HP ENVY 4t (Sleekbook 14") Review

I know what a ssd is buddy. My doubt is that hp would spring for slc.

 

It isn't out of the realm of possibility for a small capacity mSATA SLC SSD to be reasonably priced. HP is marketing it as an SLC drive. If you can prove otherwise go for it.

 

is the msata slot still available on the sleekbooks?

 

This is the 32GB drive model details from my Envy 4.

Drive Model: SAMSUNG MZMPC032HBCD-000H1

SSD Product Catalogue | Samsung Semiconductor Global Website

 

I'm very interested about this product, which is arrived on these days in my Country.

It's the perfect solution I was looking for, but it has a quite big issue for my normal day usage: the screen resolution is only of 1366x768 pixel.
In my opinion it should be a good idea to replace the lcd panel with a 1600x900 one or, better, with a full HD lcd panel.

I already contacted some dealer of such lcd panels, and they told me that the upgrade could be a problem, because usually the 1366x768 panels use 4 pairs LVDS signals cable, instead of 8 pairs LVDS signals cable on 1600x900 and 1920x1080 pixels panels.

So the first check to do is to verify the type of cable used on this ultrabook. I I saw Ctbear disassembled the Envy (this is his topic http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-envy-hdx/667656-envy-sleekbook-6t-1000-cant-reformat.html), does anybody else already disassembled the Envy? have you noticed which kind of cable is applied on the lcd panel or, better, have anybody shot some photos about that detail?

Thank you very much for your support.

 

Expressing doubt doesn't require proof buddy. Google the model number above- its mlc.

 

Could you post the Windows Experience Index ratings please? Just curious. My Envy 4 should be finishing building in 5 days and I'm just drinking in all its specs as I wait.

 

I had a $50 discount code for the envy 4t in my gmail task list. Accidentally deleted it. Can't find the code anywhere and don't remember where I got it from. Does anyone know of this code/was it on this board?

 

NBZ1342 should work for $50 off

 

Hello All!
Just got my Envy 4 Ultrabook today! With the 3rd Gen Core i5. This is my first Ultrabook and so far I am happy with it. I was able to run World of Warcraft Cataclysm with full raid add-ons at native HD resoultion at "Good" Level Graphics with a constant 30fps. I did not expect the ULV and HD4000 could run WoW with full Raid UIs at 30fps constant, I was impressed! I also tried DOTA 2 and it runs with High setting with Shadows and Sunshaft Off while everything else was on at native resolution. Although when playing DOTA2 , it got quite hot , but while playing World of Warcraft , It remained at a comfortable temperature. I will be trying Diablo 3 soon as its still downloading and tell you guys how it runs if you guys are curious! I did not expect this much performance from an ULV processor!

Sorry for the long post!

 

I am only getting about 4-5 hour battery life? Is this normal on HP recommended How about you guys?

 

Can only do stock settings, I cannot force the 7690M into the mix

Yes this is normal, that is what I get.

HP jack the battery times upto ~9 hours, they achieve this with almost everything set to off or low.
There is no way a normal user could even use the laptop like that. I think that advertising like this by HP (or anyone for that matter) is unreasonable and misleading to customers.

 

Truewind, let me know how that Diablo runs if you have a chance. The only PC games I've been playing are SWTOR and COH. I was curious if this PC can handle those games.

 

Finally after much searching, when I could find it anywhere in all the normal places, I have the link to the service manual.

Service manuals are always useful for spec and part number related matters. Good reference in general, to the build of the machine.

Great if you want it see a list of supported CPU's, how much RAM it can take officially documented, details on LCD panels, etc.

Support for 16GB RAM
Support Intel Centrino Wireless-N 2230
This one maybe of most interest from the manual " Supports LVDS", not sure if what they are talking about is the actual cable or just the current panels cable input?

