*HP Envy 15 Owners Lounge! PART 1*

Return it, mine works flawlessly after messing with the pins for like 5 seconds.

 

Anyone else having problems with Bing cashback to purchase an Envy 15? I go to Bing, search for Envy 15, click the HP Direct url, and then get stuck at a page from Bing informing me I will get 20% cash back and requesting my email address. Everything on that page is frozen.

Argghh!

 

tapping your heels together 3 times also helps.

 

Hello, stopping by, any update?

 

F.06 BIOS NOW AVAILABLE:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareList?os=4063&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&lang=en&product=3995938

 

Merci! Moving that to the front

 

Is there a bios option to re-reverse the function keys? Reversing them is terrible for me; my software uses them constantly, plus Ctrl- function keys, Alt-, Shift- and combinations of those.

 

yes there is. Press F10 during boot to entire into the bios and look in there.

 

Yes I bought my Envy 15 today through Bing. Had same problem. Try clearing your Temporary Internet files that should get you there. Last resort delete cookies and start over from Bing page. Make sure your account is set up with Bing...did not work first time...same issues as you've described. Clearing Temp Filies did it and then I was able to complte registration and see my User Account at $0. I still see no atctivity in Bing account. They say it can take up to 2 days to appear on Bing Account. Good Luck!

 

Anyone else with Bing Cash Back tips to ensure 20% discount?

 

Dont believe its been mentioned but theres also a new Webcam FW
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...&dlc=en&cc=us&lang=en&os=4063&product=3995938

might fix the "blue" tint it has

 

Thanks for these notices. I don't see on the site any info about what's actually in these updates. Is it generally accepted practice to just install every one of these, or is there a way to pick and choose if it's really necessary? I understand there are pros and cons to both strategies. My envy 15 has been running fine (except I too have the blue tint webcam problem). I did install the touchpad update as recommended here, but not everything else (yet).

If anyone does the webcam firmware update, could you report if that helps the blue tint problem?

Thanks,

Larry

PS Still waiting for weeks for HP to replace my defective optical drive; they have been very hardnosed about not offering any compensation for taking several weeks to replace this product that was defective in my original order, then promised to arrive in three days, then promised to arrive overnight, then promised to credit me $200 for my troubles. Seems those last two promises came from an HP employee who quoted a phony name to me, as the hp case investigator discovered when I complained, and they're not honoring what he promised to me. I like the product, but HP's customer service has been a complete nightmare.

 

updated the bios, and not to my surprise, it didn't fix the display issue. while it's really hard to see in the first place, i paid 2,000 for a laptop that shouldn't have this issue. not sure what I will do about this.

 

Same thing here updated the bios and still have the lines. on top of this when I type I notice that t system is not able to keep up with my typing anyone else having this issue could be a software problem... then add the problems witht slice constantly moving and shorting then crashing my system and I have a $2400 laptop that does not work like it should ... I need to investigate best bus return policy or file an official complaint with hp because at this point th system is not working as it should be.

the bad news is that I do not know of another laptop that has all that I am looking for... (I wouldn't buy a mac if they were free).

 

OMG, I downloaded the new Firmware for the webcam, installed it then it told me to restart. I did. It could not reinstall the webcam and now it's just detects it as an unknown device. I can't get it to reinstall my webcam. HELP!!

 

The Horizontal Lines, Defective Battery Slice, System Freezes, and Power Issues associated with this laptop have forced me to return the laptop. NOTE: I didn't start receiving Power Issues or System Freezes until after I received my laptop back from the HP Repair Facility in which I got the laptop back from them with the same problem I sent it in with + More problems.

I have now Ordered a HP Pavilion DV7 i7 laptop for $980.

 

the webcam firmware worked for me. i think it actually did the trick on the colors or it could be my beer.

 

Hi everyone,

I have had my HP Envy 15 since it was released. For the last couple of weeks I have been having an issue with my keyboard. The whole first row of alphabet keys work on and off. It is very frustrating to say the least. I have contacted HP support and nothing they told me to do helped. I ended up opening up the case and reseating the keyboard connector- to no avail. I am about to send it in to them from repairs, but if anyone else has had the same problem and has found a do it yourself solution, I would be greatly appreciative.

Thanks!

 

have you tried running the FW update again?

 

Yeah I've tried.

I figured it out, You can't just restart your computer you have to turn it off Then back on. Thanks guys.

 

ahh good to hear.

So did the new FW help your webcam image?

 

Hmm, after the firmware update, I've been able to coax a better image out of the camera. It's still horribly bad, but not black and white. It appears to have trouble displaying greens and reds. Great at blues though.

