Toshiba Satellite P755-S5274 15.6-Inch LED Laptop (Black)

I purchased this laptop 6/30. I received and un-boxed it 7/5. It is well-equipped for the price.

Positives

-The 2nd Gen Core-i5 has excellent benchmarks, comparable and even better than some 1st Gen Core-i7. (See Passmark Benchmark ratings)

-The video card puts out 1080p video without issue. It is not really capable of doing any gaming but that is to be expected at this price from the Intel HD 3000.

-For the price point the theoretical specs are fabulous, hence my purchase and excitement upon arrival.

-It comes with a full size keyboard built in which I enjoy. The sizing and spacing is all acceptable although the backspace is a touch smaller than I would like.

As far as negatives are concerned,

-The webcam is horrendous, I mean, it works, but the resolution and video quality is pretty shameful. I knew this going into the purchase and was willing to accept it, but if you are hoping for a decent integrated webcam this is not a computer for you. Of course you can always get a very high quality external webcam which will best any internal.

-Toshiba Bloatware, I haven't fully investigated them, but a lot of them are redundant to services that windows provides, or just excessive little power hungry toys. Thus far I do actually like the extra power settings, but that is the only one among many.

-Other Bloatware (Extra links to install trial programs...etc)

Now, the reason for 1-star.

The laptop I received on 7/5 was defective. The audio card integrated on the motherboard was deemed defective by Toshiba. Of course Toshiba customer support made me re-install the driver, and "revert to factory settings". I found this excessively annoying as I has just opened the box and reverting to factory settings wouldn't do anything. Regardless the problem remained and they agreed it was defective and told me I could send it to a repair facility (a brand new laptop? and wait a few weeks, i think not). Or Amazon could send me a new one. I have had better dealings with Amazon than Toshiba so I opted for a replacement. Props to Amazon for the prompt replacement (it arrived within 24 hours). Now, believe it or not, the 2nd laptop is also defective. I then had to call Toshiba again to inform them of this. They didn't seem to find it odd that two of the exact same computers are both defective. Anyway Amazon is refunding me the money and I intend to get something else. Preferably not Toshiba despite my previously high impressions of them.

I would be interested to know if anyone else is having these issues. For anyone who may be skeptical as to the fact that two computers are both defective let me assure you sound was tested with several samples of audio from the HD, and the internet. It was also tested on both computers using the laptop speakers, Sennheiser Headphones, and a high quality system with Polk Audio speakers.

Bottom Line:

The specs are great, but I cannot recommend a computer that has come defective 2/2 times. Once is acceptable, it happens, but twice is not acceptable and both Amazon and Toshiba should be ashamed to be selling faulty merchandise repeatedly.

[UPDATE]

After receiving a third defective laptop I have ordered a Lenovo from Best Buy. I cannot fathom that nobody else is having this issue. This has been tested on numerous receivers, numerous cords, numerous speakers. I have had friends with me to verify that I am in fact not going insane, and Toshiba has verified they are all defective. The error occurs upon setup without changing factory settings at all.

Stay away.

In other news the touchpad is definitely a little far to the left and while typing I often touch it with my left palm. Minor issue though.

Bear with me here folks, I'm still trying to pull together my thoughts on my brand new laptop here, consider my review a "first draft". :)

Received this laptop early this morning. My first impression is pretty good, but I've only been with it for a few hours thus far. I've surfed around online some, streamed some HD video, played a couple games, and removed a ton of bloatware.

Was a little worried at first, because the first boot-up took quite awhile, but once I removed some bloatware, shut down, and booted up again, it's ready to go within 20-30 seconds. After running it for 2 hours straight, mostly surfing around online, it's not hot enough to even call it warm, so it should be good about keeping cool. The fan seems to come on pretty often, but it's not very loud, it's mostly just the sound of air moving in and out. Wireless internet seems to work perfectly, and I easily connected to my network.

I actually quite like the touchpad on it, which is strange for me to say, because I'm picky about touchpads. I think it works well, and it's slightly textured, but not overly so. The keyboard seems nicely built for a laptop too.

I don't own much in the name of games, but I've played some Sim City 4 and The Sims 2 on high settings without any hiccups. HD video streamed smoothly as well.

Overall, I'm quite happy with my purchase. I'll be updating this review once I spend more time with it and finish getting my thoughts together.

Edit: Okay, so I never updated my review, too lazy to do it. However, it is now February 3rd 2012, and this computer is still up and running like new. I've owned it for 7 months and I have had no problems, even though I run it about 7 hours everyday. It continues to run cool, fast, and with no issues at all.

Buy Toshiba Satellite P755-S5274 15.6-Inch LED Laptop (Black) Now

This is my first laptop, and even though I've only had it for 9 days, I believe I've drawn a conclusion already.

Pros: 6gb ram and huge 640gb hard drive

Extremely smooth Youtube video playback

USB 3, Bluetooth 3, Wireless B/G/N, HDMI and VGA out

Quiet

Great battery life (in my opinion?)

The "chiclet" style keyboard is incredibly easy and satisfying to type on. The keys give off a satisfying light click, and they're far enough away from eachother so I rarely hit another key.

I have never seen an HD Youtube video play back so smooth before, not even on my desktop with an Nvidia Geforce GTS 250.

Speaking of video performance, Minecraft plays as smooth as my desktop plays it. I have not played other games, but DO NOT buy this laptop for gaming; you'll likely regret it.

It takes 22 seconds from power on (with the BIOS option "Load BIOS onto harddisk" checked), until you get a usable Windows 7 login screen.

The laptop has quite a few ports and features including: USB 2 and 3, Bluetooth 3, Wireless B/G/N, and HDMI and VGA out. Very handy to have and use all of them.

Internet browsing is far from slow, it feels much faster than my desktop.

You can only hear the fan occasionally speed up, if you strain to hear it in a quiet room.

Battery life is awesome, I was able to type an entire 725 word essay from start to finish with 10% left.(3 hours at least, maybe 4. I lost track of time)

Speedfan claims both cores are idling at 109f, but you can hardly feel any warmth from the laptop even after several hours of use.

Display is glossy, vivid and bright. Some may see it being glossy as a con; it's fine indoors, but tough to use outside (I never use it outside).

The numpad is an awesome feature to include, it was one of my main requirements in a laptop.

Windows 7 makes everything feel instant and responsive.

I've never run out of ram with the included 6gb.

Now onto the bad stuff (Minor whining on my part)

Cons: Keyboard is not backlit

Off center touchpad location interferes with typing

Dust magnet

Bloatware madness

Speakers suck(ish)

This laptop has doesn't have backlit keys, not a con if you know how to type; I just always thought they looked cool at night.

Regularly while typing, my hand rests on the touchpad and jumps the mouse around as another reviewer also mentioned. Annoying at times, just reposition your left hand slightly.

Needs to be wiped off daily or it grows a beard of dust. (Or maybe I just need to vacuum my room more than once a year)

Copious amounts of bloatware -some bundled with drivers. Google a program before deleting to make sure you don't inadvertently kill flashcards or the touchpad.(Happened to me)

Extremely slow until you kill off bloatware and stuff you don't plan on using.

As another reviewer stated, I have had the laptop claim it had an hour of battery life left, then 5 minutes later, it shut off. I remember reading through the Toshiba manual, and apparently it has to kind of "calibrate" the battery meter and run itself down once in a while to be accurate; I am guessing this applies to the first cycle especially. It has not done this since.

Speakers are clear, but severely lack bass. Using skullcandy earphones remedies that problem.

The bright Satellite letters and line above the touchpad can be turned off in the BIOS. I believe another reviewer said that already.

I am not a picky person, so these cons don't annoy me enough to be worth subtracting a star. The bottom line is that this is an awesome laptop for everything except gaming. (After you get over the minor quirks.)

