*HP Envy 15 Owners Lounge! PART 1*

sorry, it was a 20 minute dell glitch, coupon doesn't work anymore.

 

what this guy said

edit: D'oh!

 

Well what was the code. Ill give them a call.

 

Are they going to honor it john?

 

its in production, so yes. don't bother calling with code, friend already tried and failed. again, it was a mistake. I've poured so much money into dell over the years (Inspiron 1500, 9300, XPS, XP13, x300, Alienware M15x), I don't mind getting a great deal on a Vostro. Anyway, get back on topic with the Envy 15.

Not a big fan of such a long production delay. At least with Dell, they overestimate on shipping. Is Hp really going to take to the 18th to ship these things? Seriously, the more confused I get reading about the i5 Envy, and the longer they take to actually ship, the more interested I am in the Asus G73 gaming notebook...

 

Ya, same here, the probability that I will be returning it goes up every day.

 

sweet! $50 buck more than than the last!

 

But only if you spend a hundred more.

 

Dell screw ups like this happen quite often, and most of the time they cancel all orders that make it through. Rarely do they actually go through. But, if you see one, jump on it as you may get lucky. Good luck though.

 

Base config + i5 -540 + upgrade monitor + 500gb will fit that build perfectly

beside, thsoe who plan to get the beat model get $50 more off than the last coupon too.

 

What do you guys think about the dual ssd's? Do you think it's better to wait and install your own in a few months?

 

Has nobody wondered why the Dv4i can have 8GB RAM with the exact same CPUs but the Envy only gets 4?

 

DV4i is out? hmm 5.2lbs with finger printing...would be nice if Envy has that too.

 

A finger print reader? GOD NO! It would make the CLEAN design have a little dent in the palmrest. I especially like the lack of fingerprint reader, I would much rather have the face recognition software.

 

I'd rather use TrueCrypt. I think that stuff is easily by-passable.

 

Is TruCrypt hardware accelerated by core i5?

 

ninthparadigm: I noticed in your sig that you keep swapping laptops. I have not been satisfied with many of the new models either even though they are nice and shiny. Here is my progressing T400->Sony FW->Studio 14z->dm3->toshiba L500->mini 311, now I have ordered an Envy. I also have a Vaio W series I gave to my girlfriend. Of all the machines, I think Sony's felt like they were built better than the rest from top to bottom of their lineup that i have played with in store as well. If only they had super high performance ATI gfx I would jump on it.

Hopefully the Envy 15, built with similar materials can hold up against Sony's.

 

it's supposed to be for convenience but it honestly isn't. Does anyone see the fingerprint reader becoming any more mainstream than right now?

 

I don't ever want a fingerprint reader on my laptops. Hate-em.

 

I think the Asus webcam face recognition thing is going to be quite common in the future. It is good enough security for most people, and it is better than writing your password on a post-it note or something.

 

The coupon code NBK11659 is still working - just placed an order for a core i7 model.

 

The DV4i is configurable with 8GB as 4GBx2. They just don't offer it as an option... I'd be willing to bet money that the Envy will easily support 8GB if you install it yourself.

 

I bet its a supply chain issue. It could be the RAM parts are slower on the DV4is. HP obviously offers 4GB RAM parts but only for the i7-xxxQm which has a nominal specced RAM for DDR 1333 Mhz while the Core i5s run them at either 800 or 1066 Mhz.

Just my 2 cents

 

If your order is in production, do you think they will honor the extra 50 dollar difference?

 

Johnnobts, nice work with the Dell screw up, but in my experience, they'll take your money, even put the laptop into production, but then call a few days to a week later saying they screwed up and will be refunding the money. Happens all the time.

Just a heads up in case it does happen, if it doesn't, then nice score!

Not long now guys, people will start receiving theirs next week. We should have all our questions answered soon. Still a little poor on HP's part with the lack of info.

 

I just got off the phone with hp sales. I told them about the new coupon and the 50$ difference between my order placed 1/8/10 with the 300$ coupon. The initial rep said it was a no-go, new purchases only. I asked to escalate to a manager, and let her know my intention to return/re-order in that circumstance... and that HP would be taking a hit selling the laptop as an open item/pre-owned, and would cost them substantially more than 50$. I was really nice about it, but let them know my intentions. After a 15 minute hold they credited my account 50$. WIN!!

