It is as good as I thought it would be! I love the buttons display and is very practical to use and very quick.
Showing posts with label best laptop deal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label best laptop deal. Show all posts
Acer Aspire AS5733-6838 Laptop, Intel Core i3-380M, 2.53GHz, 4GB, 500GB, 15.6" HD CineCrystal LED-b
It is as good as I thought it would be! I love the buttons display and is very practical to use and very quick.
Asus UX31A-BHI5T11 Ultrabook 13.3" Touch Screen Laptop 4GB Memory 128GB SSD Radiant Black
DESIGNVery sleek, very strong and very lightweight. Asus says, "Inspiring Innovation"? This point is questionable, since it so closely resembles a thin-profile laptop of another OS, but it is a good design nonetheless.
Some people complain that this particular model with a black finish `attracts fingerprints'. Really, it doesn't attract more fingerprints than anything else you touch, but does show them quite prominently. For me, this is very low on the list of complaints, especially since it does not affect `normal use' of the laptop. I may even prefer the black finish to the silver-gray, since it looks more professional.
I would prefer that Asus would make their "ASUS" logo at the bottom of the screen smaller, but this is also a minor point.
DISPLAY
Let's get this out of the way: You're buying this laptop because of its great 1080p screen, right? Make no mistake; Asus has serious build-quality issues with their Zenbook displays. It has been a known issue since the first UX31A models and before, and, unfortunately, they have not fixed it on the latest touch version.
Light bleed is rampant on all of these units, and I have yet to see a Zenbook without light bleed around the edges of the screen. If this is a potential issue for you, do not even consider buying this laptop. For me, I can tolerate (but do not like) this light bleed, so long as it does not interfere with normal use. But on this point--normal use--I have had additional issues. My 1st unit had so much light bleed in the bottom-left and right corners that it caused white backgrounds (word documents, websites, etc.) to appear yellow in those areas, several square inches into the screen on both sides. My 2nd unit had less of the corner yellowing, but a significant orb of uneven backlight in the center of the screen, extending several inches upward. My 3rd unit (and hopefully final) I would call the `least problematic' of the 3, though certainly not perfect by any means. There is some irregularity of the backlighting, and light bleed on the edges, of course, but nothing so jarring that it will prevent me from normal use.
IF you can find one of these laptops that has few enough issues with the display, you may then proceed to enjoy the clarity of the high resolution, 1920 by 1080 pixels. It may be of concern to some that the high resolution might interfere with comfortable use of the computer in Desktop mode. With Windows scaling set at 125%, however, and Google Chrome default zoom also set to 125%, I have not found this to be an issue at all.
The IPS display allows for very good viewing angles, which helps alleviate the age-old problem of constant readjustment of the screen. The brightness is also very good, compensating greatly for the glossiness of the display. A note about brightness: I noticed that the display would `flicker' when on battery power if a screen with a light background was switched to a screen with a dark background (as if dimming, when auto-brightness and adaptive brightness were turned off), and vice versa. It turns out that there is a setting in the Intel Graphics software called "Display Power Saving Technology". I unchecked both of the "Power Conservation Features" in the Intel Graphics and Media Control Panel to alleviate this problem.
The hinges on the display are questionable. They allow for easy opening of the screen, which is good, but also tend to allow the display to fall backward once open. Any time I give the computer a good bump or pick it up quickly, the display opens to its full extent. Fortunately the good viewing angles of the IPS screen make this less of an issue.
KEYBOARD
The keyboard is above-average for an Ultrabook. It is not as good as a ThinkPad keyboard, but actually better than the Lenovo Yoga keyboard. The keyboard itself does not flex in the middle, very solid. Key travel is short, but it is pretty crisp. Coming from a ThinkPad myself, the biggest adjustment has been the short travel of the spacebar. Nonetheless, I have found my stride within a few days and now type almost as well on this one as I did on the ThinkPad.
Backlighting on the keyboard is a big plus. As many users have noted, once you have this feature, you will find it hard to go without it. Three levels of brightness allow for some variableness if you like.
The secondary functions of the Function keys (F1 thru F12) require use of the "fn" key on the keyboard. What adds insult to injury is that there are no dedicated volume button elsewhere. So adjusting the volume always requires 2 hands, a big pitfall if you like to keep one hand on an external mouse.
But! There is a remedy... until Asus is willing to fix this. Download and install a key-remapping software (such as KeyTweak), and remap f10 to Mute, f11 to Volume Down, and f12 to Volume Up. You won't have use of those f-keys anymore, but if you're like most users, you probably never used them anyhow. I further did a re-mapping of the Context Menu and Right Control keys to dedicated Home and End keys, respectively, since I use Home/End keys frequently and do not care for them being relegated to second-class functions of the arrows.
TOUCHPAD
The touchpad is average. It is not great, it is not terrible. I find pointing to be pretty accurate, but two-finger scrolling to be abhorrent. Note on this point though: There are currently 3 touchpad drivers available for the UX31A from Asus' website. The oldest of the 3, version 32, has much smoother two-finger scrolling than versions 35 or 36. The newer versions may have more accurate pointing, but worse two-finger scrolling, so pick which is most important to you. I am using version 32 for now, and it works okay. Adding a smooth scrolling extension to your web browser can somewhat improve the experience as well.
The surface of the touchpad is not the smoothest for gliding your finger across. I find it to be a bit 'sticky', even though the surface appears to be smooth. Maybe adding a slight texture to the touchpad would improve the situation.
SOLID STATE DRIVE
It says "128 GB", so how much space do you actually get for you files? Less than 70 GB. It's a shame, really, that over 45% of the supposed space is eaten up from the start. Manufacturers need to become more forthcoming about this truth, and do a better job of partitioning the SSD if possible.
WIRELESS
Unlike the Lenovo Yoga, this model includes a professional-grade dual-band Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6235 wireless adapter for 802.11agn networks, which supports 5 GHz frequency for reduced wireless congestion. I have not had any issues with wireless performance.
NOISE
One of my favorite features about this laptop is how quiet it is. The fan is running most of the time, though very quietly, even in a silent environment. I was not very impressed with the high noise levels of the fan on the Lenovo Yoga.
WRAP-UP
There are a host of other features on this laptop, but other reviews can provide information on their function. I have documented the particular aspects which I found to be of particular concern. Overall, the positives still outweigh the negatives, and in every respect, this laptop is FAST. I plan to keep it, even though Asus still has a long way to go in fulfilling the second half of their motto, "Persistent Perfection". It still has a lot to offer compared to the competition, and, if they would get their act together with the display defects, I would even recommend it to a friend.
OTHER MODELS CONSIDERED
Lenovo Ideapad Yoga, Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon, Dell XPS 12
UPDATE 2013-02-11
Overall I am still very pleased with this laptop. I did have an issue with the CTRL key 'sticking', which may have been due to remapping the CTRL key to a dedicated END key. I removed this remapping and reinstalled the keyboard driver and have not had this problem since.
I have also been much more pleased with the touchpad since installing a more generic version of Elantech's touchpad driver available from Acer's (not ASUS's) website. I am currently using the Elantech Touchpad Driver version 11.6.8.001 (found under Acer Aspire S7-391). Touchpad sensitivity is better, palm rejection is better, and overall there are more customization options than what ASUS provides with their touchpad drivers.
UPDATE 2013-03-25
Now using Elan touchpad driver version 11.7.8.5. Pointing is smooth and accurate.
-screen resolution is 1920x1080, very crisp, bright display
-128GB flash drive
-touchscreen
-windows 8
Here is what I love about this zenbook/:
-all metal, durable design. This is no cheap plastic materials
-glass, touch screen
-ultra cool to touch, silent
-ultra fast USB 3.0, mini HDMI, display port
-only 2lbs
-fast, responsive Windows 8, boots up in 8 seconds, back from sleep in 2 seconds
-good battery life
-comes with a very nice Asus case
Here's what I didn't like:
-only 90GB of free space
-when screen is all black there are light leakage on all sides
-wish the power charger was magnetic or simpler like Vivobook
-bloatware that no average consumer needs
This is by far the best notebook I've ever owned. I've installed Adobe CS6, and it runs like butter. Much better than Samsung quality and even the overpriced Sony. Asus really gets the value, design, and quality. Would recommend to anyone who's looking for an awesome notebook.
Buy Asus UX31A-BHI5T11 Ultrabook 13.3" Touch Screen Laptop 4GB Memory 128GB SSD Radiant Black Now
What's great about it: Most everything,, size screen back lit keyboard, touchscreenWhat's not so great: sometime wifi is a bit touchy
Firstly. for some of you that have noticed the sound not being up to par. You can enhance, (make louder) the sound by clicking on the speaker icon on task-bar, when menu pops up click on enhancements, and again click on loudness enhancements ... wala,,, much better sound output. if you are playing music while doing this you can hear the difference the menu settings make. real time
The Screen is to die for.. So much better than any i have had in the past, I don't have to constantly move the screen tilt to get just the right angle. I can see clearly now... LOL from the sides at a better angle also. Vibrant colors, slight bleed on start up, but once on page not seeable for me at all.
