Waiting for Envy 17 3D SB thread

If it makes you feel better I ordered on the 27th and it is still In Production I also ordered an 2820qm chip

 

That does help I just want my pc lol it's the nicest one I've ever bought

 

I didnt pay too much attention about the guys name, but I am sure he is a Foreigner.

called around 7:10AM, probably I was the first customer of the day or some,lol.

I pretty much told him that I have a coupon code, and it should be $400 off. and I told him the true that I saw ppl on forum got the $400 off because of the code. the guy laughed and put me on hold. I am sure him and his supervisor knows this code is not it, but they must saw it happen before so they just gave it to me.

I am lucky to get it on my first try. but I think everyone should be able to get the $400 off if you keep trying.

 

I'm so looking forward to the first unboxing...I really hope this laptop lives up to all the expectations....

 

Make Note:

FEDEX sent me a second notice about delivery. Changed my Mon 3/14 delivery to Tues 3/15. I was livid! I paid extra for shipping and FEDEX mucked it up. I called HP and complained. The Customer Service person told me..."No big deal...I understand the excitement and all that....." Told her...nothing to do with excitement, has everything to do with paying for two day shipping and NOT getting it. Documentation says that the machine shipped from ShangHai on 3/10. The 3/14 delivery date should be upheld. She kept telling me that I should be excited about the new machine...trying to change the subject. So I basically told her that if the machine arrives on Tues 3/15 as FEDEX changed it to...that I would most likely return the machine for a refund and eat the shipping. She came back a few minutes later and told me that she cleared it with her supervisor and that I would be refunded the amount I paid for two day shipping.

I am going to say this loudly:

CHECK YOUR DELIVERY DATE! Make sure FEDEX hasn't change yours as well. HP sent info for pickup at 2am and FEDEX didn't pick up until 11PM. 19 hours differential.

 

wow nice work bobmitch. you shouldn't have to pay for somethign you didn't receive!

 

Does it have to be upgraded? I mean, can't the person with the 2820 just use the built in system info from the laptop to simply tell them what is actually in the unit???


KJ

 

haha, its funny that HP claim two day shipping from Shanghai to US. no way fedex can do that. everyone should call in if you have two day shipping then...

 

They have done it. Few years back, I customed a Pavillion for my son. Shipped from China on Monday...had Wed PM.

 

HP got my original legacy Envy to me in two days too. Built on 12/29 and delivered on 12/31. It made for a good New Years eve and day. Too bad the 3D feature didn't work and I had to return it.

 

I ordered 2/27 and estimated date is 3/18 and I just checked a few seconds ago, it's still in production. And I ordered it with i7-2820QM.

 

First of all, there's a new $400 envy 17 coupon out: NB5492

and I thought I'd post an update on my own situation:

I placed an order with $285 off yesterday ($160 EPP + $100 general + $15 rebate on battery) and called back this morning to see about matching the $400 everyone else has been getting. After getting transferred around, and politely pushing on the $300 coupon + $100 rebate that other people have received, they hinted that I could place a new order with $400 off, but I settled for an additional $100 rebate upon shipping for my existing order. Grand total of $385 off -- which is good enough for me

So for those of you having trouble getting the full $400 off while ordering -- try placing an order with whatever you can get (EPP + $100 etc) and then calling back and talking your way into an additional $100 off ( or trying the new $400 coupon). For what it's worth, it wasn't someone in sales that eventually gave me the discount; I'm not sure where I ended up but maybe it was customer service or something. I get the impression they have no way to check what these coupons through deal sites amount to, and it seems like they are more or less taking your word for it -- they'd rather you buy it from them over the phone than through a deal website.

So after two days on the phone with HP, I finally have my $400 off... well, close enough. Thanks for the encouragement and good luck guys.

 

I was actually considering it, but decided to keep it in there mostly because of your comment.

 

Hmmm...I called last night and inquired about the NB5492 coupon. Both sales representatives I spoke with told me that it was only for the regular Envy 17, not the 3D version. I think I'm going to call in the morning, and just be upfront about this forum and tell them that everyone else has been offered $400 off, and if they want to keep me as a customer, I'll just buy it from one of those "Deals" websites.

