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

"Intel (R) Centrino (R) Advanced-N 6200 AGN" is what's listed in the device manager for mine.

 

couple thoughts on those envy 17 pictures: like the smoothed looking palmrest, probably much more comfortable on the wrists.
Wondering: Ventillation for this thing? Speakers now in front, no front vents. Wondering what sort of cooling system they have in there (2 copper fan CPU heatsink again?). Would like to get the temp readings on this thing, also see if CPU throttles. Remember the Macbook Pros get super hot, and they dial down the CPU speeds to to compensate.

 

For me the envy 15 is fine with its non switchable graphics (it would be nice but o wells) since it has been reported that it gets at least 3ish or so hours on the 6 cell and about 2-3 more with the slice (which i got for free from friend...dont ask ) What i needed for collage was a desktop replacement that is portable yet able to handle the newest games with barely a hitch and in home warranty service that way I always have my machine. If it wasn't for the warranty part I would have picked up the asus g73jh from provantage... asus just takes like 2.5 weeks from the time you ship it to them to the time you get it back in your hands hoping they fixed it

had a dell studio xps 1647 and could not stand the way the cooling system was designed...(lets just have it blocked by the screen...no big deal its not designed to game) and the customer service i had was awful...I had to wait a week and a half for a call back that i was supposed to receive that next day and so I finally called them...and when they shipped the parts out I got a phone call the next day saying they have been back ordered so except a week for delays.....great...my laptop will shut off because it overheats and I can not use it for another week....

I should probability get off my soap box now

sweetness! there site is wrong then...I should be in good shape then. thxs

 

Envy 14 VIDEO Preview:
YouTube - HP Envy 14.mov
note: Notice toward the end of the video the guy shows how you can access ram/hd easily unlike the previous envy models. VERY NICE!

Envy 14/15 VIDEO Preview:
YouTube - HP Envy 17 and HP Envy 14

One thing I've noticed in both of these video that how good of a job Apple does to promote their underperformed products. IMO, both guys in the videos didn't justice to the products...they did a pretty lame job explaining hopefully an excellent products.

Enjoy!

 

At 7.5 lbs its way too heavy to compete against a 6.6 lbs MBP 17. If the battery life of the HP isn't greater than 4 hrs its going to be a problem for them even if it has the best gfx chip out there with the 5850.

 

I think HP did a pretty good job with these new additions - looks like they listened to feedback well when designing this. If I didn't already have the envy 15 (pretty happy with it so far) I would totally consider picking up the envy 14. But of course, 2 days after I finally get my envy HP has to release these! Oh well, it was sort of expected with that $450 coupon they had.

 

In the one video about the E14, they mentioned they'll be adding an option when ordering for backlit keyboard. Cool.

 

Oh man I just love the new display hinge. On the current Envy 15 the display hinge looks out of place. Im starting to consider if switching to the Envy 14 is a wise choice. But then again I will be stepping down from the 5830...

 

Anyone knows a US HP retailer that ships to the UK ?

 

Will the envy 15's recieve the e2e and backlit keyboard? The Envy-15 is the perfect size for me, not too big and not too small. Not too sure if the envy-14 would be my thing.

 

that was my first thought. both the 14 and 17 don't have nearly as many vents as the 15. might get hot!! they look good otherwise but i don't need an optical drive and the 15" is still the best mix for me.

 

to be fair a guy from HP did call back and set me up with a replacement pack of sticky feet. apparently they would normally charge $45!! but he waived that and sent it the next day. good job HP.

 

damn, now I want an envy 17. XD
but then, I gotta remember how well my 15 is treating me

 

Anyone have a guide on how to underclock the GPU? I don't game often, and would rather save the heat/battery power with the underclock, thx.

 

just load AMD GPU Clock Tool and set speeds to 50 core, 100 memory. works fine on desktop but will bork if you forget to reset before starting a game. default is 100-500 & 200-800

 

If they did that, there would be no reason to buy the Envy 15. Same reason why Apple neuters their non-pro like of macbooks. They COULD be just as good, spec-wise, as a MBP13, but then why would you buy a MBP13?

 

Well Fedex lied to me again...but in a good way.... My envy 15 is waiting at my door step....if only school will end faster!!!!!!!! I want it!!!!!!! lol... I have been without a machine to game on for 2 months!

