Possible DV2000t purchase soon, turned off by HP Customer service reviews, thoughts?

I really like what I've been reading about the DV2000t. The laptop is right where I want to be in my budget, has a 7200 for gaming (BF2, BF2142) which I hope it can handle, at least on medium settings w/ 1GB of RAM.

The only con I see from this laptop is the horrible customer service from HP I see on all the reviews I have been reading all over the internet. Is it worth buying an extended warranty? I aplogize if there are numerous threads about this subject, but, is there anyone that can throw their two cents in?

Also, what is the difference between the different screens people are receiving (SEC)?

TIA for your help.

 

Can't tell u about the screens but I just got one with 2GB of ram my wife hijacked the one in my signature so I purchased.. its a good system. i think 2gb is better. the system is running great. i run civiliazaion iv and the sims 2 with all expansion packs also lego star wars and doom 3. I even got Far Cry to run

 

I recently got a dv2000t and I was biting my nails over crappy customer service reviews too. But so far, I haven't had a need for testing out just how badly HP treats their customers. My dv2000t is perfect so far, but I might just have gotten lucky. And I've had it for less than a month, so there's still plenty of time for things to change.

I took the gamble because I really loved the specs, design and weight of this laptop. So far, it's been worth it for me. You have to decide if you want to deal with potential headaches or not.

As to screens, I lucked out with a screen people claim to be a good one (QDS), but from what I hear, not every SEC screen sucks as much as people say. Also, I opted for a non-glossy screen, which may or may not have made a difference. I think it just depends on your luck... It's kind of terrible that we've come to that when ordering a brand new product, but I guess it comes down to cheaper price or more guaranteed quality.

 

okay how do I tell which screen it is

 

I'm enjoying mine and wouldn't trade it for any comparable brand...

 

Well, here's my $.02.

The dv2000t is a really nice machine in terms of hardware. It's very well built (compared to most other consumer-grade notebooks), and has very nice hardware options to configure as you wish. The size is great if you need to carry the machine around a lot.

HP's support, on the other hand, is inexcuseably bad. The dv2000t Vista audio issues (not found on currently shipping models), the dv5000 and dv8000 series keyboard issues... the list of issues HP never properly addresses is quite long... and if your machine has a problem you may come to regret your purchase.

So, I don't know what to recommend. The hardware is great, and at a good price. The support is just awful, and makes it tough to recommend the machine.




Alynch75 -- To find your montior manufacturer: Open control panel -> Device Manager -> Monitors -> Generic Plug n Play Monitor (double click to open properties) -> Details tab -> Select Hardware IDs from the properties dropdown box.

You should see something like this:
MONITOR\AAA1111

The AAA is the threee letter code for the monitor manufacturer. The 1111 is that manufacturer's panel product number.

As far as what the difference is... there really doesn't appear to be much of one any more. It used to be that there was a huge difference in picture quality between different panels, but for the last several months I really haven't noticed complaints with any particular brand panel.

 

What you will find on forums is that people don't post about their good experiences with customer service. They only post about negative things to do with customer service. This is the same for all companies, whether it's HP, Sony, Apple, or AOL.

Don't let a few people put you off - the DV laptops are fantastic.

 

Good point, and thanks for the quick replies.

Where could I find some good info on Core Duo vs. Dual Core (Core 2 Duo is overkill I think for me), or is this an obvious answer and just buck up the extra $50 or $75?

 

I say that the Core 2 Duo is worth the price in terms of longevity and use and better overall performance. Get the best you can when you purchase a laptop as it really can't be upgraded later. Sure you can upgrade memory and the hard drive but you will be pretty much stuck with the cpu choice

 

Definitely go for the Core 2 Duo option. Dual core technology is the future, so it's best to get it now.

 

The small price difference between the "Pentium Dual Core" and the "Core Duo" makes it nearly a no brainer. A faster clock, and double the cache is worth more than $50 I would think. As for the Core 2 Duo, definitely an excellent processor, but the cost is quite a bit higher as well.

 

I will say that with hp techs... they are no help at all. I have had only a little help but the best is online. That is where I have had my only good technical experience.
As far as their customer service, I have actually had only good things to say. I ordered my notebook in January after a taxicab ran over my old Zv5000 pavillion. I wanted to order a separate battery after I customized it and they first said no because I had already ordered it but in the same phone call ended up giving me a $70 credit out of no where so that I could order the battery at the custom price.
They also later gave me a $130 credit when the TV tuner went to free a month after I had already purchased it.
I feel the larger the company, the more chances they have to get something bad to happen such as a bad customer service incident. But usually, only the bad gets reported. Realistically, they probably aren't great but it could be worse.
And definitely get the Core 2 Duo option.

 

I've had to get my 8510w repaired because the touchsensitive zone doesn't respond (so i have no way of enabling the wireless adaptor). I have a 3 year international on-site warranty. I'm not sure about where you live but in the UK the "on-site" things means nothing.

They send a guy to collect it and then they get back to you when they feel like it. The HP rep actually had the audacity to ask me "can't you take it to PC world or something?" For those of you that don't know, HP doesn't accept responsibility for repairs not conducted but them. I was sans computer for 12 days before i told them i wasn't interested in waiting any longer and they sent me the machine back, unchanged.

The man who collected it also ticked of "scratches" and "dead pixels" under the "damage" section of his collection form. My laptop has no scratches or dead pixels. I think it speaks very poorly of their customer services.

Apart from the customer services however, my laptops a brilliant machine, and hasn't had another glitch at all. No dead pixels, tight screen, no bloatware, runs cool and quiet with 2.4GHz core 2 duo and 3 GB ram. It's a real shame HP disappoints in the repairs department.

My brother buys dell, and even though their workmanship is generally inferior, they do take their warranty seriously. You fix an appointment time and the dell van turns up with everything from spare motherboards to spare keyboard keys.

My advice; don't bother with the warranty unless you've actually heard positive things about customer services IN YOUR AREA.

 

I don't know, I think I go along with what someone else here said: People generally don't go out of their way to come to places like this and talk about their stellar customer service experiences. On the one hand, the times I've had to deal with HP with problems with my notebook, they were great, turnaround times were fantastic, and they were very responsive. On the other hand ... it says something I suppose that I've had problems at all.

It's the same old thing: Buy a Dell, and all the nightmare stories about Dells will come flying at you; same goes for HP, Toshiba, and all the rest. In the end, I think notebooks are like cars: they've all reached the same general level of quality, but if you roll the dice and end up with a lemon (in either product or service) it will swear you off of a particular brand in a heartbeat. But in the end, it's out of your hands, and you have to buy *something*. The only thing I'd say is that I believe the extended accidental coverage is not wasted money on a notebook. I just wouldn't go more than 2 years out with it.

 

Quoted for truth. I couldn't have said that better myself.

As for the actual quality of the HP Pavilion DV series.... I've only played with them in stores, but they seem pretty well built. The only thing I didn't like initially was the flimsy keyboard, but lately they've been improving on that also. Every time I try a pavilion keyboard, the less it seems to flex.

I personally have an HP Compaq nw8440 (part of the business line)... And it's held up extremely well, considering it's been carried around and used almost every day for the last 16 months or so. I've had no real problems with the laptop itself, except for some cosmetic and fit & finish issues, and the pointstick cap wearing out twice. Unfortunately, I am on my 5th or 6th power adapter; there's a design flaw in them that causes them to fail prematurely. Fortunately, the Pavilions seem to use a different power adapter, so you shouldn't be worried about the power adapters.

Either way, good luck with your new laptop, whatever brand and model it may be!