Showing posts with label convertible notebook. Show all posts
Showing posts with label convertible notebook. Show all posts

Samsung Series 7 Gamer NP700G7C-S02US 17.3-Inch Laptop (Black)

Samsung Series 7 Gamer NP700G7C-S02US 17.3-Inch LaptopIt is a great product and gives quality gaming experience. The GTX 675m isn't the best card around anymore but still it holds great power and it is powerful enough to run all games that were released during 2011 at their max settings, It does seem like the graphics card is starting to get left behind as games such as Far Cry 3, Crysis etc. keep pushing the limits of pc gaming, but I can say that this graphics card will also be able to give you a great experience through those graphically intense games.

But enough about graphics, a laptop offers more than just that and I can say that this laptop delivers. The Dolby Home Theater sound system is great and it gives clear quality sound, great for gaming if you do not like using headphones, the system itself is pretty fast thanks to Intel i7 and the keyboard is one of the most comfortable ones I've ever used.

The screen is excellent, it is large and gives great color and brightness, I can say that it is one of the best screens out there for laptops, it even could be the best, the 1080p display does not disappoint especially the 120Hz support gives us beautiful fluent visuals. 4 USB inputs and all sorts of other ones such as VGA, HDMI etc. give great support for multimedia needs. Like that was't enough it also comes with a Blueray disc reader. The laptop also presents us with different modes with different situations, library, reading, balanced and gaming. All modes have their own different settings and work great.

The only problem I had with this laptop was that it has windows 8. Now, I am aware of the hate against the OS but after you get used to it, it is obvious that under the hood it's very similar to the other windows OS's and it even provides us with more variety since it supports apps. I have a Kobo account for books and it's great that I can use it with my computer to read books along with other apps such as Comixology and Tunein Radio. It can be confusing at first sight but once you get used to it Windows 8 won't be causing you much trouble anymore and you may even start liking it. But there are still some glitches here and there which I'm sure will be taken care of in time. It is a fast OS and with patience to learn, it can be satisfying.

This laptop for it's price gives more to it's buyers than other laptops do. I was actually torn between this and the Alienware M17x and decided to go with this since it had more features for the price. But it is still a fact that the Alienware M17x presents a more capable graphics card, yet like I said, the GTX 675m is still pretty capable, combined with the 16 gigs of RAM and the Core i7 this laptop is ready for gaming. If you know how to Overclock and also use the Razer Game Booster application you'll get even greater results. At the moment I tried out a few games such as Saints Row The 3rd and Crysis 2 and I am pleased with the performance. Saints Row the 3rd can be played at max settings on 1080p like butter and Crysis 2 with Vsync turned off never dips under 40.

If you are looking for the absolute graphics beast laptop, than you should try out an Alienware which will probably breakdown fast on you and won't be presenting other features than just graphics. But if you are looking for a laptop that is strong on all the fields, speed, ram, graphics, sound, memory, picture etc. than I'd say give this one a chance because it deserves attention. Plus if you are not satisfied you can always do a return and than get yourself another laptop. I hope this review has been helpful.

Games I've tried so far:

Crysis 2: Can be played well on 1080p with all settings maxed, I advice keeping Vsync turned off.

Assassin's Creed 3: Can be played well on 1080p with all settings maxed, I advice Anti-Aliasing on normal.

Saints Row The 3rd: Can be played well on 1080p with all settings maxed.

Just Cause 2: Can be played well on 1080p with all settings maxed, I advice keeping Anti-Aliasing around Off to 4X.

Hitman Absolution: Can be played well on 1080p with all settings maxed, keep Anti-Aliasing and Vsync turned off.

Rage: Can be played well on 1080p with all settings maxed.

Call of Duty Black Ops 2: Can be played well on 1080p with all settings maxed.

Alan Wake: Can be played well on 1080p with all settings maxed, I advice keeping Anti-Aliasing off.

The Amazing Spider-man: Can be Played well on 1080p with all settings maxed, I advice keeping Vsync turned off and Anti-Aliasing on low.

Farcry 3: It is slow on 1080p with all settings maxed, I advice playing on High settings with Anti-Aliasing and Vsync turned off or playing using Dx9. Otherwise you can experiment with the settings to see wether you can get 30+ FPS by lowering specific settings.

Max Payne 3: Can be played well on 1080p with all settings maxed, keep MSAA turned off.

Serious Sam 3: Can be played well on 1080p with all settings maxed, I advice keeping Vsync turned off.

So far so good, no game gave me issues except for Farcry 3 and I believe that is mostly due to the games' bad optimization for mobile Gpu's. I advice keeping AA and Vsync off as much as you can on 1080p since AA does not make much difference on such resolution and if a game supports it play using 120Hz refresh rate because it's definitely much better than the average 60Hz refresh rate.

Just received my Samsung Series 7 Gamer today which arrived on time with satisfactory packaging. Laptop looks very nice from an aesthetic standpoint and boots/ runs faster than my desktop does. The dial feature on the side to change between modes feels a little unnecessary but fun so no point in taking off points for that. WASD keys lighting up red from the normal blue of the keys in gaming mode is a nice feature as I've sometimes had difficulty locating my home keys at night ! Also purchased a cooling pad for my laptop, running World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria and League of Legends on maximum settings without difficulty, staying cool easily. Whereas my desktop would get start skipping on max settings in WoW: MoP the Samsung Series 7 Gamer seems not to have any trouble, only minor skip when changing zones etc. where there is a mass overhaul of environment but lasts no longer than a moment. Top of case tends to attract fingerprints rather quickly, just pulling it out of the packaging I already had several fingerprints from where I gripped it ! But then again, fingerprints scuff everything so no complaints there. A nice price-tag but I wanted to treat myself to a nice laptop for gaming (which I spend a lot of time doing) and it does not disappoint! Also, I did a lot of research prior to my purchase and to get similar builds I could not find a lower price !

