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

Haha, i meant to say "Make a few hundred OFF..." but i said of.

as in, buy one from HP refurb center and part one out to make a few hundred bucks.

 

i bought these:
Shop Kobalt 8-in-1 Multi Bit Screwdriver at Lowes.com
Shop Kobalt 8-in-1 Precision Torx Head Screwdriver at Lowes.com

they're cheap and have worked out great for other laptops i have, so i would imagine they would be ok for the envy...

 

Sorry, what makes you say there will be a gen3 on June 27th?

 

I ordered a TM2T last night from HP. Got BCB notification within minutes of placing the order.

 

You'll want a set very similar to this one. Make sure you don't try to use too small of a bit on any of the screws, otherwise you can start stripping them. I have a set very much like that, and I've used it to take my Envy apart 3-4 times so far.

 

153 bucks in coming in from my bcb in 6 days from hp.... I hope they don't bs me and randomly take it away like I have heard from others

 

There is a new Envy 15 CTO listed on HP's website (in driver's section; you can also find its manual) so I assumed it would get released along with the Envy 14...but I went ahead and ordered the gen2 anyway.

 

Got my envy,

it is Gen2 indeed

But.. I'm going to keep them in RAID0..

Such great performance, even comparable to the SLC drive I used before this.

This machine is really quite the lappy!

BTW, is there a reason why people aren't installing CCC 10.5 on the Envy 15?

I did, and it is working greatly for me so far.

 

@meraki1990

The 10.5 'final' WHQL version from ATI Has higher temps and lower max stable OC's for me, it also does not include the HDMI driver and there are no controls in CCC for Hydravision or Avivo video options...even when you install all 3 dowloads from ATI. The 10.5 Beta version from Strags.com worked much better temp and OC wise for me and all features, including those missing from the final version (listed above) all install with the 1 install package using the 'express install' option...

 

Thanks for the kind explanation.

But as I don't use hydravision or Avivo,

I feel snug with the official WHQL version..

 

Thank, I may buy one

 

HP is selling core i7 620m for $ 989 in part store

 

No need to waste your money on the 'torx' kit as the envy 15 has no torx screws.

All you really need are the 2 smallest sizes of philips screwdrivers, #0 and #1 and I prefer magnetic tips to helps hold on to the screws while re-assembling. I would get the best quality ones you can find (not an 'eyeglasses' kit) since the cheap ones are not always sized accurately which can cause you to strip out the screw slots. One other item I find helpful to reinsert the small ribbon cables is a small pair of angled needle nose pliers. You should be able to find all these at any Radio Shack or most hardware stores.

I would not get the Kobalt driver(s) mentioned above because they have poor quality tips (read the reviews) and with the envy you will need to tourque down the case screws quite firmly when re-assembling the case to pevent squeaking palmrests, so you need precisely machined drivers to prevent stripping out the screws.

 

You are the master. Any specific recommendations?

 

lol. JJB should change his name to "The Master"

 

So when do we start to hear more info on this gen 3 Envy 15? I need a computer by September 1st so I have time to wait... but I would love to get one as soon as possible. (Also want to get one before BCB expires)

Can we be pretty confident we will see a gen 3 released before then?

Also, what is supposed to change?

 

Thanks! I will go to Radio Shack and take a look

 

Just got this from an HP rep:

Dan Maxwell : Yes, the notebook you're referring to, is a model lauched prior to HP ENVY 15t-1200. I would recommend that you contact our 1(866)377-5970 and they will be able to assist you in ordering the correct modelENVY 15t-1200 configurable notebook
Eli Fredman : okay... so it is available for order than?
Eli Fredman : just not on the website
Dan Maxwell : Yes, it is not listed on the website, please contact our shopping team to get it configured and ordered



Calling now to see if he is right

 

Ooh.. that's interesting, let me know how that goes.

 

heh... sales rep had no idea what I was talking about... oh well

 

+1. Wondering the same thing. Need a new laptop before fall semester starts.

 

Check the set I linked to in my post. Smaller sets like that are made of pretty high-grade materials, otherwise they wouldn't hold up.

 

After using dual ssd drives on my envy for a while, I just had to get one for my desktop. I remember someone posting a really good deal on an ssd a few weeks ago on here and I was wondering if someone remembers or knows another good deal.

I'm looking for one that's about 80-100 gb for somewhere around $200. Is the intel x25-m still the best choice?

 

Just updated to the latest BIOS and when it rebooted, the ATI driver was all messed up. Catalyst said it couldn't detect a supported graphics chip. I tried uninstalling and re-installing CCC but it crashes on detection for both.

Is my Envy hosed?

 

Nevermind - managed to install an older CCC from the HP web site and that didn't crash, and then upgraded to the newest one. Strange!

 

You really should uninstall all of the ATI programs and drivers and then use driver cleaner or driver sweeper before installing a new ATI driver package, this is even recommended in all the ATI release notes . Having multiple ATI installs written over each other can cause instability and other issues and may be why you had trouble after your update...

 

Yeh torture waiting to see whats up. I want an Envy with backlit key's, I like working or browsing at nighttime, tv on lights off etc, and the backlit keyboard on my Macbook Pro rocks for this and has no effect on battery life, I've seen no real difference with backlit turned off.

