Wootalyzer's Pricing Post! - The price of today's woot item is saved here for future reference
------------------------------------------------------------
HP Dual-Core Notebook w/ Blu-ray
$449.99 + $5 Shipping
Condition: New

*DISCLAIMER* Wootalyzer! is in no way affiliated with Woot!, and this post may not always be here!

Do my eyes deceive me? This is brand new!

I gots an HP and I dont hate it that much!

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1883068&CatId=4938

same price at tigerdirect

It's actually $50 more at Tiger Direct, and that's after a rebate.

499.99 on TigerDirect:
[url=http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1883068&SRCCODE=GOOGLEBASE&cm_mmc_o=VRqCjC7BBTkwCjCECjCE[/url]

The AMD A4-3300M processor isn't the fastest that has been on here for this price point, it rates just over 1900 at passmark. That being said it will still get the job done for most business/home tasks, and is MUCH better than most budget level processors which score as low as 700.

The graphics chip is on the same line as a $40 entry level desktop graphics card rated just under 400 on passmark. Here are a few estimated FPS benchmarks for the AMD HD 6480G.

EDIT: Fixed link.

coolbro12389 wrote:http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1883068&CatId=4938

same price at tigerdirect

Tiger Direct: $499.99
Woot!: $449.99 + $5

*Edit: late-post is late*

Funny airplane story but you might enjoy being pepper sprayed.

Where can I read some reviews? I'm having a hard time finding some. Thanks.

Grdnrsctt wrote:Where can I read some reviews? I'm having a hard time finding some. Thanks.

the tigerdirect had 2 reviews, 1 was good, the other said he liked it other than the backlight going out :P

Can I use this for video games or is this laptop only for watching high definition movies in beautiful clarity?

Also this model is close enough, refurbed though:

http://www.ecost.com/p/HP-Notebook-Computers/product~dpno~9003954~pdp.hadafdf?source=EWB09704

Sorry, having trouble linking at the moment...

Any idea how long this seemingly small battery lasts?

CowboyDann wrote:Can I use this for video games or is this laptop only for watching high definition movies in beautiful clarity?

It's processor is on the slow side and the graphics card is bottom of the barrel. Would be too slow for most games.

HP is my favorite company to buy a laptop and printer. They have great mileage.

Product Website

Seems to me we're due for a Woot-off some time very soon.

Has anyone tried Ubuntu linux on this ? It used to be that HP had horrible support for linux drivers. I don't know if that is still true.

tallrob wrote:Has anyone tried Ubuntu linux on this ? It used to be that HP had horrible support for linux drivers. I don't know if that is still true.

i thought they had horrible support period :P

CowboyDann wrote:Can I use this for video games or is this laptop only for watching high definition movies in beautiful clarity?

Check if the video card is intergrated or dedicated. Most laptops don't have dedicated cards unless custom ordered. You can't game well without a dedicated card. There is no way to switch them in a notebook. Do your homework and you'll know, Google the video card. I'm not going back to the main page as I'm sure you're capable of cut and pasting the vid card into Google and reading the ratings and stats.

I'll show you my dual core if you show me how to blu ray!

coolbro12389 wrote:i thought they had horrible support period :P

Most computer companies including Dell have the same problems. Unless you spend thousands of dollars, you might get decent support. Then again, you might not.

No USB 3.0, will have to pass.

Thanks everyone, Emails and Media it sounds like!

MichXelle wrote:Most computer companies including Dell have the same problems. Unless you spend thousands of dollars, you might get decent support. Then again, you might not.

sadly yea, i have to call HP support as my job requires us to call them when our equipments down, and usually with our 2 year old hp machines its about once a week or so (hell we waited about a month just to get a printer) our 8 year old ibms tho work perfect :P

theguruguys wrote:The AMD A4-3300M processor isn't the fastest that has been on here for this price point, it rates just over 1900 at passmark. That being said it will still get the job done for most business/home tasks, and is MUCH better than most budget level processors which score as low as 700.

The graphics chip is on the same line as a $40 entry level desktop graphics card rated just under 400 on passmark. Here are a few estimated FPS benchmarks for the AMD HD 6480G.

EDIT: Fixed link.

Great specs and information but most average computer users don't understand half of what you said unless they're computer Gurus too. Benchmark is like anykey to them not being mean. The Geeks & Gurus you could be helpful too but they've probably figured out the same as you did. Just saying ...........

easysailor wrote:HP is my favorite company to buy a laptop and printer. They have great mileage.

I can't stand HP personally. The way they handled the hundreds of thousands of failed Nvidia chipset laptops was ridiculous. I have personally come across 14 failed laptops with the same problem. HP would fix them under warranty, sometimes more than once, then when the warranty was over (in one case two weeks after it expired) refuse to do anything about it even through it was a known design flaw and the exact same problem they fixed before under warranty.

