HP Bashing

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MadEngineer

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#159876 15-Dec-2014 18:42

So much HP bashing in here so I'm going buck the trend. After a few personal recommendations from a couple of my (non-concerned) vendors I've continued to buy HP (pro/elites) for our staff and they've been fantastic. We've got a couple of ancient models that have just kept trucking on. Plus replacement parts are comprehensively readily available online. Staff have been impressed with their HP's and I've had requests to be able to buy them at end of life.

I've dealt with their 0800 support line and they've been straight to the point with no scripting to get past (Toshiba was awful, had an issue where they would not boot/restart when docked and ended up returning a bunch of laptops because of it).

Their range seems to be the largest, especially when looking for a real docking solution (ie, not a USB port replicator that doesn't charge -- yes I'm aware charging via USB models do exist) and a full keyboard with a numeric keypad. When filtering down what's available with a customer's requirements for a laptop there's always an HP model that fits the bill.

You're not on Atlantis anymore, Duncan Idaho.

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#1198008 15-Dec-2014 18:48

Because you are not buying bottom of the barrel crap from retail stores that says HP on it but is generally made by whatever the cheapest OEM was to tender for it.

HP business stuff is good. The budget stuff at noels and warehouse etc are junk.

Richard rich.ms

lxsw20

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#1198012 15-Dec-2014 18:54

HP Business grade gear is great. Their consumer stuff on the other hand, not so much.

Andib

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#1198038 15-Dec-2014 19:53

It's much the same as Dell IMO.
Their Business grade gear is top notch but wouldn't go near their consumer crap.

We solely use HP gear at work (Except for the MS SP3's) and have always found their support when it's needed to be great.

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MurrayM

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#1198373 16-Dec-2014 11:59

So how does one buy HP business grade gear for home use? From their website? Will they sell it to home users?

littlehead

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#1198384 16-Dec-2014 12:41

After the February Christchurch earthquake we needed some Laptops asap for our staff working from home. We were fortunate in that we got given 2 second hand HP Elite books from a prominent national corporation. We also bought 2 consumer HP's from the first retail store that opened. Over 3 and a half years later the Elite books still work fine, despite all the moves, earthquake and general abuse. The retail HP's crapped out after 18 months.

For our normal purchasing we only buy the Pro/Elites. Mostly trouble free, though we did have a bad run on a single model of Probook and hard drives dying. All looked after under warranty fine.

wasabi2k

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#1198409 16-Dec-2014 13:04

MurrayM: So how does one buy HP business grade gear for home use? From their website? Will they sell it to home users?

Most computer shops (NOT Noel Leemings etc) stock them - e.q. Acquire, Ascent, etc etc. Just look on PriceSpy.

They aren't secret or special or anything. Just be aware you will likely end up paying a premium for business grade gear - usually because of vPro and other business friendly features.

You will also have a hard time finding a business focused laptop with anything other than integrated graphics.

DravidDavid

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#1198420 16-Dec-2014 13:17

I had a consumer grade HP DV7 for years and it was really quite good. The bloatware was crap, but that was ripped off as soon as I got it. The business grade stuff is worlds ahead however. I mainly had ex-lease business grade Dell laptops for the shop and never had a problem. They were looked after though!

While I think the quality of consumer products in the laptop department may vary a bit and some are built with hereditary problems...I think the largest cause of faults is owners that don't give a flying fart about their equipment and expect it to be on call non-stop, all the time no questions asked, no maintenance required.

That's just not the case with laptops. People decide to use it on their frilly bed throw and then complain it over-heats is pretty damn high! Frilly fabric to a laptop cooling fan is like flax to a lawn mower. Can't count on one hand the amount of laptops I've ripped apart to remove dust and snip fabric away from fans.

If you buy a product and look after it, the product will most likely last you a long time.

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lxsw20

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#1198424 16-Dec-2014 13:29

Problems when I was fixing consumer HP gear.

DV series/Compaq
Mouse buttons would break off, WiFi would stop working the fix was a replacement system board, screen cables were poorly routed and broke easily. AMD processor based products ran too hot and had this cool feature where they would just die. When they died you had to replace the CPU and the system board at the same time. Replace just one and you would likley kill the new component you just replaced. Even the heat syncs would fail sometimes!!

Probook/Elitebook
Schools used to break keys off the keyboard, schools used to kill HDD's all the time. The NX6320s seemed to have bendy LCDs that would die too. Other than that, reliable little machines.

