HP Spectre 13T-3000

Yeah, sorry about the i5. I knew it wasn't the i7 but the difference is marginal. I may be seeing the 11.5% because I'm logged in with a business account that's getting special pricing. I don't think that's the case because it's my regular email account. Either way, the pricing is lower than I was seeing even yesterday. The big question is whether to pull the trigger now or hope for something better next weekend come Black Friday.

 

Ok I'm quite interested in this computer now, not to mention the fact that there are people actively interested in it. I had a couple of questions for people who have actually used it. Since there are no reviews online can someone do a video review of it? More specifically I'm interested in the build quality of it, for example, chassis rigidity, keyboard flex, and touchpad performance with multitouch and such things.

The price is right on this model so I want to make sure it fits my needs. Is the computer fully aluminum and glass or does it have plastic components in it as well (other than the keyboard of course)? Also, how's the battery life? I'm looking for at least 7 hours under light use since that seems to be the industry benchmark for good battery life.

Oh, do students happen to get education pricing of any kind with this machine?

 

Yes, that's a good price on the i5, maybe you can also get the extra 5% off on that price!

There may be better deals coming but it's always a risk. The main factor is if you can wait. You might even do better after the holidays.

The warranty looks pricey, and I'm thinking of looking around. I wonder if I can get square deal on this laptop instead. I'll have to read some reviews.

 

i am arguing with HP right now about the ethernet adaptor, they r telling me there is no such animal!! Can you please advise me how you managed to order your computer with the ethernet.It would really be useful for me.

TIA

 

To all the questions. I was not able to get everything that I described using the online shopping. I used it to build the configuration and because I had seen reviews on youtube that suggested 512 SSD was an upgrade but I didn't see it online I called the customer service number, yesterday. I spoke with a US customer service agent who was knowledgeable about ALL the Black Friday deals and actually offered the 3 year ADP valued at $269.99 regularly for $125. The NB1713 $100 off coupon also worked but I think it expires tonite. He also explained the Black Friday extended return policy. I was ready to order but needed to get some input from my husband on the build so I couldn't purchase on Saturday and I was told by the US rep it was no problem I could get the deal anytime since it was a Black Friday deal.

I called this morning to place the order and US customer service is closed and got customer service somewhere else in the world. They didn't know all the details and couldnt match the prices initially, but I asked to speak to a supervisor who was finally able to give me the same prices/deal with some maneuvering. I was literally on the phone with the first CSR for an hour when she ended up hanging up on me when she wouldn't match the price (+$200) and I asked to speak with a supervisor.

Hope that helps you all. I'm really hoping this is going to be a great Ultrabook for a much more reasonable price than the Samsung I was considering. Don't hesitate to ask questions, I'm not technically savvy but I'm not gonna pay more than I was quoted 12 hours earlier and guaranteed to be available for the next 2 weeks so just stick to your guns.

 

I didn't have any problem ordering the ethernet adapter, I think it was in the accessory section of the computer build and was an additional $30.

 

The web store would now allow you to stack coupon discounts. I could not get the same price online that I was quoted from the CSR for Black Friday deals. He was able to make it all work. But I don't think the outsourced CSR's have the same information as US reps so I was stuck with the NB1713 coupon expiring tonite. Thankfully the supervisor was able to honor the pricing and the deal.I really hope this model is a good quality.

 

You are a good negotiator! I'm wondering if I can call and renegotiate the price. My build date is a few weeks off...

 

The US CSR also told me that if prices go down they will adjust your purchase price.

 

Should use this coupon code: PC1723

$120 off $899 on customized HP Laptops and Desktops after HP Coupon PC1723 [Exp. 11/27 or 1000 uses]

 

This is great to know, thanks!

EDIT: I think I will call tomorrow during normal business hours to try and get the current price. I also want to add on a 3 year accidental coverage plan.

 

I added the Smartbuy maxed out i5 to my cart but it's not letting me use the NB1713 code with it. It says "This coupon is not combinable with all other offers. Please verify you want to apply this coupon."

