You're right that Terminator's depiction of AI is awful, but HAL doesn't seem that bad at all, at least as far as mainstream depictions go.
It was more the "generalizing from fictional evidence" part than the specific reference to HAL. I do agree with you that it's a decent treatment.
The NPR show All Things Considered did a short story on the Singularity, including interviews with Eliezer Yudkowsky and others involved with SIAI:
http://www.npr.org/2011/01/11/132840775/The-Singularity-Humanitys-Last-Invention