HP Pavilion g6-1d73us 15.6" Laptop (2.30 GHz Intel Core i3-2350M Processor, 4 GB RAM, 500 GB Hard D
HP Pavilion DV9500T 17" Notebook PC (Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7700, 4 GB RAM, 250GB Hard Drive,
I used this computer for work for almost 3 years and another person at the office used it before me for a while. Absolutely no issues, computer worked great. I ran some image-intensive programs on it for a while (Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop 32bit), and it handled them fine. My main issue long term is I ran out of disk space as there is only about 150GB of disk space. Gets used up when you start filling up your computer with a ton of large image files. If you aren't doing stuff like that you'll be fine. Or you could just buy an external hard drive to store your large files on.
Anyway, I don't get all of the negative reviews. Was not my experience at all. Both of the computer batteries still work great. It's not a top of the line laptop anymore, but it gets the job done and appears to be a long-lasting piece of equipment.
Edit: January 2013-
I gave this to my brother so he could have good personal computer and it's working great for him. He mainly uses it for internet, movies, etc., nothing too crazy.In all honesty, I was really excited when I bought this laptop a few years ago, and it worked really well for me (and this is why I'm giving it two stars instead of one), for about two years. I did notice excessive heating and fan noise when I ran games or movies on it, and I had to use a cooling pad at all times.
Then one day, with no warning, the graphics card failed. My computer was left with a common 8 bit VGA graphics adapter. I looked for the fix, did the "blowtorch the graphics card" thing, and it did work. For about a week. Now whenever I try to install NVIDIA drivers for the graphics card, the computer hangs on the windows logo at startup, and I have to go back and restore to pre-NVIDIA driver update.
i found out that there is absolutely nothing I can do about this. My warranty is expired and as far as I know HP refuses to deal with this problem. I think there's a lawsuit going on, but I'm just fed up with not being able to do anything that demands graphics performance on my computer.Although my review is for HP dv9500 which is just slightly different these models have the exact same problem.
First my battery completely died after just 9 months but not to worry the warranty covered it. However the new battery is about to go, barely a year old, as well and I use the laptop almost exclusively as a desktop :S Then just May this year HP added this laptop to the battery recall program. Link to the HP battery recall form: Apparently the batteries were deemed unsafe by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Second, a while back there was a huge recall on HP and Dell laptops that used this nVidia chipset. Apparently nVidia used some sort of crappy material in their 86x series GPUs which made them burn out due to high temperatures. You can read all about it here: During that time this laptop (dv9500) was not under the recall and after just 2 months over the 1year standard warranty that my laptop came with my video chip died. HP offered various ridiculous solutions for users on their message boards such as under-clocking the GPU and getting better ventilation for your laptop. I called several times to get this repaired for free but since my warranty was out I initially got refused the free repair. HP denied that the chip was affected which was clearly not true. After demanding to speak to the CEO of HP I finally got through to a case manager of some sorts who got me an extended warranty ($ around) which would be cover the repair as if it was under the warranty in the first place (which is another story I tried to get an extended warranty while going overseas and was refused because apparently they don't cover repair overseas but only give phone support which later turned out to be not true since I got covered although I had to pay the shipping). Unfortunately I live overseas and had to pay around $ extra to get it shipped there and back, but that is way less than what would cost for a new motherboard and installation. Of course I got the exact same brand of GPU chip back so there is no telling when it will die again.HP have really messed up with this one I will never buy another HP computer.
Lenovo Y-550 15.6-Inch Black Laptop - Up to 4.5 Hours of Battery Life (Windows 7 Home Premium)
The laptop itself runs great, Windows 7 64 bit is a great OS, the speakers are loud enough, the keys are responsive, and it's an overall great, durable, well-constructed laptop.I have had this laptop since Sept. 2011, (its a 2009) it has not giving me any problems at all I have read all the reviews and I would have to agree with the some of the negative things people stated but they are not things that I would consider to warrant a bad review. Yes the touch pad can be sensitive at times, but nothing that has bothered me to the point of bashing this product after some property adjustments it worked fine, and yes the lid does need two hands to open it... SO WHAT... stop being lazy put down the donut and grab it with both hands and open the thing, and as for the cover not having full range of tilt ALL once again... SO WHAT... it is enough for any normal person to accommodate their viewing needs! As for performance mine never crashed and boots up with in 1 minute, I maintain it with installed utilities, (such as Anti-virus malware defrag and disk check) that are automatically run on a monthly basis. For the price this machine is well worth it! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS MACHINE!
P.s. I am sure that some people receive a few bad machines out of 1000's that happens with every product especially electronics these days, but bashing the product over feeble things such as cover tilt range, and weight of the cover, or because of the sensitivity of the touch pad, or even the tech support is pretty weak argument to make... tech support was great for me and even if it wasn't ... the reviews left here are for the MACHINE should not related to TECH SUPPORT. IF... tech support was bad but the machine deserved 5 or 4 stars then rate the Machine on its performance and plainly state that "TECH SUPPORT sucked"! That only seems fair to me, but maybe thats just me! That's like saying the performance of a car sucked because the dealership that sold it was mean to me, when the car drove great! See my point?
BUY THIS MACHINE IF YOU NEED A GREAT LAPTOP!
HAVE A BLESSED DAY!I purchased this laptop towards the end of 2010. At that time, Lenovo was bundling the laptop with Windows 7 OS. When I upgraded with the Windows 7 OS copy that Lenovo sent to me, my battery stopped working.
I contacted Lenovo several times to resolve the issue. Their technicians at first denied the existence of the problem (even though many people have encountered this issue), then later upon subsequent calls stated they did not know what the problem is. They ran me through circles of updating firmware, power drivers, etc. but nothing worked. All this time I could only use my laptop while it was plugged into an outlet, no real mobility could be achieved with it. Whats the point of a laptop then?
Luckily for the miserly geniuses that work at [communist] Chinese owned and operated Lenovo, my warranty expired shortly thereafter. I call again later hoping the evil geniuses have 'figured out' the problem and they now want to charge me approximately $60 to diagnose as I am out of warranty.
Please take a moment to read their forums before you purchase.
