Thoughts on this laptop...

What are your thoughts on this laptop: HP - Laptop with Intel® Celeron® Processor - Piano Black - G60-507DX ... for casual personal/webmaster use and travel? It's a BestBuy doorbuster for $197 on Black Friday, and I'm really really thinking about it.

 

Looks good, the only thing would put me of would be the processor, Celeron 2.2ghz..

And as it comes with Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64-bit operating system preinstalled you should definitely upgrade to 4GB RAM.


When i upgraded my laptop's RAM i went on crucial.com ran the test, brought the recommended ram, came 2 days later and fit it my self, runs extremely fast.

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And what i Black Friday? Im in the UK so i have no idea, is it just a day when people getting rid of stock?!?

 

Black Friday is the day after the American holiday Thanksgiving.

It is the "official" start of the holiday shopping season, and most retail stores offer unbelievable deals on certain items (which they don't stock many of...classic bait-and-switch) if you show up at their store first thing in the morning (many stores open at 5am on this day). Those deals are called "doorbusters". And in Walmart's case, it truly is a door buster, and people tend to get trampled by the rush of people who believe that saving a few bucks means more than other people's lives.

The reason it's called Black Friday is that most stores operate in a loss (in the red) for most of the year, and sales for this one day tend to put retailers into profit (in the black).

 

I almost started the same thread about this one for $198
eMachines Official Site - Notebook - eME627-5279 Product Details

Input?

Any guesses if it comes with a recovery dvd/cd if the OS gets trashed?

It would be used as a disposable computer.

 

It has a DVD writer, you can always create a bootable image if a recovery disk is not included.

 

I saw that one too; PC World mentioned both of them together (7 Hot Black Friday Laptop and Netbook Deals - PC World). I'm looking for something more than a disposable computer, so an eMachine isn't suitable for me (given their less-than-great reviews). But for disposable purposes, it should be fine.

Although, the thought of not having to camp out at Best Buy and fight the crowd (since Wal-Mart is going to be open for 24 hours) and settling for the eMachine, is attractive.

 

this is the first thing that stuck out for me as well, & slow bus speed
other then that, it looks okay
I like HP desktops and thinkpad laptops

I don't care for emachines at all
but if you want a(n) [strike]cheap[/strike] enexpensive laptop, go for it

 

The Intel Celeron processor is what has me really thinking hard as well. Just how slow is a Celeron processor?

 

Very slow. I wouldn't bother with this. Intel is ready to drop out new chips in a few months time dropping previous chip prices down, companies are releasing new hardware, etc. You'll get a better computer for just a little more down the road. Wouldn't waste $200 on this.

 

I think its a great deal considering what you have said it will be used for. It will have no problems with the tasks you've mentioned.

Really, what is the most high powered thing you do anyways? Anything gfx intensive? What is your top machine at home and what do you throw at it?

A celeron is not so crappy. It's target is low budget, but it can handle word processing, certainly web surfing w/o an issue. I've run an old game server and teamspeak voice server off a celeron 1.7 Ghz w/o issue. $200 bones for something that you've described is a good deal. I think its a great package even with all the other stuff imo.

As for the emachine, I'm in concurrence that they just don't have the backing. Disposable is a good word. lol

 

Why the poo pooing regarding the emachine? We have 2 desktops that have been flawless. When I bought them they had good tech support, but my understanding is that may no longer be the case.

I'll read the link that Nick gave now.



The PC World site is a little light on details and ratings.

 

I, my mom, and Mark have all had eMachines (they had desktops and I had a laptop), and all of them were just fine at the time. They may have fallen back, but at the time they were decent machines.

Actually, Mark still has his and it's doing just fine for him.

 

I have a buddy that got an emachine a few years ago on black friday and it's worked fine for them as well, I just wouldn't buy one.

 

A buddy of mine had an eMachines off the shelf @ Wally World a couple years back while I wouldn't use it to run NASA's mission control I used it a fews times to do some webmaster work.

FWIW I think people are missing that when you buy a PC all your buying with X brand over Y brand is the build quality and after sales support/service. All the components are pretty much the same from brand to brand.

 

pretty much the same, is the key phrase here.

I've replaced components in an emachine or these cheaper computers more then say an IBM or higher end HP's.

I wouldn't want anything with an azuse motherboard in it, I think that's about a cheap as you can go.

Your best bet is checking with Consumer reports (Consumer Reports: Expert product reviews and product Ratings from our test labs) and see what's been said about the product. Also do a google search for reviews, read the experience others have had, will go a lot further then the opinions of us on the forums.

 

I agree with you there. I look for reviews before I buy anything. I took some crap off self defined computer 'experts' when I told them I bought my current laptop and desktop off the shelf at Wal-mart, they all said the companies use cheaper components in Wal-Mart machines while that may be so I've never had any problems with either machine.

My next computer will probably be off the shelf at Wal-Mart too.. Why pay more?

 

My last 2 computers have been from hp.com and I'm able to add or remove anything I want.
I got a new tower 3 or 4 years ago fro like 500$, it's been great and still as fast as the day I got it.
My next tower will be a custom order from hp.com as well. :yes:

 

I just poo poo on things that I've had poor experiences with. I certainly do not speak for the majority at all, in this case the emachine. Sorry if it seemed like I was Slamming it, but I am.

Nick, whatcha gonna do? lol

 

Alright, I've decided to scrap this idea with that powerless laptop. I want something for casual and webmaster work, but not something that will last just a year or two. So I just found in today's Best Buy ad, the following:
Sony laptop with Intep Pentium dual core processor, 4gb of ram (expandable to 8gb), Windows 7 Home Premium, 230gb hard drive... Sony - VAIO Laptop with Intel® Pentium® Processor - White - VGN-NW235F/W

It's double what I would have paid for the HP, but it's much more worth the investment, as this laptop can last for years, which is what I'd prefer.

It was available online, but unfortunately it's now sold out. I guess I'll be camping out tonight.

 

LOL... Poo Poo anything you want!

What was your bad experience? Support, dead on arrival, compatibility, other?




Dress warm Nick!!!