HP Spectre x360

Double Post - Please Delete.

 

This is the second time I saw posts about setting brightness to zero. Why do that?
Can you read it at zero? At 68 years old, I can't.

I set my brightness to 60%, the dimmest I can read well. If you can't read it, 12 hours is no help.

 

My eyes are nearly 3 decades old and yes I can read the screen at zero brightness. I didn't think I could but after trying it, it is no problem, most of all in low or lower light. At Starbucks yesterday, sitting with my back to a huge bright window; I had to turn it up to 60% brightness to see well enough. I have it set to go to zero unplugged and 30% while plugged in (I'm training my eyes to get used to lower brightness all around). Lower brightness, really does increase the battery life significantly. Also ditching Chrome, does the same thing.

 

Sorry if this has been asked before. Can anyone confirm that the active pen still works on the new Skylake models, especially the 1440p model?

 

I would also be interested in knowing that for my new Spectre.
The only help I can give you is that on my new QHD UK Model, the System Properties suggest "Pen and Full Windows Touch Support" and "Hid Compliant Pen" is listed in Device Manager.
Any idea what the cheapest pens that work with this 100%? I would like to get one to try!

 

Is the ash silver model that's available now the "limited edition" that was announced a few weeks ago? The release date was supposed to be November 8. I just want to make sure there's not another model coming out in a couple weeks before I buy one.

 

I'm not sure as I have never used a stylus pen on the Spectre. However, I am willing to bet that all is exactly the same on the Skylake models as the screen does appear to exactly the same along with Windows 10 and everything else about the device other than the CPU and Intel Display card 520. BTW' the Dell Active Stylus, 750 (can be found on Amazon), has been reported all across the web, as being the best choice for pen input on the Spectre. You'll find that most Spectre pen users, choose the Dell stylus over the HP stylus.

 

The "Limited edition" is the Ash Silver. The Ash Silver, only comes with a Skylake 6th gen Intel CPU. Best Buy has been selling it early (along with the Lenevo Yoga 900, early too). The Ash Silver limited edition is supposed to be about the Bang & Olufsen anniversary. This version, cost me $70.00 more than the exact same model in standard silver. For me, it was worth every penny as the Ash Silver, is a show stopper!!!! It's very beautiful and makes the PC, look like nothing else out there where as the silver, looks a lot like a Macbook and many other machines (not a bad thing because the silver does look nice too).

As far as I know, there are no other Spectre x360 models coming out in November, that are not already out in places like Best Buy, now. Also, keep in mind that if you go with Best Buy, you may want to call your local store and give them the online SKU number to look up for you. Online, it says they won't have them until 10/28 in my area but I have had one from a Best Buy store, for almost 2 weeks now.

 

I use the a plastic clipboard with the hinge ripped off. Works great to allow air flow on other surfaces, like the arm of a fabric couch. Does not look nearly as nice as the laptop, we should make a silver one!

Sent from my Nexus 9 using Tapatalk

 

Since getting the new Skylake 6th gen Intel CPU, I have problems with the date changing when it comes out of sleep.

Ace01 posted a fix in thread #997, but it didn't wok for me.

I found a thread on the HP site, the fix was a BIOS update.
The new model has no BIOS updates posted yet. In fact, the HP site lists F26, 21 August, it's for the previous model.

Unless someone else has a fix, guess I'll have to wait for HP to catch up with the new model.

That's what early adopters get.

 

You are correct! The fix didn't hold for me. Like the WiFi issue, I am assuming that HP will quietly fix this with an HP Support Assistant update.

 

BTW' Does anyone else here with a Spectre x360, have any issue with too much heat generated around the left palm rest area? This is the one thing that seems to keep popping up for me. I have had this issue with former Broadwell x360's and now with this Skylake i7 x360.

I've purchased a Yoga 900 (Skylake i7) to try out and it does not get even a bit warm around the palm rest or keys.

