Customer Reviews

HP Special Edition L2005US 14" Laptop (AMD Turion 64 Mobile Technolgy ML-30, 512 MB RAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, DVD?R/RW/CD-RW Combo Drive)

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

We were looking for a laptop that would last at least 4 years for our college-bound son. With Microsoft coming out with its 64-bit Windows operating system next year, we wanted something with a 64-bit processor. We got this unit from Amazon, and it has worked great to date. Some observations: people on various laptop forums complain that the unit runs hot. The processor is below where your left palm rests, and it does feel hot, but not to the point of being uncomfortable for me. Another complaint is that the fan runs often and loud. We have not experienced this at all. The screen clarity is very nice, and the it has a good solid feel to it. The 80 GB hard drive runs at 5400 rpm, which gives a performance boost over 4200 rpm drives on other units. We recommend this unit. If you need extra battery power, or if you need Microsoft Office, you should order the Compaq V2000Z (the same unit but without the Lance Armstrong logo) through a retailer (Circuit City) or directly from HP. Then you can substitute the 12 cell battery for the 6 cell here, or you can get the unit pre-configured with MS Office for less than buying the software at retail. Overall, this is a very nice deal, and the Lance Armstrong badging looks great. The Targus case is a little too big for the unit, but it does protect the notebook well, and it has a lot of room for accessories.

Loving this notebook PC after receiving it 3 days ago.
Only change I would have made by custom ordering it would be a RAM upgrade, but that's easy to do aftermarket.
(...)Amazon has the best price I found.
Hooray for Lance!! and supporting the LAF!

The promo free Targus 17" Citygear L.A. bag is very nice, but way oversize for this notebook. A much better choice would be the Targus citygear NY 15" model with still some room to spare.
But hey, free is free. Still, would be better if it was the right size case in the offer. Check the dimensions.

My wife needed a computer for her graduate school work and I bought her this HP Notebook. I always feel like I am taking a gamble every time I buy a computer. I have bought some poorly made examples previously and I am always wary. It turned out that this HP was perfect for her needs. Excellent processing speed, lots of memory, surfs the web effectively and I admit I enjoy using it to watch DVDs while I get my chemo at the hospital. We have had it for several months now and not one issue or complaint yet. I hate to sound cliche, but it runs like Lance Armstrong at the Tour de France! Great price for a great computer.

First time notebook owner. Partner, who is an IT admin, also thinks its a nice notebook, and is now shopping for one as a result of this purchase. :)
Brightscreen and display very nice. Snappy processer, battery life around 3 hours with internet and some video downloads with 6 cell standard battery. Plays Neverwinter Nights at max graphics game settings. However if you want a notebook that can play Doom 3 you may need to look elsewhere. Very easy to carry notebook around, lightweight and study case. Heat is an irritant; the fan/cpu are on the left hand side, and it can warm up your lap quite fast. Am looking at purchasing a cooling blanket to assist both lap and laptop. :). I can see that if hearing fan noise is irritating, it could be an issue.
Will also be upgrading the ram from 2 x 256 the notebook came with-however that is enough for what I use the notebook for. ( Surfing the net, dvd's, writing, emails, some light game playing ). Considering the Amazon price rebate AND the 100 mail in rebate, a great notebook. Chose the AMD 64 for " futureproofing " also with Windows Longhorn out next year. Already have a carry case so did not get the Targus.
Our pug managed to knock the laptop off a shelf on the 1st day of ownership and there's not a mark or dent, and the notebook's carried on fine since. Lance Armstrong badging quite tasteful.
Overall, would recommend this laptop with a gentle warning about the heat if using overlong on the lap or in bed.

I got this notebook last fall and was quite happy with it - for a reasonable price the configuration you get is much more better than the competitive laptops. I was thinking that this is a good deal that cannot be true - and I was right.

After half a year, now I clearly see the many SERIOUS disadvantages which are caused by LOWER QUALITY:

- it gets HOT - if you plan to work with a laptop on your lap (what of course is quite often), after a while it becames REALLY HOT and impossible to work with. You MUST put it away from your legs because you cannot stand the heat. And this happens EVERY TIME! Right now as well, you would never believe how bad it makes you feel - almost impossible to work with!

- LOW BATTERY LIFETIME - when the laptop was new, I got about 2-2.5 hours of lifetime. Now it stays for 1 hour!!! After a clean installation of OS, it is still 1 hour. Unbelievable when I consider that my friend with old ASUS laptop with INTEL mobile processor gets 3 hours at least. I am quite sorry but I have to admit that AMD really cannot do the same job in processors for notebooks. All marketing talks about TURION as the new "mobile" 64-bit processor of AMD that offers advantages for notebook users were just TRASH. Now I feel so ashamed because I am the only one that must recharge after one hour of working when working at school group projects.

