Apple MacBook Pro MD314LL/A 13.3-Inch Laptop (OLD VERSION)

I recently made the switch from PC to Mac, and I can say that I'm not sure why I waited so long. Considering that I have only had my computer a few weeks I can't say much about the durability and longevity of the hardware, but I can say that the operating system (mine shipped with Lion) and software is top notch.

I labored for a long time trying to decide whether the 13" MacBook Pro (MBP) or MacBook Air was the right choice for me. I liked the form factor, screen resolution and weight of the Air, but couldn't get comfortable with the comparatively small hard drive and the RAM fixed at 4GB. Considering these factors along with the significant price premium for an Air, I decided that the MBP was right for me.

I also thought long and hard about whether to go with the base model with the 2.4Ghz i5 processor and 500 GB HDD or the 2.8Ghz i7 processor with the 750GB HDD. after looking at reviews and benchmark tests I decided that for my uses, the less expensive model would be perfect and that the incremental added performance of the more expensive model is not worth the additional cost. When large solid state drives become more affordable I will probably switch my HDD out, but until then 500GB should provide plenty of storage.

I opted to get my computer locally, but purchased the Crucial 8GB Kit (4GBx2), 204-pin SODIMM, DDR3 PC3-10600 Memory Module (CT2KIT51264BC1339) from Amazon for a great price. Once I got my computer home I installed the RAM in 10 minutes, start to finish. If you are planning this upgrade just be sure that you have the right Phillips head screwdriver.

After using this computer for the past few weeks and carrying it on weekly business trips I am very pleased with my choice of computers. It handles the Microsoft office suite flawlessly, and the added ram allows me to open and view very large pdf files without any lag. I have done minor video and photo editing on this computer and it performed very well. The added weight compared to the

Air hasn't proven to be too noticeable, but I am a big guy at 6'4" and 210 pounds.

So far I am pleased with this computer and my Mac experience overall. The process of learning a new OS and overall user interface was daunting at first, but Apple has done a great job creating a system that is intuitive and easy to learn.

I would recommend this computer to anyone looking for a new laptop that they expect to have for awhile and would like to be able to customize to fit their needs.

UPDATE 5/29/12: I have been using my MBP for six months now and couldn't be happier with it. I may have been lucky enough to get a great unit, but during the time that I have owned my MBP I have NEVER needed to contact technical support. I use my Mac for my primary business computer every day and have traveled extensively with it.

Aside from its performance and reliability the feature that I like most about my Mac is the multi-touch trackpad. By using gestures on the trackpad I can be very efficient, and I'm not sure that I will ever be able to go back to a regular mouse or trackball.

One addition that I made was to get the Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter MB570Z/A to attach a second monitor when I'm at the office. This allows me to use both my MBP monitor and an external, which provides me with much more area when using Excel or other programs and also allows me to keep my mailbox visible when working on other things.

Considering how pleased I am with my Mac, I have a feeling that I will be buying a lot more Apple products in the future.

The reviews here are for the MD313LL/A, yet the computer is actually MD314LL/A, which has a faster processor and bigger hard drive.

The MD314LL/A features a 2.8 GHz i7 processor, integrated Intel 3000 graphics and a 750 GB hard drive. I've never owned an Apple laptop before, so there was a little bit of a learning curve. Now that I'm getting the hang of it, I'm beginning to like OSX Lion better than Windows. Programs can be run on separate virtual desktops, and the computer never misses a beat when several programs are active. Switching between different desktops or open programs can be done by merely sliding three fingers forward on the large touchpad. Control-clicking on words or phrases in Safari brings up a context sensitive menu which allows the user to select to view a dictionary, Wikipedia, or do a Google search in a pop-up window in the browser. You can also ask the computer to speak the word or phrase, if you have any doubts about pronunciation. Safari also includes links to a library of plug-ins at extensions.apple.com, which includes a plug-in for Flash, so you can now watch free Hulu videos and other videos online. The network preferences window makes it far easier than Windows to set up a list of public DNS servers to bypass the sometimes slow, glitchy ISP servers.

This computer is completely silent. I wasn't even sure it had a cooling fan until I downloaded a utility to monitor the fan speed. This computer is super fast, and the base plate never gets more than lukewarm. The light weight, small footprint, lighted keyboard, crisp screen and speed really make this computer shine.

The attention to detail is really outstanding. The cooling vents on the back of the base are completely covered by a sliding plate when the lid is closed, keeping dust out of the innards. The power supply has flip out legs for winding the cord for storage and the prongs can be removed so it can be used as a brick type supply with the supplied AC cord. The computer also has a green LED battery status gauge built into the left side of the base, which is activated by a flush button. The lid snaps shut quietly even though there are no cheesy stick-on rubber bumpers, and it is held closed by magnets. The built in light sensor shuts off the keyboard backlighting and brightens the display in bright ambient light. The computer also has a 3 axis accelerometer to protect the hard drive from damage. The attention to detail is why Macs are more expensive than the various PC clones.

