Hey Woot: Why don't I ever see a laptop with a 1920 x 1080 screen? I promise I would buy it...

If I were to see one with a 1920 x 1200 screen, I would buy it AND be your best friend...

I don't even care what size it is...

If I had an i7 processor, could I theoretically port it over to this machine? I always get confused on what processors work with which motherboards...

It's an i7 from a laptop if that's relevant.

Nice chassis

Windows 8 should've used these kinds of artworks on their Lock and Start Screen rather than this one

Just thinking aloud..

I was about to buy before I hit up Google with the processor

The CPU cores are based on a reworked Bulldozer architecture, called Piledriver. Although marketed as a quad-core processor, the A8-4500M includes only two modules with four integer-cores and two floating-point cores total. As a result, the CPU is not a true quad-core processor.

Can someone translate this to English?

honeybadgerman wrote:If I had an i7 processor, could I theoretically port it over to this machine? I always get confused on what processors work with which motherboards...

It's an i7 from a laptop if that's relevant.

No.

I am not sure of the specifics of this laptop, or your i7's socket, but seeing as this is an AMD processor... No.

shaver wrote:I was about to buy before I hit up Google with the processor
Can someone translate this to English?

It has two physical cores, but can pretend to have more. Intel does this too, sometimes.

A superbly priced laptop nonetheless. The Piledriver is an improvement over Bulldozer. This is the current gen Trinity based laptop.

The graphic card that is embedded on chip together with the CPU is HD7640G. Wayyyyy better than even top end Intel HD4000 series.

Is the battery one of the detachable ones that connects to the back of the laptop? It lists it separately in the box and it is separate in the picture.

If I had the $, I'd be ALLLLL over this. You can't beat those specs for the price. I'm referring more to the 17" LED, 750GB HDD, 8GB DDR3, 3.0 USB, HDMI, Blu-ray, Beats Audio than the graphics and CPU, which are always debateable (esp in a laptop). Only option missing is a webcam.


[MOD: From the specs... Webcam: HP TrueVision HD ]

phishneslo wrote:It has two physical cores, but can pretend to have more. Intel does this too, sometimes.

Not quite. The A8-4500M has two dual-core modules, however the two cores on each module have a shared FPU. Calling it dual-core would not be accurate at all because it has four integer cores, not two, but calling it quad-core is also slightly exaggerated since each pair of two integer cores shares an FPU.
In any case, that's not really related to Hyperthreading (Intel's term for "pretending to have more" cores).

In English, perhaps one could call it an "almost four core" processor, or a "quad-core processor with shared FP/SSE units."

I'm a laptop snob and I would buy this if I didn't just buy a new boutique laptop. Slap a SSD in this and it will be your new best friend

CPU Benchmark:
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_lookup.php?cpu=AMD+A8-4500M+APU

GPU Benchmark:
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/video_lookup.php?gpu=Radeon+HD+7640G

Note that the CPU is in the company of the i7-2640M and i3-2125 (which a desktop processor), and the GPU is ranked next to the the HD 4000 on those particular benchmarks. You might be surprised to see how many i3/i5/i7 CPUs rank below it, especially the low voltage ones that are often used in Ultrabooks.

In short, it's plenty fast enough for most purposes, but obviously no match for something far more expensive and high-end like an i7-3740QM, at least not in raw number crunching capability.

Once you exceed 3500-4000 or so on Passmark though, you're unlikely to be sitting around waiting for the CPU. More often it's going to be your net connection or the hard drive that's slowing you down at that point.

I don't know about "wayyyyy" better...
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/video_lookup.php?gpu=Radeon+HD+7640G
It beats the HD4000 by 6 points. And they are both pretty far down there. HD4000 is probably more efficient with the battery, and is pretty good at video encoding... Lets say that the HD 7640G is a little bit better, at certain things...

The graphic card that is embedded on chip together with the CPU is HD7640G. Wayyyyy better than even top end Intel HD4000 series.[/quote]

DON'T BUY HP! Bought two HP 17" Dual core last November on WOOT. Once I began using them around Christmas I found they both fail to power up regularly. Called HP and they said I should clear the PROM by removing the power, batter and holding down the power button for 20 seconds. Help Desk engineer (from India) said I can do this EVERYTIME it occurs. Called back five times after four more weeks and led through the same procedure without offer to replace obviously FLAWED system. Called back in February and they said my 90 day support was over and I'd have to pay for support. Told them it was the same problem I had during 90 day coverage and they said they couldn't help me unless I wanted to pay for support to come out and fix computer. I just counted it as a $800 lesson learned ($400 for each of these pieces of CRAP.) I Won't ever buy HP again.

nflbob wrote:Bought two HP 17" Dual core last November on WOOT. Once I began using them around Christmas I found they both fail to power up regularly.

That sounds more like a lesson in "If you buy a refurbished product with a short warranty (from any manufacturer and any seller) it's essential to test it out throughout and early." Or perhaps spring for an extended warranty. Some credit cards will extend or double your warranty for free on products purchased with the card.

