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

Those temps seem quite high if that is at low usage on the CPU & GPU. You must have the power plan setting for processor cooling set to 'passive' not 'active'. Also your HDD temp seems lower than what you stated earlier, did this change or did you just start up the computer? Also you did not state if you have any air at all coming out of the GPU side vents...

Here are my temps with just IE8 w/8 tabs open and I've been using Word for a few hours. Balanced power plan / active setting;

 

I already saw that post. But HP has a slim travel adapter, a 65w adapter, and the Envy 13 65w, which one are you talking about (you didn't specify )?

BTW, does the 90w work without throttling?

 

If you have fans always on enabled in BIOS then both CPU and GPU should be running at a constant low speed (almost silent) unless under high demand. The f.19 BIOS has a quieter 'ramp up ramp down' cycle than the earlier BIOS's but it still 'surges' at startup (w/ fans always on disabled).

No fan control works that I know of.

 

This one, the links don't work for the HP acceasories for some reason, here is a screen shot:



If you look closely you'll see the upper 1/5 th of the unit, where it has the AC wall prongs, detaches and allows you to plug in a AC power cord to connect to the wall (included).

The HP 90W works without throttling but I'm not sure of the specific model, looks like there are several variations.

 

Yes, temp changed after a reboot - not sure what might have caused it to go down.

I have air coming out of both vents - I feel like it is not as strong as it used to be. Your CPU temps are very low - is it because you did a clean install?

 

Thanks for that software but could you also help with disabling the OSD for volume?

Thanks a lot.

 

Nope, I never got it reinstalled after a clean install so I can't tell you how to diaable it, sorry.

 

My Envy froze ie locked up again today . This is not a good sign and I have been using it consistently for the past couple weeks without nary a problem. The lockups occurred the 2nd day I had the Envy but ever since it was operating fine except it would black screen of death coming out of Hibernate.

 

I thought a lot more about my pro's & con's list for the envy and plan to either cancel or return it. Final thoughts:

(1) the 1920x1080 anti-glare screen, i5 processor, and quality of the beat speakers really are ideal
(2) dragging a $50 external dvd drive, $50 hdmi-to-vga out dongle, & spare battery / 2lb slice around for an almost 6lb laptop isn't
(3) needs lower power dx11 graphics for media pros on the go - i.e. 5430 (7w), 5450 (11w), or 5470 (13w) vs. 5830 (26w)
(4) serious lack of ports - no usb 3.0, always-on usb 2.0, firewire, non-dongle vga out, etc.
(5) owner discovered build quality issues littering this thread
(6) beat speakers would need a sub to really shine

Yeah, the build quality on Dell's Studio line is weak. The first time I tested a studio 15 out in a best buy the amount of body flex alone ruled it out for me.

 

Do Envy 13's come with G2 SSD drives? I've not seen any reports of that. All reports have been of G1's. Oh, only G2's are for sale now in retail... how convenient. So HP is selling G1 upgrades at 25% less than the MSRP and current selling price of G2's, what does that prove? It doesn't disprove my point, and doesn't support yours either. Note that the Envy 13 and 15 were first shipped over two months *AFTER* the release of the X25-M G2 SSD's into retail.

In my experience, just because a large company can get a part cheaper, usually doesn't mean they'll cut the retail customer a deal... it usually just means that they'll just pocket the extra profit. Very few, will say, I've made enough profit... definitely the post compaq merger HP would not be one of the companies that I would say have that attitude.

I may have been a bit rash, saying that HP would "never" price and upgrade less than MSRP, because there are always exceptions that get a company to sell things less than their normal pricing scheme, sometimes even to sell a component at a net loss.

Once HP starts shipping G2 SSD's consistently at the current upgrade prices when the then current G2 market prices are still above the upgrade price is when I'll be proven wrong. Currently HP is not disproving my point by selling upgrades to previous gen, discontinued G1's at 25% less than the G2's MSRP.

There's no sense in discussing this further until HP starts shipping G2 SSD's with their Envy's (that's only if it's before Intel discontinues the G2's and replaces them with G3's.)

So back to the original topic, should the OP be *expecting* two G2 SSD's with his current Envy 15 order? I'd still say the answer is still no.

 

Does anybody know how to disable the OSD for volume?

Thanks in advance.

 

now, I don't know about laptops with usb 3.0 and four generations old graphics, but if you needed lots of ports, especially vga which seems to be the one you need most, then you should have figured the envy would have left you wanting just by the port list

as for the power consumption...I'm no media pro, but if you mean encoding and that sort of stuff, if the work gets done in half the time, what does it matter if it uses twice the power as it works?

one thing I'll agree on is how much of a pity it is we don't have switchable graphics enabled on the i5, but the gpu downclocks on it's own so eh...

 

it's one of the hp media apps...I suggest you remove em all except the webcam

 

@bbf

You really don't get it. The G1's cost 40% more than the G2's based on original MSRP (G2's use 40% less silicon). See screen below.

