Are HP laptops durable and well built?

I'm asking this to those that have owned 1 or more HP laptops in the past. I need a laptop for grad school that will stand up to be carried to class EVERY day on BIKE or WALKING through SNOW and RAIN. In other words, I don't know how this laptop won't get jostled around and beat up. I have to walk or bike to class everyday in northern Minnesota, which means really bad and icy weather.

I have a very limited budget, so I've decided upon the dv5z, only because the dv5t is too expensive. Like $500 more expensive. I've never owned an AMD-based computer before, so I don't know what to expect in that regard. But anyway, to those that have owned HP consumer laptops, do they hold up well to being carried around and used daily? Are they durable? Would that dv5z make a good "work" laptop. That price is just so great.

 

It is an awesome bang-for-the buck laptop the dv5z.. but it is after all a consumer laptop and though HP will tout its material and build quality, it is going to be less durable than say the business line laptops..

If you are careful with it, it will treat you well in rain and snow.. but as with anything, nothing is unbreakable =P

you can say this about any consumer laptops on the market.. some are slightly better than others, like T61p, etc..

Just get yourself a level-up waranty, and add accidental damage protection to your budget to be safe and worry-free

 

Well that depends, business HP notebook owners will tell you that they are excellent as would most business notebook owners. You might hear quite a different story from consumer model owners. But from what I can see, the ThinkPad R61 should fit the bill.




EDIT: The T61p is not a consumer model, it is infact a workstation class notebook.

 

You will need to go with a business class notebook if you want sturdyness.

 

its built in plastic cases.......im not even kidding here. So its not really a durable. Also a lot of the heating problems are just because hp doesn't built it really well, location of hardware and so one.

If you can get a decent business class one, i guess that'll do. But under your conditions, I would really look for something built better, ie better casing, build material, locations of hardware.

Under your budget I would consider a lenovo as well. If you have money to spare....check out the new vaios

 

I agree with Hinduemperior. I bought a consumer grade laptop for the price and it was absolutely a piece of crap. The heat-sink fan failed after several HOURS of use. In addition, HP support for consumer grade laptops is terrible and they will treat you like crap! So if you're not willing to shell out max bucks for a high-end HP business Laptop, go with Lenovo. Even their consumer grade models have many protection features and, in my opinion, are much sturdier than the HP business models.

 

I've discovered that there is a big difference between the business and consumer versions. The HP business laptops are very good and sturdy but on the other hand the consumer laptops are actually below the average. The consumer laptops often suffers from weak keyboard seatings and weak plastic. Other manufacturers are actually usually better when it comes to sturdyness.

I don't know what HP is thinking by having this big difference. Actually their consumer laptops were a better few years ago but with their dv line of laptops HP showed a bottom when it came to the mechanicals. Hopefully they learn their mistake.

 

Dude... you're getting a Dell.
To be specific, get a Vostro with XP Pro pre-loaded, and extend the warranty to two or three years.

Physical and longevity differences aside, the primary difference between the Vostro and an HP consumer-grade notebook is the warranty terms, and this is very important to you.
The HP notebook has a "mail-in" warranty. That means:
--Convince the guy in India that you have a hardware problem.
--They ship you a repair box.
--You send it back to HP.
--Maybe they return it in a week or two.
--Maybe it's OK when they return it.

The Dell has next-business-day onsite service:
--Convince the guy in India that you have a hardware problem.
--They send a technician to your home or office to repair it.

 

dell has better customer service but i wouldn't actually call their products better built or sturdier. their casing material isn't that great and if you read around their xps's are burning down.

If you want good build and for it last check out lenovos and if your budget allows vaios.

 

HP has also a next day service with tech on-site. Neither Dell or HP has this warranty as standard for their consumer products but you can always buy them. Also if the computer is faulty the first two week both HP and Dell send out a technician regardless what type of warranty service you buy.

Dell have their problems with their computers as well just as HP.

 

I would not recommend HP Consumer notebooks based on durability and overall build quality.

 

Definitely get a Thinkpad T61 or T61p. As others have mentioned, you should really get a business class notebook. Only get the Vostro if the Thinkpads are far out of budget. Actually, I'd go over budget in your case just to get a Thinkpad. If you have a Visa card, you can really bring down the price with the Visa Discount offer. I think when I was looking at one a while ago, the Visa discount brought the price down about $100. They also have sales once back to school begins.

Here's a link to the post with information on Visa Discount: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=231598

 

No.. my dv 2500t just broke literally 3 minutes ago (screens black). I thought it wouldn't happen to me but it did. Wow, at least I'm in warranty.I'm completely in a daze right now...