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UPDATE: after about three weeks of not too heavy use, the backspace key fell off. Samsung wanted me to mail it to a repair station in Texas. Still within the return period, so I'm sending it back to Amazon to get another one. Despite the problem, willing to try another one of these; otherwise, it's a great piece of kit. Worst part of it, honestly, are the HDDs, but they seem to be easily changeable.

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I've had this laptop for about a day, and so this is by necessity a first impression; I'll update it later once I've had it longer.

The build quality is superb. I'm not sure if there's any metal in this, but it's high-quality plastic with an attractive finish. The images don't really show that the visible surfaces when the lid is open are a shiny brushed gunmetal gray. It looks and feels good. The shiny closed lid is also good-looking, but picks up fingerprints like crazy. Not really a big deal for me.

The keyboard is perhaps the best laptop keyboard I've ever used. The keys are dished and fairly long-travel, and are probably as close to the feel of a separate, desktop keyboard as is possible to get on a laptop. The keyboard layout is reasonably full, though there doesn't appear to be any way to send a BREAK without remapping. This is only really a concern for software developers using the standard keybindings in debuggers.

The screen, as others have said, is beautiful. Samsung's a big maker of laptop displays as well as monitors and flat-screen TVs, and this laptop is a great advertisement for their quality. It's bright, desktop-like, with great color and clarity.

The graphics chipset is capable of running World of Warcraft on 'Ultra' graphics settings at 60fps+, even in 40-per-side battlegrounds and 25-man raids. That's about as demanding as I get with graphics, and it's wholly up to the task. There are more expensive laptops with the more powerful NVIDIA GeForce GFX 675MX or 680M chipsets out there, but none of them are this affordable, and most of them make worse compromises in terms of weight, size, heat and looks.

Don't mistake, this is a big laptop. However, its styling hides its bulk quite effectively, and the wedge shape means it's comfortable to type on. It's also substantially smaller and lighter than the Alienware 17" offerings, let alone the 18" behemoth.

I thought before getting it that the rotary mode switch on the side was a gimmick, but it's actually quite useful. The settings for each mode are very customizable, and the modes are well-chosen to match common laptop usages. Certainly a lot easier than digging in Control Panel to switch between power modes!

When not in Game mode, this laptop is also admirably subtle. It doesn't scream 'Gamer Laptop!' unless you want it to, unlike most alternatives. You could take this into a sober business meeting and not draw too much attention.

If I had to carry this around every day, it'd probably be too heavy, but my personal laptop usage is as a movable desktop replacement, and this fits the bill. It can be easily packed up and moved, but it needs a substantial backpack and you certainly feel the weight.

For my needs, this is the perfect machine. The only real criticism I could lay on it is that it would be majorly improved by having SSD options, but I suspect the next revision of the hardware will. It does have a small caching SSD onboard, however.

Strongly recommended for the demanding user seeking a desktop replacement with no compromises on computing power and wanting something a bit more subtle than an Alienware.

Read Best Reviews of Samsung Series 7 Gamer NP700G7C-S02US 17.3-Inch Laptop (Black) Here

It's about a year now since I've used this laptop and guess what. It's still amazing as ever.

I get to play all the awesome games like heart of the swarm, bioshock, call of duty, dead island riptide etc, and they all run smooth, and laptop is very silent and never gets hot.

But by the way, the reason why I'm updating this review is because mostly people talk about the specs, but I wanted to talk more about how comforting physically it is to use this laptop. The laptop has a keyboard that almost feels like typical desktop keyboard with an actual satisfying feeling of press and guys with big hands like me can use it. Most thin form factor laptops use pebble style like macbook. There's no problem using such keyboards, but this samsung gamer laptop has one super comfortable keyboard. Hours of usage and your wrists arent tired compared to flat style laptops. I just hope Samsung comes up with a new gaming laptop and I would definitely up for that one as well.

---------------------------

So I've used the laptop since last August, and here's my opinion so far.

1. Hardware

pros

-fantastic screen clarity and brightness, size

-keyboard not cut down to fit laptop, but feels just like typical desktop keyboards (very comfortable)

-Dual cooler. it sometimes got slightly warm, but you'd never feel hot. great cooling system. but it does get hot when you play in a warm, hot environment. just play far away from the heater (obviously).

-speaker is fairly great and decent with light bass. it's at a decent level that unless you got a nice subwoofer speaker from bose, laptop's own speaker would suffice your usage.

cons

-heavy. even though I knew it was going to be heavy and big, I thought I could carry it around for work to other states. turns out it's better not to attempt that. can be considered as thick and heavy. power bar is the size of a brick.

-there's lighted up turbo icon above the keyboard. it has no use but doesn't really look cool either. different design or something cooler on next version.

final thoughts on hardware

-very sturdy and greatly designed laptop that can be used for a long period of time without discomfort that only downside is its thickness and size, but pros cover cons.

2. Features

-they got those four modes using dials. you will never use it. at least I didn't. always put them on game mode because I play games, but didn't really feel much difference and feels fussy switching whenever you're word typing and then play crysis, etc etc.

3. Power

-After 6 months of heavy, very heavy usage, everything still boots up instant, and loading is fast. I can still easily run Farcry3 on high and that applies to basically any games. there are no limits to this machine in current era. whatever you want to play will be playable on midhigh to very high.

Conclusion

-After several months, the laptop still greatly satisfies me, and always feels very comfortable to use.

who is this for: heavy gamers, or IT employees requiring processing power. or if you want something really cool at a decent and cheaper price from Amazon

who should stay way: people who want to travel with it often.

