Here at PCMech, we have been catching the brunt of a lot of frustration with Hewlett-Packard. It started with my review of the HP Pavilion DV6000 notebook PC. I gave the unit a good review and I continue to be happy with it. I have had to replace the battery for it already (it would no longer accept a charge), but the matter was resolved. However, judging by the user comments on that article, there are a LOT of people out there experiencing problems with this computer, its larger cousin the DV9000, and HP support itself. PCMech finds itself in the unique position now of being ranked #1 in Google for a search for "DV6000", which no doubt puts us in the position of getting a lot of frustration from you – our reader.
I later posted a followup where I talk about the most common problem in these notebooks: the loss of wireless connectivity due to hardware failure. I had a bunch of user comments on that post as well, all saying they were having the same problem. I also began to talk about HP’s apparently crappy tech support.
User Stories with HP Support
A scan through the user comments shows some real dismay with HP. A user named Jim has a real doosey:
I am on the phone right now with HP. I almost thought I was dreaming when I realized what had happened with my repair.
I had the problem with the wireless on the dv9000 (top of the line model). Hp sent me a new wireless card without much hassle. Didn’t work which I could have predicted, but I know big companies have protocols.
So I waited a couple of days (didn’t have time to worry about the wireless again yet) and went to turn on the notebook just to work with excel. I hear Beeeep, Beep, Beep, (POST error for video adapter problems) but the computer booted find just no display. Well now I have to send the whole notebook back.
(A few weeks later) Today I was getting impatient, and wanted my notebook back so I check my web service order status and to my amazement there is a bill for $800! I call up and 2 hours later come to find that I was charged due to “water damage and a screw in the wrong place”. If it has water damage how does the thing boot at all!!! I am a computer science student and my job is repairing computers I know how to treat them and I would not send it back for warranty replacement if I spilled something on it.
The tech support said that there is nothing they can do, and I will not get my notebook back unless I pay the bill. The computer is only 6 months old and cost $1300.00! I just can’t believe things like this actual happen, it makes me sick to my stomach just thinking about it.
Matt puts his frustration with HP support protocols this way:
I just can’t wait to endure another three hours on the phone with HP support. “Now sir, turn over the notebook and remove the battery….”
It gets no better for Ryan:
I bought a dv9500t in august this year and on the very first day it crashed with internal errors. After 2 hrs on the phone getting transferred from one department to another i got a replacement for it but after 2 months the wireless network card stopped working and then the hard drive crashed. Its been a month now .I have been calling every to find out the status of my replacement hard drive but those brainless agents give me stupid reasons. I was tired of calling up every day and i asked for the case to be escalated to a case manager and she assured me that i will receive it on the due date and it did(today). Unfortunately it was the wrong model and wrong rpm and now the cycle begins again…………
And today, I approved another user comment by Nicole, this one threatening legal action:
A few minutes ago, I contacted HP to request a replacement system or a full refund. I contacted 1-800-756-0608 (option 7) and was assigned a caseworker. The caseworker assigned to me is a person named James. He gave me a contact number of 877-917-4380 ext. 94, option 1 for future contact. I informed James of the situation and explained what I expected from the call. A full refund or replacement system that did not begin with a #6 or #9 for the model #. If my request was not met, I would contact an attorney, the better business bureau, and consumer affairs. At that point, James told me that we have 2 options. 1. We can continue talking and troubleshoot if I drop the threat of legal action. 2. I can follow through with legal action.
I told James that I would contact my attorney because I was not troubleshooting the system any longer. He told me that if I contacted my attorney the proper procedure would be to give the attorney my ticket # and have him contact James. I DON’T THINK SO. I told James that my attorney was completely capable of taking the pertinent information from me and following whatever necessary legal procedures he deems fit to resolve this matter. The proper procedure will be decided by MY attorney not an HP representative.