 

That's what I did too. I am waiting until the Envy line gets better. Maybe 6 months from now I'll sell the DV7 and get it. Maybe a year from now. Not sure yet.

 

Note that the webcam firmware installer explicitly tells you to "shutdown the PC and power it back on" - not to just restart it.

However, it doesn't fix the bluish tint.

What it does do is that it changes how the "Low Light Compensation" setting behaves. Instead of turning the video into grey-scale, it does something else. When the ambient light is normal, the video will look like normal - exactly as if the setting was turned off (with bluish tint and all). If you turn off the lights, it looks as if the web cam aims a flashlight at you (which it probably does). The range of the flashlight is not very far, but you can see yourself even if the room is pitch black - complete with "red eye" reflections. The video is in color, even though it's not the greatest colors (still bluish tint).

In all, I'd say the firmware is a good upgrade. It makes the "Low Light Compensation" setting better.

 

The webcam illuminator is IR - likely monochromatic LED - so there is no color spectrum available. So it shouldn't be surprising that color is lacking in low light conditions.

 

Yes, I was expecting the "Low Light Compensation" setting to be in grey-scale. However, after the firmware upgrade it isn't. The colors are almost as good as in a fully lit room. Perhaps it picks up a bit of color form the normal light emitted from the display, or perhaps it's not a LED and actually has a bit of spectrum. But perhaps it simply highlights how bad the normal colors are.......

Personally I'm not a big webcam user and I'm ok with even the bad bluish colors, as long as it's possible to recognize objects in the picture... Webcams are pretty terrible anyway, imho. The only remotely decent (price/perf) webcam I know of is the Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000. I would recommend that to anyone who wants a webcam.

Btw, I just want to mention that the "Low Light Compensation" setting is ON by default. So if you don't have this new firmware you will get grey-scale video by default.

The resolution of the HP Webcam seems to be 320x240.

 

I placed my order through a friend in California last week, with the BCB it's just above half price compared to what I estimate a similar config would cost here. I'm getting my system after Christmas.

 

Big Cash Back
My objective with this post is to make sure people are aware of the stipulations in order to qualify and successfully receive cash back from Bing from online orders.
I placed my order for my Envy 15 yesterday. I was careful to set up my Big account first and that I could access and see $0 in My Account page. Furthermore, I made sure that I went to the HP Store website directly from Bing. I got a pop up before the HP Store that asked for my email address and confirming the 20% discount if I shop the site. I went through checkout and with approximately a 20 min delay I received order confirmation from HP of my order that is expected to ship on Dec. 8th. At this time my Bing Account Page does not show any activity, though Bing does clearly say that it may take HP up to 48 hrs to report purchase. My concern is that while shopping for the best offer and prices I did go to the Bing site and register using friends and family to see what offer I would get. I’m worried that HP want authorize my BCB if I’ve registered on their site. Anticipating this, I did go into the HP Account that I created and changed email and address to try and avoid this conflict. I think many Consumers are being lured in for purchases by the BCB program and if HP does not honor it I will call to cancel order. Perhaps threatening to cancel order they will authorize purchase to Bing. My last resort would be to cancel order and re-order under friends and family, which provides over $200 in savings. Additionally, perhaps I can argue to HP about the unfair Advertising Promotion with Bing and ask for some additional credits to the friends and family offer to get me close to the Bing 20% offer. I will keep everyone posted.

NOTE…I had some difficulties registering with BING Cash Back at first, others have mentioned this issue previously. The page freezes or redirect to Form Registration page, instead of completing additional registration requirements. Make sure you register properly with BING…the way to confirm this is that you have a login and can see you’re My Account Page with $0 balance. If you do have this problem, clear your Web Browser History and Temporary Internet Files…this should enable proper page redirect for registration process. Last resort…delete cookies and start process from beginning.

 

I had a similar problem with Bing. My first order was placed with my EPP HP account. After 6-8hrs of not seeing it register on Bing, I started to read the rules on the Bing site for HP purchases and it said that after OCT they no longer give discounts with orders combined with EPP. I didn't use my EPP discount, but I did use my EPP login. I canceled my order and they offered me $200 not to cancel and then they offered me $300. I canceled my order anyway. I then created an entirely new HP account with another E-mail. I went to the Bing account and created a new Bing account because the old Bing account was still attaching itself to my HP EPP account. After I changed my Bing and HP account, the Bing cash was on my account (pending) immediately. I purchased it on 27 November and it is still pending on Bing.

Bing site: ( under FAQ)
Entering a coupon code at the payment page will void your cash back. Also, beginning 10/2009, the Friends & Family program, HP Academy program, and the Employee Purchase Program can no longer be combined with cash back.

