*HP Envy 15 Owners Lounge! PART 1*

newfiejudd:
Could you post a picture of the power supply next to the Envy 15 for a size comparison ?

 

For now the official drivers may be new enough but I have never seen laptop vendors updating the drivers as frequently as the manufacturer (in this case ATI).

But the problem is that the latest downloadable driver from ATI won't install on laptops with mobility chips because they sold the chips to the vendors, not end-users and not responsible for them even though laptop chips are based on exact same architecture and could easily use the driver.

But there is a solution if you want to be able to install the latest ATI driver. Use Mobility Modder and you can keep your display driver up to date. Both 4830 and 4860 are supported now.

 

I am also curious as to how the Beats audio actually help the sound.

Can someone who has a Envy give a quick review/impression of how the audio sound, like if it is a huge noticable difference ect. Not the laptop speakers themselves, but when they plug in a pair of headphones/speakers ect.? Because IIRC that's where the Beats audio is supposed to shine.

 

If anyone opens it up and the GPU memory is exposed can you take a close up of one of the chips.

Should be able to look them up and see what they are rated at.

 

Here you go. It's not to large considering the power requirements of this system.

 

That looks heavy. Do know how much it weighs?

 

WOW!! That thing looks bigger than my Dell adapter...
How much does it weight??

Another question, is the connection to the laptop bad? I read here in this thread that the connection was rather flimsy and not well made.

How big is the bezel?

 

looks small to me, but the brick on my HDX was the size of a netbook

 

well if you are planning on carrying around the battery slice, optical drive and power brick you are gonna be well over 7lbs anyways. This is what I just realized. Im in laptop limbo now between the xps 16 and sony fw. Atleast with those i get the drive and adapter at 7lbs.

 

If the keyboard is anyway like a mac, i could get used to it...i am tipping in a macbook white right now, and I am kinda liking this...in it difficult to make typos on this keyboard, if you know where the keys are, and i am not even watching the keyboard...hmmm

tomorrow i will go to tottenham (spelling??) and check out the PC world there for the Envy 15 and I will come back with my thoughts.

 

Strange, now the config and price is gone from the swedish hp site...I can only hope they put up the wrong config before and it´s a better one on its way

 

Headphones sound almost as good on this as they do connected to the headphone jack on my Altec ADA-885s(audio source is mac pro via spdif. I cant get the mac pro headphone jack to work in Win7 or I would compare to that). It did have a barely distinguishable hiss but you could only notice it when volume was at maybe 1%. It's still better than any other laptop I've used. The one thing that really stands out is the volume. 25% is about as high as I can go without hurting my ears. Overall i'd say the sound is good for a laptop but nothing to get excited about.

It also has it's own control panel app:

 

Any Canadians interested, here's the spec page for the Envy 15 (Coming Soon).

http://h20386.www2.hp.com/CanadaStore/images/15-1050ca.pdf

No mention of E2E glass...

 

Thanks for the picture and info - that makes me lean more toward the Beats edition - I need some new on-ear headphones and I do kinda like the piano black (call me vain hehe).

 

BTW - how is the bass from the laptop speakers?

 

can i ask you for a real picture of the pattern on the lid?
all internet pics seem to exagerate it a lot

 

Not much more; the design is so new that the technician (who was pretty knowledgeable from our conversation) had never worked on one himself; and they would not get a chance to look at one of the later production models in person until at earliest next week. So I surmise that some range of the model is actually not even widely available yet even in HP internally.

He didn't know the answers specifically to the bezel and the HDD mounts; but said that he could probably answer that much better if I called again in a week or two's time.

 

Serg, having seen the model at a couple of retail outlets I can tell you that the pattern really is not that bad. I guess it is just not very photogenic

 

I second this statement - its kinda nice in fact... The only issue I could foresee people having with it is the texture of said design - it might take some getting used to. I liked it on both counts, but I'm still undecided about the Beats edition (and lack of design) - mainly the high premium for a hip-hop artist's name.

 

The connection in the above picture looks nothing like the one I saw on the Envy 13" at Microcenter. It looks like the connection on the Envy 15" is like the traditional large barrel style HP plug which is very good and many other companies use.

Looks like the issues may only pertain to the Envy 13". That connection was VERY small (think mid 1990's style Sony walkman a/c adapter).

Riley

 

Hey Fragilexx, I am going tomorrow, most likely to the PCWorld and see it myself.

Which one is the closest to Belsize Park? Or in downtown?

 

On the HP UK website the Envy 15 comes with 4gb or 8gb of RAM. I would be using it for gaming and Visual Studio so I think 4gb will be fine?

Would the 4gb be used purely by Windows or is any of it shared by the 3d card?

I will buy an SSD too if that factors into how much RAM I need.

Also I see no mention of bluray on the UK site.

 

The GPU has 1GB already dedicated. But I can draw some extra if it needs it (although that will slow it down)

 

4gb is probably fine for VS, yes the GPU can draw extra system memory if needed (although as Serg said it is a latency increasing process), and the SSD factor is separate from memory but an SSD will always be faster for data intensive work. If the price difference isn't too major, then go for the 8gb to be future-proof.

 

Thanks for the reviews newfiejudd and deathbyfugu.

The 110 degree opening angle isn't enough for me. I'm not tall, I just like to look at the screen head on. I think I will have to cancel.

 

I am using a Mac now, and the tilting is VERY limited, and for me, it is quite fine (must be because I am only 1.7mts tall)

 

It depends on how you sit, etc. Sometimes I sit upright, which requires about a 45 degree angle. Same with using it on your lap.

This just isn't enough

 

Could I ask you for a pic with one oer the other?
To measure footprint.

How about one with sideways? the Envy looks as tall as the MBP...

