*HP Envy 15 Owners Lounge! PART 1*

To diablonyc2: Was the webcam the only problem you had with the laptop? If they're replacing the laptop for that then it sounds like a possible hardware problem they could be having!

 

I guess I am fine with the locked 7X multiplier on battery. I am on AC power 95% of the time, and when I'm not, I wouldn't be doing anything that should require full CPU potential.

I returned my Dell XPS1645 for the throttling issues they had, but they were opposite to the Envy. They allowed full power on battery, but while on AC it was throttled to 7X when fully loaded CPU & GPU. I couldn't work with that.

 

Yes...my estimated build date was 1/18!

But nothing shows up on Fed-Ex's website as to when it will arrive. I guess it is 2 business days from when it will clear customs.

Now to find something that uses USB 3.0 to test it out!

 

that gives all us january 18 people hope. although i have a feeling the i5 models are going to take a little longer?

 

Hi Allan,

No, I got the Envy and 4 days later they refreshed the hardware. So to save on not having a laptop for over 1 week, I re-purchased the NEW Envy and am returning the old one. I generally don't use the webcam, so I just turned it on 3 days ago for the 1st time.

being colorblind i thought I looked like a Smurf...but when I looked close enought it was more like the Joker! lol

Hopefully the new Envy will be better (and shipped with the latest BIOS/Drivers).

 

Aweswome! I purchased my envy on monday the 11th. I'm really looking forward to it, I can't run word 2007 and firefox without my system peroidically hanging at this point plus i'll finally get to use the 120gb or so of software I've been sitting on for 2 years. Definitely make sure you check for USB 3.0 and give us all the nitty gritty and screen shots and pictures and how-to videos!!!

Only concern I have is the fixed multiplier when on battery, I personally think the multiplier could go lower while maintaining functionality, I hope you chime in on that too

Which i7 did you get? I opted for the i7-820qm

 

I got the i7-720 with 6G and the hybrid SSD/HD combo (Beats edition). I have not used it yet while on battery. It does heat up a little, but not too bad. What sold me on this was the power in a slim form factor!

I will try to get some pics up when I eventually get it!

 

Yeah me too I was essentially looking for an ultra portable desktop replacement lol...that sounds weird.

 

published yesterday:

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/HP-USB-3.0-Envy-15,9436.html

another from 3 hours ago:

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/14/hp-now-shipping-select-envy-15-models-with-usb-3-0/

I just noticed they're just citing the cnet article

 

I hate to bring this up again, BUT if you guys really believe that the battery cannot power the CPU past a 9x or 7x multi, well I have no hope for you guys.

This is a BIOS issue, plain and simple.

Batteries are rated in WATTHOURS, not WATTS. Regardless, this really has NOTHING TO DO WITH BEING ABLE TO POWER THE CPU - voltage and amps do.

Fred is confusing the two and thinks that, since the battery has a 52WHr rating which he IS CONFUSING FOR WATTS, it cannot power the CPU in anything other than LFM.

This simply is horse$hit!

I am sorry you majored in engineering and cannot understand this concept.

 

look, everything has been explained quite clearly...if the max power output of the battery is 52 watts it won't power something that has a minimum power output of 120 watts regardless of its energy density it just cannot supply power fast enough for the computer to run full tilt on the battery. This isn't a limitation of the lithium ion chemistry but the max amperage tolerated by subsequent connections in the MB/battery connections.

 

THE BATTERY ISN'T LIMITED TO 52W!

Where are you getting that from?

And since when did laptop lithium ion batteries become measured in Watts?

Look, the systems battery can draw however much power it needs. There is no WAtt limitation.

 

I Love Lamp.

 

Do you really love the lamp, or are you just saying it because you saw it?

 

I'm not sure what the rebuttle was.

time to break out the IMDB app.

