Very massive and good Ultrabook, with a bigger mSata SSD for the system it is very fast, the only weakness is the poor LCD Screen quality.
Hope this helps....
Showing posts with label cheap notebook computer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cheap notebook computer. Show all posts
Lenovo ThinkPad T430u 14" Ultrabook PC - 8614-3JU
Very massive and good Ultrabook, with a bigger mSata SSD for the system it is very fast, the only weakness is the poor LCD Screen quality.Hope this helps....
HP Pavilion g6-1d38dx Core i3-2350M Dual-Core 2.3GHz 4GB 320GB DVD±RW 15.6" LED Notebook Windows 7
Love my laptop. Have not had any problems with it. It came with Windows 7 loaded, but I am considering upgrading to Windows 8. Not in a hurry though. I take my laptop on my bike with me and it has about 4,000 miles on it so far with no problems. I would definitely recommend one to a friend.
You should also be aware that this is an HP computer, so the battery life won't be stellar.
I hope this helps
Dell Inspiron i17R-1713 17.3-Inch Laptop (Diamond Black)
I've had the Dell Inspiron 17R (500 gig hard drive; 4 gigs RAM; i5-2410m processor) for about a month. I upgraded it to 6 gigs of RAM.The Inspiron is a pretty good value. You get a lot of machine for the money. The i5-2410m processor is fast. Combined with the large amount of RAM, it'll handle with ease any normal, everyday task, such as watching movies, browsing, word processing, home video editing, and so on. I can't speak to whether it'd be suitable for gaming, because I don't use it for that. However, it is quite a powerful laptop for routine computer stuff.
I have seen the screen criticized elsewhere, for not being super-high resolution, but I disagree. The 17.3" screen is one of the high points of this laptop. It is bright, sharp, and easy to read. I've always been a fan of "desktop replacement" laptops, and have several over the years, always with a 17" screen. I think this is one of the better screens out there. It's 1600x900, which is not 1920x1080, but it's still very sharp, and the Inspiron 17R is half the price of a 1920x1080 laptop.
It comes with a nice mix of ports. Two USB 3.0, a USB 2.0, and an extremely useful eSATAe. The USB3.0 ports are not providing the kind of performance I was hoping for. I think that either the laptop or my external drives are not configured properly to take advantage of USB3.0. I'm getting USB3.0 speeds that are little better than USB2.0. On the other hand, the eSATAe port is blazin' fast. I plan just to use the eSATAe port and not bother with the 3.0 ports.
My main complaint with this laptop is the mouse pad. There are some laptops out there that have a mouse which jumps around too much. This is one of them. Many other laptops do not have this problem anymore; it was a design problem that was fixed over the years. So, what does this problem entail? When you're typing, the cursor will occasionally jump elsewhere on the screen, and if you're not careful, you can end up deleting important text. And, as another reviewer noted, there's the occasional related problem of the mouse-pointer sort of pinning itself to the right side of the screen; when this happens, nothing you do on the mousepad will unstick it, and you just have to fuss with it and, ultimately, wait for it to decide to start working again. Experimenting with the mouse pad controls (sensitivity and speed, in Control Panel) helps a little, but not a lot. Fundamentally, it is just a bad mouse pad, something that should have been addressed by Dell and put to rest a long, long time ago. The cursor-jumpiness around the screen is just unacceptable on a modern laptop. The keyboard itself is mediocre; it has nice chicklet-style keys that are easy to type on, but they occasionally miss a letter when they shouldn't. I spilled just a couple of drops of Diet Coke on one key, and now that key and six surrounding keys have permanent pop-and-crackle noises when I touch them. Many (in fact, "most" or "all") other laptop keyboards are more mishap-tolerant than the one in the 17R. I want to love this laptop, but I have to say that laptops from other brands such as Toshiba have much better keyboards and mouse pads.
The battery life is poor. It is the shortest battery life I have ever experienced on a laptop. You can get about 90 minutes if you are doing light browsing. Any sort of heavy usage, like movie-watching, will put you down in the 60 to 75 minute range. I really don't get that. I've had other 17" monitor laptops that ran for 2.5 to 3.5 hours between charges. It doesn't bother me much, because I use it at home, where it's plugged in. If I was in more of a road-warrior mode, I would've already returned it. This laptop basically needs to be plugged in when you're using it. It is also very heavy substantially heavier than my last couple of 17" laptops. It really is not designed for road use, either in battery usage or weight; it's truly an old-school desktop replacement laptop.
In summary: for the price, you get a lot of laptop with Dell. The Inspiron 17R has a beautiful screen, a very fast processor, and ample storage and RAM for normal business or personal use. I don't think for the $600 to $700 (depending on configuration) you can get much more laptop elsewhere. However, the mouse, and specifically the jumpiness of the mouse, truly sucks. The keyboard is very low-end -so low-end it's hard to believe Dell thought this was an acceptable component to put on a modern, $600 machine. All in all, I give this laptop 3 stars. I would like to see Dell really drill down on why their mousepads and keyboards are not up to the competition, and replace them with better parts. I have a feeling this one will last about a year or two, and then I will probably replace it with a different brand.
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ASUS U47VC-DS51 i5-3210M 2.5GHz 14.1" Notebook
Pros:-User replaceable battery! Hard to find in thin notebooks.
-Lots of aluminum! Keyboard, palm rests and screen backing are all metal.
-Bottom/underside is a thick plastic. Not cheap feeling at all.
-Matte screen with a 1366x768 is perfect for 14 inch display.
-Chicklet keyboard leaves a bit to be desired, but my desktop has a mechanical so its a bit of an adjustment. Adequate for typing.
-Very easy to get to the memory and HDD bay along with the screw holding in the ODD. Memory comes maxed out for this computer (8 gig max supported) but that is plenty for the foreseeable future.
-Mouse pad is smooth, not that annoying bumpy junk lots of notebook OEM's are using.
-Dimmable backlit keyboard.
-Dedicated Graphics card.
Cons:
-Quite a bit of bloatware. Easy to uninstall, would rather just get a disc and install what I want.
-Mouse pad placement is not good for me. My left plam/thumb keep tapping the upper left corner of the pad causing typing errors.
-The mouse buttons are not good.
-Pretty much I hate the mouse pad. There, I said it.
-Speakers are bad. They are loud, but that's it. Very tinney and hollow sounding. No range at all. Even for laptop speakers, they have a lot of room for improvement. Speaker placement is right under the palm rest.
Overall, I am really happy with this machine. Besides the mouse pad, its just as good in my hands as it looked on paper. After making sure I was going to keep this computer, I immediately swapped out the HDD for an SSD I had laying around the house. The stock HDD was really a huge bottle neck.
Here is the WEI;
Processor 7.1
Ram 7.5
Graphics 6.6
Gaming Graphics 6.6
Pros:
* Very light and thin, but it still has the RAM and storage space of a traditional full-size laptop
* 8GB of RAM, expandable to 16 even though ASUS says the max is 8!
* A dedicated graphics card. Not the best, but it'll do for some photo/video editing work and light gaming (can handle Portal and Team Fortress 2 just fine if that tells you anything. I don't think anything like Battlefield 3 would run at high settings though). I should add that this laptop's cousin, the U47A-RS51, has the exact same specs minus the graphics card.
* 6-cell battery, lasts a very long time. Max is about eight hours which is great.
* Can easily be customized. ASUS is known for this.
Cons:
* The trackpad. Damn it, I hate the trackpad. You'll get used to it, but it's still kind of annoying. It can get in the way of typing at times and the multi-touch scroll is awkward for people with large hands (like me).
* ASUS bloatware, but this comes with any computer. Install Windows 7 (or 8 if you prefer) from scratch and you should very nicely get around all that.
All in all, great purchase. 10/10 would buy again.
Buy ASUS U47VC-DS51 i5-3210M 2.5GHz 14.1" Notebook Now
Researched many laptops. ASUS U47VC is the best around. I always have had great luck with my ASUS custom builds and this laptop is better than the 16" one I previously bought and took back. You cannot upgrade memory on many others. With this you can go up to 16GB. Best laptop I have had. Im not nit picky about the sound since I have a sound bar that sits on top and sounds great. Like I said before. Alot of research went into this laptop.HD,upgradable,great chiclet backlit Keyboard. Very easy to type on.Highly reccomend this modelRead Best Reviews of ASUS U47VC-DS51 i5-3210M 2.5GHz 14.1" Notebook Here
The Asus U47VC is perfectly positioned between the ultrabooks, which are wonderfully light but uncomfortable for real work, and the heavier-weight laptops that have all the features but are too heavy to lug around all day. I am very happy with mine. The only problem was that I found upgrading to Windows 8 involved uninstalling and re-installing numerous drivers. I wish Asus would just put a Windows 8 drivers file on their website so that you could update everything at once. [Are you listening, Asus?]Pros:
Light weight.
Great Keyboard--comfortable for work, no shallow feeling.
