HP Spectre x360

(1) Go to Control Panel -> Power Options

(2) Go to the active/selected power plan and click on "Change plan settings"

(3) Click on "Change advanced power settings"

(4) Make sure the plan you want is selected in the drop-down menu, and scroll down to "Processor power management"

(5) The middle option is "System cooling policy"

-Matt

 

From the very brief time I've had with the laptop I did notice the fan spinning up on what you'd think would be a fairly trivial task (running JScreenFix in the unsuccessful attempt to fix the stuck pixel my unit had). It was never super obnoxious, though I'm used to my Clevo's louder fans (although you do get to have some control over custom profiles with the P651SG, which would be great to see in all laptops with fans).

Sent from my XT1562 using Tapatalk

 

Hey Guys,

I have the Spectre x360 13-4101dx model and noticed that chrome is not as smooth as edge when scrolling. It's super choppy and makes for a painful browsing experience. I took @gadgetrants advice and installed Adblock but its still pretty bad.

Anyone know how to rectify this?

Also, I've noticed that my battery life and overall performance seem "off" given the specs of this model. Not sure if I have a lemon or maybe there are a few drivers I am missing but I'm hoping its the latter.

Has anyone else been getting battery life around 5-6 hours and not anywhere near the spec'd 12.5 hours.

Would love to hear other experiences out there.

 

It's Chrome's problem. I get the same on my new Acer netbook. Edge is smoother than Chrome at scrolling, yet freezes more on heavy websites due to no adblock being available yet. Can't win either way. Extension support for Edge can't come soon enough!

Sent from my XT1562 using Tapatalk

 

Hmmm, I wish I could explain why but I'm not having any issues with scrolling in Chrome. Now admittedly it was pretty spotty with my previous laptop (which is even harder to explain, since it was a better CPU) but so far I've only noticed one website (southwest.com) that's giving me any trouble.

-Matt

 

Thank you Matt, just changed the settings, will see how it goes.

 

I kinda experience this on chrome as well but not on all websites. Some sites are buttery smooth on scrolling but others are kinda choppy-ish but its still useable.

 

I can report back that upon changing from 'power saving' to the hp recommended power plan (both plans using the passive cooling setting), the hp plan will increase the cpu multiplier above 8x which will lead to the fan getting a bit obnoxious under moderate load, while the power saving mode seems to lock down the multiplier at 8x.

I will keep playing around - might see if there is a balanced plan and what that results in on passive mode.

Or see what Throttlestop can do..

I just wish we had more control over the throttle or fan.

 

I don't think you'll ever get the manufacturer specified battery length. It's the absolute best case scenario. I think the general expectation for an i7 FHD model is around 9 hours on normal usage, 30-40% brightness, and on a power plan (give or take an hour).

My first full charge got me only about 5-6 hours, but following charges got me to 8-9 hours.

 

Thanks ^^^ that's helpful input. I was hoping for ~9 hours but for the first few weeks powercfg was estimating 6-7. Now that I've upgraded to Win 10 things are somewhat worse (4-5) BUT I haven't given it much time. I suspect after a few more charge cycles I'll see better numbers. Also, I should add that I'm an 80% brightness kinda guy, which I guess means I'll never see 8-9 hours unless I can learn to live with 30-40%!

-Matt

 

Just got myself one and loving it! Btw, are you guys facing some blurry text on some programs? Easiest example would be the text in the Synaptics settings GUI.

 

HELP!!!

I'm on Windows 10 with 360 i7/8GB/512GB. The audio has been stuttering and popping...and I'm talking about the system sounds and going from there. Sometimes it will pop when there aren't any sounds coming out.

I'm on Realtek HW Audio Codec Driver 6.4.10041.127 and Intel SST Driver 8.4.2.105.

Any tips? I've already deactivated the DTS, etc...and I dont' want to ruin the speakers.

Help!!

 

Change scaling to not be a partial perecentage, for example, 100% or 200%. Partial percentages do not work well for some win32 apps.

 

Thanks for the tip! Oddly, I just checked the touchpad GUI and it looks pretty crisp (could be my eyes!). Though it's true some other apps have scaled fonts kind of poorly for me. I'm at 125% BTW.

-Matt

 

Are there any particular recommended settings to increase battery life?

My i5 model lasts about 3-4 hours on a night. I read somewhere Chrome was battery intensive, is that true?

 

I use a Bible study application (SwordSearcher) and the text is a bit blurry in it. I'm hoping the developer may optimize for higher resolution displays. Mine is QHD and I'm using it scaled to 125% (been reducing it gradually towards 100% as I get used to each level so I'll have more screen real estate). My other apps all look crisp, many just have small menus!