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I was kinda hesitant about buying a laptop to replace my 4 year old media/gaming pc. I wanted something that I could connect to my tv in the living room for my main source of entertainment since I play a reasonable amount of games and use Hulu for shows. Also I wanted something that I could take with me and have the same great experience on the road. As of right now I have my gaming mouse and keyboard connected to the device. When setting up Windows, the keyboard on the laptop felt really well positioned and very east to type on. The screen on this looks amazing and a lot of my friends that see it can vouch for that. Being that its a Samsung screen i'm not surprised on how great it looks. What I'm more shocked about is that Samsung makes a great laptop. Ive owned a few Samsung devices in the past such as tvs, phones, and tablets and loved them all. When it came to computing I always stayed with my "goto" brands HP or Asus. Its only been about a week of owning this and I've thrown Starcraft 2, Diablo 3, Guild Wars 2, Torchlight 2, and Deus Ex Human Revolution at it and it seems to run everything on high really well with a high frame rate. I was kind of amazed on how good Guild Wars 2 ran because for some reason that game benchmarks a bit low on other systems. I was getting a reasonable 50-60 fps in major hubs so no complaints there. All in all I know for $1500 I could have built a pretty monster PC but I wanted the mobility and I believe I made the right choice. If your looking for a great laptop this is hands down the best price I've seen and I'm glad that Samsung is stepping up to the plate in gaming mobility.

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ASUS G75VW-DH72 17.3-Inch Laptop

ASUS G75VW-DH72 17.3-Inch LaptopI ordered the G75VW-DH72 just a few days ago, expecting it to be a powerful gaming laptop, but a little unsure of it, because it came with Windows 8. Received it today, and after a little poking around and installation of a few games, I have come to the following conclusion: This laptop rocks!

Guild Wars 2, with graphics set to Ultra, runs smooth as a baby's bottom. Not choppy at all, zero graphics lag, just absolutely beautiful! Rift, again with the graphics cranked all the way up, shows zero issues at all, even in crowded areas. I am currently in the process of installing The Secret World (my most graphically intensive game), but after Rift ran so well, I anticipate no issues will arise with TSW.

But besides gaming purposes, how does the machine handle overall? Like a champ, actually. I wanted to know how fast it started up, assuming this would be quick due to the SSD, and my friends and I guessed it would be about 30 seconds from totally off to logged on and ready to go. I've had previous laptops with an SSD primary drive, and 20-30 seemed reasonable based on that experience.

We were wrong: Eight seconds. 8. Ocho. VIII.

That, my friends, is a fast boot.

So, is the Asus G75VW-DH72 worth the money? For me, on the limited experience I have with it thus far, I would say absolutely yes it is. The only regret I have is that it does not come with a Recovery disk, nor does there appear to be a way to create one yourself, which is annoying. Luckily, you can create one via Windows 8, and now I have a nice backup on a thumbdrive, in case the worst case scenario ever happens.

Update I've been using this laptop daily for the last couple of months, and it is still rock-solid. All of my games load ridiculously fast, it works great for creating and editing my podcast, and I have yet to have a single issue. I have worked the poor thing to death, put it under strain other "gaming" laptops would have buckled under, and the Asus took it all in stride.

I purchased this laptop to replace a HP Pavilion DV9700t (which lasted about two years before the plastic screen casing split, charging port was worn out, and one of the hinges failed!). The first thing I noticed about this Asus laptop was how heavy and sturdy it was. It does have boot times in the single digits; rendering the instant on feature practically useless. Windows 8 is taking some getting used to. Luckily there is an option to revert to a standard desktop screen. The first time I used this laptop for an extended period it overheated and shut down. As it turns out the fan nearest the charging port wasn't working. I paid shipping back to Asus but they quickly repaired and returned it to me. I've owned it about a month now and haven't found any other quirks. Overall I'm very happy with this purchase and hope it lasts a long time.

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Review of Asus G85VW Gaming Laptop

It's big for a laptop but it's a gaming machine for serious gamers, and very powerful. It seems to have good design as far as laptops go, I've only owned 3. The keyboard is just basic as far as laptops go but it has a variable LED lighting option for dim light conditions. There is good separation of the keys. It comes with the software for a Asus gaming mouse. It comes with 3d software if you get the Asus 3D glasses. You can check out the other options on the website overview.

The cooling system is intelligently designed for a laptop, twin fans suck air from under the case over the critical components and exit at the back exhaust. The fans are near the back to minimum noise. The fans have a pair of metal grilled disk filters that are lose over the intake ports to cut the dust intake down. They could help but still the fine dust could get through. Only a porous foam overlay could filter out the fine stuff.

One filter is easy to reach by removing a small panel. but the other requires you remove a large access panel that is easy to remove but hard to put back due to the snap design. Asus should have designed small retaining screws instead of the snap design.

My version came with a 256GB SSD Lite-On drive that is very quick.

The LCD display is just as good as any but you can always connect to a larger display through either the VGA standard connect port or the HDMI interface. I think these laptop vendors would have gotten smarter and allowed the LDC screen to be removable so that one could conveniently upgrade to a larger external screen. As it is now, one could get a wireless keyboard and mouse to have virtually the same conveniences as a traditional desktop computer system. As it is now desktops appear to be disappearing and the only ones remaining would be the more professional workstation types they use exotic power processors like the Intel Xeon CPUs.

One big problem I have with Asus, they no longer have configuration options on their website. You have to go through retail vendors to get a preconfigured one, no options on hardware or OS. And their customer service seems to have degraded as have other vendors. For instance, I created an account on their ROG site several years ago. Since that time I changed Internet providers and thus email service, but when I tried to upgrade my ROG account it failed to do so. I left an email message explaining my problem to the webmaster and still the problem never got corrected. Well that means this will be my last computer system from Asus, motherboards included.

The system came with Windows 8 with their horrible metro system made for the smaller mobile devices. I'm still learning about it. Since Vista Microsoft has come up with cruddier user icons and interfaces from Windows-XP when you could configure anything on the desktop system interface. But there are ways and aftermarkets software utilities to get some semblance of the old XP-Interface. Still it sucks to me. Go to howtogeek.com to find out more.

