----------------------------------- Zeroth Tue Jul 15, 2008 10:28 pm Don't buy HP(HP Horror stories to follow) ----------------------------------- So, I just recently had a very... not pleasant experience with HP. And this is the third time they screwed me over. First incident: I was in high school, managed to buy my own computer with my own money. I got a very nice HP Presario(Celeron D processor, 1Gig memory, it was pretty nice for the time). HP loved to add their own "updates" to the update process for XP. One of these updates decided to lock down the add or remove software panel. It was designed to prevent users from removing anything essential(which also happened to be drivers, their crapware, etc, that I had been trying to remove. Every time I updated, another crapware came back, no matter diligent I was.) It also saw as non-essential: Dungeon Keeper 2, Alpha Centauri, and a whole wack of programs I was not using. They took control of my computer away. I was not very happy, and thats when I started experimenting with Linux. Second incident: I wanted to add more memory(same computer)... got the wrong memory. Fried the motherboard. My fault... so I take out the memory, take it back to the store, and its still under HP's warranty. The store says they'll send it, I just need to get a case number from HP. I call HP. They tell me they can't give me a case number, that the store has to call. I call the store's hotline(its a national chain, they're not really at fault here). No luck there. No one wants to call the HP number only they have. They keep telling me I have to get the case number myself from HP. HP keeps telling me that someone at the store's repair center needs to call HP on the dealer's only line... and so FREAKING ON. Four hours. Back and forth. I talked to supervisors on both sides, management... no one got off their ass to do anything. They only cared about getting me off as quickly as possible. I finally found a very helpful tech at the store's call center, she actually calls the HP number, gets a case number, whereupon I call HP, give them the case number, and it WORKS! In HP's defense, it only took a week to repair the computer. But they wiped the hard drive, because the tech found Linucks(His spelling), and thought something was wrong. Then the store's computer tech proceeds to say in front of my mother that Linux is dangerous and really only for the most dedicated. So she starts telling me not to associate with this Linos thing. Third incident: This month. I bought a very nice, stable compaq laptop(I was working at The Source at the time, and we had no problems at all, in the entire Okanagan region). It is a very nice laptop, with Vista, and I've never had issues. Until earlier this year... the backlight keeps going on the LCD. So, I take it in, leaving explicit instructions NOT to wipe the hard drive. I also do not check the box that asks if its okay for them to do so. It took them a month and 7 days to fix it this time. AND they wiped the hard drive. Best of all: HP calls me up a few days after, for a customer satisfaction survey. You can guess what I had to say. :twisted: However, all is good, as Ubuntu 8.04 works fully. Hibernate works perfectly, the media buttons work perfectly, the wireless card and video card both work perfectly. So I said a final F-U to vista, and am now totally windows free! ----------------------------------- gitoxa Tue Jul 15, 2008 11:12 pm RE:Don\'t buy HP(HP Horror stories to follow) ----------------------------------- the tech found Linucks(His spelling), and thought something was wrong. Then the store's computer tech proceeds to say in front of my mother that Linux is dangerous and really only for the most dedicated. So she starts telling me not to associate with this Linos thing. Hahahaha. 5/5 ----------------------------------- Euphoracle Tue Jul 15, 2008 11:22 pm RE:Don\'t buy HP(HP Horror stories to follow) ----------------------------------- HP is hardcore. I have a pentium 3 HP pavilion downstairs beside my TV recording stuff as a VCR. Go 11G harddrive go ;p It does it realtime, oddly enough. I didn't think it'd do it. Also, I