How's this HP laptop?

[sn00pie]

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/ca/en/ho/WF...96-3753708.html

- 15.4? WXGA High Definition BrightView Widescreen

- Intel? Centrino? Processor Technology featuring Intel? Core?2 Duo Processor T5750

- 2.00 GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 667MHz FSB

- Genuine Windows Vista? Home Premium with Service Pack 1

- 3072 MB DDR2 RAM

- 250 GB 5400RPM SATA drive

- LightScribe Super Multi 8X DVD?R/RW with Double Layer Support

- 2.78 kg (6.14 lbs)

$749 before taxes etc... just need it for documents and school. i'm not a power user at all.

[AudioDope]

I have a older version of the same HP laptop, the silver top or whatever.

Honestly bud, these laptops suck. I've sent it in for repair TWICE in 1 year now my warranty ended and the dvd drives gone.

I guess if you do get it, try to get extended warranty? or get something else... Acer/Tosbhia...better yet get a lenovo thats what i'd get now since i regret my decision

[DreadBoat89]

i think you should look at a dv5z (AMD) or a dv5t (intel)... these laptops suffer from the power pin issue and they are outgoing models...

dv5z should only be 100$ more i think.

[sn00pie]

Lenovo are too expensive, all I need it something I can take with me. I'm just looking to see if I can find a cheap PC laptop or else I'm going to buy a Macbook.

I've heard mixed opinions on HP laptops, some have good experiences and some like you have terrible experiences. That extra $600 I save by buying a Vista laptops gives me some extra money to spend on other things.

Going to school means I'm on a budget on my future expenses. :p

+ I'm looking for atleast a Intel Centrino C2D laptop, I've heard bad things about AMD's running hot and using extra power.

[DreadBoat89]

i think you should look at a dv5z (AMD) or a dv5t (intel)... these laptops don't suffer from the power pin issue (at least not yet since its a different design) and the one you posted is an outgoing model...

dv5z should only be 100$ more i think.

oops... i worded my post incorrectly

Lenovos are cheap compared to macbooks... the cheapest macbook only has 1gb of ram and no dvd-writer. if you want cheap laptops, try dell.

[sn00pie]

I'm just going to settle for the base Macbook model. With education discount it's a pretty good deal, so why not? Instead of spending $800 on a HP laptop that from what people are saying could be nothing but trouble, I'd much rather invest in a machine that I'm quite confident will stay with me for awhile. :)

Once you go Mac, you never go back, is the definite truth. :p

[TEX4S]

Its an HP - and budget computers are synonmous with junk. Dont be concerned with "how's this HP ?" because you'll get nothing but people telling you to get something else, or some wayward people who had 1 single solitary computer , maybe 2, and just because they had minimal issues - it is indicitive of the entire brand range....

Simple fact is, you mentioned budget restrictions, and cant get a Lenovo (which is what I have), so it will simply be a toss-up as to whether or not you'll have problems. Chances are you wont - but you better save some money aside and get an extended warranty.

Its kinda weird - I laugh my ass off when I see people with new dealer's tags (temp license plates) on a 6 year old luxury car (Cadillac, Lexus, Mercedes, etc) and the car is beat to hell with 90,000 miles on it and the person had to finance that junk for 5 years just so he can tell his homies "I drive a Benz" when the smart thing would be to but a new economy/budget car w/ a full warranty

On the other hand, I can see someone picking a used Lenovo over a new Gateway.... guess Im just a hypocrite

[sn00pie]

I'm still considering this HP laptop as an option. It comes with a 2 year warranty, but it's not like a Best Buy extended performance plan or anything like that. I'm saving $500 if I buy this over the Macbook.

I'm so confused. :/

[booboo]

Just _dont_ go for acer. I have had one for 2 years and have had it repaired 5 times - I've given up now - my headphones output is broken, so is my memory card reader, as well as my built-in speaker, and the screen has the white blobs, and the drive aint workin.

[S7un7]

There is a reason they give you a two year warranty. If you buy a solid laptop from the start you don't have to worry about being without a PC while it's being repaired. Also, Lenovo is not expensive considering the build quality. You can get some pretty good discounts with coupon codes.

http://benscoupons.com/merchants/91/Lenovo-Coupons/

I know most are expired, but I'm sure there will be more coming.

[tsupersonic]

HP laptops are nice, better build quality than most other laptops, and you picked a good configuration. I'd head over to notebookreview to check for reviews similar to that model

[sn00pie]

I've been on the internet furiously googling all morning. From what I've seen alot of people have great opinions of HP and some have horrible experiences with HP.

