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

No dead pixels here on my 17" (also non 3D - European 17-3005eo) at least none so visible I've noticed them yet and I've got mine for a month or so now. To be true a haven't noticed a laptop with dead/stuck pixels since my PowerBook 1400c.

Regarding the proximity sensor. Just ignore it and suddenly it'll work as you set it. At first I couldn't get mine to work within the set 10 seconds even for many minutes. Then suddenly after some rebootes for other things it works. Then I found out you could set the intensity of backlight and after adjusting then, yes, it didn't work again. Figured wth I don't really care and knew it must be a software problem just waiting to be fixed anyway and also just wanted to turn it down without disabling it completely. Then yes suddenly it works again. Go wonder!

A thing I'm not at all happy with is the audio. In order for the drivers to work properly and having the subwoofer working I either have to boot op using Intel graphics (either deliberately set or just booting on battery) OR putting my regional settings to US/USA (and probably some other English combinations may work too). Using my native DK/Denmark settings it's impossible to get decent sound from the speakers sounding like you turn the bass all the way down and the treble all the way on up on your stereo. Yeah I know it sounds really odd that those things are connected but it's totally reproducible. I'm really frustrated with this as this means the machine is just about comparable to not having buildin speakers as they're totally unusable as it is now and I only get decent sound with headphones or external speakers. I really hope they'll pull their fingers out and write a better sound driver working outside english countries.

 

Look like I'm going to have to return mine , the left speaker(near the power button) sounds blown. Anything higher than 50% I can hear a buzzing, to bad everything else was perfect. Any idea how long the return process is? I'll be leaving the country at the end of feburary and need to have a laptop before I leave.

 

An exchange right? It should be back like a week before the end of February at the latest. It will probably be faster than that in all likelihood. That has been my experience with exchanges.

Especially if you send them back the one you have right away.

 

SoulMisaki, I was actually considering the a Sager with the 95% gamut, or the HP envy 17. I am really curious about why you changed to the Envy. Did you want a bigger screen, backlit keyboard, or something else? I am so close to pulling the trigger. Any help you could give me would be so appreciated. This would be my first laptop purchase.

 

PM sent Musteq.

EDIT - Nevermind, I can't send a PM for some reason.

Anyway, the reseller I was dealing with wasn't very good, which is the main reason I returned mine.

The fan noise was louder on the sager, and overall, the ENVY 17 has more features than the Sager. The ONLY feature that is better on the sager compared to an ENVY 17 or 17 3D is the graphics card, and even on the ENVY 17 3D, I can play skyrim on high settings @ 1080p.

 

Thanks for the quick reply, Soulmisaki. Just from looking at comments from both machines, the Envy has a better screen (arguable I guess), better sound, analog volume control, better keyboard, better trackpad, already upgraded wireless, and an included blu ray player. The sager has the better graphics card, which for most things except for gaming doesn't matter, and even then it's not that bad, as you can play skyrim which is very resource hungry. Am I missing anything?

 

You pretty much hit the nail on the head. An exerpt from the full PM I was trying to send you:

"If we are talking about the computers and not the re-sellers, the Envy 17 3D or regular 17 is your best bet. Bigger screen, bluray, 10x better speakers, back-lit keyboard + sensor, better keyboard, 3D on the 3D version, aluminium body instead of plastic, quieter fan, 2x better or more battery life.

Only thing the sager would have going for it would be the video card, but I rather have the above than a slightly better video card. I can play Skyrim on high settings @ 1080p, so that's all I need. Also, it's worth noting that the intel card is also very powerful - you'll have no problem outputting multiple 1080p displays while on the intel card, even with 1080p, highly encoded movies, and even on battery."

 

I was also looking at the Sager but just ordered my Envy (waiting for it). It's relieving to hear that it can play skyrim on high in 1080p (assuming reasonably framerates...). It was pretty hard to find how the 7690m XT actually runs on the thing

 

Until I read your post, I was really on the fence between those 2 laptops. It looks like, to me, for a hard core gamer the choice is clear. For everybody else, it looks equally clear.

