OK, but not totally happy
Written: May 26 '04
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Pros: Laptop portability and convenience, nice screen
Cons: The keyboard and built-in wireless card detract from the overall convenience offered
The Bottom Line: In comparing this to my boyfriend's Toshiba, I wish I would have bought a Toshiba.
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| sefkitty's Full Review: Hewlett Packard Pavilion ze4560us (DM736A) PC Note... |
I purchased my HP laptop just a little over 6 months ago and while it has some nice features, I haven't been totally happy with it. I bought HP because my previous desktop computer was an HP and I was pretty happy with it, plus there was a rebate offered that made it seem like a better value than other laptops of comparative value.
The nice features of the laptop include the crisp, clear screen and the touchpad that has an on/off switch (I don't use the touchpad and I like that I can turn it off and ignore it). The speed of the computer is sufficient; the software runs fine and I haven't experienced many crashes.
The biggest disappointment in the laptop is the keyboard. Not only is it VERY hard to use, but the F3 key fell off within 3 months of purchase. I disagree with another reviewer who suspected the keyboard issues were more a laptop general issue than specific to this unit. I've worked with a lot of laptops and have never had so much trouble typing on one before. You have to hit each key pretty hard to get all the letters to register, so I spend a lot of time going back and reinserting missed letters into my work.
The second disappointment is the built-in wireless card. I was so excited to have this in a computer, but was very disappointed to find that it constantly drops so I end up having to use an additional Netgear dongle to keep the connection going. I tried downloading more current drivers for the card but that made the problem worse.
Thanks to the broken keyboard I have been lucky enough to test out HP's technical support. I was initially surprised that I got a pretty quick response to my email asking how I can replace my F3 key. It turned out that I had to send the notebook in for repair (the whole keyboard has to be replaced, but thankfully it is under warranty) In spite of this inconvenience, I was happy to see that HP arranged a Fex Ex pickup at my work and paid for the shipping charges. The only little gripe I could share about the tech support was it was a little difficult to get a clear confirmation of the time and location of the pickup, because the front-line tech support staff is really only trained to copy and paste prepared answers into their emails rather than to respond to questions that might be "outside the box." There was a typo in the original email sent to me to notify me of the pickup time and there was no clear confirmation of the location. It took me asking three times before I was able to clearly confirm all the details.
The laptop was just sent out for repair yesterday and the expected return time is early next week, so I can't comment on the final result, but I feel confident all will be ok. I'm REALLY hoping the new keyboard they put in just magically happens to be an updated model that is easier to use, but I doubt I'll be so lucky.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 1099
Operating System: Windows
Processor: AMD Athlon (K7)
Processor speed: Don''t Know
Screen Size: 15 inches
RAM: 256
Hard Drive (GB): 31-40
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Epinions.com ID:
sefkitty
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Location: Gold River, CA, US
Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 1 member
About Me:
IT Project Manager and crazy cat lady
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