HP Spectre x360

I got my Spectre x360 today but I have one issue. It has a squeaky space bar. Is there a simple and safe way to fix this?

EDIT:

Just blew some air under the space bar and the noise is now gone. Guess some dirt or something was caught under it.

EDIT 2:

And the squeak is back.

 

anyone else lose the DTS control panel after updating drivers? it still shows up when you search but it never opens. it was the only way to keep the terrible speakers from crackling constantly.

 

My DTS Control Panel is still there, although I did not include the optional realtek updates from windows updates, nor did I include the other optional update drivers. I only did my driver updates from HP support assistant. If you did the windows realtek update try to rollback to the one from HP.

 

Is it possible to charge the laptop from a power bank?

 

I'm not sure with those little powerbanks, but this might do:
Anker Astro Pro2
http://www.ianker.com/product/79AN20L-SA
It has different tips for different laptop charging ports, but I'm not sure if it has the exact adapter for the Spectre x360.
Hope it helps.

 

What is the charging voltage required?

 

Ignore - looks like its 19V.

Guess I just need to find out what the tip size is - any ideas?
Looking at this for an option: http://www.aukey.com/product/28000-mah-external-battery-pack-laptop-charger
Does 19V 3.2A

 

https://www.behance.net/gallery/26729537/hp-spectre-x360-power-adapter
The out put voltage is 19.5V with a 4.5mm x 3.0mm tip size. You need an adapter like this for most power banks: http://www.amazon.com/iGuerburn-Charger-Adapter-Connector-Converter/dp/B00PGWICAC

 

Quick update to the fan noise issue:

After 2 depot returns/repairs, they had a tech sent out to assist. He came today and said "I don't think I've heard a louder laptop in normal use" and wrote up that it has to be a defect in cooling as they've already replaced the motherboard, fan, thermal paste, and claim it is working fine. He agreed that it's abnormally loud but I can't get HP to approve a return. I love the model and device, and no reviews mentioned fan noise so I can't help but feel like I have a lemon here. Waiting on my HP Escalation engineer to follow-up but they have been very against a return/replace because it was outside the 30 day window. I wasted the first 30 days troubleshooting the OS/software as I thought it may be load-related. Oh well! More calls tomorrow.

Just so I'm not crazy: Does anyone else with the i7 model have fairly frequent full speed fan noise on fairly light use (Outlook, 2-4 tabs of browser, Trillian)? CPU rarely goes over 60deg (C) during these times.

 

Uninstall drivers and reinstall them through the HP Assistant. Worked for me.

 

I have the i7 model. The fan goes to full speed from time to time on light use. BUT I believe is a problem with the software not the fan because on Netflix or YouTube it doesn't go full speed, only with IE or Chrome up.

 

Yea it sometimes foes full speed randomly with mine as well. But I dont care about fan noise. i got the QHD version and the screen is just not bright enough ... damnit

 

Sorry I don't have any experience with your model, but I do have a good bit of experience dealing with HP in situations like yours. Bottom line: you need to try to get to a higher level of management and plead your case and get a replacement model. You should get a new one, but a refurb would be better than having to keep dealing with the "lemon" you have. (In fact, refurbs from the mfr are often the best bet because they have been inspected and tested by a human being, not a factory manufacturing line, and that human's name/number is on the sticker saying that he tested it and it works perfectly). But pardon the digression; the point is: HP will send you a replacement if you talk to the right person.

Warning: You want to avoid being turned over to HP's "Case Management: department if at all possible - they are a black hole of arrogant, unhelpful, unaccountable people, and if they help you at all it will likely take more than one month and they will likely insist that you send in your Spectre before they will work on your case, thus you may be without computer for a month. The really frustrating thing about the CM dept (as it was for many years, through 2014) is that they refuse to let you:

1) involve anyone else at HP, even if you have been dealing with someone in some customer support area who knows your situation well and is fairly close to resolving it. Once you are turned over to Case Management, they freeze you out of the entire HP organization.

2) Escalate to the CM's boss. They literally claim that each CM is the last stop, highest level authority and there is no management they report to that you can appeal to.

So, what you need to do is try to get the sympathy of whoever you talk to and literally make up a story about needing to have the computer work and not make the terrible fan noise within 5 business days because you are about to be going on a business trip and cannot bring it to meetings to take notes because the noise is too disruptive, or something like that. I usually do better cooking up a story, but my point - and I have dealt with this kind of thing with HP maybe 10 times in the past 5 years - is that they will give you a replacement even if you are outside the 30 day window, especially after you have gone through MOBO, fan, other replacements and bought the top end model. Do tell them that you spent your free return period trying to troubleshoot the problem via software and now just can't have further delays or be stuck with a noisy, disruptive computer. Again, you want to sound ultra-respectful but make it clear that nothing but a replacement is an option for you. Try to get to a supervisor, manager or someone with the authority to grant a replacement - chances are the people you've been dealing with lack that authority.

