HP G71340US 17.3Inch Black/Silver Laptop Up to 4

Light to handle, fast upload
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I bough this Laptop to design albums and slideshows for my photography business just to use some software that are exclusive for PC. The Laptop Loads very fast when you turn it on and the windows 7 feels very light and stable.

The battery life is closer to 1.5 hours and not even close to 4 hours. I have had before 3 HP and this one is the lighter in weight.

Great potential, but lots of problems
Rating:2 out of 5 stars

Design needs improvement, January 19, 2010

By D. D. Umstot “teka3″ (Seattle, WA USA) – See all my reviews

I bought this computer thinking it would offer hi-def capability, but it does not. It does offer an HDMI connection which I have not tried. There is no ability to play blu-ray dvds. Thus, it is just a nice wide-screen for playing non hi-def dvds. The wide screen looks nice, but it is more difficult to web surf because of moving the curser all the way across the screen. A standard size screen laptop would be lighter and easier to use if you are not using it to play dvds.

Other issues: 1. Shinny black cover shows fingerprints and looks awful unless you constantly wipe it down. 2. Only 3 USB ports means you need a separate USB dock or are constantly plugging and unplugging. 3. Sound built in is very soft–almost inaudible even at max volume–I had to buy external speakers. 4. Everything except sound plugs in at the side, making it very cluttered. Seems some of the sockets could have been placed in the rear. 5. Power plugs in the right side, an inconvenient location. 6. Stainless steel inside makes it difficult to feel mouse pad–everything feels pretty much the same.

HP service is also a problem. It has been outsourced to somewhere in South Asia and the people responding do not seem to understand what they are doing. I tried to get a fix on the low sound problem, but after many emails there was no satisfaction–you have to buy external speakers it seems. I also have a different dvd drive than the one specified. The service people could not answer why or what difference the drivers might make in performance. It took at least 7 emails to find out that this computer cannot do any form of hi-def.

I would not have bought this computer if I had known of these shortcomings.

I own this computer and I love it
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I own this computer and I love it, I got it on black friday for more than is is on amazon, What a dork i am.

Unbelievably light and solid DT replacement
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Pros

Unbelievably light for 17.3-inch laptop

Solid performance

Fair price

Nice minimalistic look and feel. I’m not in sync with those ubiquitous fancy-looking models. And guess I’m not alone.

Very nice keyboard suitable for touch-typing – neither stiff nor slack.

Touchpad on-off switch

Cons

Fan is a little noisy.

The screen could be better though I must admit that I’m spoiled by my fantastic HP 2009m wide-screen monitor.

Bottom line

One of the best desktop replacements on the market.

Fantastic unit
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I believe that HP makes the best notebook computers in the world today. This is a beautifully designed and equipped notebook computer that will not disappoint. I like the keyboard layout a lot, and the matte black keys feel solid and secure when you type–better than the glossy black keys that some cheaper computers use. I am a fast touch-typist, and I am very particular about computer keyboards. This HP keyboard is one of the best if not the best notebook keyboards that I have used.

The screen on this notebook computer is gorgeous. A bright, lively landscape screen that is very pleasant to look at. I plugged in my second monitor, and Windows 7 made it very easy to configure it as an extension of my desktop.

The 2.2Ghz Core 2 Duo CPU on this machine combined with Windows 7 Home 64 bit and 4GB DRAM really performs nicely. All of my programs, including some pretty CPU-intensive legal software that I run, work very snappily with this setup. My digital photography programs also work very well, with rapid manipulation of large digital images quite feasible on this notebook.

The pre-installed Windows 7/64 bit is a very good operating system. My printers and peripherals all installed themselves effortlessly upon connection–we are now truly in the age of plug-and-play. Microsoft really learned its lesson from the Vista issues-even my old legacy printer automatically prompted me to download the proper driver, and it installed effortlessly. The computer itself started configuring itself immediately upon start-up–it prompted for the network code, and immediately installed itself on the network. The user will be up and running withing minutes.

I have only found a few dings for this computer. Firstly, the sound through the built-in speakers is not very loud. Plan on external powered speakers for all but the most incidental use of the sound system. The built-in mouse pad is positioned such that it is pretty easy to bump the mouse when you are typing. All notebooks seem to have this problem. Fortunately there is a hardware on-off switch above the pad (rather than requiring a Windows setting; this goes far to mitigate the issue). This is really a minor issue because I usually use an outboard notebook mouse anyway. Since this computer comes equipped with WiFi, it is easy to pick up a nice wireless mouse, which I plan to do.

This computer has an HDMI port which is a hugely nice thing to have; this makes it possible to play movies directly from the computer to one’s HDMI-equipped TV set.

A hardware volume control would have been nice, but it is really not necessary since Windows places a software volume control in the lower-right corner of the screen. Bluetooth support would have been nice; I equipped mine with a small mini-bluetooth adaptor which installed instantly and it works fine.

Overall, this computer was my choice after a great deal of comparison shopping, and it has not disappointed. Highly recommended.

Nice and sturdy laptop
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
1. Good display and nice speakers.

2. I liked the touch pad and the num pad which is very convenient.

3. Good choice to watch movies online.

Big Disappointment
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
Bought this machine to replace my 4.5 year-old HP laptop. Big disappointment! First, it is overpriced. Second, the display tends to be on the dark side. The battery life is a joke–3 hours, max, and that’s without watching videos, ripping/burning, gaming, music, etc. I am not impressed with the speed, either. My 4.5 year-old HP is just as fast, and gets MUCH better battery life. In addition, the CD/DVD drive is very flimsy and made of thin plastic. Looks and feels as if it will break easily. When I burn a DVD, the drive makes a “chug-chug-chug” sound, like a train. Ripping music from a CD is slow, too, and again, is faster on my old HP. As another reviewer mentioned, the AC plug is located on the right side of the computer, which is inconvenient; I prefer it on the left, as do a lot of people, apparently. The headphone and microphone jacks are located on the front of the machine, instead of the side. Inconvenient, as well. Windows 7, which comes pre-loaded, is a dreadful OS, IMO, but that’s not HP’s fault. Can’t wait to get my old HP fixed–yes, I will invest the money!–and start using it again. I like HP machines and expected to like this computer, but I’m sorry I bought it. It’s not worth the money.