Any way I can make it work? The $1239 price is already pretty good for the maxed out i5, but I'd really like to get the additional $100 off with the code or at least something..anybody else have this problem?

 

More than likely it can't be used with the Spectre 13. None of the previous $100 off customized computer coupons would work with it - it's a specific exclusion.

 

hmm i see...so can anything at all be combined with the smartbuy option then to make it better?

because otherwise, if i just configure the $999 base version to match the i5 maxed specs of the smartbuy (8gb ram, 256 ssd, qHD, ac wifi), its $1334.99, and then if I tack on the NB1713 to that it is $1234.99. $5 cheaper than the Smartbuy. Unless the Smartbuy deal has something...otherwise it doesn't seem that great. Not trying to be picky, just want to make sure I get the best deal. Did anyone combine the Smartbuy option with any other offer, or is ~$1235-1240 the best price I am going to get for this configuration?

 

You can definitely use a 5% coupon code. I would also consider doing what catbro did and talk to customer support. Be firm, and move up the chain to the "supervisor" if you have to

 

I ordered my usb-Ethernet adapter when I ordered my laptop, under accessories. I already received it, though I haven't try it yet.

 

Any luck playing around with it to see if the sound improves? Anyone else's impressions on the speakers? I'm currently using a Lenovo W510 and speakers are awful (granted this is a business-oriented machine) and had to use a Logitech sound bar to get something bearable. Are the speakers and sound on the HP decent at least?

 

Having said all that, I did try to see if I could improve the price on my custom build system, but I didn't get anywhere with that. Only the "smart buy" systems have the bigger discounts (my fault for wanting in i7...).

I did spend more money on a 3year accidental plan though. I figured this was worth it since I am going to travel with the thing. You can get the plan for an additional $168:

HP 3 year Accidental Damage Protection with 3-day Onsite Response for 2-year warranty Notebook | HP® Official Store

 

STRANGE 'SPARKING' NOISES FROM SPECTRE 13

Hi

Just bought the HP Spectre 13-3000ea (UK) from John Lewis. It is emitting strange sounds:

It makes 'sparking'/clicking sounds - several times a second in a random rhythm - but only when the laptop is awake but the screen has shut off for power saving. The sound seems to come from under the right half of the keyboard (is that where the SSD is?)

It's not very loud, but loud enough to be annoying. When the screen comes back on, the sparking noises change to quieter but still audible random buzzing sounds. They don't quite synchronise with the 'hard drive' light on the left.

Mains power or battery makes no difference. Neither does flight mode.

Anyone else have this problem? I plan to return the unit as it's only 1 day old but just want to make sure it's not a widespread design defect.

Thanks

 

Mine makes no such noise. I can't even tell when/if the fan runs. The i5 never even gets warm, and I can't feel any warm air coming out the vents.
I would definitely send it back for replacement.

Good luck. Jim

 

There is some discussion here on intermittent noises in a related model:

Intermittent Buzzing Noise - HP Spectre XT TouchSmart PC 15t... - HP Support Forum - 2380717

EDIT: this link also looks helpful:
http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebo...c-in-HP-SPECTRE-15-4010nr/td-p/2386327/page/5

 

Thanks for those links. Seems like they cover different problems relating to audio playback (speakers and headphones). The noises from my new Spectre 13 don't come from the speakers (or headphones) but from below the right half of the keyboard - even on mute. It's also not the fan as another suggested.

I'll swap the laptop for a replacement - hopefully this is a one-off problem.

As I've already installed all my apps etc. and partitioned the hard drive (System drive vs documents drive), if I take an image of the whole drive with Acronis TrueImage and image it onto the replacement system, will there be a problem because the Windows 8 serial is linked to the BIOS and it won't match the replacement machine? It's not something I've tried before - but would save hours! Thx.

 

I don't have any strange sounds coming from my laptop! Do you possibly have any wireless devices (Any RF devices) close by that could be causing inference? Try turning off (temporarily disabling) your wireless and Bluetooth adapter to see if this stop them noise from emitting from your laptop. Just a thought.

