NOW AVAILABLE: HP Spectre XT TouchSmart Ultrabook 15t-4000 (12/4)

Did you have the Beats audio enabled in the software?

 

My love for this machine is waning! Thanks for all the help though. Strongly considering a Vaio Duo 11 now!

 

tried both on and off through the speakers, hard to tell any difference. Ddi not try it through the headphone port

 

I can agree with you. If it was $999 instead of $1349 then the poor battery life might be tolerable. That being said the screen and keyboard are among the best I have used in a good while

I'm slightly confused about why you are considering the Vaio Duo compared to this machine? Don't get me wrong the sony looks interesting but It doesn't really seem to be in the same category. Now if you had said Acer S7 compare to the Duo I could see it

 

Argh.. bad battery life, lousy audio, and fan noise....

I'm thinking the great screen, keyboard, and touch-pad will make up for these things; but I have 21 days to return it if not. I just can't find anything comparable on the market right now :-(

Is the fan distracting or whiny? What does Coolsense do?

Did you happen to run Chrome Octane on the Chrome browser?

 

Coolsense is supposed to keep the laptop cooler when you are using it mobile. From what we have seen it just seems to lower the threshold for when it turns them on. As to the fan sound, it's not as bad as some I have heard (like a macbook pro under load) but it's not whisper quiet either. I noticed everytime they engaged here in the office

Octane Score :5885

PS: what's most annoying about the fans is how frequently they switch on and off. In a couple of instances they would do the on/off/on routine multiple times within a span of say 10 minutes. I'd rather they just stay on

 

If I'm not mistaken, 1499 gets you an i7 albeit dual core with a 256 gb ssd, so it's a better value for money. Not to mention that the form factor accommodates touch better.

I agree with you that they're not really comparable in the sense that productivity will be higher on the HP, but touch and good battery life were important for me and there's no other viable option.

 

Cool. I would take a look at the Acer S7. We have one here and it's battery life is not stellar either, but the display and touch screen are quite good and the SSD (raid) just screams. Plus we did an unintended durability test when the unit got knocked off the top of a file cabinet and tumbled end over end multiple times. Not a mark on it:thumbsup:

 

Well, there's one good point - it's fast. My Lenovo Yoga core i5 only gets 4731 in Octane with Internet Explorer. 5885 vs 4731 means the HP is 24% faster with core i7.

 

The Lenovo Yoga is a very nice machine and gets 5-6 hours battery. I'm looking for something with a larger screen that's why I ordered the HP. I will take the Yoga back to Best Buy unless the HP really doesn't cut it.

 

An "ultrabook" is not supposed to be a desktop replacement. That's kind've against the point.

 

The ultrabook moniker is just a marketing gimmick. In reality, it's big & heavy enough to remain on the desk most of the time. It's not intended to be carried around. Therefore battery life is not of prime importance as with 11 or 13 inch systems.

 

This is the right answer, but it still makes me a bit sad. I know HP was probably a giant soulless corporation long before, but once they started diluting and then demolishing the Envy name, it really hit home to me. First it was the Envy 4 and Envy 6, then the Pavilion series became Envys, and now the once-promising (but always super-expensive) Spectre name is losing its lustre.

Give me a $1000 13" thin-and light with 1080p IPS (touchscreen optional), AMD A10, and 6 hours of battery life. Call it the Envy 13 Redemption, and I'm back on board.

 

Ultrabooks are supposed to get 5 hours of battery life; see Ultrabook - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

That depends heavily on how battery life is measured. Intel doesn't specify how exactly battery life should be measured. Most companies advertise figures obtained when the laptop is idling, with wireless off & brightness turned way down. So these figures will be far removed from real-world usage scenarios.

In general, Ultrabook requirements have a lot of wiggle room, as the following article notes:

Why "Ultrabook" Doesn't Mean Much | PCWorld

 

Did you run a Windows Experience Index?

 

Mine has shipped and will be here dec 17th. I am pretty excited. This is a christmas present for the wife, but looking forward to playing with the new touchscreen interface. . . It sure sounds like the battery life will be disappointing. I hope thats the only thing as this looks like a pretty solid laptop. still no other major reviews. . .?

 

Mine just left Shanghai and will be here Friday. I paid for two day shipping; it left the facility Monday (they had estimated Tuesday) which means I should have gotten it at least by Thursday. If it comes Friday I'm going to try and get the shipping cost back - $70 for shipping is almost as much as Amazon Prime and they missed the date!

 

I'll chime in with my .02

I posted earlier about configuring my VP's unit that he bought from Frys.

