I bought my zd8000 laptop in Ireland and it cost me 1800 Euros. It was back in 2005. The vertical lines started few months ago i.e. in 2010. I know I spent 5 years with this laptop without any problem. But one of my friend had the same laptop and he also got those lines but he was lucky to have it replaced by HP because it was under warranty. But after that his laptop becomes dead due to some other reasons.
It is very annoying that such an expensive laptop may have such a critical fault. And given the fact that I come to know through this website that so many people had been affected by this fault even some new laptops of zd8000 had this problem. Its not good. But what to do? Even on EBAY the new screen cost 80 euros ?

Submitted by Khan.

Within 2 years of buying my HP I noticed a vertical line develop in the middle of my screen.  It was a cyan blue and look a lot like guide in photoshop.  Since I only used the machine as a desktop computer I could not explain this problem away due to damage…the machine literally never moved.  Over the course of several months the number of lines increased now including yellow and magenta vertical lines.  I have so many lines now, it is literally near impossible to read over any but white backgrounds…and forget watching a movie!  Several years later I am still using this machine, only now with an external monitor.  In all other regards I really enjoyed this machine but after this experience I will think twice about buying an HP again.

Submitted by Ryan.

I have bought an HP Pavilion zd8000 3years back, not happy from the laptop in several aspects in which first of all the weight of system is to much and very difficult to carry any where, after some time of purchase the keys of key pad is tearing off and after some more time the performance going to worse from bad but i was continuing to use is than i have experience a yellow colour vertical line on the screen i omit it and continue to work on it now i am experience severe display problem in form of blue horizontal colour lines and  battery also died and the system is heating too much, i think it is a perfect garbage and heavy loss of your investment, please never think about to buy HP laptops they are only little better in printers but laptops are garbage, i am also a victim of HP laptops.

Submitted by Rehan.

i have a zd8000 bought it after it died had my buddy reflow it and the video card is gone and the screen is gone its a big loud hot running hunk of crap i have an old dell that works better than this one did if there is anything that i can still do please let me know i cant believe that hp would do this i have used them for years i dont have enough money to keep having it fixed im about to sell it for parts if i cant get hp to help cant deal with the whole phone deal they have i dont need to be sent all over the world to people that read a script i just want my damn computer to work

Submitted by Dan.

I have had nothing but problems with this laptop.  It just started crashing in the last 3 months (out of warranty of course).  It will run for various amounts of time and then I will get a screen with vertical stripes on it.  The only option is to shut it off.  It used to fix the problem, but now I can’t even get the system restore to work anymore.  From reading other forums it seems the motherboard will have to be replaced.  Tech support has been a complete joke and waste of time.  They looked for every reason to blame me for the issue and never offered any real support.  DO NOT BUY A HP!!

Submitted by Screwed.

I just got my wife this computer for Christmas and was in the process of setting up the wireless router when this vertical red line appeared.  The computer has just been on for no more than 2 hours at once and no more than 5 hours total.  I just found this web site while looking for some info on a possible fix.  I guess this can be fixed under warranty, but what a pain.

Submitted by New HP User.

I’ve had my screen (purchased separately) for about 18 months.  I have a vertical blue line.  I am frustrated as I know it will cost me more to fix it than to replace it.  Throw away technology is the pits.  boooo.

Submitted by Ted.

I’ve had my HP Pavilion ZD827ea for about 5-6 years and the only problem that I have had is that the battery died after about 2 years, although the screen has recently started to display vertical colored pinstripes, so I guess its dying.
I have written to HP before about how to remove the cabinet so that I could upgrade the CPU as it would be cheaper to upgrade the whole machine than buy new. I was totally impressed with the reply as they were glad that I was happy with there product and sent me a complete service manual for free.
Unlike Fujitsu Siemens Who haven’t even have the decency to reply to several E-Mails about a problem I have with one of there machines.
So summing up I have owned several laptops and HP are without any doubt the best machines in my experience.

Submitted by Tim.

Hello,

I have an HP pavilion zd8000. It’s now about 5 and a half year old. At the moment it isn’t working very well, he is very slow and my battery in the pc is broken. So if i remove the cable… he fells out. Very stupid if you PC is slow and more stupid if you battery charger is also broken!!! It got broken twice!! And i had to wait at least 14 days and it cost me  about 100 euros each time.

