Sony 14" VAIO VPCECG3WFX/W Laptop PC,4GB,640GB HD,2.20GHz,Webcam,Windows 7-White

A Stylish, Powerful, Affordable, Full Featured, Ultra-Portable Laptop by SONY. Great Features, Plenty of Storage, Long Battery Life, Fast & Very Responsive for Everyday use.

got this been loving it since pretty good deal way better then old mini laptop i had that one just sucked didnt even last me 6 months so i got this one i suggest if your looking for a good laptop get this one for sure

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Acer 15.6" i3-2330M 2.20 GHz Laptop | AS5749-6863

I bought this laptop for my wife's Christmas present on the day after Black Friday from Fry's online. The price was $299.00 and the laptop is built solidly. It seems plenty quick to me and when I offered to upgrade to 8GB ram from the 3GB it came with, my wife said not to bother (even though it is less than $30.00 for the ram.) We have not noticed any delay in using the mouse cursor as reported in another review here. We are extremely happy with this laptop although it is still very new and hasn't stood the test of time yet.

Pros:

Huge LED back-light screen

Ultra smooth touch-pad

Fast boot time

Quality of manufacturing is beyond industry standards

Long battery life

Performance exceeds that of similarly priced units

Few junk programs come pre-installed.

Cons:

The touch-pad should be placed in the center of the laptop, but it seems to be placed a little to the left of center. I think this is a major pro for left handed people?

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This laptop can support 16gb ram. I got it from frys and upgrade 8gb few month ago and now upgrade to 16gb. It is not easy at first to upgrade memory because you have to open a lot of screw. Pay attention to the audio jack. When open, push the cover down a little at audio jack. when close, make sure audio jack in first and push up a little at audio jack.

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First, it is dual core and it is very sluggish for being i3. The Touchpad is good but not the mouse clicker. It takes a while(a couple of seconds) sometimes to get response from the program. When I compare this laptop with a two year old AMD Toshiba, Toshiba wins. Don't expect a fast laptop. This laptop is worth $280 and if you need something for email or just light office work it will do.

Someone else posted that he could upgrade the memory to 8GB for $30, Only a moron would believe that. For memory installation you have to open the whole laptop and it takes at least half an hour. Best buy charges $70 for just installation. This is not including the cost of the memory chips which you can look up and see for yourself.

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Dell Latitude c600 850 MHZ/256 Ram/20GB HDD/WIFI/XP

This is my very first laptop i have ever purchased. I am very happy with it. Its in great condition minor scratches but its to be of expected being used. I plan on personalizing it anyway with laptop skins anyway. The screen is nice and bright everything runs and looks great. Havent gotten the internet yet but I couldnt have asked for a better first time computer. Also the packaging was great!! I would buy from this seller again and again. THANKS!!!

Received this dell computer within 5 days (maybe less) Computer was very reasonably priced and upon receipt was very pleased with the condition on the computer.

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Samsung Series 7 NP700Z7C-S03US 17.3-Inch Laptop (Silver)

i received this laptop a couple days earlier than estimated, and i have used it for 4 days now.

pros:

the screen is BEAUTIFUL... i mean damn! it's beautiful. crisp. clean. clear. no dead pixels from what i can tell. this is my first 1920 x ? (1080p) resolution screen, and now i understand why some people have to have it. you will not regret the quality of this screen.

fast... i don't have any plans in the immediate future to install an SSD, but it's already a lot faster than my desktop, which ran an e8500 processor.

the build is excellent. super clean for my tastes.

battery lasts a long time. once fully charged, i ran it on battery while downloading / installing / playing music / running programs, and it lasted a good 4 hours.

runs relatively cool and quiet while i did all the above. the left side half of the laptop gets a little warm, but by no means does it feel uncomfortable to use. from my experience in using macbooks, macbooks get a lot warmer than this laptop during normal use.

i read that the sound is very good from this laptop. and now that i've heard it, it's better than i thought it would be. very clean and very loud. i would say that it's a fitting sound system for the screen... and i have to say one more time: this screen is BEAUTIFUL.

cons:

the BIGGEST WEAKNESS and possible DEAL BREAKER con: the wireless card is very weak. i read that the card itself is actually good and strong, but that something about the architecture of the laptop prevents the card from working to its full ability. you have to work relatively close to the router for it to work properly. i would be in a room where macbooks and ipads would get perfect reception, but this laptop would do crazy things and the wireless connection would continuously waver from excellent to weak signal. depending on your use and situation, this could be a HUGE problem for you, unless you want to buy an external usb antennae or something of the like.

the auto dimming screen is awesome and sucky. it's awesome cuz it automatically dims and brightens the screen for you according to the lighting in the room, but when watching a movie in a dark room, the light from the screen itself affects the auto dimming feature, and so the screen brightens and darkens repeatedly. it's kind of funny, but mostly annoying. i'm sure you can turn off the auto dimming feature, but i don't know how.

the keyboard as a whole looks nice especially with the back light. but the keyboard buttons themselves, when compared to a macbook, does not feel as SOLID. this comes down to personal preference, and i've come to like the feel of the buttons.

while comparing the interface to macbooks... i would say the touchpad is about 1.5 steps behind macbooks. it's not as responsive and "crisp" as macbook touchpads, but it's almost there. it's not hard to use, but it does not respond PERFECTLY like macs do.

other thoughts:

the heat of the laptop walks the line between between VERY WARM and ALMOST uncomfortably hot when running graphics intensive programs. it is what it is. if you want a laptop THIS THIN and SEXY to run graphics intensive programs at a super low temperature, you're asking for technology that does not exist yet. you just have to ask yourself what you want MORE. as i was looking for a laptop, i was torn between this and the ASUS g75vw. both laptops' specs are quite comparable, but what the ASUS gave up in thinness and portability, it made up in being able to run everything you throw at it at a very low, comfortable, and healthy temperature.

if you're more into looks and portability, get the samsung. and even then i would give the edge to samsung, because it does a great job of blowing out the heat.

the heat only gets to be a problem if you're in a room that is already uncomfortably warm (85 degrees +)

in conclusion:

FOR ME and my needs... i'm very pleased with this purchase. my only complaint, which is VERY LEGITIMATE, is the weak wireless signal (which is as good as no signal at all) that this laptop gets when about 20 feet away or more from the router. (i use a G router)

BUT i love the overall build quality, performance, screen, sound, feel, and appearance of the laptop so much that i am willing to buy an external usb antennae to make up for its main glaring weakness.

i give this laptop 4.5 STARS.

First Off, This laptop was hard to get on Amazon! I ordered it about a month and a half a ago and still nothing. I checked almost every day on the site and still said 3-5 weeks. Until one day (July 23rd) I checked and sure enough there was a merchant on amazon that only had a few of these bad boys to sell. As soon as I saw that it was available, I immediately canceled my order with amazon and ordered it with the merchant. That same day I checked later to see how many where left and it was completely sold out.

Back to the review, this laptop is perfect!

-Beautiful screen, deep blacks, super whites

-JBL sound is great! nice subwoofer too!

-Keyboard is nice on the fingers, nice response, not cheap at all

-Laptop case is smooth and sturdy. Solid!

-Charging brick is small, not big at all.

Best of all, this thing is super fast! I use CS5 a lot and wow this bad boy boots all programs so fast!The boot up is fast too.

I really wanted to get this version because the hard drive clocks out faster at 7200 rpm, then the 5200 rpm.

Overall this laptop is great, worth every penny.

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I could not decide between the Asus G75 and the Samsung Series 7 (both 17.3" screens with 1TB drive and 8GB of memory) so I bought 1 of each.

Side by side shoot out:

Samsung: GOOD

-looks and feels 90% like a Mac book, which I liked.

-better lighted keyboard

-better battery life

-better sound

-great screen

-light weight

Samsung: BAD

-the wireless antenna on the Samsung is a crap design, as part of the aluminum case I read, and has 1/2 the power/distance of the Asus. Sitting in my living room (35' from the Airport Extreme router) the Asus runs at basically the same speed as on my desk, but the Samsung runs at 1/3 slower and buffers video. 10' further on our dining room table the Asus runs just a bit slower and the Samsung swings from no signal to 4 out of 6 bars without being moved or touched, and another 10' on the porch the Samsung has no signal.