I like my Spectre x360 more every day - it's an awesome workhorse that switches to a nice toy when the work is done

 

100%?

You must have great eyesight. Moving to 100% will get rid of that blur most likely.

 

I agree 100%.

Actually, make that 125%!!!

-Matt

 

I managed with 100% scaling just fine with this laptop. Definitely recommended if your eyes are up to the task (I technically cheat because I wear prescription glasses 24/7 so my eyesight with them should be almost perfect).

Sent from my XT1562 using Tapatalk

 

Probably with FHD display.

 

Hi! Does anyone know if it is possible to use the spectre as a keyboard/PC for an external monitor (in tablet mode) ?

 

Why you wanna do this is beyond me ;D But you might try to disable the sensor which detects rotation and then the keyboard should stay on

 

Ahah! The thing is that I am used to bigger screen sizes so I thought that having an external monitor could be useful at home because then it would give me more space for tasks like programming (using an external keyboard could also do the thing though). Now when you talk about disabling the sensor, is it something controlled by a software or the hardware? I looked up on the internet and I found a similar issue with the lenovo yoga. I let you read it ( https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Lenovo...o-Enable-keyboard-in-tablet-mode/td-p/1503768). One suggests to put a magnet somewhere on the keyboard so that the it continues to work in tablet mode. Will I have to do something similar with the spectre?

 

Why not just plug your x360 into the external display via HDMI? I'm not quite clear why you want it in tablet mode...so it can sit on your lap like a keyboard?

EDIT: Ahh....thanks for posting the Lenovo thread. So *that's* exactly what you want -> convert the x360 to a keyboard+CPU while using an external (remember: wired) display. I guess it's a matter of personal preference...having the x360 display up while typing wouldn't bug me, but I can see how tucking it away is a cleaner solution.

EDIT: your question raises an interesting issue I'd never thought about before: while rotating the screen, at what point are the trackpad/keyboard disabled? The answer after testing it a few times is... about 190 degrees. In other words, it's an ugly option but you also have the choice of laying out the x360 totally flat -- keyboard facing you and the screen pointing straight up (which you can also turn off with an external display) -- and the keys and mouse will still be engaged. Not pretty but it works.

-Matt

 

Thanks for answering. You're right! Putting the tablet at 180° is actually not a bad idea after all But I still wonder if it's possible to do a full rotation. Do you think the method with the magnet from the lenovo link would work with the spectre?

 

I meant disable the sensor with software.

If you just wanna use your spectre as "cpu, etc" it's a much cleaner solution to buy an external keyboard, and just plug the screen and keyboard in.

Edit: I'm doing this at home. I'm connecting a USB hub (where the keyboard, mouse are connected) and screen. Then I put my spectre into tent mode. By doing this I have my main big screen where I code in matlab/simulink and having pdfs on the spectre screen or other things of interest

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

Anyone else with Win 10 installed find their x360 wakes on it's own?

I close the lid, see the power button flash indicating sleep, and then when I unplug it in the morning, it is awake (solid lit power button) before I open the lid. It's only done this since Win 10 was installed. Anyone else?

 

Mine has done that quite a few times...always involving an update.

 

I've noticed some update weirdness as well -- chalking it up to a brand new OS. We're early adopters and if this were Vista or 7 or 8/8.1, we'd normally be suffering weeks if not months of sub-optimal behavior -- I'd say 10 is relatively well-behaved!

-Matt

 

HP Spectre x360 - 13-4007na (ENERGY STAR) Crackiling sound card/speakers - anybody know how to fix this?

Starts after 1-2 min of Youtube running...bothers me a lot.

 

I hate to send you on a wild goose chase, but two thoughts....

...first, please post a link to a video that seems bad (or is it pretty much ANY video?).

Second, I don't think I installed the Energy Star Power Plan utility...and I only have a slight popping sound when some web pages load...if you have it installed could you check and maybe uninstall/test?

-Matt

 

This issue has actually been discussed heavily in this forum. Basically we don't really know the exact solution to this problem. I for one have solved it by disabling the DTS audio enhancements everytime i restart since it tends to re enable on its own, this solved the crackling noise for me. Others have not been so lucky and still have some problems regarding the noise.

 

That is actually a feature inside Win10 itself, something to do with wake timers in the updates. Basically the default mode is while plugged in and not in use, even if it is off, the system turns itself on at 3AM and install updates. You can disable this by the way.
On the funny side there had been talks about people getting scared of their PC's because of this feature, thinking that it became haunted since it wakes up on its own at exactly 3AM hehehe.

