Wootalyzer's Pricing Post! - The price of today's woot item is saved here for future reference
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HP 17.3" Quad-Core i7 Laptop
$599.99 + $5 Standard Shipping
Condition: Refurbished

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

Passmark CPU mark is >7500.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en&docname=c03394757

Review:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZN7pYaAkGY

Excellent computer, but I wouldn't call it a LAPtop... the battery sticks out quite a bit, making it very uncomfortable to set on your lap. I use it on my desk and the battery tilts the laptop up a bit, which makes it great for typing.

There's also some controversy about the Beats functionality, which you cannot fully turn off (even though it says so in the manual). I'm a music producer and I can confidently say that Beats adds some serious artifacts to the sound whether on headphones or on speakers. The speakers sound better than your average laptop speakers, but they're not stellar. If you plan on doing any serious audio/video editing, which this laptop is VERY capable of handling, I can't stress it enough: disable the original audio driver and use the generic Windows one. You'll lose 2 of the 4 speakers and the subwoofer, plus all the Beats shenanigans, but you can be sure you're hearing exactly what you're supposed to be hearing. You also lose the ability to set Stereo Mix as a recording source -- I'm working on that right now

Picked one up last time this was on Woot. Love it. Sound is great for a laptop, and have had no issues with the machine. It did show up scratched to hell on the hinges for some reason, but you only notice that if you are looking for it. Other than that it was great condition.

Good reviews(scratch that, Q&A) over at bestbuy.com

http://reviews.bestbuy.com/answers/3545/product/5608347/hp-pavilion-17-3-laptop-8gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive-natural-silver-questions-answers/questions.htm?page=6&sort=recenta&dir=asc


[MOD: Seems to be just Q&A]

I bought this laptop when it was offered a few weeks ago to replace an aging desktop in my office. Money well spent, in my opinion. Less than half the price of my samsung, and most of the same features. I'd recommend it, only wish I'd seen it before buying the samsung. No issues, works better than expected!

my bad... here are some reviews from bestbuy.com

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+Pavilion+17.3%26%2334%3B+Refurbished+Laptop+-+8GB+Memory+-+1TB+Hard+Drive+-+Natural+Silver/6863984.p;jsessionid=16A1977BA30EC9112CE2E15FD02BD69E.bbolsp-app06-53?id=1218809594884&skuId=6863984&st=HP%20Pavilion%20m7-1015dx%20&cp=1&lp=1#tabbed-customerreviews

I bought one of these from woot a month ago and I am quite happy. Fast. The battery lasts for a long time. The only problem I have had is that the fingerprint thingy drops out coming out of hibernation. Reset the computer and it works fine until next sleepytime. Wishing I had the money so I could get the b&c one so she will leave mine alone.

This is a near-perfect desktop replacement at a great price. Being nit-picky, here are my minor quibbles:

1) Drive doesn't record or even play Blu-Rays. That's surprising since HP has always used Blu-Ray playable drives in their high-end laptops.

2) NO multimedia buttons, which probably means that you'll have to use software buttons to control media functions.

3) Hard drive is 5400rpm which saves energy but may not be fast enough for media editing. A 7200rpm is better for desktop replacements.

4) Has Windows 7, not Windows 8. The jury is still out on which is better.

5) Uses "island" style keys, which used to be derisively called "chiclet keys" after the gum. They were a sign of a cheap computer and may have even doomed the IBM PC Jr ("Peanut"). Touch typists generally prefer normal full travel keys.

6) No eSATA port for a 7200rpm external drive. While USB3.0 may be faster on paper, it may bog down with multiple USB devices connected. eSATA/SATA is dedicated to drives.

These are minor quibbles and I would grab it if I had the money.

Had one of these for about 6 months now from woot. I stuck a hybrid sss/hdd in it and its been great. I'd probably put a straight ssd in it if I got it now. Good machine.

MMMMmmm. Looks just like the one I had to return to HP after numerous attempts for fixes and many, many phone calls because of overheating, black screen "thermal events", extremely high fan speeds, etc. (BTW, did you know they have a lot of "George;s" ad "Gloria;s" in India??) Finally, forced them to replace it with a new one after they said it would take months to repair for "lack of parts" (Yah, right). A promise that they never kept was to return my old hard drive so I could try to recover at least some of photos, files, etc. If you buy this refurbished machine, perhaps you can email me the pictures I once used on my class reunion website, which I have lost forever? The recent ones I never got around to backing up? Thanks.

sdc100 wrote:This is a near-perfect desktop replacement at a great price. Being nit-picky, here are my minor quibbles:

1) Drive doesn't record or even play Blu-Rays. That's surprising since HP has always used Blu-Ray playable drives in their high-end laptops.

2) NO multimedia buttons, which probably means that you'll have to use software buttons to control media functions.

3) Hard drive is 5400rpm which saves energy but may not be fast enough for media editing. A 7200rpm is better for desktop replacements.

4) Has Windows 7, not Windows 8. The jury is still out on which is better.

5) Uses "island" style keys, which used to be derisively called "chiclet keys" after the gum. They were a sign of a cheap computer and may have even doomed the IBM PC Jr ("Peanut"). Touch typists generally prefer normal full travel keys.