Get it here:
HP ENVY Ultrabook 4-1000- Manuals - HP Business Support Center

I have added this link to the first page at end of the text, before the photos/screenshot's start

 

Diablo 3 runs quite well , I have tried everything on High with AA but Shadows disabled and it ran at a playable FPS around 25. But running on high makes the CPU stand at about constant 75-80C in terms of temperature. If you have a cooler or simply a book to raise the laptop , it ran at about 70-68C (on a thick book). It is because i dunno why they would put the vents on the bottom. But for long period of playing i would suggest , everything on medium except textures on high with shadows OFF, and it runs smoother too.

 

The display cable used in the Envy 4 is part number:

686576–001 Display cable

I have done a search on HP's Partsurfer website, and can find huge amount of Envy 4 notebooks that use this part.
Out of the notebooks I searched through, which were the stranger named models, none of them I found used a panel which I would believe that was listed anymore than 1366 x 768

We just one model with the same display cable part number to support a 1600 x 900 panel, then we could safely upgrade the panel.
Can anyone find a needle (or gem) in the haystack of models below?


Click Here to see the list of HP Products that Part Number 686576-001 is used in. 115 records found

HP 4-1015DX NOTEBOOK PC
HP ENVY 4-1001TU NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1001TX NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1002TU NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1002TX NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1003TU NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1003TX NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1004TU NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1004TX NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1005TU NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1005TX NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1006TX NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1007TU NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1007TX NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1008TU NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1008TX NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1009TU NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1009TX NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1010TU NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1010TX NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1011TU NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1011TX NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1012TU NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1012TX NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1013TU NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1013TX NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1014TU NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1014TX NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1015TU NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1015TX NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1016TU NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1016TX NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1017NR NOTEBOOK PC
HP ENVY 4-1017TU NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1017TX NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1018TU NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1018TX NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1019TU NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1019TX NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1019WM NOTEBOOK PC
HP ENVY 4-1020TU NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1020TX NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1021TU NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1021TX NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1022TU NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1022TX NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1023TU NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1023TX NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1024TU NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1024TX NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1025TU NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1025TX NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1026TU NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1026TX NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1027TX NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1028TU ULTRABOOK PC
HP ENVY 4-1028TX NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1029TU ULTRABOOK PC
HP ENVY 4-1029TX NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1030CA NOTEBOOK PC
HP ENVY 4-1030TU SLEEKBOOK PC
HP ENVY 4-1030TX NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1031TU ULTRABOOK PC
HP ENVY 4-1031TX NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1032TU SLEEKBOOK PC
HP ENVY 4-1032TX NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1033TU SLEEKBOOK PC
HP ENVY 4-1033TX NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1034TU SLEEKBOOK PC
HP ENVY 4-1034TX NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1035TU ULTRABOOK PC
HP ENVY 4-1035TX NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1036TU SLEEKBOOK PC
HP ENVY 4-1036TX SLEEKBOOK PC
HP ENVY 4-1037TU ULTRABOOK PC
HP ENVY 4-1037TX SLEEKBOOK PC
HP ENVY 4-1038TU ULTRABOOK PC
HP ENVY 4-1038TX ULTRABOOK PC
HP ENVY 4-1039TU SLEEKBOOK PC
HP ENVY 4-1039TX SLEEKBOOK PC
HP ENVY 4-1040LA NB PC
HP ENVY 4-1040TU ULTRABOOK PC
HP ENVY 4-1040TX ULTRABOOK PC
HP ENVY 4-1041TU ULTRABOOK PC
HP ENVY 4-1041TX ULTRABOOK PC
HP ENVY 4-1042TU SLEEKBOOK PC
HP ENVY 4-1042TX SLEEKBOOK PC
HP ENVY 4-1042TX ULTRABOOK PC
HP ENVY 4-1043CL NOTEBOOK PC
HP ENVY 4-1043TU SLEEKBOOK PC
HP ENVY 4-1044TU SLEEKBOOK PC
HP ENVY 4-1045TU ULTRABOOK PC
HP ENVY 4-1046TU SLEEKBOOK PC
HP ENVY 4-1047TU SLEEKBOOK PC
HP ENVY 4-1047TX SLEEKBOOK PC
HP ENVY 4-1048TU ULTRABOOK PC
HP ENVY 4-1048TX ULTRABOOK PC
HP ENVY 4-1049TU SLEEKBOOK PC
HP ENVY 4-1049TX ULTRABOOK PC
HP ENVY 4-1050CA NOTEBOOK PC
HP ENVY 4-1050TX ULTRABOOK PC
HP ENVY 4-1051TX ULTRABOOK PC
HP ENVY 4-1052TX ULTRABOOK PC
HP ENVY 4-1053TX ULTRABOOK PC
HP ENVY 4-1054TX ULTRABOOK PC
HP ENVY 4-1055TX SLEEKBOOK PC
HP ENVY SLEEKBOOK 4-1010US NOTEBOOK
HP ENVY ULTRABOOK 4-1005XX NOTEBOOK
HP ENVY ULTRABOOK 4-1030US NOTEBOOK
HP ICTO DSC 2GB I3-2367M DC 4-10 BNBPC
HP ICTO DSC 2GB I5-2467M DC 4-10 BNBPC
HP ICTO UMA I3-2367M DC 4-10 BNBPC
HP ICTO UMA I5-2467M DC 4-10 BNBPC
HP ICTO UMA I5-3317U 4-10 BNBPC
SRP/ENVY 4

