HP stands for Hack Products
I am at the end of my rope with those lying morons.
Long story here:
I ordered a computer online on Thanksgiving night, an HP Pavilion p7-1108p. It was an early Black Friday special. I thought at <$400 I was getting a really good deal. The delivery took six business days, so I got it the next weekend. I didn't open the box because it was finals week and I knew that I'd get wrapped up in the computer and neglect my studies. So I didn't open the box until a few days ago.
I went to hook my monitor up, only to find that there was nowhere to plug it in. The plug on my monitor is VGA while both plugs on the computer were both DVI. No big deal, I'd just buy an adapter. The next day, I went out and bought a DVI-to-VGA adapter, only it wouldn't fit. I noticed that the male adapter had more pins in it than the female plug had holes. So I called up HP and asked what was up with that. They told me that the adapter plug was DVI-I but the plug in my computer was DVI-D. That was the first time I was hearing that there were different types of DVI plugs. I was told that DVI-D was the newest, most advanced technology and I wouldn't find much in the store and of course they wanted me to order from them instead.
I went back to the store and returned the adapter, and looked for a DVI-D-to-VGA adapter. I couldn't find one so I went to look online. While I was looking, I found out that even if there was one, it would never work because DVI-D is digital only and VGA is analog only and it would take a converter box to make the two compatible. (DVI-I would have worked as it is both analog and digital.) The cheapest box I saw cost more than the most expensive monitor. So I decided to buy a new monitor. Only I couldn't find one that was DVI-D and I couldn't tell what kind of plug it required just by looking at the displays and very few of the descriptions had any kind of mention of the kind of plug required. The ones that did just said "DVI". And of course, since I wasn't at a specialty computer store, when I asked a salesperson about it, I'd just get a "Duuuuuh" look. I visited an actual computer store and got pretty much the same thing.
I went home and did some more research and I found that the HP S2031 monitor had both VGA and DVI-D. I found out that Best Buy had it so I bought it today. I even confirmed with one of the Geek Squad guys that it had a DVI-D plug-in and he showed it to me. When I got home and tried to plug the monitor in, I found that the cord connecting the monitor and computer was a DVI-D single link at both ends. Not only is my computer DVI-D dual link, but the port of the actual monitor is too! To sum up: computer plug-in - dual link, monitor plug-in - dual link, two-ended cord - single link. So of course the monitor doesn't work with the computer. I plugged the monitor up to my old computer using the VGA cord, and it worked perfectly. I thought the wrong DVI cord was put into the box, so I called HP back, explained the deal and said I wanted to exchange the single link cord for a dual link cord. I talked to a man fake-named (I'm pretty sure) Andy. The rest of our conversation went like this (paraphrased):
Andy: We cannot do that.
Me: Why not?
Andy: That monitor is not compatible with the p7 series.
Me: What??
Andy: That monitor is not compatible.
Me (getting increasingly pissed off): But the monitor specs are the same as the computer. The plug is the exact same kind of plug as the one on my computer. Why are they not compatible?
Andy: Our technical department is researching that.
Me: Y'all didn't even put the right cord in the box. It doesn't even plug in right.
Andy: Yes, yes, I know.
Me: That doesn't even make sense! Why would you sell a monitor with a cord that doesn't even match and say that it does!
Andy: I understand your feelings, Ms. [last name]. Our technical department is researching that.
Me: What am I supposed to do with a computer I can't use because no monitors fit it?
Andy: I understand your feelings, Ms. [last name].
Me: You know what? I'm not saying this to you personally, but I am so fed up. I am returning both this monitor and this computer and I'm going to get a Dell or a Gateway or something because I shouldn't have to put up with this crap and false advertising.
Andy: I'm sorry to hear that, Ms. [last name].
Me: Have a good night. Bye. (hang up)
Yeah, their "most advanced" technology is so advanced, it's even too advanced for themselves. Honestly, I plan return the monitor, but I'm not sure about the computer. I haven't even turned it on yet, since there's no point without a working monitor, and I'd like to at least see how it runs first.
EDIT: Okay, so I found out that a male DVI-D single link can plug into a female dual link, but not vice-versa. So the monitor would have worked with that cord had it been compatible with my CPU.