6) No eSATA port for a 7200rpm external drive. While USB3.0 may be faster on paper, it may bog down with multiple USB devices connected. eSATA/SATA is dedicated to drives.

These are minor quibbles and I would grab it if I had the money.

You're the first person I've seen that has given Windows 8 anything near a favorable review compared to Win7 -- what about Window 8 did you like that made the comparison inconclusive?

sdc100 wrote:This is a near-perfect desktop replacement at a great price. Being nit-picky, here are my minor quibbles:

1...6

These are minor quibbles and I would grab it if I had the money.

I'd add a 7th. Intel Graphics instead of even the low end NVidia. I've been looking at getting a new laptop for my son, and this meets all the specs except for the hard drive, which I can replace cheap enough, and the graphics card, which I don't think I can replace.
Hmmmm.... What to do...

OnyxZ28 wrote:You're the first person I've seen that has given Windows 8 anything near a favorable review compared to Win7 -- what about Window 8 did you like that made the comparison inconclusive?

I concur! I work in retail AND help desk and thus far, the consumers can't stand Win 8. As for me, I've concluded that Win 8 is OKAY if it's used in a touchscreen/tablet form. Otherwise, it straight BLOWS with mouse n keyboard! One other good thing is that you can totally restore the OS with the easy access to the function as opposed to tapping the Function keys after the POST screen and hoping you pushed the right one in the prior Windows OSs.

If you buy this laptop, make sure you buy two . . . mine broke 3 times within 18 months.

I bought one of these during the last Woot Off. So far, I think it's great. I also have an HP DV6 that I purchased about 3 years ago. although this lap top is 17 inches, it's about the same weight as DV6 which is only 15 inches. I would recommend this laptop to anyone.

I lot one of these. I'm no tech wiz but I love this computer.

Pro: fast, quiet, doesn't heat up. My favorite thing: back lit keyboard makes a ton of difference. I'm not always looking for a small light to turn on. Also, I can type on this one without disabling the touch mouse, a problem I had with the dv7 that used to drive me crazy.

Con: The finger print reader is worthless. By the time it warms up and ready for use I could put my password in ten times. Maybe some of my malware detection software is slowing it up. Small thing really.

I have to say that HP sucks.

AVOID AVOID AVOID

I have purchased the amd triplecore 17 incher refub a little over a year go. motherboard died on me. it would have cost me more to get a new motherboard, than what i paid for me.

JUST a moment me, because i had another HP that died on me, and I took a chance on them again.

refurb deals, short warranty... for maybe under 400 bucks on a throw away laptop.. but its still hard having an expensive paperweight at the end of the day

I bought one last week. I'm so mad that I did. Touch pad doest work. HP support sucks. They had me do a system restore. Didn't help. So they send me restore disks.....still didn't help. I have updated the driver, the bios,Windows updates...nothing helps......they don't want to replace it....what a waste of money.

I have this computers little brother that was about $50 less. 15 inch, same ram, AMD chipset (A8 processor) with Windows 7. So far I like it, the number pad definitely feels cheap but I rarely use it. The main keyboard feels nice. Great performance. I love Win 7 (had it on my old desktop that did a cooking bacon impression)
My fingerprint reader works just fine. Sometimes it's slow to work if I open the laptop right after I close it.
The charger on this one seems underpowered. For an i7 I would recommend a 120W charger. With just normal usage the 60W that came with my less powerful compy could literally cook an egg, 90W will probably get pretty hot on this one too.
Beats audio is definitely a gimmick. A good EQ will do the same things beats can. Although the speakers are slightly better than average.

I provide IT services and repair laptops for my clients. I have never been a big fan of HP laptops. They give you lots of features at a reasonable price, but the design and build quality is lacking. Having an I7 in a laptop also causes issues due to cooling issues and noise.
Those who use their systems for light duty and leave it on the desktop might be OK with its performance.. advanced users with heavy demands will deal with fan noise and heat issues that will takes its toll on the life expectancy of the unit.
Then there is the floppy screen issue as the hinges wear and loosen, if they aren't already.. along with a pokey slow drive.. as well as the display which is nothing to brag about. Better off with a better built machine that has a good chassis and a processor that wont run as hot yet provide adequate performance.
This is about quantity over quality.. where they stuff everything big in a little chassis and you get a lot of stuff that sounds good... but doesn't really work well together..

I work for a technology company and we sell laptops along with all types of networking equipment. I don't need a notebook currently, but if I did, I jump all over this offer. You gotta love the i7 processor in a notebook. Sort of like having a V8 in Chevy Cruze.

Slowing it up? Is that anything like slowing it down?

There are two of these in my family now. It's a GREAT value. No it doesn't have blu-ray or discrete graphics, but it is not a gaming machine. GREAT for business.

