My Investment is in TROUBLE - HP repairable laptops

For years, there’s been an unfriendly trend of replacing socketed, swappable components like RAM and SSDs for ones that come soldered to the motherboard. Great for keeping device thickness to a minimum, but not so great for reparability. Let’s see what HP did to buck that trend.

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MUSIC CREDIT
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Intro: Laszlo - Supernova

Outro: Approaching Nirvana - Sugar High

CHAPTERS
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0:00 Intro
1:57 Opening up the laptop
3:19 The goodies inside
5:17 Speakers and raving with crabs
5:31 Removing the battery
6:57 Removing the fan and headphone jack
7:38 Ports on the laptop
8:36 Philips #0 is my friend now
10:45 Reassembly
13:00 Conclusion
13:38 Outro

[LTAlter]

If framework fails because other brands realized that building a repairable and extensible laptop is just a flat out good idea, then it wouldn't be a failure.

[the_tiny_Rambo]

Repairability is one thing. What Framework has going for it is the upgradability. The fact that you can upgrade your MOBO (and unlike other brands I've actually seen the upgrade exist, not just promised) was a big decider for me.

[Rick-vmbl]

Massive props to HP for this. I just hope it isn't a one off.

[northantara]

You ever just refresh YouTube and see a video posted 8 seconds ago? Me neither. Neat.

[PeachiPrism]

I do love how Linus is committed to repairability by putting his money where his mouth is and then being open to reviewing other options despite it not being in his financial interest. Shows he actually cares.

[Juttutin]

In 1993ish, I was reviewing vendors PC desktop offerings for a national rollout. We selected HP (over Compaq, IBM, and a couple of others I don't recall) precisely because of their modular design and serviceability. Then they did that whole DEC/Compaq thing and lost their soul. So it tickles my nostalgia to see them rediscovering this part of their corporate ethos!

[CarbonPanther]

Time is a flat circle when companies like HP _return_ to offer reparability.
2009 was a time in which basically all business laptops came with detailed disassembly guides until they chose the way of the clips & glue...
What i'm trying to say is, i hope we stay with reparability this time, and don't resort to the same situation we're in right now in 10 years time.

[Redbikemaster]

Hopefully this repairability continues to catch on

[KX]

Some of those parts are so expensive. $563.27 for a replacement LCD panel? $147 for an LCD "support kit" (which i suppose means a bracket), $169.27 for the LCD ribbon cable, $465 for the webcam module, $267.41 for a lid without the LCD, $227.58 for a replacement keyboard panel, $438.10 for a 512GB SSD... etc.
Last time I bought a genuine 17" 1080p LCD panel from Samsung's UK service centre it was £120 (about $150).

[korbiniktrife]

I used to work in the warehouse that repaired HP laptops when customers would send the unit back under warranty. Just from looking at it, this model is a definite improvement over older HP designs. Glad to see this change over some of the horrible designs I had to take apart.

[TurinAlexander]

Framework is still ahead, but this is a good effort. HP does deserves a bit praise for doing this, when so many others actively work against repairablity. I still just don't need a laptop, but it's good to see that there is another company out there with machines that aren't just use and toss. I'll definitely be keeping this in mind when people ask what laptop they should buy.

[giga-chicken]

If your investment falls apart because other manufacturers suddenly care about repairability then that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.

[kdawgmaster]

While i know other channels like LTT and a company like Framework helped to get us to this point of reparability I think we all should be thanking the likes of Louis Rossman for his efforts. Seriously without him doing what he is doing a company like Framework might not even exist.

[qwderfendrick]

Framework seems to be all out on the repair thing, really hope it works out with other brands as well.

[ydna]

I'm surprised to see that in-depth set of repair videos from HP. Even somebody who thinks they're just doing it for platitudes has to acknowledge the amount of manpower that goes into that type of production (not to mention the parts sales, manuals, etc). Hopefully it continues because more items trying to compete with the underdog Framework only helps us as buyers

[iqcq]

I’m genuinely really impressed that hp is making an effort, I couldn’t imagine dell doing such a thing.

[rndn]

The thing I'm curious about is the components on the motherboard. One of the biggest things Louis Rossmann talks about is being blocked on getting a 20 cent component to keep from having to replace the entire motherboard. This seems like a good step, but would have liked to see a thorough review of the entire repairability.

[probablyjohn]

I have an Elitebook 840 G1, given to me as a discarded enterprise laptop. While it's thick and plasticky, it's an absolute dream to open up. Zero screws to access the battery, zero screws to access the RAM, four screws to access the SATA drive. Enterprise laptops tend to be way better than consumer laptops in the repairability department, so it's no surprise that the G9 is still pretty good on that front.

[bmcinfor]

I'm seriously mind blown by the direction HP decided to take. It is certainly the way to go and should have been this way for decade.

[kindnuguz]

HP has been the supplier at my agency for a while now.. ( Treasury Department )
Talking 60-100k laptops lol ( only for my branch, this isn't all of the treasury )
Glad to see the newer generation is like this and serviceable. I think we're on G8's but these will end up being there soon.
Impressive to see HP take this route and move towards this kind of design.. Honestly gained a good amount of respect for them.