More like: 'Next time buy a Mac'

:o)

Consider a ProStar brand; I've found them to be of higher quality and lower price than Dell, Gateway, Compaq, etc.

Not so fast. I've had nothing but aggravation with my Dell laptop. Inside of 18 months the battery was toast. Tech support: "Unfortunately you are passed your one year warranty, so you'll just have to purchase another battery." Dell quality? Pa-lease.

Yeh... Dell's can be pain... we have had a lot of probs with them. Sony is the way to go! I can't vouch for their after sales service though, nothing has gone wrong on 3 machines in 4 years!

Man..this is freaky.

I had the EXACT same thing happen to me.

The backlight on my laptop would suddenly stop working and the only way to correct it was to restart. I had to send it in 4 times before they got it right!

They "fixed" something on it every time. Finally they sent it to their escalation team and got it fixed. I was so mad.

I will never buy a compaq laptop again...even though I did like the thing.

Clif

I bought a Sony Vaio laptop 18 months ago. have used it everyday for business and personal work. the picture is great. it's fast. everything works perfectly. i will definitely buy another.

dell sucks and so does gateway

I have a Windows XP Home Edition... the worst OS ever. It's unstable and there is some major flaw in the boot up sequence they still can't get rid of; and it's been more than one year since the OS hit the market. I think enough is enough and it's time someone to pull the plug on them.

Please People think about this... can you tell me you ever heard of a car (or anything for that matter) that never had a problem?...I don't mean one, I mean find a manufacturer who has had all its products with no error!...sure bobs car went 3 years before it had an oil leak...To bad sams of the same model for some reason needed headlight replacement after 3 days!...how about a cellular battery, ever have one of those go before a years up?...maybe thats less a tick off because they are almost free with a one year plan or out of date by that time anyway(much like computers)...
as for batteries hard drives and fans stopping and causing the processor to go in your machine (or any other moving parts much like the ones in the connection to a laptop display)... Its like life insurance people it gets more expensive as it gets older notice it also goes up if your a smoker... just like if your not into defraging and cleaning up your hard drive blowing out the fans once in a while can be like trying to insure a obese man with a heart condition...back to cars...how many don't do that oil change even close to on time, get problems and say that damn FORD! try this: type in ANY computer manufacturer and tell me you cant find one with not only the same issues but untarnished by the bitch fest of consumers, half of them out of warranty who think if they complain enough they will get something free! (im a consumer free is a great price but please!)as for the initial display issue some times it happens, your support was a proper process although you discribe it as if an inconvenience...if it was not done properly you have people milking the system and driving up costs to the company and inevitably to the consumer, im glad if it was resolved if not good luck with your new DELL!!!
sincerely,
Your Compaq Tech support specialist ;)

To Mr. Tech support specialist, i am not trying to point the finger at you but my service on my brand new still clean machine which is the second one in 3 months because the hard drive crashed on the 1st machine within 3 days of owning it. Although best buy replaced it and was great to work with, I can hardly find a damn phone number to call for tech support its like somekind of fricking hide and seek, bs that some of us bitch fest comsumers don't really have time for and when i do finally reach someone they are in Egypt or some similar place, Habib has sent me e-mails several times that have been of little or no use to me, when they do work it only lasts approx. 2days then the problem is back. My symptoms are that the machine somehow runs a ton of programs (even though i have followed Habib's directions in turning them off through the msconfig. I restart every day and the problem comes back almost every day. I may be retarded or uneducated in the computer area, but i do know this, i have had 3 hewlett packards and have not had this problem with any of them, I did have to have a fan replaced once, and i do understand the whole car comparison, what i don't understand is why i can't get what seems to be a fairly trivial problem fixed, why can't i find a phone number to someone who knows something that could help me. Did i not pay enough for the machine to deserve any REAL help?
Signed loosing money everyday because of my new bigger faster more memory, more speed, COMPAQ!

I here ya Mike. You have my story almost exactly. What's this deal having to pay for support when service should be part of the package. They make inferior products then want to charge us to fix them. What a scam.

Compaq can't or wont employ people capeable of repairing their products and deny information (schematics) so you can repair it.
The Compaq MBA who come up with these (maximize your profit schemes) put Compaq out of business and will do the same for Hewlett Packard.

Hey, Yeah i ACTUALLY do tech support for a huge internet company, and the tech support veries from agent to agent, and for the first coment you were on the phone for "an hour and a half". You were damn lucky on that one.. damn lucky, I would have gotten you off the phone with in 20mins weather i solved your issue or not and would have you praising my name. Im quite persuasive and very good at "stretching" the truth. No matter if you have a dell, gateway, compaq, hp. Its all the same people have troubles with them all. But you have to wonder how many people haven't had problems.

