Spectre x360 13 Dead Without Warning - Won't Power On

[crb0]

I purchased my Spectre x360 in July 2015 planning on buying a high end piece of reliable hardware.  I have had no problems with it (other than a trackpad issue that was patched soon after launch).  Fast forward to today.  I go to power it on and nothing happens.  It had been charging overnight so the battery should be good.  I check the power adapter is putting out correct voltage and attempt to do a hard reset.  Nothing.  Since the unit is out of warranty I open it up and pull the battery plug, hold power button, and then plug the battery and adapter back in.  Still nothing.  I then notice some fried caps and a fried IC under one of the stickers of the unit.  After some googling I see lots of people with this problem.  I go to contact tech support and find out I could be charged for the phone call!  Besides I don't feel like running through the "turn it off and back on" checklist when I can see the problem with my eyes.  Further googling has revealed this is a rather common problem and replacement costs are pushing the costs of the unit.  I am very dissatisfied for having something I paid over $1000 for and it not work in this short of period of time.  I put off making my laptop purchase for this thing to be released!  I recommended it to people 😞  I am hoping someone from support sees this and can help me get a replacement board since this isn't a normal wear and tear issue. HP needs to make this right.

References:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B3Bu9TKwADa4dk85UjV0TW9iQms

http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Operating-System-and-Recovery/HP-Spectre-x360-Haywire-RIP/td-p...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/review/R1WAR9MXNIX8LC?ref_=glimp_1rv_cl

https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R1OLZH5Q1MAH6E/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B010Q...

http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Hardware-and-Upgrade-Questions/Spectre-x360-Convertible-13-400...

Pic of damage:

[Omar-E]

@crb0

Thank you for posting your concerns on the HP Support Forums. I have brought your matters to the attention of an appropriate team within HP. They may request for some additional information from you in order to look up your case or product serial number. Please look for a private message from an identified HP contact. Please keep in mind not to post any personal information publicly (serial numbers, phone numbers, and etc.). If you have any additional questions please send me a private message. Thank you for visiting the HP Support Forum.

[OlderHPGuy]

I have the same issue. Great PC and then just dies. I need a repair or a 801505-001 replacement part

[crb0]

I ended up getting the unit repaired through HP at a discount.  Strangely the non-discounted repair price was more than them sending me the motherboard and doing it myself.  Anyway, my main complaint (besides paying for a design flaw) was that the warranty on the repair was only 90 days and not a full year.

[Justin_R]

I just had mine die yesterday. I bought it the same month you did, but use it rarely because it's a travel laptop for me.

Scenario: the battery drained to zero (or at least below boot-up threshold) because of some forced Windows updates I tried to let finish installing, and it remained on until it ran out of power. So naturally I plug in the AC adapter to run off the wall and after a few minutes I hear a popping sound and the screen goes blank. No lights, no response at all.

Today, I had our IT test some things. The AC power adapter cord is fine, proper DC voltage supplied at the PC jack. Long out of warranty so they removed the back and disconnected the battery. The AC adapter failed to power the PC on, so the battery is not the problem, nor is the power cord. There was a brief moment where the orange dot by the power port lit up, but then after putting the back cover back on it never lit up again.

Literally just got another update from IT and they got it to boot up to the login screen with the back cover removed, but then uppon replacing it it goes dark again. It looks to me like a chassis ground short (arcing, intermittent contact from exposed wires or traces) which might be triggered by the back cover. The fact that it booted up again means that the system board works fine. All components appear to work fine, but there is a power interruption problem somewhere. There is no observable soot patch or smell where anything fried.

Buying a new PC is not an option for me, and even a costly repair is out. This is defective workmanship and I agree that HP should investigate and come out with a solution that is no cost to the customer. I will update if the problem is actually found and remedied.