Optical drive, unlike ultrabooks.
Nicely sized, bright screen.
Solid Asus build.
8 gigs of RAM & fast processor.
Battery can be replaced by user, unlike ultrabooks.
Cons:
Touchpad makes the cursor jumpy, but this may merely require more adjustment.
Upgrading to Windows 8 is tedious and confusing.
I honestly don't know why there are so few professional reviews of this notebook out in the media. It is a terrific, elegant design where, for a few extra ounces, you get a computer that is much more than a toy for surfing the web and sending the occasional e-mail. This is my 3rd Asus notebook, and I continue to be impressed with the thought that goes into their best products.
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This is my 2nd Asus laptop in the U series line. I previously had a 2011 model #U46SV and sold it recently to my cousin for a cool $700.This review will be comparing both 2011 and 2012 models. As always with any laptop or ultrabook, I do a clean install on Win7 Pro x64 OS and installed a fresh Vertex 4 SSD 256gb I got on black friday sale!
My impressions with this year's model U47VC has met higher expectations than I thought.
It is slightly thinner, a bit lighter, and has extra features over last year's model.
Aesthetics I find the design of this laptop to be a major upgrade over the U46SV last year.
The battery is a lot more narrow and lighter.
Illuminated keyboard shines in the night time! Big + for me as I'm typing
this review in the night time :)
Brushed aluminum in gray this year over a silver finish. I like both whichever.
Touch pad design is neat and sleek. No separated buttons this time around.
Omission of VGA port. Finally yes! I cringed all the time, now it is gone!
Screen is anti-smudge fingerprint. Big + over last years model!
10/10 score on design and even feels like an Ultrabook. Well done Asus *Cheers*
Battery The battery lasts between 5 1/2 hrs 6 hours. It is just about the same amount
hours I get from a full charge than last year's model.
8/10
Gaming I played Walking Dead so far on Steam. Runs great with this nvidia 620m card.
However, I jumped from a 540m last year to a 620m and wonder if this year is weaker
or nearly the same performance. This is the only sacrifice I made in getting this
U47VC laptop.
Since I don't do much gaming on the go, this area here really suffices for me.
9/10
Features This laptop has an extra USB 3.0 port oppose to only one last year. The nice
architecture about Ivy bridge is it supports USB 3.0 natively from intel.
This means no more installing third party drivers. Yes finally!
10/10
Only downside to this laptop is the panel used in most laptops. TN panels have disaster viewing angles. I say enough is enough already with this low quality tech. IPS or AMVA panels are desirable.
9/10 laptop score overall. It is excellent and I hopefully will keep this gem for a few years to come until I get a super slim ultrabook.
Asus U47VC hits a homerun in the U series line in 2012. Again well done.
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Toshiba Satellite A505-S6973 16.0-Inch Laptop - Black/Grey
Bought this for my wife to replace a 4-year-old Acer. Ordered last night and got it this morning...Right off the bat, the huge screen size mesmerized me. Migrating from a 14" to this with a much better quality screen was a pleasure to the eyes.
The system booted up quickly for the first time but I had to do LOTS and LOTS of updates including SP1. Toshiba never stops short of putting bloatware in its laptops sadly. But about 2 hours of "cleaning" made the laptop breath a lot easier...
The web cam sliding panel on the screen is annoying and I haven't found a way to completely disable it yet.
Overall, on looks I give it a solid 5 stars. I got the black one. It's shiny and very good-looking. It's a bit on the heavy side at over 7 lbs but that was totally expected.
The keys on keyboard are very comfortably spaced and are very responsive. The 10-key is a HUGE plus. The mouse is very tactile and responds great to the touch of the fingertips. It's supposed to allow multi-finger touch as well I think, but haven't had a chance to mess around with that yet.
It also comes with instructions as to how request your free copy of the Windows 7 upgrade. You can do so through Toshiba's web site.
The bottom of the laptop does not get nearly as hot as the older Acer used to, so that's a plus.
My first laptop ever was Toshiba Satellite (that was n years ago!) and only if I had kept that one and I could put the side by side... what a world of difference.
I left the BEST feature (in my opinion and so far) for last: The speakers are THE BOMB!!! They are hands down the best speakers on any laptop I have ever seen/owned. I owned another Toshiba that I bought from the retailer that sells things in bulk and it also had very loud speakers for a laptop but this laptop's speakers are both LOUD and FANTASTIC quality. The harman/kardon label says it all. Indeed one of the best features so far...
Again, it's been only 1 day and I spent most of it getting rid of the bloatware, downloading numerous VISTA updates, and installing many of the software she uses, so I didn't get to play with it much. But overall, I am loving it, and most importantly she's been truly enjoying it so far.
One little annoying feature I could've lived without is the volume buttons' system beep. These touch-sensitive buttons (located on the top right corner of the keyboard) are very responsive, but by default they produce a very annoying system beep every time one or the other is touched. I found through the Sound settings in Control Panel an option that let me turn that off which improved my experience with the volume buttons 100%. Before, sometimes after holding the + or button for a few second, I guess because the annoying system beep itself was glitchy, it'd get "stuck" and would continue to beep even after I let go... That's resolved now that I turned off the system beep associated with it. The touch buttons now function the way they ought to. The buttons are lit so when you touch one or the other, the light goes off for each touch indicating the volume is going up or down one notch. No need for the buzzing system beep... Anyhow, thought to share this...
VERY IMPORTANT-----READ!!!!
Last night, as my wife was using the laptop, it just died.... literally, the whole screen went out.... The power button and battery button were both on; the hard drive light was off; the indicators right below the screen (top of the keyboard) were all off; the power button was fully lit. The fan (yes, it actually has a fan... I found it, but it's SUPER quiet) was functioning but the keyboard didn't seem to respond....... Long story short after troubleshooting for at least 45 minutes and getting nowhere, I called the tech support. It was a call center overseas but the response was quick and tech seemed knowledgeable enough I guess; troubleshooting steps were exactly same as what I had already tried...... sadly, he declared the laptop dead at 10:46 p.m... Cause of death: Unknown (hardware related!). So the tech support tells me I have to ship it to their depot... nothing is done overnight! They would ship the empty box -ground shipping --, then I'd ship it back to them -again GROUND --, then it'd take them 7 to 10 business days to repair, and then they'd ship it back to me -GROUND! I am sorry, but my poor Sony laptop after 10 or so months of heavy use, started having problems with its Wi-Fi card; long story short, I had my laptop picked up, repaired, and sent back to me within 5 business days good as new.
Back to this review, Amazon at the end saved the day... They overnighted one for me last night and I'll have the brand new laptop tomorrow, and then I have to send them this one back... just like that. So as of right now, I am disappointed with Toshiba's overall customer service.... The laptop was doing fantastic, and I have no idea why it died so suddenly... but it did and it's a done deal.. Moral of the story: 1) Sometimes you just end up getting a lemon 2) You get you what you pay for. With the money I bought my Sony laptop I could've bought 6 (I am not joking) of these laptops.... and neither their service nor their product has ever stopped short of being perfect... I am just sayin'...
With over two years of heavy duty use, it's still working for my wife... The only thing that happened to it was a few days ago when both Enter keys stopped working... Air can sprayed the keys after removing them and nothing helped really. Since both stopped working and not just one, it's got to be either the motherboard or something deep within the keyboard. Took to Geek Squad who couldn't figure it out on the spot and didn't give me much hope. They suggested using an external keyboard, which we bought for it... but then it occurred to me that I had heard of such programs as key re-mapper. Sure enough, downloaded one such program and minutes later I re-mapped one of the keys she never uses on her keyboard to her Enter key. It's not as convenient as the Enter button, but she's so happy that she now has an Enter key that she doesn't care about the location of it! But I'd think in a few month or so, this will be retired...
This is the third Toshiba laptop in my household. We have absolutely loved all of them. This new one is definitely incredible, and the best of the bunch. The things that I find they all have in common are They stay very cool (I use them all on laptop stands, mostly Rolodex Laptop Stands) and they are beautiful.
The A505-S6973 is no exception. This laptop comes equipped with everything I could possibly need and more hard drive than I will ever use. I didn't find that there was too much junk I had to uninstall...just the usual Norton hogzilla software and some internet type software (netzero) that seems to always come on computers these days. I usually have to spend the better part of the day uninstalling, updating, installing my own security software, and cleaning up. With this laptop I only spent a couple of hours with all of that.
The speed of the processor is wonderful. The premium speakers are quite noticeable as it seems like most mid-range laptops have junky speakers. I would actually listen to music or watch a movie on this one without even having to plug in my headphones.
Lastly, this is one beautiful laptop. The shiny black finish on the exterior top and the inside has a cool, subdued, lined design on it that you don't see in the online pictures. It is sleek and smart looking. It feels solid and well-built. I would not hesitate to recommend this laptop. I have had the best of experiences with every Toshiba brand product I've had over the years and the 3 laptops in my household, now including this one, are stellar in their performance.