Will I be able to play the new Call of Duty Black Ops 2 on this?

mikem53 wrote:I provide IT services and repair laptops for my clients. I have never been a big fan of HP laptops. They give you lots of features at a reasonable price, but the design and build quality is lacking. Having an I7 in a laptop also causes issues due to cooling issues and noise.
Those who use their systems for light duty and leave it on the desktop might be OK with its performance.. advanced users with heavy demands will deal with fan noise and heat issues that will takes its toll on the life expectancy of the unit.
Then there is the floppy screen issue as the hinges wear and loosen, if they aren't already.. along with a pokey slow drive.. as well as the display which is nothing to brag about. Better off with a better built machine that has a good chassis and a processor that wont run as hot yet provide adequate performance.
This is about quantity over quality.. where they stuff everything big in a little chassis and you get a lot of stuff that sounds good... but doesn't really work well together..

Except this is a huge desktop replacement type chassis, and has adequate cooling. It's not for someone who is going to tax the processor with heavy graphics, but it will work wonderfully for the professional who needs a reliable machine that can multitask very well and isn't worried about mobility as much.

This has 2 bays for HDs. If you use the second bay you need this item here:

http://www.newmodeus.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_5&products_id=504

Add an SSD, transfer the OS to the ssd and you will have a screaming machine and still have the larger drive for storage.

spawan wrote:Will I be able to play the new Call of Duty Black Ops 2 on this?

It has intel HD4000 integrated graphics which is much improved over it's predecessor. That said, it still isn't a powerful graphics chip. It will be able to run the game, but probably not at full/best settings.

I'm not a fan of HPs, but if this had a Blu-Ray drive at this price point, I'd buy one. But it's 2 or 3 hundred over priced as is.

mschauber wrote:I'm not a fan of HPs, but if this had a Blu-Ray drive at this price point, I'd buy one. But it's 2 or 3 hundred over priced as is.

I totally agree with having a blu-ray in this laptop. Good ole HP never had a lot of common sense when designing system. Why would you put an I7 with a 17.3 inch screen and a large HD and not include a blu-ray? Yesterdays sell-out HP PC had an Trinity A10-5700 AMD APU, 2TB SATA -a setup perfect to make into an HTPC, but somehow HP manages to the only Socket FM2 board in existence wiithout an HDMI out.

In case anyone wanted to add a blu-ray burner (about $100) this is the one you need:

http://www.mydvddrives.com/replacement-for-hp-compaq-681984-001-sata-blu-ray-bd-rre-drive-84044

based on this:

http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Hardware-e-g-Windows-8/Blu-Ray-Player-for-HP-M7-1015dx/td-p/1895035

bear339 wrote:I bought one last week. I'm so mad that I did. Touch pad doest work. HP support sucks. They had me do a system restore. Didn't help. So they send me restore disks.....still didn't help. I have updated the driver, the bios,Windows updates...nothing helps......they don't want to replace it....what a waste of money.

Even though the problem you have doesn't have to do with the touchpad light, the steps below in that topic might help fix the problem if its due to driver issues:


http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Operating-Systems-e-g-Windows-8-and-Software/ALT-Space-doesn-t-turn-on-Touchpad-light/td-p/1796723

lucianato wrote:I concur! I work in retail AND help desk and thus far, the consumers can't stand Win 8. As for me, I've concluded that Win 8 is OKAY if it's used in a touchscreen/tablet form. Otherwise, it straight BLOWS with mouse n keyboard! One other good thing is that you can totally restore the OS with the easy access to the function as opposed to tapping the Function keys after the POST screen and hoping you pushed the right one in the prior Windows OSs.

I bought a dedicated touchscreen 23" desktop and upgraded it to Windows 8 and find it way easier to use the mouse and keyboard.

mschauber wrote:I'm not a fan of HPs, but if this had a Blu-Ray drive at this price point, I'd buy one. But it's 2 or 3 hundred over priced as is.

Really? A blu-ray drive is worth 200-300 bucks to you? Point me to a laptop with this much in guts for $299-$399.

gak0090 wrote:I totally agree with having a blu-ray in this laptop. Good ole HP never had a lot of common sense when designing system. Why would you put an I7 with a 17.3 inch screen and a large HD and not include a blu-ray? Yesterdays sell-out HP PC had an Trinity A10-5700 AMD APU, 2TB SATA -a setup perfect to make into an HTPC, but somehow HP manages to the only Socket FM2 board in existence wiithout an HDMI out.

In case anyone wanted to add a blu-ray burner (about $100) this is the one you need:

http://www.mydvddrives.com/replacement-for-hp-compaq-681984-001-sata-blu-ray-bd-rre-drive-84044

based on this:

http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Hardware-e-g-Windows-8/Blu-Ray-Player-for-HP-M7-1015dx/td-p/1895035

there is a reason. It's a refurb unit no longer sold new being blown out on woot.com. When this thing was new it was probably retailing for over $1k.

billycuth wrote:there is a reason. It's a refurb unit no longer sold new being blown out on woot.com. When this thing was new it was probably retailing for over $1k.

That's my point though. If you're going to go all high end on everything and then cut corners on a device that would complete the system- just doesn't make sense. Would you buy a $70K Porsche and put aluminum hubcaps on it, because the wheels would increase the price to $72K? If so then you are Gangnam style:

Does it have any software - ie. MS Office?