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

(Discussion deprecated by BIOS update).

 

Why do you insist on arguing every little thing ! As I stated, per an HP Tech support supervisor that read directly from the HP Envy 15 numbering specification; All BIOS updates are to numbered and revised using the numerical parameters I described above!

What part of that don't you understand? What is the point of discussing (arguing) about 5 year old BIOS numbering from other HP models? If they change to a new sequence, so be it. But for now I am going to believe the person who actually read the numbering specs.

 

You guys are funny. I've been reading the previous posts and all you guys have been doing is arguing.

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

 

(Discussion deprecated by BIOS update).

 

I'm starting to think you're is trolling... a rather low post count with every one oozing with negativity. I'm not trying to be mean or attack you but I don't see the point in your coming to these forums in what appears to be an attempt to steer possible HP customers away from the ENVY 15. It's a great laptop and even though I paid 1100$ for the BASE model I still feel like I got a great deal.

I've owned premium Sony SZ laptops in the past and this ENVY that I paid 1100$ for (700$ less than my SZ) has not disappointed me yet.

Sorry to the NBR mods but I feel something needed to be said!

/end rant

 

Bio's F1.B A is now posted on HP's driver support site.

 

I apologize if my posts seem negative! But I get "called out" for having trouble with my machine and trying to fix it. I think the real trolls are people who are blatantly paid HP staff who try to "mitigate" people like me. Every thing I bring up is immediately shot down as "operator error" or something else. That's the real frustration you seen in prior pages.

And believe it or not, I actually really like the laptop (aside from the inductor high frequency noise, which other people have returned units over it, but I'll live with it for now).

The machine hasn't crashed once and the screen is just beautiful (hitting the main two requirements). It's just the little things that need to be fixed. And to get HP to fix them means exposing a little sunshine on them! I think if they really refine the device they will ultimately sell many more units, and that's not steering people away. That is giving them tons of testing and feedback for free!

 

See! I don't have a problem with this post at all. I guess sometimes the posts just felt less like constructive criticism and more like deconstructive bitterness.

Like I said though, just trying to point something out and have nothing personal against you at all! I'm glad you aren't trying to be negative though and are overall happy with the laptop. I agree that it has a few shortcomings but I'd rather pay ~$1000 for what I have in the ENVY than ~$2000 for something that's closer to a MPB. I'm a poor college kid though.

 

I just saw the new bios (F.1B A) up on the HP website:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareList?os=4063&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&product=4121195

So I downloaded it and updated my Envy with it. Then I went here and saw some discussion about it being beta, supposedly bricking a computer, and it not being on HP's website. All I can say is it is in fact on HP's support site and my computer is in fact running fine. I rebooted it just to be sure. I'm posting from it right now. My computer is a 2nd Gen with the quad core if it matters. It seemed to be spending most it's time updating the "EC" (Embedded Controller) part of the bios, wheras last bios update mostly updated "VB" (Video Bios).

 

How does the maximum luminosity of the screen compare to a macbook pro? Colors?

 

JJB, your SSD support Trim means your using a Gen 2 Intel SSD?!

 

-catalyst control center -> desktop properties -> desktop area
-dunno
-dunno
-I think you can configure that in the quick button app
-some find the colors too cold. you can calibrate on CCC, only thing I did personally was increase saturation a bit.
also, calibration profiles screw up windows photo viewer a lot in some cases by applying the calibration twice, but it's a rare issue only me and a few others had.
-yes, JJB posted a thorough guide on how to do that, it involves tweaking the beats audio settings to increase all frequencies in volume except the lowest, search for it
-once you made the recovery discs, you can delete that and the recovery partition.
-dunno, your best bet is probably a mouse with a button to change dpi on the go.
-10.3 catalyst are doing fine for most of us, me included.

 

nice. and in quotes, too.

 

Accusing anybody here, particularly somebody as helpful as JJB has been, of being an HP shill is out of line.

By all means, think what you like about your purchase and certainly don't hesitate to post what you think, but that hardly makes anybody who disagrees a paid employee of HP. Come on.

 

Hey! I called him an HP salesman as joke a few pages back cause, in my opinion, JJB has sold people more ENVY laptops on his own than the whole HP marketing department just by being so helpfull (publicly so) with our machine problems. Let's be honest, unless you pour in a few hours making the ENVY all it could be - and using most of JJBs and other people from this forum insights and hardwork - the envy out of the box is in pretty stupid shape.

so thanks to all of you non trolling geeks, gurus and demigods.

