Envy 17-J130ea ssd, blu-ray and extra upgrade options

Hi
Wondered if someone could help me with some upgrade help.
I have a sandisk 120GB SSD and wanted to upgrade the laptop bootable hdd to this containing win 8.1. I know it is possible to do this having just the ssd in the laptop (I know this is a relatively small ssd) but I wanted to know if you could keep the existing 1TB hdd in as a secondary drive? I have read a few posts around the internet and it seems quite difficult to achieve. Would appreciate any assistance on how to make this happen as I will be sending my laptop to a pc shop to perform the upgrade so would like them to know how they need to perform the upgrade (if it is not something simple that a joe public could do themself i.e. myself).
Secondly could someone recommend a blu-ray drive upgrade for this model both official parts and other drives that could fit into the slot.
Lastly any other worthwhile upgrades performing on this laptop? It has 12gb ram so I know that is not needed but if there is anything else worthy of looking into that would be great.
Thanks
Abs
P.S. How do you get rid of all the win8.1 apps thing and have it looking like a win7 desktop with start menu working like in previous versions?
EDIT on further research it seems you can put an mSATA hdd in this model and use it as an accelaration drive. I wanted to use an ssd to help speed up the performance of the laptop but of course realise that would then take up a hdd slot (hence my original set of questions).
Am I correct in saying that an SSD drive would give best overall performance but an mSATA drive is not too far off in terms of boot up, program performance etc? I realise that file transfer would be the same speed as the other hdd's in the hdd slots correct?
I'm kinda thinking that it may actually be better to get an mSATA drive as an acceleration drive and load the other two hhd bays with 1TB drives so I have the best of both worlds, a fast performing laptop and huge storage space if you don't mind file transfer not being up to ssd speeds. Have I missed any other pros and cons between the two?

Your laptop actually has 2 hard drive bays so all you have to do is move the original 1 TB drive to the second bay and put the SSD in the primary bay. You will need a second hard drive caddy/cable you can buy from newmodeus.com.
http://www.newmodeus.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_5&products_id=542
Youtube instruction video
The problem, you are going to have is getting Windows 8.1 on 120 gigs. That is too small to use the HP recovery disks.
You could clone the original drive over. The original factory install is likely much less than 120 gigs. You could back up all your data, then do a recovery on the 1 TB drive and select minimal recovery-OS only-then clone the 1 TB drive as recovered over to the SSD. This is going to be a bit of a challenge but is doable.
Here is a Blu-Ray reader (not burner) drive on eBay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-Envy-17-Series-Touchsmart-600-Slot-Load-Blu-ray-Combo-BD-ROM-Drive-CA21N-...
Here is the Service Manual:
Manual
Optical drive replacement is very easy. See page 46. You would need to swap the faceplate over.
To make Windows 8.1 have a start menu I recommend a program called Classic Shell.
http://www.classicshell.net/downloads/
It is free and I have used it on many Windows 8/8.1 computers. It causes the system to default to the Windows 7 like desktop and have a start button you can configure as you like it.
If this is "the Answer" please click "Accept as Solution" to help others find it.

Similar Messages

I am in need of a new dvd player HD Blu-Ray and best buy is telling me that I need at least 10Mbps.

Hi Niel, I am in need of a new dvd player HD Blu-Ray and best buy is telling me that I need at least 10Mbps. Where can I find this at my computer before I purchase this item.
I hope you can help me. I have the 24 inch iMac.
Denise
<Subject Edited by Host>

If you mean Ethernet, your computer already has it. If you're referring to something else, what is it?
(125558)

Workflow for creating one project that can be burned to both Blu-ray and standard DVD?

Hi,
I have a 20 minute project and I'm creating a simple single menu with a play button. I'd like to create it once and be able to burn both a 1080p Blu-ray and a standard DVD. Is this possible?
Thanks

Hi,
Let me explain how transcoding works for DVD and Blueray.
Encore transcodes the files separately for DVD and Blueray and once the transcode is done and status shows transcoded the options for transcoding are greyed out, this means you have already transcoded the file and you cannot transcode again without reverting to original.
For example you have blueray selected in project settings and you click transcode now from project panel the files will be transcoded for blueray, but after transcoding if for any reason you decide to change the transcode settings and transcode the asset again with different settings you have to revert to original.
But in this case when you want to transcode the assets for DVD you don’t need to revert to original and loose the transcoding done for blueray. You can change the project settings from blueray to DVD after that you will be able to transcode for DVD without losing the transcoded files for blueray.