The agents sometimes care more about getting you off the phone as fast as they can ..... so you'll all get "punts" no matter what the problem is. If the agent knows its going to be a big problem they'll say its something else and get u off the phone. Also if its going to be a short call they'll do the same.

every customer gets angry the stupid ones get angy on the first call. if you've called in once YOUR LUCKY!! consider yourself fortunate. I've seen happy people calling in 20 times or more. So shut the F**k up.

addign to my above comment

Do u think hp makes that monitor, or that hard drive, or that mother board, processor, keyboard, mouse...ect. Not very likely, maybe you should get mad at the people who built that hard drive for 20cents,and put in that mother board for another 15. Maybe those people should back their product. But they don't, the OEM does and don't do a bad job of it. Its all outsorced by the way. ..... maybe you people didn't figure it out yet. You'll NEVER talk to a person who actually works for compaq, or gateway... allways someone who "represente" compaq or what ever oem.

I have a friend that does tech support for hp and he even had a problem getting his serviced. But in the end he came ahead 1 free computer and an upgrade to his existing one.... no problems after that.

I was just given a compaq to fix, and the people said it was working fine. But rescently each time you start the thing up it says it doesnt detect and operating system. Ive tried reinstalling windows 98 but it keeps telling me that the hard drive is only 2 mb. can anyone help or has a few suggestions?

My sister has had her Compaq Presario a little over a year [or if you deduct the time it's been "in transit" probably only a year]

First the whole operating system "locked up" - went into some kind of loop - and she sent it to Compaq as the local retailer had no idea how to correct the problem. Compaq did send her the disks free. Then it was the power cord - wouldn't stay inserted - I think that's been replaced several times - at present "broke" again. Then the keyboard - they wanted over $300 for a new one - but she was able to order one and get it installed locally for a little over a $100. And now its the screen.

This computer is at Compaq repair right now or on its way back. [It's traveled more than she has] She had sent it back because of the cord problem [again]. This cord was still under warranty from the last replacement BUT Compaq says they can't fix that unless they fix the screen - over $600. Though some areas of the screen were unreadable Sis had worked around that by resizing the screen area. Compaq says the screen is "cracked" and it will "bleed" down into the system and destroy the other components if not fixed. Is this possible? Though I know a lot about desktops computers I'm not too swift on the laptop screens.

You know what - if you add that $600 to the over $100 you come up with more than what a year and a half old computer could possibly be worth and probably there are more problems to come.

She had originally bought the extended warranty as problems came up so early but Compaq cancelled this. She has the same problems of "hours on the phone" each time as other postings have mentioned. Plus, Compaq has another little trick of "losing" her after routing her to 3 or 4 others. She's apparently on their S list.

We are not totally ignorant computer users - I was a network supervisor for many years and responsible for keeping our division's laptops and desktops serviced and on the network. Though we only used the IBM laptops I never saw the kinds of problems my sister has had.

And in my own personal computers I've had [among others] my first PC computer bought in 1981 - sold at a yard sale in the mid 1990's [slower than dirt but still worked flawlessly as an electronic typewriter], I've got a desktop pc bought in 1988 [upgraded in '95] that just bit the dust [but it's only the hard drive - cheap to replace if I really want]. And my latest desktop is almost 3 years old with no problems. Both of these desktops were "no brands" assembled to my specs. I yardsaled a very old Tandy laptop that still worked great with only problem that the battery wouldn't hold a charge, but of course only could be used as an electric typewriter.

I had bought a Toshiba laptop just before my sister bought her Compaq and [cross my fingers] it has been great but I can't say I've used it as extensively as she had used her Compaq. And I actually thought the Compaqs were tough little machines though my only experience with the brand was only one of those 'portables' with a five inch screen probably in the late 80's? I dropped it in a parking lot and it didn't miss a beat.

As to comparing it to a car -what rubbish. Wish all my sister had to do was change the oil - what is that less than 25 bucks and there are at least 30 places here in this small town - or even do it yourself. And you know what - if a head lamp burns out on a car you can still drive it during the day! That "head lamp" [screen] on the computer and not being able to plug it up makes it totally useless. Why not compare it to a TV a VCR. These are other ELECTRONICS. I've never seen a FORD at Best Buy or Circuit City.

I'm posting this cause I have a load of guilt that my sister who could ill afford it bought a laptop in the first place. I had taken my Toshiba for her to see and feel that my buying a laptop influenced her. She is physically disabled [no sob story intended] and didn't want to go out of town to buy one but wanted her adopted granddaughter to have access to a computer and the internet at home. Get her one in 9th grade and it will do til she starts college. The deal at the local Radio Shack was too good to pass up. And her husband feels guilty cause he was the one that actually bought it. I know there are people who trade cars every year and can afford to buy a new computer - lap or desk - every year but I feel the majority of people want a computer that will last 3 to 4 years before the components and operating system are completely outdated.

The only thing we can think of do with it is draw a lemon on the cover, spray paint it yellow and call it wall art. And what is she/her grand daughter using as a computer. A spec-built no name computer bought in 1995 - may be slow but it works.