This computer is a complete remake of the last year model, which i happen to have two of. Keys are great, Hardly ever miss a stroke, and when i do it is my fault. Back lit keyboard is beautiful in dim light, or typing while wife is sleeping. Fast, Responsive. but sometimes i do loose the wifi for some reason,, usually after a sleep period.. I think it is probably due to Win 8.
Speaking of Win 8. I hate it.. Usually stay in the win 7 area. and have added CLASSIC SHELL to get the full function of the tool and task bar. along with the Start menu. I use LibreOffice. seems to work in place of the previous Microsoft scaled down version. I really don't like having to reach over the keyboard and swipe the screen to search for things. I have had cancer in the right shoulder and makes it difficult to continue to reach forward, Esp while hunting for something..
The Screen Fonts in the Win 8 interface are entirely too small.. Have tried many options to make them bigger... so some thing i am not doing i guess... Of course that may be because this screen has the absolute best resolution i have seen IN A STORE. besides the $2000 Mac Pro, so even the small fonts are clear,,, just too darn small.
Over all, I really like this better than any notebook i have had, including my Samsung s9 which was terrible on the battery 2.5 hours as is the s5 i still have. The Asus will get 6-7 hours battery life in every day usage.. Depending on your individual settings. The Mac Air is one nice book, but the screen scares me to no end,, Having a busted one sitting in my basement. Cost more than it is worth to replace on a two year old model. the screen on Asus Zenbook has edge to edge glass.. not just a film as on many computers. Will make it a bit heavier.
Really if you want a great, stylish, functional ultrabook, ?? You cannot go wrong with this one, for the money..Kind of hard to get but worth it.. Buy from best buy, or AMazon,, If you don't like the computer, take it back in 30 days... No restock fee.. Caution, If you take it back, you might have "RETURNERS REMORSE"
If you have read my review on the old Aenbook, you would know i hated it, but this new model is way above any i have used. ANY.
This product is...GREATTTTTTTTTTT Plus it is a WINDOWs machine.. All my software works with itThis is the best ultrabook on the market to me (despite its minor cons), and it is a PC! I cannot rave enough about how beautiful this machine is. If you're getting one, make sure you get this randiant black color, as the regular one has a silver body which to me is a bit boring.
Pros:
* all metal casing has brushed circular patterns on the surface and a really Apple quality solid build
* very thin and light (0.9" and 2.9lbs)
* high-res screen with brilient colors, great for movies
* touch screen for win 8
* fast and silent
* lit up keyboard
* comes with nice sleeve and accessories in its own pouch
* nice touch pad
Cons:
* light bleed around the edges (the
* cannot change/remove battery (just like Apple products)
* expensive (this is subjective)
* only 4GB ram and not upgradable
* weak graphics processor (not a gaming machine)
* metal casing is easy to scratch (use care!)
* touch screen is too glossy and attracts fingerprints like honey to ants (apply a screen protector to fix)
Handle the machine with care, and it is easily the most beautiful piece of hardware you can buy. BTW, the ASUS TX300 is coming soon, but I will keep this machine still because even though the idea of a transformable ultrabook and tablet sounds really appealing, the fact the machine will not sit stably due to being top-heavy and the hinge will likely become loose over time due to constant connecting and disconnecting tells me it will not be practical in the long run. Not to mention it will be more expensive than this.Computers nowadays come with more processing capacity than most of us (among non-gamers) need, so I usually don't bother to do some research in that front. I needed a new computer and my priorities were, therefore, the screen (high resolution, touchscreen and no bigger than 13") and low noise levels. You get all that with this machine. But there are some aspects I don't like and this is the reason I gave it only three stars:
With 128 Gigabytes of physical memory, I would not call this machine an "ultrabook", but an "infrabook" instead. I knew about this limitation so I can't complain about it. What really disappointed me is that to get a bit round this problem I bought a 128GB SD card to have it permanently installed as part of the computer memory. And here I got a sad surprise: the card only makes it halfway into the slot (as opposed to enter completely as it did in my much smaller 11" older notebook). Half of it poked out of the machine, making it an ugly sight, unsafe (you can easily lose it) and not suitable to carry around (without removing it). Money lost in this try.
On ergonomics: the borders were designed to close tightly and look then "aerodynamic" (so it is kind of annoying to open it you need strong nails), not for user's comfort. In fact, depending on how you use the computer, the sharp metallic edges will definitely hurt your wrists. Other reviewers liked the solid finish of metal personally I prefer good old plastic, as it is less conductive of heat and therefore it does not have that "cold" feeling on contact with the skin. But this is a matter of personal taste.
I can confirm some difficulties with wi-fi connection that another review reported. In a network where my iPhone and other laptops can obtain signal normally this computer often looses connection. Therefore I have to restart the computer to get it back (very nice if you are busy working and with several documents opened...).
Finally Windows 8. It is difficult to express how much annoying this new system is, and how much time I had to waste trying to make it work relatively similar familiar (i.e to Windows 7) so I would not be lost in their bizarre world of invasive and nonsensical organized (?) screens and shortcuts. I have grown tired of Microsoft during the last years and with this new release I am ready to move to Linux whenever I have some time to do it. Other people are ok with Windows and I respect that, but I wish my choice of not liking it would be respected as well, so I would not to have to swallow (and pay for) it every time I buy a pc. But this has been too much to wish for in a long time already.
My overall assessment: Awesome screen and pleasantly quiet and good looking machine. If you are ok with the limitations above (not my case), it is a good buy.
Asus TAICHI 21 Black Notebook Computer
As always Asus does it again. This is so amazing. I would recommend this company to buy it from and as the product is always the best and the warranty can not be matched or beat. It doubles, its a laptop, no wait, its a tablet, no wait, its both. It is a must for business oriented or trainers or for just using it daily use. It covers everyone. Did I mention. I love Asus. It is very fast. Easily connect via Wi-Fi or with the included Ethernet connector. Running windows 8. Two partitions which are extremely hard to even fill up one. Included also is the mini hdmi to hdmi. The included touch pen doubles as a two button mouse. Two year warranty is excellent. The first year anything accidental is covered(liquid, shock, fire or drops). The second year is the normal parts and labor being covered. There is so many things that are truly amazing with this product that I would run out of room if I continue I will run out of space. All I can say is buy it. You will not regret it.
Lenovo U410 14.0-Inch Ultrabook (Sapphire Blue)
It's been more than a month that I am using this laptop. It's a great ultrabook for the value. Compared to my old laptop (HP dv4), it takes longer to connect to wireless after I turn it on. The major headache is windows 8 which sucks! However, it's not the laptop's problem.
Sony Vaio VGN-FW590F3B 16.4" 4GB BluRay Burner Laptop
I just received this laptop 2 days ago. I've been using it as I've been setting it up as my main PC. It has a great build. Feels and looks fantastic. I watched a blue-ray disc and it looked great on the laptop's screen. Bluetooth is nice to have to be able to listen to music from the laptop on my bluetooth headset.I've used it on battery power and it lasted over an hour and a half, and I had the setting at "balanced". The system said I had over 62% battery life remaining and I had been viewing video, pics, and wireless web usage.
The only thing that I haven't adjusted to yet is the sound from the fan whenever it's plugged in. I have it set to "Performance" mode whenever it is plugged in, but the sound from the fan kind of is going to get some taking used to. It's not loud, but you can hear it when things are quiet. It's not much, but something I'll have to get used to.
The other thing, which is minor, are the stickers Sony put on the wrist wrests. I would have rather not had the stickers all over the the wrist wrests. But hey, that's just me being picky. It has nothing to do with the system or the performance.
Reason I gave it 4 stars: was because of the fan. Were it not for the fan noise, it would have been 5 stars. I'm sure in a month or so, I will be used to the fan and will change it to 5 stars.
Update (July 7, 2011): Since my original post, I have changed this laptop rating from 4 stars to 5. This laptop has worked perfectly for me. I have since gotten used to the fan and really don't notice it in most environments.
I usually only keep laptops for a little over a year, but I see myself keeping this one longer as I see no reason to upgrade.
Pros:
plenty of options (blu-ray, bluetooth, hdmi, wireless b/g/n, gigabit ethernet, large screen, etc.)
fast (performance)
comfortable
sturdy
reliable
Cons:
Screen brightness could be a little brighter.
Heavy (not a good laptop for traveling)
Since I purchased this laptop, I have had 0 issues! Also, I open and close this laptop daily and it has held up just fine.
I definitely recommend!
I intended to use this computer strictly as a desktop replacement. But the graphics are so good that I'm going to try it for streaming Netflix when I travel. I uninstalled the usual pre-loaded software, turned of the UAC (since I'm the only user), cleaned up the start-up files, and the laptop is operating quickly. I am happy with Windows 7 (with UAC off). The laptop is very quick to find and connect to my home's wireless connection. The 16.4" screen is a nice viewing size. The screen is as tall as my 5-year 15.5" laptop but wider. There's enough memory to let automatic updates, backups and scans occur.
