HP NC8430 review

Can anyone put a step by step guide to registering this thing, Its just getting too confusing as I haven't even started looking at registering as yet !!

Anyhow I did notic laserjet written on my pack as well, but I guess the packs are genric and cover a bunch of HP products within a given price range.

 

we all seem to be having minor problems, i mean none of these seem really big problems, im very happy with my HP so far, its a great machine/bundle. if we can pound the bumps out of the works we will be flyin XD

 

called laptopsdirect and they've told me to get in touch with hp, this is terrible, called hp care pack support but that seems to be one person, so i've left a message and hopefully, i'll get a reply

edit: i've been playing around since monday and my keyboard is definately not level, when i type, i can feel that the left side of the keyboard is raised slightly, it's visible as well. not very happy with that considering its business class and i don't think it is covered under warranty as a defect

 

Guys, I got emailed the warranty code from the HP Care Pack rep for laptopsdirect (laptopsdirect sent the email)

I have no idea why they haven't emailed you lot too, or why you have a printer warranty card included in the box with your laptop, which I haven't got but don't need

As for build, mine is solid and fantastic. No screen flex, no loose keys, no dead pixels and the keyboard is even. I can only put it down to as these were being rushed, maybe quality control let slip on a few

 

i emailed them and got told to return the warranty card and be sent a new one. Im a bit wary of doing this at the moment incase i don't get it back (id also rather have the warranty sorted in the next couple of days before i leave home)

the machine itself seems fine

i'll email back the customer services and ask them about it...

 

did they say anything about returning opened warranty cards?

edit: spoke to laptopsdirect about my uneven keyboard, they've offered to replace it but i'd have to send it in and then get a new one, bit worried about that though as they say they check faults etc. because if they decided it is even then i'd be wasting my time, any ideas?

 

Well you've taken photos haven't you? Have you got a barameter?

Does the keyboard otherwise work fine? 'cos if so they may just not fix it and say that. Can't lose though. They may fix it anyway

 

so annoying!!! yeah the keyboard works fine. i'll suppose i'll just keep typing like crazy and see if it bothers me much

edit: update on the warranty registration.

called laptopsdirect and they gave me a hp phone number but that's for home office so i got transferred to commercial, then they transferred me to .... wait for it .... no-one!!! so i rang commercial again and waited for about 20mins then got transferred to support and finally to care pack department. here's the good bit, that department is ONE PERSON. all i can get through is the voicemail, i've left a message and sent an email but now i've been waiting for 2 hours. then i rang up laptopsdirect to ask about my keyboard a the same time and was told that everyone's having problems on the internet registration and that i should call hp and the numbers they gave me - one doesn't work and one is the same as the one i got this morning.

my first time buying a notebook is a nightmare!

 

I am just confused! Anyhow I would have a go at this today.

 

I bought this very simple pad and it works quite well.

http://www.targus.com/us/product_details.asp?sku=PA241U

 

so i don't want the hassle of returning my nc8430 in case they send it back again, so anyone know what i can do to get rid of this 'bump' on my keyboard, i don't want to get an external one just yet

 

Thanks for kind information.
I have order a nc8430 today.
$2180.82 (include Tax)

 

ludo: wahey another brummie!

It seems that there may be have been a cock-up somewhere between HP and latopsdirect on getting the correct warranty registration packs. It also appears that some people have been experiencing creaky palm rests and the1 has a lop-sided keyboard. This is not good considering the nc8430 is a business-class notebook. Its odd because the problems all stem from the same model Something going on?

 

I have exactly same as you, what are we supposed to do, They have sent the wrong HP care pack.

 

i spent the whole morning trying to contact hp using contact numbers given to me by laptopsdirect, they keep pointing me towards hp but tomorrow i will tell them they sent me the wrong one and see what they say

 

So all you guys with the right hand creaky palm rest got the 1.8ghz, 80gb, XP Pro model?

Also, for all you lot with care pack trouble, here's copy + paste from bottom of the email sent to me:

This did not come from me

 

My DVD drive is only picky with certain discs, they were cheap ones bought a while back so that seems the problem. I got a pack of some Verbatim discs and they work great. However I wouldn't mind updating the drive's firmware, how would I go about doing this?

Apart from that and being sent the wrong warranty pack I am really pleased with this laptop, its great so solid, and a great performer. The design just feels "right" and I'm quite pleased with the battery life as well. Once these little niggles are worked out I'll be laughing as everything else about the laptop really is spot on.

 

First of all I need to warn you it may currupt your drive

Right click on dvd drive in 'My Computer', 'hardware' tab to find out make and model no. If that doesn't show enough details, go to device manager. Check whether the date for firmware looks new or not. The it's a case of googling for update [insert drive make + model no.] firmware. That's how I did it for the desktop Always make sure the method inc a way to backup the firmware

 

Laptop direct have agreed to take back the wrongly sent warranty pack back and send a new one via post/email.

 

ill sort sall that out once i move, dont have time at minute.