I would ask anyone reading this post who has had experience with HP Case Management in the past year to post about your experience. I don't want to be misdirecting you if the organization, recently streamlined in preparation for the spinoff of consumer products from business, have fixed that malignancy they used to call Case Management!

Good luck. Believe you will prevail, and you will.
This may have changed recently, but for 5 years up to 2014

 

Just a quick update for me:

Was driving me crazy trying to figure out if what was going on was with just my screen, or with the screen and the (Dell) pen. So I went to Best Buy with my x360 and my Dell Active Stylus. I happened to run into the HP rep there and he and the Best Buy fellow were really awesome. They opened an HP pen and let me try that - it worked on my screen. Then they found some Dell machines that supported the pen and had me try that (the Dell pen did not work). So we determined it was a lemon. The HP rep encouraged me to call HP and see about a replacement as Jeff did here in the thread.

So I called both Dell and HP. Dell was awesome and had me a new pen here in 2 days (it works!). HP took a lot more work. But they are getting me a new machine. I had to pay up front for it (which hurt) - and when they get the old machine back they will credit it back AND credit me the 25% difference in price I got since I bought my original on sale. They've told me I can keep the one with the messed up touchscreen until I get to the end of the 30-day window. I don't know that the new one will be here by then. It is coming express mail, but is a custom build so still shows building. I have to call back about getting the RMA on this one by next Friday so we'll see what happens. I didn't like having to pay for the replacement out of pocket but it's better than sending this one off for an intermittent touchscreen issue. Really wary of sending it off for that. It also seems to have a glitch with the F5 button, though - it won't turn off even when disabled in the BIOS.

I also wanted to say, regarding the QHD brightness, I do not get how you guys say that it's not bright enough Mine is plenty bright (way brighter than my desktop's monitors). I can use it in buildings easily and I used it outside by the lake with no problems.

Battery life at full brightness has been around 4.5 hours, and quite a bit longer when the screen is dimmed.

 

Same. I've undervolted the CPU by ~90mV and underclocking it to 70% but the random fan spikes still occur but less frequently.

 

Οk, something really strange just happened to my A key. It seems like the paint of the letter got out of the casing.. ?Take a look at the picture, I have no idea how it happened, I was just putting some songs into my smartphone (typing a little) and the next moment I saw this.

I am afraid that it may happen to other keys, too, and then my keyboard would look hideous, I cannot even imagine it.

 

I hate to say this -- having seen it on another machine -- it may not be "paint spreading" but the silver around the A beginning to peel off. Not sure though. How does it appear with the backlight on?

-Matt

 

It sounds like dealing with HP when it comes to tech support or faulty hardware is a PITA. Would people recommend buying this from the Microsoft Store instead?

 

Here it is with the backlight on. In the photo it is not apparent, the excessive black is still there, without having backlight.

It is ridiculous. Such an expensive device having flaws like this. And there have been quite many others, I am seriously thinking that my next laptop will be a mac at last.

 

Hey y'all.

Thanks for all the sweet info on this laptop.

I just purchased the 4002dx (i5 + 256Gb + FHD) via HP.

If you're still in the market, you can pretty easily talk the sales rep into $75 off. Also, they offered a printer bundle ( HP Officejet 4630 e-All-in-One Printer) for an additional $19.99. The reviews for the printer look pretty solid, and you can always sell it. It goes for about $75 right now through major retailers.

Also, HP is rolling out a refresh of this laptop on July 29 with Windows 10 and 3 USB-C ports (USB 3.0 speed). I decided not to wait since there is no i5 option, it's more expensive, and USB-C isn't ubiquitous yet. So with this new laptop coming out, I'm guessing the prices for the Windows 8.1 models will fall shortly.

Anyway, it comes Friday and I'm gonna try it out with the Dell Active Stylus I got.

If anyone has any kind of laptop-testing questions (even though many of them have already been answered), I'd be happy to help.

Cheers

 

Hey jack, I'm curious... what did you say to get the $75 off?

I'm debating if I want the latest model with USB-C ports from the HP site, or if I want to stick with the USB-A model from the Microsoft Store (there's one near me, and they seem to be pretty good at handling hardware issues).

