A Word to the Wise...
DON'T BUY HP
My dad used to be an R&D Engineer for HP (Radio Testing Division, FYI). I know he knew Bill Hewlett personally, and iirc he had also hung out with Dave Packard (I may have them reversed. It was always confusing as a kid, and I never met either). My uncle still works for their Medical Division. There's a lot of built in family loyalty there.
But a lot of built in family loyalty doesn't cut it anymore.
In September 2006 my dad got me an HP notebook.
By November 2006, it's motherboard melted and it shut down completely. I spent two hours on the phone convincing a tech that it wasn't "software" causing the burning smell and the complete and total non-response of the machine in order to activate my HP Total Care and get it sent in for repairs. We paid extra for the one week turn around so that I could get through school. It came back three weeks later, to my parents, and they had to ship it to me from there. We were given no other shipping options.
Things went ok.
November 2007 rolls around. The PC decides I don't have a wireless card. Drivers, yes, but the card just isn't there. Reseating it does nothing. Reinstalling the drivers, and eventually the entire system, does nothing. I spend four hours on the phone, and eventually they take it in. Shock and awe, it's hardware. They have to replace both the wireless card and the motherboard, and then they send it back (keep count now--motherboard number 2).
Of course, they sent it back without reconnecting the power system. So my PC has no connection between the AC plug and the battery/power unit, so I can't recharge the battery or run on AC. Another three hours on the phone, another three weeks of no computer. At least this time they let me ship it to me.
Now, we're at February 2009...2.5 years of owning this piece of shit. The wireless card problem crops up--it's identical. The speakers fail completely--drivers all work, card works with headphones, but speakers are shot. And the power button? It moves.
No, seriously. Two inches to the right. If you press the button, nothing happens, but squeeze the case two inches to the right of the button? It turns on. Not off, mind you--that would be way too convenient. If the system crashes your only option is to pop the battery out and hard restart.
2.5 hours later, it took me bursting into tears before they would acknowledge that it's not a software glitch and that I probably need to send it in. Prior to that they assured me that if I just reinstalled the drivers it would fix everything. We tried it three times while I was on the phone and they were still just sure that I must be doing something wrong. Cause, you know, there's software that can make the power button physically change locations and only have an "on" mode.
Betcha anything it's motherboard #3 for me, and good luck having my computer back in time to finish my thesis.
Fuck HP. Don't buy them, don't support their horrendous customer support system and shoddy hardware.
I'm gonna go buy a mac.
My dad used to be an R&D Engineer for HP (Radio Testing Division, FYI). I know he knew Bill Hewlett personally, and iirc he had also hung out with Dave Packard (I may have them reversed. It was always confusing as a kid, and I never met either). My uncle still works for their Medical Division. There's a lot of built in family loyalty there.
But a lot of built in family loyalty doesn't cut it anymore.
In September 2006 my dad got me an HP notebook.
By November 2006, it's motherboard melted and it shut down completely. I spent two hours on the phone convincing a tech that it wasn't "software" causing the burning smell and the complete and total non-response of the machine in order to activate my HP Total Care and get it sent in for repairs. We paid extra for the one week turn around so that I could get through school. It came back three weeks later, to my parents, and they had to ship it to me from there. We were given no other shipping options.
Things went ok.
November 2007 rolls around. The PC decides I don't have a wireless card. Drivers, yes, but the card just isn't there. Reseating it does nothing. Reinstalling the drivers, and eventually the entire system, does nothing. I spend four hours on the phone, and eventually they take it in. Shock and awe, it's hardware. They have to replace both the wireless card and the motherboard, and then they send it back (keep count now--motherboard number 2).
Of course, they sent it back without reconnecting the power system. So my PC has no connection between the AC plug and the battery/power unit, so I can't recharge the battery or run on AC. Another three hours on the phone, another three weeks of no computer. At least this time they let me ship it to me.
Now, we're at February 2009...2.5 years of owning this piece of shit. The wireless card problem crops up--it's identical. The speakers fail completely--drivers all work, card works with headphones, but speakers are shot. And the power button? It moves.
No, seriously. Two inches to the right. If you press the button, nothing happens, but squeeze the case two inches to the right of the button? It turns on. Not off, mind you--that would be way too convenient. If the system crashes your only option is to pop the battery out and hard restart.
2.5 hours later, it took me bursting into tears before they would acknowledge that it's not a software glitch and that I probably need to send it in. Prior to that they assured me that if I just reinstalled the drivers it would fix everything. We tried it three times while I was on the phone and they were still just sure that I must be doing something wrong. Cause, you know, there's software that can make the power button physically change locations and only have an "on" mode.
Betcha anything it's motherboard #3 for me, and good luck having my computer back in time to finish my thesis.
Fuck HP. Don't buy them, don't support their horrendous customer support system and shoddy hardware.
I'm gonna go buy a mac.