 

I pulled apart my display and its using the Chimei Innolux N140BGE-LB2 Rev A2. Chimei makes a LED panel that is 1600x900: http://www.chimei-innolux.com/opencms/cmo/products/notebook/products_notebook_N140FGH-L31.html?__locale=en

Tempted to buy one and see if it will work.

 

Any one got hands on with Envy 4t with the new Ivy Bridge CPU's . I have known HP to make hot laptops ( high temp ). Any comments on the battery and temperatures with the new Ivy CPU's? Any one got successful with changing the screen reso to 1600x900 ?Can I get the procedure and components?

 

Trippy, I just received mine yesterday with Ivy Bridge. I have been working with this on my lap for roughly and hour now. You can tell there is heat coming out but nothing uncomfortable to the touch that have noticed thus far. I ran SWTOR for roughly an hour without my cooling pad and it seemed to be ok. I haven't really taxed the CPU yet but there isn't much that I do that is really taxing. Overall, I do like the laptop a lot but yeah...a 1600x900 would have been a nice option. Good Luck

 

As for the panel, if anyone is to dare. Just note the size, make sure that it fits.
Manual says that it is a (3.2mm) Slim, Shuriken.
Further on in the manual they have got a 15" model listed, in the actual "pull the panel out" section.

After reading the service manual several times, I am fairly certain the quoted "Supports LVDS" is only for the actual displays backside input connector, even though the panel is just 1366x768

Details from first part of the manual with the specs are:

14.0" high-definition (HD) light-emitting diode (LED), BrightView (1366x768) display; (3.2mm) Slim, Shuriken, 200 nits, Supports LVDS

 

Just ordered the 15.6" variant of the 6z sleekbook. Trinity with the A10 processor! If anyone can get a better screen in this, I will forever be in your debt. Particularly an LED or IPS display.

 

Funbun, when you get it, please post impressions! A lot of people would appreciate feedback on the 25W A10's.

 

Does anyone know how to manually put programs on the SSD Acceleration Cache? I have a game with constant long load screens and want to throw it on there manually.

 

I don't think that's possible unless you disable the RAID. Plus, I don't know how much of the SSD Cache is actually available vs. how much is taken up by the system.

