HP laptop PC rant

I bought an HP Pavillion G6 laptop about a year and a half ago after my PC desktop got hijacked by virus. About a year after purchase my battery was completely dead, need to be plugged in to the power outlet all the time. Now my hard drive has the dread "imminent hard drive failure message". I am so done with HP, is just a coincidence or they built their laptop just to last their 1 year warranty? I paid almost $500 for a laptop that didn't last even 2 years...:bawling:

I called tech support and was told repair cost $250 for the hard drive :rant:, that and the battery $185 would cost as much as a buying a brand new one.

Can someone recommend a more reliable laptop brand than the crappy HP?

Apple?

I know they're expensive, but we've had amazing laptops and desktops and they've been Macs and never had a single issue....but if you don't like the Mac platform, they're not for you :)

If you're going for a little cheaper, we currently have a Sony and hubby is super hard on it (drops it....downloads tooonnnnssss of stuff....leaves it on, etc.) and it's been almost 2 years and no issues. We got the "floor model" for a steal from Best Buy. It's running kinda slow now, and sometimes the screen needs to be wiggled to open (from all the dropping incidents), but so far it's pretty decent.

We had an HP and yes, crappy....my Mac lasted for 6 years without a single issue. Then it just got old...and really heavy lol. And so far the Sony is doing okay. Good luck with your next one!!!

HP is horrible my hubby has an ultra laptop and nothing but problems. But customer service was amazing since it was under warranty. I have using a Sony Vaio full loaded and zero problems from Future Shop. And my previous one 4 years was a Vaio and I still have it. Before HP hubby's was Toshiba and it was horrible and acer was even worse. I love my sony vaio and its pink case :)

1. The harddrive issue would happen on any laptop with a mechanical harddrive. The storage on cheaper laptops is usually mechanical versus non-mechanical(SSD) on more expensive models. Mechanical harddrives are made by three companies: Seagate, Western Digital, and Toshiba. All three companies have identical products. The issue you have sounds like bad sectors, which basically means some of the magnetic sectors on the platter have become faulty. This isn't HP's fault. This could have happened with any other cheap laptop with a mechanical harddrive. I should also note that non-mechanical(SSD) harddrives are a new technology with their own set of limitations. They're much more expensive, they have less storage capacity, and if the drive fails you'll never be able to get the data back. However, the benefits are speed, size, and reliability during motion.
2. Harddrive repair is nowhere near $250. You can purchase a 500GB 2.5IN 7200RPM harddrive for under $100 and easily install it yourself. Call up a computer store like NCIX, Newegg, Memory Express, Canada Computers, etc and ask which one you need. Buy it and then watch a few videos on youtube to learn how to install one. It's literally a 5 minute job.
3. Battery replacement is nowhere near $185. You can find an OEM battery on Amazon for roughly $30.
4. If you purchased the laptop with a Visa or Mastercard then you most likely have an extra year warranty via card services.

I've got a Dell, and I love it. It's....quite a few years old now.

I'm on the hate on HP bandwagon. Used a pavillion entertainment laptop - horrid. Heated up like crazy, and the fan was cheap and made a horrible clicking noise. My dad has an HP laptop, turns out his model has an issue where the motherboard becomes warped from being used on the lap.
I had an HP desktop that the battery decided to die on....and it died a smoky, smelly death.

If you have a friend who knows computers, you can probably replace the hard drive for a lot less than $250. Laptops aren't fun to open up though, as each brand and model can be really different - but you can find tutorials online. I just wouldn't recommend it for a beginner.

As far as your desktop with the virus - viruses don't kill the computer. They can definitely destroy your information, but you can reinstall the operating system, and it will work again (but you will lose all your info - there are ways to recover files, just like you can recover files from a dead hard drive using linux). It's just a matter of making sure you don't get the virus again.

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Originally Posted by SmartConsumer

1. The harddrive issue would happen on any laptop with a mechanical harddrive. The storage on cheaper laptops is usually mechanical versus non-mechanical(SSD) on more expensive models. Mechanical harddrives are made by three companies: Seagate, Western Digital, and Toshiba. All three companies have identical products. The issue you have sounds like bad sectors, which basically means some of the magnetic sectors on the platter have become faulty. This isn't HP's fault. This could have happened with any other cheap laptop with a mechanical harddrive. I should also note that non-mechanical(SSD) harddrives are a new technology with their own set of limitations. They're much more expensive, they have less storage capacity, and if the drive fails you'll never be able to get the data back. However, the benefits are speed, size, and reliability during motion.
2. Harddrive repair is nowhere near $250. You can purchase a 500GB 2.5IN 7200RPM harddrive for under $100 and easily install it yourself. Call up a computer store like NCIX, Newegg, Memory Express, Canada Computers, etc and ask which one you need. Buy it and then watch a few videos on youtube to learn how to install one. It's literally a 5 minute job.
3. Battery replacement is nowhere near $185. You can find an OEM battery on Amazon for roughly $30.
4. If you purchased the laptop with a Visa or Mastercard then you most likely have an extra year warranty via card services.

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Thank you all for replying to my post!

I didn't know that there are diff hard drive types. Will have to look into that.

This laptop was paid by CC so highly likely there's extend warranty but how do I get that. Can I just call HP and tell them about that or contact the CC company???:confused:

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Originally Posted by Decaf

Thank you all for replying to my post!

I didn't know that there are diff hard drive types. Will have to look into that.

This laptop was paid by CC so highly likely there's extend warranty but how do I get that. Can I just call HP and tell them about that or contact the CC company???:confused:

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Contact your creditcard issuer. They'll go over it with you and help you file a claim. They'll usually then let you get the manufacturer to repair the issue and reimburse you afterwards.

Thanks SmartConsumer! :-)

I have owned many brands of Laptop - Dell, HP, Sony, E-machine and Acer and I like Acer. Also a little something I've discovered is inevitably all laptop batteries die, its just how it is but if you purchase an extended warranty, it will not only cover you if something goes wrong after the standard manufacturers warranty runs out but you can use the extended warranty to get a new battery. For me its a win, win.

Yay for SmartConsumer! It's great when people know stuff and they share their knowledge with us.

Thanks for all this information totally new to me. We bought our lenovo 5 months ago from future shop with credit card (working perfectly until now). It already has one year manufacturer warenty. Now it means it will have 1 year more (like total 2 year) warenty? Or that extended warenty thing is only with specific C.Cs or with all C.Cs. If thats right will be nice although I pray I wo'nt have to use that. lol

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Originally Posted by SmartConsumer

Contact your creditcard issuer. They'll go over it with you and help you file a claim. They'll usually then let you get the manufacturer to repair the issue and reimburse you afterwards.

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Originally Posted by uanoor

Thanks for all this information totally new to me. We bought our lenovo 5 months ago from future shop with credit card (working perfectly until now). It already has one year manufacturer warenty. Now it means it will have 1 year more (like total 2 year) warenty? Or that extended warenty thing is only with specific C.Cs or with all C.Cs. If thats right will be nice although I pray I wo'nt have to use that. lol

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Go to the issuer website(BMO, TD, CIBC, etc) and look-up the card you have. It'll list whether you have extended warranty or not under the benefits section. Make sure to keep your receipts or at least scan them onto your computer.

i have an hp and im pretty happy with it. it does get pretty hot sometimes, but usually just when updates are happening. and the battery life isnt the greatest, but for the $400 i spent to get it, i cant really complain. the experience at best buy when i bought it however was terrible. ended up getting a great deal on student office to compensate me for the awful customer service i received. which was nice :)