Wondering if perhaps I have accidentally managed to make PCMech a brunt of HP complaints, I did some looking around on Google. I found this entry at Epinions.com where the common theme of the comments is awful tech support. I also found this post at complaints.com giving his story about HP support. Another one. And there’s the user opinions of the DV6000 on Notebook Review. So, while I found several good reviews of the DV6000 (like mine), the general consensus from the real users is that it is only good while it lasts – and that isn’t long. I can’t help but wonder how long mine is going to work before it fries itself.
And The Answer Is…
Both. A look at Best Buy shows you that a huge chunk of their computer line-up is Hewlett Packard. And the equipment is CHEAP. There are several Compaq or HP options (both the same company now), for under $500. With a monitor and inkjet printer, mind you. That sounds like a great deal for the super budget minded. But, remember the age old saying: "You get what you pay for".
When I bought the DV6000 notebook, I paid about $800 for it. You can get the same computer now for about $650. The 9000 series with the 17" screen is $699. Again, this is cheap. That’s why I bought it, and that’s why most people buy it.
So, yes, their computers ARE cheap. And this means they are cheaply built. This fact shows in the high failure rate.
Cheap Hardware, Nice (But Crappy) Support
Standard fare for a call to HP tech support is to get run through a long and mostly idiotic protocol by some nice man from India. I will say that I have never talked to anybody at HP that wasn’t just as nice as can be. That said, the stuff they were asking me to do is simply stupid. For example, a problem with the toner on my HP laser printer led the guy to ask me to literally UNPLUG the thing from the wall. Does he actually think that’s going to make a frickin’ difference?
One thing you cannot fault HP for, in most cases, is throwing LOTS of cheap hardware at the problem. They are usually very quick to send you replacement parts. When I had an issue with the laserjet, they literally sent me 3 printers. Read the whole story. They are also pretty good about getting replacement parts to you quickly. But, this is MY experience. With me, they have been fast, but sometimes incredibly stupid and impractical. With others (as you can see in the comments above, HP shows ineptitude in even sending people their replacements.
HP’s Business Model
There is little doubt that HP is a leader in PC manufacturer. But, I don’t think they got there by being high quality. My observation is that HP instead tries to work through sheer volume. They sell cheap hardware, but in large enough volume that they actually sustain themselves. They get their hardware into retail stores at prices sure to attract attention. Lots of people buy their stuff. Sure, lots of people experience problems with the computers. So, HP hires lots of nice Indian folks at cheap rates and have them field the calls. They then try really hard to debug your problem, but usually using really stupid protocols designed by idiots for idiots. When those fail, they’ll throw cheap hardware at you using overnight Fedex shipping that I’m sure costs them a pretty penny. Again, volume and speed.
The other thing to keep in mind is that they have to make a profit. Hiring those Indian guys costs them money. Sending replacement parts all over the place using Fedex overnight shipping costs them money. On top of this, they manage to sell cheap PCs. I can only imagine how cheap the hardware was for THEM to buy! I know they purchase in volume, but cheap hardware is cheap hardware. And cheap hardware fails.
When you consider all the expense and the fact that their hardware is so affordable, I can’t help but cringe at the probable super low quality of the hardware they are building these computers with.
If you want a computer that is going to reliably serve you for a few years with minimal hassle, I don’t think I would recommend an HP product. If, on the other hand, you want something that works and is cheap enough to simply replace when it breaks, then HP can work for you.
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Great read. Only thing I might say is that because they have had issues replacing the same parts, you might end up buying into some sort of “HP lottery”. Wonder what I’ll get next week?
As long as Big corporations such as HP, DELL, et al
continue to buy units made in communist China, that’s
what you’re going to get.
I’ve been building my own PC’s for years now.
I FLAT OUT REFUSE to use any parts made in the PRC.
The failure rate is too high (e.g. 12 – 15 %)
I use Western Digital Drives (Still made in Malaysia)
Intel motherboards (made in Ireland) etc..
Yes, it costs me about 800.00$ in parts, not counting
my time. but my machines still run, and the ones I’ve
built for friends are still operational.
I don’t even use windows any more either.. RedHat Linux.
and Open office.