-Runs hot

-touch pad is almost unusable

-not upgradeable

Asus: Good

-runs fast

-quite even with fans on high

-cool in lap

-great screen

-upgradeable

Asus: Bad

-the G75 at Best Buy on display had already had the screen go bad, so I guess I'll just have to keep the protection plan on it.

-case is matte and shows every finger print

-hard to open screen (no finger slot)

-so so sound

-short battery life (4-5 hours)

-REALLY heavy (8+ lbs)

Doing a restore on the Samsung and returning it, which stinks because I liked it a little bit better for the sound and weight, but that does not matter if you can't use it in the primary place I bought it for.

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I bought a nearly identical laptop from BestBuy (same internals except a 1TB 5400rpm drive instead of a 750gb 7200rpm drive) but as I mention below, I upgraded the hard drive so I see that as a very minor distinction.

Pros:

+Powerful with a 3rd gen i7 and graphics card with 2GB dedicated memory this is a powerhouse of a machine (see one exception below).

+Quiet The fans on this is effective (for reasons I mention below) without sounding like an airplane.

+Sleek This is actually lighter than the 15.6 laptop I replaced while giving a larger, brighter screen and slightly longer battery life

+Display for me 1080p was a minimum, but the brightness and color rendering on this are surprisingly excellent, and it is matte too, minimizing glare as an added bonus

+Sound I usually take for granted that laptop speakers are junk, but this has a (tiny) sub-woofer and large sound bar that actually produces both substantial volume and quality, not matching my dedicated systems that cost $100+ for the speakers alone, but far exceeding any sound I ever expected would come out of my laptop.

+Ports (2) USB3.0 + (2) USB2.0 + VGA + HDMI + Mini Display Port + Gigabit ethernet connect to everything old, new and future (except thunderbolt) without any adapters to remember (take that apple)

+Build quality the bottom is plastic, but everything else about this laptop is aluminum, a nice upgrade from plastic

+Modern headphone jack the headphone and microphone jack are the same, utilizing the headphone/ mic combo from a smartphone. It won't let you do anything with the buttons, but now you don't need to buy a separate mic

+Trackpad a large single piece trackpad that is very responsive and multi-touch enabled.

Cons:

-Can't quite do everything at once the power supply and cooling system cannot sustain running the system at 100% CPU and GPU capacity simultaneously so it throttles down slightly. The speed drop is subtle enough not to be noticed in anything but the most intense video games, and it allows for a quieter and sleeker cooling system, but if you want every ounce of horsepower for gaming buy the gaming edition with a higher power power supply and more thorough ventilation.

-NOT meant to be upgraded there is one screw to get to one of the memory slots allowing you to upgrade to 12GB ram, but it takes ~10 screws and prying open with a bunch of snaps to get to the hard drive, battery, and DVD drive, but the second memory slot is still inaccessible. Opening it IS doable (search YouTube for a how-to) but getting to 16GB RAM is not an option.

-Sharp Edges if used without a separate keyboard the edges are very sharp, and can be uncomfortable on the wrists.

-Smart Caching overblown in the last 2 years I went from a 5400RPM to 7200RPM to 7200RPM + 16GB SSD to SSD. The first three jumps are slight (10-25%) increases in speed. The last is a major upgrade (2-4x as fast). I tried this machine when I got it, but I couldn't operate at the slow speeds and had to go to my SSD. The caching helps a little, but upgrading to a SSD will make a world of difference (also, Microsoft Windows User Experience Scores are all 6.7-7.7 EXCEPT the Hard drive which is in the 5's Upgrading to an SSD moves it to 8+ so that the system is no longer slowed by data transfer rates)

Recommendation:

I find I almost never use DVD's anymore my movies are archived, and my programs are downloads, so I replaced my main drive with an SSD($70-400), and bought an inexpensive adapter (

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Lenovo Thinkpad T530 2392AQU 2.60-3.30GHz i5-3320M 4GB 500GB 7200rpm DVD-RW 1GB NVIDIA NVS 5400M 15

In response to my last review this company was very polite and had great costumer service , they contacted me right away about my issue... Ended up having to contact Lenovo and fix the operating system... Which wasn't difficult due to the great customer service from Lenovo as well! Over all and after fixing the issue I'm please with this product!

First impressions sans the dead pixels (returning as we speak) this is a solidly built laptop and I love the new keyboard style. A shame I couldn't use it right out of the box, I will give a thorough review after I get a replacement.

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HP ProBook 4540s 15.6" Business Notebook PC - C6Z37UT

I bought this laptop to use as my Digital Audio Workstation (DAW). I wasn't looking to spend too much, but I wanted a minimum spec, which this laptop filled. Most important was a dual core processer. The i5 in this machine is plenty powerful enough for my use. I also wanted a 7200rpm hard drive this one has it. I did upgrade the RAM to the full 16GB (an extra $88 in Crucial memory) the machine comes with 4GB and is upgradable to 16GB. That upgrade took all of 1 minute. All in, I spent under $700 for a laptop that could have easily cost $900 or more.

I love the look of this thing. It's big, with a large screen. Might not be a great traveling laptop, but for my needs it is exactly what I want.

Everything arrived in new condition. Fired it up out of the box and installed the updates. NO bloat ware to deal with at all, really. Just some HP tools that you don't need enable. This laptop is clean and PERFECT for my use. No processing issues when recording music I get about 4 or 5ms latency using ASIO drivers I can get similar latency with the WAVE RT driver as well. The Windows rating on this system is 5.9 out of 7.9 which is pretty respectable.

I'm running Mixcraft Pro Studio 6.0, Superior Drummer 2.0 & Melodyne Editor 2 without any hiccups.

I'm extremely pleased with my decision to go with this laptop. Yes, it comes with the Windows 8 upgrade but I'm not touching it! Windows 7 Pro is very stable and what I'm sticking with in this particular instance.

I would recommend this laptop of you're on a budget and looking for performance without a bunch of frills. There's no office productivity software pre-installed so if you're buying this for business purposes make sure you have all of the software you want to run. I'm sure that's one of the reasons the price is so reasonable.

For the home audio enthusiast, this is a great entry point platform for your audio recording and editing needs.

It's a computer laptop. It works as expected. I got this one because I didn't want windows 8, but wanted a decent amount of memory. This gave me the option of sticking with 7 and also gave me a disk I could use to upgrade to windows 8 if I ever feel adventuresome. I like the key board. The keys are raised. There are some features I haven't tried yet. It is light weight. That is a plus. Much faster than my other laptops. The CD/DVD slot is not well designed, is flimsy and is hard to open. Update: It has a strange deal with the mouse. There is a small pin light (not a button) in the left portion of the mouse closest to the monitor. If you touch it by accident the light will come on and your mouse will freeze. The only thing that will make the mouse unfreeze is to tap that light several times. Apparently my other HP laptop is like this as well and I never have been unfortunate enough to accidently press it. Other than several hours of panic, it didn't harm anything. But scared me to have my computer essentially frozen and unable to access my documents.

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I like the raised keys on the keyboard. I like how quiet this laptop is. The sound and video are very good. Compared to other laptops I've had it's amazingly quiet.. It's nice and light. My last laptop, an Acer, would get burning hot. Not this one. Thanks to some new technology developed by HP it stays cool, which is a very nice feature. It's fast enough. I tried a Toshiba laptop before I got this one but sent it back because the sound and picture were both terrible, and because I HATED the Windows 8 operating system. I feel very lucky to have found this excellent computer with Windows 7, which I much prefer. I would recommend this laptop.

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I have just received my HP ProBook 4540s few hours ago and I have spent some time playing around with it. So, this is only my first impression. I love everything about this laptop so far! I have just returned my $950 sony laptop and got this $600 HP laptop, and I am so happy to do so. This is a really good laptop for students.

I will write more about this laptop in few months, the time for me to go deeper in its features and usage.

By the way, thank you very much to all people who write reviews about products on amazon.com and online sites. 5 stars for the seller TigerDirect, 5 stars for Amazon.com (I sell and buy on Amazon, and I love the way they handle this business), and more than 5 stars for this wonderful laptop. This is not my first laptop. In fact, in the last 4 years, I have own laptops from Dell, Asus, Apple MacBook (which I returned), Samsung, Sony (which I have just returned today). I have also owned an all in one pc from Asus and another from Sony. However, this is my first time to write a review about a pc, this is my first time to like my pc to the point to sit down and share my first impression...

