HP ENVY 4t (Sleekbook 14") Review

Your probably right. I just saw that being thrown around on this board so i guess i thought thats what it was and in actuality it was what people wanted :-S

 

Hi!

I just checked the HP website and a supposed 3rd Gen i3 (1.8GHz) + Radeon HD 7600M is available now.

 

That's awesome, I'm thinking of swapping out my i5 for the i3 with 7600m model. Not much difference between the i5 and i3 except for turboboost.

 

Okay guys, please tell me which one of dell inspiron 14z (2012, ivy), hp envy 4t and lenovo u310 yields the most battery life? I need a laptop for school and battery life is the most important thing for me.
Also, how much better is i5 than i3 in terms of basic usage (surfing,offline work)? If I get the Envy 4t, should I get the ivy i3 with amd gpu OR ivy i5 with intel hd?? I don't plan to game at all on it. Also, will i3 yield more battery life than i5? (and be slower?)
Note: I will get the 32 gig ssd

 

How is everyone with Black Ops on their Envy's? I can play a lot of games smoothly but for some reason Blackops doesn't seem to run well at all on Single player.

 

i have the envy 4-1053tx and battery life isnt exactly stellar at about 4-5 hours doing regular browsing with wifi on.

This model comes with an ivy bridge ulv processor,the core i5-3317u as well as a discrete gpu, hd 7670m. The cache will only make it boot up about 20% faster as well as wake up from hibernation much more rapidly.

As for i3 vs i5, I dont think you will see much of a difference with basic usage. The i5 might be snappier when you initially load apps due to turbo boost.

All three laptops you have in mind suffer from mediocre battery life based on the reviews I have read in comparison to high end ultrabooks like the hp folio 13 and the samsung series 9 ultra. I would suggest putting then on even ground when it comes to battery life and choose whichever you prefer.

 

Okay, thanks for the reply! I'm currently using the Dell Inspiron 14z core i5 model. I get only about 3-3.5 hours of battery life on basic usage (wifi, surfing, brightness down to lowest, bluetooth off,etc) That is bad for an ultrabook. I'm guessing the Envy yields better on battery.
How do you think is the touchpad on the envy? Are the in built click buttons too stiff? The one thing I love about my Dell is it's click buttons, they are super soft to click, almost feel loose.
Thanks!

 

The touchpad buttons are okay, they arent super soft. IMHO, they are actually pretty stiff compared to a macbook air. But the touchpad itself is excellent. Two finger scrolling is responsive. You might not like the texture though, it feels like a nail file.

 

okay, one last question....how much do you think will the envy 4t yield on lowest brightness,wifi on, web surfing, bluetooth off and basic simple usage (ms office, firefox,etc) ?? If the battery life on the envy is comparatively better than the 14z, it is the clear winner owing to its sexy looks, beats with subwoofer and backlit keyboard.

 

You will get about 5hrs max, that's what I get on about 35% brightness, wifi on and web browsing.

 

Alright, I think the Envy is the way to go. It looks better, has got a backlit keyboard and surely carries a higher selling value. I'm returning my Inspiron 14z and getting the Envy 4!

 

Alright guys, my Envy 4t is on the way!
I was just wondering if I can upgrade the laptop's RAM myself. I mean 4gb is kinda old school now. I was thinking of getting a 4gb or 8gb1600mhz (or perhaps 1866mhz) memory stick during the black friday sale and installing it in my now-in-production Envy! Is that possible? Will any reputable brand (Kingston, Corsiar, etc) work fine with HP's pre-installed memory stick, if I decide to just add a new 4gb stick to the vacant dimm slot? OR will I have to remove HP's stick and buy a 8gb bundle and install those in its place? I'm kinda confused whether different brands and speeds of memory sticks work together in a laptop

 

Yes you can, the envy 4 comes with 2 slots of ram with a 4gb stick installed. I have mine upgraded for free when I bought it with an extra 4gb (kingston) for a total of 8gb. Its usually not advisable to get different brands but I havent had any problems so far. The original ram is made by Hynix btw. You should also remember to increase your hibernation partition to >8gb on the cache ssd once you've done the upgrade.

 

quick question
Which wireless card of the two is a better option - HP branded 802 bgn card w/ bluetooth OR Intel 802 bgn w/ bluetooth & widi ??
What's the card model of both the cards? I mean I don't intend to use the WIDI feature at all, but I guess the Intel card is the more powerful of the two, right?
I chose the regular default option at checkout while placing my order, but now I'm thinking the Intel one would have been better.

 

quick question
Which wireless card of the two is a better option - HP branded 802 bgn card w/ bluetooth OR Intel 802 bgn w/ bluetooth & widi ??
What's the card model of both the cards? I mean I don't intend to use the WIDI feature at all, but I guess the Intel card is the more powerful of the two, right?
I chose the regular default option at checkout while placing my order, but now I'm thinking the Intel one would have been better.

