rguevin wrote:Makes me wish I didn't buy that Packard Bell 386 off Craigslist last week. The guy that sold it to me said it was a super-fast PC. Anyone know where I can get those 5.25" disks for it.

ah hahaha, good one. I would have given you mine for free!

Good Deal. I'm in for one.
I turned Connecticut from black to green!
Woot Hoo!

Can someone please explain if this i3 is better than core2duo's, dual cores, or even quad core processors?

What difference would I see if I got an i5 over this?

Thanks

Best Buy has a Gateway with a tri core AMD processor for the same price. But, it comes with a dedicated ATI video card. I play Modern Warefare 2 on it with no problem. I wouldn't even think of playing that game on a laptop with Intel GMA graphics.

wolfsmane wrote:Can someone please explain if this i3 is better than core2duo's, dual cores, or even quad core processors?

What difference would I see if I got an i5 over this?

Thanks

The Core i3's are dual-core and are better than Core2Duo's. Performance compared to i5's is negligible for everyday tasks but you would likely notice quicker rendering times with an i5 and better gaming performance assuming you have a comparable video card.

lonnyzone wrote:Can someone explain the Wimax to me? Do I have to pay a cell co for the service? Are there home wimax routers?

Of course. Did you think someone would give it to you for free?

Darn it, Woot. I bought the Samsung with nearly identical specs on yesterday's Woot-off, but I'd much rather have an Asus. I've bought two refurb Asus netbooks here. Both have worked perfectly.

rlw999 wrote:
Is it really that much more expensive to slap a 1600x900 display in a laptop? I doubt my eyes can really take advantage of 1920x1200 in a 15" laptop display, but 1600x900 doesn't seem unreasonable.

I forgot to add, modern os is now divorced from display resolution, you can scale the gui as large as you wish, it isn't like xp and older where scaling display only partially worked. The resolution has little to do with the size of your text and interface, only how crisp and high resolution it is. That is why you don't squint to look at the apple iphone retina display, it just looks nicer with more pixels!!

I am using this laptop right now, and personally, it has worked perfectly for what I have needed it for. It's been fast, good for the few PC games that I play (Civ 4 mainly), and looks great when hooked up to our 42" plasma via HDMI. I have no complaints so far, more than 6 months in. And it has a number pad! Which has really been useful!

Is the keyboard illuminated?

equazcion wrote:Second. My five year old Dell actually had a 15" with 1680x1050. This was kinda overkill but just an example of how stingy they're getting with screen resolution. It sucks, especially considering the relative bigness of Windows 7 graphics.

There is always a cost involved in higher res though, so don't expect a price like this if you do find a higher res laptop. The consumer laptop market is pretty stiff right now, so brands need to give you a lower res to keep prices competitive. They figure most people won't realize the difference anyway, and they're probably right.

It's really disappointing to see the same problem on business/pro models though. That's where they should be counting on discriminating tastes, and customers willing to pay a little more for high-res.

Make win7 Icons/desktop smaller you must have a mouse. Hold CTRL and roll your mouse button. It will reduce or increase the size of desktop icons and fonts. There is no keyboard equal and it won't work with a trackpad from what I can tell.

No BLU RAY OPTICAL DRIVE. they need to make that standard in these kinds of LAPTOPS.. this sucks.!

rlw999 wrote:Why does every new 15" laptop have 1366x768 resolution? My 5 year old 10" laptop has nearly the same resolution, and the 3.5" display on my phone has only about 250 pixels less in each direction.

Is it really that much more expensive to slap a 1600x900 display in a laptop? I doubt my eyes can really take advantage of 1920x1200 in a 15" laptop display, but 1600x900 doesn't seem unreasonable.

15" screens with 1366x768 is a common size for budget type laptops. Similar to the 1920x1080 resolutions found in many 22" desktop monitors. They are made as cheap as they and be competitive which usually equates to about 5-10% in profits for the retailer.

If you do check out this page, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_display_standard, it will confirm that the screen is also capable of the sought after HD 720p--some say you can't tell the difference between 720p and 1080p until 40" screens.

