I bought an HP Pavilion some time back and was excited to own a NEW COMPUTER from a BRAND NAME COMPANY.
However, within weeks I had a problem.
The CD-RW didn't work. I called the service center and they shipped me a new one. That one sucked as well. I called again, to discover that my warranty was up and they didn't want to replace my replaced CD-RW. Several phone calls later, including one to the CEO, they shipped me a CD-RW that worked.
MUCH later, prowling the Internet news, I discovered that the makers of the CD-RW — a company overseas, screwed up. HP had known for quite some time that the CD-RWs of a certain lot were defective. The laser lens was bad — but they didn't bother to recall them.
BTW, that CD-RW lasted just long enough to go out of warranty and failed. I bought a replacement from eBay dirt cheap and installed it and it was still working fine when I retired the system.
The Hard Drive needed to be replaced through an HP recall. When I contacted them, the service rep wanted my credit card number and I asked why. He said that if I didn't return the old HD, I'd be charged $1.00. I said fine. The replacement arrived and I transferred the data over, but didn't — at that time — know how to purge the old HD. I had a lot of personal information on it. So, I kept it.
HP charged me $161 for the drive!
I called them up and yelled at them and told them what I had been informed. They told me that the rep apparently was in error. Plus I would not get my money back because the return program had ended.
I could have bought a replacement drive brand new for under $100 or a nearly new one off ebay for $45.
Shortly after, the Pavilion failed. My computer repairman informed me that the motherboard had died and the cost to fix it was $300. He also informed me that I might want to change out the power supply since HP tended to put in under powered ones in their 'discount' computers and the Pavilion had been discontinued a year before I bought it.
Thoroughly disgusted, the repair guy and I built a new computer from scratch.
I upgraded the chip, increased the memory from 512 to 1024 with room for another 1024, dumped in the biggest power supply he could get, added all sorts of additional ports, threw out the HP keyboard and lousy mouse and replaced them with Logitech, upgraded the HD from 1 gbyt to 90 and paid actually about $200 less than the HP originally cost.
That's the system I'm using now. I've never had a problem with it.
Later, reading various computer reports, I found that most of the major companies routinely dump in inadequate power supplies, overcharge you for advanced chips and deliberately limit the memory. I also found out that, if you ship your system in for warrant repair, they automatically wipe your HD and reload the programs. That was never mentioned in the warranties and at least one friend, upon getting her Gateway back from servicing, discovered that all of her work on the HD was gone.
The companies used to burn your keycap letters into your keys years ago. Then they just started painting them on. They also used to sell replacement keys cheaply for when you wore the keytops off. Well, that stopped. To prevent you from buying generic keys from stores that sold them or ripping them out of old keyboards, they started making the keys fit with a priority design.
Meaning other brands would not fit.
HP, when my keyboard caps wore out, would sell me a new board for $80. I bought a Logitech board for $29.95 that worked just fine.
HP produced a REALLY GOOD inkjet printer, though. Mine lasted for years. However, they stopped producing that brand and my computer guy's back room had a pallet full of worn out printers that were too expensive to repair. He suggested I buy another one from Walmart. (ACT Computers in Vero Beach, Florida. A great place which doesn't concentrate in ripping you off and will not sell you what you don't need.)
BTW. My new computer case has PLENTY OF ROOM IN IT, unlike the HP, where I could barely get my fingers in among the junk to replace parts.
I will no longer deal with HP.
Be careful what brand of computer you buy and if it is cheap, check out the specs very carefully. Also, please note that places like Walmart tend to buy up huge volumes of discontinued types — which they don't tell you about. However, if you're wise, you can still get a good deal from them.
HP, gateway or Dell — check out the system carefully before buying. You might not like the chip speed, the memory volume or the power supply. If the case is crammed and cramped, then they're saving money by making the thing smaller — which doesn't always allow for easy repair by you or for adequate cooling.
BTW, if you choose to have a computer guy build you one, you need to know that they only warranty the parts. The big computer companies warranty the software.
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