*HP Envy 15 (11XX / 12XX series) Owners Lounge!*

Guys, I just joined the Envy league, do they still provide externals optical drives for the Envy? I was just wondering if I had to buy an external for myself or they ship with it.

 

the dvd or BD drives are an optional order at the time of purchase

 

Thank you.

I always clean install everything on my laptop when I get one,

and I have a Win 7 Ultimate upgrade disc.

Will I be able to achieve a clean install with the upgrade disc, because there is an OS already loaded on the Envy 15?

Thank you.

 

If you did not order it with the laptop it is ok... Places such as newegg.com can get you a external usb burner for around 40-50 with a external blueray around 120-150

 

Sorry I have so many questions.. it was a spur of the moment thing to buy the Envy 15..

I was planning to swap out the dual SSD's with the 256GB 2.5"SSD I have.

Will I need a separate caddy to do this?

I thought 2.5" Drives don't require a caddy to install on the Envy 15..

Thanks.

 

u need the 2.5" caddy and sata cable if u started with 2 1.8" drives

 

Lol Ill trade you my caddy for ur caddy and ssd's

 

um.. does anyone know what part i Gould buy from hp partsurfer to mount my 2.5 SSD? would i have to buy a cable with that?.... I'm not sure but I will need to buy it now to put it in my Envy when it comes..

 

Just curious as to why you would want to replace the dual intel 160's with a samsung 256GB SSD? If you leave the intels in RAID0 (as shipped) the performance will be much faster than the samsung or you can un-RAID the drives and get ~equal performance with the redundant backup of dual drives, and either way you'll have 25% more capacity with the intels....

 

Sorry for the slow response, been out of town.

With the 7500K profile I only lose the first 3 squares in the 'black test' and see all but the last 2 squares in the white test (253 & 254). With the 6500K profile I can see all levels in both tests. Remember these 2 profiles were made at full brightness (100%) and you really need to view the tests in a very dark room to see all levels accurately and also make sure you switch your browser to full screen and native resolution (no zooming or scaling and same with windows 7). If you still get the same results then we must have different monitors which would not surprise me since there are 4 or 5 different replacement part numbers for the 1080P display listed on the HP parts site with no details as to the differences....

 

JJB, can i know where can i buy the 65W adapter?? And can it offer enough power to charge battery and using in the same time??

 

I got mine direct from HP.com. Go to accesories > AC adapters and scroll down to the 'HP Slim Travel Power Adapter'. Looks like no discounts right now (it's $99), I got mine when they had a 25% off sale and used a $50 off coupon so it only cost me like $25... You may want to check for coupons for accesories.

This adapter seems to charge the 6 cell fully in about 3:30 - 3:45 when using the computer with light load. Also keep in mind that this unit throttles the CPU like when on battery but you can override this with an app called ThrottleStop HERE which will allow full performance but may cause longer charge times depending on the load.

The photo on the site is deceiving, it shows it plugged directly into the wall but the actual 'top' portion is removable and allows for an included AC cord to plug into the top end...

 

Thanks for your explanation~!!
But it doesn't show that it support Envy 15, so how does it work??

 

TRIM support.. and I don't need dual SSDs, rather get paid off by selling them and using the one I have.. If I get sent the G1s, will they support TRIM or GC at all?..

 

It works as I described. It uses the same connector and has the center 'smart pin' that the envy requires, the only thing is it throttles the CPU but as I explained it can be overridden with ThrottleStop. This is the only adapter I take when travelling and performance is just like with the 120W brick, I can even get 10K+ 3Dmark06 scores easily with GPU OC'ing

OK. AFAIK there have been no G1's shipped with new envy's for quite a while. My G2's un-RAIDED support TRIM just fine, I am not sure what you mean by 'GC' ?

 

That was a steal! For only $25

I bought one of them, but I just returned it, it ran super hot

 

How to check if trim is enable ???

Mine is a G2....I don't know how Trim works

 

if you have a single ssd then trim is on already! if you have the dual ssd option you have to unraid the drives to get trim to work.....