While the envy's shipped after the release of the G2 they were not readily available in full production quantities until 2 months ago (G2's not envy's). A typical OEM will negotiate an annual or biannual contract for production components with set delivery schedules, this means depending on lead time from the vendor there will be anywere between 4 weeks and 4 months of production in the pipeline that needs to be consumed before any changes in the contract (upgrade, phase out, change of brand etc.) can be made. I guarantee HP would have loved to be able to switch to G2's sooner to make a higher profit but they had to honor thier contract up to a negotiated point.

The envy 13 my friend received almost a month ago came with a G2 and the 2 most recent people to get their envy 15 on this thread both got G2's.



Now I guess you'll complain about HP charging to much if you get one with G2's ?

 

Does anyone know how I can turn ON the mousepad AFTER I have turned it OFF (by double-tapping the LED in the upper right corner of the mousepad)?

I tried double-tapping the upper right corner of the mousepad but it doesn't turn on the mousepad again (after having done the same to first turn the mousepad off).

Thanks.

 

Do you have the latest drivers installed? If yes then this is a known issue with the latest drivers from synaptics. Best thing to do is either revert back to earlier versions or you can disable the on/off feature in the settings menu.

 

Thanks for the quick response.

I believe I do have the latest drivers installed. I used the drivers that were posted on the Topic in this forum that listed ALL the latest drivers for the HP Envy 15.

The drivers are for Synaptics ClickPad V7.4.

Do you recommend that I uninstall the latest synaptic touchpad drivers and reinstall the ones that came in the SWSETUP folder (that came with my Envy)?

Thanks.

 

Also, does anyone know if the Envy touchpad can scroll up and down in webpages by sliding your finger along the right edge of the touchpad?

I enabled it in the Synaptics control panel but scrolling still does not work.

Thanks.

 

theres an option for it in the synaptics control panel:

 

I believe there is a newer version than that found in the swsetup folder that has no known issues with toggle TP On/Off. I really don't know what version is that.

 

Thanks Tayeule and Daraj. I appreciate it.

 

Guys is that legit?? Anyone tried it? Seems like it supports HydraVision
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=473663
http://strags.com/

 

Well strags is usually the first to dig up the newest beta's. What surprises me is the size of the 10.5 file, it's 380MB .zip ?? What is in the extra 220M over the 10.3?

I think I'll wait and not be the guinea pig on the 5830...

 

I have them on my laptop. The filesize is so large because drivers for win7/vista and XP are included in the file. Comes with HydraVision and a Video Converter in CCC. Performance wise I really only noticed and increase in Vantage of around 50 points... didn't really translate to my other benchmarks from what I could tell though!

 

gaaah sounds like I'll be putting on the test pilot suit again. Hope they fixed it for the 4830...

 

Does it have the Hydravision 'tab' and Avivo video controls in CCC ?

Any stability issues yet ?

The 10.3 final lost the ability to control Hydra from CCC even though it is installed, same with Avivo.

 

Here we go again with Remove,re-install, driver cleaner, driver sweeper, custom install

 

Well, I never thought I'd be an Envy 15 owner but I just ordered one. Came out to a grand total $919.11 after 450 promo, taxes and bing cash back. Got it mostly for my wife as a desktop replacement. I wanted it for myself and give her my still quite new UL30VT, but I need my 9 hour battery life.

 

Did you use bing cashback and the coupon?

 

So why did HP hide the screws under the rubber feet? Other identical screws are already visible and the screws are high-end stainless steel. They don't look bad and really don't need to be hidden.

But instead of just Copying Apple (who doesn't hide the screws) they had to think different. Now the little feet don't go back on with full adhesive.

Looking forward to losing the feet while going through the airport...

 

The Bing Cashback will void the HP coupon. Read the small print. Hopefully, the reverse will happen instead (where the HP coupon will void the Bing Cashback).

Either way, you won't be receiving both discounts. Sorry.

 

Well they already charged my credit card, so they're not going to re-charge it again. If I get the BCB great, if not oh well.

 

Just did all that, down to just MS VGA driver. 10.5 install went very smoothly, everything installed automatically with 'express install' as it should.

Good:

3DmarkVantage default up a little to P5040 (from P4995)
3DmarkV max OC 650 / 1133 up to P6575
Temps slighlty lower running above
Now have full Hydravision control in CCC
Added video converter to new CCC
Running completely stable so far

Bad:

Not signed
No openGL support in Photoshop CS4 due to above
3Dmark06 default and max OC score dropped slightly

Keeping it for now and will report any issues that come up.

 

Not bad at all. Im all for lowering temps as long as they dont underclock it. So what does Hydravision do exactly?

 

You couldnt help it could you??!!

 

If your careful removing them all the adhesive stays on the rubber. Had mine off 3 times now on this machine and just got through TSA check #8 with rubber feet still firmly attached.

FYI, the screws are not SS they are magnetic, most likely nickel plated steel.