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Fast shipping from Tiger Direct... Great price for a great PC !!! Fast 3rd generation processor. Bought it for my son for his DJ applications. His words "Awesome". I looked at many Notebooks and chose this one for value at a low price point... Already Recommended it to several friends !!!

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Dell Latitude E6400 Laptop

I've owned my Dell Latitude E6400 for about six months now, and have been working with it almost daily -running a bunch of web development and graphics editing software. Have not had any issues with this laptop that would make me regret buying it, overall -very positive experience. The performance is solid, I had Win XP Pro on it, and now upgraded to Win 7 Pro, and it runs like a charm! The battery life is very good (I have a 9-cell battery) -the longeste I've kept the laptop running non-stop is 4 hours, and never needed to plug back in; the screen size (14") is a good balance for travel and working in comfort. The built-in wireless adapted sometimes needs to be restarted (there is a switch on the side -turn it on and off to restart the wireless, not a big deal at all), but I only noticed that this needs to be done after the system comes out of hibernation. I bought this laptop with a deep discount (it was refurbished by Dell), had some reservations at the time of purchase, but am a very happy camper now -no worries!

This is pretty much configuartion that I got and performance is pretty good with this laptop.

Lighted keyaboard had an impact on decission when I decided to buy this laptop and it is really nice and usefull feature that I was looking some time for it.

Pros:

Very stable, no reboots and doesn't get frozen even when moving/shaking it

Good metal construction --> no flexing

Good set of connection slots for perrifferrals

Backlit keyboard

Very bright screen but not the best color rendering

e-SATA external connector

Internal Intel wireless 5300 AGN WiFi card is excellent

Cons:

LCD display is somewhat washed out although very bright

It gets very hot even just browsing internet after relatively brief period. Poor ventilation.

Somewhat heavy for its size

Average battery life (little bit over 3hr of usage when just browsing internet via WiFi with standard battery)

Proprietary HDMI connector (need to buy separate pigtail adapter)

I have it almost for a year now and no crashes or some issues or glitches so far.

Overall very good business laptop.

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Shipped w/i 3 days. 3-4 hour battery life depending on what you have running. Can dual boot operating systems (I have linux and windows 7). Can play low end games like minecraft/FATE/Half Life really well. Runs extremely fast as long as you don't overload it with too many processes.etc. Doesn't come with web cam. Ram, cpu, HDD are all upgradeable!!! Buy it you wont regret it!!!

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I bought this laptop about 3 years ago and it still works fine I replaced my hard drive for more memory but it's only for people who don't do gaming because it lags a lot. So this laptop was meant for business, school, etc besides gaming. I would say this is a low end laptop not the best ones out there these days but I would say this is really light and portable I bring this every where with me every time my kids and I go to starbucks.

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This was my first laptop and I'm not (really) disappointed. For a few more $$$'s I could have had a larger hard drive (this one being an 80GB) but no serious problem if you augment it with the 256 GB flash drive I chanced upon to use as my storage.. I haven't gone through everything that this laptop offers (forget the norton and use another product). For the price I'm totally satisfied with this Dell.. No built-in web cam but that's not a mark against it in my book as I do not use them anyway.

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Dell XPS XPS14-3182sLV 14-Inch Ultrabook

Hi, before I begin my review, let me tell you a bit about myself. I am a tech enthusiast and I have used a wide range of laptops and smartphones. Recent laptops include:

-Dell XPS 13

-Asus UX31A

-Macbook Pro and Air

-much more

So now you know my background, I will give you my list of PROS and CONS

PROS:

Build Quality. Like the XPS 13, Dell really focused on making the build quality as premium as you can feel. I actually like this feeling more than my macbook pro. I like the rubber underbelly with aluminum casing, very high class and premium. Built like a tank.

Trackpad. A very responsive and accurate trackpad. Very big, very macbook-like.

Battery life. It lasts very long. I get about 6-7 hours when doing light web browsing.

CONS:

Screen. Like the XPS 13, Dell cheaped out on the screen. They have the same type of screen the macbook air has, but the quality is way worse, and it shows. Viewing angles are very narrow, and colors change with the slightest angle adjustment.

Size. For an "ultrabook" this thing is huge. It has an ULV (ultra low voltage) processor, found in most ultrabooks, but it is as heavy and thick as a macbook pro! For the size, the power on this XPS 14 is very low in comparison with the macbook pro. It also doesn't have a DVD player, or really anything the XPS 13 doesn't have. So to be honest, I don't even know what Dell stuffed into this giant that would explain the size. Maybe more battery?

CONCLUSION:

If you don't mind the heft, I would say this would be a better machine than the XPS 13 due to the better trackpad. Otherwise, I would highly recommend the UX31A from Asus or one of the newer haswell ultrabooks. This machine is targeting a very small audience who prefers (for whatever reason) the heftiness of this laptop over slimmer and lighter ultrabooks, even though the size doesn't give any extra power or utility.

Looked at several Ultrabooks -looking for a 14", aluminum finish, etc. Many manufacturers have similar designs, but execution is where it's at. I have Lenovo Thinkpads and Macbooks at work and other Dell desktop products. Let's go right to the pros/cons:

Pros

well-thought-out, solid chassis, little heavy (good thing).

decent keyboard, good feel

good battery life

i5-3317U good mid-range processor

Cons

screen. The 1600x900 display was a step up from 1366x768, but the viewing angles (up/down) were just too awful to keep this one. I'm no machine spec snob, but this one thing made the laptop unusable for me.

the palm rest part of the case is too soft and pliable. It attracts/absorbs grease and fingerprints like 2 minutes after you use it making it look like an (old) greasy fry pan.

Even the Inspiron 14z with it's cheaper overall build quality got this right. If you're into aesthetics, this one thing alone will convince you there's no "Mac" logo on the back.

bottom aluminum cap is hard to keep in place.

One more spin of this design should do it.

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Acer Aspire TimelineX AS3820T-5246 13.3-Inch HD Laptop (Black Brushed Aluminum)

When receiving the package, I immeadiately charged it. Afterwards, downloaded all the programs that I needed to replace my four year old laptop. Talked to the internet company to get that started (my fault b/c I forgot a step to set up). After my set-up was done, I absolutely LOVE it!!!!

My soul purpose for the Timeline is writing. But I do need to carry the laptop to different locations and interview clients. And this "dream" laptop is a sure delight. The processing speed is quick for what I do. Downloads are fast. And the biggest plus....this laptop does not get HOT like my old one. So, I'm ditching the "lap"top cooler! I'm free to roam.

The Battery life is outstanding! I surfed the web for over two hours(unplugged from the ac adaptor) before I came to write this review, my indicator is showwing 90%...8 hours left! WOW!!! Granted, I did some tweaking to the display and power adjustments. But still, 8 hours left after two hours of surfing the net....I love this laptop!

Now the down side. If you're looking to webcam with this laptop, you'll be disappointed. You need to be outside for the proper lighting. Or you can have the lamp light your face if you're indoors. I have adjusted the webcam to a certain degree, but still the quality wasn't there. But like I mentioned before, the soul purpose is for writing.

PRO: Lightweight, Battery life!

CONS: Webcam quality.

If anything should arise in the near future, I'll add it to my review.

I highly suggest the Timeline X to everyone who is in my position.

Addendum:

Someone asked for the Windows Experience Index:

Processor: Calculations Per Second..... 6.3

Mem(RAM): Memory Ops Per Second..... 5.9

Graphics: Desktop Performance for Win..4.7

Gaming Graphics: Performance..... 4.9

Primary Hard Disk: Data transfer..... 5.9

I bought this for $699, shipping included directly from Amazon about three weeks ago. As you can see from some of the discussion thread, the specifications on this system listed by Amazon were changed several times along the way I think Amazon could do a better job in making sure they get the particulars of a specific model right when they are listing a new system. (I noticed this wasn't just for Acer, seemed to be the case for many new systems).

That being said, I love this little Acer system overall. I've been in high tech for over 25 years and I've gone through a lot of computers. I've had this one aboug three weeks and it has exceeded my expectations in most areas.

Form Factor

Small, light, and compact; yet feels solid when you carry it. Doesn't overheat like many systems. Speakers for a laptop are pretty good, as is the webcam. I think most 'average users' will be okay with both. While the keyboard and wrist area are fairly good at not picking up fingerprints, the same can't be said for the top of the system the black matte surface tends to show them.

