Is HP a bad brand?

Im planning to get a laptop within this upcoming 2 weeks....
All of my friends told me to stay away from HP....


Through your experience how does a "DELL" or an "Acer" compare to a "HP"?

 

Please fill out an FAQ in the What Notebook Should I buy forum. You will get a lot of help that way. It won't take more than a couple of minutes to do so and it will be worth your while.

This particular question is rather vague and can be answered in many ways, depending on the context of the question and personal preferences of the people answering it.

You may also want to read through my Notebook buying guide (link in my signature--"Finding the Right Notebook") for some ideas.

 

Not counting the XPS systems from Dell, HP has the best build quality of the three. I have a HP Pavilion 6040ca and it's pretty sturdy. Doesn't seem flimsy at all. Acers are known for their subpar build quality, but to be fair, you get what you paid for (cheap prices, good specs).

#1 HP
#2 Dell
#3 Acer

Why did your friends tell you to stay away from HP BTW? Reliability issues? Let me assure you; that pretty much ended when the dv5000 and dv8000 (keyboard addressing improper strokes with heat) was discontinued. The new dv2000, dv6000 and dv9000 doesn't have this issue and is most stable.

Hope this helps.

 

HP's notebooks saw a 25% increase in sales for the last 6 months, much of which was at the expense of Dell. Acer is still far behind, although if you can afford Acer Ferrari you'll be very pleased.

 

My feeling is, it's really a crap shoot It's like this with most things these days.

I think any manufacturer can build a solid laptop, and any manufacturer can build a lemon. Your best best is to to research the specific model you are interested in purchasing.

Get a good warranty if you plan to keep it a while, and keep your important stuff backed up.

 

Aah come on who sais that the HP is worse then Dell and Acer? That is just first class non sense.

HP produces good notebooks, better quality then Dell and Acer.

Charlie

 

HPs have gotten much better int he past few years. They used to seem to have an unusually high rate of harddrive failure, however they're quite solid systems these days. HP is definately a brand I can recommend.

 

I agree with the other members. HP is a very good brand. Very solid and good looking notebooks. They are also very well priced, and I agree with Notebook Solutions, about build quality being better than Dell and Acer. I really do like the new line of notebooks. They look good, and feel very solid.

 

I used to have an old Pavilion HP (zx5000) that suffered from the (at the time well known) power plug issues (solder would come undone).

They fixed it at the same time the right side ports of my notebook stopped working. Replaced the motherboard to fix it all.

The new motherboard died in three days, so they replaced again, died three hours later, replaced again, was DOA. They exchanged it for a zd7000, and I sold it to buy a Dell 700m (my mistake). 700m died a week later (refurb), bought XPS M140.

Year later, I'm back with HP and I'm glad I did. Their quality has definitely gotten better, and I'm talking about the consumer models as well as the business models.

 

If you ask me, absolutely not, in fact, I think they are on par or better than most manufacturers actually, they are doing quite well in their laptop business and there has to be a good reason for it right?

 

There is a reason they are taking market share from Dell right now...and it isn't from just PR.

 

I am sure for every positive feedback you find for Hp you will find just as much negatives and vice versa of Dell.

My take: I prefer HP over Dell. It used to be Dell; I think they have gone down hill the past few years in service and product.
My company had just ended our relationship with Dell (unhappy customer) and switched to HP after a decade. Already seen an improvement in service.

 

HP is without doubt the highest quality notebooks out there now.

The new dv2000, dv6000, and dv9000 are powerful, stylish, and build -very- well.

Like said here, there is a reason HP is taking market share from the rest of the PC companies, especially Dell.

 

I have been the proud owner of an hp pavilion zd7058cl for 2 years now, and I have nothing but good things to say about hp. It has a sturdy build, is easily upgradeable, and overall, an awesome machine. I actually took my laptop apart the other day (just for the hell of it), and every single part is labeled with either an hp or compaq replacement part number. I actually downloaded the service manual for it on hp's website, and it takes you step-by-step thru the disassembly process. How's that for upgrading/troubleshooting? The RAM, HD, fans can all be easily accessed from the bottom of the laptop within minutes. I haven't had anything actually go out in it yet, but this has been great for upgrades and routine cleaning (blowing the thing out.)

 

It depends on what kind of notebook. HP's consumer line is sturdier than Dell, and probably also Acer. They look nicer than Dell, especially with the ugly white bumpers and pseudo-metal finish. A HP notebook will cost a little more than a similarly configured Dell, but that extra fit-and-finish may be worth it.

Dell and HP also both offer business-line notebooks which are much nicer, better constructed and more expensive than their consumer counterparts.

 

Well, I don't think as Jon-Michael, that is the highest quality out there.
However, among the "known and popular" brands, sure it is, HP including Compaq though.
Now, Asus, Compal, Quanta, Alien, mentioning few, kick HP's ass anytime (sorry for my french).