Buy Toshiba Satellite A505-S6973 16.0-Inch Laptop - Black/Grey Now
This is an excellent buy, and the best deal out there. It's no wonder why it's Amazon's best selling computer.It's a beauty to behold. Beautiful black finish with just the slightest hint of curvy lined design.
Beautiful keyboard. Love the multimedia touch controls. The Eco feature button is great and easy to reach. The Eco feature easily can give you an additional hour or more of battery life. The 16" screen is bright and gives great color and great for movies. The speakers are awesome for a laptop! And the one thing that was really a surprise...it's super cool, as in the battery doesn't heat up. Everyone was amazed that after hours of use, the battery wasn't hot at all. It may get SLIGHTLY warm on the left..but not too much. If it wasn't, then it would be a near miracle!
With 4G of Ram, run multiple programs at once with no hiccups. On my Dell I couldn't run Outlook, Limewire and Windows Live Messenger without something freezing. This Laptop does it flawlessly. With the huge 500G Hard drive, PLENTY of room for pictures, videos and downloads (movies, games..etc.) My wireless internet on this laptop zooms.
For $649, you CANNOT go wrong! It is the BEST value you are going to get for this price. 4G Ram, 500G Hardrive, 16" HD Screen, excellent speakers, gorgeous styled keyboard and cover, Cool battery making using the laptop comfortable.
If you are looking for a laptop in this price range...this is the best choice, hands down.
Read Best Reviews of Toshiba Satellite A505-S6973 16.0-Inch Laptop - Black/Grey Here
The Toshiba A505-S6973 Laptop is a slick, lightweight, very fast machine with an incredibly bright & clear display.Beware!! This is a "64-bit" version of Windows Vista Home Premium, which made all of my legacy software (Office 2000, FrontPage 2002, etc.) obsolete. My circa 2007 HP 9417 Laptop with Vista Home Premium ran all the legacy software without problems. Unfortunately, the HP computer was a dud, but that is another review... Bottom line I was able to purchase used 2003 software (Office & FrontPage), which seems to work well.
Here are some things I like about the Toshiba A505-S6973..
Excellent Value 4 MBs RAM & 500 GB HDD
Incredibly Fast
The best display of any computer I have seen or used
Great Speakers
Lightweight for its size
Very Lightweight A/C Adapter with a very long cord
Here are some things I do not like about the Toshiba A505-S6973
The Laptop does not have a latch to close the screen. It is only a sprung hinge...
The touch pad is hard to distinguish from the adjacent areas, and the touch-scroll is integrated into the edge of the pad Hard to control
The keyboard has a very light touch and the space bar, enter key, and delete keys are way too small.
The input for the headphone jack is poor Partial connection, static, etc.
If you are planning to purchase or already own current versions of MS Office, etc. this is a great value. If you have legacy software with upgrades from 1997-2000-2002, etc. please beware.
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I am not a computer tech type person like a lot of you so i can't give you a detailed review on what this computer does on the inside. I am an everyday computer user and I love this laptop. I have only had HP computers in the past and I took the chance on a Toshiba. I wish I had changed a long time ago. I can't believe the ease of installing programs and my printer. If i didn't know what i was doing a box came up to tell me. This laptop is beautiful and so well made. I can't believe I got it for this price. Everything came working with no problems at all. There wasn't a lot of "stuff" I had to take out before using it. The widescreen is great and I feel like i'm sitting in front of my desktop. I had originally gotten it for my daughter but I am ordering another one for her. I'm now sold on Toshiba. I went to the Toshiba site and filled out forms to get the windows 7 free. I had to upload a copy of the receipt. It said I could mail or fax it if that was easier. They will send me an email when they mail it to me in October. I didn't expect to get such a nice computer for this price.
ASUS B43J-A1B 14-Inch Business Laptop - Black
This is a very well built laptop (edges are round, metal hinges). The keyboard is similar to the Lenovo keyboard and I really like it. I have used the Asus K series, UL series, EEE netbooks and this touchpad is by far the best one of all. This laptop comes with a smooth touchpad (not the dimpled ones) and it works like a charm. The scrolling is very smooth compared to the dimpled ones. Vertical 2 finger scroll allows you to scroll down/up the page and the 2 finger horizontal scroll allows you to scroll horizontally and useful for going through pictures on Flickr or facebook albums. The buttons on the touchpad are also very comfortable and pretty much silent. Compared with the Macbook pro touchpad, this one is not as good but pretty close. It's one of the best for a PC laptop that I've used.I like how there's a shutter that allows you to cover the webcam for privac. The laptop is slightly thicker than the UL series but it is definitely more robust, especially the entire screen piece. It weighs about 2.5kg but doesn't feel too heavy or bulky to carry around on a daily basis.
The only one issue I ran into so far is the wireless internet connection would randomly disconnect and not be able to detect any networks. I tried a bunch of different things including disabling some of the power management features like some people had mentioned in other forums but it didn't do the trick. I ended up reinstalling the intel wireless driver for this laptop's wireless chip. I am really hoping this will solve the problem because it was driving me nuts. Other than this particular problem there aren't any major issues I've come across.
I added an extra 4GB stick of Kingston ram that was on sale for $35. For the price, you can't go wrong with this laptop. Business grade laptop with an i5 processor, discrete ATI graphics, and a 3 year warranty (including a 1 yr accidental damage, 2 way free shipping), 3 year battery warranty, 2 megapixel webcam.
-Best Processor for Price range (i5 2.66 GHz)
-Pretty Good Graphics Card (isn't the best card out there, but plays everything on mid settings with highest resolution, so still looks pretty good)
-Comes with Windows 7 Professional
-Keyboard feels durable, no flex
-7200 RPM Hard drive (boots much faster than my family's desktop)
-not as much bloatware as you'll see from other brands
-hdmi, vga, display port, and eSata ports.
-Recovery discs were easy to burn, not near as difficult as some brands make it.
-Fingerprint reader
-Light and Portable
Cons:
-Only comes with 2 GB of RAM
-has a 3 cell battery (though even on the three cell battery you can still get a good 2-2.5 hours out of it if you aren't gaming)
-has no volume control on keyboard (not a big issue for me, but a bit annoying sometimes)
-the way the Hard Drive comes partitioned (it partitions 25% of the drive for OS and programs [C drive], and then 75% for data [D drive], so unless you want to put more than 75 GB worth of programs on, you'll have to run windows setup and departition the drive, which is not difficult, just do it right after you get it because it will mean a reinstall of windows and you'll lose anything you previously installed)
I ended up buying another 2 GB of RAM for $20, and a 6-cell battery for $75, bringing my total to about $645 for the whole thing. But for the specs that I got even for that price is still a heck of a deal and putting in the RAM was quick and easy and no big deal at all.
I got this Laptop for College and It has been excellent. I do some gaming and as I said, medium settings on high resolutions looks pretty good and is by far better than anything else you'll get in this price range.
Overall the few minor issues I had with it were easily fixed and it has exceeded my expectations in every other way. It is an excellent computer and I couldn't have asked for more for the price.
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I purchased this computer for my graduate school work ---mainly word processing, working with spreadsheets, and I had intended to watch some movies from time to time to relax. Within about a month, my DVD drive stopped reading DVDs. We re-installed drivers, looked through pages and pages of help information, and couldn't fix it. We are now going to PAY to replace the drive because the company said tough luck --you waited to long to return the computer.In addition and definitely worse, the entire system restarts unexpectedly about once a week now. Also about once a week, the monitor simply stops working. The webcam only works sometimes, the wireless adapter continually needs to be disabled and re-enabled, the touch-pad often doesn't scroll up and down... this is a TERRIBLE COMPUTER AND I RECOMMEND THAT EVERYONE STAY AWAY. Especially if you are looking into purchasing this for use with any important documentation or for your use at an office, this is not a dependable machine.
This afternoon I am going to REPURCHASE Windows so that the large, numerous and useless applications that were pre-installed on my machine are gone, and in hopes that some of these problems will be resolved. Neither the seller nor ASUS will re-install Windows without all of these applications --I am expecting to pay an extra $200-$300 in total so that I can have a useable machine for the simple work I want to do.
Anyone would be better off with the cheapest Dell model out there.
Read Best Reviews of ASUS B43J-A1B 14-Inch Business Laptop - Black Here
I like this computer. It is a rugged machine with a lot of nice features for a laptop. It has a core i5 processor. It comes with 2 gb of memory but will accept 8 gb and I took the suggestion of others and added the additional memory. It is very fast. It has an extended battery warrant. I am very impressed with most of the features. It only has a 14 inch monitor which is ok with me as I like to use my laptop with an external monitor anyway. However, the laptop sales information states that it comes with a docking station. I did not get a docking station and when I called to inquire about one it appears ASUS does not make one for this model anymore.This leads me to the downside of this machine. I have had no luck with product support or service from ASUS. The software support appears to be sub-contracted to others who don't have the same pride in the product as I think a true manufacturer's rep would have. It was almost as if the person on the phone with me didn't care whether my problem was solved or not. Tech support is critical for the long-term viability of any manufacturer that intends to stay in business and my experience so far has been to wonder whether ASUS will be around for a long time or not. This to me is a sad commentary because in most respects I think they have a superior product but need to provide better customer service.
