HP Won My Heart
Apr 14 '00
In reading through many of the reviews for HP computers, I must admit this appears to be a love 'em or hate 'em category. It seems that people have a deep abiding love for their HP Computer, or it was nothing but trouble from the very beginning. Very few on middle ground here. I'm not going to even attempt to analyze that!
As for my experience, I am one of the "love 'em" troops. While surfing the web one day, an email message landed in my box telling me about 24-Hour auctions on Egghead.com. I had been casually shopping for a new computer for my son and saw that they had an HP Pavilion 4440 on the block. Of course, my first action was to run to Epinions and see what others had to say. There were only two on the 4440 specifically, so I checked the other model numbers too.
Basically, I was sort of left with the impression that I had a 50/50 shot at getting a great computer. I am on my second HP printer at home and third at work. I have an HP scanner, as well. The HP quality has always impressed me. After a couple of minutes debate with myself, I decided "What the heck" and put my bid on the HP Pavilion. Eventually, I won the auction.
DAY ONE:
My first impression of HP was formed when the computer arrived. The system was literally floating in a sea of styrofoam. I was pretty sure I could have drop-kicked the thing with no damage to the computer. The system, keyboard, mouse, speakers, and software were all neatly packaged in their own boxes within the boxed sea of styrofoam and nothing was amiss. Right on top of the whole package was a nice little chart showing step by step how to hook everything up. Since I build computers in my spare time, I didn't need the little chart, but I thought it added a nice touch.
I had our new Pavilion up and running in just a few minutes without a hitch. The prebundled software required a little completion and registration of the Windows 98. It all went smoothly.
DAY TWO:
After school, my son booted up his new computer and received a PCI Resource conflict Error #01 and #02. Hmmmmmm. I did all the basic stuff I knew to do, including deleting and reinstalling the drivers, etc. I gave up decided to try and call HP Customer Service. Oooohhh I dreaded that experience!
This gave me my second impression of HP. The Customer Service was great! I went first to their Customer Service web site, but found nothing useful, so I made the call...a toll call. I was prepared to hold for ever and seethe over the charges, but to my surprise, I was talking to a live human in under two minutes. Of course, he first referred me to the web site, but I let him know that I'd been there and done that to no avail.
This tech knew his stuff! He talked me through all the stuff I'd already tried and some stuff that I hadn't thought of. We finally came to the conclusion that the one and only PCI card (a combination card) had jiggled loose in shipment. Once I opened the case and reseated the card, the problem was solved. I was off the phone in under 10 minutes.
The Pavilion has performed flawlessly, as have all my printers and my scanner. I haven't had much opportunity to deal with HP Customer Service, and that in itself is a good thing! But it was nice to know that the one time I needed them, they were there for me and they were good.
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Epinions.com ID:
bwestman
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 - Top 1000 |
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Location: Maine
Reviews written: 240
Trusted by: 45 members
About Me:
I am hopelessly impulsive. I admit it.
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