*HP ENVY 15 (3XXX series) Owners Lounge*

[Lvivkse]

The Envy's speakers are 2.1, not 6.1

[c0mplex]

The switchable graphics is set on dynamic. The sound was set to low/medium on both machines. I started noticing dramatic battery drains on video websites so I wanted to find out why.

2 possible reasons for the big battery drains:

CPU:
The HP Envy 15 comes with a true Quad-Core Core i7-2860QM 2.50Ghz vs the Dell XPS 15z Core i7-2640M 2.80Ghz Dual-Core and requires a lot more power.

Speakers:
The HP Envy 15 has the 6.1 Beats Audio System with soundwoofer. The Dell XPS 15z has just the standard 2 speaker system.

Not sure if you were keeping track of which GPU the Envy 15 was utilizing, but if you weren't, the problem might be that the laptop switched to the 7690m when you started playing the Youtube clips. AMD's switchable graphics feature seems like a total bust when its automated to decide which GPU to use. Try setting the laptop to "fixed" and see what the battery life is like when playing Youtube.

[yubeie]

Not sure if you were keeping track of which GPU the Envy 15 was utilizing, but if you weren't, the problem might be that the laptop switched to the 7690m when you started playing the Youtube clips. AMD's switchable graphics feature seems like a total bust when its automated to decide which GPU to use. Try setting the laptop to "fixed" and see what the battery life is like when playing Youtube.

Hi I am kind of new to the ATI graphics card setting on my Envy15 and I am noticing a small issue. Can you please help me?

1.In BIOS...I set the graphics mode to "fixed"
2.I rebooted my machine...under the catalyst control center...I unchecked the following options:
a.The power-play
b.Unchecked "automatically select power-saving GPU when on battery"

By default the machine is using the external graphics.
After shutting down all the apps and then clicking the powersaving GPU (Intel)...nothing happens..The button just blinks for a while..but my external GPU keeps running..
How do I resolve this? I would like to always use integrated GPU and switch to external when necessary.

Thanks in advance.

[the beast 711]

The Envy's speakers are 2.1, not 6.1

They are 6.1....6 speakers and a sub....

[gunny5821]

installed, and it shows the ATI card fan speed at 30% so, thats the first hard evidence I have seen its working. I guess I got lucky with a really quiet fan

Mine is ultra quiet as well. I very rarely ever hear it and I have it in a very quiet environment. Just another reason why I love the Envy!

[Lvivkse]

They are 6.1....6 speakers and a sub....

Windows says the laptop is stero. Are you sure it's not just 6 speakers, not 6 channels? I really doubt this thing is running that many channels

[timebomb]

Windows says the laptop is stero. Are you sure it's not just 6 speakers, not 6 channels? I really doubt this thing is running that many channels

2 Speakers above the keyboard
2 Speakers on the bottom of the chassis
2 Speakers on the front of the chassis below the trackpad
1 Subwoofer on the bottom of chassis

Play a song and put your ears near the Power button then move to the front chassis below the trackpad. These pairs are easy to tell the difference. The 2 speakers on the bottom of the chassis are a little harder to distinguish.

It's the best laptop speaker system I've ever used.

Here are the official specs: HP Envy15 | HP Envy

Look under Beats Audio.

[Lvivkse]

i don't know where these speakers on the bottom are but it's still 2.1 at the end of the day

[pchome]

Can someone tell me how to keep the Intel graphics card the default without switching back to the AMD. I already have the option fixed in the BIOS. Each time choose "Configure Switchable Graphics" and choose the Intel card, once I restart Windows, it goes back to the High Performance GPU.

[brody_]

has anyone reported an improvement in build quality over the past week? Did they fix the usb port dent problems etc?