But there are some features that are desirable with Windows 8 past the ugly metro interface. Boot SpeedWindows 8 uses some tricks to dramatically improve its boot speed. Improved Multiple Monitor SupportFor power uses with multiple monitors, windows 8 allows you to place separate taskbars and wallpapers on each monitor. Previously, this required third-party software. Task ManagerThe new Task Manager is a huge improvement over the old one. Storage SpacesStorage Spaces is a power-user feature that allows you to combine multiple physical volumes into one logical volume. Hyper VWindows 8's included Hyper-V feature allows you to create virtual machines out-of-the-box. Battery LifeLow-level system changes, including optimizations to squeeze more battery life out of tablets and other portable computers. SecuritySecure Boot provides protection from rootkits that hijack the startup process, assuming you're using a new PC with UEFI instead of the traditional BIOS; SmartScreen filter at a lower level helps prevent less experienced uses from downloading and installing malware, and low-level changes to memory allocation and Address Space Layout Randomization that make security vulnerabilities harder to exploit, even if security holes are found. UEFI This replaces the old BIOS process and allows 32-bit and 64-bit modes, allowing much more RAM to be addressed by more complex processes, allows booting from hard disks as large as 9.4 ZB, allows more boot options, doesn't prescribe particular file systems, UEFI can offer better boot times and loading, and has excellent network booting abilities. But the bummer is you need a newer motherboard and other systems to support all the advantages of Windows 8, especially the newer UEFI BIOS replacement, Older BIOS based motherboards won't support it effectively. So what you will see is a interface called the EFI -Bios Utility for some system configurations.

Well that's the gist of the good, bad and ugly of it.

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I do not normally provide feedback, but this was necessary. I bought this computer for my "Gaming" daughter. First, the computer arrived as promised. Second, the shipping packaging was outstanding. The computer box was packaged securely within a larger box. As far as the computer itself, I was amazed. To be honest I have never seen such a fast computer. Finally, the most important thing was that my daughter was ecstatic with her new ASUS Laptop! Thank you Nerds!

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nice laptop,fast shiping, nice packed, not much nosie and not very much heat,and it's lighter then the others, that's it

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Gateway NV57H48u 15.6" Notebook (2.4 GHz Intel Core i5-2430M, 4 GB RAM, 500 GB Hard Drive, Blu-ray

Gateway NV57H48u 15.6' NotebookI recently retired my Gateway 7330 GZ after 6+ years of flawless service, but it was time. I had no preference on the new purchase, manufacturer-wise, but just wanted a reliable machine like my 7330GZ. After exhaustive research I wound up picking up this Gateway. Core i5, 500GB, Blu-Ray Player, LED backlit plus much more, all for under $500, which was less than I paid for the previous Gateway. I could not be more happier with this purchase.o

Great product. Should have got one years ago. Would recommend to anyone. Gateway is a product worth investing in for sure

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i love this computer, but the k button irritates me soooo much. i understand it's used

but was hoping all the keys would work equally as efficiently.

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VERY POOR PRODUCTS AND EVEN WORSE SERVICE!!

If asked by friends or family, I advise that whatever you do, DO NOT BUY GATEWAY OR ACER. This is not a relationship that you want to get into. Gateway is defined by poor quality products and ZERO customer service. ZERO. I purchased an NV Series Gateway laptop and within the first two months had my first issue, I took it back to Best Buy and it was sent back to Gateway where they had to replace a piece of faulty hardware. A couple months later the Gateway laptop failed again, and once more I took it back to Best Buy who sent it off and had a new mother board installed. A few months later, the same thing happened, failure, and ANOTHER mother board had to be installed. At this point I was requesting a new computer because it was close to the end of what I consider a short one year warranty and I had already had so many failures and spent so many weeks without my computer. Well, not long after the warranty expired, so too did the battery. The Gateway battery had a catastrophic failure, I lost data and now the battery will not charge. Since that time, my Gateway laptop has become a desk top, always having to be tethered to a wall outlet. The most recent issue is that it will not start up; it keeps freezing and will not allow me to recover to the last good configuration. I have contacted Gateways tech support but they require a $200 fee for their help. I spent just under 2 hours getting the run around by their tech support and then a supervisor. When I told them I wanted to speak with a corporate customer service rep, I was given a phone number which ultimately got me to another call center in India where they finally admitted that they were in fact tech support as well and not customer service.

What you can expect from Gateway is a shabby product that will be patched up and barely kept together until your warranty runs out and then you are on your own unless you want to cough up $200 more and spend your time to fix it yourself with tech support guiding you over the phone in a very thick Indian accent. Run Like Hell!

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Acer Aspire 15.6" Notebook Computer - Black (AS5517-1127)

Acer Aspire 15.6' Notebook Computer - BlackI got this computer as a Christmas present and I love it. I have not been disappointed in the least. For the money, it is absolutely worth what you get. My only disappointment is that it doesn't have a built in microphone for the webcam and I wish that the speakers were a little more powerful. Despite that, I am constantly surprised at the speed of this computer and it is incredibly light.

I was a little skeptical of getting an Acer instead of the more name brand computers such as Dell or Compaq, especially since Acer has only had a strong foothold in the netbook arena. Yet, once I experienced this computer, I would go with Acer again in an instant.

At $400.00 this is a hot little deal. Runs great for browsing the Internet and normal user products, ie Office, Photo Shop, etal. Plays media smoothly and handles everyday needs. I supplied two online students, my children of course, 1 each of this machine and it satisfies their requirements. I have found this laptop a dependable product.

