HP Spectre x360

Too bad the screen is glossy. Otherwise it would be near perfect for me.

 

anyone know any other extensions that complement the hp spectre on chrome?

 

I'm quite fond of Chrome, despite it's reputation for being a bit of a resource hog -- in particular, I like it's integration in the Google ecosystem (e.g., Android devices, gmail, etc.). Having said that, a few extensions I've picked up (some from advice here, in fact!) are:

- The Great Suspender and OneTab for managing tabs and resource usage
- AdBlock Plus and FlashControl for tamping down on unnecessary content

I'm also a huge fan of:

- The Camelizer and PriceBlink for price tracking/matching
- LastPass for password management

-Matt

 

Does anyone else experience extreme fan noise when browsing on Edge? What might be the problem? When I am on Firefox e.g. it is quiet, but I don't like this browser and the scrolling is really bad.

 

Known issue with edge: clean the browser cache. I'm back to Chrome default, using edge occasionally.

 

Has anyone downloaded the Windows 10 RE Recovery install manager (version 2.00Ap5) that has just appear in the HP Support assistant Action List. Any idea what that is? There's no description of what that is. Is it only a new Recovery Manager from HP or something else?

 

anyone else got this problem?


Dont want to open my brand new laptop :S.

 

Yep. Mine has that problem. Seems to be on all of them (display model at Best Buy had the same problem too).

 

Can't speak for other units, but mine is ~7 months old and no longer rattles (was mild at first). Ironically I mentioned above that I picked up the Pavilion "cousin" x360 and its touchpad sounds just like mine when I first got it!

Opening up the bottom is quite easy if you have the right precision kit and Torx screw, though getting to the trackpad itself doesn't look fun.

-Matt

 

Good afternoon,
I don't if you experienced the same problem but sometime (really sometime) my laptop when in hibernation doesn't power up anymore and I have to do a full shutdown (5 secs power bottom) before to have it at work again. Which one could be the issue?


Thanks!!!

 

I am returning my QHD Spectre (13-4183nr), and got the FHD Spectre (13-4163nr). While I have both laptops, I did some comparisons side-by-side.
Both have the same specs (same processor, same SSD), except for the display.

A few differences I noticed:
1. QHD model has in Intel HD Graphics Control Panel>Power>On Battery a Panel Self Refresh option that is not available on the FHD model. I suppose the FHD display doesn't have PSR.
2. Colors seem more accurate on FHD (I didn't have any objective way of testing, however). FHD has better white point while QHD has a yellow-green tinge. Note that the difference in real life is more subtle, though still noticeable; the camera really accentuates the difference.
3. FHD model flickers on all brightness levels. You can't see it with the naked eye though and there's less flickering with brighter settings. QHD doesn't have flickering at all. See slow-mo video (taken on iPhone 6s so 240FPS I believe):
4. The battery seems to last significantly longer on FHD vs QHD, though I didn't have time for timed battery tests.

Pics (Display comparisons and side-by-side pics to show ash silver vs natural silver )
Videos (slow-mo @ lowest and highest brightness levels, sorry about crap quality - Apple doesn't provide a built-in way to export slow-mo at full resolution)

 

I just noticed today that there are apparently 4 different display options on HP.com (QHD BrightView, QHD Radiance Infinity, FHD Radiance Infinity and just FHD). Might be just Marketing messing up, but does anyone know what the actual differences between BrightView and Radiance Infinity are (if any)?

Sales chat rep told me this, but they rarely really know anything.. This info doesn't seem to be specific to the Spectre and I think it may be referring to older models that actually had different types of panels for the same resolution display.

 

This is my first posting here. I'm mainly a Mac guy. I have the relatively new retina macbook 12" and a few other Macs. But just recently I began showing an interest in the yoga-style, 2 in 1, laptops, did a bunch of research online and decided the spectre x360 was the one I wanted (and its the most like the macbooks, at least in looks and elegance.) So the other day I ordered the 8gb, 256 gb ssd, i7 (5th gen i assume), fhd version. It's a factory refurb, from Amazon, with the 90 day warranty. It's to arrive in a few days. But now, having read these pages in the forum, I fear what's actually to come, having seen all the problems you guys have dealt with. Now I've been using computers for years to know that the people who voice their issues and concerns on forums -- be they computers or cars -- are a very tiny minority, and usually are of the OSD persuasion (like me.) That said, did I make a big mistake? Has anyone here bought a refurb spectre and had good luck with it? Are they pretty much like new? What tests and what apps should I use when it arrives to see how strong the battery is, how much time there is on the ssd etc? Have any of you who bought a refurb of this machine gotten the HP extended warranty. I gather I can get one within the 90 day warranty. Which would be the best. Or should I just not get involved and ship it back. Any thoughts, advice, etc most welcome.