 

I haven't measured the frame rate, but it plays smoothly, and never dips noticeably. I'm assuming it's around 35fps, but again, I haven't actually checked.

Enjoy your choice - they're both great computers, but the ENVY 17 was just better for me. Which did you end up going with anyway? Judging by your response, the Sager?

 

I haven't gone with anything yet. The envy, to me, looks like the better choice. I saw a 15 inch at Costco. Liked the buttons and the touch pad, but couldn't tell about anything else. I will wait for the next 33% coupon before ordering. I can't avoid the sales tax, unfortunately.

I just reread my last point and realized that I was a little cryptic. I meant that for hard core gamers who value graphics above all else, the Sager makes sense. For the rest of us, the Envy sings sweet music into our ears.

 

I have a feeling that there is something different about CTO and pre-made units: either they are assembled in a different facility or something is happening in the shipping, because I looked at the 17" unit in the Fry's: There are no defects like the ones I have seen on my two units. Keyboard is fine (no missing keys while typing). There is no bent USB port. The sound is awesomely rich! There is no noticeable fan noise when I place my ear close to the top-right corner in idle mode. There is no rattle from the lower back cover. There is no dead pixel.

You look at the 17" model in Fry's, you see an ideal multimedia/gaming laptop. It looks solid, feels solid and I can't find flaws in it. I want to buy it right then and there. But my two units so far have been flawed... Here is hoping that my exchange works this time. Otherwise, I will just have to ditch HP: I can't trust long term prospects of a piece of hardware which has 3 out of 3 random unit build failures.

 

I'm in the same boat as you.
I've been really happy with HP's customer support & return policies, but if they can't sell me a laptop that's trouble free, I will also ditch them. It's been almost 2 months & I'm still without a laptop.

It's kind of funny, because all the defects you mentioned that the Fry's Envy did not have, my Envy 17 had!
That's so weird that the Fry's Envy didn't have the same flaws as the units ordered directly from HP.

Maybe there is little monkey running around the Chinese assembly facility with a hammer denting the USB ports!

 

I have seen the same/similar usb defects/issues in the previous Envys I had (before I ultimately decided to wait for Ivy Bridge). Mine was jutting out of the side of the laptop as you moved from front to back.

Interesting theory you have tho regarding the 2 different types. They probably are made in different locations/factories but good look getting HP to admit that.

Anyways I had the same hellish experience with my HDX 18t CTO a few years back. I spent a good 2 months back and forth until they FINALLY built and shipped me a unit that was not defective in anyway. I'm not going to spend that kinda money on a laptop only to have it fail right out of the box....

 

Let's also remember that only the few people with defects in their unit would post while the majority would not post about how perfect their laptop came. This is my 5th laptop order from HP CTO factories and my past 4 came perfect without any issues.

 

Please let us know when you get your Envy 17 & have a chance to review it. I'm interested to know if you have any problems at all with your laptop.
Mine is still in the factory & scheduled to ship on Feb. 7th.

Thanks.

 

Mine is shipping 2/7 as well. Does anyone know the difference between the 160Gb and 80 Gb SSD hard drives?

Thanks!

 

Yes, the 160GB has twice the size...? I don't know if there are any other differences.

 

will do. lalalallala 10 char

 

The 80Gb was a bit more... Unless they subscribe to twice the size for half the money?

 

One is SSD & the other is mSATA SSD.
If you get the mSata SSD, you are not taking up a HDD bay. So now you can have two HDDs in addition to your mSata SSD.


Hard Drives:
$250.00
910GB 7200 rpm Dual Hard Drive ( SSD 160GB+750GB 7200 rpm) With HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection

$310.00
830GB Dual Drive ( 80GB mSATA SSD + 750GB 7200 rpm HDD) With HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection

 

PHP:

Gotcha. I was hoping to add a 1+ TB hard drive when they are reasonably priced for 7200 rpm. So both bays are taken... Maybe just an upgrade at some point if needed. Thanks.

