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Thin yet Repairable Devices: HP Proves They Exist

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Re: Thin yet Repairable Devices: HP Proves They Exist

#31

Post by yread »

el_benhameen wrote: post #17

Anyone use one of these for work and care to share their opinion? I got burned real bad (figuratively, though it did get very hot) by a garbage HP laptop in like 2006, so I’m curious if the build and general quality have improved.

I'm still using a 2013 Elitebook Folio 9470m as my main driver and it works great. I had to change the battery (now it get like 3 hours on charge) but otherwise everything works. It's built like a tank, scratches all over, my kid walked over it I've dropped it a few times. I haven't chosen it but if I could I would :)

The only annoyance I have is that when I press capslock some garbage HP software needs to wake up from its deep slumber to show a notification on screen and that locks the system up for like 5 seconds.

Re: Thin yet Repairable Devices: HP Proves They Exist

#32

Post by fyfy18 »

Thinkpads are in the same boat. I have a T470s, which at it's thickest point is 1.8cm when closed (it tapers down to 1.6cm) and weighs 1.3kg.

The other day I upgraded the NVMe drive, which involved unscrewing 5 screws on the back cover (they don't remove completely, so you can't lose them), pulling it off, then removing the screw securing the drive in place, pulling out the drive, then doing the same in reverse to put it back together. I didn't even need any fancy head, just a standard Philips screwdriver is fine.

If any parts break it's easy to get replacements and perform the work (Lenovo provide lists of part numbers and instructions). Oh and the modification I did will not affect my on-site warranty in any way.

I admire Apple for some of their work, but it just seems like they are shooting themselves in the foot with the lack of repairability and overpriced hardware. I used to be a die hard Apple fan, but the hardware they have released in the last few years has just put me off - now I don't own any Apple products.

Re: Thin yet Repairable Devices: HP Proves They Exist

#33

Post by dasd99 »

tonyedgecombe wrote: post #22
el_benhameen wrote: post #17

Anyone use one of these for work and care to share their opinion? I got burned real bad (figuratively, though it did get very hot) by a garbage HP laptop in like 2006, so I’m curious if the build and general quality have improved.

It would be a bit sad if they made them repairable because they fail so often. Being more serious I’m not sure this is considered in the debate about repairability. If Apple soldering memory to the motherboard is more reliable than using a socket is that better or worse for the life of the product.

> If Apple soldering memory to the motherboard is more reliable than using a socket is that better or worse for the life of the product.

But it's most definitely not. The SO DIMM socket is a well proven design, I have never in my life seen or read about one failing. But failing memory is a pretty ordinary thing to happen - rendering the entire computer useless in Apple's case...

Re: Thin yet Repairable Devices: HP Proves They Exist

#34

Post by rvense »

fyfy18 wrote: post #32

Thinkpads are in the same boat. I have a T470s, which at it's thickest point is 1.8cm when closed (it tapers down to 1.6cm) and weighs 1.3kg. The other day I upgraded the NVMe drive, which involved unscrewing 5 screws on the back cover (they don't remove completely, so you can't lose them), pulling it off, then removing the screw securing the drive in place, pulling out the drive, then doing the same in reverse to pu…

How about the keyboard though? I have an X270 and last I looked replacing the keyboard involved a complete disassembly, including a heat source to loosen some glue.

Re: Thin yet Repairable Devices: HP Proves They Exist

#35

Post by Marazan »

bsder wrote: post #5
fitzroy wrote: post #4

I honestly had no idea HP still made laptops — or that they were still in the consumer hardware business at all.

The question is whether they are still complete garbage. I'm not the only one who absolutely refuses to buy anything branded HP.

Hey, hold on there. Their printers are great, the HP1020 was a superb domestic B&W laser.

Re: Thin yet Repairable Devices: HP Proves They Exist

#36

Post by _emacsomancer_ »

fyfy18 wrote: post #32

Thinkpads are in the same boat. I have a T470s, which at it's thickest point is 1.8cm when closed (it tapers down to 1.6cm) and weighs 1.3kg. The other day I upgraded the NVMe drive, which involved unscrewing 5 screws on the back cover (they don't remove completely, so you can't lose them), pulling it off, then removing the screw securing the drive in place, pulling out the drive, then doing the same in reverse to pu…

The newer ThinkPads seem much less user-servicable than the older models though. I hope Lenovo returns to a user-servicability>thinness approach at some point.

Re: Thin yet Repairable Devices: HP Proves They Exist

#37

Post by m3gatr0n »

eropple wrote: post #8
bsder wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The question is whether they are still complete garbage. I'm not the only one who absolutely refuses to buy anything branded HP.

The Spectre laptops are pretty dang nice and are Linux-friendly. The dark-and-copper one looks fantastic, too. I'd be using one right now, instead of a Thinkpad T480, if they didn't put Ctrl and Fn in the wrong places. (My hands just can't re-learn that one.)

You can easily swap the functionality of the two keyboard keys in the BIOS settings of your laptop (you must do something like this: https://www.geek.com/chips/how-to-swap-the-fn-and-ctrl-keys-...). The funny thing is that I am the only one in our company that did this, meaning that when a colleague tries to use my keyboard, they fail in 95% of the case. It's always funny to see this happen, but my colleagues get often fustrated. You have been warned ;)

Re: Thin yet Repairable Devices: HP Proves They Exist

#38

Post by robocat »

paranoidrobot wrote: post #15
jeswin wrote: post #9

Slightly off topic, but do people prefer metal laptop cases as seen in this HP elitebook? Aluminum looks great, but I find it way more slippery than carbon or even matte plastic. Soft shells are so much more comfortable to hold than metal. The disappointing thing is Apple managed to draw a lot of otherwise sensible designs from the practicality of the 90s to an aesthetics-first approach. As an old Thinkpad user, I am…

I think it depends entirely on the surface finish given to the device. Brushed or patterned aluminium can be very 'grippy' (eg the lid on my old Asus Zenbook), even more than the Thinkpads with the matte plastic. I'd rather a sandblasted/high gloss metal case over the awful soft-touch plastic of Dell's XPS line.

> awful soft-touch plastic of Dell's XPS line

Which XPS line are you referencing? I have last year's XPS 15: metal lid and metal frame.

"Color Choice: Silver machined aluminum", "Cut with precision from a single block of aluminum for a sturdy, durable chassis in a beautiful design", "The palm rest is made from carbon fiber". From: https://www.dell.com/en-au/work/shop/business-laptops-ultrab...

Re: Thin yet Repairable Devices: HP Proves They Exist

#39

Post by dagw »

bsder wrote: post #5
fitzroy wrote: post #4

I honestly had no idea HP still made laptops — or that they were still in the consumer hardware business at all.

The question is whether they are still complete garbage. I'm not the only one who absolutely refuses to buy anything branded HP.

HP makes both great and terrible laptops. Their higher end professional laptops (like the Z series laptops) have always been solid, well built and easy to update. Their more consumer focused laptops have always been complete garbage.

Re: Thin yet Repairable Devices: HP Proves They Exist

#40

Post by dijit »

dagw wrote: post #39
bsder wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The question is whether they are still complete garbage. I'm not the only one who absolutely refuses to buy anything branded HP.

HP makes both great and terrible laptops. Their higher end professional laptops (like the Z series laptops) have always been solid, well built and easy to update. Their more consumer focused laptops have always been complete garbage.

I have a Z-series laptop and an elite book (same generation, Haswell CPUs)

The zbook is just garbage. Hot garbage. We had all of them fail due to woefully inadequate cooling. Only 2 are still working (out of 10)

The elitebook 820g2 is better. I have the only surviving one there though.

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