I don't really know how I got here - I was looking for schematics for my Compaq Presario 700 POS. I was not surprised to find all these comments. I bought mine brand new and it operated pretty slick for about 11 months. Now check this out, I bought the extended warantee from Circuit City (I know stupid!), but here is the kicker - I called in becuase my floppy went out and after about an hour on the phone, Circuit City says "Your computer is still covered under Compaq's warantee, so you will need to call them".
OK, so I call Compaq - whoa...talk about testing my patience - I must have been on hold for over an hour, then this guy from India who cannot even come close to speaking english tries to help me. Well we go through all the system checks and after about another hour he determines that yes the floppy drive is bad. So he transfers me to another department where I wait on hold again for about a 1/2 hour. Another non english speaking tech comes on the phone and announces that they will be shiping out a new floppy drive for me.
Well it has now been like 3 hours and I am just elated that something is being done - it never dawned on me until I received it that how in the heck am I going to install it? Well I tried. I went down to Home Depot and spent $20 on the stupid tool to take the torque screws out - I removed everything I could find and then some, still couldnt get into the inside. So I called compaq - on hold again for over an hour - another non-english speaking techie who wanted to go through all the system checks that I did with the other tech a few days earlier. So I calmly ask for a supervisor, preferrably one who can speak english. Oh another 1/2 hour on hold and this guy can't help me either - so I kind of lose it and tell them that I need to speak with someone who is in charge and can help me. Well they take my info down and say that someone will call.
So the next day another indian tech calls and says that I need to send the computer in and I can get it back in two weeks...
So I wait for the box - it never shows up. So what did I do? Nothing... oh yeah then I get a phone call from Compaq collections, saying I owe them money for the drive! I am like, no way!
Well now, another year later, I still have a bad floppy, my keyboard acts up, and now the screen is turning white all the time! Well, I guess I am going to give it another shot - but wow two weeks without my computer? That is how I make a living!
Thanks alot Compaq - oh yeah and you tech people? I know you are following proceedure and stuff, but come on! Oh yeah and the car thing? You know if all I had to do was drive this computer down to a local mechanic and pay $100 - I would be so happy, so so happy! But no - I have to send it to India where they will probably lose all my data and install the wrong part.
Oh yeah did I forget to mention the Blue Screen I get on a daily basis? Thanks Compaq and Xp - cheers to the CEO's out playing golf thanks to us.

Hahahahahaha, funny very funny ahahahahahahah!
Dam you people are dumb; no wonder sometimes Tech support ignores you.
Any business no matter what type it is once their heads swell up like a balloon it’s all over for the customers.
Ever wonder when you buy a new product that was produced by a newly growing company and how they treat you when you need help?
Yeah nice ah!
Well once they become big shots your special treatment is over SLAM.
That’s right no more quick support, no more quick repairs, no more truthfulness.
Reason is the company grew big, needed more people to do work, don’t want to spend more money on smart educated workers, rather they spend less to get a geek who only knows how to insert ram into your computer.
Then when this geek realizes after two hours it isn’t the ram, he sends it out to another geek who only knows how to insert a drive.
This cycle continues until your product reaches the geek who knows your problem.
Mean while the company is backing up big time, and at the same time getting new customers buying their products.
Which means for you older customers its time for you to get the hint? Get lost!
That’s right you’re nothing to them now you got an old product and they got new customers.
In short build your own computer like I do, if you don’t know how to do it then I suggest you take the fundamental way, READ!
B.M

i find this funny.
as a tech support agent, i have a slightly clearer picture of what's going on.
1) the hold times/transfered calls are horrible, but just be happy you dont have to go through it 7 times a day.
2) there are bad agents and good agents, no matter where you go. your service will depend on who you get.
3) an american notebook will never go to india for service.
4) your data is your own responsibility, if you dont want to back it up, that's your problem.
5) you're going to get worse service if you call in and bitch and moan. explain what's happened calmly, dont get all bitchy, then say "i know it's not your fault" and think that makes us want to help you more. we know the system isnt perfect.

I have never said any bad word when I was talking to customer service on phone. Today I said the "f" word twice when I talked to the compaq phone suppport. An of course talked to the famous Indian serive team that I have a hard time to understand.
They transfered him more than ten time in 30 minutes, and I was still in the same place which they keep asked me what is my phone number and name, and machine model.
While I am unemploymented, please support the US job market, do not buy HO or Compaq becasue they outsource a lot of jobs to the other countries.

yup, support the us job market, buy a dell..oh, wait, their entire consumer grade product support is outsourced to india. ok, buy a sony...oops, them too. i've got an idea, make my job obsolete. learn how to use your computer and not need support, that way you dont have to care what it's like.

oh, and never buy a compaq, they suck, and if you dont, i wont have to deal with you.