 

Has anyone tested the SATA performance with the F.06 firmware? There was an earlier post about the poor SATA speed but I haven't heard anyone else with the same problem. Is this problem affecting everyone?

 

So do you think now it has been 24hrs and I still don't see it in my BCB account that it may be a problem for me?
I've changed emails on HP Account, but did not think that Bing Account using my email would be an issue. I’m inclined to call HP a fight for the $300…the instant credit is better than waiting over 2 months. NOTE…it does say in BING that you want see it clear until then because they want to make sure you don’t return it and take the cash. So 60 days is the soonest you’ll see it post, then it’s another 8-10 days to transfer funds. Net-net…the additional $100 dollars from the Bing 20% may not be worth the hassle for me. I would be happy with a $300 credit or simply canceling order and getting it through PEE…my total with taxes is just over $2k as opposed to $2365 I’ve paid now. $300 credit makes it the same. If I wait 3 months I get an extra $100.

However, I do have one pending MS Bing customer service outcome. When I mentioned I had issue registering with BING above…I emailed customer service. They claimed to fix it and informed me if I did not see credit show up in 48hrs, to go ahead a forward them a copy of the email purchase confirmation. To me they were alluding that they would track down problem with HP and do what they could to get the purchase posted. Again, this could be all lip service and Bing is really trying to make their Search more desirable then Google. Still..with all this backward and forward with no guarantee…if HP offer $300, I’m going to jump on it.

 

I though it was against the terms to create another account. They say you can only have one account. Did you use the same name/address/paypal on this new account?

 

Has anyone with the F.06 BIOS tried iPhone syncing? There's a problem between iTunes, Windows 7, and the Intel PM55 chipset that causes a certain error and iPhone/iPod Touch syncing does not work (USB errors, basically). Some BIOS updates have been released from certain vendors that fix the problem, was wondering if this one does for the Envy.

 

I just came back from the ENVY team forum to say that the F.06 Bios does not resolve either the horizontal lines or the SSD performance cap on intel drives. I should state though that the Vertex drives need not apply since 4K random read writes are not so hot to begin with but with our RAID-0 setup intel drives were getting poor multi task performance vs the same system with the same drives that have no issues.

 

So is there a list of what is fixed by F.06?

 

none what so ever I would have assumed webcam related considering the amount of people complaining about it but it seems there is a seperate update just for that so im confused as to whats updated and whats not.

 

Perhaps a better cooling? Stretching the battery? Touchpad? The problem where the Turbo would not work when booting plugged in?

Has anyone downloaded it and tested it?

 

I used different e-mail, but same address and credit card. I have talked to HP several times and explained why I have two orders in the system under two accounts and no one has said anything. When canceling my first order, they suggested that I create another account under a different e-mail that was not an EPP.

I am not too crazy about some of the problems people have been reporting about the IPhone, the lines on the screen, ect... Sounds like most of these problems are software fixes except maybe the battery. I am hesitant about opening my laptop when it gets here 7 Dec. I may send it back. I am going to have to think about it. It is a lot of money and I want to make sure I am getting a solid product. I only buy a laptop every four years or so.

 

So I called HP and told them the situation…I pushed for a $300 credit…they would not budge from $200 (which is the max they are giving)…I took the $200 credit, which is equivalent to the Friends & Family (EPP) program discount saving me the hassle of canceling order, starting over and then delaying ship date by end of the week. For whatever reason…I don’t think I would have successfully received the $400 cash back from Bing…and the 3 month waiting for credit was also a deterrent.

Net-net…to all expecting Bing 20%...you must follow the rules very carefully. Most importantly, if HP has you as a customer or you have an account with them or you’ve provided them your email or home address they will not pay Bing to get you as a new customer and you will not receive Cash Back. You must make sure that your BING account does not match any info HP has on their databases. HP has a direct real time update, so when your order is cleared and you receive email authentication from HP of your order and payment then you should see the pending Cash Back in your BCB account. So if you don’t see it within a few hours of purchasing your order…there is a good chance your credit will not go through and you will be paying full retail for the ENVY. So if I were you NC1701-D I would force their hand to give you a $200 credit, which you’ll see 4 days after shipping. I would not worry too much about all the issues that can be resolved with Windows 7 updates, unless you have some hardware problems I would hold on to your PC.

 

The Bing Cash Back was the main reason I made my purchase. My pending rebate on the BCB is about $760, so the $200 isn't good enough. If the cash back doesn't work out, then I will return it.