 

I just got emailed the warranty thing this morning, yay!
I don't know if its anything to do with my emails yesterday about needing the right warranty, or if they just realised they'd sent the wrong packs out to people

yeah, though only till saturday Love the place really, even though i probably complain plenty about it

things i will miss most about the city-
8. The steps and oasis market (THE places to be when i was about 13, hehe )
7. cheesy chips from the place by newstreet station
6. the £1, 99p and 98p shops, always amuses me when i walk past em
5. running around town at night when its near-ish christmas and all lit up
4. Having a choice of several venues to go to gigs (academy being the favourite )
3. throwing bubblebath from the floozy fountain at people after being out
2. eating greggs or chips in the graveyard, or just lying on the grass there with a load of friends
1. Snobs nightclub!

sheffield better have plenty to offer or i'm quitting uni & coming home!

 

what did you say in your email? they don't seem to be listening to me

 

basically just 'Nobody sent me an email warranty. Please send me one'

it seems you have to put things as simply as possible to get any useful response from them

 

Nope, mine is a "2ghz", 80gb, XP Pro and it creaks, somebody mentioned the creak went away after awhile so that's what am hoping for.

 

Can I get rid of ATI CCC and use atitool (already downloaded) instead?



Seems a little excessive at 200mb+

 

I'm using ATI tray tools and it works great, it takes up close to no RAM, is simple to use and works realy well with plenty of options. The game profile system is very handy as well.

 

sent off my care pack this morning and hopefully, i'll get a replacement. hp told me that the care pack was useless so had no choice

 

Still haven't sorted out my HP laptopsdirect warranty woes. Every email I send just gets a reply about returning defective goods with a list of manufacturers numbers.

Who eventually sorted this for any of you, was it HP or Laptopsdirect. If i've bought a product advertised as having a 3 year warranty I would have thought it would be laptopsdirects responsibility to me as a customer to sort this out.

 

mine was an email from laptopsdirect. I still have the printer 1.
Try emailing the customer services telling them you want to be emailed the warranty as you know other people have been.

i decided to overlook their spelling error in the word 'warenty' and just be grateful

 

ludo's way was far more effective but i didn't want to risk it after i had emailed them so many times about it and didn't want to bug them any more

really sorry for this long post but i thought i'd just help explain what not to do when dealing with laptopsdirect.

firstly, i think telling laptopsdirect my care pack wasn't working encouraged them to point the finger to hp. i spent a whole morning trying to get through to hp and had to leave a message before i got a reply the day after telling me the care pack could 'never' be used with the nc8430.

in the end, i called up laptopsdirect and told them hp said it won't work. they weren't convinced though and said hp guaranteed them 100% it would work. the reason i believe for this is that someone messed up at laptopsdirect. the invoice clearly gives the product no. U4395E (which LFC got) but most of us got H5465A. so when they look at our orders they don't see what we're seeing. the representative then told me to wait half hour and i'd get a call back.

i wasn't surprised when i didn't get a call back though. i phoned up laptopsdirect yet again and this time told them point blank i'd been sent the wrong care pack. the representative told me to submit a returns form online. then wait 24 hours for it to be authorised. this morning i checked the status of my return and was instructed to send the care pack back myself. now i wasn't happy about this as it was their mistake. i phoned back and was told to put receipt of postage into the return and that's that.

now i will wait but next time i will be more cautious about buying bundles to save money

 

the1, you are right,when I called them I didn't say that it wasn't working or something, I just plainly told them they have sent the wrong one, and then they asked me to fill that return form and send back the pack, which I have done.
Ideally they should have arranged a pickup of the pack, but I didn't want to push them now!!
Hopefully this gets sorted out n I would not have to deal with laptopdirect agn !!

 

lol, i was a bit scared about telling them it was the wrong one without verification from hp. one person actually said "people are having problems with this care pack but you have to contact hp" and then gave me a dead phone number!

 

Add me to the owner's list =) This laptop is amazing

 

OK, I hope to be an owner soon. I rolled the dice a little and just purchased an nc8430 from Page Computers. I've heard a bit about some of the problems with Page, but their price was about the lowest I could find - $1,520 after shipping. Hopefully I'll be one of the people that has good luck with Page! My first laptop computer! Looking forward to getting it - next week hopefully.

HP nc8430
Intel Core Duo T2500
15.4" Matte WSXGA+
1024 mb 80gb HD
ATI Radeon 256mb x1600

Add me to the list!

 

phaedrus: Have you had any further success with this issue?

It is also documented on the HP Business Support Forums here: Unable to disable the internal microphone

 

Just got my docking station today and it's a nice fit, just like the NC 8430 it's of high quality. I was expecting it to be bigger but it's actually not that big at all. Heck I could of went with the advanced one.

 

Sent laptopsdirect yet another email about still not having the correct warranty number on my nc8430 bundle and got another automated email giving me details on item returns.

How come some people on here have reported getting an email with the correct code straight away while others (like me) are still waiting on a simple reply.