Read Best Reviews of Toshiba Satellite P755-S5274 15.6-Inch LED Laptop (Black) Here

I've had this laptop for about two weeks and I love it. It's fast and loaded with a lot of useful features. Multi-tasking, installing programs, removing crapware and transferring data onto this machine have been a quick breeze.

I love the keyboard and number pad. They both have a normal set-up so you don't have to spend a lot of time trying to figure out where a certain button has been misplaced (an issue I've had previous laptops/netbooks I've owned and other models I've tried out in stores). Keys are pretty easy on the fingers and feel nice to the touch. Keyboard is NOT backlit as far as I can tell but it wasn't an important feature for me so no minus marks there.

Screen is crisp and has good contrast; it's not washed out like a lot of laptop screens I've come across in my research. It's viewable from almost any angle so it doesn't need to be at an exact precise angle for you to see the screen well-lit.

Speakers can go pretty loud for laptop speakers. They aren't the best speaker quality but pretty darn good for a laptop.

Unlike previous laptops I've had, this one runs pretty cool. Haven't had an issue with heat at all (even when I've absentmindedly left it running on top of the bed or on carpet). I do feel heat being pushed out by the fan but the system itself remains pretty cool to the touch (ie you won't burn your lap if it's resting on your leg and you'll probably have no need for a laptop cooler fan).

Other people have commented on the placement of the touchpad. This was a concern for me before I purchased it but it turns out that I rarely have an issue with it. Once in a while the touchpad does act up while I'm typing but in comparison to a lot of other models I've tried out it's a pretty minor problem. The touchpad on/off key is conveniently located near the touchpad so it can be switched off right away if you need to do some heavy-duty typing.

Laptop has a high-quality plastic feel (yes, it's plastic). No flexing in the keyboard or case; feels very sturdy. The grooved design all over the laptop is a nice touch that prevents fingerprint smudges.

An added bonus is the free Xbox for students. I haven't received the xbox credit yet. I'v contacted Amazon and they swiftly replied that the xbox credit is on it's way so we'll see how that goes.

It took me a while to decide on buying this laptop since I couldn't find the exact model in any brick and mortar store to try out personally. You can't go wrong with the specs but I would recommend going to an electronic store and trying out similar Toshiba models to see if you like the configuration of the keyboard, touchpad, etc since those are all based on personal preference. I think I tried out P755-S5215 at Best Buy; it has nearly an identical appearance. For the price the specs on this machine are great. No regrets so far, very happy customer.

Want Toshiba Satellite P755-S5274 15.6-Inch LED Laptop (Black) Discount?

I replaced an 8 year old Satellite with this computer. This new computer is very quick, keyboard keys have a nice touch. Fairly quite, lightweight and solid feeling. Windows 7 seems to be pretty good.

I find that the dolby advanced audio is not good and distorts music, try turning it off to make your music sound good. Also when you plug your speaker line into the headphone jack, select the headphone option, otherwise the line-in option also takes away from the music.

I was afraid that off center keyboard would be awkward and it is. Maybe I will get used to it. There is very little room for the left palm to rest on the computer and frequently inadvertently touches the mouse pad causing the mouse to do things I don't want it to do.

I chose toshiba again because my previous satellite served me near flawlessly (replaced hard drive once)for 8 years.

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HP 2000-428dx Laptop Computer / 15.6-inch HD Display Screen / 4GB Memory / AMD Dual-Core E-450 1.65

I work for a small non-profit that is a mix platform environment. We are slowly migrating from XP Professional to Win 7 Professional. We plan to stay Win 7 Professional as our primary platform until 2015 or a version of Windows 8 that is not created for dyslexic hipster kitties. This hardware is actually usable for business application. We run two Windows 2008 R2 servers and these HP 2000-428dx laptops work really well as mid-level pac computers hooked to our network. I had stayed clear of HP for the last few years but was willing to give them a shot again because of the AMD hardware specs, reasonable price point, and a design that is more or less right for business use.

We run Word, Excel, Outlook, and a custom win 32 app on it. It handles wireless networks well which is a godsend for our users. I am our agencies IT department. I have purchased 3 of these computers so far. I am going to be ordering a couple more. Two came from one of the box stores and one from Amazon. Amazon was cheaper and had them instock when I order the last one. Hardware wise all three have worked well out of the box. I installed Win 7 Pro and never ran the stock Win 7 Home. It runs well four or five business apps at a time including the Kaspersky antivirus which is a memory hog. Though the 4 gigs of RAM seem to keep the program from not bogging down these machines. Users typically reboot at the beginning of the day and are good till the end of the day. Normal Windows 7 load time. I stress that these are fine for mid-level price conscious computers. You will not be playing Skyrim, have two dozen Chrome tabs open, running a Virtual Machine with your vintage OS2 running just to play Mahjong on it, while listening to Mumford and Sons on this hardware without seriously bogging it down. I wouldn't image trying to run say Adobe graphics software on this or non-business applications.

The hardware design is functional and is aestethically pleasing. The mousepad can be turned off when you plug in a wireless mouse which makes typing much easier! My one real gripe is the power cord seems to follow HP's model of producing cheap cords. I wish they would migrate towards designing a similar power cord more like the Macbook power cord with the magnetic lock in place of the current design that feels flimsy. I imagine the cord will break before the year is out though the jury is still out on this aspect. Overall, this model is worth the money and if HP keeps producing solid computers like this then they will have a chance at not just survival but becoming popular again. I also wish they would produce some of their computers in the USA. I would pay a extra 100 for the made in USA sticker.

I have had two of these online for 30+ days with no real complaints. 1 has been on for 15+ days with no real complaints. I will update if I have any real problems and hope to get at least two years out of these computers. I will update this review if I notice any major hardware issues.

Good price, works fine, sound system is poor; skeeping that it is a good computer, I use it to work, I am a travel agent and this computer is all i need.

Buy HP 2000-428dx Laptop Computer / 15.6-inch HD Display Screen / 4GB Memory / AMD Dual-Core E-450 1.65 Now

I have owned this laptop for about 6 months now. It works perfectly and the way I need it to, the price was very good for what it has inside of it. Dual core processor and 4GB of ram makes the programs run smoothly without any problems. It also has a 320GB hard drive which gives me plenty of space to save my files. This HP laptop is great and I would recommend it to anyone who wants a good laptop for a good price.

Read Best Reviews of HP 2000-428dx Laptop Computer / 15.6-inch HD Display Screen / 4GB Memory / AMD Dual-Core E-450 1.65 Here

I bought this computer because it was cheap, and I got what I paid for. The plastic casing, keyboard, touchpad, and buttons all look and feel very cheap. The keyboard layout is, at times, counter-intuitive. The page down, page up, delete, and home buttons are stacked vertically at the far right, which means they're incredibly easy to hit accidentally when backspacing or hitting enter, which gets irritating.

Then there's the the touchpad, by far the most frustrating part. It's temperamental and unresponsive, consistently missing taps and clicks and scrolls and swipes. It's awful, just awful. I thought it would be something I could get used to, but we've had the computer for a month now and I still haven't figured out the touchpad. If you have the means, get a good wireless mouse to go with it.

The computer comes preloaded with a whole bunch of useless software(most notably: Blio, Roxy, and two or three forgettable music-playing programs, one of which wanted subscription fees). It took me several days of tinkering to pare down superfluous software, and the computer still runs depressingly slow.

There's stuff to like, though. It is, as I said, a relatively cheap machine. (I found it at Best Buy for $299, only about forty dollars more than I paid for my netbook.) The display is quite wide and reasonably crisp. It's also lighter than I thought it would be, making it surprisingly portable for such a chunky computer.

All in all, I would recommend this to students on a budget, but not anyone else. If you're looking for a simple machine to surf the web, do homework, and word-process on, this is a good deal. Otherwise, I would recommend spending a little more and getting something nicer.

