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HP's, in general, are very reliable. S'pose you've just got a lemon. Would you not consider a MacBook? I've had one for a year now, after spending most of my teenage and adult life studying windows and them working with the windows infrastructure. In comparison with Mac - it's not great.
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safesys
- Original Poster
- #4
We have stopped recommending these laptops because of exactly these sorts of problems. You are not alone!
If sticking with PC rather than mac, Asus and Lenovo are good alternatives - or if budget allows, you could always get a MacBook and put windows on it as - even though we are a predominantly windows company - the apple hardware is far better than the majority of windows laptop hardware.
Hope this helps!
If sticking with PC rather than mac, Asus and Lenovo are good alternatives - or if budget allows, you could always get a MacBook and put windows on it as - even though we are a predominantly windows company - the apple hardware is far better than the majority of windows laptop hardware.
Hope this helps!
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SafeSys - would you mind if I asked you a few questions about your business? I don't want to hijack this thread, so would it be OK to send you a PM?
As for unreliable hardware, do you think the Windows OS is a bigger factor to it's failings than the actual hardware itself?
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crphillips
- Original Poster
- #8
I've had a Lenovo Thinkpad for the last 3 years or so and it's been faultless. Build isn't as good as when IBM made them but they're still pretty good. Performance is great and the battery is great. Although it was £1200 rather than £500 like the HP your talking about.
Chances are you got a dud but if there is a lot of stuff online then there is possibly an issue with them generally. I've found anything that ends up getting retailed in Tesco or Sainsbury's usually has bad reviews online when you get googling.
Chances are you got a dud but if there is a lot of stuff online then there is possibly an issue with them generally. I've found anything that ends up getting retailed in Tesco or Sainsbury's usually has bad reviews online when you get googling.
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jhardy2008
- Original Poster
- #11
If you are wondering if the problems that you are encountering with you HP Pavilion laptop is a known factory defect, or just bad luck, then this piece can help you. This piece covers some of the most common issues that the HP Pavillion laptops.
Source http://www.brighthub.com/computing/hardware/articles/40889.aspx
Source http://www.brighthub.com/computing/hardware/articles/40889.aspx
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I doubt this has anything to do with it being a HP laptop, or this one particular model.
Sounds to me a lot like it's overheating almost straight away and shutting down to protect the hardware. Could simply be missing thermal paste between the CPU and fan, fan not connected and another fan running at full rpm to compensate. Any number of things that could happen to any laptop!
Surely it is HP's follow up that marks them out as a good/bad company? Not the fact that occasionally a product will ship with a fault.
Sounds to me a lot like it's overheating almost straight away and shutting down to protect the hardware. Could simply be missing thermal paste between the CPU and fan, fan not connected and another fan running at full rpm to compensate. Any number of things that could happen to any laptop!
Surely it is HP's follow up that marks them out as a good/bad company? Not the fact that occasionally a product will ship with a fault.
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Macs are ridiculously overpriced for what you're getting. The cheapest MacBook runs you back £867, which is a lot more expensive than a similarly specced Windows laptop.
If you're going to compare PC to Mac, atleast compare them on even grounds. My girlfriend recently picked up a Sony Vaio (Infamous for being overpriced) for £599 that came with a second generation i5 processor (Sandy Bridge), an AMD 5470M GPU, 4GB of RAM and a 320GB HDD.
If you're looking to use a laptop for business, I recommend you take a look at Lenovo Thinkpads. Their T series are the most well-rounded laptops and these things are nearly indestructible. They come with security features such as a finger-print reader, and face-detection (i.e. the computer will log out if it doesn't detect your face). They're also cheaper than Macs again and have much better build quality!
If you're going to compare PC to Mac, atleast compare them on even grounds. My girlfriend recently picked up a Sony Vaio (Infamous for being overpriced) for £599 that came with a second generation i5 processor (Sandy Bridge), an AMD 5470M GPU, 4GB of RAM and a 320GB HDD.
If you're looking to use a laptop for business, I recommend you take a look at Lenovo Thinkpads. Their T series are the most well-rounded laptops and these things are nearly indestructible. They come with security features such as a finger-print reader, and face-detection (i.e. the computer will log out if it doesn't detect your face). They're also cheaper than Macs again and have much better build quality!
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Indivijewelistic
- Original Poster
- #15
We had the same problem with this one brand new from the box, either won't switch on the first time without a powerlead or keeps switching itself off after a while. They have agreed to take it back as we have only had it 14 days - I have a Samsung R730 use it all day everyday - perfect piece of kit, love it.
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I bought my HP about 4 years ago and not impressed at all with build quality.
First problem was same as o/p that making a loud noise on first day, so took back and had it replaced.
I had a problem free first couple of years (although not used too much) and then the poor build quality starting showing. The frame of screen starting coming apart, and also two other parts were coming away.