 

Well someone posted they were already running the 10.5 without issue so I was not the first.

Hydravision basically allows you to segment your single display or multiple displays any way you want. It is installed with the 10.3 final driver but there is no way to control any settings for it

 

With this $450 coupon, I pulled the trigger. I wanted to get something lighter (like 13 or 14 inch), but I can't compromise screen quality. I hope this is portable enough for me.

I ordered the basic Envy 15 with the brightview screen...is there heating issues on the basic i5?

How do I know if I got the 1st or 2nd generation envy and what's the difference?

Thanks

 

Here is a fullscreen shot of my Hydravision divided screen (3 grids) you can customize the size, shape and number of grids etc., then assign different apps to each grid. You can also just drag and drop from one to another or if you have an external monitor (extended desktop) you can drag from one to the other etc. It's a pretty cool and useful feature.

This should be a 1920 x 1080 image (50% quality) to give you the 'full screen' effect:

 

Yeah... I took them off with a razor and stored them on a block of teflon (being careful not to touch the adhesive). But most people are not like us... they use a fingernail and mess up the glue.

My point was that HP needs someone like Jonathan Ive who would say "that's dumb, don't make people mess up the feet just to swap the hard drive".

All these little design mistakes compound into the Envy. It's still feels like a beta product without the fit and finish it deserves. I see dozens of trivial annoyances that don't ruin the device, but they are adding up.

For instance... anyone get a high pitch buzzing noise from the LCD backlight driver? It comes right out of the center of the keyboard. I started hearing it today, and once you notice it... you can't ignore it!

Any careful designer would fix things like the backlight switching frequency being in the audible range... But not HP! Maybe their engineers are all old and can't hear above 10kHz.

 

as mentioned truckloads of times on this thread, the i5 has no heat issues at all. as I type this I am running a game in the background and the palmrest with the HDD under it is actually warmer than the other one which has the CPU.

also, any i5 envy is gen 2, gen 1 is i7 only and has the 4830 instead of the 5830

 

Thanks for the answer!

 

Well there is no frequency involved with the envy backlighting, it's a DC voltage regulated LED brightness control. Your refering to the older fluorescent LCD backlights that used a small ballast. Also there is nothing under the center the of keyboard except the topside of the battery compartment.

There have been reports of a high frequency noise associated with certain USB mouse recievers. I believe the fix for most was to simply move the reciever to another USB port.

P.S: You may want to change your signature, it seems all you can do is complain

 

Uhm... the DC voltage used to drive all internal components uses what is known as a DC to DC converter. This accepts battery or wall adapter input and oscillates it through inductors to efficiently produce the output voltage. You see the coils all around the various chips on the motherboard.

HP decided to save $0.50 and use an older/cheaper DC-DC conversion design... where the switching frequency is audible. Those cheap inductors act like speakers for certain frequencies (if you have good hearing).

Ironically musicians spend $2,500 for the "Beats" edition which is supposed to have good audio.

 

True... but that was on the first day! It takes many hours of use to notice these things.

Maybe HP should hire me. My job would to beat the engineering and marketing people with a stick as they make bad decisions.

 

I think it depends on one's activity. When I play BFBC2, my palmrests both get quite warm. I agree that the right palmrest with the HDD underneath gets more warm than that of the left (over the CPU).

The underside of the laptop (under both the CPU and the HDD) gets extremely hot. Do not put the laptop on exposed legs. You've been warned.

 

Not a rant ... just what has to be polished on this nice laptop:

I've been trying hard to stop coming to this forum to avoid accumulating negative thoughts toward my up coming Envy 15. But I read it caz i want to know what could be possible as i'm not sold on if Envy is the Laptop (on paper it's the best out there)....so far my gripes are:

1. I've to perform a clean install.
2. I've to chase down the RIGHT drivers to make it work.
3. I've to keep a close eye on what could go wrong (w/ in 21 days)
a. Buzzing sounds
b. CPU rattles
c. Black Screens (driver...regardless, user is bothered)
4. Track pad with enabling/disabling feature not working properly
5. To use 4 ram slots / upgrade HD you've to perform autopsy
6. ty drivers support. HP has to work A LOT more diligently on this as drivers have caused the most amount of hiccups on this laptops

It just seems a lot of work to make Envy your own. Why do I still want it ... caz on paper it's the best (specs and price) laptop released so far.

What are the current owner's thoughts......

 

Wow your temps are awesome. I cant get those temps even when I start the laptop. Did u change thermal paste? Also, here is FL the temps are crazy high and humid so that could be the reason probably.

EDIT: I just realized you are in Alaska so that could explain the temp difference.

 

Does anyone know if ata secure erase (for x18-m) will work on this system? -Thx

 

the only glaring engineering fault on the envy is the screen angle. I don't care if it's "just enough", macbooks manage like 20-30 more degrees with the same hinge design so someone at engineering botched this quite evidently.
fortunately, I've gotten used to it.