HP Spectre 13T-3000

I'm surprised that I couldn't find any mention of the HP Spectre 13T-3000 anywhere on these forums. Seems like a pretty solid machine that can be configured for about $1300 with i7-4500U, 8GB, 256GB SSD. Am I missing something? Just no interest?

HP Spectre 13t-3000 Ultrabook (ENERGY STAR) | HP® Official Store

 

Hi! First time poster, long time lurker of this site.

I actually ordered mine on Thursday...haven't bought a laptop without checking reviews before so I hope it works out.. I saw the preview for this one back in September and was considering the Sony Vaio Pro 13, Yoga Pro 2, Asus UX301LA and the upcoming Haswell refresh of the Dell XPS13.

For me, I just wound up loving this design and the HP Control Zone touch pad as I don't want to swipe the screen much. Coming from an Asus right now, I was leaning toward the UX301LA but I know it's going to be closer to $1800. It looks like the XPS 13 won't have an sd slot which is mandatory for me and honestly, I'm just not into the Lenovo. It's cheap and looks alright though, sounds like there's a major issue with the display colors.

Anyway, there is at least some interest in the HP Spectre 13. Interestingly, the very first day it was listed online there was an option for a 2560 x 1440 panel for an extra $60, now it's only 1920 x 1080. That didn't affect my decision though as that wasn't important to me

 

It sounds like we are in similar boats. Your short list is pretty close to mine.

I would have pulled the trigger on the Yoga Pro 2 a couple days ago when I saw it at Best Buy if it were not for the horrible display colors on the display unit (yellow=dirty green, reds=orange).

I have an older Studio 15 that is being replaced and I have been leaning towards the new XPS13. This is the first that I have heard about a lack of a SD slot. That's a deal killer for me too. I'm glad you said something, because I would have just assumed it was included.

The UX301LA looks great, but it's going to be about $500 more than the XPS13 or this 13T-3000. The Sony Flip 13 is also interesting but the poor reviews on the Vaio Pro make me skeptical.

If the 2560 x 1440 option was available now, I would pull the trigger on this immediately. I'd love just a little more screen real estate mainly for viewing big Excel workbooks.

I'd love to hear your thoughts once it has been delivered.

 

Here's my story. I seen this on HP website on the 9/16 late at night. I never know or read about that model until 9/16. When I on HP website, Immediately started to build out the configuration and I maxed it out. At that time, they had the QHD 2550x1440 screen, which was important (I was going to hold out for the Ausus

Here's my story. I seen this on HP website on the 9/16 late at night. I never knew, heard or read about this model until 9/16. When I went on HP's website, I immediately started to build out the configuration and I maxed it out. At that time, they had the QHD 2550x1440 screen option, which was important (I was going to hold out for the Ausus UX301). So I max out my configuration and added to my cart. But I wanted to think about it and do more resaech before I finailized my order. So I tried to look for some reviews but there wasn't many, So after two hours of trying to find some reviews I just closed my laptop (while my max 13t-3000 was still in my cart) and went to sleep to think about it over night.

The next morning, I said I am going to pull the trigger, so I when through the configuration once again (forgetting that I have a saved cart) and to my surprise the QHD 2550x1440 option wasn't there, only the 1920x1080; I was upset and wasn't going to order it. Just when I was about to leave the page, I looked to my right and I seen that I have an item that was in the saved cart, so I looked in my cart it was the max out 13t-3000 that I configured the night before, with the 2550x1440 option; Immediately finalized my order. So my order is currently in production and is due to ship on 11/4, so I am pretty happy. I hope it feels and looks as good as the Asus UX31A the new UX301. Below is my Spectre 13T-3000 configuration:

• Windows 8.1 Pro 64
• 4th generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4500U(1.8GHz,4MB L3 Cache)+ Intel(R) HD Graphics(For 8GB Memory)
• 13.3-inch diagonal Vivid QHD Infinity LED-backlit Display (2560x1440) Touchscreen
• Onboard 8GB DDR3 System Memory
• 256GB SSD
• No Additional Office Software
• Security Software Trial
• 4 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
• No Internal DVD or CD Drive
• Backlit Keyboard
• Webcam and Microphone
• 802.11 AC WLAN and Bluetooth(R)
• USB Ethernet Adapter

 

This looks like a potentially great laptop at the price. Hard to believe that there are no reviews of it out there.

