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

Thanks for the info, i think i will stick with the 500gb as i wont have the bracket for it - could this be purchased on its own?

 

Well I did find, over at Newegg, 2 Kingston 512 gig 2.5 SSD's. I just can't justify the price right now, OUCH . Their running 1,300 - 1,440 USD each & I just don't need SSD that bad yet LOL

If you mean the bracket, yes. Think someones even posted the part number you need to order from HP and supposedly came with the cables as well.

 

Thats quite expensive
i think i will be happy with my single 500gb drive it might not be SSD but good enough i think

 

Same thought here. Thats a months mortgage payment and with todays economy I can do with out. Besides who knows whats around the bend, LOL.

 

FYI....

4GB SODIMM for anyone who wants to upgrade their Envy....

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=D3-13S4GS&c=CJ

 

Are people still having excessive heat issues with quad core 2nd gen Envy 15's?

The Envy is a very appealing machine to me, but it wouldn't make sense (for me) to buy it if I can't use it on my lap for hours at a time.

 

I've not noticed it getting too hot, but thats just me and of course its subjective.

 

Did you take the 2 internal memory sticks or you just left them and placed the new 4GB stick? Also, is it running at 1333Mhz or its clocking down to 1066Mhz?

 

I think Samsung makes 256 SSD's.

 

If they didn't replace the installed sticks and those were 1066 then, as best I understand how it works, the new stick will be ran at the lowest memorys speed. Then only way to get the speed up to 1333 is to replace all the memory so all thats installed is 1333 and even then I'm not sure if the bios automatically adjusts or you have to do some setting change.

I have new Kingston 1333 memory to install on mine but as my other half is using the machine for a couple school projects right now I'm holding off on swapping em all out till their done. That way if I run into any problems, which I've been told I shouldn't, it won't mess up their projects. Plus wanted to make sure I was happy with this unit before I went thru the trouble since to send it back I'd have to undo the swap.

 

How do you find the product number of your Envy? (basically, I want to download the new bios, but not sure which product number matches that of my laptop)

 

1) Escape upon boot screen and then press F1 for computer information.
2) Pop the battery off and check the labels in the battery slot.

 

Thanks for the help!

 

i7 Processors = 1333 Mhz memory
i5 Processors = 800 or 1066 Mhz memory


Simple.

 

I'm sorry are you simply stating what it will run max or just what? If you saying i7's come with 1333 that has not been my experience with 2 Envy's in a row. Either way the fact remains that the memory will supposedly only run at the lowest installed sticks speed.

 

Has anyone tried to underclock the GPU on their Envy? I was thinking about getting one, and when I'm away from an outlet and just doing light work, I think underclocking the ATI 5830 would conserve some serious battery life.

Would this work at all, and are there any easy tools to do it?

 

The GPU already clocks down when unpluged to 99 core / 199 mem (min) to 299 / 299 (max) vs. the normal max up to 500 / 800. The CPU does likewise on battery (varies by model). The AMD clock tool will let you overide the settings but I've found that while lowering the GPU down to say 75 /150 seems stable, any demand it can't handle seems transfer to the CPU which uses more power. I got about 20 min. less battery life playing back a standard def .wmv movie when underclocked vs. standard power saver settings. It might be different with a non graphic intensive program running.

 

Thanks for the info, that was very clear and helpful!

 

removing the battery on my i5 I can see one stick of ram in there...does that mean I've been given a single 4 gig stick? that'd be good news in case of upgrading...

also, please excuse me if I repost this, but I think it went unnoticed in the recent storm of SSD discussion:

color calibration aside, I was trying to increase global color saturation in the same way nvidia's digital vibrance allowed me to. googling around I've seen Avivo mentioned, but all I see in my CCC is Avivo video...how can I get the avivo colors option tab?

 

In order to get to the Avivo desktop poperties and not the video properties you will have to do the following; right click anywhere on the desktop, choose Ati catalyst control center. Choose the Graphics pulldown menu and then desktop & displays. Now you will see your display in the left corner with a 1 next to it. Ricght click the display, choose configure, now a hidden menu comes up. Choose color, now you will see Avivo, it's like nVidias digital vibrance. I get really nice colors by changing it a bit.