Best workflow for burning Blu-ray and DVD

Hi,
What's the best workflow for effciency sake for burning both a Blu-ray and a DVD of the same project?
Essientially I'd like to export and create a menu once, then be able to downrez to DVD. However, I'm not sure that is possible since blu-ray and DVD are differnt codecs.
Thank you

The only way that you can get acceptable re-scaling of menus is to go from BR to DVD, and do the editing in Photoshop. Simply re-scaling the menu here will not give acceptable results.
I usually copy the various button layers from the BR menu to a new DVD menu file created using the provided Photoshop preset. You will still have to do some manual re-scaling and alignment. The thing that has given me the most trouble over the years is round button highlights - a segment is often chopped off. Font sizes will probably need adjusting too.
Unless you are adept with handling layers and groups within Photoshop, it may be easier to start again.
Any attempt to convert within Encore is unlikely to produce acceptable menus in my experience.

Macbook pro late 2011, completely messed up, everything I click it brings up beachball very slow, blue ray and hd unwatchable as it jerks. genius bar app didnt help at all, very disappointed, can some1 help me?

Macbook pro late 2011, completely messed up, a macbook pro of this year should not be operating like this, everything I click it brings up beachball very slow, blue ray and hd unwatchable as it jerks. genius bar app didnt help at all, very disappointed, can some1 help me?

You have a hardware problem. It is probably the hard drive is either to full, not enough free space, or it is starting to fail.
If you have an external drive connec that to the system and use the Recovery HD, Command + r keys at startup, to install a clean fresh copy of OS X Lion on the external then run the system from that. It will be slower but if you don't get the beachball then that is the sign your internal drive is on its way out or is filled up with files and not enough free space.

Alternative to Blu-Ray and HD DVD players?

I just watched The Keynote presentation for 2008 and saw that there is a new software update that revolutionizes the Apple TV. The first idea that came to mind is the battle between Blu-Ray and HD DVD. With the HD capabilities of the Apple TV now and Dolby Digital 5.1 support, would it be safe to say that, if one wasn't worried about having a hard copy of the HD movie, the Apple TV could be an alternative to the battle of the current generation of formats?
Could one say that the Apple TV does the same job as these high definition players? Let it be noted that I haven't experienced movie quality in iTunes yet.

There are 3 separate issues here.
First, the monitor quality and capability:
If you have 1920x1080 resolution monitor that can display 1080p (progressive scan), then ATV will be significantly inferior than BRD or HD/DVD player sending 1080p signal natively to full HD monitor. If your monitor is less than that (say 1366x768 or 1280x720 and can handle only 1080i (interlace) or 720p), probably not all that much different than ATV displaying at 720p (which is 1280x720). The only thing is the amount of bitrate (data per/second) that ATV content provides versus BRD or HD/DVD content.
Second, all BRD and HD/DVD players "upscales" 480i DVD (Stand Def) content to 1080i/p, which can be quite good. I've not been impressed with ATV's ability to upscale 640x480 content (iTune SD content) to large monitors. Also, SD DVDs are actually encoded at over 800x480 for widescreen content these days and bitrate is much higher than 1500 for iTune movies.
Third issue:
The audio on ATV HD content is 5.1 whereas DolbyHD and DTS equivalent are 7.1 - which if you have setup your room with 7.1 system (like I have), 5.1 is a bit of a disappointment. Further, SD DVD from iTune store is still DD2.0, and while most receivers can handle that into DD-II/IIx, it is simulated and not discrete sound output. SD DVDs have 5.1, 6.1 and 7.1 depending on content/movie.
So the long answer to being BRD or HD/DVD player alternative is it depends. One must tradeoff the benefit of a dedicated player in addition to ATV (or MacMini for that matter).
Certainly cannot debate about the convenience, if one has a decent broadband connection and n/g router setup.

Output to Blu-Ray and Audio from Gaming videos.

Just a simple questions, does premiere pro allow output as Blu-Ray. I have a series of home movies, I want to produce as Blue-Ray and all I can find is only DVD publishing.
On another issue, I am trying to create a video of online gaming that I play and the clan I belong to play to promote the clan, I have some footage from Arma 3, War Thunder, however with my Rust game the audio is very slow. How do I correct this, Would the video resolution affect the audio. I use Bandicam to capture my online gaming footage which is outputted as AVI file. This plays well in Windows Media Player, Realplayer, and PowerDirector (Does Blu-Ray 3D). I have been told by quite a few clan members that premiere pro was a good video editing software so I wanted to try and see for myself seeing I have a complete Creative cloud Subscription.
Video informations is as follows:
codec MPEG 1 Resolution: 1912 x1060 @ 30fps
Audio is MPEG -1 Layer 2 48000Hz @192 kbps Monophonic
Codecs are installed.
The audio, almost sound as thought I am speaking in game in slow motions, I have tried to increase the speed, got as far as 500% which is still too slow. I am new Premiere Pro.
It would be greatly appreciated if someone could assist me with this.

