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I have a "sister" model to this, the Pavilion DV6. Cost me $600 just over 2 years ago and the specs arent as nice as this but I love it. I'm happy to see that the HP name finally has decent computers again.

Come on. HP computers are awful new or refurb and then on top of that you don't even include a Blu-Ray player?

These are simply expensive paperweights. Save your money and buy something of quality. I've been in the IT field for 25 years and without fail, almost every HP computer, including servers, have required more support than IBM/Lenovo or Dell. HP should have stuck to printers. Now even those are pieces of.......

HP makes great computers. All you haters out there that like to bash the brand just because they had an issue once years ago need to take a walk. ALL electronics can have issues, not have been touched by the hand of God and are perfect (including APPLE). And many times what you blame on the computer manufacture could be a very specific issue with a specific part or user error or user wear and tear. HP is one of the last American brands and still does all its research and development in America. Would you rather have an Asian brand that does everything over seas. At least HP still has the vast majority of its employees working in the US.

Don't listen to people who want to bash a brand just because they say they don't like them. I could do the same thing and bash computers I've had issues with (Sony, Samsung, Dell, etc.)

If you look at the specs this is a great computer for someone who needs a high powered desktop replacement. Basically has the power of a desktop and you can connect it to an external monitor and use it as one. Great for running lots of programs at the same time and multitasking, not so great for graphics or gaming. Even though its a refurb for the price and specs its still great and HP gives lots of extras like Cool Sense and Beats Audio.

tamtam09 wrote:HP makes great computers. All you haters out there that like to bash the brand just because they had an issue once years ago need to take a walk. ALL electronics can have issues, not have been touched by the hand of God and are perfect (including APPLE). And many times what you blame on the computer manufacture could be a very specific issue with a specific part or user error or user wear and tear. HP is one of the last American brands and still does all its research and development in America. Would you rather have an Asian brand that does everything over seas. At least HP still has the vast majority of its employees working in the US.

YOU might have had a great experience with HP laptops (and for that, I say congrats!), but many, MANY more people have not. Overheating systems were the name of the game when it came to the big issue a couple years back, and it still hasn't subsided yet. One of the reasons why I have not purchased an HP laptop.

If it wasn't enough already, a friend of mine has a relative who works for HP, and my friend uses HP laptops (not of his own choosing, but because he didn't have to spend too much on them), and has also confirmed what I said above.

Great overall specs, but seriously? Intel HD graphics? That's gonna be the worst performance killer of them all if you hope to do anything with the i7 and 12gb of RAM...

so if i where to choose the $450 hp in the sellout woot or this one which one should i get.

I bought an HP Pavilion DV6 Entertainment Laptop 2 years ago at close to $700 and it doesn't even come close to the specs of this laptop. 12GB of RAM??? Unless you are running SEVERAL and I do mean SEVERAL tasks at the same time, this is one heck of a big RAM!

I'm typing from an HP desktop right now that has never screwed up even a little bit in almost three years. I know of at least three people I work with that have HP laptops and have never had major issues with them. Every one of the 9 printers in our office are HP and one in my home office. The owner of the company bought a mac and the power supply went out in around the first two months.

Moral of the story? Anyone can have problems at any time and don't base your decision solely on a handful of Apple fans bashing HP.

I just bought this 2 weeks ago, Delivery was incredibly fast. The laptop has been rock solid, fast, haven't run out of RAM or processor and that includes doing picasa facial recognition on 80,000 photos. This thing is a beast in performance and weight. It is more of a Mobile Workstation than it is a laptop. It won't even fit in my old laptop bag. Another plus, is that it didn't come with a bunch of crap software installed on it!

In for one. I've been holding out for a great deal. And with 12 GB of RAM, it's perfect for my test VMware lab that I want to build.

majhimujhuko wrote:Great overall specs, but seriously? Intel HD graphics? That's gonna be the worst performance killer of them all if you hope to do anything with the i7 and 12gb of RAM...

Seriously. What a great set of specs just to be let down by that.

I own 3 HP laptops and an HP tower from 5-6 years ago. Had to send one of the laptops in for repair ONCE (I forget if it was the hard drive or the mobo causing problems). The brand is definitely not what's keeping me from pulling the trigger on this one -- it's more the integrated graphics and Windows 8...

...speaking of which, anybody happen to know whether the hardware drivers for this machine are available for Windows 7?

