*HP Envy 15 Owners Lounge! PART 2*

That's a GREATTT NEWS!!! At least someone confirm that information.
Do you have a screen shoot of the Intel G2's Raid?

What about the speed? Amazing?

 

Its been confirmed for a while... we all got G2s

They push 250MBps+ under AHCI, and 500MBps+ under the factory raid setup.

 

The new toshiba 320GB is the one to get... although its very hard to find right now.

http://sdd.toshiba.com/main.aspx?Path=StorageSolutions/PCNotebookHardDrives/MKxx33GSGSeries

Also, i doubt anyone will get it in stock before these guys from my prior experiences...:

http://www.span.com/product_info.php?products_id=27941

 

where are you getting 500mb/s?

i am getting 360-370 using CDM

 

HDtunePro:



This was with my G1s at the time, i never screenshotted my G2s before i disabled the RAID...

 

running HD tune pro 4.01 on my machine, and I am getting around 350MB/s... not sure what the deal is

 

JJB also has two new ones although I do not think he still has the older glossy to compare.

Anyway... I have all three at least for two more days. It really depends on what you like better but I would not dump the matte expecting to get a much better display. I think you should buy your preference, I for one do not have a problem with either but I will keep the matte screen although I would love for HP to add an IPS panel to this laptop... I would pay an extra $500 for that option...

I am prepping the glossy system for my business partner as opposed to sending either system back..

My only last complaint is the fact that the battery is not able to keep enough power to the processor. This is a problem on other light and thin laptops too and I will just have to find a way to work around it.

 

Go into options and set the filesize to 1MB and try again.

 

I am seeing near 275MB/s seq reads from a single drive.

 

still hovers around 350mb/s

 

Sorry dude, seems weird. Mine fell on my 1st gen down to about 460 after a week of use... since they settle into a semi-degraded state when used in raid. Still seems a bit low at 350 tho.

This is just a benchmark though, and right now there is no way to spit that kind of speed off of those drives unless you have the newwwest $$$$$ SSD in an esata or usb3 enclosure, so i wouldnt be too annoyed.

Your system is still smowkin fast, so i guess try and enjoy it!

 

I'm seeing the same even with the 1MB option.

One machine that I've been using the most gets avg write of 338MB/s the other that is still factory fresh gets 347MB/s. Burst is faster on first one 723MB/s vs 657MB/s but the acces time is .2ms vs .1ms

One thing I just noticed, the factory unchanged model does not have Intel Rapid Storage Tech installed. The other machine (with clean install) does have Rapid Staorage, I installed this out of the SWsetup folder thinking it was needed. Anyone know if this is compatable with SSD's or should I remove it?

Could this lower benchmark be the difference in G2 vs G1 drives. Aren't the 150MB/s+ 4k random write speeds higher than the G1's ?

EDIT: could this be a difference in HDtune 3.5 vs 4.00? I'm getting roughly the same (10% lower) in crystal disk 3.0 x64 beta.

 

Hey guys,

I have an APC Battery Backup system for my desktop computer (1700VA BTW). It has a little LCD on the front that can read out information like input power, run-time, and load in Watts.

In the original 2nd gen Envy forum a few people were discussing purchasing a smaller and lighter 90W AC adapter to make the Envy more portable.

I decided to run some power draw tests to see how much power the Envy actually draws.

I turned off every device that was connected to the UPS and checked the load reading to make sure there wasn't any residual power draw from some turned off device.

It read 0W load

I then connected my Envy 15

Core i5 540M 4GB RAM 320GB HDD Matte 1920x1080 ATI 5830 OC'd to 550 core and 1100 memory.

People with the SSDs should get even lower readings.

I connected it VIA the stock AC adaptor.

I removed the battery (to simulate fully charged)

I also unplugged all peripherals

sitting at desktop in W7 with brightness full and Wifi on BT off and high performance power profile selected.

~30W Idle power consumption

I then fired up Mass Effect 2 at 1900x1080 with all video settings maxed out

in game power draw ~45W

While still playing the game I popped the stock 6 cell battery back into it's slot, plugged my Logitech G5 mouse and my Startech.com notebook cooler (2 80mm fans) back into 2 USB ports.

