Laptop... so... slow

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I saw that too, stats are no better than what I have now though... 500gb HD and 4GB RAM, Windows 8.1 preloaded although I guess W10 upgrade would be free.  It's a quad-core processor instead of my current triple-core, but I don't know if that would make a noticeable difference.  For a "new" computer and several hundred dollars out of pocket, I would at least like some performance upgrades.

The only other issue I have with their "Reconditioned" laptops is that the Microsoft product key stickers are usually ripped off (or at least it was that way in the past), so I can never legitimately reload the OS.  I had that problem on another refurb laptop that I bought from Woot.
 
No matter which one you buy the only performance upgrade will come with the fact you have a fresh install of Windows. A bigger hard drive, more memory and more cores won't really do anything for you.
 
scottydl said:
I have the product key and will look into the fresh download.  That would be my preference anyway.
Click to expand...

Just a word of caution here.  What you are looking for is NOT the Product key, but the Activation Code...which is the 5x5 (25 digit number) on the sticker at the rear of your HP Laptop.  There is a big difference.
Personally, for what you are looking at (unless you pick that HP 17.3" screen,  I7-5500M processor, nVidia Graphics chip and 1 Terrabyte SATA HD,) you would be just as well off to just load a fresh install of Windows 7. As stated, you can likely just download it for free or just ask a friend who might have a disk copy of Windows 7.  You can install from any Windows 7 Disk and when it asks for the Activation Code, you insert the one you have from your Laptop.
I just did this last week on a client's HP Laptop.  All went well.  As for Drivers, you may not find them on the HP site but there are third party sites which will have them, such as www.drivers.com or www.driverdownload.net.  They aren't always free, but you can usually find some of the sites which will provide them free.  You can also order a Drivers Support Disk from HP at a reasonable price. As well, when checking the HP Site, look carefully for a link named "Archives" and/or "Discontinued Models".

Gord
 
Gord Nelson said:
Just a word of caution here.  What you are looking for is NOT the Product key, but the Activation Code...which is the 5x5 (25 digit number) on the sticker at the rear of your HP Laptop.  There is a big difference.
Click to expand...

Someone better tell Microsoft...
 

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Yes, of course you are right. 

I was referring to the other code (the Product ID:) which is a 20 digit number in the format XXXXX-XXX-XXXXXXX-XXXXX , as the Product Key rather than its correct name.

My Bad! :-[
 
Over the last couple of years we've replaced both our old laptops with MSI GT-70 laptops.  They have 17 inch screens which also was a major criterion for us.  We got mine first and it has a glare-proof screen which is good because there are windows behind me at home.  Jerry got his later and it does not have the same glare-proof screen.  Otherwise they're the same and both have Windows 7.  I tried an ACER and returned it.  Jerry tried an HP and returned it.  Then he tried a Dell and also returned it because of the "dreaded blue screen" problem.  The Dell model has not been on the market since then.  Anyway, he ended up with the same MSI as me and we've both been very happy with them.  The MSI is billed as a gaming computer but we don't use it for that purpose.  I would recommend the MSI.

ArdraF
 
Gord Nelson said:
Personally, for what you are looking at (unless you pick that HP 17.3" screen,  I7-5500M processor, nVidia Graphics chip and 1 Terrabyte SATA HD,) you would be just as well off to just load a fresh install of Windows 7. As stated, you can likely just download it for free or just ask a friend who might have a disk copy of Windows 7.  You can install from any Windows 7 Disk and when it asks for the Activation Code, you insert the one you have from your Laptop.
Click to expand...

There are a few other age issues with this HP that are pointing me toward replacement.  Only 1 out of 3 USB ports work anymore (I've tried Device Manager driver reinstallations to no avail), HP does not offer drivers/support any more for my model because of its age, several keyboard keys are faded off, battery does not hold a charge well anymore, and hard drive makes an unknown random click/beep noise every so often that makes me fear it is near failure.

The cheapest MSI laptop with a 17" screen is over $1000 at Walmart, so I'm afraid that brand will not be an option.  It's tough for me to spend anything in that range when $250-350 laptops in the same size are readily available.  I realize there are component differences and the MSI is no doubt superior there, but not worth 3x-4x the price for my needs.  Kinda like a new $200,000 DP versus a used $20,000 gasser.  ;)
 
scottydl said:
The cheapest MSI laptop with a 17" screen is over $1000 at Walmart, so I'm afraid that brand will not be an option.  It's tough for me to spend anything in that range when $250-350 laptops in the same size are readily available.  I realize there are component differences and the MSI is no doubt superior there, but not worth 3x-4x the price for my needs.  Kinda like a new $200,000 DP versus a used $20,000 gasser.  ;)
Click to expand...
I had not ever heard of MSI so I looked them up and their prices are as obscene as Apple. But if that is what you like and you can afford it then go for it. I always shop just by looking at price. Give me the cheapest laptop every time.
 
