Windows 7/HP/Walmart question

[Gummer12 134]

So against my advise, my mom pulled the trigger on a 'NEW' HP laptop today at Walamart without shopping around and what not...That said..she took it home, and proceeded to open it and start it up without me there to help her along. So she calls me with a problem, She turned it on..and the Windows 7 Front Screen came up with a User of Jake, and asking for a Password..and the hint was Paintball... Now this is where my question/concern is...I'm pretty sure this isn't SOP for a Windows initialization, so I am convinced that Walmart or HP Knowingly sold a Used Computer, whether it be a refurb or not, it was billed as New. If I am wrong on this, please let me know, so I don't go in to Walmart tomorrow and wrongly start ripping someone a new asshole.

[bednarz877 0]

yeah thats definitely either a used or refurbished computer.

[flyers10 57]

Sounds like it may have been a customer return and that possibly the customer lied about having never turned it on or used it. I can see them thinking it is still new if they guy packed it up just like it came. If that is the case someone screwed Walmart over. I'd take it back and explain what happened and that your mom is definitely not "Jake" and have it exchanged. There have been stories on people taking advantage of Walmart and returning laptop boxes with a brick inside. The customer service return persons never opened to make sure a laptop was inside. Some bad customer service reps and scumbag customers out there. Good luck, hopefully they exchange it hassle free.

[Gummer12 134]

Sounds like it may have been a customer return and that possibly the customer lied about having never turned it on or used it. I can see them thinking it is still new if they guy packed it up just like it came. If that is the case someone screwed Walmart over. I'd take it back and explain what happened and that your mom is definitely not "Jake" and have it exchanged. There have been stories on people taking advantage of Walmart and returning laptop boxes with a brick inside. The customer service return persons never opened to make sure a laptop was inside. Some bad customer service reps and scumbag customers out there. Good luck, hopefully they exchange it hassle free.

OH, They'll take it back...along with a Full refund...This is the SECOND POS Laptop that I/We have bought from Walmart..the first one was a brick, and wouldn't stay on, and wouldn't discharge after shutting down so it wouldn't start up again...And after sending it back to Dell, Twice, they lost my laptop upon sending it back. Turns out they sent Back to Walmart's distribution center. So Dell sent me a new one. So that said..I'm never buying a computer from Walmart ever again.

[Gummer12 134]

Update...So upon further inspection at Walmart, they agreed that someone scammed them earlier, the Cust. Serv. Rep didn't catch it, and somehow it got sent back to Electronics and ended up back on the shelf..The serial numbers on the computer didn't match up with the box. They said they were going to look up the serial number on the computer and see who last bought it and go from there. So they did end up giving her a full refund, and now will be looking at Best Buy or Online somewhere for a new laptop.

[raganblink 82]

How much do u want to spend on a laptop? gimme a number or a list of ones you're looking at and I can tell you good buy or leave alone.

rule one with electronics, don't buy shit from Walmart.

rule two, shop around.

[Gummer12 134]

Roughly around 500...All she really needs to be able to do is, get on the internet (wireless), check email, MSN Messenger, Watch DVD's, play games, store photos/music, and Print.

I agree with the shopping around..which is why I advised her not to pull the trigger just yet..with Back To School coming up, there's going to be LOTS of Great Deals on laptops.

[raganblink 82]

What,kind is games? Nothing hardcore just casual pc games or the installed ones like solitare?

[Gummer12 134]

exactly..just card games, pogo.com, etc...

[raganblink 82]

K. gonna play some soccer so I can give u some I'd recommend like nineish

[flyers10 57]

For what she wants to do a midrange laptop is fine. If warranty length is important to her try Costco. HP laptops have a 2 year warranty included with them when bought at Costco. (at least at US Costco's). Standard length is 1 year elsewhere. Assuming you are a member, check their coupon books they put out for extra savings. I think 1 is out now and another will drop around mid - 3rd week on August I think. Back to school time so some good deals.

[Gummer12 134]

No Costco's around here

[raganblink 82]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100006740%20600004719%20600004968%20600004798&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&ShowDeactivatedMark=False&CompareItemList=32|34-114-930^34-114-930-TS%2C34-157-270^34-157-270-TS%2C34-146-772^34-146-772-TS

any of these three is what I recommend.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834146772 (Lenovo)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834114930 (Toshiba)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834157270 (HP) [recertified... someone bought it and it wasn't working so they sent it back and claim its fixed. Only computer you can get a full refund for).

Key differences between them. Lenovo has the highest CPU, which means faster. However it wont be noticably faster to your mom for what she is doing. The Toshiba has the best video processor. That GPU can handle whatever she wants to with it. The Lenovo has the best battery life, so if she wants to travel with it, that's going to last longest. The HP is a fixed computer...honestly it has no better things to offer. Just the price. If $43.72 (b/c of shipping) at a minimum is the biggest deal to you, go with that, if you can afford to spend that much more, I wouldn't get it.

Also to point out, the Toshiba has a max memory supported of 8GB, which means basically in a couple years if the computer she has becomes slow as hell (cuz she'll fill it with shit that lags a system) all she'll have to do is spend 100 bucks on memory and its going to be insanely fast again. With the others the only way you can get it to be fast again is a complete sweep of the OS, which is a hassle, all people will charge for it if you don't do it yourself, and is a pain to deal with with older people.ee

Up to you, but just b/c you probably haven't heard of Lenovo or Toshiba doesn't mean they aren't great products. They're great products. Oh and sicne it doesn't look like it, the CPUFSB for all is 800MHZ, the HDDs' (Hard drives) all are sata at 5400RPM, and all are 204pin ddr3, but you don't really need to know that, doesn't matter.

got any questions just ask

[Chadd 916]

Once the specs are all in the same neighborhood, RAM will have the biggest impact on performance. If everything else is roughly equal, get the one with the most RAM.

[DolomaticDangles 13]

The Dell Studio 15 is a pretty solid laptop , I think its a 2.2ghz processor, 250gn hard drive and 3GB ram for $450

Also, Im not sure how you feel about eBay, but a lot of eBay stores have really good deals on new laptops. We got a Lenovo X200 touchscreen for like $1500 on eBay, and it would've been $2200 from Lenovo. You can get pretty decent laptops in the low $400s though.

[Gummer12 134]

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+-+Satellite+Laptop+with+AMD+Turion%26%23153%3B+II+Dual-Core+Mobile+Processor+-+Midnight+Breeze/9705346.p?id=1218154375878&skuId=9705346

Ended up going with this one..got it for 499 iirc. I really like it so far..First time fiddling with Win 7, I like it so far. Simple, clean. I'm pretty happy with it so far.

Anyhoo, got another new question...according to this, it says my 1521 has 2 sockets for RAM with 2GB each, but I only see 1. Anyone happen to know the Truth?

[Leth 0]

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+-+Satellite+Laptop+with+AMD+Turion%26%23153%3B+II+Dual-Core+Mobile+Processor+-+Midnight+Breeze/9705346.p?id=1218154375878&skuId=9705346

Ended up going with this one..got it for 499 iirc. I really like it so far..First time fiddling with Win 7, I like it so far. Simple, clean. I'm pretty happy with it so far.

Anyhoo, got another new question...according to this, it says my 1521 has 2 sockets for RAM with 2GB each, but I only see 1. Anyone happen to know the Truth?

Usually 1 slot is on the bottom of the unit accessible by removal of the little cover and the other is accessed by removing the keyboard which can be a little trickier.