Awful experiences with HP

[Guest DollarPC]

HP sucks crapI used to like them

[Analog]

I once bough a very expensive HP WebCam. It worked fine but after a while the video started hanging while having Skype calls. I tried it on an other PC, same issue. I called HP up and filed for an RMA. First they said I send in the wrong camera and that the VIN number don't match the receipt and sent me the camera back without repairing it. I was very angry with that.

 

After a couple of hours on the phone they eventually admitted that they actually looked over the camera but they couldn't fix the issue so they basically lied and sent it back the same way it was and said they can't do anything even though it is coverd under warranty. After I heard that I told them that I am filing a law suit (since I live in the EU here is common to do stuff like that and rarily someone looses the case) so then the guy told me hold on and patched me up to the supervisor. The supervisor basically shit his pants and told me that I will get my money back. After a week the money was in my bank account.

[Fgtfv567]

That couch could be squished in half a foot with no effort.

Then I'll have to go with the former

[AlwaysFSX]

Then I'll have to go with the former

I picked it up about 4 inches to remove the battery, plopped it down and it dented. No clue how.

[othertomperson]

Mum recently got a HP laptop with a Haswell i5 CPU and an 840M for like £500. Thermals aren't fantastic, but it's a mid performance laptop and she's not exactly gaming on it anyway. For its price it's more than decent.

[Clyne]

Hmm i got a HP laptop that molded it's own shape......shows how poor the cooling is.

[Stagea]

I've had 3 HP laptops, all business grade notebooks. They were alright, aside from one having thermal issues. The only thing I hate about them is that they often do not accept generic drivers from the manufacturer (and HP takes a while to provide driver updates). I guess I'm lucky; many of my friends had problems with HP products. 

 

I've had many Lenovos, Toshibas and Acers too since I only keep laptops for a year. I honestly don't see much difference between these brands. They all go chintzy on stuff one way or the other, especially at lower price points.

 

I have a Pro x2 612 G1 detachable right now, and the plastic feels very flimsy for a business device. I can feel the flex, especially when using it as a tablet. Despite this, I do not think it will fail... it just doesn't feel like a solid "premium" device (probably because it is not). Thinkpads feel more solid in my opinion, but they also have their quirks.

[Whorax]

My HP that I've been using up until recently I've had for about 4-5 years. Sucker has been strong for me ever since I got it. Had zero problems whatsoever and handled everything I've every thrown at it.

 

Wasn't a powerhouse by any means, but it withstood the test of time and suited my gaming needs for all of these years. Planning on passing it on to my mother when I get back home from school this summer.

[LukeFi]

HP dv6 laptop with "switchable" graphics.

• Intel i7 2630QM w/ HD3000
• Radeon HD6770M

I suppose it could have been an okay performing laptop for its time. However, drivers were never released for the switchable graphics. Because of this, without 3rd party drivers, you were stuck on Intel's integrated graphics chip. Someone, perhaps a group, going by "Leshcat" began releasing 3rd party switchable graphics drivers for the HP switchable graphics featured laptops as HP themselves neglected to do so. Sure, installing these 3rd party drivers does not require an IQ of 180, but I can definitely see an inexperienced person screwing up big time.

 

To this day, I believe HP have yet to release functional drivers for the switchable graphics. I feel bad for those who expected more out of it than I did.

 

I ended up with a literal pain in the back from lugging this heavy sub-par laptop around campus.

• Poor battery life (w/ performance and gross weight taken into account).
• Next to no driver updates/support. The dedicated display drivers were not alone.
• Poor heat dissipation design. I don't really bother with using it on my lap because of its weight anyway.
• BIOS lacking of bare-essentials.

In the end, pretty disappointing. Oh well. 

[Fgtfv567]

HP dv6 laptop with "switchable" graphics.

