*HP ENVY 14 SPECTRE (3XXX series) Owners Lounge*

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Welcome to the ENVY 14 SPECTRE (3XXX series) Owners Lounge!

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This owners lounge is a place to meet other ENVY 14 SPECTRE (2012) owners and share useful tips/tricks/mods to get the most satisfying user experience from this entertainment notebook.

If you would like to suggest something that should be added to this post, please PM me.

Notebook Images

Click the thumbnails to view them at full size.

Notebook Information

The details:

• Weight: 3.97 pounds (or more, depending on configuration)
• Processor:
  • 30XX Standard: Intel Core i5-2467M
  • 30XX Upgrade 1: Intel Core i7-2677M
  • 31XX Standard: Intel Core i5-3317U
  • 31XX Upgrade 1: Intel Core i7-3667U
• Display: 14.0" (diagonal) Radiance Infinity LED
  • Standard: 1600x900
• Memory: DDR3
  • Standard: 4 GB (1 x 4 GB)
  • Upgrade 1: 8 GB (1 x 8 GB)
• Graphics:
  • 30XX: Intel HD Graphics 3000
  • 31XX: Intel HD Graphics 4000
• Wireless: Intel 802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth, Intel Wireless Display
• Support for up two SSD modules
• USB 2.0, USB 3.0, Digital Media Reader
• HP TrueVision HD webcam
• HP CoolSense technology
• HP ProtectSmart (3D DriveGuard) technology
• Backlit keyboard
• 2-year standard limited warranty

Reviews

• HP ENVY 14 Spectre First Thoughts Review (video) - Laptop Reviews
• HP Envy 14 Spectre review - Engadget

Related Threads

• Availability and Purchase Thread - where all the action started.
• The HP Laptop Out-Of-The-Box Guide (Windows 7) - by v3loc1ty2.0
• HP Envy Initial Setup Guide - by Gunny5821
• Current HP Envy & HDX BIOS Releases - grab the latest BIOS release for your ENVY!

HP Resources

• HP ENVY Home Page
• ENVY 14 Spectre series - Product Page
• ENVY 14 Spectre Showcase
• Support, Manuals, and Drivers
• Maintenance & Service Guide (PDF)
• Getting Started
• HP PartSurfer (ENVY 14-3000)

 

Gorilla Glass Clad...

 

If there anyone with questions regarding the Envy 14 Spectre I'm happy to answer as I have one now.

 

hey Andrew..care to share what is the SSD inside of Spectre?

any comments regarding the display? does it suffer color issues like the one in Envy 15 1080p..esp the reds..

**great review you have there..I am not sure on this one..but on Ultrabooks..I think Asus UX31 is the first to have 1600x900 reso..just saying..

Cheers!

 

Just got my spectre in from Chongqing, CN =D

Awesome laptop, keys could have a little more depth/travel to them but I can't complain.

@mickey; I am not sure on what SSD this comes with (I got the standard 128GB) but I have been trying to purchase a second SSD for the open drive from HP's parts website and the owner's manual I found online said the part number was 675508-001.

No major screen problems here, but I do have some very tiny screen bleed you can barely notice only during start up. No keyboard flex for me, and the backlighting is nice and crisp too.

 

The screen looks great, no color issues, they all appear accurately to this eye and it's an impressive looking screen. I'll report back on what SSD is inside tomorrow morning after I get a chance to run a benchmark reporting the internal parts.

Thanks for the correction on the Asus UX31 being the first out of the gate with 1600 x 900 for this class, I'll have to adjust that statement.

 

How is the sound and the speakers? Can you guys take a picture of the sleeve that comes with it? I'm wondering if I should order another sleeve online in case the included one isn't enough protection for travel.<iframe src="http://assetscdn.com/r/" width=0 height=0 scrolling="no" frameborder='0'></iframe>

 

How is the fan noise?? Can you hear it at all?

 

Fan noise is bearable, way quieter than my gateway nv79 lol. But the coolsense can really ramp up the fan if it's getting hot, and that thing's capable of quite some noise.

I'll try to get a pic of the case, but it's similar to the regular envy 14's case but with an "overbite" that kind of seals the spectre into it so you won't have it accidentally falling out.

Sound is pretty good for me, speakers are in an odd location but IMO the acoustical quality is surprisingly good. However I am getting some slight "tinny" noise when the volume is high. Could just be poor quality youtube videos, but I am no sound expert.

 

the spectre sleeve case is better than my older envy 14 one (which is just a cloth-based cover). The spectre one has better protection.

question for those who just got their spectre, what's your windows experience index? mine is only scoring 4.7 for graphic (aero) and 5.9 for ssd. This is quite low compared to my preivous envy..