Charging the battery while playing the game with my mouse and cooler attached

~57W MAX

So why the 'ell does HP ship that humongous AC adaptor with the computer?

heck if I know

I have a friend who gave me his extra AC adapter from his older DV7

This AC adapter is about 1/3 the size and 2/3 the weight of the HP adapter.

It is the same voltage, same connector, same everything it just only puts out 65W

According to my tests, however, my Envy should not go over that rated power requirement even under the most stressful of circumstances.

Those with the core i7 may be a different story but anyone with the i5 Envy who wants to be more portable all they need do is pick up a 65W 18.5V AC adapter from HP.

Now I will just keep the brick at my apartment for charging there only as I don't need to carry it around anymore )

I understand that my APC UPS device probably isn't the most accurate power draw monitor out there but with ~10W extra to play with I am willing to trust it.

If anyone would like me to run additional power tests or has themselves a more accurate power draw monitor and would like to post more accurate results I welcome you.

If anyone has legitimate data refuting my measurements please post them as well.

I would much rather be proven wrong than mess up my AC adapter or my computer.

Thanks for such a great computer community (It's why i got my Envy in the first place)

That and the $350 off coupon code.

Rob

 

Sorry about the 10 page term paper lol.

I guess I should have shortened it up a bit - cut out some minutia

Oh well

 

I wanted to see one of these units in person before making my buying decision. Alas, it's not to be. Best Buy no longer has them in stores. Neither does Staples. No other retailer in SW Florida carries it. Bummer.

 

@Aircraft123

That's great news, and thanks for the test info which I am going to forward to HP.

Two things you need to be aware: first it appears you forgot to figure in the wattage needed to charge the battery(s) if you were in high performance mode + charging HP would have designed the specs to allow for minimum requirements to do both at the same time. Don't know what battery charge current is but my 6cell (53W) battery charges to 90% in 1.5 hrs. so it is roughly at least +30W while charging the small battery.

Second, have you tested the CPU multiplier while plugged into the 65 W adapter? I have the 65W slim travel adapter and it throttles my i5-540M to 9X or 1.2 Ghz. The HP Adapters have a 3rd center pin that communicates the max output to the computer and must throttle it based on a BIOS setting. I would love to find a way around this restriction, if your 65W is giving full performance please advise the P/N.

 

Humm and one could fit 2 of those into the envy right? The only reason I went with the 500 gig platter was because there would be 2 of us useing it and I wanted the space.

 

Well as far as I know, nobody has these yet. And when they get 'em they'll probably cost a lot. I'll just take the dual SSD option instead.

 

Yes you can fit two in the envy. it is the way to get the most internal storage space you can.

 

@Aircraft123

My equally unscientific tests on my Gen1 720 showed 40-45W idling in high performance plan, and 35W in power saver plan.

I think my meter has a resolution of about 3W, and it's probably not precise. So only valid conclusion is that high power draws more than power saver.

The highest I ever saw it go was 113W on the 120W PSU. this was CPU and GPU maxed out while charging battery. It's possible that the PSU limit was reached.

 

I just played Borderlands for an hour or so on the 65W AC adapter and it got a little too hot for comfort. The Stock one got almost as hot so perhaps that's not an issue. When I first tested it after i got the readings for idle and gaming w/out the battery in I put the battery back in (it wasn't fully charged although it was probably > 90%) with the battery in and charging with Mass Effect and now Borderlands I got around 56-59W

I will significantly discharge the battery and then try this again to see if I get different results.

I pulled up CPU-z while running on the 65W adapter and I saw the multi switching between 9x and 10x. I opened several programs including iTunes and OpenOffice.org and i didn't see the multi go above 10x.

What I determined is the 65W adapter is more than sufficient for everyday use of the computer including some gaming. Most games are GPU limited anyhow and it doesn't appear to down clock the GPU when on battery or the 65W adapter which is good.

So basically If I know I am going to be doing CPU intensive tasks or lots of gaming than I need to make a point to bring the original adapter. For everyday use including an occasional spontaneous TF2 LAN with a friend the 65W will do just fine.

Do you know what Watt rating is required by the BIOS to give the Processor it's full speed?

would this be sufficient?

http://www.shopping.hp.com/product/computer/categories/ac_adapters/1/accessories/NW199AA%23ABA

it looks to be about as large as my DV6500's adapter was. The size of that one was fine the one that came with my ENVY is humongous.