 

Here are a few comments about my Spectre 13 which I have had since November 14th. Excellent build quality. No flex anywhere that I can detect. Extremely fast boot and shutdown, 10 sec boot and 6 sec shutdown. My i5, FHD never gets even warm, I never hear the fan and I never feel any warm air coming from the vents. Battery run time for my use pattern is 8 hours, 47 minutes. WIFI is excellent, I get the same throughput as my ethernet cable connected desktop, Consistent 28 Mbps down and 5.4 Mbps up, which is about 10% more than my ISP claims.

I miss not having battery charge status LEDs. I think the flick feature causes causes unintended actions. I may just need to practice using flicks and other gestures.

I sure hope the absence of glitches continues. This is the best laptop I have ever had.

Regards, Jim

 

I get exactly those noises too. Never having owned a lap-top before I just thought it may be normal. Let me know how the exchange goes.

I also get the fan working a lot, stuff like streaming movies or downloading software. Is that a worry?

 

Thank you for those Comments, Jim. It Sounds like this is an excellent laptop. I just have a Couple of questions:

1). What was your previous laptop? When you say "this is the best laptop I have ever had, it would be helpful to know what past laptop or laptops you are comparing it to.

2) What is the resolution of your screen? Is it very bright and colorful?

3) What are the main things you do on this computer? Does it ever slow down? Get hot?

4) What is your configuration? (cpu, RAM, SSD size.)

Thank you buy much for sharing this information, it will help me - and others - a great deal!

Sent from my GT-N5110 using Tapatalk

 

Woops, yes, your exactly right. It looks like those complaints are about a hybrid HD/SSD anyway. Sorry for the misdirection!

It seems very strange that you would hear any physical noises as their should be no moving parts. Sending it back for a replacement sounds very wise to me.

EDIT: you mentioned sparking/clicking. That is worrying. I wonder if the SSD drives weren't seated very well during installation and they're arching over (that's a total guess).

 

I received mine yesterday and so far I love it! Its a nice upgrade over my Asus UL30VT-A1, which was very nice back in it's day. It runs ridiculously fast, battery life is great for me so far and I like its physical design. Audio is on par with my last laptop, maybe a little better. I have the annoying noise too on mine too, but only when idling at the desktop so I never notice it, but an uninstall of the IDT driver fixed that. Then I wanted to play with the Beats audio a bit so I re-installed it, only to find the noise again. Definitely seems driver related. AC wireless is ridiculously fast!

So far, my ONLY complaint is with screen brightness and color....white seems to have a bit of a yellowish tint to it. Not bad, but I'll have to work on calibrating it after work this evening. My Asus's screen was a couple "notches" if you will, brighter but it had horrible viewing angles which required me to look at it from dead center all the time. In this regard, the IPS of the HP is a nice improvement. IMO, the tradeoff for better viewing angles over brightness is a good one.

For my job, I actually get to test a lot of ultrabooks/tablets/convertibles so I'm able to compare these pretty well and I've seen similar displays to this HP, just a warm color tone.

I wound up with just over $200 in discounts, so I'm satisfied.

My system is: i5, 8GB, 256GB SSD, FHD

 

My most recent laptop was a Fujitsu Q702. A very good x2 hybrid, but too expensive and with more features than I would ever use. Also very heavy at 3.8 pounds.

My screen is FHD, 1920x1080. Yes, very bright and with excellent colors.

I use mainly for Email, Web cruising, board games, Angry Birds, rarely a movie or short clip. I do heavy lifting on my i7 desktop.
It never gets warm. I never hear the fan, I never feel any warm air coming out the vents.

I have the base config, i5-4200U, 4GB RAM, 128 GB ssd.

Goo luck, Jim

 

just curious, what was the total price you paid?

 

I am an employee of HP, responsible for product management, including for the Spectre 13.

The QHD spec was pulled inadvertantly from the website. It is, indeed, available. Even as I type, shipments of Spectre 13 are on their way to retailers and you should see them in the wild soon. If you've ordered from HP.com, please let us know your thoughts.

