*HP Envy 15 Owners Lounge! PART 2*

Normal dvi to vga won't work either. Because normal dvi has analog signal.

 

520m, 4gb, 500gb HD.

GPU oc'd to 550/1100.

 

Ok, now it makes sense, I was scratching my head as to how you got 9400+ score on 3D06 with 'normal settings' -- I see it was an OC'd score. For reference I get ~8050 average 3D06 with all settings at default, that's with the 10.3 drivers and clean install.

 

Half way through March.. Any word on the official 10.3 drivers release?

 

Nope, still running the 'preview' version with no problems.

Well 1 problem with photoshop CS4, it cannot recognize that openGL is supported by the 5830, it greys out all options and says I need to update the video card, lol. I'm hoping this is just because the preview version is 'not digitally signed', although I never got a warning about that when I installed it??

 

I'm not sure if I'm getting a similar issue in Lightroom....all images are turning out grey.

 

Don't think so. I'm talking about the photoshop 'hand rotate feature', the icon above the 'clear' button (hand with arrow above it), see if it activates and works to free rotate an image for you.

Could you please check the following in photoshop: Go to -- Edit > Preferences > Performance; and see what it says under 'GPU settings', can you check the 'Enable OpenGL Drawing' box and select the 'Advanced stettings' ??

Are you running the 10.3 drivers?

 

warp_kez,

Is this change going to be standard across the board for new Envy 15 orders?

If possible, could you get some more info so that i can verify it w/ HP peps in USA.

thanks.

 

The bottom line here is that the i7 is a 45 Watt processor. As ap oint of reference, try putting your hand on a 45W lightbulb after it has been on for a while. it will get hot, no matter what.

If you want a cool and quiet computer, get the dual core version.

 

I find that it really only gets warm when the battery is charging. It has never been to warm to use. From reviews I had read on Engadget I thought it would be an issue, which it is not.

 

Quite frankly, I didn't even know if there was a free hand rotate image function. I've always been entering in values back and forth, as it was the only option I've seen.

I'm running CS2, so that menu option isn't there.

10.2.

Looks like my issue is entirely different indeed. schmooo.

 

I had audio issues (choppy audio) via HDMI out with the 10.3 preview when playing games on a TV screen. Rolled back and everything was back to normal.

 

That's pretty high for factory setting? You oc the gpu?

mine is 7800ish out of the box with all the bloatware.;

 

I doubt it. I would believe that this would be a case-by-case decision.

 

Isn't that an Adobe Photoshop bug? It existed since CS2-CS4 and still there with the latest batch. Some odd reason the hand tool takes over and you can't do anything else.

 

No bug that I know of. It's worked fine for me with 3 computers and the Envy until I installed the 10.3 drivers. My best guess is that Photoshop does not recognize the GPU properly because the 'preview' drivers are not signed. Any other ideas?

 

Just ran 3dmark06, got a score of 8107. Factory unmodified Envy 15 1104 with i7-820, 8 gig RAM and ATI 5830. Is this in the ball park?

Now I need to find a guide to getting rid of all this crap and installing 10.3.

 

@jjd I had some issues with Media Center that I couldn't fix. This forced me to do a fresh install, again, now I am using the factory gpu driver. The problem with Photoshops opengl support went away.

 

Open GL support didn't come till CS4

 

thanks. i was thinking of buying it though. although i'm skeptical about how it works. last question sir, when using dual monitor on my envy. can i use the other monitor separately or just that the other monitor will display what i had displayed in my lappy?

thanks heaps.

 

Hit your F4 key and you get a pop up of the standard options. Have not really played with dual monitors other than tested HDMI to my TV. It appears like you have a lot more options in the catalyst control center for multiple displays...

 

thank you JJB..

 

@digitalsuperman

I use my envy with a hp lp2475w hooked up with the hdmi connection. You can extend your display, meaning your normal setup on one screen and extra real estate on the other screen with no toolbar. You can set you laptop to not go to sleep when you close the lid, that way when it is hooked up to an external monitor it will just make that the display.

 

If I am not mistaken you can use the external monitor as the only display or as an extended display other than your monitor (as described by dankone above) or both monitors showing the same picture.

 

how many of you have jumped into the Envy 13 thread?

man I want one.

with the exception of the games I play, the Envy 13 would suit me perfectly.

 

its also 400 more.