Thanks for the expertise

Rob

 

& so nobody responded to my question

 

So I've been completely happy with my first-gen Envy -- until yesterday. The keyboard has become slightly unreliable. Once in a while a key -- usually Ctrl or Shift -- just will not register. I have to hit another key or backspace or something to get it to respond to that key again. Writing this post, for instance, I was holding down the shift key and repeatedly hitting "s" -- but nothing would appear. I had to start typing something without the Shift key in order to for it to respond again. (I have rebooted, btw)

I remember reading about keyboard ribbons getting pinched in some people's machines... I'm assuming that's the case here. Let's just hope that they aren't all slowly degrading...

 

For people with touchpad troubles :

I find that the two-finger scrolling works every time, IF you make sure your fingertips are at the same height

 

Hi Everyone,

Remember me? Several of you were very helpful with answers and advice. I'm on my third Envy (long story) and thought I'd close the loop and let you know I succeeded in transferring over to the newest machine, say thank you for all the help ("thanks!") and, of course, ask another question.

I bought an original Envy 15 (i7) that had a defective optical drive which HP apparently has no way to replace, so they sent me an entirely new Envy (with dual SSDs I requested for the trouble). That machine was defective so I quickly returned it (keeping my original). I got the third one (refresh model) a couple of days ago and just tonight used Acronis True Image Home 2010 (without Plus Pack) to backup my c/d drives (tiny c system drive and 500gb d) and then restore them to Envy #3. (It would have been painful to do a clean install because of all the s/w and settings I have.) It worked!

Boy, it sure loaded a ton of drivers automatically at first boot to safe mode.

Then left me with several to do because it couldn't do them automatically. The ATI CCC, network controller, and USB. I got these out of swsetup which I had copied to my external usb thanks to the advice here, thank god, because hp has none of the drivers for this envy refresh (CTO model) on its drivers site yet (right?).

I believe I have a lot of settings to change (I suspect for all the drivers that were replaced, e.g., video, I had to reconfig the wireless for that machine, etc.) but no biggie. And I need to do more testing.

The larger question I still have is: What exactly am I running in the way of drivers and should I be updating more? When Win7 in safe mode chose all those drivers, I know it didn't get them from swsetup. So should I be updating more drivers from swsetup now? I'm not sure if the right thing to do is to run a bunch of them (if not bloatware--hard for me to know) to make sure I am up to date? Or maybe I should just hold off and when hp get the drivers on its web site, then the hp update or windows update (is that right?) will find them and just install what's needed? Can anyone advise?

Sorry for the long post, and thanks so much again,

Larry

PS I guess I should have posted in the refresh forum but I feel more at home here!

 

True... but I keep wondering why anybody would use the two-finger scroll instead of the one-finger chiral-motion scroll. That one works every time (and you can adjust the width of the start zone), and you can scroll infinitely without lifting your finger from the pad.

 

Hey everyone, I just traded for a hp Envy 15, the Best Buy model. The guy has a password and I can't get into Windows. I can't get in touch with him to get his password. It didn't come with any discs. I want to reinstall Windows 7 but have all the Corel and drivers. Is there a recovery partition on the hard drive? If so, how do I get there. Also, what is on the SD card that came with the computer? Does anyone have any tips for first use.

 

No offense but that sounds a little sketchy.

 

Well, if you are implying that I stole it, you are sadly mistaken. I, for one thing am not a thief. To make things easier, can someone just tell me how to get the computer back to original state. I want to start using it. I have the box, the dvd player, the sd card, the slice battery. I drove to Memphis yesterday to meet the guy on craigslist to trade some things I had laying around for it. My 11 year old son was there, he can vouch for me. Thanks

 

Hello fellow Georgian! My first Envy was stolen last month in your very state. Perhaps the fellow you traded with was the person who donated it to himself. PM me if you'd like to meet in Atlanta and we can see if my password works for you.

 

Read my sig. I had a unibody MacBook Pro stolen from me in June. It was shipped out and delivered to the buyer. They told PayPal it wasn't delivered, even though I had delivery confimation, and PayPal gave them back their money. And my MacBook Pro is somewhere. I know what it is like to lose a computer and the money. Well, being that I drove 5 hours to MEMPHIS to pick it up. I can give you there serial number. The guy, whose name was Chad, bought it from Best Buy two months ago and wanted to get a MacBook Pro. The hp warranty look-up confirms this.