I recommend placing the laptop on a riser or fan, because it runs quite warm. I use it at a desk on electric power with the battery out.
Buy Sony Vaio VGN-FW590F3B 16.4" 4GB BluRay Burner Laptop Now
I bought this laptop mainly for bluray player (and burner), a discrete ATI graphic card (for multimedia) and large screen (to do work) at a good price. I thought about getting the ASUS 17 inch A1 laptop for gaming but decided not to since I already have a high performance gaming desktop. plus the ASUS costs twice this laptop. Received this Sony laptop for 1 week, first set up wireless, then downloaded and updated all windows 7 patches (>50) and VAIO patches. Bluray movies (Valkyrie, Life series) are beautiful. Browsing internet, applications are speedy. This laptop's Core Duo 2.2 GHz, 4 Gb DD2 RAM is fast enough for common apps. you don't really need new i7 CPU, DD3 RAM unless for heavy apps such hi def video editing, etc. Then I installed Call of Duty 2, and 4, and racing game GTR 2 to try out. All played smoothly (probably >40-50 fps) at max resolution for this laptop 1600x900, with 4x antialiasing, medium settings. this is surprisingly pleasant being able to play these games as this graphic card ATI is not really for gaming. Gaming laptops with mobile graphic cards ATI 5870, Nvidia 360M are much more expensive > $1500.Pros:
1. Good price for the features: Bluray, discrete graphic, large screen with good resolution, 7200 RPM HDD (vs. 5400 RPM in most standard laptops)
2. Mainly for multimedia but surprisingly good for gaming, at least those games I tried (new demanding games probably need better hardware)
Cons:
1. battery life is not long, about 2.5 hours using wireless. but it's expected due to standard battery capacity, large screen, discrete graphic (integrated graphic uses less power)
2. Screen is good and bright enough but I don't think it's LED backlit (not listed in the features), which is available in most current laptops
Read Best Reviews of Sony Vaio VGN-FW590F3B 16.4" 4GB BluRay Burner Laptop Here
I've been using my Vaio FW 590FEB every day for over a year now. This is truly a very high quality product and is more than the sum of it's parts. Here are a few reasons why:1. I've used HP, Dells and now this Vaio for my office. In terms of build quality the Vaio is head and shoulders above any Dell or HP I've owned. This laptop is solid!
2. My version has a 1080p screen with a Blu Ray drive. Along with the Nvidia GPU with 1GB dedicated video memory the FW is a potent multimedia lap top.
3. The inbuilt speakers are much better than the Dells and HPs I've owned and you can actually use it to watch a movie or listen to Pandora without carrying external speakers.
In terms of performance, the notebook is pretty fast (it has a decent 2.53 Ghz dual core CPU) and mine came with 4GB RAM which is more than sufficient to handle all sorts of regular productivity apps.
IF there is one weakness it has to be the battery. At around 2.5 hours I believe it is on the short side. However, compared to Dells and HP it is par for the course. I'd have preferred it to be around 4-6 hours.
The laptop can run hot, but since it uses a dual core processor it is much cooler than the more recent laptops of this size that can run much hotter.
Overall, this is a great laptop with fantastic build quality. Based on my experience with this Vaio my next laptop will also most likely be a Vaio!
Want Sony Vaio VGN-FW590F3B 16.4" 4GB BluRay Burner Laptop Discount?
I searched for a while for that perfect laptop for what I need and I believe I've found it in this Sony. It doesn't come w/ too many add-ons which is great. Photoshop and Cool Edit work great on it as well as iTunes. The DVD Blu-Ray is a great option and looks dynamite on the screen. It's even cooler when you hook it up to a HDTV.It is light-weight and looks tough and has so far stood up to a lot of use and movement. The placement of some of the side ports are a little irritating. But I think that all depends on how you're going to use them.
Btw, I ordered this computer on a MON afternoon and it was in my hands the next day. Super-speedy delivery!
Dell Latitude ATG D630 (All Terrain Grade) 14.1 Screen, Core 2 Duo, 2.2GHz, 2GB RAM, 80GB hard driv
I needed a computer to use as a navigation device for open cockpit boats. The Dell ATG D630 fits the bill perfectly!The display is Very Bright. In full sun, I can still read a NOAA chart. In fact, when I put the display directly into the sunlight, it seemed to reflect a bit like a good outdoor GPS (transflective)does.
It's also water and dust resistant and armored. The ports have plugs to keep water and dirt/sand out. Really an excellent choice for outdoor work!
This must be Dell's answer to the Toughbook. Like a Toughbook, it's pretty heavy. However, it's a much better value, second hand than a Toughbook. It's several generations newer, has a bigger screen, larger hard drive, faster processor and more memory than a Toughbook 73 I looked at, which would have cost me over $100 more.
I'm using the ATG D630 with a free program called OpenCPN and free NOAA charts and a USB GPS "Mouse" for a poor man's plotter that outperforms units costing thousands of $$$$.
Violet Laptop Dell D430 12.1" Customized Color Real Paint Not Vinyl Skin
I'm so glad I got this cute little laptop! Works great so far. Perfect for someone looking for a small starter laptop. I mainly just wanted it to check emails and play games on Facebook when I'm traveling.
Acer Computer AOA110-1722 Aspire One 8.9-Inch Notebook PC
UPDATE 08/29/2008: Received my new Acer Aspire One today. Wow, one day shipping from J&R rocks! The blue AAO with Win XP looks just like the Linux version: there is the SD "Storage Expansion" slot on the left side and a multi-format card reader on the right, 3 USB ports, etc. It boots up pretty fast and runs the so familiar WIN XP OS. I liked the Linux graphics, but to be honest, as a Windows user, I felt lost. So far, I haven't had any problems with the wireless (knock on wood) that I have experienced when I used the Linux version. Yes, you can hear the fan, as some of the reviewers have mentioned, BUT, it is not nearly as annoying as they claim. I can live with that. The Hard Drive is listed as 120GB, however, it shows up as 105 GB. The windows XP version comes with a 60-day trial of MS Office 2007 and McAfee Security Suite. Curiously, it also comes with InterVideo WinDVD, although, as you are aware, there is no DVD drive. Other programs included are: MS Works, Adober Reader 8, IE, MSN, Windows Media Player, Windows Messenger, Windows Movie Maker, Acer eRecovery Manager. I installed Firefox without a glitch. So far, I am very pleased with the laptop. It's not a $2,000 Sony or Mac, but it's a great value. It does what it is supposed to do. I am glad I returned the Linux and ordered the Windows. It works better for my needs.UPDATE 8/28/2008: So, Amazon dropped the price on Acer Aspire One with Linux OS. However, the Win XP version continues to be overpriced compared to other online retailers. I've decided to order the blue Win XP machine directly from J&R for $369.99 and will get an additional 15% off via Live Search Cashback (total price after cashback excluding shipping: $314.41). I decided to go back to the familiar XP configuration simply because I believe that learning Linux will involve too much effort to justify the cost. In addition, the Linux version of Acer Aspire One appears to have more wireless bugs than Windows. We'll see how the Win XP netbook performs.
UPDATE 8/25/2008. So far I haven't seen any price reductions by online retailers. I think they are waiting to purge their inventory. Best Buy, however, does have the blue Acer Aspire One with 1gb Ram, 120 gb HD and Win XP Home for $349.99. So far they are the first ones to jump on the Acer price drop bandwagon.
UPDATE 8/20/08. Acer just (4 hrs ago) made the announcement on Market Watch that it will slash the prices for Acer Aspire One to $349 for Win XP and $329 for Linux. I miss my Acer One and will order one again as soon as retailers update their prices. I thought it was a great deal for $379 but for $50 less it's an absolute bargain. I do hope that I won't have anymore wireless problems with this one.
ORIGINAL REVIEW: I had purchased this laptop from J&R in blue with Linux and it was in my hands the very next day. I really liked Acer Aspire One from the moment I pulled it out of the box. It's very compact, light, elegant, boots in no time (20 sec). I am a first-time Linux user and was actually pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to use. I followed the instructions from one of the Amazon reviews here to unlock the full OS and was able to add Skype (Fedora version) without a problem. OpenOffice is very straightforward and easy to use, email setup was a breeze. I plugged it into my cable modem and loved the very fast web page loading times. All in all, it's a great little laptop alternative, the screen is easy to read, the keyboard size is adequate for error-free typing, the trackpad took some getting used to but it was fine within a couple of hours.