My laptop has buttons that have popped off, a hinge that is broken, and trim work that is broken. Its truly a piece of crap laptop and I'm an IT expert that has used: Toshibas, Dells, HPs, Macs, etc. and have NEVER, EVER seen such a poorly built laptop. Even the keys feel cheap. I should have not purchased this without testing it out at the store first, I got performance/price greedy and liked the hardware specs.
NOT WORTH IT. NEVER BUY A LENOVO.
Lenovo U410 14.0-Inch Ultrabook (Graphite Grey)
The design looks great, the trackpad runs smoothly with it's multitouch gestures, and the keyboard will give you a nice experience at typing.
All in all m, you wont regret buying this computer.This is one of the best product I have being using,
it's worth purchasing at such a price as compared to other brands.
I'm really enjoying it.
Thanks to amazon to provide this product in my range.
Buy Lenovo U410 14.0-Inch Ultrabook (Graphite Grey) Now
I received the laptop in January of 2013. The version I had was the one with the Intel Core i7-3517U and Windows 8. The build date was September 2012, so it should have had the WIFI issues fixed.The good:
-Solid build
-Good screen, though not great
-Very fast processor
-Touch pad is the best I've ever used
The bad:
WIFI was working solidly after updating the Intel Wireless driver. I didn't experience any drops. However, because of the casing of this laptop, the internal wireless antenna is awful. Unless the laptop is close to the wireless router where you get 5 bars, the internet speed will not be good. I did a test with this laptop and my sister's HP A6 Vision One (bargain basement laptop) in the bedroom about 60 feet away from the router. Her laptop got 2 bars of signal but was still able to do 2.6 MBps while the Lenovo did 0.26 MBps!!!
The other negative about this laptop is the keyboard. The keys feel ok when typing, but some of the lower keys like the "c" and the "b" key would not register on the first press. Also, the configuration leaves a lot to be desired. I just could not get used to the small SHIFT key on the right side, along with the small ENTER key on that side. There's absolutely no reason they couldn't have put full size keys on the right side of the laptop. The touch pad, however, is one of the best I've ever used. So that offsets the bad keyboard a little bit.
The laptop has a very solid build, but is very heavy. The specs put it around 4.2 lbs, which is at the top end of an ultrabook's weight. I would say it weighs closer to 4.4 lbs because my Acer Aspire Timeline 4810tz is listed at 4.3 lbs and it is slightly lighter than this Lenovo.
In the end, I returned this laptop and opted for the Samsung Series 5 NP530U4C-A01US (14-inch) ultrabook. I got a "like new" version from Amazon Warehouse for only $530 and it arrived in perfect condition. It's been over a month and I am very happy with this Samsung notebook. It is lighter, runs just about as good as the Lenovo, gets excellent WIFI signal, has a better keyboard, and has a built-in DVD-RW drive.
Read Best Reviews of Lenovo U410 14.0-Inch Ultrabook (Graphite Grey) Here
This laptop is great for those who don't like Apple products and looking for great specifications. Everything is fast and compatible. The size of the screen fits all user kinds. It can be used for daily purposes, computer science students, and for gaming in some cases even though I don't recommend it for heavy games because high heat will come out from the fan. I don't rate it 5 stars because there's primary problem which is the wifi connection. The connection disconnects occasionaly for no reason. It happens 4 to 7 times a day. It's really frustrating. Lenovo really should have a quick solution for this problem!Want Lenovo U410 14.0-Inch Ultrabook (Graphite Grey) Discount?
This is my worst decision to buy this computer. Was the first time I was buying a lenovo. The wifi gets disconnected all the time. Just imagine you are in the middle of watching a movie or in a conference call or playing some games. I am thinking of going for anger management counseling. Just one problem of wifi and I am mentally disturbed.If Lenovo is reading this please find me a solution or else I am throwing this in the garbage.Lenovo ThinkPad 23532MU 14-Inch Laptop
1. the 64 bit Windows operating system (either Win 7 or Win 8) will not allow you to use older programs which worked fine with Windows XP. Lenovo offers something called "XP Mode" which is supposed to allow older programs to operate in a "virtual XP atmosphere". This is a bad joke. Neither Lenovo or Microsoft will support this and it does not work as easily as it is advertised to work. The Lenovo salesperson encouraged me to order this (actually, you can download for free if you don't order) with the idea that it was an easy to use system. NOT TRUE. I'm no computer dummie and I was unable to use ANY DOS or WIN XP program with it. Maybe it will work with a lot of effort, but who needs that? So, if you buy a Lenovo computer with WIN 7 or 8 (x64) OS, be prepared to buy new software for any program except MS Office.
2. I had all sorts of trouble with downloading critical updates for WIN 7. Microsoft said it was Lenovo's responsibility to help with this but Lenovo Tech Support refused. It was just by accident that I solved the problem by downloading one update at a time. Lenovo will not support the OS on the machines they sell.
3. I could not find any pre-installed program to use with the CD/DVD burner that was installed. Lenovo again refused to help with this even though they installed the software that would make this part of the computer work. Lenovo support for any software issue is non-existant, even for software they put on the machine. And it isn't like this would take them a lot of time or training to help with; it is just their bad and unreasonable policy. Beware-buy a Lenovo computer and you are on your own from the day it is delivered.
Sony VAIO VGN-CS320J/Q 14.1-Inch Laptop - Black
Buy Sony VAIO VGN-CS320J/Q 14.1-Inch Laptop - Black Now
I usually would not bother to spend time on writing a review, if I was not annoyed so badly.I purchased a VGN-CS320J for my wife in June of 2009. After about 6 months a fan started making loud noise. The fan remains silent for 10 seconds and starts making noise for 10 seconds or so after that. This silence-noise-silence-noise pattern keeps going till I turn my laptop off. After some googling, I realized it's a quite common problem to the CS product line.
I am trying hard to calm it down and will update if I find a solution.
Don't buy VGN CS-320 (maybe other VGN CS models as well)!
Read Best Reviews of Sony VAIO VGN-CS320J/Q 14.1-Inch Laptop - Black Here
I have had this laptop for 1.5 years, it is not my first VAIO. I have had no problems whatsoever with my other Vaios, this model is a constant hassle. It makes incredibly loud fan noises, shuts down, or doesn't respond to keyboard commands while it is making the very loud noise. I brought this in to a specialist, they took it apart and could not find any reason for this fan noise. Naturally, while with the specialist, it did not make the noise.I thought that I would love this lap top, it was quite expensive at the time, but I thought that it would be worth it. After allmy other SONY VAIO laptops were great. Now, I find myself using the older VAIO, it is quiet and does not have the keyboard command issues.
