*HP Envy 15 Owners Lounge! PART 2*

I have this high pitched noise coming from the right side of the computer. I took the opportunity to replace it by adding in the 160gb SSD upgrade. =D

I have no other complaints about this laptop. It's fast, and a pleasure to use.

 

awesome. so much complaining about broken envys on here its nice to see someone else is enjoying theirs as well. I really enjoy mine, and its even a chick magnet. Usually they go "ooh thats pretty what is it?" and I tell them its a laptop.

 

Thanks, I remember seeing that and thinking that PS must be huge.

My point is that most of us should probably just stick with the factory Power Supply. It would have certainly been cheaper for HP to provide us with a 90W unit.

 

With any forum, most of the stuff you'll see are problems. Others posts benchmarks, you rarely see people who have no problems post. =P

Check out the Sony Vaio F series thread, bunch of complaints about noise and stuff too. =P

 

lol no sir. maybe ill read about the importance of mouse pads.

 

Do you guys run with fans off or fans running all the time in the bios? I find that if I run with the fan off, the GPU fan kicks on with a woosh and then calms down and turns off and is kind of annoying that way.

 

I have the fans always on.

It's quieter that way, I don't like the periodic whooshing of the fans.

 

chick-magnet benefit. Sweet! Something Alienware machines don't have!

For those with blank-screening issues like me. Are you planning on a return? For those who have returned and then got upgrades - did you get those for free for your hassle? That might make the return worth it!

 

I posted on this earlier as well. I agree that leaving the fans on all the time is quieter than with the fans off. I leave them on all the time. The only time I hear the "whoosh" now is right when I turn the laptop on.

 

this has happened to me for countless times already indeed...
pretty sure it must be hardware problem (otherwise a computer PROBABLY does not go blank even when idle...) unfortunately i just can't do much about it cos i bought it in one country and am now studying somewhere else...

 

Wow, countless times! Sorry dude. Unless I see a real solution here on the forums or through tech support, I'm getting an exchange/return for sure. If it's a hardware problem, I'm worried that it'll just show up on a replacement tho...

 

guys I have formted the latop and i installed windows 7 with all envy drivers. Now my HDD wei reads 5.8. I did install rapid storage technology. I have the 320GB drive. To those with regular HDD not ssd's, what is wei reading for hdd??

 

I had a 5.9 on my last envy with the 500GB HDD.

 

i remember before the format I had the wei for the hard disk 5.9. I really don't know what did I do wrong. Any thoughts?

 

Thats a good deal. I should receive my Envy in a month or so. I think I will take your advice. There is a new rumor that the new MBP will have i5 & i7's.

http://browse.geekbench.ca/geekbench2/view/210968

Checked out the HP Envy 15 geekbench result and it shows 4797 in a 32 bit version:

http://browse.geekbench.ca/geekbench2/view/210797

So the core i7 MBP scores better than the Envy and it only has 2 cores.
Man this thing should be amazingly fast... MBP Core i7 - 5280 > 4797 - HP Envy 15.

The new MBP 6,1 leak is fast... it scored 300 points higher than quad core i7 Dell studio xp 16s, and over 1,000 pts above the new quad core i7 Sony Vaio Fs.

As for graphics, the Envy's ATI is a beast! Current ATI cards destroy their Nvidia counterparts! I cant wait to get my hands on it! I know there are many people here were disappointed that HP does not support switchable graphics... even Thenextbench said it would support switchable graphics and now that page is gone. I wonder if HP pulled the trigger too fast again as Nvidia is set to introduce their new Optimus GPU technology on Feb. 9 that will allow switchable graphics for intel i5 & i7 processors. Sony advertised an i7 model with an actual button and I believe they will be using this as well. People who ordered Lenovo ThinkPad T410s which has NVIDIA switchable graphics have received ship dates of 2/12/2010 and 2/16/2010. Maybe the Envy's 3rd refresh will have an NVIDIA graphics card. 3rd time's gotta be a charm right?