 

Quick PSA: Do not install the generic Intel drivers. From my experience running them for 1 day, I experienced significant glitches in Microsoft edge, intel widi and driver crashes while using the generic driver. Have reverted to the HP driver now.

Also, it's not just you, the synaptics driver provided out of box is buggy. A fix is to update to the latest generic synaptics driver but that means that the device does not deactivate the touchpad while in tablet mode and can result in erroneous clicks when using the device as a tablet.

Finally, for anyone wondering (coming from previous Wacom/ N-Trig devices), the stylus is nowhere near the same level as Wacom and N-Trig. If you are using this purely casually, you will probably not notice. But for people who take a lot of notes this way (like I do), the inking experience is probably around a 6/10 (if a Wacom is the gold standard at 10/10) and the hover/ palm rejection is pretty horrible (you need to very deliberately bring the tip of the pen near the screen for around half a second before touching your palm down - otherwise errant results can apply). There is also pretty poor button detection in my experience (you often have to hold the button down for a long while before it detects that a button has been pushed).

 

Just turn off automatic date time settings and Windows Fast boot. did the trick for me.

 

Maybe I'll try that after Sunday's time change.

 

I received my Skylake i7, 1080 yesterday direct from HP (China).
So far I am very pleased with it.

It has the B&O audio label on the keyboard, but no enhanced audio settings that I can find. It is running Conexant Smart Audio HD. The sound is fine with no detectable issues yet. It does have dual volume controls once headphones are plugged in.

I am not a power user so I know battery life and heat are not likely to be problems for me.

My last purchase of a laptop was 8 years ago, that Dell seems like a boat anchor compared to this machine.

I will update should I find any issues.

 

Has anyone tried bios F.2C Rev.A released on the 26th of october 2015 for Broadwell version?

There is also a new version out for the touchpad, anyone tried that?

 

Thanks for the tip! The update sounds like it might be a fix for the Skylake people and their date issue:

Oh hey just noticed the "battery life" fix. I'll give it a try!

EDIT: I gave the updated touchpad driver a spin but didn't notice anything new about it. In particular, I still have the issue where 3-finger gestures drop or remap after waking up.

-Matt

 

Hi everyone,

I have a Germany-bought x360 13-4103ng. Does anyone else have a problem with waking up their laptop from sleep/hibernation? It seems that it happens to me when it's plugged in, but I haven't been able to pinpoint the exact scenario yet.

Help is greatly appreciated!

 

I'm very close to ordering the new x360-model with Skylake. I've read some older comments though that the Synaptics touchpad isn't very responsive to certain inputs, like two finger scrolling. Is this a common issue/still an issue on the new model/has it been fixed through new drivers?
Appreciate your help

 

Can't speak to Skylake but for sure on my Haswell x360 this is the best touchpad I've owned. Are you seeing concerns from other Skylake owners? My impression from this thread and the first-gen x360 owners is that it's a win. I feel like I've seen the phrase several times, both here and in reviews, "I'm a Mac owner and this is the first PC that has almost as good a touchpad experience!"

EDIT: ah, just reread your question and noticed you mentioned "older comments." Yeah, that's definitely the case...esp. reviews back in March and April. However, I'd assume that a touchpad driver or two has since improved the experience quite a bit. I picked mine up in July and it's been excellent. Or, check that...I briefly ran the native Synaptics driver (even though the x360 warned me not to install it, LOL) and sure enough it was a mess. I'm back to HP's latest and it's much more well-behaved. Or TBH, there's a minor 3-finger issue but 2-finger scrolling is superb.

-Matt

 

Thank you for your response and for trying out the native Synaptics drivers! Will probably pull the trigger for the new model then.