 

I went ahead and ordered the gen2 with the BCB for now. Worse thing I'll end up returning it and ordering the gen3.

 

I took the bullet and went to install 10.6alpha,

it is better than 10.5.

Try it!

 

Intel 80GB X25-m G2 is still one of the best deals out there. They can be had for $200 shipped online.

I have one in My car-pc and its great. I also have 2 other drives, a 64GB and a 128GB that are both Corsair Nova SSD (for netbook and HTPC). They are Indilinx Barefoot based and are awesome as well. Full TRIM support and cheap prices. Very fast write speeds and havent had a single prob.

If u can drop a few more bucks, grab a Sandforce based drive. Check out the Corsair Force series. Very nice and still affordable.

 

Thanks for the info, I'll check out the sandforce drives.

 

Anybody have a good sleeve for the Envy 15?

 

The HP 16" 'Onyx' sleeve HERE works great for me, almost perfect fit and it has an outer pocket for accessories. The only negative is that it has no handle or shoulder strap. 20% off direct from HP right now...

EDIT: That link won't work for some reason, go to accessories > computer accessories > carrying cases and it's on the first page about 5 items down.

 

I use an Incase 17" Macbook Sleeve for the envy 15, fit is perfect.

 

I've got a basic (no flap, no strap) WaterField Designs sleeve, which is quite nice. Padded, and a slim pocket for papers. It even fits the extended battery. Mine is a 29-21 measure, and a 29-20 should fit with the extended fit battery, but they recommend the 29-19 for the standard size with just the 6-cell. Fits snugly, but not too tight.

 

Thanks, I'll take a look at all of those.

 

Does anybody have the ATI Overdrive feature working with their 5830?

I like the Overdrive function, because the test stops when there appear artifacts on the screen,

I can find the most stable clock w/o artifacting easily with the Overdrive..

 

So i've been flipping through this ginormous thread and haven't found these answers yet.

1) Does the new envy 15 (latest one should be 2nd gen right?), have switchable graphics with i5 cores?

2) Do you think there will be another refresh soon?
I'm debating between an upcoming envy 14 and new envy 15...


3) What is the actual wifi/surfing/office, battery life for i5 envies?

4) So all i5 envies right now do not have switchable graphics?

Thanks so much!

 

1) No, they don't.. they use the PM55 chipset, which do not support switchable gfx.

2) Well, there is a new product manual that mentions the 5730 graphics and backlit keyboard, but no official releases of the dates for the refresh. I doubt it is going to be soon tho.

3) JJB got about 2hours and 30min without the slice, I was able to squeeze about 2 hours, with powerplay and display at 1/3 illumination.

4) No. They do not.

 

Whoops on question 4, i meant

do all i5 envies not have usb 3.0?

(do they have it or not?)

 

In what way did you find it better?

seer

 

There is NO mention of a backlit keyboard anywere in the new manual unless they recently changed it.

I actually can get 3:20 (consistantly) on the 6 cell with wifi on, light browsing and 70% brightness. Max is just over 4 hrs with nothing open except a single app like Word and maximum power savings settings.

Note: the screen brightness has very little impact on battery life since the difference between min and max brighness is 2W vs. 4W

You also had an earlier post regarding ATI overdrive, I believe that only works on desktop cards..

 

My bad.. Guess I got multiple things wrong

ATI Overdrive functioned perfectly for me with the MSI GX740 and the mobility CCC I installed on it.. ( MR 5870 )

I just don't know why I can enable the function..

I personally really liked the overdrive panel.

 

The OC clocks are able to hold much higher clocks,

and artifacting began at higher clocks compared to 10.5.

Temps are negligible though, so it means higher clocks ftw.

 

Maybe it only works on AMD CPU computers? Did your MSI have an AMD CPU?

 

Nope, running 920xm, sir.

I am baffled as to why this function doesn't work....

Hmm....

 

JJB it does have a backlit keyboard the envy 17
HP Home & Home Office Store - We're sorry!
Full Island Style Backlit Keyboard!!!
I wish they release one for this machine, it will be a real pain in the but probably to change it.

 

There is no way to include backlighting on the existing envy 15. The keyboard sits directly on top of the battery compartment so there is no room to add any backlighting. In addition there are no additional power contacts on the existing mobo to power LED or EL backlighting.

So as I have stated many times before there will be no backlit keyboard with the next gen envy 15 1200 CTO model as shown in the user manual that has been published for some time. It appears the only changes will be the next gen intel CPU's (when released), a 5730 GPU option and maybe a USB 3.0 port for the i5 versions.

 

HP needs to find a way. There is no excuse for not having a backlit keyboard on a $1200+ laptop. Unacceptable, not to mention an external CD-Drive? And they make you pay extra for it...ha

 

Yes i totally agree with you, for the price we are paying they seriously need to find a way, there can be a way, if we can have all these notebooks with backlit keyboards and also mentioning alienware also, and those are color ones, we should demand for them to release one. I read you can do usb 3.0 though that's awesome. Why did you get the glossy screen by the way? Also i have a question about noise and heat does it really get hot and warm and make a lot of noise as i read before? Or has that been fixed? Also how can usb 3.0 be ultized? The 5730 sucks unless its gddr5.