 

I thought it was stated that the max power consumption of the laptop as it is configured with its locked x7 or x9 is 52W, and really I mixed up my words and should have said from the information given on this board, the weak link is the connections from the battery to the MB, so even if one wanted to run full tilt on the battery, which would supply it (but not for very long, but who cares) the amperage going through the connections from the battery to the motherboard would most likely melt because they're not rated for that kind of current draw.

Now if one is to say the battery can supply the power and a non-locked multiplier would use the power AND every piece of metal that comes in contact can handle that current (amps) then there is no reason to have anything locked other than for HP to make assumptions about its customer base.

If you look at previous posts the 6 cell battery is offering 4.8amps while the 120W wall charger is offering 6.5amps, if you push an extra 1.7amps through something not rated for it, it will melt, and probably shoot you.

 

"Recent design improvements have increased maximum discharge currents from two times to 15 or even 30 times the cell capacity (discharge rate in amperes, cell capacity in ampere-hours)."

as per http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium-ion_polymer_battery

the Capacity has nothing to do with the Maximum current draw. This is rudimentary High School physics. unless of course those debating never took physics.. then i guess thats why people are having this debate

 

no one is debating capacity vs currrent. we're debating the reason for the multiplier lock on the laptop when using the battery which stemmed from some fred guy supposedly mistaking watts for watt hours when really he just used the wrong words.

 

The reason why the charger offer 6.5 amps is it needs to charge the battery as well as power the system.

Tell me this then:

Why does the SXPS 1645 run full tilt on battery, WITH NO THROTTLING? And this is with either a 6 or 9 cell.

 

I have been workig with HP for a while on this issue.

I can tell you that other hp laptops using batteries of simular specification (dv6t-quad with 55wh battery) can use the full cpu speeds when on battery. this problem is in the bios and is not a limitation to the battery.

I also have a newer hp envy 15 on order with the hopes that the throttling and lines in mu screen will be gone. if not it goes right back to hp and the current envy 15 I have goes back to best buy for a replacement with a different brand.

I ordered the sony f11 but the lack of usb 3 turned me off as on the env when I try to use my esata drive it seems to take forever to get it synced.

this is my last chance on the envy. but as others have posted even after ces is over there is still nothing to match the envy in specs... too bad it just doesn't deliver (the fist gen envy15 that is).

btw I am looking for
i7 mobile proc.
12gb ram
1920x1080 on 15.6 or larger screen with good gamut. I have my envy 15 color matched to my canon pro 9500 mark II and it is extremly close. althogh it did take some trial and error to get it there.

I use this as jjb for photo editing in lightroom and ps4

John.

 

first off I don't even know the specs of an SXPS 1645 t if its a comparable or laptop with a max power consumption of 120W

It could be made from a myriad of li ion technologies also, so what it comes down to is the following for the XPS:

beefier connections on the battery/laptop interface so they can handle the amperage

and/or

higher voltage on the battery

since Power=Volts*Resistance one could lower the resistance, thus lowering the heat output while raising the electrial potential (volts) and still get the same power output without melting anything

So this raises the question, is the XPS battery 11.1V or is it more like 18V-25V? of course this needs to be taken into account with the power consumption of the laptop.

So this brings us to the final question...why not use a higher voltage battery on the envy 15 to let us use all the power? well the answer may be because if they connected smaller cells in series to make it 15-20 cell battery, even though the space the battery takes up would be indentical and the voltage would possibly be closer to 20V (if you hook cells in series you increase voltage etc) the energy density could be too low to be worth while. But thats just speculation.

 

Well thats good, I honestly hope its a BIOS issue and in the end we all get what we want...a multiplier that isn't fixed. I for one have never seen an envy beyond what is online so everything I say is pure speculation and giving HP the benefit of the doubt. Which is odd, I usually hate corporations, I guess I'm just having fun. lol


And for the record I'm not saying the battery is limited, I'm just iterating what PitaBread said, and I'm saying the CONNECTIONS for the battery are limiting, meaning they can't handle the needed current for full power.

