HP Spectre 13T-3000

Hopefully mine gets delivered early too lol. Appreciate the response. I'm in Texas BTW hopefully won't mean it will take longer

 

Hey all, completely new to this site, but my HP Spectre just arrived, and I had a couple of questions...

First off, before I get to that: I concur with the comments on the speed of the shipping. Mine, too, was in Alaska just yesterday, and today was delivered to the San Francisco area, despite FedEx's prediction being that it would be delivered on Friday. HP certainly gets points for fast shipping!

Anyway, my questions have to do with the recovery partition. I plan to create a recovery USB drive and then delete the partition to free up hard disk space. I recall seeing a discussion about doing so earlier in this thread somewhere, and of course, HPs own support documentation points you to a built-in software solution provided with the computer to delete that partition, so obviously there's no reason not to do this. However, it's been a while since I've dealt with hard drive partitioning or recovery creation (and have relatively little experience in both to begin with), so I have two questions.

One, how large a USB drive do I need? I have a couple drives I could try to use if I can free up space from em (one is 4 GB, the other is 8), but I don't know how much space I need; if it needs to be larger than 8 GB, then I'd try to stop by a store to buy one on my way home (I had the computer shipped to my work).

Two, when it comes to deleting the partition... from poking through HPs site, it looks like the built-in software they provide will allow me to not only create the USB recovery media, but also provides an option to delete the partition (the third screenshot on this page shows the HP Recovery Manager, with "Remove Recovery Partition" as an option). So, for those who have done this or simply know more about this than I do, is this the easiest way to go? Should I just use HPs provided software for this, or is there a specific third-party software that's recommended?

The computer is charging up at the moment, and I'm going to try not to turn it on until it's fully charged (my understanding is that doing so is best for "breaking in" the battery). Though, that brings me to another question for anyone who has had their Spectre for longer than a day: is there any indication of a full charge? The light next to the AC adapter port is orange at the moment; the user guide doesn't mention anything about the light changing to indicate the battery is at 100%, which I thought was kind of odd. Does it turn blue or shut off or something to tell you the charge is complete?

Looking forward to trying this computer out, though of course, reading through the recent posts in this thread have me worried about fan noise and audio jack noise, etc... I also have an Acer Aspire S7-392 at the moment, which I ordered from Amazon and have till the end of the month to return. There are some things I really like about it but also some issues that are probably deal-breakers, so it will be interesting to see how it and the Spectre stack up!

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

 

The delivery by fedex is retarded. It requires a signature which they should. I have a fedex account and tried to get them to hold it at the fedex station and it was disabled. So i called to ask why. The fedex rep told me it was a exception by the sender that it couldn't be held at the station (why would they do that?). I then explain to the rep that my tag said i could pick it up after 5:00. She said yes that was true but i can't have them hold it? Wow that is retarded. I was trying to give them the heads up so they wouldn't have to hunt for it when i got the the station. You also deal with the issue if the fedex driver has returned or not. The rep told me after 3 attempts they hold it at the station anyways....

 

Ugh, I hate that. I had this exact problem with UPS, as well, a few years ago. With UPS (or FedEx), they're NEVER able to properly deliver to my home because I live in an apartment building with a screwy phone system and no resident manager, and they almost always come with I'm at work. But in this particular case, delivering to my work wasn't an option. After the failed first attempt to deliver, I called and asked them to simply hold it at the UPS center for pick up. Turns out, they allow the shipper/seller of the item to DISABLE that option for the receiver. The reason I was given as to why they allow that? To prevent fraud. I noted while on the phone with them that the tag they left gave me the option to sign it and have the driver simply leave it outside on the second attempt (which I was NOT willing to do, because it would probably get stolen off the sidewalk!), and the person I spoke with confirmed that that would have indeed been an option.

Yes, that's right: the option for the receiver to sign the paper and instruct the driver to simply leave it outside on the sidewalk - where anyone could walk up and take it, and with the driver having no way to verify in the first place that the intended recipient is even the person who found and signed the "missed you" notice - is ALWAYS present. But the option for the recipient to drive down to the UPS center, wait in line, interact directly with UPS employees and be required to SHOW PHOTO ID before being allowed to leave with the package... well, that option can be disabled by the sender to prevent fraud!