Higher end laptops will have higher resolutions capable of 1080p, lower end budget laptops with 15" screens will remain near 720p.

I would like to use a USB TV tuner with this laptop. Does anyone know if this processor/video card will be fast enough to work well with a TV Tuner?

I have an Asus U50F which is similar to this model. Been very happy with it. Only complaint I've had is occasionally my laptop clock resets to November 2009. Asus hasn't officially released a fix, but from browsing their forums people have sent the laptop directly to Asus and had it fixed. Don't know if the K52F will have similar issues.

The battery life on the U50F is around 3-4 hours with regular use. I'm guessing this model will have similar life.

The keyboard does have a number pad on the right side. Useful if you're looking for a laptop with that feature.

Overall I've been happy with my Asus. I would buy another one if they can fix the clock reset issue.

theguruguys wrote:Hey a Non-HP!

This one has an i3-370m which scores a very nice 2219 on Passmark. This is more than capable for your basic computer tasks and will even handle basic video editing, photoshop, and decompress rars, zips, etc. quickly enough.

The Intel Graphics Media Accelerator HD is not near as good. You will not be doing much 3D gaming on this. Here are some benchmarks for the graphics chip which includes expected FPS on some games. Even at low settings, you are getting sub 30fps on most modern FPS type games. Games like World of Warcraft will play fine at lower settings.

The 500gb hard drive is 5400, but remember that modern 500gb+ 2.5" 5400RPM drives are not like the older 5400 120, 250gb drives you may want to compare them to, they are much faster due to many factors such as cache, platter size, etc.

The WiMax is a plus if you elect to subscribe to a service.

Only two reviews at Amazon, but both positive.

Asus is a great brand these days, my favorite bang for the buck brand. As long as you don't intend to play many FPS type games on it, this is a great little laptop, at a decent price. It's kind of stuck in the middle of true budget laptop and mid-range.

Oh ok, I thought you said that a modern 5400rpm HD spins faster than an old 5400rpm HD. That would make no sense....

I really miss the old Woot. Where you didn't have $300+ items every day. Thanks alot Amazon... YOU SUCK!

bucknasty wrote:Make win7 Icons/desktop smaller you must have a mouse. Hold CTRL and roll your mouse button. It will reduce or increase the size of desktop icons and fonts. There is no keyboard equal and it won't work with a trackpad from what I can tell.

nope wrong, dpi settings in os controls do not require mouse wheel rolling;) it is in the display controls...in win7/vista you simply search for the feature. same with osx

pogipants wrote:15" screens with 1366x768 is a common size for budget type laptops. Similar to the 1920x1080 resolutions found in many 22" desktop monitors. They are made as cheap as they and be competitive which usually equates to about 5-10% in profits for the retailer.

If you do check out this page, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_display_standard, it will confirm that the screen is also capable of the sought after HD 720p--some say you can't tell the difference between 720p and 1080p until 40" screens.

Higher end laptops will have higher resolutions capable of 1080p, lower end budget laptops with 15" screens will remain near 720p.

that is when comparing TV at 6 feet back. sure you can't tell 1080p vs 720p on a tiny screen from 6 feet, plus you dont have to read small text in such comparisons. but high resolution yields benefits up close, that is why iphones have retina displays and such with dpi far higher than desktop pixel densities, there is no pc display that is anywhere near this, or nearing the limits of human vision, people simply sit too close for such things to become an issue, the simple fact is 720p displays are crude up close, and limit your ability to show multiple windows or display much text on the screen, very crude and low pixel density, let alone at such large sizes. this resolution is made purely for low cost.

Walk up to even a 30" tv 1080p and you will see how crude that resolution is on an hdtv. That is why they are not good computer monitors, real 30" computer monitors are double 1080p.

rguevin wrote:Makes me wish I didn't buy that Packard Bell 386 off Craigslist last week. The guy that sold it to me said it was a super-fast PC. Anyone know where I can get those 5.25" disks for it.