I will never buy another Compaq.I have owned several and their tech support was top drawer until the merged with H/P.Now it sucks.

I have a Evo n1015v compaq laptop with a nic in side of it well while I am at school I am only allowed to see twoo pages of any thing from the web before it takes 30 minutes to up load anew page of any kind and the nic card is ethernet, what could be the problem, it does this even with a wireless n.i.c . could it be software conflicts or and bad nic ether net card???

plase some one help me email me if you have any kind of an answer for me about this:(adambelila@msn.com)

Why is it that everything HP (computer division) topuches turns to crap! Finding drivers for my Compaq USE to be easy! No wonder they are going belly-up.

Also, a friend has an HP PAv 742c that I am working on for him.
I loaded XP PRO 'cuz XP HOME is terrible. Now I cant' find driver for it anywhere. The video is some (on board pos) and the HP site is worthless for finding drivers.

Guess we'll have to install a new vid card!
I wouldn't own an HP THEY paid ME! (same goes for Compaq now)

too funny.... I breezed thru this page before posting
(last post as HP SUCKS (all caps))
Didn't realize someone had used the same user name "HP sucks) LOL

Guess HP DOES SUCK!

Hey "Your Compaq Tech support specialist"
Did you post that from INDIA or PAKISTAN?

Seems that's where I get sent when I try and use Compaq
tech support!
I noticed you didn't say "Your LOCAL Compaq Tech support specialist"

besides I think the words 'COMPAQ TECH SUPPORT' and 'SPECIALIST' are contradictory! That or it means you a a specialist in knowing Nothing!

I have a compaq 5000 and I was wondering if you could tell me if I can use the plug in,in the front of the tower where that little door opens up at in the front ?? is that for like digital cameras the cord that comes from the camers does that fit into that area ?? please let me know if it is or what is supposed to go there ?? thank you bingo9er@sbcglobal.net

Oh come on, "XP HOME is TERRIBLE!" Do you even know the differences between Home and Pro? Most people don't know the difference nor do they need XP Pro.

Yeah, buy ANY laptop other than an Acer and it originates from the same place. There are really only at most 3 manufacturers.

As far as the guy who had a bad floppy drive after 11 months, if he waited a month a tech would have come to his house and installed it for him due to his circuit city warranty. That, plus if he told the local store that Compaq was giving him such a hassle over a FLOPPY DRIVE I'm sure they wouldn't mind taking the minute and 30 seconds it takes to install a floppy drive.

GRI Error/SCSI Error: No SCSI host adapter found
My problem is when i try to open and use the CeQuadrat just burn,it says =
scsi error,no scsi host adapter found.=20

it also does not show my E and F Drives in my computer.=20

i tried completely rebooting my pc,but it still does the same =
thing.sometimes when i would restart my unit the ( E&F) drives would =
come back and work and then next time they are gone again,.

my A drive does not work proper either,it will not open my floppies.

i have a

compaq presario 7478,=20

windows 98 2nd edition.

533mhz

AuthenticAMD

AMD-K 6 (tm) 3D Processor

I can tell you all right now:

HP blows.
I have... Or should I say, my little brother has... An ancient HP tower. One of those old pavilion things. We got it in 2000, and it came with Windows 98 first edition. First error. Win2k was out, and that was supposedly the newest model. Hmm. Then, it broke down about 2 months later. The dial up modem was fried. (Yes, I know, dialup sucks. Shut the hell up, I have cable now.) So I call tech support. The infamous indian job-stealer was on. Fucker didn't even know what the hell a modem was, so he switches me to some other guy. This guy was obviously from Japan, so I thought he might be better than the indian guy. Nope. The retard has the nerve to tell me to install Windows 2000. Ok, fucktard, that would really help me with a hardware problem... (Oh, and even after I installed Win2k two years later that TCP/IP got fucked too...) Anyways, I hung up after cursing at the idiot.
So I ripped the modem out and broke it with a hammer... Not suprisingly, it was an HP brand modem. Then I threw the box into a corner for a while, because it was useless to me and my little brother. So then, I get my hands on some comp parts. (Don't ask me how I got them ;>) I reassemble the thing. Everything except the mobo was replaced, or smashed. Now, I'm amazed to say, it works great :D. But only because it barely has anything from HP in it.

I bought Compaq Presario 7478 back in 2000 for $1400.
No one-day worked correct.
I gave this piece of. To my daughter, so I still have a problem...
I'll never buy again any Compaq or HP.
Two years ago I built one no brand name comp by myself, still no one problem...

We have had three EVO N1015v Laptops (compaq) and all we have had is trouble, with all three! Came across this site cause i was searching for clues to repair the latest problem, six keyboard keys occasionally decide not to respond to key presses. This is solved by reboot, but is obviously fustrating.
Lesson: Buy a dell and get GOLD tech support, believe me its worth it to save the headache. Dells standard tech support are rubbish like everyone else, but i cant praise GOLD support enough.

