Missing SATA Slot for SSD?

[Xemnosyst2]

I just purchased a refurbished Envy 17-u273cl, along with a new SSD that showed as compatible on crucial's website. And I see in the maintenance manual that this computer should support it, on page 2 in the rows for "Solid State Drive".

However, after opening up the laptop it seems to be missing the plastic piece that the drive should plug into. Is there another spot to install this that I'm not finding?

The spot it looks like the drive should fitThe full view of the opened laptop

[banhien]

@Xemnosyst2

Your machine with Single Storage option therefore you can only have HDD or M.2 SSD. Only machines with dual storage option you can have both.

I know many users ONLY know the real world after open the case.

Regards.

[Xemnosyst2]

Thank you for the response. Should I have been able to know that my machine had the "single storage option"? And if so, how? I ask because both the HP service manual and the SSD vendor's website seemed to indicate compatibility, so I'd like to know for the future, and when asking for a refund.

[Huffer · Accepted solution]

The only way to know I am sorry to say, is to open the laptop first. According to the Manual you should have an M.2 slot right where you have indicated. We run into this a lot on the Wal-Mart and Costco models and I see Costco did sell this model as does Adorama cameras. Sometimes for mass distribution models HP saves a little bit by defeaturing the laptop. Rare to see it on a model with the specs yours has i7 8th gen 16 gigs DDR4 MX150 dedicated video...

There is literally nothing you can do to insert that M.2 into that laptop. Your best performance option is a 2.5 inch SSD. If its any consolation a SATA M.2, which is all any laptop in that series can take, is no faster than a 2.5 inch SATA SSD, just a different package for the same basic hardware. Crucial is very reputable and if they sell the M.2 as compatible with that model they will take the M.2 back and at least swap you for a 2.5 inch SSD. 

[Cyph3r]

I want to publish my HP Envy purchase saga/nightmare so no one else suffers economically, as I have, despite having the best of intentions and the willingness to dig into the facts prior to purchase.

I do feel as though as I have ripped off.

I purchased my Certified Refurbished 17-u273cl from Amazon via this link in early September 2018:

https://www.amazon.com/HP-Envy-Laptop-Edge-Edge/dp/B07C76HH1N

As you can see, its major features include:

HP Envy 17 Laptop - 17.3" Edge-to-Edge IPS TouchScreen Full HD (1920x1080), 8th Gen Quad-Core i7-8550U, 16GB DDR4, 1TB HDD, NVIDIA MX150, IR Camera, Backlit, Windows 10.

Despite digging through all of the available product information, user reviews and customer questions, the Sellers (or anyone else) failed to provide the exact HP model number they were selling. The Seller(s) also incorrectly state this model has 2133 MHz DDR4, when in fact, it ships with 16 Gb 2400 MHz DDR4. Therefore, despite my considerable effort, I was unable to track down the correct Service Manual so I could verify PCIe-NVMe SSD support prior to my purchase.

I was hoping to purchase a laptop with native PCIe-NVMe SSD support, similar to models within HP's Pavilion 15 series, and specifically like 15-cc161tx. I found the Service Manual for that model at:

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c05493762

Page 43 of that Manual, Solid-state drives, shows:

For use only on computer models with model numbers 15-cc1xx and 15-cc6xx:

512-GB, 2280, PCIe, NVMe solid-state drive Part #: 933706-004
256-GB, 2280, PCIe, NVMe solid-state drive Part #: 933705-005

However, because the Seller failed to provide the model number, I was forced to purchase this laptop on the blind faith and hope HP would build in native, modern SSD support into such an otherwise capable, well-speced laptop. When I say modern SSD support, I do mean M.2 PCIe-NVMe support, and not rapidly being deprecated SATA 3 based M.2 SSD support.

Because I trusted HP to only sell the latest and greatest tech on an 8th gen i7 laptop, I also purchased a 500 Gb Samsung EVO 970 PCIe-NVMe SSD at about the same time I purchased this laptop. That outstanding performance SSD cost me $180 on the date of purchase, plus an additional $37 in international shipping costs and fees, so the drive actually cost me $217 (USD).

Then I awaited for both purchases to arrive, now one week ago. When the laptop arrived, for the first time I was able to see its actual model number, 17-u273cl. After some digging, I tracked down the correct Service Manual at:

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c05282360

That's where my bitter disappointment began, but did not end. I was shocked to learn HP only offered M.2 (SATA 3) SSD support, and not PCIe-NVMe support, explicitly listed on Page 2, Solid-state drive, of that Service Manual for this specific model.