• Intel i7 2630QM w/ HD3000
• Radeon HD6770M

I suppose it could have been an okay performing laptop for its time. However, drivers were never released for the switchable graphics. Because of this, without 3rd party drivers, you were stuck on Intel's integrated graphics chip. Someone, perhaps a group, going by "Leshcat" began releasing 3rd party switchable graphics drivers for the HP switchable graphics featured laptops as HP themselves neglected to do so. Sure, installing these 3rd party drivers does not require an IQ of 180, but I can definitely see an inexperienced person screwing up big time.

To this day, I believe HP have yet to release functional drivers for the switchable graphics. I feel bad for those who expected more out of it than I did.

I ended up with a literal pain in the back from lugging this heavy sub-par laptop around campus.

• Poor battery life (w/ performance and gross weight taken into account).
• Next to no driver updates/support. The dedicated display drivers were not alone.
• Poor heat dissipation design. I don't really bother with using it on my lap because of its weight anyway.
• BIOS lacking of bare-essentials.

In the end, pretty disappointing. Oh well.

How much was that thing?

[Fgtfv567]

Hmm i got a HP laptop that molded it's own shape......shows how poor the cooling is.

Pictures?

[asker509]

My hp laptop had the screen randomly break I had it in my TV cabinet hooked up to the TV when it happened no one touched it

[Guest]

HP released a BIOS update which bricked a heap of laptops, including mine.

The screen on my Envy 15 is quite flimsy and flexes easily, even with small amounts of pressure. This eventually lead to the screen cracking.

[Critical Jeff]

So there's been a little bit of derailment in Experiences with Non-Techies talking about how terrible HP is. I've heard about terrible caps, bad cable management, etc.... Oh, and this YouTube video

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=akVnl4HIHPY

Now have you guys seen any crap HP has pulled?

 

My HP webcam sucks..... 

 

http://www.twitch.tv/criticaljeff/c/3999975

 

100th post

[Ocelot Bandit]

I've worked on the countless consumer hp laptops and desktop and can say they are generally terrible. But I have worked with the commercial grade stuff and they've work for me and my customers without fault.

[flibberdipper]

My grandma's HP has the shittiest PSU ever, has a crappy ass heatsink (and a crappy fan for it and the chassis). Hell, replacing the heatisnk fan with a PWM Arctic F8 dropped temps 5-10C. The hard drive is shit as well. Seems to be fairly reliable though.

[DarkEnergy]

Was going to say that my hp laptop so far seems good. Then I remembered it's actually a second one because I had to return the first one because the motherboard was so slanted off I couldn't insert an SD card and the front speakers were broken. So yeah....HP really does suck.

[Mattr567]

My old HP laptop, a DV6. After 2 years of overheating, and a screaming fan, this:

 

 

 

 It still boots, but it gives me a battery error, and a cooling fan error. The battery also heats up really fast, probably not safe.

[handymanshandle]

My mom has an HP from 2011 which the original HDD broke but since her Asus of the same year had a broken screen basically we were able to make the HP usable again and for the past year or two it has held up fairly well though it can get a little quirky at times and sometimes a hassle but fortunately Windows 7 found all the drivers it needed.

Though she's going to upgrade this year to something better (Probably a Dell or Asus though Toshiba is an option. Sadly though she kind of prefers Windows and  the programs she uses are Windows only so Chromebooks are out of the picture and System76 laptops are out of her budget and also they don't run Windows.)

[Floppy Kant Fish]

So there's been a little bit of derailment in Experiences with Non-Techies talking about how terrible HP is. I've heard about terrible caps, bad cable management, etc.... Oh, and this YouTube video

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=akVnl4HIHPY

Now have you guys seen any crap HP has pulled?

 

For a while, their laptops had this cheap pos thermal compound on their laptops which would cause excessive fan noise or unexpected shutdown due to thermals.

 

The beats audio on my one year old laptop has 6 or 7 speakers (the manual says 7, but I only count 6) and the components dont supply the speakers with enough power so the volume goes up and down according to how much bass there is. 

