HP Spectre x360

I have the i7 with QHD screen and am not happy with battery life. At 40-50% brightness, I tried streaming an NFL game (through Chrome) and only got 2ish hours before the laptop was dead. I was expecting 5-6 hours.

 

Yep. I had it in my Dell XPS M1330 too but I would say my x360 is louder. Unfortunately (and ironically) it only seems to appear @Low CPU utilization. Once I hit the enter key on a Google search (a simple example) the whine disappears altogether and reappears after the CPU's back to idle.
I've gotten used to hearing it from Notebooks and fortunately I have to be leaning in and be in a completely silent room to hear it.

I'll tell you what's worse than CPU whine; electrical interference on the audio out. My Acer 1810TZ had it bad - plugged in my headphones and the interference was quite obvious, until I cranked up an MP3. In contrast, the x360 is 100% noise-free (at least up to ~11KHz because I doubt I'd notice anything above that now a days ).

 

OK...got my laptop back. SSD wasn't restored to OEM 8.1. Still had Win10. Work order says the speaker was replaced.

Well...guess what? Still has pops whether sound if playing or not. I turned off system sounds and still get pops...and just got my first stutter sound. Will call them back after we get moved in over the weekend.

I paid $1400 for this top of the line machine and very disappointed in the audio/support experience.

Glenn

 

Contacted support. They recommended I re-format due to issues with the Operating System. When I told them I has reformatted it last night after receiving it, they want it back for another look. So I've requested for them to wipe it and re-set it back to OEM Win8.1 again. Maybe that will help the audio...Win10 is OK...nothing to lose by going back to 8.1 until this issue is resolved.

 

The pop when sound starts or finishes is a driver problem. Not Win10. Quality is top notch, this is the only issue that bothers me. But so far, laptop has been more reliable than the Apples at my house or the Dell.

 

Once again for the coil whine, because it is really annoying. As i've said, in the beginning it was so slight i could hear it only if i put my ear on the left side of the laptop. Now, i can hear it even when i have it on the table in front of me. The point is that i do a lot of writing and reading so i often don't listen to music when i'm on the laptop, and when i'm not listening to music i can hear this screech. Have we found anything about it?

 

I can't imagine you've had the x360 that long, but I found this interesting and perhaps something got loose (getting looser)... ?

"The amount of coil noise in a device will often seem to increase as the devices age. This is often due to the degradation of the damping materials in the component. As an example, a layer of glue is often added atop coils in televisions. Over the years, this glue degrades; as a result, the coil is able to move more as it vibrates, and the sound level increases."*

As I noted in my above post, my unit's coil whine is only audible when the CPU is idling. quite the opposite from this quote:

"The effect is more pronounced as the signal passing through the coil increases in strength or nears the (mechanical) resonant frequency of the coil."*

"Whine" is not even that accurate, it sounds more like a super-high-pitched version of the sound a classic hard drive makes when accessing / seeking. Almost like morse code at high speed...


* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coil_noise

 

Don't use Chrome if you like battery life.

 

So my x360 sounds like this, slight lower in frequency than his Thinkpad, but essentially the same:


Here's a very straightforward clarification / solution which essentially recommend changing the amount of current going through the coil(s) by overclocking/over-volting. Obviously not a good idea for a battery-powered device, but my bet is that it could work with just a small change in current flow. At the very least, we could play around with the Power Options \ Processor state percentages. At least worth a shot when in "plugged-in" mode where a few more watts will not cause any real problems. The default value is 5% for both batt/plugged-in. One can change it in increments of one percent... !

http://www.overclock.net/t/1094728/possible-fix-for-coil-whine

 

Wow, now I realize my previous laptop was doing it like crazy! But the x360...quiet as can be.

-Matt

 

This is exactly what mine is doing! There are a few people over on the official HP support forums complaining of the same thing.

When I have a bit of time I was going to try playing around too. It would be good to find a fix that doesn't affect battery life.

I'm less worried about this noise than how quickly the laptop gets hot though!

 

You, me, them and 10,000 other Notebook owners from all brands. What I find disconcerting is that the problem is not new to electronics and not even new to Notebook manufactures. If there is one application where companies should take extra care to avoid coil whine it has to be personal devices like Notebooks etc. which are up close to the user... but apparently it's asking too much from them, I guess...

