Asus or HP?

This might be somewhat of an odd comparison. Asus is rated highly while HP was near the bottom of the laptop quality study.

But, I don't know if that included the HP DV7 series or which Asus laptops were included.

I am comparing these two brands because they are both at stores in which I can walk in and buy. I'm not too keen on ordering online in case there's issues or I change my mind. Although, I'm not ruling it out.

I know that mostly Asus fans will read this and maybe the odd disgruntled Asus owner. But, I still want opinions so please offer your two cents!

Please take a quick look at some of my most recent posts. I would rather ask that you take a quick check but I will summarize briefly what I'm looking for:

</= $1K, P8400 cpu or better, 1440 x 900 res. or higher, eSATA port...

That should cover most of it. If you think I should compromise on one of those specs, please state why. I thought a 1366 x 768 might be too low but if you think it's okay, please explain.

I want eSATA because I want to use an external drive setup for data storage. I can use an eSATA ExpressCard though, right? Is that no big deal or a hassle? A minor inconvenience or annoying to need the card handy? I want a P8400 cpu so I can have the option of virtualization. I don't have much preference for screen size. I don't mind a desktop replacement. I think the min. size that might have these requested options is 15.6" Please recommend a model and explain why I should have it as my top choices.

Thanks for replying to my message!

 

If you want to mod the internals stay away from HP since they lock their BIOS to only support their own upgrade options.

 

There's really not many Asus options if you limit yourself to buying one from a brick and mortar store. The nicer models are usually only available from online authorized resellers. The only models that are in-store and meet your requirements are the G60Vs and G72Vx, which are both geared towards gamers. If you won't be using the laptop for gaming, then it would be a bit of a waste to get either of these.

On the other hand, if you're willing to shop online, I'd highly recommend taking a look at the N61 series. It is a well-balanced laptop with a more modest design that should suit your needs. If you require a little more processing power, take a look at the M60j series which is equipped with an i7 CPU.

The HP Dv7 is also a decent laptop, but the biggest turn off for me is its mirror finish touchpad which makes it extremely difficult to use unless you have extremely dry skin. Though, using an external mouse can easily solve that issue.

If a laptop doesn't have an eSATA port, then yes, you can use an eSATA expresscard given that the laptop has an expresscard slot. Note that, most of these eSATA expresscards do stick out, but other than its physical factor, I don't see any other problems with it.

 

Specifically, HP whitelist pretty much anything that goes into a PCI Express slot of some sort, including...

-Graphics (if there is a removable MXM card, like on the business class workstations)
-Internal PCI-e wireless cards (big one right here)
-Bluetooth? (unsure)

The RAM, ODD, HDD, and CPU are all still upgradeable. Hope this helps.

 

I will only say stay away from hp computers in general, I know four people who had four different hp laptops, and everyone of them has had to send theirs back once, twice, or three times for repairs.

 

Just to be fair, HP's business class laptops are nothing like their consumer laptops such as the pavilion series. This includes their customer service as well.

 

Yeh the EliteBooks are nice. If you've got that kind of money...

Edit: nvm. Just looked at their lineup and it's not what it used to be... (I was thinking of the mil-spec ones)

 

I can check out a few Asus models at Canada Computers, though. At least, I'd get an idea. I don't mind buying online but I can't 'see' the laptop and if there's an issue later on, I believe it would be a nightmare shipping back and forth.

Thanks for your comments, btw! That is the type of info I am looking for!

The M60J series looks good but way out of my budget. I'm already stretching it as it is, actually. The N61 is a contender. Someone in another post suggested this one, G71. Isn't it too old now, though?:

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5250527&CatId=4948

So, the HP dv7 has a 'whitelist?' Please explain? It sounds like the Asus models are built better and have more upgrade options? How difficult is it to get the cpu upgraded? I thought it would be too expensive so better to get a cpu that already has virtualization?

I am not too excited about using an ExpressCard to obtain my eSATA capabilities so good point about the card sticking out. But, if price means a bit of inconvenience, then that's what I'd have to do (i.e. the laptop has all the other specs I want except for an eSATA port!).

I want the internals upgradeable but also easy to work with in case the laptop ever requires service. I'm pretty careful and I don't expect problems but it's good to have hardware that is 'liked' by the repair shop!
Any other comments? ;-)

 

I'd never buy a refurbished laptop. The 2 year warranty and 1 year accidental is worth the price difference between a new and refurb's 3 months parts warranty.

HP laptops are crap. I bought one for my gf last year, it arrived with a damaged screen fixing which was a nightmare, was never fully resolved. (The replacement that was sent did not have a built in tv tuner like the original laptop.) The tech support was abysmal. Never again. Even the replacement laptop is not perfect. It's been under a year and the touch pad buttons are getting stuck as they were a little out of alignment from day one.

