*HP Envy 15 Owners Lounge! PART 1*

I bought this Rosewill sleeve for my Envy 15, it works well even with the slice attached. It is ~1" too wide, so its not a tight fit.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834995753

 

Also, ran Cyrsis on high settings @ 1920x1080 with no issues (not sure how to measure fps while running this game...)

 

download and run a program called fraps... it will give you FPS

 

What settings did you use at that resolution, because mine slowed down quite a bit when I tried on medium settings at native res so I had to kick it back down to 1280 x 720.

 

Yes, I called and cancelled my order on Monday. They dropped the 2nd day shipping by mistake, charged my card right way, which my case was a debit visa card, so they took the cash immediately, and then told me my ship date was November 13th at the soonest.

I called back they offered 150$ off, mentioning something about a product shortage, and alot of disgruntled BING folks.

I accepted then decided the next day with the Holidays coming there will be other promotions, and the notebooks often drop in price shortly after release, sometimes almost immediately by 100-200$, and then you see the promotions during the holidays.

It's a personal decision, but they took 2grand of my money a week ago, then dropped the 2 day shipping, never added it back on, and then tried hard to sell me on a quick ship model, while dodging questions. They were very polite, but no sale.

The problem is, we are seeing posts from numerous folks around the net, that there are probably differences in some of the HP Envy 15s quality of mfg depending on point of sale. People have repeatedly posted concerns about the stock at Frys and Best Buy being of less quality of manufacture internally, aka, made cheaper somehow, so BB and Fry's can make a profit. The HP reps told me they are aware of this difference in the notebooks, but could not provide any detail. Then there is the confusion about whether the screen is edge to edge screen , dual bay, blah blah blah.... lol

I can understand that, BUT HP trying to ship me a quick ship preconfig model, with lesser quality parts or features somehow from HP itself, did not go over big with me.

The HP rep confirmed there are indeed differences that are present in the quick ship model,like the same as or similar corners cut for the retail store sold units. She kept trying to assure me the differences would not matter, and I am simply of the opinion any difference that makes the notebooks lesser quality, or cheaper, sold either in retail or through HP's quick ship is NOT worth it. You can wait, get a basic config even, and pay less, and get the better quality built machine.

I will wait, research more, and buy during the next big sale over the holidays or something.

I was especially put off by the constant rereading of the script by the HP lady on the phone call, describing how beautiful the laptop was. She was very nice, but clearly programmed only to answer certain questions with script answers.

It took 4 repeats of the question about the differences between the retail , the quick ship config direct from HP Envy 15s, verses custom config models built, before she acknowledged the differences, though she did not have the details.

Other posters have said the internals are different, perhaps run a bit hotter or made with lesser specs or components internally as well, though much of this may be rumor. More time is needed with more concrete posts by users in numbers.

At this point I would not let my post dissuade anyone from buying,but research and know for absolute fact what you are getting for your money.

Once the HP rep admitted the retail sold and HP quickship units did indeed for 100% sure have differences, even though they might not be visible to the customer, her hard play to switch me to a quick ship model died fast.

Again, I think it looks and sounds like a superb unit, but why would I buy substandard quality in any way, if direct ship, custom config, even if you don't add anything is cheaper and higher quality in some unknown way.

I am going to step back, follow the forum, research, listen to poster's experiences, and then look to buy during the holidays. I can't imagine HP not having ANY sales at all in the next 2 months.

Hopefully my experience will benefit others. The information confirming the unknown differences in quality of construction ( supposedly according to her) came from the escalated support team supervisor herself.

This is a long post, but I should I would share the experience, 2gs is still a decent chunk of change for a lappie.

I do love the look and specs of the HP Envy 15 though, and see one in my future, assume all things good posted turn out to be true.

 

Wow really so it's true that there is a difference in the quick ship and non quick ship?

Personally I think the delay in the shipping is because Hp did not have any quick ship models and so had the factory make a bunch of those, thus pushing all of the other ones back.

