Earlier this month we launched the AMD Center, a portal on AnandTech that aggregates all of our AMD content in one place. As a recap, the AMD Center features all of our independent content just as before but in an AMD sponsored wrapper. Thanks to AMD's sponsorship you'll get a cleaner interface on all AMD articles, as well as reduced advertising on those pages. The portal will also serve as a way for AMD to reach out to you all directly as we're pulling in AMD tweets and have a feed of AMD's own blogs on the right hand side. AMD also wants to hear from you, and we've got some opporuntities to help with that going forward. Finally, the AMD Center serves as a destination for a bunch of pretty awesome AMD giveaways we've got planned. With AMD's support we've got better prizes and more of them to give away.

We kicked off our AMD Center giveaways with three Acer V5s. Today we're continuing with some more powerful notebooks for those of you looking for a little more punch. AMD is supplying three 15.6-inch HP ENVY TouchSmart Sleekbooks for this giveaway.

The ENVY Sleekbook features a touch-enabled 15.6" 1366 x 768 display, 8GB of DDR3 memory (up from 4GB on the V5s we just gave away, and expandable up to 16GB) and has an AMD A10-5745M Richland APU with Radeon HD 8610G graphics. The A10-5745 features four Piledriver cores running at a base clock of 2.1GHz and a max turbo clock of 2.9GHz. This is a 25W part, which is fairly low as far as Richland APUs go. The GPU features 384 Radeon cores (VLIW4) running at up to 626MHz with turbo (533MHz max non-turbo). Just as before, I asked AMD if they would be willing to swap out the hard drives for SSDs and they agreed - so if you win, your Sleekbook will ship with a 128GB Samsung SSD 840 drive.

The Sleekbook is 0.9" thin and weighs 5.6 lbs. 

Here's the deal. To enter, simply post a comment below (US residents only, please only make a single post, contest requirements below) explaining your current PC setup and why you want, or need to win a Sleekbook. What I'm looking for here is an understanding of what you currently own in terms of computing devices (PCs, notebooks, tablets, etc...), how you use them and how winning a Sleekbook would change/improve your current setup. Make your entries good as they may come in handy for some other stuff we've got planned in the future. If your entry from last time still applies, feel free to re-use it.

If you win, AMD wants your feedback on the machine after you get it. You'll be asked to provide a short review (a paragraph or two) talking about your experience with the system. Do a good job and your feedback may even be featured on AnandTech.

Good luck!

Congrats to our three winners. Here's their feedback from using the systems for a few weeks.

Francis

The HP ENVY M6 Sleekbook certainly doesn’t feel like a bargain laptop. With a sleek metal exterior and soft touch plastic on the bottom, the Sleekbook feels solid in the hands. The build quality is quite impressive, especially compared to some of the other HP laptops I have come across in the past. The laptop is slim, and deceptively light considering its size. On the exterior, the laptop features a solid port selection highlighted by dedicated HDMI. Open the lid and one sees a well laid out backlit keyboard that is pretty nice to type on. The keyboard does have some mild flex, but the key travel is good.  The backlight is of the on/off only variety, while the wi-fi light on the f12 key is always on no matter what you do.

Turning the laptop on, one can appreciate the quickness of Windows 8 on an SSD. The laptop is snappy and responsive for your basic every day tasks and is well suited for multimedia as it handles HD video easily. I had no trouble with light gaming thanks to AMD’s A10 APU. The featured Beats Audio Speakers provide good sound quality at an impressive volume. That said, they are not anything to get too excited about. Where the Sleekbook really falls short is in its display and WI-FI performance. The 15.6 inch 1366x768 display is quite frankly, terrible. The low resolution may be forgivable at this price segment, but the screen’s brightness is just plain disappointing. Having the display at anything less than 100% brightness is not really an option. The Wi-Fi is another area of disappointment. The Sleekbook’s Wi-Fi range is limited compared to other devices I own.  With just a quick (and unscientific!) comparison to my Acer netbook, the HP might fail to recognize my router in an area where the Acer would report greater than 50% strength.

The Sleekbook has a lot going for it in terms of build quality and performance. However, it gets hung up by the two huge flaws of display quality and Wi-Fi performance. That said, the AMD platform shows promise here and I look forward to seeing it offered in more devices.