Now to the negatives:
-the surface is very prone to fingerprint smudges
-the screen is very glossy and reflective, but the brightness compensated for the fact that I could always see my reflection on the screen
-the left and right mouse buttons are oddly positioned on either side of the keyboard, so that takes some getting used to
-now last but not least wireless connectivity problems. I've had the Acer Aspire One for over a week and have tried every single approach out there to get the wireless connection on it. the wireless networks would show up on the connection manager, but when I would attempt to connect to a particular network I would get an error message saying connection was terminated. One of the networks I tried to connect to was my own home wireless network which successfully worked for all of my other laptops. I tried the WEP protocol no success, I changed the router settings to WPA tried to connect no success, I changed it to the open network no success although I am sure my neighbors appreciated the open net access they could steal from me in the interim. I've searched the web for a solution and found out that this wireless problem seems to be an issue for a number of Acer Aspire One users out there. Some were able to fix it by running Live Update on a wired connection (I did it, but it didn't fix the problem), some played with sleep modes, reboots, etc. None of that worked for me. I tried to look up this issue on the Acer website, but their customer support is not very user friendly. So, I gave up, called customer service for an RMA# and am returning the Acer Aspire One today. I wish it had worked as I liked it so much, but it's no use to me without wireless connections and I believe that if I purchase a brand new item, it has to be fully operational straight out of the box. So, goodbye my dear sapphire blue Acer Aspire One, you will be missed, I hope your maker solves the wireless problem and I will buy you again when that happens. I would recommend this product without reservation if only the wireless problem is resolved.
Pros-
1. Small and light. Really light. I also have the eee pc 1000h. The difference is dramatic.
2. Given it's size, keyboard is ok.
3. On a purely personal note, the blue color is great.
4. Cheap, cheap, cheap. I picked mine up for $309. Other comparable netbooks seem to be up over $400.
5. I really like the Linux operating system. Its more like a PDA's. Lots of apps are included. Upgrading to latest versions looks easy.
6. Quiet
7. Very fast boot
8. Second SD slot that adds to drive size is a cool idea. Now if 16 or 32gb SD card prices would just come down, things would be great. I have lots of media files on SD's for other devices, I can plug them in and still have one free.
9. After seeing the 7" screens, I think the 8.9" is as small as you can go and still have it useful
10. Total travel package is really light. Small, light power brick and cord.
Negs-
1. Battery life is good, but would be amazing with a 6-cell
2. Shinyget used to lots of fingerprints. Would have been much better matte.
3. Included sleeve will protect from scratches, but not much else. No padding, no zipperjust basically a plastic pocket. I'm looking for an aftermarket sleeve.
Because of it's specs its more of a net appliance than notebook. But if you're looking for a cheap way to use hotspots and apps that don't require lots of resources, this is great.
Buy Acer Computer AOA110-1722 Aspire One 8.9-Inch Notebook PC Now
I bought the Blue Acer Aspire One (XP version with 120 gigabyte HD) just as soon as one was available. Did not buy it from Amazon because the price was higher than a local retailer (Micro Center). Micro Center has dropped the price to the Acer suggested retail price of $349 (XP). I did see the Linux Version at Circuit City for $307. So far no real complaints except that the touch pad is difficult to work with and it is not very precise. Actually the buttons are awkward to use and it often "double-clicks" seemingly on it's own. I use a mouse now. So far I have not needed a DVD player since I usually rip my DVDs "for my own use" and load them via the USB port on a Jump Drive or use my card reader. I purchased a home version of MS Office and simply entered the code. No need for the DVD just the code and it worked seamlessly. As noted the exterior is very prone to smudges and I find myself cleaning the unit regularly. I did note that the fan noise is a little loud when used in a quiet room but at coffee shops and other WIFI hotspots it is not noticeable. Again no real gripes and for the price it does what I was hoping for, a small websurfer with the capability of performing more complex tasks if needed. I purchased it for the price of a good PDA and it surfs the web better than my iPod Touch. Its a winner in my book...Read Best Reviews of Acer Computer AOA110-1722 Aspire One 8.9-Inch Notebook PC Here
It comes with Linux, but it's packed with everything you need while traveling! I was looking for a small alternative to my heavy 17" MacBook Pro for surfing the Internet while traveling, and this was the right device! Not only does it find wireless connectivity easily with its built-in wifi, it comes with two media slots (actually, one is a SDHC-specific slot for adding more memory space). All you have to do is plug in a HDSC card and it does everything for you.It's also pre-installed with OpenOffice, which is a great and free alternative to Microsoft's Office. It's compatible with MS Office's applications, too (just in case you're wondering). Boots very fast since it's running on Linux and uses a solid-state disk. If you are looking for a stylish, affordable, small laptop for surfing the net and office applications, this is for you! It's very light and comes with a nice faux-leather sleeve. If you have never used Linux before, the learning curve is very easy since this version of Linux uses a similiar windows-based GUI application, and no commands are needed.
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Beside the lesser time at booting up, the software seems really easy to operate with, which is Linux. After a little hack for installing more things, then I just added a bag of the kind that are used with portable dvd players, and extra 4 gig SD memory and a tiny retractable trip mouse (because my fingers are simply too big for any touchpad), and was amazed at how fast everything stuck together. It connects fast to the wifi network, so I have no complaints there, it browse really well. No moving parts gives the battery a long run for the money, and the screen really looks right. The camera is awesome, mics are ok, don't expect too much from the speakers of course. And it runs everything really fast, suspiciously fast I might say. No more than 3 process at a time... just in case. I took a long trip by airplanes, three legs. In every plane was able to use it for about an hour. For that price, I better start getting addons. 325$!!! wow!
Dell Inspiron 17R 17.3" Core i7 1TB HDD Notebook
I was looking for a laptop computer preferably with windows 7 operating system.the price was reasonable the packaging was adequate,the shipping was a little slow do to the storm flooding in New Jersey.This is my first Dell computer. all previous were HP computers.my last was windows x-p operating system.i like the operating speed and the large hard drive storage,but the down side of this item is all the junk programs that Microsoft put on the desktop for an additional fee.not many freebee such as office software, antivirus.they are pushing cloud in the sky storage ,reg edit,file optimizer,advance protector,online backup,online vault backup that keep popping up on the screen. very annoying.
They both have a problem with the touch pad. It will enter keystrokes, mouse moves and mouse clicks by itself. It seems to favor selecting large amounts of text and then deleting it. That is very, very annoying if you're writing in an application that doesn't have an "undo" function.
I got the DELL service group to fix my work computer the replaced a daughter board for the touch-pad. That eliminated MOST of the problems. I'm not so lucky with my home computer. Be sure to save all the paperwork you get with your DELL computer or DELL won't help you. I mean, it's obviously one of their computers.
Other than the fact that it goes wacky, I like the large hard drive and the big screen.
Gateway NE71B07u 17.3-Inch Laptop (Satin Black)
I did not give it 5 stars because I think it is a little slow for a brand new computer. I do not like Windows8. but the computer itself is nice, sleek, and shiny. It is very light weight.
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Price was great and my wife really enjoys her new machine. For the technically non-savvy, a jump to Windows 8 is frustrating, but that's no fault of this machine. Great graphics and the best buy I could find for what's essentially my wife's facebook and email readerRead Best Reviews of Gateway NE71B07u 17.3-Inch Laptop (Satin Black) Here
DVD player makes a lot of noise ... unless you hold it. I do love the big screen.I hate Windows 8 ... maybe thats just my bias towards what I am used to. But having to find a separate pane to close out of an existing window sems stupid to me. Worse, that pane that should open up at the top of IE when you move the cursor to the very top often times won't show up. Not sure if this is Windows bug of my failure to uderstand how it should work.
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Should have done more homework/research before purchasing. It is a whole lot of freelance and whimsy! Found it similar to what I would consider "Herding Cats"!! I just couldn't work with it. Not a match with my way of thinking!
HP ProBook 14" Core i5 500GB HDD Notebook
I went from a 17" Dell to a 15.6" Toshiba then to this 14" HP ProBook 4430S with i5 processor & 4 Gb of RAM. I think 14" is really the ideal laptop size, way more comfortable to carry around than 15.6 or 17 and still easy on the eyes. I played with a 11 inch Ultrabook one day & squinted the whole time, very hard on the eyes.HP has done a fantastic job with this laptop in terms of software stability. My Dell & Toshiba always had occasional freeze-ups & consequently required reboot and lost data.
Aluminum panels with a matte/brushed finish is a huge improvement over plastic panels; no squeaks & doesn't flex when you grab it.
This laptop is well "prioritized", upon boot up it immediately connects to Wi-Fi or Wireless Networks. It is definitely a working man's laptop, not a toy that's designed to impress.
Finger print scanner is a bonus, but in my opinion a waste of money. I was under the impression that one simply swipes his finger across the scanner then it unlocks. Wrong, you have to run your "pre-programmed" finger across the scanner at least twice before computer unlocks.
You have the choice to turn it off & use the standard Windows log-on which I highly recommend because the scanner software is bundled w/ HP Security bundle. If you activate it, the boot-up time increases 8-10 seconds, and you must make one of three choices before proceeding: (1) Password (2) Finger Print Scanner (3) Facial Recognition. Pain in the rear end for those of us just want to sign in & goes to work.