Premiere Pro BY ITSELF will not create DVD or BluRay... you may export files for authoring in EncoreCS6, which is a separate download... go to the bottom of page #5 at The PPro/Encore tutorial list http://forums.adobe.com/message/2276578 for more information on using PProCC with EncoreCS6
Capturing gameplay is often problematic... try this Free Open Source software http://camstudio.org/ -use with Lossless Lagarith http://forums.adobe.com/thread/875797

Settings For HDV to Blu-ray and DVD

What is the best strategy for avoiding unnecessary rendering and transcoding issues? I edit HDV or AVCHD (from a DataVideo DN-60) in Premiere Pro CS6. I want to output to multiple formats - DVD, Blu-ray and Flash from the same project. I'd like to maximize quality as well to fit project on disk.
I'd also like to know which format most easily transcodes for my purposes. I typically shoot 23.98 or 29.98 fps 1080p, but sometimes 1080i.
I assume Dynamic Link is the way to go, but it doesn't look like the resulting settings are automatic. For example, if I go into project settings after Dynamic Linking a PPro sequence, and choose Blu-ray, I would expect the transcode settings to match the imported project. If it does not, then what should I change the default settings to?

Let me clarify the intent of my original post. I have read in places that it is best to choose export and DVD project settings that match the original footage whenever possible to avoid rendering problems. So, if I shoot and edit HDV or AVCHD footage say at 29.98 fps progressive, then what corresponding settings should I use for DVD and Blu-ray?
I see that with 29.97 fps the progressive option is not available in the Blu-ray
presets. Should I not shoot progressive then at 29.97?
How do I maximize quality of the video while fitting on a single disk? The only way to do it automatically is to Dynamic link, which you advise against. If I manually set exports, then I must calculate all the sequence outputs from Premiere. What then should my priorities be? For starters, MPEG2 Blu-ray or H.264 Blu-ray? What should take precedence, bitrate settings or number of passes?
I am also considering render/transcode speed. How do the above settings affect speed?

I used the digital download from my purchased Blu-Rays and they will not sync with either my iPad or iPhone 4, saying they did not transfer because I am not authorized on this computer. I tried de-authorizing and re-authorized my MacBook Pro already

I used the digital download from my purchased Blu-Rays and they will not sync with either my iPad or iPhone 4, saying they did not transfer because I am not authorized on this computer. I tried de-authorizing and re-authorized my MacBook Pro alreadydigial

I just got a Touch 32GB yesterday and ran into the same problem. I have two PCs in the house that I can sync my iPods on, but I normally use one that DOESN'T have an internet connection, so that the one that does is free for others to use ... a great argument and tension solution, btw.
Anyway, I hooked up the older "iTunes" PC to the net for a first-time sync with the Touch, and ran into this problem. First it kept detecting the Touch as an unidentified iPhone, then I couldn't sync my classic either. Then I found a post here about how when multiple USB ports running off same USB controller seem to screw with the Touch/iPhone syncing.
So I disconnected all but 2 of my USB 2.0 slots (the Touch & the Portable HD with my iTunes Library) and now it's working perfectly. I don't know if this will solve your problem, but it might be worth a try.

Wich Brands use Apple use for HDDs and RAMS? Whats about Blu-Ray and Players?

Hard Disks Brands for Example:
Western Digital, Seagate, Samsung, Hitachi, Maxtor, Corsair, Fujitsu, Plextor, Buffallo, Iomega, Intenso, Teac, Trekstor, Toshiba, Verbatim, Sandsk ???
Rams Brands Example:
Corsair, G-Skill, G.E.IL, OCZ, Kingston, Mushkin, Infineon, HP, LaCie, Verbatim, Sandisk, Sharkoon, Crucial, Extrem Memory, Lenovo, Patriot, Team Group, Transcend, Lenovo, Dolphin, Excelram, Silicon Power ???
When Apple Blu-Ray will support Mac OS X and and why there are no available? Otherwise I think apple cool even the concept, design and Operating System. Because of that i have to use Windows, BootCamp Parallels. Why thaht? Give us a Blu-Ray Player and supports in Mac Os without those other three thinks. Microsoft an Windows ***** ;-)