 

I just asked for any discounts they had. I spoke with a guy last week that said he'd give me $75 off, but I wasn't ready to purchase yet. Then I called this week and asked a different guy about discounts. He said he could do $50, but I told him that the guy last week said $75. Even though he couldn't verify because that guy wasn't there, he said I sound "like an honest person" and gave me $75 off.

Work some phone magic. You'll definitely get at least $50 off.

 

If you don't mind buying (manufacture) refurbished, you can get an i7/256GB Spectre x360 for $749.99.

Where did you get this information? From HP's website, they list USB 3.0 ports, no mention of USB-C.
http://store.hp.com/us/en/pdp/Laptops/hp-spectre-x360---13-4101dx-(energy-star)

 

Check out the HP Data Sheet when you go into the specs. 'External Notebook Ports' list USB-C.

 

Wow, would really be nice if they could get USB C ports into the notebook, though i kinda doubt they would rebuild the exterior of the current notebook, more likely they would just upgrade the internals.
Though i kinda hope they would include a USB-C and a normal USB port, not all C's or all normal sized, you know, for compatibility purposes. =)
Also, they should maybe include a bigger display (I'm pretty sure they can fit a bigger display in the frame, slimming down the bezels) and shrink the touchpad a bit. Now that would be a perfect laptop.

 

Just picked up the SX360. A few things:

1. Haven't updated anything - still using it stock.
2. This thing gets HOT. I have the I5, 1080p version, and the bottem left side can get unbearable after an hour or two. It gets so hot that using it on lap or in tablet mode become unbearable.
3. I have been using Windows 7 since it was released, avoided windows 8 because of all the negativity. After using this device, I now realize how much I actually like win 8 with a touchscreen device/convertible. I may keep the SX360 solely due to this reason.
4. Battery life has been unimpressive. Used it for a few hours before it died yesterday. I've charged it up to full and will run it down to test battery again. Been using it for 15 minutes, and its already down to 93% (as of this sentence).
5. From what I can tell, this is one of the better Windows laptops out atm. That isn't saying much, because the new 2013 mac is better in almost every aspect. Only reason I'm not interested in getting one is because of Windows + Touch screen.
6. I get occasional stutters with this machine (while watching videos and what not). I may swap this for the i7 version, just to eliminate these stutters.

Will update tonight with battery results.

 

I own two of these machines, they both got hot until I updated the HP and Windows drivers. Then very cool and quiet, and long battery life. Quite nice.

I recommend you update the drivers, including the BIOS, and see if the heat decreases.

 

Hey guys, I just got notification about free upgrade to Win 10 that will be available soon. Anyone got it already? Will it solve the heat issues?

 

I've never exactly had "heat issues" with my spectre, well at least no more that any other aluminum laptops like macs. Though mine is only an i5. By the way have your laptops started downloading the windows 10 upgrade already? How is it?

 

I've installed Windows 10 on my x360 via upgrade and then I did a refresh to get a clean install-like version. Unfortunately, the HP profile is now gone and after downloading/installing all of the drivers for the x360, it is still gone. Anyone know how to restore it?

EDIT:

So this is what I did to get back the HP power plan profile and a "clean" install of Windows 10 after upgrading to 10 from 8.1. I opened the start menu and searched for "Create A Recovery Drive". Opened it and ticked the option to "Backup system files to the hard drive" and then copied the data to a USB >16GB. This allowed me to reinstall Windows 8.1, and choosing to not save any files, made it a factory install. After getting back on 8.1, I was immediately greeted with a Windows 10 upgrade via Windows Update so I let it run and installed Windows 10. With nothing else installed, Windows 10 upgraded from a factory install of 8.1 was essentially a clean install. And since the upgrade was from a factory install of 8.1, the HP power profile, and other drivers, were kept in Windows 10.

 

I just purchased a new x360 (i7,8gb, 256gb, 1080p panel) this week and I wanted to share my experience. My first unit had a couple of dead(or stuck?) pixels so I exchanged it for another unit. This one also has some pixels that are dead or stuck. They are especially visible on solid black background. This latest version also has some image retention issues. If I spend just a few minutes browsing and then switch to a solid gray background, I can clearly see the browser bar and many other static items that remain on screen for several minutes.

I just spent 4 years with a Lenovo X220 with image retention issues and I really don't want to put up with this issue any longer. Has anyone else seen these issues? I'm going to try one more exchange and if the next panel is not any better then it looks like I will be looking elsewhere. I really wanted to like this device.

 

I ran the Windows 10 Insider Preview for a while on an x360 -- including the final RTM-equivalent version -- and had wifi problems. The 'ole "wi-fi doesn't work after resume" (sometimes) issue appears to be back. It took Intel nearly forever to fix that issue in Windows 7; hopefully they'll be more on-the-ball with Windows 10.

