded the PassMark Software.
One more short note:
Took the HP Envy 17 3D (8 gb ddr3) out of the box about Jan 8th.
Ran the hard drives (2 HD) defrag.
Note: Passmark Benchmarks are just an indication, not an "end all" this is provided as an interesting FYI only.

I posted one of the Windows 7 vs Windows 7 Ultimate on Pass Mark using the trial version. Now that the trial is over, they are no longer available. Searching my hard drive, it appears that Passmark overwrote the results leaving the last Windows 7 Ultimate.

The Passmark file is attached for someone with a license to review.
It seems to me that Windows 7 Ultimate provided an overall 25% boost in overall general performance. Both results were saved on the Passmark web site (with the Windows 7 vs Windows 7 Ultimate) name.

 

Seriously? I'm going to Google this right now. I had no idea Windows Ultimate has the power built in to actually increase laptop performace. Thought drive speed like having an SSD did that.

KJ

 

Pizza is a great thing to discuss! Esp when it is the good homemade type!
My kid got accepted to the Acadamy across the way. I use to travel alot, 32 weeks a year and frequently stop on NY. And frequent travelers live for the great food, not the chain food shops.

I won't make it there this time... but will spend more time on the trip this summer. Will put it on my "to do" list for NYC.

I use to program managed health care systems. Stat Paths, head to toe assesments, payment systems, meds... you know, the day to day grind for Long Term Care facilities.

One of the reasons my company bought the Envy 17 3D is to merge the new FLIR (infared) camera systems (a measily $50K) with 3D image development. They can identify tissue just slightly heat elevated. While it is a little early for humans, it has been a huge hit for horses and other animals. Pinpointing the most slight inflamation and other things.

I better keep packing. Leaving at 4AM and won't take the Envy.

 

Still searching how Windows Ultimate may speed things up...

Anyway, came across this page showing various ways to increase your system performance. Use at your own risk I guess. But he does have some good pointers. I will use some, not all.


Speed Up Windows 7 - Ultimate Guide To Make Windows 7 Blazing Fast!!!


KJ

 

First time quoting myself.

Windows 7 Speed: Home Premium Vs Ultimate - Neowin Forums

According to that forum looks like its agreed Windows 7 Ultimate may actually be slower than Windows 7 Home Premium given the fact it offers more services....makes sense...

Not sure were you got the 25% increase in performance. I am skeptical on this until I see hard proof.

KJ

 

One more... LOL
I am a Micosoft MAP member. Attend lots of MS meetings (since 1994). Windows 7 Ultimate basically has additional licensing that activates the memory management. That is exactly why I did that experiment.
So cool, all I had to do was enter the Windows 7 Ultimate keycode, and Windows installation was basically already done. No time at all.

If your not aware, there is a 3rd party batch file that Microsoft send everyone to for enabling Windows 7 Ultimate Remote Terminal for multiple users. I bought the kid a HP i7 desktop with 16 GB of RAM, 2 x 1TB hard drives, a serious graphics card and 2x 27" monitors plus his 27" HDTV. For gaming or video editing, he can run all three monitors.
But, more importantly, the wife and myself can remotely run our old XP and old dual processors at the same time off that i7 desktop.

I have done that for two years, enjoyed an i7 from an old pc remotely. By saving all the money, I waited for something like the HP Envy 17 3D to come out.

Before you run out and buy the Windows 7 Ultimate....
Look at the Microsoft Partner program (search for MAPS).
For a yearly fee, you can get Windows 7 Ultimate, Office 2010 Professional, every thing else MS makes, and even Windows Server 2008 in different versions. One version is desighed "lite" for portables!

With windows server as a dual boot, I can install MS SQL Server and much more. The instructions for it are hard to find.
Reminde me when I get back from NYC. I personally took five badly written sites and made one easy to follow site for the Envy 17 to install a dual boot. The virtual hard drive... I am very happy with!

 

Tesla3D, thanks for the info. Hope you will find our little forum a decent place.

KJ

 

One of the microsoft VIP at a Microsoft Presentation here in DTC Colorado explained that the licensing is a huge factor. You should be able to find some sites that show more about the maximum RAM for each version.

Having said that: This is exactly why I ordered 8 GB of DDR3, not the HP configured 6 GB. It could very well be that the 8 GB is what makes the difference. Honestly, if HP could have put in 16 GB, I would have gladly paid! Watching the process threads on an i7, they just don't get that busy.

