HP Spectre X360: Brought laptop to Micro Center, was told motherboard is dead

[emhagman]

Hi,

I own an HP Spectre x360 - 13-4103dx and brought it to Micro Center after it would not charge or turn on at all. I was told the motherboard was dead and it would cost $650 to fix. I researched on the HP forums and I have seen countless posts describing the same exact issue with the motherboard with this particular laptop.

I called HP support and was also told because the laptop is out of warranty that it would cost $659.99 + tax to fix the laptop. It seems like HP is aware this laptop has issues and it still charging people to fix the issue. Is there anything else I can do here or am I out on a $1,600 laptop...

Examples of the issue on the forums about the same laptop:

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Hardware-and-Upgrade-Questions/Another-Dead-Spectre-x360-Moth...

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Hardware-and-Upgrade-Questions/Dead-Spectre-x360-13-4103dx-Mo...

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Hardware-and-Upgrade-Questions/Spectre-x360-Convertible-13-40...

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Hardware-and-Upgrade-Questions/HP-Spectre-x360-13-4003dx-will...

The list goes on and on and on...

[Lil_Boy_Blue]

This will not work for everyone, but you may be lucky?


HP Notebooks and Mobile Workstations -
No Power, No Boot, No Display When Power Button Is Pressed



NOTE: Be sure the battery is installed in the computer and it has sufficient power before continuing. Due to the design of the Embedded Controller/Keyboard Controller, the power supply must be disconnected and the computer must be powered with battery power to reset the Embedded Controller/Keyboard Controller.

Unplug the AC power from the computer.
Press and hold the power button for more than 12 seconds.
Release the power button (after at least 12 seconds).
The computer will power on and should boot normally after releasing the power button.
Re-connect the AC power to the computer.

NOTE: In case the battery is not charging after performing the steps to reset the Embedded Controller, unplug and re-plug in the AC power again.

[emhagman]

Thanks but I've tried all the guides here. I guess I technically have not tried this one because the battery itself won't charge so this isn't possible to attempt. Tried a new charger with the same rating, tried the original, tried unplugging the battery and holding down the power button for 30 seconds and putting the battery back in, tried leaving the laptop "charging" overnight and nothing has worked. The LED light near the power plug won't turn on which even if there was a configuration issue with the board would normally turn on.

After I tried all those things, the technicians at Micro Center confirmed that the board itself is dead. It seems like there is not much else that can fix it besides a replacement board.

[Lil_Boy_Blue]

Hi

So you are probably right.

Therefore I would try ESC and F2 to run a hardware test, knowing I would be wasting my time.

Then take the back off and remove the ram and apply power.

Repeat with the HDD removed

If that made no difference, then "de-fenestration" arf arf.

http://partsurfer.hp.com/search.aspx

put the HP part number into DuckDuckGo and peruse the results.

PC Board 828825-601 SPS-MB UMA i7-6500U 8GB WIN PC Board (Interface) 861992-601 MOTHERBOARD UMA i7-6500U 8GB CR WIN

https://www.walmart.com/ip/861992-601-HP-Spectre-X360-13-41-Laptop-Motherboard-8GB-w-Intel-i7-6500U-...

https://www.walmart.com/ip/828825-601-HP-Spectre-X360-13-4-Laptop-Motherboard-8GB-w-Intel-i7-6500U-2...

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c04807803

[emhagman]

Yeah I tried reseating the SSD, memory, etc and powering on, no dice. Thanks for the help. I've searched the parts previously and that price isn't worth it if it is the exact same motherboard. If I knew it was a motherboard that was fixed and didn't have this issue that might be a different story but I don't want to spend that and have this issue occur in 6 months, I'd rather buy a brand new laptop and I don't think it would be an HP at this point

[emhagman]

I just got off the phone again with HP. First, they told me my laptop was at end-of-life for support and then once I said I was quoted a price previously by HP, my laptop was magically no longer end-of-life and I was offered a $36 discount from $650 to $614. When asked what the price of the motherboard was, I was quoted $550 which is more than you can buy from other places and I was supposedly supposed to be grateful for a $36 difference with "minimal" labor costs.

On top of this, I was told that laptop hardware "just fails" and that 2 years for a laptop is somehow a long time. I've had Macbooks for work that have lasted me years with no hardware issues or maybe just needing a new battery, not an entire logic board failure.

I will never buy HP again. Thank you for your help Lil_Boy_Blue, you've been the only person to try to help me at all in any significant way.

[Lil_Boy_Blue]

Prego.