dv8000t to buy or not to buy?

Hello, I plan to buy a laptop as a desktop replacement for overseas use this coming Sept. So with that in mind buying something reliable is very important, and though I plan on buying extended warranty it is still quite a hassle for me to ship something back home from far away. So far my choices are either the dv8000t and the asus s/z96j. I really like the dv8000t and given i'm custom ordering it from costco, for the price it seems like the better deal.

However, I read that there are some major keyboard problems with this model that dont seem to be fixable. Its hard to say how often this occurs as the majority of the people that have posted in that keyboard problem thread are those that have incountered this problem. So whats your take on it? Should I still get it? or is it best to avoid this issue? Is this still a problem?? Most of the people that have this problem got their laptops awhile back. Is there any other problems I should be aware of before I purchase the hp?? Thx!

 

I received my dv8000t from Costco a couple of days ago and so far I'm more than pleased. I, too, heard the keyboard horror stories and that prompted me to cancel my order with HP shopping and reorder through Costco. I was able to upgrade to Media Center, add the T.V. tuner and increase the service plan from 2 yrs to 3 yrs. all for about an extra $50. The best part is that Costco has a much more generous 6 mo. return policy. If any problems pop up, I hope it's within the first 6 months.

I'm happy to report that at this time the keyboard seems firm and responsive. The screen is awesome and setup was a breeze. The only real bummer was all the pre-installed software and partitions. It ate up about 30G of my hard drive. Of course that can be reclaimed if you know what your doing. So I say go for it but definitely go thru Costco. Good luck!

'Cat

 

I agree with webcat; order through costco.com and you've got 6 months to decide if the laptop has any issues serious enough for its return.

I have noticed a few keyboard issues, that are not too annoying, yet.

 

gmb1994, what kind of keyboard issues have you experienced? is it the common ones everyone else has been having?

 

Just got my dv8000t two days ago.....ordered it through Costco.
No problems at all so far. Love it.
With the 6 mo. return policy.....no worries here!

 

You do have 21 days to return it thru hp.com. Granted, that's not as long as CostCo's return policy but I wanted to let you know. I ordered thru hp.com and got an amazing deal in the end. Also, HP will pricematch up to 30 days if the price goes lower.

Be sure to order the reinstall CD with your machine. If you don't it will cost you $75 from tech support.

 

So you mean they will give you a refund or money-back for the difference of the notebook within 30 days?!?

 

Yes, they did to me. I bought my DV2000T and a week later they started offering the free upgrades on memory and hard drive. I called them and they refunded me $185.