Customer Reviews

HP G61-320US 15.6-Inch Black/Silver Laptop - Up to 4.25 Hours of Battery Life (Windows 7 Home Premium)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Just ordered the HP G61-320US laptop from Amazon a few weeks ago, and I'm quite pleased with the overall quality of the machine. I think it's a great starter laptop, it runs Windows 7 smoothly, boots quickly, and seems to have plenty of processing power. This is not a gaming laptop, of course, but it's great for internet usage, word processing, etc. I've found that the touchpad is quite responsive and easy to use, and the keyboard has a nice layout. The separate numberpad is a nice feature. Having only limited experience with laptops (from using them at work), I can say that this one is the best I've used yet.

The laptop does come with the expected trial software, bloatware, etc... all it really took was about one good evening to get everything set up, update Windows 7 with the latest releases, remove some of the annoying preinstalled HP software. Also, the laptop comes with a utility to create system restore DVDs, you should run it right away. The majority of the setup time was spent creating those backup DVDs - it's a very simple, user-friendly process, but it takes time for the software to build the DVD images and burn them.

I specifically waited for Windows 7 to come out to buy this laptop, and I'm glad I did, things are running very smooth. Setup of other features (like wireless networking) was pretty easy, owing to the Windows 7 interface. This machine comes with 3 GB of RAM, which seems more than adequate. Can upgrade to 4GB if desired, but so far I see no reason to do so, the laptop runs smoothly.

The viewing angle on the screen is good, but not great, however the overall picture quality is high, and the images are sharp. Not much else to review on this laptop - adequate number of USB ports (2 right, 1 left), and I haven't used the SVGA or HDMI video output yet, so I don't know how well that works. Digital card reader worked just fine to read the SD cards out of my camera. The headphone and mic jacks are on the front underside of the laptop, which is a good access point. The laptop doesn't seem to get very hot, the built-in cooling seems more than adequate.

The only real con I can think of is the perhaps slightly undersized hard drive, I would have preferred 320 GB or larger, but honestly, since I'm not going to load a ton of software on here, and I have a desktop that can serve as a media center for DVDs and music, I'm not sure the smaller HD size will end up being a real downer. Also, battery life is OK but not great, but then again, I don't think anyone is ever really satisfied with the battery life of any laptop! I find that I can get a about 2.5 hours of casual surfing, and maybe 90 minutes for playing DVDs. Don't expect to watch an entire movie without being plugged in.

In all, I think this is a great starter laptop, or for that matter, a good upgrade if your old laptop is showing its age. Windows 7 is a pretty slick operating system, with lots of features that I'm still discovering.

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This laptop is probably too big for much carrying around, but if you are like me and just want a laptop for home use and occasionaly travel, this is a great deal. It is great for watching videos.
I also like the windows 7 that this has, although some of the windows features take some getting use to.
The key board is really great, numberical key pad plus the key stroke is light. The speakers are not as loud as I would like, but have ordered a separate speaker system for $12 so that really is not a problem. I have had this for less than a week, but so far I really like it, much nicer than my old compaq that was stolen.

After a more than 5 year hiatus spend in the Apple camp, I'm back to a PC. I've had 3 Apples in that time and am a heavy user - daily, work, part-time professor and graduate student. Apple's couldn't stand up to my heavy, daily use. Period. The last straw was the screen on my 17" going bad, and Apple not covering it under AppleCare.

Having gone OUT OF MY WAY for 5 years to use Apple i.e., buying Parallels to run QuickBooks (QB for Mac is a hassle for most accountants, so they require QB for PCs), I've decided to put Apple on the shelf. They are over-priced, of no better build quality (Made in China), and are more hassle to use than they're benefit.

I found the HP to be of good build quality, Windows 7 looks good (much better than XP), and the HP screen is beautiful. I like the 10-key number layout on the keyboard as well. Although I never had Vista, Windows 7 didn't appear loaded with bloatware. I replaced Norton with AVG and may remove some games and junk at a later time.

I paid $599 + tax for this machine at Costco, valuing the premium price paid for Costco's fabulous warranty and return policy.

When I ordered the HP G61 for my Wife to use in her Real Estate business, I expected a full plastic shell (ala Acer) but was pleasantly suprised to find a chrome keyboard base. Needless to say my three children are jealous (all Acer users) and now want an HP. It works great and it looks slick, and at such a good price.