 

Doesn't that picture you reference say minimum 26GB?

Also, on a similar note, what is more reliable for recovery media, flash drive or DVD?

 

I didn't notice that before, but you're right. So, I guess I need a 32GB stick... the instructions on that page also say to use a stick "no larger than 32 GB" (not sure why that is exactly?). In any case, if it really is 20+ GB, then the 8 GB stick I have will not suffice, so I'll need to pick up a 32GB one. Blah. Oh well.

I've only JUST turned it on and started poking around, but my first impression is positive. Really like the overall feel of it so far; it's got a better keyboard than the Acer. The screen is gorgeous, on par with the Acer at least as far as my brief time with it so far can tell (which is good, because that screen is one of the Acer's key strong points). Can't test the evenness or effectiveness of the keyboard backlight just yet, as the lighting conditions over my desk at work are absolutely atrocious for it. Haven't heard the fan yet.

There does seem to be some extremely minor backlight bleed in the monitor. It's virtually undetectable in medium lighting, though again, the lighting here is bright and kind of unnatural. Gonna test it in a dark room a little later, and I'll post more impressions as time goes on.

 

The hiss is already pretty much inaudible on my ATH-M50s without the adapter. It is completely nonexistent for me with the adapter. But using the adapter on the ATH-M50s makes the plug way too clunky so I don't. There's barely a difference anyways (only maybe noticeable during complete silence). I just use the adapter for my S4's. I'm pretty sure that the hiss is a combination of a sensitive IEM and a noisy DAC board, which is a physical problem, and a manufacturing selection choice rather than a defect. I'm guessing they're catering to low sensitivity generic earbuds, which probably don't pick up the noise. Given their hype for Beats Audio, you figure they'd put in better quality audio parts

 

No problem. Yeah the noise was almost a dealbreaker for me too, but the adapter definitely makes it acceptable. Glad the throttling issues are gone for you!

 

Well, I got my second Spectre 13t-3000 delivered today but I am returning this one because the back light bleed is worse than the first one I returned.

I was talked into giving them one more chance, this time I am getting the QHD screen to see if it is any better.

I really hope the next one is OK because I really liked everything about my first one, and probably should have kept it because the back light leakage wasn't that bad (but too late now).

 

For me the backlight bleed is only visible on a completely dark screen, with a few spots along the bottom edge that were a bit brighter. Honestly didn't notice for a month under normal use until you mentioned it.

Yup the space bar is not illuminated. I agree the that backlight is not as good and even as purported, and is only useful at very particular light levels, given the low contrast with the key colors. The backlight toggle key has the same 2/3 illumination pattern on mine; I'm pretty sure it's using the same single LED design as the Wi-Fi and Caps Locks Keys, except they have point openings instead. Definitely a manufacture money saving thing.

Your fan noise descriptors are pretty much spot on. Just gotta get used to it.

 

Mine was delivered today. Original estimate: 1/20. Shortly changed to 1/17. Arrived 1/15, having been in Alaska yesterday. Not bad.

I'm not sure I want to keep it.

+ Screen is the best there is for 13.3 16x9. The Yoga screen isn't even close. Full calibration brought the gamma up slightly and that's about it.
+ Build is great. Stickers come off without residue.
+ Battery life is 9+ hours browsing, 5 hours with heavy use, and 2 hours running Prime 95.

+/- Key travel is a little short. Positive action, but I have to get used to using a light touch.