 

I plan on doing a review of my Envy 17 3D after I play around with it for 2-3 days (it comes on 3/16). I've never done a review on anything before so I'll probably just keep it to a written review with some pictures (I'll try my best to take them with good lighting). Is there anything specific anyone want me to discuss or any specific tests done?

 

hey guys i finally bit the bullet and placed an order. all i got was the student discount and $75 off. i tried using the coupons NB7293 and NB5492 but they said that was only for regular envy 17s. how are you guys getting the coupon to work?

Envy 17 3D
• Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• No Additional Office Software
• 2nd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2820QM (2.3 GHz, 8MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 3.4 GHz
• 1GB Radeon(TM) HD 6850M GDDR5 Graphics [HDMI]
• 8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
• 800GB 7200RPM Dual Hard Drive (SSD 160GB + 640GB 7200RPM)
• 6-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery (standard) - Up to 2.25 hours of battery life +++
• 17.3" diagonal Full HD HP 3D Ultra BrightView Infinity LED Display (1920x1080)
• Blu-ray player & SuperMulti DVD burner
• HP TrueVision HD Webcam
• Intel 802.11a/b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth(R)
• Backlit Keyboard
• Adobe(R) Photoshop(R) Elements 9 & Adobe Premiere(R) Elements 9
• HP 3D Active Shutter Glasses
• HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope

 

I was in a similar position to yours, check my post a page back. Basically, I called back the next day and mentioned replacing my order for the full $400 discount and they eventually added a $100 rebate upon shipping to my current order.

 

..........

 

k i placed the order today. so i'll give them a call tomorrow and see what they say

 

Out of curiousity, are any of you selecting the 2TB hard drive option? Why or why not?

 

dlleno, this is what I meant.... you don't have to go purchase new memory until you do this! >>>>>

>>>> YouTube - Preview Intel Sandy Bridge (Notebook) Core i7-2820QM

This guy shows his i7-2820QM laptop (of course no way as sexy as the Envy) and he gets the System Bus Speed and System Memory Speed by simply going into the Setup Utility at startup! I guess we can all do that once we get our systems and find out right there if we have 1600MHZ.... as you can see in this fine chaps video fast forward to 3:58

KJ

 

OK got a few more confirmations from HP on some of the more techy stuff...

This is coming down from what HP calls Catagory managers... The guys that control the Envy 17 Catagory... so this should be pretty solid info...

Widi Support: Is available on all Envy 17 3D Models even with the 2630 Processor...

Coolsense: It self is only software... however it controls the fans and the heat issues seem to be addressed by fan adjustments... (sorry this one was still a little vague)

Switchable Graphics: IS Confirmed on all Envy 17 3D models. Obviously AMD discrete and Intel UMA... 3D Playback requires you to be in Discrete mode... Discrete graphics supports DX11. Intel UMA graphics is DX10.

Additional Click Pad info... Yes clickpad looks the same... however it is using a 2.0 version of software to run so there have been some improvements...

Last thing... still haven't forgotten... 1600 MHZ ram... still waiting on a str8 answer... will let you know as soon as possible... Or one of you can let me know if you get your PC first

 

One more thing...

When you guys get all these envys shoot me your feedback if you can... I am going to personally forward it on to the category managers... Plus I will be down in there neck of the woods next month so I can push your feedback - Good _ Bad or Indifferent...

 

Way to go, HP Nate!!

 

Okay, I just checked online and I see I just got my Income Tax Refund direct deposited!! (About time, Uncle Sam!!) Okay, I think it's time to order my HP Envy 17 3D!! And from what I remember, the 1-866 numbers you dial to get HP connect you to a service center in Houston, TX. I know because they called me back, and I recognized the area code. Well, it's 6:00 am over there right now, and I doubt they're open. So I'm going to call now, and I'll probably get someone outside the US. I'm going to try the NB5492 or NB7293 coupon. Cross your fingers...

 

ok so i just called customer service. i told them that i was disappointed that many people on the forums were able to use the $400 coupon and i wasn't. the CSR told me that because i was part of HP academy I couldn't combine promotions.... however because they value me as a customer they would give me a credit of $175 when my envy 3d ships. i was like i could live with that. so i took it. total savings roughly $530 (hp academy + credit). thank you guys for all the help.

