*HP Envy 15 Owners Lounge! PART 1*

I dont think the 250M beats the 4830HD...remember the 4830HD has the amount of shaders of the 4850HD but the smaller bandwidth.

In some cases the might be on par, but I think the 4830HD is better.

 

I haven't seen a direct comparison between the two yet; but based on similar video cards, these should be give and take on most current games, depending on whether the game is shader or bandwidth limited. It will also depend on the settings and level of AA that is enabled.

But the 4830 should run cooler, being built on a smaller manfacturing process. And the 4830 will definitely be more future proof, as games are on a trend to require more compute throughput per bandwidth over time, and the 4830 after all is a 3/4 Teraflops card.

 

Ok people. Getting late over here so I ma heading of for then day.

For those who did the calibration of the screen, please reply.

And for those who want some battery life tests, send me the numbers only, no formatting required for any info, that I can do it myself.

Thanks and keep me posted! Good night.

 

Can anyone confirm or deny whether in restoring (using the restore DVD made by user) to a different size HDD would pose problem?

In this thread, wlcheng seemed to have encountered some problems with the HP SW restore system, with smaller disks due to the location of the restore partition on the MFT:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=5502962#post5502962

Has anyone tried to restore it to another smaller HDD or SSD? Is this an isolated incident, or is it universal to HP SW restore?

Thanks in advance
--HB

 

I got a seagate momentus 320GB with my ENVY not a 500gb drive.

I didnt do a before and after unfortunately but i had used the laptop for 3 days with the old spinning drive in so got used to its performance in various tasks.

 

I've already got a request on this so I'll post the spyder 2 hardware color calibrated profile I'm using later tonight for anyone that's interested. Again this is only for the US FullHD panel. I'm unaware if different panel models are being used but if they are then I'll post up my panel id number as well.

 

Use 3rd party clone tools to clone your current disk. Download Acronis trial for example - free for 30 days.

 

I think this is a tough one to call to be honest, but I think in the end the 4830 would indeed win out.

 

Update on the iPhone sync issue due to the combination of iTunes 9, Windows 7 64-bit, and Intel PM55 chipset:

http://www.appleinsider.com/article...nc_bug_with_intel_chipset_fixed_for_some.html

 

I think the Mobility HD 4830 is actually a more closely related to the HD 4750 and has only 640 shaders, not 800 like the 4850.

 

I compared the Envy trackpad with an MBP trackpad to get a feeling for why some people were having issues with the Envy trackpad. I haven't had any real issues myself, but then I hadn't used an MBP either so I didn't know what people were expecting. Here are my findings about two-finger-scrolling up/down:

1. MBP scrolls with two fingers in any position. Envy only scrolls if you place the fingers horizontally.
2. MBP scrolls smoothly (the speed and behavior seemed similar to mouse cursor movement). Envy scrolls in steps, just like a mousewheel and unlike normal mouse cursor movement.
3. MBP scrolls the window that you're hovering over, even if the window doesn't have focus and is in the backgound. Envy only scrolls the focused window, your mouse position doesn't matter (KatMouse doesn't help with trackpad gestures).

I think all these points are because of Windows and don't have anything to do with the trackpad on the Envy itself. It won't be so frustrating once you know how trackpads are supposed to work in Windows. To me, only #3 is something I really miss.

(I think I'll see if I can write a program like KatMouse, but that works with trackpad gestures so they behave more like the MBP... Adding to my TODO list...)

 

I played with the webcam and did not notice any blue hue. I got color by going into HP Media Smart Webcam --> Settings --> Display --> Advance Settings --> Camera control --> uncheck "low light compensation". This might not address your original concern as this is not meant for dark rooms but it does enable color (probably because it stops using the IR LEDs above the screen...) hope this helps!

 

I have both the MacBook Pro and an Envy. I am a diehard Windows user. I have the MacBook only because we want to look into iPhone apps at work. I thought the keyboard was where the MBP would outshine the Envy, but I was wrong. With the exception of the backlight, the Envy keyboard is better in every way, but there is really no comparison with the trackpads. Not only do you have to have your fingers in just the right position relative to each other to trigger scrolling on the Envy, two finger scrolling is often very laggy and unresponsive. I was amazed at how natural, smooth, and easy it was on the MBP. HP has a long way to go here. I also thought I would hate having the whole pad as a button, but now I am constantly trying to click the pad on all my other laptops.

I'm a PC, but this is one area where Apple got it right.

 

They delayed my replacement again. was supposed to receive it tomorrow. getting really tired of dealing with them.

 

Thanks for taking the time to compare the two. I've done the comparison myself (own a MBP and am considering the Envy) and can add a couple of items to the list.

1. Cursor movement with a thumb resting on the pad. The MBP allows you to rest your thumb on the touchpad while using another finger to move the cursor. On the Envy the cursor sometimes behaves while at other times it moves erratically.