 

As texanman says, it should be working in Win 7 automatically (non-RAID configurations only). The only way I can tell it's working is by running TRIM manually with the 'intel SSD toolbox' and seeing how long it takes to complete the process. If it just takes 5 - 10 seconds then I assume it is working correctly.

I tried running some tests by moving a lot of very large files around and transfering large files in and out of the drives (100GB+) and then ran TRIM manually immediately afterward and it took about 45 minutes to complete the process. Doing the same transfers and waiting a day and then running TRIM manually it only took about 5 seconds to complete... This tells me that it is working in the backround, I just wish there was some indication to confirm it is working or setting option to show it's 'on'....

 

Mine never seems to get more than 'warm' to the touch under normal use, even while charging a dead battery. I even ran a stability test with ThrottleStop on, 100% all 4 threads for 30 minutes and Furmark with 600/1000 OC setting on the GPU at the same time, it still did not feel to 'hot' to me with this high of load. My Dell 90W brick (inspiron 9400) runs warmer at idle than the HP 65W under load... Also keep in mind that this adapter has multiple safety shutdowns (over voltage, over current, over temp and short circuit) so even if it overheats it will shut down before any damage occurs.

 

non-raid only? This article says Trim works in RAID with certain Intel boards.. I'm guessing Envy 15 isn't one of them?

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/hardware/2010/03/23/intel-releases-trim-for-raid/1

edit: nm, apparently they were lyin or something.

 

That was a false report by someone misreading the release notes of the new intel RST software. It does not allow TRIM functionality on RAIDed drives and as far as intel has stated their are no plans in place to offer TRIM support for RAIDed drives. Something to do with the inability of being able to determine the drive specifics once they are in a RAID array...

 

if you must know if trim is working here's a way to check



open an admin command prompt and type fsutil behavior query disabledeletenotify

if you get a 0 its on and if you get a 1 it is off

this will not work on normal hdds as it will always return a 0 but its obviously wrong


On a different note... anyone planing on buying seagate's new hybrid hdd... I am having my eye on it and reviews say it kills in any hdd benchmark..

 

I'm looking at this charger, it looks very nice but someone said it won't work for envy 15 ....

Targus APM69US Premium Laptop Charger at TigerDirect.com

 

I have a different Kingston charger I got a while back on newegg for 20 bucks refurb and I was curious to see if one of the tips fit the hp.... guess what it fits AND it charges!!!!!!

PROVANTAGE: Kensington K38050RR Universal Notebook AC Power Adapter

Kingston official page http://us.kensington.com/html/17063.html
Provantage has them for 23 bucks plus shipping... its not slim but its much smaller and lighter then the 120w brick

 

How can you tell a 1st gen envy from a 2nd?

 

the gpu is the 4830 in the g1.... I think it is pretty obvious by now since they dont make the g1's anymore anyways

 

Aww... it is on special order.... wanted to get one.

 

I had the worst ordeal with my envy over the last 3 weeks!

I own 2 of em, and the second one i bought has the black screen of death prob. I sent it in 3 weeks ago after talking to HP and getting a case mgr. They wouldnt acknowlegde any problem, and the repair center just reinstalled the OS and sent it back... well almost:

MY LAPTOP GOT REDIRECTED DURING RETURN SHIPPING BY FEDEX! I had to jump through hoops to find where it got sent and it took 3 weeks to get it back! Still with the same freezing problem of course.

i work for a law firm, and threatened a lawsuit to HP corporate... after much arguing however they folded and I now have a brand new identical machine being built and shipped. I am returning the damaged one to them at that time.

What a hassle! LUCKILY my primary Envy has been flawless since day one.

Thanks for listening.

 

Well, I got a refurb off eBay for $1200 after BCB..

Couldn't resist myself from buying it because it was so cheap w/ dual SSDs..

Hopefully those issues will not haunt me... I don't wish to go through the hassle of resending my unit with possible deduction of shipping fees..