I like the multi-card reader (it's hidden nicely in the front left corner of the system) and the HDMI support is a real plus as well for me since I plug this into my standing monitor quite often.

If you're used to opening up your laptop with one hand (due the help gravity gives you in dealing with your older, heavier laptop) you may miss that the Acer really needs two hands to open the lid, else the bottom tends to come off the table while you're trying to open the 'clam shell' hinged top. A small thing I adjusted to quickly...

In general, doesn't seem to be a lot of flex in the system, no creaking or moaning when I carry it. it reminds me a little of a well-built car when you shut the door solid sounding, not a tin can. (I've had a lot of tin can laptops over the years...) I have noticed a slight looseness in the left hand side plastic that covers the LED display, but it's not enough to bother me.

Peformance

The Intel HD graphics, i3 processor, and 4GB of memory help this puppy hum right along. The only complaint would be the slower 5400 speed drive. It's not necessarily noticeable, but it's too bad Acer doesn't include a faster 7200RPM drive. Also, for future reference, the system can hold 8GB of memory, but it comes preinstalled with 2 2GB DDR3 1066 SDRAM memory modules so keep that in mind if you are planning to upgrade memory at some point in the future you'll need to swap out both cards to get to 8GB.

High resolution video streaming, various online playbacks, and online performance in general is excellent. (See my note below about wireless throughput). In general, I'm very pleased with the graphics on this system.

Pre-installed Software

A couple of the Acer preloaded softwares seemed a little flakey. I uninstalled most of the preloaded software. In general, there is some clean-up if you don't want to take advantage of all their 'offers', but no more than most other systems.

Keyboard

Didn't mind the 'island' key layout, though it did take a couple minutes to get used to. Keyboard overall is responsive and has a very good 'full keyboard' feel. I thought the response of the multi-gesture touchpad was pretty good overall and think that if you haven't had one before, you'll like the functionality.

CineCrystal Backlight LED Display

Some people don't like this type of 'high-gloss' display. This system doesn't seem to have much glare/reflection issues; viewing angles are good, and the brightness is almost too bright I adjusted the default power settings to turn it down some.

Wireless

I did have one issue with the wireless (which turned out to have nothing directly to do with the Acer system, but I thought it was important to include here for anyone looking at Windows 7 and N-router compatibility). The Acer found my network easily, and Windows 7 configured everything correctly so it worked right away... but, I noticed the throughput seemed very slow. I ran a speed test online (dslreports) and realized my throughput was terrible even though I was configured to use my N-router and was only about 5 feet from the router when I did the test. I little research showed a lot of people complaining about slow and disconnecting wireless on Windows 7 systems (mostly during the Windows 7 beta, but still a lot since production release).

My problem turned out to be related to my router (it needed to have it's firmware updated to the latest version). Once I did that, the Acer connected wirelessly like a rocket. I'm averaging 11-12Mbps download on comcast; prior to update my wireless router firmware I was getting about 950Kbps download speed wirelessly. So if you have an N-router and are moving to a system with Windows 7, and you notice any performance issues, you may want to double check and make sure your router firmeware is the latest version possible.

Also, be aware that the preinstalled wireless drivers for the Atheros miniPCIe card are more current than the ones on Acer's website. So if you are troubleshooting wireless issues, be careful to check versions before assuming Acer's website has the most current.

Batter Life

While the 6-cell battery is good (Acer also makes a 9-cell you can buy as well), it's not giving me anywhere near 8 hours of battery life not that I expected it to. There are good options and a lot of granularity for adjusting performance/battery life profiles. I've been running mostly in the predefined 'balanced profile' and find I get about 4 to 4.5 hours of battery life which I think is more than reasonable. I suspect if I wanted to I could prolong the battery by running in the 'maximum battery life profile', but I haven't worried about it since my old laptop (Dell XPS) was lucky to get 2.5 hours. I did play with the maximum battery life profile a little and didn't notice any slow down in performance only that it dimmed the display quite a bit which is always a big culprit when it comes to consuming power.

Acer Support

I had a chance to deal with them when I noticed my slow wireless connectivity. In general, they seem to try and handle support via email, and although they are responsive, the responses seemed very automated and generic (try installing latest drivers, check obvious things). If you are used to troubleshooting issues on your own, I think they can complement the process. I never got the point where my issue was escalated hight enough to get any real help from them as I'd already solved it on my own. That being said, their site does a pretty good job of organizing their drivers by model and OS.

Last Thoughts

I had considered buying an Apple Macbook Pro or Airbook this time around, but for the price difference, this Acer can't be beat. I'd also looked at various higher/lower end notebooks, ultralight notebooks and ever a few netbooks. If you don't mind not having an optical drive (and to be honest I thought I would miss it, but don't) a 13.3 inch system like this Acer, with the new Intel i3 processor (they also have a model that comes with the i5) can't be beat for the price. It's solid and seems to be a good little workhorse.

Buy Acer Aspire TimelineX AS3820T-5246 13.3-Inch HD Laptop (Black Brushed Aluminum) Now

Computing Needs: Internet browsing, Email, Word/Excel, organizing photos, listening to music, Youtube, and HD/Blu-Ray Playback.

Pros:

* Thin & Light

* Fast & Snappy performance (standard i3 processor!)

* Plays Youtube/Hulu 1080p content perfectly (no stutter)

* Bluetooth 3.0 (The spec listing is wrong again...)

* Great Battery Life

* Solid/Quality Construction

* Aluminum brushed exterior and overall design looks very nice

* User-friendly Touchpad

* Solid Keyboard

* Laptop never gets hot, warm at most even under stress

* Quiet

* Bright and Clear LCD.

Cons:

* At the time of purchase, specs showed it includes external DVD drive (which it does not).

* Gray areas of notebook is more silver-gray than charcoal-gray as shown.

* Glossy LCD Panel no problem indoors, but hard to see in outdoor sunny conditions.

* Weak 5400rpm hard drive is bottleneck of this system.

* Bloatware/Unwanted Apps less than some rivals but still a pain to remove.

Worthy of Noting:

* Touchpad(made by Synaptics) and palm area is much better made than the ASUS UL Series. Unlike the ASUS UL series I tried, this 3820T doesn't collect much hand oil/fingerprints, and fingers glides through easily even after prolonged use. Also, the Touchpad & Gestures both works very accurately and the touchpad buttons are very easy to press.

* Keyboard: Keys are quiet when typing, no flexing, and feels more solid compared to ASUS UL series.

* Chassis: Solid laptop casing and assembled very well. There are no loose parts and no squeaking pressure points.

* Wireless: For those who care, the wireless chip inside the 3820T is an Atheros AR5B93. The wireless connection is stable with decent range.

* HDMI out to 1080p LCD monitor worked without much effort. Just plug and play, and choose settings you want in Intel HD Control Panel. I don't have a Blu-Ray drive so have not been able to test Blu-Ray playback. However, YouTube 1080p x264 played perfectly, no stutter and uses about 30% CPU.

* Sound is adequate for quiet to moderate noise environments. If you want a digital audio connection this laptop also includes a digital-out SPDIF option.

* Drivers that came with the laptop is NEWER than Acer Support Website. If you want to do a clean installation of Windows 7, you'll need to hunt down updated drivers on your own.

* Heat/Noise: The notebook stays cool and is lap friendly. You can feel the warm air pushed out of the side fan when playing 1080p clip, but the body of the laptop stays at room temp. It stays quiet throughout intense and light-use.

Final Thoughts:

*Great price/value/performance/quality. I would buy again and recommend to others.

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This computer has demonstrated seriously impressive speed, performance, portability, and battery life in the 2 weeks I've had it. It's lighter and runs cooler than my 2-year old black 13-in MacBook Pro, and it took about 3.5 hours of moderate use (web-browsing + software installations) to reduce battery charge to 50%. It remains super-fast even when I'm on the web, playing music, and installing programs at the same time.

I've also inadvertently put this computer through a serious stress test, which it passed in impressive fashion: I was installing a program (from a legitimate vendor that shall remain nameless) that went out-of-control and opened about 40 web browser windows, and yet the computer didn't crash! It apparently had the CPU and memory capacity to handle all those processes until I finally was able to use the Task Manager to rein them in.

This laptop is not without some minor faults. The trackpad is not as sensitive to multi-gestures as I would like. As other reviewers have mentioned, its webcam quality isn't great. And of course there are several annoying pre-installed programs that I opted to remove. Personally I think its performance more than makes up for these shortfalls.