Anyway, that is my theory. I am so sorry that I don't have the before and after to attach.

 

Good find! I know that site.
You probably know this, but for our other viewers...
Be carefule when turning the i7 to max. I was told by an HP tech that this is set to dynamic or on demand. If you leave it on max as this article shows, your battery will run down much faster even when you are not using processor intensive applictions. As you saw, turning off some services is not that difficult.
I did read the link above where people claim it made no difference for Windows 7 Ultimate (64 bit of course). Having run passmark before and after on my new computer within an hour... The 3D image test with the jets flying around was profoundly improved.
I did post the results on Passmark's site. I feel really bad now for not taking screen shots.

Also: When installing Office 2010 - I program Excel Object Models. The only noticeable difference in Office 2010 32 bit and 64 bit is that Excel can grow to some huge number of rows. I assist a lot of people across the world. I only installed the 32 bit version. This is not to say that there can not be cases for the 64 bit version. If in doubt, go for the 32 bit choice. That is just my opinion after many hours of research.

 

For those wondering how to get TriDef updates and information on installing TriDef following a clean installation of Windows, please refer to this thread from the TriDef website.


ddd.com • View topic - ????? ??? 2K11 ? ?????·

Basically, it should detect that the computer is an Envy 17 3D and activation should go through.

 

Just received an email from TriDef. They claim that the only way to install the software is through a system recovery. They do not supply the OEM installer...Hmmm!

Stephan C...I would rather you be correct. Perhaps the tech at TriDef didn't understand my question. If my machine is configured RAID when I get it...I may break it down and do some testing that will help everyone. Now...just to get the machine...

 

As a side note... HP.com just added the option to add the recovery media (DVD set) to the Envy 17 3D SB when you configure it. Remember, you can always purchase it later from their site as well.

KJ

 

They really can't expect you to never format your factory computer or lose the 3D capabilities. I'm considering asking them to mail me one of those recovery DVD's (which should have been included for free in the first case)

 

Apoxxx, a few months ago when I first ordered my first gen. Envy 17 3D I asked the sales rep. why they are not including the recovery DVDs in the first place, just like all computer companies used to do in the old days, lol.

You can imagine what HP said. Something along the lines of, "people don't really want the extra dvds lying around since they lose them. That is why we have the recovery media on the hard drive." Yeap, they said that.

P.S. I think you have a right to ask for it. Although they charge $19 when you configure it, but some reason I think if you order it from their site later it might be less, something like $13 I think. I think if you put up an argument they might give in. It really should be no effort on their part.

KJ

 

Great SSD deal at Buy.com:
A Kingston SSDNow 128 GB drive is on sale for $169.00 after rebates. I'm not sure how reliable Kingston SSD's are but I know their RAM used to be pretty good.
Buy.com
Let me know what you think.

 

HP is now providing updated AMD graphics drivers with Intel switchable graphics support for the Envy 17 Sandy Bridge models.

AMD graphics driver: 8.800.8.1000
Intel SG: 8.15.10.2246
HDMI Audio: 7.11.0.7706
OS Support: Windows 7 x64

Download - ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp51501-52000/sp51614.exe

Visit the driver thread for more info and updates to other drivers.

 

Just an FYI for everyone waiting on a delivery:

Report: Intel's faulty chip slows PC production

Initially...HP was about 10 days ahead of schedule...delivering machines. Everyone has slowed down quite a bit. Not exactly sure when production will be more robust...

 

Question
I tought i saw a second option for hard drive, may be im missing with another computer but is it possible to replace the dvd with a harddrive on the 17" envy ?
The motherboard accept raid 0 ?
(2x vertex 3 in raid 0) (blink youre eye and voila, windows is open

Edit : Oh ok i just saw it was in the spot with the first hard drive...
But
Still possible to add another hard drive without problem ? (Juste open the case and look for the empty space...)

 

Since I actually had to go through the DVD recovery process, I am fairly certain that HP has designed a single process for any recovery regardless of HDD/SSD size or configuration. The first pass appears to image the drive using a proprietary OEM'd product. This part lays down a base Windows installation. Upon initial kick-off, an HP program autoruns in the foreground and blocks access to the Start menu. While it runs, it installs the driver software it detects it needs to address hardware configuration of the laptop. It will reboot itself several times. After it restores the drivers, it reboots one last time and auto runs the registration script which eventually leads into the first time use scenario.

 

Cam...