 

Welcome to the forum/owner's club! Hope you have a positive experience and end up hanging out with us!

Having owned a new unit for about ~8 months, here are a few thoughts: first, I don't know the general quality of x360 factory refurbs, but I think there's a very high chance that yours will be in good shape. Is the seller Amazon or a third-party Marketplace seller? Either way, if you don't love it within the first week you should have no problem returning it (Amazon is great about this). I don't mean "buyer's remorse," but rather, "lots of little things that don't seem right." Love it or return it!

Second, even new units seem to have some minor issues, including the rattly trackpad. However, I posted many moons ago about going into Best Buy, and realizing that my HP was MUCH LESS rattly than most machines on the floor, including (HORROR!) many Macs. I haven't really seen many consistent issues (certainly not major ones) here, other than things like figuring out how to improve battery life, Win 10 concerns/questions, etc.

As for running it through its paces once you get it, I'm a big fan of HWInfo64, which gives you lots of data about temps and internal sensors. My preferred strategy would be to throw all things you like to do...spreadsheet processing, word processing, video streaming, file transfer, music, and so on, at the machine at the same time and see how it holds up. Also make sure, of course, to frequently try out the different display "modes" and confirm that the screen rotates, it goes in and out of tablet mode, etc. Remember though that software wonkiness (e.g., crashing and blue-screens) might be a function of not having the latest drivers, so you should also spend some time making sure Windows is up to date. Actually, if you're comfortable doing it, I'd suggest wiping the machine and doing a clean install, so you can be confident that the OS is fully updated.

Finally, as for the warranty question, remember that many credit cards will double your product warranty. Not sure how that works on refurbs though, so you might double-check that.

I think the wildcard here might be your predisposition to work with Macs. Is this your first Windows machine? That can really be hit-or-miss for some people. I happen to be fine with Windows 8/8.1 and even more so with 10, but it seems if someone hates Windows, they often don't have the patience to configure their machine to their tastes and spend the time learning how to optimize it. You're here, so I suspect that's not the case for you!

Keep us posted on how it goes!

-Matt

 

Matt,
Many thanks for your quick and detailed response. I'll do a quick and dirty update when it arrives, re physical condition etc. And then go from there. I'll register it and see what kind of extended warranties are offered for a refurb, and the cost. Since I'm using my amazon card ( 12 months, no interest), rather than Amex etc., there's no built-in additional warranty coverage so if I decide to keep it, I'd get the extended warranty (if reasonable) from HP. BTW, it cost $799 (free shipping, no tax.) Nice thing though is that Amazon, as you noted, is great, and if I have negativity about it, I'll ship it back.
HP Spectre x360 13-4003dx L0Q51UA 2-in-1 Intel Core i7 256GB Solid State Drive 8GB Memory 13.3-Inch Touch Screen Laptop Windows 8.1 - Natural Silver/Black (Certified Refurbished)
by HP
124 customer reviews
| 38 answered questions


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Don't know what I just did (haven't purposely made any changes), but somehow my function buttons are working as F buttons, and to use them as hotkeys I need to hold down the "Fn" key.

Haven't tried a reboot, but I know some people prefer to be able to use the F buttons naturally, rather than pressing "Fn" first. So it appears that it is possible to achieve this usage.

I suppose, though, that it means there is some kind of bug in the system, that the function has swapped without user selection. Anyone know a way to make this selection?

On a 13" Broadwell, i7 model.

 

The setting is in the BIOS. Not sure how it changed modes all by itself.

 

I don't have any experience with HP refurbs but I wouldn't be so concerned to not even give it a try. Do check out the machine thoroughly during the return period. I'm on my second Spectre and neither had any major problems (the QHD version had color calibration that was off, but many people are probably happy with it).
I have read a troubling number of reports of the glass cracking seemingly spontaneously (see http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebo...ed-screen-on-spectre-x360/td-p/5112381/page/4). So you may want to invest in buying some form of accidental coverage.

