*HP ENVY 14 SPECTRE (3XXX series) Owners Lounge*

I've most of the software/apps/drivers installed (after I did a clean Windows 7 ultimate install), now except for the NFC driver stack/app, hopefully it's available soon.

can somebody confirm, when you turn the jog dial, is there a volume graphic display on the screen like the old envy?

 

YES. Am animation of the jog wheel revolving.

 

Ive done some research,
I am working on getting my hands on two
Samsung PM830 256GB MZMPC256HBGJ-0000

and if I cant I found these also work
RunCore 120GB Pro V mSATA 6Gbp RCP-V-T501B-MC

As for the ram I am looking at
Crucial 8GB 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Laptop Memory Model CT102464BF1339
This is due to the lower voltage 1.35 vs 1.5 this will help save a bit of battery life

Let me know if there are any questions

 

Is anyone else having problems with the clickpad. Mine just stops working randomly.

 

No clickpad problems here, have you tried reloading the synaptics touchpad drivers? If that doesn't solve it, then I would wager you have a faulty unit and to send it back for a replacement.

@jcharp01; Thank you for the info, but I was just curious how you came to find out if the PM830 drives would work with our envys? Did you contact HP about it or are they relatively the same drives that come with the Spectre from factory, or something?

Thanks again, I appreciate the info!

 

I am not sure if the Samsung drives will work
As they are only OEM right now for the mSATA (impossible to get unless you know somebody who sells Samsung storage devices to manufactures)...

I did contact RunCore however and they said that their drives will work in the Spectre, now who knows if he is telling the truth...

And as usual hp tech support knows nothing....

However, I believe that if the ASUS Zenbook can use the PM830 mSATA then the Spectre should be able to as well... either way if we only have mSATA II both of the drive I mentioned will work in mSATA II and mSATA III.

Now does anyone know a Samsung wholesaler

 

Thanks aak1992 The drivers on the HP support page appear to be newer then what the Envy shipped with. It seems to be fine now. Luckily Buy.com has a very generous 45 day return policy in case it happens again

 

Can anyone recommend a good laptop screwdriver kit that has all the special type of screwheads required?

 

Anyone tried installing Linux Mint, Ubuntu, Debian, or any other Linux distro on the Spectre yet?

 

Not that I don't admire your ambition, but the Spectre seems more like a pretty-boy (which I happen to covet, solely for its looks!) than a serious, practical programmer's computer. Not that programmers don't have a sense of style, but I don't see them as the types to pay $400 extra for lots of glass - great screen, though.

 

Anyone know if HP is going to refresh the Spectre once Ivy Bridge becomes available?

 

Yes they probably will, if they have any sense... However this will probably not happen till late Q4 -2012 early Q1 - 2013 this is due to the the ivy bridges not shipping till mid June/July. As it seems major PC manufactures are always behind the 8-ball by 4-6 months.

 

With the I7 upgrade, an SSD, and an upgrade to 8gm RAM, this isn't exactly the worst machine for development work. That said, I won't be using this for development. It's for webdesign and security, with a preference for portability -- which is why I decided on this laptop and it's excellent screen. I use Linux Mint as my productivity OS, and my intention is to install Win 8 Consumer Preview (then the commercial version) on on a virtual machine running Photoshop with 4 to 6 of my 8gb of RAM. When using Photoshop, I won't have a need for more than 2gb dedicated to Mint as my host OS.

These days a lot more than just developers are opting to run Linux. Linux Mint is user friendly enough for my grandparents, and the only legitimate exception to this is OS installation, which I would never expect them to do on their own for any OS in the first place.

So, that said, anyone have any experience with the Spectre and Linux? Hardware issues?

 

Since this is the first time I've ordered an HP machine, I was wondering if it is normal for them to charge you credit card for something that hasn't shipped, and won't ship for weeks.

How is it acceptable that HP charged my credit card on 2/27 and gave me a ship date of 3/12 for my Envy Spectre 14? Not only that, today (3/13) at 8pm, I receive an email saying they are having delays and now my order will ship on or before 3/20.

By the time I receive my machine, it will be roughly 3-4 weeks from the date they charged my card, which means I will have to pay off the credit card before I can even utilize the 21 day trial period.

 

Yes its normal. Don't worry, your 21 day period doesn't start until you receive the unit (they track it based on delivery).

Also, look at the flipside... why would they build a laptop without you paying for it first? I wouldn't if I were them either. No offense, of course .

 

Sorry. Didn't mean to make you work so hard for your answer? Thought it was more rhetorical rather than persona.

Hell if I know.

 

They could have placed a "hold" on my credit card for the full amount instead right? Also, these first Spectre 14s are hardly customizable. You can't upgrade the RAM and you have a choice of processor and/or hard drive upgrade, so they basically have 4 different configurations they can have pre-assembled and ready to ship.

In any case, with the Asus Zenbook Ivy Bridge updated machines coming out soon, and a Spectre Envy update within <6 months or so, I selected the onlilne chat option to get a refund.