[awesomes8wc3]

 

I've had pretty good luck with HP/Compaq's desktop machines. At least a few years ago, they seemed to be built from pretty decent components, you just had to remove the bloatware.

 

I've never bought their laptops but I've heard the horror stories. I've only ever bought Acer's TravelMate series and the Toshiba Satellite, and both were pretty great machines, but both are built like shit and are probably going to die from physical failure than component failure.

 

My grandma's HP has the shittiest PSU ever, has a crappy ass heatsink (and a crappy fan for it and the chassis). Hell, replacing the heatisnk fan with a PWM Arctic F8 dropped temps 5-10C. The hard drive is shit as well. Seems to be fairly reliable though.

Was it one of those BESTEC ATX 12E? Get rid of it NOW! 5V Standby rails on those are unstable and can go up to upwards of 10v. Not even joking, they EXPLODE, unbelievably violently as well. They will kill the board and most components as well.

They were common on most HP's, Compaq's and eMachine towers of the early-mid 2000s and weren't used for long after they found out about that. Bestec's aren't bad but that particular model is a killer.

[DarkEnergy]

Hahaha, I forgot to mention, they can't even get their shipping right. The battery on my hp laptop lasted about a year until it was not holding a charge for over an hour. There was still time to get the free extra battery. Ordered it, and I got 2 in the mail. 1 from UPS and 1 from FedEx. How do you even.

[Ertman]

Anything 5 years or older tends to hold up well, or atleast for while it was useful. I have an older desktop and printer that work well.

Hp cameras are a no no. Dothey even make digital cameras anymore?

[toms94z71]

I have and hpzr2740w monitor that is just beautiful and love it. I have a 4 year old hp all in one wireless printer that still works fantastic aside from it is time for new ink in it now. My dad has an hp desktop and a compaq laptop both of them have been great for him. I have a friend that has a 7 year old hp laptop that If fixed for her about 2 years ago and it is still working and that was with parts from another hp laptop that was the same model. I will say another friend of mine has a new hp laptop and it works great in everway except it seems they made the web cam wire about 2 mm to short so if you open the top up past 90 degrees it unplugs itself.

[Sammael]

Kind of a ridiculous video since it's meant to be a trash computer for trash budgets.  The detached cable was bad though.

 

 

IMO desktops should be primarily for people that want to pick their own components, otherwise they are probably better off going for an all in one.  It's not like the vast majority of people are opening up their desktop case and swapping out components.

 

 

I've had 3 laptops, all hp, and they've been mostly fine.  The first two were company issued and cheap as all hell with garbage displays.  The current one I bought in late 2011 when the envy brand was still meant to try and compete with the macs.  i7/8GB ram/came with 500 GB HD but I swapped an ssd in there/1080p ips display/15"/dedicated gpu

 

It's held up pretty well, I dropped it inside my bag once and it had a small dent, but looks mostly intact.  Loudest and clearest speakers I think have ever been included on a notebook.  There are a couple of flaws, but they are not major.  It's been over 3 years so far and the notebook is still working like new.  I paid ~ 1200 dollars for this notebook.

 

 

The point is that all companies make crap on the low end, hp may be worse than others there, but they also have nicer stuff.  Though I think lenovo and even dell is being much more aggressive on the higher end notebook space today.  If I were replacing this notebook today I would not be looking at a current hp, because what they are offering is not up to the standards companies like dell with that new xps 13 are releasing.  But honestly, no one is really releasing exactly what I want.  I want a retina 15 macbook style windows pc that is below 1500 dollars.  Preferable as close to or even below a 1000 dollars as possible.  With the highest density battery they can cram in there, that allows it to break 10 hours of ACTUAL use.

 

I'd even take a cheaper chip, it could be a carizzo AMD apu if it was efficient enough.  No one is making that currently.  Dell has a 15" retina mac variant, but those assholes want over 2000 dollars for it.