Windows Experience Score is only 4.7 & it is mostly due to the mediocre video card. I upgraded my RAM to 8 Gb to help offset its deficiency but honestly I don't think that's an issue unless you are a hardcore gamer. Keep in mind Windows Exp Score is calculated based on the lowest performing component, not an average. So don't get discouraged because the processor, memory, HD, software, OS all work very well.
Battery life is dissapointing: HP claims 6 hours, I average 3.5 4 hrs tops, based on a combination of web surfing, typing & some videos on Youtube. Speakers for some reason have better "vocal" clarity than the Dell & Toshiba.
Would I buy another? you bet. It does everything well and is build well. But if you plan on playing video games, I'd recommend that you step up to HP Elitebook with dedicated video memory, it'll do a better job at gaming.
Cons: It does not come with any Back-up/Driver/Windows disks. You'll have to create the disks yourself by going to the HP Recovery Partition (E-drive), takes 3 blank DVDs. If you don't feel like going thru the hassle, my advice is don't get any virus !! Leave the Firewall ON, download Window's Security Essentials & keep the virus definition updated & you'll be fine.
Side note: Don't ever buy a laptop/PC based on its processor speed alone. A slower processor(say a 2.5 GHZ) w/higher voltage & more cache will perform better & more "stable" than a faster processor w/lower voltage & lesser cache. So do your home work, dig-in a little deeper before getting sold on all the bells & whistles.
i upgraded this to 8gb ram maximum and i thought it would be able to play gta iv but gta iv needs 256mb dedicated ram and this laptop only has 64mb dedicated ram. this is a great laptop but i just wish it can play gta iv i bought gta iv 3 years ago but it didnt work on my old laptop and i needed a new one so i just bought this. it is a great laptop i am using it to write this review i ordered it sunday it came today (friday) it is better with a 4gb ram upgrade which i did before i even booted the laptop up the webcam is also great
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Just like the one i use for work, almost, but quite solid and reliable. If you prefer HP, this is indubitably one of their best.Read Best Reviews of HP ProBook 14" Core i5 500GB HDD Notebook Here
Acer C7 Chromebook 11.6" Intel Dual Core B847 1.1 GHz 2GB DDR3 320GB 5400RPM HDD Wifi HDMI USB3.0 V
The Acer C7 has a very upward battle to fight among the Google community and in people's mind. The Samsung that just came out before it has been getting excellent reviews and has been labeled the better computer, but is it really?I was a bit shocked when I got my Acer at the small size of the product. Let it be stated that these are possibly the most portable computers when it comes to wanting a real keyboard. This computers weighs in at a little over 3 lbs but honestly you wouldn't think so as my wife can lift it easily with one hand. The overall casing is solid enough to give you enough confidence to carry it around without the feeling of breaking it but still not a full laptop/macbook quality when it comes to overall durability.
What stands out when you open it first is the keyboard. People have made this statement over and over but this little $200 system has the keyboard of a decent laptop. The keys are really responsive and nicely spaced, honestly it feels like a full keyboard most of the time. Two of the place where the laptop falls short is the track-pad and camera. The camera is very good compared to the Samsung but really doesn't give you any options when taking pictures (adjusting brightness, contrast, etc) this can be done on the back end with a photo editing program but not during. The track-pad is okay at best. You won't be raving over it but your not going to be giving it praise either. The screen resolution is overall very good, I watched Netflix this morning on it and I was very happy with the overall look and sharpness of the screen.
Differences between this and the Samsung are simple. This computer carries a 320 gig spinning hard drive and the Samsung has a solid state 16 gig hard drive. Both come with 2 years of Google Drive 100 gig service for free which is more than enough for most people. The Google community as a whole prefers a solid state as it has no moving parts and it follows Google's overall vision of the machine. But unlike the Samsung the Acer has a removable hard drive and can be installed with an SSD (same with ram and battery).
This computer also uses and Intel chip which means it can run things that the Samsung can not just yet. Example NETFLIX. The Samsung machine will eventually be able to but currently can not. This computer also has a fan as the ARM process runs cool enough to not need it, however if you are used to the fan of a full sized laptop then unless you are in a completely quiet place you'll never notice this fan.
The Google's OS works about as good as expected. There are many things that you will not be able to do that you could do on a Windows/Mac/Linux Machine that is a given. They are working very hard on resolving these issues. Right now I would say you if you buy this machine you are pretty much a beta tester. I could easily recommend Google chrome for writers, children, people who travel a lot, and people who generally work on the web (you know who you are). I am happy enough with the OS as it's fast and just works. I use it for both personal and business and I have encountered very few issues that couldn't be resolved with a Google Search.
PRO's
Removable RAM, Hard drive and Battery which can lead to replacements or upgrades after/during warranty cycle.
Glossy Screen (better for movies not better for outside)
Ethernet and VGA ports (the Samsung does not have this it is only WIFI/3g)
Quick Start-up (22 seconds on average for me not as fast as the Samsung but Windows users know this is fast!)
Netflix works (Samsung still being worked on)
Con's
Not the fastest Chromebook (Samsung is faster start up, 550 is the best performance.)
Small Webstore (Chrome's web store is pretty small with that being said they still have many programs that you would normally find on windows. Quality will get better as more people purchase the systems.)
Netbook Size (this computer is small, that doesn't mean it's bad but I'd like to see a big computer down the road)
OS Development (The OS is still being worked out so you should be prepared for things to change however if you like change there is nothing more exciting than being part of the process.)
Battery (4 hours max 3:30 to 3 on average needs better battery life or extended battery option)
This is offered by Google on their Play store, and will undoubtedly be offered directly by Amazon later, at a list price of $199. When it is offered by Amazon directly, you will save on shipping since Google charged me roughly $13 for shipping. That's cheap.
Unlike the original CR48 "googlers only" Chromebook, and the first Samsung and Acer Chromebooks which ran Intel Atom chips, a truly mouse-power processor, this one runs on a much, much more powerful in both CPU and GPU terms Celeron processor based on former "Core" technology ("Sandy Bridge" generation) and in fact has been rebranded by Intel recently as a "Core" processor, even though it is based on the prior generation design and has most advanced "Core" "Ivy Bridge" functions disabled. Nevertheless this is a pretty good processor with pretty good graphics (for streaming video, not for games), and is supposedly marginally faster than the ARM processor in the equivalent Samsung "fast and cheap" Chromebook introduced last month but that Samsung "ARM" Chromebook has an SSD (solid state drive instead of spinning mechanical platters) and SSD's have been known to perk up overall system performance by a substantial margin. But all you need to _really_ know is that this isn't the slug that the Atom-powered Chromebooks were, and that with either the new Samsung or this one, you will have a good browser and streaming video experience.
Since this Acer runs a "standard" Intel chip instead of the "smartphone" chip found in the new Samsung Chromebook, software doesn't have to be "ported over" from "Intel code" to "ARM code." This means you can run Netflix etc. out of the box, right now. However, most pundits believe ARM chips are the wave of the future (some forecasting them even for entry level MacBook Airs) since they are much, much more power efficient than anything Intel offers of similar processing and graphics power. What this means today, is that the Samsung Chromebook on the ARM chip can run for roughly twice as long as this one, based on published manufacturer specs, and given Google's good history of updating the Chrome operating system automatically, any application hiccups should be sorted out quickly.
Samsung's last generation Chromebook (12.1") runs an even faster Intel chip, and has an SSD. It is unlikely it will stay in the market place since it is not nearly as thin and light as the new Samsung Chromebook and costs roughly twice as much.
Where this Acer excels over the Samsung is in its "upgradeability" if you are willing to deal with potential warranty issues. It only takes a single screw to remove the bottom panel to access memory and hard drive. I have already placed a second 2gb memory stick in mine to bring memory up to 4gb DDR3, PC 10600, 1333, 204 pin. A commenter on an earlier review states that the maximum memory the machine can accept is 4gb total, but I have no way to confirm this. Their are published reports of users swapping hard drives on Chromebooks (by first making a recovery USB) and so at some point I may replace the conventional hard drive with an SSD but I am not sure how much incremental speed I would get since I now have 4gb of memory and will only be using the Chromebook for relatively light web tasks and occasional streaming video.
I have made good use of the large hard drive, loading (very easy to do) 100 gb of videos (instructional dvd's ripped with Handbrake to h.264 for Apple devices) and 40 gb of music. So the Chromebook won't just be a "brick" when I am away from wifi (since any writing I do is online anyway, the ability to write in Google Docs offline is nice, but not part of what I use a computer for).
So all in all, this Acer Chromebook is "fast and cheap" and, in addition, has a nice screen and good keyboard. It is a real travel/cafe/kitchen computer (or workshop, or anyplace you want to haul a small laptop around to watch YouTube instructions etc.).
