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by martronthrow 2599 days ago
The 15 suffers similar issues as the 13 inch 2019 spectre and other whiskey lake hp laptops - many USB-C devices, including perfectly compliant chargers, cause it to hard lock (firmware/bios bug, not blue screen). In my case, compliant devices (such as phones), EGPU docks, caused the hard lock.

You can test this by bringing an official apple charger and cable to Best Buy. When I bought mine, I was sure it was a hardware issue until I demonstrated it on every floor model laptop by plugging in an official apple charger and my pixel 3, crashing each one instantly.

HP said that they would release a firmware update that fixed this but I don't know if it's out yet. I returned my spectre and bought a razer - this kind of bug is 100% inexcusable.

TLDR: If you purchase one of these, make sure to do it from a place that doesn't do restocking fees, apply the most recent BIOS update, and then test the laptop with multiple USB-C devices (and cables). A shame - I really liked the hardware.
1 comments
jgunsch 2599 days ago
I experienced the same, but have had little luck finding more data about it. Got any details on where they've indicated that firmware update is coming?

In my case, I set up dual-boot on my 13" Spectre. The Macbook USB-C charger has never once locked up the machine when I'm running Linux, but 100% when I'm in Windows, which makes me suspect a Windows driver issue.

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martronthrow 2599 days ago
I called them. The rep seemed un-knowledgeable but offered that as, i suspect, a panacea.

I installed Windows 10 fresh.

Anyways, I got rid of the laptop - sorry HP, your competitors got my $2k :(

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NotSammyHagar 2599 days ago
I have a google pixelbook which only has usb-c for everything, including power. I have used many different usb-c chargers, including an apple usb-c that I'm charging right now. My android essential also seems to charge on any usb-c charger.

Do you think this problem is found on other laptops outside these hp laptops?

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martronthrow 2599 days ago
I tested the Dell XPS13 9380, the new thinkpad x390, and the razer stealth 13 - all based on almost identical chipsets.

None of them had the same issue, although Dell did ship a bad TB3 driver which needed to be manually fixed.

I have other USB-C devices, including phone, that charge just fine on any charger.

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