*HP Envy 15 Owners Lounge! PART 2*

@serg

Just to clarify, mine (1100 CTO) does not have that 'extra' vent on the bottom.

When I saw that image in the new (1200) manual I thought that extra vent looked familiar, now that you posted that image I realized that they just used the same image in the new 1200 CTO service manual. I believe that is probably an oversight and there will be no extra vent on the new model either. AFAIK they have never shipped any envy's with that vent and I can't imagine them retooling the case for the 1200 CTO which will be using (according to the manual) the new smaller die size (lower current) 740QM and 840QM CPU's when released.

 

new vent would be smart even with the newer cpus. thought about dismantling my notebook and taking the base to my uncle's factory to have an extra vent precision cut.

 

The 740 and 840 are based on 32nm?? interesting...now that is something that catches my eye...but yeah that extra vent would be nice, albeit, makes me think, perhaps they removed that vent for extra case integrity? Or somehow thought it was useless or who knows...

 

I am trying to upgrade RAM in an Envy 15.
I took off the little plastic piece on the back and have access to the 2 ram slots. Except only one of the ram slots has those two tabs that you pull to the sides and the ram pops out. The slot beneath that doesnt have those tabs. Do I just slide in the ram into the bottom one? I tried that and it didnt work. help

edit: nevermind. i just wasnt pushing hard enough. there are little black clips that i didnt see the lock into place once you push the ram in.

 

Anyone noticing hangups/locks/freezes? I used to only notice intermittent 2-3 second freezes while using a web browser, but I'm noticing the same intermittent freezes while watching Blu-Ray content on my TV via HDMI, which is rather unacceptable.

Experiences, recommendations?

 

For BluRay I'd recommend you to use ArcSoft Total Media Theatre; it uses GPU to play videos and never ever lags even on powersaving mode.

 

Eh, you forgot to mention it's $90 for the platinum edition which supports Blu-Ray. That's rather steep when I've already got Cyberlink powerdvd 9. I'll give the trial a try, but that doesn't solve the intermittent hanging issue. From what I've been reading (google), it seems like plenty of other people are reporting the same issue, most prominently noticed while using their web browsers

 

I've never noticed such thing; you might try ThrottleStop as well which powers up CPU to maximum but that will increase the temps.

 

hopefully this will help someone on these internets.
i ordered part # 576827-001 from the HP parts store and this is what I got. it is the 2.5" hard drive caddy. it did not come with any screws or anything except what is pictured.

 

Increasing temps of the original Envy 15 can only lead to more problems

The 1-2 people I've found who spoke to HP about this were told to reload the OS off the recovery partition. I guess I'll just live with it...

 

I live in a country where normal temperatures reach 30-35C so my Envy is idling at 57C now a days and easily get to 80-89 depending upon tasks I am doing. Increased temp do not necessarily create problem (other than palm rest. lol) and btw Envy shuts down when temps touch 95C on atleast 2 cores but good news is it goes to Hibernate the system and not power off.

 

Has any of you here try to activate your clean install of windows 7 using the automated phone system? If so, is it successful? If it is, can you tell me how to activate it that way. I did all the steps required as mentioned in the clean install guide except that i just cannot activate it through the phone system. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

after finding my key using the program posted somewhere, i couldn't activate automatically but was able to activate it over the phone with no problems. don't plan on having to activate again since I've got an acronis backup made.

 

How did you do it? Can you help me, explain step by step to me.

 

easier way, use ABRBeta, to backup your activation key and then do a fresh install and run ABR and restore your activation key, it will automactically activate it. Didn't even have to call Microsoft to activate over the phone. tested it, works great with windows 7 when I had my Envy 17 for 2 whole days. Use ABRBeta and just copy your backup to your SD card or something. Also, backup your SWSetup folder, has all your drivers and software goodies.

just remember your Key is not the key printed on the sticker under your battery.

 

I too got my key from that one program, automatic activation could not activate it. I'd tried phone activation but somehow it's hard to activate, if you could, can you guide me on how to do it through the phone activation method.