 

I was successful in deleting both the SSD cache and HDD from raid 0 and both the drives showed up as two hard disks when I was installing my own win7prof.
I installed my OS in SSD and small programs in SSD. the rest of software run from the HDD ( two partitions , one for programs and the second one for the rest )
Follow the process to delete raid 0 here

 

@TrippyNerve, how are the performances of your machine now? i was thinking to buy the AMD version (cheaper) and exchange the HHD with and SSD, but if your solution provides good performance as well, I guess that 32 Gb are not so many but enough for the OS and the most often used programs. Can you comment on the booting time and the opening of the programs on the SSD vs the ones on the HHD?
Thanks a lot

 

Hey TrippyNerve,
I was wondering about your rationale for deleting the raid 0 setup, then i read your post in that link and realized that you wanted a clean OS install.

Aren't you curious at least about the benefits of the Intel Smart Response Technology or did you have prior experience with it and decided that it's not worth the bother? I'm asking because I'm on the verge of purchasing an msata drive for my envy 4t and couldn't decide if i wanted a 60GB one and reinstall with a cached Windows 7 config, or a 128GB one as an independent C: drive.

 

Intel's SRT helps but it isn't as significant as using the mSATA drive as an OS drive or an independent SSD drive.

This is a good read. The benefits are ultimately limited by the size of the drive (you can also use an SSD as a cache drive as well) so other applications or larger blocks of data that you use less frequently won't see any benefits. The stuff that is cached will see an increase in speed but it's still behind that of a dedicated SSD whether mSATA or standard SATA. It "learns" your usage pattern and decides what can benefit from being cached. But considering the low price of SSDs and the power management benefits (Toggle NAND and great firmware especially) you'd be better off with a pure SSD for your data storage. Many people opt to install windows on the mSATA drives, freeing them from their slave cache state. That's also another viable option.

 

Got my 4t today, so far VERY happy with it. It looks a lot thinner in person than it does in pictures, feels pretty light, and runs like a dream on the games i've had a chance to play for a moment. Touchpad is pretty smooth, screen is about on par with the dv6 I'm replacing. Overall, best computer i've owned. My only complaint is reds and orange colors look a little pink, brightness could be a bit better for working outdoors, and the laptop gets pretty toasty on the bottom left side, though nothing to worry about. Love this thing.

 

Run some benchmarks so I can compare to my 6z when it comes in! List your configuration too!

 

T2050I
I would like to thank you for all the info and tip's you have provided regarding the Envy 4t. I like to know exactly what I'm getting when I purchase a notebook and the info you have provided is not available anywhere else. Including HP's site or Customer Service.

Also, The f.09 bios on your Envy 4t is very interesting. Would you be willing to upload and post a link to the .bin and .sig file? . Like you said, it is not available for download ANYWHERE. That tell's me that either it's a dev bios never meant for public release or it's unstable. Either way, i'm interested in opening it up to see if it can provide me some insight on enabling advanced function that are locked down by HP.

Thank's
Rick1725

 

guys, who can tell me, does laptop get hot using an internet and working in ms office? what about watching movies? is it possible to keep it on the knees? do not burn? And one more question - about touchpad, is it OK or terrible, like in HP Probook 4xxx series?

 

Hi guys, I got this laptop for about 3 weeks now.

I realise the screen isn't very good. The HD videos tend to be pixelated on youtube or normal HD videos.

Compared it with my bro laptop a ASUS k43. The screen resolution as well as the screen size is similar however his youtube and normal HD videos are much sharper with no pixelation. The HP laptop however looks grainy.

As mentioned in another thread, the samsung series 5 also has got similar issues. The reason they gave was because it was using a much cheaper screen then normal laptop.

other then that the laptop is alright. Nt very hot, able to use it on my lap for about 30mins, did not try longer.

Pls do advice on the screen pixelation and grainy videos.

Thank you

 

Thanks Rick for your kind comments. I ended up with a replacement as my original had a battery discharge issue. The new one I have now overclocks a bit better as well, apart from that the BIOS is identical, as they are from the same batch shipment.
I just checked the BIOS version again today and it certainly is F.09 and all I need to do now is somehow back it up. Will need some kind of utility that is for this pacific type of BIOS. Someone had mentioned earilier when I started a thread about backing up the BIOS to find it in the actual software or recovery partition, which I could not find anything.
Let me know the best way to get the BIOS off this machine for you, then you can rip it apart and let us know what surprises there maybe in there, if any.

