BF Laptops

[Slicedbread]

Who were lucky enough or stayed up early enough to get one?

I got the wal-mart one, pretty nice my only complaint is the startup time, it takes around two minutes and when its done loading the system is already dipping into the virtual ram. Once its started there arent any noticeable slowdowns. Gonna order a 512 stick from newegg, should solve it.

 

[state 08]

Fatwallet/ATOT Hotdeals have spoiled me beyond belief.

I didn't consider ANY of the laptops hotdeals compared to the deal I got over the summer at Office Depot.

For $342 I got,

Gateway 4525GP
-Thin and Light
-1.6 GHz Centrino
-512 DDR333 Ram (Now 1024. Bought a stick of 512 for $40)
-15.4"
-DVD Burner
-4 Hour Battery life
-Built in Wireless
-Win XP Pro

 

[InlineFour]

i also got the walmart. startup time is very slow. i just ordered a corsair 512mb memory module. should decrease overall performanec significantly.

 

[Hacp]

Originally posted by: InlineFour
i also got the walmart. startup time is very slow. i just ordered a corsair 512mb memory module. should decrease overall performanec significantly.

Reformatt. HP laptops have TONS of bloatware.

 

[InlineFour]

Originally posted by: Hacp

Originally posted by: InlineFour
i also got the walmart. startup time is very slow. i just ordered a corsair 512mb memory module. should decrease overall performanec significantly.

Reformatt. HP laptops have TONS of bloatware.

doesnt restore CD come with all the bloatware inside anyway?

 

[Slicedbread]

Yeah I ordered the same thing, it helps alot once the computer is running there arent any probrlems. I was considering the reformat but I didnt want to bother, i uninstalled some of the stuff and disable some services that should help. --I never understood microsoft would want you to load 20 services at the instant you start your computer.

 

[InlineFour]

i just reformatted the notebook and it runs smooth as butter now.

 

[Slicedbread]

Yeah that shortened the boot time to like 25 seconds

 

[deathwalker]

Most of that crap can be uninstalled without reformating.

 

[Spikesoldier]

i picked up a 512 stick for the walmart hp laptop about an hour after getting it.

this laptop has impressed me and totally owned the naysayers around here. its a great value, and i got a nice laptop, wireless router and memory upgrade for under $500.

 

[Crism]

After about 2 years, my little Sony laptop was starting to bother me with how slow it was going. Backup + Reformat + Restore took 3hrs total and I had a "brand new" laptop again 🙂

 

[DragonMasterAlex]

Originally posted by: Slicedbread
Yeah I ordered the same thing, it helps alot once the computer is running there arent any probrlems. I was considering the reformat but I didnt want to bother, i uninstalled some of the stuff and disable some services that should help. --I never understood microsoft would want you to load 20 services at the instant you start your computer.

For the most part, the bloat isn't Microsoft's doing, it's the OEM's doing. Windows XP default settings are actually pretty decent.

In any case, I also got the Wal Mart laptop, but the biggest drawback really is the *hard drive*. It's just 4200RPM. A decent *size*, at 40GB, but the speed is just dog-ass slow. I intend to give the two I got away, and I'm hoping to get 7200RPM drives for them before then.

EDIT: Anyone else impressed with how *good* the built-in Altec Lansing speakers on the Wally World laptop sound? For a laptop, these are *very* impressive!

Jason

 

[cheesehead]

I wish I had one of those BF HP laptops. (Heck, I'd offer 450$ for one, hint hint.)
HP seems to have much better quality as of late. The speakers on many of their laptops seem to have gone up in quality greatly.
That said, I'm a headphones guy, so it really does'nt concern me much. As long as I can hear the error beeps, they could use whatever the heck they want.
How are the internal antennas on HP laptops? They vary a great deal between manufacturerers. (I'd personally just go for an Orinoco Gold card off eBay, but there are other uses for PCMCIA slots.)

 

[gerrynjr]

Ended up getting the walmart laptop, just dropped another 512 in, for 768 total, 640 after video memory.

This laptop is insane for the money I've spent on it, very nice machine...

Granted, this is by no means a gamers laptop, but I have been able to play half life 2, ut2004, and a few others at the native resolution with zero issues.

My only complaint thus far is Linux support for the audio card as well as the wireless... for now it's my only windows box/install in this house, but i'm sure I can deal with it 😎

 

[Hacp]

Originally posted by: Cheesehead
I wish I had one of those BF HP laptops. (Heck, I'd offer 450$ for one, hint hint.)
HP seems to have much better quality as of late. The speakers on many of their laptops seem to have gone up in quality greatly.
That said, I'm a headphones guy, so it really does'nt concern me much. As long as I can hear the error beeps, they could use whatever the heck they want.
How are the internal antennas on HP laptops? They vary a great deal between manufacturerers. (I'd personally just go for an Orinoco Gold card off eBay, but there are other uses for PCMCIA slots.)

Yes, HP makes half decent products. At least they are better than Dells 🙂. The semprons totally pwn the Celeron Ms, and that is why the HP V2000Z's lowest price is 550 at their shop, while the V2000 is 450.

 

[Hacp]

Originally posted by: Cheesehead
I wish I had one of those BF HP laptops. (Heck, I'd offer 450$ for one, hint hint.)
HP seems to have much better quality as of late. The speakers on many of their laptops seem to have gone up in quality greatly.
That said, I'm a headphones guy, so it really does'nt concern me much. As long as I can hear the error beeps, they could use whatever the heck they want.
How are the internal antennas on HP laptops? They vary a great deal between manufacturerers. (I'd personally just go for an Orinoco Gold card off eBay, but there are other uses for PCMCIA slots.)

The general concensus about hte hp antennas are that they are pretty bad, I think. As for the laptop, you should find similar deals but involving rebates for the hp laptops. 400 dollar laptops aren't all that uncommon.