Regarding testing; I already gave the min CPU power settings a whirl and they did nothing to change the situation. I was using CPUID HWMonitor to verify the CPU frequency and although the frequency did change when I changed min percentage, it had no effect. Running a CPU-intensive task (like CPU-Z's bench-marking tool) instantly eliminated the whine. Alas, that's of no use to us...

These photos from Ultrabookreview shows the lower-layer of components close to where the noise is strongest:





That just might be power regulation board right above the fan but I'm only guessing here... but that would have been my first guess as to the source (coils).

 

I strongly recommend using 'The Great Suspender' chrome extension. It basically suspends tabs you havent used in a while (30 mins?). Clicking anywhere on the page reloads the page, so the URL is saved. Great for getting a little more juice out of your battery but still use Chrome with some tabs open.

As for battery life, I'm getting about 8-9 hours on 30% brightness, on typical web surfing.

 

Played One Finger Death Punch very smoothly (no FPS tracker). Got a little hot, didn't notice the noise (I'm pretty sure it was there, but I had headphones on) but that's about it.

 

Thanks, that's a great tip!!!

-Matt

 

Anyone aware of whether or not the new Skylake models of the X360 retain the M.2 socket and assuming that they do, whether or not it runs on pci-e 3 for the likes of the Samsung SM951 drives can be fully utilized (2200 / 1600 mb/s)? I'm finding it absolutely impossible to get a straight and definitive answer out of HP.

Looking at this one...

"HP Spectre x360 13-4100 13-4102tu Tablet PC - 33.8 cm (13.3") - Wireless LAN - Intel Core i7 i7-6500U Dual-core (2 Core) 2.50 GHz - Silver - 8 GB RAM - Windows 10 - Convertible - 1920 x 1080 Multi-touch Screen 16:9 Display - Bluetooth

Easily convert from notebook to stand to tent to tablet mode with a 360-degree hinge. No matter what you're doing, these convertible PCs with Intel Inside® are designed to meet your needs.
Work in notebook mode, watch in stand mode, play in tent mode, go in tablet mode. These innovative convertible PCs have the flexibility to keep up with all your needs.
No matter which way you use HP convertible PCs, the latest touchscreen technology makes the most of notebook, stand, tent or tablet mode.
HP with Audio by B&O PLAY delivers the rich, authentic audio experience that immerses you so deeply in your music and entertainment that you can feel it. Don't just listen... let HP with Audio by B&O PLAY move you.
Capture all the details with vibrant clarity, even in low light. Enjoy the nuances of face-to-face conversations, thanks to the HP TrueVision HD Webcam"

Quoting an RRP of NZ$ 3,051.21

 

Is this available? I am searching for Skylake Hp Spectre x360 EVERYWHERE IN THE USA! Anybody help?

 

Also here it says they skip Skylake. http://www.itpro.co.uk/laptops/25367/hp-skips-skylake-for-new-amd-laptop-chip Anybody got infos?

 

I honestly don't think you are going to see massive performance improvements with Skylake. Maybe if we were coming from something other than Broadwell...

 

Its a great machine regardless if its Broadwell or Skylake, I just love my Spectre X360

 

I just bought the spectre x360 to replace my SP3. I got tired of driver issues, and again right out of my 1 year had wifi card go caput. I've stuck with surface pro since day 1 of the sp1. Have since, upgraded every 13 months due to hardware, and during that 13 months have gone through several replacements. Now that the hp is out with pen support I thought I'd give it a try.

I used to use my surface for everything, but now I'm out of school and working. I got a thinkpad w550s fully loaded for travel, and a w541 fully loaded for a portable desktop. I pretty much only use my SP3/HPx360 for one note, and although I like the straight tablet function, the inability to open it up and replace something as trivial as a wifi card, has me going hp this time. I tried going the old school pen and paper, but in less than 24 hours I ended up with over 200 pages of legal pad used up, and disorganized as all heck. So $1000 for a digital 'one note; pad is a worthwhile expense for me.

