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$179 Laptop

TripleT

By TripleT
in 2012

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TripleT

TripleT

Posted
Posted

Wondering if any others that scored the $179 laptop would like to share their opinion of it?

 

So far, I'm not overly impressed...and yes, I know it's a $179 laptop; I wasn't expecting a powerhouse. I knew Windows 8 came installed and I'm really not as upset about it as I thought I might be. It is a bit inconvenient on a non-touchscreen laptop, but not entirely impossible to navigate. My laptop is quite a bit slower than I hoped. I know the AMD C-60 is obviously low-end, but it is worse than I expected. Having snagges an eMachined $199 laptop a few BF's ago, I suppose I was hoping for more from this years model. The previous one had its quirks, but it was speedy enough for me. I am finding this $179 Compaq has trouble loading webpages amd video. Wondering if this is solely a processor thing, an internet thing (my home internet can be sketchy, but streams from my roku just fine) or if Windows 8 is just too much for this lappy to handle.

 

Any thoughts?

Has anyone else tried theirs out?

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jcarr492

jcarr492

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We bought 3 of them..one for me and hubs to share and each of our daughters bought their own. They love it...me not so much. I think I just don't like Windows 8 for this little laptop. Kind of a pain navigating around. Of course...this is coming from someone that has a 5 year old Toshiba with Windows XP on it. LOL
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smooth3d

smooth3d

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I set my brothers up, and it runs well but you need to do a few things first. One uninstall all the crapware i.e 60 day trail of Norton etc. You can install Avast free its much better and not as resource intensive. I installed the latest graphics and cpu drivers from Amd.com. And I would install another 2 GB of ram (For a total of 4 GB)which is extremely cheap on sites such as Newegg or Amazon. After these changes it will run smooth. Even with 2 GB it has now it runs ok.
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bpr

bpr

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Please list all the crapware I need to remove...I removed Norton..but wasn't sure what else to uninstall. I plan to install Avast here in a bit..but wanted to uninstall any other crap that is not needed.

With Windows 8 you don't need anti-virus anymore because it's built in. I had Microsoft Security Essentials w/ Windows 7 and when I upgraded I had to remove it. MSE is now integrated into Windows 8. I still get updates for definitions so it is there in the 'background'. I've never had a virus using MSE.

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bpr

bpr

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Posted (edited)

I am getting no where with AMD.com Trying to get everything updated and running into a road block on graphics :(

On the Amd website go to graphics driver and download the c-series graphic driver package, its about a 144 mb download I believe.

Be careful doing this. A lot of times graphic drivers for laptops are 'specific' for each company. Sometimes the one (we'll use HP as an example) the mfg makes is modified. By downloading the one from AMD (or Nvidia) you can screw up your device. Check the mfg's website before upgrading the graphic drivers. Sometimes the mfgs will upgrade their drivers (and sometimes you are stuck with no more upgrades the entire life). I've had several laptops over the years and have only had one company (Toshiba?) upgrade their drivers once more than the OEM version that came with it. That has been a while, so policies could have changed and you may get more updates now. Who knows?

Edited by bpr
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BrianHSV

BrianHSV

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I set my brothers up, and it runs well but you need to do a few things first. One uninstall all the crapware i.e 60 day trail of Norton etc. You can install Avast free its much better and not as resource intensive. I installed the latest graphics and cpu drivers from Amd.com. And I would install another 2 GB of ram (For a total of 4 GB)which is extremely cheap on sites such as Newegg or Amazon. After these changes it will run smooth. Even with 2 GB it has now it runs ok.

It's worth noting that the bolded recommendation is actually not possible with this laptop. While the datasheet shown on walmart.com states that the laptop has 2 memory slots, there is actually only 1 slot. So, to get to 4 Gig, you will need to purchase a single 4 gig stick and replace the 2 gig. Note that originally HP's website also stated that there were 2 slots, but after numerous complaints from people attempting to upgrade their RAM, they changed the webpage to state "1 slot" and claimed that the previous value was a typo.

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smooth3d

smooth3d

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It's worth noting that the bolded recommendation is actually not possible with this laptop. While the datasheet shown on walmart.com states that the laptop has 2 memory slots, there is actually only 1 slot. So, to get to 4 Gig, you will need to purchase a single 4 gig stick and replace the 2 gig. Note that originally HP's website also stated that there were 2 slots, but after numerous complaints from people attempting to upgrade their RAM, they changed the webpage to state "1 slot" and claimed that the previous value was a typo.

Thanks for the correction, I guess they cut corners on the mother board. 4 GB stick of ram is still cheap still worth the upgrade.

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TazErase

TazErase

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Some options to consider is adding RAM memory. You could check, but I believe it can hold up to 8G RAM but only has 2G installed. On NewEgg you can get RAM for real cheap and while not a complete fix you WILL see a difference. I intend to do that with my new laptops as well. I bought 3 $178 Lenovos at Best Buy and the Samsung for $349. Windows 8 seems to be a RAM hog and they are all running kind of slow even the Samsung with 4G RAM installed and the I3 processor, which is a much stronger processor than any of the cheaper laptops come with. Most of the processors in the low-end laptops are built more for going on the internet and not much graphics or for games.
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smooth3d

smooth3d

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Processor problem. It's rated only 1.00 GHZ processor speed with 1MB L2 cache, and its performance speed is equivalent to old 2001 Pentium III 1.20 GHZ we had before.

