HP Spectre 13T-3000

I have QHD+ and most programs work ok but POSTBOX refuses to scale......... Icons and entire program is so small I cant hardly see it !!!! Does anybody know how to make this bigger?? decreasing res had no effect on this program?? Does THUNDERBIRD work ok?? dont want to download another program b-4 I know it works..
thanks
Tom

 

Yes, Thunderbird works great. That is what I use for email on my QHD system. No scaling issues at all.

 

Hey guys I will buy a hp spectre 13t-3000 soon and I would like you guys to tell me wich specs I should get and one last question is the QHD going to affect my battery life because I would love to get that sexy QHD screen.

 

I want to get a 128 SD card to increase storage. Has anyone done this? How well does it work for you? Which card might work best? I've had my Spectre 13-T3000 for about a month now and I can happily say that I love it. I had a couple of tense moments when it would not recognize my external hard drive and external CD drive but I did a system restore to a day earlier and it went back to normal. The QHD screen is beautiful, and works well on almost every web site that I use. Video playback from Netflix, Hulu, etc. is exquisite. Beats sound system is great. The computer wakes from being fully off in seconds and speeds through my files. The touch screen is very responsive. I'm finally getting used to and am appreciating windows 8, but it still feel that the MS engineers were asleep at the switch when it comes to it being ultra unintuitive. My only small dislike is the touchpad which sometimes seems to be too touchy and sometimes is not quite responsive enough. When I get frustrated I go straight to the touch screen for momentary relief. This is a great machine for the money (when it was 20% off) and I would recommend it to anyone who wants near MacBook quality in Windows machine

 

(See subject heading I wrote for this post only ^)

Seems like activity on this thread has really slowed down and, well, it was kinda nice having people asking and discovering new things all the time. Also, there seem to be very few newbies asking about the 13t. I can't figure out how to start a poll so I thought I'd ask for peoples' thoughts:

1) Are you quite happy with your 13t but have few remaining issues or questions? or...

2) Have many early buyers, ya think, returned their's and are onto the next idea and there just aren't many new people in the market for a premium Ultrabook?

3) Is there just not much interest in this model without the 20% discount, so the early buyers are pretty much the only buyers?

If I were to post a new problem that might apply to most/all owners, would I likely bring a bunch of forum buddies out of the woodwork? (I've got one of those, see next post)

No big deal, but I was kinda looking forward as this thread was getting critical mass was that it would become a place where 13t owners would congregate a bit and post about issues specifically relating to the machine and its use and also about general notebook issues. I've owned several notebooks (an HP DV8T, a Sony Z13) where there was something of a cult of owners and instead of going to a very specific hardware or software thread the owners made the product thread their go-to place to discuss computer stuff in general. Kinda seemed like maybe this was going that way.

Thoughts?

Oh, btw, I still really adore this machine and it is probably the second best computer-type product I've gotten in 5 years (not quite a "classic," like the 2010 Sony Z1, about 1/3 the price too; perhaps you hang out more with others who blew 3 grand on a little laptop!

 

So, just one new thing has cropped up and bummed me out. I made a fairly nasty scratch on the lid, just inside the edge, and I don't know how I did it, what I did it with. At first I thought I got a "blotch" from something gooey and I could just wipe it off with a microfiber cloth, but the more I rubbed the lighter it got and it seems to be here to stay. Anyone finding the lid more sensitive than expected? Any thoughts of anything I might try to make it less pronounced? Because the lid is curved, I can't imagine putting any kind of transparent skin on it.

 

I think the display is more concerned with the processing power. It might have a slight affect on stronger battery life, but whether it does or not -- just be generous with your brightness setting and you will be a-ok!

 

This is my boat. I have watched this thread for a while. It was between the Yoga Pro 2 and the Envy 13t for me. After touching both I think I would like the Envy. While their base price is about the same for roughly the same specs. Without the discount the Yoga's higher spec'd models seem to win out price wise and it is hard to justify HP's price. I should have gone with my gut when the 20% was still around. Despite the insistence that those are regular deals I am starting to have my doubts (I know it has been only a month and a half since the last one, but in technology cycle time that is a while).