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I have had this computer for about 6 weeks. The first one I had, had start up problems so I returned it with zero problems and this one replaced it. (Same model) This one has done all I've wanted after the ram was upgraded to 8 gig. The partioning I didn't like, but reading the manual (downloaded on line) tells you how to reboot the system (before you put all of your junk on it) and you can make it into a single "C:" drive very easily. I just upgraded the hard drive to a 500 gig hybrid drive, cloned the old one, and boot time droped drastically. I bought this while COMP USA (Tiger Direct) had them on sale and it has been a great buy so far. Handles my work, movies, music etc all really well. This is my second ASUS and have been pleased with both.PROS: Solid, fast, does my graphics work well and so far heating is at a minimum.
CONS: A little heavy and the fingerprint/security software is very user unfrienly.
Dell Inspiron 15z i15z-1320sLV 15.6-Inch Ultrabook (Moon Silver)
After many weeks of researching laptops and trying to stay within a budget, I purchased the Dell 15Z through Amazon. At the time they were beating all other advertized prices by $100 for the same specifications, and the deal was too good to pass up. I bought the 1320sLV 3rd gen i5, 6GB, 500GB+32SSD version. There were a number of less than positive reviews on other sites regarding the 15Z but most complaints were minor and as usual you have to weed through the legitimate ones. Obviously some people receive lemons regardless of brand or model and that is unfortunate. So far I have not experienced any of the 15Z issues mentioned by others. The computer has performed without a glitch and I am very happy with the quality and performance given the price. I think the use of "Ultrabook" is a little misleading, the computer is big, fairly heavy, and although thin, this is not something that you would want to travel with every day. I went for the larger screen and keyboard of the 15Z over the 14Z because portability is not a big priority for me. This unit will spend most of its time connected to a monitor and keyboard as a desktop replacement anyway. The fit and finish is very good and the use of brushed aluminum and plastic is typical. The appearance would suggest a more expensive computer but the case is a little flimsy in places, don't push down on the Dell logo. The screen resolution is not great, but if you are not a high end user or gamer accustomed to high resolution screens, it looks and functions just fine for everyday tasks. The colors are very good but off-angle viewing is not great. I love the keyboard feel and the large touch pad works pretty well even with the default settings. Sensitivity may need to be lowered to avoid accidental inputs. The key backlighting is a really nice feature at this price range as is the internal optical drive. As expected there are plenty of ports to connect anything you desire. There were complaints about the wi-fi connectivity being inconsistent but so far I have not had it drop out a single time. We'll see what happens over time as I connect to other systems and at different ranges. The computer boots and wakes faster than anything I have ever owned, probably because of the solid state drive. I am new to Windows 8 but have not found it to be an issue. I just revert to the desktop and its mostly business as usual. I experimented with the touch screen version of this laptop and did not find it all that appealing, especially for the additional cost. Win 8 users may find the touch screen a benefit but swiping your finger across a screen that is at the wrong ergonomic angle and is bouncing around is uncomfortable to me. It's nothing like using an Ipad. For a system with these features, that you can purchase for under $600, you must have realistic expectations. I think the average user or student would be very happy with this machine. Overall I am pleased with this purchase. If I encounter any issues I will be sure to update this review.
First of all I wanted a larger screen since I do not have a desktop PC. I was really impressed with the screen size. I was using a 13.3" square shape screen so the widescreen and 15.6" makes a huge difference. I would love to watch movies on this. Also this Ultrabook has a cd drive, which many do not I've noticed. I was specifically looking for a computer with a solid state drive for better performace. This has a combination of solid state and hard drive, but it has more hard drive (HDD) than solid state (SSD). The hybrids are getting decent reviews since you get the increased speed with the solid state drive and the larger capacity of the hard drive.
When it comes to repairs Apple still is rated more highly than any other brand. However Dell is on par with many other top brands. My first laptop was a Dell and it worked great for me so I was willing to give Dell another shot. I did have repairs on my first Dell laptop after about 4 or 5 years but I remember having a good experience when I sent it in and got it back. Besides I figure that in 5 years I'll get another laptop anyways.
Windows 8 operating system has taken some time to get used to... but its growing on me. I think in time I will love it. Initially it freaked me out that there was no desktop when I started it but I found the desktop app and I started to calm down. I have gotten used to the app style set up because of the smartphones I've owned (iphone and galaxy). The opening screen is all the apps installed on the computer and there are tons of great apps that can be downloaded. Make sure that you're going to enjoy this operating system! I had no idea that it was so different from any other one I've ever used.... I think my parents would struggle with learning this system since they aren't very tech savy. My mom still exits out of a webpage window and reopens the internet for a new webpage...
There are other features that are cool but weren't a deciding factor for me.. the speakers and the backlit keyboard.
Also I love how thin and light it is. I would definitely take this to a coffee shop to study with. And it fits fine in my current laptop bag.
Overall I would recommend this laptop to others. Initially I only wanted to spend $600 on a new laptop but this one really fit everything I was looking for.
Buy Dell Inspiron 15z i15z-1320sLV 15.6-Inch Ultrabook (Moon Silver) Now
I love everything about my new Dell Inspiron 15z. Thanks to the 32 GB SSD, it boots up in less than 8 seconds! Also love the backlit keyboard and its sleek sophisticated look.Read Best Reviews of Dell Inspiron 15z i15z-1320sLV 15.6-Inch Ultrabook (Moon Silver) Here
Apple MacBook 13" Intel Core Duo 1.83GHz, 2GB, 120 Gb Hard Drive, Wi-fi, Camera, Mac Os 10.6 Snow L
great price, great product! it's like brand new. i had this same computer back in 2008, then upgraded to macbook pro. when my macbook pro broke, i was broke, so i bought a used macbook. love it!
HP g7-1150us Notebook PC (Grey)
Runs Windows 7 Ultimate x64 and UBUNTU 11.04 x64 beautifully. I updated some drivers Directly from Intel and Realtek. The drivers for the wireless Ralink RT5390 are available for UBUNTU, just Google it and you will find guides to make them work.Very low power usage. On idle I measured 18 watts with my power meter.
Great options for the Touchpad. Make sure to practice the two-finger scroll etc. in the Control panel so you get used to it.
DVD burner is fast -I made backups of some movies/CDs to test out. DVDfab and IMGburn worked fine.
VGA, HDMI, USBs and others All comfortable to use and well positioned
Media card reader was able to read my 32 GB SDHC card with no problems very fast transfers too.
HP Webcam is great and works very well in Skype, AIM, Windows Live messenger and others
Keyboard is very comfortable and allows you to type fast. Function keys allow for extra functionality
Very light and easy to carry for a huge 17.3" laptop
Cons: The battery life stated is not very accurate (4 hours and 45 minutes). I tested this and it was closer to 3 hours during regular web browsing.
Some bloatware but not much! Way less then most brand new laptops I have worked with.
Devices:
Hitachi HTS547564A9E384
Intel(R) HD Graphics
hp_CDDVDW_TS-L633J
Intel(R) 5 Series 4 Port SATA AHCI Controller
HP Webcam-101
Synaptics PS/2 Port TouchPad
Ralink RT5390 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter
Realtek PCIe FE Family Controller
Intel(R) Core(TM) i3 CPU M 370 @ 2.40GHz
IDT High Definition Audio CODEC
Intel(R) Display Audio
Intel(R) Management Engine Interface
Intel(R) 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port
Intel(R) 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller
Also the Numeric Keyboard, great! its a great deal for the price, and a very big computer if you are into it, it doesn't weights too much, but its not a machine por portablilty, at least extensive portability. Its for, home or work use, quite comfortable in every aspect. The only thing i was dissapointed is the finish, the dm3 was quite classy with metal like case, and this one, is quite standard, way better tan a usual toshiba, but not as fancy as my last laptop. But nothing i can not get used to, at least for the amazing price. I bought it at $529.99. If it is still cheap buy it.
Adding: Excelent and extremly fast shipping, asked for it on thurday with free shipping, and on monday i had it in my hands. In Guatemala!! Central America.... Amazon has never shipped this fast. EXCELENT!
Buy HP g7-1150us Notebook PC (Grey) Now
This is an amazing amount of computer for the money. If you shop around you can find it for $499 and that makes it a real bargain. I could nitpick some items such as the bloatware but if that contributed to the lower cost then no problem as most of it is relatively easy to remove. It does not come with any documentation or backup OS discs. But I didn't need any to get it working and setup with FF5. It sets itself up with the only thing you will need to provide is the Wireless Network key so it can access it.The 17.3 inch screen is outstanding, bright with vivid colors.
