As a budget laptop this is stellar, as a desktop replacement it leaves something to be desired. The onboard graphics aren't suitable for graphic intensive games. Video editing works well. Linux and BSD friendly hardware. Generally a Great device.
Showing posts with label 17 laptop. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 17 laptop. Show all posts
HP G62-355DX
As a budget laptop this is stellar, as a desktop replacement it leaves something to be desired. The onboard graphics aren't suitable for graphic intensive games. Video editing works well. Linux and BSD friendly hardware. Generally a Great device.
Lenovo ThinkPad T400 Notebook - Intel Centrino 2 vPro Core 2 Duo T9400 2.53GHz - 14.1" WXGA+ - 2GB
I own this laptop with the LED backlit screen. I purchased my laptop directly from Lenovo March 2009 and installed Win7 almost a month after purchasing.What's typical about win7 on laptops is the lack of battery life. It's miserable. On Vista I had near 12hours of uninterrupted use with the extended battery, while on win7 i'm lucky to get 3.5 hours on a dimmed screen. That's Microsoft's fault, not Lenovo's. So I'm going to say it's got EXCELLENT battery life with the supplied Vista operating system.
Now I've owned 3 thinkpads prior to this and I have to say the quality has gone down considerably since the IBM days. The keyboard is mushy, so are the wrist pads and overall construction is inferior to how it used to be. Deflation and poor manufacturing don't end there, last week my fan seized to work. It had rattled for a couple months before it seized so I knew at some point it would fail, but I don't think a year is good enough for a thinkpad. It commands a price and should live up to it.
As far as reliability issues go, that's about it. In a little over a year I spent $60 in fan, and $10 in screws on maintenance which is a bit unacceptable for me. I was hoping for at least 3 years before any maintenance was required. If I had sent the laptop in, there would be shipping and handling, inflated parts price, and labor which would probably cost even more.
For the good, it's a typical Lenovo generation thinkpad. Construction is still noticeably more robust than the competition and has the classic look. Hinges are strong and beefy looking, integrated periphrals are well placed and has the "think light" embedded into the top of the monitor which is surprisingly usable, however doesn't replace illuminated keys. And in this day and age, I don't think it's too much to ask for illuminated keys on such an overpriced computer (bang per buck is low) but I suppose this is the simplicity they are going for.
I could go on and on about it's shortcomings, but that's with any product I've ever bought. Overall, I think this is a genuinely good product from Lenovo, only if you can get it on a bargain.
Compaq Presario CQ60-420US 15.6-Inch Laptop
Great specs and performance for the price. System is very responsive and I haven't had a hiccup yet. Only thing missing for me would be an integrated webcam and dedicated graphics memory but you get what you pay for and those features usually cost extra.
Things in the computer world move fast. A year or so ago, this laptop would have rated at the top of the rankings for speed, memory, HD Size, etc. Now, it's lower in the rankings. So what? It's still a very fast computer at an incredible price and will serve my needs well over the coming 3-5 years.
Hope this helps :-)
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Had a CQ60 computer for a little over a year and the battery gets to 40% and the computer dies. Warranty expired 2 weeks ago and HP can't help me. I went online to buy a new battery and surprise, everyone says the battery sucks. My previous Compaq, the AC adapter died after 2 weeks and HP sent a replacement. My brother's Compaq, the battery died after a year and he bought a new one after his wireless card died too. This is the last Compaq I buy ever.Read Best Reviews of Compaq Presario CQ60-420US 15.6-Inch Laptop Here
Bought this from one of the "office supply" stores at about the price the CQ60-410 is going for elsewhere, was actually cheaper than the 410 in this store.Screen is very nice. For the keyboard, the 10 key is very cramped, I think I would have preferred it just not be there and a bit of a wider normal keyboard, although the keyboard spacing does seem fine other than the 10 key.
The processor is the very capable T4200 (Core Duo), which is great for something at this price point, as netbooks and many other "value" notebooks are shipping with either the Atom or Celeron single core chips.
A lot of trialware, as I suspect most laptops have: Trail of office, trail of Norton, pre-installed Compaq branded Microsoft Bing toolbars, etc.
