*HP Envy 15 Owners Lounge! PART 1*

Nice find.
I agree, can't imagine the dv4i will support switchable graphics and the Envy 15 wouldn't.

 

nice... now only if my Envy would just ship..

 

Hi guys, does anyone have experience with the envy and hooking up to a 30 inch monitor with a laptop?

if so, I have an HDMI 1.3 cable i can use but i want a converter from DVI to HDMI.

The problem i can see is needed a dual link male end for the dell 3007WFP monitor.

Can someone show me a converter that they know for sure will work for the envy?

 

if by some chance the envy 15 doesn't and the dv4i i will flip. that would be incomprehensible. it also should tell us how terrible some of the HP tech support and forum people are.

i really wish we could actually talk to the engineers...it'll never happen though

 

weird..i thought transformers were about as efficient as it gets, I guess that just voltage stepping...not AC to DC etc...

 

You have to factor in that the PSU itself will draw about 20% more than the laptop is actually using.So 100W of draw is really only 80W.

If you want to be really precise, you could put the PSU in a tin can filled with oil. After determining the specific heat of the oil can, you can measure the increase in temperature and use that to estimate the amount of wasted electricity.

 

Maybe just use an IR thermometer and record the temp over time? maybe its got an efficiency rating somewhere and none of that would be necessary?

 

The envy might not even be powerful enough(or, to be more precise,HP may have found yet another way to gimp it) to drive that display. A lot of people have been asking this question, so you can be our guinea pig.

 

Since the brick I'm using gets very warm when charging + powering computer I would guess the heat is the 50% of the input current not getting to the output side...lol

 

The other thing you can do is strip the cable leading to the laptop, then take either the positive or negative wire and use an ammeter to measure the current.

Anyway, the idea of using the tincan is that it is relatively insulated, so no heat leaves it. Find the increase in degrees celsius,multiply by the specific heat, then convert to youles,factor in the time and thenconvertto watts. I know a couple people here mentioned they were engineers, im wondering if what I suggested would actually work(in theory).

Also, the efficiency rating varies greatly depending on load. It might be 70% efficient at 120W, 85% efficient at 80W and 40% efficient at 30W.

 

yeah I know you can just get an ammeter that measures inductance over the wire so nothing needs to be cut, but i don't know the cost of those and if it would really be worth it. I'm sure there is an efficiency rating somewhere on these power bricks.

 

Looks like a new coupon code is out there, for $350 off. NBK11659

 

The Envy is plenty powerful to run that monitor, especially with 1GB of VRAM. Just possibly not at that resolution. It may be an HDMI issue, but I doubt it. The 5830 is a brand-new card, it probably supports all the latest HDMI specs and such. I wouldn't plan on doing any major gaming or anything on that beast, but I can't see anything other than deliberate gimping that would prevent it.

 

The coupon is not applicable to the Envy.
EDIT: It works, configuration must be $1,499+

 

Does that work for the Envy? This post seems to think it doesn't:

http://www.studentbuyingguide.com/2...ptop-coupon-code-stackable-for-up-to-500-off/

 

That is a really good find. Just like with the Envy, I find no claims about the graphics being switchable on HP's site. Is the DV4i advertised as switchable anywhere else?

 

It is, it might just be there is a minimum limit to apply it.

http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1810903

It worked when I tested it with this build.

 

Yes, it applies but the system has to be over $1499

 

Oh, I see. Thanx

 

Nope, nowhere to be found, unless you read the documentation.

 

doh, well it looks like I might be returning my laptop, I can save over 180 bucks versus the student discount, too bad i can't use both at once...

 

Yeah, that's why I have 2 orders, altoid! lol

I had ordered an i5 Envy and the next day someone gave me the coupon.

So, I ordered again and will return 1 of the 2 (got glossy 1080p on 1 and matte 1080p on the other).

I will say that I am getting quite impatient waiting for these things to ship. Geez, HP.

 

Yeah I'm currently waiting on mine that is financed through billmelater but if I return it I guess they'd just go away....I'm tempted to order a 2nd one right now and return the other once the cheaper one arrives but I'm also tempted to just wait it out...not sure why, probably just don't want to deal with the hassle of having almost $5k in debt and then returning a laptop. So I guess i'm just being lazy lol.

Then the very important question comes...do I use the discount to have a lower cost or use it to have the same cost but a beefier machine??