7 days ago I went Best Buy i7 5500u, 8gb ram, 256gb ssd, and 1080p option. I'm shooting for battery life. There are some getting used to, but overall I'm satisfied. But now with skylark out, I've ordered an i5 6200u, 8gb ram, 256gb ssd, 1080p which will arrive tomarrow.

My question is, power wise, is the i5 going to be ok? I'm guessing so.

Is there any other reason to keep the broadwell I have now vs returning it and keeping the skylark? I was hoping for dr4, but alas that's not happening.

Also, which Samsung 512gb m.2 80" works with this model? I see two around $350 on amazon, but I've read that one of them doesn't work. I'd like to order this asap.
I see the Samsung XP941 512 ($314) and Samsung SM951 ($379). Not sure which is better/works.

 

Power wise In terms of performance, to be honest. I had an i5 Haswell based laptop not too long ago and comparing the Broadwell based i7 CPU the gains are not that much of a difference. If you plan on using the x360 as your main rig, I would suggest going for the Core i7. If you just use it as a secondary machine go for the i5 (they are both dual core CPU's ). Again it depends on what your needs are.

 

The differences are always max performance based, with light usage almost non differential. I thought (hoped) ddr4 being supported by skylark would've also been supported by HP. So marginal gains CPU bound/GPU bound as well, but major gains memory wise, would relate to real world difference in almost every application.

Problem is, hesitates me, I do major VM's for work, and video editing for home/side. Although I have several other laptops perfectly suited, I do find myself a few times a week needing my 'sidekick' device to handle a few small workloads. i7 would definitely benefit me there, mainly l3 cache. But 30 m

The differences are always max performance based, with light usage almost non differential. I thought (hoped) ddr4 being supported by skylark would've also been supported by HP. So marginal gains CPU bound/GPU bound as well, but major gains memory wise, would relate to real world difference in almost every application.

I do end up working in VM's and video editing on this 'sidekick', in which case i7 would be noticeably better. But size of videos and need for speed, is easily overweighed by an extra 30 min of battery.

 

Lack of DDR4 in the Skylake model isn't a huge deal, performance-wise. In the real world it hasn't proven to be noticeably faster than DDR3 of similar clock speeds.

 

After almost 3 weeks of waiting, I picked up my repaired Spectre on tuesday.
They changed the whole Display Unit, so the hinges aswell I think.
Now I can recommend the device

Because of 5500u vs 6200u
I dont think that the improvement of skylake is noticable.

 

Congrats, I'm glad you've got back a repaired and functional laptop. And I give props on getting it fixed and giving it another try vs giving up and trashing the idea of the spectre. I've gone through 4 or 5 SP3 before I finally got one without issues. Everyone thought I was crazy.

I get my new skylark delivered today, I'm on my broadwell now. Because of the skylark i5 vs broadwell i7, I think my step down to i5 will actually be less performance than the i7 I have now even if it is a generation newer.

But, I'd trade performance increase only at max power, for better average battery any day. Hoping the i5 will give me maybe 30 min more battery, and perhaps keep temps a few degrees cooler. If it does that, its a win. Plus its $999 for the i5 skylark, and was $1169 for my broadwell i7. that's $200 I'll put towards the $400 Samsung m.2 500gb.

 

I will keep my i7 for a day or so. And try and compare the two as much as I can. Take crap load of video comparisons running various programs. While running HW info.

Hopefully that will help explain if/when the i5 sky vs i7 broad is better/worse

 

What happened to the display? ( if you don't mind me asking)

 

Windows like Explorer, Edge burnt in Display often.
But the only reason why I take it to repair was the hinges.

The right one dosent worked perfect and while closing or opening the Notebook, the Display unit scratches the base unit on the side.

 

Got my new skylark laptop, and its going back. The right shift button had 1/4" of black rubber sticking out to the right, which blocked the key from being pressed/registered. Tried to fix, but only ended up cutting it to fix it. But now the key must bottom out and makes a loud clunk noise, and catches on the sides if you press on the left side of it with your pinky as you would by normally typing on it. So, "stuck" with my broadwell until I return and reorder a new skylark. urg

 

That rubber is likely the keyboard dome membrane which provides both the key resistance and some measure of spill-proofing. I'm sorry they let that slip through the QA process.

