HP - Pavilion Laptop / AMD A-Series Processor / 15.6" Display / 8GB Memory / 640GB Hard Drive - Dark Umber

This laptop has very nice looking, nice performance, sound and screen for one of the lowest price 4 core processor based equipment.

First of all, this laptop is AMAZING!!!! I was replacing a 5year old Asus laptop for this one. My previous laptop had a screen flickering problem. When I came across this HP one, I was blown away at its specifications- and the cherry on top: only $630!!!! I'll cut to the chase, I bought this laptop almost 2 weeks ago and have already run into problems. Pros: -great processor / HDD space -can run any game on medium to high settings. I have tried: Dead Island (highest settings), DC Universe Online (highest settings), Starcraft 2 (Ultra, with lag if played online), Crysis Warhead (highest), S.T.A.L.K.E.R. (highest with some lag) ((Most of the games listed below are high demanding, especially STALKER)). -The speakers kick butt!!! Because laptop computer's speakers usually aren't good. -I can multitask without overheating the laptop: I was installing 5 programs / softwares, downloading 3 applications online, watching a movie, and chatting on A.I.M. = did it lag? Nope, not at all. -Lastly, I love the 2 2.0 and 2 3.0 USB slots CONS: -BeatsAudio: sometimes you can hear crackling noises through the speakers (headphones on or not), it only lasts for a second ((you can work around it somewhat, in the options for BeatsAudio, but over time this problem might become unbearable (read on forums) )). -The CD-Rom is a pain to open, the button is sooooo miniature, that it takes skill to poke it to open -VERTICAL LINES!!! I read the reviews on here before buying this laptop.. and was thinking "Hopefully I don't end up with the laptop with the vertical lines." WELL... sadly... this problem started TODAY =[. My laptop was on a screen-saver and I moved my mouse to realize on the TOP of the screen... there was a vertical line flickering. In fact, as I type this, it is STILL there haha. I read on various forums about this problem and only 2 problems remain: 1). replace screen or 2). return the laptop. IF you do not want to return it, just know that in the future those vertical lines might multiple.. and soon your whole screen would be covered with obnoxious vertical lines. I had to deal with a flickering screen for 2years with my old laptop.. and don't want to relive that experience ever again. Conclusion: This laptop is BOSS!!! The video card, processor, space are incredible. However with any epic laptop (not desktop, in my experiences)... there is a caught, usually. I would recommend this laptop to ANYONE because of how awesome it is, but if you end up with the speakers crackling and/or vertical lines.. return it ASAP. And buy a new one or replace it with same model, for hopes that the problems would not repeat.

I only bought this computer last night so this is going off of first impressions only, but dollar-for-dollar, this is probably one of the best performing laptops you'll find. Initial setup takes a while, but that's to be expected with a new computer. The following reboots I went through to tweak a few things were a breeze. I haven't gotten around to testing out the graphics too much, but the first impression was solid. The 8 GB of RAM is more than enough for pretty much the average user, and the fact that you can expand it to 16 GB is pretty outstanding, but I don't imagine many people would actually make use of that, given the current cost of an 8 GB RAM stick. The AMD A8-3500 quad-core, unlike some of the Intel "quad-cores" that are no more than hyperthreaded dual-cores, is a true quad-core, and it's got some great power to it. I was updating one game, playing Silkroad Online (a World of Warcraft kind of MMO), and torrenting a third game, and there wasn't a single bit of slow-down on any of them. My only complaint with this laptop is the screen is too glossy, and it catches a bit of glare, but it's tolerable. Overall, this is a solid machine, great performance for the price, and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a new laptop, if they're looking for performance. I wouldn't recommend it for just everyday computer tasks. For that, you could find a cheaper, less powerful model.

