Hewlett Packard

Stuff that worked before, and may again

By way of disclosure, I was once the marketing director for a Hewlett Packard VAR (value added retailer), so I had a built in loyalty to HP.  Their products were benchmarks for reliability, their customer service always the highest rated.  Lately, however, I've had pretty much the same experience as this fellow HP 873N Media Center computer owner. That is to say,  I was fed-freaking-up.  So, when of a sudden an MPEG2 codec, critical in movie and DVD making, stopped working, and instead displayed a message "Your evaluation period has ended, please visit Elcard's site ...," I was about at the end of the road with this piece of crap. Evaluation?  After 3 years? The last time I asked HP something, I received a curt reply stating that my one-year warranty had expired, and I was on my own.  With nothing to lose, I again went through HP's labyrinth, and was able to finally get off an SOS e-mail.  I had zero expectations for any resolution, but, Holy Crap!  Within 30 minutes I had a response from a live guy who gave me two non HP sites where I could download the codec for free (Emuzed, the original OEM supplier having faded away).  Problem solved.  Holy Crap.  I will again consider HP when it's time to upgrade. There's a lesson here too. I am easy.  For instance, even if you voted for John Kerry, there will come a time (not yet) when I'm able to forgive you - if your actions demonstrate that you've returned to decency, and love your country again..