I am using my Spectre 13 for the last few weeks and, while I am admittedly biased, I love it. But my thoughts don't matter as much as yours so please let me know.

Amy

 

Amy,

So the crackling noises people are reporting in the UK 3000ea version - should these be returned?
Thanks.

 

See my post on page 23 of this thread for comments.

Jim

 

I'm am also curious and a little concerned about the noise issue.

However, if I had my 'druthers, I'd rather have a noise issue than a display issue, wifi issue or build quality issue -- so long as the noise isn't related to one of the other three.

 

Well dang, now there's a smartbuy version for $1239.99...i5, QHD, 8GB, 256GB, Wifi AC. Combined with my 10% off, I could have bought this for $1182 after tax! That's less than I paid for my FHD model. Oh well, I'm not that guy who's going to return it for the minor upgrade

 

REPLACEMENT SPECTRE 13 ALSO MAKES CRACKLING & BUZZING NOISES

OK I took the noisy laptop back to John Lewis and swapped it with a new one - and guess what - the replacement unit also makes the same noises. The replacement is slightly quieter but it still makes the irritating noises - i.e. clicking when the screen is off; random buzzing when the screen is on - from the right half of the keyboard. Not the fan. Again airplane mode or battery power make no difference.

Is this an UK-only problem? Either way, it looks like a refund unless HP can address the issue.

 

I was a bit foolish not to get the smartbuy option. It does seem like a pretty good deal. But I also don't think I'd return mine based on that.

 

Thanks for the information. Can you comment on the quality of the backlighting on the keyboard? And does the backlight have any brightness options?

 

OK I took the noisy laptop back to John Lewis and swapped it with a new one - and guess what - the replacement unit also makes the same noises. The replacement is slightly quieter but it still makes the irritating noises - i.e. clicking when the screen is off; random buzzing when the screen is on - from the right half of the keyboard. Not the fan. Again airplane mode or battery power make no difference.

Is this an UK-only problem? Either way, it looks like a refund unless HP can address the issue.
Yesterday, 11:29 PMjake1110
Well dang, now there's a smartbuy version for $1239.99...i5, QHD, 8GB, 256GB, Wifi AC. Combined with my 10% off, I could have bought this for $1182 after tax! That's less than I paid for my FHD model. Oh well, I'm not that guy who's going to return it for the minor upgrade
Yesterday, 11:15 PMFredSRichardson
I'm am also curious and a little concerned about the noise issue.

However, if I had my 'druthers, I'd r

 

Ohh, I really hope this laptop isn't a lemon like the Sony Vaio Pro. My last purchase was 5 years ago and it was a no brainer Dell inspiron for $500+ that I considered a throw away if necessary and I'm still using it with upgrades but I have NEVER, EVER had these kinds of issues with.

I'm really upset if this Spectre is a lemon, because my daughter doesn't have the time or inclination to troubleshoot all the problems. Well I guess I can return in for no restocking or shipping charges and go back toe the Samsung Ativ Book 9 if I absolutely have to. I'm just SOOO frustrated that the manufacturerers now ship laptops that they can't even confirm if they work properly or not. JUST UNBELIEVABLE

 

Catbro,

If if makes you feel any better, HP is infamous for shipping new models full of bugs - hdwe and sftwe. I've long commented that their "1.0" products are actually betas and those who buy HP products in the mkt for less than 6 months are involuntary beta testers! The only consolation is that in my experience of the past 5 years they generally have been very liberal about returns and even refunds. Sometimes you'll only get these if you ask, but it is pretty common for them to offer $ 100 - $ 300 discounts (vs. whatever. you paid originally) as an inducement to accept a replacement instead of returning for refund and bye- bye HP!

I imagine this scenario is not workable for your daughter in college. Thus I think your best options are to pick an HP model out long enough to have worked out its design / mfg. flaws and ask for a generous discount to switch to it, or get a refund and move onto another brand and a model with a good track record.