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/mobile...duce_Hybrid_SLI_Under_Optimus_Brand_Name.html

I am worried about my new Envy's battery life. I ordered the i5 with the understanding that it would get 3 hours. But if the new MBP has switchable graphics, add in the fact that Apple values battery life so they made tech to enable a 7 hour battery life on the old MBP, and we can all safely assume that the new MBP will retain, if not grow the current excellent battery life while adding the raw power of the i5 and i7's. Apple has updated their MBP every 8 months since Oct. 2006 and they usually releases products on Tuesdays. MacWorld starts Feb. 9 although this year Apple is not attending the event.

So the fact that HP just released this 2nd Gen Envy 15 without any technology for switchable graphics is really a bummer. My Envy 15 is on order and should be here in a month, so Ill just wait and post a comparison of the Envy and new MBP side by side for all to see.

I have an idea HP forgot one letter...

iEnvy.

 

I only get 5.6 for 320gb. My old thinkpad with only Sata I got 5.9.

 

You have to make sure the "ChiralMotion" options are enabled under the Settings button of the Device Settings tab in the Mouse Properties window.

It allows you to scroll up or down by touching the right side of the pad, then dragging your finger in a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction. You can keep going, or reverse directions, as long as your finger stays on the pad.

 

The beta touchpad driver from scrybe is much better than hp's stock driver. The downside is the light on touchpad is always on.

 

My 320gb gets a WEI score of 5.9 as well.

From a fresh install with Intel rapid storage technology installed.

 

Don't worry about it, WEI is a very unreliable benchmark. Also your fresh install may still be getting indexed by explorer, I wouldn't be suprised if if went back to 5.9 in a day or two.

 

That geekbench score is probably BS.

Moreover, the i7 620 has already been benchmarked and it is only about 10% faster than the current i5s. It is way slower than the i7s.

 

What version is the beta driver? What makes it better?

 

v7.4, I am not sure what make it feel better.
You can download here.
http://www.uscrybe.com/download.php
scrybe itself isn't very useful, because everything hard linked to yahoo.

 

Which brand driver in your envy? My 320gb is Hitachi. I just tested again, still 5.6.

 

Is there an actual installer file for the latest 5830 compatible drivers? Also, has anyone heard anything on when HP is going to put all the current drivers and software up on their support page for the Gen 2 Envy 15?

 

Mine is a Hitachi as well. =D

 

I have the 320GB hard drive and my WEI for the HD is 5.8

Going from memory, but I believe the 500GB version has slightly better access times. Personally I went with the base HD with the intention of switching to a 500GB SSD two years from now

That being said, the WEI does seem to vary quite a bit. My initial WEI for the processor was 6.2, after removing some bloatware and loading some applications, my latest refresh shows 7.0 (i7 720). I have 6.8 for both graphics scores.

 

Actually, in the scrybe forum was a post from someone tweaker and it seems it isn't too hard to change them.

http://www.uscrybe.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=30&p=138#p47

"Hi,

as I downloaded Scrybe, i noticed that you can't cange the Places and Shortcuts. So I've started to think about a solution and I found one!

In the folder "C:\Documents und Settings\USERNAME\Application Data\Synaptics\Scrybe" or (for a german windows xp) "C:\Dokumente und Einstellungen\USERNAME\Anwendungsdaten\Synaptics\Scrybe"

you can find serval .xml files. To change the action for the questionmark-gesture just edit these lines in file "xml_common_plugins.xml"

plugin name="Search" strokename="Question Mark" strokecategory="7" hintnumber="0"

actionweb url="http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=%ST%" /

and change it i.e. to:

plugin name="Search" strokename="Question Mark" strokecategory="7" hintnumber="0"

actionweb url="http://www.google.de/#q=%ST%" /

See also the other .xml-files for complete customize.

Have fun!Tweaker"

 

So far I can play assassin's creed farcry and bioshock at maxed out settings on my external monitor at 1920x1080 with no problem at all.