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I truly love my HP Laptop. This is my first one. I like it because it's portable, wireless,

easy to use, feels like an extension of myself. I use it at home only. My window to the

World.

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HP ENVY 14-3010NR Spectre 14-Inch Ultrabook (Silver/Black)

Bottom line:

This is a very nice high quality machine. HP calls this zero sacrifice, I am about 90% agree with that. Yes, every component is premium quality, but the construction gets maybe 95 out of 100, due to the trackpad installation and the opening problem I note below. Most importantly, they can't make its price competitive enough, but street price should come down later.

Full review:

look & design

HP copied ideas from Macbook, but have enough of their own. The glowing logo on the back made me laugh. Well, whatever they need to do to gain market share. However, once you go pass the black island keyboard on silver, that's where the similarity on look stops. They did put in a lot of thoughts and effort at being different and unique. Like the Gorilla glass covers that give it a much polished and shiny look. If you like shiny, you will like this. The back cover is separated from the aluminum body made with quality plastic you can easily open without tools. The sides has more curves and ridges around the ports etc. The black color of the cover and the thin borders around the display are very nice, making this 14" just slightly larger than a 13" physically overall. The palm rest is a piece of gorilla glass that looks and feels good, it also helps protecting the keys from the screen when closed.

opening it & the distance the cover opens up

This is where HP fell short. They have a very short ridge on the cover that's suppose to give you an anchor to hold on to to open the screen, but it's too short, and there's not an indention on the body for you to put your finger into to grab the screen. So opening it is a slight struggle. Also, when the screen's open all the way it still doesn't go as far as I feel it should so it could be a very minor inconvenience at times. For example, when I am sitting up with it on my lap, I wish I could push the screen back just a tiny bit more.

display

It's a premium display, but not IPS. Colors are vivid and accurate. Even at lowest brightness it's still very visible. At highest it's very bright. The viewing angle is not as limited as some cheap ones, but still nothing compare to the near 180 degree of IPS. At about 40-50 degree and the image begins to change and become unclear. If I am sitting up with it on my lap, the image quality degrades slightly due to the view angle, that's why I wish the screen could open further back. The premium full HD 15" LCD on my 3 year old Dell feels slightly better.

Personally, I think 14" at 1600x900 is the sweet spot for laptop display. 13" would start to feel cramp, and 15" would start to feel cumbersome, especially when using in bed. The icon and text sizes at 1600x900 on 14" is just the right size, yet giving you much more pixel real estate. I stare at 5 24" monitors every day and this 14" still feels plenty big enough.

size & weight

Size is very nice. Slightly larger than a 13", but due to the thin display borders, you get a 14" LED screen. Once you've tried the thinner 3lb laptops, this 4lb feels heavy and thick, but still, very manageable.

battery

An informal test, just normal browsing (amazon, google, yahoo), writing this review, leaving it sitting around but not going to sleep with display eventually turning off, never turned off keyboard backlight, I barely got more than 5 hours out of it. Nothing near the 9.5 hrs in the spec. Slightly disappointed, but still happy, since I turned the display brightness near max most of the time. I guess to get 9.5 hours you have to turn off a bunch of things and run at lowest brightness or something. I might do a more precise and controlled test on it later.

speed

Having used machines with the fastest i7 and extreme xeon, I definitely noticed the ever so slight slower this machine's i5 CPU shows, but you could just call it my imagination. For doing normal browsing, email, word processing, and watching videos, there're ample power to spare. The built in HD3000 graphic chip is fairly limited, but it handles the normal operations and video playback admirably. I even managed to run Skyrim on it, at lowest settings and sluggish of course.

camera

I am so sick of the useless camera most PCs throw in I almost forgot about it on this, but when I tried it, I was pleasantly surprised. It produced smooth motion images that's very resilient to light changes. With an overhead lamp above me, the camera performed perfectly and produced a very clear image, unlike the typical washed out images cheap webcams make. With the lights off and only the light from the display, the camera adapted almost immediately, and gave smooth images that's very respectable: it's grainy, but at least color and the picture are fairly accurate and viewable. This is one quality webcam. HP spec says it's HD, but not sure if it's 1080p. The software allows you to record videos.

power connector & power supply

My bro used to complain about the flimsy power connector on a very old HP he had, but on this machine, looks like HP put some thought into designing it. Other than the actual connector, there's a bigger piece that holds the connector in place so it doesn't wiggle and break easily. The power supply is smaller than usual, and has a USB connector for supplying power to your USB devices.

trackpad

The trackpad is a quality glass cover Synaptics trackpad. However, on mine, its installation is not perfectly aligned. So there's a hairline gap on the right top side. The left edge is also a hairline higher than the right edge. I had some trouble with mine at first where multiple touch didn't work well. It would get faulty touches. After sometime playing around, I found the default sensitivity level is not good. I had to set it to lightest touch and now it works great. Moving the pointer around is very smooth and feels very comfortable and natural. Multiple touch scroll, pinch zoom, all work smoothly. Tap to click, double Tab & hold to drag, and Edge Drag all work well. The software gives you very flexible options and you can basically configure every aspect of it. Using it to browse the web for a few hours I became unaware of the trackpad and just do the motions naturally, and very comfortably.

keyboard

I don't like Island keyboard, but it's the best way to make slim laptops. Typing on it is very comfortable. The glass palm rests feel good, and actually grows on me a little, but it may be different for someone else. The keys are OK but still short on travel distance. I am a touch typist, but I missed noticeably more letters while typing this review, but I am sure I will get used to it in a few days.

Each key has its own LED for backlit, and it shows. The lights through each key is full and bright, the whole thing looks quite pretty. You can just turn it on/off manually with F5, which stays lit all the time, regardless of back lit being on or off. It's supposed to have proximity sensors that detects the user's presence and turn the backlit on/off, I noticed that it did its job a few times, but didn't really do any deliberate test on it.

fan & temperature

The fan out vents is on the bottom back. Since the edges have big curves up, and vent are on the curve, they are harder to get blocked. The fan comes on briefly every once in a while, even when I am just browsing the web, like on amazon. The noise is noticeable, but not annoying. Normal browsing, watching videos, never noticed anything beyond slightly warm. The fan does its job while not being annoying.

audio out

The beats audio sounds fuller than the usual laptop sounds I am used to, but it also gives it a muffle effect for some audios. Overall, it's nice and a signature on HP's Envy line.

volume knob

A physical volume knob is nice. I've seen quite a few moments in meetings where people had to turn on their computer but can't turn down the volume until they're logged in, so the welcome sound plays loud and disturb the meeting. However, it also has its shortcomings. Like turning away from you is volume up, which is opposite of what I naturally do. Also, holding the machine with right hand frequently touch the knob by accident.

Other gimmicks

It's got bluetooth. A NFC device that seems to be experimental HP doesn't have it mentioned on the spec. I borrowed my bro's android phone and downloaded HP's touch to share app. They don't seem to know what they want to do with it. The app apparently allows you to share a URL from the phone to your computer. I got the phone to connect, but after touch, nothing happens. Tried a few times and gave up.

The full size HDMI & Display Port are helpful, as is the ethernet jack. I have not bothered with the WiDi.

expandability

Since the back can be easily opened and immediately exposing the electronics parts that are secured with screws, you can actually replace the battery, which is held on by about 10 screws, but I am not sure if it would void your warranty. I also read somewhere that underneath there is an empty memory slot that lets you upgrade to 8GB.

I am actually glad that they didn't bother with an optical disc drive (CD/DVD/BD), and have a full size SD card slot. Personally, everything being equal, missing a SD card slot is a deal breaker for me on any laptop.

other thoughts & the price

Aside from the minor issues with the trackpad I mentioned above. I got a unit with a pixel on the LCD stuck in blue. Getting a replacement, hopefully it will be problem free.

