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

Overall, I'm very happy with the Envy 15. I'm going to send in mines to get the LCD replaced eventually since it has a dead pixel in the middle of the screen. Better battery life would be great, but other than those two issues I've been very happy with the Envy and plan on keeping it.

 

UK site list it as HM55 I think.

 

I agree that the blacks are too black. When I'm watching movies, dark areas get so dark that they appear gray at times.

JJB, did you watch movies in a dark room with your calibrated settings? Did you notice that the really dark areas turned gray or did they look normal to you? Also, could you recalibrate it to make it not as black?

Otherwise, it's been great. Thanks for posting it.

 

All Envy 15's use PM55.

 

Only plasma TV can display true black.

 

Actually the other poster is right. I just took a look at the UK site and they do show the 1100 using the HM55. So my earlier comment was wrong. I wonder why the specs seem to vary depending on country?

EDIT: Was just thinking about this some more. When I went to the UK store I didn't see a custom building option so the only 1100 I looked at is using an i7 chip. If they do offer a customized i5 edition and it uses the HM55 as well then, if I understand correctly, then it may be possible that at some point the UK edition i5 might be able to use the IGP at some point but thats just guesswork on my part.

 

Switchable graphics is still in its infancy and ATI seems to be slow to the plate to implement any platform solutions. nVidia has just released the Optimus technology and is only limited to only a certain number of OEMs. The combination of chipset/BIOS/Drivers and S/W management seems to be especially complex and support is only recent with the the release of Win 7.

If the HP UK will be offering a RAID configuration option i.e. 2 SSDs then the chipset will never be the HM55 because the HM55 firmware option does not support IMSM. The HM57/QM57 chipsets do support RAID and IGP so this would only be the alternatives for true universality.

Although it is frustrating for the consumer to have all these restrictions there is an engineering reason why HP is only sourcing a single chipset. It is a tradeoff of performance and cost. The QM57 chipset costs more and includes enterprise features desigend for business like Remote Management, Access Management.

 

The article stated the USB 3.0 port was all the way to the right (implying there was only one). In reality the two dedicated USB ports are 3.0 and the USB/eSata port is USB 2.0.

 

Anybody know if that is possible?

Thanks.

 

Can someone with the i5 please post HWmonitor temp readings of the cpu/gpu/hdd? Just your typical temperatures browsing the net n stuff...nothing too strenuous. Thanks so much! Will be giving rep!

 

I'm not sure how that works to be honest. I know the newer chips support Eyeinfinitly and multiple displays. I know with the Envy you can send a signal to both the laptop's screen and the HDMI port but how you would be able to send 2 signals out with the Envy since it only has 1 port escapes me.

 

CPU: 46C
HDD: 39C
GPU: 54C

BTW: HWMonitor now tells you the GPU temp with the 10.2 drivers.

 

You can't use Eyefinity. You would only be able to with daisychained DisplayPort.

You can still get the eyefinity experience with dual monitors though, though that would be totally useless for a FPS.

 

Drizek... thanks! Rep given!

Those temps seem high though... that's an i5 system and you're not doing anything intensive?

hmm. Damn.

 

Switchable graphics has been around before the Core i5 came out though, both Apple and Asus were using it on their laptops. And the Envy 13 also has switchable graphics even though it uses a ULV non Core i5 processor.

I know the UK site lists the HM55 chipset, that was noted a few weeks back when everyone was still thinking that the Envy 15 would support switchable graphics. But I doubt that version will ship anytime soon (before March). Most laptops that have HM55 are still being delayed untill mid-March (Sony Z as an example). It'd be weird if the Envy 15 used HM55 since it apparently doesn't support RAID.

 

well, I had teh video card running overlcocked. It was idle, but overclocked. I put it back into regular mode a few seconds before posting. Now it is at 53C.

Of course, this is with the fans turned off in the BIOS...

If I had the fans running all the time, the temps would be a lot lower. Right now the video card fan kicks in at around 54C and takes it down to 50C and turns off again. The CPU fan never turns on when the computer is idle.

 

Your right those seemed quite high.

Here are screens of the i5-540m showing temps 2 ways, with fans off and with fans always on (default from HP). I believe the previous post must have had the fans turned off in the BIOS or else had the power plan in 'high performance mode.

Here are fans off (via BIOS) which computer had been set to all day, light surfing, photoshop editing and itunes;



Here is the difference with fans 'always on' (via BIOS 'factory default'), changed to this mode ~45 minutes ago after reading your request, so basically just surfing and itunes in backround;



I have the dual SSD option and as far as I can tell there is no temp sensor for them which makes sense since the right palm rest area above the drives has never even gotten warm.

Hope that helps

 

I wonder if a revised Envy is around the corner. WIth the rumor of an Envy 14 and Envy 17, both rumor to have better design, Envy 15 might inherit some of that.

A month ago, I can walk into Fry's and most Bestbuys around me and see Envy 15. Now I went to 2 Fry's and 6 Bestbuys, not one Envy 15 in sight.

 

I haven't messed with my fans at all so far and just left things how it came from the factory. The only thing I've changed in power plan is changing both max and min proc state when plugged in to 100%, system cooling is set to Active. Should I change anything in the bios, here are my 820's temps:

 

Are you running the 10.3 Drivers? I've always noticed that the CPUs run fairly hot on Performance setting. Dropping to a Balanced option will get at least 2 cores in the mid 40s.

I'm going to load the 10.3 Previews to check out any improvements.

 

@Bratboy

Don't know why you would change the CPU to 100% The whole point of Turbo boost is to be available when it's needed, not necessary to have the processor idleing at 100% in order to get full performance. I bet your temps would go down significantly if you changed to 0% min and 100%max while plugged in.....