 

Yes, I will definitely report when it's delivered. Not sure why this one is so elusive online. I've been a little uneasy with buying my first HP(I've heard good thing about the Elitebooks at least), but this really does look like a high quality ultrabook. I've read up quite a bit about this and everyone who's handled one said it felt like a high quality premium design.

I still think they'll bring back the 2560x1440 panel though. I'm betting there's a supply issue and they just want to get these out the door now.

Also, don't forget to use SVD8492 to get 5% if you order. Sadly, this turned out to be a better discount than my employee purchase program price! Either way, for a loaded ultrabook, ~$1300 is a great price.

 

I made a late night impulse buy on the Spectre 13T-3000 and was immediately surprised that HP has no mention of this model in their (at least North American) support site.
Usually I like to see what hardware vendors (drivers) are included on a particular model, and this surprised me, usually that isn't a great sign of anything as HP loves to meld models together, especially as it pertains to the hardware within each model.

This was a complete impulse buy, as I am fortunate to have several other excellent pieces of hardware in my collection. I am looking to replacing my 2009 11" mac air with this as my daily carry unit; i doubt it will replace my HP EliteBook 2530p in terms of utility and function, without an NIC that would be a tall order. I also have several Compaq NC62XX's I cannot seem to part ways with, all because of those excellent serial ports! Those are the only lappy's I currently have charged and operational, I have several stacks of classics that I cannot part ways with either... I only throw the garbage away!

I liked the copper color, honestly its a great idea.
I liked the SD slot, that is simply a requirement on a low volume storage ultralight.
I liked the 'idea' of the touch screen, but i do not believe that i will use it much.
I liked the 'idea' of the huge touchpad, but i honestly hope the 'untested' 'revolutionary' 'new' thing doesn't suck.

I fear the PWR adapter might be somewhat a PITA, as this amazon listing states, most all of HP has no clue what model works with these Spectre laptops.
I fear that this model may bring with it the BAD OMEN of a high failure rate; as one of my clients with a medium sized fleet of 14" Spectre's have had a very high failure rate.
The failures I mention were mostly ALL related to SSD with no correlation as to a particular size; merely failures. Despite having this knowledge I still bought one!

I am excited, and I am glad I found a niche with others who also took the plunge!

Let us know if anyone finds the HP Driver page, I will attempt to find those as soon as I get the unit.

My intentions are to reformat and re-install as soon as i open it. in fact, I will re-install several dozen times, as that is mostly all I do....

thanks for your time.
hack6500

 

Here is a pretty good video of the HP Spectre 13, it is the best view of the laptop I've seen since I've been doing my research. HP Spectre 13 Ultrabook with WQXGA screen and Intel "Haswell" hands on - YouTube

Also, Did anyone else luck out and get the QHD 2550x1440 Display option before they took it down?

This laptop has a lot of potential, and like everyone else on this forum, I generally do tons of research before I bite the bullet. I only pulled the trigger because I the opportunity to get the QHD option. At worst case scenario, I have 21 days to return if it is half-baked.

Lots of luck to all early purchasers!

 

Another Video Review of what I believe to be the 13t- 3000 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VuDqOlbu_4

unfortunately i did not get the 2550x1440, i wonder if it was a mistake, as your video indicates that the US market will get the lower resolution model. I think the real question is... did that upgrade actually cost anything, or was it simply a configuration mistake in the config listing. shipping will soon send it your way to be inspected! good luck!

 

I purchased the ultrabook on day 1 from HP. I have been waiting for the new HP Spectre Ultrabooks all summer long! When the tech blogs announced this Ultrabook in September, a couple of them stated it would be available October 16th so I marked my calendar and ordered the first night

I'm kind of disappointed I'm not seeing a lot of 14" ultrabooks. HP came out with a Spectre last year and put a 14" screen inside a 13.3" chassis and it is really nice! Oh well, 13.3" will have to do for me

I too went to look at the specs on HP's website like a day later and noticed the QHD 2550x1440 screen has been removed. I started getting worried and was thinking "HP better not send me the default screen!"