 

Hi to all, I have a question.
I'm about to order one of these, I've been waiting for the Windows 10 upgrade and also USB-C.

On the HP website in the specs it says USB 3.0 and on the data sheet it says "3 USB-C, all supporting USB Boost".

So what am I getting? USB 3.0 or USB C (3.1 supposedly)?

Thank you

 

It appears to be both. USB-C and USB 3.0 aren't mutually exclusive.

Think about USB 3.0... even though laptops were upgraded from USB 2.0 to 3.0, the connection type (USB-A) stayed the same. In the case of the new Spectre x360 model, the connection protocol stays the same (USB 3.0), but the connection-type was updated (USB-A to USB-C).

Essentially what this means is that you get a new connection, but functionally it's the same. You don't get all the exciting features USB 3.1 promises to deliver (10GB/s transfer, ability to charge the laptop from the USB port). This means for the time being, you have to carry adapters for your current devices (USB-A) to connect to your Spectre x360 (USB-C). On the other hand, your laptop is good to go when USB-C devices are being produced in mass in the next year or so.

 

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand this is why I didn't wait for the Windows 10 version.

 

Yeah!!! Looks like HP updated the BIOS so now you can manually disable the keyboard light function key when the keyboard light is off.

 

I have the same model, and the experience was the same. Don't worry about the heat, It will disappear after you update the software and bios.

On the other hand, I am also experiencing battery life problems. It goes down quickly, even it battery saver mode, with the screen brightness at 50% . So far it is away from the 10 / 12 hours range that most of "pro" reviewers posted. I don't know if I got a lemon, if the battery needs some charging cycles, or if there is something wrong with the software. This is the only thing that gets me nervous so far, because battery life (together with convertible mode) was the main reason to buy this thing. The rest is working perfectly.

Yep, I could turn off my F5 light!

 

Just upgraded to windows 10, first time didn't work out, the second time was good though. My problem is the win 10 three finger gestures don't work. Just wanna ask if you guys have found a solution to make it work?

 

It looks like the HP website updated the page for the 4101DX and removed the USB-C spec. Apparently Best Buy has these models... I tried to check one out and see if this model was USB-A or USB-C, but they couldn't find the shipment (probably still being opened or something). If it's actually USB-A on the new model, I'd opt for that instead.

 

Just updated to Win 10, working like a charm, very nice OS. The fan still working even when I just using few pages in Firefox. What to do with that issue?

 

It could be that the new windows 10 os is still acclimatizing itself on its new host, by that meaning its upgrading stuff. It was like that for me at first but now while using it with multiple chrome tabs (with flash) the fan doesn't really turn on. My system is only an i5 FHD though, so it could be that.

By the way do windows 10 3 finger gestures work with your touchpad? How do you invoke task view?

 

Installed Win10. Works like a charm, love it. Only issue is when audio is about to start, you can list to a "pop" noise. It happens before any audio plays and after. I thought it was the speakers but you can listen to it over the headphones. Uninstalled and installed audio drivers and still. Any ideas?

 

3 fingers gestures does not work on my touchpad, maybe it should be activated from somewhere? Actually 3 fingers tap is working, but not swype up or down. The settings are in Settings-Mouse&touchpad

 

I went to my best buy last night and saw the new models. They don't have USB-C or B&O Play. I have a feeling those HP specs that were originally listed point more to the skylake refresh then the windows 10 one.

 

Wow, no B&O either, huh? So are there any hardware differences at all? If it's just the OS, I wonder why they bothered with the model # change...

 

Mine ended up having dead pixels (FHD). Sent back for another. Hopefully all the touchpad gestures and audio issues are fixed in Windows 10 by the time the replacement comes.

 

Figured it was the same thing, too early to make modifications in the chassis. Maybe its not just windows 10, specs say its the same thing though.

 

Yeah, tap is working, its just the swipe up/down for taskview/show desktop thats not working. It could be that the drivers aren't updated yet. Just a little bummed out, my sister's 3yr. old Asus UX31e had them gestures working right after I updated it to Windows 10, while our several months old Spectre are a little slow on drivers hahahaha.

 

Assuming the gesture worked on 8.1, Id try to uninstall the current synaptics driver and reinstall the one from Windows 8.1 (check HP's website). Then download the " Show or hide updates troubleshooter package" on that page, run it, and hide the Synaptics update so that Windows Update won't reinstall the bad driver.

 

HP started to upload Driver for Windows.
At first, there is a new bios. I hope the battery life gets a bit better