Less than a month ago, I bought a very similar HP model - same screen size and stats, refurb, via woot, for $600. It arrived with a dead drive, cable, etc., no windows. FOUR hours of tech support on the phone with HP - which is in India, by the way - they paid to ship it back to them and fix it. I know it was in india due to horrible call quality, and TWO disconnects, after which it took 25 minsutes to communicate AGAIN what I needed...so a week ago, it arrives back to me...and they didn't do the repair correctly AGAIN! It's back with them again.

HP refurbs are NOT REFURBED. their process is to take YOUR time to test the computer and work with poorly trained, difficult to understand tech support folks to diagnose the issue...who then disconnect you before anything gets done, so you have to call back and start over with someone else who is difficult to communicate with. Then their repair folks take over, and do a crappy job. At least there is no communication barrier.
If the deal you get (maybe $300 saved...is worth 8 hours of your time, not being able to use the PC for at least a month after initially recieving it...this assumes they fix it correctly THIS time, which is very unlikely...then this might be a good deal.

I regret my purchase...and so might you.

tamtam09 wrote:HP makes great computers. All you haters out there that like to bash the brand just because they had an issue once years ago need to take a walk. ALL electronics can have issues, not have been touched by the hand of God and are perfect (including APPLE). And many times what you blame on the computer manufacture could be a very specific issue with a specific part or user error or user wear and tear. HP is one of the last American brands and still does all its research and development in America. Would you rather have an Asian brand that does everything over seas. At least HP still has the vast majority of its employees working in the US.

OK, before you go on a rant get your facts straight. HP also does R&D in Bangalore, India and Beijing and Singapore. Here is one link http://www.hpl.hp.com/china/news/20070531.html feel free to google the rest. So it clearly does NOT do all the R&D in the US and, in fact, does a significant portion in Asia. HP outsources all of it's support to India, anyone who has ever made a support call to "Frank" that sounds a lot like Raj Koothrappali from Big Bang can attest to that. I'm not slamming their support either, although their support may not be as technically knowledgeable (and this goes for all the companies)as I would like- they were always very polite and tried to be as helpful as possible. HP is out to make a buck just like anyone else, if they can do it cheaper internationally they will and have.

Regarding HP products:I have had a ton of HP products. I have loved some of them and hated some-and some were in between. Overall I have a pretty favorable view for HP and think they offer a good value for the money. Some of their configurations are questionable but overall they are a decent product. The reason they get so many bad reviews is because their market share is huge, and when they put out a lemon many people are impacted.

Regarding this computer:This should have a blu-ray burner in it considering the price of those drives has fallen and that this is a sweet I7, with 12gb RAM and a 1920x1080 resolution, its screaming for blu-ray drive.

I would highly recommend putting an SSD in this bad boy. If you decide to keep the original 1TB drive for storage, you can add an SSD to the spare drive bay using this device:

http://www.newmodeus.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_5&products_id=498

majhimujhuko wrote:Great overall specs, but seriously? Intel HD graphics? That's gonna be the worst performance killer of them all if you hope to do anything with the i7 and 12gb of RAM...

Keep in mind this is a 3rd gen i7, with the Intel 4000 graphics. I have played black ops 2 with no trouble, granted the settings had to be tweaked down a bit. Big deal.

Also, is there any possible way someone would buy this laptop for reasons beyond gaming? You make it seem like that isn't possible.

sonictempest wrote:I own 3 HP laptops and an HP tower from 5-6 years ago. Had to send one of the laptops in for repair ONCE (I forget if it was the hard drive or the mobo causing problems). The brand is definitely not what's keeping me from pulling the trigger on this one -- it's more the integrated graphics and Windows 8...

...speaking of which, anybody happen to know whether the hardware drivers for this machine are available for Windows 7?

Check this out:

http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Operating-Systems-e-g-Windows-8-and-Software/Windows-7-on-dv7-7243cl/td-p/2161007

Just a note on this model...

It DOES come with a back-lit keyboard. I know woot doesn't list it, but it has one, and is a great feature.

I am very happy with mine. It's a beast and looks nearly brand new. With these specs, I think it is a steal under $700.

I bought an HP G42-475DX laptop about two years ago. For the most part it has been a decent low/mid-end laptop. The one thing that was disappointing on it was the touchpad. It just felt sluggish and cheap.

Can anyone comment on the quality of the touchpad on this laptop?

FGreg wrote:I bought an HP G42-475DX laptop about two years ago. For the most part it has been a decent low/mid-end laptop. The one thing that was disappointing on it was the touchpad. It just felt sluggish and cheap.

