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HP EliteBook: A friend to the User

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Re: HP EliteBook: A friend to the User

#21

Post by mrtksn »

chrisper wrote: post #19
mrtksn wrote: post #5

I really dislike labeling repairability as user-friendliness. I never ever bought a device with intentions of repairing it, I always hope that I will never have to repair it and just use it. Yes, it is nice to be able to repair it but if it fails, next time I'm buying a laptop I will avoid it and stick with the brand that did not fail and sits in my drawer because it's too slow by modern standards. Repairability is p…

I love Repairability: -Then the device stays 100% under my control (don't have to wipe it before sending it to technician etc.) -I know I am repairing it. (You won't get it back with the notice it is fixed, but then nothing changed) -Tinkering is fun -Faster to get it repaired if you can get the part.

Tinkering with laptops is fun until you have better things to thinker with if that laptop was working in first place.

Re: HP EliteBook: A friend to the User

#22

Post by sz4kerto »

My refurbished Zbook had problems with the screen (it looked like). I called HP, engineer came to my flat few hours later, replaced the screen for a new one. He tested it and realized that it's still flickering, so he replaced the GPU. Things worked well, so he left. All of this took ~ 45 minutes.

Ah, and it happened in CEE, not in the USA, so it's even more surprising.

Re: HP EliteBook: A friend to the User

#23

Post by masklinn »

chrisper wrote: post #2

HP is not jumping to my mind at all when I am thinking about user friendly companies. Are they changing their image?

It's "user friendly" in the companies/business sense.

These are business laptops, which means they're expected to be repairable over the amortisement lifecycle (3~5 years) and it's expected that most servicing can be performed by tech support and should not require a service call. Company purchasing a fleet of hundreds of laptops can just purchase a bunch of replacement parts alongside and keep it humming for years through user misuse and tear & wear.

Re: HP EliteBook: A friend to the User

#24

Post by Double_a_92 »

prima-facie wrote: post #7

I'm glad companies are finally coming back to this. Looks very similar to my Inspiron I bought a few years ago. Once you open up the back plate everything is laid nicely in front of you ready to service. I changed my RAM/HDD/Wifi NIC in a matter of minutes. In case you're wondering the model is Dell Inspiron 15-7537 from 2013.

I had a 2010 Inspiron, it was much worse back then. I remember that it overheated and I wanted to open it to remove dust and apply fresh thermal paste... I literally had to remove every single piece of it, they were all spread all over my room :D

Re: HP EliteBook: A friend to the User

#27

Post by Hydraulix989 »

sz4kerto wrote: post #22

My refurbished Zbook had problems with the screen (it looked like). I called HP, engineer came to my flat few hours later, replaced the screen for a new one. He tested it and realized that it's still flickering, so he replaced the GPU. Things worked well, so he left. All of this took ~ 45 minutes. Ah, and it happened in CEE, not in the USA, so it's even more surprising.

What kind of special warranty did you get for them to do that for you?

Re: HP EliteBook: A friend to the User

#28

Post by willtim »

mrtksn wrote: post #5

I really dislike labeling repairability as user-friendliness. I never ever bought a device with intentions of repairing it, I always hope that I will never have to repair it and just use it. Yes, it is nice to be able to repair it but if it fails, next time I'm buying a laptop I will avoid it and stick with the brand that did not fail and sits in my drawer because it's too slow by modern standards. Repairability is p…

The typical life of a Li-Ion battery is about 2/3 years or less if cycled often enough. This is at least one component that should be user replaceable. Most of us cannot justify or even afford buying a new machine every 2/3 years.

Re: HP EliteBook: A friend to the User

#29

Post by aidos »

Does anyone know what the story is for running Linux on EliteBooks?

For context, I'm in the market for a slightly older laptop for my daughter. Something that I could maybe pick up on ebay (in the UK) and upgrade some components would be ideal. Would prefer one I can put Linux on.

The Chromebook route turned into a pain when I tried it so I'd like a machine I have some control over.

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