EDIT: Also, how's the battery life? I just found a thread on HPs forum where a lot of people are saying they only get out about 5 hours with Windows 10 (Skylake model) ( http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Hardware/Spectre-x360-Battery-Life/td-p/4939650/page/4). Thank you again

 

I think the average on this thread is ~7-8 hours. Personally I'm seeing 6.5, but I have Chrome opened with lots of tabs, which seems to be a concern. Also, I have a weird issue where my power level (as displayed by HWInfo) will "stick" at 100% for 30 minutes and then abruptly drop to about 90%, and then fall gradually afterwards. I've come to the conclusion that I may have a less-than-perfect battery. But eh maybe the latest BIOS update will help? I'll report back in the next few days (I check usage daily) if things improve!

There are few courageous owners here who are doing things like 0% brightness and only a few tabs in IE or Edge, but I'm not that brave!

BTW, take what you see on HP's site with 2 grains of salt...first it's a new machine, and second, most users drawn to the HP forum will be owners with problems. It would be VERY rare for someone to drop in there just to say "EVERYTHING WORKS!" LOL I think the mixture of owners on this forum is a tad more balanced. For example, I love it and have nothing to complain about.

-Matt

 

Did you finally installed the new BIOS? I have the new Skylake processor and I'm a bit hesitant in installing this new BIOS since it's not entirely clear whether it will work with the new Gen Intel models.

Thanks for the update, I would like to get the date fix done since it's a bit annoying.

 

Sorry If it's been discussed before but how much better Intel HD 520 is compared to intel HD 5500?
I can only purchase from Amazon and there is no skylake version there.
Any benchmarks from you skylake owners not Toshiba radius review?

 

The F.2C Rev.A BIOS released on the 26th of october 2015 for IS NOT for the Broadwell.

Last week I was directed to the Broadwell site, their BIOS was F.25A.
Many of the other drivers were fore older Boadwell system.
Today it went to the "new" Skylake site that apparently put up 30 October.
My original Skylake BIOS is F.2A, the new Skylake BIOS is F.2C Rev A.
Looks like they finally put up the correct site for Skylake.
It seems to be good to go for the Skylake.

 

How do you know it's not for Broadwell? It showed up on the driver site for my modelnumber (which is broadwell). It doesn't say anywhere that it's explicitly for skylake only.

I appreciate if people would refrain from making definit statements without knowing for sure. It creates a lot of confusion.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

The F.2C Rev.A BIOS released on the 26th of october 2015 for IS NOT for the Broadwell.

Last week I was directed to the Broadwell site, their BIOS was F.25A.
Many of the other drivers were fore older Boadwell system.
Today it went to the "new" Skylake site that apparently put up 30 October.
My original Skylake BIOS is F.2A, the new Skylake BIOS is F.2C Rev A.
Looks like they finally put up the correct site for Skylake.
It seems to be good to go for the Skylake.

I know it works on the Skylake, I just updated.

Will it work on the Broadwell? I think you should test it for us.
Then we will all know for sure.

 

The F.2C BIOS works fine on my i7 Broadwell. It showed up in the downloads page for my model (13-4003dx) so I installed it. Haven't really tested the improved battery life claim, but at least it hasn't broken anything either.

 

Same case for me as madmook, i5 Broadwell

 

I've updated to the latest bios and it works on broadwell

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

A new Bios update is out for the Skylake i7 dated 11/1. My machine was blocked from loading the one dated 10/26.

 

EDIT: I just reread @jnichols2's post and perhaps I overreacted a little -- if so, forgive my sermon (but hey 'RANTS is my middle name!). I think the intention to warn Broadwell owners was good, but the execution not so much.

Wow, what an utterly odd conversation. I'm a bit...puzzled at the stark claim that the latest BIOS update is not intended for Broadwell. I think I was the first to say I'd installed F.2C and would report back with an update on battery life, and well, here is an early report: for the first time in recent memory I got over 7 hours unplugged yesterday. But what is (for me anyway) all the more remarkable is that 2.5 of those 7 hours were spent watching "Batman Begins" on netflix -- which I'd assume is not all that kind on the battery. So early indications are positive.