 

Okay, thanks for your two cents. Anyone else agree not to buy a refurbished laptop? My idea was to visit a Canada Computers (Cdn store) and take a look at the various Asus laptops that I would be interested in. That way, I could buy there or a similar model from newegg or someplace. I'd get an idea of the screen (res) and other ideas while I'm there.

 

There's a reason that people are saying what they're saying about HP. After knowing what my wife has had to deal with in her line of HP notebooks at her work (she's a network administrator and the latest contract from her work is with HP...and will be the last contract they have with HP) I will never put my hard earned dollars into a computer from HP.

 

The overheating asus G series aint that great either you know...95 celcius aint a joke, I bet this forum will overflow this summer with thousands 'help-me-my-asus-burned' threads. Sure its made for those temperatures, but you aint telling me that those thingy pieces of methal which will expand and shrink due to heat diferences, will not suffer from erosion (or corosion or whatever it is called) after years of usage.

 

When we speak of negative opinions toward refurbished laptops, could we consider this? :-(
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=444595

Is that what you're talking about. I didn't need to read that when that is close to the model that is for sale, refurbished.... um....

As to the heat issues, should I consider a GPU with a lower power consumption? Some of them seem low by comparison. I've read from 25w to 38w. Isn't that low for a gpu? Or only satisfactory for a laptop GPU? I don't need to game. I just need decent 3D and video. If it has video encoding and other features, that's a bonus. I want the cpu to be able to do virtualization and a gpu that isn't going to get outdated quickly or lose support in either Windows or Linux (I dual boot).

I would like an eSATA port so that I don't need an ExpressCard stuck in the related slot 24/7 as I like to save data externally and not have it on the main drive. I guess that's not a biggie, though, mostly convenience. If I'm not at home, I'll temporary save data to the main drive and then copy it.

I want decent hardware quality because we are talking about laptops which are comparatively fragile and prone to problems especially gpu and maybe keyboard or other flimsy components.

 

For stuff like WLAN cards, the HP BIOS has a whitelist. That is to say, within the BIOS, there's a list of acceptable cards (ie, cards you get from HP, and only those cards). Otherwise, your computer won't boot. There have been successful attempts to circumvent this whitelist. Lenovo (from what I heard) also does the same. Either way, it's not right.

 

Ah, I gotcha now. True, Lenovo does it and IBM did it before with their Thinkpads. It's not very difficult to get around it, I hear. I agree, it's not right. You should be able to use whatever 'fits' and is "compatible" mechanically and hardware-wise. They shouldn't be trying to hold you hostage to their 'own cards.'

 

get an asus just becasue of the support.

check out gentechpc.com

 

Hell they wont accept cards from other hps, bought a dv8000 off ebay, wlan card missing, I pulled one out of a tx1200, same form factor. the dv8000 wouldnt boot with that card.

 

You seem to be aware of the recent survey that found over three years HP had TWICE the incidence of repairs as ASUS. This isn't by model as you imply; the survey differentiates by brand, and was based on many thousands of responses. Given that why exactly are you still considering HP?

 

I read that surrvey but it doesn't state if it's across the entire line or certain models. One could assume it's the brand spanning various models but how would you know? It could be certain ones that keep popping up as the main culprits or 'problematic' models. That's why I was wondering.

I was considering HP only because of the specs and the latest Dv7 series looks okay. I remember their other Pavillion models and they are mostly silver and look pretty bad.

I am leaning more towards Asus now but I find few that cover all my requests regarding specs. ;-) I would have to compromise on one of them. Ones that fulfill my spec requests are typically out of my budget. :-(

 

As a person who has repaired a lot of laptops over the years, especially HP, Compaq's, for my own use, I bought a Asus M70Vn, never had any problems with Asus laptops, the temps are the best I've seen in a laptop, it's 45c outside, inside 26c, the laptop 44 under load, 31c at idle in windows, very quiet, even with 2 x 7200 hard drives, can't fault this model at all. It's the second Asus I've personally owned, I sold the previous model to a close friend and it still operates with no problems, he's trying to buy the Vn for his wife, he's out of luck this time. How could anybody consider a hp, pay the extra and get the Asus.

 

I've bought lots of refurbished goods w/no problem on most, but I do agree that it's worth it to NOT buy a refurb in this case - especially with the nice warranty ASUS offers. The warranty and peace of mind are worth it to me.

You're not going to really save that much anyway in most cases.

Good luck!

 

speaking of refurbs, I've heard stories that dell refurbs are better than their new products

 

That survey is next to useless to making an informed judgment.