 

Thanks for the alert about the cracked screen syndrome. Very scary, especially how hp is refusing to acknowledge its their issue for the most part. My refurb is due to arrive tomorrow, and the more I read about all the issues -- wifi, cracked screens etc -- the more I'm hesitant about keeping it, let alone even opening the box before telling amazon I'm returning it. It seems like a crapshoot. Interestingly, I had decided to buy it after reading ALL the rave reviews by the usual suspects, including the likes of Lisa Gade, etc. The thing is those reviews are based usually on a one-time test before they move on to the next hot thing, but with no followup. So they really dont know whether after two months the screen will mysteriously crack, or suddenly the wifi will start acting crazy, and all the other craziness that actual users are reporting after the initial love affair wears off. If anyone wants to chime in on anything I've mentioned here, please do.

 

After @RUGGLES99 joined the forum I checked out the Amazon listing for the refurb unit. Reading through the reviews, I was surprised to see a bit of a mutiny regarding battery life, which led me to the HP forum:

http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebo...stions/Spectre-x360-Battery-Life/td-p/4939650

My first reaction was "this is an outrage!" but then it occurred to me...I think many/most/a lot of us are getting in the vicinity of 6 hours/charge, some as high as 8, but in that case it involves some unique choices like only running a few tabs in the browser. I found it difficult to reconcile that the posts at the HP forum were livid with 6ish hours, while most users here are OK with it. An important clue was that (I think) the consensus here is that you need to stay well under 40% brightness, while several owners on the HP forum mentioned being at 50, 60, or even 70% during their rundown tests. I haven't really reached a conclusion about all this, but I'm inclined to think we're all talking about the same machine and the difference in tone between here and the HP forum is related to level of experience/expectations, and not an underlying battery/hardware issue.

-Matt

 

No worries, you're just experiencing post-buying/pre-receiving jitters! Totally normal! Either you'll get a lemon (unlikely) or a decent unit (likely!). I stand by my original recommendation: it's a solid machine and you'll be fine. If I get a chance today I'll post a review or two from people who have more extended experience, e.g.:



-Matt

 

It might a bit of a lucky dip buying refurbished since they're units that have been returned to the shop for whatever reason, but hopefully they'll have been assessed and put right by a technician... so maybe they'll actually have fewer issues than brand new units. I suppose it depends how thorough they are in their refurbishment efforts. Still, at that price it's certainly worth a punt, and if you're happy with it then you've got a huge bargain. If not, return it.

Re: battery life, 12.5 is a best case, as has been mentioned. I didn't really believe it would get that on the QHD model which I have, but I left it running with the screen on (minimum brightness, battery saver mode, Bluetooth off, WiFi on, no apps open) and got 14 hrs before it shut itself down. You might even beat that on the FHD screen. But in real use obviously your total power drain will be much higher due to screen and CPU usage. I suppose the problem is in standardizing a benchmark that accurately simulates some average real-world usage, that manufacturers could agree upon and quote in their materials. In the meantime, you can check various review sites that run such tests. I haven't seen a "typical usage" benchmark available for download so we can test our own machines, though.

 

Before I ordered the refurb that arrives tomorrow, Friday March 4, I did a lot of research. All the "professional" reviews were five star. I'm hoping my unit is free of issues. But my fears are that problems will begin down the road, and do I want to deal with all of that stress and anxiety. If I do keep it, I will get an extended warranty from HP. The rep on the phone won't tell me the details and cost until I can supply the serial number and model number etc So we'll see how good or bad the warranty is once mine arrives. As I stated in my first forum posting a couple of days ago, I'm a Mac person, and have been for a while. I'm writing this on a less than a year old retina macbook 12" and it has been perfect, as have been my desktop mac, my macbook air, and my wife's imac. But I really like the capabilities of the 2-1 windows machines, with touch screen, and digital pen use, and windows 10 seems fine. None of that is available in the mac world. The macs look great but they are boring. BUT they do work fine with little or no issues. I'm hoping the hp works out for me because its a great looking and interesting computer. I'll keep the forum advised.

