*HP Envy 15 Owners Lounge! PART 1*

I've been delayed twice :/

 

Random question of topic:
Are you all experimenting strange behaviours from the forum?

Please report them on the Site Suggestions, Help and Announcements Forum and let the Admins know about it. For me the forum is quite strange.

 

Hi Serg,

Yes, I agree! Sometimes, there is no link to the "last page".

 

Is there a big performance difference between 1.86ghz and 2.13ghz for the Envy 13? I'm not going to use it for gaming, mostly watching HD videos.

 

Do you have an update about that?

 

Ok, stupid question: I can't figure out how to tell the GPU to occupy the entire screen at lower resolutions. Or is the screen incapable of non-native resolutions...?

 

Don't know if this has already been posted but here's another review for the envy 15.

http://www.techbargains.com/?r=1

It's under the 3rd item under featured news close to the top.

 

why does no one review the i7 820 and 8gb ram? im getting really worried about my battery life and i have no idea what to expect.

Review was nice that it was about the 1080 screen, a bit short and nothing that has not been said before.

 

The standard configuration doesn't include them as options and most of the review units they send out are the standard configs sometimes so you might have to wait a while to see a review with the 820. The 8gb ram is pretty inconsequential as far as battery draw goes considering I haven't noticed a change once I added in an extra 2gb.

 

well that depends in Australia we have two standards, a low spec and high spec. only difference was the CPU and amount of ram.

two more weeks before i get mine and then i can do a i7 820 battery test

 

Does anyone know if you can buy the dual 1.8" bracket from HP?

I'm just wondering if you're locked into one 2.5" drive if you originally ordered with it.

----------------------

I read a previous post about poor SSD performance. Hopefully this is fixed in the dual SSD version they offer.

Are the 2x160GB SSD drives worth it since they're G1?

 

I'm getting this too. I see it only with certain colors but it's not limited to the top half of the screen. It's really obvious if you look at a picture with a bright blue sky. I've never seen a screen do this. I'm not sure if it's normal but I don't care for it much at all. I wanted the 1080P screen to help when working on high resolution photographs.
This is my first post so I'll fill everyone in on my story.
I ordered my Envy 15 on OCT 23rd. I got it on Nov 10th (was delayed a week and received the $50 coupon from HP). It has the i7-820, 8Gb ram, 500gb HD, The slice, and blu-ray drive. I've been considering sending this one back and reordering the dual SSD configuration without the blu-ray drive.

My overall experience has been fairly positive. The system is fast. I've learned to work with the trackpad and am pretty neutral about it. As far as the heat issue it has been really warm at times but not consistently. Sometimes under the same workload it runs fairly cool. I need to experiment more with it. I've had the slice battery fall off 4 times so far with one of those times resulting in the system shutting down. I'm trying to be very careful to make sure that the latches are completely secure by firmly pressing the slice against the computer when I lock it in. It seems to make a difference.

I seem to get about 4hrs of normal use on the slice battery and another 2 on the internal battery. Which is really outstanding on a machine this powerful.

I played a blu=ray with the external drive and it worked flawlessly. but having the external drive just seems too cumbersome for any movie viewing on the road. The drive is pretty slow for installing files as well. Since windows 7 has optical drive sharing I can install files just as fast by putting the disk in another computer on the network. It's a $225 option and I think I'd rather have the SSD RAID and just buy a $47 external dvd burner online if i need one.

 

Nope, you have two different configurations, but the lesser spec'd one is the 'standard' or base configuration.

If there is a noticeable difference I'd be massively suprised to be honest. Mind you, you don't buy this notebook for long battery life surely - I mean if that's what you were after then I'd have said going with the Envy 13 would be the wisest option.

 

can anyone recommend a good carrying case for this laptop?

 

Gah.... well i need someone down here to review the non standard config!

well the 820 is only about 10% more powerfull so i'm not really expecting a big battary difference but still would like some real figures for the HP Envy.

I need some portability not much bu some, and this was the only laptop that meant that criteria, BUT that was solely based on the additional slice battery.

Unfortunately down under we will not get the slice until next year, so i have to live with the 6 cell till then.

 

I am going to contact HP about the Horizontal lines that I have on my screen. My question to you guys is, can I ask for an exchange with a new laptop and keep the 25% bing cashback without it getting canceled, or will I have to send it in for a repair only?

 

so i kinda see what you guys are talking about with the horizontal lines. but for me it's only apparent if I look super close to the display and at an angle... and the color has to be one solid color for me to even see it.

 

When I view photos, play games, and watch hd trailers from apple I can really notice them. I am really hoping that I am not wasting my time in trying to exchange my laptop with another one if all of these laptops have this issue.

 

For me it is really noticeable/annoying when watching videos in VLC. Trailers on apple.com are bad as well.It almost makes the videos look interlaced.

 

I've tried and tried, but I can't see any lines on mine.

On a related note... Does anyone know how to get the GPU to use the whole screen space at lower-than-native resolutions...?

 

Preparing to send my laptop back to HP. Nothing really wrong with it - actually working flawlessly for me - but I want dual SSD option. So returning it and will wait for black friday discounts to get the new one.

 

http://www.digistor.com/Digistor-External-Blu-ray-Burner-USB-2-0-Slot-Load?sc=2&category=841

This one looks like a nice option instead of HP External Optical Drive - for 375 we are getting Blue-Ray Burner.

Does any one knowa better BD-Burner options?

 

Does the Envy 15 have a number pad? i know it does not have a physical one, but is there a numlock/fn key that makes the "J" "K" "L" 1 2 3 etc?