What are you talking about? The Elitebooks are still mil-spec. Admittedly, not full mil-spec. I'd be willing to put up my Elitebook(s) against the current Precision and W lines from Dell or Lenovo when it comes to build quality.

Depends. You can get an extended warranty from the manufacturer for some refurbished products, i.e. HP/Dell/Lenovo if purchased from their outlet store. For the matter, certain refurbished units come with a 3 year warranty, i.e. Dell's E6XXX and Precision lines.

And remember, not all laptops are made equal. Every manufacturer has their own problem models, i.e Clevo's old D900K used to overheat severely, or the sound issues M570 users have.

Just because a laptop is refurbished, does not mean that it will fall to pieces or that it is a terrible product.

There are those who argue refurbished units are better as they have been through checks to figure out the issues. I'll just point out that this is only the case if the tests and checks have been performed, which isn't always the case.

 

I think you answered your own question. This is what I'm talking about.
http://gizmodo.com/395586/hp-elitebook-6930p-one--business-laptop

Edit: HAHA it got filtered. I give up but you could google 6930p.

 

So it's not full mil-spec? So? Did the Elitebooks ever come with full mil-spec? Not as far as I know. As it is, not even all the Toughbooks are full mil-spec.

I'm still missing your point.

 

u apparently could not be bothered to read the article I linked to. So I will cease to value your opinion...

 

Maybe you could try explaining your damned point instead of being coy.

Is this the article you're referring to?

http://gizmodo.com/395586/hp-elitebook-6930p-one--business-laptop

Because this is certainly the article I'm finding.

So it states the 6930p is mil-spec. I know that. But it's also an Elitebook.

The other HP business lines are not Elitebooks. The Probooks are pretty much a counterpart to Dell's Latitude or Vostro lines, and Lenovo's R/SL lines.

You yourself mentioned Elitebooks. I'm challenging your point about the Elitebooks. The Elitebooks are still the same. How is it "it's not what it used to be"?

 

Yeppa yep... FTA:

I rest my face.

Edit: Also so that you don't flame back anymore, it was more of a passing comment... I really don't care about HP.

 

Trust me, if I were flaming, you would know it.
What I was trying to get at was that the Elitebooks are still the same. It's just that HP now has a wider business line.

 

Are they? I only took a quick glance at their current lineup, and now you're challenging me like I'm some sort of HP fanboi... I don't get it. Anyways, I'm editing some xmas videos, have to get back to that. Take care.

Edit: For the sake of completeness, here is the page I was looking at when I made my original comment. Where are the mil-spec ones?
http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF04a/321957-321957-64295-3740645-3955549.html?jumpid=re_R295_prodexp/busproducts/computing-notebook/hp-elitebk-ntbk-pc&psn=notebooks_tablet_pcs/notebook_pcs

 

Hmm, I think there's a disconnect. Based on what you said earlier, I got the impression that you were saying that the Elitebooks are now worse than before. Hence my earlier question for you, how are they worse than before? Were they full mil-spec before? Not as far as I know.

This impression is based on the comment, "Edit: nvm. Just looked at their lineup and it's not what it used to be... (I was thinking of the mil-spec ones)".

I did not think you're a HP fanboy, I thought the opposite actually. I'm not sure how you got the idea that I thought you were a HP fanboy.

8530p, 8530w is the same chassis, just different GPU, 8730w, 2530p

All of them are at least tested to some MIL-STD-810F tests, but HP does not guarantee that it keep working under those conditions, just tested to meet those standards.


At any rate, this has gone OT, kinda, we're still on HP I guess.

Merry Christmas.

OP: If you're considering still considering the X83, I would definitely suggest you go in-store and have a look at 1280 x 800 or 1366 x 768 screens on a 14.1" machine to see if you're comfortable with that resolution. You may find the resolution surprisingly acceptable.

Note however, that the odds are that you won't be able to find a 1280 x 800 in store, as most newer laptops in-store are going 16:9.

 

I didn't say I was a fanboi, I mean you're challenging my knowledge of the HP lineup as though I follow them. All I know is that the Elitebook that was 810F spec was pretty sweet IMHO, and this has definitely derailed the discussion. I'm not sure what you want out of me.

But merry xmas, let's put this one to rest, eh? Probably a misunderstanding.

 

Lol. I'm pretty sure it is/was.

Merry Christmas to you too.

Anyone know if Asus has any ruggedized laptops aside from the B51?

 

My last laptop was HP DV7t. Very good and stable machine. Had it for a year without a single problem, before I gave it to my parents. It was with T5900 2.2 Ghz, Nvidia 9600m GT and a 250 GB 5400 RPM Hitachi HDD.

The screen was much better than my current Asus G71GX BB. The sound system of HP was also way ahead of the Asus, which has very unsatisfying sound.

