Rodent Regatta

HP finally fixed my computer. The Pavilion ZT1290 laptop was returned to me late yesterday by FedEx. Booting up, I found that HP had completely reimaged my hard drive with Windows XP Home. All of the bundled software (there’s a lot) that came with the computer has been updated and was reinstalled on the computer.

For about ten seconds I was reminded of why I thought this laptop was such a great buy, even at $2450 plus sales tax. Then, it dawned on me. A Windows XP Home machine cannot (conveniently) be joined to a Windows 2000/2003 Server domain.

Apparently, though I haven’t asked them since getting it back, HP believes the zt1290 cannot be upgraded or reformatted to Windows XP Professional. I have never seen a PC that could run Windows XP Home, but not Windows XP Professional. I think HP has simply taken the easy route.

Bottom line:

FOR SALE: Hewlett Packard Pavilion ZT1290 laptop computer purchased July 26, 2002 from PC Mall in Memphis, TN. 1.8Ghz Pentium 4, 512MB RAM, 40GB hard drive, CD burner, built-in wireless, Windows XP Home, full Corel suite, external floppy drive, 15 inch display running at 1400×1050 resolution (I love this display), Quicken, Britannica Ready, Norton Antivirus 2002, MusicMatch Jukebox. Google it!

Best offer!

So that no one gets the wrong impression, let me add this. I looked long and hard before buying this computer. I like so much about it an awful lot. I simply cannot support the products from a company that behaves the way you see here.

The end.