!!UPDATED!!
I have had my g42-230us for three months and found it to be a decent moderately powerful computer. The 7200RPM hard drive and 1Mb per core cache give it the extra "umph" it needs to compete with the Intel offers.
This computer, like most consumer targeted systems, came loaded with bloatware (software that isn't required and slows down performance).
I am a computer tech so the first thing I recommend for this and all consumer targeted computers is to make the restore DVD's as soon as you turn on the computer and before you connect to a network or the internet. Second thing I recommend to do is to get a genuine copy of Windows 7, then use it to reformat (and delete all extra hard drive partitions) and reinstall operating system. Doing this is almost literally the difference between night and day. You will realize more hard drive space, faster boot and shutdown, no software "nags" (other than Windows 7 "nags") or bloatware pop ups to activate and upgrade trial software and no performance robbing unnecessary running services and registry entries.
I tell my customers to consider this a required cost to any big brand consumer level computer purchased (comsumer level computers are typicaly computers sold that are not installed with Windows 7 Professional). You can get windows here on Amazon:Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Microsoft Windows 7 Professional . Keep in mind bloatware keeps the cost of the computer down (the computer's maker is often paid to install this trial software in hopes it will lead to the sale of the full product.
After installing Genuine Windows 7 64bit I have a decent professional grade laptop for a few hundred less than what HP sells them for otherwise.
Clarification from what other reviews have stated: All three USB ports are v2.0 and are powered to 500mA. I have tested them and confirmed this to be true even under battery power.
Note:
No modem is included and no PC Card socket is present.
The speakers and Altec Lansing, upward facing above the Function keys near the display hinge.
Wired LAN is not Gigabit Ethernet (this is a real downgrade from my almost four year old Acer Aspire).
Annoyances:
The power button is slightly recessed and very small. I have very small fingers but still have to press the button multiple times to get it depressed enough to activate (but now I just use my finger nail and it works fine).
The hard drive activity light looks to be a 1mm LED mounted behind a hole in the left side of the unit next to the media card reader. This is excellent for the person sitting to my left when they want to know if my hard drive is active but totally useless to me.
Also the power / charging light looks to be a 1mm LED mounted behind a hole on the right side near the DC input. This too is excellent for the person on my right that wants to know if my laptop is charging or on but totally useless to me.
There is however a power light in the power button above the Function keys and speakers near the hindge but it to looks to be a 1mm LED pointed straight up and can't be seen when the lid is closed so you cannot see if your computer is on/sleeping/or off unless you open the lid or look at the led on the right side of the unit.
Almost a deal killer is the fact that the touchpad area is not recessed or raised, nor does it have a different pattern or texture than the palm rests. Without looking, using the touchpad buttons as an guide, a person cannot feel where the touchpad area starts and ends on the left and right side. I used 3M blue painters tape 3M 2090 Scotch-Blue Painter's Tape for Multi-Surfaces 1-Inch x 60-Yard, 4-Rollto create outlines of the touchpad area to use the unit in the dark and without watching my fingers.
Battery:
The stock battery is a MU06 and the battery life is very good but I got the MU09 extended life batter anyway. The extended life battery does stick out some at the bottom causing a funny lop-sided look. Also an optional higher watt charger can be found but I don't know it would be any better than the one included. HP 90W Smart Ac Adapter US
I like Acer / Gateway laptops because I had always found them easy to work on but I have already taken this one apart pretty well and it isn't as bad as the HP computers of previous years.
