Jim Roseberry
Good for the OP that his HP is working fine.
 
I wanted to chime in on the notion that there have been "so many" issues with custom built DAWs.  
We all know what I do for a living (and obviously I'm biased).
That said, a custom DAW is as good as the person building it.
The whole reason to go with a custom machine is that you have total control over what goes in... and how it's configured.  If you make good choices, you wind up with a great DAW.
An experienced computer tech can choose individual components that are part-for-part superior to any pre-configured computer (Mac or PC).
 
I like Walmart as much as the next guy.  Low prices are great...
First Act guitars work... but would you recommend them instead of Fender, Gibson, MusicMan, Rickenbacker, etc?   
 
 

I totally agree, we are both builders.
you build a lot of high end stuff and I build middle of the road stuff but I totally
agree that your system is as good as the person setting it up for you and the parts you put in to it.
we've all had that budget guitar sound great once in a blue moon. but those are chances.
chances are not something that leaves you with a sense of security.

I have recently updated my previous HP Computers with another set of HP Computers... In all instances I didn't notice any of this "Bloat ware" that everyone seems to talk about - the only thing bloating I could find is each of the computers came with Cyberlink PowerDVD and PowerDirector, which I'd like to say is pretty darn good to use for Video production, its by no means loading anything into memory unless I load the application and begin to use it.
 
They also bundled in Nortons Antivirus software, (I uninstalled this and installed my preference registered copies of Mcafee Antivirus software).  HP also provide some HP Update Manager, this is pretty cool, it checks on scheduled times for any updates there might be for my PC against their database.
 
Furthermore, I don't see that having a super duper computer to run a DAW is of a great deal of importance - I think a soundcard is most important for a DAW and that the soundcard supports its own version of an ASIO driver, and that there is good support for that ASIO driver if you need it... (most vendor built computers do not support their own ASIO driver for the installed soundcard, usually in this case you would purchase external soundcard (in my case a focusrite 2i2)).
 
As for HP Support, I've had to log a call previously relating to some problem with the finger key reader on my new notebook - there was a software update that addressed this and we went through together setting up the HP Support Assistant software to check for updates...  The HP Support forums are good too, generally you'll find someone very knowledgeable with the product and will assist in helping out...
 
Cheers
Jim

I think nowadays the power of the layperson machine is enough that it's no longer the bottleneck unless there's config issues. It's totally a viable argument now to just buy off-the-shelf and replace it more often. 
 
I think with a custom machine you can upgrade piecemeal and also futureproof better (the thing'll last longer for sure), but when it only costs $500-$800 to just get another machine when the other starts to act weird why not?
 

Well think yourself lucky, you could have an Apple! Lifted from the NI forums from a MAC user:


"It really looks like a cheap bathroom garbage can. it is not even fancy. the top and bottom is plastic with some metal in the center. feels super light and cheaply made. the inside core looks nice though. it is basically a dual processor laptop with the cooling capacity to run it. it is small, the size of an american football. i can see it will be a high theft item, like the iPhones. it a bit of a novelty and way overpriced and unless you get the $6k maxed out version it is less of a machine than the previous one that has drive and expansion slots built in. it is nice if you want to drop $10k, total upgrade cost with enclosures, on something that will be "obsolete" in less than a year. it is a first remake of the mac pro in 5 years, so it will likely be quickly be upgraded to a much better one in the second gen. it is targeted at central home entertainment and video professionals. the one in the store did not even work as it had already malfunctioned into a doorstop. i am not sure if you can remove or upgrade the flash drive, as this is something that does wear out... a concern i have with the new mbp.
 i am looking at rack mount pc workstation now. another main flaw of the new mac pro design is since it cannot house drives or expansion cards, it takes a bit of horizontal space, more than the previous one if you load the same hard, dvd, and cards, and extra wires to use it. so the small size is kind of deceptive if you were not just using it for a smart tv or a photographer using it with just sd cards and iCloud."

HP makes a very solid machine, their attention to quality control is obsessive. I think you get a bit better hardware cuz they screw their employees pretty hard. I was a temp there, knocking out specialty upgrades, then killing time waiting for QC checks, when I happened to notice a slide presentation in the boardroom, thru a window onto the factory floor. Plan was to replace long time workers w cheaper temps, trained by long timers during the transition, then fire the long timers, and directly hire the now trained temps, saving roughly a third in labor costs.
 
They noticed me noticing their slideshow, closed the drapes abruptly, and 30 minutes later I was hustled off property by security w instructions never to return.
 
It was one day before my two week notice was up, 12 hour shifts were doing a number on my feet, and I still chuckle over it. The regulars, unable (and scared) to smack management around, hated on us temps unmercifully, so I wasn't about to clue em, I got out of there a day early, and no record of being fired, since I still worked for the temp agency.
 
I still buy HPs when they fit my needs, cuz I know they slam QC so hard. If they step on labor, and labor isn't smart enough to push back in effective directions, well, F em all.
 
:-)

I'm not sure if HP has improved their products, but I have an HP laptop (G60 I think) that just one day decided malfunction. Meaning, I'd power it up but just got a blank black screen with the caps lock button continuously flashing.
 
Anyway, after Googling the problem, I ended at the HP support forum where a user had suggested to wrap the vent area of the fan with a sweater and power it up.......leave it on for about 20-30 min and restart. Which incidently, worked and was the only solution I found to work. There seemed to be a lot of users at this forum with the same exact issue.
I read that the GPU (due to overheating) often needs to be heated for the solder underneath to create better motherboard contact.
This is the only way to get it to work, but the whole system is extremely slow.......it sometimes takes 15-25 minutes just to open up IE......and other things even longer. Of course this was just a consumer laptop I bought 3-4 years ago and never used as DAW (LOL).
 
Hopefully, they've improved their products since this.
 
 

+1 for HP, I've used a middle of the road Pavilion for a number of years and never had any real dramas, just upgraded to a beasty HP envy laptop, with touch screen. I'm loving the touch screen, haven't finished setting it up yet for audio but am confident with an i7 quad core and 8 gig of ram should not have too much trouble.  Although I've never had a 64 bit system, so touch wood.
 
Ben

Mesh
I'm not sure if HP has improved their products, but I have an HP laptop (G60 I think) that just one day decided malfunction. Meaning, I'd power it up but just got a blank black screen with the caps lock button continuously flashing.
 
Anyway, after Googling the problem, I ended at the HP support forum where a user had suggested to wrap the vent area of the fan with a sweater and power it up.......leave it on for about 20-30 min and restart. Which incidently, worked and was the only solution I found to work. There seemed to be a lot of users at this forum with the same exact issue.
I read that the GPU (due to overheating) often needs to be heated for the solder underneath to create better motherboard contact.
This is the only way to get it to work, but the whole system is extremely slow.......it sometimes takes 15-25 minutes just to open up IE......and other things even longer. Of course this was just a consumer laptop I bought 3-4 years ago and never used as DAW (LOL).
 
Hopefully, they've improved their products since this.
 
 

wow that's an interesting approach, very creative too!
 
A quick google search finds nVidia GPU had problems with that particular model and if you had the issue then you could have had it fixed under warrenty, nevertheless someone else found similar problem and had to do with some powersave option gone a little weird and hence removing battery and power cord restored it..
 
http://forum.notebookreview.com/hp-compaq-presario-g-series-mini-notebooks/486747-hp-g60-turns-black-screen.html
 
I guess the bottom line is there is always going to be a certain percentage were the hardware does fail, the important factor though is when it does, you'll need good solid support to get it back to working again....  I personally think this is one of the priority aspects I look for when going out looking for new purchases (in anything really)...