I am sure that other models of the VAIO are great, but do not buy this model.
UPDATE-December 31st, 2010 I read on the comments that SONY had finally admitted that the fans were defective and was willing to replace them. I called SONY, described the problem and they sent a Tech, person to my house to replace the fan. This all occurred within 1 week. The laptop works great now, no fan noise, no overheating, it is perfect. I certainly wish that SONY would have alerted all of us to this problem to begin with, it would have saved a lot of time. money and aggravation.
Want Sony VAIO VGN-CS320J/Q 14.1-Inch Laptop - Black Discount?
Bought my Pink SONY Vaio Laptop in 2009. (Model Number VGN-CS320J). I bought SONY because I wanted to have something reliable that I could bring with my when traveling which was also capable of handling many applications at the same time. (I gave my old Dell Platitude to my son.)I am disappointed on all counts. Battery has never lasted more than 1 hr. The Laptop heats up so much that it is too uncomfortable to hold on one's lap even over a 4" thick pad made to reduce heat transfer. The fan has been noisy from the beginning. Over time it has become even louder. It almost sounds like someone blowing their nose. (Don't even think about having a conversation with someone on Skype!) I expect the fan will fail shortly. The duo core does make it a little faster, but nothing spectacular. The keyboard is great, but hardly a reason to buy this piece of SONY cr-p.
HP TX2Z TouchSmart 12.1-Inch Laptop
representative that could provide directions. Could not stay on hold longer and notebook rendered
useless due to inability to access repair with warranty. Have to designate this product and company
as a "do not buy". Will never, ever buy HP again myself.I purchased my TX2Z in March of 2009. It ran a bit slow due to bloatware and Vista but I was able to clean it up to make it at least as fast as my old Windows XP laptop. It also ran loud due to constant blowing by the CPU fan.
In February 2011, the computer failed, showing only a black screen with blinking lights on the keyboards. After several frustrating hours with the incompetent HP tech service, I paid $300 to have the out-of-warranty laptop sent in for a new motherboard.
Now, in February 2012, the computer's motherboard has again failed in the same manner, and HP wants another $300 to fix again. No thank you, HP. You can read around the internet about widespread overheating problems with this and similar models, and HP's poor service.
My first and last HP product.
Buy HP TX2Z TouchSmart 12.1-Inch Laptop Now
I have had a HP tx2z touchsmart laptop for about a year now, I also bought the 2-year accidental protection plan (about a third of the laptop in cost). When I first bought it I had one issue with the touch screen that took about 3 weeks to get fixed and two hour long calls to HP. About a month ago I started having bad heat issues and my video card started going bad. I have spent 6 calls, 1+ hour each, on the phone with HP. One month later and I still don't even have a box to send my HP laptop in for repair. BEWARE OF HP.Read Best Reviews of HP TX2Z TouchSmart 12.1-Inch Laptop Here
I'll keep this short and sweet. **Do your homework before ordering this tablet**I bought mine in 7/2009 and am on my 4th one. Yes, I have sent it back for repair or replacement THREE times, and am waiting for the shipping box to return this one as well, as this one came back from repair with defective touchscreen, non-working fingerprint reader, buzzing power supply and an SD card reader which isn't screwed in (so it doesn't line up with the frame).
Only HP could ship out such a POS.
If this tablet PC actually worked as advertised it would be my dream notebook. It doesn't. In fact, it doesn't even come close.
The problems which make this great idea a horrible notebook to own:
-The mouse cursor jumps to a certain point on the screen over and over (sometimes clicking, which is always fun when that 'spot' is over the X button). The 'certain point' varies by the notebook, sometimes it is lower left, some right,.. you get the idea. Add to this the makers of the touch panel, N-trig, have yet to make fully working drivers for any OS. N-trig, the company which tells you flat out that updating your tablet's driver can render it irreparable.. and they mean it! TONS of people have had to return their TX2z to HP for replacement because the touch driver killed their tablet.
-The power supply buzzes.. loudly! The buzzing varies by how bright the screen is. If you are superman and can see the screen turned all the way down, it is ignorable. If you want to see your screen, it buzzes to no end. If you want a bright screen, grab your ear plugs.
-The fingerprint reader works.. sometimes. More specifically, it works about ~25% of the time. The other 75% of the time it completely ignores your finger swipes. That, of course, is assuming the software doesn't crash (yes, even on a fresh install).
-It's a tablet, you can hold it at any angle.. you just can't see it at any angle! The screen turns to a bright mush if you hold the tablet at any angle besides directly. If you are drawing, or writing, and want to adjust for your hand position, you no longer get to see the screen because it washes out.
If you really love this tablet, you can buy mine, just as soon as HP sends it back from repair.. FOR THE FOURTH TIME.
Want HP TX2Z TouchSmart 12.1-Inch Laptop Discount?
I purchased this laptop in October from HP's website. It came with a lot of bloatware, which really slowed it down. After removing many of the third party applications pre-installed on the laptop it was much more responsive. When I bought the laptop, it qualified for a free upgrade to windows 7 and after installing Windows 7 it was like a whole new computer. It boots up faster and seems more responsive than with windows vista.In contrast to LawnMower Man's experience, my power supply is silent, the touchscreen responds well to my finger and stylus, and the laptop seems very sturdily built. The viewing angle of the screen could be better, but if the screen is facing you, you shouldn't have any problems.
I didn't think I would find much of a difference between my old notebook and a tablet notebook, but it has completely changed how I browse the internet, read .pdfs, and take notes. The handwriting recognition software is pretty good out of the box, but you can train it to better recognise your handwriting so you can convert your hand written notes to text with few errors.
I rarely ever use the touchpad mouse on the laptop. When using the tablet like a regular notebook, its much more convenient to move windows and highlight text directly on the screen than it ever was to manipulate a touchpad mouse.
I've really enjoyed using this tablet so far. The touchscreen is responsive and accurate, and it was much cheaper than other tablet PCs on the market (e.g. lenovo).