 

I'm still on the phone now with a [non-American] representative. He told me that the NB5492 coupon was limited to the first 100 orders, and the NB7293 coupon was limited to the first 150 orders...so they are "expired." And either way, he wouldn't be able to combine them with my HP Academy discount, which is $231.50 right now. He just placed me on hold to see if he can offer me anything in addition to my HP Academy discount.

 

i gave him the NB5492 coupon code and he told me that he couldn't combine offers. he put me on hold and told me that he would give me a credit of $175 once the envy 3d ships. guess it just depends who you get. keep trying

 

Okay, I have finally ordered my system!!

HP Envy 17 3D customizable Notebook PC
• Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• No Additional Office Software
• 2nd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2820QM (2.3 GHz, 8MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 3.4 GHz
• 1GB Radeon(TM) HD 6850M GDDR5 Graphics [HDMI]
• 8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
• 2TB 5400RPM Dual Hard Drive (1TB x 2) with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
• One 6-Cell and One 9-Cell Lithium Ion Battery
• 17.3" diagonal Full HD HP 3D Ultra BrightView Infinity LED Display (1920x1080)
• Blu-ray player & SuperMulti DVD burner
• HP TrueVision HD Webcam
• Intel 802.11a/b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth(R)
• Backlit Keyboard
• Adobe(R) Photoshop(R) Elements 9 & Adobe Premiere(R) Elements 9
• HP 3D Active Shutter Glasses
• HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope

The estimated build date: April 1, 2011. (I certainly hope that is not a cruel joke!!) I got the HP Academy Discount of $231.50, and the representative was able to get me another $100 off, so I just took it and ran. "They" always say that all electronic technology is "obselete" within 6-12 months. But with how advanced this system is, I can definitely see it serving my needs for 2-3 years...so I took the offer and ran. $331.50 is not a bad discount.

Side note:
For those who may be interested, I had the sales agent check with several sources: Although the HP Envy 17 3D will support 1600 MHz memory with the i7 2820QM processor, all systems will ship with 1333 MHz memory. If you want to use the faster memory, I'm told I would have to purchase it from a 3rd party and upgrade it myself. So for you computer experts, how much of a performance difference is there between 8GB of 1333 MHz memory and 8GB of 1600 MHz memory? During what computer activities would I notice performance issues? Or would it not even be noticeable with a processor this powerful? Any input is appreciated...thanks.

 

No difference in games and normal usage whatsoever. Maybe 5 more points in 3DMark06

 

Does anyone know if there is a delay due to the 2810QM chip?

 

2820 my bad

 

Congradts! I see you have the same specs of my order, very good!

As to the 1600MHz issue, that is rather dissapointing. Also, I thought I read here a few days ago that there could be a conflict with the 1600 bus with 1333 memory installed? But I could be wrong. Now I am thinking, how much more would it have to cost HP to put in 1600 memory instead of 1333?

KJ

 

The 2820's are now shipping

 

You mean just the chips or the Envy's with the 2820?

 

My Envy order which I placed early on 2/27 has shipped as of 3:24 am eastern this morning.

My build:
HP Envy 17 3D customizable Notebook PC
• Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• No Additional Office Software
• 2nd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2820QM (2.3 GHz, 8MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 3.4 GHz
• 1GB Radeon(TM) HD 6850M GDDR5 Graphics [HDMI]
• 8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
• 640 GB HD
• One 6-Cell and One 9-Cell Lithium Ion Battery
• 17.3" diagonal Full HD HP 3D Ultra BrightView Infinity LED Display (1920x1080)
• Blu-ray player & SuperMulti DVD burner
• HP TrueVision HD Webcam
• Intel 802.11a/b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth(R)
• Backlit Keyboard
• Adobe(R) Photoshop(R) Elements 9 & Adobe Premiere(R) Elements 9
• HP 3D Active Shutter Glasses
• HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope

 

Considering you can buy 8GB of ram off Newegg for $99 and HP charges you $60 more for 2GB of extra ram, I don't see why they aren't including 1600 memory in the 2820 CPU config. The memory component costs alone in bulk has to be less than the $40 difference. If HP was looking for a cheap way to increase customer value, then this is one of those areas where for very little money (or reduced profit margin) they can tout an additional feature and one-up their competitors.