Price: Given that same spec machines thinner and lighter can be had for less than 1,000, this is overpriced, even considering the premium display and quality parts. I wouldn't pay more than 1,200 for this, and I got it for less than that, when amazon was having a price war with the other mega retailer whose name starts with a W, and giving out a free gift card with the purchase.

Other things I wanted to test but haven't had a chance:

* recording audio

* watching a HD movie

* torture test

I purchased this laptop even though it far exceeded my budget. I just wanted to see what all the hoopla was about. Honestly, I had planned on returning it if I found any fault with it in any whatsoever. I had read that the battery cannot be replaced, RAM could not be upgraded and the SSD was not replaceable by users. Well, I have not returned it and have absolutely no plans on returning it whatsoever.

The battery can be replaced as well as the RAM can be expanded and the SSD can also be upgraded. Albeit, not as easily as one would hope but easy enough as the manual walks you through it step by step. I've even found a battery replacement online that costs $120.00. Since there is only one Memory slot you can upgrade to 8GB and Amazon has a 8GB SODIMM that works for $51.99. Again, this takes some work and as the memory is not easily accessible. You can easily download the "Maintenance and Service Guide" from the HP website. There is even a link in the "Help and Support" link in the Start Menu.

This little laptop has far exceeded my expectations and is simply the best laptop I've ever purchased or received from an employer. It easily gets 5 stars. I could go into all the finer details but others here have taken care of that.

As far as the cost... After using this computer the cost is justified and when you really compare it to other Ultrabooks the price is a little more expensive but very competitive.

Buy HP ENVY 14-3010NR Spectre 14-Inch Ultrabook (Silver/Black) Now

Read that title again because it's the most important line in this entire review or any other regarding a notebook device.

When shopping for a notebook you have two choices.

1. A mobile workstation

This device boasts strong battery life, low weight, portability, often connectivity, and the ability to run most office and some design programs on the road. The mobile workstation comes with the compromise of being less powerful (i.e. slower) than the top of the line computers on the market. Students, traveling professionals, and people who need more than one computer (for whom a tablet is not sufficient) are attracted to this category.

2. A replacement desktop

This device has a massive amount of computing power, often a stellar video card, and will perform any task that a home computer does with nearly equal aptitude. As a result, replacement desktop systems suffer from poor battery life and tend to weigh a ton. They come with big, beautiful screens and are designed for people who need to carry a lot of horsepower to different locations but don't need to pack the thing around in a briefcase or backpack. Gamers and video engineers are attracted to this category, as are people who only want one computer.

When judging a notebook it is important to use the metrics for which it was designed.

The HP Envy Spectre is an Ultrabook, which means it's a mobile workstation. This is not a computer designed for playing the latest games, rendering 3D scenes, running complex software synthesizers, or having 12 programs open at a time. It is a mobile office with superb battery life and an impressively bright screen (which will, in fact, significantly reduce your battery life if you use it at full power).

As a mobile workstation, this is quite simply the best notebook I have ever owned. The keyboard is incredibly comfortable and the battery life is excellent. It is not as light as the Samsung Series-9 but the comfort, style, and ease of use make up for it. Because it uses a solid state drive it doesn't heat up to 1000 degrees in my lap. I am, in fact, typing this review in bed with the laptop sitting near enough my manparts that it would be quite uncomfortable if I weren't using the HP Envy Spectre.

If I so much as launch Backyard Monsters, the fans will kick in like a wind tunnel. God help me if I try to play Diablo III. Does that mean the system loses a star? Oh god no. There are far too many notebooks that try to be everything to everyone and fail miserably at all of them.

This is device is fast for an ultraportable. The glass makes it a bit heavier but adds both style and comfort. The mouse is responsive, glitch free, and has decent multi-touch functionality. If I want to play a game, well, that's what my unlocked and overclocked Core i7 featuring a ton of RoG technology is for. This system lets me do my IT and web development work comfortably from a bar or coffee shop. Paired with a 4G connection I can get 4-9 hours of life out of the computer depending on the brightness of the screen and how much data I'm pulling down. To be honest, I push this laptop pretty hard. I've never thought "wow, I'm disappointed in how long this thing lasted on battery" not in the context of what I was doing.

I can comfortably write web pages and I can run Photoshop or Illustrator, though complex tasks on large files may be a bit slow. Ironically, booting is faster than waking from sleep mode but that's really a Microsoft thing. No points from HP.

If you want quick, light, sleek, professional, and mobile with excellent life this is the best Windows-based notebook on the market (positively Mac-like in many ways). I'm buying one for my wife when she starts her doctorate in a few weeks because I trust this model 100% with the way she will use it.

If you want fast & powerful gaming or a/v editing machine that replaces your clunky old desktop, steer clear. We don't need any more ill informed reviews of this machine resulting from unfair expectations. It's a 1.6ghz i5 processor with basic Intel graphics. Please, don't come back here to complain because you wanted i7 + nVidia/ATI performance out of it.

Best of luck making your selection.

Read Best Reviews of HP ENVY 14-3010NR Spectre 14-Inch Ultrabook (Silver/Black) Here

After doing research on most of the ultrabooks in the market I finally settled with HP Envy Spectre 14. I already own Macbook Air and I am happy with it. Just wanted another Windows native machine for work and travel purpose. Let me tell you this is the most attractive laptop I have ever seen. But the Glass on top is hard to keep clean, its a finger print magnet. I found the boot time slow as other ultrabooks. But wake up time from sleep is instant. So if you can shell out couple of extra hundred bucks for good looking laptop this is for you.

Pros

Stunning Display

14 inch screen (text is better on 14 inch than on 13inch with 1600x900 resolution)

All the ports you need

Beats Audio

AC Adapter comes with extra USB port which you can use to charge other devices.

I really like that.

2 year warranty

SD card slot

Cons

128 GB SDD on $1400 laptop (You will get only 70 GB free. Rest is all OS and recovery).

Glass Panel (Gives you a feel that you may break it someday)

Overpriced.(1 start knocked out for this)

Slow boot time from shutdown (approx 24 seconds). Dell XPS 13 was on 13 seconds

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This notebook is beautiful and I wanted very much to love it. I felt it was the perfect combination of function and style and I was willing to pay more for it than other comparable notebooks.

The first one I received was defective right out of the box with an error message that read "cooling fan is not operating correctly," and proceeding to shut down automatically. HP's online support was great and offered to repair the notebook and pay for shipping both ways. Since the notebook was brand new, I opted to replace it with a new one from the seller. I totally understand that there are duds in every make and model, so it was not an issue for me to wait for a replacement.

I received my replacement notebook and waited with bated breath as it booted up. It made it to Windows. Time to celebrate right? Not quite.

Four days later as I plugged the notebook in, there was a spark, pop, and smoke. My laptop's power port and the adapter cord suffered scorch marks. I couldn't believe it. I hopped on to HP's chat support again(from another computer) and asked if they could take my notebook in for repair. The rep advised that they would send me a new adapter instead. Only if that didn't work, would they take my notebook for repair. A few days later I received a new adapter and attempted to plug it in. Spark, pop, and smoke. I hopped back on with the chat support folks and the rep agreed that they would take the notebook in for repair. I waited for the empty box and then shipped it out.

Today, I received a call from HP and they advised that they fixed my DC port but the motherboard connector is damaged and that is going to cost me $200+ to repair since it's not covered by the warranty. Just to be clear, an internal part of the brand new replacement notebook (a part that I cannot access without voiding the warranty) is not covered for repair. It's been a month since I first ordered this HP Envy 14 and it's been an incredible waste of time dealing with this. I am now the proud owner of a defective $1000+ notebook.

