HP: A falling brand

[nMIK-3]

HP just does not stop disappointing me lately.

They build good stuff on paper with nice design (most of the times) but failing to deliver in real time.

I got a high-end DV9700 couple of years ago, right after its warranty expired a BIOS update burned the whole motherboard, I payed $350 to get that motherboard replaced, it lasted 8 months until the nVIDIA chip burned out in the new motherboard.
That lead me to buy a new Envy 17. Do not even ask how many times I replace it until I got a proper one. Which now started to randomly facing CPU issues as my i7 max-out in random phases.
I got my cousin a DV6 with Sandy Bridge. She has it 14 months and the cooling system just stopped functioning.

I also got an All-in-one printer that I replaced twice until I get one that does not jump the paper.

A friend also got Touchsmart 27'' with Intel i3 and Intel graphics that specific model had a major issue in flash videos including YouTube. It took them 5 moths to release a video driver update to correct this issue. Intel vanilla drivers was not supported for that model so he needed to wait for HP to released a new package.

[yeuemmaimai]

I have 2 HP machines that are DEAD. one from 2009 and one from 2010. The 2009 DV 6X00 no longer even turns on. the DM6V webcam intermittently works and the battery no longer charges. It also ramdomy reports hardware failure and to call HP.

By comparison my Dell Vostro 1400 from 2007 still works and my Stuido 1558 from 2010 not only works but the 9 cell still gives me 4+ hours of run time on a i5 520m and radeon 5470... also have a vostro 1510 that works but needs a new battery...

[yeuemmaimai]

Now that reasoning I can understand. Dismissing HP's business-class offerings based on "past bad experiences with their consumer division", though, seems a bit rash, because those experiences simply do not apply to EliteBooks. Too many people out there already who have only used Pavilions or Presarios and conclude that "HP sucks" without even thinking about giving their top-quality products a try.

if the can't be trusted in the consumer line, what makes you think a person should trust their business line?

[Indrek]

if the can't be trusted in the consumer line, what makes you think a person should trust their business line?

Three reasons: personal experience with HP's business-class laptops (which has been extremely positive), the observation that most people who complain about HP complain about their consumer lines, and the common knowledge that business-class laptops are generally superior to consumer-class ones, in terms of build quality and after-sales support.

I'm often perplexed when I see people complain about their experiences with a sub-$1000 consumer-class laptop, vow never to buy from that manufacturer again, and then switch to another sub-$1000 consumer-class laptop from a different manufacturer, with just as good a chance of getting a lemon or being frustrated by unhelpful or incompetent customer support.

[yeuemmaimai]

Three reasons: personal experience with HP's business-class laptops (which has been extremely positive), the observation that most people who complain about HP complain about their consumer lines, and the common knowledge that business-class laptops are generally superior to consumer-class ones, in terms of build quality and after-sales support.

I'm often perplexed when I see people complain about their experiences with a sub-$1000 consumer-class laptop, vow never to buy from that manufacturer again, and then switch to another sub-$1000 consumer-class laptop from a different manufacturer, with just as good a chance of getting a lemon or being frustrated by unhelpful or incompetent customer support.

lol......okay.........if they cannot be trusted in the consumer market, why in the world woul i spend more money on another one of their machines?

Logic fail, please try again...

BTW all of the Dell machines listed above were under $1k except for the studio.... and they are all still kicking..

[Indrek]

lol......okay.........if they cannot be trusted in the consumer market, why in the world woul i spend more money on another one of their machines?

Logic fail, please try again...

More like reading comprehension fail. Like I said, you get better build quality and better customer support. That costs money to provide. If you don't think it's worth it, that's your choice and no skin off my back. You asked why I thought people should give their business-class machines a try, and I answered. The business-class market is different from the consumer market and different standards apply. Business-class machines have proven themselves time and time again to be an excellent choice for the demanding prosumer, but again, if you refuse to see the difference and insist on measuring everything by the price tag, well, that's your loss, not mine.

If I may use an analogy, you're basically asking why one should trust Fender's Custom Shop if their low-end Squier guitars suck. Or Lexus and whatever Toyota's low-end models are called, respectively, if car analogies make more sense to you.

BTW all of the Dell machines listed above were under $1k except for the studio.... and they are all still kicking..

