HP Probook 470 G4

Seems alright at first, but that's an illusion – I procure and maintain laptops for a medium size company and have bought many of the 470's since the G1. I can understand why HP only put a 1 year warranty on these machines. The failure rate with system fans, motherboards and power switches is pretty bad. Included are pointless security screws and unnecessary complexity to replace parts that… Read more

makes simple repairs outside of a normal owners reach. To top all this of you get a shed load of integrated bloatware that hardware components lean on to function correctly. Don't be fooled by the shiny appearance, issues over time and general lacklustre performance make you wonder why HP put the "ProBook" tag on these generally mediocre laptops.

Poorly built expensive rubbish – Brand new 17inch HP laptop. Get it home and unpack it. Let it set up and do its thing with Windows 10. Connect the laptop to my modem by an Ethernet cable and no internet. I have to unplug and plug the Ethernet cable into the laptop several times before I can use the internet. I need to do this every time I turn the laptop on. The modem is up… Read more

and running, the laptop can be turned on from scratch or just woken up from sleep, and the icon on taskbar says it is connected but no internet until I unplug the Ethernet cable and reconnect it at least 2 times. I have tried several different Ethernet cables and they all work on my desktop and old Toshiba laptop, and this problem only happens on the new HP laptop.

issue 2.

Two weeks after I got the laptop, the battery icon in bottom right of taskbar starts flashing. It says "battery connected, not charging". Battery sat on 95% for several weeks before it started to charge again. Because the battery is sealed inside the case, it cannot be checked or changed.

issue 3.

The right Alt key works normally sometimes, but not always. The left Alt key works normally but the right Alt key will sometimes control my CTRL buttons. Or I can hold down the right Alt key and it does the same things the Shift key does, makes capital or lower case letters. And more recently it does funny symbols when I press the right ALT key and a letter button. The following characters are from me holding down the right ALT key and pressing each of the letter keys on the keyboard starting at top left (q) and working right across the top row, then middle row, then bottom row of letters.

top row q-p.... äåé®þüúíóö

middle row a-l....áßðø (asdl work but no other letters do when I hold down right alt key).

bottom row z-m....æ©ñ (xvbm do not do anything when I hold down right alt key and press those letters).

In addition to the above Alt key issues, the Left ALT key will highlight File, Edit, View, etc in Windows programs like Notepad or Office Word. I can then use my arrow keys to scroll down those headings. The Right ALT key will not do this.

issue 4.

The F3 button fell off the keyboard. The button physically fell off the keyboard. I am not smashing the keyboard or doing anything physically to it besides tapping away on the keys. And the button falls off and won't go back on. I now have a white light on my keyboard and no button to press.

issue 5.

HP has made a nice energy efficient laptop to maximise battery time and help the environment. This is great in theory. Unfortunately having Windows 10 on the laptop defeats the purpose of the energy efficiency. Windows 10 constantly runs in the background updating and installing junk that nobody wants or needs, and it uses all the battery power. So whilst the laptop is energy efficient, Windows 10 ruins the entire energy saving program with its constantly running programs that don't need to be there.

All these issues in less than 6 weeks of owning this thing. And whilst it is covered by warranty and will be returned to the store, it should not happen. This is my forth HP laptop in 2years and all four have been poorly made. The first 3 laptops were 15inch HP Notebooks 15-ac168TX. The first one (purchased February 2016) had screen issues. 2nd (exchanged) had random internet dropouts. 3rd (exchanged) started getting internet dropouts after 9 months, and a couple of months later the top row of letter keys (q-p) started working intermittently. The laptop was eventually sent off for repairs under warranty and several months later it was returned and the faults were still there. After lengthy negotiations with the store and several incomplete investigations into the repair company, I was given a store credit and purchased this 4th laptop. Three months later this laptop arrived and was picked up in January 2018.

This is the 4th HP laptop I have had. I have used HP desktop and tower computers for over 15 years and never had a problem with them. But these HP laptops are not good. I do not know what happened to HP but I will never buy HP laptops again.

Nice laptop with a great screen – I've only had this laptop for a month but it certainly lives up to expectations. It's plenty fast enough (Core i5/SSD), mostly silent and has a firm (ie. non-flexing), backlit keyboard. Unlike most of the cheapies I saw there is a hatch underneath for easy maintenance and upgrading. But the highlight is its 17.3" FHD IPS Anti-Glare screen which… Read more

is a joy to behold. The colour range and contrast are particularly good with the result that photos display beautifully.

Any problems/frustrations relate to the Windows 10 operating system which I've finally tamed and made to work like the familiar old Windows 7.

My only criticism of the laptop is that battery life appears to be less than claimed and the battery is built-in, not easily removable. However, this doesn't matter too much since I'm using it plugged in as a desktop replacement.

I can't give it five stars at this early stage but hopefully it will give many years of good service.