 

not much to it. The computer voice had me read off my product key, then gave me a manual key to type in to activate it. not sure why you are having trouble. If the automated voice says your key is invalid it gives you the opportunity to talk to a live windows rep. then they may (or not) help you. Sure fire way to solve your problem: call Hp and order OS install discs, should cost under $20.

 

Quick question everyone:

My HP Envy 15 (first generation) won't charge anymore when it's plugged in. I'm trying to determine whether my power brick/adaptor is broken, or whether it's a problem inside my laptop.

If I plug a Dell charger (rated 19.5V/3.34A and has the same connector tip) into my Envy 15 (the original Envy power brick is rated at 18.5V/6.5A), should that work/charge the battery?

This will help me decide whether I just need to replace the power brick *or* whether I need to send the laptop in for servicing.

Thanks for your prompt reply,
N123

 

I received my HP envy 15 today and I have to say that I am disappointed. I was really expecting something comparable to the Macbook pro and the HP envy 15 is more like my old DV6 laptop. I guess I got what I paid for.

 

@JeanLucX

The MBP has a better overall build quality but other than that your envy 15 can literally run circles around any MBP made (includung the new ones with same CPU's). It has better CPU performance with lower heat, better higher resolution display and the GPU blows away anything apple offers. The similarity to the DV6 is probably due to the HP crapware that looks the same, I strongly reccomend a clean install of win 7 which will improve performance and reduce heat, everything will respond faster....

 

I have to say that besides my disappointment about the build quality. It is a great laptop. I am gonna reinstall my windows 7 now but I can't find the key. anyone know where the windows7 key is?

 

sorry you don't think your envy looks as nice as an MBP. I truly think the limited edition version does look nicer. The only thing is I'd love the B logo to be glowing red.

 

So I just noticed something on my envy while cleaning the screen, is the screen not supposed to be connected to the bottom bezel?

Every time I put a bit of pressure on the screen it would give and move backwards and I'm able to see a gap in between the screen and the plastic, is this normal?

 

Under the battery.

 

Hi,

I'm considering the Envy 15 or possibly 14 and have a comment about the tilt angle of the screen.
I'm pretty tall and usually have to sit the screen back pretty far so nothing washes out. How far back does the envy15 screen tilt? If someone could provide a picture as well that would be great.

Thanks!
--mark

 

about 95~100 degrees

 

It also runs pretty hot. It actually runs hotter than my old Asus N61JQ with i7. Any chance I got a lemon again?

 

@jtvgeo

Why would you guess on something that may decide if someone buys this computer or not You are way off, the screen tilts back 120.2 degrees.

@Horsefeathers

As you read above that is an actual measerment of screen angle. The verticle viewing angle from above is pretty good, screen colors begin to wash out at about at about 10 degrees above direct viewing angle and text is still very readable at 20 degrees above direct viewing angle. I have no idea what the 14 will do.... Hope that helps.

There are side view pics on the HP.com envy 15 sales pages.

 

Got a third party adapter and I am testing it ATM...a FREEWAVE 120W up to 8A 50/60Hz and 110-220VDC. It is quite big, as big as my Envy's TBH, but it seems to do the work just fine. I tested the CPU and it does hold against my CPU at 100% load under wPrime.

Here is the test I ran, and I am downloading PCMark Vantage to fully test if this can handle both my CPU and GPU and charge the battery at the same time. Will report back and let you know how it went.

 

Testing complete. This adapter does work with the Envy.

Just Ran PCMark Vantage (and got a terrible result of 4945 3DMarks) but it does seem to charge. I will continue to test this adapter.

 

Is it any lighter than the original Envy adapter?

 

@Kabobi

no, it is not, and I have noticed my laptop is running warmer with this charger... I might need to find another one...

I am idling at high 50s.

 

Hi guys,

I posted a new thread regarding BIOS update problems with Envy 15's - would appreciate any of your comments / experiences.

 

if the beats edition exterior frame is metal like the original envy 15?? looks plastic-like in pictures and video's, does it still feel metallic like the original envy 15?