This laptop does qualify for a free upgrade to Windows 7 and uses the Windows Home Premium version of Vista. Hopefully the Windows 7 disc won't come with all of the trialware.
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Went into a big box office supply store to look at netbooks and saw this on sale for $378 minus $30 mail-in rebate for price of $348, the same price as a netbook. Great machine for the price however it is a basic machine. 3GB of memory, 250gb hard drive, dvd burner, windows Vista Premium (eligible for Windows 7 upgrade for shipping charge), vga connector, 3usb ports, modem, wireless and wired lan connections, memory card reader, trial versions of MS Office and Norton Security, DOES NOT have HDMI connector, Express card slot, bluetooth or webcam. The 15.6 screen is bright and clear, has a numeric keypad, battery life is about 3 hours and I like this clam shell design that doesn't have any latches to open the cover of it. The quality seems awesome, I've owned Dell, Toshiba, IBM and Acer machines and this machine is as sturdily built as any of them. No I can't go 6 hours without plugging in like I wanted with a netbook but I am happy I bought this.
Fujitsu LIFEBOOK LH531 14" Notebook - Intel Core i5 i5-2450M 2.50 GHz (FPCR46271)
I only give 5 stars to perfections, and the lifebook is good but not perfect.Pros;
Price is great for the features.
The battery life is almost 5 hours
The always on usb port to charge my phone is a nice feature.
Win7 64bit performs beyond expectations with Aero off.
14 is perfect for transportation.
Cons;
The speakers are just plain bad. Not a big deal to me though.
The display adapter is only o.k.
Would I buy it again....HECK YA!
It crushes my netbook on every single level except portability.
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Over the course of the last 1 month one by one the following have failed on my brand new fujitsu (bought less than 3 months ago) :Network card (working sporadically only)
USB3 ports (both of them)
The trackpad (not working any more)
The numlock keys
The erratic jumps of the mouse (using external mouse)
Who knows what else will fail on this horrendous machine.
Never buy a Fujitsu any more the product is made in china to very low quality levels combined with horrible customer service (solutions not acceptable) I have just wasted $1100 on them.
Be Warned!!This laptop was purchased for me as a gift for college. As a rather average college student myself, I thought this laptop would be sufficient for my needs. 4GB RAM is NOT enough this computer started freezing and crashing in the middle of not-very-taxing applications like running a Facebook game, or even running Microsoft Word. I got the Blue Screen of Death just by going on Tumblr once. I'm a very light gamer, unlike some of my friends whose laptops handle LoL and WoW just fine. However, if I run iTunes, the computer's fan goes crazy and even after I close the application, I have to restart the computer to return it to normal.
Pros:
--The weight. Many people were jealous of how light my laptop was, especially because my campus is very walking-oriented. Portability was definitely a big plus.
--Graphics. The display is very clear and enjoyable for basic purposes.
--Initial battery life. The battery life is pretty decent in the beginning, lasting me about two classes before I need to charge it again.
Cons:
--RAM is way too small for the average college student. Anything remotely taxing on the memory throws this computer for a loop FB games, Tumblr, iTunes especially, Sims, etc.
--The whole computer is rather flimsy, made out of plastic. Pieces of it starting cracking off, and the top is a fingerprint and smudge magnet which I had to clean every week almost so that people didn't think I was some sort of gross person...
--Random crashes and bluescreening.
--One of the two harddrives was always completely full because of Windows Restore, so I only had 250 gbs to work with.
tl;dr:
If you want something stronger than a Netbook that has has a decent battery life, then this computer is for you, but there are better priced computers for the same specs.
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Sony VAIO YB Series VPCYB35KX/S 11.6-Inch Laptop (Silver)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program So in this market of not-quite laptop/more-than-a netbook, it's easy to get bogged down and flustered, trying to figure out which system is the one for you. Sony has tried to bring its own netbook/notebook to the market with the Vaio YB series, but hasn't really succeeded. It hasn't altogether failed though either, but let's break it down and figure things out.Pros:
1.) Incredibly easy out-of-box experience. Connect battery, turn on. Run through a very simple Windows 7 setup, and you're done.