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I waited a month before writing this review to make sure my initial impression would hold up & it did.

MacBook Pro's -

1. Track Pad (Fantastic!)

2. No Trial Software (everything installed is fully functional no more nag screens)

3. Battery Life (I get around 5 or 6 hours on a charge)

4. Incremental Backups with Time Machine (You can use almost any external HD instead Apple's expensive Time Capsule)

5. Support is Awesome (Nuff said)

6. It's Just Plain Sexy (No more Windows bricks for me...)

MacBook Con's -

1. No HDMI out

2. USB Ports too close together

3. Steve Jobs is Dead

If you're a long time Windows user; ask yourself if this story sounds familiar?

You've got a girlfriend/boyfriend who annoys you on a daily basis, but you stick with her/him year after year because you don't want to spend the time learning the ins & outs of a new one?

Then one day, a sleek, sexy chick/dude catches your eye & you start hanging out with her/him & pretty soon you're kicking that old broad/bum out on the street.

That's me & Microsoft.

I started; decades ago, as a DOS user with an 8088 machine & continued all the way up to Windows 7.

I've got a new girlfriend now & she blows the old one away.

The old one just blows.

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Packaging:

Very impressed with the packaging. I was very impressed how well this thing was packaged. A well thought-out design protects the content and minimizes customer dissatisfaction.

First impression:

I am sure everyone who are interested to buy this product, has gone to best buy and played with it a bit. well, the new MBP right out of the box is 90% more impressive and attractive than that of the store. It is a good looking piece of machine.

It came with a charger, extension cord for the charger, instruction book, screen wipe, and nothing more that I needed. I took the cord out, and started charging it. A full charging is highly recommended before use. after a few setup screens, I am up and running.

Upgrade time:(Make sure you shut down your machine first)

I ordered this machine with a 8GB memory upgrade (DDR3-1333) from Crucial. I did not want to pay a premium for the apple upgrade. Instead, I bought a dual channel kit separately for $39.00. I highly recommended Crucial brand as they use Samsung memory chips and for one more reason I am telling you next. I will not go through how to change the memory(a lot of youtube videos available). when I took out the existing memory out of the MBP, guess what chips they use on the memory sticks? yes, guessed it right, samsung.And I also have reasons to believe that the RAMs are OEM version of crucial memory judging by physical similarities. but, that is just my opinion, not a fact.

User Experience:

After the upgrade, turned on the machine and few beeps and clunks later, it started flying. I repeat, it is flying and my machine is currently running over 600 threads without any sign of slowing down. virtual box? NO PROBLEMO! this little beauty is a little beast in performance. I have installed over 50 applications, running dozens simultaneously, 10 more browser windows open, and it just happy. I can't say enough about the multi-touch gestures. No other laptop I have ever used that had such ease of switching between applications, scrolling, searching, sliding and navigating. I have never used Mac OS before(not more than a few minutes of playing around at best buy), and I felt it was very intuitive to use and learned fairly quickly. I still don't know a lot about the OS, but it has not stopped me from doing what I need to do.

What could be better:

Not that I cared much, but the standard power cord is a little short. I bought a sleeve to keep it safe, and it does not allow room for the extension cord that comes with it(big and bulky).

It has good speakers that play nice sounding beats. But the 15" plays them better.

The outer shell is aluminium, but don't think you can't scratch it. I spent a sleepless night just cause it put a small scratch under it by accident. But, I am over it now.

Advice to the people who wants to take the plunge:

I felt like it was the best $1100 I spent on a laptop. I could not justify it before using it as I always thought that Mac is more style than performance and usefulness. I admit that I was wrong. This machine offers more features and performance per dollar than I thought. This is a well-built machine that would serve me longer than any other laptop ever has for me. I have half a dozen windows machines in my house including a 990X extreme desktop that I built 4 months ago. I love windows, but I have learned that I can like both (Macbook pro and PC).

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Steve Jobs had returned to Apple, which had been a struggling company, and it was time to align it once again with world of creative users. In 1997 an ad was run with actor Richard Dreyfuss reading the voiceover, which began with: "Here's to the Crazy Ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently." Think Different... that was the 1997 slogan and theme for Apple's comeback to the world of serious computing after the return of Steve Jobs, and perhaps it was a cynical reference to IBM's famous "Think" slogan. Whatever it was, this was the ad campaign that restored Apple's reputation under the leadership of the late Steve Jobs.