 

have you tried the new bios?

 

Any idea how hard the cpu swap is? I'm seriously thinking i7 620m

 

Joke HP salesman are permitted and encouraged.

 

I've heard that the BIOS for the Gen 1 Envy is not ACPI compliant, so with a fresh install it would cook itself without HP software/drivers. Is this still the case? I plan on doing a fresh install, what is the absolute bare minimum required software/drivers to make everything work?

 

As far as I know the Gen2 BIOS is not ACPI compliant either. Not that I have verified this, but I'd expect to see something in the BIOS release notes if they ever add this.

Bare minimum is all drivers under the Drivers folder under the SWSetup folder.

 

Quick question: what is the trade-off, exactly, in deciding whether or not to de-raid two G2 SSDs and use TRIM?

Are those of you keeping them in RAID expecting that TRIM will ultimately be supported for RAID configurations, or do you just not really care about TRIM?

 

No luck on da new bios F. B1A on da 640LM... It's still showing 000 intel genuine CPU
I m wondering if da 620m being recognized by da bios....

 

Question about temps for the 2 CPU cores:

When playing BFBC2 for about 1 hour, temps for both cores got up to 80*C.

Should I be concerned? At what temps should I be concerned? Over 100*C?

Thanks.

 

In my case, I don't care about TRIM. I've seen pretty knowledgeable people saying it's a good thing. Others believe it's a marketing thing with not much practical value.

Having said that. I don't believe RAID0 provides huge benefits (if any at all). I am using RAID because that's how the machine was configured, and like the convenience of seeing a single drive (since they are "small").

On my desktop systems, I don't use RAID0. If you know what you are doing, you can actually benefit from reading from one drive and writing to another, based on the job at hand. I think that provides more benefits than any RAID, again, practical, real life scenarios. Not benchmarks.

 

Intel 000 Genuine CPU just means its an engineering sample cpu. That is the code embedded into the CPU. It's not because the chipset is not recognizing it.

Pretty sure this would be a good source.
http://www.passmark.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2036

 

With my new machine shipping shortly, I was wondering if I could get a little "to-do" list or something from one of the envy 15 gurus like JJB perhaps.

I will have access to a Win 7 Ultimate install disc (free from school).

1. Would it be easier to do a clean install of that, or just remove the HP bloatware myself?

2. After a fresh install, is there anything I need to do to configure the 2 SSDs into RAID0?

3. Since I custom ordered, there is no specific model # for my envy... this seems to be problematic for tracking down the newest (and correct!) drivers once I get the machine.

4. Which BIOS are the newest/safest/most ideal?

5. What do I need to do in order to get HYDRAVISION working like you have it working JJB?

Any advice is greatly appreciated, and feel free to chime in with other comments pertaining to these questions.

 

1) I recommend a clean install, based on the 'HP clean install' sticky in the parent forum. You don't even need your own windows license - you can use the one that comes with the computer, but if you want Ultimate, sure, why not!

2) Just don't take them out of RAID0, since they'll arrive in RAID0.

3) There is still a model number. The 2nd-gen Envy in the US that you get off their web site is HP Envy 15t-1100 CTO Notebook PC.

4) The most recent on HP's web site seems to be stable (based on reports from today and yesterday).

5) JJb can answer that one.

I do recommend a clean install though. Make sure you create your backup restore discs first, of course (the sticky covers how to do that).

 

fantastic, thanks aquitaine!

Clean install of windows wont take them out of RAID0? Is that on a bios level or something that I shouldn't even worry about?

 

Man, I just ordered an Envy 15 last week with the matte screen and now I'm really having second thoughts.

I know HP will take my return within 21 days; no questions asked. But is there anyway they will still honor the $450 off if I decided a new system with the glossy screen?

 

Thanks a ton for the answers Flea0 I was just about to bump my questions.

Regarding the resolution - I tried that. But 1600x900 is not an option. There is a 1680x1050, but that leaves part of the screen empty. I want a 16:9 option. Any clue if that is possible? Or is that resolution not supported?

Thanks to JJB too for the speaker guide.

