[geeks] OT Question - workhorse laptop

[Jonathan Patschke]

On Wed, 16 Dec 2009, Lionel Peterson wrote:

> I'm looking to get a new 'workhorse' laptop, and I 
> find myself looking at two HP laptops, but I've no 
> history with their HW - so I'm looking for 
> feedback on the brand

Garbage.

In the case of any AMD/nVidia laptop from HP, expect to only run whatever
OS they give you, as they tweak the chipset's PCI IDs as a form of
lock-in.  Performance is so-so, probably due to the truckload of
shovelware that comes with the system.  Also, don't expect to use it as a
laptop; it'll overheat.  The last system I had put the exhaust fins right
at my knee, so putting the machine on my lap would cause it to throttle.

The real kicker was that I could get it to shut down from going
over-temperature just by grabbing the system and tilting it 90 degrees on
its side in mid-air for a few minutes....

Like I said, garbage.

-- 
Jonathan Patschke  ) "Science is what we understand well enough to explain
Elgin, TX         (   to a computer.  Art is everything else we do."
USA                )                                    --Dr. Donald Knuth