 

not if I can get there first!! muahaha

 

anyone have any idea when these guys will be out?

 

wonder if the new 15 will have 5850

Also how are people doing clean installs without cd drive.

 

There is no way the new 15 will have 5850. Like HP former methods of distinguishing their line, it will still be a 5830. The 5850 is only reserved for the 17.

In fact, it looks like the 15-1200 is not going to happen and the 15 is going to be replaced with the 14 for good. The 15 in that case didn't even last a full year. Oh well...

 

i posed this question in the drivers thread, but got no response, so...

do any of the updated ati drivers have the avivo video converter? i've been looking forward to using it, but can't find it.

 

There is no way they will be discontinuing the 15 inch. Don't you be trollin.

 

I think they are making bootable USB's out of the win 7 iso files. I am not sure how exactly this is done so if someone w/ the knowledge can share ...

 

Like this. Easily Google-able.

 

its a very unlikely decision since the most sold form of notebooks are the 15''.

The 13 was a logical choice in the stand point of battery, size and mobility. But the lack of space (for power) and the lack of DVD drives for road warriors might have reach high in their complain list, thus the 14 was created and logically replaced the 13.

We have not to forget that a pc that has a process of built with less movements, is cheaper. And we have to agree that the built process of the envy 15 and 13 is limited and costly.

This refresh highlights a management ability that might be good or terrificly bad.

The good thing is that more notebooks share the same hardware than the envy line, so the line is not so exclusive and don't cost so much in terms of parts. The other good thing is that it could be that by doing so HP ensures a better quality on their parts and built process, since it appears that the lines shares now a build design, leading to workers that don't need specialized training just for that built, they are more multivalent, reducing also the cost of the labor training.

The bad thing is that this could lead to the issue that the envy line don't cause that much of envy, being lackluster. The whole thing with the envy is to be told apart from the others, and this can be done now, and in this entry iteration of the series, but the problem is that the main thing that tells those pcs apart is the aluminum. The HP line now is filled with un recognized son of the envy. The being told apart loses part of its appeal. The premium design is not so premium anymore since everyone has got the design.

In this case scenario (the bad thing) you either go with what apple offers (limited choices and very direct ones), so the HP line should have been thought in the level of consumer line, professional line, premium line. And in the premium line you insert (in the same chassis) the professional and the consumer. This way you can avoid the costs of manufacturing so much types of chassis and boards down to 4 sizes consumer (10-11';13-14'';15-16'';17-18'') professional 4 sizes (the same) and premium 4 sizes (the same).

And in all Hp offers too much, this stretches thin the profit margin and by consequence the build quality.

 

However it looks like based on the articles I read, the 17 and 14 are replacing the 15 and 13, or it sounded like it...

 

how much of a difference performance wise is there between the 15 and 14? (graphically speaking for games/photoshop etc)

 

I downloaded the ATI driver on the front page and I got the AVIVO function in the Catalyst program. I don't know about the video converter but it shows up on my envy.

 

14 is going to have a HD 5650, which is a mid-high end card. Compared to the 5830, it is considerably weaker. Then again, the 14 can't have a 5830 since the 5830 needs a lot of cooling to get it working cool and the 15 needed the space from the optical drive to get enough cooling put in to cool the 5830 in the first place. Since the 14 has a optical drive and it is smaller, unless witchcraft is used, there is no way it can stay cool with a 5830 on board. Unless you like to double it as a grill as well lol.

 

this sucks now I have to debate returning my 15 for the 14 or the 17, great thanx hp.
I like the gpu on the 17 but hate the size
I like the size of the 14 but hate the gpu

grrrr hp grrrr.

I am also wondering if they will give a 450 off coupon right away or how much the 17 will be to add 1080p and blu ray drive.

Cause the 5830 has to have at least 25% on the 5650. This is really tuff, and I love the edge to edge.

 

um guys.... My post screen for my envy is completely missing and quickweb is not working???? any help?

 

@Texanman
just keep hitting Escape right when it boots

@mdsniper7
function over form! keep the 15

 

hmmm never heard that before I like that can I take that "fuction over form".

all in all I just love the edge to edge.