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Acer Aspire 15.6" Notebook Computer Black (AS5517-1127)

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I purchased this computer from Wal-Mart because I was tired of rent to own and having them call you every week before the payment is even due, or harassing the phones when you are a few hours late with a payment. I figure, why in the world continue to give a rent to own my hard earned money when I could just get my paycheck and buy an inexpensive Acer. So I did it. When I got paid I got this Acer. I originally wanted a different computer but I was given the wrong one by mistake. I was contemplating taking this back to retrieve the computer I paid for but this one was amazing! The webcam is crisp and it has a lot more space on the hard drive than other computers in this category. This unit came with Windows 7 and I was apprehensive because I had heard some awful stories about this OS but it turned out to be fine. I would recommend this laptop to anyone on a budget. The speakers on the computer are terrible, but I have Phillips computer speakers so this is a non-issue for me anymore. I would recommend getting this from somewhere other than Wal-Mart because I paid 530 dollars for this computer and it is cheaper everywhere else. Other than that, I recommend this times ten!

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I have been using this labtop for the past two years and loved it, however, recently something happened to the screen. It is just white. The computer seems to boot up and it makes the sound when windows opens, but nothing shows up on the screen (it seems to be a common problem with acers if you google it, lots of similar cases come up). I tried to contact the customer service and ask for their advice. The computer is no longer under warranty, but I was hoping they could give me a price estimate and an address where I can ship my computer and get it fixed. I sent emails through their website, but noone replied. I found the phone number in the little booklet, the labtop came with. There was a message stating that number was no longer in service, I googled some customer service number and after being bounced of about four or five times, finally I got to speak with a person who told me to use the website and sent an email and someone would get in touch with me in 24 hours. I gave them the benefit of the doubt, sent another email and waited for a couple of days. It has been over a week, noone got back to me. It seems like they don't care much after you buy their product. They have lost a customer.

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I love it, It does just what you need it to do. Acer makes good computers for less and gives you more!!

ASUS U43F-BBA6 Notebook Intel Core i5 480M 2.66GHz 14" 6GB Memory 640GB DVD±R/RW Deluxe bamboo, Al

ASUS U43F-BBA6 Notebook Intel Core i5 480M 2.66GHz 14' 6GB Memory 640GB DVD±R/RW Deluxe bamboo, Aluminum Exterior KBHad the laptop for almost nine months.

Performance is generally fine, but occasionally, for no apparent reason, everything freezes and a grinding noise (sic!) can be heard. Obviously there is a hardware malfunction faulty hard drive. Asus support was completely useless. After a few emails, they advised me to back-up my files and send (at my cost) the laptop for servicing would get it back in 6-8 weeks!!! Are they completely stupid? What do they do with the computer for two months? (I still remember the mid-1990s support from Dell shipped without my cost the replacement part overnight, upgraded it, and apologised for the problem...)

After a hard reboot, the computer starts normally and works for another 1-60 days without a problem, until the hardware encounters the same problem again.

Besides that problem, everything works. The laptop is well designed, battery lasts for 2-3 hours, screen is bright, does not overheat.

Bought this computer and really enjoyed it. Noticed the left hinge started to lift and separate the laptop. Called Asus customer support and was told to take it back to Best Buy where I bought it. I paid a deposit, which I lost, and it was sent out from Best Buy only to be told it was not covered under warranty. This laptop is 10 months old!!! They want to charge me $475 to repair what I consider a poorly constructed machine. Contacted Asus again only to be told that they don't know why I was told to take it to Best Buy in the first place! It's been over a month of being given the runaround and my laptop is still not fixed. I had something similar happen with the hinges on another Asus laptop and thought that was a fluke. I've read other reviews and have found that this is a common problem with Asus laptops. To say I'm disappointed is an understatement. Poor customer service, poor quality products. Save yourself money and frustration and pass on Asus products.

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Great Asus laptop with i5 processor which made a big difference! I was awed by the impressive speed and the sleek bamboo look. It boots up really fast. I needed something that beats my other computers in speed and this is it.

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Got this in 2011 and just got a hardware failure. Guess I was just renting it for 2 years. Sucks!

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The outstanding for this notebook becomes when you see it.

Wood and brass finished is great.

Very sofisticated.

The technical configuration works great too.

HP Compaq TC4400 12.1" Tablet PC

HP Compaq TC4400 12.1' Tablet PCI first started to look at various machines and laptops on an online auction site (I won't use a name, but, I'm sure you can guess which one it is) during the time that I was set to go on my most recent vacation to the South. I had already purchased a new laptop around two years ago (a Sony VAIO, to be exact) and wasn't thinking of really replacing it or getting another laptop to supplement it. That is: until I ran across this laptop listed online on an auction for a really cheap "But It Now" price of just under one hundred dollars. I took a look at the specifications, thought it over for a little bit, and after around one hour of sitting on it I decided to go ahead and purchase it. My thoughts for this machine at the time were to use it as a "spare laptop" which I could use for travel, as it is far more portable than my VAIO, and as a machine which I do quick sketches and note-jotting on seeing as it had the screen that folded into "slate mode." And, so, a week had passed by after I had purchased the machine and it was already at my doorstep: direct from California (the shipping was much faster than I expected). Upon unboxing it, my first impressions about this machine quickly changed. Here's why:

The build quality is excellent. I dare say that it is right up there with the ThinkPad's of its time (and today's standards), if not better than some of them.

It runs cool and quiet.

There are plenty of ports and expandability options, especially for a 12.5" laptop.

There's an ambient light sensor on this machine, which is absolutely awesome.

Mind you, I have been using ThinkPad's since I was in High School (I am now in College) and have had nothing but good luck with them. Their build quality is rock-solid, the machines are reasonably priced (depending on what model-line you choose), and they will essentially last forever if you don't go out of your way to try and kill them. After using the TC4400 for a few days, I can safely say that I can carry the same confidence in this laptop as I did in my others. However, there are some giant downsides to this machine as well as with anything technological. These include:

1) Slow out-of-the-box performance. After all, it was designed and manufactured around the year 2006 where "performance" in those days would be mocked today. My configuration came with 1GB of RAM; a 60GB Hard Drive; Windows Vista Business (32-Bit); and a dual-core Intel Centrino Duo processor (though, it is actually pretty good).