Btw, there are some excellent deals on new or refurbished Asus Zenbook UX31A midels, which had their share of bugs for 6 months or more but worked them out with more recent builds. Refurbs are even cheaper -I've seen recent 3rd gen dual core i7 U models w/256 gb SSD and 4 GB of RAM for as little as $699. This model is as good or better than the Spectre 13t except that they do not have Haswell, hence battrry life tops out at 6hrs and the igp is weaker, but not eniugh to matter in all genl purp apps. The 13" FHD IPS screen is as good they come and I personally think QHD is overkill in a 13" and not supported by virtually any Windows sftwe. The 4gb RAM soldered to mobo is a decision you'll have to rule on.

The Ativ 9 3rd gen Core I ULT is good too but will cost at $200 - $300 more and has a considerably worse (shallow) keybaord with lousy, uneven blue backlight. Both the Ativ and Zenbook Primes were heads of the class for 3rd gen Ultrabooks in mid-2012 thru mid 2013 and their Haswell successors offer little but 2-3 hrs more battery and the QHD screens, at a premium of -truly-$400-$700 higher price.

Hope this is of some concillation and help. Others may well have better ideas.

Good luck!

Jeff

Sent from my GT-N5110 using Tapatalk

 

Sorry, I have never had or used a laptop with a backlight keyboard.

Jim

 

I wouldn't jump to the conclusion that this laptop is a lemon. At least not yet. When I considered this laptop I read about a lot of other similar models. Take the yoga 2 pro for example: that one has build quality issues, wifi issues and more significantly display issues. I also looked at the Aspire S7, MacBook Pro Air, MacBook Pro Retina, Samsung ATIV Book 9 Plus, Dell XPS 12 Ultrabook Touch, Microsoft Surface Pro 2 and the Asus Zenbook. They all have issues of one form or another (in some cases it's the price). While Googling around I read a number of noise related issues with the Mac's which was a bit surprising.

The Spectre appears to have a lot of good points: the build quality, the keyboard, the screen and the wifi all seem to be quite good.

To be fair, the 13t-3000 hasn't been in as many people's hands for as long as some of the other brands, so it's not surprising that we're starting to hear some of the negative reports now.

But if the only report turns out to be the noise problem, I would consider myself quite lucky.

 

Honestly, this generation of Haswell Ultrabooks seems to be evenly... lousy? I'm not saying there aren't perfectly usable products out there and the base technology is great, but it seems that quite literally every model has significant flaws or drawbacks that make you pause and go "hmm" before hitting that Buy button... and I really don't recall ever having this much trouble finding an "acceptable" notebook in the past.

For what it's worth the Spectre 13-3000 was my second choice; I ended up ordering the HP Zbook 14 ultrabook for the discrete GPU, Ethernet port and keyboard layout, and even though it's way more expensive, I honestly don't expect it to be any more "perfect" than the Spectre.

 

^about the Yoga 2 Pro, it seems the yellow color issue was fixed with a BIOS update. IMO, the main issue with the Y2P is the relatively low battery life, though it's hard to say how it compares to the Spectre 13T-3000's battery life without reviews.

Seems really strange that only UK users have the noise issue. Can more non-UK owners confirm that they don't have the noise issue?

 

I thought the Yoga Pro 2 underlying issue was hardware...a pentile screen? But they made it more accurate in producing yellow using the bios fix. Good to know though! At work I tested on a Yoga Twist and Pro but really wasn't too impressed. The YP2 sounds much better.

 

It's been a really long time since I last bought a laptop for personal use (2005 - a giant HP ZD7000), so I really didn't know what to expect this time around.

Should I have gone with the gen 3 processors? My main considerations are processing power, memory (8G), weight, width and durability. Battery life isn't all that important. Gaming is a plus (but I can get by with really old games).

Do you have your Zbook 14 yet? That actually looks pretty good, though as you point out it's at a different price level

Complaints on the Lenovo site about the Y2P scared me off. It also seemed to me the build quality wasn't great.

 

Has anyone learned anything about the premium leather carrying case?