cdclark707: Re: jaguar eyefinity radeon hd5570 1gb ??

[SedonaF]

http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Desktop-Audio-Video-Monitors/jaguar-eyefinity-radeon-hd5570-1gb/m-p/253...

Thanks, Frank.

I ran the HP Vision Hardware Diagnostics and everything passed, which surprised me because this computer is still giving me grief.

-- On startup, sometimes (not always) the monitor will flicker for a few seconds but works fine after that.

-- There have been no blue screen episodes since the graphics board was replaced, which is great, but day before yesterday and today, Eudora and Firefox continue to freeze every so often.  Yesterday, there were no issues with any of the programs I use (Eudora, Firefox, Photoshop, Excel, etc. etc.)

-- Besides program freezing, these programs run like molasses.  They have NEVER run like this.  My Internet speed has not changed.  I've run virus programs and there are no viruses.  I've cleaned the registry and used programs to make it run faster.  Nothing works.

HP has apparently abandoned me now because the latest Indian CSR is convinced that it's a software problem (and he'd be happy to take even more money from me to troubleshoot my computer).  My point to him was that I was not having any software issues like I do now, especially the extremely slow processing, until the graphics card was replaced.

The graphics card requires almost as much wattage as I have in the power supply, so it makes sense to me that I need a bigger power supply to accommodate the graphics card as well as all the graphics software that I use.

Or, despite the RAM passing the tests (although I only saw 6 instead of what should be 9, I believe, in the testing), I wonder if that's the problem.  When I close the lagging or frozen programs and/or reboot the computer, all is well for a little while.

I am extremely disappointed with what is apparently built-in obsolence with this HP Pavilion Elite HPE-480t CTO Desktop Computer and HP 2509m monitor, both of which I purchased new 2.5 years ago. It's ridiculous that products that cost so much last for such a little period of time.

I configured and paid $1,807.22 for the Pavilion 480t, $310.79 for the HP 2509m monitor, and $159.99 for the 3 year House Call warranty, all directly from HP.com, for a total of $2,278.00. Since I received a $500 coupon and a $70 monitor rebate, this system was effectively worth $2,848.

And I thought that the "House Warranty" included an HP tech coming to my house to troubleshoot when there was a problem -- oh, no, he only comes to install a part; the diagnosis is done remotely in India -- so after several calls to India over the last few months about the same problem, I had no alternative but to allow myself to be held hostage for an additional $199.99.  It took the HP tech about 10 minutes to determine that the graphics card was bad... the Indian CSR previously told me to wipe my hard drive, reinstall all the programs, THEN check to see if the RAM was working.

So... I'm out several thousand dollars and have a system that might as well be a manual typewriter.  The monitor is the least of my problems at this point.  Yes, I may have to replace it sooner than later, but for now it works just fine.  The CPU is the issue.  I'm currently looking for a replacement computer and monitor made by anyone other than HP.  A bonus would be if the support was not outsourced to India.

I have spent countless hours in the last few months on this issue.  I don't have the time or interest in doing that.  I own two businesses -- web development (www.cdclark.com) and dental patient education software (www.digidentist.com) -- that I need to be hands-on with all the time.  Dealing with this computer issue has taken time away from both work and leisure time.

I will NEVER buy an HP product again and I will tell everyone I know about this miserable experience so they're forewarned.

Carol

[JeffHelp1]

04/08/13 - Jeff reached out to customer.  SV