HP Pavilion 15.6" 3GB Celeron $298 Walmart!

C

cinnaminbuns576

Limp Gawd
Joined
Nov 8, 2007
Messages
131
Walmart is hosting a pre-black friday sale this Saturday Nov 7 at 8:00am (In-Store ONLY)!
This laptop is an HP 15.6" screen, 3GB of RAM (expandable up to 4GB), Celeron 2.2GHZ processor, 250GB HDD, Intel GMA 4500M Graphics, and Windows 7 Home Premium for $298!!!!

I'm wondering if you all think this is a good deal or not. I know the laptop wont be a powerhouse or meant for gaming... but considering most NETBOOKS are around $300 or so (yes i know some are cheaper), this seems like a WAY more fully-featured laptop for the same price. Also anyone have any ideas on the PERFORMANCE of this celeron compared to the Atom processors? I know the Atom is WAY more efficient with power but not necissarily more powerful or faster.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=12347224&sourceid=40040356810030150082
 
Last edited:
im wondering if you can just pull that chip much like the amd sempron laptops.

sweet deal if we could snag a chip on here or ebay and make it dual core.
 
Theoretically it's a PGA478 proc, so you should be able to put a Core 2 or Pentium Dual Core in there. You can pick them up for cheap on ebay as long as they're under 2ghz. The only question would be heat, since the HSF is designed for a celly. As long as you stick to 2mb cache or less, it should be fine.
 
Dang, I'm looking on ebay and you can get a 1.6ghz Pentium Dual Core for $15 shipped. Or a Core 2 1.6ghz for less than $40 shipped. That actually makes this deal worth it.

Buy the $300 lappy, buy a cheap 1.6ghz Pentium dual core, and boom, for $315 you got a laptop that can do anything except game.
 
I'm impressed that it comes with a 7200rpm HDD. And 250GB even. Pretty crazy. Wish it supported 802.11n though. I'm sure the display is low quality.
 
I have the CQ60, which is pretty much the same thing.

For a $300 laptop, what are you planning on doing with it? HD on a 15.6" screen is just being silly. You could try to change the purpose of it by doing the cpu swap, but you're trashing your warranty for next to no real noticeable gain.
 
Apallohadas said:
I have the CQ60, which is pretty much the same thing.

For a $300 laptop, what are you planning on doing with it? HD on a 15.6" screen is just being silly. You could try to change the purpose of it by doing the cpu swap, but you're trashing your warranty for next to no real noticeable gain.
Click to expand...

I have a lot of experience working on laptops, so killing a warranty is trivial to me (and come on, this is [H], a lot of us can do this). I do beg to differ about the proc though. A 1.6-1.8 dual core will be noticeably faster opening new browser windows, playing Netflix movies, editing photos and videos, etc etc etc. I do speak from direct experience.
 
My ancient ol 15 inch laptop is 1600x1200.

Anywho, ive never opened a laptop had the cpu soldered in. They all had a socket. I know they are out there, I just havent run in to one yet.
 
GJSNeptune said:
Strange thing to say. Plenty of smaller displays support HD.
Click to expand...

Your sarcasm detector probably needs new batteries. :D I have a Dell 10" netbook that plays HD fine, granted not uber high bitrate HD, but HD nonetheless. Apallohadas' comment about HD on a 15" screen was the target of my sarcasm. :p
 
I don't find this a hot deal for it isn't a dual core, and you can now find celeron dual cores (which are 45 nm chips identical to pentium dual cores except they disable the battery saving feature where the cpu downclocks when idle). For example see below link for a celeron dual core, 2gb of memory, 14 inch screen (1366x768), much lighter, nvidia 8200m graphics. For $339

http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1034845164&postcount=7

And with christmas coming around you are even going to see better deals on similar laptops to what I posted above. The celeron t3000 is a new chip, and it will be the new it chip for cheap laptops.
 
I got one of these last year in a near black friday sale. Of course it has Vista home, but otherwise virtually the same specs. I think it was worth it. I bought a wireless kb/mouse and use it as a media PC connected to my TV when I'm at home. It's pretty sweet for surfing the web or watching DVDs and Hulu from the couch.
 
ordovician said:
Except multitask well. Youtube HD + other tasks would definitely bog it down, for instance. You're better off with a $15 dual core.
Click to expand...

This laptop will no problems multitasking. It's a 2.2 GHz Celeron not an Atom or an underclocked Celery 900 like my EEE.
 
aldamon said:
This laptop will no problems multitasking. It's a 2.2 GHz Celeron not an Atom or an underclocked Celery 900 like my EEE.
Click to expand...

Argue all you want, but the reality is that a dual core is required for the kinds of computing most people do. If you want to use this laptop for watching videos, multitasking, ripping/encoding, you need dual-core. I shudder at the thought of doing a literature search opening multiple PDF files while editing a poster presentation in MS Office while manipulating images in Photoshop -- as I often do for my work. Yes, the 2.2 celly is capable of doing the same things, but it will be painful. The single/dual core debate was put to rest ages ago, so I really wonder why you're being so adamant about it. Especially when you can pop a dual core in there for so cheap.
 
Obviously he is not talking about your kind of work load. You can think of a crazy multi task situation all you want, that's not the point in this case.
Some of you guys make it sound like without a dual core you can't watch a movie and run a couple of windows of firefox along side it. Oh yes it will magically turn into a P133
 
ApaThy_NeXT2 said:
Obviously he is not talking about your kind of work load. You can think of a crazy multi task situation all you want, that's not the point in this case.
Some of you guys make it sound like without a dual core you can't watch a movie and run a couple of windows of firefox along side it. Oh yes it will magically turn into a P133
Click to expand...