 

So my refurb arrived today. It looked like new, booted up right away, but battery was at zero, so plugged it in and turned it on. Working fine, Really nice screen, etc. I did note that for me to view it perfectly, the screen brightness had to be turned up to about 90% Otherwise it was rather dim, at least for my eyes. Didnt see any problem with the trackpad, or wireless. When I tried it in tablet mode and wanted to type something, the onscreen kb didn't appear. Probably something I was doing wrong, or it wasn't actually set properly. So it appeared to be a keeper. BUT I've decided not to keep it and I'm returning it to Amazon.I'm just fearful, having read all of the issues -- wireless (which worked fine), screen cracking, etc etc etc -- I just don't want to take any chances and have to deal with any issues moving forward. Also, I think it's rather big and bulky, altho slim. Among thr many computers and tablets we have, there is a 13" MBA, so that fills the bills for that size. Since I got into this whole thing because I'm very attracted to the Yoga 360 style and I do like Windows 10, I may go for a new Lenova thinkpad yoga 11.6 for under $400 from Amazon. I think that actually should serve my needs better. In an y case, I want to thank you guys for your advice and input.

 

Sorry to hear it wasn't a good fit. I'm sure you'll find the right machine down the road!

-Matt

 

You can find bad reviews for all the products in the internet. Usually it is people with problems who go online and complain. Ofcourse some products will have defects. My spectre x360 is working great and I am getting compliments about it daily. People keep asking me which brand it is and how cool it is. Being able to take notes on it with a pen and turn it to a full laptop in a sec. is priceless. Best looking PC in my point of view.

Returning it just for the problems that you have read in the internet is a wrong choice. You should try it and if it fits you thats all you need to know.

 

Well, I have actually now ordered a second generation (2015), recently released Lenovo Yoga 12.6" I7 5600 256gb ssd wacom digitizer/pen Win 10 Pro 3 1/2 pound refurb ($750} with a full year factory warranty, with 30 day return. It's a pretty impressive 2-1, at least on paper, and not a lot of problems from what I can tell reading the forums. So we'll see.

 

The Yogas are nowhere near as good as the Spectre.

 

In terms of?

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In terms of build quality spectre is one step further in my opinion.

 

As a mac user, you are of course not accustomed to typical windows drivers issues, especially when Windows 10 is still new and Hardware vendors needed time to adapt.

I myself have always used windows and I'm actually considering moving to Mac (macbook being in my mind) because of that. However I do understand your point that they seem rather boring, compared right now.

So, do go ahead and don't lose patience when things don't work right out of the box - usually everything does get fixed.
(Until the next big move of Microsoft, I might add)

 

What I learned in this effort to add a cool yoga-like laptop to my computer collection is, don't trust "professional" reviewers. They all do one-shot, surface reviews. For example, one of the reasons I ordered the HP was because of how they said it had such loooooong battery life. They must have used the manufacturer's hype because real world owners are talking 5 hours, etc. I've encountered the same BS for the Lenova Yoga 12 now. And it even is true for my retina Macbook 12. I get 5 or 6 hours tops. I think Apple says 9 or 10, and so did original reviewers. The thing is, while Macs are totally boring, they are very reliable as is OSX compared to Windows. Well, I'll see how the Lenova pans out.

 

Hi bobcatmvp1,
from the speeds I am assuming you have the NVMe version of the SM951.
just curious what your bios config looks like, especially the UEFI and AHCI/RAID particular ones.

If there is anybody else using the NVMe SM951 feel free to reply

Thanks

Lubomir

 

When I have my x360, it was really a great laptop. Minus the first 2 machines I bought had defects, but the build quality was solid. Solid and sleek. Good battery, good screen, decent thermals.

Build quality on my yoga, no offense but other than sleekness of the x360, my yoga is built like a tank.

While neither one has bad build quality, that advantage has to be Lenovo. Military spec, liquid proof keyboard, etc.

Why I ended up with yoga vs x360, ultimately pen, and keyboard while still good on x360, is great on yoga and lift n lock.

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Anyone recently got one withouth the touchpad problem?.
I just got a replacement one and it has the same problem.

 

Are you referring to how the touchpad floats a little bit and rattles when you tap to click?

 

I have a strange thing happening with my Spectre x360 with Windows 10. When I click the touch pad, the Notifications window pops up. A second click removes the window. This happens any time, anywhere. Is anyone else having this issue?

Thanks, Jim

 

Jim, a standard, one-finger click (versus tap)? If you dig into the Synaptics settings, there is an option to trigger a Notifications pop up...I see it under Properties for Synaptics ClickPad -> Tapping -> Four-Finger Tap. Maybe if you toggle that on/off (applying after each) it will figure itself out?