And about 10 days ago, suddenly a smal line appeared. And i thought “What is going on?” i have rebooted my pc, did a virus scan but nothing worked.  Ok 1 line isn’ bad. But a few days later a new line appeared. This is not normal!!!

I searched the internet and they said: ” You can’t fix it and it’s getting worse!!!” Stupid HP!!! this pc costs me 1599 Euros, about 1500$ i think.  If you count the battery chargers it was 1700 euros.

Really i hate HP. Why didn’t they make a better pc! This pc was in my eyes not 1500 euros worth! I will never buy a HP again.

Sorry if there are any mistakes in my text. I come from Belgium, where they speak Dutch and French

Greetz
Thomas

Submitted by Thomas De Sterck.

Greetings from London, and firstly

My heart goes out to each and every one of you

It DOES really vacuum when some nice shiny piece of technology turns out to be totally unfit-for-purpose, due to some easily fixable design issues, and a procedural Corporate arrogance, that stops real problems from ever being acknowledged

A bit of background might be in order, of how we got here

“Back in the day” HP grew to become the makers of the finest electronic test & measurement gear money could buy you might want to see some of the writings of the original founders (read them and weep: -

http://www.smecc.org/the_human_side_of_management_-_bill_hewlett.htm

http://www.hpalumni.org/images/Packard_11_Simple_Rules.jpg )

From a really small operation that genuinely engaged with its people to .. Well, partly due to the 21st Century’s way of doing business, employing MBA’s for the top spots of a Company who have no feel or knowledge of the technology or end product – and lousy communication skills  (Sorry is my bitterness from working at an early DotCom showing here ?)

Through the 80′s and 90′s HP still made some very advanced, competent stuff – but the turn of the century’s appointment of CEO Carly Fiorina (http://www.cnbc.com/id/30502091?slide=3) and the disastrous acquisition of Compaq http://www.icmrindia.org/casestudies/catalogue/Business%20Strategy1/The%20HP-Compaq%20Merger%20Story.htm , the stock price in the toilet, and the layoff of 18,000 technical staff, well…

Maybe I’m being myopic, but the ONE thing I fail to understand, is her decision to divest the HP name from all the serious T&M gear (becoming ‘Agilent’, a separate company) If ANYTHING gave you a bit of confidence in a gray insubstantial looking computer or peripheral, it would be that it shares some parentage with the finest electronic gear on the planet – (WHAT do they TEACH these alleged ‘managers’, about ‘branding’ ?)

This sure was the end of the ‘HP Way’, of Bill & Dave’s simple people-centric, tech savvy style of management – Oh Fiorina did a FEW things right – the early pavilion PC’s had the names of the techs who designed it stamped on the box, to encourage ‘pride’ – sadly she’d sourced some of the cr*ppiest cheap motherboards for most of the line (causing one of my customers a whole WORLD of trouble) and really WASN’T something a self-respecting hardware geek would like to be associated with

I had a neighbor worked for HP around this time, and there was some SERIOUS partying in 2005 when she got forcibly ejected from the Board (entered politics now, I believe)

OK I’m currently struggling with a friends ZD8000 with a melted charger (is it REALLY worth sourcing another one, with this machines rep, and The ZD7000 having its very own Class Action ? http://www.classcounsel.com/news/hpzd.html

sadly ANY tech buy is a bit of a crapshoot these days – IBM’s used to be really well made, but the Chinese Lenovo’s can be a bit .. variable in quality, so its hard to recommend ANYBODY that heartily – (Samsungs build quality has gotten a lot better these days, mind)

All I can advise is  try and be TOO early-adopter with tech purchases, hold back a few months, read plenty reviews, and if you have issues after buying, take notes,  record conversations if you can, and remain clam, try every inane thing the ‘support’ suggests, whilst politely rebutting any insane claims such as ‘playing games overclocks your computer’

(Oh and if anyone DOES have the wreckage of their 8000, maybe a charger or something for yours truly..?)

Finally – Bill Hewlett’s ideas on management still live on – Only not at HP !

“a core ideology … which includes a deep respect for the individual, a dedication to affordable quality and reliability, a commitment to community responsibility, and a view that the company exists to make technical contributions for the advancement and welfare of humanity.”[49] The following are the tenets of The HP Way:[50]

1. We have trust and respect for individuals.
2. We focus on a high level of achievement and contribution.
3. We conduct our business with uncompromising integrity.
4. We achieve our common objectives through teamwork.
5. We encourage flexibility and innovation….”

RB

Submitted by Roger B.