Their all in one printer software is BY FAR the worst ever made! It weighs in at 400-600 megabytes of bloatware. Have a problem with it and good luck. I've spent more time problem solving HP All In One software than EVERY OTHER PRINTER software combined.

/rant off ;)

I'd love to see a higher resolution screen on a big 17" laptop (1920x1080 or 1920x1200), but you're not going to get that at this price level. This is a LOT of laptop for $450. AND a full year warranty from HP since this is new and not refurbished.

coolbro12389 wrote:sadly yea, i have to call HP support as my job requires us to call them when our equipments down, and usually with our 2 year old hp machines its about once a week or so (hell we waited about a month just to get a printer) our 8 year old ibms tho work perfect :P

Those old puters work great. I'm using a 6 1/2 year old HP right now with Vista and it works fine enough due to my fast connection.

I have to break out my newer one already, sheer procrastination on my part as I have tons of things I need to back up on here. I have 3 WD books 750, 1 TB and 1.5 TB and I'm still not doing it. I'm a PIA.

This is the perfect Htpc.

mods. PLEASE can we have a wootfilter for "just saying" and its variant spellings? Please!

At six pounds, you'll feel like you're carrying a pavilion! Amirite?

theguruguys wrote:The AMD A4-3300M processor isn't the fastest that has been on here for this price point, it rates just over 1900 at passmark. That being said it will still get the job done for most business/home tasks, and is MUCH better than most budget level processors which score as low as 700.

The graphics chip is on the same line as a $40 entry level desktop graphics card rated just under 400 on passmark. Here are a few estimated FPS benchmarks for the AMD HD 6480G.

EDIT: Fixed link.

That's a pretty good graphics card and a decent cpu for the price, though uses mostly system RAM. But the GPU - which is what's important mostly for games = should handle medium-level games usage, and though I haven't been on for a long time should run Warcraft and the like just fine. Most laptops so far ahve had graphics chips rated in the 200s, and below. Given everything else in the specs including Blu-Ray it's pretty decent for a cheap laptop: would be nice to have faster inputs/ outputs. but that's about the only drawback. and HP's below-average reliability. Warranty recommended!

MichXelle wrote:Great specs and information but most average computer users don't understand half of what you said unless they're computer Gurus too. Benchmark is like anykey to them not being mean. The Geeks & Gurus you could be helpful too but they've probably figured out the same as you did. Just saying ...........

Passmark, while by no means perfect at all, is one of the better starting points for judging a processors speed. I train all my customers on how to look up processors when buying a computer because it is really the only way to compare them, the statistics you see in the stores don't do much good (ie. a processor at 4ghz may be slower than one at 3ghz, etc.).

Currently 1900 is about the lowest I would recommend if a customer of mine was going to by a new laptop. If it rated much below that at all I would say find another one. Anything below 1000 is on the lines of the Intel Atom processor used in most netbooks. Most desktops in the price range of this laptop have processors rating 3000-5000.

The last link has a few game scores so those who always ask 'can I play games on this' can go see what fps they would expect to get. I would image if they are asking if they can play games on it, they know what fps is.

So in a nutshell with passmark scores, IMO:

Below 1700 passmark score - only if you are on a VERY limited budget.

Below 1000 passmark, we are talking netbook speed here, stay away. A lot of the entry level sub $300 desktops and laptops are using the new AMD V series chips that are this slow.

2000-4000 perfect for most users, bang for buck area.

4000-5000 good for most users and even for some video editing (where compressing video will take less time etc).

5000-6000 great, even bang for the buck gamers will do good with this.

6000+ dedicated game machines will want something this high.

MichXelle wrote:Great specs and information but most average computer users don't understand half of what you said unless they're computer Gurus too. Benchmark is like anykey to them not being mean. The Geeks & Gurus you could be helpful too but they've probably figured out the same as you did. Just saying ...........

Actually.. I found that tremendously helpful. it saved me quite a bit of time poking around google to get the same information. I'm fluent, but not informed on current benchmarks for processors or graphics cards, and this is an awesome review.

MichXelle wrote:Check if the video card is intergrated or dedicated. Most laptops don't have dedicated cards unless custom ordered. You can't game well without a dedicated card. There is no way to switch them in a notebook. Do your homework and you'll know, Google the video card. I'm not going back to the main page as I'm sure you're capable of cut and pasting the vid card into Google and reading the ratings and stats.

This isn't totally true. There are a lot of dedicated graphic cards now that game perfectly fine for most. The newer intel HD series graphics chipset is actually very respectable and reaches speeds of many higher end entry dedicated cards, and some lower mid range dedicated cards depending on the processor (which is why passmark and others are good to find some sort of baseline for comparison). You no longer have to have a dedicated graphics card in a laptop to do moderate gaming. If you are one of the types that have to have everything on high with a 60fps rate then yeah, you will be looking for a very expensive laptop with a dedicated graphics card.

I'm a newbie to computer telephony. Simply put, can you make/receive phone calls on a notebook like this? Best way?