Can anyone comment on the quality of the touchpad on this laptop?

I have been very happy with it. I haven't noticed any slowness, and it is a good size. The multi-touch feature is nice for scrolling and zooming in/out. It can be turned off as well, if it gets in the way of typing.

I have a very similar laptop, HP Dv& entertainment PC. And Although I love my laptop, I do have the overheating issue thats been reported. Mine does have blu ray, so thats a plus. I hate the Beats brand name, but the speakers on it are okay. My biggest gripe is the intel HD graphics. Not only do I run some mmorpgs and other games, but I also use this laptop for 3D Computer Assisted Drafting (CAD). Wish I had done a bit more reserch on laptops, otherwise i would have gotten one with a bit more dedicated memory. Oh well, cant complain about the i7, RAM and hard drive space.

I've been using HP computers for a while and I have to say their support, especially on the business level, is amazing. I've had hard drive failures in my servers in which I had a new drive hand delivered to me within 3 hours. I was able to restore the server that same day.

Every PC from them I've had to take apart has been a pleasure. Their build quality is great, and the way they put it together makes upgrades/maintenance a breeze. Hell even their slim towers (something everyone else can't seem to figure out) are so easy to take apart. Try stripping down an OptiPlex mini tower, they're a pain in the ass.

tldr; HP is awesome. This deal is awesome.

tvwazhere wrote:I have a very similar laptop, HP Dv& entertainment PC. And Although I love my laptop, I do have the overheating issue thats been reported. Oh well, can't complain about the i7, RAM and hard drive space.

I always wonder exactly what people mean when they say overheating "issues." I've literally never seen a laptop of any brand (including HP) actually overheat except when the heat sink was filled with dust/lint/pet hair, or if it was placed on a soft surface, like a sofa or quilt that blocks most of the airflow (tip: don't do that).

I think I've posted this before, but if you've had any laptop for more than a few months and it seems to run hotter than it used to (or perhaps even if not), check out this detailed (though somewhat condescending) info from HP including instructions, photos and a video:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&docname=c01657439

I recently did this on a friend's Dell that had become almost unusable, although I had to actually take apart the laptop in that case since the clog was so bad it was like a solid "carpet" of lint/pet hair filling the inside of the heat sink. It was much worse than the photo in the above link and couldn't just be blown out. It must have been left way too long.
On the other hand, some people will report that their laptop is "overheating" if the bottom just feels more than lukewarm. In that case, get a chill pad. Although, I think these newer HP's are supposed to have some "coolsense" thing that tries to speed up the fans and reduce processor turbo boost if it detects the laptop is actually sitting on your lap so it won't get quite as hot. I don't know how well it works though.

BUT WILL IT GAME!!!!!!!!!?

I have a HP Pavilion with an i7 quad core CPU, which, like this machine's i7-3630QM, is rated at 45 watts. My laptop gets so hot it regularly shuts itself off. I'd look elsewhere before considering this model.

indetrucks wrote:BUT WILL IT GAME!!!!!!!!!?

Games with lighter requirements will work fine. But see this link http://community.futuremark.com/hardware/gpu/Intel+HD+Graphics+4000/games9 for more specific information. After arriving at this page, go to 4.games tab and it give a run down on a bunch of games.

Avalon9 wrote:HP refurbs are NOT REFURBED.

That's nonsense. You had a single bad experience with one refurb unit from one company. MANY others apparently had good experiences with the same refurbished model. That's usually called a mistake. Maybe someone in a repair center somewhere had a bad day, but that's certainly not grounds to make a blatantly false statement like the above. (For the record, my MILs laptop is a refurb AMD-based dv7 from Woot!; likely similar to yours. It arrived perfect and has had zero problems. Her previous laptop was another dv7 that she used for 4+ years and still works today. The only problems beyond needing to periodically blow out the heat sink were an occasional malware infection, and the battery was mostly worn out after a few years, all of which you'd expect with any laptop).

That having been said, for a basically-DOA unit I would have probably tried returning/exchanging with Woot! first if possible before going through further troubleshooting/repairs. In some cases you might get lucky and have them be able to send another unit right out (though that's not always possible with Woot! it's usually still worth a try).

Brian957243 wrote:I have a HP Pavilion with an i7 quad core CPU, which, like this machine's i7-3630QM, is rated at 45 watts. My laptop gets so hot it regularly shuts itself off. I'd look elsewhere before considering this model.

