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

thanks JJB for the promt replies!

i know it's not top of the line cpu but for web programming i didn't need anything massive, but the resolution of 1080p is FABbbbbbb.

the only thing that is causing a lot of heat is the 320 7200rmp hdd.

 

@bond007taz

what cpu do you have? If you have an i5 it will not hold 16g

 

I have the i7. I can get the 16gb to work in windows just fine, but it doesnt reboot correctly when all 4 slots are populated. I have to reset it a few times to get into windows. Once in windows, it works great - awesome laptop!

 

Hey Guys, I seriously have been looking high and low for some information regarding Raid Enclosures..

The ones I'm looking at are:
Welland 3.5 inch 2-Bay SATA RAID Enclosure [ME-580J] - $109.00 : PC Case Gear
and
Hotway Raid+ HUR1-SU2S2 Dual Bay Enclosure [HUR1-SU2S2] - $95.00 : PC Case Gear


Does anyone know a definate answer on whether I still need port multiplier to use those cos as far as I know our envys don't support PM ? I am planning to run them spanning or stripping or mirroring, I WON"T be using them as single disk mode anyway..

Thanks all!

LaMMi

 

@JJB

"Dude", I went through the manual for the Envy 15 (the new 1200 CTO and the old one). The manual is actually confusing. On page 1-1 or 1, depending on which version of the Envy 15 maintenance manual you use, it mentions that there are 4 dimm slots (customer accessible/upgradeable). However, on page 1-4 or 4, depending on which version of the manual is used, it states that "only 2 slots are customer accessible".

Reread the last paragraph I wrote.

Now, I also mentioned that "IF YOU ARE UNSURE OF WHETHER IT COULD VOID YOUR WARRANTY" that you should not open up your laptop. Once you know for a fact that opening your laptop will not void your warranty, then go ahead and open it and do with it as you please, fully knowing that anything you do is at your own risk.

Did you ever think that a lot of the information in those manuals is for repair centers certified by HP? Yes, they are available to us all, but that doesn't mean that just because the manual shows how to do it that it is covered.

HP has to support the use of all 4 dimm slots and to a max of 16GB and HP in no way can say that they will only support 12GB and not 16GB because bond007taz originally bought the laptop with 2 x 2GB sticks pre-installed internally.

The warranty states that it is at the discretion of HP to repair or replace a defective unit/part. The mention of opening the laptop has now made it that HP can refuse to honor the warranty because, other components could have been damaged in the processing of opening the laptop. Say what you want, but think of it from the perspective of HP.

So now, I say to you, calm down and compare your situation to bond007taz's situation before you talk. I found the directions to unRAID the Envy 15. No where does it say that you need to open the notebook to unRAID the drives. In fact, unRAIDing is done from a menu accessed after the POST screen on the Envy 15. The unRAIDING procedure is detailed in the USER GUIDE. The internal memory replacement procedure is detailed in the MAINTENANCE AND SERVICE GUIDE.

Big difference don't you think?

The MAINTENANCE AND SERVICE GUIDE is provided, but it doesn't mean that you are supposed to do everything mentioned in there. And again I mention that warranty is at the discretion of the provider of the warranty. Opening the notebook and mentioning that you opened the notebook is an easy way for HP to save money.


@bond007taz

The problem your having seems similar to a problem I had with my desktop. When I populated all 4 dimm slots, the computer did not consistently boot. I went into the BIOS and had to manually set the timings for each RAM stick because it was not properly auto-detecting the timings. It is possible that you have the same issue. Are all 4 sticks from the same manufacturer and same model?

One more thing dude, especially if you buy a new laptop, I recommend not opening it up until you ask other owners and users their about their experience and whether warranty actually covers it. As you can see, the warranty situation is very iffy regarding opening the Envy 15. Never mention that you opened the notebook. Always mention to the technician as little as possible and let them ask you questions. In this case, your issue was with the 4 dimm slots be loaded and the computer having booting issues. You should have just mentioned that and waited for a response. You should not have mentioned that you opened it up and replaced the internal sticks.

 

you can change the timing in the envy bios?! I cant seem to find those settings. I thought I went through all the documentation, but maybe I missed it?

All my memory is matched, all my 2GB modules are the same models and same chips, both sets of 4GB modules are matched as well using the same manufacturer. So, I have 12 pieces of memory that dont work in any configuration if all 4 dimms are populated.

 

Ah sorry, I forgot to mention that you cannot change the timing in the BIOS for any of the Envy series notebooks. That's why I asked you for the manufacturer and model numbers.

Furthermore, 2 sticks can have the same model number but still differ. There can be different revisions for each model.

