Second HP Laptop given up after 18 months, which brand next?

[Platypus]

My daughter's current HP laptop is 18 months old, and randomly shuts down due to overheating. I've taken the thing to bits but it wasn't that mucky inside, maybe the fan isn't working, who knows.

The previous one, another HP, the connector to the screen developed a fault so the display flickered and eventually gave up.

Both HP, both in the £400 range (so not top of the line I'll admit) but to give up after 18 months seems harsh. Am I being a mug going back to HP? Am I out-of-date and are HP generally considered carp these days?

Now the inevitable question... Dell next? At least I can buy a 3 year warranty with a Dell.

[BolshieBastard]

Bit surprised you went back for a second. My lad's Pavillion dv6000 was enough to put me off.

HP seem to have issues with overheating and, having recently dismantled his to see if I could get it working, Im not surprised. A tiny fan that gets clogged with fluff and a small heatsink for both processor and video chip.

Wouldnt trust dell either.

Have to say, I bought 2 toshiba Satellite lappies nearly 4 years ago and they are both going strong (except the one my son has but he downloads lots of tulipe. However, a quick re format and he's ok again for another 18 months!0.

[Scrag Meister]

Dell.

I bought 2 Dell laptops, XPS M1330 and XPS M1730, 5 months after starting in contracting both have served me really well, one was portable the other a more powerful luggable desktop replacement.

I took out the 3 year on site warranty and on the couple of occasions where the screen died and the GPU, both in the smaller laptop it was all resolved next day, very pleased with the service.

They do tend to be more expensive than your average PC World HP/Acer POS but hey you tend to get what you pay for in some respects.

I've been very pleased with Dell, now waiting to see what the insurers will be offering after the M1330 was nicked.

[Willapp]

+1 for Dell.

Some people don't seem to like them but almost every place I've ever worked use Dell machines and I've owned at least 5 myself (3 desktops, 2 laptops) and never had any major issues at all. The most serious problem was on my last laptop (an XPS M1210 12") where the motherboard died just inside the 3 year extended warranty period, but had an engineer turn up the next day and fit a replacement and no further problems since.

They're normally quite price competitive too when compared against HP etc. so I would definitely recommend one.

[Spacecadet]

another thumbs up for Dell

Although my laptop is now over 5 years old and not made anymore so not sure how reliable my recommendation is

couple of things which I've found really good about Dell
1. Onsite support is fantastic. All the issues I've had have been fixed in under 24 hours. Including a new motherboard after I cooked the old one

2. They don't mind if you've stripped the thing down yourself, even the engineer is optional and if you're happy replacing parts youself then they'll just send the parts.

[BS1397]

Tricky subjective question, I have repaired hundreds of Laptops (Acer/Toshiba/HP/Dell/IBM/Lenovo) and have seen the faults you describe.

1) The video cable is a doddle, It is almost always a case of re-seating the connector but if you are unfortunate to find it is broken then eBay is full of cheap s/h parts.

2) Overheating is usually due to blocked under vents when left on your lap for too long (nice in the winter), or the little fan is sticky due to age and dust. Usually this can be fixed by spinning hard anti-clock wise using compressed air and a tiny dab of lubricant to help release the stiffness.

3) The HP DVxxxx range (this also applies to Dell...etc.) has a special on-board Nvidia graphics chipset that runs very hot and is overstressed causing the solder connections to fail hence the (No Video) issue. I think HP and others could have done more but from what I understand it was too late in the production run by the time the Nvidia problem was discovered to late and gave HP a bad reputation (which I think was not entirely fair but still understandable).

Here is a detailed video; HP Pavilion DV6000 Blank screen fix BGA rework video problem - YouTube

For my money, I would never ever buy a Toshiba, and if I could afford it I would buy a business IBM/Lenovo because they give me the least trouble and are built for engineers by engineers.

In defense of HP/Dell I must say they are equally capable and are good reliable makes, both of which I will happily buy for normal use and in particular because I like to re-image them to MAC OSX because I am too cheap to buy an iBook . Hackintosh is easy as long as you are prepared to edit the odd file to enable some driver to work correctly.

Basically if you can avoid the Retail version of any Laptop then you will do well. Paying a little more for business class will avoid this;

[Durbs]

I'd probably second Lenovo. Have used a few at various clientco's and whilst they aren't the most exciting machines around they can put up with massive amounts of abuse and they keep on ticking.

If buying, these guys are good: Lenovo Laptops | Servers Direct have had loads of server kit from them in the past and they are always reliable and competitively priced.

If you want to earn brownie points though, do the decent thing and get her a Macbook Air!

[BS1397]

Lenovo Laptops | Servers Direct

If you want to earn brownie points though, do the decent thing and get her a Macbook Air!

Thanks for the handy link. Not sure about that just for Facebook, Kids get too much as it is already so it would be a total waste.

Now if Apple would get rid of the keyboard section and turn it into a 17" iPad Air then I might just force my wallet open and buy one.

[russell]

MacBook Air 13 inch

[Normie]

I too have had 2 HP laptops recently fail out of warranty (HP 6735S). One had died completed, the other shut down due to overheating. The 2nd one has now been stripped down, cleaned out and new thermal paste applied to the CPU and GPU. It is now running cooler than when I first got it. Local laptop repair man charged me £40 to do it.