slim power adapters HP Envy 17 ...

i'm interested in this HP Power adapter - model BT798AA, does anyone have experience with it and the envy 17/15 ?

the compatibility chart on HP's web site shows it is not compatible, but HP's own product description shows the envy 17 as one of the supported laptops ...

i don't want to get the smart auto/ac adapters, just a slim one as an extra because i'm going to be setting up my main power brick for using the laptop on my TV ...

compatibility chart:
http://www.shopping.hp.com/shopping/pdf/HP_ACAdapter_Compatibility.pdf

product description:
HP 90W Slim Adapter (BT798AA) specifications - HP Home & Home Office Products

 

bump ... anyone ?

 

90W is not enough power. The Envy 17 needs 120W. However, this doesn't quite explain why the AC/DC 90W adapter is supported. I actually own this adapter and I can't remember when I used it with the Envy 17 whether or not the performance was lower due to the reduced power supplied to the laptop.

 

thanks for your reply ...
hp actually offers 2 90W adapters for the envy 17, if you go to hp's site and configure a laptop, you'll see them under 'secondary adapters' section. one of these is for car use only, the other is for car/air/home, etc.... this is the KS474AA model. it is a nice charger, however it's pretty expensive and not as compact as i'd like.

i was looking at Targus' offering, the compact laptop charger APA69US. but i read the review over in the envy 14 section, not too crazy about the connection options it's got.

i can get the KS474 on amazon for about 72 $, which isn't bad, but it'd be nice if the slim HP charger i mentioned in the OP would work, it would make lugging it around with me easier than one of the larger bricks.

i also tried using my wife's laptop power brick (dv6) and the screen kept flickering.

 

I use a 90W power adapter on my Envy all the time.

As long as you aren't pushing the ATI GPU and the CPU hard it's fine.

 

A 90W power supply is fine but the laptop will reduce its performance in order to draw less current. I had the slim HP power supply before and it worked fine with my older Envy. When I got the new SB Envy, I purchased a ThermalTake slim power supply. It was much cheaper than HP's and it came with right angle power adapters. There are other 90W supplies much cheaper than HP's too, but you might want to stick with some of the name brands (like ThermalTake or Targus).

 

cool ... so what other well known adapters can i look into? checked prices around the net, i might as well go with the standard 120W power brick on amazon its only 46$ ... but its more bulky than what i want to lug around. my messanger bag will hold it comfortably, but the slimmer/lighter, the better.

 

would the thermaltake adp95w0003 work fine with the envy 17 ? looks like it can deliver up to 120W ....

just concerned about clean power delivery, i dont want any screen flickering or issues charging the battery.

 

I have a ThermalTake ADP95W0003 power adapter and it works fine with the Envy 17 SB. However, the Envy DOES detect that this is a 95W power adapter and will reduce performance. I noticed that with this supply, the average speed of the CPU topped out at 1.4GHz so you won't get all of the muscle of this laptop with a slim charger.

As for screen flickering and charging issues, I've never noticed anything. For awhile I just carried around this slim charger but now I carry the brick because I need the extra power most of the time when I am at work. The slim is probably fine for web browsing and movie watching.

I wrote this awhile back:

 

They lie! I could never get my Envy to use the extra overhead that this power supply claims to have. When I called into ThermalTake, they said it was an HP issue and since HP doesn't like to work with third parties like them, they can't guarantee that every laptop can take advantage of the power supply features. Load of crock!

However, per my last posting, it does work fine. No issues using it other than the reduced performance of a less powerful power supply.

 

thanks for the tidbits on the thermaltake .... i wonder if the ks474 would give similar behavior when plugged in.

honestly, i dont really push the machine hard. once in a blue moon ill create an mp4 movie for my fone, play games like crysis or dragon age. i've dedicated the stock brick to the entertainment center, since i keep my machine connected to the tv when home.

when i do pack it up to travel, it would be nice to be able to play a bluray with the charger attached and keep the battery topped off. not sure if this is possible with the travel/slim chargers. perhaps the safest bet is to go with another stock adapter, ill deal with the bulk ...

 

I don't see why playing a movie would require the brick. Also, doing the other stuff on the slim power supply should be fine while traveling as long as you are prepared to take a slight hit in performance.

 

playing a bd requires you be in high performance mode. balanced or powersaver will not let you play a bd, it becomes almost unplayable.

so if the charger type will force the laptop to adjust it's power/performance scheme, then i wouldn't be able to watch a bluray or use the computer while attempting to charge the battery ....

too bad about the thermaltake, i like the slim profile and USB option.

 

You got me, I never change my power profile whether I am on battery or AC power. I do have my laptop reduce certain things when on battery (like screen brightness, blanking, max cpu, etc). However, when plugged into either power supply, the computer behaves as if its plugged in. The only difference I can see if the throttling of the internal cpu clock to save on current draw with the slim adapter.

 

I bought this exact power adapter for my Envy 17, however when I connect it I get a popup from HP Software saying the Smart AC adapter Power is too low. The adapter does not charge

I don't care about running in low performance mode, I am hoping there is some software fix that will allow me to get this adapter to charge the Envy 17 as you did.

I am running Windows 7.

Thanks,

Steve

 

I don't know... my TT power supply works fine. It charges my Envy 17 when I'm on the road and I can watch DVD's just fine. The CPU tops out at 1.8Ghz (and I never see turbo boost kick in) though so performance is capped.

P.S. Not that I'm a big fan of the TT power supply... I'd drop it in a second if I could find a compatible slim 120W charger. However for traveling, I'm willing to give up the bulk to travel light for the minor performance hit.