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

took it to the retailer where I bought it today - they're ordering a new one for me and I can keep the old one until the new one's arrived. Great service!

 

@ Zipro

Hello Zipro,

where did you order the SSD Kit from HP (Switzerland?) - in the german HP part shop I can NOT find the Kit ?

Thx

BR

 

Any Canadians out there on the fence, NCIX Canada has the 14-3090CA Spectre on sale for $999 CAD, but there's a very limited supply at that price so don't wait too long.

HP Envy 14-3090CA Ultrabook Spectre 14in I5-2467M 1.6 GHz DDR3 4GB 128GB SSD Beats BT WIN7HP Widi - HP Consumer - A7U17UA#ABC

 

I ordered it from Dectrader (USA). According to HP, it's not available in Switzerland

 

Thanks for your proposals!

Unfortunately no luck yet.
Tried my original SGS2 cable, SGS1 cable, another one (not sure where it comes from ), also used usb cables ordered from amazon (Original Samsung) and today with a HTC Desire data cable with the same result. . .

Will try from time to time to use a different one!

 

Unfortunately, the new Spectre also has the screen rippling problem at the exact same spot. This looks a lot like a serial problem to me. As I couldn't get my money back I ended up exchanging it for a Macbook Air :-/ I had specifically bought the Spectre to finally get rid of Mac OS (well, mainly MS Office for Mac OS X which has been completely unusable to me because it's so darn unstable) and here I am with a Mac again. They just didn't have anything remotely comparable to the Spectre except for the MBA.

Not sure what I'll do - perhaps I'll just sell the Air and try my luck with something else from a different shop (like an Asus Zenbook or the like).

I'm seriously p****d now. I haven't even received my SSD upgrade yet - that one's been on its way for two days now.

 

Same boat! same problem. I'm surprised more people on here aren't noticing the same thing. It's clearly some sort of systemic issue. There's a spot near the edge of the screen on the left hand side which looks like someone's pressing on the LCD screen. only it occurs just with typing or any slight movement of the laptop.

I also am hosed with the SSD from HP parts, I don't think they accept returns. Guess I'l have to sell it on ebay. No way I'm keeping this laptop. HP doesn't even know how to fix it!!!

 

@radjedi

Well I now checked my spectre Display in very detail after you described the issue but there is none so everything still perfect here. So it seems not to be at all ..at least ;(

Greetz

 

@rajedi: Sadly, your experience is par for the course for new HP products; they have quality problems and essentially use customers as "beta testers" and fix things as they "discover" all the mfg quality issues.

But here's the happy side of that coin: if you're patient, and show it on the phone with HP Resolutions, who you should be speaking to if you are about to return your last one, they have the juice to give you all kinds of incentives - primarily $$ (best I ever got was $1,000 - Yes!) to atone for their sins. They'll also give you extended times to return the replacement(s). If you have the time and patience to go through as many as two more, your perseverance will be rewarded. Always works out better when you have another similar notebook to use - or keep using the Spectre you have with the LCD issue, but for longer, until they ship you a replacement that is fine.

I purchased 6 or 7 different HPs (home and business) in 2010-2011 but had to return the average model 2-3 times! But a couple had no issues so the problem ones had long intractable problems. Just so you know I speak from experience. Good luck!

 

Well i'm running linux mint 13 now and do experience some more issues with USB detection. But I don't usually have any of those problems on the non 3.0 port

I'm sure you have tried everything, but like me, you may just figure it out.

BTW, I forgot to ask, or forgot if you've mentioned an updated bios?

 

Looks like this machine is now available with Ivy Bridge and Intel 4000 graphics according to hp.com. Hopefully they also fix that ripple screen problem on the left side many people seem to be having.

Does anyone know of any coupons or expect any to be released for this machine? Sales were hard to come by for the Sandy Bridge Spectre 14 and with all the new ultrabooks coming out, I can't justify paying $1400 + tax for this machine.

 

BIOS is up2date

 

The 14'' spectre hasn't been on HP's website for the past two days - do you think they are discontinuing the line?

 

Still there...search for "envy14" or go here:

HP ENVY 14t-3100 SPECTRE Notebook PC | HP® Official Store

Pricing currently seems off if you try and customize - $1,679.98.
Now has an 8 gig option for memory.

 

Safe to assume with the processor refresh it's going to be at least a few months before I see a coupon for this?

