HP Stream laptop not "fit for purpose", can I return?

Paul_Higginson

Hi. We bought a HP Stream laptop for my daughter in October 2017. A few weeks ago it couldn't accept the latest Windows update due to having "no available memory". We deleted absolutely everything we could but it still doesn't have sufficient memory to accept the latest updates....as such the laptop is now scrap as 1) it's not secure and 2) it constantly pops up on everything saying there is insufficient memory. The solid-state memory built-in is not upgradeable or expandable. There are thousands of other people having the same issue, having looked into it. This is a major, major design flaw in the product - how can a £250 laptop be scrap after 18 months due to a design issue? Does anyone know if I can legally return this to the supplier (bought via Amazon) or HP themselves for a full or partial refund or replacement? Thanks, Paul

agrinnall

Have you tried this? It was for an update from last year but might work for the latest one too.



https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Operating-System-and-Recovery/HP-stream-can-t-update-windows-10-not-enough-memory/td-p/6672957


Alternatively, if it's possible, this might be a case for replacing Win 10 with Linux.

prowla

IMHO, any machine which doesn't have upgradeable memory isn't fit for my purposes.


How much memory has it got?

prowla

Ah - it's storage space, OK...

Fosterdog

The HP stream range are not full laptops, they are cheap and cheerful basic machines. £250 is not enough to pay for a laptop, there is no way anything with more than the most basic components can be produced for that price let alone sold for that. I can almost guarantee that if you had bought it from a bricks and mortar shop they would tried to tell you when you bought it that it wouldn't be very good and tried to upsell you to a better spec but like everyone who buys them it would just be assumed that they were just trying to get more money.

They have their uses but they also have their limitations and you do get what you pay for. You bought online so the responsibility of choosing the correct spec falls to you, there was no sales person pushing you to buy the wrong thing or making promises about its capability. It was up to you to research what spec of machine you (or your daughter needed) and no research would have lead you to buy one of these units, in fact even a few minutes of research would have told you to avoid at all costs and save up to buy an actual laptop, the streams have been around since around 2014/15 so the downsides of them were well publiscised long before you bought yours.

BoGoF

You have no right of return/refund. You bought a cheap machine with limited memory. There is nothing inherently faulty with it. Research what you are buying in future.

prowla

BoGoF wrote: »

You have no right of return/refund. You bought a cheap machine with limited memory. There is nothing inherently faulty with it. Research what you are buying in future.

Well, yes, but no but...


It's less than 2 years old and the system can't have essential maintenance fixes applied (ie. security patches).

Jumblebumble

BoGoF wrote: »

You have no right of return/refund. You bought a cheap machine with limited memory. There is nothing inherently faulty with it. Research what you are buying in future.

You are correct that it is not faulty but it most certainly is not fit for purpose
The CRA mandates that goods Fit for purpose "The goods should be fit for the purpose they are supplied for"
I would suggest that selling a windows 10 machine that will not allow MIcrosoft's mandatory updates and is rendered this scrap as a result is in no way fit for purpose and I believe that suggesting that the OP should have some how researched this issues is absurd.
i would think the retailer might reasonably have done some research them self before agreeing to sell this if they want to avoid a Small Claims court or a charge back.

JJ_Egan

Is the current update not security but an actual OS update .
Hence the lack of space .

DoaM

JJ_Egan wrote: »

Is the current update not security but an actual OS update .

It's a bit of both ... yes it's a feature update but it also includes security patches.

@OP ... the fact that the laptop can't accept the 1903 update doesn't render the laptop as scrap. My own laptop (bought in Jan 2013) also currently can't accept 1903, but not because of storage or memory ... in my case it's a known driver issue which prevents the update being applied. Once the issue is resolved then the update will makes it's way to my laptop.

ToxicWomble

How much is a 18month old second hand model ?

That’s the absolute most you can expect assuming you can get anything at all