I don't have enough time or space to explain my problems with HP computers. Before the merger I liked Compaq and always had good luck. Still have a Pentium 120 in the family that's made its rounds and still going strong. Also a few others. After the merge, product quality dropped severely and its really obvious. At least that's when my big problems began. I have an XT983 case, cd-burner and floppy. The Power Supply, MB, RAM, and processor were bought from local merchants. Now it's a good computer!!!:) I'm currently in the process of doing the same thing for a friend of mine who has a Pavilion 742c. I went through the tech support hassle and after a few months got fed up with it. It turned out that I knew more than the tech support personnel that I had talked to. No offense to those who are tech specialists, because I have also talked to some who were very helpful and knowledgeable. I work for a company that currently has ALOT of HP towers and laptops. Needless to say, due to current quality of products, there is a very strong possibility that could soon change. My co-worker, just 1 for example, is on his 3rd hard drive in a matter of 5 months. It seems our product return rate has sky rocketed. If you want a good dependable computer that will last, or can at least be upgraded inexpensively, build or have one built for you. Just maybe we can send a hint to these companies.

what an interesting website i stumbled onto...hahahaha...i have a compaq desktop and a compaq laptop and in all honesty, i have gotten my money's worth out of both of them...uh oh, i hope that doesn't jinx me!! OH NO what does the blue screen meannnnnnnnnn OH NOOOOO...I'm meltinggggggg...HAHA...

Bought one Compaq laptop. NEVER again. Nuff said.

Pop quiz:

Which is the SLOWEST form of communication

1. Smoke Signals
2. Pony Express
3. Telegraph
4. Email Tech Support

Well we got a compaq and i read most of the comments and well we know they suck but I have a question how do we get to or motherlode and disenable are video/video card????
help plz

I have a new Compaq desk top. For some reason it doesnt like to navagate on line. It freezes up. AOL blames Compaq. Compaq blames aol. So I switched to SBC. It still freezes up. Both aol and compaq are idiots. Where do you go?

Ha, I own all HP stuff and never have had a problem with it.......but if ya think dealing with their tech support is bad, try being a tech support agent for them. None of the agents like to tell someone they have to take their stuff to an ASP. We take so much crap from customers for 8.....and even 10 hours a day. It's hard to say the same thing over and over again, but we have to do it. There is a choice: Say it, and keep your job....or don't.....and HP/Compaq will be mad and you'll lose your job. It's like offering extended warranties and accessories - I HATE to do that, because my thought on those offers is: "If I wanted it, I would ask YOU" so I really hate to do that to our customers.

But another thing is those wonderful HP Customer Experience Surveys: They are to evaluate the AGENT you talked to.....not to go off on how much HP/Compaq sucks. I can't believe how many dissatisfied customers I got just because they didn't realize the point of the surveys. I am always nice, pleasant, I sympathize, and I pretty much always resolve the issue OVER THE PHONE. I don't deserve to have a Dissat on my record because they are just mad at HP/Compaq and not me. So anyways, if any of you ever do get one of these surveys, remember your customer service rep's name (put it IN THE SURVEY!) that way if you are mad with HP/Compaq in general, then the survey can be classified as erroneous and will not count towards the rep's record. These surveys are what help us get recognized for the work that we do. And I won't lie......they help get us raises too. Anyways, thanks for reading

-An HP Tech Support Rep

Well, I've had my presario 700 for 4 years and recently I've been having lots of problems. I finally purchased on new adaptor after being told my other one (2nd one since laptop was new) only gave me 1/2 of needed charge. Now, I've been asking tech for help on changing the power scheme from office/home to laptop. I've had three replies with directions and even when I tell them office/home is the only option. Anyone out there know what I'm talking about?

I agree with the first post. I had an experience with my computer where i took it to a service center who eventually sent it off to its parent company for service without my concent. Boy was i P***ed!!! I had a good conversation with that company >) This is a warning for everyone with this problem to COVER ALL YOUR BASES with your authorized service center before doing anything!!

Can any one help me with removing a screw from the case of a compaq presario 700 laptop computer. I am having trouble removing the keyboard and don't want to damage it. I have a screw that will move around when the computer is tilted that will at times either cause the fan to stop,the keyboard to stop responding or the touch pad to stop.

fuck hp

I have an LCD televison and iam sure these indian morona wouldnt possibly guess the knind of money that has been fished out to purchase this product alongwith all those warranty ESP Gibberish from the store reps
What a nightmarish experience it was to speak with this indian morons who are sitting miles away and make all kind of false commitments ...keep transfering call to dept to dept and just take advantage of our patient natures
THE WORST THIS IN CUST SVC IS TO OUTSOURCE TO THESE COUNTRIES TO GAIN A DIME.AND IN THE LONG RUN LOOSE THOSE DOLLERS