I would appreciate it if anyone else could answer these two questions which still remain:
- How do I switch the display off with a keyboard shortcut or a desktop shortcut?

- How do I change what the action keys do? Specifically, I wish to assign a permanent refresh key (F5) while keeping the other action buttons.

 

@rockunited - I think there is an app somebody wrote for HP machines in general that lets you program the quick keys. I remember seeing it mentioned in a thread on this forum but I can't recall where. You might search for 'quickset' or 'quick keys' and see if you can find it. Not sure if it even works for the Envy. Sorry I can't be less vague.

 

I'm hoping I get G2s too.

 

I have a few questions:

1) How bright is the screen on this machine? (comparison with a macbook pro would be ideal, since I know the brightness)

2) How are the colors/contrast on the screen?

3) How loud is the machine with normal use? (web browsing etc.)

 

Just ran a 1 hour CPU system stability test (100% load on all 4 threads) with Everest and just for kicks I ran furmark at default settings with an OC of 575 / 1100 in the backround at the same time.

Mainly wanted to see how the new BIOS controlled temps with very high loads. Also was curious to test how hot the machine actually got under prolonged full load, seems several people have said that the bottom gets to hot to use in thier laps while gaming etc.

Results were very good. No heat issues at all on the exterior, top or bottom. Yes the bottom gets 'medium' warm below the CPU and GPU but not even close to being to hot to leave on my lap. I even noticed the core temps actually dropped about 4C when I sat the envy on my lap during the middle of the testing (see furmark temp graph). I think it must allow a less restricted airflow to the intake vents on the bottom (as long as your legs don't block them). The plamrest remained luke warm the whole time, but the fans are quite loud at this load. Room temp was 68F.

Screens below, the second one is 90 seconds after shutdown to show how fast the system cools down from maximum temps...

1 hour stability test, CPU 100% load and GPU furmark at 575 / 1100 O.C. :

Cooldown after 90 seconds:

 

I think I need to get this new BIOS. My laptop is definitely too hot to put in my lap while playing BFBC2.

 

@JJB

Interesting. Last night I accidentally put a program into an infinite loop while developing under Visual Studio 2010 on my i720. For the first time since I've had it, the fans came on and the left side became hot enough to cook pancakes. Since I had run the offending program as backgroung task, even killing VS didn't make the fan go off. And what a racket.

 

Just received my hp envy 15 gen 2!!!! I'm so impressed !

I owned a gen 1 before, it was over heated and noisy

But gen 2 solved all these issues , super quite , warm (w/o fans always on )

It's super fast with SSD option, boot like 13 s with hp factory windows 7

( I remember it took like over 1 min for gen 1 by 500gb 7200 rpm , well better than my xps 16 , which took more than 2 mins to boot in )

and HP has one of best service and super fast shipping, Ordered on 3/30 11:00 ( almost first group off ppl placed order before that coupon showed up on every forums , I got that from logicbuy when it only has 1 votes)

The screen is pretty, good viewing angel and nice contrast (anti glare)

Thanks HP!

 

Great results. Do you mind posting your current graphics drivers version, BIOS revision, and any other tweaks? (I'm assuming you did a fresh reformat)

It would be nice to get a general idea of what drivers / BIOS / etc. are acceptable for stability and heat, at least in this case study.

 

evidently they enabled 1600x900 in one of the newer catalyst drivers because I have that option...
so you simply need to update your catalyst control center.

 

So after reading all 379 pages of this thread (over 3 days), I've come away with some interesting realizations, and some misconceptions that some posters seem to have. Unfortunately, I was trying REALLY hard to not post anything until I got to the end of the threads. Which means that I've forgotten most of the self-righteous rants that I was going to fly off on ...

That being said, my i520, matte screen 160+250gig Envy 15 should be arriving some time after the "build date" of the 12th (ordered on April 1 with that 450 dollar coupon!).

I have used the glossy screen on my wife's late 2009 MBP (built in battery), and didn't like staring at my ugly mug through it (why she doesn't recoil in horror at looking at me is a mystery...) I didn't like using the MBP outside either, as there were constant shadows and general irritation all around. I don't know whether the matte screen is better (and based on JJB's experiences, it's worse), but I personally can't stand Glossy screens. I don't do any photo work, however (Software Developer here), so I'm not that concerned about it. Heck, I even preferred an aftermarket addon matte screen you can apply over the iPhone to the default screen.