- Program scaling sucks. With fonts at 200%, some dialog boxes are guaranteed to be messed up with invisible text or buttons. Photoshop is usable, barely. Some programs will require setting to 100%, logging out, squinting to set them up, and then changing back to 200%.
- Chrome's HiDPI flag totally messed up the browser. I have it running normally with 'resolution scaling' disabled in the program-launch options, which fixes the text, but makes tabs very tiny. Random glitches here and there, like the text box in this forum: it automatically resizes on mouse rollover for no particular reason. Frustrating. I'm typing in Wordpad.
- Wanted to put on fresh Windows. Couldn't do it, it wouldn't find any of my USB keys that I formatted with Windows 7 USB key maker. No way to force this.
- No way to turn off the keyboard LED, power LED, or Wifi LED. The power LED in particular is hugely bright if you're reading in bed.
- Throttling problems (of course). Doesn't go above 1.7 GHz no matter the setting. Throttlestop can force it up to 2.8 GHz, but it won't stay there. Eventually falls to 1.9 GHz even with temperatures below 70C. I don't know enough about this program yet to see what else I can do with it.
- Fan noise is either: a) off (rare), b) audible and mildly irritating with a high-pitched overtone, but can be tuned out (most of the time), or c) very loud and very irritating. I'm sensitive to high-pitched noises, I'm about to disassemble the thing to see if it's a motor problem or something with the air-flow channel. Depending on how it performs in Photoshop once throttling is disabled (how again? I've already installed the F09 BIOS), this may be a dealbreaker.

`The only alternative (to me) is a Macbook that costs $300 more. So far, I haven't been enthralled with Windows 8.1, but I'm forcing myself to use the touchscreen for awhile until I make a decision on that one. I'd appreciate any thoughts on the other issues.

 

I'm in a boat similar to yours (although I don't have the QHD screen, so scaling's not an issue for me) - could you post the results of looking at the air-flow channel? As you suggest, there's nothing really comparable to the Spectre for the price, and it would be massively unfortunate to have to return what's otherwise a nice laptop. It seems (to me) that this generation of ultrabooks necessitates some sort of compromise (outside of typical ultrabook performance compromises) if you're not willing to spend $1300+ :/).

As a more general question: does HP employ throttling to increase battery life? I'm under the impression that the Specter doesn't have a very large battery (compared with some of its competitors), but it seems to get good battery life given that it's a touchscreen laptop with a 1080p screen minimum (and no major brightness issues).

 

The battery takes up over half of the room in the case. I'm not sure what the actual capacity is, but I don't think they could make it any bigger. I'm sure throttling helps, yes.

The fan is a Foxconn NFB60A05H-003 5V 0.45A. Standard shape, looks about $40. It's not an airflow thing, the fan itself is definitely the source of the whine. It doesn't sound defective and I'd be surprised if a replacement was any better. I don't think there's anything that can be done short of soldering a resistor into the power feed.

 

You could spend $1300 for an ultrabook and have wifi that just won't work at more than 20 feet from the router/ap. (Sony Vaio Pro 13.)

The battery is 50 Wh which is about as big as it gets in an ultrabook. I get just under 8 hours with light duty, Web, Email, card games, Video clips, etc. My i5 fan rarely turns on. The case never gets warm. I guess it depends on how hard you push it.

I have the 1080p screen. I set scaling at 150% and set Google Chrome at 100% zoom. Everything is readable.

Good luck, Jim

 

First, note that BSODs are rarely fatal or even serious, nor are they necessarily that hard to diagnose and fix - most of the time. It's a matter of finding the cause and eliminating it. A very good tool is Blue Screen View. Usually it happens after you have installed software and either the program clashes with something else or is a corrupted copy and blue screen view will help you identify that. Also, if you do take down the message that comes with yours and Google it, there is a very good chance you will find good advice for how to deal with that particular error code. A less-than-sophisticated way to sometimes take care of it is to just to a restore to an earlier state - the last time you were quite sure you were not having the problem - and, if it takes the BSOD away, look for any suspect programs you installed after the date that you restored back to. One last thing: if you Google "BSOD" in general, you will find many, many links that suggest you have to perform dozens of tests and procedures to get it fixed; my advice is to ignore them.

Then again, if you only have today to return, why not ask for an RMA and have the option of returning it, then give it a day or two to try and cure it so you will have either option?

Good luck.

 

My system actually came with that bios, I'm not sure where to find it online. If it isn't already on the site, I'd assume it would go on sometime soon. What power profile were you on when you were observing these processor clock speeds?