HP ProBook 4520s XT944UT 15.6-Inch Laptop
Some people don't like its keyboard, but I got used to it pretty quickly.
The thing that I am unable to get used to is the fact that buttons of track pad also touch sensitive. So, my left hand is on the button (ready to click) and I am trying to move the cursor with right hand index finger. This confuses the track pad obviously, because there are two points of contact. This has made the use of this laptop very difficult.
Track pad is not centered on the whole keyboard.
Battery life is much less than claimed. I don't play any videos.
Buy HP ProBook 4520s XT944UT 15.6-Inch Laptop Now
I've owned my Probook for somewhere in the vicinity of 9 months or so and other than a few minor quirks have been very pleased with this laptop. My model has the Core i5 processor and 4 gigs of ram and is zippier than any laptop I've owned. I run this thing constantly and have never had any issue with overheating or noise. The Probook looks beautiful, I absolutely love it's brushed bronze finish and chiclet keyboard, but my one issue lies with the touchpad, much like other reviewers. I've mostly mastered this problem, but my husband and brother in law both can't use the thing without shrinking the screen. Overall, aside from that one little thing (if it bothers you so much, get a wireless mouse I personally love them) this is a great computer. Oh, and it's a little on the heavy side, but I use mine like a desktop so it's also a non-issue for me. I'd highly recommend it if you can find one for a good price.Read Best Reviews of HP ProBook 4520s XT944UT 15.6-Inch Laptop Here
Lap top was fine at first but then problems with connecting wireless internet, 2hours on the phone to India, without a satisfactory result, they promised to send out discs to re install hard drive, unfortunately I was travelling overseas so had to purchase a new laptop as the discs did not arrive in time, one positive outcome was that Amazon did not argue just told me to send it back and they would refund the money.I would buy again from Amazon.com but maybe not HP.
Gary WoodbridgeYes, the touch-pad is a bit disappointing, but I'm getting used to it already. Otherwise great product for the price. I would recommend this laptop.
Dell XPS X14Z-3846SLV 14-Inch Laptop 8GB 750GB nVidia Graphics Win7 (Elemental Silver)
Cranked it up and installed Lightroom 3.6. Everything was good until I started editing and realized how TERRIBLE the screen is. It's probably the worst laptop panel I have ever seen or used. The gamma was horrible, contrast, brightness, etcEVERYTHING. I tried to adjust all of these things and nothing worked. Long story short, I sent it back and now have another Mac. There is also a ton of pre loaded gadgets that are Apple App wannabes. The thing about Apple is that you can select the ones you want installed. With this Dell it was just loaded with crap that I didn't want. There is a processor performance one that was always running in the top corner for no reason.
I'm done here with this as it just makes me so angry. Don't get this laptop.Bought the XPS X14z last week at Staples. Retuned it today. Upgraded to Win 7 Pro and installed Office 2010. This is when I discovered the key to eject the DVD didn't work. I went up to Dell and downloaded the latest BIOS and Chipset but still wouldn't eject the DVD. I upgraded every driver on the webside, but the eject key still didn't work. Tried a few suggestions I found on line, but they didn't work either. Discovered that this eject key is a problem and Dell has no solution except to replace the keyboard. You can work around it by right clicking on the drive and ejecting. This works, but who wants to be bothered when the slot key should work. I went to Staples and the IT guy tried to get DEll to replace the machine because it was determined the keyboard had to be replaced. I had purchased a 3-year in store warranty but the machine had the original Dell warranty which was depot. Was told it would take 10-15 days to pick up and return. Got my money back on this dud. I agree with others that Dell is trying to make their smaller laptop look like the Mac Air Book. Not in the same league with Apple.
Buy Dell XPS X14Z-3846SLV 14-Inch Laptop 8GB 750GB nVidia Graphics Win7 (Elemental Silver) Now
I use this computer to push word, excel, powerpoint, photoshop, illustrator all at once sometimes. It handles the job. I also edit hd video for personal use. It does the work for a laptop at this price. I move my laptop every single day, and it holds up. However, I regret not buying the I7 processor, but it was an extra 300 dollar computer at the time. I got this xps for 900.The screen is super shiny, and at my work it was destroying my eyes. At home no problem. I ended up buying a matte screen protector to make it bearable. Overall, it's not a bad computer. I like all of the functions. If you prefer matte screen, buy samsung's computer. Almost bought that one, but it was more expensive, with only one memory slot. Oh, and usb is only in back. That is somewhat frustrating. Could be better, but for what's inside this bad boy, the price is very reasonable. You can buy two of these computers for what a Mac would cost with the same options, and hp and samsung all have different problems or qualities, depending on your needs.
PS. Personally I like HP best, but the design was not optimal for my travel needs. Already broke one screen hinge on old HP because of its poor design (screen doesn't sit flush.I brought this laptop directly from DELL. I am totally dissatisfied with this Laptop. I owned couple of Inspiron, XPS15 and this new XPS 14z. Let me explain pros and cons of this laptop.
Pros:
1. Good looking laptop dell ever made. (At last Dell find a good laptop designer)
2. Aluminum body
3. Can be used in lap (not generating too much heat like dell's all other laptop)
4. i5 & i7 processors
5. Easy to carry and light weight
Cons:
1. Bad screen quality: Before I order I didn't check the color quality in this laptop, because I trusted dell that they will deliver the best. In a laptop we always look at the display to watch/work/play. If the quality of display is poor then laptop is useless irrespective of its style. This laptop has WLED and lowest quality display dell has.
Ref: (...)
See the color Gamut.. it is just 45% That means this one can't represent good picture at all. This display is not anti glare. SO WORST DISPLAY + GOOD LAPTOP = WORST LAPTOP.
They could have use RGB LED and I expected 95% Color Gamut as my XPS15 do..
Without a good display this laptop will fail. I am not talking about resolution... The quality of display.. this display can't be used for multimedia or graphic design.
2. No Blu-Ray drive
BAD WEBCAM... CAN't use it even for video chat... VERY POOR QUALITY.
3. Only 2 USB slots.. 1 USB2 & 1 USB3.
4. Don't have high-resolution LCD. World is going towards retina display dell still hangs around 720p.. what a shame???
5. Dell downgraded support to mail in service.. You need to pay for basic support. I don't know why dell is doing this...