I bought if for 2 reasons, the HDMI output and the webcam. What I really like is that I can just plug an HDMI cable into my HD TV and it starts working completely automatic. I don't have to do anything. I watched a couple shows that are only available online (cannot be streamed to TV via ROKU) and now I can watch them on the big screen.
The webcam though only has a max resolution of 640x480, not much in this age of HD but it will work for what I need for now. It also needs a lot of light before you can see the color. If my test of videophoning works then I will probably look for a much better resolution camera.
Another interesting feature that is left out of most of the specs that I have looked at is that this laptop is supposed to be DLNA certified. I believe that means this laptop can stream video and music to a DLNA device such as a ROKU. I haven't tried it yet but when and if it works, I will update this review.
Overall, this is an excellent value.
Read Best Reviews of HP g7-1150us Notebook PC (Grey) Here
This laptop is amazing for the amount of money I spent! I haven't bought a laptop in a few years, so forgive me if my pros are a bit obvious. :)Pros:
*10-key pad (I'm a teacher and imputing grades is so much easier with it; also if you do budgets of any kind it's a must)
*Sturdy yet light weight
*Screen--bright and vivid colors, exceptionally clear
*Start up and shut down is very fast
*Fast internet downloads and website uploads (the i3 core is great for multi-tasking)
*Lots of new games
*Things are much easier to find on this than my last laptop (for example: something in the control panel)
*Large screen is helpful--I'm a bit near-sighted, and on this screen when I zoom in, I don't lose my view of the whole page
*Screen brightness and speaker volume controls are easily accesible on the keyboard
*When you open a new tab on the internet, the screen shows you your 10 most used websites, so you can simply click one of those instead of typing in the web address (very convenient for someone like me who usually only goes to the same 5-10 websites)
Con:
*The touch-pad doesn't stay off. You have to turn it off every time you turn on the computer. I use wireless mice and I never want the touch-pad on because I tend to accidentally move the cursor...but I have to turn it off with every start up.
This is my 5th HP laptop and I'm very glad I made this purchase.
Update: 11/20/11 Still going strong. :)
Want HP g7-1150us Notebook PC (Grey) Discount?
Might as well get through the negative points first.I can't understand HP's decision to put in such a weak integrated graphics (Intel HD) with a processor that can handle something better. Certainly an i3 is considered a low-tier processor, but it's stronger than my previous laptop's, yet my previous laptop, a Dell, came with a much better graphics card. This laptop is not made for gaming at all. Do pay attention before you purchase it if that's what you're looking for, because it essentially cannot run games that are even a tad graphics-intensive produced roughly after 2008.
The hard drive storage capacity is closer to 600 GB than 640 GB, and the computer does come with a little bloatware that you can easily shove out of the way or uninstall. I know some others have said the keyboard is very comfortable, but I find myself mis-hitting keys on this one. Maybe it takes some time to get used to.
Another small thing that bugged me was that HP overrides the function keys' usual behavior with its own, and you have to hold down the fn key to use them when you first get it. You can change this in the BIOS setup, though, so not really a big deal.
Now to the good things.
It plays movies in delicious 1080p pretty well. Screen is 1600 x 900, which is a convenient size for art-related endeavors. It's also pleasantly bright.
Despite its problem with gaming in terms of the gfx card, the processor can handle a surprisingly nice amount of programs. I run a small server on it for friends, have Chrome and an IRC client going, and can also throw Photoshop CS5 (which doesn't lag for once) and watch a movie through MPC-HC on top of those. Granted, that shouldn't be very taxing, but it's a testament to how this laptop performs just fine regardless of its bargain price.
Networking-wise, it's excellent. This might have more to do with Windows 7 than the laptop itself, but there was a problematic wireless access point where I was staying, and while the Vista computer kept trying to connect to that particular one, this laptop found another nearby point with weaker signal that worked.
And...it's attractive and has a nice touchpad. Also barely generates any heat, though maybe I should tax it more before saying so.
Some assorted other things of note:
3 USB ports.
Clear webcam
Headphone + Mic jack on the side
Very bright screen, large range of adjustment
Fast booting up, fast shutting down
It's treated me well so far.
Dell Inspiron i1764 17.3-Inch Laptop (Obsidian Black) - i5-430 2.26GHz Intel CPU; 8GB Memory; 320GB
The four stars here are for the notebook itself, not for the one-star seller (Link-Tronics Memory). I describe that awful experience last.The laptop has been fast and reliable. I had the memory upgraded to 8GB. I bought it refurbished, though I would never have known that. But I saved hundreds over the price of new.
The screen is bright and the display is very good. I tend to remote into it from another machine with a big monitor, so I don't use that part very often. It is fast enough, and the Windows 7 OS has never crashed or locked up. I run Oracle Virtual Boxes that are running Windows 2008 R2 Server, SharePoint Server and SQL Server, and I give each VM 4GB of memory. Plenty of horsepower for a development machine.
As for the seller, Link-Tronics Memory: They shipped the notebook without a power supply. I paid for expedited shipping, but seller would not overnight power supply. Said it cost too much. Then they shipped wrong power supply. Finally shipped right part, but the order took about 2 weeks to complete. Seems like this was all due to carelessness and unwillingness by them to fix their mistake. The notebook is fantastic, but I won't do business with Link-Tronics Memory again.
Elitebook 8560P 15.6" I7-2620M
I am a long time Dell customer, who has had just about one of every version of the Dell Latitude in since the C series. Because of pricing differences, I decided to give HP a try with the HP 8560P and am very impressed with it. The design is well thought out, the build quality is first class, and the performance is unbeatable.I can't think of a single thing that I don't like about this machine, except for possibly its weight and the fact that HP hasn't refreshed their docking stations to match the performance of the laptop. Even the best docking station they have available for this laptop has no modem pass-through, only 2 digital video ports at a time, and USB 2.0 instead of 3.0.
The keyboard on this laptop has a unique design that works and feels great. Its design prevents spills or dirt from getting into the machine.
The new touch-pad is gigantic and works great.
The screen and audio is wonderful.
The hing is solid and firm. Much better than on the Dell's.
The performance of this machine is incredible. I rendered a video in Premiere, while running a various scan, copying a DVD, and playing HD contact from Netflix all at the same time. Incredible.
For the price, this is the best machine on the market. I highly recommend it, or a custom build version of it direct from HP.
Toshiba Satellite A205-S5843 15.4" Laptop (1.73 GHz Intel Pentium Dual Core T2370 Processor, 2 GB R
I've written two books and a bunch of articles; I've designed and created a website with intensive graphics; I've used it for Skype and Netflix. No problems with any of it. Maybe it's not a Mercedes, but it's certainly a Cadillac. The only real complaint would be the battery life; running heavy graphics and text at full screen power, I'll get maybe three hours. If I ever need more, I'll get an external.
Apple MacBook 250GB HD
My Macbook shipped to my home much sooner than the earliest anticipated arrival date, so I was pumped from the start. When I removed the laptop from the packaging (which was very secure, by the way), I was very pleased with the like-new condition the computer was in. The battery life is excellent, and I rarely have to charge the computer even though I browse the web a lot. I am used to having a Toshiba laptop, so I'm still in the habit of dimming the screen brightness and turning off the wireless internet card to save battery power. I do that with this Macbook, and can stay productive for much longer.The computer itself is very quiet, and only gets loud when the fan kicks in to cool down the hardware. This typically happens when I'm watching a video or playing a video game, but that's to be expected. The initial configuration process was very easy as well.
I definitely recommend buying from this vendor. I'm not sure if I was "one of the lucky ones" but hopefully if YOU buy from this vendor, your product will arrive very quickly too!
Now, I admit, to the computer techy, all this must sound like "well, duh!" But I'm over 50, I still know what a type-writer and an adding machine are. I didn't grow up with computers, so when I find something this useful I like to say so. Having worked on a couple other brands of computers, Apple compares well. Their products are designed with the user in mind technically advanced user or not.
Asus Eee PC 1015PE
I got my 1015PE at the Big Box chain that has the yellow pricetag for a sign, so mine is a bit different from some of the models seen online. Most notably, the retail chain's version has no Bluetooth, has the Atom N450 CPU (1.66GHz), and it comes with a smaller hard drive (160GB). The price is lower, too, but only because they cut those features.That being said, everything else is the same, and it's a great little netbook. It's sufficiently speedy with 1GB RAM, but I went ahead and ordered a 2GB SODIMM to boost it up a bit. The Atom CPU really impressed me, though. I was expecting a low-end system, and what I got was a system that could handle a lot more than I'd give it credit for.
The keyboard is nice. It's a little small, but then what did I expect? This is a netbook. The chicklet keys remind me of my Mac-owning days, and I'm glad some of those Mac-isms were adopted by PC laptops. The feel is great, and the keys are very responsive. I only wish they were back-lit!