Good for you. I'm sure we can find people who have HP consumer-class machines from 2007 that are still kicking, just like we can find people with 2-year-old Vostros and Inspirons that are dead. I have an HP Compaq from 2005 that's still working perfectly and hasn't had a single problem. We could do this all day, but it doesn't change the fact that most manufacturers' consumer-class lines are more similar to each other, and HP's (and Dell's and Lenovo's) consumer- and business-class lines more different from each other, than many people realise.

[excalibur1814]

From page 1.



All oem companies have issues... ALL OF THEM! ...Not just HP. You're basically BLIND TO THE TRUTH if you think otherwise.

For example: Samsung recently released the Series 7 slate and every single one has a screen separation defect so what did Samsung do? Nothing. Nada. Ziltch. Return the tablet and if you're lucky the replacement will have the new bonding which still doesn't fix the issue 100% of the time.

Dell, Acer, Samsung, Sony... all have issues. The last few machines I've owned

Samsung 7 Slate: Screen problem
Toshiba Z830: Non-stop fan
HP 8460p: Stupidly crazy fan
HP 2560p: No problem at all
HP 5330m: No problem at all
HP Envy 13: No problem at all
Dell Latitude ST: No problem at all
Dell Duo: One experienced a failed hard drive (Hardly Dells fault) and the other sometimes fails to turn on.
Acer 8920g: Screen failed twice!
HP 2740p: No problem at all

The list goes on and on.

P.s. The warranty only lasts for a year and I pretty much expect nothing more from any of them these days. You want quality then get an Elitebook and ADP warranty.
P.P.s. Most of the latest HP models have quite an aggressive fan profile so most models won't suffer from overheating unless it's a quad qm mobile cpu

[yeuemmaimai]

^ no one said Dell does not have issues, the difference is they handle themselves a lot better and their machines generally last longer.

and LOL at the guy who said reading comprehension fail....no wonder our society is so messed up, people thinking like that.. if I cannot trust you with the little things (consumer products) then there is no way I am going to trust you with a business product.

Thats like saying I bought a GM and it was crap so now I am going to buy a cadallac......

[ParamountComputers]

Hello all,

I tried to clear this up in other posts, and I cant believe this debate is still going on after all that has been said! People I have said this numerous times it doesn't matter which you buy they will all eventually have problems. Read my posts...but you can repair the issues simply buying another board doesn't fix the problem..HP, Dell, Toshiba, Apple, gateway, Acer, etc... Don't make new runs of the same boards, don't think your getting a new one with no issues because they resolved it. Not gonna happen.

I do this everyday and I know a lot of people say this but we repair over 20-30 laptops a day no one in the US does this on a component level. There are very few companies who do this type of work in the US, and there are now companies popping up everywhere claiming to do component level repairs and just swapping boards out. Well we do this but no one has to take my word for it, because we have now started a new training program. This new Component level training is the only one of its kind in the US, specifically directed at Laptop Repair Companies. You can check our website for more details. I will give my IM to K-tron, who if someone has issues that need to be resolved and cant be through this forum, he can contact me with the issue and I will do my best to resolve the issue. Just keep in mind I'm extremely busy and very rarely have extra time whcih is why I can't post that much.



Link: Component Level Repair Training

Regards,
Don

[Serg]

HP Envy 15t-1000 CTO, bought 9 of October 2009, the day Windows 7 was officially launched, and the Envy line reintroduced to the market.

Besides some scratches and the paint wearing off near the USB plugs, and some darkened areas on the palmrest due to heat+paint+oil, the temperatures on my laptop, which runs 24/7, it never sleeps, use it for Solidworks 2012 and rendering with it.

3 years, and the i7 and 4830 in it still perform wonderfully, the screen is very good too, and the general state of the laptop is pretty decent. I've changed the thermal paste twice already, and the battery is pretty much worn out, but that's replaceable. I fear that an integrated battery after 3 years will suffer greatly. My temperatures rarely go above the 60C mark, only while rendering do I ever reach 92C then the 2 CPU fans kick in and cool it down to 82C and remain there.

Also my wireless F4500 printer works perfectly even after 2-3 years as well. Gets online quickly, prints fast, and works great with my PC.

For those who remember, this laptop has 3 fans in it, and to this date, after quite a bit of tunning from my part and whatnot, the laptop runs cool and well, even today. In other words, for me, HP has been wonderful and I would most definitively buy another HP product again (looking at the Envy 15t-3200 CTO).