Last week's survey showed that HP's consumer computers break down the most, with 25% of owners reporting problems in the first three years. Asus models had the fewest problems, although even there the rate was around 12% -- still high.
That HP computers are poorly designed and manufactured is no surprise to owners. Or to repair shops.
In the previous posting, I noted that I only buy cheap computers now. That's due to the mis-adventures from the last over-$1000 computer I ever bought, an HP tx 1000-series, whose list price was $1,600.
I bought it on sale at $300 off in August 2007, and it is now dead. I bought it because of its 12" touch screen. A 12" model would be smaller for traveling, I thought; the touch screen would be useful for testing upcoming touch-based software, I thought.
To my dismay, I found the 12" model not much smaller than a 15-incher; the touchscreen was quite unresponsive, needing repeated jabs for it to notice. Also, this was one of the early computers with Vista, and to this day, the dual-core 2.2Ghz CPU runs sluggishly.
But those are all just insults heaped on the pain.
Last Spring, at age 18 months, it stopped working. My credit card's no-charge extended warranty paid for the $446 HP charged to replace the motherboard. Following the repair, I rarely used it, because I had since bought the LG X110 netbook -- for about the same price as the repair cost. The single-core 1.6Ghz CPU is so much more sprightly than the HP, and its 9-inch screen so much more portable.
Last week, I remembered some files on the HP that I could use, and started it up. Windows displayed an error msg I've never seen before, the machine went "Clunk!", and then died. After doing that a few more times, I booted Linux off a USB key. Same "Clunk!"
The $446-repair job didn't even last a few days of use!
I think the hard drive still works, and I am currently testing it through the BIOS, a two-hour process. If it passes, I'll take the computer to my favorite local geek computer store and see what they say. I'll probably buy an external drive kit in which to mount the hard drive just to see what data I might still want.
Remember what I wrote at the end of yesterday's posting? Only the data matters; which is why, increasingly, the computer will become as important as a plastic shopping bag.
That HP computers are poorly designed and manufactured is no surprise to owners. Or to repair shops.
In the previous posting, I noted that I only buy cheap computers now. That's due to the mis-adventures from the last over-$1000 computer I ever bought, an HP tx 1000-series, whose list price was $1,600.
I bought it on sale at $300 off in August 2007, and it is now dead. I bought it because of its 12" touch screen. A 12" model would be smaller for traveling, I thought; the touch screen would be useful for testing upcoming touch-based software, I thought.
To my dismay, I found the 12" model not much smaller than a 15-incher; the touchscreen was quite unresponsive, needing repeated jabs for it to notice. Also, this was one of the early computers with Vista, and to this day, the dual-core 2.2Ghz CPU runs sluggishly.
But those are all just insults heaped on the pain.
Last Spring, at age 18 months, it stopped working. My credit card's no-charge extended warranty paid for the $446 HP charged to replace the motherboard. Following the repair, I rarely used it, because I had since bought the LG X110 netbook -- for about the same price as the repair cost. The single-core 1.6Ghz CPU is so much more sprightly than the HP, and its 9-inch screen so much more portable.
Last week, I remembered some files on the HP that I could use, and started it up. Windows displayed an error msg I've never seen before, the machine went "Clunk!", and then died. After doing that a few more times, I booted Linux off a USB key. Same "Clunk!"
The $446-repair job didn't even last a few days of use!
I think the hard drive still works, and I am currently testing it through the BIOS, a two-hour process. If it passes, I'll take the computer to my favorite local geek computer store and see what they say. I'll probably buy an external drive kit in which to mount the hard drive just to see what data I might still want.
Remember what I wrote at the end of yesterday's posting? Only the data matters; which is why, increasingly, the computer will become as important as a plastic shopping bag.
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