 

Agreed, performance just hasn't been the focus for anything after Sandy Bridge. Still though, Haswell does manage to deliver Sandy bridge like performance at a lower TDP. After further testing, it seems like in most areas the 4500U is marginally slower than my 2620M. Both of them are of course completely blown away by my 4.9 Ghz desktop 2600K . One day we will have performance like that in a small and cool form factor.

 

Glad your fan is working out well - wish mine would do the same.

Regarding the battery: I thought that cell size partially determined battery life, and know that the Spectre has a 4-cell battery (some ultrabooks, such as the Dell Latitude 6430U, feature a 6-cell battery with Wh in the low 60s. Maybe those are exception though). Admittedly, I know basically nothing about batteries, so perhaps I'm mistaken. In any event, it's slightly disappointing that I paid for a processor that's not being used to its full capacity, especially since I wasn't told that the processor would be throttled. (Is it standard practice for manufacturers to throttle processor speeds in ultrabooks?).

There seems to be an interesting divide between people whose fans virtually never turn on and those whose seems on a majority of the time. Not sure if this is simply a perceptual difference or something QC-related. In my experience, simple web browsing won't make the fan kick in - as I'm writing this, I have four tabs open in FF and the laptop is silent - but listening to music on Spotify or watching a video on YouTube will cause the fan to kick in. Movement can also cause the fan to start - moving from a chair to a bed can cause the fan to kick in, for example. This wouldn't be that big a problem per se if the fan quieted down immediately after kicking in. The problem is that the fan persists and doesn't calm down for quite a bit of time after it starts.

Regarding this current generation of ultrabooks: My issues with the fan (and to some degree, throttling) notwithstanding, the Spectre is a great value for the price, which is why I'd be bummed to return it. It just seems like the ultrabooks available in the ~$1000 price range force me into certain compromises I'd rather not make (for instance, some have mediocre battery life, some have undesirable screen resolution or size, the Spectres I've had make a fan noise that I find annoying, etc.). I'd consider a MBA, but am no fan of OSX's program selection.

Also, kudos to alexdi2 for looking at the source of the fan noise - too bad it's a fan-related issue.

 

To everyone having throttling issues, make sure you disable HP CoolSense.

 

Could you let us know where you found this version? It's still F.09 on the HP site.

 

I think most people are experiencing many of the same issues you are. When you mention that you are trying to install clean Windows with a Windows 7 USB key, are you trying to reinstall a clean version of Windows 8.1 or Windows 7? The Windows 8.1 key is in the BIOS (confirmed with HP) but you can get both the product key and CD key using the Magic Jelly Bean software (I think there are several other software options that will find it as well). Your complaints about Chrome are spot-on. I tried using the HiDPI setting and, like you said, it messed it up. I had to uninstall and reinstall. It also looks bad in Windows 8.1. Pages don't render well and the GUI looks pixelated. I am using either Firefox Nightly (that also includes a Metro app now) or IE11 (which actually looks the best). I'll keep hoping that Google releases a fixed version of Chrome, but even the Dev Channel release cycle seems to have slowed down.

 

I was using a custom power profile. I think the processor was set at minimum 5% and maximum 100%, both on battery and plugged in. I did drop HP an e-mail asking them about the F.13 BIOS. I'd be curious what speeds the i5 is showing.

 

Here is what CPU-Z shows for my system BIOS for those of you wondering.

 

Try installing and running Intel Extreme Tuning Utility. You don't need to change any settings or anything, just need to run it once.
https://downloadcenter.intel.com/SearchResult.aspx?keyword=""extreme+tuning+utility""
This apparently has resolved the throttling issue for a number of people.

 

Just an FYI, I stumbled recently across the following and considering how helpful this thread has been, I am very happy to be able to contribute.

A lot of folks were complaining about the backlight key (F5) being lit when the keyboard backlight is off. Good news is, this is not permanent and can be turned off.

Just press the Function Key (FN) + A.