If you value your time and money. Please do not purchase this notebook.

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MSI Computer Corp. G Series X460DX-291US 14-Inch Laptop (Black)

The video card is definitely the weakest link in this guy, but it's overall a great laptop. I upgraded to a solid state, gave it a little more ram and an i7, and the computer is awesome...so long as I don't but too much strain on the video card. That being said, since people usually like to know "can it play..." yes, it can play tons of games that are out there right now, but a good way to put it is don't try BF3 and go ahead and rock borderlands 2. BF3 was entirely too tasking at low detail and I was getting terrible framerate. BL2, on the other hand, plays nicely at medium graphics. I'm sure older games wont be an issue, but those are my .02. Ah! And the battery life is a huge perk. Were I to do it again would I get the same laptop? ehhh...probably not, but that's just because alienware now has a 14" laptop out with GDDR5 graphics and the same battery life. If gaming was not an issue and I never wanted to do it, then I suppose I would get this again because of how easy it is to lug around everywhere...I just wouldn't have upgraded all the goodies.

This is a great looking laptop. But it has terrible sound, the two speakers are noisy with high bass music. Its very plastic and not very durable. I've have it over 4 months now, and it has 2 cracks in the body. The body its to glossy in my opinion and leaves lots of finger prints. Over all it has good aspects, but I would consider other pc for the same price.

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HP Pavilion dv7-4280us 17.3-Inch Entertainment Notebook PC (Silver)

I've been using this computer for about 3 weeks now, and am quite happy with its performance and battery life. It has switchable graphics and automatically (unless disabled) switches between built-in graphics when battery powered and dedicated graphics (ATI HD6550) when wall cube powered. I don't use this computer for gaming, but the HD6550 is a fairly respectable card. Battery life is listed at 7.75 hours. I was originally seeing around 6 hours in my typical usage scenario (see note re change below). I am also pleased with its thermal management. When working hard it gets warm but not hot. Air exhaust is on the left, toward the back of the case, which is an acceptable location. Since it is billed as an "entertainment" laptop, there is a goodly amount of HP software installed for managing audio, video, photos, etc. I thought I would remove most of this, but found it to be relatively inoffensive and even useful at times. The hard drive is a generous 750 GB, so I wasn't too concerned about needing to free up space. I did disable the built-in backup management software in favor of adding a second 750 GB hard drive (this required purchasing an HP4000 series drive caddy and cable). I made the new drive (7200 RPM) the primary drive and relegated the slower 5400 RPM drive that came with the 4280 to backup. Having two hard drives did, of course, reduce battery life somewhat, but I still get around 5.5 hours not bad at all. I can now do backups in-situ via partition imaging, plus daily backups to an external USB drive. Regarding that the HP4280 has a powered eSATA port (combo USB and eSATA), which I use with a Seagate GoFlex Pro 750 GB drive with eSATA interface and it is fast (GoFlex pro uses 7200 RPM drive which matches the one I swapped in and made my boot drive).

There is also a fingerprint scanner which can be used to log in (password entry is still available as alternative). You have to spend a few minutes registering your fingerprint (plus one alternative print) but after that, you can log in by just swiping your finger over the scanner. It took some getting used to, but I now log in this way almost exclusively. One little trick I found place your finger over the scanner, then hesitate for just a bit (about 1/4 to 1/2 second) before swiping and it will read much more reliably. At least that's the case for me maybe I "trained" it that way. ;-)

My only real complaint is that the touch pad implementation is well, just awful. As has been noted by others, it's almost impossible to position the cursor and click to select without moving the cursor off target, and if you touch the case near the touch pad that moves the cursor. Really annoying. I added a Logitech M705 mouse which uses their tiny unifying receiver (I leave it plugged in all the time), and it works quite well, even with the receiver on the opposite side of the computer (that location works best for my carry case).

One last note this beasty has a blue ray player and Beats audio very nice combo for watching HD movies.

Overall, I am very happy with this computer. It lost one star for the schizoid touch pad and the slow hard drive.

Update 2011-05-10. Recently updated Synaptic Pointing Device drivers, and there were definite improvements in touch pad operation.

I am no stranger to laptops, this is my 6th. I've owned Dell, Toshiba and Asus laptops, this is my first HP. It is replacing my Toshiba x205-s9349 which at 3 1/2 years old has become sluggish and a couple of times shut off by itself signaling the end might be near. I spend all day (and night) on my laptop and use it for surfing, photography, watching streaming movies, updating my iPod and iPhone and watching Blu-ray movies. I also use it to watch streaming live events on ESPN3 such as ALMS racing and college football which on my old laptop I connected to my TV via 25FT HDMI TO HDMI Cable. After checking reviews and features, I found this model had great reviews and most of the features I wanted. It also was a few hundred dollars less then other computers with the same features (6gb ram, 750gb hd, Blu-ray reader, 17" display, HDMI out, 802.11n, Bluetooth). The only thing I was weary of was the Windows 7 64bit OS and running older programs. To date, I have had no issues and Windows 7 is similar to Vista, so not hard to figure out.

Pros

Blazing fast, high end processor

High end graphics with excellent LED screen

Blu-ray player

17"

Aluminum casing

Long battery life

Price

Finger scanner

Cons

No Firewire or any type of expansion card slot to add it

The converter part on the power cord gets pretty hot

Neutral

Sound, even though it has the Dr Dre Beats Audio, it still sounds about the same as my old Toshibia (although that system also had a highly touted Harman Kardon speaker/subwoofer system). Obviously sound is limited to the small size/speakers limitation of laptops.

HP Laptop reliability reputation. There was a report out a couple years back showing HP to have the worse reliability, in the upper 20% after 3 years. It was also noted that it makes the most laptops and that the smaller laptop makers, like Toshibia, had lower failure rates. To me, that study sounds flawed in that if there are so many more HP laptops, many more are going to need repair so I am not sure about the methodology of the study or if HP quality (or anyone else's) has changed since its been out.

UPDATE: I have had the computer for 9 months. 2 problems arose and were quickly fixed by HP. First, the A/C adapter stopped working. They shipped one no charge. For some reason Fed Ex shipped the part from SC to Atlanta and instead of going to the local distribution center here in metro Atlanta, it was sent to TX. So that delayed the part, not HP's fault though. I did not have to send the bad part back.

The second thing that happened, according to the H.P. Support Assistance software and third party S.M.A.R.T. software, I had some bad sectors on my hard drive, the kind that a Windows scan and fix can't help. So I contacted support, gave them the error code. They told me I needed a new hard drive and would have a supervisor call within 2 business days. The supervisor called the next day, Friday. He told me I would ship it out and I had 15 days to ship the bad one back. They take your credit card number and will charge it if they don't get the broken part back in the time allowed. It was stressed that if I sent it back after 15 days, they still won't refund the money. I got the feeling if I wasn't comfortable doing the swap, they would have me send the entire laptop in. They paid shipping of the part both ways. So, again, the distribution center is in SC and I am in Atlanta. The part arrived on Saturday, the next day. I bought an external USB drive, partitioned it so it was slightly smaller than the HD on the laptop. I followed the Windows 7 directions to make a mirror image which includes making a boot disc. It took a few hours to make the mirrors of c: and d: which was under 300GB total. d: is HP's backup partition. I swapped out the drives, and used the Windows boot disc with the external USB HD connected that had the mirror image and in a couple of hours, my computer was exactly like I had it before. HP sent discs, but I didn't need them by using Windows Backup. Once I made sure everything was right, I swapped back to the old disc and did a boot and nuke, erasing all content. One more swap and everything is great.

So, HP support has been great.