Get Smart … build yer own
Keep my fingers crossed, I just bought a HPdv6500t. I’ve always owned nothing but HP’s, printers included, and have not had any of the horror stories you wrote about. I’ve had some issues with Customer Support in the fact that understanding the Tech is sometimes impossible. I’m surprised the CEO has not taken notice of the lousy CS they have. HP CS was always just hammered in Jan 08 issue of PCWorld from customer surveys they did. I can only hope it gets better, doesn’t sound like it can get any worse.
I did see one Asus at BestBuy last night. I was surprised by the lack of choice at that store….Mostly Sony, Gateway and HP.
Well I am in this club! I have a HP Pavilion DV2210US runs perfect for 8 months and now I have two months send it back and forward to HP for repairs. They replace the MLB and send it back for two weeks of use. I am frustating with his Award Winning Technical Support. This is the first time I get a HP and the last one. The laptop it work nice but them the display goes black and it will not boot or work at all. In addition, the first time I send the laptop to repair they kept the ac adapter. Went I call the case manager they have send me batteries and memmories for the notebook but not the ac adapter which I have to go and buy one. I never have this problem with other computer that I have but I am smart and a quick learner. NO MORE HP LAPTOPS IN MY LIFE! NOT THIS CHRISTMAS!
I gave up with HP and anything it stands for ages ago– I had a printer which was intolerable and at one point got sold dry cartridges and then HP refused to replace them. They accused me of defrauding them–so that was a bit of small change gone as well as my trust in the company; but unfortunately i needed a desktop and so an HP rep took the order and delivered a real sour lemon. It was gone in a few months with bad components. Motherboard meltdown. HP claimed to give warranty, but then played the game of shifting responsibility onto local greedy distributors who then soaked me for the work and returned the computer in almost worse condition than it was delivered. I paid a hefty bill for that. With these two experiences, anything that has HP or Compaq written on it gets the finger and I go look elsewhere. I have a cheap Lexmark that does much more than the expensive HP counterpart and never had a single problem in 5years, so now I will go get my second Lexi as well.
Dear sirs,
I had the same problem as Wallace with my DV2210US that was paid off this month. It was 6 months old. 1 week after my initial call I received my returnedl laptop with a replacement MLB. I do own a 2 yr old HP PC and a 1 yr old compaq PC and have had no problems with them. I am very glad to read your warnings though. I now Know why the laptop crashed so soon. I thank you and your readers for your comments.
sincerely,
John
Well I am BACK! Today is December 27, and still without a laptop. Now the say that the DV2210US was factory damage, so they decide to replace it with a new laptop. This time the say they wher going to send a DV2500T, so great I still waiting the laptop. This was three weeks ago. Everytime I call my case manager she is busy or off for the day. Since October 19 to now I just have a nice paper holder. I think we must leg the world know that money do not grow on trees and HP it is stealing money from the people who purchase their cheap equipment. SAY NO TO HP THIS CHRISTMAS.
I have had an ongoing nightmare with my HP notebook DV6565, and it’s still not resolved. It started crashing about a month after purchase in September. After being sent 2 incorrect hard drives, I waited for a box and sent it back for repair. I’ve wasted hours on the phone with very polite Indians who ended every conversation directing me to the website for help, and “thank you for choosing HP.” Many times they marked my job urgent and many times they “accelerated” the urgency. Wow- I was amazed when they returned my “repaired” PC within a week- but all they had done was re-image the hard drive. It crashed almost immediately and then wouldn’t boot up- and now it was the motherboard. They sent me another box, and it just went back last week. Of course, with the holidays, no case manager was available for 10 days. One Indian told me he was 100% confident that I would get a call from the case manager within 24 hours. NOT! I was finally contacted today. They will not replace my PC, because that’s not covered by warranty. She pointed out that they’d only tried once, and hadn’t replaced the drive, so they really hadn’t had a chance to repair it. I’m supposed to get it back repaired by January 9, 2008….