The screen is clear and crisp. Despite the quality of the screen, it's still small and I wouldn't recommend a 10.1" netbook to people with poor vision. For them, I'd definitely say a 15" or bigger would be a better idea. However, if you're OK with smaller fonts and icons, then go for it.
It does last a long time on battery power, but I didn't measure it. I do know that the long times they claim are when it's running the built-in ExpressGate operating system, and not in Windows. ExpressGate is great if all you need are some basic things like checking email, web browsing, or playing simple games. When in Windows, you can expect to get about half as much battery power as in ExpressGate.
The Eee PC is suitably small and lightweight. Even in a case or sleeve, it's not a chore to carry around, providing you don't bring the AC adapter or a mouse with you, of course.
The touchpad is acceptable. I'm not a huge fan of them in the first place, but this one feels good, and it's not too sensitive, so you can type and not have an accidental brush of your palm move the cursor or accidentally click on the screen.
The outer case feels nice. It's not glossy, and I love that it's not. No fingerprint magnet (Apple could learn something, here!) and no worries about regular use causing scuffs or scratches. This is a computer you can use without kid gloves. Although it can still be damaged, it's not as dainty as those with shiny plastic/polycarbonate. It's not as scratch-prone as those made from aluminum. The only problem I have with the outer case is that it's not designed for easy access to the hard drive, so swapping it out isn't an option the average user will consider. For this reason, I highly suggest that anyone who isn't tech-savvy enough to mess with lots of screws, tabs, wires, cables, and components makes sure they get the netbook that has the amount of storage they really feel they need. Don't cheap out on storage space if you're not willing to get your hands dirty. I actually DID go through the upgrade process, and while I'm grateful for the boost in storage space (500GB), I really wish it had been easier to achieve.
Finally, a word about ASUS: I like them. I trust them, for the most part. They've always done right by me, and that's why my last notebook was an ASUS, and my gaming rig's motherboard is an ASUS. They have good drivers, good support, and a good user community if you look around online. If you want a computer that will continue to get some decent support from the company, then ASUS is a good choice. They make some really nice exclusive software for their PCs, and they use quality parts. I consider them a lot more reliable and acceptable than Dell, HP, or Acer. They're on par with Sony and Samsung (but I think a bit more friendly and more accessible than Sony).
In summary, the Eee PC 1015PE "Seashell" is a great netbook for anyone who is looking to replace a mid-power laptop with something smaller. A great many users would be perfectly happy only ever using ExpressGate OS or Windows Starter. For those who demand more, you can run just about any OS on this computer if you're the tinkering type. Various Linux builds run great on this netbook, and I've even heard of people getting Apple's OS X on it (though I never tried it and can't confirm it). It's simple yet versatile, and it's made with travel and usability in mind. Windows 7 Home Premium works well once you do the Anytime Upgrade from Starter (which I did) and grab the 2GB RAM upgrade.
It's a great buy. It gets four stars from me instead of five only because I would have preferred a simple way for the user to swap the hard drive; The closed case costs them a star. If you're not the tinkering type, though, you can consider this a five-star product. For me, as a supplement to my desktop rig, the Atom N450 CPU in the 1015PE was enough to do the job and serve my needs.
Overall, pretty happy with it.First, recognize that this netbook is not a powerful machine nor is a netbook supposed to be. I don't dock points for that for the same reason as I don't hold it against my Mazda for not being a hotrod; I went into the purchase knowing what I was getting.
Because I bought my ASUS used I didn't get much else. Without a recovery disk or recovery partition my only option was to do a clean wipe and start over from scratch. Not that I had to recover anything at all, but I prefer to start with a blank slate.
After a clean install of XP, I needed the drivers, which were easily located on the ASUS website. The Fn keys that didn't work when I first powered it up, worked after I installed the right drivers. The same went for the VGA and audio drivers along with all the rest. The SHE button that did nothing at first, prompted an error message after installing a few drivers and after learning what SHE stood for, I installed the driver for that and now have use of the button.
Performance wise its great. I opted for the RAM increase and did notice a jump in speed. The graphics are onboard and limited which means it can't handle games that the Atom chip could easily handle, but a dedicated GPU would contradict the niche that netbooks fill.
Power is great. At full charge I'm getting around five hours. From what I've read there is another battery that gets around thirteen hours.
All around its great. Aside from limited graphics for games, it can handle everything I need to do, and does not shackle me to an outlet like my last laptop did.
Read Best Reviews of Asus Eee PC 1015PE Here
I wanted a PC that was easy to carry around yet would do all the things a large laptop would. I check my email, surf the internet and create documents and plays my tunes. Takes up little space. I purchased a small carrying case, some external speakers and an external mouse, because I am more familiar with an optical mouse. I think this is well worth the money. I recommend it to anyone who wants a full function laptop in a small size.Want Asus Eee PC 1015PE Discount?
Like others I got this at the store not the site. I love this one and have had it over a year. I travel a lot with it. I have duel booted these distros with very little trouble, Fedora Core 16 and 17, Scientific Linux 6, as well as the Windows Starter it comes with.No Blue Tooth, Small HDD, hard to boot to USB at times, and has Windows Starter other than that it is great. Rugged and fast it runs just fine if you use it as a netbook and not a desktop replacement.
Samsung Series 9 NP900X3C-A02US 13.3-Inch Ultrabook (Ash Black)
I considered a wide range of ultrabooks, buying this one b4 I could see it, although I did play with the prior Sandybridge version. My biggest hesitations were twofold, based on both on-line reviews of the predecessor and my hands-on playing: 1) so thin that keyboard not great, and 2) poor battery life. I am happy to say that while yes the keyboard is not great for touch-typing, it is largely true you get used to it. It's not nearly as good as my old Lenovo X series, I do still make more typing mistakes, but I think probably just below par for most ultrabooks. On battery life, I am very happy to say it's fine, much better than the predecessor it seems. I can get a good 5+ hours of it doing regular Microsoft Office work and wifi surfing. I have not tested it playing videos though, as I just use my laptop for that.Other pros: you likely heard the screen is very bright and clear, and it's true. It's also matte, which I prefer. And yes it's just about the thinnest and lightest ultrabook (maybe Toshiba technically beats Series 9 here?). Lastly, I didn't place much importance on looks when choosing, but after I unpacked it, I realised how really gorgeous it is!
Other cons: The need for proprietary ports puts it behind say the HP. I decided that as I almost always use wifi, I can just leave the extra dongles in my travel bag (e.g., VGA dongle to present to clients), so not a big negative to me. Backlighting is only visible in totally dark rooms, not dim rooms, unlike Macbook air or some other ultrabooks. And yes the 128G version seems to largely (or only) come with the Sandisk SSD, which is slower than the competitors. The speed itself doesn't bother me (and I have SSDs in my desktops for comparison), but it has some odd qualities such as getting messed up with some bluetooth mouse due I'm told to the way those mice do I/O and overload it. Net, for most folks not noticeable. Lastly, like many ultrabooks, it comes with a recovery portion of 20G set aside, so if you buy the 128G version, you lose a large percentage of space (if I recall, after Windows you have ~45G for yourself). As I do my own imaging, I have deleted that recovery portion
Net, I am very very happy with my purchase, I researched literally every ultrabook out at the time. The biggest reasons it may not be for you are 1) different aesthetic tastes; 2) it's expensive; 3) limited ports
Pros:
Fast and efficient Ivy bridge processor 5/5 stars (latest and greatest CPU)
Aesthetically pleasing 5/5 stars (which i could give more stars here)
Extremely thin and light (lightest and thinnest laptop I have seen, including 13.3 inch new Macbook Air) 5/5 stars
Windows 7 PRO 64-bit standard (difference between A01 and A02) 5/5 stars
Pretty quick charging (~1 hour from close to no charge to almost full) 4.5/5 stars
Screen is BEAUTIFUL (1600x900 is really amazing to see in person) and matte screen works well. 5/5 stars
Backlit KEYBOARD YES!!! 5/5 stars
Cons:
Touchpad is not the greatest and takes a little getting used to. I'd give it 3.5/5 stars
SSD Be aware the SSD in this model is the Sandisk U100 128GB. This is a slow SSD, but still loads better than a HDD in terms of performance. 3/5 stars
4GB soldered RAM to the motherboard; non-upgradeable. N/A stars
Ports:
1x USB 3.0
1x USB 2.0
Headphone jack
Displayport
MicroHDMI
mini LAN port(requires included adapter)
So far, in my limited time with this ultrabook, it is indeed among the best I have seen (I checked out UX31A DB51 as well). The good news is that the SSD is upgradeable. Be aware, this laptop uses a mSATA SSD. My perfect laptop would be this one with a 512GB mSATA and SSD performance rivaling my desktops' Vertex 4. Alas, I will wait for SSD prices to continue to drop like a bag of bricks so I can cheaply upgrade the SSD. Right now it looks like Mushkin makes a good 240GB mSATA drive if you have-to-have the fastest SSD.
