Your experience with HP?

So, its likely I won't get a laptop until sometime in January (settlement money, long story) so from now until then, I'm shopping around. That way, when I do have the cash, no wasting time then, y'know?

For the most part I've been looking at Dell specifically. Got my first laptop from there (Latitude 110L) thru college which has lasted me this long, and my mom customized her desktop from there.

But, on a whim, I decided to check out the local stores (Circuit City and Best Buy) to see what they have to offer.

Now, the laptop I have in mind currently is a Dell Vostro 1500. But again, no buying until I actually have the money, so my mind can change. Especially with the good deals Circuit City's offering on HPs.

Mum always told me that if a price seems too good to be true, it likely is. So I'm wondering, what's the difference between buying a computer online as opposed to buying at a store, aside from customization? Are HPs well built, long-lasting, etc? Pros and cons is what I'm curious about, that sorta thing.

 

Your mileage will vary with every brand. But my experience with HP has been good service (not great), but real disappointment with the laptops being powered by AMD processors. That being said I would imagine the Intel based HP's are pretty decent. My experience is that the HP (AMD X2 based) laptop I have is still sitting in a box more than a month back from the depot for repairs.

 

The Vostro is a business-oriented product. An HP consumer-oriented laptop will not compare in terms of build quality and ruggedness. You may want to consider an HP business model if those qualities are important to you.

 

Well, if someone asked me what brand i would suggest, i say HP every time. i am definetly a fan of HP, though i hate Dell. I am just working on buying a dv9500t in late december or so. HP is top of the line, also with support. Only recently did HP start making prices for the "General Public" or "Not Very Rich" people (Before their prices were somwhat expensive- but it shines through on thier new HDX series). Like the 9500t im getting is around $1,400, a few months back before all these rebates and general price dropping, it was around $2,150 for the same specs. And its not just because thier getting rid of these models, they have been this cheap for around 3-4 months now and really, it has all the new technology in it, there isnt much of a new systen to put out. They already have a Core 2 Extreme notebook out, maybe for the 8800M, but im sure they will just put that in a new model number and keep the current models for the people who cant afford a 2,000+ dollar notebook. I've always had good experience with HP in all aspects, I've had a dv6500t in my possesion for a while (using it while a friend went on vacation) and it was great. i still even have a Pentium II HP Vectra and it doesnt have any problems ever (exept it isnt new tech). Overall, HP is a great brand to buy from and i'd strongly reccromend them. Especially over Dell.

Hope I could Help

 

I have had a dv6000t for almost a year now and have been pretty pleased with it. The fan runs a little more then I would like but that is my only complaint (and its less of a problem now that cooler temperatures are here). I feel that my particular unit is built better then most other consumer level laptops I have tried (others have reported build issues though). I have never had to contact support, so I can't comment on that.

 

I'd personally say HP business support is a mixed affair...but overall positive (and will buy from them again if I need to!). By phone they stink, by chat they are great. Get at 'at-home' warranty though, because their 'mail in' warranty is a pain (because you have to mail it in...and lose the laptop, get it damaged, etc, etc).

But yeah, HP business machines would definitely be a good choice to look at.

And speaking from personal experience: if your HP laptop does not last and you have a warranty, HP will replace the machine. They honor their warranties the way I would expect them to, from part replacement and repair to entire laptop replacements if that is what it takes.

 

Great so far. Didn't have to wait very long for the notebook and the machine hasn't blue screened or had any problems with it so far. I have never had the need to call customer or technical support.

The design and the price of my notebook made me fall in love with the laptop.