Long story here:
I ordered a computer online on Thanksgiving night, an HP Pavilion p7-1108p. It was an early Black Friday special. I thought at <$400 I was getting a really good deal. The delivery took six business days, so I got it the next weekend. I didn't open the box because it was finals week and I knew that I'd get wrapped up in the computer and neglect my studies. So I didn't open the box until a few days ago.
I went to hook my monitor up, only to find that there was nowhere to plug it in. The plug on my monitor is VGA while both plugs on the computer were both DVI. No big deal, I'd just buy an adapter. The next day, I went out and bought a DVI-to-VGA adapter, only it wouldn't fit. I noticed that the male adapter had more pins in it than the female plug had holes. So I called up HP and asked what was up with that. They told me that the adapter plug was DVI-I but the plug in my computer was DVI-D. That was the first time I was hearing that there were different types of DVI plugs. I was told that DVI-D was the newest, most advanced technology and I wouldn't find much in the store and of course they wanted me to order from them instead.
I went back to the store and returned the adapter, and looked for a DVI-D-to-VGA adapter. I couldn't find one so I went to look online. While I was looking, I found out that even if there was one, it would never work because DVI-D is digital only and VGA is analog only and it would take a converter box to make the two compatible. (DVI-I would have worked as it is both analog and digital.) The cheapest box I saw cost more than the most expensive monitor. So I decided to buy a new monitor. Only I couldn't find one that was DVI-D and I couldn't tell what kind of plug it required just by looking at the displays and very few of the descriptions had any kind of mention of the kind of plug required. The ones that did just said "DVI". And of course, since I wasn't at a specialty computer store, when I asked a salesperson about it, I'd just get a "Duuuuuh" look. I visited an actual computer store and got pretty much the same thing.
I went home and did some more research and I found that the HP S2031 monitor had both VGA and DVI-D. I found out that Best Buy had it so I bought it today. I even confirmed with one of the Geek Squad guys that it had a DVI-D plug-in and he showed it to me. When I got home and tried to plug the monitor in, I found that the cord connecting the monitor and computer was a DVI-D single link at both ends. Not only is my computer DVI-D dual link, but the port of the actual monitor is too! To sum up: computer plug-in - dual link, monitor plug-in - dual link, two-ended cord - single link. So of course the monitor doesn't work with the computer. I plugged the monitor up to my old computer using the VGA cord, and it worked perfectly. I thought the wrong DVI cord was put into the box, so I called HP back, explained the deal and said I wanted to exchange the single link cord for a dual link cord. I talked to a man fake-named (I'm pretty sure) Andy. The rest of our conversation went like this (paraphrased):
Andy: We cannot do that.
Me: Why not?
Andy: That monitor is not compatible with the p7 series.
Me: What??
Andy: That monitor is not compatible.
Me (getting increasingly pissed off): But the monitor specs are the same as the computer. The plug is the exact same kind of plug as the one on my computer. Why are they not compatible?
Andy: Our technical department is researching that.
Me: Y'all didn't even put the right cord in the box. It doesn't even plug in right.
Andy: Yes, yes, I know.
Me: That doesn't even make sense! Why would you sell a monitor with a cord that doesn't even match and say that it does!
Andy: I understand your feelings, Ms. [last name]. Our technical department is researching that.
Me: What am I supposed to do with a computer I can't use because no monitors fit it?
Andy: I understand your feelings, Ms. [last name].
Me: You know what? I'm not saying this to you personally, but I am so fed up. I am returning both this monitor and this computer and I'm going to get a Dell or a Gateway or something because I shouldn't have to put up with this crap and false advertising.
Andy: I'm sorry to hear that, Ms. [last name].
Me: Have a good night. Bye. (hang up)
Yeah, their "most advanced" technology is so advanced, it's even too advanced for themselves. Honestly, I plan return the monitor, but I'm not sure about the computer. I haven't even turned it on yet, since there's no point without a working monitor, and I'd like to at least see how it runs first.
EDIT: Okay, so I found out that a male DVI-D single link can plug into a female dual link, but not vice-versa. So the monitor would have worked with that cord had it been compatible with my CPU.