Thinking of a new Laptop, what do you all think?

[tlarseth]

I was thinking of getting this laptop, I am planning on downgrading it to windows 7 if I get it. I found it for $599 at one of my distributors catalogs. I normally don't deal with laptops, but I was thinking of getting this one. It normally retails at $998 at local retailers. This will be for my personal use, and I was planning on getting a new laptop, but didn't want to spend more than $600, and thought this one might work for me. What do you all think, and yes I checked all the hardware inside this has Windows 7 drivers available.

Here is the info on it.

SPECIFICATIONS

Processor and Memory
Processor Type: 3rd generation Intel® Core™ i7-3630QM Processor
Processor Speed: 2.4GHz with Turbo Boost Technology up to 3.40GHz
Cache: Not Specified
Memory (RAM): 8GB DDR3 SDRAM (2 DIMM)
Maximum Memory: Not Specified
Hard Drive and Multimedia Drives
Hard Drive: 1TB 5400RPM hard drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
Optical Drive: Not Specified
Multimedia Card Slot: Blu-ray player and SuperMulti DVD burner
Graphics and Audio
Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 650M switchable graphics with 2048MB gDDR5 and up to 1664MB total graphics memory
Audio: Beats Audio™ quad speakers and a subwoofer
Display, Keyboard, Mouse and Webcam
Display Size: 17.3-inch diagonal HD
Display Type: BrightView LED-backlit display
Display Resolution: (1600 x 900)
Keyboard: Full-size island-style keyboard with numeric keypad
Mouse: Touchpad supporting multi-touch gestures with on/off button
Webcam: HP TrueVision HD Webcam with integrated dual array digital microphone
Connectivity
Ethernet: 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN (RJ-45 connector)
Wi-Fi: 1x1 802.11b/g/n WLAN
Bluetooth: Not Specified
Modem: Not Specified
Ports/Slots
Ports:
3 SuperSpeed USB 3.0
1 Universal Serial Bus (USB) 2.0
1 HDMI
1 VGA (15-pin)
1 RJ-45 (LAN)
1 Headphone-out
1 Microphone-in
Expansion: Not Specified
Power
Battery Type: 9-cell 100WHr 3.0 Ah lithium-ion battery
Typical Battery Life: Up to 100 Watt Hours
AC Adapter: 120W AC adapter
Software
Operating System: Windows 8
Manufacturer Software:
Getting started with Windows 8
Beats Audio
Other Software: Not Specified
Trial Software:
Free 60-day Norton™ Internet Security subscription
Microsoft Office 2010: Buy Microsoft Office to activate Office software on this PC
Physical Specifications
Environmental Specifications:
ENERGY STAR® qualified
EPEAT® Silver registered where applicable/supported
BFR and PVC free
Mercury-free LED display and arsenic-free display glass
Operating Temperature: Not Specified
Storage Temperature: Not Specified

 

[DavidE]

I'm interested in the answer to your question.

I just posted (post #44) in http://www.sevenforums.com/news/257997-windows-8-ready-set-preorder-5.html asking about downgrading.

Here is a thread i found that you should read.
HP urges consumer customers not to downgrade new PCs to Windows 7 - Computerworld

In your post/specs I don't see what version of Win8 you get, so maybe you have to buy a Win 7 license to downgrade???

I'm guessing this an HP laptop based on this in the specs you posted:
Webcam: HP TrueVision HD

 

[Carl Lawrence]

It looks like a good laptop to get.

 

[Cymbal Man Freq]

If Windows 8 has gotten rid of permissions, I'd stick with Windows 8.

 

[jimbo45]

Hi there
USB3 well worth it -- really much faster than USB 2.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[Cymbal Man Freq]

Reading the HP article about Windows 8 being preinstalled with no downgrade rights reminds me that I've already reformatted my hard drive during the first week and took out the Recovery of Factory Condition partition. Luckily I got that onto a flash drive in the nick of time. I had to download a Windows 7 .iso, install that, then run the factory restore from the flash drive because neither the USB flash drive or recovery partition worked on the first try without a fresh install from the .iso DVD. There's a lot of crapware from HP I'm sure I'll love once I find out more about it, but there was no Wi-Fi just from the .iso install, I got that from the flash drive recovery. I should order recovery discs, but HP warns recovery takes like 6 hours instead of 45 minutes on a thumb drive. I'm easily spending several weeks reeling from the problems of Windows 7, not to mention my XP computer appears to have died this week.

 

[tlarseth]

I have a free Windows 7 Home Premium Key that I can use to install Windows 7, as for Windows 8, all I would have to do is remove both partitions, and create a new one and install Windows 7. I have already had to do this for a customer, so downgrading would work for me, since this isn't a touch screen, and Win8 is designed for touch screens, that is the main reason I was thinking of downgrading, since Win7 is more mouse and keyboard friendly.

