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"great but too many out-of-box add-ons" on by jikastew
Pros: speed, video quality
Cons: sound, some noise
Summary: Nice laptop in all. Plays all the games I need it to play (i.e. FEAR, AA). Duo is nice for multitasking. Keyboard with minimal flex, key location is fantastic. Display is great, no dead pix for me. The 2 GM Ram is the key with this system for gaming purposes. I considered the ASUS Z96J as well, but went with this for the GF7600 card (which I think is better), the larger screen, and the Microsoft software accessories; just to update mine.
I'm hesitant to have Vista. If you don't know why.......then do some more research. Hopefully the issues will iron themselves out over time. But I have a computer at home with XP that will accomplish what I need done.
I gave this computer a 9/10. I think the pad heats up a bit, the sound is as horrible as ever, and I never want to try HP support. That said, for $1300 you can't argue with a Duo Core, 2GM RAM, enough HD, Vista, some Microsoft software...etc.
Be sure to delete most of the crap that HP puts on the Harddrive. It's mostly worthless if you have any desire to upkeep the software, and it takes of worthwhile HD space. -
"Dead w/in hour out of box-Phone Support Horrific!" on by jgwa
Pros: keyboard "feel" excellent-my first notebook experience
Cons: Create Recovery Disc Process-didn't work & killed the PC
Summary: I bought the DV9220us from HP Home Store-arrived 3 days later. Setup went like a breeze until I decided to make my own recovery discs (since HP won't provide them w/o cost). Followed directions carefully and it killed my pc.
I went to the recovery manager-create recovery disc. Got message to wait while files were being collected. Took quite awhile before 100% of the files were gathered and then it continued to say "wait". After about 20 min. I got an error msg that said Windows unable to combine (some kind of file names). Program closing. Then another error msg came up saying something like Program error-application closing. Windows will advise you of a fix. Well no fix ever came and each time I tried to restart the program I got this last error. So at 7:08pm I called HP Support. I was in queue until roughly 8:20pm.
It took me quite awhile to get the tech guy to understand that I didn't get far enough to make a disc. He took me through the same exercise 3 times and then decided to set it back to factory defaults.
That recovery program didn't work either after 2 attempts. Then the computer would not boot up after he had me restart. I got a message "Boot mgr failed".
So he had me go into bios and do a hard disc check. The quick check ran and didn't show a response and immediately launched the extended check (85 minutes to run). He went to his supervisor and assured me he felt bad about it since the computer was fresh out of the box.
She got on line and I again explained everything that transpired. She said 1)she could send me a hard drive to install myself. I told her no way. 2) She said I could take it to an authorized repair group but she could not control turnaround time. I told her I needed a pc.
The third option was to buy a new "customized" pc and return the "old" new one for a credit. She said she could customize a better computer for less money. I said ok, as long as it was identically matched. She came up with smaller memory, smaller hard drive, and fewer features/hardware items than I had on this pc. When I would point items out that were different she would say "that was replaced with XXX because the other one didn't work right or this one is better". I was quickly losing confidence in the product and this pc in particular. She said the media remote had problems and got stuck. So they didn't offer it anymore. She said the Centrino 2 duo core was replaced because it was old technology and didn't work as well as the new 2 core product, she didn't include a webcam, etc;.
This was around 10:20pm.
She then transferred me to "Sales" to take the order. I couldn't hear or understand this man at all and he couldn't hear me. We went back and forth on the order and finally got around to my credit card number. He kept writing the wrong number down or something and my bank wouldn't approve the purchase.
After the 3rd attempt I finally lost my cool and told him I wasn't interested in buying the new pc and what was HP going to do for me. He said he would transfer me to Customer Support. It was around 10:40pm.
This person was not a foreigner but she didn't know what was going on and didn't seem too sympathetic. So after I told her that I was out of patience and ready to really blow, I went through the history again. She said that she didn't understand why tech support "is always selling new pc's when they have problems" and that she would exchange the pc. I told her that I didn't want long delays and she said FedX would be out today with a return lable to pick it up and return it. She promised a new dv9220us and told me it probably would work ok. I hung up somewhere around 11:15pm--spending over 3 hours on the phone and had talked to 4 people.
I have totally lost confidence in this product and my decision to purchase it vs. the Dell XPS. I based my decision on the positive reviews I had been seeing for this pc. I don't know what JD Power was reviewing for HP's customer support awards because, although polite, their techs seem "green" to product problems and I was amazed at the manager who trashed their own equipment--not to mention the language problems and telephone problems I encountered. I have my fingers crossed for the replacement. If it has problems, HP has lost a long loyal customer.Updated
Well, after waiting until 5 for Fed X who had not showed yet, I called the number I was given for Management support. Disconnected Number! Long story short, I talked to 3 people finally got a wonderful woman who explained that even though I was told an exchange would take place, THEY DON'T DO THAT! So I just finally settled on a credit and return instead of buying a new pc and hope that they credit me when the old one reaches them....Took over an hour on phone!Updated
3/19/07-I finally confirmed that the credit for the pc was applied to my account. So I am feeling pretty good again. It has been nearly 2 weeks and the unpleasantness is nearly out of my memory banks--UNTIL I get home and find a bill from FedEx for $95 for the return of the pc!
