*HP Envy 15 Owners Lounge! PART 2*

You don't want to defrag them. But you sure as heck better be able to format them. That's how you create filesystems, and if you don't have a filesystem, you don't have a computer*

When you install Windows, just tell it to install using the whole drive or whatever. It should repartition and format as necessary.

SSD's aren't magic. Treat them pretty much like a platter drive except for the whole defragging thing.

* - yes, there are some systems that don't have the concept of a filesystem or necessarily even files, but that's not important now

 

What pita said is partially correct.

You cannot do a FULL format, like in good ole win 2000 or xp, with SSD's as it writes to every cell - very bad.

A quick format is fine, which is the only format you can do in Win7.

 

Thanks Pita and Sleey0,

Re: the RAID driver, Don't have USB flash here right now. will it work if needed from USB HDD or a CD?

That Win cert would be great if you want to PM me

 

For the guys that cracked theirs open.. did you happen to write down the information on the GPU memory chips so we know if they are DDR or GDDR?

Thank you,
John

 

Yes, you can put the driver on cd if needed. I'd see if win7 loads it during pre-install environment anyway

pm sent....

 

JJB did and I checked- they are GDDR3.

 

Thanks, going to see if win7 recognizes it the raid.....

 

I think only floppy disk need full format, because there's no sector on a blank floopy. HD's sector is hard.

 

Any battery life numbers for the i5 envy with the slice attached?

 

well i thought someone said 2.5-3 hours for the 6 cell... so i'd think with both batteries... 6-7 hours wouldn't be shocking...

 

How many cells are in the slice? And I guess I could extrapolate based on the 6-cell values, but for some reason I want concrete data for batt life with the slice.

 

9 cell slice......

 

Got it, thanks .....Is SLIC 2.1 in the Bios ? And I assume I should wait and do the steps on that machine when pormpted.

What about the partitions? Showing G: 199MB 'system' D: 'recovery primary' 14.9GB and E: 'HP_TOOLS' 101MB

I don't really need any of those do I? I can always do a recovery from disc if I need to send back to HP.

Will win7 make it's own recovery partition if I delete the others?

 

Yep, SLIC 2.1 already. just follow the directions to install the HP cert and oem key

Since your partitions and drive is showing, then you don't need any drivers.

I deleted all partitions. I don't need hp's crap...

No, Win 7 doesn't automatically create a recovery partition.

 

Hmm so around 6.25 hours with the extra slice, not bad. I'm reconsidering but think if they put integrated graphics. This thing could be pushed to 7-9 hours. That would be so beast.

 

I did a clean install yesterday night - installed everything from the drivers folder except IMSM. Not sure if I need it - but so far so good. I installed from these folders as well -

WLASST (had to install after I couldn't turn on wirelesss after I pressed the hotkey)
Webcam
QLB
MSMenu
WLIVE (Windows Live)

Hope this helps

 

Ahhh, good call. Missed that. I just never do full formats, so I never really think about it as an option. SSD's are just sensitive to multiple writes where normal drives aren't so much.

 

After your clean installation, do you get an on-screen display when you change the volume or brightness using the FN keys? After my clean install that's the only thing I haven't been able to get working. The FN keys work and I can change brightness and volume, just don't see a status bar on-screen.

It was there with the original/default Win 7 install. Just not sure which component(s) need to be installed or tweaked in order to get them to show up.

 

I believe someone said that installing MSMenu restores this.

 

Yeah, install the microsoft silverlight - it's in one of the MS (mediasmart) folders, and MSmenu.

Make sure you also install QLB for the quick launch buttons.

 

I got just under 4 hours with the slice attached. Midly dissapointed- expected that with the 6 cell alone. I played TF2 for about 45 min @1920x1080, browsed the web extensively, wifi/bluetooth on (nothing connected via bluetooth however).

 

Gaming is very power intensive...

My MBP only lasted 2 hours while gaming. =X

 

Hi everybody!
I´m gonna buy the envy 15, in my opinion a very good value laptop.

But I am not sure about the configuration, I think this is a good one:

i7-720QM
8GB DDR3
SSD 160GB + 250GB 5400RPM
Mobility Radeon(TM) HD 5830 Graphics
Full High Definition LED HP Ultra Brightview Widescreen Display
6 Cell Battery + One 9 Cell HP Envy Slim Fit

- What do u think, is the ssd worth it?
- HP will send it not before the 20th of February, r there a way to get the laptop faster?

Thankyou so much !!!

 

you can buy from best buy if you want it faster, but I think they will send you the old model.

Those specs look good. No real wastes of money there, except for the slice battery. Do you really need it? Some say you will be better off with an extra 6 cell. Only thing you might want to consider is waiting for a coupon. You will be paying several hundred dollars more than most other eople here.

 

Woah, I'm pretty disappointed too. Not even 4 hours with the slice. I think the gaming must have drained that thing like a Hummer drains gas considering johnobots got about 2.75 hours out of the 6 cell alone. That 5830 really takes up the power.

Ugh, to buy or not to buy. Is anyone using this laptop in a college environment? Is the battery life adequate for you?

 

I took it to school today. Basically, you just have to plug in. You can use it for a stetch at a time on battery, but if you have 3+ hour days, you need to plug in to juice up at some point. I think it will be adequate, if not as convenient as a macbook pro.

Apple store is down BTW. New macbooks probably going to be here 10am tomorrow. Now we'll see what Apple has to offer.

 

I haven't done a complete drain test on my i5-520 yet, but gaming for about 1.5 hours (Mass Effect 1, yeah, yeah, I'm trying to finish it to import the save into ME2) with the slice drained the slice from 100% to 35%. The internal battery was still at 100%. The fan was on constantly and a lot of hot air was blowing out the right side.