MurrayM

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#1198428 16-Dec-2014 13:35

wasabi2k:
MurrayM: So how does one buy HP business grade gear for home use? From their website? Will they sell it to home users?

Most computer shops (NOT Noel Leemings etc) stock them - e.q. Acquire, Ascent, etc etc. Just look on PriceSpy.

They aren't secret or special or anything. Just be aware you will likely end up paying a premium for business grade gear - usually because of vPro and other business friendly features.

You will also have a hard time finding a business focused laptop with anything other than integrated graphics.

Thanks for the info.

I've got a friend who recently bought an HP all-in-one desktop from Harvey Norman's (I think it was this one) and I was quite impressed with it. I liked the look of it and how quite it was (virtual no fan noise that I could hear at all). I've got no idea what the performance was like, but it will only be used for web browsing and non intensive things like that. I'm guessing that the Pavilion range is just consumer?

ubergeeknz

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#1198429 16-Dec-2014 13:36

It's true, the pro/elite stuff is good. As are Proliant servers. Everything else branded HP, rubbish.

DravidDavid

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#1198439 16-Dec-2014 13:58

lxsw20: Problems when I was fixing consumer HP gear.

DV series/Compaq
Mouse buttons would break off, WiFi would stop working the fix was a replacement system board, screen cables were poorly routed and broke easily. AMD processor based products ran too hot and had this cool feature where they would just die. When they died you had to replace the CPU and the system board at the same time. Replace just one and you would likely kill the new component you just replaced. Even the heat syncs would fail sometimes!!

Probook/Elitebook
Schools used to break keys off the keyboard, schools used to kill HDD's all the time. The NX6320s seemed to have bendy LCDs that would die too. Other than that, reliable little machines.

All the electrical faults regarding WiFi I saw were because someone had spilt some kind of liquid on their machine and put it in the hot water cupboard thinking it would be perfectly fine in the morning. I'm sure heat plays a role with electrical faults like that too. But I'm guessing majority of the people with those problems use their laptop on the carpet.

Never snapped any keys completely, although my magpie stole my capslock key which clicked right back in with no problems.

I had an i7 model. It still ran quite hot, but it ran just fine. After about 3 years, I replaced the thermal paste as a precaution, and removed excess dust with compressed air. Not that anyone else would do that...But servicing keeps them reliable.

I had two 500GB drives installed which I'm sure are still running just fine. I'm sure the thief is very happy with it.

I wouldn't buy a consumer grade laptop today. But I feel like most laptop companies get a bad wrap because they can't afford to give stupid people the laptop they want at their price point (usually sub $1000) and they can't jack their prices up to build them to be abused by a 5 year old riding it down the stairs either.

lxsw20

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#1198445 16-Dec-2014 14:18

I'm glad you have had a good experience with your particular HP laptop.

1101

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#1198503 16-Dec-2014 16:46

HP Bus have made some real lemons, just as every other brand has.
Usually they are very good.
Support is Excellent, often next day onsite warranty repairs .
I guess if its the no1 selling brand, its going to get the most unhappy customers (as well as the most happy customers)

PB-Tech sell HP Bus pc's btw

old3eyes

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#1198508 16-Dec-2014 16:53

1101: HP Bus have made some real lemons, just as every other brand has.
Usually they are very good.
Support is Excellent, often next day onsite warranty repairs .
I guess if its the no1 selling brand, its going to get the most unhappy customers (as well as the most happy customers)

PB-Tech sell HP Bus pc's btw

Can you point us to an example??

Regards,

Old3eyes

Handle9

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#1198563 16-Dec-2014 18:30

old3eyes:
1101: HP Bus have made some real lemons, just as every other brand has.
Usually they are very good.
Support is Excellent, often next day onsite warranty repairs .
I guess if its the no1 selling brand, its going to get the most unhappy customers (as well as the most happy customers)

PB-Tech sell HP Bus pc's btw

Can you point us to an example??

Something like these.

http://www.pbtech.co.nz/index.php?z=p&p=NBKHNB25709I&name=HP-EliteBook-2570p-Intel-i5-3320M-2.6GHz-4GB-320GB

My sub contractors use these and we use Dell Latitudes. Both are good, especially considering they get used in a construction environment (i.e. commercial building sites) which are horrendously tough on gear.

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