The customer service agent offered me another $100 credit on top of the discount I was already getting (to bring the price down to $1144 with tax, but still not worth it in my mind). I declined, but thought some of you others here might take them up on that offer if you are still waiting for your order to ship.

 

I just wanted to share a little success story with you guys I got really lucky after a tough time with HP. I was one of the many who received a envy 15 with usb dents and track pad scuffs back when it came out, and i ended up sending the second one back as well. A shame too because I loved the warmer tones of the screen that nobody but me seems to like lol. Anyways I decide to give hp another shot and preorder a Spectre on Feb 8th. Fully spaced out with i7 and 256 it cost me 1897.99 USD. after my academy discount as no coupons were available. It got delayed of course and I was emailed a 15% off coupon code on a future purchase. A few nights later I'm browsing on hp.com and see the Spectre was drooped in price by a couple hundred dollars, i called customer service and asked them if i could apply my coupon to my current order and they said no I would have to order again. I was pretty mad i had to drop another thousand or so, so I didn't order it right away. A couple hours later at like 4 am the price of the spectre dropped again by another 100 dollars! At that point i was like OK i need to do this now. So I spaced out my model again and after my academy discount and coupon I got my same 1897.99 model for 1236.99,( now with free 2 day as my new order has been delayed again.) I couldn't believe it when my order was processed and sent to the factory. Anyways I just wanted to share with you guys I was so excited

 

Had my spectre for awhile now. Everything perfect except the led to the power light that doesnt light up which i guess isn't a completely bad thing since I dont like too many lights. I managed to upgrade the ram using an 8gb crucial value stick from newegg, which is a pain. I found the manual on google's cache of the old link before but its not completely accurate. A lot of little screws to be careful of some are torx.

 

Thanks for the heads up! Any real difference with the 8GB memory stick? Would you recommend the upgrade as a necessity or did you do it for specialized programs you needed to run? Just curious as to whether the 4GB stick in here is limiting the machine at all.

 

Sorry, coming across from a different subforum (Alienware/Dell, please don't kill me ), but would anyone be kind enough to look up the display panel's model number? I believe it can be found under:
Device Manager
-->Monitors
---->Generic PnP Monitor(or whatever is there)
------>Right click, properties
-------->Details tab
---------->Select Hardware Ids in drop-down menu(should be second one from top)

Thanks so much! I'm considering swapping out my crappy laptop screen with the Spectre's, and it would help me greatly if I can get hold of the screen's model number

 

Anyone know how many usable mini-PCIe slots the Spectre has? Surprised to find out it has user-replaceable RAM.

 

I don't notice any real difference. Even before the upgrade, multitasking was as fast. Im just obsessive and wanted to do it. I doubt you'd need it unless you do graphic design or use a lot of virtual machines. I probably wouldn't recommend unless you have a lot of patience. I actually did it without removing the system board and top cover completely as I couldn't figure out how to remove 1 ribbon cable since it wasn't a pull out or zif connector and didn't want to break anything. A lot of stuff is modular but so many small wires and ribbon cables and like 20+ screws.

 

Well, the value under the hardware ids is "MONITOR\AUO103E"

 

Interesting...it's manufactured by AUO. Thanks for the info aak1992!

 

Congratulations! And thanks for posting a good-news story. Usually people only post their experiences with computer makers when they are bad, leading others to think they are always bad. Getting the Spectre all tricked out for $1,237 takes it out of "luxury" pricing and puts it at mid-premium (I'm making these terms up!) at most. Using the MBA as a starting point, your Spectre is over $400 less for the same configuration ($1,699, I think).

How do you like it?

 

I am returning my Spectre. The trackpad randomly quits working. I have to either restart it or use a bluetooth mouse. I considered sending to HP for repair since I got it for such a good price ($1250) but It just left a bad taste in my mouth. Its a shame because its such a beautiful laptop with probably the best screen ever on a windows laptop. I'll just wait for the new 9 series to come out

 

Didi you try updating the synaptics drivers?

I don't know why you wouldn't want to just send it in for repairs since it's a fairly small issue (compared to all the other things that could go wrong with a notebook).

 

I am loving my new Spectre. No problems with the unit so far. Only issue I have is the neoprene sleeve arrived with the stitching falling out. On both sides of the part you flip over the end to keep the unit in, the stitching was undoing itself when I unboxed it. has anyone else seen this problem?

 

Yeah I had the exact same problem with my sleeve. Luckily, my girlfriend knows how to fix those things so I got it re-stitched with red trim =D

 

Yeah my sleeve was fraying at the ends when it stretched. I put a little gorrila glue at the ends, so far holding well and not too ugly.

 

You folks sure didn't post many pics in this thread.

 

Gee seems like it a common problem. Thanks for letting me now I am not alone. Must be happening when the sleeve is fitted at the factory and after any quality control checks are done. Because I could see the fraying while the unit was still packed in the box when I first opened it!
Getting someone who can sew to fix it sounds like a good solution. Until HP fix the fault a replacement sleeve will probably do the same thing.