 

Here some more technical trivia about the Westmere based Core iX Mobile CPUs. The architecture allows for mixed RAM while maintaining Dual-Channel transfer rates. For example a 1 GB and 2 GB stick could be in 2 slots and Dual-Channel transfer rates will still be availiable for the Westmere CPU.

This is a major diffrerence between the old architecture and new one considering the QPI bandwidths.

The Core i7 Mobile procs are somewhat crippled in that the original Core i7 on the desktop LGA 1366 sockets were able to do tri-channel speeds. Apparently when moving to a mobile package the pin design was compromised to support compatibility throughout the entire Core iX line.

 

did you happen to pay with billmelater?

 

I actually emailed 'fredfrenzy' about that and also why switchable graphics is built into the DV4i when he says: "There are some nasty complexities in switchable graphics - lot of new technology here." when it comes to the Envy 15.

Will advise if he responds

 

I'd prefer a retinal scanner in place of the night vision web cam.

 

It will. Was confirmed by HP yesterday DDR3 1066 4GB x 2. Of course the 1333's I ordered already shipped so I'll give those a try, think they will work fine.

 

Should work ok, RAM self-downclocks to match the MoBo/CPU specs.

 

when do you guys think the 4GB prices will drop? I only ordered 4GB so I can add later..but I know how RAM prices sometimes go up too.

 

just ordered another with 350 coupon I really wanted the SSD's anyways.

Also got the dvd drive as its hard to find an external one for 50

 

A note for all those planning to upgrade the RAM in the i5 models after they arrive; Here is HP's response yesterday on 'The Next Bench' forum :

"i5 configuration supports up 2 dimms/8gb max, 1 user accessible DDR3 - 1066"

This means to install all 8GB (4GB x 2) you will need to open the case to install one of the modules. If you want to see what you will be dealing with check out the O.P. (pg 1) of this thread for photos and drawings, also thier is a video link that shows how to install an SSD which shows the disassembly process. You'll be looking at images of the original i7 model that has 4 SODIMM slots (2 internal / 2 accesible) the new i5 will be almost the same with one slot in each location. This is also shown in the new user manual.

May want to check it out before you order modules. I opened my i7 and it wasn't to bad. The most difficult part was to reattach the cable from the keyboard assy.

 

I believe not having switchable graphics will definitely hamper the notebook but I believe the finger will be pointed back at ATI since it will be their Drivers that need to support the switch. I am sure that HP can BIOS enable this feature but that would require a reboot which is what the Macbook does

 

Not the new MBP 15. Jsut click and change, screen blanks out for few seconds and your good to go.

 

I thought the MBP forces you to log out and log back in to make the change (no reboot)

 

Think that might be when running Windows OS. My sister just showed me how it worked last week on her new MBP 15 she got in December. Wasn't really looking at what she was doing, was watching a half screen itunes video trying to see any difference in quality with the change in GPU's, just blacked out for 4 or 5 sec. then came back on with video still playing.

 

Then Apple fixed it recently, since it is known of the rebooting OSX for changing GPUs.

But PC has been on-the-fly.

 

Alienware M11x has a similar thing going. Change GPU's on the fly, pretty cool.

 

On a side note, I am wondering, how can I convert my Envy into a TV? Can I plug an adapter to a HD Decoder and watch TV from my laptop? How can I do this? And what should I use/do to do it? Thanks!

 

Do you guys advise against Raid0? Do you think it's risky and the change of failure is high on the SSD's used?

 

nope, amex.

 

just curious, who is/has uninstall(ing/ed) all the free norton software and all that media editing software that comes with the envy? I just looked at all the bundled software and all of it is so crappy I wish I could like a $300 refund and they could keep all their software. Hell, I don't even need windows thats gotta be another $100 right there.

 

is your lappies estimated to arrive on the 19th like your sig says or is it being shipped on the 19th? I ordered an envy 15 with the same specs as yours and its not shipping UNTIL the 19th according to the hp site.

 

I did. Use RevoUninstaller for better results. Use with caution.

 

use with caution? I will uninstall everything I can that isn't part of a full windows install. If that means using my windows cd and wiping the drive, so be it but i'd rather not do that.

 

error resolved... :facepalm:

 

It is very addicting to Revo all the crap off the laptop. It is a great program to clean registry and leftovers. Quite a fan here.


I used that and the guide to clean the laptop stickied on the main HP Forum, and increased performance by a considerable and very noticeable amount. Not to mention my temps dropped 20C.