 

Hi all - I just saw BIOS Update F04 on HP Webpage - anyone a clue about the chnage log - I could not find any information HP Site.
Well I really hope HP keeps it alive until WIN8 is there ( Drivers )

 

I'm probably going to pick one up as soon as I see a sale. Keep you're eyes open, HP runs promotions pretty regularly.

 

do you guys think there will be a 25% or 30% or 33% off coupon for the hp spectre 14 anytime soon? I am debating on the envy 17 or the spectre 14 and i would choose the spectre 14 if only it was a lot cheaper. there is a $400 difference for the configuration i put including the 33% off for the 17 right now.. so its kinda tough to buy the spectre when i can get a much powerful machine for cheaper

however i like the gorilla glass and the portability so i hope a coupon comes soon!!!

 

I installed the new BIOS F.04 and I'm happy now. I couldn't connect my Samsung Galaxy with the HP and this Bios resolved this issue.


I have a different question: I installed a second mSata SSD (Crucial M4 64 GB). I know that in order to run it in RAID0 they better be both from the same manufacturer. Still, does anyone had experience with configuring the Envy for RAID0. As far as I see it, there is no option in the bios for RAID0 or anything else. So is it possible?!

A next question would be, wether someone checked out and installed a bigger RAM (8GB)?

Thankx in advance.

I have a very strange problem and hope to find some help.

My HP does not recognize the power plug and don't charge the battery onward from installing Bios F.03 or F.04.

I thought it was resolved with F.04 but it's not.

I already figured out that it has something to do with the HP Power Manager. I install him and the power plug is correctly recognized. I restart the Laptop and it say again: No Power supply pluged in. I install again the Power Manager and it works again.

Very strange but not unusual with HP notebooks. There are other people which have this problem. For me it's unbelievable since I never before encoutered that a software decides whether a machine recognizes the power supply.

Anyone else with this problem?

When I rollback to Bios F.02 than everything works like it should. But I don't want to because than my Samsung Galaxy does not connect to the HP.

Any ideas?!

 

Have you tried installing HP Power Manager using admin rights by right clicking on it?

 

Yes, I did. It didn't help much.

 

@smeegle:
Hi, I just bought a spectre 14 last week and thinking about upgrading my SSD to 256GB.
I called HP Sale department today and they told me that a 128GB SSD for the spectre 14 would cost me more than 600AUD include free shipping fee.
I told them that someone bought a SSD from HP before and it only about 150AUD but they asked for PART NUMBER.
So is it possible for you to tell me the part number of the SSD when you bought it from HP?
Also do you remember which number did you call them?

Thanks in advance!

 

Does anyone know the display panel's model number/part number (I'm referring to the manufacturer's part/model)

If someone can run moninfo on their spectre that would be awesome. Thanks in advance

 

Here you go

HP Pacific Parts Store + Part no 675508-001

You can also see that serial number on box in the orginal pics I posted BTW.

Note, that is the ex tax price so you need to add 10% GST.
Phone number is listed on the page, but I just went through the steps and paid for it online. OTOH you could just call HP Aust in Blackburn Melb on 131347 and ask for spare parts.
Remember you will need to track down a single 2mm screw to hold it place. As long as the thread is correct you can substitute something slightly longer. The screw HP use is an odd length that is hard to source but fortunately a longer one will fit.

 

Thank you very much Smeegle!
I ordered the drive instantly after finished reading your reply! The total included tax is $158.98
I think I have to look for the screw and a screw driver at Burning Warehouse or Mitre10 after received the drive
BTW since this is an ultrabook so do you think if I upgrade it to 8gb ram, will it do anything good?
Also I saw a USB charger on its adapter do you think I can use it to chard an iphone or ipad?

 

@Smeegle.

So I just joined these forums. I actually purchased the Spectre after reading your post that you could upgrade to 256gb SSD.

Has anyone found a way to merge the 2x 128gb ssd's together?

I know this is usually done by RAID 0 but there is no option in the BIOS.

Would be HUGELY greatful if anyone could try and figure this out or already has.

 

this is something that I would also be interest in sweeeeet, please let me know if you receive some useful feedback on your quiery

much appreciated
SB

 

You wont get the screw at Bunnings or Mitre10 as it is an electronics item and not hardware. I'd be trying Smith or Jaycar or M2 x 2mm ebay.

