I got an HP Pavillion zd7000 two years ago. After only one year, it started to overheat and shutdown, at least once a day. I had to place it on a book with the exhaust fans hanging off so they could breath in order just to use it. Eventually after one of the routine shutdowns, Windows would not start again. I had to take it to the only "HP certified shop" in the area, an hour away, and pay $100 for them to say it was just dirty and to clean the fans. So I got it back and cleaned the fans regularly, but it would still shut down often. Then after another year (only two years after purchasing it) Windows did not start again. I took it back to the same place, and they cleaned it but said it was something more than that. They installed a new motherboard, and it was still overheating, then sent that back and installed another motherboard, and the same thing happened. So they call me and basically say we don't know what the hell is wrong, we want to ship it back to HP, but it's going to cost at least $500 to fix it, and maybe more depending on what they find, and the harddrive may be wiped. Now for only triple that cost I can get a great brand new one, so that's what I did, this time with a 3 year warranty. I went with Lenovo ThinkPad T61, and I love it so far. You can barely even hear the fans running or feel any heat. It is simply ridiculous for a computer to crap out after only two years. I also had a HP Pavillion desktop years ago that would freeze up constantly, but at least that lasted 4 years first. Stay clear of HP!!!
--rafiki
Thank you drive through.