ThinkPad X200 Tablet Save Extra 5%
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2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
3.0 stars
"Great in theory, but problematic in practice"
Pros: Highly customizable, looks great, nice options, good value
Cons: Hardware issues HP cannot fix, unstable, tons of bloatware
Summary: I configured my HP Pavilion 6700 on the HP store to my liking. The value seemed good and was several hundred dollars less than the same configuration for both Dell and Panasonic.
The machine looks great, but immediately upon receipt I started having issues. Firstly, the machine comes with an incredible amount of bloatware. Normally this is merely annoying, as I can just uninstall. But in this case, it included Norton antivirus, which simply would not uninstall completely (even using Norton tech support and the Norton Remover tool). I spent well over 5 hours uninstalling all the bloatware and getting the machine to a clean starting point.
The next most troubling thing is the problems with the built-in web cam. It simply doesn't work. Hundreds of users are complaining about this online, but there simply is NOT a solution. Some users have actually tried installing drivers from OTHER companies to try and get this working. I was on the phone and online chat with HP for at least 3 hours over 2 days, with no resolution.
One of the related troubleshooting steps HP recommended was to install a new BIOS -- but they wanted me to go backwards and install an OLDER version than what came with my machine. I was extremely reluctant to do so, but did anyway and have been rewarded with the most unstable computer I've ever owned. I've since updated to the most recent BIOS and regained some stability, but the webcam still is inoperable and I'm generally very annoyed with my machine.
Bottom line: I can't really recommend this machine, although I really *want* to like it. I will not buy another HP laptop, despite their great configuration options, just because I can't spend days and days troubleshooting and working on an unstable machine.
I know my experience is not common with HP products, and that some may be related to the configuration options I selected...just wanted to put my 2 cents out there.