So I call HP and put in the Customer Care manager's extension I was given last and after a moderate wait, she can't help me. She agreed that she thought I should not be charged but she didn't know the "policy".
She sends me to the HP Home & Home Ofc Store. I call them and again get someone who promises to help straighten out the billing and then she goes into a heavy sales pitch to sell me a new PC. She is very apologetic but is more concerned that I buy another pc.
I told her that I was not buying anything until this matter is straightened out. She looks up my case number and says she needs to talk to her supervisor. After about 10 minutes, I am transferred to a young lady who is very apologetic and agrees I should not be billed for a returned pc and promises to take care of it. She says she has a FedEx specialist who will handle it and she will call back. About an hour or so later, I get a call from this young woman who says that her "specialist" is taking care of it but that they have not completed the transaction but not to worry. I got her first name and direct telephone number and extension (note-none of the other one's I have been given have gotten me to the person before or were disconnected) but I take it down just in case there are further problems. I thank her for her assistance.
That Dell XPS is looking better all of the time in spite of the slightly higher cost! -
"Awesome deal! Love it! Good job HP!" on by Kingdaddy2000
Pros: Beautiful, 2 GB ram, Vista Ultimate, 17" high def BrightView widescreen display, remote control included, 160GB hard drive, HDMI port, NVIDIA GeForce Go 7600 graphics, and more!
Cons: I bought a Dell first and then returned it before finding this PC
Summary: This PC (I bought the dv9225us model) is an awesome deal! I purchased it at CompUSA for $1349 (after $50 rebate), who was selling it at .8% below cost. I asked the rep if this was a "loss leader", and he said yes, they basically look to sell extended warranties to make up the difference. It comes with Microsoft Works, so I was able to buy the UPGRADE version of Microsoft Office Pro by having CompUSA match Costco's price ($271.22) by going to Costco's website right in the CompUSA store! The rep said they would match the price, even though they were only making $6 on the sale. I also matched it up a with a second display, a Gateway 22" FPD2275W LCD monitor with a Faroudja video processor. In all, I now have an awesome laptop, loaded with everything I need.
Updated
I bought this PC the end of April 2007. On November 15th of 2007, I went into my office and the PC screen would not appear - I re-booted and only heard a few beeps. I called HP, and they told me the video card had failed and I had to return the PC under warranty to them. Since I cannot afford the down time, I asked if I could buy a replacement video card and have it installed. The answer? No, it is integrated with the motherboard, and that too had to be replaced. Oh, and by the way - I was told "copy your hard drive, because it will be erased." WHY??? That has nothing to do with replacing a motherboard! So, I went to CompUSA, bought their extended warranty, and had them transfer my data (cost me $100 to do so), and when I picked it up, I drove home and didn't check it until the next morning (it was after 9pm by the time I got home). When I checked my data, I was missing 9 key file folders! I had to drive back to CompUSA and copy the files myself. My PC is now on it's way back to HP. HP would not give me any other options either, such as purchasing a warranty that would give me next day service, since they said this PC is not a "business pc". What a lesson learned with HP!!!!!!!!! -
"Beautiful picture, plenty of power, and stuff to play with" on by monkeyman1953
Pros: For me, it's an HP! Vista ready, tv tuner, great look/feel
Cons: Extras require a new carrying case! Runs a little warm.
Summary: This is my third HP product and, by far, the best. Great looking screen, took the upgrade to Vista Ultimate without a hitch. Everything works as advertised. Easiest set up ever. Only glitch I had was with MS OneCare copying it over. All my printers, extra HD, and extra CD writer all were just plug and play. Read CNET and got the XPAD. What a great invention. No warm legs!!!!
I think anyone will be happy with this computer. Will meet the advanced users needs and allow new/intermediate users to grow into. I highly recommend it - unless you want a Mac. That was my first choice but for an additional $1K, Just couldn't pull the trigger on that buy!
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"great desktop replacement" on by godzk12321
Pros: screen size, sleek, powerful, great config. options
Cons: trouple restarting mine.gets smugges, small shift key
Summary: this is a great laptop from HP, it has great memory, HD space, screen size, even a handy 1.3 MP video web cam. it has 2 integrated mics. and a sleek piano finish. on the front it has 2 headphone inputs and a ext. mic input. it has a 5in1 mediacard reader, 4 usb 2 ports a great DVD+-R burner (with lightscribe optional and high def. optional), express card slot,firewire input,HDMI input,phone and DSL inputs, External port 3 input, external monitor port, and S video output. it has almost a perfect full keyboard, except that the right shift is the size of a regular key, this is a little annoying but i use the left shift primarily so it isnt that big of a deal for me.
The screen does pick up dust fairly easily, along with the piano finish which puts up fingerprints better than most fingerprint readers. Vista works pretty well,except on mine when i restart the computer it says there is a problem and restarts automatically, this happens 3 times and takes about 3 minutes and then works fine, if any of you have an idea why please let me know. the security elements of VISTA get on my nerves and i tend to like XP for the convenience more. if you put this notebook in your lap then it does tend to get quite warm. Over all I LOVE this notebook and the 2 slots for the hard drives make it even better. If you are thinking of getting this machine, do it.
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