2.) Not an altogether awful amount of pre-installed software (though still far too many Vaio entries in Programs/Features). The 500GB hard drive (456GB after formatting) has 437GB available, which is pretty reasonable after a Windows 7 installation.
3.) The system itself feels fairly solid, despite its platicky nature, with little to no flex anywhere.
4.) A nice array of ports for an 11.6" laptop, with 3x USB, 1x HDMI, Ethernet, VGA, headphone/microphone, SD Card/Memory Stick.
5.) Nice resolution for the screen size, at 1366x768, and very bright.
6.) Decent battery life (4-5 hours).
7.) Raised palm rests that are quite comfortable, solid, and not smudge-magnets like many other systems.
However, the cons have to come in here, and there's a lot of them...
Cons:
1.) The screen, while featuring a lovely resolution, is desperately (and I mean desperately) lacking in contrast. Viewing angles are atrocious, vertically and horizontally, and I'm just not happy with the way text is displayed due to the lack of contrast. Black text just looks faded and grey.
2.) There's one fan in the system, and that's on the left side of the system. It's always blowing, and makes a noticeable whining in a quiet room. I wouldn't classify it as obnoxious, even under full power, but it's definitely present, and runs 100% of the time.
3.) There's 4GB of DDR3 in the system, but with Windows 7 32bit installed, only 3.5GB is actually usable. Even more bizarrely, after opening up the panel on the underside, I found my system is equipped with one stick of 4GB RAM. But despite having two slots total in the computer, it's only capable of 4GB max (even with Windows 7 64bit tested)! So one slot will always stay empty...
4.) The trackpad, despite being very responsive, is very, very small. Curiously, it supports multitouch (but not for scrolling that's taken care of on one side of the trackpad with one finger, and is adjustable). Pinch to zoom and rotate is present, but good luck doing that with one hand. I found I had to use the index fingers of two hands to make it work. A bigger trackpad would help.
5.) The physical trackpad buttons are very loud and click-y. Definitely not conveying a high-end system here (which of course, it's not).
6.) The E-series dual-core AMD processor in the system just seems to struggle doing the most menial tasks. Watching HD YouTube videos pretty much means not doing anything else, and there's just a general sense of "slow" surrounding the entire computer. This isn't helped by the pedestrian 500GB 5400rpm Hitachi hard drive inside. Thankfully the drive is easily swapped out for something faster (7200rpm drive or SSD, please!). The unfortunate thing is this computer feels slightly less netbook-y, but altogether not enough notebook-y.
7.) The keyboard's keys are not full size. You get used to this for the most part, except for two absolutely obnoxious keys: The right shift key and the question mark key. The right shift is the same size as every other normal letter, and I just can't get used to it. Any time I use this key (which is all the time), I have to look down at it to see where I'm pressing. And entering a question mark is even more difficult, since that key is even smaller than the right shift and they're both next to each other! Ohh the pain!
8.) While the keyboard has a nice, chiclet-style feel to it, the higher rows of keys (the numbers especially) have a noticeably "tinny" sound to them, which once again doesn't convey quality...
9.) The power LEDs (yes, there are two of them, side and top, for no good reason), are astonishingly bright. These things light up a pitch-black bedroom. Good luck to your wife/husband/partner sleeping with you using your Vaio. Bright green fills the darkness. Oh, and you can't cover the larger of the two LEDs (the one on the side) with some felt or duct tape, because the LED houses the actual power button!
10.) Extremely tinny/thin sound, but this isn't altogether unexpected. Use earphones.
11.) Last and definitely least, there are 5 individual stickers on the laptop out of the box. While easily removed, it feels like an advertisement for everything about your new computer. Windows 7 sticker, AMD E sticker, Dual Core Graphics sticker, Energy Star sticker, and the Sony goodness-this-thing-has-HDMI-and-weighs-only-3.2lbs sticker. So many stickers!