 

so i have 4 sticks of 4GB ram on samsung sticks with the same HP part number with the same code on all the sticks "M471B5273BH1-CH9". I have another 4 sticks of 4GB ram with the same HP part number and they are samsung chips with the same code on all 4 sticks "M471B5273CH0-CH9".

 

So it takes you several restarts to boot into Windows with all 4 sticks installed.

Once booted and logged in, can you post a screenshot of CPU-Z for the tabs titled Memory and SPD.

 

yup, will do

 

Make sure you are not mixing up the 4 sticks of RAM since you have 2 different model numbers.

Another thing that might be the problem is that 1 of the sticks may be faulty. Might want to try each set of 4 for the 2 models you listed and see if you have the same issue.

If that's not the case, then try 1 stick in 1 slot and keep changing which slot you stick it in to see if 1 of the slots is faulty.

 

@Metril

Again read the warranty. There is no exclusion of coverage for opening the computer and doing anything you want to inside of it, you can paint it purple. This right of the consumer to do what thay want to a product they own has been upheld in courts in all 50 states. That is why most manufacturers no longer use seals or stickers about voiding warranties etc... Only if you do or change something that cuased the 'failure' will it void the warranty, that is a very big grey area. Manuafacturers say all sorts of stuff like adding internal memory will void the warranty, that is not the case, they just have a script that tells them that. Marketing, sales and tech support people have no clue other than what they are told to say about what is or is not covered.

Your reading about the unRAIDing just proves my point. Going up 3 levels of tech support managers, they kept telling me that the warranty would not cover the issue I was having due to unRAIDing my drives, you saw the instructions yourself in the USER manual shipped with every Envy! Finally I had an attorney friend email a threatening letter to management, guess what, I got a call back from the VP of customer service the next morning. All of the sudden they were bending over backwards to help me resolve the issue, they even ended up replacing it with a brand new computer already unRAIDed, with a clean win7 install and no HP crapwaware.

So please don't lecture me about what is and is not covered by warranty, you seem to know as much as the tech support or CS people.

'Bond007taz' has not voided his warranty in any way, from what he has posted, and if escalated correctly they will take care of his problem under warranty.

 

Very interested about this attorney friend of yours. Sharing is caring?

 

@JJB

Let's put it this way. You bought an item with an adapter that only fits in U.S. sockets. It is a universal adapter. You're quite the tinkerer and savvy enough to know how to replace the plug end. You replace the plug end so that it fits into household sockets in Europe/India/etc.

Now, you fly to Europe/India/etc and the moment you plug it in, you shock yourself. Who's responsible? You or the manufacturer? It could go either way, but guess what? You opened the adapter. Even though the manual for the item you bought says that it could shock you or kill and explicitly says that you shouldn't open it, you do. If you sued, you would lose.

Now come back to this Envy 15. You need to remove several screws (40 or more) and then need to disconnect the ZIF connectors so you can lift the keyboard off and out. Great. But, what if you accidentally ripped the keyboard connector wire? Should that be covered under warranty?

The fact is that companies invest in training people to avoid mistakes as simple as forgetting to remove the ZIF connector or making sure that you don't scratch the PCB and destroy a circuit lane. Companies will not cover mistakes made by end users.

You still don't understand that you did not open up your computer to unRAID the drives. bond007taz did open up his computer to replace the RAM sticks. So, HP will void the warranty because bond007taz could have damaged something else in the process. HP won't know for sure and they will certainly use the fact that he mentioned to the representative that he opened the computer up against him.

Every company will try to wiggle away from covering something that should be covered. However, in your case it should have been covered from the get-go because unRAIDing is an option provided to you as per the BIOS. It is considered user accessible. I'm sorry that the people you spoke with were ill informed. I'm sorry you went through so much trouble and had to resort to lawyering up. However, at the end of the day, you simply flipped an external switch and did not physically affect any internal hardware.

bond007taz had to physically open the laptop up in order to replace the RAM sticks. Do I believe his warranty should be voided? NO. However, HP has a legitimate reason to think so. Still, bond007taz can argue with them. The service manual is confusing. Page 1 doesn't clarify whether all 4 sticks are user accessible. Page 4 says that only 2 sticks are user accessible. He can make a strong argument with this.

I "know as much as tech support or CS people"? Understand the "physical" and "tangible" difference between unRAIDing and replacing the internal RAM sticks and then we'll compare notes.

Good day and since it's really late for me...Good night.

@bond007taz

If you haven't already done so, run a memory test on those RAM sticks. And remember to post the CPU-Z screen shots.