However, I remained hopeful that the Service Manual was just outdated, and that HP in the interim had upgraded its 17" Envy line and offer its customers PCIe-NVMe support, which is an expected feature on the vast majority of other mid-range to high-end laptops, and I do mean across the laptop industry.

After opening the case, I was horrified to see on my motherboard space explicitly reserved for an M.2 female header socket, however the M.2 header itself was missing, despite all the correct motherboard solder points being present.  Furthermore, HP even provided the M.2 SSD brass retention post to accept the standard M.2 SSD 3 mm retention screw.

Here are my motherboard photos as (further) proof as to what HP is actually shipping:

As you can see from the above photo, the missing M.2 SSD header is located immediately below the left-edge of the left 8 Gb DDR4 SO-DIMM.  Also note, I immediately swapped out the HP shipped 1 Tb 7200 RPM HDD 'spinner' in favor of my far faster Samsung 500 Gb EVO 850 SSD, which I swapped out from another one of my laptops.

In this photo, the blue highlighted area details that the M.2 SSD header solder points and CPU circuit lines do exist - but that HP failed to solder on the **very inexpensive** M.2 SSD header.  Furthermore, the yellow highlighted area shows the M.2 2280 SSD retention screw post located on the underside of the laptop's palm rest.  Again, without the M.2 female header existing on the motherboard, this brass M.2 2280 SSD P1, 3 mm screw retention post is useless. 

Carefully note that the absence of the M.2 SSD header and the attendant lack of M.2 SSD support directly conflicts with HP's own published literature for this specific model.  Again, read Page 2 of the Service Manual I linked above.  Call that misleading, or outright fraud, but a minimum it's outrageously unfair and a direct lie to HP's customers.

I now find myself out of $217 after buying my Samsung 970 SSD, and without any valid reason for returning it.

However, what incenses me far more is that I now own a laptop which is far less capable and has far slower IOPS than what I intended to purchase and now have actually money expended on.

Had I known this model lacked M.2 SSD support, I would have never purchased it, as many competing models offer native PCIe-NVMe support.

I almost fell over laughing at the term 'saves a little' when the excuse was offered within this thread:

'Sometimes for mass distribution models HP saves a little bit by defeaturing the laptop. Rare to see it on a model with the specs yours has i7 8th gen 16 gigs DDR4 MX150 dedicated video...'

How much do you think an M.2 header costs a massive global OEM like HP to buy in quantity?  I'm thinking somewhere between $1-5 per unit, if even that much.  

On the second point, I agree with 'rare,' indeed, especially considering the otherwise excellent performance specs of this model.  I would also agree with the substitution of the word 'foolish' as in:  penny wise and pound foolish.

HP can and should have done better by its customers in its design, marketing and published technical support of this model.

If it helps anyone track down how HP managed to screw up this model, here are some specific details from my system:

System Board ID:  8389

Product Number:  2EW63UAR##ABA

Obviously I am not happy, but I am hopeful someone from HP Engineering and/or a senior Customer Service manager will contact me so that an acceptable resolution can be reached.

I do plan to follow up, here, either way, and completely dependent on how I am treated by HP.

[Gustavorax]

Can you help me?

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Hardware-and-Upgrade-Questions/SSD-M-2-ON-HP-ENVY-17-u273cl/m...

[Huffer]

Your model does not support NVME M.2 disks.

Manual

see p. 2

SATA M.2 only

[Gustavorax]

My HP ENVY - 17-u273cl have the SLOT!!!

I bought a SSD M.2 SATA as you can see, and I installed it, BUT this did not work!!!! What need I do? I'm with the last BIOS version.

m.2 sata SSDnot appear

[Gustavorax]

There are 3 types of SATA M.2 SSD:
1-SSD M.2 SATA SLC
2- SSD M.2 SATA MLC
3- SSD M.2 SATA TLC

This HP notebook only supports the worst of them, the TLC. [edit] And I bought the SLC, the best of them.

[Promariner]

Regarding your "nightmare," I also bought an M2 SSD for my 17-ak012 laptop.  Both my HP user manual and the "Crucial" online compatibility detector stated that the M2 drive was supported.  I ordered the drive, only to find that the female M2 motherboard slot had not be soldered, just as pictured in your images.  What a disappointment!  It leaves me with a very bad taste for HP.  What a short-sighted decision to leave this off of the motherboard, yet leave it inside of their service manual.

All they had to do was delete the "M2" SSD of the operating manual, and they could have saved me the hassle, and @ $120.  The purchase is final.

The only way now to use this drive is to buy an external M2 Drive enclosure.

Are you reading these comments, HP?  Anybody?  When you burn loyal customers with crap like this, you lose those customers, and potential future customers who may read this post.