Jamy

The 15" HP Sleekbook comes in an attractive brushed metal package and is clad with a black island style keyboard. It feels higher up market than its price would suggest. AnandTech has said, AMD processors in notebooks allow OEMs to trade some of the silicon cost for higher quality components elsewhere. I can see some of that here with this Sleekbook. It has the best trackpad of any windows notebook Iíve ever used. Itís large, responsive, and handles gestures easily. Itís getting really close to a Macbook in trackpad quality. The screen is bright and looks good, but with the usual 1366x768 caveat. It came with Dragon Naturally Speaking, Box cloud drive space, and a nice temperature utility that uses sensors to keep the Sleekbook cool when it detects it is on your lap. My biggest complaint is, even beyond the wish for more pixels, it came with 600 MHz RAM. I almost couldnít believe it considering how dependent AMD chips are on being fed with fast memory. The A10 feels fast in most cases, but there are definitely times when you miss memory speed. I play quite a bit of Kerbal Space Program on this laptop, which it handles really well at native resolution. Yes, it does borrow some design, and cut some corners in some places I wouldnít have. However, this Sleekbook is aimed at people who are looking for value in a notebook form factor, and it delivers. 

Jarrod

The HP ENVY TouchSmart Sleekbook has been my first experience using Windows 8 on a touch screen device. I was able to familiarize myself with navigating the operating system using the built in help menus and minimal internet searching. I primarily use the Sleekbook for web browsing, messaging, and light gaming. I am impressed by the almost instant boot time. The touch screen was calibrated well (for touch) from the factory and accurately responds to my input. I find the track pad difficult to use since it is a one-piece surface that incorporates the left and right buttons. Trying to click on anything without moving the cursor off of what you're trying to click is difficult without a light and deliberate touch. I am satisfied primarily using the touch screen. The keyboard layout is a bit spread out and works well for my larger hands although it may be less than optimal for someone with smaller hands.The AMD APU is powerful enough to handle casual games as well as some less demanding modern PC games. The sound quality is among the best I've experienced from laptop speakers. The Wi-Fi reception is the only aspect of the laptop I find substantially disappointing. This is the only device of several I use throughout my small house that must be in the same room as the wireless router to maintain a connection. Overall I am pleased with the construction and performance of the Sleekbook and would suggest it as a viable option for anyone looking to use Windows 8 on a touch screen device.  

 

Entries will be accepted from 9:00 AM ET on 9/23/2013 through 12:01 AM ET on 9/27/2013. We will draw 3 winner(s) who will be selected by 9/30/2013.

Official Rules and Regulations for AnandTech Sweepstakes
No Purchase Required to Enter or Win

Upon entering any contest, sweepstakes, or promotion (a “Promotion”) offered by anandtech.com (the “Site”), a website owned and operated by AnandTech, Inc. (“AnandTech”), you must agree to the following Official Rules and Regulations (the “Rules”) as well as any additional rules governing a specific Promotion that AnandTech publishes on the Site.

BEFORE ENTERING A PROMOTION, READ THESE RULES AND THE SITE’S TERMS, CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY INFORMATION.   BY ENTERING THE PROMOTION, YOU AGREE TO COMPLY WITH THE RULES AND THE SITE’S TERMS, CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY INFORMATION. 

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN.  PURCHASE DOES NOT INCREASE CHANCES OF WINNING.

  1. Eligibility.  Promotions are open to entrants who are 18 years of age or older at time of entry, and a legal resident of the United States (excluding Puerto Rico).  Entries are limited to individuals only who are not presently banned from AnandTech’s website or comments section; commercial enterprises and business entities are not eligible.  Directors, officers, employees, contractors, and agents of AnandTech (excluding volunteer AnandTech forum moderators) and members of their immediate families (spouses, parents, siblings, and children) are not eligible.  Subject to all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations.  Void where prohibited.  Participation constitutes entrant’s full and unconditional agreement to these Rules and AnandTech’s decisions, which are final and binding in all matters relating to a Promotion.
     
  2. Entry Period.  Each Promotion will contain a specific time period within which entries will be accepted (a “Promotion Period”).   The Promotion Period for this Promotion shall run from 9:00 AM ET on 9/23/2013 through 12:01 AM ET on 9/27/2013.  Only entries received during the Promotion Period will be accepted. 
     
  3. How to Enter.  Each Promotion will describe an entry procedure.  AnandTech is not responsible for lost, late, illegible, stolen, incomplete, invalid, unintelligible, misdirected, technically corrupted or garbled entries, which will be disqualified, or for problems of any kind whether mechanical, human or electronic.  Proof of submission will not be deemed to be proof of receipt by AnandTech.  All entries must be in English. Individuals are automatically entered in this Promotion by signing up for AnandTech’s Comments at http://anandtech.com/Account/Register and posting a reply to this post. If randomly selected as a winner individuals must provide full name, complete mailing address, telephone number, AnandTech user name and birth date within 3 days of being contacted.
     
  4. Limits on Entry.  An individual may enter a Promotion once only.  The use of any automated launching or entry software or any other means that permits an entrant to automatically enter repeatedly or in excess of the entry limitations is prohibited. 
     