It's pretty much between the $1049 Macbook and this HP laptop, and I have to buy either today. The difference in price is roughly $500, but I guess for that I'm paying for reliability and OS X. The HP is lightyears ahead in performance though...

I'm pretty confident in buying the Mac, it's just I'm going to school and I need something I won't be babying 24/7. I've heard nothing but good about Apple support, and I've heard alot of negative regarding HP customer support. I'm willing to spend the extra money on the Mac if its going to be more trouble-free than the HP.

How reliable is HP anyway?

tsupersonic, I haven't been able to find a review on that notebook or a similiar one... can you help me find it? :)

[BilliShere]

it seems ok man.. go for it. the only major problems i have seen with hp laptops are the wireless and that is if they are using broadcom wireless cards.. this one uses intel so its not likely to give much trouble.

[sn00pie]

Checked it out and didn't like what I saw. So I picked up a MacBook! :D

With education discount and free iPod Touch I think it was a good buy.

[CPressland]

MacBook FTW <-- is not spam.

HP Laptops have always been unreliable. You're far better off going with a MacBook, after all, The Best system to run any system on is a Mac.

[brayan27]

I have a older version of the same HP laptop, the silver top or whatever.

Honestly bud, these laptops suck. I've sent it in for repair TWICE in 1 year now my warranty ended and the dvd drives gone.

I guess if you do get it, try to get extended warranty? or get something else... Acer/Tosbhia...better yet get a lenovo thats what i'd get now since i regret my decision

(Y) (Y) (Y)

these laptops suck BUG TIME! my HP's cd/dvd drive is always acting weird, battery is s****, wireless adapter stopped working, read around and you'll see that this problem was affecting a very large chunck of HP DV laptop. And HP doesn't even recognize the problem, they say to update your BIOS if this happens, when the problem lies withing the motherboard, which has to be replaced.

instead of waiting a week while they wipe out my HDD and replace my motherboard I just bought an USB adapter, and even that S*** sucks.

I don't have any luck with "windows" laptops, next time I buy one (probably in 6 months or so) it will be a macbook.

[AudioDope]

^^^^^

you stole my words... man ur 110% right.

Guess what? the headphone jack metal circle that surrounds the hole came out LOL, hp sucks so bad in everything, kind of like warwagon in his podcasts. JK lol

Oh don't get me started on the HP printers, LOLLLLLL I swear, A friend bought one the other day , I was literally laughing, you know those plastic assemble yuorself toys, It was made from the same plastic!!!!!! So cheap, i was holding it and i felt like i could break it just by squeezing it, i was one of those all in one printer/fax /scanner things.

I never had luck with Windows either i tried linux and same thing, very unreliable and slow even on a fast computer, just usual linux fualts such as slow opening things, slow browsing, etc.

Mac is indeed the way to go even though apple is having some issues rightn ow.. hopefully things get better (ipods going on fire/old classic prob of condensation on screen, etc)

[brayan27]

I just realized I wrote bug instead of big. :blush:

hey, they are right next to each other!

[AudioDope]

It still makes sense, they suck so much taht it bugs u so they suck bug time haha

[Zanaffer]

(Y) (Y) (Y)

these laptops suck BUG TIME! my HP's cd/dvd drive is always acting weird, battery is s****, wireless adapter stopped working, read around and you'll see that this problem was affecting a very large chunck of HP DV laptop. And HP doesn't even recognize the problem, they say to update your BIOS if this happens, when the problem lies withing the motherboard, which has to be replaced.

False false false false. HP has a service alert up for a very wide range of models for this exact issue. The service alert does not specifically say "motherboard" anywhere, and the version which is posted on the HP's "techzone" doesn't even mention the BIOS update. I process these maybe 3-4 a week at my job, and I just send them to HP, and they come back with a new motherboard 100% of the time. As of current, there are 215 different models (P/N numbers) which HP claims are affected by this, and the list seems to grow every now and then whenever they revise the document. To say that they only recommend updating the BIOS is wrong, or at least that's a different story than what they tell to us technicians (although, I do see the BIOS update mentioned on HP.com regarding this issue.) If HP gives you the runaround, get a copy of your proof of purchase and take it to any HP authorized service center that's worth their salt and they'll get it taken care of. We get paid for it, by HP, for doing nothing but pushing papers saying "Yep, this computer falls under the service alert and has the wireless problem."

