*HP Envy 15 Owners Lounge! PART 2*

I applied the changes they mention in the guide.

I put the ide channel controller mode they mention, primary master = the virtual drive, secondary master = the cd drive.

If you did get to the installer and then its not rebooting thats where the fun begins, you have to find the right driver combo and keep reinstalling till it works.

 

What a pain to install and have it properly running. Maybe we need to open another thread for that

 

I know... sorry to hijack this thread. Thought he would have it up and running by now

 

I second another thread. Can you let me know if you start one because Im interested as well.

 

great idea that way we can share configurations.

 

Still laughing at Mac Book Pro Refresh....

 

why? They look nice, but the prices are really high.

 

Because our machines are still better.

 

I will let you guys open a thread, I don't have the time or the patience to manage a thread. But yes opening another thread for the subject is a great idea. This way we stay on topic here.

 

Has anyone here try connecting their envy via hdmi to an lcd hd tv? If so, do you see letterboxes either vertically, horizontally or both. From what i understand the display on the envy is a 16:9 ratio, wouldn't it fit perfectly on a hd tv perfectly. My connection via hdmi to my tv seems to show letter boxes. Anyone experiencing the same thing?

 

I have set mine up to my tv and it looks awesome. Maybe you need to have 1.3b hdmi cable?

 

Deleted.....

 

Yup, i used to have a black border around the desktop when connected to my TV, which is also 16:9.
If you have letterboxes vertically and horizontally, essentially a border, around your screen then the problem is simple to resolve

Connect your computer to your tv.
Right click on the desktop and open the catalyst control centre.
in the top left hand corner of the window, there is a drop down box. Click on desktops and displays.
Your tv should be showing underneath "detect displays"
click on the small black arrow in your tv's icon and choose configure.
you should be on the scaling tab, but if not then go to it.
Adjusting the slider should allow you to remove the letterboxes.

 

I was very disappointed. Even the Gen1 Envy still has MBP refresh beat. The gfx chip in the MBP is pathetic. They could have at least put in a GTS 260M and one with 1GB of memory. With no upgraded display its still pathetic to pay all that for a mediocre machine. The HP G62t has better specs at a price of less than $1k.

 

They do offer a new higher res display option of 1680 x 1050.

 

I've heard suggestions that computers are no longer a huge part of Apple's overall game plan; that they're focusing on their real money: phones and gadgets.

 

wow the hackintosh thread didn't even make it 24hrs

Does Apple advertise here?

 

Not allowed to talk about any unauthorized tweaks / mods that may not be legal. IIRC Apple does not authorize the use of OSX on other platforms...

This is part of Notbook reviews website.

 

You've heard wrong. Computers are their most profitable product line. And all the Apple "phones and gadgets" need a computer to function.

Oh, and have you been to an Apple Store recently? Why is 80+% of the floor space dedicated to compertuers?

 

Excepting battery life, Envy destroys the new MacBook. Refresh was less than satisfactory. I wonder if a new Envy refresh will add switchable graphics. That would be heaven on Earth.

 

The i5 models do have switchable graphics.

 

Which i5 models are you talking about?? Have they leaked details on the next envy refresh??

 

Pretty sure the dankone is referring to the current Envys. I'd like to know where he got that information from....

 

Is the anti-glare screen much worse than the UltraBright in terms of brightness/contrast etc.?

 

IMO yes. ~220 nits and ~500:1 for glossy vs. ~165 nits and ~380:1 for the anti glare as measured with Spyder3 calibration system (going by memory on the numbers but they are close). I've had both types side by side and returned the anti glare. Some seem to love it though....

 

That's what his post sounded like to me also. But since he has an envy and it is impossible for it to have switchable graphics it makes no sense. There is no way for the PM55 chipset to support switchable graphics. So I was thinking he may have heard somthing about the upcoming 14" and 17" models...

 

Hey guys when I was on the phone with hp today because they cancelled my envy order do to delayed shipment on the i5 430, which by the way got them to do a rebuild with 450 off plus a 75 dollar discount and 10 percent off that, also they through in a 520m, for 975. But the lady was saying that if I wanted to hold off there should be new envy models coming by summer. This got me thinkin what could they change, they already have core i7 and i5, also a decent gpu, and screen, so could they change besides size. This was a resolutions supervisor. Made me wonder if I should hold of but, man they gave a great deal so I am gonin try it out at least. My msi gx640 comes in thursaday so I can play with that at least till then to see what I like better.

 

I need community's help.....as i'm having buyer's remorse

I got i7 (wish had i540 for battery purposes) thinking that i can assign each cores to vms and live happily ever after. But after googling, people say that assigning cores makes the performance worse so let the OS manage the resources.

Now, I'm like well that was waste of money and going forward waste of battery life (haven't gotten slice yet).

So how much 4 vs 2 cores help where your daily tasks are run 2-3 vms (SQL, VS2010) and browsing on the side. Or i540 is more than capable of doing that as well.

thanks,
Happy Sad Owner

p.s. It shouldn't be this hard but I'm all confused

 

Did she make a general statement about Envy refresh or specifically mentioned a refresh for Envy 15? As there have been rumors that Envy 14/17 will be introduced in near future.

hmmm......

