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- First reviewJanuary 2, 2017
- Last reviewJanuary 10, 2017
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sarah's Reviews
Only at Best BuyHP Spectre Laptop: Harness beauty and productivity with this 13.3-inch HP Spectre notebook. It has a carbon fiber body for durability and a piston hinge that almost vanishes when folded flush. This ultra-slim HP Spectre notebook comes with 8GB of RAM, an Intel Core i7-7500U processor for efficient multitasking and a 256GB solid-state drive for storing files.
Customer Rating
2
poor performance, battery life, tiny screen
on January 10, 2017
Posted by: sarah
this is such a disappointment. they say not to judge a book by its cover yet i couldn't help myself. it looked like a solid laptop, but looks can be deceiving. from day 1, there have been a myriad of issues that 48+ hours of geek squad support and exchanging for a newer model cannot help. a few days in, i had to exchange it for a diff model (dell xps) because of such poor performance.
my issues:
-this thing is LOUD. so loud that cortana cannot hear you. due to its slim profile, it only has one fan and back vent that do not cool this laptop efficiently.
-because its so loud, it gets HOT HOT HOT. i have burned myself on the gold parts because it does not cool efficiently. if you want to use a LAPtop on your lap then look for a diff computer.
-display is truncated. no one really notices how the screen has been shortened because they only look at the display itself (clarity, etc). due the bottom spacing for the "hp" logo the screen is actually quite short. while browsing the web, i noticed something about the display seemed off. because ad banners at the top take over so much space and the "hp" logo area at the bottom also take up lots of real estate, the actual reading area is small. i even tried making the font smaller, but then this just led to me squinting and trying to get closer to the screen
-display brightness is too bright on the dimmest setting. for those of you who like to surf the web or watch a movie right before bed, the dimmest brightness is actually too bright. if you're sensitive to light (or an insomniac) i'd look for a diff computer.
-keyboard keys are a pain to type on. they are springy/bouncy - something that's important to me while i type. likely due to the reduced height of the laptop. also, while there is an option for backlit keys, there is no ambient lighting feature. kind of defeats the purpose when it's pitch black. i have the keys memorized, but it would be nice if it could detect ambient lighting and automatically turn on.
-no page up/down and home/end keys. they have to be turned on with the Fn key. huge annoyance for me.
-processing speed. as a disclaimer, i am not a gamer nor am i a heavy graphics user. i use this laptop to surf the web (online shop), netflix/hulu, play music, and occasionally for work (word, excel, powerpoint). i do like to have multiple tabs open and i was told i should have no issues with this laptop. WRONG. there is lag time, simple programs like sticky notes won't open (when it's the *only* app open), and the entire laptop will freeze. i've had to restart numerous times, but when that didn't work i had to manually shut down.
-not a fan of the trackpad. i played around with the sensitivity, momentum, etc. in the settings, but it's not very responsive. i have to use a lot of pressure and clicking is an issue. like with all 13" laptops, trackpad placement is tricky so you won't accidentally activate it while typing.
-this thing is LOUD. so loud that cortana cannot hear you. due to its slim profile, it only has one fan and back vent that do not cool this laptop efficiently.
-because its so loud, it gets HOT HOT HOT. i have burned myself on the gold parts because it does not cool efficiently. if you want to use a LAPtop on your lap then look for a diff computer.
-display is truncated. no one really notices how the screen has been shortened because they only look at the display itself (clarity, etc). due the bottom spacing for the "hp" logo the screen is actually quite short. while browsing the web, i noticed something about the display seemed off. because ad banners at the top take over so much space and the "hp" logo area at the bottom also take up lots of real estate, the actual reading area is small. i even tried making the font smaller, but then this just led to me squinting and trying to get closer to the screen
-display brightness is too bright on the dimmest setting. for those of you who like to surf the web or watch a movie right before bed, the dimmest brightness is actually too bright. if you're sensitive to light (or an insomniac) i'd look for a diff computer.
-keyboard keys are a pain to type on. they are springy/bouncy - something that's important to me while i type. likely due to the reduced height of the laptop. also, while there is an option for backlit keys, there is no ambient lighting feature. kind of defeats the purpose when it's pitch black. i have the keys memorized, but it would be nice if it could detect ambient lighting and automatically turn on.
-no page up/down and home/end keys. they have to be turned on with the Fn key. huge annoyance for me.
-processing speed. as a disclaimer, i am not a gamer nor am i a heavy graphics user. i use this laptop to surf the web (online shop), netflix/hulu, play music, and occasionally for work (word, excel, powerpoint). i do like to have multiple tabs open and i was told i should have no issues with this laptop. WRONG. there is lag time, simple programs like sticky notes won't open (when it's the *only* app open), and the entire laptop will freeze. i've had to restart numerous times, but when that didn't work i had to manually shut down.
-not a fan of the trackpad. i played around with the sensitivity, momentum, etc. in the settings, but it's not very responsive. i have to use a lot of pressure and clicking is an issue. like with all 13" laptops, trackpad placement is tricky so you won't accidentally activate it while typing.
pros:
-quick startup time
-slim, sexy design
-pretty light. even rivals the macbook air
-i hate the glossy display. either going to return this laptop or find an antiglare display protector
-the display doesn't bend all the backwards. while i know it's not the touchscreen version, most PC laptops will bend all the way down. again this is an issue when i'm using this on my lap. it's at the wrong angle but it can't bend any further back. it would be nice if it could bend just a little further back.