 

i think it was only ludo who managed to get an email warranty. i however did not and had to submit a returns form on their website, then had to send off my care pack and now just waiting for a replacement

 

Just to ram home the fact that Britain is rip-off nation; I paid $1975 for the same model. And I bet yours has the fingerprint scanner as well

 

sorry to post here, but i'm having a problem getting SpeedStep working correctly on this notebook. Can someone take a look at my thread here?

Any help is appreciated!

 

Hello folks, and thanks for both an excellent review and an insightful thread over here.

I was originally looking to buy a somewhat portable 12" lappy for my exchange study period. However since I didn't want to compromise on speed too much, the choices weren't too plentiful. Mostly Dell's XPS M1210 which was ridiculously overpriced at least here in Finland. 3000+ euros with the best available configs, and it still couldn't be called especially powerful. Furthermore I figured that since I may be doing quite a lot of graphical work, 12" screen would be rather painful. I'm going on exchange studies for 8 or so months and I just don't want to take my desktop display with me, so I thought that I'm better off with a 15" (preferably WSXGA+) and trade off some of the portability.

One of the disadvantages of living in a small market area is that we don't get nearly as many models as people elsewhere do. For example apparently Asus W3J won't ever be available, and available configurations on LG S1 just suck. nc8430 seems to be a different thing though, and from what I've seen, it seems rather suitable for my needs. I like the construction too. I see stores taking the Core2Duo models on stock too, so I guess they would be out in a couple of weeks.

I do have a couple of questions though. Since I'm expecting to haul the machine from places to places quite a lot, are the bigger batteries actually available? Has anyone used those? It'd be awesome to get five hours or even more battery life from such a powerful laptop.

Also one for the WSXGA+ model users. How is the normal text size on screen? Is it easily readable on 1680x1050, or do you find you have to squint your eyes at times? I naturally should try to get use one of those machines before I buy one to see for myself, but... It looks pretty fine in pictures I've seen, just would like some opinions from people who've used it for longer.

 

Well, don't want to rub it in...but yeah, it does have the fingerprint scanner as well. HOWEVER, I'm beginning to worry that all the negative things said about Page Computer may be coming true (hope not and I'm just being impatient ). I effectively ordered my computer from Page on Friday morning, 9/15 (actually ordered at 7 p.m on Thursday night). The order status continues to show INVOICED, but I do not have a tracking number yet, and it appears that it still hasn't been shipped. It has been over 48 hours since my order (not counting the weekend), so I'm anxiously awaiting the notice that it has been shipped and I can begin tracking it. Really looking forward to receiving this sweet machine, so....yeah, getting antsy. But....ship the dang thing already people!!!

Anybody else order from Page Computers, and how did your buying experience go?

 

The 8 cell battery that comes with it will last you about 4 hours. I lowered the resoultion and raised the DPI and my text is big and clear. The 15.4 wxga is the perfect size, not to big and not to small. The laptop only weighs 5lbs.

I bought mine from buy.com which has a good reputation.

 

Here are the Reseller Ratings for Page Computers:

Hopes this helps!

 

When I bought mine last week page computers had the lowest with costcentral having the second lowest (for EY688AA). However, costcentral had better reviews, so I went with them. I'm very satisfied, ordered it Thursday at noon with 1 day shipping, got it early Friday afternoon packed securely with two boxes.

 

I'm pretty sure it weighs around 6 lbs. Still very light for a 15.4" =)

 

5.9lbs to be exact..........Still very light and managable. I see all these threads about the dv6000, if people only knew what they were missing with the NC 8430 they would spend the extra dough.

 

how do i get the warrenty fixed? they sent me the wrong package...

 

Woot!

I get mine tomorrow !!!

HP Business Notebook nc8430 - Intel Centrino Duo Core Duo T2500 2GHz - 15.4" WSXGA+ - 1GB DDR2 SDRAM - 80GB - DVD-Writer (DVD-RAM/±R/±RW) - 56Kbps MDC - Wi-Fi Mini PCI Express, Gigabit Ethernet PCI Express x1, Bluetooth - Windows XP Professional

Buy.com with two day delivery $1,621.00.

 

Well, finally called Page Computer today since they weren't updating my order status page. The customer service people were helpful and pretty friendly. They checked my order and told me that the order had shipped (didn't say when). They also gave me a tracking number. When I got home, I checked the FedEx tracking number and it said that the package data was transferred to FedEx.....the time was 3:59 p.m. Sept. 20 - which is today. I called Page at about 5 p.m. central time which would be about 3 p.m. pacific time. So, did they just send the package after I called since they are located in California? Regardless, they did say the estimated delivery date is Friday 9/22!!! And, that's what my FedEx tracking results say as well. So, hopefully I will receive my nc8430 on Friday!!! Another interesting note: If my package is being shipped groung and it was shipped today - it seems like it's going pretty dang quick if it is to arrive here in Duluth, MN on Friday.

As long as it gets here by Friday (one week from the day I ordered it) I will be pretty darn happy with Page. They really need to start updating their order status page though. Leaves many customers confused and wondering about their package.