Hi Jeanne, do not hold your breath! After HP says that the will send me the new laptop, I still waiting for it. Now the excuse was that it was out of stock but the case manager did not have the intention of call me and say it. I have to call to find out what was going on and in top of that send an email telling them about my intentions of letting the people know that “HP it’s sucks”. Well they just reorder another laptop, so now I will have to wait for another two more weeks and I hope it is not to tell me that something went wrong again. I just got a new Sony laptop with better hardware for just a few more bucks. “It pays to pays” and for this christmas and the next one “NO HP FOR ME”.
Right now I’m wondering whether to: A. Never again buy a “consumer” (Home/Home Office) support contract through HP, B. Never to buy HP products, or C. Both. After several years of positive “business” support experiences, I got a taste of HP consumer support on December 11th, 2007. It started out okay and then went downhill quickly. Situation: I had a nonfunctional media slot in one of our office’s HP Windows XP laptops. The support documentation showed the system had been purchased through HP Home/Home Office and was still under warranty. The “consumer” (Home/Home Office) support person led me though a few reasonable steps and then suggested I “upgrade to Vista”. Following that, he suggested I purchase a notebook expansion base and proceeded to detail pricing. If you are asking yourself what either of these things has to do with fixing a media card slot, I agree with you. Why was HP Support suggesting the upgrade/purchase of equipment that had nothing to due with the support issue? I was frustrated, so I looked for another way to get this issue resolved. Our local retail business representative (who does HP purchasing and system setup) attempted to get a resolution for us through HP’s Executive Customer Relations Department (email.ecr@hp.com) on Wednesday December 12th. Then we heard: Nothing. We sent a followup email on December 18th. Still Nothing. On December 25th we were sent a Hewlett-Packard Customer Service Evaluation by email stating that we “recently had an issue which was escalated to a case manager or corporate representative” and asked for our feedback about the experience. Since we hadn’t been contacted by anyone and couldn’t get through to anyone, I responded as such. Today, Monday, January 14th, 2008 (over 30 days from the initial inquiry) we finally received an email that a “HP Case Manager is trying to contact you” through the HP Quality Notebook Case Manager Department (1-877-917-4380). Her explanation: HP switched to a new software system in the last month or two – so some of their cases have been left behind. Her suggestion for future poor HP “consumer” support: Disconnect and redial if you get an agent you don’t like. “Sometimes people don’t mesh well together.” What? I wanted some reassurance that I could trust HP support in the future since our office is looking to make some more business purchases. She told me that my experience shouldn’t be colored by “bad apples” (which doesn’t make sense because tech support people usually work off scripts) and that “business products would have business support”. Trust business support but not home/home office “consumer” support? I didn’t feel satisfied with the answer and asked for the manager/number/email of someone higher up I could speak with. She told me she was the manager and there was no one else to speak with/email. Nada. Bottom line: 1. My HP “Consumer” (Home/Home Office) support experience was a waste of valuable time. 2. When I purchase systems, I will avoid Home/Home Office (regardless of the discounts available) and stick with the Business side if I care about support. I am not trusting the possible “consumer” support line “hope I get a good support person grab bag” as insinuated. 3. The “HP Quality Notebook Case Manager” is sending a shipping box to get the laptop repaired. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
Finally the end of the road. On January 13, 2008 I receive a new laptop instead of a DV2500 they send me a DV2700 with same specifications for all the throuble HP have give me. They said that I have to send the old laptop as soon I get the new one. So I did! So far the new DV2700 it is working fine but I have learnd my lesson. Always have your files backup and a second computer. I will think it twice before I buy another HP computer. I feel lucky because I got a new laptop after 3 months and a half without one but for all the phone calls, the anxiety and the sucker look on my face for that time, I think I deserve it! Good lucky to all you guys but like I say “Check for reviews on all the equipments your will like to buy, and for HP think it twice” Wallace PS: I hope this DV2700 will lasts for at lease 6 months!
I just sent my Pavilion in for repair because I kept receiving the “Blue Screen of Death” whenever I was on the internet. HP said, “Your laptop has extensive water damage to the screen, motherboard, and keyboard. Water damage isn’t covered by our warranty.”
Water damage? I’ve never had any beverage near my laptop let alone spill anything on it!