2. When mousing on the Envy if you don't remove your mousing finger before pressing the left/right button the cursor can move erratically or the button press is not registered. On the MBP you can just click the pad anywhere (with the mousing finger or anywhere on the bottom of the pad with your thumb) and it will register a left click. You can tap with a single finger as well.

3. On the Envy you have small defined regions on the bottom of the touchpad for the left/right buttons. On the MBP you can click anywhere on the pad for the left click. Clicking with two fingers on the pad produces a right click for contextual menus (if one of the fingers is near the bottom of the pad it registers as a left click). You can also configure the MBP to register a right click by pressing the bottom right of the touchpad or by tapping the pad with two fingers.

The touchpad on the Envy is the only thing holding me back from a purchase. At this point it just seems really buggy. If HP had just used regular buttons I would be happy. It seems that HP tried to copy Apple but failed. It's probably a limitation of the hardware and immature drivers.

 

1080p is 1920x1080 are you sure the problem isn't that you are trying to run in a resolution higher than the tv is designed for? just curious.

 

Thanks for the tip, it's definitely worth a try.

I'll do that once I have my SSD situation resolved (on whether to do a 2.5" SSD, or try to wait for the 1.8" brackets to appear).

 

For anyone who was thinking of canceling then ordering the quick ship model DO NOT DO IT. I did it, got my money back to night at 6 30. I ordered the Quick ship model at 7. With the $50 coupon. Then at 10 they sent my an e-mail saying they canceled my quick ship model because it's out of stock. I went on their website, it's still in stock!! And now my coupon doesn't work anymore either.

So no laptop, and i dont' think i'll be getting one anytime soon....... I just have to move on i think. I'm tired of dealing with Hp.

 

I've finally had a little time to play around with this machine; I'll reserve my final judgement until a little time passes, and the BIOS and linux drivers issues get sorted out. Almost no laptop comes with perfect Linux support out of the gate, but things invariably improve with time, and I've owned somewhere around 20 laptops in the last 6-7 years, and have used some distro of Linux on all of them; so I suggest that everyone who's going to load Linux onto this machine wait a little to see how things shake out.

That's going to be my primary OS anyways; but here is my brief impression so far:

• Exterior and Build quality
  • The exterior of the laptop is much more tamed in appearance than I imagined, the pattern is classy and not a bit flamboyant, and is only obvious in very good lighting conditions
  • The etched surfaces are supposed to be scratch resistent, although I have some doubt about that; most of the aluminum macbook pros I see have a number of small scratches all over the surface; that may be indemic for systems with certain types of metal surface. Only time will tell on this one.
  • The construction is very solid. Pretty close to the rigidity seen in the unibody macbook pros (not quite, but close); and more so than any thinkpads or latitudes that I have used before, which were very reliable machines in their own right. This bodes well for the longevity of the components
  • The ports location is a bit odd; I'm glad I'm ambitextrous, and generally use a left handed mouse. I can see that how this could be a problem for a righty; in that case, better load up on the bluetooth devices instead.
• Physical characteristics
  • This thing is very very light, compared to my previous systems; definitely lighter than the 14" T60 that I use right now, and is very easy to carry in hand, if you are used to the normal weight of 14-15 inch laptops in your hand.
  • This is also my first 16:9 laptop, which is more skewed than I thought it would be. It will take some time to get used to it. I would have prefered 16:10, but 1080 pixels vertical definitely would be sufficient in most circumstances. The form factor is slightly harder to carry with one hand, I found, but just another area that I have to be acclimated to.
  • The screen the brightest one I have used, a day to night compared to all my recent laptops that I've used (T60, X31, Latitude D820, Inspiron 9400, Gateway 7405, etc). It is brighter than any desktop LCD that I have used as well, including a 2008 20" iMac, and the 24" Westinghouse on my desktop.
  • Screen is slightly bluish compared to other current laptop and stand alone LCDs that I own; not a big problem, unless you need very accurate gamut for GIMP or photoshop.
• Performance and heat
  • Haven't done much bench marking yet, but needless to say it hasn't run into any glitches at all in terms of performance. We will really see how the i7 + 4830 will do when I do some 3D benches. I will also try to run some of my own compiled code to see how it compares to a standard C2D or Phenom setup.
  • Heat, what heat? At least since I haven't been pushing it hard, the heat issue is non-existent. After running for 1 hr, it gets barely warm at all, still much less so than my T60 on the palm rest. Underside is a little warmer, but nothing that I don't expect from a laptop with metal chassis, cooler than my old D820 on the bottom under light use.
  • Fan noise is a little noticeable in a quiet room, but most likely when there is some other ambiant sound (other significant noise, music, movie, etc).
  • Speakers are quite good for a laptop, on par with the built in speakers on my 24" westinghouse; so nothing earth shattering, but fine for normal use without external speakers.
• Now a couple of dislikes
  • I agree with some here, the trackpad is probably the worst I have used in a long time. Clicks don't always register, has problem with accidentally touching a different part of the pad during clicks, which would cause the cursor to jump wildly. The buttons don't have good feedback, definitely inferior to physically separate buttons. I strongly recommend an external mouse for this one.
  • Gesture software is atrocious, almost nothing works correctly with high reliability. Two finger scroll only works in very precise orientations of the fingers, rotations don't register half the time, zooming is also hit and miss; i'm not even sure why they put out such a half-baked piece of SW on this new system.
  • Yes, the screen tilt is a bit limiting, sort of making using it on the lap slightly restrictive in terms of the user's posture. This is nothing too terrible, and definitely something you can live with and work around, but still a minor annoyance.
  