Well, maybe trying to get a password was kid of sneaky, but I was kind of being nosy. Anyway, I now have a Envy 15. How do I get to the recovery partition.

 

While I agree the adapter is a bit bulky, it is a lot smaller than the 120W that they shipped with my previous dv6t quad edition. That think was 150% the size of the Envy's.

 

I'm just curious. How much additional battery life would the 2-SSD setup give be over the single 7200 rpm setup (320GB or 500 GB)?

 

I really don't know, actually. I was wondering this myself trying to imagine how my thieves would get into the system.

 

Probably order a recovery DVD from HP?

 

??? Im not familar with that "motion" you mention. How is it done?

 

I find it ironic that Dell XPS 16 i7 users are complaining about the exact opposite issue. Dell only provided 90W power supplies and now they are having problems. Some people are trying 120W power supplies and it has become an ugly issue.

The Lenovo W510 includes a 135W power supply. I see the HP Elitebook 8540W uses up to a 150W power supply.

Personally, I'll stick with what HP provided and assume some of larger size is due to better noise supression/build quality.

Edit: Don't claim to know anything about laptop power supplies. But the supply itself it is completely cool to the touch, energy efficiency rated "V", and has very flexible input voltages.

 

Is anybody having a blank screen problem? It's happened to me a few times now and it's unacceptable. It's not during gaming, just regular Windows 7 open. I'll shut the lid (and my config does NOT go standby when lid is closed) and when I re-open it the screen is blank and the fan is going crazy.

The system is hung up because the mute light is on but doesn't change when I press it, neither does the caps lock. Any ideas? What do you guys suggest?

If this is a persistent problem I'm going to have to return it...

 

Im having the same issue, and this is my 2nd envy after i had the first one replaced, im not going to be very happy if i have to get a 3rd envy. Im going to call hp on monday

 

It happened to me twice so far.

 

Hey everyone can someone please give me an advice.

I have Envy 15 1007ev model; I am in Pakistan and device was purchased in Qatar (On 3rd Feb). Bios says that warranty starts on 16th Jan 2010. Now my thing is that I want to send it back and instead get Envy 2nd Gen obviously paying the difference. So how do I go about doing it ?

 

Sell it to someon and buy a new one

 

Well does it have any problems/issues other than you wanting the newer hardware? If it has issues then you might be able to talk them into exchanging it but I have no idea what their rules are. If you can provide proof of purchase on the Feb 3 date then arguably its still within the 21 day period. You would just have to call HP and ask.

 

I haven't used it much just because I wanted to exchange; for now I can say the only problem is that it shows noise on dark colors at 90 degree angle.

I do have proof of purchase but my question is do HP offer 21 day return to MiddleEast customers or is it US only ?


For contact here is the contact page:
http://welcome.hp.com/country/emea_middle_east/en/contact/phone_assist.html

Which number shall I be calling at ?

 

Dell Precision M6400 and M6500 use 210W power supply.

 

I found out, just hit "ESC" then hit "F11" when the menu pops up. For all the other "thieves" out there wondering how to get into the recovery partition.

I am not a thief, I just traded for a Envy 15 from a guy in Memphis. So far, I love this machine!

 

If you have usb stick or usb cdrom drive available, there are free utilities that will delete the password from any version of windows. You can then just log in.

This works on the envy, but not on some other laptops if they have a TPM installed and enabled.

Just Bing windows offline password reset and make sure you find an updated version with win7 capability.

Thats about all the help i will offer on this matter.

 

Yes, the blank screen problem is unacceptable. I'd be OK with it a couple of times and then going away with a Windows update or something...but it seems like 2 times is 2 times too many!

I'm glad and disappointed that it's happening to others too. Other than returning it and getting a new one, is there a solve for this? i.e. getting a new one doesn't mean that the problem won't appear again later...

I want to love my Envy15 so badly.

 

I do not have the blank screen problem after closing the lid. I have done a clean reinstall though.

 

That's good news thanks. Why are you exchanging your envy then?

Does anybody else have this problem? I didn't do a clean reinstall just cleaned up obvious bloat.