Anyway, with all due respect, if there isn't a Skylake x360 owner's thread maybe the Skylake owners would like to start one. Y'all are welcome to hang out here and have as much fun with us as you like, but please don't tell us what we can or can't install. Personally I'd like to see us all stay together and continue to share insights and experience -- I'm sure many/most/all of us have comingled on forums where multiple generations of owners mixed without undue confusion!

-Matt

 

If you are getting an error along the lines of "This BIOS Update is blocked on your computer".. RTFM...

I was stumped by this a long time and it appears that HP (rightly so I guess) has blocked the update if you are on battery power (doesn't matter if you are on 100% or 7% battery). I guess it's to protect us from our own stupidity in case the battery dies halfway through.

Update sounds promising... do you run any customised power settings etc Matt/Gadgetrants? For me, I know that disabling turbo boost, using a passive cooling policy and enabling power saving settings for the intel graphics resulted in around 1 hour more battery life (I regularly get 8 hours of battery life with 5-6 tabs of web browsing, email, etc.). These all come at a cost to performance though.

 

RTFM. LOL I should make *that* my middle name.

@illuzn, just noticed you're relatively new here, so WELCOME! Glad to have some more company. I think your on-battery settings and mine are nearly identical (no turbo, passive cooling, and lowered intel settings). I just took a stroll through the F.2C BIOS settings and didn't spot any other new options, so if there is in fact improved battery life I guess it somewhere under the hood. I'll try to remember to report back near the end of the week if my positive first impression sustains itself.

OH, here is an interesting thought: something else I did late last week...I went into the advanced power settings and turned off hybrid sleep. With it enabled, I noticed that I would close the lid and find that my machine would sleep (unplugged) the entire day, assuming that a "pulsing power button light" means "sleeping." And I also disabled the newish rapid-start feature. I obviously enjoy the instant-on of lifting the lid and "BAM!" but I traded that for about 4-5 seconds of wake-up time, and that may be helping with battery life as well.

-Matt

 

Anyone have issues installing the new BIOS update? I downloaded it via HP assistant, and when my Spectre reboots, I get the option to install the update, postpone, or cancel (along with a 60 second timer at which the laptop automatically boots up, I think). When I try clicking on 'install', the timer just resets and nothing happens. However, when I click on postpone or cancel, the laptop responds.

Anyone else have this issue?

 

Have you tried plugging in AC Power? The update will not install without AC power.

@gadgetrants: Interesting Hybrid Sleep is off by default in my HP Recommended settings (as I believe it is for all laptops).

What is this fast wake you speak of? Do you mean your computer is hibernating rather than sleeping? To be honest, I find that my computer consumes bugger all power in sleep - it could probably be in that state for a week from a full charge without a problem. Between that and the fact that I use and charge the laptop daily, the convenience of an instant wakeup isn't worth disabling this for me.

 

Didn't know that. It worked, thanks!!!

 

Here is a link for Windows 8, though I understand it works the same in Win 10:

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/wi...ws-8-hybrid-shutdown-fast-boot-feature-works/

So it's more correctly "fast boot" though I prefer to avoid that term as it's not a true (i.e., "cold") boot. From the user's perspective, it looks like a full reboot but in fact a portion of the session (kernel) is written to disk on shutdown and then reloaded during the fast boot -- this speeds up both the shutdown and the subsequent reboot. The link above explains how to enable the option. However, if we're discussing sleep/hibernation then it might be a moot point!

-Matt

 

Just got the laptop and it's quite stunning. I'm wondering though if anyone find it laggy to scroll in Chrome with the clickpad and if so did you solve it somehow? The scrolling in Edge is ok (not flawless), but Chrome is stuttering a lot (have tried deactivating hardware acceleration).

 

Try deactivating two finger zoom on the trackpad (and all other 2 finger gestures for that matter). There is a slight delay in scrolling because the trackpad needs to decide whether you are trying to scroll, zoom or rotate.

 

Does anyone know when the X360 Ash Silver limited edition color will be released to Canadians?