Positives:
1. Truly outstanding screen- bright and very good color with above average blacks

2. Very good keyboard- no flex or bowing like I have seen lately (and seems to be common with the pavilions)

3. Good trackpad- Windows 8 probably helps, but the one thing they get right is the "friction feel" which is just about right. The only systems that do it better are the macbook pros

4. Decent performance- from the limited testing we did. Boot time was about 21 seconds.

5. Best build quality I've seen in awhile, especially from HP- no creaks or pops or bulges where there should not be

Neutral

1. Size- it's not huge but still bigger than some other 15 inch systems we have in house like the macbook pros and some think pads

2. Weight- feels heavier than it needs to be (though it feels quite solid). I suspect the touchscreen adds some weight.

3. Touchscsreen- not sure how much sense a touch screen makes on a laptop this size. Did not use it as much as I did on a smaller Acer S7. Difference there may be due to the acer actually being comfortable in a lap where as the HP not so much

Negatives-

1. Battery life- 3 hours just seems way too low given the size/weight/price

2. Price- My VP paid $1349 at Frys for his. Given all of the above it seems like it should be a $999 unit. That being said, I'd love it if someone GAVE me one.

 

Lol. That's encouraging. I bought a Yoga and it's really great, but I'm looking for a bigger screen like my 15" Thinkpad T60p. Luckily I can take the Yoga back to Best Buy.

I'm encouraged by your take on the screen, others have said the same. I really don't need great battery life (I will mostly use it at home) but it is disappointing.

I'll try and post my first impressions, Windows Experience Index, etc this weekend.

 

I'm eagerly awaiting your review so that I can decide if I want it myself!

 

Looks like HP have taken all customisation options for this model, from their website....

They're only offering the 500Gb plus cache for 1399. The battery is now being quoted at 3hr 45 minutes on their website!

 

It's possible they will put it back up in a few days. Maybe the non-customizable version is selling too well and they are running low on displays or something?

Mine comes tomorrow with Windows 8 pro, 500gb 7200rpm drive, and MS Office ($40 off Home and Student). Oh, did I mention the dinky battery?

I may replace that hard drive with an SSD too.

 

Maybe they are selling like hotcakes

 

It's weird. I got am email from HP saying there was a clearance delay in customs at Anchorage and tht they were working to clear it as soon as possible. Anybod ever hear of that?

 

I have not heard of that myself, however mine was also delayed at customs today. What is weird is that I looked at the fedex tracking and it shows that it was at customs in Anchorage and now shows it back in Shanghai.

Sent from my AT100 using Tapatalk 2

 

That's just an issue with time zones. Mine showed that for awhile too. Mine got to Anchorage yesterday and left today.

 

This happens with a significant portion of HP's CTO notebooks. Your shipping might take a day or two longer than expected.

 

"On FedEx vehicle for delivery"

 

Lucky Dog, I hope you will take the time to snap some photos for us

 

"Delivered"! I must go home from work for some reason soon ;-)

 

A few quick unboxing photos. Haven't gotten any further as we have dinner plans.

It comes in a nice box with a beige slip cover. It weighs in at 4 lbs 15.75 oz. The DVD is MS Office Home and Student.

 

More pics

The power brick isn't too large.

 

Please make vids if you can!

 

Thanks for the pictures, looking forward to seeing it fired up and feedback on how the screen is. In the meantime, hope you're enjoying your meal

 

Thanks WPWoodJr!! Let us know your detailed opinion.

 

Does anybody know if it's NFC and Widi enabled?

 

Widi yes, NFC no

 

See I thought the same thing but this video says otherwise (2.25)

HP's Spectre XT and HP Envy x2 laptops - YouTube

 

The power adapter is small which may affect durability but it inserts well into the chassis so it probably isn't an issue.

 

The track pad is a nice large size and is made of smooth glass.

 

Keyboard seems to have nice travel and a decent layout. Those little up and down arrows may take some getting used to.


I'd like to have seen dedicated end program and switch program keys like on the Lenovo Yoga's F4 and F8 keys:

 

Looks pretty sweet. Can't wait to get my own

 

Screen is gorgeous


Compared to the Yoga which is no slouch in the screen department:


5 rows of icons vs 4 on the Yoga

 

Photo of a test image displayed on the HP's screen:

 

Not bad performance for HD4000 graphics!

View attachment 88921

 

Google Octane Javascript benchmark run in Chrome browser

HP Spectre XT TouchSmart (core i7u): 13,591

MacBook Retina Pro (quad core mobile i7): somewhere between 14,000 and 15,000
Sony VAIO W8 with touchscreen from Best Buy $999 (quad core mobile i7): 14,862
HP 8460p (core i5 mobile Sandy Bridge): 13,176
Thinkpad Carbon X1 (core i5u): 12069
Lenovo Yoga (core i5u): 11,853
Thinkpad T60p (Core 2 Duo 2.33 mhz): 8,815

 

Not bad performance for HD4000 graphics (better image):

 

Thanks for sharing, any change to give us info on its battery life??

thanks again!!

 

Furmarks OpenGL benchmark 1024x768 fullscreen

HP Spectre XT TouchSmart (core i7u): 359

Sony 14" VAIO W8 with touchscreen from Best Buy $999 (quad core mobile i7 w/AMD Radeon HD 7670M): 467
Lenovo Yoga (core i5u): 245
Lenovo Twist (core i5u): 200
HP 8460p (core i5 mobile Sandy Bridge w/HD3000 graphics): 182
Thinkpad T60p (Core 2 Duo 2.33 mhz w/ATI Mobility FireGL V5250): 109