Anyway, I am currently completely unconcerned with the "quality issues" that have been thrown around in this thread. In general, I almost never take what any random person on the internet will say about a product - generally people are either posting something because "This is the worst product ever created", or "This is the best product ever created" and very little in between. It is very possible that the complaints levied here are due to that factor, and I'm willing to dismiss the majority of them as outliers.

That having been said, I sure hope I don't get a BlSODing machine

BTW, is there a reason why the usual method of "Right-click on Computer" -> Properties -> Device Manager -> Hard Drive" to determine the HDD type doesn't tell you G1 vs. G2 for the drive?

Also, TRIM is less useful for the Intel SSD drives, and DRASTICALLY more useful for the rest of the SSD manufacturers (has to do with Intel's proper design of firmware). So I'm not that concerned with G1 vs G2 in the SSD. Plus you can always schedule a manual TRIM at 3:00 AM on Tuesday, for example.

And finally, RAID0 generally doesn't do much for regular people's access patterns. You start seeing those benefits once you're running substantially high-queue depth reads and writes; the kinds of things you see in a server.

This post is long enough, and I've forgotten why I started it!

 

Thanks a ton Flea. I'll do that now

@Aquitaine: Thanks for the tips, but I couldn't find it. Oh well! I'll live without F5 for now. If it gets too bugging I'll just disable the action keys.

 

@erple2 - I think that method would work if you have only one SSD. If you get two, they arrive in RAID0, and so it'll just tell you that it's a Raid device rather than a specific disk type.

I had the matte screen in my first Envy and loved it. I'd have kept it for the second if the work environment where I usually have it had any glare issues at all, because I feel pretty much the same way you do about it. My fiancee has a glossy screen on her Dell notebook and I found that it wasn't really an issue and so went for it instead ... but absolutely not out of any dislike for the matte screen.

 

What program is letting you schedule a "manual trim" on intel G1 drives?

I know that the intel SSD toolbox DOES NOT work with G1. The only way to "TRIM" with these is to consolidate the free space and then fill the drive to capacity, then delete the filler files, then hope that garbage collection frees up the blocks. They just dont recognize any type of true TRIM commands.

Or, Are you just saying that since trim isnt automatic while running g2 drives in raid, that you can schedule the toolbox for that setup.. If so, then that part is correct.

 

Bah - you're right. You can only "regain" performance by doing a secure erase on the G1 drives. However, the performance degradation experienced as you slowly "fill" the Intel SSD drives (even the G1 drives) is less than you see on other SSD drives, and even a struggling (non-bricked) Intel G1 Drive is about an order of magnitude faster in small read/write performance than even the fastest Desktop HDD's.

No, that would require me to actually THINK before I posted something. Which is something I'm not particularly good at, it seems.

 

TRIM on RAID0 Intel G2's might actually work according to this post: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=6117293&postcount=4532

 

I found a non-software-addon method for changing the functions of the shortcut-keys. I did post this about 500 pages ago in the other thread ... but I've had a chance to test it now on my system:

Open regedit and navigate to:
HKLM/software/microsoft/windows/currentversion/explorer/appkey/

From there you will see a number of sub-keys ("15", "16", "17", etc) which each contain an executable or shortcut.

The number corresponds to a keyboard key. I found "18" was associated with the calculator shortcut key, and changing "calc.exe" to "notepad.exe" did in fact make that key open Notepad instead.

By simply blanking the "ShellExecute" line, you can also effectively disable that shortcut key (since hitting it will execute nothing).

Hope this helps!

NOTE: Be careful and/or backup your registry before attempting. You can screw up your system if you don't know what you are doing in the registry.
NOTE2: These settings take effect immediately, no reboot required.

 

I figure it is worth posting a few quick impressions since I've been able to use my system now for several weeks:

The Good:

- I love the matte screen. I can finally use my laptop in front of a window! I'm coming from an XPS m1530 with a very glossy screen and I don't miss it at all. The default color calibration is very "cool", especially coming from the m1530 which is very "warm", but nothing a good calibration can't fix (especially easy with the Win7 color calibration tool built-in). Brightness is incredible. I think matte vs glossy will ultimately be about personal preference and how you use it.