I stumbled across this while trying to Ctrl+A (Select All) and fat fingered function instead.

Enjoy!

 

Thanks gutermdp. I'll give that a go tomorrow.

I've been looking around for a fan speed control. It doesn't exist in software. HWInfo doesn’t have it, NHC is 32 bit only, and Cool Sense seems to cause other problems. Unlocking the BIOS might be promising, but it's a very involved process for an uncertain result.

I spent the last half hour sleuthing through the DSDT file for fan references, a method that worked with older HP notebooks, but haven't had much luck (or the implementation is more complex than I'm led to believe it should be). Still the most promising avenue.

Mikey, I was going to shift to 8.1 Pro. As to Chrome, I disabled DPI scaling in the shortcut, so now I have perfect text and tiny tabs.

 

Just got my 13t-3000 today, a few days early which was nice. Unfortunately, I will have to exchange this machine for another as the upper left hand corner of the screen has a round 2 inch size display defect. Kind of looks like a round, lighter colored circle area that is always on the screen right from power up. It stands out very distinctly with different background colors. I noticed it right away when the machine was powering up the first time. It is the QHD screen (max config I7/8gb/256 system). Anyone else have this or heard of anyone else getting this defect on a new machine? My biggest worry was reports of fan noise. The machine I got is whisper quiet. I ran a benchmark in the Intel Extreme Tuning Utility and I watched the processor temps get to a max of 79 celcius and the processor turbo'd right up to the max. While the machine definitely put out some heat on that run, the fan ran very quietly and kept heat from climbing beyond 79. When I ran a benchmark while on battery, the max CPU was at 1.8 and would not throttle up higher. The CPU temps were much lower during benchmarking on battery power. I have good hearing and could hear no fan roar or annoying high pitched noises while installing lots of software either. So, perhaps only some systems were impacted there?

The only concern I noted is the screen max brightness. I have it turned up to max brightness and the adaptive light sensor turned off. It seems not as bright as I expected from what I read was a 340 NIT screen. Now, the display I have is obviously defective as evidenced by a 2 inch blotch and the display brightness may be impacted as well. When I call HP tomorrow to get a replacement machine I will attempt to confirm that in fact the brightness max is 340 NITs and whether there is a difference in brightness rating between the 1080 and QHD screens. Anyone have any confirmation of the screen specs in that regard?

 

Thanks! Fn + A worked for me.

I already had the Intel tuning utility installed but still had throttling, killing coolsense fixed all my issues. absolutely no throttling issues for me now. My fan doesn't seem to turn on much at all either.

For my chrome, I used compatibility mode to disable DPI scaling and then increased the default zoom level. I get normal looking websites with tiny tabs and menus. Call me crazy, but for me Internet explorer 11 is so much smoother and more resource efficient than chrome. I've been a long term Chrome user but I think IE11 has overtaken chrome as far as how quick and efficient it is. Go to a site like newegg.com or any other page and try scrolling around in both IE and chrome and see for yourself Come on google, get your act together! Chrome is also the biggest memory hog of all the browsers.

 

Can you further define what you mean by "running" the Intel Extreme Tuning Utility. I installed it and "ran" it, which basically gives you the settings that your processor is running at, unless you want to manually play with the voltages. Did you hit "Tune" and then save the "proposed" settings or did you simply start the program?

 

What several people and I did a few weeks ago was just start the program and then shut it down without making any changes. This stopped throttling when on AC, but it still throttled when on battery.

Good luck, Jim

 

8:22 am On FedEx vehicle for delivery


Woohoo!

 

That's a common battery myth... It is good to allow it to charge fully the first time before unplugging it, but there's no issue with using it while it's doing so.

 

9:48 am Delivered

Woohoo^2 !

Delivered to work, so hopefully makes it to my mailstop today.

 

Yeah... the backlight bleed on mine is not nearly as bad as the images posted above in this thread, but it is visible on non-black backgrounds.

The keyboard backlight is especially disappointing after reviews I've read saying that it was a very good keyboard backlight. Oh well.

I think the real deciding factor is if I can live with the fan noise.