LOL!

w3kn wrote:I have an Asus U50F which is similar to this model. Been very happy with it. Only complaint I've had is occasionally my laptop clock resets to November 2009. Asus hasn't officially released a fix, but from browsing their forums people have sent the laptop directly to Asus and had it fixed. Don't know if the K52F will have similar issues.

The battery life on the U50F is around 3-4 hours with regular use. I'm guessing this model will have similar life.

The keyboard does have a number pad on the right side. Useful if you're looking for a laptop with that feature.

Overall I've been happy with my Asus. I would buy another one if they can fix the clock reset issue.

I have the model for sale today, and I haven't experienced the problem with the date (fortunately for me, time moves forward.)

Battery life for me is usually around 3 hours, though that's with some pretty inefficient power options. That should be able to be stretched a fair bit.

Electrohacker wrote:This is the worlds shittiest laptop. I bought one from best buy on sale over Christmas and now the mouse acts Battlefield Earth (2000) on Battlfield Earth (2000) and the processor chugs when using flash

I don't see it as much of a gaming rig. Integrated everything. Even B.E. is asking a lot out of an i3

themcnasty wrote:WiMAX is worthless.

Claiming it has "WiMAX" sounds like false advertising. They don't even say what kind of WiMax it is or who you have to get it from. If it works with Clear they aren't very widely available and most areas claim the speed has dropped so much it's unusable while T-Mobile is insanely expensive.

Has anyone ordered a computer from woot?

If I order it today and live in the US, when can I expect to have it?

Also, thought on buying a refurbished computer?

Thanks

I saw HD LED, then i saw the screen rez of 1366x768. that is not HD anymore, especially on a 15in screen, it will look like crap. I have a laptop that I won that is a 15.6in screen, and it is 1366x768, and it makes everything look crappy.

bucknasty wrote:Make win7 Icons/desktop smaller you must have a mouse. Hold CTRL and roll your mouse button. It will reduce or increase the size of desktop icons and fonts. There is no keyboard equal and it won't work with a trackpad from what I can tell.

I know, I meant Windows 7 graphics in general not just icons. I'm pretty sure the icon resizing does work with with touchpad scrolling on most laptops. It works on my Dell and HPs.

I have this computer and am quite happy with it. To date, I've never had an issue with it. Runs fast, good picture, decent battery life. Two downfalls I have with it: the mouse buttons are loud and the speakers are located almost underneath the lip of the keyboard and they project at a weird angle (downward). When the laptop is not on a hard surface (bed or lap perhaps) some sound gets lost. However, when you have it on a desk or table the sound projects quite well, better than most laptop speakers.

wolfsmane wrote:Can someone please explain if this i3 is better than core2duo's, dual cores, or even quad core processors?

What difference would I see if I got an i5 over this?

Thanks

The i3 come in two main differences in that some are duo cores and some are quad cores. The i3's chip has better circuitry than the other cores on the market besides i5's and i7's. This particular i3 has two cores but 4 threads. Meaning it will act like a quad core in multitasking capabilities but when it comes down to it still only has 2 cores. The main difference you will see in processors in speed of actions. For example the more cores/threads the faster you can multitask. Also genearally the more cores you have the greater processing power. This one is a 2.4Ghz duo core so it prob has around 4.3ghz of processing power. Which would be enough to do almost anything except maybe play giant games or like massive film editing.

Differene between this and the i5 is that most i5's are quad cores. Also the multithreading on the i5's are better. You would see slightly better perforemance of an i5 due to the larger processing power and speed.

Can I stream 1080p on a 40" LCD from this?

So this does not come with an operating system? Is that correct?

If anyone can enlighten me regarding that and why someone posted a link to a recovery disk for Windows drivers I would very much appreciate it.

Thanks

wcfranklin wrote:Darn it, Woot. I bought the Samsung with nearly identical specs on yesterday's Woot-off, but I'd much rather have an Asus. I've bought two refurb Asus netbooks here. Both have worked perfectly.