 

The SXPS 16 6 cell is a standard 11.1v, 56WHr battery.

You can go on and on about contacts, etc.

 

Yeah I'm on my second cup of joe, I can go on about anything at this point. Good to know the XPS is almost identical though...So how do we get HP to update the BIOS because I'd love to run maxed out on the i7 for 15 minutes then have to plug it in than wait 45 minutes for my work to complete.

 

I think the whole USB3.0 is a marketing sale from HP trying to get people to still consider the old i7. With the i5, the i7 might no longer be very appealing to the average joe, have USB3.0 makes it more appealing ehehhe

I wonder if they will eventually go down to the i5 this Spring.

 

No mention of the USB 3.0 in the new User Manual, it says the same old "This computer supports USB 1.0, 1.1 and 2.0"

O well, was just lookin for a printed gaurantee.

They did update the RAID section tho, complete with the steps to disable it and such.

Bios options have not changed, seems to be the same bios... F.07

 

It does actually.



Source: http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c01952287.pdf [Page 63]

 

It's in there. Search for it.. under External devices.

"If your HP ENVY 15 comes equipped with USB 3.0, only the eSATA/USB 2.0 port may be used
for USB devices while in HP QuickWeb mode.

A USB port connects an optional external device, such as a USB keyboard, mouse, drive, printer,
scanner, or hub, to the computer.

Some USB devices may require additional support software, which is usually included with the device.
For more information about device-specific software, refer to the manufacturer's instructions.

The computer has 2 USB ports, which support USB 1.0, USB 1.1, USB 2.0 devices.
Select models also support USB 3.0 devices. To add more USB ports, connect an optional hub."

*Edit* AnXioZ beat me to it.

 

when did yours come in?

 

So is it 2 USB 3.0 ports and an eSATA/USB2.0 port?

 

It's a single USB 3.0 port as state previously.

 

damn...that's ok though, in the coming years i'll just buy a USB 3.0 hub if I have more than 1 external enclosure. I can't really see the benefit of USB 3.0 beyond a 1TB+ drive that needs gigabytes of data transferred at once. I transferred 60gb of data to my USB2.0 enclosure it took an hour...that sucked, luckily I had other stuff to do. I'm sure it wouldve gone faster if I had a more up to date system as well...1ghz C2D ultra low voltage kinda sucks for anything useful.

 

Haha, real life pipe-lining

 

I just noticed this in the HP promotion mail for envy - " Offer is good while supplies last or until 01/16/2010.". Seems like prices might go up after 16th.

I had called HP sales today morning about my order which was placed on 8th - she said it might ship tomorrow/saturday even though the site says 19th. Not sure whether she know what she was talking about.

 

So that Blu Ray drive is going to be replaced by one with a USB 3 hub.

 

So you honestly think the required power draw of the Envy 15 with a multiplier > 7x will melt the internal connectors and/or cabling?

I'm really not sure what to say. I think you need to get some sleep or something.

 

+10000000000000000000

 

I really hope HP has put one of the xM57 chipsets in the Envy 15 Core i5 rather than keeping the PM55. That way maybe we could at least switch video cards via the BIOS. That would satisfy me.

 

wow people...why don't you read everything...clearly you haven't. As for this topic goes, i'm done, everything that needs to be said has been said and if you have any doubts about anything feel free to read the posts pertaining to the topic, its all there. other than that, have a good day. I stated possible scenarios giving HP the benefit of the doubt as to why they had the limit and if its too much for you to handle perhaps its a topic you need to research on your own before anything is said.

 

The reality is that the i7 Envy 15 gets quite hot under most intensive usage scenarios, too hot to be comfortable in a lap computing environment while plugged in. Mix this with the fact that, while HP almost absurdly inflates the estimates, the Envy honestly has pretty poor battery life--under two hours-- while throttled to 933Mhz under an 7x multiplier.