Very Secure with a caveat:
Google is pretty renowned for their attention to security, and it shows in the Chromebook. All user information is encrypted, so short of NSA level decryption it is unlikely anyone can "brute force" your hard disk to read off passwords. There is an admin procedure for gaining access to a locked device, but when it is used, user data is first erased. In addition, the Chrome browser safe-lists websites, and spots and warns you of compromised websites faster than any other browser (thanks to Google's constant web-crawling). Chrome is also sand-boxed, etc. etc. boring technical details, but experts seem to agree that the Chrome browser on any platform is the most secure, and Chrome OS is perhaps the most secure operating system out there. So yes you can use the Chromebook for your banking.
The problem I have with Google's security system is that you use your Google Gmail/Chrome password to log onto the laptop. This means physical surveillance could grab your password, and if your email account is known, any computer could be used after that to access your email. Since many people store passwords in their archived emails, and since email is the first route for password recovery, and since Chrome kindly remembers passwords for you (if you let it), this is a potential big security risk. The only two solutions that come to mind are carefully shielding the keyboard when you first log in, and not letting Google remember any banking or other sensitive passwords for you.
A perhaps better solution is to have two Gmail accounts, and log in under two different accounts for your Chromebook. One Gmail address for banking and only use that log in for banking; and one Gmail address for social and everything else, and use that log in for everything but banking.
The Chromebook settings, which are easy to find and change, allow you to freely let other Gmail users log into your Chromebook, or lock down the Chromebook to only the previous people logging in. You can also allow, or turn off, the Guest account. You may wish to lock down the Chromebook in settings if you are worried about other people using it. Remember, unlike other computers, the only credentials required to log onto any Chromebook are a Gmail account you don't set up accounts in the conventional sense, the Chromebook is a lot like a public library terminal, open to everyone if you don't lock it down. This isn't a big negative for your personal security, since your information is always in the cloud not on the computer (except for downloaded or very limited local files which are encrypted anyway), but I wouldn't want a Bad Egg using my laptop. For a purely home computer, not a problem, for a travel computer, lock down the users.
All in all, it is really, really hard to mess up a Chromebook. It updates itself automatically and antivirus is built in. It is encrypted. Enough said! You can't find a more secure laptop for travel or cafes, for banking. If you go to "bad" websites you are less likely to get your computer infected than under any other operating system.
Excellent Browser:
Before you buy one of these, you should really spend a few days or even a week and analyze what you use your computer most for. If you live in the browser, as I do, if you have immersed yourself in the Google-verse, as I have, it's a little scary but once you take the step there is no problem at all. I use Google Docs for all my created documents; Google+ Hangout for video chats; Google Voice (free telephone number, place calls from the Gmail window); all my music was uploaded to Google Pay for free and can be played anywhere I have a browser and wifi (including on tablets). Netflix works. In terms of non-Google stuff, I shop a lot on Amazon, I post a lot on FaceBook, and I read newspapers and articles online. My browser of choice on Windows, Mac, iPad, and Nexus 7 is Chrome, my mail is Gmail.
So far the only negative I have encountered is the inability to use iTunes and FaceTime. FaceTime has become enormously popular with my family. My kid is on her iPad and my wife has an iPhone, so while I don't have an iPhone, when I travel I use an iPod Touch to FaceTime home. It will ring my wife's phone, which is always on, or my kid's iPad, which is usually on, so reaching them is easy. It is less easy to reach them on Google+ Hangouts unless I send them a text first, it either doesn't have, or I haven't learned how to use, or I don't want to leave it on (and suck resources) Google + all the time.
Note that if you are Skype user, Chromebook does not have a Skype app. This isn't a Google problem, so much as a Skype problem when Skype first came out, it decided to market itself as a stand-alone application, not as a web application. They chose to do this so they could run in the background so you could get calls on your computer all the time if it had been browser based, it would have only been available when you had a browser window opened to their website. (It is actually HARD to turn Skype off, once you log in unlike other programs that terminate by clicking the x in the corner of the app window, it keeps running unless you figure out how to really, really close it). For security reasons, Google naturally prefers to run EVERYTHING in its very secure browser, because to run in a browser window, a web-based app has to conform to web standards and Google can scan that website for malware. It Google were to allow Skype and other companies to write stand-alone apps for Chrome OS like Skype, or Adobe Acrobat they would open their very secure OS to security issues for the past several years, for example, Adobe Acrobat has been one of the biggest security holes on Mac and Windows computers. Flash and Java follow closely (Java was even a problem for Apple this years). Google includes Flash directly in Chrome, and Java as well, but Google vets all that code and updates it immediately. So given the security issues with Skype (or any other 3rd party app) and the fact that Google has its own videoconferencing solution, it is unlikely Skype will come to Chrome OS or Chromebooks.
Right now Google is pitching Chrome OS and Chromebooks as the "simple" solution because its hard for the average user to understand the importance of security. The average user pays lip service to security (mainly by hobbling their machines with resource hungry overblown 3rd party antivirus programs), but at the end of the day they want Flash to run their video content and commercials, Adobe to read documents, Word (which had many security exploits over the years) to process documents, etc. If you really want a secure device, though, Google and Chrome OS are the best on the marketplace, and the Chrome browser works fine.
BTW if your grandmother is looking for secure email yes this will run Comcast and other ISP emails, Microsoft Outlook, Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, etc. Not just Gmail. No, if they open a Gmail account to use a Chromebook, they DON'T have to really use that for their email. They can keep using their regular old email. Short of "phishing" attacks which use psychological ploys, not computer hacking, to gain personal information, it is next to impossible to infect a Chromebook by opening a bad email or downloading a bad attachment or by visiting a "bad" website. In short, this is a perfect granny (and kids) web browsing computer.
As for the 320 gb hard drive on this vs. the 16gb on the Samsung and "traditional" Chromebooks -
given that Google is uploading all my photos taken with my Android phone (Galaxy Nexus) and wants to download them to my other Google connected devices (besides keeping them in the cloud) it is probably a good thing to have 320 gb of Chromebook space instead of 16gb. That allows some room for saving all those pictures! (My Apple devices have been trying to "push" my photos taken with my Touch to ALL my Apple devices nice for access, but not all my devices have the same amount of memory nor so I want this seemingly senseless duplication.)
If you absolutely, positively need the lightest, thinnest (MacBook Air territory) Chromebook, get the new Samsung (Samsung Chromebook (Wi-Fi, 11.6-Inch)). But I think this Acer is a better buy, and I like the large local hard disk.
BTW one reviewer felt the trackpad wasn't very responsive. In the Settings section, I just increased the trackpad speed and it made a great improvement in "feel". Much closer to MacBook Air standards (I am using a Mac mini with a Magic TrackPad to type this tonight so I know how good a trackpad should be). Also I "reversed" the scroll direction on the Chromebook to match the swipe-to-scroll direction on the Apple TrackPad a neat adjustment.
Hope you enjoy your future Chromebook. Buy it for minimalist efficiency, and enjoy the security. Or buy it for the security, and be amazed by how much you have been doing all along, just in a browser window.The major problems that this device seems to face aren't that it doesn't live up to it's potential, it's that most people seem to get stuck on 'but for a couple hundred more dollars I could get a real computer'. Or 'get a tablet'. Google probably should have rethought their marketing (from what I've seen they present the Chromebooks as being capable of 'everything' when that's not quite true). And not everyone jumped on board the tablet train.
The easiest way to explain a Chromebook is: it's a tablet with a built in keyboad. Yes it doesn't have Android OS and it's got a web store instead of Google Play, but it's close. Or you could call it a light computer without program functionality, sounds bad, but I like that it's not bogged down.
I've been dealing with tablets for the past year or so and it's always come down to the same problem for me--no keyboard. The keyboard stands out there never fit right for typing on my lap. I love tablets, I've had a few different ones before I settled. I enjoy Android, but since I'm a big one for typing--whether it's reviews, emails, or anything else-nothing makes up for the lack of keyboard.
I needed something with a keyboard that was smaller and lighter than my heavy Acer Aspire. I fully intended to replace that laptop with whatever I purchased. Also, it needed to be relatively cheap since I'm one of the many people not made out of money.
I thought about what I needed the device to be capable and what I could live without. I checked out Chrome's web store and was surprised at the options (compared to the Play store it's lacking, but it has some useful stuff if you weed through the not-so-useful). I don't have a need for Microsoft Office Word, I find it to be a very expensive frustration, and I didn't have many other programs installed in my laptop. The one program I thought I'd miss was a photo editing one, but they've got alternatives at the web store.
I was looking into the Samsung Chromebook just a day before Google announced the Acer C7. Not being a full convert to Cloud storage I quickly decided that saving $50 and getting 320GB was a fair exchange for slightly slower boot time and slightly more weight (unlike many people, I've never had a problem with Acer products).
I purchased it directly from Google (where it is $199 plus shipping) and received it the next day (I had been informed that I paid $13 dollars for 2 day shipping).
