HP Envy 17" - way too much problems.

[sebkrier]

Hi,

So I bought this laptop a few months ago. The first time I used it, it was alright, but the graphics drivers did crash from time to time (that got fixed after I updated them). Now they only crash when I use the wrong charger. The main problem is that it seems the laptop is over-heating (it's really, really hot) and Windows often hangs/lags/freezes for 10 minutes. Every time, I have to restart manually and lose everything I was doing. I'm okay with computers, and I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with virus/spyware, and I haven't installed a lot of programs on it. What should I do? Also, I'm not sure I still have the documents that came with the laptop, just the shiny ENVY box - does that mean the guarantee is void? Help!

[Knute]

Do you have pets? Like Dogs or Cats that would shed?

Many times a laptop overheating is directly related to the cooling of the processor. The main culprit is the fan. The fan sucks in air from the bottom and blows it out the side. It will also suck in hair, dust, and other debris. That stuff often gets trapped by the heat sink and over time builds up in a layer which chokes off the cool air going to the processor making the fan work harder.

Check this out:

http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c01657439


What I recommend is getting some canned air and blowing out the vents in the side and bottom of the laptop. If after doing this you still have problems with over-heating, and your laptop is in warranty, you can take your laptop to a HP Authorized Service Center and ask them to clean the fan and heatsink. You can check your warranty here:

http://www13.itrc.hp.com/service/ewarranty/warrantyResults.do?admit=109447627+1286541891570+28353475



If it is out of warranty, consider searching for the maintenance manual for your specific model, in the manual there are schematics for taking apart the laptop. Cleaning the fan is much easier that removing a motherboard, so don't feel to intimidated by the idea. Also you can remove the heatsink and then remove the thermal grease and apply a new layer which also helps alleviate heat related issues.



I hope this helps. If you like my advice and it works for you, please thank me by clicking the Kudos Star under my screen name, thanks!

[rogers1313]

I just purchased and envy 17 3d model.   Definitely gets hot.  In fact right out of the box started having problems with performance.  Because the machine has to do updates for everything as soon as you get it connected to the internet.  It took forever to get through that process.  Every window opening closing updating took forever to accomplish.   Task bars don't finish.

The worst experience I have ever had with a laptop.  

3 days later the laptop updates were completed.  I thought that this would solve the slow problems.   No chance.  So I shutdown the laptop and left it off for 1 day. 

Guess what?

everything is working faster than ever.   I am letting it heat up on my table.  I have a clear air path.

So If I get to use this laptop for a few hours before the heat compromises the laptop performance...Is this acceptable?

I will probably return this laptop if that is the case.

Was the machine tested with it on for long periods of time?

thanks for any information.

Roger

[narevill]

Here is my experience with the Envy 17

http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Lockups-Freezes-Hangs/HP-ENVY-17-1050ea-overheats-and-shuts-down/td-p/4...

I would say if you are running games you should use an external cooler, I am using a Zalman 3000s with good results. I believe that the machine is unable to cope with the amount of heat produced by the I7 and 5850, In the interests of longevity I am running the 5850 at 'maximum battery life' settings which pulls the max GPU temp down to 70C, whilst still allowing good frame rates for the software I am running. I think that if I run the machine at maximum performance (as I was for the first month) it will fail again.

Nigel

[mindstorm75]

The "maximum battery life" is a crap option: if you buy a PC and you can't use its hardware due to a bad project you just trashed your money. You cannot put an i7 and a powerful GPU with a poor/wrong cooling system. It's unfair.

For sure my next laptops will be a non-HP. For sure !!!!!!

PS: the design is so poor that also the idea to disassemble it to check if the fans are clean is not an option. Must be *completely* disassembled 'cause fans are not accessible from the bottom (removing some screws), but from the top removing  the keyboard, covers, internal components until the motherboard.