Stir. Simmer. Turn heat to low and serve.

What you get is, from an HP marketing perspective, a very convincing case to not fix the "issue," neglecting any other "can X battery power X" concerns.

 

14.7 lbs
http://www.hp.com/united-states/campaigns/envy/pdf/envy15_datasheet.pdf

 

Battery is always over expected. At least cut 30-60 minutes of the announced battery life always.

And about the heat, I find that my laptop, after 14 hours of straight 3D modeling it got at 60-65 the CPU and airflow and case temp were at the low 40s to mid 40s...not bad considering the amount of load it had do, not a too complex thing, but several things opened and the processor tasked to 20-30%, it is not that much load, but 6 cores where working and sharing the load, so it is fairly ok. I got, in a 8H30 lapse to recharge my laptop 3 times, one full discharge (100%), a 71% and a 60%, then I plugged it in the third time and got it to 45% and went home to continue working...so, though it is not terrible, it aint THAT bad.

Something to note, the 90W adapter is enough for the PC to charge the battery, and use the laptop as long as the GPU is fairly passive or you cut down a little on resources (display brightness and USBs unused) then the CPU can fully enter TB and run normally.

I do have a question though, does anybody know if I can get a TV adapter and watch TV on my Envy?

 

For those looking to adjust the very low volume on these laptops, do the following:

Thanks JJB. So much better after doing this.



Serg, this would be a very useful thing to add to post #4 of Important(useful) Information.

 

How about HD web cameras...... lol, I've had web cams on pretty much every notebook I've bought for the past 5 or 10 years, and I think I've used them once.

Once USB 3 is out there new uses for it will appear and in 2 years time you'll wonder how you managed with that terribly slow USB 2.0.

 

On AC mode, the adapter fails to supply enough Wattage for the components.

The Studio 1545 review on NotebookCheck showed a max consumption of 90.2W, which means the top of the PSU, if a larger PSU was used, perhaps it could have gone higher. The same happens on the SXPS16, which has better and more power-hungry components. The CPU is throttling due to lack of energy and keep it in a safe range, or either the CPU is overheating (most common cause of throttle), in other words, the PSU is too small, or just the size to supply enough for the laptop. Remember the FHD RGBLED on the SXPS16 and the 4670HD can consume quite a bit, plus the ODD if used, the backlight, etc. My assumption (completely personal and yet to be proved) is that Dell miscalculated the total max consumption with the overhead to charge the battery, when designing the PSU, so it fails to provide enough power.

HP didnt fail here, giving us a huge PSU with loads of overhead if needed...that is why the Envy is not throttled compared to the Dell.

 

Actually, Power = Volts * Current = (Current^2) * Resistance.

Generally, a battery will have a particular maximum current it can supply at its rated voltage. The product of the battery's rated voltage and the maximum current is called the 'power rating' or the battery, and it is the maximum power the battery is capable of delivering to a circuit.

The standard 6 cell battery of the Envy 15 is rated @2.4Ah 53Wh. So the battery can provide a max of 2.4A steady current for an hour and 53W of steady power for a whole hour. However the battery can be drained at a faster rate using a higher current, therefore achieving higher power. The maximum current that a battery can be drained at is determined by the C rating of the battery.

I'm not sure what the rated maximum current for the Envy battery is, but you can definitely go beyond the rated 53W.

 

How did you manage to score 700 more points than me?

 

doh, right

 

ooh man, that would be great! I always wondered why webcams were stuck around 2MP. thats wild! I didn't even think about streaming HD stuff...Then of course the interwebs will be too slow and we'll have to update our infrastructure to USB3 to cope with the wicked webcam bandwidth

Though in USB 2.0's defense, USB 1.1 was always wayyyyy too slow. Even in the 90s.

 

Remember before USB 1, there was parallel and serial cables, as well as external scsi for the zip drives.. LOL.. USB 1 was the bomb when it came out