 

bookmarked and b back l8er, bro,

 

I can say no difference in current production. I don't know the future.
But I would say E2E won't be offered even later on.

For only 1350, i feel fine wiht my envy 15 .

 

What Mike36 said was that HP admitted there were differences, but were not willing to disclose them. It may not be different quality components, but instead simply things like not offering the same resolution, might use slower RAM, etc. I doubt very much that it is anything that would massively impact performance or build quality - because lets face it, HP knows, as do any computer seller that does both mail order and retail, that consumers might go into store to check the quality of the notebook before buying online. To sell machines of lower spec is one thing, but of lesser quality is quite another.

I suspect the HP sales rep was dodgy the questions because of a lack of technical knowledge in relation to the components rather than anything else. Best Buy et al will make money on the machines due to the fact that they buy in bulk with a lower specification. It is a well known fact in retail sales, both online and offline, that electrical goods attract low margins. They make their money due to the sheer number of units sold.

 

And mike36 wrote: It took 4 repeats of the question about the differences between the retail , the quick ship config direct from HP Envy 15s, verses custom config models built, before she acknowledged the differences, though she did not have the details.

As one who needs my order reasonably soon and considering in the morning switching my delayed custom order for a quick ship model, I appreciate mike36's writing up all this info; thanks.

I understand that this comes from HP directly, but I'm not sure how much validity to place in an HP customer service rep's take on this. Also, is it possible she was just saying, after your fourth repeat of the question, what she thought you wanted to hear? You cite others' posts here about quality issues, but I've read every post in this thread and I'm not sure there's conclusive evidence of more problems in one class of machine (config, quick ship, retail) than another. Can you point to some specific cases? Certainly there are a wide variety of experiences; it's just that they seem to cut across the different classes of machines, and also the testing is not at all standard. I'm not trying to be critical, just trying to weed out the truth from the rumor.

Not sure how can I decide whether to switch to a quick ship model...

Thanks,

Larry

 

how did you get it for 1350 ?

 

Just wanted to re-iterate that I have no problems at all with the touchpad, and I haven't seen many people here having problems either (multiple posts about it by the same two people though).

I'm using stock drivers and haven't changed any settings for the touchpad (and there are tons of settings to customize it for you). Perhaps the difference is that I haven't used a Macbook touch pad and I'm not used to keeping my thumb on the left mouse button, so I'm coming to this touchpad with fresh eyes. The touchpad gestures on the Envy seemed natural and expected to me on the first try. Perhaps I simply don't know what I'm missing? In that case, please don't enlighten me - I'm happy with the touchpad as it is.

 

can you check what version driver you are using? maybe yours was pre-updated? or maybe certian regions had older drivers?

 

Has anyone tried Undervolting the Envy yet?

Is it this possible at all?

 

Well, I'm pretty much in love with this thing. I can hardly believe how fast it is, or how it treats very demanding programs and games like they're nothing. It does get hot, but my cooler takes care of it pretty well and I never put notebooks on my lap. And I don't miss the optical drive because I just burn disk images onto the hard drive (from the external).

One question for people: Is anybody in the habit of removing the 6-cell battery when you know you're going to be on AC for a while? I've heard others suggest this might extend the battery's life because heat makes them degrade faster.

Izzit true..?

 

What brand and model of cooler do you use for the Envy 15? I'm looking to buy one.

 

Im not in the habit of doing so just for the fact that if I am running on AC power only and lose power/power surge my computer will die completely. I have heard though that heat can wear your battery down quicker, though I have never heard exact numbers, if there are any.

 

My Synaptics Touchpad driver is from 7/14/2009, version 13.2.4.12.

I wanted to add that I've haven't had any problems dragging things while pressing left or right mouse button on the touchpad - someone reported difficulties with that.

