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HP Pavilion TouchSmart 15-n241ca... What can you tell me about this unit?

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Theocnoob

Member
Joined
Dec 1, 2007
Location
Near Toronto Canada
I'm getting an HP Pavilion TouchSmart 15-n241ca for free with Airmiles points. I needed... err... wanted.. a laptop and had enough points to get this. It's a touch screen Win 8.1 AMD A4 machine. Doesn't look rock bottom terrible. Maybe 1 or 2 steps up. I'm curious as to the battery life. I imagine it's dismal.

Also, I could have gotten an iPad mini retina 32GB instead of this. Did I make the right choice? :shrug:
 
Its a 41 W-hr battery, so you're probably looking at 4-5 hours of normal usage with that A4.
 
That much eh? That's not too bad. Thanks.

8/8.1 are really good on battery. Better than anything else (and probably on par with Mac OSX).
And the A4 sips power at 15W TDP, including the GPU portion.
 
8/8.1 are really good on battery. Better than anything else (and probably on par with Mac OSX).
And the A4 sips power at 15W TDP, including the GPU portion.

That's good. What kind of performance can I expect out of this machine? I'm not familiar with APUs.

I also have a Netbook from 2012 that is Atom based with Win 7. The thing runs like a sloth that's been shot in the leg. Terrible. How much more horsepower will this thing have?

Also, about the RAM, I notice this laptop comes with 1X4GB and 1X2GB for a total of 6. Obviously, this means that the RAM is not running dual channel. Would it be worth buying a 2x4GB set for it?

And does anybody know if this thing takes standard 2.5" drives? I'd like to put a cheap SSD in it.
 
It'll be about like an i3 mobile.
Maybe a bit slower on the CPU portion, but faster on the GPU portion.

Dual channel couldn't hurt (if the motherboard supports it) for the APU.

HP's page says 5400RPM SATA, so I would say that's typical 2.5"
To be safe grab a 7mm SSD.
 
It'll be about like an i3 mobile.
Maybe a bit slower on the CPU portion, but faster on the GPU portion.

Dual channel couldn't hurt (if the motherboard supports it) for the APU.

HP's page says 5400RPM SATA, so I would say that's typical 2.5"
To be safe grab a 7mm SSD.

Where would I find out if the system supports dual channel RAM and what the form factor (incl thickness) of the HDD/SSD bay is? I looked on the HP site but it has nonsense useless info.

If possible I'd like to have the upgrade parts handy for when the machine arrives in the mail in a couple of weeks.
 
Also, about the RAM, I notice this laptop comes with 1X4GB and 1X2GB for a total of 6. Obviously, this means that the RAM is not running dual channel. Would it be worth buying a 2x4GB set for it?

I'd check CPU-z when you get it. I got 4x2GB in triple channel on my HTPC, so I get full bandwidth for usage of 6GB and under, which is the majority of time for myself. Yours will probably be the same, but for 4GB and in dual channel instead.

You should notice a huge step up from that atom (hopefully!). I can't find detailed information about the hard disk, but I would also assume it is a standard 2.5" based on the laptop size.
 
One more question, I haven't bought an OEM PC in over a decade... Anybody know if it will come with the actual Win 8 install disc and/or Win 8 on USB key?

I plan to install an SSD so I'd have to reinstall the OS and I'd hate to have to buy another key.
 
I have the unit now and it did not come with a recovery dvd. Where do I extract the Windows 8 key from my system?

And then where do I download the Win 8 installable from? How many GB is it?

Thanks so much guys!

This thing has a pig of a hard drive... SSD needed urgently...
 
W8 Key......http://pcsupport.about.com/od/windows-8/a/windows-8-product-key.htm

Like was mentioned earlier, there is likely a hidden partition with the Windows files on it. I do not believe, but am not sure, that you will be able to 'extract' and rebuild it with media unless the device has that ability in software.

Ok so I can just get my Win 8 key, download win 8 from MS and install it off a USB key?

What is the process for making a bootable USB key?

I need hand holding. :cool:

BTW they sent me a burnt burgundy colored laptop :(. *sigh*... To be seen in public with it or not to be seen in public with it...
 
You guys.... Seriously. If you asked me to write out a guide on something I understood for one of you guys I would do it.

The point is that I wouldn't ask for someone to write a guide that's already been written on every tech website in existence.

Slight exaggeration, but still they're everywhere.
 
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