I unboxed it, turned it on, and logged in. I haven't touched my old laptop since. Though to be perfectly honest my household has another computer, which I have used a couple of times for non personal things.
First off your touchpad will probably be slow and need to be adjusted, mine was way too slow.
If you rely on Office or Paint, Photoshop or any other program--you don't want this device to be your sole computer. But if you've got the $200 and you don't think tablets are for you, maybe you'd like to have a keyboard, or you'd just like something lighter to carry around, this baby is well worth the money.
I'd read about the battery performance before I'd purchased and it doesn't feel like it's as bad as they say, though I haven't timed it. Plus the power cord is pretty long--unlike the itty bitty one that came with my tablet, so if I go to another room and there's an outlet nearby I can just plug it in. I've always kept my Aspire plugged in (it hasn't moved from my room since I purchased it). I suppose if you're on a long flight you might be out of luck...
My Drive suits my needs just fine when it comes to typing--I love the awesome auto save--and I appreciate the screen size versus my 7 inch tablet when I'm shopping on Amazon or going through forums.
Like many others, I've had a hard time adjusting to the location of the page up and down buttons and the home and end buttons, it is a little annoying, but I don't find myself using those keys very often.
I still prefer my tablet for reading, I'll check my email on it, and other simple tasks, but this little machine is better than I'd hoped.
So the biggest thing to keep in mind is that, for most of you, this will not work as a replacement for your computer-it could be an alternative to a tablet, for someone too young to have their own computer, someone's first computer, for a writer who doesn't need major formatting at their finger tips, a big blogger, a perfect traveling device...
Just do a little thinking about what you need out of it before making the decision to buy.
If there are any questions I'd be happy to try to answer them.
UPDATE Jan. 5th:
The 3.5mm headphone jack doesn't consistently work, it appears to be an annoying problem for many of the c7 chromebooks. People have suggested wiggling your headphone plug until it works, I've found the only solution for me is a mixture of; unplug and replug/ mute and umute (sometimes switching to different headphones/earbuds makes it work also). It's a little time consuming, but once the audio comes through your headphones it should stay that way until you unplug them.
Printing: I've hit a dead end here. Which is a bummer since the major reason I bought the C7 was for a light, typing machine. If you've got a Google Cloud Print Ready Printer you should be good (although I've read that you may need a computer for a firmware update?), otherwise it seems you have to be signed in on Chrome with a computer that's already got a printer. That kind of set up doesn't work for me since the available computer is a shared one. So, taking the long route, I've found myself either logging in to Google Drive on the REAL computer (being sure to sign out after) and printing docs from there, or emailing things to myself so that I can print later. It's a little time consuming, but it works. If you use a shared computer--and are printing Top Secret documents--make sure you clear the clipboard if you've used it.
I think the printer issue highlights the fact that a Chromebook is not a FULL computer, but if you have access to a real computer you should be able to work around it.I have no idea why Amazon is charging so much money for this thing, I got mine for the Google advertised price of $199 at Best Buy.
Here is my review:
This little computer is fantastic. We purchased it for my mother in law who is not great with computers. All she cares about is going online to shop and play facebook games and sometimes video chat.
Speed:
The computer is very very fast with everything it does. Web sites load fast.
The comuter boots up and is ready to surf the web in 30 seconds or less.
Opening pictures and other files go very fast as well.
Chrome Operating System:
Yes it will take a little getting used to if you use windows every day, but trust me its not bad.
I was able to hook up my external Hard drive and copy over some family pictures very easily and quickly. You just have to use the "files" app.
There is no support for Skype, however, this is a google computer, so you will need a G mail account which means you can use Google Hangouts to video chat, I actually like it better than skype. (skype will eventually launch a chrome app).
Other notes:
The battery is very small, around 3 hours of usage, so make sure you are someone who is always going to have it plugged in, if not, you may need to spend the extra $50 and get the Samsung Chromebook which has a 6 hour battery.
The computer comes free with 100GB of google drive cloud storage which is great if you are an Android device user.
supports normal plug and use USB mice and other devices. I purchased a $15 wireless mouse and it works without any set up or tinkering.
Summary:
If you are someone who needs a simple laptop to do video chatting, web surfing, shopping, and play online games, this is perfect for you. I cannot over-state how fast this computer is at everything it does, its amazing. There is no waiting (provided you have a decent internet speed).
What more needs to be said? If you need a cheap computer which is blazing fast, buy this thing!!I just got mine yesterday so I'll add some thoughts.
First: Chrome OS is fantastic. It's a very elegant OS with few features, which I feel is the exact opposite of Android. It's almost iOS-like in its purposeful simplicity. In its simplicity, it's lacking some features that I'm used to but it remains to be seen whether they're deal-breakers or if they're mostly things I can get used to doing without. It's mostly minor-ish things I wish I could do, like being able to upload mp3s to Google Music, which requires the Music Manager application. Or maybe just zoom-in on a downloaded photo in the Files utility. For the most part though, getting used to Chrome OS feels similar to using OS X for the first time.
As for the C7, if you're coming from a cheap windows computer to begin with, or if you're not very picky about computers, you'll probably be satisfied with the quality of the machine. However, if you're used to more expensive computers, you may find the C7 to seem downright cheap. The major gripes I have with the C7 are the keyboard and the screen.
My primary computer is a white 2010 Apple Macbook and it was the cheapest laptop that Apple sold and thus had the lowest quality screen of all of Apple's computers. But even that screen is lightyears ahead of the C7 and to be fair, a majority of windows computers. If there's one thing that Apple unequivocally does correctly, it is the screen. The screen on C7 on the other hand looks a bit washed out, blue, and dull. It has poor vertical viewing angles and I can see faint vertical lines between adjacent pixels. To be frank, it just looks cheap to me. I realize this is THE budget machine and that there are people out there that find no issues with this screen but I'm just not sure I'll ever get used to this screen. As for the keyboard, it's sized correctly and doesn't feel cramped but the keys feel very mushy to me.
As for the rest of the machine, the performance feels perfectly acceptable and the claimed 4hr battery life is adequate in my opinion. In comparison to the Samsung, I've seen complaints about the fan noise but so far, they haven't been that much of a bother. The fan is definitely spinning most of the time but I wouldn't say it's as bad as some of the other laptops I've seen.
All in all, I think the C7 is great deal for the price point. I think current chromebooks compete with tablets like the Microsoft Surface and even the iPad extremely favorably for many use-cases because of price, full keyboard, and full-fledged Chrome browser.
HP Envy DV7-7230US AMD A8-4500M X4 1.9GHz 6GB 750GB DVD+/-RW 17.3" Win8 (Black)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program Once you remove all of the bloatware and unnecessary HP apps, and adjust Windows 8 settings to your liking, this laptop is quite fast and enjoyable to use. But it takes a while to get there.===== First, the hardware: =====
Fast boot and resume times, especially after making the software tweaks mentioned below. Windows 8 boots quickly, and after you close the lid and reopen it to resume, it is ready in about 2-3 seconds.
The laptop is a bit on the heavy side, but feels and looks well-built.
The Beats Audio sound is great, as most Beats Audio sound devices are.
The screen is bright and beautiful.
The keys are comfortable, and the configurable multi-touch touchpad works well.
The touchpad recognizes the following multi-touch swipe patterns: two finger scrolling, pinch zoom, rotating, three finger press, three finger flick, and four finger flick.
The function keys also operate things like the brightness, volume, media operation, and turning wi-fi on and off to help conserve battery life.
There are no built-in Bluetooth capabilities. An inexpensive USB Bluetooth dongle fixes the problem, but it would have been nice to have Bluetooth included.
The camera works well, even in low-light.
===== Next, the software: =====
I am not going to include my opinion of Windows 8 as part of the rating on this laptop. I am not a huge fan of Windows 8 on non-touch devices, but when you add a piece of software like the free, open-source program "Classic Shell" that adds back the old start menu as well as the ability to boot directly to the desktop, it makes things a lot more enjoyable.
This laptop comes loaded with lots of games and applications you may not want to use, and there is no option to include or exclude any of these applications from your installation when you first boot up. Here is the list of pre-installed apps and links to online services:
Norton Internet Security 2012 (60-day trial); Windows Live; Beats Audio; Cyberlink Power2Go; CyberLink PowerDVD; CyberLink YouCam DE; eBay; HP CoolSense; HP Games by WildTangent; HP MyRoom; HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection (HP 3D DriveGuard); HP Recovery Manager; HP Support Assistant; Netflix; Skype; Amazon Kindle e-reader; iHeart Radio; HP Connected Photo powered by Snapfish; Solitaire; Mahjong; HP Connected Backup; CyberLink Power Director; CyberLink Photo Director; Windows 8 Store Apps; HP Online User Guide; HP Registration; HP Connected Music powered by Meridia
There is no Microsoft Office license included. I recommend the free alternatives "Open Office" or "LibreOffice".