Definitely, gaming at 1080p will stress drain the battery like driving on the track sucks gas out of a car.

The cool thing was that according to FRAPS, gaming at 1080p with everything turned up high, except AA (at 2x) in Mass Effect, the Envy 15 was no slower on battery than on AC. I guess Mass Effect 1 is still graphics limited at 1080p on the mobility 5830.

 

What is the recommendation for a power plan?

I can get mine 1st gen to run about 1.5hrs before I need to plug in the AC.

 

Guys I really need some advice.

I've got two 2nd Gen systems (i5 & i7) and both have terrible USB 2 speeds. Every USB HDD, Flash etc. I plug into USB (tried every port) is soooooo slow. My devices work fine on other computers. What is wrong with these Envy's that makes my USB devices slow to a crawl? My 5 yr old Gateway is WAY faster at USB transfers than both of these Envy's.

If you have a Envy 2nd Gen please test your USB speeds with external drives. Also, I'm getting constant black screens and freezing. I think the drivers are screwed big time.

 

I've tried for a couple hours to get the damn OSD to work and still nothing. Installed all of that several times.

Never had a system suck this bad at clean reinstall.

 

, I'm glad to help

 

I did a battery test with my Gen1 - slice, powersaver, idle, wifi, BT, display dimmed to darkest.

Got 6 hrs 10 min.

 

someone posted that they were able to get 3 hours 10min on the sec gen i7-720 watching a blu-ray on loop. I donot remembr the brightness level.

@JJB
you have probably already done it but either delete raid disk or reset raid disk will work. they both do the same thing.

After going back and forth from my first gen glossy to my sec gen matte I can say that the glossy is by far a better screen in general, however it is not any better than my MBP (matte) nor is it really bad.

@QuadAllegory, I also have two units but don't seem to have the same problems as you. I am not saying that your problems are not real just reporting that I do not have those problems on mine.

 

Sorry if this has already been asked but once you guys get the win7 fresh install going how long does it take to get to the desktop?

 

I'm thinking of buying this laptop although I can't seem to figure this one out.

Is there an option to configure it with i7-620m proccie? As the website says there is '1GB ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) HD 5830 Graphics - For i5 and i7-620M Processors ' but there are no choice to configure for that proc.

Oh yeah without the slice how long does the laptop last on light usage (browsing, music, word)? Either in i7-620m or i5 proc, not the quad core one.

oh yeah whats with the beats edition. what's the difference, other than the color and overall design?

Thanks.

 

I was interested in the Amazon cable because I typically keep extra cables around in various places (shop, notebook bag, office, car, etc.), since I use these cases all the time for various things.

I looked at the Amazon cable that was linked to, and personally, I cannot tell that cable is a power over eSATA cable? How can you tell by the picture?

Also, none of the reviewers mentioned it had that capability, and the same cable on newegg, none of the reviews (by professed tech gods) mentioned it.

Would your average "joe" notice the cable was different, or does it look pretty much like a standard eSATA cable?

Sorry for all the seemingly inane questions about a 3 buck cable!

 

You're disappointed? Really? That's freakin' AMAZING. Heck, I have a T61 here with the extended battery and it only gets 2-3 hours when just web surfing. Gaming at high-res on battery for a fair bit of time and then surfing and such you're getting 4 hours? That's awesome.

Really... I have no idea what kind of reality people are living in when they're disappointed they "only" get 2-3 hours of high-end gaming on battery power. Find ANY other laptop that'll do that. Go ahead... I'll wait.

Yes, the 5830 takes up power. It's amazing that it takes so little power when it's not gaming. I'm actually feeling a lot better with the not having switchable graphics now, if that's the kind of power savings you'll see between gaming power and off.

Most people don't even know there's a powered eSATA option. It hasn't been very well advertised. Either way, if you compare the ends of say, this cable to the one on Amazon, you can see the difference in the shielding. I believe that's all that you can do to tell the difference. I'm not 100% sure, more like 95% sure.

 

Go ahead and call HP, they've been pretty helpful at attempting to get a fix at mine.

 

Ok thanks. You had said you could tell by the picture it was power-over-eSATA, so I thought there was something definitive that I was missing!

So, in closing, you did get this Amazon cable, and you have used it and can definitely confirm it's a power over eSATA cable? I have a jillion eSATA cables, and don't need more, so I want to be sure.

Thanks.

 

I haven't gotten it yet. I'm out of town for the week, and it's due to arrive sometime this week. I'll know Friday night

 

My guess they are different.

 

Ugh...HP didn't even call in to get my package redirected. I suggest the customer service line be called customer vent line considering they're not much good and following through with anything...I'm incredibly disappointed with everything they've "offered" as it's all be empty promises time and time again.

 

If you have the tracking number, AFAIK, you can call FedEx to have them redirect it to a local FedEx-FedexKinkos location.

Also, is this for the Envy or for the 8540w?

 

I tried they said HP had to do it. It's not like I wanted to deal with HP's CSRs oh well I'll get over it.

I'm more pissed off with their constant lying not that it didn't redirect.

 

FEDEX was an absolute joke. I called them knowing my laptop was at the destination fedex. i told them to hold it there as no one would be home to sign for it. they refused to do so and said they have to try and deliver it. so now, i won't be able to pick it up until after 6pm at the earliest since it will be stuck on the truck.

 

I almost forgot HP gaffed on the shipping. TIME FOR MORE 50 DOLLAR COUPONS!@

 

That's why I always tell them to leave it at the local facility. If it's a 2day shipping item, you can guarantee that i'll be there by 10am for pickup, sometimes as early as 8am.

Regular ground though, it's like 5pm. :/

 

@ninth it's for the envy

 

Help pls.

Cheers

 

wooohooo! mine is being delivered one day early. It was estimated for tomorrow but its on the truck for delivery right now!