6. Not able to configure the laptop..(in dell website) Or don't have wide choice in the selection menu (in dell website).
7. No windows professional/ultimate to choose...
8. So many pre-installed junk software in this laptop
9. Not tuned for performance..
10. User can't replace battery.
11. Issues with Wi-fi card
Dell accepted that this laptop doesn't have good display.. that is because to to reduce its thickness.. for me that is a worst decision...
Ref:
My verdict:.. This laptop is good for carry around and style. But I won't recommend this laptop to anyone because of bad display quality (which won't reproduce color and take all the glares) . If you don't worry about size XPS15 is the best for graphics and performance.. but you can't use it in your lap...
Other thoughts: Hope dell will include good quality display (RGB LED) and Blu-ray in their next xps models:I am an online student and I enjoy online gaming. I needed a fast performing computer to satisfy my need in the virtual world. I bought this computer 3rd party that was my first mistake x,x dell's warranty doesn't cover 3rd party resale. I had the computer exactly one week. I was working on a paper for school when all of a sudden it froze up and I got the blue screen of death. After that it wouldn't come back on. After a lot of tinkering I was able to get it to the bios to run some diagnostics. After 12 hours of running scans it came back with six error codes, that summed up to I received a computer with a bad hard drive. Thus I lost all my work. I did some research and found that this is not the first time XPS has had hard drive issues. A couple of years ago there was a class action suit against them for the hard drive burn out. XPS is an excellent computer...when it works. BUYER BEWARE.
HP - Pavilion Laptop / Intel® CoreTM i5-2430M Processor / 17.3" Display / 8GB Memory / 750GB Hard
Playing chess in Fritz-11, in "friend" mode, the computer showed a row of dots where it should have shown my handicap;
In WordPerfect, I could read a file, but as soon as soon as I put the cursor where I wanted to write something, the file would start to disappear one letter at a time, right to left, starting where the cursor was; I closed the file without "saving the changes" and my file remained intact, but I could not work with it;
I could go to the Amazon site, but was unable to write the name of the product I was looking for;
I could access my mailbox, but not write an e-mail.
Whenever I tried to write something, I would get a row of dots; if I managed to type one letter, that letter would quickly move away and disappear, showing that the row of dots was not stationary, but continuously moving.
I called the HP service center around 8:15 pm on Friday, May 18; the technician tried a lot of things, including a restore to May 9th, but basically we were going in circles, the same blue screen coming back again and again. At one time the screen indicated: "this operation can take up to 20 seconds"; the screen showed a line of rectangles that turned yellow one at a time, from left to right, and back to the beginning of the row. Twenty minutes later, it had not stopped yet, so the technician tried something else, that did not work either. His conclusion was that the Alt key was sticking (he did not specify which of the two Alt keys, and I did not think of asking). He said that I needed a new keyboard that would be sent to me free of charge since the computer was still under warranty; he made arrangements to have a technician install it on Friday, May 25th, in the afternoon, and charged my Visa card $49 plus Michigan sales tax.
I was not convinced though, because none of the two Alt keys seemed to be sticking. I tried again to solve the problem from the blue screen, and I finally managed to make everything work after doing a simple thing: switching from the "Canadian" to the "US" keyboard in the language bar. I do not understand why it worked, and I am not even sure that this is really what did it. All I can say is that I am now able to do all the things that I could not do "before". I can even use either keyboard layout, without any problem. Obviously, the problem was with the software, not with the computer itself.
Of course, I immediately canceled the order for a new keyboard and the appointment to have it installed. I was told that my VISA card would be credited within 2-3 days.
I am happy with this computer, but I would not recommend it for two reasons:
1. The obvious incompetence of the HP support technician (by the way, they are located in the Ozarks);
2. The fact that HP did not provide the Windows disk that the blue screen said shoud be inserted to solve the problem. That disk would have saved me 4 hours spent talking to their technician, and another hour or so waiting while another support technician (in India this time) obtained his supervisor's authorization to credit my Visa card. (My previous computer was a Dell, and it came with all the disks required to reinstall any program that needed reinstalling.)
Note for HP, if they are reading this: the ticket number was 8059362347; the order number KMK821. You have my name and address. Please send me the Windows-7 disk that I will need next time something malfunctions. I tried contacting you and got lost on your website.
Monday, June 4th, 2012: If you have read this review, please also read the comments (from HP and my answers.)
Lenovo U300s 108026U 13.3-Inch Ultrabook
Pros:
Thin, light, very portable. Overall design is top-notch. Grew color is subtle and stylish.
The body has a metal chassis, feels smooth to the touch and stays cool, top and bottom, all the time.
Looks fantastic, can't imagine the type of engineering that went into making it this thin.
Good wireless, fast, doesn't drop signal.
Laptop doesn't come loaded with bloatware, great job Lenovo!
SSD and the ULV i7 are BLAZING fast (when used in full power mode)
Ports: USB 3 included, big winner over my 2nd choice, MB Air and Thunderbolt.
It's Windows 7! I can cut & paste files in explorer (stab at finder), drag two windows to each side for split-screen and use MS Office the way it was intended to be used.
So-so:
The touchpad is good, but falls short of any Macbook quality. The multitouch gestures don't register when two fingers are swiped diagonally for ex. Lenovo went with Synaptics and it shows. Apple touchpads are in a league of their own.
Battery life The marketed battery life of 8 hrs is achievable as long as the the brightness is low and the processor is on the lowest power setting. This is great for marketing, but if you want to use that core i7 processor and really enjoy the LCD, your battery falls to an expected 3 or 4 hours. There's no magic here, same old tradeoff between speed, brightness and battery life.
Screen The technology for 1600 x 900 displays is there, Asus has them in the same screen size. Not sure why Lenovo settled for the lesser 1366x768 res on a top-of-the-line model. The screen itself is good, but I'm used to working on an IPS monitor, so I'm not blown away with this darker, more muted screen.
Only 4GB ram. It'll do for now, but what about 3 years from now?
Cons:
Keyboard The whole row of Pg Up, Pg Down, Home, End keys rubs up against the body, sometimes making a squeaky noise. When you buy a $40000 high-end sedan, how would you feel if the doors started squeaking since day one? Why should I feel different about using squeaky keys on a $1500 laptop? Unacceptable. Makes me feel as if this was slapped together and rushed out the door.