-charging and battery life are awful. this thing can't last 4 hours if you don't have it plugged in. it also shuts off automatically around 12% battery so you don't even get the 12% battery to power through. to charge from zero (or 12%), it takes HOURS. this is surprising since it doesn't seem to last long on battery, i figured charging it would be quick as well.
-bloatware. beware, there are some programs that come with your laptop and you won't be able to get rid of them (ie xbox). geek squad phone support had to provide me admin permissions to do so.
-admin permissions. i bought this computer full price and am well over 18 years of age. i should be able to do whatever i want to this computer. however, even though your account will be labeled "administrator," they lock you out of certain local drives and you won't have full permissions. just beware.
-apparently with windows 10 there is no such thing as a "guest account." i simply wanted this feature in case i had a friend over who wanted to use my computer. rather than having them create a new windows account it would be infinitely easier to just switch to a guest account. apparently, not possible. it technically is possible to load the profile, but not usable. oh, how i hate windows 10.
-i won't go into how awful one drive is as this is also a software issue...but there are tons of issues with windows 10. just saying.
-quick startup time
-slim, sexy design
-pretty light. even rivals the macbook air
-i hate the glossy display. either going to return this laptop or find an antiglare display protector
-the display doesn't bend all the backwards. while i know it's not the touchscreen version, most PC laptops will bend all the way down. again this is an issue when i'm using this on my lap. it's at the wrong angle but it can't bend any further back. it would be nice if it could bend just a little further back.
-charging and battery life are awful. this thing can't last 4 hours if you don't have it plugged in. it also shuts off automatically around 12% battery so you don't even get the 12% battery to power through. to charge from zero (or 12%), it takes HOURS. this is surprising since it doesn't seem to last long on battery, i figured charging it would be quick as well.
-bloatware. beware, there are some programs that come with your laptop and you won't be able to get rid of them (ie xbox). geek squad phone support had to provide me admin permissions to do so.
-admin permissions. i bought this computer full price and am well over 18 years of age. i should be able to do whatever i want to this computer. however, even though your account will be labeled "administrator," they lock you out of certain local drives and you won't have full permissions. just beware.
-apparently with windows 10 there is no such thing as a "guest account." i simply wanted this feature in case i had a friend over who wanted to use my computer. rather than having them create a new windows account it would be infinitely easier to just switch to a guest account. apparently, not possible. it technically is possible to load the profile, but not usable. oh, how i hate windows 10.
-i won't go into how awful one drive is as this is also a software issue...but there are tons of issues with windows 10. just saying.
meh:
-sound seems fine. could be louder, but with all the design flaws it's ok
-camera is fine. nothing to write home about
-USB-C ports. they had to sacrifice space another way so there are 3 USB-C type ports (1 is for the power). luckily, they provide a USB>USB-C adapter.
-also included in the package is a "leather" sleeve. there's no flap to close it so it could fall out, but it's tough to slide in. i imagine it's also tough to get out.
-sound seems fine. could be louder, but with all the design flaws it's ok
-camera is fine. nothing to write home about
-USB-C ports. they had to sacrifice space another way so there are 3 USB-C type ports (1 is for the power). luckily, they provide a USB>USB-C adapter.
-also included in the package is a "leather" sleeve. there's no flap to close it so it could fall out, but it's tough to slide in. i imagine it's also tough to get out.
My Best Buy number: 4269853278
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
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16of 29voted this as helpful.
Only at Best BuyChoose this HP Spectre 13 notebook for its crisp 1080p display and 13.3-inch screen. It comes with a sixth-generation Intel processor and 8GB of onboard RAM for efficient multitasking, and its solid state drive ensure that programs load quickly. The slim design on this HP Spectre 13 notebook provide enhanced versatility.
Posted by: sarah
Beautiful laptop, but that's where the pros end. All ports are USB-C (luckily they include a connector) which can be a pro or a con depending on how you see it. It's incredibly slim and light (almost as light as Apple). Sound is pretty nice, but I've experienced multiple issues out of the box.
I had the Geek Squad complete software updates, install Webroot antivirus, Office 365, etc. Things seemed to be working well when I left the store. Excited about the possibility of configuring my settings I tried to set up Cortana (Windows version of Siri). The mic didn't work anymore. It took Geek Squad phone support an hour to get it running again. Then I found out my mail/calendar weren't syncing properly. The fan is LOUD. It's so loud that Cortana can't even hear you over the whir of the fan lol. More importantly, the system is quite slow. Trying to load the sticky notes app used so much processing abilities that it couldn't open links, delayed cursor, and made the fan get crazy loud. I thought I could eliminate these issues that I'd had in the past with a brand new laptop with no files installed. Instead, just trying to open MS Word or the sticky notes app FROZE THE ENTIRE LAPTOP. I couldn't even get it to restart properly so I finally just manually powered down. Basically a useless computer. Also, it gets incredibly HOT. Since it's metal it's a good heat conductor and can actually burn you if you use it on your lap without a barrier.
I would NOT recommend this laptop. I've only had it 3 days and have had to use Geek Squad Support at least once everyday. It's not worth the frustration.
My Best Buy number: 4269853278
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
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1of 1voted this as helpful.
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