The “Blue Screen of Death” issue started the second day that I used my laptop. It only occurred every five or six times initially so it was more of a inconvenience/hassle at first.
I used online support approximately eight times over a 7 month period to fix the issue. I was told to do a variety of things: defrag, reinstall operating system (I did this four times), run system BIOS check, download drivers. None of these worked so I gave up on support for about five months.
The crashing issue happened more often so finally they told me to send in my laptop. That’s when I received the “water damage” call from HP’s service center. I told the case manager to “review my conversations with support that began during the second week I had the laptop.” I was told that HP only keeps two months of support records and there is no way to prove I had called support.
This “water damage” claim is an excuse not to fix my laptop.
I am posting this comment while I am on hold with HP(1 1/2 hrs) waiting to speak with a “floor supervisor”
I recently started having an issue with my dv9205us laptop. Sometime it would boot, but mos would not( lights go on but nothing)
After speaking with “Mykul” for over 2 hours and pushing buttons while on my tippy toes and counting (one potato, two potato) oh no that was too fast he said (one Mississippi, two Mississippi). He have me a service ticket number and was generous enough to transfer me (1/2 hour wait) to Lucy, which had no idea why I wad talking to her. Let me add that “Mykul” kept saying that my warranty had expired, but my receipt said I had another month and he wanted to sell me an extended warranty.
Anyway after all was said and done I was on my way to recieving a box from hp to ship my computer. A couple of days after shipping my computer “Today” I get a call from someone from HP. It sounded as if I was talking to someone on skype via dialup. After saying “what” about 5 times I was able to understand Your laptop has extensive water damage motherboard. Water damage isn’t covered by our warranty.”
My first reaction was not a nice one. That computer is NEVER around any food or drinks.
Next thing he says is that they could fix it for $1300.00 (I purchased the computer for 800.00)
When I said hell no he said “ok we will ship your computer out in 3 business days” and hung up……
So here I am after explaining my issue to 3 different people….waiting for the floor supervisor……they hung up on me…No lie after 1 1/2 to 2 hours of waiting on the phone they hung up on me.Now I am pissed
My DV6449 notebook is about 8 months old. After the first two months I had Driver problems. I could not replace my Driver because I could not download the Driver. I kept losing the connection. Now I have my 2nd Driver everything seems to be fine, although, I lose connection to my dial-up when the computer goes inactive and the screen saver goes up. I think it’s that saving power thing. Not sure, or is it the hibernation thing?
Hi, Joanne! When your computer is inactive and goes to sleep mode the dialup connection always goes down beacause it goes to sleep (zzzzz…) but about the drivers I know a lots of people that have been with the same problem. This is thanks to HP lack of self respect. On this days I receive an email telling me that I have not send the old laptop after I receive the new one. So I call HP and the HP agent explain that the are not records showing that I send the damage laptop. I just told this guy that I have all the emails, receives, invoices, etc… and I was going to send a copy of all this to the Department of Justice to the Financial Fraud Division and that was all. No more problems. HP is the worse computer company. They have great computers “THAT DO NOT WORK”. Now on 2008 there was another recall from HP laptops. THANKS HP for NOTHING! Wallace
“and I was going to send a copy of all this to the Department of Justice to the Financial Fraud Division and that was all. No more problems. HP is the worse computer company. They have great computers “THAT DO NOT WORK”. Now on 2008 there was another recall from HP laptops. THANKS HP for NOTHING! Wallace”
this is very good advice that WHN Risley should post in a newsletter. The other option should be to contact the State Attorney with a complaint–and that should also move things a bit more quickly. Writers have a tendency to go with complaints to State Atty Office when they feel they are being defrauded by client, publisher or just plain nonpayment–so if there are enough complaints on something like the HP “water damage” excuse, HP might find themselves slapped with fraud investigation or class action– and if they can do it for the cheap LCD crystal on an Ipod why can’t consumers do it for computers? It doesn’t make any sense– nobody should be socked with 800 repair for new computer that is designed to croak after 2-3months.