If you haven't already, I'd try this to make sure it's not just clogged up internally: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&docname=c01657439
(Also if you have a second hard drive or a dedicated graphics that can also use more power and generates more heat too, and check for any background processes that are unnecessarily chewing up CPU cycles and heating things up).
In any case you can also lower power management settings to reduce the heat output, or a lot of people have pretty good luck getting some extra laptop cooling using a chill pad.

tamtam09 wrote:Don't listen to people who want to bash a brand just because they say they don't like them. I could do the same thing and bash computers I've had issues with (Sony, Samsung, Dell, etc.)

I think most HP haters are in the same boat that I'm in: My laptop died after 18 months of use. When I googled the problem, I found that it was extremely common - clearly a manufacturing defect. HP refused (to this day) to acknowledge the issue, because doing so would have been expensive for them. They do this kind of thing routinely, shamelessly (similar story, different issue with my brother's laptop - he was one of the many unlucky customers with a broken hinge), and that's why people don't like HP.

Brian957243 wrote:I have a HP Pavilion with an i7 quad core CPU, which, like this machine's i7-3630QM, is rated at 45 watts. My laptop gets so hot it regularly shuts itself off. I'd look elsewhere before considering this model.

Check the vents- see if thay are clean. Make sure you're not placing this on a tablecloth, and that it is on a hard flat surface. If everything fails and still overheating, it could be that either the thermal paste was not applied correctly or the heat sink isn't seated well. This video might help, and I recommend a good thermal paste, Arctic silver is always pretty good, but this Tuniq may be a little better http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835154003:

togamoos wrote:I think most HP haters are in the same boat that I'm in: My laptop died after 18 months of use. When I googled the problem, I found that it was extremely common - clearly a manufacturing defect.

You mean kind of like this:
http://www.techspot.com/news/48272-macbook-pro-owner-beats-apple-in-court-over-faulty-8600m-gt.html
But wait, that's not HP. Hm...

kmartind wrote:You mean kind of like this:
http://www.techspot.com/news/48272-macbook-pro-owner-beats-apple-in-court-over-faulty-8600m-gt.html
But wait, that's not HP. Hm....

I'm not saying that it never happens with other companies. I'm saying that with HP it's endemic.

People didn't just randomly pick HP out of a hat and decide to hate them.

togamoos wrote:People didn't just randomly pick HP out of a hat and decide to hate them.

I think they actually complain more about HP because HP sells more computers than any other company on the planet, except in those stats that include i-devices or ebook readers in the "computers" category.
They are also willing to actually sell affordable low-end PC's, which Apple will hardly do. So, more units shipped overall and a larger percentage of inexpensive models is probably going to equal more total problems reported, even if the failure rate was no higher.
I've had very good luck overall with HP, but I've also had pretty good luck with other brands (though my brother in law once had a Dell that basically fell apart after mostly just normal use, I don't think that's representative of all Dells).

mschauber wrote:Come on. HP computers are awful new or refurb and then on top of that you don't even include a Blu-Ray player?

These are simply expensive paperweights. Save your money and buy something of quality. I've been in the IT field for 25 years and without fail, almost every HP computer, including servers, have required more support than IBM/Lenovo or Dell. HP should have stuck to printers. Now even those are pieces of.......

You'll enjoy this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsR0DeY7f1g

Brian957243 wrote:I have a HP Pavilion with an i7 quad core CPU, which, like this machine's i7-3630QM, is rated at 45 watts. My laptop gets so hot it regularly shuts itself off. I'd look elsewhere before considering this model.

and all build version MUST be the same.

This model runs very cool. No overheating issues what so ever. With light/medium use, the fan blows air that feels cool.

I purchased one a few weeks ago and we love it. I'm using it for personal use and a small VM server (given the quad core i7 and 12GB RAM). It's a great PC replacement. It's been solid so far.

mschauber wrote:Come on. HP computers are awful new or refurb and then on top of that you don't even include a Blu-Ray player?

These are simply expensive paperweights. Save your money and buy something of quality. I've been in the IT field for 25 years and without fail, almost every HP computer, including servers, have required more support than IBM/Lenovo or Dell. HP should have stuck to printers. Now even those are pieces of.......

The laptop I bought 2 years ago (a HP) came with a free upgrade to a Bluray reader and I recently upgraded to a Bluray reader/writer for about $80

acaraway1988 wrote:so if i where to choose the $450 hp in the sellout woot or this one which one should i get.

I'd go with this one but it depends on the use. General use, you can go with the cheaper of the two and not notice. I do semi-heavy video processing and a machine like this would be awesome