I have a report for Speccy on my unit:
CPU
AMD K10
45nm Technology
RAM
4.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 531MHz (7-7-7-20)
Motherboard
Hewlett-Packard 1444 (Socket S1G4)
Graphics
Generic PnP Monitor @ 1366x768
AMD M880G with ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4250
Hard Drives
313GB Seagate ST932042 3AS SATA Disk Device (IDE)
Optical Drives
hp CDDVDW TS-L633N SATA CdRom Device
Audio
Realtek High Definition Audio
CPU
AMD K10
Cores 2
Threads 2
Name AMD K10
Package Socket S1 (638)
Technology 45nm
Specification AMD Turion(tm) II P520 Dual-Core Processor
Family F
Extended Family 10
Model 6
Extended Model 6
Stepping 3
Revision DA-C3
Instructions MMX (+), 3DNow! (+), SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSE4A, x86-64
Bus Speed 199.5 MHz
Rated Bus Speed 1795.6 MHz
Stock Core Speed 2300 MHz
Stock Bus Speed 200 MHz
Caches
L1 Data Cache Size 2 x 64 KBytes
L1 Instructions Cache Size 2 x 64 KBytes
L2 Unified Cache Size 2 x 1024 KBytes
Core 0
Core Speed 2294.2 MHz
Multiplier x 11.5
Bus Speed 199.5 MHz
Rated Bus Speed 1795.6 MHz
Thread 1
APIC ID 0
Core 1
Core Speed 2294.2 MHz
Multiplier x 11.5
Bus Speed 199.5 MHz
Rated Bus Speed 1795.6 MHz
Thread 1
APIC ID 1
RAM
Memory slots
Total memory slots 2
Used memory slots 2
Free memory slots 0
Memory
Type DDR3
Size 4096 MBytes
Channels # Dual
DRAM Frequency 532.0 MHz
CAS# Latency (CL) 7 clocks
RAS# to CAS# Delay (tRCD) 7 clocks
RAS# Precharge (tRP) 7 clocks
Cycle Time (tRAS) 20 clocks
Bank Cycle Time (tR?) 27 clocks
Command Rate (CR) 1T
SPD
Number Of SPD Modules 2
Motherboard
Manufacturer Hewlett-Packard
Model 1444
Chipset Vendor AMD
Chipset Model 785GX
Chipset Revision 00
Southbridge Vendor AMD
Southbridge Model SB800
Southbridge Revision 40
BIOS
Brand Hewlett-Packard
Version F.0A
Date 06/08/2010
Graphics
Monitor
Name Generic PnP Monitor on AMD M880G with ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4250
Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels
Work Resolution 1366x738 pixels
State enabled, primary
Monitor Width 1366
Monitor Height 768
Monitor BPP 32 bits per pixel
Monitor Frequency 60 Hz
AMD M880G with ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4250
Memory 256 MB
Memory type 2
Hard Drives
ST932042 3AS SATA Disk Device
Manufacturer Seagate
Form Factor 2.5"
Interface IDE
Capacity 313GB
Real size 320,072,933,376 bytes
Optical Drives
hp CDDVDW TS-L633N SATA CdRom Device
Audio
Sound Cards
ATI High Definition Audio Device
Realtek High Definition Audio
Playback Device
Speakers (Realtek High Definition Audio)
Recording Devices
Stereo Mix (Realtek High Definition Audio)
Microphone (Realtek High Definition Audio) (default)
Peripherals
Standard PS/2 Keyboard
Device Kind Keyboard
Device Name Standard PS/2 Keyboard
Location plugged into keyboard port
Synaptics PS/2 Port TouchPad
Device Kind Mouse
Device Name Synaptics PS/2 Port TouchPad
Location plugged into PS/2 mouse por
USB Video Device
Device Kind Camera/scanner
Device Name USB Video Device
Vendor Unknown
Comment HP Webcam-101
Location USB Composite Device
I have been informed that there is a clean install restore option but this is not an option on my unit. The factory restore "clean" option still installs many services and registry items including HP "nags" and programs that connect to HP's web site to keep you informed up updates and messages (offers). The clean install I recomend will give a user the most out of the computer.
!!!!!!CAVEAT!!!!!!!: Some users do not mind or miss the lost performance and hard drive space and can very well live with the hp "clean" install or even the factory install.
I only mention the clean install in my review because I and most of my cutomers are "power" users and prefere a true Windows clean install from a genuine Windows disc. Plus a person can buy almost the same computer without the bloatware software installed for twice the price. I am just pointing out an alternative to spending twice the money and getting the almost the same computer as a pro model.
I purchased this computer from another site when they had a promotion on it. I looked at the specs and the price, and saw that it was a steal, and I abandoned my prejudice against HP for their past products and bought it. I am very happy that I did. I won't say the exact price that I got the computer for, but I will say that this computer is in the $600 and under category.
This computer is a good mixture of good technology. The processor in this computer is a very good processor for a number of reasons. The L2 cache is 2mb as opposed to 1mb in most Turion IIs; the energy consumption is 25w, which is very low for a laptop processor of this magnitude. The M880 chipset and ATI Radeon 4250 provide a decent graphics setup; obviously, this computer isn't for modern gaming due to the lack of a dedicated video card... However, this video setup is much better than you will get with any Intel onboard graphics and will work just fine for most anything short of intensive 3D gaming/ 3D rendering... The 14" screen on this computer is a good one, with great viewing angles. The speakers are good for laptop speakers, but really, there aren't any spectacular internal laptop speakers and so if you want great sound quality and volume, invest in a decent pair of laptop speakers. The HDMI port is wonderful... can't forget to mention that! HDMI is a nice feature to have on a laptop of this type!
Aesthetically, this computer is certainly pleasing. The silver-ish patterned case of the computer is really unique and I really enjoy it. 14" is the perfect size for me, as it cradles perfectly in my lap and is much, much more portable than 15.6" or so laptops than I have owned in the past.
