*HP Envy 15 Owners Lounge! PART 1*

Check out hp's twitter, I guess there is no more 40% cashback on this BF.
They will give about 25 % to 30%. No more 40%.

You may also keep your eyes on slickdeals. They have more info about the BF deals

 

We're referring to "HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection" (sp45501.exe):
"The HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection Software provides protection for the hard drive by "parking the heads" if the notebook/laptop is accidentally dropped, or is abruptly impacted by another object."

This applies to the vast majority of people. I don't want people to think that doing a clean install improves their machines in any way, and that they're missing out on something if they don't try to do that. As I said earlier, they might actually try to do it. The paranoia can be big on the Interwebs...

Normally I use a tool to re-partition so no time-consuming reinstalls are necessary. But of course there are many good reasons to do clean installs on machines anyway, as you say. All those good reasons fall well within the "if it isn't broke, don't fix it" rule and I'm not disputing those.

I'm advocating against a tendency to do "clean installs" just because people think it'll make your new machine better. Especially for newly launched products. It's much safer to uninstall than reinstall.

 

Lots of bloatware - even the drivers that come loaded or are downloadable have proprietary programs included with them (like HP mediasmart stuff) that is junk.

 

I thought envy 15 has only a few bloatware, likes norton toolbar.

HP mediasmart is very fun in my opinion

 

You can order envy 15 with dual SSD right now!!!

410GB 5400RPM SATA Dual Hard Drive (SSD 160GB + 250GB 5400RPM) +$270.00Id : VG853AV Price : 470.00 EPP Price : 0.00 MIR : 0.00 IR : 0.00320GB Dual Solid State Drive Flash Modules (SSD 160GB + SSD 160GB) +$500.00

 

There IS a driver required for this on this laptop. When I installed the win7 ive got on now it showed in device manager as unknown device.

After checking the hardware IDs i found it was this device and as soon as i installed the protectsmart software from HP the "unknown device" disappeared.

 

Why would HP give a 40% discount on Black Friday? They've never said that they would. Why not set your expectations to some even higher number, like 80% discount? That's a much nicer number to fantasize about...

 

Serg, even though I have clean installed 6 computers with Win7 I have not found the need for my Envy yet, though I have debated it... Likely I will give this a whirl in a month or 2 with a triple boot of OSX, Ubuntu, and Win7. Grab a copy of Win7 and use the key under the battery... simple. You should compile a clean re-install section on the OP...

 

They did last year.

 

Yes, HP had a 40% discount one time. So that means they will continue to do that every year for all eternity? I'd say the statistical base for your conclusion is very weak.
But by all means, let's hope for a great store-wide discount on Black Friday this year. Just don't make any travel plans for it...

 

They did last year but that was because computer sales were in the dumper. I doubt it will be quite so bad this year so they won't offer as big a discount.

 

and where did you hear about this wonderful deal.... ?

 

40% off bf day would be amazing, but I wouldn't count on it.

 

Agree!

But I believed they will do about 20 to 30 % this year

And dell will do exact same thing, but likely 10% to 20%

 

Hahaha, we should start taking bets. Closest guess gets a HDMI->VGA adapter.

 

LOL, having it for one more year is A LOT different than all eternity. Your exaggeration is absolutely ridiculous.

You act like I'm insane for thinking it might happen one more time since this economy seems to be sucking atm (even though mainstream media says it isn't).

I never said it was guaranteed. And if you ask me, 30% off is quite good already.

 

For people that don't think the trackpad is working great, there is a driver update for the trackpad, as well as a BIOS update for any machines that may be running warm after being on for long periods of time, i.e. store displays. I know for sure that the trackpad driver is available on the HP support site. It is the 10-2009 update. The BIOS update I received in an internal e-mail, and I have not checked the site, so I'm not sure if it's available yet.

If it is not available, PM me, and I can send the zip file to someone's email if they want to host it or something.

 

I see it in batman arkham asylum, sometimes in crysis, also in fallout 3 and half-life 2: episode 1. Those are so far the only things I've tried and the driver is pretty much the stock one as far as I'm aware. Do you guys have a link I can use to get a better one?