So do you guys think think this was a mistake on HP's part? Maybe supply issue? In 1 of the YouTube videos, it said the U.S. was going to only be getting the 1920x1080 screen. So maybe this was a mistake on HP's part to post it on the website?

My ultrabook is expected to ship 11/1.

Oh, and if you guys call HP directly, they can get you a better deal than that 5% coupon posted above by someone I was able to get a total of $125 off.

 

hack6500 -- Yes, you may be correct in that fact the QHD option was only suppose to be for Non-US Countries, which is why they took it down. The upgrade did cost, can't remember exactly how much, but I believe it was around $70. My laptop is currently in production and they sent me my order confirmation yesterday outlining my configuration.

Well only time will tell. Either I will get as phone call/email stating they can't build my configuration because the QHD option was a mistake. Or they will ship it but only with a FHD or they will ship it with the QHD option as I configured it and life will be great. But I will 100% agree with you, it was mostly likely a mistake. Or it could be simply a supply issue and they will eventually add the option back????

 

The upgrade cost for QHD was $60. I remember it very well since I almost chose that option, but I didn't end up choosing it simply because I don't have much use for it....now I kind of wish I could have bought it just to resell! Wish I knew about calling in to get a better deal. I wound up with the 5% off and then used FatWallet to get an additional 3% off so about $100 off overall. Not too bad!

 

The QHD screen offered on the US website was not a mistake. It was taken down due to a glut of orders which depleted their supply and will appear as soon as that issue is fixed. For proof, the ship date on October 16 for any configuration was November 1 and now it is several days later for any configuration. HP is not Apple -- they don't automatically build 1 million+ of their devices. Several PPs claim to have ordered the QHD (I'm assuming in the U.S. though I could be wrong). If it was a mistake, they would have been contacted and/or their orders would have been canceled. Also, in one of the videos the reviewer states that it has "a 512 GB hard drive if you want." I haven't seen that offered on any site, yet, because I would most likely get it if it was available. My point being, things are still fluid.

Anyway, my hesitation in ordering stems from the QHD vs. FHD and their effect on the system. HP offers two CPUs: i5-4200 or i7-4500, and both have the same GPU -- Intel HD 4400. Wouldn't getting the QHD completely over-tax the unit? Even if you chose the i7, I still don't think its 8-10% improvement on the i5 is going to help push all those extra pixels, and would likely be murder on the battery life. I'd like to get the QHD as soon as it reappears, and for $60 it's a no-brainer, but not at the risk of overheating, throttling, 5 hours of battery versus 7-9, etc. Anybody have any thoughts on this?

 

Muffin Man - I don't think anyone said with certainty that HP took the qHD option down because it was a mistake, everyone thus far was simply speculating.

You are correct that the qHD option can/may tax your system, which is why you have to configure the i7-4500U with 8GB memory, but it will not tax by much. The question becomes what are you going to be doing with this PC? Light-to-Medium video editing would be fine. Also the i7-4500U has another 1MB cache and the 4400GPU is tweaked to run just a little faster, albeit not by much. At worst case scenario you can change the resolution to FHD if needed. So for $60, it was a no brainier (whether you need it or not) and will definitely help out with the reseller value. As far a the heat, yes it may get a little warm, but the Haswell CPU suppose to be better in that area (Especially the "U") and I know it depends on the design of the laptop. Also, remember, these are fitted with SSD not yesteryear's Hard-drives, so that will help out with the heat as well.

But the jury is still out on the qHD/i7-4500U combination. Until one of us get it and play around with it, neither one of us simply don't know how this combination will work, whether we get a Dell, ASUS or HP we just have to wait for the verdict. BTW it got my system fully loaded for $1426 /w tax.

 

Personally, battery life was more important to me for light duty work, so FHD and i5 is what I chose but still got 8gb of memory and 256gb hard drive, wifi AC. My total was $1252 w/tax.

Has anyone seen the "premium" leather sleeve yet? From every video I've seen showing this model off, they always highlight the fact there's a custom designed sleeve for it. Supposed to be $90 though, but it's easy to find a big accessory discount.