 

Something else I wanted to ask you guys. I'm warming up to the "best value" configuration with the -$100 discount ($1230), although I'm not entirely sold on the QHD display because I don't want to deal with all the scaling issues.

Does anyone remember if the 20% off coupons worked with this configuration ???? That would make the best value configuration final price $984 before taxes and that is an INSANE DEAL.

 

I find the QHD display to be among the best I have ever seen on a laptop and while I have not seen any A/B comparison of battery life I would agree that the effect would be marginal but with the same brightness I wouldn't be surprised if the QHD took 5-10% battery penalty. Still, the battery life with either screen is quite good. I would give you the opposite advice to compensate for the extra drain on power: I would use the QHD on a bit dimmer setting to improve its battery life. The person suggesting you increase the brightness on the QHD may have been referring to the fact that some feel it is not quite as bright as the FHD. Regardless, if you look at a 2k resolution video from YouTube on the QHD you will see why it's well worth its minor downsides; it's truly breathtaking, and the future will bring only mre apps at higher resolutions. Also, I find W8.1 handles the scaling just fine 90% of the time.


Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

 

20% off Laptops $999 or more is back!

Coupon Code: "PC32999" (Exp 3/8)

 

I am pretty sure the coupon code did not work on the best value laptop, I remember trying it when I was ordering mine and it did not work.

 

Just tried it, doesn't work on the Spectre. Says to review coupon requirements.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9

 

That is very strange since the coupon description seems to be exactly the same when I bought mine, 20% off laptops and desktops over a certain price ($999 for laptops). Maybe give HP a call to see why its not working, maybe they can apply over the phone.

 

The earlier coupon was for any customized PC at or above $999. That is the reason it does not work for the non-customizable best-value. This one is rather opaque and is for "select" notebook and desktops, so what it counts for is their whim. The picture on fatwallet is of the Envy 15...

 

The current 20% doesn't work on custom configurations of the Spectre. It did work on custom configurations of the Envy 14t.

 

I do not have a card yet, but when I do, how do I move info or programs to the card ????
tom

 

Do you mean an SD card? If so when you insert the card into the computer it will show up like a thumb drive does and then you can just drag and drop files to and from it.

Not that I condone this, but I just called HP to return my case and they offered me a heavy refund/discount to keep it. With the refund they offered me it made no sense to return it, so now I have the HP sleeve that is on the bigger side and will just use this until I find something perfect. I am really only going to be using the sleeve for storage of the laptop at home so that my kids dirty little fingers don't get all over it.

 

So I received my replacement QHD unit on Friday and it unfortunately has significantly worse backlight bleed than the original.

 

I got the Lexar Professional 600x, 128GB SDXC UHS1 card from Amazon. It works great and it is fast. Hope this helps.

 

I am having an issue - when I am on battery power, the system seems to slow down, the fan goes into over drive & the system becomes semi non-responsive.

I was watching a you tube video & was unable to change the video by pausing without a large delay & the touch screen was lagging also.

I am a little confused, this is my second unit, the first one I returned in December because it was under spec'ed, I waited 2 months then bought this with better wifi, larger SSD, etc.

It is very very laggy which the first 13T was not, no issues plugged in or unplugged.

Any ideas why this is happening?

 

OK I"m going to buy one and have it shipped to a Pennsylvania address (rellies) so I can collect when I arrive in the US. I'm struggling with two things

a) 4GB v. 8GB - I use lots and lots programs open at the same time rather than doing hardcore gaming or video processing - so I'm thinking the i5 with 8GB is the best choice for me - have I got that right?

b) dispatch timing - my issue is that the relatives are going to be away the week before I arrive. I don't want the machine to arrive the week before that because that limits the amount of time I'll be hands on with it inside the 21 day right of return period. So my questions are how accurate are HP's time estimates for both build and shipping. and what happens if no one is home when the box arrives - will they call before? Is it a signature required courier - don't really want it left on the doorstep of an empty house!

 

a) That's the combo we got. Since the RAM is soldered on, makes sense to future proof.

b) If the FedEx tracking is accurate, ours will be here on the earliest day of their estimate window. However, unless FedEx hasn't been updating the status, they'll have to kick it into high gear for it to be here on Wednesday. Tracking still shows it's in Alaska.