In post 18, BM MUST stand for bowel movement, b/c he’s full of it. But he does make a ýpoint along with the ahole Outsourced Scum. Learning your computer is the best way to ýgo about it. If you have a desktop, there is almost no excuse for not knowing how to take ýit apart and putting it back together again. On the flip side, the car metaphor can be used ýhere. If someone buys a car, and it breaks, they shouldn’t have to and can’t possibly have ýthe knowledge that a mechanic has in order to fix it. In both aspects, maintenance is the ýkey to solving problems before they start. Yes it sucks that they send jobs off shore, but ýyou have to understand that these as business with suited people sitting in rooms deciding ýthe fate of the company that would best serve the company. It is so easy for computer ýnerds to mock the less computer savvy because all they do is sit in front of the thing all ýday; so let’s take it easy on people who have jobs which do not revolve around ýcomputers. You can’t escape the run around in America. I have a car that’s been in the ýshop for 6 months because they mechanics are ‘waiting on a part’. On the other hand I ýhad a HP that was sent in and didn’t return for 3 months because they were fixing ýeverything except that bad hard drive and keyboard component it required for the ýkeyboard to work. I see a lot of people come to this site looking for help with their ýproblems so I’ve come up with the following observations:ý
ý
I used to like HP and Compaq, but know I see the light
I have a COMPAQ Presario 700ý

The problems I’m currently having with it are that the damn thing cuts off by itself via ýpower failure or blue screen (so it’s a joint hardware and software problem, I think). The ýpower cord only charges at 33% and is loose in the back so that you have to hold it in ýorder to keep it charging. Also when you press the button to turn it on, you will often get ýa blank black screen that appears to be frozen, a screen with the Compaq logo and a ýsquare cursor in the top right hand corner that freezes or it will boot up. So far I’ve come ýto the conclusions that the power failure which shuts off my computer comes from the ýchip overheating. After reading a few other forums, they have said that my model ýnotebook has a design flaw that causes it to over heat. The solution to this would be to ýtake apart the computer and apply a “silver compound” that you can get at Best Buy for ýý10 bucks, directly to the chip. To do this you will need to take apart your laptop. For this ýfeat you will need a s10 screw driver and a torque tool to take the screws out. Do not ýtake the casing screws out. Take the two screws on the bottom back of the laptop beneath ýthe LCD pivot area. After taking those out, open the laptop and pop off the piece above ýthe keyboard that holds the power buttons and the media control buttons. With that feat ýaccomplished, take out the keyboard by sliding it up and un attaching its ribbon from the ýmotherboard, then sit the keyboard to the side in some water (I’M KIDDING!). Okay, ýafter that’s removed, you’ll come to the infamous torque screws: The patented bane ýwhich tests normal human endurance. With your 20 dollar tool take out those four ýscrews. Remove the top metal piece. Then you can use your array of tools to take off the ýfan, heat sink, apply the silver compound to the chip and put it back together. While your ýin there, you might see the number one reason for power cord failure. The connector to ýthe power cord is embedded into the motherboard (genius!) and can come lose or break ýrequiring you to re solder it to the mother board. Good luck and don’t f’it up. Now with ýthe over heating and the power cord problem fixed, hopefully that will fix the locking up. ýIf not, India is just a call away to further frustrate you until you decide that laptops are a ýwaste and a desktop is a lot more reliable and customizable. Find a local shop or a ýcomputer science major (like me... generally poor in constant need of money) in college ýand have a customized desktop built. Don’t buy name brand.ý

Another example of great HP service:

Valeria: Hello David.

david wang: hello

Valeria: Welcome to HP Total Care for Pavilion Products. My name is Valeria. How may I assist you today?

david wang: well... every so often when i boot up my computer, the hp software update comes up... it asks me if i will update certain things and I say yes

david wang: welll

david wang: it tries to download it but then nothing happens it says it fails

Valeria: David, let me inform you that once there are no updates, then it would say it failed.

david wang: thats fine... then why does it keep asking me to download the same update everytime?

Valeria: Please follow the steps below to avoid this update popup everytime:

1. Click Start and Run.
2. Type MSCONFIG and press Enter.
3. Click the Startup tab.
4. Clear the checkbox related to HP.
5. Click OK.
6. Restart the system.

david wang: this is to turn off the update?

david wang: what if i WANT the updates?

Valeria: Yes.

Valeria: You can always check and install the updates from the HP web site.

david wang: ok...that seems to defeat the purporse of having the hp software on my computer to update it for me

Valeria: Following the steps only would avoid the pop up every time you start the Notebook.

david wang: so the updater would never load

david wang: it seems more cumbersome to go to hp everytime to find updates

Valeria: It would not load automatically. However manually, you can install the updates.

david wang: valeria, i don't think i'm satisfied with this solution

david wang: for example... i click on hp software update and it found to updates that need updating

david wang: one - "critical update to fix network errors"

david wang: two - hp photo imagin software versions 3.8"

david wang: when I tell it to download... it says "downloading"

david wang: under status

Valeria: Okay.