Off topic:

One more thing, I hate tech support and customer service. A lot of the people working in such positions are ill informed and not technically educated. For example, the Verizon technician sent to check on my FIOS connection, as soon as it was installed, did not understand a thing about Network Address Tables and why I was using my own router and not their stupid Actiontec one. I spent 3 days telling Verizon how to fix my connection so that I would actually get the speed they advertised. When I asked them to trace my connection, guess what? They couldn't trace me because they had my ONT registered to connect to 3 different nodes on their network and their system was defaulting to the last known good configuration for my account, which was before I upgraded my package.

So I certainly understand the frustration in dealing with tech support ans customer service.

 

@metril

Let's see, I've had 8 envy 15's total, own 4 currently for my business and have one for personal use. I have opened them all up to add RAM, changed a few drives, new thermal paste on 2 of them and 2 CPU fan assemblies. Other than the one that fried while unRAIDing it, 2 others have gone back, both modified internally (one went back with no drive at all). All repairs were covered under warranty. I'm done arguing with you about what rights we as customers and consumers have under a manufacturers warranty, your power cord example is ridiculous, that not only voids the warranty but you would technically be breaking the law in the USA as you'd be modifying a UL listed, certified device.

By the way, if you could read the service manual properly, you would see that there are a total of 17 screws (not 40) to remove in order to get full interior access.

@bond007taz

Sorry you got caught up in this argument, but trust me that you are fully covered if you have a valid warranty and everything you stated is accurate, you were adding HP RAM that is listed for use on the Envy 15 and it fails to recognize it during bootup. You just have to be firm when they tell you it's not covered and nicely tell them you need to speak to a supervisor. If the super. tells you the same thing, explain to him that your warranty says no such thing, if they say it does then request in writing, a letter, showing specifically where it says this voids the warranty, he won't be able to, ask to talk to his boss if necessary.... or you will be forced to go to the BBB and, and if necessary you'll get a lawyer.

 

@ JJB, you own a lot of 15's can I ask what it is that makes them your laptop of choice? reason I ask is I cant get them here in the UK, and I am so tempted to buy one, but it gets such mixed reviews. You are actively on here and with so much experience I reckon you are the best person to ask!

Also, the only envy I have seen was a gen1 with 720qm, it was idling in a shop and the left palm rest was scorching. If I had an i5 with fans always on, would it be cool on idle? and how hot would it be gaming etc?

Thanks in advance

 

@bond007taz

Let me rephrase what I said before about voiding your warranty. HP has a legitimate reason to say that you voided your warranty. But, you also have several legitimate reasons to say that you did not void your warranty.

If/When you call tech support back, tell them about how pages 1 and 4 are contradicting with regards to which slots are actually user accessible. Tell them that you actually used memory you bought from HP.

I do agree with JJB that you should ask them exactly where it says in the warranty that the actions you took have voided the warranty.

@JJB

I believe we are arguing over the same side of the same coin. I should probably have said that I believe that HP should not have said that his warranty was voided. I guess my first post on this matter was poorly communicated. However, I also believe that HP had a valid reason for stating that his warranty was voided. Still, bond007taz can definitely fight back. As I already stated that the service manual is contradicting and he can use that to fight back.

Did you ever mention to HP that you opened your laptop up? I ask because bond007taz did say that to the rep he spoke with. If you never once mentioned that to a rep when you sent your Envy in for repairs, it is possible that the repair guys just didn't care enough to pass along that the computer had been opened.

@bond007taz

My first post on this matter was rashly and poorly written. Let me state by saying that you are not SOL. However, you have put yourself in a situation where you now need to fight with HP. Once you call tech support and if they say that you voided your warranty, ask to speak with the resolutions department. If that fails, you want to talk to the manager of the resolutions department.

 

Very good question, after all the initial issues I had with the first unit which was replaced (same model you mention above 4830 & 720QM) I returned it when the i5 w/ 5830 was announced and ordered 2 units to basically compare the glossy vs. anti glare screens. The glossy screen, being superior for photo editing, was kept and the i5 option and 5830 GPU made a huge difference in lowering heat, better battery life and graphics performance.

With all the issues, as you have read here, it was a somewhat difficult choice to pull the trigger on ordering 4 more for my photography business. But no other options available truely met our needs for screen quality, light weight / portability and performance (exept MBP 15's). The heat is non existent during normal use with the i5's and battery life improved to an average of about 2:45 in real use, while not ideal, with the addition of 1 or 2 extra 6 cell batteries my photographers are getting 5 to 7.5 hours of use in the field which meets our needs. After 6+ weeks of daily 'work' use they seem to be holding up very well, except for the unit that died while unRAIDing the SSDs and was replaced, we have had basically 0 issues. So I guess that's 20% failure rate on the gen 2 model, lol.

