HP ENVY Touchsmart 14 (2013)

Hey good luck with it, I really wish I could trade screens out!!! I like mine for everything else, I would miss the Nvidia Gfx and the higher clock of the 4500u.

Ram I got was this: G.SKILL 16GB (2 x 8G) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Laptop Memory Model F3-1600C10D-16GSQ - Newegg.com

For the HDD I did not have any luck cloning it to work. I had to install from new media and reinstall some drivers myself (I upgraded to 8 Pro in the process as well). I still have the problem that if I go into the bios I have to unplug the HDD one time to get it to boot into windows. HP really doesn't want you booting to just the SSD for whatever dumb reason. Anyway it works great once I set the bios how i want it and remember never to go into it.

There is no way to upgrade the battery, although it is easy to get out and replace it if it is going bad....

 

Thanks for the reply.

I really wanted to do the HDD mod but it seems that could be a pain. When you say new media you mean W8 Discs? - Is there a tutorial for that process, if you know?

Memory : The link shows 2 sticks . Do we need the 2 or just one as the machine comes with 8gb already?

How many hours of battery you get with normal school use?

Appreciated

 

Yes I burned Windows 8 pro media to flash key from microsoft's website. (You can do that if you have a valid key) Supposedly setting up with Windows 8 (non pro) should work as the key is somehow magically built into the bios, but I don't know how you'd get the media without knowing your key. I just happened to have a Windows 8 pro key laying around that I'd bought as an upgrade and used that key.

I ordered 2 sticks since I built my machine with only 4gb. I only get around 5 hours at most with mine, but I find that is enough for my use... its worth having a little more power to me. It definitely is nowhere near my 2012 Macbook air in battery life.

 

Thanks again - Now I'm having second thoughts about the HDD mod. Some people say it's easy.. I actually thought it would be like this: Making a back up from new, then installing the new drive, then booting from the SSD and recovering from the back up.. I guess is more involving than I though lol.

The battery life should be ok I guess. - The reason I think this is a nice lappy is the screen. I was considering the Sony Flip too. - If I had the cash in hand I would go for the Lenovo 440s touch..

I hope that if I end up buying this it will at least last us a couple of years. Not much on reviews besides the "greenish" tint on the yellows issue but I think it will be ok. We're not that picky, worst case scenario,,just return it to the MS Store here. .

 

I installed a 250gb Samsung 840GB SSD, 128GB msata and a Intel 802.11ac wireless adapter (Intel Network 7260-HMWG). I used Miray HD Clone to clone the 500gb HDD to the 250gb SSD and then in the BIOS I broke the Intel RAID with the 24gb msata and then I just installed a 120GB msata drive and Windows 8.1 Enterprise so I can dual boot for work and then I installed the SSD. And then I did bcdedit to add the msata's Windows 8.1... it was pretty easy... took about 45 minutes total.

 

Nice. I probably will do some reading on this process before the SSD mod. I think my first step will be upgrade the memory. Get the cash for the drives and maybe buy the wireless card right away as it seems cheap enough for the one you've got

Amazon.com: Intel Network 7260.HMWG WiFi Wireless-AC 7260 H/T Dual Band 2x2 AC+Bluetooth HMC: Computers & Accessories

Is the card that come with the laptop that bad? - Also is the one you've got installed "plugNplay" ? Any probs with whitelisting?

thx

 

No the card is not that bad. I wanted AC.

 

The AC card I got in my k100 is a Broadcom AC card - not intel. I haven't used it on AC yet but works great on my N router...

Daniel I feel like your situation is different than most since you have dual SSDs it is not a problem for you to boot from the 2.5" drive. Most of us want to run the boot and OS only from the msata which is the way I have it on mine. I think if you were putting in a 2.5 SSD the disk copy would work better than it did trying to copy to the mSATA SSD. The BIOS simply hates booting to mSATA only. (but can be fooled)

 

Thanks. The one that MS Store lists for the 14- K11nr is Wireless 802.11b/g/n would that be an Intel?