 

So I received mine today. The fan noise is annoying but not terrible. Besides I will have headphones on or something playing. So my screen doesn't have any big blotches, but I found a line of dead pixels going half way across the screen . I have a QHD/i7/8gb/256/AC. ! Any suggestions? I am going to get a replacement, but gosh I was so excited. Then this happens... How long does a replacement take?

Also for the person that posted the Fn+A. Thanks it works!:thumbsup:

 

Just got my exchange ordered. The expected ship date for the max config I have is January 29th but it sounds as though it will be sooner. Overall, a very painless return process and excellent service. They are paying for expedited 2 day shipping on the replacement unit. There are 2 options. Either take the defective machine in to Fed Ex with a prepaid return label and they will start building the replacement machine within 24 to 48 hours upon notification of FED EX having received the machine. The build process does not wait until the return machine gets back to them, only confirmation of FED EX receiving begins the new machine build. Alternatively, you can keep your machine and use it until the new one is received and then send it back. Of course, you have to pay for the new one while on the phone which is what I did. That way there is no down time and I can continue to evaluate the system over a longer period of time as well. HP customer service is very organized. What a hugh contrast from having to deal with DELL.

The only piece of pre-installed HP software I was hoping to find is battery management software. Unfortunately it is not on the system. On other systems, like the Lenovo ultrabooks, there is utility software that allows you to set the maximum battery charge to less than %100 when the machine is running on AC power. That greatly extends the overall life of the battery. Anybody know of any 3rd party available software for this?

 

I'm about to receive my unit tomorrow (full spec all the way) and though I've been with this thread since the first post, I've seen more concerning posts in the past 1-2 weeks than in all the time before. Here are the prevalent issues that cause my concern and yet I also note that there seems to be an equal number of those reporting these problems and those stating it is not a problem for them, or that one or another fix that has been posted here has done the trick, with one exception.

I'll start with the one that no one has found a solution other than a somewhat kludgey hardware workaround:

1) The noise/hiss from the headphone jack. Someone purchased a resistor to put in line between the headphone jack and the headphone plug and said it eliminated the noise but was bulky. Other than that, none of those reporting this problem have found fixes for it. What's strange is that of the 2-3 dozen owners reporting in here in the past month, only recently have new owners reported this problem. **Owners for more than 1 week: have you noticed this noise, either originally or since recent owners have raised the issue?

(I will note that most of the concerns I'm citing here were only recently reported, or are being re-reported weeks after it seems that fixes have been found to eliminate the problem.)

2) Throttling. Several have reported that a BIOS update totally fixed the problem - both when plugged in and on battery. Throttlestop is reported to work while plugged in, but not on battery. Besides, a 2014 computer should not need a third party program to function as it is specd to operate. I think some have reported that their computers were shipped with the newer BIOS - and that they were not experiencing the problem - while I've read several who've said they can't find a BIOS update on the HP site. Is there a consensus that the new BIOS fixes the problem, if only you can get it? Or have some found the problem persists even with the newer BIOS? Has anyone spoken to HP about it, or returned their unit because of it?

3) Fan Noise. Seems irrefutable that under load the fan(s) on this computer runs at high RPMs and that when spinning fast they produce a very irritating high pitch sound (My Envy Spectre 14 did the same, but Coolsense pretty much eliminated them going on). Some have stated that they rarely hear the fans running, while more can't seem to stop them from running noisily regardless of settings or load levels. I'm particularly interested in hearing from those who have found in normal use they don't often hear their fans, or if the consensus is that you just have to get used to it.

4) Scaling problems. Some have said they have none, even with the QHD while others say it's abysmal, especially with Chrome. I was really on the fence and decided to take the QHD because several said it was great on all types of content and that it scaled just fine if you run it at 1080p. Consensus?

 

I just got my fully stacked 13t two days ago (arrived a day ahead of schedule
I have one issue with an otherwise very nice laptop.
The power connector seems very cheap on an otherwise high end chassis. Mine when fully plugged in has way too much play back and forth in a 180 deg arc around the insertion when the plug is completely inserted.
Is this "normal" for anyone else here?