 

And the Envy 13 does not have the 1600 x 900 Radiance dislplay option any more

It was a beutiful display, blew the envy 15 1080p display away in both gamut and brightness, what are they thinking

 

thank you for your inputs guys..

 

The Envy 13 looks very nice, but quite expensive! Also, I needed something with more grunt. The Envy 15 suits that need very well. ninthparadigm, you thinking of getting one to "supplement" your Envy 15?

 

I love the Envy 15...mobile power house with only minor design flaws. I specked out a 15 Alienware which weighs in around 9 pounds, it still would be more expensive then the Envy with similar specs.

I have to say I don't even know what to do with my desktop(a custom AMD quad core rig). I feel like the Envy 15 w/ the i7 option is really a desktop replacement. I just wish it had edge to edge glass like the envy 13.

 

Now now, no cross breeding allowed

 

Anyone know if the extended warranty will get you an upgraded option? Meaning if they come out with a new model and my envy dies will I get the newer model?

 

Well, I just received my Envy 15 today and my excitement has plummeted in the hours since I received it. Unfortunately the few things I was hesitant about really do stand out to me - primarily how screen barely seems to go past vertical, the slicker-than-I-prefer touchpad, and the keyboard layout (which after a few hours I still find my left pinky on the caps lock key when I first start typing and every time I try to hit ctrl+whatever I end up launching the calculator instead.) Still, each of these are relatively minor issues of which I was already prepared for and willing to deal with for a machine that meets pretty much all my technical & weight needs.

Unfortunately, my Envy has one glaring flaw that caught me completely off-guard, heat. I was definately under the assumption that the Gen2 with an i5-520 would have little problem dealing with heat, but for my machine at least this is not remotely the case. I saw at least couple posts in this thread with cpu cores idling in the upper 20's and under load in the 30's but my results were much higher.

Initial readings after startup and letting idle for 15 minutes to reach a base:

ACPI 40
CPU (0/1) 30/36
GPU 52
HD 37

After installing VS2008 (~5 minutes)

ACPI 61
CPU (0/1) 58/60
GPU 53
HD 45

After watching ~5 minutes of video on Hulu

ACPI 59
CPU (0/1) 53/58
GPU 57
HD 45

After closing the browser and letting the machine idle for 10 minutes

ACPI 51
CPU (0/1) 41/45
GPU 53
HD 44

Basically, any task more demanding then typing into notepad is uncomfortably warm, and installing an application and watching an online video went way past uncomfortable to flat out hot and the exhaust blistering, and I didn't run any app that would put the cpu or gpu under what should even be considered minimal load. Even now, I've had only notepad open as I type this so it's been another 15 minutes or so since I took the last set of readings, and while the numbers have gone down a couple of more points across the board, both the palm rests are still uncomfortably warm and the bottom very hot even though it's sitting on a desk. The past couple of XPS laptops I've had I could thrash all day long with it sitting directly on my lap and not mind, but I ran this machine under minimum load for 10 minutes and I don't want it anywhere near my lap.

I so want to like this machine, but it's just not gonna work out unless I can figure out why my machine is so ridiculously hot.

FYI - The very first thing I did was run a fresh install of Win7, run updates and install all proper drivers.

 

Your number looks normal.
The right palm area is hot with HD, but SSD version is much better. Left palm rest is cooler than XPS 16. Bottom is indeed very hot.

 

@BlueCreek

Those temps seem quite high to me. I have the 540M and even if I disable the fans in the BIOS setup my machine runs cooler than that. Are you sure that the fans on both sides are constantly running ? Also at idle with nothing running check Task Manager and see if your CPU is actually at idle, almost sounds like something is running in the backround.

 

Your room temperature is freezing.

 

Congrats on your new laptop. I highly suggest using the HP-out-of-the-box Guide in the main HP forum. Heat is a problem when the laptop just arrives, the amount of crapware inside is incredible. I deleted the first day over 30 processes that did nothing but make my i7 go slow and hot.

Day one temps, 60-70C, day two after cleaning, low 40s, can drop to 37ish if idling and on a hard surface. Running at 45C normally my i7 when placed on my bed. Can reach 50s if getting load. Max ever is 91C on Core 1 at 100% load, 8 threads at 1.73GHz.

Your temps seem a little high for an i5 though. What is room temp (in Celsius please... )

 

Those are definitely very high.

Keep us up to date...you may want to send it back in and order a new one if it stays like that. Coupon still working last I checked.