In the 3rd year the wireless card packed in altogether so had to invest in a usb dongle. ALso the battery started to go, as not hold any charge.
Just before xmas the laptop swithed itself off all time and unable to get going again untill cold. Bought a new battery and improved it a little but its still cuts off regulary.
And the final thing was a few weeks back, the usb dongle is not working according to the laptop when it is!!
Checking feedback on this range of laptops, its seems there is a main problem / design fault with the motherboard regarding overheating issues which causes allsorts of problems. Mainly causing the cut off, wireless card faults and usb.
Overall....wont be buying another HP!!!!
First problem was same as o/p that making a loud noise on first day, so took back and had it replaced.
I had a problem free first couple of years (although not used too much) and then the poor build quality starting showing. The frame of screen starting coming apart, and also two other parts were coming away.
In the 3rd year the wireless card packed in altogether so had to invest in a usb dongle. ALso the battery started to go, as not hold any charge.
Just before xmas the laptop swithed itself off all time and unable to get going again untill cold. Bought a new battery and improved it a little but its still cuts off regulary.
And the final thing was a few weeks back, the usb dongle is not working according to the laptop when it is!!
Checking feedback on this range of laptops, its seems there is a main problem / design fault with the motherboard regarding overheating issues which causes allsorts of problems. Mainly causing the cut off, wireless card faults and usb.
Overall....wont be buying another HP!!!!
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To be perfectly honest, I have never had a laptop that has lasted more than 2 years without something going... Normally just wear and tear. Battery life is also a common problem, and the reality is that batteries are expensive. If two comparable laptops are £100 apart then you can assume a big part of the saving is in the battery. Cheap batteries lose their ability to retain charge much faster.
The question is, are these things actually faults? In the same way a cheaper laptops battery is more likely to fail and the case more likely to crack over time, I could state that a cheap laptop is faulty because it's not as fast as a much more expensive one. It's all down to money spent/saved on components and materials.
Given that even a shoddy cheap laptop will typically function for at least 4 years, even if the case is worn and the battery flagging, then you could argue that the build quality has still exceeded the lifespan of the technology inside.
A quick glance at some of HP's products demonstrate beyond question that they can build something that will last rough treatment for years, look at some of their commercial printers. But frankly the sensible balance between spec, price and build quality for laptops and home computers is probably about right. Better would be nice sure, but having more money left in your wallet when you do buy is equally nice. And having owned and bought god knows how many laptops, I would say HP are among the better still.
Dell laptops tend to be tougher, although you can often see the premium. Even then Dell put out a range of Inspiron laptops a few years ago that crumbled like plaster.
As for Apple laptops - Yes, the build quality and in particular the battery technology is about as good as you will see anywhere. But given that Apple's are 50% fashion statements and limited in terms of power, what an earth is the benefit of that build quality and battery longevity? Is a fashion concsious Apple user really going to use a slow, out of date model in 6 years time simply because it refused to die?
My point is (and sorry for the rant!) that when we go to buy a computer we have in mind the sort of value and performance we are after, these tend to be our chief concerns. The manufacturers are doing their best to meet these concerns. The issues with longevity in a lot of tech, could be argued to have started with our own preferences and demands as consumers.
The question is, are these things actually faults? In the same way a cheaper laptops battery is more likely to fail and the case more likely to crack over time, I could state that a cheap laptop is faulty because it's not as fast as a much more expensive one. It's all down to money spent/saved on components and materials.
Given that even a shoddy cheap laptop will typically function for at least 4 years, even if the case is worn and the battery flagging, then you could argue that the build quality has still exceeded the lifespan of the technology inside.
A quick glance at some of HP's products demonstrate beyond question that they can build something that will last rough treatment for years, look at some of their commercial printers. But frankly the sensible balance between spec, price and build quality for laptops and home computers is probably about right. Better would be nice sure, but having more money left in your wallet when you do buy is equally nice. And having owned and bought god knows how many laptops, I would say HP are among the better still.
Dell laptops tend to be tougher, although you can often see the premium. Even then Dell put out a range of Inspiron laptops a few years ago that crumbled like plaster.
As for Apple laptops - Yes, the build quality and in particular the battery technology is about as good as you will see anywhere. But given that Apple's are 50% fashion statements and limited in terms of power, what an earth is the benefit of that build quality and battery longevity? Is a fashion concsious Apple user really going to use a slow, out of date model in 6 years time simply because it refused to die?
My point is (and sorry for the rant!) that when we go to buy a computer we have in mind the sort of value and performance we are after, these tend to be our chief concerns. The manufacturers are doing their best to meet these concerns. The issues with longevity in a lot of tech, could be argued to have started with our own preferences and demands as consumers.
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Movietub.....you only have to look on google to see that the hp pavilion range has been flooded with complaints / faults regarding some of my problems.