 

Im saying that if you have an i5 processor and according to intel it will run either 800/1066Mhz
http://www.intel.com/products/processor/corei5/mobile/specifications.htm

Now if you have i7 processor it will clock at 1066/1333Mhz( thats if the memory module supports it)
http://www.intel.com/products/processor/corei7/mobile/specifications.htm

I agree with you that if you mix slower and faster memory it will default at the lower speeds.

 

YES, thanks!

colooorrrssss....sooooo...preeeettyyy....
it's like an LSD trip at the touch of a scrollbar :wub:

 

3 questions for the i5 520m owners..
1. How's heat? 2. how's battery life, and 3.. benchmark it? Geekbench scores on battery? OMG. Seriously.

How fast would you say the machine feels on battery? 1.2ghz doesn't tell me much. Does it feel as fast as a core 2?

My other choices are a macbook pro or a sony f series >>

1 more burning question: How well does 2 finger scrolling work? Would you take a chance at buying one off ebay if it meant saving $200 but no return policy? aieee.. killing mee lol.

 

I can give you only my recent experience buying one and what the pros and cons were.

I've been looking at laptops (read: obsessing) for a couple of weeks. The Envy was definitely a contender, but part-for-part, it was more expensive than Dell, at least if you wanted a 2- or 3- year warranty. HP has one of the worst failure rates in the biz (the study is floating around this forum somewhere) so I think the cost for the warranty is a major factor. I would never buy an HP laptop with just a 1-year warranty, though I do have an expectation that their premium line will have a much lower failure rate than the rest of their stuff. No data to back that up yet though!

On the plus side, the Envy has the 5xxx Radeons, is lighter than the SXPS, doesn't have any throttling issues (though I assume those will be fixed before long), and has better speakers. I found that price was the only thing holding me back, because at least right now, the Envy is the only pony in the show when it comes to beefy, portable, 5xxx Radeon-sporting premium laptops -- there are some good Clevo laptops out there but they're pretty big and un-sexy (though of course that's a matter of opinion).

When Bing had their '20% cashback' deal, I jumped on it, and feel quite comfortable with my purchase, though I wouldn't have done it if it meant no returns. I'm undecided as to whether or not I'll send mine back if it comes with the G1 SSDs -- but there are plenty of things that can go wrong with new laptops and plenty of posts around here about people having to send theirs back for whatever reason.

 

New Coupon: NBLT335674
$250 off $1299 min

 

I ordered last week with the $200 coupon.
Urghhh

 

Ah but you see with the way HP sometimes suddenly changes prices on options it may have come out to the same end price, hehe. You just never know.

If you call CS and talk with them sometimes they will do things like backend credits to get you to not cancel/reorder. Just tell them your disappointed on missing out on the extra $50 and am considering cancelling and reordering with the new coupon and see what they say. Its only a phone call so nothing to really lose. Just be nice about it tho, being polite tends to get more out of them than outright anger. You never know, they might even offer you more than the difference if they decide they like you.

 

I called them saying I want to cancel my order to use the new coupon, they gave me $50.00 credit instead for not cancelling. Lol!

So it at the end I get the $250 coupon w/o losing my built date.

 

Yep, they do have some leeway on ways to keep potential customers happy. Just have to have the courage to ask. The worst they can do is say no.

 

The problem is that my order just shipped today instead of the ESD 9th. I guess I can call and let them know I will return and re-order with the new coupon hopefully they will honor it. Come to think about it I dont know if $50 is worth all the hassle. I will try to call anyway.

 

No, that is only a 2 GB Stick. The other 2 GB is under the Keyboard near the CPU.

 

I ordered two days ago, due to the Bing cashback deal. If I were to be successful and get this coupon amended to my order, would that invalidate my Bing cashback? The Bing deal was much better than this $250, but if I were able to stack...well, it'd be obviously a good choice.