 

I bought an envy 4t-1000 and so far, I absolutely love it. I bought the version with an intel wifi card with WIDI and bluetooth as well as the third-gen core i3 w/ amd HD7600m as well as a backlit keyboard.

The thing I like best about it is that the trackpad is the best I have ever used on a windows machine. It really is as good at multitouch as a macbook pro (assuming you don't mind the texture), it never skips and two finger scrolling is an absolute joy.

I also love the typability of the keyboard as well as the awesome Beats audio speakers.

For anyone who is curious the CPU/GPU option listed on the site for the ivy bridge 3rd-gen intel core i3 and discreet-class 7600m is in fact for the HD 7670m. Validation

If the system seems slow to you then you should debloat it or do a clean install as I did. It runs like an absolute dream after that.

To the user above, the HP branded option is a broadcom based wifi chipset while the intel is .... intel. It would take someone who owns both laptops to tell you how they differ performance-wise however feature-wise the intel chip adds Wireless display (widi) functionality.

 

my god the HP wifi card is terrible, it's so damn slow sometimes. Wish I had listened to someone in here before getting it. Is there anyway I can fix the problem

 

can someone tell me the name of the intel wireless card (model number eg. Intel Centrino 6230)?
Thanks!

 

Hope this helps! By the way, I haven't seen any issues with WIFI speeds or coverage.

 

Alright, I have cancelled my order of the HP Envy 4 due to the fact that I chose the worse WIFI card option which probably sucks, and HP has just unveiled a new touch screen model of the Envy 4 running Windows 8. So I might just wait for that one, which will probably release on Sep 26 along with Windows 8 release

 

Hi there, may I ask what's the reason to increase the hibernation partition?

By default mine is 8gig.

And how do you increase the hibernation partition? I tried to play around in the Intel Rapid Storage Technology and ended up having no hibernation partition. It now uses the full 30gb as cache.


Is there a way to partition the HDD?
Because of the cache and raid0, it makes things complicated.
I tried by jus shrinking the volume but ended up not havin the HP RECOVERY to work. Had to bring down to HP to do a change of HDD.

By disabling the IRST does the ssd becomes out of the raid 0 array?
When i disable it i was able to see the unallocated partition in disk management. Perhaps when disabled, the raid is removed.

 

Anyone find a way to disable the RAID 0 without having to remove either the SSD or HDD? Ctrl + I doesn't work during boot and the Intel RST software doesn't have the option to delete the RAID. I've even tried installing intel matrix storage manager but still can't access the option ROM. The older driver from intel matrix storage manager did corrupt the RAID so windows can't load but doesn't disable the RAID.

I tried installing windows with the IRST drivers to see if I could disable the RAID that way but had no luck. I did noticed that the SSD is split into two partitions with a standalone 6GB that shows up as a different drive from the HDD but the rest (24GB ish) is in the RAID 0 array with the HDD. Also can't get GParted to load successfully.

 

So by removing the mSATA and installing a Samsung 830 (in my case), the Samsung will run at SATAII speeds? Am I correct or...? I really want this notebook but if the 830 is going to be crippled that would kill it for me.

 

Is there any way to test how well Solidworks (the latest) runs on the machine? I wanted to go with the AMD card for that purpose specifically

 

Hi. I have a couple really newbie questions...
I'm looking into getting the Envy 4t, but I'm on a rather tight budget. I play some games (mainly Diablo 3, World of Warcraft and Warcraft 3) and do a ton of word processing and manuscript editing. Would the 2nd gen Intel(R) core(TM) i3-2377M Processor + AMD 2GB Radeon HD 7670M Discrete-Class Graphics, be sufficient? Also, is the 32g SSD worth it, or is it something that could be replaced later if necessary (and perhaps for cheaper)?

Thanks.

 

My guess is, using two references, you'll be playing D3 at medium and I think WoW will work just fine?

AMD Radeon HD 7670M - Notebookcheck.net Tech
Intel Core i5 2467M Notebook Processor - Notebookcheck.net Tech

 

he can play d3 on high with 40 fps and WOW u can play on a i3-3000 so u should be fine with high settings

 

Cool. Thanks

 

Yes, the 830 will only be running sata II. What I did was replaced the msata (which runs in sata III) with a 256 Crucial msata chip, put my Samsung 830 SSD in place of the HD. Did a fresh install (no fake raid) and put Windows on the msata drive (left my 830 disconnected), then after booting and getting things the way I wanted them , opened it up again and connected my 830.
Believe me you will not really notice any performance hit unless you constantly want to run testing software. Windows loads under 7 seconds from start to finish. Shuts off even quicker. As long as you use the msata as your OS drive, it will run in sata III if you leave the other drive disconneted. To me it doesn't matter that much.:thumbsup:

 

Has anyone had trouble installing Intel Smart Connect? My always says Platform Check Failed: Unsupported Hardware. Apparently, you need to enable something in BIOS, but I can't find anything like that. I'm on F.0A BIOS, the latest.