Overall, this isn't a horrible system. If you have big hands look elsewhere as the keyboard (and to a lesser degree trackpad) will drive you mental, but if you can get past the cons, it's quite a nice, solid computer. It's hard to recommend, but not exactly easy to dismiss. For the money, though, be sure it's what you want.
3 stars out of 5.
The screen on the Sony is gorgeous (although it has glare issues and a rigid viewing angle), and altogether it is a beautiful machine. It also comes with 4GB of ram which is high for a netbook and compensates for the netbook-grade processor inside the hood. Windows Home Premium is also a welcome upgrade from Starter, and loads up quite quickly.
However, in retrospect the laptop does not justify it's very high price, for 2 main reasons:
1. Build quality is OK but not magnificient, it looks great but up-close and personal you feel the plastic. I actually had to superglue the top part of the display, as it came shipped with a small gap.
2. Battery life is absolutely unacceptable less than 3 hours on a charge, simply browsing the web with WiFi. Come on Sony, this isn't 2008 anymore...
In hindsight the TimelineX series is probably a much better buy. It looks less good IMO (which was actually a decisive factor for my wife), but in terms of battery life, CPU, etc, it probably beats the Sony for about the same price (I have no first hand experience with it, but was debating between the two before the purchase).
Buy Sony VAIO YB Series VPCYB35KX/S 11.6-Inch Laptop (Silver) Now
This is a great product. Sturdy construction, great screen resolution, super lightweight, boots up reasonably fast (it's Windows 7), 4GB of memory value wise, it's hard to beat. Battery life is not staggering compared to some of the Apple products I own, but I needed a windows based machine for a specific application and this one did the trick.Read Best Reviews of Sony VAIO YB Series VPCYB35KX/S 11.6-Inch Laptop (Silver) Here
Popup keeps coming up saying."Caution.
The installed battery may not be properly connected to the computer or may not be compatible with the computer.
Click "OK" to enter Hibernate mode, and remove and reinsert the battery.
See the eletronic VAIO(R) User Guide for more information about using the battery."
I would have given one star but Sony warned me of the pending lithium fire.
Thank you for not burning my house down :-)
And thanks to Amazon for having a good return policy!
PS When I say loose battery, I mean moves freely to the point you can hear it when you set the laptop down.
If someone had given me this as a gift, I would carry it in a bag so the battery wouldn't be able to slip out and go skipping across the floor.
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I am not easily pleased with electronics, and I have been searching for a decent lightweight (portable) laptop/netbook for months. I am not into purchasing overpriced anything (including laptops), but with this one I was willing to pay a little extra for a decent product. My basic requirement to the laptop/netbook was portability, but 10" was somewhat too small for me. I am also very easily annoyed by a slow computer (ie slow switching between the windows), so I wanted bigger RAM. I have been considering Acer one initially, but after seeing it in the store, I decided against it (mainly based on the looks and the screen). After quite a bit of hesitation, Sony Vaio 11.6" was selected.I have been using this laptop/netbook for about 2 weeks, and so far I have been very happy. It looks awesome and is lightweight enough for a frequent traveler. The battery life is about 5 hours using wifi but this works for me. The screen is awesome, so bright and crisp! The overall look is very good, it does not feel cheap (as other similar less expensive models). Performance has been good as well. I am not using any memory-demanding games or software, but this computer is never slow. This is exactly what I wanted as I absolutely CANNOT stand a slow computer! The touchpad is extremely responsive as well. Wifi works just fine and is quite fast.
To sum it up, the purchase seems to be very well worth a few extra bucks, compared to what you will pay for similar cheaper models. So far, I like this product a lot. The only drawback I can see is a very bright LED light on the side, but considering everything else I am willing to live with this. Overall, a 5-star product.
Sony VAIO VGN-NW350F/S 15.5" 4GB 320GB Laptop Silver
I picked this laptop up last night. It was the only high end brand I could find with HDMI and blu-ray under $800 that had good processing ability along with other specific features I wanted... and I looked... and looked... and looked... The white keys and bright display are helpful if you occasionally use your laptop in the dark (though having a back lit keyboard would have been a nice bonus). Compared to all prior, dark cased laptops, I can finally see the keys clearly. Ive had a Vaio in the past and it's build quality was excellent. I once again can say that it feels like a solid laptop and I am going to be quite happy with it. This laptop's design is straight forward and relies highly on the function keys. Advanced users might appreciate the simplicity and straight forwardness of this laptop more than the average or novice who may need things more specifically laid out (or if you are a big fan of buttons).It features a boot to internet button to quickly bypass its already speedy Windows 7 boot process.