 

Yes using the 10.3's. They show as 10.2 in CCC but think thats just because their a preview and not final yet.

@JJb
Okay well I went ahead and set it to match the HP Battery setting of Low 5% and high 100%. Will let her run for a bit and see what the temps show.

 

The Generation 2 ENVY's are NOT sold in retail stores yet. Also, the ones you saw were probably Generation 1's and they were liquidated for probably the Generation 2's or the new ENVY sizes coming soon. However the Generation 2 ENVY 15 will stay for a while that is for sure and much longer than the lifespan of the Generation 1's.

 

I've got a stupid question.. but in excel, for some reason my scroll lock is enabled. How do I disable this? There are no scroll lock/num lock buttons...???

 

JJB:

Ya, that's more like it.
Interesting though, the CPU temps basically stayed the same with or without the fan, 38C is already chilly though so not surprised it didn't get that much cooler. What did surprise me is the 10C GPU drop-off. hmm.

Also odd seeing such a disparity between the two cores, I guess that's because of the Intel overclocking "thing" of theirs...

Thanks once again and rep given!

 

Yeah I noticed that difference in CPU core temps which bugged me at first, thought maybe it was reading wrong or a bad sensor because the low temp would sometimes read at roughly room temp which made no sense if the core right next to it on the same heat sink was 10 - 15C warmer....

Did some testing and it always seems to do this at idle but when any heavy loads are applied they both max out within 2C of each other so I at least feel confident that they are reading correctly under load. FYI; under a 100% load test (both cores running at 2.8Ghz) temps ramped up to 77C and then stabilized to 75C max. What was impressive is how fast the core cooled down, in less than 1 minute and they were below 45C. Very efficient cooling system.

As for GPU temps, I think the fan kicks on at a little above 50C when you disable the 'always on' mode while the CPU seems set to activate in the low 40's. I have yet to see the GPU get above 70C even with high O.C.'s.

 

Hey all - sorry if this has been answered previously, but is there any way to reduce the MINIMUM screen brightness below the factory settings? When I'm in a dark room, sometimes the minimum is still too bright for me

Thanks



HP Envy i5-540 ~ 4gb RAM ~ 1GB ATI 5830 ~ 320gb 7200rpm ~ HP Ultra Brightview 1920 x 1080 ~ Slice

 

You mean below what pressing the f2 key can do? To me the lowest setting using that is too low for me. I honestly have not heard of a way to drop it even lower.

 

Is it just me or did they raise the price on the i7-720QM upgrade option... I could've sworn it was $250 to upgrade to it yesterday and now its $400... or am I thinking of the 620? That means they would have to have gotten rid of that then.... im all confused

 

I can't really recall what it was. Sadly it seems HP's pices fluctuate like the stock market LOL.

I tried to pull up my last order and transaction emails but they only show the total final cost not what each option was, sorry.

 

Ya, it was $250 to upgrade as it was $75 more than the 540...crazy these HP fools I swear.

Can someone post some pics of their machine? I'd love to see how it really looks.... thanks!

 

I've had the Envy 15 1190eo for nearly two weeks now, and had a few issues early on which I solved thanks to you guys.

Now there's another issue, and it's irritating me to no end.

The fan on the right side (GPU fan?) has been making a noise for the last few days. Or at least, I believe it's the fan that's making the noise. It's basically a "revving" sound that kicks in whenever the fan starts. The fan revs up to top speed and makes the normal sound, and then there's the low revving in the background. I can't really describe it good, but compare it to an engine of sorts that revs 5-6 times a second.

Can anyone enlighten me on this?

 

I think you are right...It appears HP did raise the price of the i7-720. Maybe the articles about computer prices increasing have some validity in the short term.

 

Did the price go up on the 820?

 

Increased by $100 I think. It's $700 now.

Probably making some space for 620m.

 

It was $250. Now it is $400?! Damn. Talk about price gauging....

 

Would HP cross-ship a new notebook for an RMA? I would hate to wait for the whole cycle of shipping, fixing, and HP reshipping my notebook.

 

nope, they don't crosship

 

Closest thing to it would be to RMA it and order a new one and your gonna have to fight with CS to get the price matched.

 

Here are links to 4 pics I posted of the inside of the i5-540m model;

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5815501&postcount=1249

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5816047&postcount=1279

 

JJB, those SSDs are Intel G1 or G2?
Because for the color it's look like G1 (since G2 are silver).

 

Dammit !!! I was hoping for the same. Call them and get a discount
I need one now that the price of 720 had increase

 

JJB has G2s in his. Somewhere on the forums is a picture of the model number in devices as proof.

 

Thanks Kamzu. I've just saw the pictures of the inside but the color of the SSD looks like G1 (it's not silver). But I guess that 2.5 and 1.8 drives are different.

 

Crazy they increased the price on the 720. Dell and Sony both have their cheaper for addon.

I wonder if they did that to compensate for the fact the i7-720 having USB 3.0 and there is no other way they can charge for it....

 

Well I know there were stories that Computer part prices might go up, maybe this is the first signs of it.

 

Actually they are silver. Doesn't show well in the pics probably do to my white balance settings and shrinking them down from 12MB RAW files and converting to PDF. The exterior of the drives also appears to have a thin silver protective 'sleeve' over the actual drive which is what your looking at with the intel logo.

They are definately G2's as I am running Trim on them which is not possible on G1's.

 

Can I ask why convert them to PDF?

 

I think he was experimenting on higher qual pics at a smaller size.

 

i put mini heatsinks on the 5830 memory. not likely necessary, but won't hurt anything either. i'm worried about black screen issues. especially since i've upgraded the cpu, the lcd screen, and soon the hard drive to ssd. wouldn't want to have to put all the original pieces back in for a return to hp.