 

Thanks for that. It's pretty much what I expected. If QHD, then i7 and 8 GB ram are musts; if FHD, any config will do.

 

Another HP Video speaking about the 'luxary goods' aspects of the new Spectre's: HP Spectre 13 X2 & HP Spectre 13 Ultrabook (Haswell) - YouTube

That Spectre 13 X2 just reminds me of my old HP tc1100, seems HP finally realized the keyboard needs more weight, as my tc1100 was quite easy to knock over when just sitting ony my desk! A side note, i pulled my tc1100 out and attempted a win8 install back when it came out, but unfortunately it knew what i was trying to do and denied installation (some tc1100's have cpu's which would allow win8 installation to work). I am awaiting a 8.1 iso to try again, i would love to see win8 on that relic; for no other reason than just because.

Others may not agree, but the QHD was not one of items I am much interested in, FHD is more than fine for my aging eyes. I am more than happy with 1920x1080 for a desktop resolution; and gaming even at that resolution on this GPU is plain silly; lite gaming at 1280x1024 will be my target to evaluate this machine.

Even so most of the time I will be working with 1024x768 virtual desktop consoles, allowing for a healthy amount of leftover screen real estate.

I had read back in 2008-09 about how Apple designed and invested in a special manufacturing process to create the unbelievably thin Apple Air aluminium chassis; in this investment Apple negotiated a 5 year exclusivity on this type of product; it would seem that contract has come to an end; this chassis looks very similar!

Lets hope this HP Spectre doesn't use pentelobe screws!

I want to know who is supplying the SSD drives.. thats what I will be worried about.

It would seem this site says the Brown leather sleeve will be available in November! He also has a small writeup on the Spectre 13t-3000: HP Spectre 13 ultrabook is as thick as an ink pen with Haswell power - SlashGear

 

I am a little upset my card was already charged. The charge came on 10/18 and my shipping date isn't until 11/4, so at 5 - 7 days, I likely won't see it until the week of 11/11.

I don't know if this is normal for HP, but it's going to be at least three full weeks between when my card was charged and when I have the laptop in hand. They should have just kept a temporary authorization on it and then charged it when it shipped.

 

It's funny that no one did start this thread earlier because I was scouring the site looking to see if there was any interest in it as well. Glad to see that it was started!

Seems like everyone who is looking at this laptop is pretty much on the same boat - i was looking at the Yoga Pro 2, Samsung AB9+ and the Acer Aspire S7-392. However, none seemed to match the potential for the HP with the specs on pricing. I was also going to pre-order, but the lack of the higher-res screen stopped me. was very confused as to why this option was taken off otherwise i would have already ordered it. I currently have an HP Envy 15 (2nd Gen) that has served me well for 3 years plus, and haven't had any issues with this (except for the trackpad i broke trying to repair it...ah well). looking forward to hearing more from early purchasers!

 

Generally, once it goes into production HP charged your CC. I know Dell hold an authorization and doesn't fully charged your CC until the order has been shipped.

The 5-7 Days is a padding because it comes from China. Hopefully it gets build and shipped earlier then its expected date

 

I just ordered mine too with the I7. The 1080 was the only option i saw, I even think I remember seeing something about the TPM if you bought Win 8 Pro. Anyway my date is 11/20/2013.

 

RichTJ99 - Lot of luck! Question: What is TPM? As I ordered the Windows Pro.

 

TPM is for the windows 7/8 bitlocker encryption. Not something I am likely to use anyway but oh well.

 

Here is another short review of the HP Spectre 13T, in case no one have seen it. Newest HP Spectre 13 Ultrabook Has Extended Trackpad | Ubergizmo

 

Well, I just ordered the base model which fits my use profile perfectly. I considered OP's list of alternates as well, also a few Fujitsu models. This one seems to be the ideal for me. I had an Envy X2 early on but returned it because the Atom just didn't have enough power. The Envy was a beautiful machine and build quality was excellent, but the Atom just didn't cut it. HP's return policy is excellent.as well, so no worries about a return if things don't work as expected. My only concern at this time is battery life. I want at least 7.5 hours. Sales rep told me he thought the battery was 58 Wh, which should be enough for a Haswell processor and my use profile to give 7.5 hours.

