Having computers these days is getting tedious. My 'other' computer is a 6000
Years in One's yoof were spent on electronics and intermittent faults were always the worst.
I'm uncertain what to do about the HP that I've purchased, it does sound like a very serious issue. Having rebuilt a huge display in a truck that had 158 dry joints on it, I know just how bad some workmanship or basic design can be, even in this supposed production-experienced era.
The HP with its AMD does get
a lot hotter than the Sony / Intel, for about the same performance.
For reasons I'm working on, I can't read Keef's link...that is it won't download, but I think the fault is very well known to HP...any arguing is just bloody-mindedness on their part. Did you buy it with a major credit card? that's always my ace up the sleeve. They, the retailers, don't like Visa etc making complaints against them. Anyway, hopefully HP will see sense, please let us know.