- Warmth/heat: Totally happy with the temps on my i5 model. This system cools REALLY well, even with fans-always-on disabled. Yes it gets warm with heavy-usage (gaming, heavy-cpu activity), but I'm amazed just how quickly it can return to being completely cool. With fans-always-on and just this typing/browsing, the system shows zero signs of warmth, top or bottom. I believe this will also be great for life-expectancy of the battery (prolonged-heat is one of the biggest causes of battery-wear).

- Speed: This is my first modern-SSD and WOW what a difference. I used an early-gen SSD (OCZ Core-something) before and other than a few situations was not terribly impressed. But man what a difference a year makes in the technology! I'm running the 1-drive Gen1 SSD config (no RAID) and removed the 5400 rpm drive because I don't need the space. Boot-times are BLAZING fast, I never use hibernate any more because it takes longer than cold-booting! Standard daily usage is a big leap over even my 7200 rpm in my m1530. I am surprised and thrilled it makes this much of a difference, and it's amazing to see just how much of a bottleneck hard-drive technology has been for computing for many years. i5 performance is great, as expected (like encoding). GPU performance for gaming is exactly what I hoped (able to throw anything recent at it with full settings).

Complaints (keeping it real):

- While most of the build-materials are awesome (love the lightweight of the chassis), the plastic screen-bezel is just too light and soft. Even as careful as I am (3 years with an m1530 and it still looks like new) I've already got small scuffs on the plastic bezel. Disappointing there, but the reason for the material I'm sure is because it is also super-lightweight. This is a weak complaint though, since it obviously does not affect performance or usage, just visually not up to the quality of the rest of the system.

- Keyboard (half-complaint): I've posted previously about my sporadic key failure on part of the keyboard. This is probably a quality-control issue, and I half expected this sort of thing when buying an HP based on previous experiences. It's a shame, but it is tolerable until I am prepared to ship it off for a warranty claim. I do miss Dell's in-home repairs, or how they would just ship me parts and let me do repairs myself. I hate to be without a system for such a little issue. As for the keyboard itself, I love it. Key spacing and response is great, very comfortable. And I can honestly report that this touch-typist has never even once accidentally hit the shortcut-keys. Seriously. I was so paranoid from reading about this issue that I really expected it to be a problem once I received mine. But it's never been an issue once.

Neutral:

- 6-cell battery life isn't super, but on-par with what I expected (under 3 hours with light usage). That's why I also got the slice-battery which is an awesome design and extends the life to easily 6 hours, more than I can imagine ever needing. Yes it's frickin HEAVY. But I don't have to use it all the time and it's there when I know I'll need it. Honestly, I expected using it more than I have, but the 6-cell life has been fine for my needs so far. Still it's nice knowing I can just clamp it on and go for a LONG time.

Overall: 95% happy with my purchase. 100% happy once the keyboard issue is resolved.

Hope my impressions help someone else. It seems most of the issues here are either 1) false expectations, or 2) quality-control issues. If HP would step-up their quality-control game to Dell XPS/Latitude levels (come on, this is a "Premium" flagship model after all), there would be virtually no valid complaints outside of personal preferences. The quality issues are resolvable through warranty claims, but HP would earn a lot more respect by keeping these issues minimized in the first place. The system they have created tops everything else on the market for performance/portability/design, so the "little" complaints only seem bigger because the rest of the system is so great.

 

@falloffalog - They have in-home service now. If you have a mail-in carepack you might call and ask if they'll exchange it for an in-home one (might run you $30 or so).

 

Dude that's the single most day to day usefull post of this thread. You just saved me a ton of swearing (and solved the last big gripe I had about this machine who is well on the way of becoming THE BEST LAPTOP EVUH. +1 rep (+2 if I could)

 

Great review falloffalog, and nice tips about the shortcut keys.

I can't wait for mine to get here. The only thing that still bothers me is the battery life, but that was to be expected. I just hope it's not too much of a shock coming from my UL30A with ~8-10 hours under light usage. I should probably just buy a slice battery, but the $170ish after-the-fact price, and the weight, are holding me back. My goal is to keep my notebook case as light as possible while still maintaining usability.

Maybe I'll just spend a crap load, buy the slice battery, buy the slim 65w adapter, and chuck the 120w adapter and heavy spare battery in a secondary case in my trunk. But that's something like $230 extra out of pocket.