 

I just got my 13t-3000 max config about 5 days.

Impressed is what I can say about the laptop. However, I wonder if they sell a screen protector for it? I don't really want to see my finger print on the screen.

 

I have not used the headphone jack on my max config system but I will check out the sound quality and report back tomorrow.
I have the current version 13 bios and it came shipped to me with it. I have run the benchmark trial on battery and AC with the Intel Extreme Tuning utility. On battery, it is rock steady and will NOT turbo past 1.8. On AC, all the way up to 2.8 throughout the benchmark. I will try the benchmark one more time on battery to double check. On AC, a 363 score (which is excellent) was returned and on battery 257. I am not too concerned at this point as my system is being replaced with another due to arrive the end of January due to a defect in the QHD screen on the one I just got. I will take that issue up, if it is still an issue, with my replacement machine when received later this month. To be honest, when I operate under battery power I do not care about dynamic CPU performance beyond a fast I7 1.8 base speed. Under battery power, I need long life above anything else and tuning that will achieve that end is what I would do myself if it was not already profiled as such from the factory. Do we have confirmation that the throttling under battery power is behavior that is in fact not by design?

The fan is very, very acceptable - in my machine. I have another HP laptop that is 5 years old (DV4) that emits fan noise more than twice as loud under load compared to the Spectre. Unless I am loading software or running a benchmark or stress test, it is almost completely silent most of the time. When light web browsing, reading email...no noise, completely silent. Every once in a great while it will come on for a very short time and it is so quiet it can barely be heard at all. While doing a 5 minute benchmark on AC power and the processor gets around 80 C, the fan is fully running by then and is much quieter than MANY laptops I have heard under full load. That being said, the bottom side of the computer in the middle/rear area gets VERY, VERY hot. That was the only real concern I have had so far, the feel of the chassis heat while under continuous load for a few minutes. Keep in mind that the chassis gets hot to the touch in that area only during benchmark or stress testing scenarios but the core temps stay around 80 C or under. The heat by touch makes it seem like the system is running too hot but it never gets close to actually overheating per the processor specs. As pointed out in a couple reviews it runs a few degrees hotter than other ultrabooks as detected on the chassis...not at the processor core temps which is my concern when considering heat.

I have had no real problems with scaling but I do not use Chrome. The only small/tiny scaling issues have been with a couple built in HP utilities. No big deal at all. Let us know what you think when you have yours.

The power plug at the lap top end is a bit loose feeling when connected and could have had a better design that gives a more "quality" feel. However, it is firmly in place and does not slide out easily or appear to be defective in any way. If you try to wiggle it around when plugged in it will never momentarily disconnect or slip out. It is a positive engagement and stable electrical connection despite the perception it may convey otherwise.

Have fun!

 

I'm pretty confident that if you have BIOS F.13 and you simply turn off or uninstall HP CoolSense, your throttling issues will completely stop. I find the fan noise is very acceptable, a bit louder under load but honestly nothing to really care about. Scaling isn't too much of an issue for me except Chrome which is just terrible. I'm running at 150% scaling on my QHD display and I set Chrome to use capability mode
to disable DPI scaling, I then set Chrome to zoom at 150% in chrome settings, this is useable but not perfect. I feel IE11 is much faster than Chrome anyway and has no scaling issues.

The only issue which is really a deal breaker for me is the audio jack hiss, I may or may not return the system over it. I'll give it some more time and look for more solutions.

Again this system is very well done, but HP did leave behind a few small issues. Don't forget to kill HP coolSense!

 

I take it you have disabled CoolSense on your system, correct? Are you finding there is no throttling when powered under battery anymore? What have you noticed since disabling CoolSense temp wise or anything else?

 

My apologies, it appears that I have spoken too soon about the throttling being gone. My system is back to being stuck at 1.7 Ghz under full load. Doesn't matter whether I attach the AC power or not. This is just completely unacceptable from HP, putting an i7 processor but throttling it whether the user wants it or not and even with AC power!