Opening and closing Laptop makes small plastic cracking noise around the hinge in the back. Same as the last point, this is unacceptable for a brand new laptop out of the box. Will this really last me past the warranty? I don't know.
No way to change ram/ssd/battery. This is something that you've come to expect when buying a PC laptop.
With all this in mind, I think 4 stars is a fair rating relative to other ultrabooks that are out now. If I wasn't tied down to MS Office, and a traditional PC keyboard layout, I would probably go for the Macbook Air. But this is still a great laptop with plenty to be happy about.
---------------UPDATE 1/28/2012---------------
The laptop I initially reviewed was definitely a lemon. I reached out directly to Lenovo, who were very quick and helpful in finding me a new machine. I got the new one and it works perfectly well (no cracking noises, no squeaky keys).
After using this laptop for a variety of reasons over the last few months, I wouldn't switch to anything else. The thin, low profile and light body is as good as it gets for looks and convenience. It's a solid Windows machine that stands out in a sea of Macbook Airs. In the end, I'm happy that I ended up going with Lenovo.I don't often review products on Amazon, but I thought this one was worthy of it. Plus, it is giving me a great chance to test out the keyboard. I have had the notebook for about 2 days now, and am very happy with it. It's a solid piece of kit, very well build, and quite handsome. It is also slim, and light, which is exactly what I was looking for when I upgraded from my 1.5 year old Acer Timeline X. It is svelte enough that, at the software company where I work, I had several people stop by when it was sitting on my desk to ask about it, and declare that they want to get the laptop themselves. Also, working at a software company, we were overjoyed that the default browser loaded on the system was Chrome, and that it is relatively free of bloatware. 2 MAJOR pluses for Lenovo.
The performance is solid, although I also purchased a second generation Push2TV device from Netgear, and it won't connect to it. I am going to update all of the drivers on the machine, and see if I can get it to work, as I have tried a number of other solutions (difficulty in getting WiDi to work seems like an extremely common problem which is not confined to Lenovo devices after some quick Google searches).
Also, the keyboard is a touch cramped, a natural extension of the relatively small screen, but I wish the keys would run closer to the edges, and that the shift and ctrl keys were made a little wider. I have big hands, and I have found it virtually impossible to hold shift and hit the question mark next to it without looking down, because of how close the two keys are to each other. I invariably end up adding a ">" instead of a "?". But I am able to type quite quickly on the keyboard, and I imagine that it will only get better as I get more used to it.
Also, as mentioned by the other reviewer, the battery life isn't great. I have burned through 4% of it just writing this review over the last 8 minutes. Granted, I like to keep my screen bright, and I am running a remote desktop client, with my CPU usage hovering around 30%, so that will naturally drain the battery a little more quickly, but my Timeline X has battery life that exceeds this computer's by miles.
Those are my main gripes with the machine. The build quality is impeccable, unlike what the other reviewer (the only other, thus far) noted, I don't have issues with noises when the lid opens and closes, and none of my keys rub up against the body. Hopefully mine is the more typical, or there will be some very unhappy customers out there. The screen is bright and I find it to be quite attractive, while the matte finish keeps glare at bay. I also have been running fairly intense processes, and while the 4GB of RAM and 1.8 GHz of i7 doesn't make for the fastest beast on the block, for a computer this size, it is actually quite impressive.
All in all this is a very capable device. If you are looking for a slim computer, I don't think you can do much better. I spent some time with the Acer S3, the Asus UX31, The Toshiba Portege Ultrabook, and the Samsung Series 9, and am very happy that I chose the Lenovo. I like it far more that those computers. If you want to save some money, and need some more battery life, I was very happy with my Timeline X. If you want thinner and lighter, I don't think you will be disappointed by this computer.
Buy Lenovo U300s 108026U 13.3-Inch Ultrabook Now
love the speed had a problem with the wifi however the support was helpful got hold of the support right away without a wait.my only complain is when i tilt the laptop the fan seem to connect with the aluminum casing and make scratching sound. overall i am happy with this.review update
after a month and half one of the rubber feet of the ideapad had detached. the casing is now making clicking sound when you pick it up, like it is loose. fan scratching the aluminum casing has got worst, for this price i unfortunately can not recommend this.
Read Best Reviews of Lenovo U300s 108026U 13.3-Inch Ultrabook Here
The key to this pc seems to be that its perfect except fro the details which could use some work.-Others complained about the screen but I don't mind it too much, it isn't gorgeous though.
-Also battery life is closer to 3 hours than anything (medium brightness and settings) which I think is partially due to the rapidcharge. No battery is designed to charge that fast and it shows. You go from 0 to 96 percent in half an hour and from 96 to 100 in another half hour. Seems like lenovo did a little trickery there to make it seem like it charges faster than it does. Trust me the difference between 96% charge and 100% is almost an hour.
-I really enjoy the keyboard on this laptop, its as good or better than many full sized laptops.
-Also I do game development and 3d modeling as well as computer programming and the processor is way more than I even use. however the graphics card is lacking (I find it runs good fps but not high quality even with full settings, antialiasing is very week on HD3000 chips)
-I love the touchpad gestures though I wish the three and four finger gestures were customizable and a bit more accurate.
-First thing you do buy an external optical drive there cheap and worth it, and a usb hub. two ports is nothing anymore.
My biggest complaints are the lack of play/pause/next/previous keys (i fixed it using autohotkey to ctr+shift+arrow keys) and the less than expected battery life. Overall though it is ridiculously fast especially boot which I timed at exactly 12 seconds.I like the computer overall. It's very light and easy to carry. The only thing that troubles me is the keyboard. Sometimes it's hard to press "n" and "a".
Samsung QX410-J01 14in Notebook Aluminum
There are some great features that I love on this laptop.
The multimedia functionality is quite good. The processing speeds for multiple high-demand applications running simultaneously are good. The keyboard is very comfortable and responsive which is huge for me because I type on it a lot. It has a great port configuration with HDMI and 2 of the 3 USBs under an easily accessible protective cover on the left, and 1 USB on the right very efficient for multiple devices. There is very little preloaded "factory" software to remove after purchase, in fact some of the samsung applications are quite handy (the backup for instance).
