HP Pavilion zd8230us 17" Laptop (Intel Pentium 4 Processor 650 (H-T), 1024 MB RAM, 100 GB Hard Drive, LightScribe DVD+/-RW and CD-RW Combo Drive) | List Price: $1,949.99
Discount Price: $1,999.99
|
Brand: Hewlett-Packard
Binding: Personal Computers
Warranty: 1 year warranty
Features: - Multimedia-focused laptop with 17-inch Brightview screen and 3.4 GHz Intel Pentium 4 650 processor (800 MHz FSB, 2 MB L2 cache)
- 100 GB hard drive, 1 GB of RAM (2 GB maximum), multi-format DVD/CD burner with dual-layer support
- Four USB 2.0, one Firewire, one VGA, one S-Video, one PCMCIA, microphone, headphone, IR receiver
- Built-in 10/100/ BASE-T ethernet; 56K (V.90) modem, 54-Mbps wireless LAN (802.11b/g) with HSM/Speedbooster support, Bluetooth
- Windows XP Media Center; HP Image Zone Plus; includes external dual TV tuner
Solid performance, well worth the money [Posted on 2006-04-29]
HP offers many different configurations of the HP dv8000 series. The unit I'm reviewing (dv8235nr) has two 100 GB hard drives, TV tuner, and an Nvidia GeForce Go 7400 GPU. From a performance aspect, this machine is simply amazing. Whether you want to record a TV show to watch later, play graphics-intensive video games, or burn CDs/DVDs...the 8230 can do it all without flinching. I bought this machine mainly for playing video games that most laptops on the market could not handle. Even with all the details and effects set to the highest level, the gameplay experience is very fluid and framerates are stable. With 200 GB of storage space, even I'll be hard-pressed to use half of it and the 1 GB of RAM makes for very smooth multi-tasking. Battery life is decent for a device of this caliber; usually about three hours on a full charge. The TV tuner is very handy and fairly simple to set up, even for a digital cable connection. The 17 inch screen is breathtaking, and really makes the gaming/movie/multimedia experience quite enjoyable. There is only one negative to the dv8230: its big footprint. The large screen and keyboard (yes, it has a dedicated 10-key pad!) take up some space. As you might guess, the machine is heavier than most laptops because of these added features.
HP Sucks [Posted on 2006-08-29]
HP has the WORST customer service of any company of any kind that I have ever dealt with. I have never called without having spent at least one hour on the phone with them before the various extensions in India, none of whom are helpful. And once the service is complete the computer is usually returned with more problems than they were originally sent with. I would never buy another HP again
Serious Defects Require Us To Replace After 15 Months [Posted on 2007-03-09]
I bought the zd8230 in December 2005. By August 2006 the power cord would no longer stay in the back of the computer as it is the least deep of any cord I've ever had on a series of laptops over the years. (Other reviewers on Amazon have noted that the HP power cords can be a problem.) The battery life was down to 20 minutes and the laptop was RED HOT and couldn't be held on your lap. As a result, the fan was constantly running at top speed. We sent it in for warranty repair in August 2006 and it was returned like new, with a new battery and power cord.
Now, in March 2007, the power cord is falling out, battery life is very short and the computer gets very hot, causing the fan to run on high.
HP will not repair the computer under warranty in the 15th month, even though they repaired the same problem six months ago.
I have another HP laptop (dv5000) which had a serious conflict with an HP All In One. I spent hours on the phone with unknowledgable people. I reinstalled XP and other software twice. The foreign customer service people could not figure the problem out so it remained unresolved until I figured out that it was the All In One software. Again, I spent hours on the phone until I was escalated to one of a handful of engineers in Idaho who told me mine was one of seven or so HP laptops in the world to have the conflict. It took them a few weeks to provide the fix.
Next, the docking station I bought for the dv5000 stopped working. I kept putting off the call to HP because of the hours I had already wasted them. Foolishly on my part, I forgot to call them until the 55th week of ownership and, of course, the front line support people will only offer to sell me a new docking station.
You have to understand that HP has moved its technical support overseas and the frontline people are not knowledgable. Typically, they will offer you three simple steps (which you will already have done before you called). Once those don't work, they put you on hold to speak to a higher level representative. This could go on for a half hour (try something, put you on hold, try something else) until they move you up to the next level OR tell you to reload XP. It's so painful and predictable its comical. They have no clue.
My business partner (thanks to me) bought an HP laptop, I don't know the model, and bought additional memory through HP. His laptop doesn't recognize the new memory. Hmm. I wonder how long it will take him to get the problem fixed.
I wrote a letter to HP complaining. They did not respond. I have given them a negative response to two internet surveys that followed up my support experience. They did not respond.
My brother in law bought a Dell computer. He raves about their service. He has had technical problems resolved quickly. I bought an IBM laptop (now Lenovo) in 1999. It still works just fine, but couldn't handle XP, which is why I bought the HP.
I reccomend you not buy HP laptops.
It's a really sucks notebook ever! [Posted on 2007-04-16]
I bought this computer a year ago and now it has a problem of accidently automatic shutdown. Wheneven I use it for more than a hour, it will abruptly shutdown without any symptoms in advance. I experienced this more and more often since it first appeared a month ago. I called the HP costomer service and I was told my warranty just expired last month so I couldn't use free service, but it really occured within warrenty.
NEVER BUY HP PRODUCTs! THEY ARE SUCKS!
Terrible experience with this laptop and HP [Posted on 2008-02-01]
I purchased this notebook in December 2005 because of good reviews. I also purchased the extended warranty, but it hasn't helped much. Like others have noted, the power cord would no longer make good contact for powering up the unit after a year. It runs very hot and the fan is going all the time. Keys have stopped working and there have been software glitches. When you contact Hewlett-Packard tech support, be prepared for a 3-hour non-communication session with individuals in India. These sessions involve the same 30 questions, none of which are related to the problem, 20-minute pauses, and non-helpful suggestions. Using their web-based support isn't much better. And we are still waiting for our notebook to be returned to us from its last repair after 4 weeks! We have left messages begging for help from customer support people, but they never have returned our calls. I would strongly advise against purchasing this particular notebook because it is very trouble-prone and I would further suggest avoiding all HP products because their customer service is the worst of any company I have ever dealt with.
Click here for more details and discount information...
|
){kind=link}