 

If my Envy 17 has two 500gb 7200rpm hard drives, am i able to upgrade to mSATA SSD later in the future? I heard something about HP envy's not having the right brackets if you don't order your envy with SSD upfront...

 

How exactly is the proximity sensor supposed to work? I did a fresh install and installed the PPROX drivers from a few pages back, and I notice no difference. Whether I'm super close to the keyboard or not, it remains either on or off.

In the Proximity Sensor software, it says,

Sensitivity: Minimum
Delay Until Off: 1 Minute

I try to change those settings, and click apply, but they remain the same. Any ideas?

 

my envy arrived today (fedex expected Thursday - not complaining lol). I'm gonna go to class then I'll post everything about it.


edit-
WOW THIS THING IS BEAUTIFUL!

This is all I am going to say for now beecause I want to make recovery discs and install ssd. but wowwww. Also, it is flawless by initial inspection atleast. did I mention is looks amazing??????????????????

quick update - sound is superb and the ATI card is infact XT when the website said otherwise when ordering.

 

Glad you're enjoying it! Only problem with mine was the small USB Dent, everything else was perfect. Also, make sure you get a sleeve or something if you ever plan on taking it out anywhere - the bottom front edges of the aluminium chip slightly easily. It's not noticeable, but protection is always recommended if you plan on moving it around at all.

 

Thanks for the headsup! I hope the metal around the keyboard is not painted to look like this so it won't fade in frequent use areas. Recovery discs are taking forever then I have to clone the hdd to the ssd and install. The bottom battery cover is not the best in closing/securing it but when it closes it will remain closed > just weird closing it because you have to hold the switch at a specific location. Also no caddy... cheap HP -.- but everything else is so perfect and awesome, I am willing to forgive them. The wire is there though! So I will be taping an SSD.

 

There is no option in BIOS to boot from second hard drive? I only see one boot option for hard drive: "Notebook Hard Drive"


Switched the ssd to the first bay which was unnecessarily difficult because once you take out the caddy you have to force it in and rip the rubber around it..

Then the ssd is giving problems now, WEI cant run the assessment and ie9 crashes when a download is started. nothing is easy....

 

I would love to know this as well. Of course I think both of my bays are taken for now. I couldn't see running on 80Gb with two other HDs. Personal size issue. (still can't believe I started with 64kb with Commodore years ago)

 

Reinstall Win7 with just the SSD in, then put the HDD in afterwards.

I dont have any driver issues and all HP bloatware/utilities are toast.

 

The recovery discs that I made on the hdd actually worked on the ssd and everything is fine now. I dont feel like clean installing and HP doesnt have all software on site yet. Running well now with 64gb ssd for windows and programs/games on hdd.

 

can some one tell me if the viewing angles on the envy 17 is better or worse than the dv6 (2010)

thanks

 

Anyone got any tips for reducing tearing in video when cloning the display?

I have my TV hooked up via HDMI, and am using VLC to play some video, but I seem to get a lot of tearing. I've tried the default, D3D and OpenGL outputs.

in the ATI control panel:
Vsync on
OpenGL triple buffering is on
ensure smooth video playback is off

 

Can you cancel an order if it hasn't been shipped? My ship date is 2/9/12. I think I rather wait for ivy bridge version with the new 28 nm mobile gpu....

 

Doubtful, if the order has been dropped to the factory. You may have to take delivery and just return it. No worries...HP's 21 day return policy is still one of the best.

 

FOR ANYONE GETTING THE SOUND FROM THE KEYBOARD WHILE TYPING, OR VIBRATING WHEN PLAYING LOW PITCHES SOUNDS:

To fix this, you need to do possibly 3 things:

• Open both bottom panels and tighten every screw inside the laptop manually - especially the ones onlding the Bluray Drive down.
  [*]Unscrew the panel-locking mechanism from the larger bottom panel, and place tape along the black line on the panel - this stops metal from hitting metal as hard, and stops any keyboard vibrations.
  [*]A third thing you may want to do, is place small rolled up bits of tape on the two front corners under the panel - this stops the edges of the panel from shaking during low pitchesd sounds and keyboard typing.