The lack of a built-in optical drive is a minor inconvenience, but nothing that an external drive and an optical drive emulator can't overcome. The only thing I really miss from Mac OSX is the native multiple-desktop support (though apparently there are free downloads available for that too)...Windows 7 has something comparable to every other feature I regularly use on a Mac.

Windows Experience Indices (whatever they're supposed to mean):

Processor: 6.3

Memory (RAM): 5.9

Graphics: 4.6

Gaming graphics: 5.1

Primary hard disk: 5.9

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I just received my Timeline today and immediately swapped out the drive with a 128G AData SSD with Ubuntu 10.04 32bit (32 bit because I pulled it from my previous machine that was 32 bit, I may go to 64 bit at some point). Boot to login using encrypted LVM is about 6 seconds. Everything was detected and just a few tweaks were needed to the xorg.conf to get HDMI switching to work. HDMI audio works, wifi works great, I really haven't found anything yet that doesn't work. Battery life of 8 hours seems fairly optimistic, but I've been running it awful hard as a burn in and I'm getting about 4 hours (screen at 100%, CPU at 1.85Ghz, boxee playing pandora non stop over wifi) I suspect that 6 to 7 hours will be closer to norm. Suspend and resume works like a charm. Open the lid and resume is within 2 seconds (remember, SSD not an HDD). The keyboard is excellent and heat is a non issue. It does get warm, but I would say less than 100F. I'm trying to get the bluetooth to wake up now, but haven't had much luck. I've also spent all of 5 minutes on it. I have no idea how this machine runs in windows, but I would not hesitate to suggest it to anyone that is looking for a nice linux machine.

Pros: Screen is bright

machine is very quick

heat is a non issue

card reader is located intelligently enough in the front of the machine

It looks very pro. Feels light but substantial

Makes a happy little ubuntu box, compiz works

Cons:I don't care at all for the shared wifi/bluetooth button. It's just confusing.

I use encryption on everything, encrypted volumes, folders, etc. It would be nice if this i3 was one of the models with

hardware AES support, but it has enough CPU available that it's not like I really notice.

Notes:

You'll need to add the following to the xorg.conf in the Device section to get switching to HDMI to work

Option "AccelMethod" "uxa"

Option "EXAOptimizeMigration" "true"

Option "MigrationHeuristic" "greedy"

You'll also need to add the following line to /etc/default/grub to get the brightness hotkeys working

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash acpi_osi=Linux"

then run sudo update-grub. acpi_osi is not a typo, it's not acpi_os

Update, I just found that I actually had the atheros driver for the NIC already installed, you will need to download that. Never did get the bluetooth to work and battery life in normal operation (wifi, virtualbox VM running, playing MP3s and surfing) is right around 6.5 hours. Otherwise this thing has been a joy.

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Sony - VAIO VPCEH25FM/B Laptop PC - Intel i3-2330M 2.2GHz, 15.5" Display, 4GB Memory, 640GB Hard Dr

I was looking for a laptop with Intel Core processor (I3 or I5 series), The design and the performance of this laptop is great, considering the price it has been a very good decision to buy it.

One more thing, it doesn't heat almost nothing, you can work with it over your legs for long time without feeling the anoying heat sensation.

Got this computer for Christmas this year, I love it. The keyboard is great, its very fast and the design is great!

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With the exception of a few of the unnecessary programs clogging the screen, Sony has always been the top of the line when it comes to PC laptops. Ready to go right out the box and worked like a charm on bench testing.

As usual, Sony laptops leave my customers feeling happy and satisfied.

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I've been using this laptop for a few months for work. So far its been great. Battery life is pretty good and performance is above what I expected. I took away one star for all the bloatware that's difficult and time consuming to remove. Able to run multiple excel spreadsheets, photoshop, dreamweaver, and multiple chrome tabs all at the same time with no problem. This laptop is a little pricey for its specs, but then again, its got a good mix of RAM and HDD space on top of the i3 processor.

Want Sony - VAIO VPCEH25FM/B Laptop PC - Intel i3-2330M 2.2GHz, 15.5" Display, 4GB Memory, 640GB Hard Dr Discount?

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Toshiba M305-S4910 14.1-Inch Widescreen Satellite Laptop

All I have to say is that I bought this laptop also from Best Buy and I LOVE it. As an IT guy with nearly 10 years of experience, this little guy is well worth the investment. What I like most are the keys. I normally type 60+ wpm but the way that the keys are designed, it seems like its 70+. Very ergonomic. Battery life is great and with the amount of RAM the performance is exceptional. Very slick look! Highly recommended.

The price was so right! I bought this computer recently and it is a work horse, I love all of the things it can do. My problem is the design of the screen, it cannot open all the way which drives me nuts. The screen stands vertical, not good. Frequent pushing on the screen will damage the machine eventually, other laptops that I own, open like a book, not this one, it barely opens half way. Other than that it would have been just what I needed so I'm returning it.

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i purchased this from best buy back in may 2009, it's nothing special but if you need a laptop that will do its job, this is one i'd recommend. it's just hard to keep it clean since the keyboard is of a glossy finish. i use it daily and definitely enjoy it!

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I spent endless hours looking for the best rated laptop for college. I found that the best reviews for any research is not on this site, but on the site (real laptop reviews). I went to Best Buy & bought this same one for $ bucks less!! The quality is great & the battery will last for over 5 hours! The weight is not to heavy-about 5 lbs with the battery. I'm really happy overall with this model.

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Bought two of these at the same time. Didn't move them around much; his was mostly used to read the newspaper in the morning, check email, and watch an occasional movie, and mine was used to check email and fiddle around with Photoshop here and there. We also both use Skype once in awhile; the camera quality wasn't good, but it did the job. Both worked well for awhile the keyboard is easy to type on, the harmon/kardon speakers are a nice touch, and no complaints in general. Just over a year in, his camera stopped working; technical support said they couldn't do anything about it and were generally unhelpful. About a year and a half in, my computer's screen started flickering/flashing once every ten seconds or so. If turned off for a day or two, it would be fine again for awhile. Again, technical support was completely unhelpful. But this is the reason I would not buy a Toshiba product again: my power cord died two weeks ago, and his died one week ago. They died within a week of each other! We have no pets who could chew wires, don't move the laptops around much, and shut the power on the power strip at night / when we're not around. I called Toshiba's technical AND customer support and asked if they would replace these, as they seem to be lemons. Both were polite enough, but refused to help in any way, and could not offer anythingno replacements, no discounts, nothing. I will absolutely not shell out $140 for two new power cords when these two died after two years; my last power cord lasted almost seven years. I know generic replacements are available for pretty cheap, but it was more the principle that incensed me. So much for standing behind your products. I would not recommend the laptops and would not recommend Toshiba products unless you buy with the knowledge that you are on your own once your warranty expires.

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HP Pavilion G62-222US 15.6-Inch Laptop

Definitely a super deal if you bought it at Office Depot when it was on sale. Very solid, good performing laptop overall for the price. Only nuisance is the touchpad. The 2 touchpad buttons are rather hard to depress (like if you want to hold the left button down to scroll down a page) and makes it rather annoying. I may get an external mouse to get around this problem.

Overall, performs fast. The screen res is good, not excellent. Can't beat the value though!

I ordered this laptop as a replacement for an older xp machine I have been using at work. It was advertised as used and in good condition. I was very pleasantly surprised when it arrived 3 days early. I was even more pleased when I opened the box and found the machine to be in, as-new, pristine condition. It has been in use for a week now and has performed fast and flawlessly. What a good experience!

Buy HP Pavilion G62-222US 15.6-Inch Laptop Now

This computer was a cheap purchase for me, a good price. But make no mistake. IT is not a value. You get what you pay for.

This computer was nothing but trouble for me since I bought it. Within a year of owning it (But of course, past the warranty!) the computer developed the "white screen" problem. Many times, but not every time, the computer would start up with a white screen. From this point it was dead. I had a techie friend fix it. So, things were fine, for about another six months. Suddenly, without warning, the white screen started again. I finally got it back up and running..for five minutes. Then, it crashed. NOw, it doesn't have the juice to power on. I had another friend look at it and he said it is likely the motherboard--more expensive repair than the crappy thing is worth. So now it is sitting, unused, in my room while I look for another computer. Again.