As for the benefit of such memory, under normal use you wouldn't see much. Only in the highest end gaming situations or when running multiple VM's would the increased memory bandwidth yield noticeable results.

P.S. If I had known the memory was only shipping with 1333, I would have gotten the stock 6GB and upgraded the ram myself. However, I don't want to delay my Envy any more by issuing a cancellation and reorder, so I'll just live with it. However, I'll always think about how for $39 extra dollars I could have pimped my system out aftermarket; guess I'll have to wait for 1600 8GB SODIMMS!

 

HP Nate: Thanks so much for digging into this stuff. One other question I have is does the Envy support SATA III? I actually opened a ticket with HP support two days ago trying to find out, and I still haven't heard back. Maybe they are researching. I'm pretty sure the answer is "no" but I just wanted to confirm.

In the good news category, my Envy shipped!
Order date 2/27
Expected ship date 2/18
Actual ship date 2/11

It has already been picked up by fedex in shanghai, I did get the standard shipping so they are projecting 2/17 delivery.

 

Great! many thanks HP Nate. here are some followup questions:

ok but what we need to know is the supported resolution. upgraded 2nd gen processors (>2630) themselves appear support 1080p WiDi via a Netgear receiver, but 1st gen processors and the 2630 (we believe so far) support only 720p and do not utilize the Netgear receiver solution. Can you find out if any of this is true and clarify the implimentation and supported resolution?

its not vauge at all! many thanks -- it means that the overall heat removing capacity of the laptop has not changed; there are no additional vents, no additional airflow changes or insulating materials to divert heat away from the palm rest, for example, the heat sinks are the same, and the fan is still the same. The CoolSense software is just smarter about controlling the fan speed, and probably better at anticipating cooling requirements.

ok great. so non-3D, non-DX11 content will switch automatically to IGP/UMA. folks there's an argument for 8GB -- the on-chip graphics has to use attached RAM for it to work

nice! that will be good to see what improvements are made. I guess when the driver appears we can try to divine what improvements were made.

no problem; we're just thankful you can do this research for us. thanks again

 

HP Nate, any info ont he battery life of the new ENVY's w/ SB?

 

SB Envy 17 Technical clarifications for March 11, with recent updates from HP Nate re: Coolsense, Widi, and the clickpad.

• Widi implimentation status=unknown. HP Nate and the product demo both confirm WiDi for both 3D and non-3D Envy 17s, but we still need confirmation re: supported resolution. NBR member jywang reports that the 2630QM processor itself supports only 1st generation 720p WiDi, while the 27xx and 28xx supports 2nd genertion 1080p WiDi via the Netgear PTV2000 receiver.
• 1600MHz RAM status=unknown. HP says this is available only with certain i7 processors but doesn't say which one or how to choose it. The only upgraded processor choice, the 2820, itself supports 1600 MHz RAM, but we don't know yet if HP includes 1600MHz RAM with this procesor, or if the front side bus really runs at 1600MHz when this processor is selected. NBR member VectorX reminds us that the processor should read the XMP profile and adjust the memory controller to 1600MHz when such memory is present, but we don't know if the front bus (as a whole, including BIOS and other components) on the Envy 17 is designed to run at that speed.
• 120 Hz IGP status=unknown. Evidence may be mounting in favor of this but we don't know yet if the i7 IGP itself will support 120Hz refresh rates for 2D movies, for example.
• CoolSense hardware improvements status=not included. per HP Nate, the implementation does not include physical/hardware changes to venting, airflow, etc. see "CoolsSense software" below
• new I/S 3 Clickpad status=not included. Per HP Nate, the SB Envy has implimented the legacy, first-gen clickpad first introduced with the Envy last year. However, see "Clickpad improvements" below
• DX11, 3D switchable graphics status=not supported. per HP Nate, DX11 remains in the discrete GBU, as the on-chip GP supports only DX10
• switchable graphics for non-3D, nonDX11 status=confirmed. HP Nate confirms that non-3D and/or non-DX11 content will automatically switch to the IGP, which utilizes shared RAM. We don't know how this is implemented, but HP has already posted switchable graphics drivers for 2nd-gen processors on the g7 laptop
• Clickpad improvementsstatus=confirmed HP Nate confirms that clickpad improvements have been made via software.
  [*]CoolSense software status=confirmed. per HP Nate, CoolSense software (HP Thermal assistant) is included.
  [*]HDMI 1.4 status=supported. Per HP Nate the SB Envy 17 supports HDMI
  [*]USB 3.0 status=supported. per HP Nate The SB Envy has not changed in this regard, i.e. there is still one USB 3.0 port, per HP Nate.
  [*] enhanced VM support for the i7 2820 status=supported. per NBR member cam121 The 2820 extended instruction set has a clear advantage over the 2630.
  [*] Gigabit Ethernet status=supported. per HP Nate The SB Envy has not changed in this regard, i.e. gigabit Ethernet is still supported

