I am looking to buy a new laptop for my web development work. I have been happy with the HP Sleekbook that I have been using for almost 3 years but as I approach the end of my MSc in computing and am doing more web development work I would like something more powerful, faster and with a better screen. I have my eye on the HP Envy 15-ae109na which fits my budget and desired spec but am concerned about the numerous issues that have arisen recently with display drivers.
The reason for my concern is that I attempted to upgrade my laptop recently and went for an £800 Toshiba Satellite, also with Nvidia graphics, as it offered the spec I wanted at the right price. However, from the day I bought it, the message 'display driver has stopped responding and then recovered' appeared frequently, particularly when I was doing programming work. It meant I had to close the programme and open it again every 5 minutes and despite my many attempts to resolve the issue it was impossible to sort out and basically rendered the laptop impossible for me to use for my work.
I made some long and expensive phone conversations to Toshiba technical support who would only look at resolving the issue if I paid around £60 for a one off repair or around £150 a year for ongoing support, which seemed ridiculous since the laptop was shipped with the issue. So I reluctantly returned it to PCWorld where I had bought it from, who were very helpful and understanding and refunded me. However, I wasted a good few days setting up the new computer, installing all of the software I use on there and transferring all of my files onto it and then trying to resolve the issue and am very concerned that if I buy a new laptop again I might face the same problem.
I am now back with my trusted HP i5 4GB RAM sleekbook which I can live with as it at least works, despite sometimes struggling a little when I have a number of applications open at the same time, but would really like to purchase a trouble-free replacement as upgrading the RAM for this one looks like I would need to take the whole thing apart, having examined the instructions.
So, do I risk buying the HP Envy 15-ae109na and hope it is OK. If it isn't, what are HP's policies if I have the same issue? Will they resolve it for free? Will they let me return it and refund me if it isn't? Or would I be better off going for something without a Nvidia graphics card such as the HP Pavillion 15-ak085na at PCWorld, which has the advantage of being quad core and installing additional RAM and an SSD (I have looked at the instruction booklet and it looks fairly simple to add these on this model). Or might the Intel display driver with this model have similar issues?
I really do not want to go through the problems again of receiving a new computer that is shipped with unresolvable issues and I am an incredibly busy working single parent who is also studying for an MSc in computing. If I can have some kind of assurance that these new laptops have been tested for these driver issues and that if there is an issue it will be resolved by HP, I might risk buying one. If not, it would be good to know from HP now. If I can't find a decent Windows 10 laptop without these issues, would I be better saving up for a MacBook Pro?
Any advice would be very welcome, thanks.