Hope this helps! I've done this, and it worked fine.

 

Just a follow up in case anyone ever runs into this. If I'm on the onboard graphics, it recognizes my monitor as a 1920x1200 monitor. If it switches to "high performance" (or the Radeon card) then it only recognizes the monitor as 1920x1080. Not sure if this is a monitor issue or a card issue. So what I have to do is start up on the battery, then I can plug in.

 

Or u can start on whatever you want and right click desktop to switch graphics. Should be like this haven't switched them myself yet.

 

That works in theory, but usually I get the "Switching the graphics processors cannot be performed at this time due to one or more running applications" error.

So it has to happen on startup.

 

If you update ati drivers switching stops giving a crap about what's running. This is my experience from envy 14 haven't bothered with 17 yet.

 

Perhaps off topic but just got this deal from Amazon. Kingston HyperX 120GB Sata III after $60 rebate = $129.99 with no tax & free shipping. It seems the deal is pretty popular, you might need to refresh the page.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005C95NDI/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?t=slicinc-20&tag=slicinc-20&ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Edit: The deal might be dead for now.

 

Envy 17 3000 Late 2011 [Audio + Keyboard + Screen] - YouTube

sound/keyboard/viewing angles

 

I just did a clean install and re-installed the ATI video drivers / catalyst software, and also the power dvd software

how do I get the 3D glasses to work????

 

1. Did you make a copy of your Program files (X86)\TriDef Folder? In that folder is the license to activate your TriDef program that activates your glasses...You can then go to the TriDef website and download and install the latest version and activate with your license. A few others didn't do this, and TriDef would only license the gaming engine and not the media player

 

Very NICE video man...thanks for uploading it! Such a nice looking laptop. Were there any physical issues that you saw as far as the ports and around the aluminum casing?

 

No issues at all. I ordered two (only one is for me) and both came perfect.

 

Is there any way you can "maximize" the volume of this thing?
You know, as in increase the max volume output without distorting the audio.

I already followed all the steps from the other thread,

"-first of all disable beats audio by pressing the beats button and uncheck the option under the listening experience.
-Now, from the volume icon in the taskbar --->Open volume mixer options.
-Select the output device (either headphones (or) speakers) by double clicking on the icon.
-Goto level enhancements. Check the option "Disable all enhancements.
-Goto Tone control tab. Click on reset to zero.
-Click ok all the way to exit the options window.
-Now enable beats audio again."

 

yeah, it only licensed the Ignition game dealy

i found that using cyberlink powerdvd also works for 3D movies

 

My license carries three or more in it...for TriDef engine, media player and one other.

To get a game going in 3D...a couple of ways. If you have TriDef installed and licensed, and some games installed...have TriDef search for the games. If there is an existing profile...it will put an icon for the game. When you want to play in 3D...simply use TriDef to launch the game. If the game is not discovered during the search, you can still insert the game into the Engine and choose to use a generic 3D profile. Sometimes they make games look good...sometimes the generic profile does very little for you. See how that works for you

 

Alright, I got to mess around with my Envy 17 for a few days now and I gotta say it's great! Nothing wrong with it so far, big and beautiful screen, and the temperatures have been good even while gaming. The 3D capability is pretty nice, you can view any photo/video in 3d (although it isn't exactly the best thing). You can also play most games in 3d.

As far as gaming goes, here are the settings I have been using:

Battlefield 3 = 1920x1080, all settings on high with textures on ultra. Ill have to guess 35 fps?

Modern Warfare 3 = 1920x1080, all maxed, smooth framerates.

Starcraft 2 = 1920x1080, all settings on high (need to try ultra), smooth framerates.

League of Legends = 1920x1080, all maxed, smooth.