 

Does anyone know if these new HP Envy 17 3Ds will ship with Windows 7 SP1? I was reading something on HP's support site that said you needed to update the BIOS before upgrading to SP1. Anyone know anything about this? This is definitely one of the first things I'll be doing when I get my system, and I don't want to mess anything up.

 

I would not worry too much. I had the orginal Envy, before I shipped it back. Besides that, I still have other HP laptops/new and they have the nice HP self update utility. Its a no brainer. As long as you're connected to the internet and allow HP tool to update automatically, it should sense what BIOS, hardware, software you have and suggest and download it for you, afterwards will install it for you... Easy enough? And if you are still in doubt call the special 800 number provided only for Envy and HDX owners. Save it when your order comes to you. Its on a rectangular peice of black print paper.

KJ

 

These might be dumb questions: How will we know when graphics are switched? Will it automatically use the integrated graphics until it requires more muscle from the AMD chip? Will it happen seamlessly (no bumps, judders, pauses?

 

nice! if the memory profile tells the processor to run the front bus at 1333, I presume 1600 won't be available, but this will be cool to find out what HP has done here. next Monday we should start to see some cool info coming in

I also find it interesting that a Sales Rep would know the type of memory shipped with the 2820, i.e. 1333, but at least this this is not inconsistent with the product demo which states "support for 1600MHz memory". I guess HP isn't saying they ship 1600MHz RAM. hmmmm. a 20% improvement in memory read/write is kind of attractive... pair that with a 33% increase in L3 cache and the VM extentions I can see how cam121 would want it...

 

that will be interesting to verify, to be sure. I have some expectations in mind but none have been validated, lol . For example, I'm expecting we might be able to influence the switching conditions, but if not then I'd expect that the switch would occur when not plugged in, not playing 3D, and not playing DX11 content. and in this case, I'd expect to see some visual evidence (like a flicker or pause). I'm hoping there will be some sort of graphics status widget or app that will tell us, as well.

 

So is it safe to say....if the System bus will be supporting 1600MHz, but the memory inserted will be 1333MHz, then when we go into System Bios to check the speed, it will say 1333MHz because the memory is the limiting factor correct? If we were to take out all the 1333 ram, insert into the slots the 1600MHz ram, then the Bios will show the higher speed?

I think I understand. Not such a newbie after all eh?

KJ

 

well I'm making some assumptions here too (that the processor has to check with the memory to know how fast to talk to it), but yea thats how it appears to me. and this also assumes that the bus itself (the circuit board traces and other components) can operate at 1600MHz as well.

But yea if we assume that the motherboard itself (and the front side bus) is capable of 1600MHz then I would expect that 1600MHz option to appear when all the conditions required to support it are met. for example, I wouldn't expect 1600MHz to be availble if 1333 MHz RAM is installed.

 

Since the Coolsense implementation is simply software... will the older envy 17's be getting it as well?

 

No added hardware changes to control heat?! BLOWN. I wonder how effective this software is... How complex can a cooling system be besides turning up the fan's RPM? I know I sound ignorant but I hope they will enlighten us down the road.

I called and asked them if they apply the Diamond thermal compound to the CPU and GPU like many other vendors do (dissipates heat and lowers temp by 10C!).

HPs response: "Wow, didn't know that. That's cool."

Wow is right.

EDIT:: Sorry if I sound pessimistic about heat control. I'm a heavy gamer and a pro-photographer, so when I am editing and doing the post-processing on many, many high-res pictures, heat is a huge concern for me...