I did not overload the capacity of this computer. I kept almost nothing on it actually. I cleaned it off on purpose so as not to slow it down or cause problems. I used it mainly for web browsing and storing a few word/sticky/excel documents. It is just, in a word, a piece of junk.

Read Best Reviews of HP Pavilion G62-222US 15.6-Inch Laptop Here

ALL I HAVE TO SAY THIS IS THE BEST.....I EVEN HAD A POWER SURGE HOME FROM LIGHTING THAT STRUCK AND THIS WAS NOT PLUGGED INTO A SURGE PROTECTOR AND THANK GOD IT STILL WORKS. ITS WORTH THE MONEY

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I just checked at Office Depot, their price only $449.99. If compare with Lenovo Thinkpad T400, no HDMI port, and 14.1" screen$1,235.95, this hp laptop is very good deal.

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HP Envy 15-3040NR 15.6 Inch Laptop (Black/Silver)

I really wanted to like this laptop, because on paper, there are very very few (if any) laptops that offer a similar package at this price point (up to 30% off MSRP after various HP coupons on the web for i7-2620qm, powerful graphics via 7690m, but most of all, 1080p IPS display). However, after 2 months of patience, I can no longer ignore the glaring issues HP has chosen to overlook. First, there have been numerous reports first appearing in forums about users' complaints about the Envy 15 1080p's inability to produce red colors. Since the initial reports in January, numerous tech blogs like the Verge, notebookcheck, and Engadget (among others) have confirmed this issue. While I had tried to overlook the issue myself, the non-reds eventually became far too big of a distraction, especially considering that this was a $150.00 upgrade option. If HP charged $250.00 for a screen upgrade that had a decent color gamut (come on! I'm not asking for Dreamcolor quality or even 95% Adobe coverage like Lenovo offers, just a screen that can reproduce the THREE PRIMARY COLORS!), I would have gladly and without hesitation ponied up the extra cost. I regret that HP chose to cut corners like this, when they were so close to a phenomenal laptop/display. -1 Star for display.

The second issue I take is the keyboard. To be fair, when I first received this unit, I had no skipped/missed keys, and I decided I could live with the slight flex on the left side of the keyboard. But ever since a BIOS update (F.05, for those of you keeping track), which by the way was ON HP's OWN SITE, the keyboard will miss literally about 15% of my keystrokes whenever I'm running on AC adapter (but strangely, I have no problems when running on battery!). The keystroke issue is actually distracting enough to disrupt my day-to-day web browsing (missed spaces and mistyped web addresses are nothing but common); in fact, the only way you are reading this review without typos in every 3rd word is by my proofreading. Again, to be fair, I am understanding of the fact that software/updates can be buggy at times; it's another matter when the manufacturer does not fix these bugs, not to mention refuse to acknowledge the numerous complaints from customers (google for forums in notebookreview.com and HP customer support forum for "Envy 15 BIOS keyboard" and skim through results). -2 Star, 1 each for keyboard/HP customer service handling complaints.

Others have complained about banged up USB ports, scratches, paint peeling, etc., but my unit arrived cosmetically flawless so I will not dock any stars for that.

It is my own fault for waiting 2 months to try to like this laptop and end up discovering all of this, instead of returning the unit within the initial 21-day period. I hope others will benefit from my less-than-pleasant experience with the Envy 15. I will update this review should HP offer any solutions to these and other complaints not even mentioned in this mini-review, but I am not holding my breath.

EDIT 2/21/12: BIOS F.06 also does nothing to address the keyboard problem.

EDIT 3/20/12: I'm adding one star back to my review. F.07 was released a couple of days ago, and I'm happy to report that all of the keyboard woes are gone! Here's to hoping that those problems don't return... I would like to add on a half-star if I could, for the fact that HP's coming around to responding and ACKNOWLEDGING the problems surrounding the Envy. HP recently made a formal (though somewhat vague) announcement about HP's proposal to fix the screen issue. This gives me some hope that the company's at least taking steps to do what it can to remedy the issues at hand. I will update again after seeing what HP ultimately does w/ the LCD problem.

EDIT 5/10/12: HP released a software that allows some control over colors for the display, but as I had suspected, the software doesn't do anything to fix the red/violet issues (I wasn't hoping for too much out of the software option anyway since my research had confirmed the colors are a limitation of the LG panel itself).

EDIT 7/10/12: I honestly didn't think I'd be updating this review again, but here I am. First I have to say that HP's engineers offered better customer concern/service than any dedicated customer service departments, period (Thanks again, Jonathan!). Second, HP contacted me a few weeks ago to ask whether I had the orange-red issues with my panel, to which I provided details about the problem. Long story short, I was offered a free exchange (HP paid shipping both ways), and quite frankly, I wasn't expecting any difference despite the different panel part number of the new panel. Well I was wrong--wrong about my customer service comments above, and wrong about the panel. The new panel isn't perfect or even great by any standard, but it is definitely a noticeable improvement on the original Envy 15 panels' reds. In light of these two points, I'm adding one more star back mostly due to the way that HP decided to handle the crappy-display issue because the screen, as improved as it is, is still only average. Here's a quote from a post I wrote on another forum, describing the difference:

"While the reds on the new panels are still definitely not a natural, deep red, it's a noticeable improvement from the older panels. The red is at least almost on par with my Galaxy S phone, and noticeably but not hugely worse than my Dell U2311h. Reds are noticeably more orange than on my Dell U2410, but I'm not expecting much there because that is, after all, a 118% gamut display. My Envy 14's red is definitely redder, but I didn't expect the E15 to be as good anyway since the E14's panel is 84% gamut, and the E15's is supposedly 60%. The reds are indistinguishable from the reds on my wife's Late 2011 Macbook 15 (1680x1050 panel), and in some cases (netflix website, fullscreen red in Paint), the E15 actually appears redder--and no, there is nothing "wrong" with the Macbook's panel.

It's very hard for me not to expect more though b/c I've been far too long spoiled by the likes of HP's dreamcolor display, Dell's no longer existent RGBLED XPS 16 display, and excellent desktop monitors... yet, in spite of that, I can confidently say that at least the color aspect of the new panels are no better or worse than the colors of a typical TN panel on the average laptop. That said, I always thought that given equal color reproduction, there is little/no reason not to opt for IPS or TN (at least on a laptop), so I think I can lay aside my gripes about the orange-y reds. I can always wish/complain about wanting a higher gamut, but I know that's not what I paid for, nor did HP advertise high-gamut displays on the E15 as they did with the E14."

I bought this from Amazon but I ordered it through my wife's account (she has a prime student) and that's why Amazon is not showing as verified purchase. This laptop is gorgeous, very much a clone of a Macbook pro. I use a Early 2010 Macbook pro 17" for my work, and I can assure you it excels my Macbook pro in the following functional aspects:

1. It has a full keyboard. The Macbook's so called "Full" keyboard is really not that full. Macbook misses all the home, end, page up and page down button. And trust me, even after two years of regular usage, I find it irritating. True, you can use Command + Up/Down etc. combination. But it's really a productivity issue.

2. The Envy's 4 speakers and the woofer combination is really awesome. In fact, this is the first laptop that I saw that outperforms my 17" Macbook pro speaker (both sound quality and volume). Previously I compared Asus N53, hp DV5, Lenovo (forgot the model number) and hp DV6 and all of them had much inferior sound quality than my Macbook pro

3. The USB ports are distributed on two sides, which is really nice

From aesthetics and ergonomics part, it excels my Macbook pro in the following aspects:

1. The corners of the rectangular chassis is not sharp like my Macbook pro, which is really nice. The Macbook's sharp edges cut into my palm everytime I lift it. Even while typing, it feels like a knife against my arm.

2. I liked the back lighting of the hp keyboard better

Now some cons in comparison to my Macbook pro 17 (early 2010):

1. My hp envy 15 power button's painting is already peeling off!! My Macbook pro still looks like brand new (not just the power button). To be fair, the Envy 15 doesn't seem to have any other weak part to peel off, and I am planning to keep the laptop as that minor cosmetic blemish is not a big deal for me.

2. The screen on my Macbook pro still would outperform the radiance display (to be fair, this is the best display of all the non Macbook pro that I have seen (refer to the earlier mentioned laptop models that I played with)). That being said, the Macbook pro 15" display really SUCKS. Refer to my updated comparison with Macbook pro 15" at the end of this review.