Valeria: That is related to HP Printer software.

david wang: right

Valeria: So are you getting this pop-up every time you start the Notebook.

david wang: well if I respond to the smaller pop up window in the left bottom corner that alerts me to new updates

Valeria: Okay.

david wang: what i want to know is why wont the updates download?

david wang: you are right... i can do it manuall... and i have done that... i've even downloaded the most recent "hp software update" program and it won't fix the problem

Valeria: Okay.

Valeria: Once there are any updates on the HP Web Site, they would be downloaded. But sometimes, if there is any problem with the server, then downloading updates might be problem.

david wang: i can understand that... but not once when I have use the update will it actually do it... i've had this laptop for nearly a year

Valeria: This is not an issue David, you can disable in the startup items and check downloading from the Web Site.

david wang: Valeria, thank you for minimalizing my problem and offering no real solution. I will never purchase HP again.

david wang: I will be saving this text for use on an HPsucks website.

********I WORK FOR DELL TECH SUPPORT ..GUYS BELIEVE ME IT SUCKS,BUY A TOSHIBA INSTEAD*******

actually next time don't buy a mac, I used to work tech support for them and they do the same thing that compaq does.

My dilemma is… I have a SONY Vaio laptop running Windows 2000. When it is booting up you see the blue screen but once the login screen passes, the screen turns white. You can hear Windows loading. How do I correct this problem?

Display Drivers of compaq 700 laptop not found please help.

Regards
Niyaz
niyaznadaf@gmail.com

Yes , HP sucks! They have the worst customer service, they refuse to honor their warrenty on computers still clearly under warrenty and their solution to all computer troubles or issues is to wipe it out and start fresh again. They refuse to look at your system to make a diagnosis and they basically just want you off the phone. Oh, another thing, don't bother asking for their managers, they dont have them. Not one person we spoke to including their QA dept. has a manager. Another crappy company who doesn't care about the consumers who bought their product.

The long and short of this story is my 7 month old computer won't boot. It's in a loop. No safe mode, no any mode, it just wont boot. This all happened one lovely day in October 2005 when I decided to start my computer so that I could use it. Crazy, I know, hitting the "on" button can certainly stress out a machine, but I did it anyway. So it starts to boot and them "whamo" it freezes up. Huh, thats weird. So I do what most people do, I hit "ctrl,alt,delete" to get it to reboot. Yah, well that was the beginning and the end of it. It's now stuck in this loop that won't boot in any mode.
We called HP Tech Support. We've spoken to 5 people now. All of them say just wipe it out. That's all the warrenty covers. Nobody wants to look at it to see if they can fix it without losing my data, that's way out of the question. They have no trouble with us taking it to one of their "authorized service centers" - Best Buy - and paying out the nose for them to look at it but they themselves at HP have no interest in the customer, service or holding up their warrenty. They happily offered us the option to buy a warrenty upgrade which we promply asked "Why in gods name would I pay anymore money to you people when you cant honor the warrenty we have now"???

Here's something you guys will love too, the QA guy, Darren, said he didn't even own an HP, he built his own computer. What does that tell you? Their own employees don't buy their crap, So why should we??

Another side note: eMachines has ranked higher in Customer Support in Consumers Reports than HP. eMachines??? Can you believe that?

hey guys i know this is probably not the place..but i just saw a something posted by a person named ALEXANDER STRYCZULA...and i really wished there was a way to know how to get in contact with him. He might be my Father. I have never met him or even know anything about him..My mother was going in for open heart surgery when she finally told me his name 2 yrs ago. and I have been searching since. I have never given up. and tonight i tried again and this site showed his name. if anyone can help me find out anything please help me. or maybe he will read this post and email me..my email is csannicolas001@yahoo.com and i was born on Guam in 76..thank you...sorry for the intrusion.

Yes, HP & Compaq Sucks!, por ello mejor opte por recorrer de taller en taller en busca de una systemboard death, y me regalaron una $0 pesos.... only quite algunos componentes y los pege a mi placamadre y listo! tengo mi laptop funcionando como nueva, a la chingada con esos pendejetes pseudotecnicos vale keso de Hp...

I had 7 HP computers, purchased approx. 1995 or so. Great little rigs, never a problem...soooooo...when it was time to upgrade in 2003 (a little late, I know), of course I bought HP products.

I bought 4 HP desktops (incl. an HP Media Center for my house), an HP4600DTN (double sided, very fast, color) laser printer, an HP fax machine and about $2,000.00 worth of laser cartridges.

Total cost, about 10 or 12 grand if I recall.

Over the next 5 months I spent over $48,000.00 in laser cartridges (yes...I did say $48,000.00).

I did a lot of printing (as if that wasn't obvious).