Bottom line: If you can live without integrated ports and a DVD drive built in this is the Windows equivalent of a Macbook Air essentially, except this comes without all the Apple fan boys and their snottyness. This is indeed an elegantly designed and a well thought out machine; perfect for those who are always on the go.
Update: I have decided to return this laptop for a few reasons:
1) Touchpad drivers are finicky at best (caused Windows 7 to freeze and jump out of Aero mode)and randomly highlights things on the page as you move the cursor.
2) Slow SSD ....at first I thought I could live with this machine having a slow SSD, but I quickly realized that I need a faster drive and I am not willing to spend more money on an already pricey machine. I'd rather go with a cheaper machine and then replace the HDD with a fast SSD, but perhaps the new machine will have lower screen res and weigh a bit more.
3) Lack of integrated ports. In my opinion, I will loose the dongles and/or forget about them at home so it's best to go with an integrated solution rather than use dongles (Eliminates going with the MBA as an option since this too uses dongles).
My bottom line remains the same. This is great for someone who 1)is on the go all the time 2) can live without integrated ports, and is mindful to bring dongles and 3) doesn't mind a slow SSD.
For me, at this price, a slow SSD and finicky touchpad is ultimately the dealbreaker.
Buy Samsung Series 9 NP900X3C-A02US 13.3-Inch Ultrabook (Ash Black) Now
pros: light, powerful full computer (not just a netbook), short boot up time (SSD)cons: sligthly glitchy touchpad, cost
Have had tons of desktops and laptops in past. Needed a new laptop but this time decided to get something more portable as my typical "desktop replacement" laptops in the past were, in retrospect, a hassle to lug around. Read a great cnet laptop review and decided the 13 inch was the way to go (not too small of a screen, not too heavy of a weight). Got it and love it. The screen is not too small, and if i need to i can zoom in on the touchpad. The weight is perfect. It does NOT get too hot for me as another reviewer suggested. The touchpad is a touch glitchy, but just a touch, and not a deal breaker. Reading the reviews before purchase i planned on getting a mouse, but I wont anymore b/c its not the touchpad isnt THAT bad. I gave Samsung an extra look when it came to laptops b/c of my great smartphone experience, (note 2) and I'm glad i did. OnSale seller did great and got it to me earlier than expected.
Read Best Reviews of Samsung Series 9 NP900X3C-A02US 13.3-Inch Ultrabook (Ash Black) Here
Outstanding quality would recommend this notebook to anyone ....Especially for school, Its light and easy to access, Has every thing I will need ....Want Samsung Series 9 NP900X3C-A02US 13.3-Inch Ultrabook (Ash Black) Discount?
I am typing on it now. Which brings me to my biggest problem with it. It gets hot. My hands are very very warm right now. Its bearable but much hotter than the 15" Samsung I also am testing. I have the luxury of having both but one at least is going back. I have to buy a few more for business and this is the test.Right away the size. turned me on. It so small, light and the display quality so much better than the 15". But actually using itits too small. I prefer a larger screen and keyboard. But hey this is the trade. These things are getting so small that perhaps we really have reached the turning point of too bloody small for pratical use. I dont really care what anyone at a cafe thinks I do like to carry less at the airport but the difference in these ultrabooks is not that great. 3lbs or 3lbs .... talk about getting lazy. Hmm the heat is a bit much now. Perhaps stuff is packed to closely for airflow.
My unit (NP900x3c-ao2ca) has a liteon 256gb SSD. Better than the u100 sandisk in the 15" so they say. My test programs showed it to be faster in all. Real life I don't notice a difference. The display is much much better quality than the x4d 15" version. The PLS screen has great viewing angles and blacks be black but with detail view able. Nice but has a mild green hue that I cant seem to dial out. Yes I am splitting hair at this price point. I will say the Apple screens are still better but this one is getting very close. Wifi is still an issue for Samsung. Move away from the router and signal drops faster and more than any of my other devices. It suffers some of the same trackpad issues as the x4d. Trackpad just isnt great. Workable but apple is so smooth why not samsung?
My case is a little out of whack. One corner "swoops" up and stands proud so the unit bounces and doesn't lay completely flat. This bothers me at the price point. The x3c is much more $ than the comparable Mac air. So yes I want it all and perfect too! Plus is the case is out then each time I rest my wrist on it I am flexing the sides .... that's how circuit boards fail.
I got mine on sale. Otherwise I wouldn't have even considered it an these are priced VERY high. THe sale brought it just a little over the mac. Overall is a beautiful machine, snappy, fast boot .... but it does get hot. The fans are not moving as much air as the 15". I must give credit to Samsung as these fans are dead silent ... on both the ultrabooks I have here. The 15" x4d gets warm but never hot. The 13" X3C is getting warmer as I type this review and concerns me as to how it will degrade performance. Or maybe something is blacking airflow? There have been complaints about quality control and general build quality
Backlight is so so. Connectivity is minimal. 2 USB and a network requiring Dongle. and there goes the trackpad .... I was typing and it went crazy once again with false clicks and dragged stuff around. Samsung needs to address this.
Overall a super portable ultrabook that looks great and have a nice display. My problems working with its size are just preference. The other kinks are not total deal breakers but something to consider when paying top dollar. 8mb RAM should be here IMO. 4gb .... not enough as the RAM is soldered to the board and not upgradable. Perhaps they simply couldnt fit more in the package. It is the smallest and lightest computer I have ever used. 2 pounds 7oz.
To have a working computer this small really is an impressive feat.
Lenovo Thinkpad T500 15.4-Inch Black Laptop - Up to 6.3 Hours of Battery Life (Windows XP Pro)
After reading the reviews on this computer, I just want to say that, compared to other laptops from various manufacturers (Apple, HP, Dell, etc.), this computer is by far the most well built computer I have ever come across. I have taken this computer to school with me EVERYDAY for the last 3+ years and not yet has it slowed down, even by the tiniest bit. I've never had any hardware or software problems nor any of the problems that people seem to be complaining about. (FYI-If you treat any computer like a piece of meat, it will break, regardless of who made it). I just wanted to write a positive review about this computer because I am still very happy with its performance (especially being 3+ years old) and do not intend on buying another laptop anytime soon.
The description showed very good condition..but it's horrible. The frame near the DVD box is burnt. The frame is extremely loose. Gap exxists between frame components ..completely opposite to what has been declared.
Don't buy from this seller.Ive had my Y500 for LESS THAN 6 MONTHS and it already broke. Its now slow, wont restart, and or shutdown. And Lenovo made me pay $200 plus $30 for shipping to send it back for them to fix it. Before i bought the laptop the costumer service was great, nice and helpful, but now all they do is waste an hour of your time on the phone just to end up telling you that you have to buy more crap to get your computer working.
Compaq Presario CQ56-115DX 15.6" 2GB 250GB Laptop PC
I needed a basic laptop for web surfing, email, writing, and some light computer programming. I got this one at Best Buy for about $. For the price I found it to be a good buy. It came with the 64 bit version of Windows 7 and had two gigabytes of memory, a single core AMD 64 bit processor and a two hundred and fifty gigabyte hard drive. Uses shared memory for graphics.After using it for about a week I became frustrated with the length of time it took to boot up and another while for your program to load. Once your program was loaded, it would run ok but I did not run more than three programs at once. It also seemed relatively easy to stress the processor. The system monitor would indicate processor usage was at near one hundred percent by merely installing a program. The battery life was respectable and the built in wireless worked very well. I found the keyboard and touch pad to be a bit odd but I quickly got used to how they worked.
One peeve I had was that the initial memory came in two one gigabyte modules. It would have made more sense and been cheaper in shipping the laptop with a two gigabyte module. I however do not pretend to understand the business decisions of these computer manufacturers.
Bottom line.
Good value for the price but recommend increasing the memory to at least three gigabytes to work well. Good for light use around the home or at the office. I have not tried but I don't recommend games on this unit. I would give it 3.5 stars if I could but I cannot seem to give half star increments so three stars it is.
I should also mention it plays Age of Empires III, Starfleet Command 3, and Command & Conquer First Decade quite nicely.
Pros
Solid hinges
Battery life is excellent
Lightweight
Runs cool and almost completely silent
excellent performance
Usable gaming capacity
Cons
No HDMI
no webcam
Overall I am completely impressed.