I wouldn't bother with the RAM upgrade. Apparently it a nightmare to access and fit as well.

I use the USB outlet on the power adapter to charge my android phone. It'll work for anything that takes USB charge so you should be fine with your iPhone.

Looked into it and concluded it was not practical. It appears that you can use the SPAN command to join the two SSD's to achieve a combined volume. But the caveat is that SPAN will not work on a system volume or boot volume which rules out the C: drive. So therefore you would have to partition your first SSD into two partitions such as C: for system/boot/OS and E: for data. You could then use the SPAN command to extend the remaining space on SSD1 which you had partitioned as E: onto the second SSD. So you could theoretically end up with a 50GB C: drive for the OS and a 206GB spanned E: drive for your data that combined part of SSD1 and all of SSD2.

I concluded this was not worth the effort because you still need multiple drive letters.

Instead I have set mine up so all the Windows file Libraries live on the second SSD, as in..
E:\My Documents,
E:\My Pictures
E:\My Videos etc.

This way the storage load is spread across both SSDs in a pretty seamless fashion. When the E: drive starts to fill I will pick one of the libraries and move it back to the C:.

 

Hmm...when I look at HP's site, it seems they have updated to Ivy Bridge processors? Or do you mean, completely replaced the Spectre 14 with a new model?

This is such a nice looking laptop. I wish it were a bit lighter. I can't help but wonder to myself, if I spring for 4lbs, should I just go for a bit heavier and get something with discrete graphics? >.<

 

i think he means the spectre XT lol... the spectre 14 is still there with an updated ivy bridge

 

The thing that was confusing to me was his saying that the Spectre 14 wasn't getting an "under the hood overhaul." To me, the change to Ivy Bridge seemed like an under the hood overhaul?

 

The post you quoted about the overhaul was from a month and a half ago. The Ivy bridge update only happened two weeks ago - so there's no way konceptz was talking about that.

 

Oh...>.<

Brilliant job, me. Okay, well there we go then ^_^

 

Ha, no problem.

I'm still waiting to pick up one of the new Ivy Bridge spectres. I plan on waiting to see if there is a 4th of July sale - if not, chances are I'll just bit the bullet and order one.

 

Sounds like a plan. I like the Spectre, but one thing I'm concerned with is that Dell is releasing the XPS 14 which is a bit heavier (~0.7lbs?) but appears as though it will take an ordinary SATA drive, and the display is 400 nits (vs. ~220 on the Spectre?). I was disappointed that it only has a 630M/1GB GDDR5 for a GPU, but I guess that's at least somewhat faster than the HD4000. Probably not enough to make me want to jump from 3 to 4.7, but maybe enough to go from 4 (weight of Spectre) to 4.7.

I like the HP's keyboard better, though. The Spectre also just has rather high coolness factor.

 

The envy has me sold on its looks, so I'm willing to sacrifice a bit from performance/weight to get a nicer looking system.

Amazon hasn't listed the new model so far (14t-3100) but they still have the previous version. I'm crossing my fingers it will pop up since Amazon offers discounts more often than HP.com.

 

Do your Envy Spectre have HP Wireless audio installed? Mine doesn't work. HP support says that I didn't buy the option so I don't have the hardware. I think it is supposed to be a standard feature. Do you see it in your Device Manager? I don't.

HP ENVY 14t-3000 SPECTRE CTO Notebook PC
Purchased March 2012

 

Hi everyone, thinking of buying the Envy Spectre 14, and was wondering if there is an option to fit an OCZ Agility 3 SSD drive, which is 9mm thick (and not 7mm)?

I know that on Lenovo T430s it wont fit the main area for HDD but you can put it instead of the optical drive. Is there such option here (or anything like that)?

Thanks

 

The HP Spectre has only msata SSD's

Cracking Open HP Envy 14 Spectre: Removing the SSD | 39 of 94

 

Hi all

Have any of you HP ENVY SPECTRE 14 owners experienced screen problems?
I have a white hue of approx 1cm wide constantly present across the bottom of the screen and up the left border? It is a constant problem present in BIOS too, considerably noticeable during movie playback or black screen saver. Photo attached.

Feedback appreciated, thanks.