They are still giving a 5% discount. Only problem is that they charge sales tax, which ended up about break even on total cost.

Ship date November 20.

Regards, Jim

Edit: Just an update on battery capacity. As I mentioned above, a sales tech told me he thought the battery capacity was 58 Wh. I found a maintenance manual on the HP site and it lists battery capacity as 51 Wh. I think battery life will be marginal for me, but not a disaster. 51 Wh is certainly better than the 37 Wh Sony puts in the Pro 13.

Regards, Jim

 

Hack6500 - I believe I found a picture of the brown bag. Look at this link and at the bottom of the page you will see a picture of of 13T-3000 laying on top of a brown leather stitched sleeve. I am not saying this is the famous brown leather bag that is suppose to be coming out in November, but I would suspect it is because the included video and pictures are from the HP marketing team... Only November will tell. Here's the link HP Spectre 13 Now Comes in Ultrabook or Convertible Configurations

 

Does anyone know if there is a usb/vga cable? My KVM only supports VGA.

EDIT:

Mini DisplayPort | Thunderbolt to VGA Adapter - Monoprice.com

or this


Mini DisplayPort | Thunderbolt® to VGA ACTIVE Adapter - Monoprice.com

Would that work?

 

HP Finally Added a support page for the 13t-3000 : HP Spectre 13t-3000 CTO Ultrabook | HP® Support

What worries me... that critical alert is the only item of interest, and its the FIRST ITEM... oh no!
Next look at the User Guides documentation section and you will find ONE item: HP Notebook Hard Drives & Solid State Drives Identifying, Preventing, Diagnosing and Recovering from Drive Failures Care and Maintenance Measures

Is it just me or are these two items fairly scary for a new product to have on their support page DAY 1.

Where are the drivers?

 

Yes, this is pretty scary. Maybe they were doing some last minute testing and discovered some hard drive issues that causes Windows 8 to hand in certain situations???. All we can do is see if this applies to all 1st shipments of 13T-3000 or just a subset. But yeah, pretty scary. But I am not going to worry in advance until I get mine. Thanks for the Heads Up! :thumbsup:

 

But why would the W8 issue pertain at all to the 13t-3000? It only ships with 8.1 pre-installed. No one is upgrading from 7 to 8 or 8 to 8.1 on the 13t, and if they are moving backwards with downgrades then they deserve to be "hanged". This alert seems to be a standard warning for all Compaq/HP devices sold within the past year, and they've simply tacked it onto the 13t's support page. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

!
You make a good point, Muffin Man, Especially if this alert is on most the recent HP laptop support page. --Thanks!

 

Traveling man trying to lighten briefcase load. I wanted light replacement for a pretty solid Toshiba. I was considering MacAir but the easier connectivity with corporate network led me back to PC laptop shopping. HP has always been very durable, but the laptop designs seemed a little too bulky. This looks like light, fast, with 802.11ac wifi (I just upgraded home wifi with the Apple's airport extreme, so hoping for better streaming). We will see - just ordered today will let you know

Thank you for the post with the coupon code - saved me $50 !

 

Ah man, I just checked HP's site and they're now offering the 8GB of RAM for free! I had to pay $40 I think to upgrade.

Mine should be shipping by Friday.... I'll post when I get it! I ordered the first day.

 

I wish I had ordered the first day. didn't follow my gut.
Does HP make a quick ship version of their Spectre line?

I was looking forward to buying the new Envy 14 but saw this beautiful Spectre 13 and the return of radiance display. I wish the Envy 14 came with 1080p led screen instead of just 1600x900. I'm just floored with the design of the Spectre, it makes the envy look boring lol.

Oh, and HP upped the price of the envy 14 from 749.99 to 849.99 and like the previous poster stated, the 8gb ram is free for the Spectre now. How funny of HP. If you want to buy from them you really have to be committed lol

 

I know! I saw this as well. I thought we were paying for the additional memory with the processor "upgrade" that says (for 8GB of memory). Oh well, this is still a reasonably priced ultrabook and I'll be getting mine early as well!