You are wrong sir. Yes it is a low end Cpu, But it is leagues faster then a 2001 era P3. Ghz is isn't everything. Its only part of the equation on cpu performance. You have to take cpu architecture in mind. For exp. A 2.3 4 cylinder STI Subaru is faster then a 1992 5.0 Mustang GT. Size isn't everything.

 

Actually the cpu is dual-core 1.0 ghz with a 1.33 ghz turbo mode.

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jcarr492

jcarr492

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I have one very unhappy daughter right now...she was on her computer and was skyping with her cousin. She brought it to me cause she said they could hear crackling noises on their end and when she put her ear to the part where the fan air was, she could hear slight sizzling noise. I could hear it to, but wasn't sure if it was the Microphone, speaker or fan. She put it down and signed off with them and went to get a snack. It went to sleep on here and she tried to wake it up. Nothing. It was still lit. She closed the lid and let it sit a bit...and the lights come back on, but the screen is black. Nothing. I turned it off by holding down the power button and turned it back on to see if rebooting would help. Nope. Still black screen. Popped the battery off, powered back on...still nothing. All the lights work, you can hear the fan come on, no sizzling sound or anything...but just a black screen???!!!! And of course I get out the receipt and it was only a 15 day exchange or refund at the bottom of the receipt..and that was on Friday. So now what? We still have the box and everything. How is walmart gonna handle this for those that receive these as Christmas gifts and they either quit working or just don't like them and want to exchange them. Can we wait till after Xmas to try to exchange it? Probably not. But this is pretty upsetting to her because she used her hard earned money to buy it herself!
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KBsDarling

KBsDarling

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Actually there is extended returns for christmas season

 

 

Walmart's Holiday Returns Policy

Print

Email

 

Attention Holiday Shoppers!

 

If you buy an item between Nov. 1 and Dec. 24, 2012 that has a normal return policy of 15 or 30 days, we will extend the time you have to make a return by starting to count those days on Dec. 26, 2012.

 

That means you can buy a camera, laptop, DVD player or other item that normally has a 15 or 30-day returns window and know that the recipient will have until the dates listed below to make a return or exchange, depending on the item.

 

 

http://help.walmart.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/203/session/L2F2LzEvdGltZS8xMzU1MDg0ODA4L3NpZC9reDQzUmtkbA%3D%3D

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  • 2 weeks later...
jcarr492

jcarr492

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Wondering if anyone has taken theirs back yet? I'm taking all three of ours back for refunds. Dd's screen never came back on again. Powers up..but totally black screen. And now mine is beginning to act like hers did where it was taking a LONG time to update when shutting down. My boss bought one too to tinker on, and his has been updating since 7am today! They finally just powered it off and restarted it and it came on. But thats how dd's computer started acting. Plus the boss's is SUPER SLOW...way slower than ours and he has nothing on it yet! Glad I saved my boxes and receipts! Paid cash for them too, so gonna get our money back and buy Kindle fires instead.
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jcarr492

jcarr492

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If we paid cash for the 3 laptops on bf on three separate transactions(we each paid for our own separately), we should get cash back right? We have the receipts for them. Just don't want them to try to put the refunds on a gift card or send us the refund in the mail. Since I plan on depositing the cash to turn around and purchase the fires on amazon.
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bluebear

bluebear

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Posted (edited)

If we paid cash for the 3 laptops on bf on three separate transactions(we each paid for our own separately), we should get cash back right? We have the receipts for them. Just don't want them to try to put the refunds on a gift card or send us the refund in the mail. Since I plan on depositing the cash to turn around and purchase the fires on amazon.

Sorry, ignore me, I was at wrong store... Going back in my hole now.

With Walmart, I think you shoud be okay, don't do much shopping there so I'm not familiar with their policies. Looking at their website, I didn't see anything related. Good luck!

Edited by bluebear
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KBsDarling

KBsDarling

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Posted
we took 1 back already and are debating the 2nd one. The 1st one was it wasnt strong enough to do thegaming DD does...not a shock but was worth a try. The 2nd one is cause we are having the updating issues. Where it wont or randomly turns on/off....just a little too glitchy for me
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jcarr492

jcarr492

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Exactly KBsDarling...this is the first time in about 12 years of bf shopping for laptops/desktops that we have purchased duds or unhappy with the computers. BUT....we've always camped out at best buy for their desktops and laptops...this was my first BF computer purchase from walmart...can say that won't happen again for their cheapo's. And we don't game on them..but heck..if we can't even surf or skype and one has the black screen of death..what good are they even at 179?
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  • 2 weeks later...
jade2002

jade2002

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Looks like we're gonna have to take our piece of junk back. We have a screen that says restarting and in the lower corner it says "your pc will restart in 2 days when it finishes installing updates". WTH!! 2 days!!!. Screen has been like this for a while now.
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