I should have bought about $26,000.00 worth of cartridges, but the thing was a dud, it was constantly jamming and that of course ebded up causing a lot of tossed printing.

I spent close to $2,000.00 in local repairs because HP didn't know why it wasn't working and said the warranty didn't cover my issues. Now, this was with a 30 day old purchase!

Within 60 days my brand new HP Media center computer had been in the repair shop more often than it had been at my home.

I sent a letter to HP extolling how I'd been a happy customer for 10 years but I was at best frustrated and I needed them to stand up to this issue and replace my computer and this printer.

No response.

A month later the fax machine died.

I then sent a letter to then President of HP Carly Fiorino (sp?) explaining everything once again, demanding that they replace my equipment.

30 days went by, no response. I was just getting ready to send another letter, when I got a phone call..."We want to take care of this right away...I can't believe no one has contacted you!!!"

(Neither could I).

A month went by...nothing.

Time for another letter I should think.

This time I sent copies of both previous letters, plus a new one...to every single computer magazine publisher in North America, the Wall Street Journal, my local paper, Michael Dell, the President of Gateway Computers, IBM, and Acer Computers among others.

All in all I sent out over 75 packages.

Interestingly within days I had a phone call from darn near everyone EXCEPT HP.

Eventually HP's "atonement" crew called me and expressed amazement that this hadn't been resolved.

I was equally amazed.

They then proceded to explain to me that a brand new HP4650 DTN was on its way as a replacement for the failed printer as well as a brand new HP Media Center computer would be on it's way and they were "going to pay to have a technician come in, do all your transfers for you and re-hook you up to your network".

The printer arrived 9 weeks later.

I'm still waiting for the computer.

That was 2 years ago.

Sadly, because I was of the (errant) opinion that HP had simply made a few bad devices, and even though my frustration had been immense during this process, I felt renewed confidence in HP's products and decided to upgrade my media center for my home.

The repair place had replaced the original computers power supply 3 times, it hadn't failed for almost 3 months by that time, so I opted to buy a brand new unit for my house and put the old one at the office for a use that wasn't important, should we lose the devices ability through failure.

So, off I go to COMP USA to buy another one.

January of 2005.

I bought everything they made for that thing at the time. It was around $2,700.00 or so. I believe the same computer goes for just under $900.00 today.

Shortly after I bought the thing, I had to do extensive traveling and was gone for almost 6 weeks.

The new computer started acting up the minute I got back. Knowing I didn't want to go through all this all over again...undoing the chords, repacking everything up in a box, etc., I opted to do all the phone calls, and try to fix it in house (I'm the network guy at my office).

I had to leave again for 4 weeks.

I got back, couldn't fix it, stared at it for another 3 weeks thinking "wonderful...here we go again" and finally woke up one day and said "I'm not dealing with this again" and took the entire thing down to COMP USA, left it on their service desk with a letter that basically said "thanks but no thanks...here's the copies of the 3 letters that took me almost a full year to get resolved....I don't even want to talk to you folks...just send me a working computer...goodbye"

They told me I needed to come back and pick up my computer because anything after 30 days (or maybe it was 60), they don't offer replacement.

It still sits on their shelves today.

But...it doesn't stop there!

I decided to give HP one more shot at doing the right thing.

I'd paid my entire bill in full.

This wasn't about getting money back out of the deal...I simply wanted a computer that worked. In my letter I even stated as much. "Just give me one that works".

That's not that tough is it? Surely out of several 100 thousand computers that they make...they ought to be able to find me one that works?

Right?

So I sent a letter to the brand new president of HP. I explained how my printer had failed, my original media center had failed, my fax had failed, moreover, that I'd spent close to 50k in proprietary toner cartridges that no doubt they'd made piles of money on me, I even included the reciepts to prove that I'd actually spent that almost 50k!

And I sent the reciepts showing I'd paid the most recent media center in full and that I didn't want money....just a working computer.

I got a nasty gram from their "difficult accounts" division.

They made it quite clear they didn't want, nor need my business.

Since then I've purchased a small number (4) of Dell computers for my office.

However, I'm quite proud to announce that both of my companies have done exceptionally well in the last 30 months, far exceeding anything anticipated, one of which is growing at 75% annually and is expected to continue that rate of growth for at least 3 - 5 more years and we're in architectual review to build 3 new buildings (2 will be rented out...we'll occupy one).

As of last count, our plans are to purchase 5 or 6 servers, 16 desktops (about 1/2 need to have significant processing and video capacity due to our new needs), color laser printers for each desk, scanners for approx. 60% of those desks, 3 fax machines, a conference room with video and audio equipment, and a myriad of other items.

At last count, and at current valuations, with software, etc., the bill will run between $65,000.00 and 95,000.00.

I am quite pleased to announce that not a single bit of it will be HP product.

Jon Julnes
Jon@VanguardOnline.com