Coming from my Asus UL30VT-A1, this should be a perfect upgrade, excellent battery life, thin and much more powerful!

 

If someone gets their shipping notification, please be sure to let us know! I ordered mine the first day and the last time I ordered a laptop from HP (2011) I remember getting the shipment notification before the predicted date.

My Spectre 13t-3000 is set to ship by Friday, November 1st. It'd be nice to see a notification in my inbox tomorrow

 

It's back, the QHD option has reappeared but for $70 this time. Also interesting to note is a couple other components went up in price like the processor and memory upgrades. I've got a friend looking at this ultrabook too and it sounds like he's finally going to pull the trigger with that display.

 

I was just about to post to let everyone know that the qHD option is back, but you beat me to it I'm going to call HP to see if they will credit me back the money I spent on the 8GB memory upgrade as it free to upgrade now.

 

I don't see my reply. why is it not here? At any rate, I was asking you if you would share what the customer service people had to say about giving you the credit, as I am in the same situation.

 

They said they wasn't able to give me a credit because the price of the base system is higher now then when I ordered it, even though the memory is free. However, since I am a "Valued HP Customer" (as everyone is they give me an additional $30 off. So with all my discounts, I ended up getting a fully loaded HP Spectre for $1319, not including tax. Below are my specs due to ship on the 4th

• Windows 8.1 Pro 64
• 4th generation Intel® Core™ i7-4500U(1.8GHz,4MB L3 Cache)+ Intel® HD Graphics(For 8GB Memory)
• 13.3-inch diagonal Vivid QHD Infinity LED-backlit Display (2560x1440) Touchscreen
• Onboard 8GB DDR3 System Memory
• 256GB SSD
• No Additional Office Software
• Security Software Trial
• 4 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
• No Internal DVD or CD Drive
• Backlit Keyboard
• Webcam and Microphone
• 802.11 AC WLAN and Bluetooth®
• USB Ethernet Adapter

 

Thanks John, i'll do the same.

 

Any decent video reviews out there?

 

Heck, any reviews at all?

 

Is 5% the only discount you can get on this? (Besides 3% cashback).

 

Your keyword being "Decent"...There are some videos out there, but would be hesitant to call them reviews. I, as well as some other Users have posted some video links to what I would call an overview. Please see my previous post for the links. The item is still new and none of the Main stream bloggers/Tech Reviews haven't gotten there hands on a pre-copy to review it. The 1st Batch is looking to ship between the 11/1 and 11/4.Thus far it looks good on paper, and from the reviewers who actually touched/held it says that it has a premium feel to it... It definitely has a Macbook-Air-ess look and feel, which isn't a bad thing.

Now whether it will come with physical and software issues/glitches, well, only time will tell and we should know soon enough.

I got $40 dollar off for being part of Academic Company (A University), then another $120 off because I wanted to cancel and order the Asus UX301 and then another $30 off because I originally paid for an 8GB memory upgrade and now it is free (So I complained until they gave me something off.. So all-in-all I got $190 off on a fully upgraded HP Spectre 13T-3000, so I am happy, some other Users probably did better on prices/discounts then I did. ..See my previous post for my specs.

 

Well, I guess that explains why I can only find 5% to take off! Hard to pick between this and the Yoga 2 Pro, which for around the same price gives me a 512gb SSD and higher resolution screen...

 

I just got my shipment notification from HP. 1 day early

 

I just received my shipment notification actually 2 days early as well. :thumbsup:

 

Hey. can you tell me how the laptop's webcam is? and whether its the hp true HD webcam or no? and overall how it is? cause,im planning to buy it. just wanna know,whether its worth it or not,cause i just want a good webcam,keyboard, and a touchpad. Thosr are my main requirements after the processor and all.

 

Will do once it arrives. Obviously, I can't comment on the Keyboard or Touch pad. But regarding, the Webcam, it is hard to find a really, really good webcam on a laptop, they are getting better, however. Heck, I still use my external Webcam. So at the risk of me sounding like a pessimistic, don't get your hopes up high on the Webcam quality.