 

Next Q.

Are the HP recovery files portable?

I plan to use the HP recovery media creator to backup the recovery image onto a 16gb USB stick. Says I can only do this once.

Once the process is complete can I copy whatever is on the USB stick onto my NAS box and expect it to be something I can use later? By this I mean, does the media creator perhaps format the USB stick in some special way that means only it will work? Or can the files be recovered at a later date from my NAS, placed on a USB and used at the point I actually need them.

PS I did read elsewhere of methods to get around the once only backup media creation restriction but this not really what I am asking.

 

I loved it until I had to return the first one and I am expecting my new one later this week

Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk

 

Any particular parts you wanted pics of? If you'd like I could get some general shots, but I have a crappy cell camera haha. Just let me know.

 

You could always check out the Spectre previews and reviews online. They have tons of pictures.

HP Envy 14 Spectre review -- Engadget

 

I am in the process of setting up my Spectre. I am curious about 4 of the 5 factory partitions.



My unit has a 128GB SSD which is really only 120GB.
I guess the System & HP_Tools partitions are ones the system needs to function. They are tiny so wont be stuffing with them. I intend to delete the Recovery partition. But the 4GB "unnamed partition" has me curious.

Temptation is to delete it and regain the space, but I am guessing it is there for a reason. Does anyone know what it is for?

So far I have created recovery media on a 16 GB USB memory stick. I have used acronis TI to backup the four partitions apart from Drive C:. In this way I figure I can use acronis to restore the recovery partition after I delete it. Or use the USB if thing really go bad. Also will have to work out how to image the usb stick onto my NAS so I can clone it - if I lose it.

Then of course I will run a separate backup regime on the C drive.

But I digress... Any thoughts on the 4GB "unnamed partition" ?

 

The 4 gig partition is used for Intel Rapid Start, it makes for super fast resumes from sleep and functionally replaces traditional hibernation. The contents of memory are written to the SSD and the system powers down when it enters S3 deep sleep.

 

Hi, I just did a clean install and I forgot to save my Original Wallpaper. I really like the wallpaper. Could anybody here share the wallpaper.

Thanks in advance.

 

Aha. Thanks for the explanation. best not be touching it then. But I guess there is no reason to back it up either.

ndestruktclan the wallpaper is too large to post on this forum as an attachment. PM me an email address and will send it to you.

Geez the fans are loud on this thing. Wife has a MBP and says she has never heard the fan run. whereas I am sitting here listening to a jet takeoff every 10 minutes.

 

You can disable coolsense if you dont like the fan nose and set the fans to passive on battery

 

What do you mean by passive?

It is not a solution as far a I can see. It simply tells the fan schedule not to consider the accelerometer and use temperature alone. So that it wont sense it might be on your lap. Or to put it another way, coolsense being on or off has zero effect on the Fan if the unit is stationary.


It'll still run like a jet engine if it thinks its hot regardless of the Coolsense/nonsense setting.

Fan noise is definitely the main bugbear for me with this computer. Having two fans and the associated harmonics probably doesn't help. Wonder if they ran one at a different rpm to the other, if it would not whine as much.

 

What would it take to make the volume knob operate in reverse sense?

Several people have commented that it works backwards and they expect anti clockwise to increase volume. Tend to agree myself.

Edit... Just realised there is already an option to do just this. It is in the Beats Audio settings. The last option under Advanced Settings - in case anyone else is looking for it.

Happy now cos the reverse sense vol knob was bugging me a little

 

I would love to know the actual lcd screen the envy 14 spectre uses.

I am hoping that I can put it in my 8460p that came with an unbearably awful display. Good 14" slim 1600x900 screens are hard to come by and this computer lit up my hope.

Someone was kind enough to check in software it uses AUO103E. I thank you for that. Sadly, however, that was not enough information to find out the actual display.

If anybody ever feels like opening the spectre. Please let me know the answer .

Thank you.

 

HP is selling this part for $282. Would be interesting to see if it fits in the 8460p/w.
675507-001

 

The guide is available again. HP Envy 14 Spectre Maintenance and Service Guide Grab a copy while it is available.

 

Ah thank you! I see the SSD has a part number now. 675508-001 is what the replacement part number is coming up as. On HP's parts site they are listing it for $92! If that is actually the 128GB SSD for the spectre, that is one helluva deal!

 

Indeed. I am in Australia and they list it here for $144 which is US$152! Rang HP au now and it is on back order & will take about 3 weeks to get. If you are going to investigate getting one, let me know what you come up with as I am keen to get one too. See if they are on back order over your way or in stock for immediate shipping?

 

Thank you!

Quite on the pricey side though, and it seems I have to order through an HP service partner to get the part. They don't sell it through HP in Sweden.

And being AUO, the actual panel should hopefully not be all that expensive?