It is a signature required, but with FedEx, if you make an account online, you can change it to hold at nearest facility so you can pick it up.

Sent from my HTC Amaze 4G

 

Thanks @oryan_dunn - do you know how sig required works with fedex - I want the computer in my name for tax and insurance purposes but the signature will probably be my sister-in-law - is that going to be OK? Do they always ship via Fedex ?

 

I'd go fishing on the FedEx site. You may be able to add a person as the signer, or FedEx may just require any signature, but I'm not sure.

Edit: I hadn't thought about it myself, but I'm planning on someone else being at home to sign. I doubt FedEx asks for ID. I don't think I've ever had a shipping company ask for ID when a signature is required.

Also, tracking still shows it in Alaska, last update on Friday, yet it's supposed to be here tomorrow.

Sent from my HTC Amaze 4G

 

I just got done chatting with HP, the "PC32999" 20% off coupon code doesn't apply to the 13t-3000 this time around.

 

=(

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

 

That is a shame and I am sorry for getting everyone excited over the coupon code that doesn't work for the Spectre.

 

Does HP always use Fedex? That looks like an a amazing service - we have nothing like that here - it's a pain waiting for a package. If they always ship with Fedex I'll get my rellies to sign up with them

 

I wouldn't sweat it. It's not like HP advertises which computers the coupon code applies to (which I find extremely annoying).

 

They seem to always use Fedex. I ordered some accessories from them and those shipped via Fedex as well.

Also, if you're relatives are not going to be home, if they've signed up for the Fedex.com account, you can have them redirect the shippment before it gets delieved, to be held at the nearest Fedex office. I've used the same service from UPS for signature required pick-ups, though when you use this, you will have to show an ID. I think they generally look at the address, but they may question if the names don't match, so just keep that in mind.

 

So for those bummed about the new coupon not working and holding out for 20% off on the Spectre, here's my experience dealing with HP.

I called their sales department yesterday and asked about the coupon, said that it was for 20% off any customized laptop >$999, and I didn't understand why it wasn't working on the spectre in my cart. She took awhile to figure it out, but eventually told me that the spectre was excluded, that it was HP's "mercedes-benz" laptop, and that it never goes on sale. She then tried to offer me $75, and when I said I wasn't interested, she offered an extra $25-$50 off with a special "manager override". I said I still wasn't interested because that still wasn't close to 20% off, and then tried to get me to cut out some of the upgrades to get the price under my stated budget of $1200. I said no thanks and told her I wasn't interested if it wasn't 20% off or at least close to it, but thanked her for trying so much to help, and we hung up.

After that, they send out a survey of your experience dealing with HP, and I filled it out. On the last page it has an option to manually enter comments, and leave your phone number for a supervisor to contact you if your issue is unresolved. I left comments saying that the lady was friendly but that I was disappointed she couldn't provide a better offer when the computer has been discounted 20% multiple times previously. I also wrote in my phone number and said I would like to be contacted by a supervisor.

Today, I received a call from a supervisor saying they were ready to get me all set with a new spectre, and he had a coupon ready to go that took $300 off the price (which is more than 20% off the fully upgraded model). I said absolutely, and the order was completed over the phone in less than 10 minutes. So I got the fully upgraded spectre (i7, 8gb, 256gb ssd, QHD, AC wireless) for $1134.99 before tax, and shipping was free.

On my order, it just says "instant discounts: $300 coupon". It doesn't show a coupon code or anything, so I think it's some HP supervisor/manager magic thing. I think this is very much a YMMV experience for those holding out for a discounted spectre, but I wanted to let everyone know it is possible to still get one at a good price, and that I had a great experience dealing with HP. And I'm so excited to finally get a spectre and I can't wait til it gets here!

 

Wow .. awesome, good for you (and good for sharing something positive about a company)

 

Wow! Good for you, man. I wish I would've gotten a better discount, but only $75 off for my Spectre purchase. I don't really care about it since I'm buying a fully loaded model as a gift for my sister. If it was for myself, I sure as hell would've tried to get a bigger discount, haha. I did try using that 20% and it wasn't working, but since this is a gift, I didn't spend much time freaking out over it. :/

I'm super excited to receive this so I can give it to my sister. She's going to LOVE it.