 

@gadgetrants: Any further feedback regarding power usage?

I have disabled all power saving options now (back to HP recommended settings - but with a 1 minute background picture and theme change switched on)... and using the device in a similar way to how I have always been using it I'm getting around 9 hours of battery life (email, onedrive sync in background, skype in background and 3-4 MS Edge tabs open, 50% backlight). According to powercfg I'm averaging around 5.5mW which gives me around 10 hours of battery life (well 9 if you exclude the 7% reserve battery).

Feels good to not have to cripple my device for power saving. I also feel that the device runs cooler on my lap.

 

Been a few days now, and powercfg tells me that since updating BIOS I'm averaging an additional ~30 minutes per full charge, up to 7 hours from the previous 6.5. Still a far cry from the 9-10 you're seeing (yes I am officially jealous) but I have to admit that besides Chrome I do occasionally run a power hungry app for a bit (e.g., data analysis). Backlight is 30% in my case -- boy I'd love to see 50%.

And yeah now that you mention, lap temps *do* seem cooler!

-Matt

 

Hi all,

So I have had my Spectre for about a week now. I must admit I do like a lot of it. I have got a Windows 10 desktop I use for gaming and also I have a Windows Phone Lumia 930. I do love an ecosystem.

For the last year I have been using my partners Macbook Pro 15" as my laptop as I was waiting for the right laptop. This I thought was the right one. I must admit to a point it is fine. I do use it only as a laptop though. I have no interest in it folding back or whatever.

Spec: i5 6200u, 8gb, 256gb, 1080p, Ask Silver and cooper

Pro's
Screen Even at 100% I can still use it perfectly fine, so no scaling issues
Longest Battery life I have had from a windows machine.
B&O speakers is a nice touch however its just marketing
HP seem to role out updates quickly
Google chrome and youtube doesn't kill the battery like on a Mac.

Con's
Keyboard is just weird some how mushy. feels awkward, keys seem to move they are not straight.
Enter button short and has the hash key above it. I keep pressing hash.
Trackpad: to big, skips around, gestures just suck, two finger tap barely works and click doesn't work at all. WHY THE HELL CAN NO ONE MATCH THE MAC TRACKPAD! I have to move my hand off the laptop to use the mouse to edit some typing.
Battery not quite a mac.
Connected standy by drinks the battery. Mac doesn't do this. Also who needs connected standy by? I want to use the battery not Windows when I close the lid.
Scrolling is jerky
Back light bleed around edge of screen
I am using the Windows Logo as my background the blue defualt one. I swear I can see the backlight flickering? Like its getting brighter then dimmer really quickly?

I am currently studying the CompTIA A as I want to change my career as my current one is going to kill me with stress soon if I don't leave and I love tech. Having a windows machine therefore made sense. However now I am thinking I could get away with a rMBP and an iPhone 6S plus, Just keep my Windows 10 gaming PC. Boot camp the rMBP.

Now I am not saying a mac is better my god they annoy me sometimes. My Misses has the 5k, iPad, MBP, iPhone its stupid. The thing Apple does well though is the experience when you use it, flawless hardware working perfectly with the software. I can just use it, everything you expect something to do, like 3 finger gesture works first time every time.

I feel like by using my partners macbook pro I have tainted my ability to love a Windows Laptop?

 

Wow that is too bad. My Skylake i7 1080 has none of the issues you mention.

 

Yeah my Broadwell has none of these issues. I wasn't aware that HP added connected standby to the x360. It isn't present in the Broadwell model.

 

It absolutely is for Broadwell too. I doubt there is much difference in the the mainboard for both generations, if any.

 

Oh thats annoying why does that have to happen to my one. I am actually typing this on the MBP now. The keyboard is just a million leagues in terms of better.

I really would like the Spectre though, Maybe I might try the surface something or other

 

I recently formatted my Spectre and lost the "HP Recommended" power profile. Is there anyway to get that back? Maybe someone could send me a copy of theirs?