HP spectre x360 13-4005dx will not turn on

[DaveDUtah]

In March, just before my warranty expired, my x360 died with this problem. Warranty service replaced the motherboard and after being without the computer for about a week or so, I was good as new. 

3-4 months later, it died again. Same way. Sent it in, and got a message that the motherboard needs replacing--again, and that it will be $460 plus tax to repair it. That seems like a much larger problem than just this power connector wire.

Why would I spend $460 to repair it again just to have it die again in a few more months?

What is wrong with this machine that the motherboards are routinely suffering catastrophic power failure? Why isn't there a recall on all of them replacing the motherboards with versions with more robust power circuitry?

These threads are full of Spectre x360 owners all having the same problem:

http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Hardware-and-Upgrade-Questions/HP-Spectre-x360-power-problem/t...

http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Hardware-and-Upgrade-Questions/Spectre-x360-won-t-charge-or-bo...

http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Hardware-and-Upgrade-Questions/My-hp-spectre-x360-won-t-turn-o...

http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Boot-and-Lockup/HP-spectre-x360-13-4005dx-will-not-turn-on/td-...

http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Hardware-and-Upgrade-Questions/spectre-x360-battery-charging-i...

It's not like I skimped and bought a cheap machine. I paid $1150 at Best Buy for my Spectre x360 i7/8GB/256GB model. 

I still have a Dell core -i7 laptop from 6 years ago that is still going gangbusters. 

I have loved this Spectre x360. Aside from this one fatal flaw, it is easily the best laptop I've ever owned, and still seems the best available in the market to me other than its power design being faulty. 

I just bought a Lenovo Yoga 900 to replace it, but I am not going to like the Yoga 900 as much, I fear. I miss the hdmi port and the mini display port. I would much rather have the extra battery life and brighter screen on the x360 than to drive a 3200x1800-but dimmer-screen on the Yoga 900. At 13 inches, 1080p is more than enough pixels. Too bad the perfect machine is rendered useless by a power flaw. 

HP should be ashamed that they aren't voluntarily recalling all of these and swapping them out with a more robust power system. 

I'm now embarrassed that I recommended the x360 to so many people. I'll never buy another HP computer and never recommend one, again.

Last night at Best Buy while waiting to buy the Yoga 900,  I warned two potential purchasers of the new gold spectre x360 about the problem.  

[jlonomo]

@DaveDUtah, it is a shame to hear this is still ongoing. Nice work linking to all those other threads.

I have said this before and will add it again here: this is not the right place to make comments that you actually want HP employees to see and reply to. Find a link on the HP website to 'contact the CEO' or customer relations.

You should receive a reply from them, though it probably will not be to your satisfaction. When I asked about a product recall, the customer relations officer I was speaking to gave a pretty blunt  "that's not going to happen" answer. I guess the issue just isn't widespread enough for them to be concerned about, though there are a large number of comments on this forum, all with the same issue.

If I were you, I would try contacting HP and discussing your repair with them, ask them to repair it at no cost, and just see what they say. Give them a list of these forum threads as evidence that it is their fault and that the product was never fit for sale.

I've almost gone a full year now with my repaired laptop, but am one month out of my warranty. Really hoping it holds out from now on.

[UncleMike1001]

I picked up my new "HP Spectre x360 - 13-4167nz" at lunchtime today.
One hour later, the screen is completely dead.

It'll boot up, the F5 "turn keyboard lights on" button works, but the screen is just black.
Not even a cursor on it.

Sometimes, I hear a Windows 10 jingle, but there's nothing on the screen.
No cursor, nothing to click on. Just black.

Attempting to turn it off, then on again, makes no difference.

Oh, but if I connect it to a monitor via HDMI, then it'll display the normal Windows 10 screen.

But if, for example, I ask Windows 10 to clone the displays, the laptop's screen remains black.

It's one hour old, and my 1000 CHF (Swiss-German) laptop is useless.

Time for me to waste several months demanding a refund, and being passed around HP departments, and Indian call centres...   ;-(

[UncleMike1001]

Just to add, I bought a brand new "HP Spectre x360 - 13-4167nz" laptop, direct from the HP website.

It was a thing of beauty.  

Or, at least, it was, until after just 1 hour, the screen died, and never came back again.

Plugging it upto a monitor, I could see the Windows 10 screen, but the laptop's screen itself...  nothing.  

No cursor, no "Press ESC for BIOS settings", the thing was dead.

I've never had a 1100 CHF ($1140 USD) laptop which became useless in such a short amount of time.

HP has agreed to refund me in full, but I just wanted to post this to say that this hardware issue is still alive and kicking in August 2016.

I also had two HP OfficeJet 6830 printers in the past year, and both suffered from the same fatal "Faulty print head" error within a couple of months.  

Seriously, I used to recommend HP equipment.... but now...  it just seems unreliable.

I've bought 3 HP products in the past year, and none survived beyond 6 months.

What is going on with HP ?!

[connectvg]

Bought this laptop from Best Buy on June 17th 2015. And now the laptop will not turn on. There's nothing wrong with the power cord (as per diagnosis from Best Buy tech team). Called HP support and they said that either power connector inside the system is bad or there coupld be problems with mothboard. Asked me to pay $370 to get it fixed.

When I asked them if they have heard this kind of complaint from other customers (i.e. if its a problem with how the laptop was assembled with faulty parts or design), they told me that I am the first one to complain about such an issue with this Laptop.

Looks like I am not the only one who is facing such an issue with this Model. HP should take responsibility for faulty design and should get it fixed for the customers for FREE.

This is such a SCAM from HP. Its sucks!

[bafana]

Pretty much the same story here. Spectre x360 13-4003dx purchased on June 26, 2015 and now out of warranty. I heard a small pop; it shut off and won't turn back on. I tried the reset instructions mentioned elsewhere in this thread, to no avail. I really liked the design of the Spectre, and have owned a few HP laptops over the years (including this cheaper, older one I'm typing on now), but this may be my last. 

Since it's out of warranty anyway, I'm going to take it to a local shop rather than go through the support runaround and have to ship it. We'll see what they have to say. I'm posting this so others, including HP, are aware of the problem, as it does not appear to be an isolated occurrence.

[romain-b]

Hello,

I have exactly the same issue as the person who started this thread.

My Spectre x360 won't boot, after pressing the power button it blinks three times - but won't boot.

The keyboard stays unlit at all times.

I have tried to contact HP for two weeks but didn't manage to get an answer so I'm trying this forum.

Model: 13-4109na

Best regards,

-R

[dy2288]

Joined the club. Bought this machine in May 2015, the most I've ever paid for a laptop, or any computer I guess. Last week it shut down unexpectedly, and won't turn on since.

HP wants $400 for a repair, driving the total cost of ownership to a ridiculously high amount. Would rather sell it on eBay for parts, and buy a used but we'll built machine than pay for HPs mistakes.

[dy2288]

Emailed my thoughts to the marketing team as well by the way.

[bafana]

I ended up taking my Spectre to a local shop and they confirmed the motherboard is dead. So, it's costing me about $450 parts and labor to get it repaired. It's cheaper than buying a new one, though part of me wonders if I'm throwing good money after bad. Having a catastrophic failure this soon out of warranty definitely undermines my faith in HP's build quality. If it fails again, I'll cut my losses and try another brand. Although, these days it seems like all laptops are built like cheap, disposable appliances.

For what it's worth, the repair shop told me the replacement motherboard was difficult to find. I'm not sure if that indicates a manufacturing shortage, or high demand due to a high failure rate.