John F.
HP Envy Laptop broken hinges. Heat embrittlement internally
I am a Chartered Engineer. I NEED good quality equipment for my work. Over the last 10-12 years I have bought several of the top of the range Envy & pavillion laptops. They are always in the £1300 to £1500 region. The current one has lasted less than 2 years. The internal plastic has become embrittled and the screws which hold the hinges internally no longer have the plastic matrix with the brass bushes to screw into. Now whenever the laptop is opened or closed, the internal hinges pop the cover off. Also, the screen has gone, all I can see are lots of horizontal multi-coloured lines. I now can only use it if I plug another monitor and keyboard into it. I wrote to HP last week. Their complaints dept phoned me today. It is out of warranty, they can repair it but I would have to pay, and yes, the repair would be carried out using the same plastic components which become heat embrittled after 12-18 months. The person who rang agreed with me that this was a very common complaint and that I was right to expect more than 2 years from a top end laptop. I said it would cost more than the laptop is currently worth to strip out the internals to replace the plastic carcassing. I asked why they wasted my time by ringing me. They said they just wanted to be polite. I have told them I will never buy HP anything again. I'll buy a new microsoft Surface Pro 7 next month. VERY DISAPPOINTED WITH HP. Save yourselves the hassle, don't pay the top prices for sub-standard equipment. Buy Microsoft or (and I hate to say this!) Apple. Update on 16 Apr 2020. I bought my Microsoft Surface Pro last month. Yes, it is still early days, but it is utterly amazing. A true joy to use and carry and look at. Beautiful design. Would recommend to anyone.