I bought my G-61 in October, and after 5 months, I am pretty happy with it. The one thing that bugs me is that the touch pad really needs to be centered below the space bar. It is about 3/4" too far to the right and it falls right under the base of my right thumb. During extended typing, it is far too easy to brush the touchpad and activate an unexpected menu item, delete a block of text, or move the cursor to a different part of the text, resulting in strange and disconcerting typos.

I solved this however by purchasing a couple of wireless mice, one to leave in each location where I work for extended periods of time (at home and at the office). I disable the touch pad with the handy built in switch when I am in my primary working locations. Still, this problem, which has been manifest on most laptops I have owned, would be better alleviated by shifting the keyboard closer to the screen, leaving a bit more room for people with big clumsy mitts to place their palms.

The "up to 4.5 hours of battery life" is a bit of exaggeration. I've never been able to go more than 90 minutes on a charge, even when it was brand new and I was still using Windows. On the upside, HP now sells an ac adapter that fits ALL of their machines. These are available at many big box and discount stores, so I leave one one at each each of my work areas as well, and have a third one that I haul around in my computer bag for when I need to take the computer on the road.

The wide screen displays movies nicely, although the amplifier is a bit weak. It's ok with earphones but if there is any noise in the room...a running humidifier for example, the sound is to low to hear, this makes it hard to watch a film cuddled on the couch with the kids because there is really no good way to connect three sets of earphones.

I really didn't like Windows 7, and coupled with the bloatware packed on by HP, I was pushed over the edge and installed a linux partition. Happily, this machine runs linux (Ubuntu 9.10) nicely.

As typical with HP, both memory slots are populated with small DIMMs (why can't they just install one big board and leave the other slot empty...jerks...) so you have to completely replace the memory to upgrade.

So, for the price, and considering that laptop computers are basically a throwaway item (I have never been able to make a laptop last more than 30 months before some bureaucratic demand that I be able to run some memory and speed sucking application makes it obsolete), the HP-G-61 is about as cost effective as laptop computers get.

I haven't had a new laptop in 10 years. I just love the speed of this model. The set up was a breeze. It's great not to have a wireless card! The extended keyboard is great.

My first labtop computer is a MacBook and I paid twice for what I got for this laptop. It works just as well and the screen is bigger. So far no cons...

I have had problem after problem with this computer since I bought it in February 2010. The biggest issue is that the display started dying on me after about a year. I got it fixed, but it was only a temp fix, for to truly fix it would cost too much money. Here is what the repair guy tells me was the problem:

"There is a flex cable connected to a circuit board on the upper backside of the LCD screen. It appears the video connector on the board (where the cable plugs in) is at fault. If the cable is pulled outwards slightly, the screen get the required video signal. The temp fix was to put thin cardboard under the flex cable, close to the connector, which slightly pushed the cable outwards and allowed the connection to work. Not the best method, but the only one I could think of. We need the LCD board (not invertor) replaced, but finding that individual part separate from the LCD is nearly impossible. A replacement LCD screen might be the only option."

Another problem is that only two of the three USB ports works.

Also, the sound card keeps screwing up and I have to do the "troubleshoot" feature to fix it, which sometimes works. Other times, it fixes if I do a complete restart.

I've had this laptop for just over a year now and it has been really good. I use it for many different things including holdings thousands and thousands of photos and videos, I have games including Sims 2, I have the video editing software Sony Vegas, Photoshop and also use it for all my school work and the internet.
I have never had any major problems with this laptop and still works as well and as quickly as when I first got it. The only problem I've had is the battery, as this does not work anymore so I have to have it plugged in constantly. (it will only last around 5 mins if not plugged in) However, I am just too tight to buy a new one!
I can also remember that it was extremely easy to set up, would definitely buy again :)

Ok, so first off i think this computer is pretty sweet. Everything works well and boots up very fast. Im using it to write this review!!! I have encountered a few problems, but they were all my own fault, for starters. I spilled water on it, and the track pad went Crazy!! I didn't know what to do, but it eventually fixed it self! Second, I was hoping that this computer would run Ps2 games well, but I was in for a big surprise. But so far its been super epic and super fast! 5 stars!!!