 

This waiting sure is getting quite annoying. Then again I recall they took quite a long time even getting the first round of them out when I got my first one. Thought I'd chalk that up to a new product release delay, but I thought HP would've ramped up their production by now for their premium line.

Oh and for the person asking earlier about the adapter for a 30'' monitor I found this link:

http://www.abacus24-7.com/HDMI-Male-to-DVI-D-Dual-Link-Female-Adapter.htm

 

The thing I am looking for is how to drive two external monitors. I wish they had added one more display output, many high end laptops have dual display built in. Any one?

 

maybe a HDMI to dual link DVI converter? They told me this should work for a 2560 x 1600 res display. think you can split / mirror the dual link output...

 

with another coupon ($350) I'm thinking of swtiching to i7 now...

 

Check this search:

http://peribothra.wordpress.com/2010/01/14/all-the-luck-with-the-computers/

"Envy delays due to HP having to tweak standard unit to contain slice battery and optical drive."

Dunno what that means. its dated yesterday.. oh well it looks like its just a random post of his experiences... sux

 

No dice on the coupon. I just tried calling them and they said there was a limit of 400 people to use it. Its already expired.

 

I would not read anything into this. It appears to me to be only a short story of one man and his Envy 15 order process. He used Ebay. Could only be that HP was out of stock on the battery and Optical drive and was holding the order until those items where recieved.

 

its a limit of 1700 users on the coupon. but whatever. Still may cancel both of my orders and get an Asus Beast 17.3" w/ the 5870. I just bought a V13 Vostro for $99 for my ultraportable needs (thanks for the $350 coupon screw-up Dell!).

 

HOw can I choose which is glossy and which is not? how can I tell difference? Si the glossy one the most expensive?

 

No, the ultra brightview is glossy ($100) and anti-glare is not ($75).

 

anti-glare is +75 and brightview is +$100. Is brightview the glossy?

 

Yes it is.

 

Has it been confirmed that the USB3.0 will only be for the i7 and the the i5? I need to make up my mind what to order

 

Currently there is no news for i5 and USB 3.0. Only i7 has been confirmed to have USB 3.0.

 

From some of the pictures that I have seen it looks like the keyboard is back-lit but none of the specs state that it is. I would expect such a high-end laptop to have it, can an owner please confirm that it does/does not?

 

Wait, how did you get it for a hundred bucks?

 

It doesn't. If you Google for a review you will see that even though it looks like it has, it actually doesn't and several people have complained about the lack of one. I myself, never need a backlit keyboard because I know my keys

 

No backlit keyboard or Edge-to-Edge screen, confirmed.

Confirmed by HP?

I wonder this too...how? Now I want, since I am getting in a few days my BCB from the Envy...25% out of the base price...

Im a touch-typist myself, so I dont need the backlight, but if I dont see the keyboard, just put the brightness all the way up and you can see it hahaah

 

but the i7 has no switchable graphics, right?

 

Nope. i7 based on Clarksfield, the one on the Envy, has no switchable graphics.

 

Correct, the Core i7 Quads do NOT have integrated GPU on the CPU die. Therefore you are left with only the dedicated ATI GPU. The Core i5 has an IGP, however no official word from HP about switchable graphics. Word on the street is currently there are no ATI drivers to support switchable graphics for the 5000 series.

@Serg
As far as I know, there have been several statements from HP spokespersons that confirm USB 3.0 support on the i7 + HD5830 configurations, plus the new Envy 15 documentation. As far as i5 goes, one of the administrators on the HP Envy forums said that currently there is no USB 3.0 support on the i5 configurations, due to cost implementation reasons.

Source: PM.

 

I'll trade battery life for an i7 and USB3 any day Hopefully the refreshed/new models will also have a new BIOS that won't have those stupid constant-multiplier issues. Lock them at the top end, just don't stop them from changing at all.

 

How does that work? Please please tell me.

 

I did that, and I dont regret at all.

The coupon? When you are confirming the order there is a box to type in the code, you apply the code and there you go. Limited to a x number of uses in total for everyone.

 

No, the Vostro V13 for $99.

 

I am pulling the trigger with the Vostro for 99. It's in my cart. ALL I NEED IS THE COUPON CODE. John, if you pull through with how you got the Vostro for 99 I will be indebted to you.

 

dude. forealio. hook it upppp.