Apple uses a variety of sources for RAM and HD's, even though two machines can have identical specifications they can use different vendors for common products such as RAM and HD's.
Apple currently does not support Blue-ray and has not announced any plans to do so. Per the terms of use we all agreed to by joining this forum we cannot speculate on future products or speculate on Apple decisions. The terms of use say:
Stay on topic. Apple Support Communities is here to help people use Apple products and technologies more effectively. Unless otherwise noted, do not add Submissions about nontechnical topics, including:
Speculations or rumors about unannounced products.
Discussions of Apple policies or procedures or speculation on Apple decisions.
Roger

Deal of the Day 6/10/13, Mamma Mia on Blu-ray and DVD

We've got Mamma Mia! on Blu-ray and DVD as part of our Deal of the Day offers for 6/10/13! Follow the links below to take advantage of this great pricing!
Mamma Mia! - Blu-ray Disc
Deal of the Day price: $9.99
Regular price: $14.99
You save: $5
Mamma Mia! - DVD
Deal of the Day price: $4.99
Regular price: $9.99
You save: $5
These prices are only available for 6/10/13, so act fast. Be sure to also view the rest of our Deal of the Day offers for 6/10/13 and sign up for email alerts so you never miss out.
Matt|Senior Social Media Specialist | Best Buy® Corporate
Private Message

Hello outlawmen,
Our Deal of the day offers are only valid on their specified day and this offer was only good for 5/11/13. While the movie itself is still available, it would no longer be at the Deal of the Day price.
Sincerely,
Matt|Senior Social Media Specialist | Best Buy® Corporate
Private Message

Media smart DVD stopped playing blue rays and no longer responds

I have a DV5z-1200 cto, os win7. i watch a lot of blue rays on it. i just purchased the new tron bluray and half way thru it froze. i tried to shut the machine off but it wouldnt respond. i was able to get into set up and noticed i had a new update (4.something). so i did it and now i get nothing. the drive just keeps rereading the same spot. i have uninstalled the update and when this happened Mediasmart stopped working all together. i reinstalled all the older versions but i couldn't find my original version 3.8 or something like that. i could then get a blu ray to start but now the message about you need to contact your firmware provider on the disk keeps popping up and the disks no longer play. can some one please help.

Uninstall your present Media Smart with Revo Uninstaller, use the trial.
http://www.revouninstaller.com/revo_uninstaller_free_download.html
Restart and install CCleanr and run it's registry cleaner and repeat until it finds nothing. When it finds nothing restart the machine. It will give the option to save a back up of the registry files you are about to delete, save these all as a precaution and note where they have been saved.
Personally I have never had to reinstall the files, but I like to save them anyway, and when you are satisfied that everything is fine, then you may delete them.
http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/
Here is the Media Smart DVD file. http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?softwareitem=ob-87326-1&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&...
Save this to the desk top and right click to go to properties, and in the "Generals" tab it should read Size: 55,380,920 bytes and Size on disk: 55,382,016 bytes. If this is incorrect then you must disable Webroot Internet and try again.
If it is correct down load 7-Zip and right click to "extract files" open that folder and find the "src' file. Open that and look for "Setup" the sixth one from the bottom. Click on that to install.
http://www.7-zip.org/download.html (the one at the top of the list, type exe for 32 bit W7)
Before following this procedure for installation, make sure that you have disconnected from the internet and that your Webroot security is totally disabled. Remember to restart your machine after installing Media Smart and when it says "Press Play to Play" do not do this, it should load by it self.
This is a slightly older version, but I have tested with Tron and Harry Potter with ATI graphics and I know it works. The most recent on your support page is having a problem with some of the ATI graphics cards.
This procedure was discovered by another member on the forum, DavidPK, and so far has been the most successful. I am also hoping that disabling WebRoot will solve the problem here.

Best approach to convert HD camcorder footage to blue-ray (and archive)