 

I booted from mSATA no problems. I installed 8.1 Enterprise from USB stick. Then I re-installed the cloned version of the original HDD on my SSD and just added a boot entry, but I can hit F9 at post and boot off of the mSATA if I want, actually either drive. (You have to turn off RAID for this to work).

It is Intel.

 

Jazzman, one more question on the memory. I'm thinking about ordering the G SKILL you've got to upgrade to 16GB once I get the laptop. Will that be ok to install with the 8GB OEM that comes with it? (mixmatch) - I guess not. as the laptop comes with 2x4GB modules right? 2x8GB needed.

 

I have no idea what yours came with. for stability reasons it is usually best to stick to 2 matched sticks. but you don't "Have" to. Mine came with 1x4gb (cheapest option of CTO)

In case anyone is still wondering, my p/n 727488-001 (3200x1800 QHD+ screen+silver back) has been again pushed back for backorder to Feb 21 :\

 

Thanks man. It seems that if I want to upgrade the memory that would set me back another $150.. I might wait and see if I really need it. They actually told me that the HP ENVY TouchSmart 14-k110nr Sleekbook comes with 2x4gb, so I'll have 2 sticks of 4gb with no use..

Regarding the new screen, are you comfortable with the reviews they are putting out about the "yellows" and scaling?

 

I don't know, I kind of plan to run at full res or at 1920x1080. A little funky yellow will not bother me unless its horrible. I'm no gfx artist...

 

Any chance the Touchsmart 14-k111nr has a different screen than the k110nr?

Buy HP ENVY TouchSmart 14-k111nr Touchscreen Ultrabook - Microsoft Store

 

Part number for k111nr and k112nr screen is the same # as k110nr from the HP parts store so best guess is no.

 

Just purchased the K110nr from the microsoft store and it should be arriving today. I was choosing between this and the Vaio Fit 14E. Each seem to be plagued by their own issues but in the end I figured I could live with bad yellows over WiFi problems. I'll drop a line about my experience with it if anyone is interested.

 

Mine has been with HP for the last 45 days~ish (not including shipping time)... I received it back from HP last Thursday, shipping it in on 2/1 because the system would not power on. It took them forever to get a new system board. When I got it back. The sim card holder for where the SIM card would go was missing. So I could insert my SIM but there was nothing to hold it internally. Also, the top aluminum lid got badly scratched up on the edges and on the cover which was not the way I sent it in. I sent it back in to get repaired again. If I had to make a choice in buying a new laptop, I would not buy HP again.

 

As expected, mine suffers from the same poor yellow reproduction as everyone else. Hope there is a fix in the works for this. Other than that it is a great computer though.

Sent from my HP ENVY TS 14 Sleekbook using Tapatalk

 

Was yellow color production fixed upon return?

Sent from my C6903 using Tapatalk

 

No. It was the same. Its with them again now.

 

You seem to be the user "smashed" in SD as well. I just want to thank you for your detailed inputs back there and in here.

This laptop dropped to $699 at Microsoft Store, pretty close to what you got it for (I tried replicating your $695 deal but MS wouldn't allow me to stack the 10% student discount) ... so I got one. I chose this over the Yoga 2 Pro because it's near impossible to snag Y2P refurbs in the outlet and new Y2P's have never reached $899 since December (though that's still $200 more expensive than the HP). Also, upgradeable ram.

The following video made me consider the off-yellow compromise:



As the video shows, the off yellows are not even noticeable during video playback. And the picture actually looks great.

The author of that video (dip987) is possibly the first in the world (10/13/13) to review the HP Envy 14 in depth and notice the off yellows of the QHD pentile screen before the Y2P issue was first reported (10/17/13): http://www.mobile01.com/topicdetail.php?f=239&t=3590636&p=1 (translate from Chinese)

dip987's problem with auto-brightness is actually a Windows 8.1 setting that's easily toggled.

Anyway, if it turns out to be unbearable I can always return it. I hope HP would at least release something like Lenovo's Energy Management so we can do the unofficial Y2P fix (which is really what the official fix does except it saves the performance mode as default in BIOS, so it stays after reboot).

