My HP adventure continues

So I had a bunch of issues with my HP experience so far between a power problem on my first ENVY 14 SB and issues with ordering, etc. They're chronicled a bit here and there in the Owner's Lounge.

Monday I snapped one of the keys off. Clumsy idiot, I know. I sent it in to get the keyboard replaced and have the hinges tightened for the display.

Just got it back. Clicking sound in the hard drive. BIOS set back to Dynamic Mode for graphics. They created an administrator account and removed the need for a password to login. And, to top it all off, there's a bubble toward the back of the bottom half (past the keys, to the right of the power button), as if it didn't fit together right or they forgot a screw or something.

I've been assigned a case manager and will be getting a call Tuesday. After all my troubles with HP, I'm starting to wonder why I switched from Dells (though there isn't really a Dell that fits my wants anymore). Sounds like a free replacement with some more sweet upgrades to me! Or my money back.

 

Replacement with a Core i7 2630QM on the way! Easiest phone call I've had so far.

 

Congrats! Everything seems to be alright as long as you do not have a radiance screen

 

If the new set comes with mSATA SSD I'd laugh.

EDIT: My replacement i7-2630QM set is arriving this week, after a similar tussle with HP...

 

Oh, it is . Same config as my current one but with the Core i7.

 

My case manager came with my new unit, yet another DOA set :-O

 

Dang. That's insanity. What are you going to do???

 

I cannot do anything except to keep requesting for new units due to HP Singapore's policy (no refunds). At this rate it will be a year from when I first received the first ENVY 14 (Dec 10).

The Quality Control for ENVY14 is really poor.

 

Wow I cannot believe you actually bought one from HP Singapore. The price is so jacked up.

 

It's a little risky to ship from US when local HP could simply say they do not have the specific parts to do a replacement anyway.

 

Finally got my replacement on Friday. Everything seems to be great aside from a seriously bright delete key. Like this is definitely the most solid ENVY 14 I've had, though my previous 2 weren't not solid (aside from screen hinges that weren't tight enough).

But that's not why I'm making a post, as I'm sure most people wouldn't care too much about that. No, I'm posting because when I had my new laptop and my old one side by side transferring data, etc., I noticed that my new screen is about 10x as bright and colorful as the old one. Very strange. The old one wasn't bad or anything either, so the only conclusions I can make that I either a. have a freaky awesome screen or b. the display supplier improved the screens or c. HP is using different displays. Though I still don't find the display to be awesome, I'd say now that it's decent/pretty good instead of average.

 

Different displays. LG or Samsung.

On a different note, HP is taking me for yet another roller coaster ride. -_-lll

 

That "bubble" is probably the result of using the wrong screw.

 

Thankfully that bubble is long-gone now. At least they took care of me for the bubble and the screwed-with Windows and BIOS, and they made up for that screw-up for sure.

I love my ENVY 14, though my HP customer experience so far has been pretty crappy. Until dealing with the Case Manager/Resolutions-type folks. They've been fantastic, and they've kept me from regretting switching to HP. I had decided to ask for my money back and potentially getting the Samsung Series 7 (pending reviews) instead, but assuming I have no issues with this replacement, I'll be happy. At least they've finally gone out of their way to try to make me satisfied.

 

I've decided that if you have any kind of water droplet as your pic, you will get a crappy Envy.

Seriously tho, I had a similar problem. I ended up sending the old one back, and getting a new one with a i7-2630 and 8GB ram for free. They were going to just upgrade my ram, but HP has to upgrade the processor too . I had some issues with my first order and miscommunication, and ended up getting the first one for about $780 after taxes. After sending it back, I ended up getting the upgraded one at no extra charge, so I saved about $500, which was a pretty good deal. HP service is crappy, but that played out to my benefit because you have a reason to complain when you get to the higher-ups, which means free stuff!

Congrats on the upgrade, I'd be curious as to which screen you got. Is it a significant upgrade? So much so that the screen isn't a detriment anymore? I just got my girlfriend a Macbook Pro, and say what you want, but their screen is pretty damn nice, sometimes its hard going back to mine...

 

Congrats too for you. Though my ride with HP has been rocky so far, I'd say that seeing how easy it was to fix my issues for them has kept me from regretting my switch from Dell. More problems would have been the last straw though, and I would have demanded my money back.

Anyways, I'd say the screen is no longer a detriment. Before, I'd have given the screen a C. The RGBLED I had in my old Studio XPS 16 was an A+ (I've heard it's as good or better than the Radiance). The one I have now is a B. It's brighter, has better contrast, blacks are closer to black than grey now, and viewing angles seem much better.

Though I wouldn't rule out a freakishly good display, I wonder if it's something that's changed in the last month.

 

How do we determine which display we have? Mine isn't bad, but if theres something better that was released I might be rather ruffled in the feather department

 

Good question. I'd like to know if mine is different or not, and I don't want to take my machine apart. Anybody know?

 

Look in device manager, under monitors, details tab, hardware id.
What I have seen are LGD02B6, SEC4254

 

Mine is LGD02B6. I wonder what the deal with that D is.

 

This means you have the LG display, it has been identified to be slightly better than the Samsung counterpart used in the ENVY14.

 

I mean that there's a D in the number I have whereas what you've seen did not have a D in it (LGD02B6 vs. LG02B6).

 

Oh I missed out that D. Post edited.

 

Lol oh dang I was hoping that meant I had some new unheard-of display

 

Anyway the displays used in the ENVY 14 are PVA panels, which should be better than normal TN panels used in most other laptops. Although the plastic e2e piece causes the screen to be undesirable, the PVA screen is still better.

 

As a former Sony Vaio customer, I can tell you that this is WAY more important than lots of people initially think. Sony, I found through 15 months of pure suffering (the most unpleasant ownership experience I've ever had for ANYthing I've ever owned) honestly doesn't seem to care at ALL whether their customers are are happy...regardless of who you speak to (and I've spoken to people of ALL levels at Sony).

So I say, if you can find a company that has people who actually care about your satisfaction - at any level in the chain of command - and have the power and willingness to do the "right" thing to ensure your satisfaction, stick with that company. For me, that attitude is worth sacrificing something (or several somethings) in product features or the best of everything. I have learned (unfortunately, the hard way) that its the complete ownership experience that matters...and service can sour that experience way faster (and irrevocably) than a missing feature can

 

That's one of the biggest reasons people buy MacBooks, you might pay out the @$$ for it, but if you buy into their system, they do treat you pretty well.

 

I completely agree. You can have the greatest product in the world and the best company image, but unless you try to make your customer satisfied, it's not worth anything. I loved all my Dells and actually like Dell, but nothing compared to when I actually got to the Resolutions/Case Manager folks at HP. It was so painless to get my replacement laptop, which, coincidentally, is about $1400 to a regular consumer and the cost to me was about $960. As long as this one doesn't get wonky, I'll be satisfied.

 

Lucky dude. For me it's long and tedious ahead