 

Room temp in C is 23-24, so pretty average year round in my house and have never had any laptops have heat issues even remotely like this (well, not since a tecra I had over a decade ago.) I knew there were heat issues with the i7 Envy, but I read post after post about how people were please with how cool the Gen2 i5 ones were running and how you didn't need to worry about that anymore, which is why I was so surprised. (Which reminds me, looks like I posted this in the wrong thread on accident, I meant to post it in the Gen2 thread.)

The very first thing I did after I got the machine was format the HD and perform a fresh install of Win7, but I did not go into the Task Manager last night and see what processes were running and if anything was standing out.

I've run it with the fan always on bios setting as both disabled and enabled...didn't really seem to make much of a difference in the heat I felt on the palm rest and the bottom. However fwiw those temps I posted are from after I had disabled the fan from being always on.

If I start the machine from a room temperature state and let it idle, the temps are decent and the palm rest warm (about the same as my last several laptops after moderate use for a while.) However, the instant I do anything that uses even a little bit of power the temps spike very fast and even something as simple as watching a short video clip renders both palm rests unreasonably warm to the touch, more than any machine I've had in a while, and it takes forever for the casing to cool down. I suppose if I left the fan as always on, the cool off after stopping such tasks would be faster, but that's hardly the point, I need to be able work while the CPU is actually running and performing intensive tasks or I'd have bought some cheap laptop with a CULV.

Anyway, when I get home tonight I'll set it to enable the fans again and peak into the task manager and see if anything sticks out as constantly using resources that shouldn't.

I want to keep it, but simply can't if the machine stays this hot to touch. And if I return it, probably will have to go with something else since I'd be wary of a waiting another 2-3 weeks just to get another machine that might have the same issue.

 

@BlueCreek

With the fans enabled (always on) and the same (or higher) core temps my palmrests never even get above luke warm and when a high demand task is completed the cores and machine cool back down within 2-3 minutes max.

You also may see an improvement after a few days as the thermal paste sets up on the heatsink, you may want to run a stablility test to speed this up. A good free (trial version) app is called Everest which has a stability test and a very good graphical temp log that lets you see how fast it heats up and cools down. You can down load it here;

http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/SysInfo/Everest/

PS; Win7 also goes through an initial indexing of the whole HDD which I have heard can use a lot of backround resources until it completes.

 

Make sure you turn off Ambient Occlusion and Dynamic Shadows - I had that problem on my desktop with Borderlands - its a bug unique to ATI cards.

What resolution are you getting 35-40FPS on?

I run it at 1280x720 everything max except AO and Dynamic Shadows and I get the same with 60FPS in smaller areas with my GPU @ 550 core 1150 mem.

 

I forgot to post my solution:

I ended up turning off the Catalyst AI feature in the CCC. Textures came back.

Everything is on, 1080p, except flare and shadows. I probaly average around the 40+ range.

 

Thanks a lot JJB. I'll enable the fans again, install Everest, and see how things are performing over the next few days.

 

Sorry if this has been asked a 100 times already.. how hard is it to insert a SSD-disc yourself in the Envy 15? Is there a guide somewhere?

 

There's a youtube video for it.

 

If the envy 15 had E2E I would have no doubts or anything about going out and getting it right now

btw, does anyone know when the macbook refresh will be?

 

The Envy 15 glossy version looks great as it is. Having E2E would not improve how the screen looks in my opinion.

 

I just moved FROM a edge to edge glass MacBook to the glossy Envy. I actually feel like this LCD is better quality. Least to my eyes.

 

guys, i need a little help understanding my lappy's issue.

this month, i sent my laptop to hp for dead pixels and horizontal lines. and now their sending it back because its "fixed". however when i asked them if they replaced or fixed anything. HP said that they just repaired the motherboard and the thermal paste.

now from what i understand, i don't see any relationship between the LCD and the board let alone the thermal paste.

can you help me guys understand if its any way related? the board and the lcd?

thank you.

 

If the same LCD panel is used for an Edge to Edge glossy vs. a normal glossy, the edge to edge would be slightly worse image quality wise since there will be extra pane of glass bonded to the screen. And the notebook would be slightly heavier due to the weight of the glass.

It's up to you. But it's just window dressing that at best does nothing to improve the quality of the display... it's just about cosmetics... If that's all that's preventing you from purchasing an Envy 15, then IMHO, you're going lose out on a very nice computer just because of a "for looks" only feature that can only reduce the quality/increase the weight of the computer.