The aesthetics of this machine are great, it was half the price of the Macbook Pro with the same processing capabilities, it has the seperate dedicated video processing chip which is essential I think, and the battery life is double a comparable Sony or Toshiba (about 6.25 hours per charge -with an additional 3/4 of an hour after powering back on after first shut down).
One thing no one has mentioned is the overall thoughtful engineering. Not only is it very solid and comfortable, but there are a lot of little things that are well thought out. For instance the palm rest is slightly elevated above the keyboard so that when it closes the screen does not contact the keys. Seems like a small feature, but I enjoy watching my friend constantly cleaning finger oils off the screen of his $2,200 MacBook Pro. You can also charge USB devices from the laptop while not running, and the auto save features allow for great convenience (just shut the lid mid sentence and come back whenever to the exact same configuration you had going. This is very useful for me because I utilize multiple research programs and resources simultaneously while writing, and love being able to just slap the thing shut and resume at my convenience when others need my attention).
The portability, durability, screen resolution/quality, processing power (again the dual video processing is invaluable if you want to keep this thing for 5+ years like I intend to), and beauty of this computer combine to make it a very wonderful machine at a very economic price point.
This is a very sleek, stylish and well thought out computer that performs extremely well.
I am glad I trusted the Samsung name even though they are relatively new to the laptop space.
I have no idea if the 430 is of the same caliber as this 410 so I would recommend the 410. It's probably worth the extra $150!I won't lie what first drew me to this laptop was its look. It is the essence of cool borrowing all the best parts from a host of other laptops and putting them together into the ultimate package. Ultra thin, light, and edge-to-edge glass = drool. But looks fade, right?
Well, so far, the QX410's brains match its looks. This laptop is fast and powerful. I've been editing HD video on here as well as mixing multiple tracks of audio. I have yet to make it slow down or stutter.
Last but not least, the battery. I routinely get 5-6 hours out of the battery and am very happy with that performance.
If someone forced me to say something negative I'd say that I wish the screen resolution were a bit higher it would help when I have an editing program open and a bunch of tool windows. Most times, this doesn't affect me.
Buy this laptop, you won't regret it.
Buy Samsung QX410-J01 14in Notebook Aluminum Now
I've had the QX410 about 3 weeks now. I really like it.Pros:
Nice feel, nice keyboard action. Stiff hinge. Looks pretty, feels solid.
Built-in drive partitioning
Nice start-up and shut-down speed
Great battery life 5 to 6+ hours per charge
Very nice display love the edge-to-edge glass, brighter and easier to clean than standard LCD
Cons:
A lot heavier than it looks
The i5 processor is so-so for multimedia work better than most in its class, but bogs down a lot faster than the Lenovo Thinkpad R400 I use for work.
Hate the keyboard layout if you're an IBM person, you're going to screw up your screen dimensions whenever you reach for your control key. Yes, you adjust eventually, but it's frustrating.
Also don't much like the mouse buttons integrated into the mouse pad. I keep relocating the cursor with my sleeves. But again, you adjust eventually. It's not a big deal.
Overall, it looks and feels great. Good strong wireless, nice port set up (3 USBs and a HDMI) for a slimline, really good battery life even on full-light display. Great value for the money, and I'm happy with it. It'll handle 2-3 high-load operations at a time. But if you're looking for serious multimedia processing power, this may not be the one for you.
Read Best Reviews of Samsung QX410-J01 14in Notebook Aluminum Here
In order to provide an extensive review, I would have to wait some more time for such a review. However, my first impressions can (hopefully) suffice for now.I purchased this laptop from Woot! back on May 21st and eagerly awaited its arrival, which occurred on June 1st. I've had it for about a week now, have toyed with it, and so far it is wonderful. I could rave and go on about the great things about it, but I will only give a few cons for right now.
As per the most helpful critical review, I've had no touchpad problems of that sort. However, I have noticed that at times the touchpad doesn't register the click immediately after typing, even with the Palm Guard option turned off. This is hardly a nuisance, however, since I use a wireless mouse most of the time.
The hard drive is 5400 rpm, so those who are used to 7200 rpm hard drives may notice some degradation in terms of performance or file transfers, but whether this is troublesome or not depends on the end user. In my case, it makes no difference.
The screen is a bit iffy. While the edge-to-edge glass is pretty nice, it is extremely reflective, which can be a nuisance on lower brightness settings. But hey, you don't have to worry about accidentally hitting your screen and having it damage the pixels inside. Also, the 14" screen is nice, but considering the extra space around the edges to match the width of the laptop, Samsung could have fit in a 15" screen just as easily.
The battery may be a problem in the future. It is not user-replaceable, so anyone who likes to remove it when not in use cannot do so. Since it lasts 1000 cycles, this may not immediately be a problem, so we will have to see once the first owners of this machine have held out for its lifetime (since it was released in Q4 2010, we have a while to wait).
The GPU is not very powerful, but it is a vast improvement over an integrated card, which this machine also comes paired with, allowing for extended battery life when not using visually intensive programs. I play Minecraft regularly, and the dedicated card is more than enough to run it super smoothly, surprisingly better than my other machine with a much more powerful GPU.
One thing to note, though, about the RAM in this machine is that 210 Mb of its 4 Gb are reserved for video memory for the integrated GPU, so only 3.79 of its 4 Gb of RAM are accessible. However, considering how well this machine performs, I have never run into any problems with this.
As a final thought, the pros FAR outweigh the cons, which are few and minor. The laptop in its entirety is GORGEOUS. Very high quality, solid build, light enough to carry around with you, very thin, and -my favorite part -very long-lasting. The claim for the battery in this machine is 7 hours. Well, I've clocked it in at 8:23 before, so I'm one happy camper. :)The mouse on this laptop is VERY annoying! First it sticks, and then it runs around on it's own like crazy! There's a setting to change the 8 different things the mouse does. That's the problem...this mouse thinks it knows too much and doesn't want to always do what what you tell it to do. Other than that this is a REALLY nice laptop. Hope it helps to prevent someone for getting highly frustrated with the mouse.