I was cursing myself too, after having bought the Samsung when it was offered in May. I've had my eye on an Asus for ages. However, having looked at the specs, the i5 processor and NVIDIA video card do make a difference, especially if you do any 3D gaming. I'm satisfied with my Samsung purchase.

lonnyzone wrote:Can someone explain the Wimax to me? Do I have to pay a cell co for the service? Are there home wimax routers?

WiMax or 802.15 is a service funded by Sprint, Clear (aka Clearwire), Comcast, Intel and a few others (google included). It was basiclly WiFi with about a 20-30 mile radius and DOES require a subscription. At on point, Clear/Sprint were pushing "WiMax for life". You got unlimited (not capped) WiMax service for your laptop (they gave you a card) and adapter for your home PC and it was 50.00 a month. So, you had broadband at home and on the road where they provided service then it would drop to 3G(EVDO RevA, and down...) in case no WiMax was in your area. There's another service called LTE that isn't catching on verywell that's basiclly the same thing except more expensive and is capped as anything is from Big red and AT&T. I'm not a seller but having been a tech for one of these companies, I know more then I care to about both services. Bottom line, unless you want another monthly bill, don't bother. Having it "ready" on your laptop isn't a seller of this laptop but it's still a good deal for the laptop alone.

islidur wrote:Best Buy has a Gateway with a tri core AMD processor for the same price. But, it comes with a dedicated ATI video card. I play Modern Warefare 2 on it with no problem. I wouldn't even think of playing that game on a laptop with Intel GMA graphics.

This isn't made for gaming...

wolfsmane wrote:Can someone please explain if this i3 is better than core2duo's, dual cores, or even quad core processors?

What difference would I see if I got an i5 over this?

Thanks

The main difference between i3 and i5 is the Turbo feature. i5's have Turbo, so they'll speed themselves up beyond the specified speed when the computer needs it for what you're doing.

Many i5's are also quad-core, whereas all i3's are dual-core.

All i3's also have Hyperthreading, which as joshuaelander described above, means the processor has two "virtual" cores for each actual core. This is supposed to speed up multi-tasking, but its effectiveness is debateable. Not all i5s have Hyperthreading.

i7's have all the above features -- all are quad-core, with both Hyperthreading and Turbo.

As far as previous multicore processors (like Core Duo) vs. i3, the i3 generally wins out.

koro0101 wrote:Has anyone ordered a computer from woot?

If I order it today and live in the US, when can I expect to have it?

Also, thought on buying a refurbished computer?

Thanks

I ordered the Samsung laptop from Woot on 5/21 and had it by 5/28.

I found this post very helpful when deciding whether to buy a refurbished laptop or not: http://www.woot.com/Forums/viewpost.aspx?PostID=4487802&PageIndex=4&ReplyCount=305#post4488354

I haven't had any problems with mine yet.

koro0101 wrote:Has anyone ordered a computer from woot?

If I order it today and live in the US, when can I expect to have it?

Also, thought on buying a refurbished computer?

Thanks

Computers come as fast as anything else from Woot. It can take one to three weeks in my experience.

The quality of refurbs depends on where you're ordering from. From Woot you can generally expect like-new condition with very minor signs of previous use.

dan1668 wrote:This isn't made for gaming...

Are we talking new games or what? I'm looking to get a laptop to take over friends' houses to play Dawn of War 1 & 2, Civ 5, Orange Box. Will this laptop work or should I keep looking?

Thanks

Crusher524 wrote:Are we talking new games or what? I'm looking to get a laptop to take over friends' houses to play Dawn of War 1 & 2, Civ 5, Orange Box. Will this laptop work or should I keep looking?

Thanks

Original Portal gameplay on i3 graphics

Looks pretty good to me. The i-series processors have graphics processors integrated into the main processor itself that are a lot better than most previous separate graphics chips integrated into motherboards. Still not as good as an actual graphics card, but for games a few years old it should work well enough (Crysis excluded).

thecheat3224 wrote:Right here:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834230016

I type from this laptop right now and I have yet to experience any issues.

Ahem, that's a 15"