2) The power slider, the wireless button, and the "Info" button are ALL located on the left-hand side of the laptop. There are times when I go to use this machine in slate mode and I have either kicked myself off of my wireless network; opened up an array of quick-launch menus; or have just sent the machine into hibernation. Frustrating.

3) Lastly; I also have this really strange problem where, every time I connect or disconnect the charger that came with this machine, Windows gives me this message that says: "Safe To Disconnect Broadcom Gigabit Ethernet." I have no idea why connecting/disconnecting my laptop's charger would do that.

Though, aside from these small downsides, the TC4400 is a really capable machine. Especially if you take the time to upgrade it, which I decided to do some time ago. I bumped the machine from the old specifications up to 4GB of RAM; 120GB Solid State Drive; and Windows 7 Professional (32-Bit (this processor doesn't support 64-Bit)). It now flies thorough tasks and startup and shutdown (it literally takes only three seconds to shutdown) sequences!

Overall, if you're looking for a machine that can be plenty capable especially if you are willing to spend a few extra dollars and hours to upgrade it from its factory settings and specifications you'll want to take a serious look at the TC4400. I did, and I am very pleased with the results.

Alienware M17x R4 AM17xR4-11053BK 17.3-Inch Laptop (Stealth Black with Soft Touch Finish)

Alienware M17x R4 AM17xR4-11053BK 17.3-Inch Laptop**This review was originally written for the M17xr4 with 7970m graphics, 1600x900 screen, i7 3610m processor, and 6gb RAM, 750gb 7200rpm HD which, i own. That being said, the rest is the same and the processor difference is very, very minimal since the 3630 is simply the "refresh" of the 3610, and NOT a new generation of processor. Anything marked** may not apply to the model you have purchased.

Now, on to the review. I will try to give an unbiased opinion as I have done months and months of research, comparing and contrasting every modern gaming laptop. This review will be fairly in depth (Should be for a $1800+ laptop), and I will try to be detailed, but also universal in describing details, so that you don't have to know any extreme technical jargon to understand the review as well as giving an up-to-date one. Enough said.

The Build:

First things first the build quality is excellent, and this will be the first thing you notice as you un-box and remove it from its protective casing. I researched for months on purchasing a high-end/Gaming computer, and i have learned very much about numerous modern gaming computers and components. Most of the reviews on amazon and on review websites have stated its build quality is of the highest grade and that it is one of the biggest selling points for this laptop, and for good reason. The laptop feels solid, secured, and a bit heavy (weighs in at about 9.5lbs). In my opinion, not overweight considering the amount of components stuffed into this thing. The rubbery matte texture compliments it's sturdiness well, and to me was a great material choice for this laptop as it resists fingerprints rather well and will not show scratches as aluminum or plastic will. Not to mention keeping the laptop light, and relatively cool. I dare you to find a better looking laptop (my opinion) that is more sleek and with better build quality (not opinion) than this one. The reason i put up with the weight over say a Sager NP9170 is that this M17xr4 is the thinnest 17inch gaming laptop with these components i could find. I'll take thinner to lighter any day considering, i will be hauling this in a excellent backpack (Everki Beacon or swiss gear) Where the 1 to 2 pound gain over the NP9170 will not be noticeable. Your port selection is numerous and above average, even for gaming laptops. 4 USB 3.0 ports (2 on the left, 2 on your other left), 1 USB 2.0/Esata combo (right) which is also a sleep and charge port which does just that (allows you to charge your phone, iPod or usb charging device while the laptop is asleep or even completely off). VGA, HDMI and Display port video outs (all left), 2 headphone jacks, 1 mic input, as well as an SPDIF optical out (All left). One cool feature is that the Soundcard software included can be used to configure the audio ports to do anything, For example configure all 4 ports to be headphone jacks, or 2 line -in ports. An HDMI-in (right) (not existent in any other laptop I could find. Trust me, I looked. More on this in "other features" below). Last but not least a 9 in 1 card reader above the optical drive (right) and a Kensington lock (left). The cooling system is well engineered with 3 intakes on the bottom, and 2 exhausts on the back, the left one being for the processor, and the right being for the graphics card. I can't tell you how nice it is having the exhaust shoot out the back instead of the bottom into your lap. You might think you lap will block the intakes but they are almost designed with a peak and valley structure, to allow lap use without block to the intakes. Don't get me wrong this laptop can get warm on the bottom especially during gaming, but it is rare I game on my lap. And when using a laptop pad or cooling pad, you won't notice it at all . The individual laptop exhausts are nice, first they limit noise to 1 fan most of the time, secondly they are effective and accurate at temp detection (i.e. Gaming, the GPU fan ramps up, Heavy app use or multitasking the CPU fan ramps up) not to mention the entire system is silent during basic and medium use.

Components:

I will go into greater detail of the components i have added separately or replaced later in the review. For now, the components it comes with. First off the processor, The Intel i7 3630m is the baseline mobile model for i7 cores in laptops. It is snappy, and has no problem devouring numerous tasks at a time. For gaming an i7 core IS MORE than enough considering most games don't utilize 4 cores to begin with (exception: Farcry 3). In fact you would do just fine for gaming if this laptop had an i5 core and you would not notice a frame rate difference.