 

No sadly not

 

Any chance you can open the bottom and take a decent picture of the adapter? It must be possible to get these now!

 

Crumpler Beer Back

 

Finally got my Envy 15 Beats shipped notice(ordered on the 18th)! HP charged me the full amount. They were suppose to give me 10%off for the 2 delays. Guess I'll have to call them for the 8th time :/
I would have never purchased this notebook if I knew that I would have had to deal with all this. I don't care how great the system is. I will never buy from HP again after this.

 

Hey guys, anyone find the Bezel around the screen scratches really easily? I have like hair line scratches on it and I've never wiped it down ever.

 

mine came with a few, i was pissed about it at first, but they are only only noticeable at certain angles... i should let HP know about it, but i don't care that much i guess

 

I thought this was funny and typical:
Date/Time Activity Location Details
Nov 17,12:51AM 2009 Picked up SHANGHAI CN Package received after FedEx cutoff

I really don't care about the delays, its the blundering hp administration that really annoys me.

 

Question - is there any way for HP to figure out if the laptop was opened? They tell that if I open up the laptop - that will void the warranty.

 

Unless there are warranty stickers over some screws you need to remove, there is no way for them to tell if you opened it. There are ways to remove the stickers intact if you need to stick them back on. A google search will give you a "how to" for the stickers.

 

hey guys i can't get more 1.5 hours out of the standard batteries. help?

I'm on powersaver and everything, just wireless on, surfing the net min brightness.

 

Years ago they used to put a dab of glue on one of the screws, and if they didn't hear or feel it break, they'd know it had been opened. Haven't seen this done for ages now.

However, make sure you take a picture of how everything is before you take it apart, and make sure it looks exactly like that when you put it back together. If a cable is resting in slightly the wrong area, they could notice - as odd as that might sound.

 

Yeah hp hasn't been the best to deal with for a lot of people in trying to get this laptop. But I'm glad you finally got the shipped notice, be sure and post some pics up of the beats version! I was pretty curious to see what it looks like in person since I was almost going to go for it over the standard version.

 

This is good info. Take a pic of everything. I haven't sen the glue trick in a long time either. If one of the screws makes that slight snapping sound(glue breaking) make note of that screw. When you pull the screw out look for the glue on the screw and hole it came from. It should look a bit glossy, if not it was just the loctite on the screw and nothing to worry about. When you put the screw back in(if it was glued) take a needle with a very small amount of elmers on the needle tip and put the glue on the back side of the screw's flange. It will only take a needle points worth of glue. I highly doubt HP has done this as a security measure tho. I can tell you for sure once I get mine but, I know others in this thread have opened their Envy's and maybe could chime in with their thoughts.

 

Is that 1h 50mins or 1 and a half hours?

Either way i get about the same amount of life out of mine when just browsing the net

 

This is true for the Hardrive because the little caddie it sits in has a holder clip for the wlan aerial wire and if this isnt put back in they would see its been opened.

 

I will for sure post up hirez pics and benchmarks of the 820qm, 8gb ram(2 dims), and the Intel x25-m g2 160gb. I read the post about the poor 4k write speeds. I hope hp fixes this soon.

Did anyone notice this statement in hp's recent marketing email?

"1 of the Worlds Thinnest Quad Core Laptop"

Not the thinnest anymore? Anyone know what's thinner than the Envy 15 with an i7?

 

I sent mine back for exchange because I had 2 issues and since I hadn't had it a week they were willing to exchange it rather than repair it. I think if it's been longer than 2 weeks since your delivery they might not.

My customer service rep (Elle) explained how it would work: the original order number (starting with "H") is not cancelled, rather 2 child orders are created under it, one an "R" for the return and an "H" that'll be your replacement machine. The child "H" order is held until the return is made (in my case, it seems that my child "H" order was kicked-off as soon as FedEx got my old one in their hands, didn't even wait for delivery back to Memphis, though for ground shipping it's only 1 day return for me, so maybe it got there and was just update lag on the FedEx site). HP will e-mail you a link to print out a ground shipping label, and you can call FedEx and arrange pick-up (they need 1 day lead time for ground pick-ups), or take it to a FedEx/Kinko's store or to a FedEx shipping center to get it out that day.

She also took my Bing information, such as the Bing user ID, date, amount of cash back, and Bing reference number for the original purchase. That way should something happen, it's documented on HP's side. I haven't received my replacement yet (supposed to ship 11/27), but so far I have no notices from Bing that my cash back is cancelled. So far, so good.

 

They are probably just future-proofing it for legal reasons. If someone were to have come out with a thinner one that HP wasn't aware of, HP couldn't be sued for claiming the thinnest quad core laptop.

 

Hello hello!

Just got some internet connection. Anything I should be aware of? Something to update?

Let me know!

 

oh well, might end up canceling my order as well, and either wait for the SSD option or get another laptop.

 

SSD option is already avail. my friend.

I just wish they'd release the E2E display!

 

If HP does release E2E down the road, any1 think I'd have luck trying to get HP to replace mine with it due to false advertising?

 

not down under we don't even get the battery slice or Blu ray.

 

Does anyone know how BitLocker works with this laptop? Does it have a TPM chip?

 

as in an hour and a half.... Kinda disappointed I thought it could get at least 2 hours from the regular batt. With the slice it's not bad at 5 hours though.

 

I only wish the store had the option of the slice battery and the 1080 screen when i bought mine.

 

Hi there, I tried to connect my envy 15 laptop to my tv yesterday watching movie with HDMI but then I found out that the audio didn't work. When I test my ATI HDMI output, it showed "failed to play test tone". How can I fix this problem????


Thanks!