 

OTE="MisterFrag, post: 10108102, member: 666659"]That rubber is likely the keyboard dome membrane which provides both the key resistance and some measure of spill-proofing. I'm sorry they let that slip through the QA process. [/QUOTE]


Yea my thoughts exactly. But worried as I have to order and have these new Skylark shipped, and getting closer to the 14 day return policy for the Broadwell one I first got.

If it wasn't $180 cheaper going with the i5 6200u, I'd just sacrifice the maybe 1 hour of battery and keep the i7 5500u

 

I would like to know if there is a QA process....
At the store every unit had problems!

Lose trackpad, bad hinges and more.

 

I've had a x360 for a short time and indeed it had some issues:
- Image rentention just like you had (FullHD panel)
- Loose trackpad
- Speakers crackling (but I think the cause of that were the DTS audio effects)

The trackpad was easily fixed by bending the assembly a tiny bit but the image retention was unfixable by myself. It was the reason for me to return the device and not even look at it again.

I'm looking to buy the ENVY 13 Skylake ultrabook, but this experience with HP left a nasty taste in my mouth.

 

Hi, just out of curiosity, what kind of a problem did you have with image retention?

 

There are many nice new devices from Microsoft, Dell and HP which will be released soon.


But its sad to that the Quality controls have become so bad.
My current device has no issues.
They changed the Display and the Image Retention is gone I think.
Trackpad is not loose and the Sound issue was a Driver issue .

I updated IO Driver and bios to F25. No Sound issues


On the marked place the Image Retention was at most visible.
I let a second tab and Close it again after a time and for a Minute or mor the tab is still visible because of Image retention

 

Ghost images were visible for around 10 minutes after closing my webbrowser for example. Also, the taskbar icons were always faintly visible when watching movies. It was really bad.

 

Thanks, I hope your problem was resolved.

 

I've had my 5th gen i7 for a little over a week now, and other than 100% windows 10 issues, and some wonky wifi issues, I've had nothing but exceptional experience with this laptop. I'm only returning once I get a 6th gen i5 for battery life. I get about 8 hours on my 1080p i7 of light use, but I often need an hour or so of heavy, which leaves me with about 5-6 hours tops of battery life. Hoping the Skylark bump, as well as the move from i7 to i5 will help out with that. Just hoping that my next try at the x360 will leave me as impressed as my first. Fingers crossed that QC on the 2nd was just a fluke.

 

I bought a Full HD x360 in March and it has had zero hardware or software problems, otherwise I wouldn't be getting the updated model.

 

Hello

Just got my new Spectre x360: i7, 256ssd, 8GB Ram, Win10.
My battery drains very fast. What should I do to fix that problem?

Thank you!

 

Give it a day or two. I'd also suggest using IE or chrome over the new edge browser for battery life as well. I've got same configuration as you, get between 8 and 10 hours of normal stuff. If I push it hard a few times but stay normal for most the days. The first day or two, with all downloading updates indexing etc etc, the laptop is doing a lot of behind the scenes. I'd give it 2 days, if it's not better, then let us know.

 

Thank you for your answer. Will update soon.

 

If your first one is good, why are you upgrading? Other than different speakers and a very small bump with Skylark?

 

The laptop is also s little hot. Does it will be better too?

 

Yes, again it's doing a lot in the background and I'm sure your installing your apps and programs as well. Mine gets noticeably warm when pushing it or streaming youtube. And by that, if I put my hand on the bottom about 2 inches in from the side and 1 inch from the back, I can feel warmth compared to the cold feeling of the rest of the laptop. It's gotten warm/hot a few times on me, but that was converting movie format, and using Sony Vegas to render a 45 min movie. So that was to be expected. Otherwise I use mine as tablet with pen alot, or Web one note and word open as laptop mode the rest of the time without any problems with heat.

 

Do you use battery saver setting in the messages area?

 

I have it set for I think 20 percent and it turns on. Haven't let it get that low yet tho. I turned off live tiles and kept my 8 email accounts as push and not auto sync. Kept hp power plan but increased sleep and screen off time, also changed cpu to passive on battery. Brightness is around 50 percent maybe less, but that's just be a use any higher ND it's to bright for me.

 

Where can I see an estimated time remain on battery?

 

Battery bar
http://batterybarpro.com/basic.php