Buy HP Pavilion dv7-4280us 17.3-Inch Entertainment Notebook PC (Silver) Now

I bought this computer after researching on Consumer Reports for a laptop to replace our home computer (a Dell desktop). Once I narrowed down my choices to this computer and a Toshiba Satellite, I read the Amazon reviews for this computer and was convinced (espectially, when someone said that they bought it to replace their iMac). At first I was thinking of switching to an iMac, but after doing my research I found this computer to be the best rated for my specific needs. I have a shop on Etsy and need a computer with a lot of memory and the ability to run multiple programs at once. I have to say that I am VERY pleased with my decision! This computer is beautiful (much better looking than the pictures), fast, lightweight, and incredibly easy to set-up. I took it out of the box, plugged it in, and within 10 minutes was ready to go! No software to load, no confusing user's manual, and very user-friendly. I was able to set-up my wireless internet connection and wireless printer in minutes with no complications. Windows 7 is an absolute pleasure to work with and I love the entire set-up of the computer. Also, the screen for this computer is huge and makes you feel like you're using a desktop :)

I've never purchased an HP product before, but I will definitely be a repeat customer in the future!

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I read the reviews about thet touch pad and thought, "How bad could it be?" I did not realize how much I do use the touch pad until I got this computer. It's practically impossible to use. I bought a mouse and am trying to get used to that. Otherwise I really like it. I use it to play SL which is a huge test of a graphics test and it performs very well. If you buy it go ahead and get a mouse, don't try to beat the touch pad, you'll end up with sore fingers.

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I've had this computer for about two months now. It was easy to set-up, had a fast processor, good graphics and screen quality, an enormous amount of memory, and a nice feel to the keyboard (although the tracking pad is useless). Unfortunately, I went to turn on this laptop recently and it failed to boot and emitted loud beeping sounds for several minutes. After three hours with an HP tech support person who had me open up the computer and reset a few hardware items and software, I ended up at the "please send your laptop to us for service." Yes, it's under warranty but I don't have my computer for 2 weeks and of course am missing deadlines. After I complained that a brand new laptop should work for longer than 2 months, the tech support person replied, "electronics are not guaranteed." Hm. Anyhow, I've been buying and using computers for 20+ years and have never encountered a new machine that has failed in two months.

UPDATE, September 5, 2011: In mid-August, HP fixed the keyboard and updated the BIOS so the computer worked for a few weeks more. Sadly, when I turned on the laptop today it proceeded to beep, had problems booting, and demonstrated keyboard failure again. If you buy this machine, make sure you back up your files daily. You'll need them.

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Toshiba 14" Satellite L645D-S4030 Turion II 4GB 320GB Laptop Notebook Computer PC

to start with...i like toshiba laptops..... my first laptop was exactly like this one but to my despair.... the battery heats up so bad like i have had it for centuries....... thats not a good start.... but toshiba still the best........................ tiya

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Acer Aspire AS5250-BZ467 15.6" Laptop AMD Dual-Core E-450, 4GB DDR3, 500G HD

Bought this laptop on sale for $299 @ Staples. Two of the three USB ports don't work on my machine. I have to return the system now (Acer pays shipping), and they advised me that it would take 7 to 10 business days to replace the item. They must have a huge backlog of systems with issues for it to take that long. Or they are severly understaffed.

I am happy with the system itself. I got it for a great price, and it is more than enough horsepower for my needs. Plenty of RAM and a large enough hard drive. Nice crisp screen, good camera. The system is nicely designed and has a full numeric keypad. It is pretty lightweight, but does feel a tad plasticky; typical "Made in China" junk, but at least it is priced accordingly.

*AMD E-Series Dual-Core Processor E-450 (1.65GHz)

*4GB installed memory

*500GB hard drive

*8X DVD-Super Multi Double-Layer Drive

*15.6" HD Widescreen CineCrystal(tm) TFT LCD Display

*802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi CERTIFIED(tm)

*2-in-1 Digital Media Card Reader

*Built-in 0.3 Megapixel Webcam

*6-Cell Lithium-Ion (4400 mAh); Up to 4.5-hours Battery Life

*Microsoft Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit

*Dimensions 15"W x 9.96"D x .98/1.33"H (5.74lbs)

*1 year warranty

Pretty good price on this. I like the numerical keypad. Lots of storage on this. Some faults are a slower processor and dirt and dust get stuck between the keys easily, and it's hard to clean out. All in all its a handy computer and I'd recommend it for anyone who isn't too serious about technology. It's a good basic computer that does what you need it to and it's reliable. A lot of people give Acer crap but that's just because they're looking down their nose at it.

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excelente laptop muy rapida con excelentes funciones, la pantalla led muy nitida, parece de 3d y calidad blu-ray, ademas la oferta fue buenisima, y el envio fue rapido a pesar de ser free shiping

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HP - Pavilion Laptop / Intel® CoreTM i5-2430M Processor / 17.3" Display / 8GB Memory / 750GB Hard

Wow! I have been searching for a while and finally found the one I love!! lol I am not a computer person, so I kind of guess and hope i guess right (after a lot of online research) so far, so good!! This is my second HP my 5 year old was starting to slow a bit (but mainly I had the 'new' bug) and I wanted the larger screen. I have had a week now and probably do not know half of what this computer has to offer yet, but what I've seen is pretty great! I keep hearing a lot of complaining about the beats music, but its great to me. The fingerprint recognition is so awesome! As we always do have a complaint, mine is the keyboard. I'm getting used to it, but as it has the number pad, the keyboard 'home' keys are off center. I have not been doing much, other than FB, mail and shop, but its lightening fast! I look foward to finding out what else she'll do! As I kick the tires I'll try to update. (I did not know about the coolsense until i bought. It senses when its on your lap versus on a table and cools itself accordingly, so as not to burn your lap.) All in all, right now, this is THE computer! Love it!! Love it!! Love it!!

So, barely six months after I bought it, it malfunctioned: I got rows of dots, namely:

Playing chess in Fritz-11, in "friend" mode, the computer showed a row of dots where it should have shown my handicap;

In WordPerfect, I could read a file, but as soon as soon as I put the cursor where I wanted to write something, the file would start to disappear one letter at a time, right to left, starting where the cursor was; I closed the file without "saving the changes" and my file remained intact, but I could not work with it;

I could go to the Amazon site, but was unable to write the name of the product I was looking for;

I could access my mailbox, but not write an e-mail.

Whenever I tried to write something, I would get a row of dots; if I managed to type one letter, that letter would quickly move away and disappear, showing that the row of dots was not stationary, but continuously moving.

I called the HP service center around 8:15 pm on Friday, May 18; the technician tried a lot of things, including a restore to May 9th, but basically we were going in circles, the same blue screen coming back again and again. At one time the screen indicated: "this operation can take up to 20 seconds"; the screen showed a line of rectangles that turned yellow one at a time, from left to right, and back to the beginning of the row. Twenty minutes later, it had not stopped yet, so the technician tried something else, that did not work either. His conclusion was that the Alt key was sticking (he did not specify which of the two Alt keys, and I did not think of asking). He said that I needed a new keyboard that would be sent to me free of charge since the computer was still under warranty; he made arrangements to have a technician install it on Friday, May 25th, in the afternoon, and charged my Visa card $49 plus Michigan sales tax.

I was not convinced though, because none of the two Alt keys seemed to be sticking. I tried again to solve the problem from the blue screen, and I finally managed to make everything work after doing a simple thing: switching from the "Canadian" to the "US" keyboard in the language bar. I do not understand why it worked, and I am not even sure that this is really what did it. All I can say is that I am now able to do all the things that I could not do "before". I can even use either keyboard layout, without any problem. Obviously, the problem was with the software, not with the computer itself.

Of course, I immediately canceled the order for a new keyboard and the appointment to have it installed. I was told that my VISA card would be credited within 2-3 days.