Yes, buying a cheaper model of anything in most cases will fail over time before and better quality model but you still expect a product to be of a certain quality and do the job it was sold for.
You said ''I could state that a cheap laptop is faulty because it's not as fast as a much more expensive one'' Thats silly comment, as its like saying a 1litre car is faulty becasue its slower than top of range car.
Your comments over battery i fully understand as know batteries dont last forever and replacing my battery i dont class as faulty.
As for all the other problems ive had, i do know its down to faults or poor build quality. The wireless card and usb are 100% faults as even HP have admitited there is design fault with the earlier models. This design fault was causing the laptop to overheat and over time affected the likes of wireless card and usb etc. This constant overheating has probably cause some of my loose parts externally rather than build quality. The screen surround panel is just poor quality in my opinion and although the laptop only cost me £650 i still expect better, as its a brand name and dont expect it to fall to bits in 3 years with little use compared to most.
Yes, buying a cheaper model of anything in most cases will fail over time before and better quality model but you still expect a product to be of a certain quality and do the job it was sold for.
You said ''I could state that a cheap laptop is faulty because it's not as fast as a much more expensive one'' Thats silly comment, as its like saying a 1litre car is faulty becasue its slower than top of range car.
Your comments over battery i fully understand as know batteries dont last forever and replacing my battery i dont class as faulty.
As for all the other problems ive had, i do know its down to faults or poor build quality. The wireless card and usb are 100% faults as even HP have admitited there is design fault with the earlier models. This design fault was causing the laptop to overheat and over time affected the likes of wireless card and usb etc. This constant overheating has probably cause some of my loose parts externally rather than build quality. The screen surround panel is just poor quality in my opinion and although the laptop only cost me £650 i still expect better, as its a brand name and dont expect it to fall to bits in 3 years with little use compared to most.
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Yes I have no doubt, and it may be the case that there are genuinely a higher ratio of complaints for the model than average. But probably by a smaller margin than you think. If you google any laptop model for complaints you will find more pages than you would bother to read unless you owned that model and had the same issues.
The issue, again I would say for 90% mass market laptops out there, is that by scaling down build quality to match the expected lifespan of the tech inside it becomes more likely that a small % will fail in an undesirably short period. The market demands tech and performance over build quality in most cases, my point is that the typical build quality is not below par, it's on the money for the mass market.
I don't think it's silly at all. By your analogy a person could claim that it's unfair that their 8k fiat is not as solidly as built as a 25k Audi. If you buy a £400 HP with the same tech inside as a £800 Apple then you can guess that you are looking at two extremes of build quality. The point being that if you buy a mass produced laptop you have to accept that it is a product balanced on the demands of the masses. If you want the best you pay for the best. If you buy an average laptop (very much HP's market) then you get the correct average build quality along with all the other factors. The correct average build quality for laptops is not high, because generally it's not sought after.
Sounds like there was a single recognised fault, a poor cooling/airflow design that has been a frustration for you. I can say catgorically however that all the laptops I have owned, normally around the £800-£1000 mark, have developed splits, cracks or loose panels within a couple of years. The one exception to this is my girlfriends 9 year old Dell, which is solid as a brick, weighs as much as 3 bricks and these days is as useful for computing as a brick. In short, very high yet ultimatley completely pointless build quality! It would have been a better product had they scaled back on build quality and reduced the price at the time, we will never get the benefit of the build quality now it's so far out of date.
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I can only speak as i find and my opinion is that this range of HP laptops are very poor and have had genuine faults also. Ive had other laptops before and have had nowhere near as many problems, as have others ive talked to. I fully understand where your coming from that things are built to a price etc but products made by HP no matter what price i still expect to be of a quality standard. If i bought a micky mouse make then expect worse quality. But HP are a worldwide brand that people trust.
''By your analogy a person could claim that it's unfair that their 8k fiat is not as solidly as built as a 25k Audi'' This is your analogy not mine, your the one who was implying that because you said....buy a cheaper model it automatically makes it faulty. It doesnt, but yes it does mean its likely to be lower build quality.
''By your analogy a person could claim that it's unfair that their 8k fiat is not as solidly as built as a 25k Audi'' This is your analogy not mine, your the one who was implying that because you said....buy a cheaper model it automatically makes it faulty. It doesnt, but yes it does mean its likely to be lower build quality.
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Indivijewelistic
- Original Poster
- #22
They are refunding the money and we are off to buy a Samsung R730.
I know that the HP was a resonable price but it basically died as soon as we pluged it in, it went to play the upload tune and flat-lined.
We started it again and it began to shut down regularly and then refused to start at all - even from cold.
Thanks to everyone for their help and suggestions.
I know that the HP was a resonable price but it basically died as soon as we pluged it in, it went to play the upload tune and flat-lined.
We started it again and it began to shut down regularly and then refused to start at all - even from cold.
Thanks to everyone for their help and suggestions.
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