 

Envy 14/17 are beyond rumors I think, since they have been listed in official HP docs like software packs. Still of course possible that HP might decide not to roll them out.

 

Hi,

I'd like to read up on these talks of multiple cpus manual assignment being worse for running VMs. Are you using VMWare?

I'm using virtualBox from Sun and I have to say this machine is pretty impressive at it. I had 2 ubuntus, 1 xp and 1 snowleo (all vboxes running on this ENVY) all talking to each others on a private lan and we fired up a game of civ just for kicks... all the machines (except the snowleo, cause i didnt have civ for mac) ran it supperbly. All I need now is a little more RAM to be able to assign each of the vboxes a little more and I'll be a happy camper.

Btw used to be a vmware user but since virtualBox showed up, I'm a convert... it truly is night and day. They did a hell of a good job at Sun.

 

New BIOS F .24 A just posted on the drivers thread HERE

I don't see it posted on the HP site yet but the notes say it surpercedes the F 1B A (sp48005). If you try it please post any issues

 

I am not disagreeing here but I just wanted to add that the matte screen is not bad. The glossy is probably better (I haven't seen it), but the matte isn't bad. I guess I am one of those who love it.

One more thing. I use my matte screen at 80% brightness or so. Does that mean that it being 165 (lesser than glossy) isn't an issue as even 165 is more than enough for me? or am I understanding nits wrong?

 

You are correct, nits is just a measurement of luminosity (brightness) and the higher the brighter, so yes if 80% works for most of your needs then you have some overhead for when you need extra brightness.

I just noticed an interesting thing on the HP parts list for the Envy 15 1100 CTO, there appears to be 8 different display P/N's available no details on the differences (other than res. and finish), this means they have been changing displays without changing details on the specs at HP.com.

Also you can now order an i7 620M for like $800, and they show 2 i3 CPU otpions (from parts store not options on new orders).... May be possible info on future options.....

 

All I know is it's pretty satisfying to open the task manager while rendering a video and see all 8 threads cranking away at ~80% capacity.

 

If you do a ton of encoding, then sure, the quad cores are being used and they're worth the cost if you need them.

For software development with SQL and VS2010...an i5 would've been fine. I assume that's SQL Management Studio and not the server itself, though even if you're running a test server on the ENVY, it's doubtful that you'd need a quad, and even so, memory is going to be more important for that anyway.

 

Updated BIOS to F24, nothing noticeable yet.

 

Good thing no bricking of the notebook as reported for the previous BIOS update. I just flashed mine a couple of days ago with my fingers crossed. I may flash with this one after several days.

 

In msconfig>Startup I have an item called "RAID Event Monitor" by intel. Is it safe to disable this considering I have a single HDD?

 

I have seen atleast 3 cases of bricking during BIOS flashing but I have successfully flashed from F.04 to F.17 > F.18 > F.19 > F1.BA > F24

 

oops wrong thread.

 

Duplicate Post

 

Where can you choose the i7 620M? and the i3 CPUs?
Can you give a url please, I'm interested in the i7 620M (but not with a $800 pricetag)

 

They just appeared on the HP envy replacement parts list. The URL won't let you go directly to the page, in the following link type in 'Envy 15' in the 'product number or name' box and then scroll down to the Envy 15T 1100 CTO, then select the NX369AV link and click the 'show all parts' button and scroll to CPU's. You cannot currently order those CPU's installed on the Envy, the fact they just showed up on the parts page is curious, maybe a hint at future options.

http://h20141.www2.hp.com/hpparts/Default.aspx?mscssid=661A0987200A436AB4D709693B422161

 

Thanks, I know that HP offered the i7 620M for a very short time. But after a week it was gone. I hope they get back soon!

Why are there 2 i7 620M options with a different price?

 

^ This.

I have no regrets getting the matte screen. In fact when I go back to my Dell XPS m1530 I'm constantly irritated at the light-reflections that I've gotten used to not seeing on my Envy 15 non-glossy.

"Better" is all just personal preference. For me: No reflections > greater brightness & contrast ratio.

But that's me.

 

Hello Guys:

This is kind of Dumb but here it goes. Im a brand new Envy 15 owner and I just reformated the entire PC and did a new installation from scratch with Win 7 Ultimate.

So far I was able to re install everything with the exception of QuickWeb which I cant find anywhere. I was able to find on google a few versions of it but after installation it seems that there is a specific version for the Envy model since the two versions i downloaded didnt work at all.

I need your help guys. By the way I thank you very much for the huge amount of support information available in this forum.

HP Customer Service SUCKS. I tried talking to them and they told me that there is no download available from the website, and only available through the dvd reinstallation software which will set the computer back to factory settings. Help

Ps: How do you find at what speed your memory (RAM) is running.

 

The quick web should be in the SWsetup folder along with most drivers you may want to reinstall. You should have made a set of recovery discs before you reformatted your drive.

 

Does anyone here use an aftermarket power adapter for an i7 Envy?

 

@JJB (and others)

Was a bit quiet at the office this morning...

unzip it in the skins folder of your 3RVX install

mine is at C:\Program Files (x86)\3RVX\Skins\

Enjoy! View attachment Envy.zip