 

Got my envy back today from the bricked f .24 BIOS. They really screwed me:

1) They reflashed f .24 which has been removed from the update page due to 'known issues'

2) They reloaded the original factory OS and all crapware on my C: drive and wiped all 57GB of programs and settings (left D: drive alone), all for absolutley no reason and after repeatedly assuring me they would not touch the drives

3) They did something to my keyboard so the spacebar makes a really irritating rattling sound every time i push it.

4) The palmrest has the 'squeaking' sound again, I will have to reassemble again

5) multiple hairline scratches all over the bottom of the chassy.

6) new hairline scratches on the bezel and lots of greasy fingerprint all over the bezel and LCD. WHY!? would they touch the display all over ????????

7) minor paint scratches around the power and USB connectors.

The one piece of good news I have to report is that the Win7 system image backup works very well. I wiped C: and installed clean Win7, ran the 'restore system image' and 30 minutes and 57GB later all my settings, programs, drivers and files were fully restored and working I was surprised that even Adobe CS4 and my iTunes library (with DRM movies) were fully reinstalled and activated. I fugure this saved me 10 - 12 hours of downloading, installing and tweaking

I highly recommend making an image backup with Win7 if you have done a clean install or a lot of customizing of your system. Just realized that it also works like a 'smart backup', you can update the image and it will actually just add any changes since the last image, so after the first time it goes very quickly.

After this experience I strongly advise against sending your envy to HP for repair unless absolutely neccessary. I am still debating on how I will handle this with HP and if I want to risk demanding a replacement or keep this one due to it's well above average graphics performance....

 

You should call up and demand a reason why your laptop was damaged

 

Curiously, f.26A is the latest version that you can see on their support page. That was updated as of April 30th.

Well, as you mentioned below, that's what backups are for . though i'm a bit surprised that they even did anything to the drives. I had the same thing happen when I took my wife's computer in to have a failing RAM slot fixed (well, the whole motherboard had to be replaced on her MacBook Pro 15). The drive was wiped "clean". At least Apple's "clean" drives are actually pretty clean. But then had to install the other apps that she uses separately.

All of these are pretty bad, IMO. I'm rather disappointed with HP's tech support if that's what they did. That kind of thing is mroe or less "unconscionable". I'd definitely complain to them about it. Unfortunately, to fix those things, you'll have to send it back to them. You might be able to get them to cross ship a new model to you. Who knows.

Nothing like rsync technology in backups! Though they've been doing that sort of things for years. They're called "incremental backups". It also means that you need to actually make backups to restore them. Something a lot of people forget to do!

I suppose that you must have gotten really lucky with the 5830 overclocking performance in your machine. However, I'd expect that as the 5830 manufacturing process matures, the chips get better and better, so I'd expect a more recent 5830 to be "better" and more reliable than the early ones.

 

The F .26 was not there as of yesterday, must have just posted it. The last thing I'll be doing any time soon is flashing a BIOS unless I have problems with this one.

Just to clarify, the incremental 'backup' I was talking about is actually for the full Win7 system image, not just the data files. I've never seen that before on a 'full image' backup.

Your thinking on the 5830 is backwards, the more mature and stable the manufacturing process is they will get a better yeild of higher spec parts which will be 5850's. This will also produce less variance in the production runs which means more parts will fall within nominal spec range, therefore more 'middle of the road' 5830's. I would wager that the area on the silicon wafer that my 5830 came from is now producing 100% 5850 spec'd parts.

 

Ultimately, that will depend on the market segment that AMD/ATI wants to shoot for. While there is a "special case" with the 5830/5850 that they're "identical cards" but one clocked higher than the other (plus, some 5850's come with GDDR5 rather than GDDR3), it's also a question of what the buyer wants to purchase. If HP (and others) are purchasing both the 5830's and the 5850's from ATI/AMD, then it's in AMD's best interest to make everything as cheap as possible. As processes mature, you get better yields, which means you more more towards parity of the two chip styles. One is deliberately "crippled" in the one instance. If, however, AMD does some more tweaking, and there is more to the difference between the 5830 and 5850 than a simple speed bump, and hence a different wafer entirely that they're produced on (ie not actually binned parts), then even in that case, the 5830's get more and mroe stable as the process matures.

