HP Pavilion: I Regret Choosing This Laptop
Written: Jul 15 '05 (Updated Jul 15 '05)
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Pros: It looks nice, it is easy to use.
Cons: Overheats, LOUD, heavy. First one died after 2 weeks.
The Bottom Line: Until they work out their hardware problems, it's safer to go with a brand that has made computers for a longer amount of time.
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| shopprnicole's Full Review: Hewlett Packard Pavilion ze4400 (498307) PC Notebo... |
I spent days talking with store employees at many stores that sell laptops in my area. They all had the same thing to say: HP laptops are the best right now. So I bought it. Now you have to understand, that even though this is the ze4400 series, there are a few variations under that series number (Every few months it gets a little better, but still considered the same laptop). So I bought the latest one in the series, the one that came with built-in wireless internet. I was so excited.
Design
It is attractive with its silver and dark-gray color scheme. The screen is rounded off in the corners making it look very sleek. The power button and 5 buttons at the top glow blue when the computer is on. The volume buttons and mute button are located on the left side and are easy to navigate without looking. Also the headphone jack and microphone jack are on the left side, as well as the slots to stick in wireless adapters (not that its needed with this computer) and a phone jack. The back features a hookup to another monitor, the printer hookup, ethernet hookup, 2 usb ports and the power hookup to plug it in. The right side features the DVD/CD drive.
Experiences With the Computer
After 2 weeks the computer just died on me. I hadn't even connected it to the internet yet because I had just moved and didn't have internet service yet, so it wasn't because of a virus. The thing just died. It was running fine until suddenly when I would turn it on, the blue lights would come on but the screen remained black. I called customer service and they were terrible. They wanted to charge me to fix it because their computer didn't work after 2 weeks! So I returned it to the store. They said I could exchange it for another one, but since the version I bought was sold out, I had to get a lower version still within the ze4400 model. This one didn't come with wireless internet.
I've had this one for a year and a half. I regret choosing HP. Since then I have had many problems, though I still use it because I can't afford to buy another one yet. The computer gets EXTREMELY hot even though I turn it off between uses. I usually have it on my lap, and sometimes I actually get burned from it and have to take it off my lap because it gets so hot. The fan is always out in the open and there is nothing blocking it which would cause the computer to overheat. It just does this all the time, even when on a flat surface. Sometimes it overheats to the point where it just shuts down. Then I have to wait for the thing to cool off before using it again. It is terrible, and doesn't seem safe.
The other problem is the cooling fan, which is located in the back corner of the left side. For no reason, it is always EXTREMELY loud. This started happening about 6 months after I got it. It gets SO LOUD that if the computer is on, I can actually hear it from down the hall! When you are standing in the same room as it, it sounds as if someone is vaccuuming in another room...a distant vaccuum sound. It is HORRIBLE. I contacted HP about this and they said this noise is not normal, and that they would fix it, but I didn't want to pay the price they wanted to charge. I don't remember what the price was but it was high and I think they should fix it for free for making such a piece of crap! My friend also has this exact same computer and her fan started being really loud about 9 months after she got it. There is no need.
What I Think
I think it is a nice computer, but it has some major problems. HP hasn't been making computers for that long and I think these are the "guinnea pigs". They have some good design concepts but haven't worked out all the problems with hardware. For now I am going to say stay away from HP computers until they have been around long enough to earn closer to an A reputation.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 1150
Operating System: Windows
Processor: AMD Athlon (K7)
Processor speed: Don''t Know
Screen Size: 15 inches
Internal Storage: CD-ROM
Hard Drive (GB): 31-40
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Epinions.com ID:
shopprnicole
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Location: East Coast, USA
Reviews written: 38
Trusted by: 2 members
About Me:
Trying to pay for college...every little bit helps!
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