Would you buy another HP?

[Drac]

I would NOT buy another HP again.

Simple reason: their products are hobbled with bios limitations and software licensing restrictions: ie: WindoWzz.

For example.

I can't upgrade the wireless card; even though I have hardware that works in other systems the HP Bios won't permit the addition of of 'blacklisted' hardware.

I can't upgrade the Bios at all except from within a WindoWzz operating system environment. Problem: I run Linux. I took the hard drive out on day one and installed my own hard drive with Fedora Linux. My WindoWzz 7 hard driver has about 3 hours total running time on it and I've been using the laptop for 3 months.

SSD: I've tried to install an Ocz 60g Vertex 2 SSD. It won't recognize (although I attribute this to OCZ rather than HP) however it will recognize in my Fedora Linux machine.

BIOS: The bios is crap. Admitadly I am use to Overclocking bioses from fully fledged ATX motherboards, however, I wasn't prepared for the limited bios that ships with the DM1-4000 series. I had hoped there would be more user configurability than there was.

WindoWzz 7: (warning Linux Rant). The HP WindoWzz 7 comes with so much BLOAT WARE that 3 hours was as much as I could stand. Fedora 16 is so much snappier than WindoWzz (but that is just personal and usage preference).

Battery Life: I get 4.5 hours max out of a 3 month old battery; but that could just be a poorly configured Linux install. I haven't spent any time fine tuning the system so take this point with a grain of salt.

Extra PCIe port: on my Australian version of the DM1-4108au, the PCIe slot next to the wireless card PCIe slot is just filled with a battery! What crappy cheapscate engineering decision was that! A PCIe slot like on the US and European models would cost HP about $1.20! But in the Australian model it is just wasted space. That, in my opinion is a joke. I went to install an Intel PCIe SSD in there and it is just dead tracer's were the slot is on the overseas model. To have the space, allocate the space for the PCIe expansion slot, and then not use it is just a plain joke by HP on people who purchased the Australian DM1. I'm very upset about this basic missing feature.

Memory: The DM1 doesn't support dual channel memory even though the chipset and CPU can support it. I've 8 gig of ram in 2 4 gig sticks and no dual channel! This is another poor joke by HP on consumers.

All in all, the DM1 IS a nice little laptop for the money and does the 'basics well' but if your an experienced user it's best to steer clear of HP and the DM1 because you will find the missing bits lead to some frustration.

All the things I've mentioned are basic inclusions on other brands of laptop. BUT NOT ON the HP DM1.

Thanks, but I won't be buying another HP. I'd recommend trying another brand of laptop before a HP.

I love Fedora as well, and agree with a lot of your points, except I usually stick to using Windows. What brand (or brands, or particular models) would you recommend? (I would love to just use a desktop with their wonderful BIOS and UEFI implementations, but know I would have trouble coping with the loss in portability.)

[davv]

would (will) not buy hp again.

got a hp tx2 and then a 2730p
both tablets

overall fragile, medium quality plastic. especially on the tx2.

too much bloatware in the default windows install (had to format both)

default hdd is lousy (the 2730p had a 5400 rpm...)

touchscreens are good though (but wacom makes them so...)

and the bios is indeed terrible.

[Ice H4wk]

I see some people here saying that the HPs and other companies overheat. while others say that yes it just gets pretty warm. I want to know if the heat is really a problem that is damaging to the computer or is it just teh fact that the laptop feels warm/hot?

[Krane]

I see some people here saying that the HPs and other companies overheat. while others say that yes it just gets pretty warm. I want to know if the heat is really a problem that is damaging to the computer or is it just teh fact that the laptop feels warm/hot?

Unless they can give you degrees I would ignore it. My temperature are well within safe operating limits.

[Type 100]

I have a Pavilion dv4-3006tx and it's my very first laptop. So far so good.

Battery life is decent with the WiFi on, about 4.5 hours.
Temperatures are good considering I live in Manila. Idle is 50-60 degC while the hottest I've been able to push it is 80 degC while running Mass Effect or Prime95. There's plenty of thermal headroom left for my i5-2410M.
Hardware and build quality are generally good, although a more rigid, higher-resolution screen with matte finish would be great.
Bloatware is a known problem but I'm actually surprised there isn't more of it.

On that evidence I'd strongly consider another HP to replace the dv4 when it lets go. Maybe I've been looking at desktop rigs for far too long, but I was surprised there was a laptop that offered a decent discrete GPU (6750M) that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. That was the main reason why I went for the dv4.

[Jarhead]

Depends on which HP you're talking about...

Consumer laptops: I'd be **very** hesitant to buy anything from HP in this category. Family members, several friends, and people that I've done business with (as in, I fixed their computers) all owned HP Pavilion laptops, and all of them were pure garbage. Now, I haven't seen the current crop (the current dv6t and -z look nice spec-wise), but the previous models from 2007-2010 all had terrible thermal designs, didn't hold up well, and generally made a poor impression on me. Not to mention that whenever I had to call customer support to aide me in fixing a laptop, they would often times not know how to help me and end up being useless.

On top of that, the family's current desktop (a HP Pavilion Elite model) also suffers from garbage thermal design, and the fans sound like a jet engine when doing anything beyond basic web surfing and Office work. I could probably repaste it when I have time, but mid-sized towers shouldn't have cooling problems out of the factory. Period.

Business laptops: in contrast, I've had a decent experience with their business line. My school district uses Hp Compaq business laptops that are several years old at this point, but still function fine and stand up to the abuses of middle and high school students. While I have no personal experience, I've heard nothing but good things about the Probook and Elitebook model lines.

[FM Bomb Saw]

Honestly, I've loved every HP I've owned.. I used to own the Dv9xxx series from a few years ago (like 4?)... Just recently that one crapped out... Before it did, I had some issues with overheating (would idle at 120F, highest I saw was 180F)... That one was pretty good..

I now own the newest line of the HP Envy 17 (3xxx).. and I love it! Temps are really cool (90 - 100F when Idling), and I haven't had any issues with it!

[Kraid]

For many many years HP has been hit and miss and I think it's due to their failing quality control. This can be said for many other manufacturers also however so you come to expect over the long run that nobody makes a problem free machine.

HP has seemed to do much better on machines in the "niche" market. My most recent purchase was their DM1 better than netbook. It is absolutely the best notebook I have ever owned from them (for its purpose). I stay away from their mainstream home and business models though.

[LordBass]

I still use my 2009 dv4t-1300 every day. It had one problem fixed in the 11th month of warranty, but apart from that has worked very well. It does get hot, especially after playing huge HD videos, probably getting too tired for that.

I read a lot of trash-talk on HP, but haven't experienced it myself, and haven't found another vendor that I like that much more. Apple remains tempting, but the 40% premium is hard to swallow.

Yes, I probably will buy another HP.

[excalibur1814]

I would and this week I've setup:

- DV6
- Elitebook 8460p (For me, 16Gb ram, SSD etc)
- Probook 6460b (i3)
- Probook 6465b (AMD)
- Folio 13
- HP Slate 2 (For me although I am prepared for the lack of speed due to the Atom CPU)

Not an issue with ANY of them and I'm not counting on having any issues. Imagine that... .