 

I am planning to buy this ultrabook. But I am worried about two issues that people are reporting.

1 - Bad performance: Even though on paper, the laptop has the same specs as other ultrabooks, it does not match them in performance. Is this true? Does some update solve this problem?

2 - Fan Noise & Heat: I work a lot with my laptop on my lap, I am worried about the heat issue and also is the noise too loud?

The config I am looking at (i7, 8gb ram, 256gb ssd, wifi ac, 1920*1080 screen) is coming to $1365 before tax. Are there any coupons I can use to bring it down? Is the 20% off still available?

I am from India (this model isn't available here). So I am planning to get it here through my brother, but not able to find out if this model has international warranty or not.

 

You're always going to see that not everyone will get the same results because no machine is perfect. In actuality, many reviews online show that the Spectre 13t scores higher than-average on many different tests (also beating some of the most premium Ultrabooks in some categories such as the Ativ Book 9 Plus and Macbook Air). It doesn't make sense to vaguely label "Bad Performance" when the components are what they are. It depends on the situation, model build, condition of the machine, etc.

As far as fan noise and heat goes, this machine is quiet from the reviews I've read onine, for the most part. Again, this part is mostly dependent on your usage scenarios. This is an Ultrabook, and shouldn't be too loud to begin with, if not practically silent for that matter. Anytime you put a notebook on your lap, you are inhibiting it from fully making use of it's chassis' air circulation -- it makes sense that your device may get hotter or louder because you have it on your lap instead of a completely flat surface. But honestly, I wouldn't even be worried about fan noise and heat since this is a low wattage device. Remember that fan noise and/or heat can depend on the applications you're running -- be it you're rendering something, or gaming. In briefer terms, I wouldn't be too worried. In any case, keep your device on a flat desk surface to avoid any heat or fan issues in the future.

This device, from what I've read and experienced, is not compatible with the 20% off coupon because it's an exclusion to HP's sale (even though they clearly state computers $999 or more). You can utilize the $75 off coupon though; that works. You should also try calling HP yourself because from what I read above, the associates can sometimes give you a little bit more of a discount to get you to buy the device.

I am not sure about the international warranty. Welcome to NBR. I hope I was able to help!

 

Thanks for the information. One thing I came across often was that the clockspeed on battery is lower and is there a way to remove any limitation on that?

 

I spoke with a Sales Specialist last night and my story is about the same as yours. First he offered %75 off. Then tried to get me to reduce the upgrades before I turned it down and we hung up. I never received a follow up survey though.

 

So I've unfortunately decided to just return the laptop

As I mentioned a few pages back, my second QHD unit has significantly worse backlight bleed than the first. If it were a cheaper machine I could deal with it, but I consider $1200 to be a "premium" price for me (I know it's nothing like the high-end business laptops, but you know what I mean).

 

Are you getting a 3rd or a refund?

 

I think I'm just going to go for a refund. I think I'm in the same boat as another poster where I would have been happy with the first after seeing the new one. But now I'm planning on just going with something cheaper and figuring I'll be less likely to complain about issues if I'm spending ~half as much.

 

If you want something at a lower price, but only slightly less capable, take a look at Best Buy Yoga 11S Haswell for $750. Or look at the Lenovo Outlet Store for refurbs for $510. Or if you want to go really low, look at the Asus T100TA-C1 for about $400..

Let us know what you decide to buy as as a replacement.

Good luck, Jim

 

Sorry to hear it. I totally get the point about spending less and caring less! Still, have you considered: calling HP, tell them they blew it again and that you want an RMA, but no order to replace this time. Chances are pretty good they will offer you $100 - $200 to keep it. That would lower your price point, and you can still send it in for screen replacement.

