From the looks of this article, you should never send your laptop in to HP for service:

InfoWorld: HP’s $1000 Latch

Also, I just talked to a co-worker who had an HP laptop.  I think it was very similar to my old one.  The plastic around the screen had cracked, and he believed it was poor design.  He talked with another acquaintance that had the same problem confirming the idea of poor design.  He had bought the extended warranty, and so it was still under warranty.  After talking with a foreigner, they informed him that it would cost about $300 to repair.  He said no and had them ship it back to him.  Now, he uses a Lenovo laptop and said he would never buy an HP again.

He also works at a large firm that uses HP servers.  The support staff told him that if they have to call HP they hang up when they get a support technician in India.  They try again until they get a person in the United States.  The problem is not a matter of prejudice but a matter of communication.  Trouble with the English language and only following a script are not successful ingredients to technical support!