New HP dv6 laptop and Knoppix

[Ben Scott]

On Tue, Dec 15, 2009 at 5:21 PM, Tom Buskey <tom at buskey.name> wrote:
> FWIW, I won't buy HP if I think I'll ever need support.

  HP's consumer computers absolutely stink from the standpoint of
software and customer service.

  They pre-load tons of garbage software.  Advertisements, remote
control software, stuff that's arguably spyware.  You have no way of
removing the garbage (unless you provide your own install media).  All
HP will give you is "Recovery Media" that restores the factory image,
complete with garbage.

  Their phone support is completely useless, and they won't even give
you the time of day if the product is out-of-warranty.

  I can't speak to their "business computers", but I know their
"business printers" suck the same way, as do their "consumer
printers".

  Dell, in contrast, will offer to ship media with every computer they
sell, and it's always a vanilla Microsoft Windows disc plus other
discs with the "value add" software.  Dell's free support is pretty
poor, but at least it's for the life of the machine.  And their
pay-extra support is excellent.

-- Ben