 

You are also running bios F.13 as well, correct? I ran a couple more benchmark trials on the Intel tuning app on both battery and AC power. Very consistent. On battery it is throttled, nothing past 1.8. On AC, full turbo range to 2.8. I also tried with HP Cool Sense disabled and that made no difference at all. Same behavior. I ask if you are on bios F.13 because you are getting throttled whether you are running on battery or AC power which is different than I am experiencing.

 

1) Just wanna say that the hiss will only be really noticeable with IEMs or canalphones. Standard earbuds or headphones will not be affected. Had this laptop for >1 month, been hissy from the start.

2) The HP BIOS update on their site fixed the throttling, but only under AC power. I've checked periodically over the last month with GeekBench, and the throttling problem has definitely disappeared. I'm certain the throttling under battery is by design; they did a similar thing with the Spectre 13x2 where they cut the TDP by almost half on battery. It's not a uncommon design choice, and something I'm willing to live with for reasonable battery life.

3) For me, just gotta get used it to it. Not sure if there's really a consensus. To be honest though, if I never read this thread and thought about the fans so much, I probably wouldn't have ever noticed it. My last laptop was like 3x louder.

4) Scaling is fine with my QHD, but I'm used to slightly smaller font. Chrome is a bit annoying to set up but is fine once you adjust some settings. Occasional dialogue boxes are blurry (like during installation or error messages) but who even really looks at those.

 

I have the same experience as you. As far as I know, CoolSense simply accesses the accelerometer so it knows when it's on a lap, and turns the fans on at a lower setpoint to make it more comfortable. Shouldn't really interfere with performance. Could be wrong though.

 

Here's a picture of the audio jack adapter attached if anyone is curious.

 

Ok. BIOS F.13 is now available on the HP.com Support site. I just installed it and uninstalled CoolSense (simply turning it "off" didn't seem to do much because the process was still running). Now, when plugged into AC and running the Intel Xtreme Tweak utility it runs at 2.79GHz on stress test, but actually shows it touching the 3GHz mark occasionally in regular use. There wasn't much of an affect on battery use. Mine runs at 1.8GHz and, while not necessarily "throttled" it is the turbo boost that is disabled, and that is apparently where the issue lies. Granted, my several year-old Lenovo W510 does the same thing. It is a quad core i7 that runs at 1.7GHz. When I bought it I actually returned one of the first (it may have been second) generation Envys that not only turned off turbo boost on battery but throttled an i7 720QM from 1.6GHz to 1.2GHz (that was why I returned it).

StackPointer 2.0, can you confirm that turbo boost is working for you on battery?

As for the audio jack hiss issue, I think I know what people are talking about. I don't really hear it, except at the end of a "sound" (such as when you test the sound in Windows)...it ends in a small hiss. I tried the earphones on my Lenovo and it was perfectly silent. Fortunately, the speakers on the laptop are actually decent so I may look up the adapter folks are talking about if I need to for earphone use. It doesn't appear to be that annoying but I am unfortunately somewhat of a "perfectionist" so simply knowing the issue is there might bug me...haha.

Lastly, Chrome Dev channel updated to version 34 but it didn't fix any of the scaling issues, in case anyone was curious or waiting for something to come to the Beta or Stable channels. It looks like I'll be sticking with IE11 and Firefox Nightly for now.

 

By chance where did you buy it and what is that type of adapter called for "search" purposes. I looked up the "hiss" and it seems common in many laptops (I even found some people complaining about it with MacBook Pros).

 

It is a resistor adapter found here. Doesn't seem like it's a really common thing haha.

The audio jack problem that I have is a constant hiss at all times, regardless of volume or muting or music playback. It is only really noticeable with low impedance, high sensitivity IEMs or canalphones. Normal earbuds or headphones shouldn't really pick it up. If you are just getting occasional hisses, it sounds like a different problem and this adapter may not help you. The adapter simply suppresses all signal going through the jack, thus mostly tuning out the constant electronic noise from the sound card. It does mean you have to turn up the overall volume a few notches to get the same loudness on playback.