 

While I would not go that far Hp does make some very well build notebooks, both business and consumer class. In general if you are concerned with build quality you should try and get a business class notebook. Also for what you get HP's nc8430 is a much better deal than the Dell D820, so I would not even say that HP is more expensive than Dell.

So really I do not think there is much to worry about if you get a HP. They are well built, nice looking and powerful.

 

I have an HP pavilion ze4400 that I've had for over 3 years. Nothing has ever went wrong with it. It has a very solid build too, better than my Toshiba which I love dearly.

 

Which ODM supplies HP? I bet it's Asus

 

This is very true and some good advice.

The business line of all three companies is where you'll see the best quality. Although I'd probably choose HP's consumer line over the other two.

 

HP offers crap in all its product lines. This is not your father's HP. Heck, even all their executives are well-publicized crooks now. Feel free to buy a product from a company run by theivers, snoops and extortionists. LOL

And arguing about whether HP notebooks are worse/better than Dell or Compaq or Sony or Toshiba is kinda silly. They're all similar... disposable laptops built on the cheap.

 

In my opinion, laptops from big manufacturers like Gateway, Toshiba, HP, Dell, etc. are more or less the same in quality, at least from which ones I have used. Its just Dell's Inspirons seem to be the most bland looking is all. Manufacturers like Asus and IBM will of course make better built machines and the price tag shows that.

 

Compaq is the worst. Followed closely by Gateway and now unfortunately Dell. Toshiba's quality is dipping too, both my friend and his sister's Toshiba had the same power cord problem and both laptops died. HP is actually decent for a major OEM. The top tier is as mentioned the ODM's like Asus and Compal, and of course the legendary IBM Thinkpads---although Lenovo took over and I haven't heard anything recently.

 

I haven't heard of IBM's quality dropping since Lenovo took it over. I have a Compaq V3000 and it has been more solid and durable than my past HP DV4000 actually.

 

Just purchased an HP Pavilion dv6000 series and am very happy with the choice. I looked over them all, including the Apple MacBook which can run Windows. For the price, i got everything for about 1250 USD, core duo, 120GB hard drive, Nvidia 7400, 1 GB ram etc. And what a nice display! Had major problems with Toshiba, flimsy, poor quality, you get what you pay for essentially.

 

Compaq is owned by HP and is nowhere near as bad as it was when it was its own brand.

HP makes pretty good products. Their current lineup is very enticing, you can get a very decent laptop for a reasonable price. The HP in my sig gives me no issues, and it was from the last generation of products that had more common problems.

My only peeve with HP is their lack of higher end video card options. Maybe with their VoodooPC buy they will soon offer more gaming- and enthusiast-oriented notebooks, but currently they fall short in that department. I can, however, play Doom 3 acceptably on my current notebook....

 

I own an HP Compaq Presario and have been very happy with it: solid build, great screen and key board, came with ATI Radeon graphics card, and is only 4 pounds.

A lot depends on what you'll be using your PC for: work, gaming, burning CDs, some combo. Then you'll have different considerations: video, RAM, ports, etc. Definitely fill out the questionnaire, do some research, here, and you'll be fine.

I've used a variety of PCs over the years (desktops) from various folks. I've always been happy with HP: good, solid systems. Their customer service can leave something to be desired. But the only computer maker with good CS right now, in my experience, is Gateway.

 

I just bought a dv9000t a month ago and I love it. The WSXGA screen is perfect. All notebooks seem to have a much higher failure rate than desktops, so I feel the three year warranty is a must. The build seems to be high in quality. If you are going to game or watch DVD's, the Dell with the Go 7900GS and WUXGA would be a better choice.

Ron

 

Well I have a Dell laptop and just my parents a Compaq desktop for christmas. All things considered here. Compaq is HP's budget line now kinda like how eMachines is Gateway's budget line. The compaq I got is well built and have some future-proofness to it. If that is any indication then I'd say HP/Compaq would be a good choice.

[the non relevent chewing out part is whited out -- highlight it if you want to read it]

Also I think HP's customer service went up after my last conversation. I kinda chewed them out though. I pretty much didn't understand how their cleaning kit worked for my printer. I think it boils down to the fact that the instructions sucked big time and the fact that the customer service rep didn't call me back at the agreed upon date. Once the cleaning kit was done though my printer has been working like a champ. The disc didn't rely on drivers at all it turned out. Rather the printer just needed to be connected via USB since the spooler service was halted anyways. The call lasted an hour and was mostly spent with a supervisor. Note that I did find out that they are actively working on Vista drivers for my printer and agreed that the package is extremely large on the download bit. He treated me with great care after I mentioned that I was a tech support rep where I worked.

 

You will hear many more complaints against mainstream manufacturers such as Dell, HP, Compaq, Toshiba, etc. than from Fujitsu for example. But ironically, my Fujitsu Lifebook P5020D actually had the worst build quality out of all laptops I have used and I was dissatisfied with their service as well to repair the notebook.


Really for me, its a total gamble, no matter what company I pick. In my honest experience, I have had great experiences with generally reviled companies and bad experiences with lauded companies.