Apologies for the long post...
Questions
How good is the touchpad of this laptop?
Is there a 9-cell battery available for this laptop?
The Big Question: HP or not to HP?
I love the specs of this laptop, it is precisely what I was looking for but these issues haunt me whenever I linger close to an HP laptop. Should I not worry about these and go ahead trusting HP to give good quality?
Some of the historical problems with HP laptops (faced by at least 2 owners in the previous 3 years):
- Heating
- Display problems
including failed connectors and dead pixels (in a year or two)
- Very annoying touchpads and broken buttons
- Batteries die quite quickly (within a year most didn't last longer than 10 mins) - heavy usage is to blame but problem significantly less with Dells.
- Bad,very bad customer service, takes them a week to inspect the laptop if you have any issue.
So, I am quite reluctant to buy HP. I use an HP Compaq and it has similar issues especially bothered by the display thing.
A different path?
I was looking for 7200rpm HDD, dual band wireless n (300Mbps), Backlit keyboard, 1080p display and Nvidia Graphics for CUDA (and also durability, to last 3-5 years) in addition to the specs. Is there any other laptop with the above (other than XPS 15)? Looking for ASUS, Sony or others (lenovo, Acer, Samsung if they are reliable).
Dust, Heat and Service
And as far as I know to keep out the dust, (preferably, open up the covers and the area covering the fan) use a blower at the fan vent. The service guys will probably take a week to do the same. Over the years I have learnt to repair my own laptop using the service manual and it is quite easy if you follow it right. Only with my Compaq I had to do it with the laptop still being in warranty (Courtesy: HP Service)