3. My 2 years old Macbook pro's 640x480 resolution webcam (yes that's only 0.3 mega pixel) still outperforms this Envy HD webcam (True vision or whatever they call it). That being said, again, to be fair, this is one of the best webcam that I have seen in non-Macbook pro laptops. Particularly, my last attempt with Asus N53SV webcam was horrible! It was sooo laggy and soo horrible quality that it was a deal breaker for me. (UPDATE: I changed my opinion, and kindly refer to my updated part of this review for my current subjective opinion).

4. The touchpad on my macbook pro has NO competitor. It's really awesome, and the hp touchpad can only dream to be of that quality.

Now some common complaint and their solution:

1. The touchpad is horrible, doesn't do smooth scrolling, doesn't register click etc. The solution is to install the latest driver. The notebook review forum has a Envy driver page which is up to date with the latest drivers (including drivers that are still not officially available from HP) and I downloaded a Synaptic driver from that link. It's a direct download from HP server, so nothing to be worried about. HP is probably going to release that soon. The driver was built at the end of January and after installing that, this touchpad is REALLY awesome. Almost as good as my Macbook pro (but as I said, it's still has a long way to go)

2. The two finger tapping has no right click configuration: If you come from Mac world, you are probably accustomed to tapping with two fingers and that acts like a right click. You can install an open source program named TwoFingerScroll (hosted on google codes) to achieve that. After that, IMHO, the touchpad is feature complete (you can configure many options in original Synaptic control panel + TwoFingerScroll)

3. Battery issue, and smooth switching between built in and ATI graphics card: Right now I have fixed mode driver enabled and I am only using built in Intel Graphics, which is more than adequate for me as I don't play games. You just need to go to BIOS settings and set Fixed mode in video switching setting (instead of Dynamic (the default)), and then right click on the desktop and go to Configure Switchable Graphics and set the power saving GPU as the graphics card. That seems to give me around 5 hours of typical usage, where I can edit the documents or browse typical web. Please refer to the updated review at the end of this review for some battery comparison with Macbook pro 17" and 15".

4. People complain that the red looks orange. But that's a common problem of the recent IPS panels (I heard Sony has same problem). And to me it doesn't look bad at all. The notebook review forum has some color calibration suggestion to improve the red accuracy. But I don't think it would be fixed with such a simple solution. So, if you really need a very accurate color output, look elsewhere.

Some features that I really like:

1. The analog volume control: Oh my gosh, that is sooo handy and sooo cute. You really need to feel it to understand how great that feature is. I always got lost between various top row volume control button. Now I never miss volume up and volume down. And they also have a cute mute button next to the analog volume control.

2. Buttonless touchpad: While they copied it from Apple, I think that's really great. Particularly, now you have the whole area as a touchpad and for multi-touch gesture.

Some issues that I hate:

1. The fan sound. It's definitely louder than my Macbook pro (Which is almost silent), and it's even louder than my Asus N53!

2. The left side of the keyboard (a, s, d etc. keys) feels loose (probably people call it flexing??) It doesn't feel solid.

3. I hated the crappy painting that is peeling off from the power button

All being said, this is the best non-Apple laptop that I have ever seen in my life. I am really happy with the build quality and the look (which they definitely copied from Apple), and the laptop is really very snappy (as you would expect from such a high end laptop). Unless the IPS Red accuracy is an issue for you, and you can live with some hit and miss on the build quality, it should be fine. Give it a try, and of course Amazon's excellent customer service would help you get a refund if you are not happy.

UPDATE 02/22/2012:

I now played with the laptop little more, and I also compared it with my brother's late 2011 Macbook pro 15" (The latest model). Here is my findings:

1. Envy's display might be inferior to my Macbook pro 17" which has a full HD (not 1080p) 1920x1200 display. But it blows away the latest 15" Macbook pro's display which only has 1440x900 and you cannot even upgrade that display. In fact, the Macbook pro 15's display looks super pixelated next to Envy's display.

2. I heavily tested the webcam, and compared it against both my Macbook pro 17 and my brother's Macbook pro 15. While the Macbook pro's webcam looks more brighter, it is actually inferior to HP's true vision webcam. The hp webcam gives high color accuracy and more contrast. In return, you get more noise. In a first look it does appear that Macbook's webcam is smoother. But my wife pointed to me that my green t-shirt during testing was looking almost whitish with the Macbook pro (both 17" and 15") webcam.

3. Moreover, on the Webcam part, the HP webcam is buttery smooth. I don't have a scientific comparison. But, I felt like they are capturing the frames at at least 20+ FPS. Macbook pro's Webcam is also quite good. But I felt like they have little bit of lag and not as smooth as HP.

4. Apple actually lost their battery edge! This is particularly surprise to me. My 17" Macbook pro still gives me 6+ hours of battery life. While the brand new Macbook pro 15" actually depletes within 3 hours of continuous video playback! On skype video calling, it was showing me a dismal 1.5 hours of estimated battery life! The MBP 15" battery life is therefore very similar to Envy's battery life. I believe this is because of the quad core processor. Another thing that irritated me is Apple's unwillingness to disable the dedicated graphics card. In my Early 2010 MBP, there was an option in System Preference, where I could disable my dedicated graphics card to save some power. As I never play game, I never use dedicated graphics card. But, looks like in OS X Lion and the late 2011 MBP, they only either allow you dynamic switching or a dedicated graphics card. Neither could accomplish the best possible battery life with just an exclusive non-negotiable built in graphics card (as I mentioned, both my MBP 17 and Envy is currently set to built in graphics only).

5. And finally, I really got disappointed at my brother's latest Macbook pro 15" after introspecting with what he got after paying 1.5 times the cost of Envy:

5.1. MBP 15 has 512 MB of graphics RAM, while Envy 15 has 1GB.

5.2. Envy 15 came with Radeon 7690M while MBP came with 6750M.

5.3. Envy 15 came with 750GB Hard disk, while MBP came with 500GB HDD. Also, Envy came with 7200 RPM faster Hard disk, while MBP 15 came with 5400 slower hard disk.

5.4. Envy 15 came with 8GB 1600MHz RAM, while MBP came with 4GB 1333MHz RAM

5.5. Not to mention the super CRAPPY display of 15" MBP. That itself would be a deal breaker for me.

That being said, would I stop buying a Macbook pro in the future, when such a perfect Macbook pro clone is around? NO. I am a Computer Science researcher and I love the power of Unix. I am writing this part for those parents who often times buy Windows machine for their college going sons/daughters with Computer Science major. I personally believe that for productivity of a Computer Science major, Mac OS X has NO competitor. While Linux could be a viable alternative, it doesn't have any polished software. E.g., when I first bought my Mac, I commented that just for Unix compatibility, Omnigraffle, Keynote and native PDF integration of Mac OS X, I would pay the Apple premium. Linux simply doesn't have the Apps ecosystem. And Windows will never be able to emulate a Unix system as it doesn't have the POSIX layer. That being said, Windows is an excellent Entertainment OS. E.g., you cannot easily stream your media to your TV through a MAC (it doesn't come with DLNA and UPnP support), while Windows 7 is bundled out of the box with all those nice features. I can keep going on. But, my point is, for productivity, buy a Mac. For leisure and entertainment buy a Windows machine. That's just my personal opinion of course.

Update 03/24/2012:

After updating the bios to F.06, my keyboard started missing lots of keystrokes. Fortunately, Amazon was happy to send me another one. The new one came with F.06 pre-installed, but it only missed keystrokes when the backlit is ON. Luckily, HP released their latest F.07 BIOS. And now, all my problems are gone! The keyboard is perfectly working, and thanks to Amazon, I have got a new laptop with no power button paint peeling. So, I am hereby updating my review to 5 star. I know I have gone through lots of ordeal to get to this point. But I don't wanna keep any hard feeling, particularly when the laptop is so fast and smooth, and cute looking.

Buy HP Envy 15-3040NR 15.6 Inch Laptop (Black/Silver) Now

So, I bought this computer after my last HP (which I loved) went bad. First of all, I own a MacBook (that I use for ProTools) and 4 other laptops that I actually use on a regular basis. This was bought to be my "personal" computer the one I actually use for me.