I ain't arguing that. I am arguing for 13% more you can get a dual core and something that isn't intel integrated graphics.

(I also see the form factor as an advantage but that is personal). Furthermore you will see similar deals to what I posted in the next month and a half. Especially if you follow a hot deal website such as this one.
 
And I'm arguing that for 5% more you can drop in a dual core yourself. If you're tech savvy enough to work on laptops, you'd be crazy not to.
 
remember the days we used single cores to do a lot of tasks? This is a good deal if youre in the market for a netbook. :) I personally wouldn't bite on it, since you CAN find deals like this with dual cores... I'm never going back to single core.

Nice backup computer... I think this deal is warm.
 
ordovician said:
And I'm arguing that for 5% more you can drop in a dual core yourself. If you're tech savvy enough to work on laptops, you'd be crazy not to.
Click to expand...
5% more plus the time ordering the parts, opening up the chasis (which is usually not as easy as a memory upgrade), putting the cpu in, reassembling it. And having to deal with intel graphics is not worth the 20 to 25 dollar savings. (300+15 to 20 vs 340).
 
i have the one from 2 years ago celeron 530 1 gig of ram, upped it to 2 gig, been running win7 on it since jan. use it for work everyday.

i can have office, firefox with like 6 tabs. windows live mail ( OE basally ) all running on it fine. it does have small stutters on hulu full screen in HD but just lower it to medium quality and it is fine, only because it is flash. i can watch 720p movies just fine.

you guys act like no one multi tasked before dual cores. sure vista might choke my system but xp and 7 run pretty damn well. i plan to buy one, i tried last year but they where sold out before i got there at 7:30 they had people in a line waiting. year before i got 3. other 2 where gifts.
 
Roland00 said:
5% more plus the time ordering the parts, opening up the chasis (which is usually not as easy as a memory upgrade), putting the cpu in, reassembling it. And having to deal with intel graphics is not worth the 20 to 25 dollar savings. (300+15 to 20 vs 340).
Click to expand...

I suppose it depends on whether you enjoy doing that stuff. I usually assume given that this is [H].
 
What a good deal. If I did not have a laptop, I'd get this...
 
Jakalwarrior said:
My ancient ol 15 inch laptop is 1600x1200.

Anywho, ive never opened a laptop had the cpu soldered in. They all had a socket. I know they are out there, I just havent run in to one yet.
Click to expand...

Obviously you've never opened up a Mac before...all of their CPU are soldered.
 
Apallohadas said:
:rolleyes: Yes I can see where personal attacks have a reference to dual cores. I bet you needed a quad core to come up with that justification.
Click to expand...

What is your deal? All I mentioned was that you could put a dual in this laptop, and that it would be $15 and very worthwhile to do. For me and the vast majority of users, a single core Celeron is not enough for a fully functional laptop. You try putting together a powerpoint with high-res images on a single core, or encoding video, opening multiple PDF tabs in browser-embedded Acrobat, or playing flash HD while doing other things--it's possible, but annoying. You'd lose productivity and waste time. You act like I'm trying to be some big shot by saying this, but the reality is that I'm right. I'm not saying this is a bad deal, I'm saying it's a good deal, especially since you can put a dually in it.
 
Last edited:
^--post count inflation.....TRUFAX

As an alternative to a netbook for casual use, this looks like a great deal. Not something i'd give to an engineer I was paying $40/an hour, but I'd recommend it to a family member who wants email and word processing in a portable format with a decent sized hard drive and display.
 
ordovician said:
What is your deal? All I mentioned was that you could put a dual in this laptop, and that it would be $15 and very worthwhile to do. For me and the vast majority of users, a single core Celeron is not enough for a fully functional laptop. You try putting together a powerpoint with high-res images on a single core, or encoding video, opening multiple PDF tabs in browser-embedded Acrobat, or playing flash HD while doing other things--it's possible, but annoying. You'd lose productivity and waste time. You act like I'm trying to be some big shot by saying this, but the reality is that I'm right. I'm not saying this is a bad deal, I'm saying it's a good deal, especially since you can put a dually in it.
Click to expand...

You should try re-reading what I've actually posted. You're the one that flew way off the handle without cause.

Fact: that machine, out of the box, will handle most multitasking environments, just fine. If you decide to run medical imaging, 14 PDF document searches, and a photoshopping project of the Mona Lisa, then yes I can see where that could become annoying.

I do a good deal of research from my laptop (again similarly specced) and without a hitch. That in fact means multiple PDFs and office docs open and toggling back and forth.

We both say it's a good deal. I'm just saying that out of the box it's fine, especially for a $300 lappy. You and the one man "amen" squad are the ones getting carried away.
 
Sorry but I fail to see how this deal is that special. Best Buy has Toshiba and Compaq laptops for $300 every so often. My friend got a pretty nice Toshiba for like $310 after tax a couple months ago.
 
ordovician said:
Theoretically it's a PGA478 proc, so you should be able to put a Core 2 or Pentium Dual Core in there. You can pick them up for cheap on ebay as long as they're under 2ghz. The only question would be heat, since the HSF is designed for a celly. As long as you stick to 2mb cache or less, it should be fine.
Click to expand...

gonna get it too and toss a dual core in. the hsf should be fine as they are all universal for this model series, it will be the fan with the copper heatpipe that goes over the cpu then the graphics chip and out the side.

I found the g60 service manual. it doesn't have the 900 specifically but it should be the same thing.

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c01602064.pdf
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top