did Risley check consumer fraud sites? he might be able to link to some of them and that would be nice heat.
someone in this list also made a comment that HP deleted the records after 2months– this sounds a bit bad as in illegal. there is some legal obligation for a company to keep records on complaints, customer services– so this one should also be fielded out to a State Atty or to free legal services… Hp seems to be getting away with a lot of crap, not just in Europe where it can wash its hands and claim that it is the distributors responsibility, but over there in States and so long as they can act like the bully on the block, they will do so. this site must have enough readership and support to make some impact…
You right pogomcl, I find out that at the begining of 2007 when HP have the new computers out with Windows Vista, this ones have factory damage and that the company decide to ignore the recall and wait for people to complain in order to save money on warranties complains. Unfortunately for HP there were to many laptops with problems by the end of 2007. On 2008 there was another recall about a month ago for laptops with the same problems that in 2007. When you buy cheap material, your products are going to suffer and at the end your customers. This is sad because they do have great computer but with cheap hardware. So the story ends, if you want a good computer you read all the reviews and complains before you buy because not only this is happening with cheap computers but with most electronics build buy cheap hardware.
My laptop was eventually fixed for free after being told it would cost me $800. Of course, I had to send it in three times and drop 100′s of f-bombs on the case manager. Each time it was returned from service, the same problem occured IMMEDIATELY!!!!!!!!!!! They didn’t even quality control the repair to see if it the issue was fixed. Eventually, replacing the RAM fixed the problem. Also, the first time it went it, they fixed it ‘because the laptop wouldn’t turn on.’ I sent it in for crashing and had never had a ‘turn on’ problem.
HP service sucks as do their products.
After wasting a ton of time on hold, I have no idea what to do. The laptop is still sealed in the box they returned it in. The water excuse is pure BS. My computer was NEVER around food or water and I was the only one that had access to it.
My experience with HP has been terrible. It is not fair that a company can get away with this.
I just bought the Hp DV6000. Its been 3 days. I took it to my room today, and then I smell something that smells weird. So I look at the laptop, and its off. It was on for about an hour. I smell it, and the smell is coming from it.
Isn’t it amazing that the bad stories are the ones that always get told?
I have to say that HP is probably one of the worst companies to try to deal with when having issues with a product. I had purchased a brand new presario that worked fine for about 11 months then one day it went poof! And I had so many issues with it I cannot even begin to describe them here!
So asap I returned the computer to Best Buy who then sent it back under its warranty to HP to be repaired. I recieved the computer back a few weeks later, By this time my warranty had expired while it was in HP’s shop. When I got the machine back it was in the same state as when I sent it in. They claim to have replaced the MB with a new one. I immediatly contacted Best Buy to inform them of the issue they told me there was nothing they or HP could do since my warranty had expired during the time it was being repaired.
When I contacted HP to let them know they had indeed NOT fixed my machine, I was naturally directed to a person who could barely speak english, she informed me that she could direct me to a tech support person to assist me in resolving the issue with my machine…..for the price of 49.95 for 14 days of assistance…WTF?! are they crazy? I said no thanks I will just toss this computer in the fire and be sure to never buy another of your companies products ever again.
Am I frustrated? Yeah big time. I would never suggest anyone purchase a product from them because in the event it fails on you, you are basically on your own.
Tiffany- I wouldn’t give up yet. The person who told you to pay 49.95 was misinformed. If you’d called back you would have gotten another rep with a different story. I was quoted this on one of my many calls. They have such a disjointed system, and such poor training of their customer reps, never assume anyone knows your case. They often forget to post info, or they post it to more than one return number. In my case -oops-the repair center forgot to look at what the computer problem was, and merely re-imaged a corrupt hard drive, then sent it back without testing it-another oops! When my computer was finally fixed, they called to close the case out and I did not agree until I was sure it worked for a few weeks. I finally got a customer service person in the USA -it was the same phone number people have written in with. Check this site. Your computer was never fixed properly while under warranty, so the case is open. It took me 6 months, but it was finally fixed and has been working since February. They also extended my warranty for 2 years at no charge. I think they count on people getting frustrated and giving up. Good luck!-Jeanne
I am having the same issues that many others are having with HP. I have a DV9040 that is a year and half old. A friend sent me a link to the where HP has a extended warranty for certain DV9040 because the MB is fried. Well mine was not listed so I gave HP a call and got the same crap, 49 for 14 days of tech spt, which does me no good because the damn notebook will not boot up. It has all the same issues as HP has cited, but it is not covered. Will send them an email to see if I can get any resoluation. IF NOT the dumpster it will go and never again an HP product in my house.