 

That I wouldn't know. Thought I read here the coupons and bing won't stack but I could be wrong.

 

I'll stick with my Bing. ; )

 

that coupon already expired.

 

Bing or the 250 ?

 

If you're talking about the Bing...I ordered during the 20% cashback. But thanks anyway.

 

I'm looking at getting the Envy 15 since it has the perfect mix of power and portability.I have been sifting through this thread as well as a number of reviews the past few days, but have a few outstanding questions I have left that really are keeping me sitting on the fence.

1) Regarding the touchpad, is the surface smooth or textured? I definitely prefer a textured surface, especially during the summer when it is hotter and my hands are warmer and not as dry. Also, is it hard to get used to tapping instead of buttons? I use two hands all the time, one for moving the mouse and one for clicking and like that tactile response from buttons, so not sure how easy it is to get used to the envy touchpad, especially for playing games when I don't have a mouse hooked up.

2) I read a review that said the lid only goes 100 degrees. Is that accurate or an embellishment? That seems like an extremely narrow angle, especially for having the laptop actually sitting on your lap and looking down at it, which I do all the time on the couch.

3) This isn't so much an envy question, but a display resolution. A few years back I had a 17" dell with a 1900x1200 resolution, which seems like a fairly comparable vertical resolution to the envy. The font was so small as to be a little hard to read though for browsing, working on documents, and programming. I increased the font dpi (Win XP) and while it helped with the font size, it messed up the menu's for a bunch of applications (notably Visual Studio was really screwed up.) How does the full HD display for the envy look for reading in general and does software handle increasing the font DPI more smoothly under Win7?

 

Win 7 does a much better job of scaling text than XP. Display is extremely sharp and has high contrast, very easy to read. No isssues for me with menus or applications do to DPI settings.

 

1) It's rubber like but non-stick, not textured. It actually has buttons, you can't click in the middle like macbook. I use bluetooth mouse for playing game. It's a touchpad, so don't expect playing FPS on it.
2) It's ok to use on lap, but too small if you want to use it on desk when standing up.
3) Win7 can display text clearly at this resolution.

 

Thanks for the responses. You both pretty much tossed my final worries of the machine out the window. Of course, neither the $200 or $250 coupons work anymore, so I may have to sit around and be patient for another one to come along (unless I decide I just can't wait and the 5% BCB is good enough.)

 

I want to use a headset like this with skype. It's made for an iphone but comes in 2.5mm or 3.5mm (integrated one plug for mic and speaker), which size might work with the Envy? Do you think this device could work?

 

I'd call HP sales and explain you had an order in your shopping cart (with coupon code working) and when you went back to complete the order today the coupon no longer worked. Explain that your ready to place order now if they can authorize the coupon for you. I'd have the configuration you want in a shopping cart when you call (they can log on and look at it).

 

I don't know if this is due to customization from HP or Windows 7 having some built in features for HD screens, but my Envy came with a default magnification of 125%.

This really addresses the concern about viewable fonts. Most applications appear to carry over this feature very well, while still having the full resolution available for video and pictures.

Of course this feature is adjustable in the display settings.

 

I am now considering the NP9870 with the 5870, might weigh a bit more but the performance gains should be worth it right?

 

Weighs a lot more. Like 2 1/2 lbs more.

 

yes but will the performance gain be worth it? if i am using either the 285m GTX or the 5870?
if the performance gain is a good amount say - 10FPS+ at higher settings and res then maybe i could live with that

 

ITs a windows 7 thing becuase my XPS 16 came with 125% also.

 

Purchased an Envy 15-1150 on Monday, got it yesterday.

Opened the box, plugged it in, and turned it on only to get a blank screen. The power LED lit and I could hear the HDD spinning. 15 seconds later, it rebooted itself. Still no screen, still rebooted every 15 seconds.

Talk about anti-climatic.

An hour after arrival it is back in the hands of FedEx. My replacement comes Monday morning. They promised to send a new one, and that is what I will expect.

 

That sucks! lets hope the replacement works
i have opted out of getting the Envy - i am now getting the Kobalt G680 with 5870