Obviously if you have one shipped to the UK, there may be support issues if you need warranty repairs. That's something you'll need to consider. I would recommend an i5 CPU unless you really need the processing power of the quad cores, which come with higher heat and 2hrs or less battery life. By the way, the 'Slice' battery is a slick design, but due to the weight, all my guys have chosen to carry extra 6 cell batteries instead (53Wh @ .8lbs 4"x8"x3/8" vs. 93 Wh @ 2.7lbs and hard to pack). Finally, be aware that a clean Win 7 install makes a huge difference in performance and battery life, and IMO is a requirement to make these computers perform to their full capabilities...

 

@JJB

You owned a first gen Envy 15 and now own a second gen one as well. Did you by chance own a second gen one with any of the quadcore processors and 5830m? I ask because I am trying to compare temperatures between the Envy 17 and 15, both with the quadcores. However, I have only found temperatures for the dualcore processors in the Envy 15.

 

Looks like I'm having exact same problem as you were... I'm replacing my 2 160GB Intel SSDs with 2 256GB Micron RealSSD C300, so basically need to do a clean install of W7 x64. When I boot from the HP's sysrem recovery DVD a message about some missing drivers just pops up without any options. When I boot from a boxed W7 it asks for drivers. How do I extract extract the Intel SATA RAID Controller driver, like jtvgeo mentioned previously? I would reeeeally appreciate a little more detailed description of your clean install of W7 starting with unraiding the HHDs.. PLEASE!

 

Never had a gen 2 i7 so no personal experience, the first link below is still somewhat active and has more i7 owners, may want to post there for actual numbers or search for posted screen shots ( a lot of page though ). IIRC at idle the 720QM is at 50 to 55C and the 5830 ~40C. Under fullload the 720 can get up to mid 80's and the 5830 to mid 70's. For the lowest temps a clean install and reduction in processes and services is essential, no HP crapware in other words. When this is done most report very cool case temps except when really loading up the i7's.... Keep in min the i7's idle at 15.04W vs. 5.3W on the i5's so the battery life impact is huge. They due have the 740 and 840QM listed in a new service manual which should be more power efficient but no info on if or when they mey be released on the E 15....

Here are 3 more links to envy 15 threads,

Original Owners lounge pt. 2 -- more i7 owners

E 15 Drivers Thread - some Temp info here & pg1 is great resource

E 15 Benchmarks thread

 

IIRC You should be able to just use the combo eSATA/USB port. The USB 3.0 ports have no driver for the NEC controller until you load them after the OS.

Are you saying that Micron has the 256GB C300 available in the 1.8" size (you posted 2 256GB) ? If so could you post a P/N and approx pricing or where to find them ?

Thanks

 

Thanks so much for your thoughts! I currently use a m11x for mobility and a m15x for donkey work. They are ok, but about the best you can get in the UK for a reasonable price (we really lack decent options here, acer, dell or sony. I hate acer for build quality and screen quality, and dislike sony because of proprietry drivers that never get updated and battery drain issues. Dell/Alienware are about the only ok-ish brand as the higher end models usually have decent screens). My wife is into photography and we are currently looking into setting up a business over here so I want something light with a decent screen.
Having drooled over the envy for a long time I have ordered a 14 from the states, but I am also thinking about picking up an i5 envy 15 as well. I would then get rid of the alienwares.

The warranty does concern me a bit considering the failure rate that seems to be touted. But I work in IT, so only hardware failures of the motherboard would bother me, anything else I could replace myself.

I always do a fresh install myself as I hate bloatware. Plus I have a couple of SSDs already that I would install when they arrive.

Thanks again
ninja

 

Just ordered mine heres my config i probably wont get it for a while

* Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
* Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-820QM Quad Core Processor (1.73GHz, 8MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to3.06GHz
* 4GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
* 500GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
* 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) HD 5830 Graphics - For i7 Processors
* 15.6" diagonal High Definition LED HP Brightview Widescreen Display (1366x768)
* Webcam Only
* Intel Wireless-N Card with Bluetooth
* HP QuickWeb, Corel VideoStudio Pro X2, Corel Paintshop Pro X2, Stardock My Colors
* HP Keyboard
* 6 Cell Lithium Ion Polymer Battery (standard)
* No Productivity Software
* HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope

So my question is, whens a good time to call HP to "change my config" and get them to offer me a credit to keep it the same

 

Yessir! They are pretty rare though... I bough two 1.8" C300 for $2500 The p/n MTFDDAA256MAG-1G1. Sold here: http://app.arrownac.com/aws/pg_webc...neda=&start_index=0&search_type=click_through Thanks for the info, will try to use the combo port now)

 

@noxep

Thanks, but I'll stick with my intel 160's for now, pricing is a bit high on those little guys right now, Ouch! I wonder what capacity size intel will come out with when they release their next gen versions, they are 50% partners with Micron on the foundery that makes that NAND flash.