 

It has the same metal composition as the Envy 15, but is also painted black with a clearcoat finish, like automotive paint. really nice.

 

Hi,

Anyone here tried Adobe Premiere CS5 with 1st Gen Envy15, or any Envy? It seems that mine struggles in Premiere with simple footage playback (Nikon D90/D5000). Even in the source monitor the playback is choppy. I have a dual boot W7 on that machine, one with CS3 that I use on a regular basis with no such issues, and a test, clean install of W7 and CS5 where the problems occur.

I tried various driver versions including the most recent ones from the driver thread in these forums, and the performance is surprisingly bad. I tried CS5 on my HP EliteBook 6930p with ATI HD 3450 chip, and that little laptop is killing Envy's performance in Premiere CS5 hands down.

There is a similar performance concern in After Effects.

Can someone offer any thoughts on that? I know NVidia is a preferred chip for CS5 but I have a hunch Envy should be a bit more feisty with all it's power under the hood.

Thanks.

 

@iammrbatman

If I had to take a wild guess it would be that Adobe CS5 has some issues with certain hardware or drivers. That is why I never upgrade my Adobe suites until they have been released for at least 6 months, too many past problems with new versions from Adobe that have cost my company money and time.

That being said, I do know that CS4 has issues with recognizing and enabling things like OpenGL features on the 5830 GPU unless the drivers are digitally signed full WHQL versions. Make sure none of the GPU performance features are greyed out in the 'preferences > performance' options in CS5

 

Thanks JJB,

Basically, that's what I've been thinking and I suspect Envy's hardware is not 100% in line with CS5 yet. Just wanted to see if someone here tried it as well and can confirm/deny this.

WHQL, I have missed that aspect on my troubleshooting path. Will try to play with that, to see if anything changes. Great point.

Thanks again.

 

Hey, I'm looking at this laptop because I like the much stronger build quality, and I can afford it right now, provided it will last me for a while. My only qualms are about gaming performance, what can this thing do? Does anybody have benchmarks? I couldn't find any in the original post.

 

@headinmysights

Here is a link to the envy 15 benchmarks thread:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-compaq-voodoo-pc/453084-envy-15-2nd-gen-benchmarks.html

 

@JJB

Thanks; I was glad to see that it said that temperature wasn't a problem anymore.

 

I have tried cs5, it seemed to work fine.

 

Hiya Guys,

I have been a long time reader, firs ttime poster..

Was wondering if anyone could help me out.

I have the 1st Gen Envy and I could not Overclock the 4830 at all. I don't mean that it is crashing or anything, For example, I used ATI Tray Tools and whenever I apply the new clock settings, it would just jump back to the default..

I am using the latest 8.712 official drivers. Could anyone please help!

 

You want the AMD GPU Clock TOOL.
seer

 

Thanks Seeratlas,

But I have tried that as well, and I got the "SetClock Failed, please check device configuration"

 

ATI Tray tools is for desktop GPU's only, I am surprised you even got it loaded. You may need to uninstall it in order for the AMD clock tool to work. Only one version of the tool works for the 4830, I believe it is this one (v 9.8) HERE If not someone here with a 4830 should be able to provide a link.

 

Thanks JJB for you reply also, I have read many of your posts on these boards before

I actually tried that version before, and gave it another go just then, it's still giving me the setclock failed error.

Would it have anything to do with the drivers I am using? it's the latest 712 offical ones from hp over at the drivers thread

 

Heya All!

I have finally solved my problems!
Thanks to friendly posters of this board!

I successfully used AMD Clock tool 9.26!!

Thank you all!

 

Grats I'd be interested in hearing what clocks you get stable. Seems to be substantial variation amongst the individual Gen 1 machines.

seer

 

hey guys i just checked my lappy temp using HWmonitor......the idle temperature s for the cpu are between 55-60 and when after playing Dirt2 for 30 min they get too 65-70...................the gpu is idle at 52-54 and max at 71.......are the temp good or should i be worrying.....??? i have intel i7 720QM and 4 gigs of ram and 5830