I don"t really have an issue with the build quality of HP PCs, for the most part it's all the same hardware inside, I just hate all the driver issues and other proprietary crap. Just like any other brand, you get what you pay for.
BTW, My bro-in-laws brand new rig was running using 100% of resources the second day he owned it. Also was showing two of everything in the processes menu. He rebooted and waited,and waited then a screen popped up saying "C" has been formatted and computer recovered from backup.
WTF? No error messages, warnings or anything. HP just decided on it's own it needed to be wiped and recovered back to factory. What if that had been a year old PC with irreplaceable photos, etc. on it?
Apparently after the automatic recovery he's still having issues, that's why I've been pushing him to return it and let me pick out something else for him in the $400 range.
He's also gonna need a laptop. I'm gonna see if he would like to go with a refurbished off lease for a couple hundred and put the rest toward a laptop.