  I'll need more time to form a more accurate impression.
  

 

Yes - it is 1920x1080, and it is monitor, not a TV. It was catalist settings - some sort of scaling. Got it fixed right now.

 

I decided to stop waiting for Fry's to get another Envy in stock(they stuck me with a gift card when I tried to exchange my envy and they were out of stock, so I have to buy from them) and went ahead and bought a Macbook Pro today. I'll miss the i7 and 4830, but this will be more than adequate for a year or so. Plus I really like the backlit keyboard.

 

Should work with the RAID too- just recently used it on W700

 

Thanks for the tip - it helped.

 

Dumb question about the touchpad:

If you disable the gestures and stuff, does it work like every other touchpad? More specifically, can you use the rightmost edge to scroll up/down?

 

It's not a dumb question at all. The answer is no.

 

Gah HP says within 14 days i should have mine.... the wait is killing me!

 

I ordered my Envy 15 from hp.com on the 18th of October, and I still have not received it. I have been waiting 23 days to receive my Envy. It is suppose to ship out by tomorrow, but who knows if it will be delayed again or not.

 

hey, we were in the same exact situation. i just recieved tracking info this morning (7am est) so keep an eye at for yours... the tracking isn't working yet, but that's because fedex hasn't scanned it yet

 

Theres no problem with the touchpad imo. Gestures work great as long as you don't rest a finger on it while moving the mouse with another finger

Also, the people with complaints about switching the touchpad off being difficult just don't know how to use it. Just put your finger directly on the dot for 7s to turn it off. The touchpad is very sensitive, so if you do not put your finger on the dot, it wont turn off.

Also, you can set it to turn the touchpad off whenever a mouse is attached.

 

I just checked and I have tracking information as well!!! We are finally going to get are laptops. I would think that we will probably get them friday of this week since they have already shipped.

 

it would be nice, but i have no expectations... whenever I do, i get disappointed with hp

 

Wait weren't you delayed till the 18th like me? hahahA they canceled my order yesterday FinALLY then i wanted the quick ship and cause the website said it was in stock, but it wasn't so now my 050 dollar coupon is gone too. I just brought from best buy.

 

I bought on the 18th of October and was delayed until the 11th which is Wednesday.

 

I agree man. The touch pad is just fine. I was really worried that it would be terrible like people are saying but its responsive and accurate. I will admit that before the Synaptics driver update, the gestures didn't work as smoothly as they do now... but they still worked pretty well. Post update, i'm using gesture scrolling and gesture zoom in/out with ease. I still haven't figured out what the whole Rotate thing does though... any thougths? As for the buttons being part of the touchpad... I will admit that I was really worried about how that'll turn out. Owning a BlackBerry Storm has made me weary of botton/touch interface combinations (*sigh...*) but this one worked out pretty well! I can click with the left button and drag with the touchpad without any issue... that was my main hang up, and since its not a problem-- I'm happy! =D

 

3 Tests performed thus far (BatteryEater, External DVD playback, Resident Evil IV Benchmark)
Possible Future Tests: Movie playback without External drive, other games (GTA IV)?


Here are the tests:
1. BatteryEater test w/ slice:
-Config: BT on, WiFi on, screen saver off, etc.
-Results:
+Test ran for 3 hours before auto-hibernate
+Battery #2 (slice 9-cell Li-Ion) discharges 1st before Battery #1
+Battery #1 (internal 6-cell Li-Ion): had ~15% charge remaining
+Battery #2 (slice 9-cell Li-Ion): had ~3% charge remaining
-Calculations (complete discharge):
+Battery #1 (internal 6-cell Li-Ion): Total Charge available for BatteryEater ~70min
+Battery #2 (slice 9-cell Li-Ion): Total charge available for BatteryEater ~126min
+Battery #1 & Battery #2 combined total charge available for BatteryEater = ~196min