I would not expect the average underpaid overseas phone operator to know this though.

It's their handling of other issues, like how all the DV9000 series hinges break starting on the left side, which would make for a good argument against HP. They refuse to acknowledge that problem at all. Regarding Macs: Remember, they're just PCs (Intel chipset motherboard, Intel processor) in a fancy case. Everything else in there is the same as what the other manufacturers use.

[brayan27]

False false false false. HP has a service alert up for a very wide range of models for this exact issue. The service alert does not specifically say "motherboard" anywhere, and the version which is posted on the HP's "techzone" doesn't even mention the BIOS update. I process these maybe 3-4 a week at my job, and I just send them to HP, and they come back with a new motherboard 100% of the time. As of current, there are 215 different models (P/N numbers) which HP claims are affected by this, and the list seems to grow every now and then whenever they revise the document. To say that they only recommend updating the BIOS is wrong, or at least that's a different story than what they tell to us technicians (although, I do see the BIOS update mentioned on HP.com regarding this issue.) If HP gives you the runaround, get a copy of your proof of purchase and take it to any HP authorized service center that's worth their salt and they'll get it taken care of. We get paid for it, by HP, for doing nothing but pushing papers saying "Yep, this computer falls under the service alert and has the wireless problem."

when I first encountered the problem, I checked their site and forum, all of the people were being recommended the BIOS update, some said it worked but only temporally (probably luck). Then They said the problem lied within the motherboard, could have changed since I stopped following on this issue a long time ago.

there is a thread in their forums talking about this, it has 700 replies so do not click if you don't want your browser to freeze momentarily.IT Resource Center forums - DV6000 Wireless device vanishes

[WhoTheF]

I would never get a HP laptop, even if one gave it to me for free.

I might accept it but I'd never use it - they are too much drama.

[Zanaffer]

And the problem does lie with the motherboard. What I'm saying is HP's handling of the issue is pretty good, considering. HP's instructions to ASPs are "Send the notebook to us, we'll fix it." I'm paraphrasing, of course, but more or less that is exactly it. They've also extended the warranty to 2 years from date of purchase for this particular issue, and that includes the Refurbished models that only have a 90 day Mfr warranty normally.

Every time I have sent out a computer under this service alert, it has come back with a new motherboard. I'd say 90% of the time, the ONLY new thing it comes back with is a new motherboard.

HP does realize this is a HARDWARE issue and they are taking appropriate actions to help those who were unfortunate enough to buy those HPs to begin with. This is called Support, and I approve of this part of HP. What I don't approve of is their turning a blind eye to a hardware issue on the simple basis that it's easy to blame the customer. They do this with the broken DV9000 hinges, they like to say that it's customer induced damage, where I have seen with my own eyes at least 6 DV9000 series laptops where the left hinge splits open due to weight of the LCD panel over the period of about a year to a year and a half. None of them had any customer induced "drop damage" and yet for the few that I've helped get repaired, we have had to fight tooth and nail with HP to get them to budge on the matter.

Enough threadjacking. I would recommend the HP over the Apple. If the difference is about $500, that's almost half the cost of the computer. You could buy two HPs for that. That, and the computer is cheap enough to almost not care about, which makes it perfect for traveling with! It it gets beat up and nasty over time, so what! It was cheap. :woot:

Oh, and first thing to do upon getting the HP is to uninstall all the crap it comes with. You would not believe how much better it will run without all the garbage trialware programs. If possible, get a tech saavy friend (or yourself, perhaps) to wipe the OS (After creating restore disks!) with an OEM copy of vista using the license key on the bottom of the computer, and then install the required drivers which should be posted on HP's web site. Your computer will run much, much better.

[MightyJordan]

if you want cheap laptops, try dell.

+1. I'd recommend Dell as well. I got the Inspiron 1720 a couple of weeks ago, and it's brilliant! It's pretty fast, despite it only having a 1.8GHz Pentium Dual Core, but you can get a Core 2 Duo for it if you want. I got mine for just ?400 ($800) with a load of goodies included from PC World!

[tsupersonic]

+1. I'd recommend Dell as well. I got the Inspiron 1720 a couple of weeks ago, and it's brilliant! It's pretty fast, despite it only having a 1.8GHz Pentium Dual Core, but you can get a Core 2 Duo for it if you want. I got mine for just ?400 ($800) with a load of goodies included from PC World!

Wow, that's a pretty bad deal, you should've shopped around. Dell is notorious for their coupons you can use online which brings the price down a lot.