The only problem I've had with two-finger-scrolling is that in a few windows (e.g. certain OpenFile dialogs in older 32-bit programs), the gesture simply doesn't work at all. The mouse cursor changes to the scrolling cursor, so it's not a problem with the touchpad (it apparently registers the gesture properly), but Win7 doesn't seem to do what it's supposed to do. So those occasions seem to be a problem with the OS rather than the Envy. A few of these occasions have been a focus issue. Meaning that you have to click in the window before you can scroll. That's how older Windows systems have behaved as well (e.g. it's not enough to hover over something to be able to scroll with the mousewheel - you have to click the window first to set the focus).

By the way, regarding mousewheel scrolling and Windows... I would like to take the opportunity to recommend KatMouse. It makes the mousewheel scroll any window that you're hovering over without forcing you to click it first. It makes Windows behave the way it should... I haven't tried it in Win7 or with the Envy yet, though.
http://ehiti.de/katmouse/

 

Thank you! Very useful.

 

I use an Antec, but not sure of the model name or number. It's sort of shaped like an X -- you'll recognize it in a google image search.

I was sort of surprised it doesn't work better than it does on the Envy -- the machine still gets very warm with it under heavy load -- because it could cool my last notebook down to room temperature. So there may be better coolers out there for the Envy, I don't know.

 

I am terribly sorry for my lateness. Ive had no internet at home (terrible service which I plan on ditching and getting another one)...

So, major updates. Genryu's Review is on the OP. Enjoy!

Hello! Thanks for the PM. And sorry for the lateness. I owe you BIG TIME for that review.

Already posted, and did some minor formatting and editing. Let me know what you think!

Battery Eater is a good one.
If you post a review, send it to me so I can put it up front.

Nice news! The massive 320 Shaders do help then. How warm does it get?

 

Been playing Dragon Age, by the way (just released). All settings maxed -- 'tho I haven't bothered to turn on AA -- and it runs as smoothly as Diablo II would on this machine. (haven't checked actual FPS, tho.)

 

Dual channel nowadays is a marketing gimmick. There is 4-7% difference with dual channel or none. But as far as the question goes, the E15 has 4 slots of RAM, so it is a 3x2GB on the US.

This is terrible to hear csquared. I hope you can get the laptop you are looking for. I invite you to the thread on the HP Forum about telling us your story and what your plans are. People should hear about this.

Did the same? Works ok? Then there is no problem...

Indeed. As human we are, we love to complain on things rather than praising when needed.

This thread is an effort to help others and all of us make it. Thanks to all who have helped me keep it up-to-date and accurate!

If you dont mind, I intend to put this information on the OP.

I am not sure if the i7 can be easily undervolted. Remember it is a new CPU and even CPU Z and RMClock dont fully understand it.

I dont think it wears the battery like that. The battery life is given by the amount of times it can be recharged, that wears the battery normally.

Normally it is 1000 charges or more IIRC, after that you see the battery starting to lose power and last less.



LOL I always post on strange timing...sorry.

 

No problem, just wanted to give an actual user review from one of the early adopters.

I'll be sending you more pics and updates as soon as I get a chance to play around with it more. Great job on the formatting!

Do you know if battery eater test specific conditions or only max conditions?

The GPU so far hasn't gotten too warm when playing left 4 dead 2, and that's with every setting maxed out. Runs quite smoothly and looks great on the screen. The width helps in spotting the infected for sure.

 

Great review Genryu. It is very much appreciated.

 

Genryu - you da man! I'd give you more rep, but I've apparently given you too much already . Best of luck with it and keep the good times rolling.

 

That's good to know because I have Dragon Age Digital Deluxe Edition sitting in my Steam account waiting for me . I can't wait to play that game haha.

Any Mass Effect numbers for anyone btw?

 

Ok peeps. great news!

Remember the 1.8" HDD is a disaster?

Well, let us thank Toshiba for know.
http://www.electronista.com/articles/09/11/04/drives.geared.for.thin.notebooks.ultraportables/

So that could get you to a closer 128+320=448 not too shabby.