 

Just buy the thing and return it if you don't like it.

 

I did that, but I cant use it till some months after.
Bought in the US, I am in the EU, and getting it with a relative

 

Dell Studio XPS 16 opens to "about 138°"
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Dell-Studio-XPS-16-Notebook.14431.0.html

 

Closest to Belsize park I think is the PCWorld at:
14-20 Chiswell Street
London
EC1Y 4TW

However, if you are travelling via the Tube it might be easier to get to the Tottenham Court Road branch - just jump on the Northern Line at Belsize park heading toward Morden, then jump off at Tottenham Court Road.

145 Tottenham Court Road
London
W1T 7NE

Should take maybe 15-20 minutes.

This is by far the better option as it leaves you on Tottenham Court Road, which is the place in London to shop computers.

By the way, I don't actually live in London Serg, I live about 90 miles away from London

 

Did anyone notice the wireless control button works backwards on this machine? When the indicator is lit it turns off wireless and when dark it turns on the wireless.

Took a look at Frys and its the same model ast in BB. Model Envy15-1050nr on the label with the battery removed from the unit. The trackpad buttons didn't work as well as the BB model on display (I had to press the buttons for a second to make it respond). On the other hand the 2 finger scrolling seemed better.

Does anyone know if 5.1 Surround would be output when connected via HDMI to a HDTV? There are no specs on the sound system for this machine. I thought I saw a surrond radio button in the Control Panel sound applet but didn't know if this was for simulated surround since the unit wasn't connected to a HDMI device.

I'm disappointed that they didn't offer a full blown blu-ray burner external optical drive.

I'm almost certain that HP will be offering more configs and customizations like dual internal SSD RAID configs etc. By the end of next week the folks who ordered online should be able to tell us if the screen is an E2E which I suspect will be as the retail versions seem to be all PreProd.

Next years model will probably include USB 3.0, PCI-e 3.0 and SATA 3.0 with an upgraded chipset. Maybe a new Graphics card. HP should have included a 4860 and there would not have been doubts of the performance although it is rumoured that Apple underclocks the Vid Adapters in their machines from the standard specs.


Just my 2 cents

 

I asked a few questions on the Official Envy forums. The answer I received is not what I was hoping for.

My Question:
I recently purchased the Envy 15 from hp.com and I was wondering if the video memory of the ATI HD4830 is DDR3 or GDDR3? Also, I went to BestBuy to view there display model of the Envy 15 and it did not have a Edge to Edge display. My questions is, will the Envy 15 that I ordered from hp.com have a Edge to Edge screen?

Answer from HP Gaming Staff:

You have 1Gig of DDR3 memory.

The Envy 15 does not have a flush glass like the Envy 13. Originally we had spec'd flush glass, but when we looked at the extra weight that would add to the unit, we decided to go a different direction . As screens get bigger, getting optically fused glass on a panel starts adding real weight.


Source:
http://www.thenextbench.com/t5/HP-Envy-Notebooks/A-few-Questions/td-p/49126


Note: If anyone wants me to ask farther questions on that forum I will be glad to.

 

Ok, if that is the case, once I receive it.. I am sending it right back. That is only if I see it with my own eyes.

 

mine's most likely going back then. the fact that they marketed it as having flush glass, and still have it on their webpage in that manner makes me want to return it even more now. i'll wait and see though

 

okay seems like he would know his stuff cause he's actually from the gaming and voodoo department of hp. Hp just failed me again if what he says is true.

 

Am I the only one who doesn't give a sh** about rather or not the unit has flush glass, who cares? What does it matter?

 

the way I look at it, is the following. I bought based on the specs that were given on the webpage... HP is now changing it around, and not properly informing the buyer as to what they are receiving. I have every right to return this if I am not satisfied.

 

IMO it looks VERY ugly to not have edge-to-edge. Just look at the photos where it's next to the MBP.. ughh..

But more importantly, if this baby doesn't have two HDD slots, it's going to really suck! If they are 1.8mm that's fine with me.

 

bingo.. its alot of false promises. Hp advertised a product, and now we are finding differences in what has been advertised? Hp seems to be cutting many corners. That is not appropriate in my book. I am going to call and see if I can cancel tonight.


Edit: bing or no bing.

 

Didn't someone here who had an Envy 15 say the GPU uses GDDR3. Tech support generally don't know much about specific models. Even sometimes (though rarer than people) programs such as GPU-Z make mistakes. We need someone to open it up and Google the part number of the memory chips. Either way, GDDR3 and DDR3 performance difference shouldn't be much. GDDR3 and DDR2; however, is a significant difference.

 

Why would HP put in a RAID controller if this thing doesnt have 2 hard drivers?

Went to the local bestbuy to check it out and both the palm rests and the base were definitely warm and that was when the machine was not used much. I think this will be BIG issue for anyone who uses their laptop for extended times.

Also, the screen tilt angle is very limited.

 

No one even has a unit other than the Best Buy units correct? I'd just wait and see before cancelling.

 

can you ask about the hard drives? dual? single? 2.5? 1.8?

i dont care about that either or gddr3/ddr3 but the hard drives are a big deal to me

 

Yes. I was really hoping to have 2 SSDs on RAID 0, otherwise what's the point.

 

mine is still production..........

 

Granted, I am going off from what a voodoo/hp gaming rep said, hence my reaction. Not really sure what I am going to do, to be honest...hehe.

 

Maybe they are fixing the bugs and errors before shipping..lol

 

HP reps seems to be in the dark as to what they launched.

This launch has had some severe mismanagement.

Did HP over promise and under deliver?

It seems we won't know the answer until we start opening the boxes from HP.com. The info from HP and the Best Buy units has not be encouraging.