2. External DVD playback using Windows Media Player Fullscreen:
-Config: BT on, WiFi on, screen saver off, etc.
-Results:
+Test ran for 3 hours before auto-hibernate
+Battery #2 (slice 9-cell Li-Ion) discharges 1st before Battery #1
+Battery #1 (internal 6-cell Li-Ion): lasted 2hrs & had 15% charge remaining
+Battery #2 (slice 9-cell Li-Ion): lasted 1hr & had 5% charge remaining
-Calculations (complete discharge):
+Battery #1 (internal 6-cell Li-Ion): Total Charge available for DVD ~70min
+Battery #2 (slice 9-cell Li-Ion): Total charge available for DVD ~126min
+Battery #1 & Battery #2 combined total charge available for external DVD playback = ~196min

3. Resident Evil V Benchmark
-Config: CPU & CPU throttling OFF (power settings), BT on, WiFi on, screen saver off, etc.
-Results:
+Test ran for 2.25 hours before auto-hibernate
+Battery #2 (slice 9-cell Li-Ion) discharges 1st before Battery #1
+Battery #1 (internal 6-cell Li-Ion): lasted 45min & had ~15% charge remaining
+Battery #2 (slice 9-cell Li-Ion): lasted 1.5hrs & had ~3% charge remaining
-Calculations (complete discharge):
+Battery #1 (internal 6-cell Li-Ion): Total Charge for Res. Evil Gaming ~53min
+Battery #2 (slice 9-cell Li-Ion): Total charge for Res. Evil Gaming ~93min
+Battery #1 & Battery #2 combined total charge for Res. Evil Gaming = ~146min

-Intel Reference on Resident Evil V & Core i7: http://download.intel.com/products/processor/corei7/ResidentEvil.pdf

 

"HP ENVY 15 customizable Notebook PC Item shipped"

Yes! Finally - I'll supposedly have my Envy by Friday - in time for the weekend, some DA:O. Guess CoD:MW2 for PS3 will hold me over until then hehe.

Thanks for the BatteryEater tests RodimusPrime98.

 

how do you know you'll have it by friday?

 

I don't "know" for sure, but since I ordered 2 day-shipping and called them and asked - that is what I was told. If they don't get it to me by Friday, then I'll get a refund for shipping and they'll know where they can stick it...

 

good deal. i got free 2 day shipping, so I assume I should get mine at the end of the week also! (yay)

 

Yup - I hope (for both of our sakes) that we do!

 

Just a quick question.

Do the i7's that come in the Envy 15 equal the power of the desktop cores that were released last year? I know they're mobile processors and all, but I just want to be sure.

 

Hi Genryu

yes can you please post your color profile - i asked this question a few days ago - but part of me is wondering what works on your envy might be different from mine even though mine is US spec too! I've bought dual monitors for my desktop and could never get the 2 screens to dial in even.

i'm going to have to buy a spyder eventually, I looked on ebay and theres quite a few used ones. there goes my xmas money!

thanks!!

 

So I have a lot to reply to...

Your information will be more than welcomed for the OP. Since the reports of the screen in general say it is blue-ish then a good calibration is a great thing to have.

4750HD? The only 47xxHD is the desktop 4770HD, which in mobile is 4860HD, I think that is the one you are referring to.
The scores of the 4830HD by notebookcheck said it would be between the 4850 and the 4670HD. And the faster 4860HD on par or slightly below the 4850HD.

I think I am going to post this in the front. Thanks for the information.

Thanks for the review. If you have pics you want me to add, please let me know. I am moving this to the OP. Thanks!
Oh, and if you dont mind, I will format it a little bit for the front.

As usual, thanks Rodimus. You have been really helpful on all this thread. I will post this on the front.

I dont think so. They are somewhat slower due to heat constraints. But I am not sure, haven't used a desktop in quite some time now...

 

Woohoo, mine should be here on Thursday! Assuming of course that Fedex doesn't lose it.

(They've lost the last two packages sent to my address at two different hubs.)

 

tracking for my envy is up. says mine was picked up after the cutoff, not sure what that even means. no expected delivery date

 

It means they received the package, but the plane/truck that was headed to your hub was loaded up already. Basically, it's a one day delay, but if you don't have a delivery date, it doesn't really matter.

 

Major update: 10/11/2009

Review by HardBall and Battery Test by RodimusPrime98 have been added.
Thanks!

 

HP Envy 15 unboxing and hands on at Engadget

http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/10/hp-envy-15-unboxing-and-hands-on/

 

Did anyone in the US get a HDMI-VGA adaptor like that shown in the Engadget unboxing? I don't think I got one... Maybe theirs was ordered with one??

 

hey guys so I was trying to upload/send the lcd color profile I'm using but it just simply fails whenever I try. I tried to go with the screenshot method, but it still doesn't turn out too well. Any ideas for me?