I'm sure you know what you are doing, but I'm still confused by what people consider "too much backlight bleed." I haven't had a modern laptop with a bright, high contrast, high quality LCD - particularly IPS, but even excellent TNs, as on my Sony Z models - that didn't evidence significant "bleed" during boot up but little to none that are visually distracting with "regular" content (the OS loading splash screens pre-Windows launch all have strange, non-pigmented gray or blue translucent screens that always show a great deal of bleed, though some more than others. Yet I have never seen that effect being visually distracting - if even noticeable - once you have real content loaded. At very most, I've seen a feint, narrow amount of bleed-through when running, say, a video with a dark black background at any of the edges with relatively high bleed through when launching the OS, and while I couldn't help but obsessively noticing a tiny amount of this, all I had to do was use it for a few days and force myself not to look for it and I soon became entirely unconscious of it. Sure, I can always find it with the "perfect storm" of a video (never seen it with static content, no matter how dark) with very dark, very uniform coloration at bottom edge of screen. It isn't that often that the "storm" exists, and when it does I'm usually watching a flick in low light so I can easily lower the brightness (ie, backlight intensity) setting and then it disappears entirely.

I have seen a few screen shots showing some bleed as noticeable, but again I believe people have the screen lit to the max because, well, it's only at highest brightness with "perfect" content conditions that you can really notice it, in my experience. In any case, its the fact that the first unit you had was acceptable and it's largely the fact that the second one was worse that makes you want to bag it, that makes me think you might do well to consider getting HP to effectively lower the price to you by a couple hundred bucks (if you got the 20% discount initially, that could take you down to around $950 pre-tax, and that's pretty much the max configuration. At that price, I would accept the minimal effect of backlight bleed as described above, but I'm pretty sure if you returned it - again! - to change the screen and asked for one with as little bleed as possible in these screens, you'd likely find the result to be more than acceptable. The key here is getting them to credit you $150 - $200 bucks and I am optimistic they will simply because in my experience HP just hates to lose a sale, especially of higher priced models.

If nothing I've said causes you to want to reconsider, you definitely need to return it for a refund and find something at a $600-$700 price that would likely be just as powerful and that you wouldn't feel as fussy about. If I did have bleed so bad it kept me from enjoying the computer I would dump it too, but the consideration would be heavily price-based. One last "warning": depending on what you are used to, if you get away from IPS, at least FHD displays, you might find you have been "spoiled" by such high quality displays. Though especially if you are willing to sacrifice battery life and perhaps go down to 4GB and 128GB SSD, I've seen deals on Ivy Bridge Dell XPS 12 and Acer S7-391s as low as $600 and then you really will be "sacrificing" little. With 128GB high speed SXDC cards, you can always beef up the storage for not much money and I believe it's still the rare user that can't get by just fine with 4GB of RAM. Again, you can make a lot more compromises for $600. Alternatively, you can probably find a used/refurb Thinkpad X230 that would enable you to increase both RAM and SSD with low cost standard hardware (RAM $50 and 256GB SSD or 128GB mSATA - for around $150), and you would only have to add it if/when you hit performance or storage constraints.

Good luck regardless. Hate to lose such a good contributor to this thread. Do report back what you chose to do and how it is working out for you.

 

Do peeps consider the $20 for the upgrade to 802.11AC worthwhile? I don't mind spending that for future proofing - but I'm nervous that it would create issues with networks running older tech (including my home one which is only b/g/n) ? I intend to use the machine travelling and connecting to wifi out and about (and not always in the Western world)

 

From my research, though not experience, using 802.11ac on a g/b/n network will not only be compatible; you'll have better throughput. If I stumble across any of those sources I'll update this post for everyone.

 

Honestly, I first bought the Spectre just because of the screen quality for the price. I don't really need an ultrabook/ultraportable. I'm looking at more "maisntream" 15" laptops but unfortunately it seems to be difficult to get a decent display until you get to the "premium" laptops like the XPS 15 or the gaming laptops.

Just trimming this down to not "stretch" the page at all. I mentioned it before, but if I could get back the first laptop I had sent back I could probably live with it. My main problem at this point is that I don't have a primary computer to use and HP took about a month to get me the original laptop and then another month to get me the replacement. If I could swap it out in two days or something I wouldn't have a problem giving it another try.

I know anything cheaper is going to take a big step down in display and that's part of what's making me question my decision. If I found something available in store or at least not built-to-order that was a similar value I would consider it. But again, I also don't really need this computer at all. I barely ever use my laptop on battery, I don't need the portability, etc... The only thing I really like the Spectre for is the display, and apart from that I'd rather have a 14-15" laptop honestly.