 

Hi guys,
Beware, I am experiencing fan always on with new bios firmware F.25 Rev.A. The fan always on configuration choice does not have any effect. So I downgraded bios back to F.22 Rev.A to solve this issue.

 

Hi there

My multimedia function keys (F6-F8) do not work on my X360 with Windows 10. Anyone else experiencing this issue?

 

These automatic updates are driving me crazy. It's turning on my PC from sleep, but worse, it keeps reversing the two finger scroll direction on the clickpad. I can't imagine why every windows update contains a mouse driver, but why else would the Enable Reverse Scrolling revert to default (on) when windows updates? And why must it loose my settings? Grr.

 

On the topic of updates, does anyone have a better explanation for the update called HP Notebook System Image Software Feature Settings Update that I'm seeing in HP Support Assistant?

HP's description is: "This package provides the updated system image software feature settings for supported notebook models running a supported operating system and software features."

I think it originally showed up in support assistant as Image Build ID and Feature Byte Tattoo Tweaks. I asked about this update on HP's forum but did not get a decent reply. I believe they are the same update, as I did not apply the image build ID update, then this system image software update showed up instead.

 

I actually saw that same update on my HP Support Assistant once Styptic and it always failed to push through while installing, it just kept downloading and reinstalling. I was kinda looking for a solution in the internet when it just suddenly disappeared from the updates. It never updated and i never saw it again, well not yet I guess.

 

Hi fellow owners of the x360. I reported some time ago that I was suffering extreme battery drain while on hibernate and off state. That was driving me crazy!

I found the cause of the problem: the possibility to charge trough USB while on hibernate-off state. I was leaving a pen drive connected to the x360, that had a led light. As the led light continued to be on when I turned off the PC, I realized that the cause could be related. Therefore, I entered the BIOS and I disabled the possibility of charging in off state. Now the drainage disappeared, or at least almost all of it.

Now my battery drains 1% after being on hibernate for 8 hours. I think this is normal, isn´t it?

HP support told me to send the PC to them, but now I don´t think it is necessary. If I have to leave the problematic function off, is not a real issue for me.

 

1% isn't normal for hibernate, it should be less.
That said, coming back from hibernate probably can take up to 1% at times, so that is probably what you are seeing .

Only one port charges from off or hibernate states (left side) so you could just use the other ports if you wanted to continue to use that feature.

 

Does the spectre x360 comes now with 6 generation?

 

Yeah, that is what I thought, that coming back from hibernate may use extra power.

On the other hand, I think all the ports have the charging function. The lighting bolt symbol next to a USB port means that it has charging function, doesn't it?

 

is the Sound Problem gone?
Im not sure but Sound seems ok, without stuttering after a time.
Maybe they solve it with an Windows update

 

Any word when the updated version of the Spectre x360 is expected? Anything new in the Convertible World at the IFA last week?

 

I'm trying to understand the HP Support website. When it says the driver has been "updated" today, but when you read the released date it says "July"...anyone understands?

 

Yeah, it's very confusing. In a few cases I've had to compare file-by-file, and each time it's turned out that the versions I downloaded a month or two ago are the same as the ones that appear updated.

-Matt

 

Poor web developers.
If you click on the details, it will give you the relevant date.

 

Coil whine (again)

At the beginning it was just slight and audible with my head very close to the machine. A few days now I can hear it even when I normally type. I think that is partly because there is a whine in the right side of the laptop, not only in the left one.

Have you experienced an increased volume of coil whine too? Can it be a software issue that may be addressed through some kind of update?

 

Hello all!

I recently purchased the Spectre x360 and after updating the bios to get the F5 light off, fixing all of my settings, turning off this and that to get it to run cool, and everything else I now only have two problems that I am hoping you can help me fix.

The first one is that my speakers rattle when playing any sort of music or video. They sound like the audio is peaking and just sounds really bad. This happens the same with audio and does not go away, even when lowering the volume. It is Spotify/iTunes music, so I know it's not bad quality.

Second, when I open or close the lid of the laptop, the screen's colors become distorted in the bottom corners, mostly on the left. It looks like when you poke a non-touchscreen laptop, or a phone super hard. I took it back to the Microsoft store where I bought it, and they told me that it was normal, and showed me that their display does it as well. I just want to make sure that my screen won't break, and that others are seeing this as well.

Thank you all,

Jordan

 

Does the Sound Problem start immediately or later?

2 Problems here
If I let a window or something on the same Position open, the Picture burns in and I can see it still for a Minute after closing.

And the display touching the Keyboard while closing or opening. I mean where the hinges are.
On the right .

Anyone with the same Problem ? I think I Need to let it repair or Change it. My third one....