Also, if you consider those to be a total loss of the price paid, I'm sure plenty of people would be very happy to take them off your hands for at least half what you paid, and likely quite a bit more than half, even with some sort of vague power up problem.

rmueller89 wrote:Is the battery one of the detachable ones that connects to the back of the laptop? It lists it separately in the box and it is separate in the picture.

Yes, it can separate. I own this computer.

I own a similar Pavilion laptop. Mine is maxed out with an Intel i7 processor and Nvidia card. I would caution you that HP does some weird things to their laptops and, while I don't dislike my computer, I'm not 100% satisfied either.

Before the people ask... this system will play games on low... I mean really low. The graphics suck bad... the cpu doesn't hold a candle to an i5 and for 520$ you would be very upset with the performance outside of movies and internet surfing.

rmueller89 wrote:Is the battery one of the detachable ones that connects to the back of the laptop? It lists it separately in the box and it is separate in the picture.

The battery would fit into the bottom of the laptop (simple and easy for a user to remove/replace as long as the laptop is powered off). Since it's a 6-cell battery it shouldn't stick out at all.
In contrast, if they were to offer a 9 or 12 cell battery, those would stick out the bottom when installed since they would be larger than the battery compartment.

groovieknave wrote:Before the people ask... this system will play games on low... I mean really low. The graphics suck bad... the cpu doesn't hold a candle to an i5 and for 520$ you would be very upset with the performance outside of movies and internet surfing.

That's incorrect in several ways. First, the CPU in this laptop is rated faster than ALL of the following:
Intel Core i7-2640M
Intel Core i7-2620M
Intel Core i5-2390T
Intel Core i5-3320M
Intel Core i7-3517U
Intel Core i7-3667U
Intel Core i7 840QM
Intel Core i5-3210M
Intel Core i5-2540M
Intel Core i5-3427U
Intel Core i7 740QM
Intel Core i7 820QM
Intel Core i5-2520M
Intel Core i5-2450M
...and a bunch more.

That's not to say it's a super-high-end speed demon, but it's definitely "fast enough" for a lot more than movies and surfing.

The graphics are as good or better than other integrated graphics solutions, including the Intel HD 4000 on 3rd generation Intel Core CPUs. That doesn't mean you'll be playing the latest games on high settings with an external high resolution monitor, but if you want a really serious dedicated gaming laptop try tripling the price, just for starters and work up from there.

Nooo... in the specs it says:
Webcam: HP TrueVision HD

stormshadow999 wrote:If I had the $, I'd be ALLLLL over this. ..... Only option missing is a webcam.

Just to add a little for Windows 8. You can purchase an upgrade to Windows 8 at 14.99USD (offer from Microsoft and valid till some time early next year).

http://www.windowsupgradeoffer.com/en-US

[MOD: That offer is for new computers. This is a refurbished computer so it does not qualify.]


Well, given the same resolution games and same settings, this graphic will outperform HD4000.

Also take note, native resolution of the screen is 1600*900, in which you can run plenty of games at medium settings.

To echo others about SSD, I agree 100%. It will make a difference in user's perception of speed (especially in loading of applications).

Read Anandtech's review here:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5831/amd-trinity-review-a10-4600m-a-new-hope/3

Bought one around 4 years ago and it finally became a paper weight. I loved it! It was awesome. I wish I had the $$ to buy this one, but the timing is bad.

stormshadow999 wrote:If I had the $, I'd be ALLLLL over this. You can't beat those specs for the price. I'm referring more to the 17" LED, 750GB HDD, 8GB DDR3, 3.0 USB, HDMI, Blu-ray, Beats Audio than the graphics and CPU, which are always debateable (esp in a laptop). Only option missing is a webcam.

If you look at the specs list you will find there is indeed a web cam on board.

kmartind wrote:.. but calling it quad-core is also slightly exaggerated since each pair of two integer cores shares an FPU."

Interesting that AMD calls it a quad core and lists it for $899 but they only link to QVC to buy one where it gets a 3.4/5 rating. Never realized WOOT is owned by Amazon...hmmm.

http://shop.amd.com/us/All/Detail/Notebook/B5R46UA?SearchFacets=category%3ANotebook#ComparePrices

http://www.qvc.com/HP-17.3-Laptop-AMD-Quad-Core-8GBRAM,750GBDHD-with-BeatsAudio-&4-YrAnti-Virus-Notebooks-Computers-Electronics.product.E222971.html?sc=E222971-Targeted&cm_sp=VIEWPOSITION-_-6-_-E222971&catentryImage=http://images-p.qvc.com/is/image/e/71/e

If the display was 1080p, I'd be all over this.

wenda86 wrote:Just to add a little for Windows 8. You can purchase an upgrade to Windows 8 at 14.99USD (offer from Microsoft and valid till some time early next year).

http://www.windowsupgradeoffer.com/en-US

Well, given the same resolution games and same settings, this graphic will outperform HD4000.