 

dont' update the driver yet I heard the modded one had problems.

i've been playing a few games and it's fine. I see all yours are FPS basically, maybe there is something the driver can't handle.

 

I was really considering to order a Envy through HP.com, and then get it shipped to Denmark. But reading about all the little errors / hardware failures you guys are experiencing gets me really worried. It seems like theres a greater risk of getting a faulty machine than the chance of getting a good one.
Common problems so far is:
Slice connecter, horizontal stripes, dints and scratches, fan noises.

Almost every problem seems to be related to poor builders at the factory. So hopefully all the small problems will get sorted out with the near future, so I don't fell like its taking a chance shipping it to Denmark. Getting it here is fairly easy, sending it back for repairs is a another deal.

 

That's crazy - what HDD are they using? My old Seagate HDD has a free fall sensor that parks the heads when it detects a fall and it doesn't require any software; same is true of my new WD HDD. Having software to do this seems like overkill unless they cheaped out with the HDD.

 

Its a Seagate Momentus 320GB 7200rpm, So its not the cheapest one by far.

Not sure why they need a driver myself either unless the laptop itself has some kind of motion sensor built in that can detect drops or something like that.

 

Hello,

Anyone know if it's possible to connect to 2 external screens?

And also what is the max resolution out for 1 external screen?

Thanks.

 

I have some bad news regarding the HP Envy 15.

After extensive testing, I have been able to confirm that there is some sort of performance problem affecting the SATA controller in this machine.

I first encountered the issue when I connected an Intel 160GB G2 SSD via the eSATA port. When benchmarking the Intel SSD through the eSATA port I was getting very low 4k random read and write results in Crystal Diskmark Benchark.

At first I attributed the poor results to eSATA interface (this was my first experience with eSATA). Just to be safe, I benchmarked the same SSD in my Thinkpad T61p (which is limited to SATA-1 speeds) which showed double the 4k random read and write results compared to the HP Envy 15 eSATA results.

I hoped that installing the Intel SSD on an internal SATA port in the HP Envy 15 would result in the performance you could expect from an Intel G2 SSD but no such luck. The Crystal Diskmark benchmark results were almost identical to the ones I obtained when connecting the drive to the eSATA port.

I have since reloaded the system with Windows Vista Business 64 and I am getting the same poor performance in a clean install of Vista as I did in HPs preloaded W7 Home Premium 64.

It would seem that the SATA problems are known by HP as they are alluded to in the information provided in the latest BIOS update. Under the enhancements listed for the latest BIOS update it says:

- Optimizes the serial ATA (SATA) controller settings.

I am hugely dissapointed with the current status of the HP Envy 15. Also, considering that 4k random read and write performance is crucial, I find it very curious that HP is willing to offer SSD RAID configurations considering that the machine cannot even harness half of the power of a single SSD.

 

Sounds like a controller config problem so there's good hope of it getting fixed through future firmware/software updates rather than being a hardware platform flaw. Thanks for posting this, the more HP hear about problems like this the more likely fixes are.

 

They have to solve that because then the Raid0 2SSD has no sense at all.

 

Has anyone encountered the cpu whine noise on this machine?

 

This sounds EXACTLY like the same issue Apple had with the newest gen MacBook Pros that were released in June. They came with the controller throttled back to 150mbs* and fixed it in a firmware release several weeks later. It really wasn't a big deal except to those with the SSDs.

*[EDIT: I meant 1.5Gbs - not 150 mbs]

 

Yes, that reminds of the same thing as well. It's probably not going to be a huge problem even with SSD's; as majority of the benefits of SSDs are still going to be manifest; but certain usage scenarios would suffer.

 

Gaming on a MBP...hmmm
Anyways, there are some options with longer battery life, that are CULV based, and have GPUs, like the DM3z...it is a matter of what you value the most and how you are gooing to use your laptop.

If you are looking for something, I highly suggest the What Notebook should I buy forum and the FAQ.

The Synaptics default? And the HP? Disabled?

Indeed. It was already updated on the OP. Thanks!

I could, that is certainly a great idea. But seriously, when it comes to software I am failure...hahahaha
I know my way around hardware. I am thinking I could put the link to the internal clean-install Guide at NBR.