 

Hi there,

I'm also planning to purchase this laptop with the 3rd-gen i5 ULV CPU. Just 1 question, may I know if you juz use it for web browsing or documentation, or mayb some videos as well, (as long as not 3D gaming), will the bottom of the laptop get toasty? Please let me know bcoz it gonna b a decisive factor to buy or not. Thanks in advanced!

 

Hi,
Nice review of the Envy 4t.
Could you please let us know if the heating that you talk of is a issue with this laptop or if its not a real problem (when used without a cooling pad)?

 

I have the Sandy Bridge model, but I cannot imagine there would be much difference between the two models. With Ivy Bridge it should have configurable TDP which can be done through the standard Windows 7 power options menus. Putting that aside, if you to be just doing low powered work, then the difference at most can only be a few watts in power usage, very minimal at best.

Therefore given the circumstances for both processors then you can actual expect a bit of heat when just web browsing, reading, watching videos. If using the Envy 4 directly on your lap, you will feel the heat situated on your left leg, where was the right leg will feel cool. I personally use a Logitech N315 lap-desk to keep the heat off my leg, as this allows the vents to breath.

I can use the Envy 4 for short periods without the lap-desk (~15 minutes), but for maximum comfort I definitively recommend the usage of a thin lap-desk.
A cooling pad with a fan is not required, even when under full load (CPU+GPU) the Envy 4 will feel cool with the N315 I currently use, which is a thin lap-desk.

Just want to add: I have been using the Envy 4 all night on battery directly on my lap, and it has never got to hot to move.
I have also been playing good old Doom 3 on the ultra setting at 1024x768 for the last 40 mintues on the Intel HD Graphics 3000 set to power saving, which runs very well. The laptop did not get hot, and was just warm. Within 2 minutes or maybe less after playing the fan switched off completely, and has stayed off while I have been updating this post

 

Thanks T2050! :laugh: It's great to find out that it actually could work directly on the lap without any issues!

 

I ordered my 4t on Monday, it says it will ship by the 23. Any chances of getting it sooner?

Also, I'm really interested on replacing the screen with one thats 1600x900, any one able to find the correct screen?

 

Hi all,

I just got my ENVY 4t and I'm so happy with it. To answer some of your questions I've seen, the laptop does feel a bit hot on the bottom when first move onto my laps, but become just warm very soon. I guess CoolSense does work and solves the problem. The CPU I got is i5-3317U and it runs my tasks smoothly (FireFox with multiple tabs, Bioinformatics software...no games tested). I had a CPU monitor gadget on for a while and from what I've seen there, my CPU barely uses more than 50% capacity even from the most used core.

I was worried about the sensitivity and functions of the clickpad when deciding ordering it or not, cos my experience of the touchpad on dm4 was so bad (not sensitive, painful two finger scrolling, no three finger swipe). But the clickpad on ENVY 4t is actually pretty good. It's sensitive, good two finger scrolling, and with three/four finger swipe support. It does not have middle click support, but you can enable it very easily by following this How To Enable Multi-Touch Right And Middle Clicking On A (Relatively New) Windows Laptop - YouTube

My only problem is that three finger swipe is only available in some applications like browsers, windows media player, but not in Windows Explorer ie file folders. I'd like it worked universally. I found this tutorial ( How To Enable Three Finger Back & Forward Swipe In Windows 7 File Explorer - YouTube) to modify registry, but couldn't get it to work properly. I really want it to work as my last Asus laptop had perfect touchpad functions. Could anyone help please!

 

About the battery discharge,
I charged my battery to 100%, after 12hours, it shows 81% and the whole sleekbook felt warm.
Isit possible that some program wake-up the sleekbook and drain the battery?