**On to the Graphics, this laptop uses a combination of AMD Radeon 7970m ( Nvidia 675m on this model) discrete or dedicated card, in concurrence with an Intel HD 4000 integrated chip. First the 7970m, this is a nasty card that destroys most any game, modern or old. You can comment on this review, and I can test a game you might want me to play and let you know how it preforms. To name a few recent ones it preforms extremely well with that I have played. Black ops 2 (not very difficult for any machine), Battlefield 3 run great maxed out, Arkham city runs great, Farcry 3 runs insane on this laptop due to its great scaling on all 4 processor cores (all though I have had some crashes with this game). I've even played as recent as the Crysis 3 beta which runs great since the new drivers update. I cannot stress this enough, the ability to play such high-end games with such good results, all on-the-go, is a crazy feat to me. I run this laptop to a 27 inch monitor most of the time and it's hard to believe the graphics are coming from my laptop and not a desktop. Comparing it to the GTX 680m recently released by Nvidia, the 7970m in my opinion is on par with it, and even runs certain games better according to benchmarks. That being said in power consumption and cooling is better with the 680m. The biggest difference is the price. When I looked to configure my laptop on Dell or Xotic PC, the price difference is over $350 which is simply not justifiable, even for a Nvidia fan boy. I knew and researched both the 680m, 7970m before I even wanted to purchase here, so seeing that amazon had the 7970, it only pushed me further to buy here. Intel HD 4000 is simply an integrated graphics chip which is used for anything but high-end games and uses MUCH less power. Heck, it will even run older games or less resource hogging ones great. AMD uses "Enduro" technology to switch between the 2 graphics solutions based upon your power source (battery or plugged in) and application (Video game vs. Google chrome) this all can be configured manually, but by default your computer switches to the Intel HD 4000 when on battery power EVEN if you are trying to run a high-end game. But like I said, this can be changed manually with a combination of power and graphics setting changes. All that being said, the drivers are a bit faulty, especially with windows 8. I could not decide whether to install AMD's drivers for the 7970m from their website or Dell's which seemed outdated. I spoke to a few Alienware techs on this issue. All said that it is preferable to use Dell's drivers, but AMD's should be compatible. I noticed some performance loss using Dell's driver version, so I cleared the drivers completely and installed AMD's 13.2 version which had updates for the Crysis 3 beta.

* For your hardrive and standard 7200rpm Seagate 750gb drive. Nothing special here. See my upgrade.

* For RAM you got 6gb** (8gb on this model) of 1600mhz DDR3 ram in one 4gb stick and one 2 gb stick** (2x4 probably on this model). Fine amount of Ram,I was going to upgrade anyways so I didn't care.

* Wi-Fi card is an Intel Centrino 2230, great reception, great speeds wireless N as well as 2.4ghz/5.8ghz bands. Not much else to say

* Standard DVD/CDRW that is a slot-load drive. I happen to prefer slot-load over tray load because: one, sleeker looking, and 2 no worrying about having a clumsy tray slide out and hit something, getting stuck, breaking, etc.

* For your sound card you get a SoundBlaster Recon3Di instead of a basic sound card, paired with a pair of Klipsch speakers, it sounds great. Where it really shines is when you hook this laptop up via optical or analog (stereo out) and tweak settings in the SoundBlaster control panel. I found the Rock preset to improve the sound even more. This excellent sound card is a rare and welcome addition to a gaming laptop. The speakers definitely aren't booming loud, but they are crisp, clean and have decent bass and are plenty loud for nearly any use. I think they could have used a slight volume boost in playing music, but with laptop speakers, it's tough considering power provided and space to put them in. The speakers are definitely above average and much better sounding than Sager or MSI laptops alike.

**(This laptop does have the 1920x1080 Full HD Screen)

The screen as stated before is 1600x900**, decent colors, so-so viewing angle. Before you write this laptop off for the screen resolution, consider these two things. First, at only 17 inches (yes only) you won't see a ginormous difference between 1920x1080, and 1600x900. You will probably see it. But is it worth 200 dollars extra upgrade? Your call. Secondly, I personally route to a 27 inch monitor for gaming which I display 1920x1080 on. If your majority, or even part of your use is to an external monitor: just another reason you don't need 1080p on the actual laptop screen.

Personal Experience/Other selling points/Tips

**The 3 largest selling points that had me choose this laptop over the Samsung series 7 gamer, MSI GT70, and the Sager NP9170 (in my opinion its top competitors) was first, the powerful graphics card which beats the 675m and lower cards (670m, 660m, etc.) by a large amount. I was aware of the driver issues with the 7970m but I decided to take the risk, trusting they will be updated (and they have and will continue to be).

Secondly, the slim profile of this laptop. It beats all 3 mentioned AND has more powerful components. Now this laptop is nowhere near thin at about 1.98 inches but its as thin as its going to get for these components. You want super thin? Razer blade is $2599, and you get less powerful components than this laptop, but the razer blade is super portable (6lb,.88 inches thick).

Thirdly, the icing on the cake for me (it might seem strange) the HDMI-input port. Why? The simple fact that being able to hook a console, Blu-ray player, or nearly any device to use this laptop, solely for use of its screen, is genius. Now I understand that some people do not have use for this feature because they do not own consoles or any form of device to utilize this feature and those that could have use for it might say, "Why would you want to hook a console-a less-powerful system--up to the screen of a more powerful system" well I personally have many friends on console and we often have "system link parties" the idea that my laptop could serve as a screen instead of having to haul a TV or monitor to play on is awesome. Not to mention you feel as if you have full control over your laptop to do as you choose and knowing that by the time the computer gets outdated (not for many, many years), you could still always use it as a screen! I have used it with my Xbox 360 and it is excellent, just the right size, and the Xbox's sound even routes right through the HDMI and out the laptops speakers (HDMI carries audio and video). It was a huge selling point for me and NO OTHER laptop has one of these that I have found.

Another minor cool feature I like is the speaker placement. Since I do use this on an external monitor I prefer to shut the laptop screen when doing that. This might not matter to most, but for me, when I do shut it and just prefer to use the excellent speakers on the laptop it will not block the sound. Why? The speakers on are the front of the laptop (the colored, grill looking things). With most laptops you have a sound bar near the media controls and if you were to shut the screen the speakers would get blocked. Being able to use the speakers with the screen closed is a cool feature for me.

