Walmart's $300 HP G60 laptop gets real, detailed
By Donald Melanson 
posted November 4th 2009 2:12PM
posted November 4th 2009 2:12PM
There wasn't exactly much secrecy left around this one after ads started popping up online, but Walmart's now set aside any doubt about its $300 HP G60-519WM laptop with a listing for it on its website, which also thankfully includes the complete specs for it. Apparently built exclusively for Walmart by HP, this particular model packs a 15.6-inch WXGA display, along with previously rumored specs including a 2.2GHz Celeron 900 processor, 3GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive, a LightScribe DVD burner, and some basic Intel GMA 4500M integrated graphics -- not to mention Windows 7 Home Premium, 64-bit edition for an OS. Not exactly the worst deal for someone looking for bigger, more full-featured alternative to a netbook, to be sure, but we have a feeling this is just a taste of what's to come for bargain hunters on Black Friday.[Thanks, Luigi]
That laptop is a GREAT deal for someone who is going to use it for what you listed.
can i have a compaq version for 249? :)
No, that'll bring you up to $400.
So now what will happen to the price of netbooks?
I was interested until I saw that nasty ugly disgusting word, Cele..., ugh.
its a $300 laptop! what did you expect, a C2D?
dude, it works just fine for people that use it for school and the web. My GF has one. It really is good enough. I even put Counter Strike Source on there for kicks, and if you kick everything down to low, it's playable. Obviously it's not a powerhouse for gaming or media editing, but it plays full screen HD just fine too. It's a real steal for $300, even more now than when she bought it, cause you'll get Windows 7 instead of Vista.
I didn't know laptops had "full sized" number pads built in.... with a fullsized keyboard to boot?
Seems unpossible.
The G60 doesn't have a full sized number pad. It's a squished one. We buy G60's for our outside salespeople at work. (Usually with a T6400 proc, not Celeron)
Over here in the UK, that would cost £181. The cheapeast laptops are around £250, which usually contain something around a 1.8GHz Celeron, 2GB RAM, 160GB HDD, 15.4" screen, and some awful make like E-Systems (Google it). This is an absolute bargain, it's a shame our UK version of Wal-Mart (Woolworths, went bust last Xmas) isn't still around, they would undoubtedly stock this laptop.
What I would like is just a notebook to kick around and use for my online tutoring job and some Hulu/Netflix viewing, but I really would like an HDMI-out so I can also use it to push those video streaming sites out to my tv. Do they make something like that? I don't need a powerhouse gaming laptop or anything, just like this, a netbook-ish thing with a larger screen and HDMI-out. I already have a notebook for general home use, but it would be nice to have one that's just mine, and not to be used by the wifey and kids. $300 or so would be pretty reasonable for this, I think...
Oh, and it has to be able to handle porn. Lots and lots of porn.
I hate to break it to all the celeron bashers that with a clean install of windows7 and the 3gb RAM the o/s is going to fly on this pc ... the cel 900 is a very capable CPU for the price.
I had a Dell with this same config except it had the old 3100 graphics and only 2gb RAM and i played WOW for hours at a time running on Vista Basic ...
Sounds like a great deal. What if you had to build your own with parts from NewEgg? $100 for the OEM Windows7 for builders, $50 for a 250GB HDD. $50 for memory. That leaves $100 for a laptop case, screen motherboard & processor, disk drive, keyboard. I don't think we can make it!
Hey all, would this laptop be any good for playing games on? Not any grafix intensive games, just some older ones, maybe a bit of mercs 2....basic stuff. I really want to know about the grafix card and how the processor holds up. Thanks!
What I'm most curious about is how this thing would handle Flash videos. Right now my mom is using my almost 6 year old Dell laptop to basically watch Hulu and play Flash games on Facebook, with some e-mail and web browsing thrown in. If it performs better than my old Pentium M 1.5 Ghz in those areas, I think I found her Christmas gift.
celeron? hahahahahahahahahaha. oh, you were trying to be serious. ahhaahahahahahaha. the only worse processor is the atom. but yeah, grandma will like this thing to try out that internet thing...
Hmm, and in last Sunday's newspaper one of the brick and mortar stores had an HP laptop for $349. What so special about saving $50 on Black Friday? I am sure the time spent standing in line could be better served making $50 elsewhere.
I think it kind of curious that everyone talks about this in comparison to netbooks as being better as if it is the same thing with a smaller or larger motor.
It, generally speaking, is not.
The netbook category is one of mobility - small size and light weight.
The kind of thing business notebooks have been charging a hefty tariff for, for years now.
True - if you want it to sit on a desk and only occasionally lug then this is a better idea than a netbook.
But that was always the case...
If you've got to carry it every day then this larger size and weight can wear you down.
They are not apples and apples.
They are oranges and clementines.
And for everyone whining that a dual core is needed or a celeron is necessarily trash, then congratulations and don't forget to check the box which says you are susceptible to marketing if it comes up on a questionaire.
What big "dual-core" apps are you running that you need that?
And how do they work exaclty to mitigate the single line memory access which is the bottleneck anyway?
What are you looking to buy... a luggable, ultra cheap laptop gaming rig ????????
No such beast exists.
Hey Cash:
I don't know where you live, but in the USA whites outnumber everyone else by at least 3 to 1. According to the 2000 US Census, the US population is somewhere between 69.1% and 79.1% white, depending on how you look at it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_and_ethnicity_in_the_United_States_Census
http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/phc-t1/tables/tab03.pdf
What part of Europe do you live in?
Does anyone know if this celeron 900 can be changed out? Or will I need to install a different MB? Thanks
I was thinking about buying this for my parents. They use the computer to surf the web and they do use itunes, but no games or anything like that. I know its a celeron processor, but considering what they would use it for is it a good buy? Thanks.
will this hp laptop run new Corel Draw? What about video clips at 720 and uploading to You Tube, then over to Yahoo Site Solutions small business web site?