*I don't thing is the Intel(R) Smart Connect Technology as I never do anything to it.

 

You have got the faulty battery discharge issue, this sounds exactly what I had with the first Envy 4 I had. You need to return that thing, before you have to put up with a warranty claim instead.

I am hoping that further down the track I don't have the same issue again. What concerns me is if you return it during the warranty period for repair, someone at HP may not diagnose it correctly, and then it could possible that is is returned to you in the same state.

There could be an underlying issue that is causing the battery discharge. We cannot remove the battery from these notebooks to reset the state. There is a possibility we could all be facing this issue at some stage. Obviously there is something still active after shutdown that is not switching off (maybe the mSATA as a guess, but who knows exactly?). HP may have to address this with a BIOS fix if that is possible

btw. I tried disabling the Intel Rapid Start tech in th BIOS, this didn't not fix my issue, and you should have to go to this lengths. Providing you are talking about a full shutdown while you are lossing power over the 12 hour period.

The above is pure speculation on my experiences and observations.

 

Just received my 6z. Benchmarks by the end of the week (I'm really busy)

So far it looks reallly sleek, LOVE the touchpad.

Come check out my soon to be review here
Envy 6z Initial Impressions

 

Still trying to dump this BIOS which is F.09 for the Envy 4.

I guess that the new type UEFI requires a certain tool to make it work.

At the moment I have tried Fla V1.3q IHISI V1.8.0, but this version does not work.

I cannot find anything newer, has anyone got a link to something I can dump the Envy 4 BIOS with?

 

I got my envy 4t a couple of days ago and have noticed that my wireless internet is much much slower than my 3-year old dell laptop. The connection shows 4-5 bars. Anyone have any suggestions?

 

Not certain about the connection or signal level, but what I have noticed is if you get a HP laptop in 2012 (this years model), then they are giving us the slowest wireless N cards ever (unless you change or spec otherwise).

Put it this way, my most expensive pre-built model I can buy has a maximum speed of 65 mbps.

Also the most expensive pre-built A10 based dv6z model I can buy also has a slow maximum speed of 65 mbps

This is not good HP, my older HP's and even budget Compaq from 2010 have cards that can go to anywhere from 150 mbps to 300 mbps, can they are not anything special for a wireless card.

 

I too find the wireless to be horrible. I opted for the intel wireless option on my envy 4t and only get 144mbps at home even though all of my other wireless devices can connect at 300mbps. The lack of a 5ghz antenna is also annoying.
I also swapped out the standard drive with a samsung 830 ssd. Somehow I lost the raid capability on the unit and I can't enable AHCI. I think this is causing some performance issues but I can't find of a way to enable it. Has anyone run in to this issue? I no longer get the ctrl+i option for the intel raid utility on boot up either.

 

Is there anything I can do to make the internet faster? (Sorry folks, I only have a basic working knowledge of computer technology)

 

Hey folks,

Here's a quick FYI in case any of you 4t-1000 owners experience this issue.

Yesterday I was playing a game on my 4t and when I plugged my speakers or my Apple headphones in, the sound would switch to the speakers for a split second, then go back to the internal. Since it did it on both the headphones and the speakers, and if I plugged the speakers in and turned the headphone output volume up and the internal speaker down it would work fine, I knew it was a software problem. (Whew! Sorry for the long sentence) Anyway, the fix I used was to uninstall and delete the Beats Audio drivers and install the based IDT audio drivers from Windows Update. Now when I plug the speakers in, it goes to the speakers and when I unplug the internal speakers play.

The issue I think was regarding the fact that the Beats drivers had a separate software volume control for the internal speakers and the 3.5mm output. Something wasn't jiving there.

If anyone has experienced this, I hope the above helps.

Thanks,
ix

 

So theres no way to enable ACHI in the BIOS? I couldn't find any options in my 6z either. Looks like I'll wait on the SSD