I think that is Intel's fault. Can you post what your CPU is using CPUz? So that we know what revision it is a see if it is that or just a lemon? Thanks!

 

I hope you are right. However, the controller seems to be working fine in regard to large sequential reads and writes while cutting 4k random read and writes in half (or having a max limit at the values I benchmarked)

On the contrary. There are a number of new SSDs being prepared to be launched in late 2009 and early 2010. Many of them offer significantly improved 4k random reads and writes, which is very important for a number of performance metrics. My benchmarks showed that even with the current gen SSDs (Intel G2) the Envy 15 can only utilize half of its random read and write performance (the random read performance was especially poor).

If HP does not get its act together, their "premium" HP Envy 15 will have a disk subsystem that is outperformed by Intel notebooks from 2007 (i.e. ICHM8 equipped units).

 

I have it, I had this problem when i first got an HP laptop with the first Duo, it's like a high pitched whine that comes out of the left side of the computer randomly right? I hope it is a firmware fix or something. I had it gives me headaches.

 

Does it void your warranty to install a different HDD? Also, is it very hard to access the HDD bay?

 

hey guys im back. i had stay away from this forum while i was waiting for my envy. all the negativity that was buzzing on here was driving me crazy. but i finally got my envy. and now i feel much better. i have just unboxed it and so far i am extremely impressed. to me this thing is SUPER light even with the slice. but my last laptop was an hdx dragon that weighed 15 pounds by it self. i opened it at work and got several compliments as soon as i took it out of the box. i will let you guys know more later after i get off work and get to play with it.

 

[/QUOTE]
I think that is Intel's fault. Can you post what your CPU is using CPUz? So that we know what revision it is a see if it is that or just a lemon? Thanks![/QUOTE]






Should i return this laptop, is it not a common issue? The envy 15 is good but I can't stand the whine. Ive had a laptop with a whine before but this one is worse I think.

 

Last year, did the Black Friday discount only apply when you bought from HP.com or were retailer's allowed to offer those discounts on BF too?

 

Can you do me a favor and look to see if you can see these Horizontal lines on the upper half of your Envy 15 screen? Thanks.

 

I have hade my envy for almost a month by now, and I love it! I don´t have any noice, no horisontal bars on the screen, it doesn't get very hot.
The only thing I don´t like is the batterytime,it´s way to low, but I´m hoping to get a slice from HP in return for falce advertising regarding the screen and memory. It should have been 1x4 gb memory but it was 2x2 gb.....

 

Really? Published specs on HP.se still say 1x4 GB.

Stripe complaints are for the 1080 line panel only, as I understand it.

You get about 2 hours of battery time?

 

oh god i hope my envy will be fine when it comes next month..

 

Mine has an issue. When im playing a game and im actually interacting with the game ie: moving the character or using mouse, i can play for hours.

However when im playing and then leave the laptop for a while (10 mins+) whilst the game is still running to go away and do something, Ill nearly always come back to either a frozen screen or a grey screen and cannot do anything but hold down the power for 4 seconds to shut off.

Has anybody experienced this problem?

I dont think its a overheating problem because i can interact with a game for hours without a problem.

any ideas?

 

A bad driver perhaps?

 

On Computer Citys homepage they now have changed to 2x2gb...I don´t think HP knows what they are doing...

Yepp, max 2 hour batterytime if I only surf the web, when trying to do someting it's maybe 1 hour or so...

 

no horizontal lines on mine. the screen seems great.

 

Well, the 7.5 hours was a dream, wasnt it? ^^

 

About your experience, If the web says estimated production date 23 of november will it be like that or the dates are not precise at all? I need it before the 12 of december.

In USA custom config.

 

It could arrive earlier, depending if there is any backorder or not, and if they cant keep up.

Mine got on time.

 

Thanks; I see that you are in france; I was refering to custom configs in USA.

 

Yes, I am France based, but I ordered mine to a relative's in Boston, US, and it arrived on time. Ordered the 18th when launched and arrived the date it was said to do so...I think I was one of the lucky ones there...^^

 

Mine got delayed, some guy here got delayed twice.