Not to mention 99% of the hardware has drivers for Windows 7 on their sites for the laptop editions, so HP not providing drivers is fine with me, I hardly use them since HP is notorious for not posting new drivers already, when I bought my current laptop DV6-2057cl, HP never released new drivers at all, even though ATI/AMD has updated the Video Drivers 6 times in the first few months to fix various issues, but HP still only has the original drivers that shipped with the system on their site 3 years later.

 

[indianacarnie]

Looks like a very nice machine. Kinda funny with all the goodness on it that the HDD is such slow spinner. I would have figured at LEAST a 7200 rpm. , but it still looks like a deal to me.

 

[Cymbal Man Freq]

The slow hard drive knocks the experience level down to 5.9.

 

[Cymbal Man Freq]

I need some 7 port USB 3.0 hubs.

 

[SIW2]

HUH?

Win8 is worse than Win7 in that respect.

If Windows 8 has gotten rid of permissions, I'd stick with Windows 8.

 

[gregrocker]

Let us know which drivers are still missing after WIn7 and all WIndows Updates are installed.

 

[Cymbal Man Freq]

Does Win 7 have Skype? I don't know what Skype is, but HP gave it to me. Also Blio and Cyberlink YouCam.

I'm impressed with this laptop, specs wise. Looks like it's got a $250 discount now that Win 8 is in favor and desktops and laptops are going the way of the Dodo bird this month.

 

[georgex]

If I was going to buy another computer I would buy a notebook. But thats me.

 

[tlarseth]

Does Win 7 have Skype? I don't know what Skype is, but HP gave it to me. Also Blio and Cyberlink YouCam.

I'm impressed with this laptop, specs wise. Looks like it's got a $250 discount now that Win 8 is in favor and desktops and laptops are going the way of the Dodo bird this month.

Yes, everything from iOS, Android, Windows XP, Windows 7, and Windows 8, even all Windows Mobile has Skype, it is a free program as well, I use Skype on the phone all the time.

The price listed is actually about a $300 discount.

Let us know which drivers are still missing after WIn7 and all WIndows Updates are installed.

Will do, a buddy of mine just bought his, going to attempt the downgrade on his tomorrow, will keep you updated Gregrocker.

 

[Cymbal Man Freq]

One thing I miss on mine is there's no firewire. I have a firewire camcorder, so this will be an issue without another computer to fall back on to get that footage off of tape. I didn't expect my XP computer with firewire to die weeks later. I can still use my parents' computer to get the DV footage onto USB and bring it home.

I do worry about all this XP software that I paid for long ago that needs new expensive upgrades to be put on Win 7.

 

[Cymbal Man Freq]

One other thing, 32 bit is no good for my browsing habits. Browsers use up all of my RAM on XP and they crash several times a day this year. I wanted 64 bit to get past that 4 GB RAM limit. Win 7 has ReadyBoost, but maybe it's only good for up to 4 GB more on a USB 3.0 flash drive.

 

[tlarseth]

One thing I miss on mine is there's no firewire. I have a firewire camcorder, so this will be an issue without another computer to fall back on to get that footage off of tape. I didn't expect my XP computer with firewire to die weeks later. I can still use my parents' computer to get the DV footage onto USB and bring it home.

I do worry about all this XP software that I paid for long ago that needs new expensive upgrades to be put on Win 7.

I use Compatibility Mode, 97% of the time it works. If a disclaimer about not being compatible pops up, I just click to go ahead and try running the application, you will be surprised at how much stuff will run that they say won't.

One other thing, 32 bit is no good for my browsing habits. Browsers use up all of my RAM on XP and they crash several times a day this year. I wanted 64 bit to get past that 4 GB RAM limit. Win 7 has ReadyBoost, but maybe it's only good for up to 4 GB more on a USB 3.0 flash drive.

I would first look into the crashing of your browsers, my wife's old computer that she still uses has XP, and her browsers do not crash at all, she has used everything from Opera, IE, Firefox, and Chrome.

 

[Cymbal Man Freq]

It's clearly using up the last little bit of available RAM that is crashing my browsers. I typically have 2 dozen tabs open all day. The longer they're open, the more memory it hogs.

I was thinking about getting a tablet with 1 GB of RAM, but since Adobe abandoned Flash for Android this summer, I wonder if that pretty much disables the internet for hard-core internet surfers; and whether these low RAM devices with Win 8 even thought about memory hungry browsers.

PS: my computer is currently using 5.37 GB of RAM after 7.5 hours of on time.

 

[tlarseth]

It's clearly using up the last little bit of available RAM that is crashing my browsers. I typically have 2 dozen tabs open all day. The longer they're open, the more memory it hogs.

I was thinking about getting a tablet with 1 GB of RAM, but since Adobe abandoned Flash for Android this summer, I wonder if that pretty much disables the internet for hard-core internet surfers; and whether these low RAM devices with Win 8 even thought about memory hungry browsers.

PS: my computer is currently using 5.37 GB.

Something isn't right with your system, my wife's XP system only has 1GB of RAM, and both IE and Chrome work flawlessly on her system, I have had a dozen or so tabs open and watching netflix with no problems.