I don’t get it first the author likes his dv6000 whatever now HP is junk and it is all our faults for buying cheap hardware?
I don’t consider an $800 – $1000 notebook to be cheap and expected to only last 1 year, do you author?
I expect my $399 EeePC to last longer than than my HP dv2313cl did, and if it don’t make 5 years, well then it was only $399. When PCs get down to $199 or less well then maybe that would be cheap of enough to be replaced every couple years.
HP Laptop is the worst laptop I’ve ever had. Battery DIED completely for only 6 months new. They cannot explain why it would happen. My friend got his HP one year ago. Whole computer died completely. How can a laptop finish off so fast. Worst make EVER!!!!! Will never go for it again. Crazy!!!
I waited too long to try it out my HP Pavilion m9402f or I would have returned it immediately. Worst computer purchase I’ve ever made.
From the first time I booted it up, it has made an annoying tone-tone sound at random intervals, all the time it was running. I recognized it as some sort of warning, but couldn’t find the cause or the fix. Finally, I called HP support. The agent took control of my computer and turned the sound off. Asked if there were anything else she could do. I said, “You haven’t fixed the problem, you have just masked it. I want the cause fixed fixed.”
After she wasted about an hour of my time, I asked to get to the next level of support. Her supervisor came on and turned the sound on, but turned the particular warning sound I was getting off, and told me it was fixed.
By now I had wasted a lot of time and still did not have a satisfactory fix. He offered to call me the next day and continue the process.
The sound he turned off related to failure to connect and disconnect devices. I said it sounded like a hardware or driver problem. He said there is no problem with the PC, just with the sound settings. Baloney!
By watching the task manager processes, I noticed that whenever the warning was raised wmplayer process would flash up and then disappear. I assume the problem is a Vista one, but their support is 1) too ignorant to find fix the problem, and 2) too eager to drop the problem without a real fix. I did point out the observation in task manager, they looked at it and ignored it.
As to the hardware, it is lightning fast at times, but often slower than my single-core machines.
I have/had a DV9000… yeah about a year and a half after buying, my DVD drive broke, well. It worked, but it wouldnt latch close. I had to tape it. Then, about a month before my warranty expired, it just…. DIED. Had to BUY system disks since I couldnt even access the partition, only to find out nope, its something else. Send it off… find out my motherboard, hard drive, and something else I forgot – ALL DIED.
At least they fixed it all, including the DVD drive. Now Im gonna sell the sucker before I have more problems. I just bought a MacBook yesterday.
Im done with HP. My previous was a HP as well, the hard drive killed itself, it would randomly reformat itself every 2 weeks or so, and eventually the screen went.
Yup, they are the worst. I have had the following problems with my DV9000:
-Video card failure 4 times
-Other mother board failure: 3 times
-broken CD/DVD unit
-Large block of broken pixels TWICE
-WLAN adaptore broken TWICE
I had it sent SEVEN times, they still continue changing components without giving a replacement unit. It has never worked for longer than two months.
This is dirt cheap garbage quality chinese consumer crap and probably just as bad as it can get.
//Daniel
Unfortunately, there’s a LONG list of dv9000 owners with similar stories….including me! Two months after the warranty expired on my dv9339us ($1400 new), the motherboard went bad. I’m a moderator at another site (NBR) and there are countless users with premature motherboard and/or video card failures. I was surprised that the nVIDIA 7600 actually didn’t die on mine…
At least I sold it for parts on eBay and made about $500.