 

Based on your restatement, I go back to my suggestion that you call to send it back and tell them you aren't satisfied with the screen to pay this much. They are, as I suggested, highly likely to offer you $200 or possibly $250 to keep it as is. Then you can call into Customer Service and tell them your screen has way too much backlight bleed and you want it replaced. They will generally process a repair in 5-7 days, door-to-door; you might even get them to use Fedex overnight both ways and you may get it a day or two sooner. Since your present screen doesn't sound so bad it is annoying to use, you might pick a convenient time to send it back to replace the screen. The only downside of this approach is that if you take a "buyoff" you will presumably go past your refund date before you get it back from Customer Service. Thus, if you find the third screen also has unacceptable backlight for you, you will have to re-sell it, but if your cost is down to $1,000 or lower, you will sell it in a day.

You are right that all the quality 14-15" laptops tip the scales closer to $2,000. I totally understand what you mean about not "needing" this laptop. I was in the same boat. It's just that I have come to really love it and I'm glad I splurged. You can't love it the way the screen looks to you, but the majority that have even commented about backlight bleed have generally improved that issue with one or, at most 2 returns/servicings. I do know one other person who was in your shoes after returning one - wished he had the first one back! - and then got a third one that was as bad as the second, but the odds appear against that.

Best of luck, and do let us know.

Jeff

 

I was in a similar boat and wanted to buy a laptop with a nice screen that didn't have to be super portable, mostly for use around the house for photo editing. The Lenovo Y2P is a great price for the specs, but the screen issues with yellows was a deal breaker for me. The other model it came down to for me besides the Spectre was the Sony Flips. They come in 13", 14", and 15" sizes, and they all have 1080p IPS displays. I think the 15" even has a QHD option. The prices aren't completely outrageous, but they aren't super cheap. I think the 14" was the cheapest of the three. There might be better deals now with Sony selling off its Vaio line, haven't looked in to it though. The big knock on them is battery life, the Spectre crushes them by several hours on battery life, and between that and being able to get a better spec model Spectre for cheaper and the Spectre coming with the full version of Lightroom 5 and having a display port for high res monitor output, I was ok with the 13" screen size. If you don't need any of these things and just want a laptop with a big high res screen without a completely wallet crushing price (retina mbp or xps 15), the flip might be more what you're looking for.

As far as what I said in the customer survey, I don't have it saved and can't access it again, but it was something along the lines of "I had a good experience talking with ______ and she was very nice and helpful, but I was disappointed that she could not offer me a better price on a new Spectre like has been offered previously. The laptop has been discounted 20% previously , and I was really looking for a price around that". Then I left my phone number and checked the box that said I would like to be contacted by a supervisor, and I got the call the next day. I fortunately didn't have to go to quite the lengths that lovelaptops described, but those are all definitely good suggestions too if you're having trouble getting a discount from them.

 

Well, our Spectre finally came today. With the very limited time I've had with it, it all looks pretty good. No dead pixels. There is only a minor bit of backlight blead in the lower left corner, but not noticable in normal use. I'd be afraid to exchange it and end up with one that is worse. I find it hard to believe that they don't test for that before it leaves the factory. I'm almost sure that it has to do that the frame/bezel is just a hair too tight where there is backlight blead.

One interesting thing, all the unboxings I've seen show the laptop itself comes in a clear plastic bag. Ours came with a neoprene sleeve. I'll post pictures later, as well as picutres of the laptop in the leather case I bought. Since my fiance will be buying a different MBA sleeve for it, I may try the '"call HP and ask to return it to see if they'll give me money off to keep it" trick.

The fan does make a higher pitch noise, but it's not annoying like I feared it would be.

The laptop power cord is longer than I'm used to; I'm not sure why HP insists on a 3 prong adapter.

This is our first Windows 8 PC, and it will definitely take some getting use to. I'm a software engineer by day, and Windows 8 makes me feel like an idiot. Unlike when I first picked up linux, I felt like it was challenging and that I needed to learn it. Win 8 by contrast, sure looks easy, but I don't know what I'm doing and as a result makes me feel like I'm sure non-tech savy people feel all the time.

For the folks who were asking about FedEx, even though I had a FedEx account, the option to request it be held at the nearest FedEx location was grayed out. My fiance skipped class today to sign for it, so someone other than who the package was addressed to is able to sign for it.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9