I wasn't sure if the discs were married to the machine configuration or not. Your original post of recovery made me think that, when you had to do a repair on the mbr to get the machine to run properly. I would think it in HP's best interest to make the discs as generic as possible...you can RAID during the install if the procedure recognizes it....but even so...Win 7 is supposed to contain RAID drivers. You first alluded to the fact that you thought you might have encountered some kind of corruption. Any further thoughts on that issue?

Thanks

 

I know there were some questions earlier about the 3D software not being on the recovery materials, I found this comment in one of the reviews of the 17 3D on HP's website

quote- "Tri3D for games works like a dream The Software is 100% free just download the trial version and it will autodetect your computer model and it will register a full version of the software because you bought the HP ENVY 17 3D"

Anyone with an envy want to give it a shot? Hopefully I'll be ordering mine this week

 

I have been going through the thread page by page. I do recall someone actually did a fresh install using their own Win7 and did as you said trucha. He said that activation was a simple touch of the activation button and his machine was detected. I just can't find the post. It makes perfect sense that the software should work that way. As I stated...I asked their tech support department if there was a specific download for TriDef and Envy. That is where my No came from. Basically, they have one download file and it autodetects the machine and activates. This is GREAT information to have...

 

Bobmitch, I'm sure as you are aware I was one of the folks who originally bought the Envy 17 3D which did not include the Tridef drivers pre-installed from HP, so we all had to go to the Tridef website. It was a simple click, auto check, done!

The fact that HP now includes it pre-installed is nice. I can't imagine that if we did a clean install Tridef would not allow us to reinstall it from their website. Worst case scenario, you pick up the phone, talk to Tridef, they say ok here is a lic# enjoy!

P.S. 99% there should be a work-around to life's problems...LOL, don't know why I said that, but it seems kinda appropriate.

KJ

 

For everybody that is interested in buying an ENVY 17, apparently there is a 20% coupon code floating around:

Get 20% Coupon HP ENVY 17 Laptop + Envy 17 Review - LogicBUY

 

What's the old phrase "If the shoe fits"

Yes...it is appropriate...lol

 

I have no idea why it didn't properly lay down the partition correctly on the first pass. I've encountered something like this a long time ago in the days when I was writing ghost imaging scripts for college lab pc's. Running the recovery dvd's a second time probably would have fixed the issue, but honestly that would have taken over an hour (and dvd swapping) whereas my workaround required less than 5 minutes.

 

The coupon entered does not apply to the items in your shopping cart. Please review the coupon for products included in this offer.

 

That is because its for the Envy 17 SB, NOT the Envy 17 3D SB. If you guys want to use this coupon for the Envy 17 3D SB you must call HP and talk to a sales rep. If the rep. is willing to work with you, then they will apply it to the 3D. Good luck.

KJ

 

It dumps windows PE on the HDD and then windows PE installs windows 7.

It's the same way its done on network builds.

 

Hey
I'm new here but have been reading your posts for quite some time. I do know the configurations you ordered from a bunch of you guys by now ^^ but there are some product related topics I would really like to know (and I guess not only me)
so, let's see if you can help me:

1.) Battery life:
6 cell
9 cell
easy use, like web or office, screen on medium brightness or so, IGP, power saving option if availible (kind of like the MBP battery life test, not wanting to discuss this here^^)

2.) screen: same league like envy 17 3d (because this one is amazing)

3.) heat: left palm rest gets warm, what else?
here I would be interested in
a) idle (office, web)
b) gaming

4.) noise
a) idle
b) gaming
it would be interesting how it performes in gerneral, not that it is not that loud for a gaming laptop. I got a Clevo now (W870CU), so noise IS an issue and I would like it calm and silent.

5.) in one or 2 sentences, what is the problem with the clickpads and are they really that bad (compared to an asus or so for example, maybe not compared to a MBP)

6.) charger: is it big and heavy or small and light?

I know these are a bunch of questions and I know no one will want to fill out all of them at once, but if you could bring together your knowledge this would be great and would provide something like a first review

Thanks so far!

 

Anyone know if we can use our Envy 3Ds to watch 3D videos on Youtube? I've been playing around with the 3D youtube videos, but I have no idea if there's actually a way to make it work with our 3D glasses etc.

 

Sad day for me, as I packed up the Envy. She died over the weekend, but I'm going to give this one more try since the machine was so good otherwise. I placed a new order today and they gave me a great deal for the SSD+HD combo so I can't complain too much.

 

Did you follow my lead? Glad you stuck to your guns and didn't downgrade!

KJ