I bought a Dell Latitude E6400 and couldn’t be happier with it!
Don’t every buy HP laptops or their stuff. Customer services sucks and so don’t waste your time with them. If it’s not covered, they are not going to waste time to help you. Also if your laptop has display problem and not under their limited warranty, better be ready to fork out $400 to get it fix. I am never going to get any of their products anymore after what i been through. They are not reliable and I’m disappointed at them.
Notebook: dv9339us
Shame on HP. Customer “service” is more than a joke … it borders on unethical. My Officejet All-in-One printer was working fine this afternoon. Then a message from HP popped up with an important update. After that, I could no longer print wirelessly. The abbreviated version of my experience: I called HP for help in dealng with the aftermath of their patch, was told that I could upgrade and get both help and a better printer for $89. When I asked exactly what I’d get for $89, was told the exact same printer. I asked why I would want to buy another printer when this one is not damaged and was told it was because this one wasn’t working. So, anyone who didn’t know the difference between hardware and software problems would be out $89 for nothing. In the end, a simple re-boot got it back on track…with no help from HP and no more wasted money going to them.
I have a $2000 DV2000 HP Laptop that I purchased the EXTENDED WARRANTY when I bought it. Two years later, I had to return it for a new motherboard and CDROM drive – quit working. Two weeks later (still in warranty) I notice a “left corner hinge” problem causing the plastic binding holding the monitor in place began to separate. Basically, this is a design problem since to open the notebook, on must pull the top “lid” up not from the center but to the right of center thereby placing more torque on the left hindge in time. The tech happened to mention to me that they had alot of complaints with this problem. They also admitted that they had LOST their file of users with warranties, and since I had my original screenprints of purchasing the extended warrant, I guess they were finally persuaded that I was not lying. Anyway, on the Extended Warranty it stipulate coverage of the “unit” meaning the case as well as internals. HP didn’t see it that way, and said that eventhough I had the extended “bumper-2-bumper” warranty, it would cost me $150 to have them replace the plastic cover. So, now I am in a battle to find the home phone number of the current HP CEO, Mark Curtis, to ask him about what he thought about this matter.
HP is located in Fremont, CA in Alameda County and I think his home phone number is: 408-739-3988. Give it a try. The warranty specifically says, “Service Coverage: All standard accessories included with the HP base unit part number and all HP-supplied internal components, such as HP Jetdirect cards, memory and CD-ROMs are covered”. Don’t waste your time with their “Helpless Line”. You’ll get the run around. Ed Lyons
my dv9339us is still functioning..for now…but boy have i had issues with it since buying it…started out I would get random errors then BSOD…just assumed this was vista issues 3 yrs ago…then right before the warranty expired on my box the display went (not for the hinge issue) it went to that white powdery screen where it doesn’t initiate the video card from the motherboard but yet the system boots otherwise. Spent the same god awful amount of time on phone with support just like all listed above until finally HP agreed to take it back (2 weeks before my coverage ended). Got it back it lasted about another 6 months and the exact same thing happens again. Start process over only this time I’m told everything is out of warranty and will cost me 450 bucks to get my laptop back, so I do it cause I have a lot of important game design work on it etc. Get it back and has been good for about the last year or so until recently where i’m now having problems with the wireless just note starting (stating there are no resources available for device even after i’ve disabled a butt-ton of them including the video camera) and I am getting some errors again where it cant find solutions for. Its seems to me its getting on its last legs again. I bought a gateway for my son the same day i bought this thing, his hard drive failed which has been the only thing wrong with his, I’ve had 2 motherboards a display and now the wireless adapter flaking out on mine and/or replaced…..i’m think no more hp for me….
HP pisses me off. They have some bs award for customer excellence that I’m sure was bought. I’ve waited 2 weeks now for a repair box that has yet to arrive, spoken to 3 people from 2 different countries and spent over 6 hours of my life just trying to set up this single repair. I like their products but I hate the way they handle their warranty and customer service. I’m so totally turned off by their “support” and probably won’t buy their products anymore if a warranty is needed.