BTW, if this is a HP refurbished machine,
and has a 90 day warranty,
would I have to return the unit to the eBay seller or HP?

 

that is a perfect question for HP and/or the eBay reseller you purchased it from.

 

It's not cheap ,you may buy it directly from hp plus return period. Search reefer hp in google, you will see a link about hp business reefer store.

 

Checked the store out,

my purchase is still remarkably cheap.. w/ 90 day HP warranty.

540m w/ 2x160gb SSD's for $1200 is unbeatable even on the HP website..

 

So guys any solid report on the new Bios update? Does it really underclocks the GPU thus reducing the temps? Any recommendations as to whether install it or not?

 

Bad news, looks like BCB is getting canceled on 30 July 2010

Slashdot Search Story | Microsoft Cancels Bing Cashback Program

Hopefully they release at least one last 25%+ BCB offer for HP laptops before it goes away. Sad day

 

well I'm starting to notice how most of the time that I go on battery, I plug it back in with the battery still at over 60%. I do this a few times a week..
basically, I'm almost never draining it below 50%.

is this good or bad for the battery? I remember reading how 70% to full isn't considered a full charging cycle as far as battery life is concerned.

 

I really hate hp now..

NX369AAR#ABA-CTKK Refurbished HP ENVY 15t W7HP-64 i5 430M 2.26GHz 2-160GB SSD 4GB 15.6HD(1920x1080) 1GB Cam NIC WLAN BT 2-in-1 Rmkt NB PC $786.75

I paid 1240 for similar configuration.......I have to stack with my envy 15 for a while : (

 

well that was after the fact you bought it was it? Its still a good price for the 2 ssd model you bought. Just unraid the ssds and you should be good to go.... I wish I had the ssds

 

Hey, guys, One question,
Is the bottom half of ENVY 15 metal or plastic?
It feels really plastic like and it even has a layer of paint, under which the color looks like real polycarbonate.

 

So torn....

Should I go with the gen2 with the 25% BCB or wait for the gen3 (on June 27?) ?!?

What is supposed to be changed in gen3 anyway? New CPUs? is that it? Because I want the i7 quad version so I don't care about possible switchable graphics...but what about the bezel or keyboard, will those get changed?

I'm trying to decide whether waiting an additional month (or more) and an extra $600 (from losing BCB) are worth getting the gen3 instead of the gen2... help plz?

 

Wow..... what is the link to the refurb store? I tried to find it but ther were no envys..

 

Refurbished business products

I am very suprised at the selection of Envys on here! You can part one out on ebay and make a few hundred of a few of these models!

Hope they arent selling BSOD'ers

 

Pitabred just reported good results with the F 28 BIOS, better battery life and no reduction in GPU clocks: HERE

 

Actually I installed it last week. Installation went smooth no issues, I did notice a small slight decrease in temps about 2 or 3 degrees. I haven't yet tested the battery as reported by Pitabred. I cant comment on the black screen issue fix because I didn't have that problem to begin with.

 

Argh, I had my eye on one and it got bought before I could call in...

EDIT: Picked one up for about $1000, hopefully it doesn't disappoint.

 

They are sold out very fast for SSD version, because lots of ebayers are watching DELL, HP, lenovo's outlet....then make profit..

 

Can someone tell me where I can pick up a set of screwdrivers are perfect for envy 15?

 

I don't think you can make a few hundred, those SSD envy 15s are rare...

Most are regular HDD , take a look at ebay

Those ebay sellers are stacking their cash in refurbished envy 15...

I don't think many people are interesting because 90 days warranty and laptops are cheap for now

 

Hi, Im wanting to install a new video diver for the ATI 5830.
How do I make sure I completely remove the old driver?
control panel - remove program? if so I can only find ati catalyst program to remove... Or via device manager?
I also should use another driver clean program such as cc cleaner or driver sweeper right? Should that do it?

 

How long after purchase does it take for the BCB email to come?