 

So you must have had many upgrades to get to $700+ BCB…correct? The $200 I was being offered was for recommended configuration that included slice battery, external DVD and 2 yr mail in service plan $178 for a total $2361. If you’ve got several upgrades perhaps you may get more credit, but you would have to call and find out. If it’s been over 48hrs since your order went through and you are still seeing $0 on Bing…I would call Bing first then HP. No need to wait till it ships on the 7th and go through hassle of returning it etc.

 

For those waiting on the Bing cashback to appear in your account, I'd call them and make sure there is something noted in your account saying that there was a purchase made with bing. I placed my order on Saturday, but knew that since it was not a business day, I probably wouldn't see anything until today (Tuesday), giving them 2 business days to notate that and show up in my Bing account. After talking to customer support, I was told that they just sent out the requests to Bing and that it should show up in 12 hours or so in my account. They are pretty backed up after looking to see that my credit card wasn't even charged until today. Hope this helps.

 

The problem here is that Bing will say anything. Also HP is a Premier partner and showcased on Bing Shopping Store front. Do you think they are manually doing this? No way. It’s and integrated API automated processes. The bottom line is if it does not show up automatically, it’s up to BING to manually confirm the purchase. That’s why Bing Customer Service told me to send them via email confirmation of purchase. All BING will do is place it on your account as “Pending” that does not mean it will go through. They are not going to call HP and chase down every problem or customer asking what we have been wanting to know “will we be approved”. At the end of 60 days. Bing will either say Cash Back was canceled or approved for credit. NOTE….60 days is after HP’s 21 day return policy . So all of you expecting credits should determine what the status is now not in 30 days.

 

Another disappointing review

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2009/12/hp-envy-15-inch-review/

Although the major criticism was directed at the appearance and feel, described as "cheap", i actually rather liked the look and feel, granted i'm still waiting on HP to actually send me my unit....

Thumbs up to the power of the system but a big thumbs down to the battery life.

Oh well, i still cant find any better for the size and weight so will not cancel my order...yet

 

You won't know if it will work until after your return policy. They don't tell you anything until 60 days when it's reviewed.

 

For clarity…you won’t know until 60 days refers to the refund approval or cash back…the only reason there is a 60 day grace period is to a) wait until return policy is void 21 days and b) that no exchanges have been made. Then they need another 30 days to collect part of the reimbursement from HP to Bing. Bing is not going to deposit Cash Back until vendor gives them money first. Hence 60 days. For the record. Your account should recognize the transaction of purchase immediately, HP sends Bing automatic authentication of transaction and price. If it does not show up…its because something is wrong or there is a conflict that needs further mediation. So you can bet the 60 days turns into 90 or more if you don’t see it as Pending within 48hrs.

 

Did anyone here actually experience the cashback being cancelled after 60 days after it showed up as pending the whole time (and they did not return the item), or is this just hearsay?

 

Yes…there are posts here of people having issues and if you read BING’s Terms and Conditions it clearly says that BING puts all transactions on Pending Status and only after 60 Days will vendor “HP” authenticate or reject an individual. They only will pay if you are new business to their site. If you have an account, or use product codes, or HP’s EPP discounts it will void Cash Back…and you will not know this until 60 days…after HP’s 21 day return policy. My problem is that HP is not telling customers clearly how they will accept or reject you and are not volunteering that info when you call Customer Service.

The question you should be posting….and I have done this…has anyone successful received Cash Back from any Envy purchase since it hit the market several months ago? My guess is that there are a lot of people coming out of Black Friday/Cyber Monday anticipating a nice fat rebate “Cash Back” in 2010 that will not get one. I’m posting this from my experience, reading blogs and other issues folks have had from other Bing Store transactions. My hunch is that there will be a big fall out in 2010, litigation, related to this promotion that Bing has with BIG Brands like HP. Now that is only hearsay and my opinion…only time will tell.

 

The Envy hasn't been out on the market long enough yet. October 18 isn't "several months ago". But we will know better around Dec 18. After that it may take up to another month for the cash to actually be deposited into a bank account.

 

Yeah they didn't seem to run much along the lines of actual benchmarks or tests to compare it to other notebooks and just pulled the numbers from various sources. I'm rather happy with the look and feel of the notebook all things considered but their final conclusion about expecting a bit more for the price does have some merit. I just don't think its nearly as terrible as they make it out to be, but to each their own. It is definitely a lot more solid than any laptop I've handled made out of plastic but is not thinkpad solid. I'm surprised they didn't test with the slice battery attached, since that should hopefully be able to bring up the battery life a good deal albeit at the cost of weight and size. The reception so far from professional reviews has been quite varied.