 

im sold as well just waiting for a discount if anything.. 20%-33% would be real nice

 

I recently ordered a Spectre, maxxed out from the factory with I7 IvyBridge, Intel HD 4000 graphics, 8 gigs RAM and 256 gig SSD, 2 year maintenance plan and 2 day shipping. $2300 later, and it is scheduled to be shipped out on July 10. Yep, a lot of duckies for an ultrabook/laptop but it's got the features I need the most, plus some extras that set it apart from the rest.

I spent a couple months comparing laptops and ultrabooks and decided the Spectre had them all beat when it comes to looks. Laptop reviews and benchmarks weren't so encouraging for its performance though, but those tests were with with an I5 and HD3000 graphics.

I saw a review on YouTube showing a Spectre with I5 and HD3000 graphics playing F.E.A.R 2 and the new SkyRim without any problems and with relatively little heating compared to other laptops, so I'm very optimistic that the Specture I ordered, I7 IvyBridge with HD4000 graphics, will be able to handle gaming on medium settings which is good enough for me. I mostly got it for the good reviews of its keyboard and ease of typing (I do a lot of writing), for internet, music, movies (via external DVD drive) and occasional games.

Also, I wanted a good screen to use with the LEAP Motion device when it is released later this year.

Sony S was the closest candidate, but didn't make the cut because it's back hinge of the screen covers the heat exhaust vents. Very poor design there, and so much plastic everywhere...cheap looking. Samsung didn't make the cut due to many customer complaints about screen flickering due to the ambient light sensor and also high levels of fan noise. Other ultrabooks, even with discrete graphics (Asus UX32VD and Lenovo U410) didn't make the cut because brushed metal, though strong, is ugly and easy to get dirty, some of them did not have backlit keys or their screen were sub-par to the Spectre's 1600 x 900.

When it arrives, I will post some information on arrival condition, first impressions, performance and other interesting stuff. and pix.

 

Awesome! I look forward to your review. I am currently thinking about getting this model (Ivy Bridge version), so I'll be interested to see what you think of it.

 

i am waiting for your review as well!

 

I have upgraded my spectre 14 and want to share my findings with you

1. Upgrade - RAM:

From 4GB to 8GB.

Used module:
Corsair Vengeance SO-DIMM 8GB PC3-12800S CL10-10-10-27 (DDR3-1600) (CMSX8GX3M1A1600C10)

The installation was quite a pain, used the following link to get to the RAM:
HP Spectre Teardown: Eye-catching, but overpriced ultrabook | TechRepublic

I skipped the part where the screen is to be taken out.
It took me a good hour for everything, since the RAM is located on the backside of the motherboard... quite troublesome...

2. Additonal SSD (256GB)

This week I installed an additional SSD.

Bought a 6Gb/s SSD to verify if the controller is SATA II or SATA III.
The result is that it's unfortunately a SATA II, but still the new SSD is faster than the Samsung.

This is the new one:
Crucial m4 SSD 256GB, mSATA 6Gb/s (CT256M4SSD3)

The installation was in comparison to the RAM installation really easy. I didn't received a screw as well, just used one of the 8 Battery screws for it

One issue I noticed during the upgrade is, that the spectre can only boot from the primary SSD (the one which is already built in - on the bottom).

And btw. my SGS2 USB issue has been resolved with the BIOS version 0.4

I attached the AS SSD Tests.

 

@eddiedskim

I have ordered the 256GB, because I won't need more, since I more often use my desktop PC.

There should be no problem to use 2 Crucial SSDs (guess the 512GB will work too ).
I have used Clonezilla to clone the original ssd (windows) on-the-fly to the new 256GB SSD and then installed linux on the 128GB. I can boot windows from the 128GB linux disk via Grub.

I had the issue that the disk letters weren't correct afterwards (C:\ was F:\), but I was at least able to start the task manager and execute regedit to modify the drive letters to the original and everything worked after that.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE -> SYSTEM -> MountedDevices

 

----------------

I'm relieved to hear that it is possible to use another SSD for the vacant slot. Is there any more literature about this? I dont remember HP advertizing that the Spectre 14 had 2 SSD slots.
I'm assuming I can do a fresh windows install on the Crucial 512GB SSD, no?

 

Wow! HP just shipped out my new Spectre... 11 days BEFORE the original estimated date of shipment! This means they custom built my computer in 6 days! I should have it in just a few days!

 

Wait a sec.....Putting pants back on again....Tracking number indicates it's coming from.....Chongqing, China??