We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum. This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are - or become - political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.

Are HP laptops any good?

Hi all

A friend is looking to buy a new laptop and saw one in the Curry's sale (yes, I know their customer service can be very bad). It looks like quite a good deal but I would appreciate your opinions on it. Are HP laptops any good quality wise? Is the deal good enough to risk currys?

Thanks in advance for your help!

http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/hp-g56-130sa-laptop-07908263-pdt.html

HP G56-130SA for £379 down from £599

Processor Intel® Pentium® Processor T4500
- 2.30 GHz
- 800 MHz FSB
- 1 MB L2 Cache
Operating System Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
RAM - 4GB DDR2 RAM
Graphics card Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 4500M
- Up to 1695MB shared graphics memory
Screen type LCD Widescreen
Screen resolution - WXGA
- 1366 x 768
Screen size 15.6"
Screen features - LED backlight
Hard drive - 500GB SATA hard drive
Optical disk drive - SATA optical drive
Memory card reader No
USB Yes, 3
FireWire No
Modem/Ethernet Integrated 10/100BASE-T Ethernet LAN
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth No
Video interface VGA
Audio interface Stereo Headphone out
Microphone in
TV output VGA
Extension card slot No
Sound Generic, stereo sound
Webcam Yes, 1.2 megapixel
Keyboard & Mouse Full size keyboard with One touch launch keys and Action keys
Touch Pad with On/Off button and 2-way Scroll pad support
Battery - 6-cell lithium-ion battery
- Up to 5.5 hours battery life
Software included Microsoft® Office 2010 preloaded (This PC is preloaded with reduced-functionality versions of Word® and Excel® that include advertising. Purchase an Office 2010 Product Key to activate full-featured Office software on this PC)
Microsoft® Internet Explorer, Windows® Live Messenger, Adobe® Reader, Adobe® Flash Player, HP Setup, HP Advisor, HP Support Assistant, Omnifone MusicStation, Cyberlink DVD Suite, Cyberlink Power DVD, Cyberlink YouCam, Windows Live™ Applications, HP Games Console with hours of free game play, Norton Online Backup (30-day trial)
Size 374 (W) x 246 (D) x 32.8-37.8 mm (H)
Weight 2.55 kg

Comments

  • JasX
    JasX Posts: 3,996 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    HP are a reasonable brand with average+ build quality, that machine is probably worth about £380, slightly dated but still ok processor, no graphics card, up to date OS, decent hard drive, 4GB RAM.

    No alarm bells not to go for it for normal use (won't handle demanding games).

    Reasonable value but nothing *amazing*.... it was just a complete PC world rip off at £600.

    Whatever he does don;t let him get taken in by any of the pcw scare stories sales patter than he needs to spend another £200 + £20 per month for cables, accessories, 'protection' etc that can all be gotten for free or very low cost online.
  • free4440273
    free4440273 Posts: 38,438 Forumite
    Always depends on the model/ One of my laptops is HP and I love it/ One of my netbooks is an HP Mini 210 and I love that too -- both excellent build quality/ :cool:
    BLOODBATH IN THE EVENING THEN? :shocked: OR PERHAPS THE AFTERNOON? OR THE MORNING? OH, FORGET THIS MALARKEY!

    THE KILLERS :cool:

    THE PUNISHER :dance: MATURE CHEDDAR ADDICT:cool:
  • rfowler
    rfowler Posts: 486 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Decent laptop but average price to be honest. HP have good customer service

    Its doesn't look compact; not ideal if travelling
  • Ruadh
    Ruadh Posts: 30 Forumite
    Thanks for your opinions Jas and Free. Jas, given that its not an amazing deal, do you know of anything better (up to £400)?
  • gonzo127
    gonzo127 Posts: 4,482 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Jas summed it up really, not bad but not stunning, reasonable spec for £380,

    the £599 is was marked up as is just a normal (although extream value in this case) marketing trick - rise the price for a month or so before your sale is due then drop it back to its normal price in the sale, people think they are getting a bargin when really they are only paying what they should do for the item
    Drop a brand challenge
    on a £100 shop you might on average get 70 items save
    10p per product = £7 a week ~ £28 a month
    20p per product = £14 a week ~ £56 a month
    30p per product = £21 a week ~ £84 a month (or in other words one weeks shoping at the new price)
  • My husband has a HP laptop and it is a good brand however I can't stand to use it as it has a textured cover and track pad - this makes it very uncomfortable to use and really difficult at times. When looking for a new laptop myself recently I noticed that a lot more manufactures are using textured track/mouse pads, not sure why though!
  • free4440273
    free4440273 Posts: 38,438 Forumite
    My husband has a HP laptop and it is a good brand however I can't stand to use it as it has a textured cover and track pad - this makes it very uncomfortable to use and really difficult at times. When looking for a new laptop myself recently I noticed that a lot more manufactures are using textured track/mouse pads, not sure why though!
    one of the reasons is grip and texture/ I just always examine the model of the laptop/ not necessarily the brand itself/
    BLOODBATH IN THE EVENING THEN? :shocked: OR PERHAPS THE AFTERNOON? OR THE MORNING? OH, FORGET THIS MALARKEY!

    THE KILLERS :cool:

    THE PUNISHER :dance: MATURE CHEDDAR ADDICT:cool:
  • Ruadh
    Ruadh Posts: 30 Forumite
    Thanks everyone for all your replies!
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 348.2K Banking & Borrowing
  • 252.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 452.3K Spending & Discounts
  • 240.8K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 617K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 175.6K Life & Family
  • 254K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.