Buy Compaq Presario CQ56-115DX 15.6" 2GB 250GB Laptop PC Now
Well let me start by saying that this laptop i got from the Nvidia settlement. It was to replace my dv9000 specific model 9428nr. my old computer had a 2.2 GHz AMD Turion (tm) 64 X2 Dual-Core Mobile Technology TL-64, 2Gb of ram max, and a 17 screen display, and that problematic nvidia chip, dual hard drive bay. use to do a lot of work on it for engineering classes it went well and it did everything i had to, but then it started having the classical problems of losing the wireless and over heating. by then my warranty had expired from best buy. So i was stuck with a half working laptop and it was not too old is was about 2.5 years old. so then i got a letter in mail that there was a legal class action and that my laptop qualify for an exchange for an equal laptop in value. So i said why not and i ended up sending it to the Nvidia settlement. So when i got my cq56-115dx i was for some big disappointment.cq56-115dx came with a 15 inch screen, a single core amd V140, able to upgrade to a max 8 GB of drr3 ram, ATI 4250 graphics (not bad).NO second bay for a secondary hard-drive. NO express card, No 5-in-1 integrated Digital Media Reader for Secure Digital cards, No Expansion Port 3. and NO Number keypad on the right. Maybe i could have life without some of things, but what really got me mad was the single processor of the cq56-115dx. REALLY???? what a way to make it to customers who were having problems with the faulty nvidia and who paid $1200-$2000 for these laptops.
Performance of cq56-115dx as is no sugar coating
first of all you must upgrade the ram of the computer to a max of 8GB if want to be able to do some multitasking. with the 2GB of ram that came, multitasking was so painful.
After you upgrade the cq56 to a max of 8gb the computer runs a lot better. I was able to run engineering programs and do other things at the same time. but for more demanding programs the computer began to lag a lot. For example if you only run a program at a time then the computer is fine, but if you want to listen to youtube while running a demanding program forget it. solidworks with youtube on the background and some pdfs open equals total lag. Something i was able to do with my older computer.
Running videos on youtube at 1080 p is a total lag.
Last time i tried to run HD video on gametrailers web page, nothing else open, there was so much lag that i had to switch it make to standard view.
People who are going to use this laptop for Microsoft word, power point and internet they should be just fine.
bottom line this laptop will run great if you run a greedy program at a time, real multitasking is not existent with the cpu amd v140.
So i search to try and see if any possible upgrade here are the possible cpu upgrades
AMD Athlon II Dual Core Mobile DanubeChamplain
P320 2.1 GHz AMP320SGR22GM 25W
P340 2.3 GHz AMP340SGR22GM 25W
AMD Turion II Dual Core Mobile DanubeChamplain
P520 2.3 Ghz TMP520SGR23GM 25W
P540 2.4 GHz TMP540SGR23GM 25W
P560 2.6 GHz TMP560SGR23GM 25W
N530 2.5 GHz TMN530DCR23GM 25W
N550 2.6 GHz TMN550DCR23GM 35W
N570 2.7 GHz TMN570DCR23GM 35W
AMD Phenom II Dual Core Mobile DanubeChamplain
N620 2.8 GHz HMN620DCR23GM 35W
N640 2.9 GHz HMN640DCR23GM 35W
N660 3.0 GHz HMN660DCR23GM 35W
P650 2.6 GHz HMP960SGR23GM 25W
AMD Phenom Triple Core Mobile DanubeChamplain
P820 1.8 GHz HMP820SGR32GM 25W
P840 1.9 GHz HMP840SGR32GM 25W
P860 2.0 GHz HMP860SGR32GM 25W
N830 2.1 GHz HMN830DCR32GM 35W
N850 2.2 GHz HMN850DCR32GM 35W
N870 2.3 GHz HMN870DCR32GM 35W
AMD Phenom Quad Core Mobile DanubeChamplain
P920 1.6 GHz HMP920SGR42GM 25W
P940 1.7 GHz HMP940SGR42GM 25W
P960 1.8 GHz HMP960SGR42GM 25W
where copy and search on ebay HMP960SGR42GM
so at the end i bought a dual core amd phenom IIx2 N640 clock at 2.9 Ghz for $56 plus free shipping. let me tell that you what a big difference it makes. true multitasking, and now i can play hd videos without any lag. not to mention that i now have the ability to play some games.
how to replace the cpu amd v140 for a amd phenom IIx2 N640
first flip the laptop upside down on a table remove the battery. Now get a standard star screwdriver and begin to remove all the screws that you see on the bottom of the laptop. As you are taking them off remember where you took them off from. the ones with a little brown mark are bigger and thus correspond to the outer perimeter of the chassis. the little screws with blue are attached to the mother board and thus belong to inside. remove all screws even where the battery was before. Next open up and remove all screws of hard drive and remove hard drive itself. Next open up where the ram goes and remove the ram itself. remove the wireless card which has one little screw and is attached with two cables one grey an and one black or cable 1 and cable 2. double make sure you remove all screws, the hard drive, the ram, and wireless.
flip the laptop and open the display you will remove the key board. you will need a flat screwdriver if you look top left and right corners between the speaker panel and keyboard. place the flat all the way down and begin to lift the corner slowly then move the flat screwdriver to the other corner so that it becomes detached. Make sure you do not pull to hard on the keyboard as you lift tilt the keyboard and see the ribbon attached to the motherboard, finally carefully remove the ribbon and the keyboard (if you forgot to remove a screw you will have a hard time removing the keyboard and you might break it) . now remove the dvd drive just with your finger get hold of the dvd-drive and pull the dvd drive out, it should come out completely without any problems. next look where you just you took off the keyboard there are about three ribbons you need to disconnect (make sure you do it). after that with fingers of flat screwdriver began to detach the top part of the chassis off the bottom part thus exposing the motherboard (color blue). once you see the motherboard remove and attached cables to the motherboard about 4 or 5 cables remember where they go. DO NOT REMOVE THE SCREW OF THE DISPLAY YOU DO NOT HAVE TO REMOVE THEM. There are two physical screws on the motherboard take them off and lift carefully the motherboard. make sure to bring down the display because it flip on its own weight. So flip the motherboard on the back you will see the fan and the cpu. remove the cable of fan to motherboard. remove the screws of the fan. finally you will see the cpu with a flat screwdriver twist to let go of the cpu lift it up and carefully put the other back in. make sure you apply thermal paste (arctic silver only a little then with you finger spread it, it the cpu is a bit dirty clean ( clean the silver square)it with a little of alcohol and q-tip before placing it and putting thermal paste)and tight back the cpu with the flat screw driver. then began to put everythig back together. If you have open up computers before then this will be very easy.
10 mins to take everything off and another 10 mins to put everything back to together. if for some reason you do not place ribbons securely your computer wont boot and will just stay on the black screen with the fan running only and the caps lock key flashing light (happened to me. secure everything). so after you place everything together you should be able to boot into windows normally and start using the computer normally. you should have a better cq56-115dx.
Cpu $56 plus now about $40 8 GB of ddr3 ram, you are looking at $100 to make a good Cq56-115dx.
the ram i bought is crucial 8Gb kit 2x4Gb 204-pin SODIMM 512x64 DDR3 PC3--8500 CL7
I am happy now with cq56-115dx
windows rating
6.1 cpu
7.1 ram
5.3 graphics
benchmark of passmark of cpus
old laptop--2.2 GHz AMD Turion (tm) 64 X2 Dual-Core Mobile Technology TL-64 1049
cq56-115dx--amd v140 single core @ 2.3 Ghz 674
cq56-115dx--amd phenom IIx2 N640 @2.9 GHz 1794
having said all of this, hp has no quality control and what they did to us in the nvidia settlement is very very unacceptable by all standards.its a slap on the face and on the hard earned money of people. and worst part was that my old computer was a gift from my mom and the money she wasted. If i did the same poor job i'll would be fired from my job, but hp and nvidia have gotten away with a poor job. Hope this information is of some help to others. for me its the last time i buy another hp laptop.
Read Best Reviews of Compaq Presario CQ56-115DX 15.6" 2GB 250GB Laptop PC Here
This laptop is the best one in its class. Its processor is fine for the price. The ram is very fast(should be upgraded to 4 or more gigabytes to give this laptop its full potential) the hard drive is fast, but without a fast processor it is somewhat slow. the graphics card is wonderful, it actually can play WoW and many other games without lagging. The wifi card is fast as well(thank god for n wireless).The battery can get 3 hours on serious usage, and about 4:15 on very low usage with the brightness all the way down.This laptop is the best of the cheap. If you need a computer for word processing, mail, Internet browsing, and the occasional game, the price is right for a great laptop.
Want Compaq Presario CQ56-115DX 15.6" 2GB 250GB Laptop PC Discount?
I purchased this machine a month ago. Mine came with the AMD processor... As an avid fan of AMD/ATI I had to grab this one. The only thing I did not like is the fact that the onboard peripherals use too much of the installed 2 gigs of ram leaving only 735mb of ram for the operating system and your software. I quickly upgraded my ram to the maximum 8 gigs and this thing runs sweet... It will chew up almost anything I throw at it; Games, 3D modeling, multiple OS's under VirtualBOX and high end multimedia... Great value for the price but it needs better and faster memory than the stock it ships with.