Blu-Ray looks great. The only disappointment ive had with it is the speakers, but I havent had enough opportunity to truly judge them yet. I put in a blu-ray movie last night and it was so quiet at full volume I had trouble hearing it. Granted, normal Windows volume had a decent projection so I probably just need to check a few things out that I havent gotten around to yet.
The HDMI port along with the Blu-Ray allows me to connect it to my TV and gives me the option of removing the entertainment desktop I have next to my tv.
Would I buy it again? Definitely.
Side note: I love Amazon, but I found it for $730 in store. Sorry Amazon but you were a little too expensive this time around!
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This is a great computer. No, the screen isn't the greatest, but I got it in store for under $700. Also, it's LOADED with Sony software, which occasionally takes up all the RAM, slowing it down. Other than that, I love it. HDMI output is great. The keys on the keyboard are spaced perfectly for my big hands. My girlfriend told me that she finds the touch pad hard to use, but I like it. I would absolutely recommend this computer to a friend.Read Best Reviews of Sony VAIO VGN-NW350F/S 15.5" 4GB 320GB Laptop Silver Here
I bought this laptop about 6 months ago, and am so glad that I did! I was hoping to spend $500-600, as I figured these days you can get somewhat of a decent comp for that price. I was looking at a Gateway with a 17" screen, which I thought would be nice for my art and photography... But THEN I took a walk on the wild side to the nicer lineup of comp's and saw this Sony. It is quiet (you dont even hear the fan running), fast, doesnt get hot, easy to type, amazing HD qualities, awesome windows 7, web startup with a press of a button, etc... I was very worried about spending $750 or so, when buying a MAC is only a few hundred dollars more. (I'm a MAC lover!)... But really, this is a great computer with everything that I need (and some). Dont settle for a crappy machine when for a little more you can have this reliable smooth Sony. Best Buy has an 18 month no-interest deal on their credit card, which I did. You wont be dissapointed...Want Sony VAIO VGN-NW350F/S 15.5" 4GB 320GB Laptop Silver Discount?
Sorry......but.. the one I bought in 2010, I paid (with taxes,shipping,) about $800.00 ON SALE..I think it was...Best Buy on line..anyhow, Had it a year, it was a manufacture's defect in the SD card USB area. That fried my C driver...(extended warrantee was outrageous)so had that fixed.. I suppose the kid put a trial Windows on it.. well, shortly after that expired...the C driver that I put about $150.00 into...FRIED AGAIN..so.. I am now having to EAT almost a thousand dollars and hope to sell it on EBay for parts.. I'm lucky to get $150 dollars for it so I can clear at least $100.00 and the shipping and handling costs.. I'LL NEVER EVER BUY ANYTHING COMPUTER WITH SONY ON IT.. Sony has great camera's and music equipment..but...STAY AWAY FROM ANYTHING computerized with Sony...
Lenovo X60 Thinkpad Laptop Duo Core 2GHz 1GB RAM 80GB XP Pro WiFi Notebook
I got this on Amazon for $250.00. It's a ridiculously amazing deal. Mine came with the attachable dock/drive-totally unexpected, and made me even happier with the bargain. I also got an extra 1gb of ram (total of 2gb).The computer is slick weighing in at about 3.5lbs. I feel like a secret agent carrying it around (I'm also a [multiple] Macbook Pro owner, so I love compact quality). The laptop is incredibly sturdy, as Thinkpads are expected to be. For a business user, this is a much better deal than most of the consumer laptops on the market. The keyboard is small, but not too crowded for typing comfortably. The keys are solid and don't feel like they're going to pop off any second.
The trackpad (stick) takes some getting used to. I wouldn't recommend traveling without an external mouse.