EDIT: Just found this: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...n/3268ae06-980b-4150-94e3-075f16954d85?auth=1

Sounds like the 4-finger tap gesture might be involved.

-Matt

 

Thanks for your reply.

I rolled the Synaptics driver back which disabled the touch pad, then I updated the driver. Everything back to normal.

Regards, Jim

 

Really like the Spectre x360... but I can't get past the silver keyboard... I had a samsung with that silver keys in aluminum with backlight before and there are just so many lighting conditions when the keyboard is plain hard to see. The new ash silver/copper solves that problem but it looks like HP is charging a $100-$150 premium for the privilege of a more visible keyboard. annoying.

 

Did you get the Thinkpad Yoga 14 i5 6200u from best buy and upgrade it? It doesn't look like the 460 yoga is out yet from Lenovo and its gonna be pricey when it does. Right now I'm bouncing between the y700 (on sale this week and upgradable), Spectre 13 or 15... and the 14" yoga thinkpad at best buy... I kinda wish they would put the yoga on sale and make my decision easier. ;-)

 

There is a bit of a premium - I think initially they were marketed as "Special Edition" Spectres.. But the premium also includes the cost of the QHD panel. Silver model comes with FHD but if you customize, you can upgrade to QHD. Overall, not too bad of a deal I think. Having had both colors, I would rather have the Ash. The silver also looks good, but so many laptops today are silver it's a bit boring.

 

The thing that gets me with the silver is that in certain lighting conditions you would really like the backlight on to improve visibility but turning it on pretty much makes the black letters turn the same shade as the silver keys.

I'm curious what effect the QHD screen has on battery life though... ive noticed in store that its a bit dimmer than the 1080p so i'm guessing they cycle max brightness down a bit to make up for the extra power to drive that many pixels. Looking at them side by side the brightness and blacks seemed a little better on the 1080p panel... if the battery life was the same id still prefer QHD but if it hits the battery as well the 1080p is fine. Although the UHD option on the 15" spectre would be cool as well.

 

On the UK store the FHD i5 8GB model is the same price in both colour schemes... just bought my 4108 model from there...

 

I didn't get to run any battery benchmarks so I don't have numbers, but my impression was that FHD lasts a little longer than QHD (not significantly; the QHD battery life is still impressive). When you compared them side-by-side, did you notice the color calibration being off on the QHD?

 

I didn't think of it as calibration but the QHD display colors seemed more muted / dull than the FHD display. Not significantly but noticeably. I attributed it to the difference in screen brightness and perhaps the FHD display having a higher contrast. Its blacks were blacker and with the brighter backlight the lights were lighter.

 

Hello guys, i need a bit of advice here
So i am looking for an ultra portable to replace my aging Asus, and i am considering the Spectre
In my country i can buy either

the 4195dx - i7,QHD,512gb,8gb, ash copper - for $1400
or
the 4103dx - i7,FHD,256GB,8GB, silver - for $1200

or, i can get envy 13 instead (but no touchscreen and much less battery life)
i7,FHD,256GB,8GB - for $1000

I use the laptop mainly for office works, but i am also using google drive to manage database
So basically I'll be using chrome with around 8 tabs with google drive on the background and office apps
Hopefully getting around 7-8 hours of battery in a portable body

which one should i go for?
Is the QHD worth it?
WIll the battery life hit not worth it for the better contrast keyboard?
I'd like the 512gb and since buying m2. samsung cost around $200 too, it kinda off sets the difference between the 2 spectres

 

QHD should still give you the battery life you're looking for. I don't think there's a big difference in battery life between QHD and FHD. For $200, twice the storage, higher res display, and better color seems worth it. I had a negative experience with one QHD model (colors were off - yellow-green tinge all over) that would make me hesitant to order another with QHD but you may get lucky or maybe prefer the warmer tone.

 

Just the plain Jane one from best buy. Got it 150 off on sale, and had a 10% off, which brought it to like $700. Reguardless of price, I really like my ThinkPad 14.

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I Agee, $200 for double the storage alone is great, plus I love that ash. Battery life on the uhd lasted me entire days use and then some. The FHD lasted longer yet. Still charged both versions end of everyday, if you really needed to stretch the battery the FHD would probably last 2 days on extreme battery save options and light use. But ugh will last whole workday and some home use with mixture of medium to low usage.

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