The keyboard is not bad at all... No Num Pad, but the buttons and function button planning are very well done. For a 14" laptop, I'm not sure if you can ask for a smarter/ better keyboard than this...
As for the cons, there is one that may just be something I am misunderstanding, but it really seems like the USB port that is on the right side (for the mouse) is not USB 2.0... For some reason, it doesn't get nearly the transfer rate as the other USB ports. I recommend getting a high speed hub with this computer so that you can easily add the additional USB ports that you will surely need. The other con is also fair in magnitude... HP has a lot of programs that it installs to keep your computer running well with HP updates on the drivers on your computer and such. Some of these programs are helpful and some are bloatware. It is much harder to sort out which is which with HP laptops than other brands, since they get so much more involved in the upkeep of your computer. I have it set up just fine on my computer now, and practically any laptop that you get nowadays is going to have some kind of bloatware on it, so the problem is easily handled with a bit of time, just like with most laptops. Extra care is needed to make sure that you do not remove programs that HP has created to help your computer, such as keep the hardware drivers up to date, etc...
All in all, this computer is great... Just what I was looking for! This laptop is perfect for just about anyone that doesn't do intense 3D graphic stuff. I would even go so far as to say that anything better than this is overkill if you are not going to be doing that type of stuff. This is a great desktop replacement computer that is very versatile in its uses and very good on the battery given the power of the computer. I was hesitant to buy HP before this computer, but I am certainly not anymore.
Five stars from me!
Edit-
Windows Experience Index: (out of 7.9)
Processor 5.8
Memory 5.9
Graphics (Aero) 4.2
Graphics (Gaming) 5.3
Hard Disk speed 5.9
This shows that this is a well rounded computer, just a step below cutting edge in every category (and still pretty cutting edge in most categories). 4.2 for Windows Aero experience is a typical score for GPUs of this type.
This ranking also doesn't rank on things like battery conservation, which this computer is great at. I hope this info helps someone interested in this computer!
Buy HP G42-230US 14-Inch Laptop Now
I have had this for over a month. Best computer I've every owned.
*The keyboard feel is extremely comfortable, light, and responsive--highly important for a computer injury victim like myself.
*The 14" 1366 x 768 is clear and easy to read, even for largish spreadsheets.
*The 5 lb weight means I can carry it everywhere in my backpack. It's the right compromise between a heavier laptop with a bigger screen and a netbook. I have both with Windows XP, but I had to keep transferring data between them. Now I just use the G42 for home and coffee shops.
*I find I like Windows 7 better than XP. I upgraded to Professional and installed the XP virtual machine to solve any compatibility problems, but haven't had to use it much.
*Feels nice and sturdy.
*Decent price
*HDMI output.
Read Best Reviews of HP G42-230US 14-Inch Laptop Here
When I was looking for a laptop with the performance, style, and light weight, I naturally settled on this HP G-42-230US. It has a 14 screen that is perfect for your everyday typing, if you want to watch a DVD at a coffee shop, or if you're like me, the occasionally youtube video. So far, I have no complaints about this laptop.
Like the previous reviewer, I was surprisingly happy at the weight of this laptop. At 4.85 lbs, I feel like I can carry it with me everywhere. I even looked at some 13.3 inch Toshiba and Lenovo laptops, but theirs' measured at around 4.75 or 4.8 lbs with a bigger price tag.
Pros of this amazing laptop:
-lightweight
-long battery life
-very good quality camera
-a senor mousepad that allows you to turn it off or on with just one finger
-user friendly installation
-rank #1 in Newsweek's green ranking (it uses less energy than your average 14-in laptop)
-sturdy feel (good material)
-brought it when amazon had a fantastic price of only $550 with free shipping
If you're looking for a stylist laptop with the performance specs to back it up...this is the laptop for you!
Want HP G42-230US 14-Inch Laptop Discount?
I have had this computer for about 4 months, and it is not what I thought it would be...its worse. I bought it because it was a steal and i was on a budget. The battery life is about 1 1/2 hourse, which is not very good when you use it during a 2 hour class! I hate the mouse pad because it gets dirty very easily because of the crevices (the whole computer is acutually that way) The bottom gets SUPER, SUPER hot. I have acutually had red marks on my legs when I have let it sit to long on my lap, because it was so hot. I am currently saving my money to buy a macbook. If you can afford the extra couple hundred dollars, I would definately go for a little better laptop. I will not be having this on much longer because I dislike it that much.
Simply put, this laptop has the most robust build quality I've ever seen from a consumer model at this price point (roughly $500 at stores). The aluminum lid and chassis coupled with the rubberized palmrest has a very Mac-like feel. I'm no Mac fan overall, but I have admired their physical hardware if nothing else. This laptop oozes quality and has no flexing, creaking, or other common maladies of the budget category.