 

Go ahead and add the Resident Evil 5 benchmarks, but I would hold off on my Crysis comments until I can get some quantitative data using Fraps... Through some Rep my way if you want...

 

New Envy 15 unboxing video posted on YouTube by NotebookcheckReviews.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVnxe9dTeUo

 

I realize this is more of a Win 7 than an Envy question, but... Is anybody else now unable to access files on a network drive? What's weird is that I can submit my password and see all of the folders in my University-run storage space, but the actual files are invisible and inaccessible...

 

Wretched, as much as I would like to help you, I have no idea.
You could post your question on the Windows 7 Sub-Forum in the Windows OS and Software Forums.

 

See here for my Photobucket page, the settings used are 1080x720 all settings on high (avg ~31fps).

Not pictured are the 1920x1080 and all settings on high, the FPS was ~17fps for those settings.

http://s958.photobucket.com/albums/ae67/RodimusPrime98/

 

Sorry about that. Clicked the wrong button.

Anyways, OP updated. Thanks!

 

Just received the quickship model. Just starting the laptop up and setting up windows the fans were (and still are) on and making a horrible noise. here's a pic of hwmonitor:

In addition, it took me a few clicks to turn the envy 15 on (have to press the power button hard) same goes to the mouse pad left and right click.
but the most bothersome of all is the clicking noise from the hd. hope these are things I can get used to, if not back to hp. anyone sees anything wrong with what im experiencing?

 

Yes this is 100% true; they degrade faster the hotter the temperature. Disconnecting the battery does give you the additional battery life, but you lose out of the UPS the battery effectively supplies.

For more info on batteries, read up at this link:
NBR Battery Guide

Oh and about what Serg said, it is actually closer to 300 charge cycles for typical Li-ion/Li-poly batteries used in notebooks, some can go higher, depending upon how the battery is treated and how much heat it is subjected to, but certainly nowhere near 1000.

Image below taken from The Battery University, another great site for battery information, though it does get a bit technical.

 

There is something wrong with the image, it is not loading.

Here it is, hope it works:

 

Thanks Serg. I fixed the thumbnail.

 

Those seem a tad higher than peppe1's temps. Were you running some benchmark by the time you got those temps?

 

Also note that Intel is supposed to come out with a 320 GB SSD (the G2 series was supposed to have that already). So you could have 640 GB SSD RAID 0, or 640 GB SSD+HDD.

 

Then add a 2.5" 1TB drive on eSATA

 

Just a thought... since the body accomodates two 1.8" devices, a 2.5" 12.5 mm height drive would likely fit?

 

Hey Wretched GNU, do you think you could take some screen caps of DA:O or record a short fraps video? I'm sick of all this Crysis talk and images and videos haha.

 

Well, Crysis is so badly coded and heavily done that it is the perfect test for a GPU...

 

If ::censored:: is molded into a beautiful sculpture, but smells like ::censored:: is it still ::censored::? I think it is. I'd rather worry about whether or not my future computer can run good games well... Lol

 

Don't like the game? Well, everyone is entitled to an opinion, but that's not really the point now is it, the point is to see how this machine compares to other machines when gaming.

Fact is that Crysis is still considered a demanding game, has been out a while so there are already a plethora of benchmarks for other machines available and therefore Crysis is very often used as a comparison to other machines. Whether you like it really matters about zero percent.

 

I think what he meant is that the program is bad in a coding and resource-using way that it doesnt matter if the game is incredible, it is still very heavy to run due to over-coding on it.

Please dont try to bypass the forum's language filter. I suggest you take a read at the Forum Rules. And I suggest you to edit that post in order to avoid infractions.

 

Hello Everyone,

I purchased a new Envy 15 today.

Gary

 

my bet is that you get yours before I get mine and I ordered on launch day

congrats on your new purchase btw

 

Cool! Any idea when they'll ship and how much? Also, can I install two 1.8" in the current Envy model?