HP, how is quality?

I am considering buying an HP Laptop (TM2) but everywhere I go, there are people who say "Dont buy HP, it sucks!".

Does HP have problems or lesser quality?

How do you guys feel about them?

 

I own 5 Hp notebooks. A Tx2500, (2) DV5Ts, (2) HDX 9000 Dragons. Also two HP wireless all-in-one printers. Not a single issue with any.

Thing is, I'm fairly meticulous with maintenance like cleaning the fans and keeping dust off. I'm also very conscientious about how I handle them. No rough stuff. I've even upgraded them with various parts and Arctic silver 5/Ceramique which required full disassembly.

I have no pets or kids (a natural destroyer of things electronic) and live in a relatively clean environment.

I think the key is how you handle and care for HP products. Build quality is very good to great depending on the model.

As for the TM2, see this section on NBR's sister site, Tablet PC review:

http://forum.tabletpcreview.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1039

You'll be able to better gauge your purchasing decision of the tablet from actual owners of it. You'll also find tricks, tips and workarounds.

One thing i will say though is that HP's customer service is hit or miss. I haven't had any problems with them getting things I needed or wanted. But I never needed them for repair work either. That's where trouble can occur. A fair number of horror stories abound.

 

it very depends on the notebook you want.

generally consumer models are nicely designed, but may have some quality issues - however, i dont know exactly if thats still the case (nvidia chipset failures). theyre mainly "ok" equipped, could have some better options for those wanting more power. customer support definitely is a weak point with hp. if you go for a top model (envy), theres hardly something to complain about, except some failed design decisions (ports placement, additional keys on the left side of the keyboard..), but thats my personal opinion.

business models are almost all great, really great. it even better goes for the customer support, you wouldnt think consumer and business support both belong to the same company how different they are. specs are very good as well with some few exceptions (8540p imo.). especially the build quality paired with great hardware and the standard 3-year guarantee (for all of them) of the (higher-end) business notebooks is amazing imo. just take a look at a 8540w..

 

I used to be one now I became the natural restorer of things electronic...you have to start from somewhere.
Usually kids who break things down due to curiousity can be later taught to fix things up instead.

 

Ask these 1300 or so HP laptop owners:

NVIDIA DEFECTIVE GPUs

I bought three HP laptops in the late 2006/early 2007 time frame, and two of them are dead. If HP had supported their customers with what is obviously a manufacturing defect, I'd give them a thumbs up. But they didn't. Now, I am looking elsewhere for a new laptop.

 

The TM2, with it's SU-series low-voltage Intel processors, is holding up considerably better then it's TX-Series predecessors. It will still eventually have to have it's hinge mount screws tightened inside the display aseembly, after about a year, due to it being based on the TX design.

The video issues, etc, that plagued the overheat-prone TX, shouldn't be a problem with the TM2 due to it's significantly lower TDP (Thermal Design Point). Lower Temps = Less Failures.

And it's built on similar plastics to the rather robust Envy.

Decent machine, but as with many things in life, you get what you pay for. YMMV.

 

I was also one of those kids who dismantled things to see what makes them tick. And yes, as they say, "look at me now!"

But, that's not the sort of child I'm referring to. I mean the undisciplined, sticky fingered, spill happy, no regard for the cost of things sort. You know, the sort that one who one might see on "The Nanny."

As for pets... cats specifically. But pet dander in general is a device killer.

 

I tried the TM2 a couple of weeks ago and I must say it's a big step up from the older TX series. With HP finally adopting Intel CPUs for their consumer line tablets, heat and battery life shouldn't be a major issue anymore. Build quality is decent, although personally I still feel the screen is a little flimsy. The touch screen is responsive and clear. Again, overall it's a good improvement from the previous iterations.

Thats because their business service is out sourced, just like Lenovo's for the Thinkpad line.

 

Even the topic of that link says NVIDIA, not HP.

That was a manufacturing defect by Nvidia's design/material choise and it caused harm to all manufacturers who used either Nvidia Graphic chips or chipsets.

It doesn't matter if your laptop was Fujitsu-Siemens, Apple, DELL, Acer, HP, Lenovo (add your favorite here), consumer or business class. If it had Nvidia chipset or graphics, it has very big chance to fail. Being a pessimistic myself I'd say 99% failure rate and 1% dies on glass of water before nvidia chip fails.

After my dv9014 had it's motherboard replaced second time during it's mandatory 2 year standard warranty (hello EU consumer laws), I sold that away cheap. I later heard it died well served at 3½ years of age.

I wouldn't buy Nvidia 7x00 or 8x00 series products, even the desktop ones die like laptop products and manufacturers cannot really help with that.

 

Thanks guys.