444623U - Lenovo 3000 G530 Notebook Intel Pentium Dual-core T3400 2.16 GHz - 15.40 WXGA - 2 GB DDR2
This is the biggest piece of junk I ever bought & I'm stuck with it. There is NO customer service No help of any kind & the paper the warrenty is wriiten on will serve me better in the area of my toilet. I honestly never sen any computer do this b 4; but whenever it fells like it it spins the screen like ur looking at a slot machine in action and when it stops nobody knows. How aggrivating this can b at criticle times. I had thought of giving it to Goodwill And then from this lesson learned go back t an HP; but I then think of how cruel I would b 2 the next person who received it.Then again it's probably only mine that has ever had this problem; the question is do you want 2 take the chance because u will learn there is no recoures once you hand over your hard earned money it's alll yours for better or worse. Just trying to make you aware of the pitfalls at my expense..WolfPurchased this laptop for my cousin and she says it still works great after one year.Very good for the price, but the picture does not so you the machine you will get. The colour of it is actually mantle black and not silver and black.Had this laptop for around 7 months now and very pleased with it. Its fast, works flawless, and got everything I want. DVR, camera, etc etc bonus. The only issue I have is its a bit heavy...around 7 pounds. Had to call customer service and they were excellent. I also bought the additional accidental coverage for 3 years. I am very happy with the graphics card, the speed at which the system runs, good quality keyboard and parts. Good job.
DELL XPS 15 (XPS15-9167sLV) i5-3210M
Hewlett Packard WA606UAABA Hp G71-449wm Intel 2.10ghz 4gb 320gb Dvd/rw 17.3 Windows
Acer V5-431-4689;NX.M17AA.002 14-Inch Laptop
update: downgraded to 1 star. Guys, DO NOT BUY this piece of CRAP! I guess you get what u pay for.
update: I was about to ship it back. i thought i should give it one more chance. so i chatted with customer service about this wifi issue. they said that it was a well known issue and had a simpler than expected fix. they forwarded me a link. i was supposed to uninstall the wifi driver and then reinstall it from the link. BOOM!!! Problem solved. now it is working like a charm. i am upgrading it to 4 stars. i would have given it 5 but this wifi thing was very inconvenient and acer should fix this problem so that it worked right out of the box.I bought this laptop on sale on another website. I thought the cpu 1.5 ghz Pentium 987 dual core would be a little slow but truthfully it does quite well if you use this for basic document creation/editing and net surfing. The machine runs quietly and stays fairly cool. Reviews of other V5 laptops mention a problem with the wifi signal but I did not have that problem with my unit. Windows 8 is different but it's nothing you can't learn in a day or two. To minimize frustration go to the Windows app store and download the Windows 8 shortcuts app as soon as you set up the laptop. Note that this laptop does not have a touch screen so you manipulate everything from the touchpad or a mouse. The touchpad (smartpad) was great while it worked but it went crazy in just a few days and tweaking the settings did no good so I had to return the laptop. I will try a laptop with a faster cpu and touch screen next. Apart from the touchpad problem however, this Acer laptop is not a bad machine for the price.
Buy Acer V5-431-4689;NX.M17AA.002 14-Inch Laptop Now
Everything I ever wanted in a Laptop . Could Not ask for more ! I am really liking windows 8 on it !Read Best Reviews of Acer V5-431-4689;NX.M17AA.002 14-Inch Laptop Here
Lenovo IdeaPad U260 08763BU 12.5-Inch Ultraportable Laptop (Mocha Brown)
Pros:
Perfect size and shape (same thickness and weight as 2010 Macbook Air)
Plenty fast and reliable (though not an i7, or 2011 MBA)
Great looks (I actually prefer the flat rounded-smooth shape and color instead of Macbook)
Very nice keys trackpad
Decent screen
Decent Webcam
Good software included (Good version of Windows 7 64-bit, Little bloatware)
Cons:
Keyboard not backlit (I still look at my keys sometimes, so typing in dark is hard)
No SD card slot (Not a dealbreaker obvuiously, but would have been nice)
Battery underwhelming (2.5 to 4 hours isn't bad, but competitors are getting 9 from a charge)
Unless you are a superuser, and you need gaming on the go, or video and music editing, this will be more than enough for you. If you want to be doing very processor intensive tasks, then ultraportable probably isn't your class anyway.Pro: Love the design, and the screen is amazing. Very light.
Con: Only two USB, intergrated battery hope it will not die on me soon, no SD card slot, a bit slow in time even with a i5 processor
Buy Lenovo IdeaPad U260 08763BU 12.5-Inch Ultraportable Laptop (Mocha Brown) Now
got the Orange U260 .... 1st impression is that it is very lightweight, handy and the screen is very good. Speed is not exceptional but is adequate for its class. the keyboard felt really good and the system is really queit. I looked at the specs and was really good.Here are the cons:
When I bought the system I read it could go up to 8gb! but the system I have only can stay at 4gb! it suppose to have 2 slots of memory! but after calling Lenova I found out that not all models have that! So! its a big Minus to me when I try to upgrade the memory .
Access to HD and memory is really difficult. since it is kind of a self contain unit and not able to change things out.
3rd issue is the battery cannot be easily change !have to pretty much strip the unit to get to it! if you do decide to have a spare! since the battery life on this unit is not impressive! rated at 4hr! but I am getting more like 3 hr max!
Overall! was a bit dissapointed with some of these items I mentioned! other than that! I loaded up Office 2007, Adobe Photoshop CS5, and even run some of my game well.
DaveC
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I purchased this laptop 5 months ago. I loved the color and thinness of the laptop. At 33 days old, it would not start up at all and had to be sent in for repair. It was returned not properly functioning, so it had to be sent back. Now 4 months after that the hard drive has to be replaced again. I have purchased many brands of laptops and have never had any problems within the first 2 years. This laptop is awful and the customer service is worse. Please reconsider making this purchase. I had heard good things about Lenovo products, but I regret buying this laptop. I am already in the market for a new computer 5 months after my purchase because this product is too unreliable for a law student, and I am only certain of one thing my new laptop will not be a Lenovo.Want Lenovo IdeaPad U260 08763BU 12.5-Inch Ultraportable Laptop (Mocha Brown) Discount?
I needed a light but large screen laptop for travel. Well this worked out. I do web development with PHP, Dreaamweave, MS Asp.Net and Flash / Flex. I run MySQl and several machine intense software. Never an issue.Works great, fast, and easy to carry. I plan to buy another for my trip overseas. Wouldn't be without it...