 

So I received a HP Envy 4t-1000 from Engadget giveaway and was messing with the Intel RAID settings and then the laptop was unable to detect the hard drive. Tried to remove the SSD, boot, doesn't work even after disabling all the RAID. My result was to use the HP System Recovery that I created via HP Media Recreation software. The bad thing was, the System Recovery USB was missing the MBR which I fixed it using testdisk. The laptop then restores, but unable to restore completely with errors

ChkErrBB.CMD : Detect some error during PININST_BBV
ChkErrBB.CMD : Check c:\system.sav\logs\BurnBootWarn.log
ChkErrBB.CMD : or, check c:\system.sav\logs\BurnBootMerge.log

Tried to restore it about 2 times already and same result.

Specs:
HP Envy 4t
Intel Core i3-2377M
Intel HD 3000
4gb RAM
500gb HDD
32gb Samsung Cache SSD

My other option was thinking about using the 32gb SSD as the main boot drive and then 500gb for storage/programs but not sure how that will work. I do have Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit so I can do a fresh install if I need to.

 

I disabled my raid just fine on my 6t-1000 with the Intel Rapid Storage Technology program. Just go in and disable acceleration and it will return the SSD to a regular drive. Then just go partition the drive how you want it. I was able to dual boot Win 8 RP / Win 7 this way with no problem. The bootloader will load whichever drive has the active partition. So Windows 8 had the active bootloader because it was the last installed. No need to disassemble for me.

 

So after swapping a SSD to replace the HDD, the 32gb SSD is useless? Can't raid/cache it with another SSD? I have a Samsung 830 128gb SSD installed and left the 32gb mSATA SSD installed inside.

 

Envy 4t Windows 8 64-bit drivers

This link based on my review model 1030TX, although likely much the same for all Intel Envy 4 models. Will make a link on the first page.

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsuppor...Id=5260474&swLang=13&taskId=135&swEnvOID=4132

 

Hi

i would like to know if i get lower FPS with the i3 version? can i upgrade ram? thanks a lot

 

Hi there!
I have envy 4 with i5 ivy bridge and amd 7670M..
I experienced a severe throttling issue when playing games..
For example, playing sleeping dogs in native resolution at medium details after 30 minutes cpu stuck at 1.7 Ghz, and after an hour, it started to fluctuate between 798 Mhz and 1.7 Ghz..
I used my laptop on a wooden desk, so the vents are clear enough..
Now, i'm planning to buy cooling pad for the envy 4.. Is there any suggestion for which the cooling pad i should buy?
Since the heat mostly at the top left, i think that using a common cooling pad ( big fan in the middle) is pointless since there's nothing on the middle of the laptop.. Thanks!

 

i am also interested in your question, i wonder why the internal fan was located at the upper right but it seems the warm part of the laptop is on the upper left.. i confirm this when i open the back and install additional ram. just a small fan located at the right side. did you buy a cooling pad already?

 

Got the Envy TouchSmart Ultrabook 4 with Win8 and am looking for a reliable way to backup AND recover the system. For years I've been using Acronis True Image on my older systems (two other laptops and two desktops running a mix of XP, Win7 and Win8) and the recovery process has always been viable. But on this Ultrabook 4, even though Acronis says the recovery is successful when I reboot, Win 8 puts up a message that there are problems and then tries without success to effect repairs. So then I have to invoke the Factory Recovery and reconfigure the entire system to my liking.

Has anyone been successful in backing up AND restoring one of these or similar ultrabooks? Thanks.

 

Just upgraded my fresh bought HP Envy 4 1170sf with a Samsung SSD 840 Pro and 2 x 8 Gb of Crucial memory. All is working as expected.

Two pictures from the Envy disassembled:


The stock ram on right and the new on left:

 

Guide on on how to do this please?

 

No need for a guide to upgrade this laptop. Remove the back cover is so easy my 5 year's old son can do it!

 

Hi all,
I have an HP Envy4 1070el (bought in europe) with a crappy 150Mbs broadcom adapter. I asking here what kind of wifi adapters i can install due to whitelist... is Intel 6200\6300 ok? Otherwise can anyone advice me one?

Thx

 

Is old. . But has any one tried this? If not I may very well give it a go after a bit more research

 

bump for response

 

I also just changed the 32gb mssd against a 128gb plextor mssd and use it as a system disk now. However, installation was quite tricky. After deactivation of raid0 (all the removal/BIOS procedure) first i tried installing all on the msata ssd by leaving out the hdd. Installation without problems but @ 1st restart without cd drive an error occured: not bootable drive found. Next try: HDD in, EFI on HDD, sytem on SSD, works. However, the HDD was not recognized by the explorer, i had to give it a drive letter in device manager manually.
Now, finally world is fine again!

 

For those attempting to open the Envy 4, BE CAREFUL!
After removing the 12 screws, the bottom cover is held together by a lot of plastic clips, which easily breaks, I learned this the hard way, I broke 2-3 clips, it isn't a huge problem, but just a warning to slowly pry the cover.