- DVD ROM PROBLEMS - I have so much trouble reading DVD movies (even original new dvd movie sometime cannot be read and DVD stops playing) and writing DVD disks (errors and ruined blank medium), there is apparenty something wrong with this line of DVD-ROMs in the notebook because when looking for help on the Internet, I found that I am not the only one with those trouble! Plus, the new drivers that could maybe solve this problems were never made (TSSTCorp TS-L532R)- there is NO SUPPORT. And double layer writing? Don't even think it could work!!!!

- the plastic cover of the screen is cracked on two spots (right next to hinges). First I thought that I dropped the notebook somewhere and I don't remember, but the cracks look really specifically to be done from material stress - which does not come from falling on the ground or bad manipulation but solely from regularly opening the laptop!!! The material is just cheap and not designed to last for a long time.

If I were to choose now, I would prefer to pay a bit more or to pay the same price for worse configuratuion - because the real truth is that the quality of Livestrong is not really great. The worst thing is AMD TURION PROCESSOR - absolute disaster to choose for your laptop! I have always preffered AMD over INTEL but now I see that the quality gap is still very very considerable.

I bought the Lance Armstrong special edition in September 2005. Couple of months ago, my husband noticed a crack on the outside of the computer, right behind of one of the hinges and immediately called the customer service. India picked up the phone and it took 45 minutes maybe more for them to understand what our problem was with the computer. Although we have a year warranty, this was for some reason not covered. We were upset so they said a technical support person will call and talk to us, which they did but my husband was not home so the tech.support guy left a phone number that is 24/7 busy. We called them again, this time very frustrated and they told us again they were gonna call and that was 3 months ago. So, be careful. We wasted our money!!
N.Anderson

After skimming through the other reviews I have to aggree with most of them. The notebook was fast and more than adequate for school. It played DVDs well and accepts aftermarket software to its nice memory space without slowing down performance.
On the downside... It DID get very hot from use and the battery life was very very short. Even after reconditioning the battery a few times it only gained a marginal increase in battery life. It doesn't handle gaming very well. The frame rate was ridiculously slow if a lot is going on in the game and the loading times were exceptionally long. But, nobody ever said this was a gaming computer and it isn't the reason I bought the thing.
For my conversion from desktop to notebook, I was happy with the decision. I only wish I hadn't bought it so soon after it entered the market as I paid top dollar not knowing that the depreciation over one single year was 50% of the original cost.
Don't get me started on the customer service. Absolutely worthless and time-consuming to tackle. All I can say is don't hold your breath for them to "give you a call sometime" to resolve any issues or get some information to you. Whatever you do while on the phone with CS, don't trashtalk any species of the bovine pursuasion.

Very Happy with the computer but not with the service!!!

I own a PowerBook G4 Aluminum and an Athlon 64 Notebook before I purchased this HP Special Edition L2005US 14" Notebook PC. When I first saw this notebook at computer store, I immediately took notice. First, it's the AMD Turion 64 processor. Second, it is the Lance Armstrong tie-in. I have always been a fan of Lance Armstrong, and it influenced my decision to buy this notebook.

Even though this notebook has a graphic cards that shares the memory with the system, the performance of Radeon XPress 200 is adequate for the many 3D graphics. Not the best, but much better than some other integrated graphic processors.

Love the wireless connectivity (Wireless Network and Bluetooth).
Love the fact that it has DVD±R/RW/CD-RW Combo Drive.
The only thing that I added after I got this notebook is RAM. Get a 1GB DDR333 (PC2700) and install it when you can spare some cash if not immediately.

There is also the Compaq counterpart of this notebook (Compaq Presario V2311US Notebook) but I'd rather get this HP Special Edition L2005US 14" Notebook PC. Buying this notebook also means donating minimum of $50 to the Lance Armstrong Foundation, a foundation that helps people living with Cancer.

I have shopped around for this particular model, and Amazon has the best price for the feature.

If you're looking for an affordable PC notebook, Get this HP Special Edition L2005US 14" Notebook PC.

Has anyone seen this? Hewlettt-Packard and AMD are trying to raise $25,000 for the Lance Armstrong Foundation. All you have to do is submit a photo (something that helps you live strong), and $1 goes to the LAF. It's called 25,000 Strong, here's the website: http://livestrongpc.com/index.php?hmlink=2 I think you can submit as many photos as you like.

Great notebook for a great cause
Great computer for a great value! The performance can be compared to a desktop, quick and responsive. The screen is great, sound quality is suprisingly good and I love the wireless network card. I'm also looking forward to receiving a beautiful piece of artwork, from the Power to Inspire site. You can pick from 1 of 5 exclusive Livestrong pieces of art, signed and numbered by the artist . The art is beautiful and it's free with the purchase, what a unique idea! Plus my purchase means $50 goes to LIVESTRONG!

I ordered this laptop about 1 month ago to use for school. I also ordered a linksys wireless router at the same time. I had no problems whatsoever getting the laptop or the router to work. The laptop is very nice and just the right size for someone on the go.
I have used it for downloading pictures and movies and it works great. I also liked the free targus bag that came with it although it was a little too big for the laptop. I am very pleased with this product and the price.