I have a Canon Vixia HV30 camcorder that I have used to take HD footage. I would like to archive the tapes' raw footage (for backup purposes) and also burn a blue-ray for each tape. Prior to the Canon (and switching to Macs) I had been using Studio on a Windows system to do the same for footage from a standard def Sony camcorder. Despite reading through the material on this forum and elsewhere I am confused about a couple of items and am hoping someone can help me understand how to archive and burn the camroder footage to BD easily.
Coming from the Windows environment, I was used to Studio taking raw footage and converting the entire tape to one .avi file that I could then edit in a baisc manner (trim, add menus, add transitions, add chapters, etc. but not adding other audio, etc.) and burn...all in Studio. The Windows desktop I had been using for standard def is not powerful enough for HD (it's from 2004) so I have to explore other options.
I have a MacBook Pro with a 2.5 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo process and 4 GB memory and am using Mac OS X 10.6.8. I also have iMovie 08 (7.1.4 [585]) and Toast Titanium Pro with the HD/BD plug in (11.0.04). Toast will not recognize the Canon camcorder connected using the Firewire 400 connection (but will recognize the Sony). So I have used iMovie to download the camcorder footage to my MBP in HD (full quality).
Here are my questions:
1. when downloading, it appears that iMovie does not retain the raw/same format as used by the Canon but converts it to something called Apple Intermediate Codecc. Does this converstion affect the quality of the footage? I do not want to use the convered material as archival material if it's already been converted once.
2. If the answer to # 1 is yes, iMovie converts the raw footage, is there another program that I can use in a Mac-environment that will simply download the footage in it's original format?
3. iMovie also splits up the footage into clips vs. showing one file and I cannot combine the clips into one clip (to be analogous to the workflow I have been used to in Studio). Is there a way to do so? Short of backing up my entire laptop (which I do), how can I extract the original footage from iMovie and copy it for archiving on a NAS drive?
4. Where is the best "place"/approach to perform basic editing (adding menu, adding chapters for different sections of the disc, etc.) on the footage?
5. If the answer to #4 is iMovie, would I then simply burn the iMovie project in Toast to Blue-ray?
I had thought achieving my goals would have been easy in a Mac environment (like it is for everything else) but am surprised to find it so difficult compared to how easy it was in Studio. (Am I really better off getting a lower-end Windows 7 desktop and upgrading Studio and keep that just for converting our HD camcorder tapes to blue-ray? I would rather not do so of course.)
Thanks in advance for your help.

Calbe and AppleMan1958
Thanks for the replies. Based on your replies, I think I can stay in the Mac-environment.
1 and 2. I cannot archive as AppleMan1958 suggested to keep the original without conversion because the footage is HDV 1080i. I understand however that iMovie will import and convert using a lossles codec. (The camera is tape-based and doesn't show up in Finder.)
3. Having archived copy (if there is software that will let me do so for HDV) will negate the need to find the iMovie "version" but if necessary can do so directly.
4. One follow-up questions...if I use iMovies, do I simply use the project or the actual movie for purposes of burning to disc?
5. I agree Calbe...it's different so I'm thinking it's difficult. I am sure I'll get the hang of it once I better understand how the flow works from camera to disc!
AppleMan1958, is there another consumer level app that you can recommend that I can use for archiving HDV?
Thanks for the quick replies.
Hollistonma

HDV to Blu-Ray and DVD questions!

So I shot a bunch of footage that I need to turn into a DVD and Blu-Ray. I have some questions regarding these 2 issues.
First of all, I captured all the footage HDV settings 1440 x 1080. I am using Final Cut Pro 5. I am having some issues with the footage trying to multicam edit. It's making me render it out, which takes about 8 hours for 20 minutes.
What is the best way to go from HDV back to DV so I can put it on DVD? Can I export straight from the HDV footage to mpeg2 or is there a different way I should go about it?
My next question is. For Blu-Ray video, how do I export the HDV footage in FCP so I can use it in Adobe Encore? Any help with these questions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

The easiest way to convert HDV to DV is to use the camera or deck to do this Down Convert.
Edit and export to Compressor for DVD.
Multiclip editing is not something I can help you with as I haven't had any success with it.
For Encore you could export as a self contained .mov then import into Encore. You might want to try working with Compressor first.
Good Luck
Z1

Blu Ray and iMovie

I am about to buy a tremendously overpriced Blu Ray reader/writer from LaCie. While $600 is steep, I've had good luck with their products and top notch quality. However, before I spend the $$$ I want to know if I can create a movie on iMovie and write it to Blu Ray. I don't want to step up to Final Cut if I can avoid it.
I'm not worried about playback as I have a dedicated Blu Ray player attached to my TV. If the disc is written correctly, the player will play it.
Anybody have any information to share about this?
Thanks

Hi Paratrooper82:
Apple currently does NOT support blu ray in Mac OS X. That means you can' burn blu ray disks with any of OS apps or iLife apps. This may change in a future update to Leopard/Tiger.
To burn blu ray, you have to have and use Roxio Toast 9.
I would get at least 1 erasable BD disk to test out you burner, the write once BD-R media is going for $8-17, and that makes for an expensive coaster
"I am about to buy a tremendously overpriced Blu Ray reader/writer from LaCie"
Check this one out:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/MRF8UE5583/
-Robert

Envy 17-J130ea ssd, blu-ray and extra upgrade options

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for