Another selling point for me personally, is it came with components that are hard to upgrade in a laptop that I wanted (7970m graphics**, i7 processor) and nothing I didn't want (6gb ram**, basic HDD). The laptop's accessibility is great. Pop the battery out, unscrew 2 screws, and you're in to most of the system. 2 of the 4 ram bays, HDD bay --which it has 2 of by the way--, fans, even your graphics and your processor can be seen. Again Alienware is giving you nearly full control of the system. Even the Wi-Fi card, other ram bays and optical drive are accessed through a little further, but not too difficult dis-assembly.

Here are the upgrades I have chosen and installed myself easily:

-Samsung 840 250gb SSD (purchased from Newegg for $150 with Farcry 3 Samsung MZ-7TD250BW 840 Series Solid State Drive (SSD) 250 GB Sata 2.5-Inch) an SSD is said to be the single best system upgrade you can make that will grant you the most noticeable performance boost to your system. And after installing one myself, I am a firm believer in just that. Honestly with processors so fast these days your limiting factor comes down to your HDD and good ol' disc drives can only spin to access data so fast. I would even go as far as to say if you don't get an SSD you're missing out on a chunk of your system's performance especially with a processor such as the i7 3610m. Not to mention SSD's silent, cooler, more reliable, and less power consuming operation than traditional HDD's as well as SSD prices dropping like crazy and 1 open bay in this laptop, what have you got to lose? Unleash your processor!

-16gb Corsair vengeance laptop RAM (purchased from amazon for $84.99 Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3 12800) Laptop Memory (CMSX16GX3M2A1600C10)) I wanted more than 6gb of ram and if you go higher than 16gb its near impossible to stress it. This RAM had great reviews, fast speeds and seems reliable.

-Killer Wireless N 1202, Faster 2.4/5.8 ghz speeds.

-Windows 7 professional OEM (purchased on amazon for $102) I had a feeling I would not care for windows 8 (and I did not that much, not to mention the drivers for the 7970m are nearly unusable on win 8). Bought this fresh OEM copy at a steal price, popped in my new SSD did a fresh install, Used "Sean's Windows 7 installation guide for SSD's" Which you MUST checkout if you do similar configuration as I, with the hard drives. I then formatted my original 750 GB HDD to use for storage space, and boom. My system flies with cold boot times under 18 seconds, and massive amount of storage space. In the future I will definitely move to windows 8 once graphics drivers are updated and the OS becomes more stable. But for now, it's windows 7 professional for me. Your system didn't include Windows 8 recovery disks for when you want to upgrade? No problem. Call up Alienware, and they will 2-day ship you your recovery media on a handy, dandy flash drive.

-One of the many accessories I suggest for this laptop is the U3 Coolmaster cooling pad Cooler Master NotePal U3 Laptop Cooling Pad with Three Configurable 80mm Fans (R9-NBC-8PCK-GP). The reason I liked this for my desk set-up is it seems of good material mostly aluminum which is naturally cool without fans! It uses USB power, fits the M17xr4 perfectly, and the fans are even movable, and Removable. I lined all 3 fans up directly with my m17x's, 3 intake vents which really keeps this thing cool. You do not need a cooling pad, just a personal choice for me! A cool system, is a happy system. The compatibility with my system made this one a winner for me, but I do use it as a stationary "dock" at desk, it's really too big to lug around. For more accessory suggestions, Comment!

-Personally I use this laptop for school, web browsing/multitasking, high-end gaming, and a screen for my Xbox . Even though it is heavy, and many will say it is only a desktop replacement. It is still portable and I have no problem using this computer around the house, on my lap, or "docked" at my desk.

For purchasing locations I would suggest either here or Xoticpc.com. I chose here mostly because of the standard price and the partial refund I receive for the screen mess-up issue.

I do highly suggest this laptop, and encourage you to research more sites for yourself to see if it will fit your uses. I only wish it took me less than 3 months to figure that out. But at such a high price I wanted to be 110% sure this was the one I wanted.

Please feel absolutely free to comment with any at all questions, regarding why I chose the upgrades I did, or anything on the system I didn't touch on well enough, Specific Game performance, purchasing options, how to configure anything, component or accessory suggestions, or other laptop comparisons. I will do my absolute best to get back to you. Also let me know anywhere to improve on the review besides grammar (after a few pages I gave up ;). I will update this review with new info, and corrections.

You have reached the end, congrats and thank you for your time if you have stuck with me, and if you did not stick with it, Hey, I don't blame your skimming.

Thanks again.

Pros:

Very fast and no bugs so far

Cool design, backlight of keyboard and some other elements, and rubberized "palm rest" area near keyboard (looks and feels really cool, but it is also fingerprint magnet)

Looks very sturdy

Cons:

Only keyboard backlight can be dimmed whereas other elements are very bright for me, still hope to find a workaround; backlight control software works not very reliably (and UI is not quite user friendly) but good enough.

Buy Alienware M17x R4 AM17xR4-11053BK 17.3-Inch Laptop (Stealth Black with Soft Touch Finish) Now

Pro: Really fast and beautiful laptop. It is just little bit heavy.

Long battery life when switch to GPU inside the i7 CPU, so it can support mobile office work.

Original SSD is not a nice one, but it is acceptable for this price.

Con: WIndows 8 is not well done OS, after 2 month usage, the apps of start screen cannot launch. OS did not support any problem information, so it cannot be fixed.

Read Best Reviews of Alienware M17x R4 AM17xR4-11053BK 17.3-Inch Laptop (Stealth Black with Soft Touch Finish) Here

Acer NX.RGPAA.008;AS4830T-6899 14-Inch Laptop

Acer NX.RGPAA.008;AS4830T-6899 14-Inch Laptopi should have gotten 2, i got this computer for myself. But my wife loved it so much she took it from me. LOL haha

the AUDIO is perfect, i can place a CD or podcast on this computer and i hear it all over the house. VIDEO is just great

wonderful GRAPHICS beautiful look and just the perfect size to carry around to the local starbucks and coffee shop. This

I3 is fast, nothing beats that computing POWER !

I am going to have to order another...