I did a lot of research on the new AMD A series processors, and the conclusion that I came to was that the processing power of the Quad Core A8 for standard tasks like encoding wasn't anything special (This is pretty much confirmed after doing some work with it once I got it home#. Where the A8 processor shines is it's dedicated-class Graphics processor, which rocks. I've loaded up Dark Age of Camelot, WoW #Cataclysm# and Sims 3--all of which run better than I'd have ever expected on a mid-range laptop. DAoC is smooth and clear #mostly--it *is* a 10 year old MMO#, WoW is running consistently at 50 fps in high settings, DirectX 11 #as mentioned by a previous reviewer--I can confirm), and I finially get what all the fuss was about with Sims 3. It looks like it's supposed to and it's glorious! I've also found it runs very cool, even when under pretty heavy gaming load. The 8 Gigs of ram are also a great new experience for me. This thing multitasks like a champ. I've never been able to play a game and have my own music running in iTunes in the background. That doesn't even make this lappy sweat! I have yet to try more demanding applications like Photoshop, though, but I expect the GPU to lend a capable hand in processing power. I had originally purchased the A8, 8GB, 1.5 TB HD Pavillion Desktop, but brought it back after intolerable monitor incompatibilities #watch out for that new dvi-d connector!) and find this laptop to be a worthy alternative. It is large--full keyboard, for example. But, I'm using it as a desktop replacement anyway, so it works brilliantly for me! If graphics performance is important to you, this is definitely the way to go!

I waited a month before posting my thoughts, but I have to say... This laptop is great! I bought it as a replacement/upgrade from my college laptop which is a 4g RAM/500g Hard drive HP Pavilion dv4 with an AMD Athlon II processor. While I wasn't a total fan of the overheating dual-core AMD processor of the past, this one is UH-mazing! Although I went into the store looking for this laptop with a 2nd gen i5, after feeling the heat under the Lenovo competitor and the (lack of) heat under this model, I was sold! Now that I'm a professional, my needs have changed from writing research papers, cyber-stalking the frat boys, and building up my music collection to getting work done wherever I happen to be, Skyping with friends, & catching up on the latest episodes of my favorite shows. I'm able to complete additional training for work online, download new language modules because I'm learning French (which sounds great with Beats audio), and when I record minutes for the non-profits I volunteer for, I'm able to send them out before I even leave the coffee shop. I love that I'm able to multitask like crazy without it overheating (Thanks to HP's CoolSense management I can actually control my fan settings). I LOVE how long the battery lasts! I am getting some serious mileage out of this model WITHOUT having to buy the extended battery like I did for my last model. The quad-core processing actually divides the work evenly among all 4 processors unlike some Intel i5 processors I looked at. BONUS feature: the fingerprint scanner lets me sign into my most-used websites with just a swipe of the finger. Great time-saver!

I can't say enough about the quad core AMD with dedicated graphics. The brush aluminum shell and over all design were well thought out and the screen was impressive when I put Avatar in and watched it with my daughter. You can actually personalize the screen settings for your personal taste just like you do your TV which allows you to make the movies pop out. The keyboard has just the right feel when you are typing and when the notebook is sitting on my lap I don't feel any excessive heat. This machine runs cool even when playing a DVD. This is the best value on the market and I strongly suggest that you take a close look before you make any kind of purchase whether you are a casual user or a gamer.

After days of research, it came down to this one or the i7 for 649.99, and i opted to this HP because apparently HP is third ont he best laptops list under Apple and Lenovo, and despite the discrepancy in processing speeds from this A8 and the i7, this one comes with 8 gigs of ram witht he discrete video graphics which uses the processor for better performance, almost demanded for most pc games now a days. I am a working professional and a gamer and if you are looking for an awesome laptop on a decent budget, this is it! Some of the reviews will talk about defects, but that goes with any product, sometimes they make mistakes, return it for a new one, big deal. Luckily i had no problems with mine, and it is true, the dvd/cd slot is a bit inconvenient to open, but if your priority spec on a laptop is the opening/closing functionality of its dvd/cd slot, then maybe you should reexamine your priorities! Also there is no scroll bar on the pad like HP's other laptops, but this laptop was made for slightly higher than average budget gaming, so chances are you will have an awesome mouse! Despite its lack of a scrollbar on the side of the finger pad, what it DOES have, is an option to turn off the finger pad when needed so your hand does not affect the movement of your mouse cursor when gaming, AWESOME option. GET THIS. sidenote: if it's awesome for gaming, it's awesome for anything!

I have this laptop as long as one month.It`s a second laptop.The first one I returned because it had problems with installation of some of the windows updates and it wouldn`t install external hard drive drivers. But! I believe this one will be working excellent as now for a long time. It has great beats sound(only Toshiba has better sound, but otherwise HP has better specs), hard drive is big enough 640GB, ram 8GB is more then enough, very nice design that doesn`t look chip (as Toshiba), AMD VISION A8 APU processor isgreat (i never had AMD before), goot batery life. There is one thing not great about it, fingerprints stay on the cover. But it is not a big deal becuase otherwise It Is EXELLENT LAPTOP!