The first thing I did when I booted this laptop was uninstall the HP-branded version of Norton Internet Security trial, as I already have my own license for it. I installed the regular version and turned off the smart firewall feature so I had full control over every application that wanted to connect to the internet. I was shocked at just how many different HP programs are installed and run at startup and try and connect to various websites for whatever reason. I am sure some of them were just checking for updates, but there were way too many different programs trying to connect to too many different servers for my tastes. This is a major pet peeve of mine. I immediately evaluated which HP apps I absolutely needed (almost none of them) and uninstalled the rest.
I also noticed some other pre-installed apps running at startup, like some of the Cyberlink apps, so I disabled those as well. There were also some HP and other third-party Windows services running that I disabled. After uninstalling and disabling all of the unnecessary apps, the laptop ran much faster and smoother. And as I mentioned earlier, boot and resume times are very fast. The only exception to the nice speed is the opening of Metro apps, but it is not necessarily the fault of this laptop. I have seen many complaints online about Metro apps loading slowly.
The screen brightness was constantly automatically adjusting, making for a horrible experience. I investigated the power options and noticed a setting for "Adaptive Brightness" so I turned that off, but the screen was still constantly changing brightness. I eventually found a way to disable this. Right-click on the desktop, select the AMD Vision Engine Control Center. Go to POWER > POWER PLAY and disable VARI-BRIGHT.
TIP: To possibly improve the WiFi's range and/or performance, especially when running on battery, see my post on page 4 of the comments under my review.
===== Benchmark: =====
If you would like to run the freeware benchmarking program NovaBench on one of your current computers and compare it to this one, here are my average results after I made the changes mentioned above.
Total NovaBench score: 557
5603 MB System RAM (Score: 139)
RAM Speed: 5142 MB/s
CPU Tests (Score: 230)
Floating Point Operations/Second: 62790020
Integer Operations/Second: 174282404
MD5 Hashes Generated/Second: 536782
Graphics Tests (Score: 150)
3D Frames Per Second: 454
Hardware Tests (Score: 38)
Primary Partition Capacity: 672 GB
Drive Write Speed: 71 MB/s
===== Windows Experience Score: =====
Here are my scores from the System Control Panel:
Calculations per second: 6.7
Memory: 7.2
Graphics: 6.8
Gaming graphics: 6.8
Primary hard disk and base score: 5.9
===== Summary: =====
I am quite happy with this laptop's looks and performance, but I had to deduct one star because of how many applications were pre-installed and pre-configured to run on startup, and because of how many of these programs try and connect to the Internet before I even open any of them.
If I can answer any specific questions for you, please ask.
This Hewlett-Packard has a full-sized keyboard for laptop. It also sports a separate numeric keypad so that you can input numbers more easily. The separate numeric keypad is something often found in larger keyboards and comes in handy if you are a person who crunches numbers or enjoys a calculator type of feel.
With its brushed aluminum exterior it has a beautiful aesthetic look. The cover of the laptop seems to be impervious to fingerprints which is a good thing. The laptop is completely black with a lighted HP logo and silver accents. Instead of a slot loading optical drive it has a tray DVD drive which is more typical of PC's. This HP Envy came pre-loaded with Windows 8 and this is a learning process in and of itself. The laptop is loaded with Beats audio and this provides a fantastic audio experience for playing music on CDs or watching DVDs on the computer. With a 17 inch screen the experience is phenomenal.
Using cool sense technology, the HP Envy is able to stay very cool despite running lots of programs and media. With its whisper quiet operation it's difficult to discern that it is even running at times. A new machine always runs more quietly ... dust and age can make them turn a little grumpier and louder. Time will tell how quiet it keeps.
The Beats Audio and DVD playback is to die for. If you are looking for a great, affordable multimedia laptop that allows you to consume media as well as create it, you can have a nice experience with this. Since this is a slightly lower end model (as far as optical drives go) it does not have Blu-Ray built into the player. If that is a big feature for you, you will have to upgrade to another model.
The laptop boasts 6 gigs of RAM and this is a decent amount for some multimedia and gaming applications.
Biometrics are incorporated into this laptop if you choose to use them this means your fingerprint or finger swipe serves to provide login information. It's called HP SimplePass and it's easy to set up and use. Having used finger swiping technology in the past ... I almost invariably go back to the old fashioned way of authenticating via password. Old habits die hard!
I love this sleek laptop. 17" machines have come a long way over the years and things are faster, lighter and a heck of a lot cheaper.
Right now I am using Windows 8 (the Vanilla version not the Pro) and I like it. That will be another review in and of itself.
The laptop has a nice configuration of various ports (including an HDMI) and the incorporation of 3 USB 3.0 port and 1 USB 2.0 port amidst the typical LAN and SD card ports.
The touchpad more resembled a Mac touchpad and can be used with multi-touch gestures that are straightforward once you know them.
Overall, this is a great, economical and powerful 17" laptop. The Fit and Finish is surprisingly nice and solid. A laptop that definitely rivals more expensive Windows laptops.
I am impressed!
Updated 23 November 2012 this laptop comes with 6GB of Ram (not 2GB) like part of the description mentions.
Update 21 December 2012 the picture depicted on the Amazon site shows an optical drive with a BluRay symbol on it. My version of this laptop DOES NOT have this logo and DOES NOT play BluRay discs.
Buy HP Envy DV7-7230US AMD A8-4500M X4 1.9GHz 6GB 750GB DVD+/-RW 17.3" Win8 (Black) Now
Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program HP has made desktop mobility a reality with its Envy dv7 laptop. Forget about choosing between a PC and a tablet the Envy lets you to do it all!Like a tablet, the Envy is lightweight and unlike laptops of old, the machine runs cool and whisper-quiet. The Envy comes loaded with Windows 8 whose bold new startup screen emulates the look-and-feel of tablet-style computing. (Amazon readers note: among the many preloaded music, social networking, photo and other apps is a nifty Kindle app that allows you to read content you may have purchased through Amazon on the laptop.) Although the Envy does not have a touchscreen, HP has ingeniously engineered the touchpad to replicate the controls you might be accustomed to using on a tablet including scrolling, pinching/zooming, swipe, and so on. I found the help videos useful and got the hang of using the touchpad in short order. No doubt people comfortable with using smart phones and tablets will enjoy using the laptop with this input.
Like a desktop, the Envy has a decent-sized, high-resolution screen and keyboard including a number keypad. The Envy has quality web cams, microphones and speakers; as well as a fingerprint reader that can be used for secure access both at the login prompt and when accessing web services. Most importantly, with 6 gigabytes of RAM the Envy can power most of today's memory-intensive applications such as graphics and office programs; for example, I easily installed a copy of Microsoft Office Professional 2010 and successfully ran the software without a hitch. Select the desktop icon from the Windows 8 start screen to get the old school look-and-feel of prior versions of Windows. And of course, the Envy has lots of inputs for connecting peripherals such as larger monitors, keyboards, mouse, external hard drive, printers and etc. for those who prefer to dock the machine when at home.
In my opinon, the Envy represents a breakthrough for the many business people, students and others for whom mobility and power are both important. You can't run serious applications with a tablet and you can't have portability with a PC but you can easily do both with the Envy. To everyone who might be seriously considering a tablet, desktop or laptop: I urge you to give the HP Envy dv-7 a serious look!So far it runs well, and the sound is pretty good. There's, like, no bass with the subwoofer, though. At least, not the kind you'd expect from a good set of headphones or your "pimped out" car.
The touchpad on mine started to life up on the bottom right corner. It's sticky, so it seems that the glue just wasn't good enough. I had a similar problem on the last few smartphones I had. :P It doesn't ruin the functionality at all. It works perfectly. The corner just catches my thumb from time to time. It's more annoying if anything.
The graphics processor seems like it's lacking, but there's settings in the software for that. Just run the CCC (Catalyst Control Center / AMD Vision Engine Control Center) and go to: Power > Power Play > Change the options to Maximize Performance > Apply. That actually allowed me to play some games on higher settings without lag.
This laptop does run hot, but HP CoolSense keeps the keyboard and palm rests cool to the touch. I was seeing it idle at about 95C on High Performance. While playing a game, it will go up to 110~111C. Your typical PC shouldn't really go over 90C under load, and it should idle around 65~70C.
Overall, I'd say it's worth around $500 (the price I paid refurbished). You get some USB 3.0 ports so it's semi-future proof. Quad-core processor at 1.9GHz is quick, but not blazingly fast. 6GB of RAM stock is more than enough any normal person would really need. The screen is really nice, and the graphics processor can play most games (on low~medium settings). I'm planning on upgrading to 8GB in the future, though, since I like to limit my SWAP file as much as possible (helps with limiting fragmentation).
Want HP Envy DV7-7230US AMD A8-4500M X4 1.9GHz 6GB 750GB DVD+/-RW 17.3" Win8 (Black) Discount?
Superb computer. Graphics are excellent; the best monitor I have seen on a laptop so far. Absolutely exceeded my expectations.Save 27% Off