HP x360 Spectre Charging Port Defect

[GrizzlyAK]

My laptop, purchased 12/30/2016, for $1,500 started early with the "plugged in, not charging" error reported numerous times here on this HP user forum. Given that this occurs on other branded laptops like Dell and Lenovo, it appears that this is a common Windows 10 issue across the board for laptops. However, I believe there is also a design flaw in the HP charging method through the USB-C port. I've been able to overcome multiple instances of the "plugged in, not charging" issue as it occurs by the various solutions posted here. But I began to find it harder and harder to overcome over time.

What happens now is that the laptop can't decide if it is plugged in or not, and switches back and forth between battery and A/C power when plugged in. As a result, the laptop constantly changes brightness as it switches back and forth between battery and A/C going into some kind of power save mode. Even though I turn all of that off, and try to adjust the brightness both on battery and A/C, it never is exactly the same and the brightness changes make the laptop all but unusable. Not only that, when the battery gets critically low, I have a constant popup telling me that the battery is low and I should plug it in. Then it decides it's on A/C again and goes away, and a few seconds later, it's back on battery again with another popup. Back and forth. Unusable. It is only bearable when I unplug the laptop and let it run off the battery. But I can do that only as long as the battery lasts.

Basically, I can't use the laptop, because the charging circuit is defective (due to the poor USB-C charging port design), and the laptop won't actually run off the A/C. Even when plugged in, the battery still discharges (and screen blinks). I can turn it off and let it charge for several days, but it still hardly ever reaches full charge. The orange LED lights up, then goes off, and repeats for a LONG time until finally a white LED shows (even though it's still not charged). While the laptop is off and charging, with the orange LED flashing, you can hear some slight buzzing at the port every time the LED lights up, and it goes quite when the LED turns off. This, to me, indicates that there is a bad component (capacitor likely) in the charging circuit that prevents the charger from working correctly. This has been going on for years, but I have been writing it off as a Windows 10 issue, since I still see the "plugged in, not charging" note on the battery icon. However, it's gotten to where it won't charge, and won't run on A/C power (even without the battery).

I've replaced the battery with a NEW HP brand battery and tried different chargers to no avail. This, I believe, is a hardware issue with the charging port - a design flaw. It has never been dropped, mistreated, and I've always been very careful with the charging port connection, recognizing it as being a 'weak' design point from the very beginning. Of course, it is out of warranty, but I have seen other posts here with exactly the same issue (HW, not Windows 10), as well as many YouTube videos showing details by technicians who find and fix the actual components on the charging circuit that are defective (or have gone bad).

I am currently looking for a new laptop, one that actually works. I've loved this laptop from the beginning, but need something that works, reliably. I have an HP Z8320 Workstation that has worked flawlessly, so when I bought this laptop, I expected the same level of quality... but I was wrong. This experience has greatly eroded my confidence in HP, such that I am not even considering an HP laptop to replace this one, especially since HP is still selling the x360 with the same charging port design today, even after years of user issues and failures documented here.

I'm not really willing to spend $500 to replace the motherboard when the design is flawed and I can expect the same results in six months to a year. I've spent countless hours troubleshooting and hundreds of dollars on batteries and parts trying to fix this issue to no avail, and read countless posts, trying numerous "solutions", and I've given up. I'm truly disappointed in HP, and I've been such a fan for many years. Sad, really.

This is just a warning to those considering buying the HP x360 Convertible. People are experiencing this issue with recent versions. You might want to consider Dell or even the new Surface Laptop 3. That's what I'm considering now.

[asmita6658]

Hi @GrizzlyAK

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