Not sure if your aware but there is an issue on the envy 15 that cuases a very low 4K random read speeds on the intel SSD's, with no resolutions in the works from HP. I would be very interested to see what your 4K random R/W speeds are for the Micron drives. Maybe you could post a CrystalDiscMark benchmark screenshot once you get everything set up and working....

Thanks in advance

 

I managed to get a nice 320GB mechanical toshiba drive for my secondary, for $169. would like to see a 500gb 1.8" hybrid. not holding breath.

 

also turned my old 250gb toshiba 1.8" into a sweet pocket-sized usb drive, works great.

 

here are the screenshots of the memory information from CPU-Z when I am able to get into windows - again, all of my memory are HP branded memory but obviously the CPU-Z is showing the actual chip vendor

 

Hmm...

You mentioned that you have 2 sets of 4 4GB sticks. Have you tried both sets? Does the problem occur with both sets? If it does, run a memory test on each set of 4. If the memory test passes, then there is definitely an issue with the motherboard.

One thing that comes to mind is the voltage regulation for the processor and memory sticks. I remember that on my AGP ASUS motherboard, the computer would sometimes not start and randomly beep. Turned out it there was a leaky capacitor causing low voltages. Hence, my processor didn't get enough power to POST. I eventually got the board replaced under warranty, but now it's sitting alone in a closet.

 

ya, same issue with the other set of 4GB modules. Do you recommend a memory tester because I have run the built-in memory test from windows and the memory tester from the Envy 15 bios with NO errors any piece of memory that I have tried. I have run the test on 12 different pieces of memory in different configurations and no errors found on anything. This is why I called tech support, I cant find an issue with the memory modules, that is why I have so much. I figured that I some bad memory! / forgets what he was saying /

Ya, my laptop works fine with the memory that the laptop came with but that is not why I am trying to get support... ugh... its so painful

 

Well, then it's time to call HP and tell them everything you tested. Time to fight them and argue that their manual is contradicting and if they say that your warranty is void, keep fighting till they listen.

It definitely sounds like bad voltage regulation on the motherboard. No way for you to fix it other than to get it replaced.

 

..........

 

has anyone been able to get their envy 15 working with all 4 dimms populated???

 

My Envy has all 4 Dimms populated but only with 2gb sticks for a total of 8gb

 

Yes, there are dozens on this thread using 16GB with no issues that I am aware of.

 

Just out of personal curiosity, what is the use of having 16 GB of RAM. I'm not questioning the notion, I just want to know why.

 

Lot's of reasons if your running massive data crunching programs. Or you could run 4 virtual OS's , one on each core of an i7 with 4GB RAM each, or when your rendering 3D graphics or encoding multiple HD vidieo files..... I use up to 7GB sometimes in adobe CS4 when doing very large (1+GB) batch file processing.

 

Thank you. I understand then.

Personally I only have 4 GB of RAM. In your opinion, would this be enough for me? I will probably only use my ENVY 15 for things like gaming and multimedia. I normally play games such as WoW, Bad Company 2, and other intensives FPS. Would 4 GB be enough?

 

Yes 4GB should be more than enough for all you listed and more... Other than what I mentioned above about CS4 I never come close to using 4GB, let alone the 8 I have...

 

Okay then, that's relieving. Thanks. I guess gaming just doesn't take up all that much RAM.

 

Okay, i finally managed to make everything installed and running smooth. As you asked, here are the screens of both setups benched. That 4K issue is obvious on Micron SSDs as well. Guess it doesn't depend on the drive.

 

Hey...I was wondering whether it's better to install ATI drivers from HP dated 10th May, 2010 or those from the official ATI website dates June 16th, 2010?

Any advantage of one over the other?

 

Micron and Intel have a partnership to manufacture flash memory and SSDs.

 

Dont know if this was posted yet, but

use NBJ459873 for 200 off the 15, does not work for 14 or 17

 

Which one of these hard drives run cooler?

500GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive

640GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive

 

A brand will help or atleast more info on the drives..... but if that is all your going to give us the 5400 rpm will be a little cooler

 

Well it's the only 2 options that the HP site offers. I'm going off what the site offers.

 

Got my ENVY 15 today. I'm getting CPU temps of 40-60... what the????

This is with an i5-430m...

 

well around idle it should be somewhere at 34-43c (at least for me) are thoughts temps under load or idle?