I am happy with this computer, but I would not recommend it for two reasons:

1. The obvious incompetence of the HP support technician (by the way, they are located in the Ozarks);

2. The fact that HP did not provide the Windows disk that the blue screen said shoud be inserted to solve the problem. That disk would have saved me 4 hours spent talking to their technician, and another hour or so waiting while another support technician (in India this time) obtained his supervisor's authorization to credit my Visa card. (My previous computer was a Dell, and it came with all the disks required to reinstall any program that needed reinstalling.)

Note for HP, if they are reading this: the ticket number was 8059362347; the order number KMK821. You have my name and address. Please send me the Windows-7 disk that I will need next time something malfunctions. I tried contacting you and got lost on your website.

Monday, June 4th, 2012: If you have read this review, please also read the comments (from HP and my answers.)

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Acer Aspire AS5733-6426 15.6-Inch Laptop (Gray)

well, i picked my Acer AS5733 up at my local wally world a little over a week ago. after cleaning up the junk apps and getting all of the updates, it's a great little machine. Also to be noted, and I'm not the only one to get this, there appears to be an unlisted update with the processor; it's an Intel i5 560M which has the turbo boost. Very nice little surprise indeed. The display is bright and vibrant with no dead pixels. Speakers are about average for a notebook; good enough for watching a movie in a quiet room. Cooling fan is dynamic and is very quiet. Only 2 USB ports and no hard drive activity light (funny how I miss something once it's gone). Unless you clean the software up first, it takes 4 DVD disks to make the factory restore disks. Haven't tried the camera yet so I cannot comment. All in all a very good buy.

Great machines So far, I have bought 4 Acer laptops and all are doing excellent. NOT one issue with any of them -so far at least!! Would definitely buy another if I have a need for one.

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The laptop has a really beautiful screen, great color. The speed is also fine, and the price was good. However, after 7 months, my first problem with it is the keyboard. Perhaps it's because the number keys are on the right, so the rest are smaller, but I regularly hit the wrong keys. If I always had, no big thing, but not so. Also the touch is difficult, sometimes having to go back and press hard really slows me down. Second, the sound has problems, scratchy when changing screens, then clears up. I'm looking into plugging in another keyboard to remedy my worst problem. I can live with the rest but won't buy another Acer.

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My new Acer laptop is much upon my satisfaction and I believe it will bring me satisfaction for quite a time to come. It is my second Acer computer and the quality, ease of use, and speed are all well worth the money I spent on both. Thank you.

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Dell Inspiron i13z-3182RED 13-Inch Laptop (Red)

Bought this for my son and very happy with this product as a gift for his birthday. He really needs it because of college. He has not put it down all day. It is the absolute perfect size, and it's very light. This laptop is light enough to carry around school in his backpack. Only downside is that it doesn't have a DVD player for games but he got an external USB drive that he uses to transfer stuff form his desktop to his laptop. I am getting another for my daughter for the holidays. Dell makes the best laptops for the price.

It's convenient, light, thin, easy to carry around. And it's fast! The keyboard is comfortable. But the whole thing seems a bit flimsy and I wonder how long it will last--I've only had it about a month. Worse, there was a problem from the beginning with the wireless. I called Dell support and a technician corrected the problem by helping me download a new driver to replace a corrupted one and now it works fine. But why was there a corrupted driver on a brand new laptop? The battery lasts about four hours which is OK though it would be nice to have a longer-lasting battery. There is no DVD drive, but I bought an external drive which works fine, is not expensive and I can leave it home when I'm traveling. Compared to my Dell Inspiron, which is about five years old, the 13z is faster and more convenient but not as sturdy and you do have to get used to a smaller screen.

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I acquired recently one of the earliest Dell Inspiron 13zs and had to ship it to Dell for servicing. Much to my amazement, their customer service and technical support was absolutely first rate, correcting a flaw in the battery and conducting extensive tests to ensure that this laptop performed as good as new; I am also grateful to them for giving me a year's warranty on this laptop despited the fact that I had purchased it second-hand from Amazon's Warehouse Outlet. As for the unit itself, I am especially impressed with how quickly it loads web pages, due no doubt to having 6 MB of RAM. Despite its relatively slow 1.4 Ghz speed, it has performed nearly as fast as an older Dell XPS M1330 which I still use daily; that older Dell has a 2.2 Ghz speed. This is almost the perfect laptop for web searching. My only reservation is that it seems to be less durable in construction than the Dell XPS M1330 or some other Dell laptops that I still use. Those thinking of getting the Dell Inspiron 13z at its currently faster Ghz speeds will find this a very good notebook equal in quality to similar ones from HP and Apple.

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It is exactly as expected. Wonderful! Easy to use and connects easily to internet. The only problem is with downloading any thing on a disk. Need an external hard drive for it. Extra cost! Great graphics.

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Dell Inspiron i13z-3181PNK 13' (Small) Laptop Computer, red in shade received as ordered. Excellent. Installation achieved fine & Wireless Network Internet Explorer also working successfully.

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Compaq CQ57-229WM 15.6-inch AMD Dual-Core 1Ghz Laptop

I'm visually-impaired, so I hate laptops. Just can't see what I'm doing on most of them. This one surprised me.

My Mother retired this year, so I had to get her a new computer for use at home and while traveling. She mostly uses one for internet browsing and emails, etc. So I didn't have to get something with all the fancy bells and whistles. Didn't need top-of-the line speed, etc. Just something solid and basic.

I set this computer up on a home network, and was pleasantly surprised at the ease if was to operate, once I configured the display so I could read it. Streaming video via internet was smooth. Downloaded and installed all new updates in about 15 minutes.

The keyboard is solid, easy enough to navigate. The touchpad is a little different, solid plastic, not LCD. So I did install a wireless mouse to make it easier for Mom to surf. She's having fun learning what all the new little icons stand for on Win 7 Home Premium, instead of the older XP. Still prefers the old look of Solitaire over this one.

Overall, with the included features, like the DVD/CD burner, 3 USB ports, the built-in webcam, 250 GB hard drive, built-in card reader, and wireless networking, I'm pleased with this computer. and Mom loves it, too.

I bought this same laptop from Walmart for $100 less on 10/13/11. The picture in the ad on this site is incorrect. There is no separate number key pad. The software, memory, processer is a great buy for the price. The low cost is probably because the laptop hardware itself looks a little cheap such as the casing and keys. But if your main focus is cost for value, you can't go wrong!!

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very good product

very good performance

speed is very good

not that bad

battery life isnt that great so i had to lower screen brightness

gets excellent reception

very good keyboard

if your hands perspire this computer leaves markes and spots

can not stay clean

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$248 at Wal-mart right at this moment. Guessing a bunch of these were ordered and resold up on here for more, like $110 more.... I can't do it, not in this economy no sir

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I got this from an Amazon seller for $200. At a cost of $300+ I would probably set the rating at 4/5 stars.

I have an iPhone and I use it as my primary computer for media and internet browsing. I really just wanted a simple PC I could use for a few tasks a smart phone cannot accomplish (or do so easily) such as downloading files, using iTunes, and creating documents.

Don't expect a high end experience. Programs will take at least a few seconds or more to begin but they run well once they are open. The battery lasts a few hours but not enough for long periods of use away from a plug-in. If you know what to expect and it fits your needs I certainly recommend this computer.

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Lenovo 15.6" Core i5 180GB SSD Notebook

I got this laptop as a replacement for my dying MacBook, and have had no hardware problems as of yet. I installed 16GB of RAM I bought from Crucial (i.e. not from Lenovo). I currently run Mint 13 with MATE (which runs like a charm). Hence, I cannot say much with regards to how well the Lenovo distribution of Windows will run. Nowadays, the only time I use Windows is running MS Office inside of VirtualBox. I give it one 2.6GhZ CPU and 2GB of RAM, and it runs fine. Albeit, the limit of my Windows usage is Chrome and MSO, so I wouldn't know about heavy computing in Windows.