 

My k110nr just shipped. While I wait, let me just add some positivity and life to this thread with detailed k110nr pictures by R.I.P..W.O.D from vozforums.com/showthread.php?t=3663735, a Vietnamese tech site:

HP ENVY TouchSmart 14-k110nr Sleekbook















































See the rest of the photos from the author's flickr.

 

Well I'm still waiting for it to come back to me. The estimate now is sometime mid-april I will get it back.

 

I got this and returned it. (If you're interested to try it for the new price drop at $599, then yes, the refund was quick and easy as you do have a legit reason.)

The biggest problem, worse than the yellow issue, is the viewing angle. The touchscreen glass reflects the screen underneath, creating a double image which you can see so clearly from the side (and just a little bit to the side!). The next problem to me was simply the PenTile 2 subpixels/pixel cheat, shared by the Yoga 2 Pro and Samsung ATIV Book 9 Plus. I love reading at extremely small fonts, so I always use 100% scale in my iPad Retina screen and Nook HD+, but at 100% scale the 1-pixel width fonts are jagged in the PenTile screen. The screen is even worse than a non-IPS 1080p LCD.

Even at $599 I consider it a defective item.

Also ... the official HP thread for the yellow issue is going nowhere.

 

Were you able to upgrade the display by ordering the whole assembly, btw? Sorry if I'm late on this, but I'm worried the QHD may use a different connection than the default panels do.

HP lists a separate part number for the QHD display cable, and separate motherboard part numbers specific to QHD; see the HP Envy 14 Sleekbook - Maintenance and Service Guide (pdf).

For the 14-k000 with non-QHD, the connector appears to be 40-pin LVDS 2-lane on the display side. And dual-link LVDS maxes out at 1920x1200 @18-bit/pixel. Those with 1366x768 panels could upgrade to 1600x900 -- just need to make sure the replacement panel is 40-pin. EDIT: the bezel is easily removed: remove the two screw covers and screws at the bottom left and right, then carefully work your way around with a spudger or thin putty knife.

QHD requires much more bandwidth, so HP is probably using a 30-pin eDP connection only on those models. EDIT: this implies a different motherboard, with corresponding edp connector on the board.

 

Hey guys, I was considering buying the this laptop because of the super high-resolution screen, relatively small size, and very nice looking stylings of the HP Envy Touchsmart 14. I went into my local Microsoft store to take a look at it though, because of the reports of image quality issues. I took a picture of what I found there. You can see the envy 14 on the left, and the envy 15 on the right. The envy 15 has a 1080p TN display, which is really not that nice, but in this picture, you can see that the field of flowers looks much nicer and has more range of color in it, whereas on the 14, all of the oranges blend together into one washed out blob.



Here is the image I used to compare the two screens, so that you can compare using your own screen.

 

Honestly, the mouse pad is enough to not buy this. It clicks and drags things automatically. It really has a hard time deciphering between movements and clicking. The screen is also super sensitive, pushing things by itself on occasion.
It also has a hard time with HD video. but the most intensive application I have is Office 365. Really a disappointment considering its specifications, not sure if others are experiencing this though.
I would send mine in for service but it seems people just tend to lose their laptops with hp for an extended period of time and not get any of the issues addressed. I found myself looking at 2012 laptops to cheaply replace this one. May sell it because not even my wife likes using it.

 

I have the Envy 14-k112nr for about one month and I am trully happy with the laptop. For only u$s 679 i have an excellent QHD Display 3200x1800 IPS resolution, 8gb of ram, mSata 128gb. What really surprised me is that the laptop is really cold, never gets too hot under load and the fan is noticeable at 67 °C or more but before reach that temp I cannot hear at all.

Yes, the yellow mustard color is still present but for me is not a big deal, mainly because I use it for web surfing and Android programming but I really prefer the QHD Display with yellow mustard issue than an average display with 1366x768 pixels.

I think that for only u$s 679 is really a big opportunity.

BTW it runs Linux Mint 17.1 with kernel 3.16 perfect, all seems to work perfect, fully functional !!!