  5. Prizes.  Winning a gift, prize, or other promotional item (a “Prize”) in a Promotion is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements in these Rules.  Winners will be selected in a random drawing of eligible entries received during the Promotion Period.  AnandTech will notify Prize winners using the contact information provided in the winning entry.  Failure to claim a Prize by the time or in the manner specified in the particular Promotion will invalidate any claim to the Prize.  Prizes are not transferable.  The odds of winning a Prize or the Grand Prize depend on the number of entries received by AnandTech.  TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, ALL PRIZES ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND ARE NOT EXCHANGEABLE FOR FAIR MARKET VALUE.  TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, ANANDTECH DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE PRIZES, INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. For this Promotion, 3 winner(s) will be selected by 9/30/2013 and will each receive a HP ENVY TouchSmart Sleekbook laptop described above (“Grand Prize”).  The Total U.S. Retail Value of the Grand Prize is $699.99.  The Grand Prize may not be substituted for cash.  The Grand Prize winner will be solely responsible for all applicable taxes, fees, and surcharges associated with receipt and/or use of the Grand Prize.  After the Grand Prize winner has been notified and has complied with all applicable Rules, AnandTech will post the Grand Prize winner’s name on this website.
     
  6. Publicity.  The winner of a Promotion agrees to allow AnandTech to use his or her name, photograph, likeness, voice, prize information, and biographical information for publicity and promotional purposes without further compensation where permitted by law.
     
  7. Governing Law.  These Rules and all Promotions are governed by and controlled by the laws of the State of North Carolina, without reference to the applicable choice of law provisions. All actions, proceedings or litigation relating hereto will be instituted and prosecuted solely within Wake County, North Carolina. By entering a Promotion, entrants consent to the jurisdiction of the state courts of North Carolina and the federal courts located within North Carolina with respect to any action, dispute or other matter pertaining to or arising out of that Promotion.
     
  8. General Terms.  Any failure by an entrant, including any prize winner, to comply with any of the Rules or the Site’s Terms, Conditions and Privacy Information may result in disqualification from the Promotion.  All entries, whether they are eligible entries or ineligible entries, are the exclusive property of AnandTech.  AnandTech is not responsible for any typographical errors in the Rules or in any other communication surrounding a Promotion or for any technical malfunction or error relating to the Promotion.  AnandTech reserves the right to amend or interpret the Rules at any time, upon published notice to participants on its website.  Promotion participants agree to release, indemnify, and hold harmless AnandTech and its directors, officers, employees and agents from any and all liability regarding the Promotion, including any injuries, losses, or damages (compensatory, direct, incidental, consequential, or otherwise) regarding the use or misuse of any Prize, any event beyond AnandTech’s control resulting in the disruption, cancellation, or postponement of the receipt of the Prize, or any typographical errors or technical malfunctions associated with the Promotion.  AnandTech reserves the right to disqualify any entry that it, in its sole discretion, determines (i) to be in violation of the Rules, (ii) submitted by fraud or by tampering with the entry process, or (iii) contains inaccurate or fraudulent information.  ANY ATTEMPT BY ANY INDIVIDUAL TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE THE SITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE PROMOTION IS A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS.  IN THE EVENT SUCH AN ATTEMPT OCCURS, ANANDTECH RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES FROM SUCH INDIVIDUAL TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

 

Comments Locked

1224 Comments

View All Comments

  • Nanophys - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link

    (copied and pasted from the other one as the argument is exactly the same) I have a ~3 year old W510 that I've used as a portable desktop for the last couple years. It's been a great computer, does everything I've needed, but recently I've had very strong desires to get an ultraportable. Since I started to walk to work everyday I've left my computer at work, as the system starting becoming too bothersome to really justify taking it back home. When I recently hurt my back, and ran into a situation where I did need to take my computer home, I came to acutely realize how important it was to cut down on the weight of my computer. My next computer will certainly be an ultraportable, and I'd feel very lucky to win this one!
  • Borumha - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link

    1) Desktop - AMD FM3+ HD5750 (xFIRE) Gaming/NAS build
    2) Lenovo Y550P Intel i7 720QM - Gaming laptop
    3) Samsung Galaxy S3 - Daily phone
    4) Samsung Galaxy Tab Plus - Youtube viewer

    Looking to replace the Y550p want something lighter. Something like this would be perfect!
  • Borumha - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link

    1) Desktop - AMD FM3+ HD5750 (xFIRE) Gaming/NAS build
    2) Lenovo Y550P Intel i7 720QM - Gaming laptop
    3) Samsung Galaxy S3 - Daily phone
    4) Samsung Galaxy Tab Plus - Youtube viewer

    Looking to replace the Y550p want something lighter. Something like this would be perfect!
  • frogger4 - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link

    Desktop: Windows 7 (although soon to be Windows 8.1 / Linux Mint), on an Intel i5-3570K (4.3GHz), Radeon HD 7970 (1050MHz), 8GB 1866MHz RAM, Intel 520 SSD (240GB). I built this desktop as a gaming rig, although it has more generally served as my home theater PC, and I have a lot less time for gaming than I'd like .... so really it is just a lot of power that goes idle most of the time.