[tertoo]

I just paid almost a thousand dollars for a 17" HP Envy, 1TB laptop. I thought that it would be answer to my prayers. As an author of children's books, I have lots of work I do on my laptop. I was replacing a much cheaper ACER that I'd had for two years. (The ACER was getting maxed out). Anyway, I've had this laptop for about three weeks and am sorry that I didn't follow my first instinct by returning the computer right after I bought it. Right out of the box, it started freezing up while using various pre-installed programs and the internet. I've tried using IE and Firefox both. It doesn't make a difference. Inevitably, whenever I have a couple of tabs open and am working to read email and download a file, it freezes. Many times, pressing the mousepad gets absolutely NO RESPONSE. I can click 'till my face turns blue and it won't respond. The internet freezes. I can't watch video because it takes too long for the video to cycle. It pauses ever five seconds for long periods of time. And, to top it all off, Windows 8 keeps popping up (the charms on the right) whenever my cursor gets anywhere near that area.

It is all too frustrating for words. I spent three whole days downloading all of my files from Carbonite so that I could continue working on my books. Now, I am stuck with this expensive paperweight that won't work properly. If HP has a response as to why all of these things are happening, I'd be happy to hear it. I'd like a solution as well. In the past, I always owned HPs. The ACER was the one exception. I don't know what happened in the past few years to HP, but this is definitely NOT the quality computer I though I was purchasing.

[Holly_J]

First of all, are all of your drivers up to date? Check at http://www8.hp.com/us/en/drivers.html

Second, are you running antivirus/antimalware software and - most importantly - is it up-to-date and are you running regular full time scans and real-time scans?

Do you get any error messages when your browser hangs or crashes? How many tabs do you normally have open? (I've run with 43 at a time, but can't say I recommend it unless you don't mind hanging and crashing.)

Third, as for the mousepad not responding, do check that the driver's up to date and working right, but also - could you be inadvertently disabling it with your hand? (If you double-tap the upper left corner, for example, this should toggle it on or off.) Check the settings in Control Panel, too - it may be that your touchpad would respond better if you changed the sensitivity.

And finally, be sure to bookmark this: Helpful Windows 8 Information & FAQs

Windows 8 can be a bit frustrating if it's your first time using it after using other Windows operating systems, but this page has lots of helpful tips and resources. Keyboard and Mouse Shortcuts is a good one to keep handy.

If none of this helps, let us know!

[lisakayhan]

We got an HP 17.3 Envy, Refurb through a groupon a few months ago.  It only had a 45 day warranty, and I got it for Christmas, so we turned it on and made sure it seemed ok then wrapped it up.  After opening it, and running it, we are finding ourselves at our wits end.  First, we had problems with automatic updates that would stall and freeze the computer, the only way we could get it to wrok was by doing System restore.  Over and over.  Now, the IE won't work, it says chcek connection, but other programs are using the internet just fine.  We tried the netsh winsock reset command, in admin mode, and it did not work.  THere is a chance my son (13) may have changed a setting somewhere, he says he did not...but we do not know how to get it running again.

Any advice?  We were so excited to get this computer, now everybody is pretty bummed out.  He primarily got it to play Minecraft PC, and that still works, but he cannot use google or get online at all through IE.  There are no other internet browsers installed.

[lisakayhan]

After sitting on the phone for a long time with HP support, it is looking like the Windows 8.1 update is the culprit.  We are restoring factory settings, still waiting to see if that works.   Crossing fingers...

[ivlaryann]

I am done with HP

I got an HP Envy 17 3d with 2 quad core and a secondary ssd

it started overheating as soon as I got it. I assumed this was due to me dumping windows and installing ubuntu but it wasn.t  . I went back to windows . no difference other then the slow nature of the windows OS

I have sent it back in for "repairs" 6 times ... SIX

I am on my:

4th motherboard

3rd fan thermal module

2nd top assembly

2nd CPU

3rd keyboard

2nd optical disk drive

2n base essembly

the last time I sent it in they kept it for over a month at my request so that they could see that when they "fix it" the problems just reaccur shortly after they send it back. They did. and they replaced the motherboard and cpu TWICE that round saying one was damaged and then in turn damaging the other but "oh we replaced them both at the same time now so no more issues"

guess what? Im writing this on my Envy between black screen crashes,bsod & overheating crashes. I get up to 105c just looking at facebook.

I have the replacement warrenty but it is useless! they "won't replace it as long as it is fixable" and they decide if it is fixed or not. I payed way to much $ for this and this PC has never been fit for use.  They will either "fix" it until my warrenty runs out or I will sue them for my money back. or both.