Glary utilities is a free program you can download which goes through and cleans the registry and also has other features you can use to take care of housekeeping. Yes thyey try to sell you a paid version but the free version does a great job.
 
Ccleaner is the same way, they have a free version and a paid version.  It also fixes registry issues.
 
I have an HP next to this Toshiba and just bought a 2nd HP for a friend who needs a lighter computer than her vintage Dell.

Since Carley left and everyone sang Ding Dong the Witch is Dead, their products are improving a bit.. But still have a way to go. and of course customer service and warranty could be better.  (Meaning THEY broke it and I still had to pay shipping).

Oh, ACER.. That was the back up plan if the store was out of the HP... Turns out they had one HP left.  Very attractive price for a Quad Core, 4 Gig RAM 500 Gig HD box.

 
If your hard drive is making weird clicks then it very likely to be the problem.  When was the last time you did a full surface scan of the drive?  Right click on my computer, then right click on that drive, left click on tools and finally on check drive for errors.  If you have the option to do a surface scanSince this is your OS drive the scan will run the next time you boot it.

If your USB ports are dead that could be part of the problem as well.  If you know your way around device manager try disabling them.  HP probably didn't make the USB chips.  If you can identify who did (Intel for instance) they will probably have drivers.  You may need to re-install the entire processor and chipset driver package or packages.

This app might help : http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/driver_booster_3.html

Apple sends out patches just like Microsoft does, so does everybody else.  Sometimes they are security patches and sometimes they are new features - those tend to be the bigger ones.  if you install a fresh copy of Windows the first thing it will do is start installing patches.  Sometimes lots of them.  I've done re-installs and then spent several hours installing updates. 
 
A couple of yeas ago I gave my father an inexpensive ($259) 14" Toshiba laptop to check email and Skype our family. He only got to use it for a couple of months so we gave it to Sue's sister who also only used it briefly.


I brought it back to experiment with Win8 and added a couple of GB of RAM. It easily upgraded to Win10 and I find it my machine of choice for doing computing that I don't do on my IPAD. The 17" Toshiba I used is just to big and hot to be comfortable on my lap. I also like my Aspire Switch but the screen is a bit small for my eyes. It is primarily my VMSPC engine monitor for the m/h.

 
Thread revival... some deep cleaning as suggested above made a pretty big difference in my current laptop (thanks to everyone), but I'm still planning on replacing it.  It's 7-8 years old and the hard drive is due for sudden failure anytime now!  Nothing really jumped out at me in terms of laptop price/availability during the pre- or post-Christmas season sales, so I'm still looking around.

As far as laptop processors go... can anyone comments on the significant differences (if any) between the AMD A4, A6, A8 lines when compared to the Intel i3, i5, i7, etc?  I figure they should be mostly comparable but there are often $20-40-60 between different levels and I don't know what's worth the extra money.  Pretty much everything new/refurbished now is a quad core, with clock speeds are all over the map from 1.6ghz to 2.4ghz.  Sometimes the faster speeds are on cheaper machines, which doesn't quick make sense to me.

I've Googled these processor topics but often prefer the real life experiences of others... and not just CPU bench tests, which is mostly what I run across online.
 
I feel cpu performance is a worthless topic. What really slows down your computer is the brick you put around it's neck called Windows. And the really big brick is the speed of the Internet. If you are going to run Linux and have a 300 meg Internet connection then the cpu speed might mean something. But for most of us cpu speed is not even worth discussing. In my opinion you should just get a Chromebook.
 
I second the suggestion of a chromebook.

I know this is an older thread, but for someone else's reference....
I have a toshiba chromebook2, bought Christmas time a year ago.  It's still working great
My macmini that's about 5 years old or so, and our macbook pro, a little younger, and the Lenovo PC that was 2 years old at Christmas are all dogs.  Slower than molasses compared to my chromebook.

And great battery life too.

My only suggestion is to buy the versions with higher ram capacity.  I bought the cheaper of the two versions available at the time from toshiba.  Mine tends to slow down if I have maybe a dozen or more tabs open.
Since between my wife, kids, and wife's business we've bought 3 additional chromebooks, all different models from asus.... and hey are all good too.
Oh, and I have my dad running a chromebase for about a year now.  Works great for him too.

 
How does a Chromebook work differently than a standard PC, and what are the advantages?

EDIT:  I think I answered some of my own questions... Chromebooks are basically internet machines with very limited on-board components.  No hard drive it appears, or not enough for storage of anything substantial?  So far I've resisted relying on cloud-based storage, if for no other reason that I don't want to pay monthly fees for the rest of my life.  I also have some work applications that require Microsoft Word and Excel.  It looks like Google Docs has similar programs (akin to the OpenOffice suite I would assume) but they aren't always the exact same when it comes to function.  I like to rip CD's and have access to my mp3 collection at home anytime.

Keep the conversation going, as I'm interested to hear what your daily life experiences are with Chromebooks.
 
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