HP Spectre X360 Convertibles - Are these known "problem children"?

[britechguy]

I had a new client yesterday, a local real estate agent, who now has two of these machines, one less than 5 years old that's running an i7-8th gen processor and the other only a couple of months old with an i7-13th gen (I think, it might be 12th).

In any case both of these machines have exhibited problems that I find very uncharacteristic in this class. She reports that the older one has problems with the trackpad just freezing up, but I could not replicate during the service call. The newer one has been freezing at random and, of course, would not do so for me.

I ran the HP support assistant on both and each of them needed a UEFI/BIOS update, which I got and applied. Afterward, I ran DISM/SFC, then, for "ultra-good measure" I did a Windows 11 Repair Install on both using the Windows 11 23H2 ISO freshly downloaded from Microsoft.

The newer one also appears to have a dead USB-C port, though it's old style USB-A port is just fine. The older one has both USB-A and USB-C ports functioning just fine.

I also encountered another "fun thing" with BitLocker, and that's that you cannot do a UEFI/BIOS update while it is active. The BIOS updater tells you this and that it will disable BitLocker before the update and re-enable it afterward, but they advise against doing this unless you have the BitLocker key, which we did not and which I could not find on the Microsoft Account for these laptops (both were using the same xxx@outlook.com address for the only account on the computer, which was, of course, also admin). I disabled BitLocker using manage-bde and left it off after having done the UEFI/BIOS update on each without issue.

I'm just waiting for a follow-up call, as I fear a nuke and pave will be necessary, but I did not want to go that route first. Just wondering if these machines have any sort of reputation I'm not aware of.

 

[sapphirescales]

There are so many "HP Spectre x360" and "HP Envy x360" models out there that it's hard to make generalizations but just like all consumer HP laptops:

1. Cheap crap plastic standoffs always break on these, both on the bottom assembly and the lid.

2. These fans get loud and start making noise between the 3-5 year mark. If you try to clean them you'll just make them noisier, but they'll calm down after a few days. Try telling that to a client though! If the fan is noisy, just replace it.

3. If the laptop won't charge, it's much more likely that it's an issue with the motherboard compared to other brands. It's still probably an issue with the charger, jack, or battery, but manage client's expectations when providing a quote.

4. HP secures their DC jacks very well in their Spectre and Envy series. You won't find a jack that's been pushed too far in, but you might find physical damage to the jack that will require you to replace it. Thankfully the jacks are always connected to the motherboard through a cable so they're easy to replace but be when ordering a jack for these computers, check the cable length to make sure it's not too long or too short.

5. Being plated in thin metal makes them feel premium but it also makes them get extremely hot to the touch! These shouldn't be used on bare legs. Replacing the fan and thermal paste might help a bit but I've found that the cooling is always inadequate in these computers.

6. When buying a replacement motherboard, be broad and general with your search terms! HP makes many different motherboards with identical layouts. For example, I recently got in an HP Envy with an i7 10th gen CPU. It had a bad motherboard and the part was $500. No margin there, so I suggested we go with another board I found, an AMD board with a lower spec Ryzen CPU. The motherboard was only $35. It was quite a downgrade but this client just used it to browse the internet and type stuff in Word so they weren't going to notice any difference. I presented them both options and based on my recommendation they chose the $35 motherboard option and like I suspected, they couldn't tell a difference between the i7 and the Ryzen 3 whatever CPU it had in there. I don't deal with AMD laptops very much so I have no idea what model Ryzen it was.

As for reliability, I don't get a ton of dead Envy or Spectre laptops in. They seem reasonably reliable for a consumer laptop. I'm still going to recommend a ProBook/EliteBook to my clients over an Envy/Spectre but unless there's a huge expensive problem with it, if a client brings in a Envy/Spectre x360 laptop, I'm going to recommend repair over replacement.