Lenovo, unlike any other manufacturer, puts function before form. Here are some specific things I admire about it:

1. It is the only non-Apple laptop I have found that has a keyboard that is pleasant to type on.

2. It has the lost and forgotten mouse thingy in the middle of the keyboard (don't know the technical term for it).

3. The trackpad is flush with the rest of the top plate, making it much easier to clean.

4. Unlike MacBooks, the edges are rounded, so you don't get sores on your forearm after extended usage.

5. The CD drive is a tray instead of a slot.

6. Unlike MacBooks, extended usage of the laptop on top of lap does not result in third-degree burns.

Mine came with Lenovo's own flavor of Win7 Professional 64-bit. I used it for maybe half an hour before I installed Mint, but I can say this:

1. If you want Windows 7 Professional, buy it seperately, and upgrade it yourself. Lenovo's version comes with a good bit of unwanted trial software. This is true of any brand, so don't let it turn you off Lenovo.

2. If you want upgraded RAM, buy it separately, and install it yourself. It isn't that hard, and it's a hell of a lot cheaper than buying it from Lenovo.

3. Don't get the fingerprint reader. If you don't have a choice with regards to getting a fingerprint reader, make sure to disable it in the BIOS. Fingerprints may seem more secure than passwords, but they aren't. Fingerprint readers can be spoofed easily. Using a fingerprint reader instead of a password is like using a password that's literally written on your computer.

If you want any given upgrade, if possible, buy it separately and install it yourself. It will save you a lot of time and money.

Things that I don't like (there aren't many):

1. The physical switch to unlock the monitor seems somewhat flimsy. I anticipate that it will be the first thing to break.

2. The physical monitor is somewhat flexible.

3. It seemed a little heavy at first, but you get used to it. What is one to expect with a 15" laptop? It is certainly lighter than a 15" MacBook.

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Toshiba Satellite® P775-S7100 17.3" widescreen Laptop

Toshiba goes the extra mile, and this computer is no exception.

The speakers, instead of being on the bottom front like other laptops, are right on the top, never covered by your lap or bellyand they are the LOUDEST speakers on any laptop I've tested. Also the best sound (Dolby!).

Longest power cord of any laptop I know of. This is a huge convenience for me.

Doesn't get hot on the bottom, even after being on and used for a LONG time.

BLAZING FAST!

I bought an HP two months ago and it's already in the shop. I bought this Toshiba while the HP was being sent away and now I am going to sell the HP and keep the Toshiba. I LOVE this laptop. Wish I had bought it in the first place.

I'd give this 5 stars, but I've only had 3 days. I love this computer. After having had a Dell, an HP, and a Sony Vaio that died after a year, I chose this based on reviews here, Toshiba and Best Buy and am so glad I did. So far, it's the best computer I've had. The keyboard on the Sony drove my crazy and this one is terrific. Sound is also far superior than what I'm used to. I also like there's a switch above the touch pad to turn off as I never use. I got a better deal at Best Buy, which surprised me. They're a lot more competitive than they used to be.

Buy Toshiba Satellite® P775-S7100 17.3" widescreen Laptop Now

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HP Pavilion g7-2340dx 17.3-Inch LED HD Laptop - AMD A6-4400M 2.7GHz Accelerated Processor with AMD

I got this laptop at Best Buy considering it was only $402 after taxes and i got it in the store Which beats getting it shipped ( since its not considered for amazon prime as i wrote this i would have to pay for shipping as well..)The AMD APU is great value if your not one of those Hardcore gamers but it is great for value. The cheapest Intel i3 that i saw with the Intel HD 4000 was around 500-600 dollar price range ( the only Intel intergrated gpu i would consider buying from intel. It has 2 3.0 USB ports along with a 2.0 USB port along with HDMI which is great if you want to use it on a monitor ( also a VGA i believe. I can play Diablo 3, Wow ( good settings visually) and also Swtor on it so it does a decent job for games if your willing to play most of them on low :)

I was a bit reluctant to go with Windows 8, however, the motherboard of my 2007 HP notebook [Windows Vista HP OS] died for the second time, so I decided that a good refurbished HP notebook for $335 was worth trying. Several desktop start-up options were tried; settled on StartIsBack which is a great choice to a desktop start-modification [avoids the Metro start screen boxes]. Speed is very good and everything seems to be working well. Was able to get a 3 yr warranty from HP for $175; the only question I had about the AMD A6-4400M was the operating temperature of the CPU [ranges from around 89 C to 130 C, with average of around 115-119 C; though this is hot, the surfaces of the computer are relatively cool. Even without the up-coming Windows 8.1 modification, I expect the software to have fewer potential glitches than Windows Vista.

Buy HP Pavilion g7-2340dx 17.3-Inch LED HD Laptop - AMD A6-4400M 2.7GHz Accelerated Processor with AMD Now

So far the Windows 8 takes some getting use too. Don't have all the access too everything like Window's 7. You have to download apps for things that should already be on the computer. But it does seem to be faster on the start up. All in all I would rate it a 7 on a 1-10 scale.

Read Best Reviews of HP Pavilion g7-2340dx 17.3-Inch LED HD Laptop - AMD A6-4400M 2.7GHz Accelerated Processor with AMD Here

I love this laptop. It is great and portable and easy to take where I need it to go with me. I would rate this to everyone who needs a laptop.

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I DON'T HAVE IT YET !!!

IT IS IN GREEK CUSTOMS FROM 25 OF JUNE !!!!!!!!!!!!

NOBODY SEEMS TO CARE ABOUT THAT!!!!

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Dell XPS 15 Laptop - High-Octane Entertainment- Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit, Intel Core i

Previously i had owned an HP dv4 laptop with mid range specs and when that one craped out on me i went searching for a really nice laptop to replace it. I decided on the XPS 15 because it is in all aspects an incredible machine. For starters, this thing has a really powerful processor and a great dedicated GeForce graphics card that has thrown through every game I've thrown at it. The hard drive is also pretty fast and offers a good amount of storage space and 4gb of ram is pretty sweet. Basically the internal specs on this thing are really good and will defiantly meet the needs of practically anyone; gamers, digital designers, students, anybody. This laptop is also really nice in its design and does some very smart things that a lot of other laptops don't seem to offer. The chaise is almost entirely made out of aluminum and it feels pretty think; so far i haven't encountered any areas where the metal flexes or makes creaking noises. One of the biggest problems facing the functionality of laptops is the cooling system. On laptops that are not properly ventilated the processor will over heat under enough stress and the laptop will crash (this was the main problem with the dv4). I think the best example of proper laptop cooling can be found in the Asus G73 but the XPS 15 comes in pretty close. On the left hand side of the laptop there is a large heat sink and vent that does a very good job at regulating the temp. To speak to this, while playing Fallout 3 on ultra setting the air coming out of the vent is pretty warm and would feel uncomfortable keeping your hand in front of it but the palm rests and keyboard remain cool to the touch. This thing is built like a tank (personally i hate throwing down a bunch of cash for a laptop only to find its construction feels cheap, this however feels very nicely put together). The track pad is also nice and large and has a slight matte finish that helps your fingers glide across it a bit better. The other two things that really surprised me about this machine were one, the webcam which at 2.0 MP doesn't seem like a lot but actually provides a very nice image, and the speakers. Since getting this laptop i have done away with my desktop speakers because the JBL speakers and subwoffer (yeah its got a subwoffer) sound amazing. This laptop really is amazing and i think it should defiantly be considered by anyone looking to get a new computer.

p.s. I custom built mine on Dell's website only because i wanted to add a backlit keyboard (only $20 extra) but the rest of my components were the standard ones you get when you buy it out right.

Save 9% Off

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