    Laptop: Clevo W110ER with Windows 8.1 (previously Ubuntu) on an Intel i5-3360M, Nvidia GT 650M, 8GB 1600MHz RAM (CL9!), Crucial M4 128GB SSD. This is an 11 inch box of bad compromises unfortunately. I bought the chassis and put the parts in it in hopes of having an awesome do it everything ultra-portable, but it ended up being not good at much of anything. The GPU + CPU do well enough for games, but it is such a poor laptop that it really isn't enjoyable to use (poor display, undersized mushy keyboard, uncomfortable trackpad, thick and heavy but without great performance or a larger screen, and very bad battery life).

    What I need: I am currently a Computer Science undergrad, and really just spend most of my time either doing schoolwork or programming projects, making my gaming computers not very useful. After spending more time with Windows 8, I really want a laptop with a touchscreen; that's a must for my next computer. I also want something either more portable, or with a larger screen, and it looks like the Envy Touchsmart fits that exactly. Plus, I am a big fan of an APU setup - I have built a couple ITX desktops with Llano and Trinity and was really excited with them. I really do hope AMD can continue to innovate and deliver on the APU platform since there is clearly a lot of potential.
  • frogger4 - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link

    I forgot to add, I have one more rig that you might appreciate =)
    Giant desktop with an AMD Athlon 64 FX-55 Clawhammer, rockin almost 3GHz, on an Asus A8N32 - SLI motherboard, 4GB (that's right!) Corsair XMS 450MHz DDR RAM, and a bricked ATI Radeon X850 XT PE. Needless to say, I don't use this rig for much of anything, but it is amazing to me that I can STILL use it to get stuff done. Those were the glory days for AMD!
  • trishul.vp - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link

    Need one..... Thanks
  • Phantom9309 - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link

    Pick me please!
  • Landspeeder - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link

    At home I own 3 primary computing devices:

    1 - An unraid rig that houses my movie collection as well as a primary storage of my important documents (family photos, legal documents, etc).

    2 – An Android smartphone that is used for taking work calls, checking/updating Google Documents, and its Navigation software.

    3 – A 10 year old budget Dell laptop containing a single core Pentium 1.5 Ghz with a slow as mud failing hard drive running Ubuntu 12.04

    This third machine I use for remoting into work every day as well as for banking/billing. It is the machine that I rely on for being able to actively work and sustain a living. I use it from home and while traveling (for work).

    My fourth machine –custom built by me - a 920 liquid cooled Gaming rig – was recently parted out to help with our cash flow. I had desired to replace both this machine and my 10 year old dell with a single modern laptop but life stepped in the way and that cash liquidity is gone.

    I also own a Raspberry Pi but have found this to not allow me to reliably remote into work.

    Now I find myself with a failing machine that responds far slower than I need a machine to - replacing it would not be a fiscally sound decision, but its degrading convalescence may force it to land upon a credit purchase. I would LOVE to be able to reliably remote into work using this laptop, not have to wait for sluggish single core reaction times coupled with a slow failing mechanical hard drive waits, to be able to test my work’s software for windows 8 compatibility, as well as having the chance to play some less demanding games once again. Oh how I miss playing games.
  • hshendon - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link

    I currently have two desktops that I built myself at home used by myself and my son for general use and gaming. I have one desktop made by HP and two HP laptops that my wife and daughter use for work and school, respectively. I used to have a laptop for general use around the house and for when we travel or have work to do while on the go, but that gave up the ghost about 6 months ago and we have not yet replaced it. Instead, we have been getting by by using our phones (2 iPhone 4s's, a Galaxy S3, and a Galaxy S4) or our tablet (a Motorola Xoom). These mobile options have been great and get us by for most things, but I really find myself missing the flexibility of a good laptop when I have more intense work to do on the go where a PC would be helpful (writing papers, doing research, working remotely through the VPN, doing IT troubleshooting for my extended family, or helping with homework). I have wanted to get into the Windows 8 experience for some time with a modern laptop, but our budget just hasn't allowed it, yet.

    So, winning something like this would be great and would completely round out my computing experience once again. Balance in the universe! ;-) Anyway, I would also enjoy capturing my experience with it and would be happy to write a detailed review for AMD and Anandtech!
  • celestialgrave - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link

    Well not entering for myself but for my gf. She has an older Dell Latitude running a Core Duo and a small slow hdd (80gb) and could really use the upgrade. With one of these new ones I can finally get her more into gaming and she would use it occassionally in the kitchen to bring up recipes.

Log in

Don't have an account? Sign up now