THIS REVIEW IS FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE ALL OVER THE PLACE FIGHTING ABOUT BRAND AND NOT PAYING ATTENTION TO FUNCTIONALITY FOR THE PRICE

So, maybe earlier versions had a few problems, or for Apple users (more likely) had a different feel. I get that, but it's clear that whatever early bugs this had were fixed. It's pretty common for all makers to have buggy first batches of hardware. I don't give anybody a pass, and I include HP, Sony, Apple, and MS in this category. Mine had no errors of the original buyers, so I can't comment on that.

I buy computers based on:

1. What's inside them are they fast, can they be upgraded, will they do what I want?

2. Are they durable/high quality, in terms of design?

3. Is the price being asked fair compared to other company's models with similar specs?

The amount of complaining about how it looks like an MBP "but isn't," or basing your decision on "how close is it to another MacBook? to me tells me that you're completely looking at the wrong things. Here's what I think about this computer, and also how I made it as fast/faster than several $2500+ laptops (yes, MBPs included) for a whopping total of $1200. I bought an 83" DLP TV and built a movie theater with the money I didn't spend on having a specific brand like Samsung/Apple/Sony on my laptop case. I bought the best computer at the best price on the market; simple if you can set aside some bias.

PROS

FAST The i7, 8g RAM, Radeon, and 7200rpm HD make this thing incredibly smooth. Even before the SSD I put on (more in a second), it was a 5-10 second boot and had no lags/delays using any program or function.

STURDY The design on this is exceptional (in my opinion). While seemingly very simple, having an analog volume control on the side is a brilliant idea, and the computer is not cheap feeling. It's not heavy, and all and in the design/layout is great.

Easy Upgrade Potential (SSD!) For a whopping $200, I bought a new 240gb SSD, an external USB case for the existing drive, and the clone kit, and I literally was able to put in the SSD (including the clone) in about 40 minutes. This series has a back that simply slides off, lets you take out the 2.5" SATA HD case, put in the SSD, and close it up. With an SSD, this computer is insanely, insanely fast, and if I need it, I have my 7200rpm 750gb HD in a nice slimline case.

PRICE. Look at the specs, what you're getting, and then compare to Apple, Sony, or Samsung. At $1050, you're saving at least $1000 if you're considering an Apple (for close to equal stock specs), and probably $500 or so if you're looking at a Windows laptop. Given that I now have this with a top of the line 240gb SSD, and my TOTAL price was $1300.....it serious cannot be beat.

Windows 8 for $15 upon release this is what you maybe should use 1 of your 2 HDs for when it comes out? Have both OS's set up, and have a real copy for $15. I dig it.

HDMI Out, Full 1080p HD Screen no explanation needed...any computer that doesn't have an HDMI out now, to me, is a joke. The screen looks great, and I have no negative things to say about it vs my MacBook, MBP pro, or other high-end laptops..

CONS

Default TouchPad Settings The touchpad has (in my opinion) too many annoying double/triple tap and touch features. If you're in to those types of functions, they're all there, but it's annoying as hell at first to have the scroll and resize and whatnot on by default. I want just the touchpad to move the cursor and have the left/right buttons. I have the screen-res change ability on too, but that's it. Also, you should play with the scroll speed and sensitivity to have it set up "your way" right away.

All in all this is an amazing computer that costs about $2000-$2600 (if you factor in the SSD install) from Apple, or $1500+ from other makes. It has some neat design aspects, and is basically HP's "hip" computer for those people who don't care about whether their computer is a Dell, Asus, MacBook, or whatever.

The specs are great, and it has more features that I'll probably ever use. I've had no issues with it, and I'd recommend it both for its' specs and price, and for its 'fun" features like the audio/Blu Ray/etc.

Solid computer for a solid price, and if you put a Solid State in it, it becomes a speed demon. I'd buy again without blinking. The 15" is the perfect size for this type of computer, especially with the 1920x1080 resolution on the go.

Read Best Reviews of HP Envy 15-3040NR 15.6 Inch Laptop (Black/Silver) Here

My previous laptop was a Macbook pro 17" unibody. It was a beautifully built product. I'm quite surprised that I'm just as happy with the Envy as I was with the Macbook.

Pros:

Good build quality. Almost up there with the macbooks.

Based on the pictures, I thought the bottom and the lid were made of plastic. They're made on metal instead!

The drivers and base software bundle is very polished.

Re-install from recovery media is very streamlined and a pleasant experience.

Not a single crash so far.

The 1080p display quality is great. But there are some drawbacks. I use it in graphic design at work.

Quick boot time ad least with an ssd. The bios/post screen is a blink of an eye.

Battery life is good in normal tasks. I haven't tested anything heavier so far.

The gpu switching utility is simple and very useful. You specify which programs you want to fire up the more powerful gpu. That's something I missed on macs.

The usb port which lets you charge devices even when the computer is off is superb. Tablets and phones charged without problems. Now you can charge your phone when it's getting low on battery even while walking down town.

Nice stylish font on the keyboard.

Quite decent connectivity for such a device

Ability to function as a wlan access point and share the internet connection even while you're connected via wlan yourself.

Cons:

The bottom cover wobbles just slightly after a couple of opens. Normally no one needs the open it though. It is opened only if you replace the hdd, memory or battery

The volume levels tend to be to high with headphones and the volume knob. On the first level of volume it's too low and on the second level it's too loud. It kind of takes the usefulness out the knob. I haven't found a way to fix that so far. You really shouldn't need to search for a solution for volume settings.

The displays black levels seem to be quite high. The back light bleeds through quite a lot. On the other hand it's very uniform (led backlight), so it doesn't bother that much.

The power brick is huge and hideous. HP really needs to do something about these. It's a pain to carry them around. I bought a smaller one right away and use the original one only on my work desk.

Super reflective display finish.

Arrow keys are awful.

Recommendations:

I recommend to reinstall everything from the recovery dvd and select minimized install. That way all the non-essential software won't be installed.

Buy an ssd. It makes the world of difference.

Want HP Envy 15-3040NR 15.6 Inch Laptop (Black/Silver) Discount?

Spec wise and all. This laptop is pretty good.

The display is very crisp and clear.

It's fast.

It has a sleek design.

Cool button for changing volume.

Back lit keyboard.

Switchable graphics can save power.

HD

Beats Audio provides great sound through the speakers.

That being said, there are some issues I have with this laptop.

First, as I type this right now, it seems I have to hit my space bar key pretty hard when I use my right thumb since it seems to not respond when I hit it from the right side.

The red is not so red. I don't really care much about it, but it's an issue some of you might not really enjoy.

Switchable graphics not so switchable. Sometimes, it doesn't switch GPUs, but it's not that big a deal since you can simply, no, I advise you to change it to manual switching on the BIOS if you chose to get this laptop, so you can switch the GPUs yourself.

As I feel through the edges of the laptop, it feels uneven. It's not noticeable when you look at it, but you can feel it.

Looks like a Mac book. Originality please.

As for game performance and display, it performs great for the basic games, though it struggled a bit with GTA IV, but I was not on High Performance power mode, so I can't be certain.

Summary: If you are into Photoshop or you do stuff that involves colors, than I'll advise you to stay away from this laptop. If you are just a gamer(casual) looking for a portable gaming machine from this era, and you don't care much about color, then go ahead and get this.

Color-wise, I don't feel like returning it. Keys-wise, I just might.

EDIT(2/21/2012): According to some info I got from another forum, there was a BIOS update to attempt to fix the keyboard issue (BIOS F.06). I installed this update, but it didn't fix anything for me. On the other hand, some people claim that it fixed the issue for them. There was also another fix which would force the BIOS to recover, and some said that fixed it for them while others, like me, still remain with the keyboard issue. I guess right now, it's a game of chance for those with this laptop.

I have also decided to return the laptop since I couldn't bear the missing keystrokes any longer.

EDIT(3/8/2012): Long story short, I couldn't return the item yet, but I was able to ask for an exchange. I received another Envy and this one works way better than the one I got before even though it is still running the F.06 BIOS. The one thing you'll have to do to avoid skipping keystrokes is to dim the back light of the keyboard while on AC (You don't need it to be too high anyway). While on Battery, you should turn off the back light, and that should solve, or "improve", the missing keystrokes issue (It did/does for me) until HP decides to throw out a fix.

EDIT(3/28/2012): Hp released BIOS F.07 update to fix the keyboard issue. I have updated to that version and I am convinced, and can conclude, that the keyboard issue has been rectified. So if you aren't running F.07, get that.

Later.

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