The display is unexciting TFT using integrated graphics, so don't expect any eye-popping colors, but it does the job. The lid closes securely, and closes the gaps between the keyboad/lid so that dust or debris stay out.
For word processing, e-mailing, or quick graphic/spreadsheet editingthis laptop is fantastic. 12" is too small for extended use, but it's perfect for mobility. Since there's no optical drive, you can download VLC media player and load your movies as .avi files.
There are 3 USB portstwo on the right, 1 on the left. Integrated VGA lets you hook this up to projectors for presentations or an external monitor (if you don't have the dock). There's also an infrared receiver (for remote controls), a finger print reader, dedicated volume buttons, mini-firewire, SD, ethernet, mic/headphone, Wireless A/B/G. There are external power indicator lights. My battery is showing 10 hours with the brightness turned down and 8.5 hours with the brightness on max. It has Windows XP installed, so I'm going to test it out with both Ubuntu and Windows 7 to see where it scores.
This laptop is much more powerful than a netbook, and the price beats most other ultraportables out of the water.
Lenovo ThinkPad T61p 6460 Notebook
If you are thinking about getting a T61p, I suggest youfind one you can see and feel first.
Mine is working properly -I got it with XP Pro.
But, I was disapointed in the quality.
1) The T series Laptops used to be solid
like a tank -now they are flimsy like a potatochip.
2) There is a flex cable from the keyboard base unit to the
monitor lid -first I have seen in a loptop --
Concerned about reliability of the flex.
3) Mine has a lump (or bulge) behind the LCD.
I feel it as I swipe my hand across it.
It is not too visible due to the mat finish,
but it is there. I did an internet search and
others are seeing the same thing.
4) besides the bulge, there is a noticable dip
on the lid near the flex cable area.
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I was excited when I bought this laptop. Because I know IBM thinkpad was the top of the line laptop that time. So strong construction and good keyboard. But.. after a year, the battery did not even hold power for full 30 minutes even after fully charging it. Then I noticed that even with full brightness the LCD looked dull. The maximum volume is half the volume when I compare my 5 year old Dell machine. Disappointed with T61p. It is not worth for the price! Lenovo is not upto original IBM quality.Read Best Reviews of Lenovo ThinkPad T61p 6460 Notebook Here
I have owned 10 IBM computers and this is the first Lenovo I have ever owned. The machine worked well and the software was pretty good; although, some of the preloaded software wasn't that helpful and just used up some of the hard drive space.The screen isn't very good and powerful graphics chip goes to waste with a not so clear screen. The computer is fast, when it works.
It only took four months before my hard drive crashed. Lenovo service did a great job of sending out the new hard drive and recovery disks but they couldn't help me restore my machine from my external Western Digital drive. Windows Vista kept on asking for an installation disk and as Windows Vista was pre-installed I didn't have this disk. Eventually, I gave up and paid a local tech to restore my computer for $300.
The replacement hard drive lasted about 1 year and then it crashed as well. When I originally purchased the machine, I bought the expensive 5 year on-sight service as well. The extra cost didn't bother me, I have money and NO time to deal with computer crashes.
Lenovo apparently reset my warranty period when they sent me the new hard drive, to an absurdly short period of time. As such, my machine was already past its warranty period. I purchased the recovery disks for $60 and bought a Western Digital hard drive from Tiger Direct. There is no way I am paying Lenovo for another substandard hard drive.
Any benefits this machine may have, is outweighed by the fact that if the hard drive is dead you have an expensive door stop and nothing more.
This will be my first and last Lenovo laptop.
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As an owner of 3 IBM Thinkpads in the past I have been very disappointed with the Lenovo Thinkpad T61p. It worked well enough for nine months but then the screen went out. When I returned it to Lenovo for warranty repair they said the screen was not covered and demanded $700.00. I pointed out that the machine had not suffered physical damage(not dropped or dented) but they said that "sometimes this just happens" and it is not covered under the warranty. Some warranty! Lenovo is not in the same class as IBM. I suggest you look elsewhere for a reliable machine and a reputable manufacturer that honors it warranty.