Discount HP Pavilion 17.3" Laptop Computer - AMD Elite Quad-Core A8-5550M

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List Price: $599.99
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I got this locally for $400 after my Asus i5 laptop overheated and crashed leaving me

desperately searching for a replacement, I got lucky.

Here's what you get, a quad core APU with Radeon HD 8550G graphics, 4Gig Ram, 740G hard

drive, and a DVD-R/W, plus a 17.3" display in a lightweight and beautifully designed

carbon fiber look silver frame with Win8/64 pre-installed.

My only con, this display could be better, the colors are a little washed out, no way to fix this

and there are only 3 resolutions, a 1600x900, a 1280x, and 1024. OK, I'm done venting, I didn't

pay for a premium piece of glass and if you're not looking at it next to your desktop display you

may not notice.

Needs more RAM, 4Gig isn't enough as 768M are allocated to the video, and as yet I haven't found

how to allocate more after I added another 4Gig stick. HP uses a captive screw on the backplate

so you just unscrew it and slide the panel down and off. But to HP's credit, the Ram that is installed

is DDR3 PC3-12800 * CL=11 * Unbuffered * NON-ECC * DDR3-1600 * 1.35V * Performance was greatly

enhanced with the addition of more Ram, the Windows Experience number jumped from 5.9 to 7.1, and

you can tell an obvious difference when you are navigating the web or running multiple programs.

As a test of stability, I opened 6 video players all running 1Gig+ files and after 20 minutes they

were all still chugging along, I was shocked actually, this has been quite a surprise overall.

Also, video editing is a breeze with this cpu, it just rips right through large files.

The chicklet keyboard is workable, but the touchpad is laggy and you will want to add a mouse ASAP.

However, after attaching to a separate monitor via HDMI I find that the colors and some of the controls

are all there. Problem is, I cant install a copy of Catalyst on this Win 8 thing to give me more

flexibility over colors and contrast. I guess I'll just have to be happy on my extended monitor...but

again, I'm limited to only 4 resolutions on a 1920x1200 monitor but I can live with that. The main hard

drive is not partitioned so its a little clunky. I'm running 3 USB devices with no lag and they connect

right up via an upstream to my Dell monitor. Also a Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse were plug and play.

On the plus side, there is a Cyberlink Media Suite included that has PowerDVD and PowerDirector10

among other features. I would like this laptop better if it had Win 7, but because of all the

Bios tweaks there is no way to go in reverse unless you buy a machine with Windows Pro, then Microsoft

gives you "downgrade" rights, which is funny because Win 8 is a clear step in the wrong direction

and a BIG FU to consumers.

BTW, if you're freaking out over Windows 8, thats OK, go right ahead. Windows 7 was the best thing

Microsoft ever did, and Win 8 is just the most ridiculous hodgepodge of a software geek's wet dream

I could have ever imagined. However, 2 days after buying this laptop I have discovered a world of

workarounds and tweaks, such that I am about 70% back to the look and feel of Win 7, so there is

help out there, and most of the fixes are free. "Start8" was a good investment though that gives you

back your Start menu and kills the insanely stupid Windows 8 App screen and all its intrusive popups.

A final note, what finally made me fall in love with this model was the surprise DVD encoding time using

ConvertX/DVD 5.0. On my previous i5 (2.3Mhz) with 6Gig Ram, whenever I would encode DVDs there was a problem

with overheating, maxed out CPU usage, and maxed out Ram....then POW, my laptop would shut down. Also

to encode 2.5-3G worth of video typically took 1 1/2 2 hours. On my first run today, this machine ripped

through 2 video files totaling 2.8G in 30 minutes! WHAT??? Thirty minutes at 100+fps, with no overheats

and even though the CPU was pegged at 98%, the system was still usable, it would lock up on that i5 machine.

For an APU this laptop is a beast! 4.5 Stars, I'm very happy.

My apologies in advance for anyone with questions, apparently in Amazon's great wisdom I have been banned

from posting comments for life. But this machine has 2 memory slots, and one 4G stick installed. Did I mention

I HATE Windows 8?

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I'm using this laptop for work right now. It's great at multitasking. Maybe it's just a new computer but no complains so far. I really like the sleek design and smooth surface. Would definitely recommend.

Best Deals for HP Pavilion 17.3" Laptop Computer - AMD Elite Quad-Core A8-5550M

I got this computer on clearance from Best Buy at $460 a month ago and I can only say that it is incredible value for the money. It comes with windows 8, but can be downgraded to windows 7. The display is huge and beautiful, I'm not sure what the other reviewer is talking about! The audio and video cards are very strong and the processor is one of the strongest AMD processors around. I would recommend this laptop to anybody who is looking for an all-around workstation that can also double as an entertainment center. What really makes it amazing is the price, though! A++++++++++

Honest reviews on HP Pavilion 17.3" Laptop Computer - AMD Elite Quad-Core A8-5550M

I am a Mac user, always have been, always will... but I needed a PC for some work things that I can't do a Mac. So, I literally had 2 requirements in looking for a laptop:

1) large screen

2) it turns on

So, since this satisfied both of my requirements I bought it. I am extremely happy with the purchase (even though I abhor Windows 8) but it's served me well. I can do what I need to for work and it's got a nice clean view. So here's my Pros and Cons:

PROS:

17" screen. Crisp pictures

750 hard drive

4 GB RAM

CONS:

Battery Life is shorter than I'd like.

The touchpad has a life of its own. The double finger scrolling I'm use to on my Macbook only occassionaly works properly

The keyboard is very dark and the letters are very hard to see with anything other than direct light (I keep a USB light plugged in all the time and use a wireless mouse)

I bought mine for $399.99 at a big box store that rhymes with Vest Guy