Also take note, native resolution of the screen is 1600*900, in which you can run plenty of games at medium settings.

To echo others about SSD, I agree 100%. It will make a difference in user's perception of speed (especially in loading of applications).

Read Anandtech's review here:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5831/amd-trinity-review-a10-4600m-a-new-hope/3

The reason the windows 8 upgrade is so cheap is because it's not all that great. On a computer without touch capabilities the metrosexual theme is more an annoyance than anything, switching over to the regular computing side of the OS leaves it castrated without a start orb unless you download 3rd party utilities. I downloaded it and tried it out and was not that impressed. My suggestion is try the release preview first before you change over. Don't get me wrong- I like where Microsoft is going with trying to have a common OS that will unite the different CPU architectures, I just don't like how they do the switching between the metrosexual theme and the regular desktop- and they try and force you to use the metrosexual tiles.

Looks like this is going to be my new HTPC

nflbob wrote:DON'T BUY HP! Bought two HP 17" Dual core last November on WOOT. Once I began using them around Christmas I found they both fail to power up regularly. Called HP and they said I should clear the PROM by removing the power, batter and holding down the power button for 20 seconds. Help Desk engineer (from India) said I can do this EVERYTIME it occurs. Called back five times after four more weeks and led through the same procedure without offer to replace obviously FLAWED system. Called back in February and they said my 90 day support was over and I'd have to pay for support. Told them it was the same problem I had during 90 day coverage and they said they couldn't help me unless I wanted to pay for support to come out and fix computer. I just counted it as a $800 lesson learned ($400 for each of these pieces of CRAP.) I Won't ever buy HP again.

Class. Action. Two words that when combined describe my experience with HP products. Not with a ten foot pole...

Woot's prices are really frustrating me these days... For a refurb it's just not that great a deal.

Unless you really want a 17" screen and bluray, I'd go with this instead:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Lenovo+-+IdeaPad+15.6%26%2334%3B+Laptop+-+8GB+Memory+-+750GB+Hard+Drive+-+Gray+Metal/5762725.p?id=1218691611161&skuId=5762725&st=lenovo%20A10&cp=1&lp=4

My brother is trying to get me into Diablo 3 but my old laptop will most definitely not support it. I dont know much about system requirements, can anyone tell me if this laptop would support Diablo 3?

honeybadgerman wrote:If I had an i7 processor, could I theoretically port it over to this machine? I always get confused on what processors work with which motherboards...

It's an i7 from a laptop if that's relevant.

No, motherboards that support AMD processors never support Intel processors, and vice versa. Not to mention you can't switch out processors on the vast majority of laptops.

f0rdy40 wrote:My brother is trying to get me into Diablo 3 but my old laptop will most definitely not support it. I dont know much about system requirements, can anyone tell me if this laptop would support Diablo 3?

Some general 3D and game benchmarks for this CPU/GPU are here:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Radeon-HD-7640G.69836.0.html

Based on that, it looks like it ought to be playable on low, and possibly a bit higher. If you update to the latest available driver from ATI (and perhaps even test their current beta driver) you could likely get at least a few more FPS out of an A8-4500M/HD 7640G since it's new enough that ATI/AMD is still improving the driver noticeably.

Kacia wrote:Woot's prices are really frustrating me these days... For a refurb it's just not that great a deal.

Unless you really want a 17" screen and bluray, I'd go with this instead:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Lenovo+-+IdeaPad+15.6%26%2334%3B+Laptop+-+8GB+Memory+-+750GB+Hard+Drive+-+Gray+Metal/5762725.p?id=1218691611161&skuId=5762725&st=lenovo%20A10&cp=1&lp=4

I cant agree with you more. There really arent those striking good deals anymore...Sad

Kacia wrote:Unless you really want a 17" screen and bluray, I'd go with this instead:

In addition to being a 15", that Lenovo has only a 1366x768 screen, which is definitely less than ideal.

It's a fair point that some people don't really want/need a big 17" laptop and would prefer something smaller, even if it means lower screen resolution, but I suspect quite a few of the folks looking at this Woot! were enticed by the large screen.

f0rdy40 wrote:My brother is trying to get me into Diablo 3 but my old laptop will most definitely not support it. I dont know much about system requirements, can anyone tell me if this laptop would support Diablo 3?

Yea, no problem. Not on highest settings, but who cares--the graphics aren't what make D3 great. Good luck!

Apparently woot deleted my post about the Toshiba over at 1 $ale a day dot com?

What's up with that?

dfunkmaster wrote:Apparently woot deleted my post about the Toshiba over at 1 $ale a day dot com?

What's up with that?

They probably considered it spam. I looked at that one and it only has 4gb of ram. I know I need at least 6 for the stuff I use my laptop for. My old sony with 2gb of ram does not cut it. It was refurb as well. Only issue was the cd/dvd drive does not work.

So I am thinking about getting this one.