I got the G71GX in September and I'm starting to feel sorry about this decision. The Seagate HDD in it started having bad sectors from the very first days. Since the very beginning I have had freezing/stuttering issues in games/movies which I attributed to the bad HDD. Recently replaced the HDD on my own without using the warranty, reinstalled Vista a few times and still have the beautiful freezing/stuttering issues in 90% of the games like GRID, Dirt 2, L4D2 and many more (never had to reinstall the OS in the HP, nor had I issues with games). Today installed Win7, the issues appear far less, but still exist.

Pretty much very dissapointed with the Asus, and missing the HP a lot.

P.S. The eSATA port of the HP worked much better with my external WD My book, than the Asus eSATA which does not go along with the WD at all.

 

Why not use the warranty? That's what it's for, no?

 

Because as I wrote in another thread there is a high possibilty of the issues not being resolved and the laptop being more damaged than prior to sending in for repairs. The bad sectors of the HDD are obvious and they will replace it, but how to explain the freezing issues to the customer support?

 

Fair enough. Any possibility of trying to get them to send you only a new HDD?

 

Thanks for that. This is where the misunderstanding must have started, with my ignorance of that. I have to admit I still can't find anything on their specs about the milspec, but at least I know they're still making them. Cheers!

 

Hmm, try clicking on the direct links below, I tried to find a page which states that they are at least tested to milspec. Couldn't find one for the 8530w, but I imagine it should be as well. I made a mistake quoting earlier. Left the page you quoted out of the quote. (If that makes sense)

8530p, 8730w, 2530p

Copied from the 8730w page, my favorite bit in bold.

 

Thanks, that's exactly what I couldn't find before. +rep

 

No need. Just glad to help.

 

I'm still wondering how much HP has changed if at all. I don't need the study since I was told by some vendors who repair laptops that HP is a mess to fix. Also, someone at Stooples told me that HPs are quite tight to deal with in regarding their internals. I would have thought it would be relatively similar across various brand names but I have no experience except with my older Thinkpad. But, those have a rep for being a pleasant experience when working on them.

I chose 16" and 17" laptops since they seem to offer the most choices for getting good hardware for the money. I also have my Thinkpad for when I want to be mobile. But, a 16" or 17" laptop shouldn't be too bad to lug around. I'm more worried about cases and bags being available for that size.

My other concern is the heat and power consumption from the GPU. Should I go ATI or Nvidia? Which one is good for less heat? The DV7 has an ATI card and most Asus machines have Nvidia although a few have ATI but not many from what i've come across. I don't know if that should play a major part or not, though. I guess I should visit a Futureshop and Canada Computers store to check out whatever is closest to what I'm considering. Yeah, then I can check the resolutions but I think it's better to ask you guys about the heat question since some of you have already bought these machines.

 

Some of the Dell and Asus models require quite a tear down as well. A lot of the Asus models have a single large panel, which helps immensely with upgrades.

You'll be fine, there a lot of cases available for those laptops.

That's a tough question. It's not so much as it is ATI/Nvidia, it's more about the particular card in question. Both companies also seem to calculate the power usage slightly differently, I can't find any links right now, but I could also be thinking about AMD/Intel.

At any rate, most of their cards advertise about the same use of power. The 4650 supposedly runs between 15-30 W, while the GT230M runs up to 23W. The GTX280M and GTX260M supposedly run up to 75W, while the ATI 4870 runs up to 70W.

Try checking out the particular models in question, unless it's a discrete card or if you're comparing a low end vs. a high end card, power consumption might very well be similar.

Asus has a pretty interesting mix. For some of their models, they have versions that would use the Nvidia cards (N80vn/W90vn) vs. the ATI cards (N81vp/W90vp).

 

Thanks for that info, dtwn!

I was looking at Asus' site. How does one tell if the screen is LED backlit?

I notice very few are listed but does that mean it doesn't have it or is it like some manufacturers in that they list strange 'descripts' like super ultra bright view? I mean, I think Dell does it. Maybe Sony? I am not sure if it just means it's an enhanced screen or is LED?

I like this laptop:
ASUS N71VN-A1

But, does it have an LED screen? All the specs look good and although it's a rather large screen, 17" but all the other specs are what I'm looking for.

But, I do prefer an LED screen if possible. Is it not LED? And how many Asus laptops are LED backlit? I didn't see LED mentioned on many Asus laptops so I was wondering if Asus uses other descriptions or just doesn't utilize that technology in too many laptops yet?

 

Just look at this page.

http://www.gentechpc.com/

And look at the descriptions of the screen. See it? Note that there's no LED beside the N71VN, but there is mention of LED for those units with it.