I've already mentioned my dead notebook computer. I would have to say it lasted just over a year before it couldn't be used anymore without being taken to an HP authorized service center. Of course, I didn't have an extended warranty on it, so I shelved it.

My Son's HP Notebook Computer

My younger son (Jon) has an HP notebook computer which I bought him about a year before I bought mine, which was the exact same model as the one I bought for my older son (Joseph). Joseph's notebook lasted about two years. In terms of usage, Jon's notebook didn't last even six months.

Jon pushed the adapter plug into the receptacle just a little too hard one day, pushing the receptacle into the notebook case. After letting it sit for months, he finally took it to a local computer shop to have it fixed. When he got it back, the technician told him the hard disk needed to be replaced. I haven't examined it myself yet but if the hard disk drive needs to be replaced, the technician either damaged it himself or he swapped it with a bad one in his shop. The shop isn't an authorized service center and I wouldn't be surprised if he swapped it.

Of course, it may just be an HDD boot sector error and if so, I can fix that myself. If not, I can use my spare drive (from the dead notebook computer since I haven't taken it out yet — too many other things to do).

HP Sales for 2009

I recently read a news article at Reuters.com about how computer sales were up almost 25 percent during the last quarter of 2009, helped by the sales of low cost notebooks. Perhaps they just didn't want to say "netbooks".

The part that amazed me was that they reported HP as the leader, followed by Acer, Dell, Lenovo and Toshiba. If people knew how much service seems to be required on HP notebook computers, would HP have been the leader? I seriously doubt it.

Despite the almost 25 percent increase in sales, the US still lags way behind the sales in Asia, my neck of the woods. I haven't seen any reports about who the market leader is in Asia, but I can tell you from observation that the MSI Wind netbooks seem to be flying off the shelves as fast as the shelves are stocked.

Now, if you believe everything I've written about HP notebook computers, would you buy one of their laptops or would you look for something else?

• Recycling a Dead Notebook Computer
• Is a Laptop Computer better than a Desktop Computer?
• The Coming Revolution
• I'm Sold on the MSI Wind U100xp Netbook
• The Samsung Netbooks vs. The HP Netbooks