While it's true that AMD might be able to sell the 5830's as 5850's (as they pass the QC check to make sure they run at 5850 speeds), you still have to fill orders for whomever is buying. If people are still only interested in 100 5830's and 100 5850's, AMD is going to sell them 100 of each, not 50 5830's and 150 5850's.

There's a slight wrinkle in the mix in that the 5870's and some 5850's use a different memory controller than the 5830. Since that's part of the chip, they're not necessarily interchangeable.

 

Hi, I'm sorry to hear you're having problems with your replacement. I think I might be able to help you with this one. I'll try to describe as best as I can.

The rattle comes because the key isn't set tight enough. If you pop the black plastic key part off, you should see a large metal "U" type shape along the key itself. The two prongs sit into holed slots on the actual keyboard itself. These need to be tightened, and the best way to do it is to twist the metal U. If you twist it slightly so that it's not a perfect U anymore, but so that the two prongs are no longer directly parallel, it should do the trick.

Hopefully this makes sense...

 

what driver for the mouse pad should i use if I want the touchpad disable button to work

 

@Tummy

Thanks, It kind of makes sense. I'll give it a try once I have some time. Does the spacebar keycap come off like the other keycaps, the top edge 'c' clips snap off the bar upward and the bottom 'retainers' slide off toward the screen?

 

i think the best part of the new envys beside edge to edge is the hdd is replaceable.

 

Have any one of you had any problems connecting a monitor via hdmi (which stupidly is the only option)
I cannot see anything on my benq monitor, its black. But the laptop seems to recognise it, and if I exten my desktop I seem to be able to move my mouse out and around the extended monitor and bring it back, as if it was extended normally.

 

ehm, nevermind that....I found a way to switch between inputs on the monitor to hdmi

 

I just saw the new BIOS on the HP page myself. I'm not going to update this time. I'm already running F.24A now luckily nonbricked and it seems stable. I may have identified what conditions lead to the random lockups. It seems to happen when the machine was in hibernate. I now just do a shutdown and cold boot which doesn't seem to make it any slower.

Your report on the repairs defintely makes me wary of any HP send backs.

I would differ with you regarding the mobility 5830 being a lower specced mobility 5850 in that the 5850 has a GDDR5 memory controller interface besides being clocked faster.

It would be interesting to see how the mobility 5770/5750 compares to the 5830 since those 2 chipsets use GDDR with higher clocked cores but lower shader core counts.

 

@JJB

Do you know for fact that they didn't replace your mobo? and thus your GPU?

 

So I just got my Envy yesterday and did a clean install. I'm liking it.

However, for some reason my bluetooth mouse keeps getting disconnected and I have to restart the computer for it to work again (or for another 10 minutes). Anyone have a solution for this?

Edit: Looks like it is working now. Not sure what fixed it. Disabled a few of the synaptics touchpad features but that's about it.

 

when i had catalyst 10.1 mine said Avivo Video. now that i updated to 10.3, it just says Video. but i still can't find the video converter. has it been dropped from the drivers?

here's a pic of my ccc:

 

Good question which I don't think I can 100% confirm without opening up the case. I just tested things with a 3Dmark06 OC run and got a flawless (no artifacts) run at 625/1125 with a score of 10,144 and the GPU max temp hit 61.5C. This is in line with my scores and temps before sending it in so I am pretty sure it's the same mobo....




@Threeply

As I understand it, the 5830, 5850, 5870 and desktop 5770 are all made from the identical die, the 40nm 'broadway family' (RV840) and all the various controllers and features are on all models they just terminate it to the appropriate pinout based on what grade the die tests out to qualify for. Just like the intel i5 family from the 430M up to the i7 620M are all 'arrondales' using the same die and just graded to what spec they meet.

As I tried to explain earlier to 'erple2', this is the most cost effective and common way to manufacture a family of processors, if there is a spike in demand for a particular lower spec'd model they just use the higher binned chips, pinned out (packaged) accordingly, to meet the demand. The cost of the actual silicon is identical regardless of what spec they meet. This gives them much more flexibility in meeting fluxuating product demand. As the process matures they will start getting a higher percentage that meet the higher spec'd test but those just become added inventory that can be packaged to meet any of the lower spec'd P/N's if needed. This is also true for most RAM and Flash memory manufacturing.