 

[Canadian Tech]

I've had a few of them in that weren't repairable, motherboard issues. Once they start losing USB ports it's not long afterwards the motherboard goes

 

[britechguy]

Well, the real "problem child" of the two is one that's almost brand new. Got a text from the client this morning that it froze, again. This is the kind of problem I really hate because it's close to impossible to chase down, and absolutely should not be happening on virtually new hardware.

I don't know precisely how long she's had this particular machine, but at the very least it's definitely still under warranty, as it's still less than a year old by many months. I don't know if it's still new enough to qualify for a return to seller. But I have advised her that one of these two routes makes far more sense than my continuing ministrations that I sincerely doubt will result in a fix. I feel like a hardware problem (likely mobo) is at play here and that's not something I'd ever attempt to fix and is not economical to fix if you're still under warranty or could return for replacement.

For convertibles, particularly consumer grade ones, these both seem to be pretty solidly built compared to a very great many other consumer grade machines.

 

[Canadian Tech]

Well, the real "problem child" of the two is one that's almost brand new. Got a text from the client this morning that it froze, again. This is the kind of problem I really hate because it's close to impossible to chase down, and absolutely should not be happening on virtually new hardware.

I don't know precisely how long she's had this particular machine, but at the very least it's definitely still under warranty, as it's still less than a year old by many months. I don't know if it's still new enough to qualify for a return to seller. But I have advised her that one of these two routes makes far more sense than my continuing ministrations that I sincerely doubt will result in a fix. I feel like a hardware problem (likely mobo) is at play here and that's not something I'd ever attempt to fix and is not economical to fix if you're still under warranty or could return for replacement.

For convertibles, particularly consumer grade ones, these both seem to be pretty solidly built compared to a very great many other consumer grade machines.

I won't touch hardware if it's under warranty especially HP. HP loves to void the warranty if you open it even if it's a memory upgrade.

 

[Larry Sabo]

Have you swapped memory modules? I had one recently that had all the symptoms of a corrupted BIOS/EC but reprogramming and then even swapping the BIOS chip had no effect, so I replaced the MB. Still no change! -- it was a bad SODIMM. I could have sworn that I tested memory but was obviously mistaken.

 

[britechguy]

I have touched nothing, hardware-wise, and have zero intention of doing so.

I am of precisely the same mind as @Canadian Tech when it comes to any machine that is either returnable to the place of purchase or still under warranty. It is, and should be, the maufacturer's problem and I never want to do anything that might make the manufacturer say, "Well, you did {insert innocuous thing like upgrading memory here} and that voids the warranty."

When it's still so new that it's under warranty, and particularly if a backup machine is already present and available, then I always suggest return as the first course of action.

 

[ell]

Have you swapped memory modules? I had one recently that had all the symptoms of a corrupted BIOS/EC but reprogramming and then even swapping the BIOS chip had no effect, so I replaced the MB. Still no change! -- it was a bad SODIMM. I could have sworn that I tested memory but was obviously mistaken.

agh how annoying, thanks for sharing

 

[britechguy]

@Larry Sabo

I am sorry that I forgot to thank you for this information when you offered it earlier. If this unit were not still under warranty that would be a very valuable thing to know about.

 

[xrobwx71]

I know this is not helpful but:

I've had one for about 3 years. 2 years with Windows 10 Pro and the last year with Parrot Linux. I use it for work, Inventory, Remote work, Pen-Testing, so it sees a lot of use.

I had no problems while running Win 10 and none with Parrot.

I have been very happy with it.

 

[britechguy]

@xrobwx71

While a sample size of one gives us no reliable and valid "population" data, it's still useful to know.

The client has decided to go the "send it to HP route," largely at my behest, for which I'm grateful. Between the sudden unexplained freezing and the apparently non-functional USB-C port, this is not likely something I could fix even if I dearly wanted to.

The only other thing I could have done was an N & P, and I honestly don't think that would have done a thing in this case, and told her so. The repair install of Windows made a number of issues disappear and the machine behaved better, but the freezing remained unresolved as, I suspect, did the USB-C port (but I did not have a follow-up service call to check).