 

My 320GB 7200rpm has a WEI of 5.7 out of the box.

 

You have to begin the motion in a circular fashion but I discovered that you can then switch to a vertical motion as long as you keep your finger on the touchpad. Note that the vertical motion works in the same way a touchscreen on your phone works (up=scroll down, and down=scroll up) as opposed to using the single-finger scroll on the right side of the touch pad which works down=scroll down, and up=scroll up.

 

I'm new to my Envy 15, is there anything that can be done about the heat on the palm rest. My fans are set to always run in the BIOS. Do the new models have the same heat issues? Thanks

 

It's been reported that SSDs produce less heat, so your best option would be to upgrade, but if you perform a clean re-install and optimize your system, that should minimize the number of background tasks and CPU/disk utilization, thus reducing heat.

 

What is the weight of the slice battery?

 

2.7 lbs.....

 

I have a usb hub, usb mouse, esata external hdd, hdmi monitor, and speakers plugged in and the envy wont reboot with them all of the plugged in at once. fyi.

 

Probably because external harddriver. Bios will try to read external hdd, if they are not accessible, it will hang.

 

well its the last thing in the boot order to load so that is stupid if its doing that.

 

Thats weird indeed. Are they using 5200rpm drives?? I hope not.

 

Actually they use both speeds. The 320 HD is listed as 7200, but if you go with the 410g option then you get a 160 ssd and a 250 gig 5400 rpm driver

 

Oh yeah I know that, but in my case I only have the 320 HD so I should be getting the full 7200rpm unless they are really 5400rpm. I might have to watch that youtube video and install my Intel SSD inside.!!

 

Make sure when you do the WEI test that nothing else is running in the background that is accessing the hard drive.

I rebooted, loaded up the WEI and waited until the HDD light stopped blinking and then started it up.

Then I just watched it without doing anything like moving the mouse. =P

 

Not sure if this would have an effect, but would fragmentation affect WEI? I have the 500GB and my score is 5.9. I defragmented my hard drive before running the tests though.

 

From what I've been told WEI maxes out platter drive scores at 5.9.

 

Can anyone tell me what the "Quick Web" application is in the SWsetup folder??

Loading drivers etc after clean install and can't tell if that is the 'instant on' thing or useless bloatware

Also what about the adobe 'shockwave player'??

 

"Quick Web" is the software to use web without windows.

 

Hooray -- the problem with my keyboard was software, not hardware.

This may interest those of you who have installed KeyTweak in order to re-map the HP quicklaunch keys on the left of the keyboard. That was the culprit. It's strange, though, because I had installed that program -- and remapped only the bottom 2 quicklaunch keys -- the day I got the machine. It has been running for weeks without a hitch; but for some reason it just now started to screw things up.

It wasn't enough to turn all of the re-mappings off with the program. I had to remove the program it entirely. (I used Revo uninstaller to wipe all traces of it, just in case; then cleaned the registry)

 

Seems lots of folks on here are having troubles reaching decent speeds with normal USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports. Here's a new report from TechCrunch (CrunchGear) stating eSATA is faster than USB 3.0.

http://www.crunchgear.com/2010/02/05/esata-is-faster-than-usb-3-0-at-least-right-now/

My Envy i5 has terribly slow speeds over USB 2.0 (problem both before and after fresh Win 7 re-install with proper drivers). My eSATA was broken and am waiting on my 3rd replacement .

Anyone consistently getting USB 3.0 speeds on their i7's that trump eSATA or is it another marketing spec from HP that doesnt seem to pan out ?

 

I am having the same high pitched noise issue and I'm on the phone with HP right now. Did you get the SSD upgrade for free from HP as compensation for your waiting?

or did you just return for a refund and pay for the ssd upgrade?

Rob

 

I don't have any USB 3.0 devices to try out, but I have always noticed that USB 2.0 on most computers never even reached maximum possible. Someone may have different results, or know of something to increase speeds, but I think all of the hype on USB's "theoretical" speed is just that...hype.