 

Sorry to hear about your breakdown, and welcome to the nightmare of HP repair. My advice. Write down everything! Keep notes of all conversations and get any promises in writing. Don't be taken in if they are nice to you at the start. Before sending in your laptop, take photos of it (screen, case, top, bottom, sides) next to the FedEx Label. There are numerous posts here about HP repair mangling laptops during repair. They damaged mine badly, then denied it, then tried to blame me. Luckily, I took photos, which I will be taking to court with me since i am having to sue to get HP to do the right thing.

Maybe you'll be one of the lucky ones and have an incident-free repair. But you want to be ready in case you are not. Good luck.

 

Sounds like your GPU (Graphics card) Fried. Nvidia has admitted they have a huge issue with many of their 8xx cards. This seems to effect the smaller form factor notebooks more since they generally have more heat. There seems to be a large rate of failures on the thin designed dell m1330 with many fried 8400m gs cards. The problem is so widespread that I would not buy a 8xx nvidia card on anything if I bought again today. On my dv6500t 15" notebook my gpu temperatures will reach around 59 C. But on some notebooks these temperatures get much higher. It also sounds like there may be some manufacturing defects in the kind of soder used etc.. Nvidia is not really coming forward with which models are effected. At this point everyone is finger pointing. But if you are one with a smaller form factor notebook with a 8400m gs card then I would start worrying. If I were you, I would try to get HP to send me one with the X3100 integrated graphics and give me back a hundred dollars. Otherwise, they will put another 8400m gs and you may have this happen again.. And they will also put a bios on that which will essentially run the fan on high. Its just not a good idea to put the older nvidia cards in smaller notebooks and they may not even last long term on the larger ones. At this point, nobody really knows how bad the problem is but I am thinking is much worse then what nvidia is saying.

 

Cool, thanks for the suggestion. I do have a few questions though. Is there a new line of ThinkPad R or T series laptops coming out soon with Montevina platforms? And if there is, would it be better to wait? How is the SL line? I see they have a new series out for that. I am a big time gamer that is sacrificing gaming power for reliability, but how is the new inegrated graphics line (X4500)? How is Lenovo's service and warranty?

Also, how are HP's business line of notebooks. There are literally 20 or 30 options, are they all Compaq? I see they have some options with the new HD3200, and decent AMD CPUs and other good hardware configs, but I know nothing about HPs build quality or service.

 

I have hauled both of the lappys in backpacks all over. My only issue is my dv6500t got a bit compressed because I tend to pack my backpacks to the point of explosions. So I opened it up and had key prints on my screen. So my keyboard seems crowned. It might just be in my head though.

Feel free to get an HP dude. I'm getting another one.

 

Well how big of a gamer are you? In general, if you game often or have games with high requirements, you never want to get an integrated GPU. When you get an integrated, don't expect to play the latest games. Also, the 9300 Nvidia card that can come with the SL isn't that powerful, think of it like an 8400 with about 1600 on 3dmark06.

I think the new T series will have a good GPU similar to how the current T61p has a nice one. Unfortunately, this is just a guess. I couldn't find benchmarks on the ATI Mobility FireGL V5700. However, the T series is supposed to have the best processor and GPU.

Lenovo has pretty good service and warranty plans, but they cost extra. Usually $119 for 3 year depot and $219 for 3 year on-site.

I believe the X4500 is slightly weaker than the Nvidia 8400 or around the same area. In other words, don't expect major gaming.

If you can wait for the new T series, I would probably do so. At best, you might be able to afford one. At worst, the old models will probably go on sale or lower in price. Generally, the longer you can wait, the better.

I don't know much about all the HP options because, as you pointed out, there are so many. I do know something about the 8510 and 8710 series since they're roughly the same. Either of those could fit your needs and they come with a 3 year warranty. The GPUs are pretty good of them as well. My 8510p can easily run DMC4 with only a little slowdown during intense sections which isn't a big deal and hasn't happened often.

I guess the take home message is wait if you can. Call up Lenovo and see if they can give you an ETA on the new T series or search around.

Link to details about new Thinkpads: http://www.engadget.com/2008/06/08/details-surface-for-future-thinkpads-x200-sl-t-and-r-series/

Link to 3dmark06 of 9300 G: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=221306&highlight=VX3

 

I would not recommend an AMD at all.

AMD's suffer from heat issues and their failure rates seem high.

 

Not exactly true.

Yes they run a little warmer than Intels but their failure rates arent high.

 

No such thing. My AMD based Compaq R3340 is still chugging along quite nicely after 4yrs. The issues people experienced with the dv9/dv6/dv2 series were due to issues with the Nvidia chipset/GPU used not the AMD cpu. As long as you dont drop the notebook or abuse it, HP's consumer notebooks can last a long time. Yeah, they dont have mag alloy chassis like some of the business versions but overall I have had little to complain about HP's build quality.