Take this MacBook Pro review as one from a dedicated Windows PC user who made the switch awhile ago, with time enough to put it through its paces, to do side-by-side comparisons. I've owned a Mac before, back in the day of the Macintosh SE, and though I found it to be extremely useful for desktop publishing in the days when Aldus PageMaker reigned supreme in that area, I saw things blend as Microsoft slowly got its act together, for the most part. When it came time to upgrade back then, I stuck with the Windows PCs... until recently, when I found the need to diversify a bit.

To make this easy for those who just want to get to the facts quickly, I'll list the positive and negative points that I've personally found with the MacBook Pro first, then elaborate with details a bit further on. Please also remember that these are coming from a satisfied Windows 7 PC user, and one with multiple computers.

MacBook Pro Positives:

* Well thought-out packaging, easy out of the box setup

* Excellent build quality, unparalleled detail in workmanship

* Superb aluminum unibody chassis construction, has a good solid feel

* Sharp 13.3-Inch backlit display, first-rate 1280-by-800 Resolution

* Screen display has excellent color resolution and contrast for photos

* First class backlit keyboard, easy to use in low-light situations

* Very fast boot up even with password protection enabled

* Proven Mac OS X operating system; based on UNIX (like a server)

* Built-in SD card slot; great for transferring photos to computer

* Responsive ergonomic multi-touch trackpad; no buttons, excellent cursor control

* Well-engineered 60W power adapter with decent cable management system

* Automated incremental backups with Time Machine, works with almost any external HDD

In Between:

* Claimed 7 hour battery life; 5-6 hours is more like it, depending on the apps that you're running

Negatives:

* No built-in HDMI or VGA output, adapters must be purchased separately

* Only 2 USB 2.0 ports, and they are too close together

The Details:

We each have our reasons for the computers that we own. Mine were primarily to have a compact yet sturdy platform for word processing, accessing the Internet, and digital photo processing. That stated, there's little to not like about this MacBook Pro. The Intel Dual-Core Processor is fast and efficient, and even better than the Pentium Dual-Core 2.20GHz processor on my Windows 7 notebook PC. It's one thing to see it in the store, but when one gets it home and takes it out of the well-designed box, it's apparent that this is a better grade computer than might have been anticipated. The first thing that is noticed once it's unwrapped is the workmanship. The unibody main enclosure, constructed from a single block of aluminum, is proof of this attention to detail and it helps add to its durability.

The 13-inch backlit LCD display is sharp, and has the excellent color resolution and contrast that I need, especially when working with photos. The glossy screen actually helps to see images with their full clarity. Using both Adobe software apps and Nikon Capture NX 2, having clear and sharp resolution is an absolute necessity, and this MacBook Pro offers that. The backlit keyboard is a pleasure to use, and quite functional in low-light mobile locations. I'm also very impressed with the quick boot up, even with the password startup screen enabled, a security necessity when at some mobile locations.

It's hard to fault OS X in any way. This operating system is UNIX-based, and therein lays its strength, along with its ability to run 64-bit applications. It works right out of the box without fiddling or tweaking. It's far better than Mac OS 9 and its predecessors, and the security while on the `Net is reassuring.

The tiny built-in SD card slot has proven itself to be good for transferring photos from the digital cameras to the computer. I've also used it to transfer other media files and documents between computers in a pinch. It took awhile to get used to the trackpad, with its so-called "multi-touch gestures," but once mastered it's easy to use. Must admit that I do revert to using a mouse when using the computer at home... call it years of conditioning.

This computer really shines with the inclusion of the Time Machine application, and I was happy to find that I could use a reasonable priced off-the-shelf hard drive to do automated incremental backups. I have a Toshiba 500 GB USB Portable Hard Drive, and all I did was reformat it to HFS+ Journaled file system to use the Time Machine backup software. It works like a champ.

The external 60W power adapter is well engineered and keeps my computer running cooler than PC notebooks with internal power supplies. I appreciate the magnetic DC connector as it pops off easily if some klutz trips on the cord, necessitating a costly repair as I found out when someone did that to one of my PC notebooks. The LED in the connector head helps: amber it's charging, green it's charged; very simple and effective.

Other Notes:

The battery life being less than advertised I can live with. I would have expected HDMI and/or VGA output to be built-ins with a computer of this quality. But I have yet to buy the adapters. But to have only two built-in USB 2.0 ports is irritating, and those are too close together. Problem solved with an external 4-port ISB adapter, so that issue is closed.

I have had issues with laptop carrying bags in the past, and now carry my MacBook Pro in a ThinkTank Artificial Intelligence 15 V. 2.0 Laptop Bag. I picked this one over many others from heavy experience with photo gear, and know that Think Tank makes exceptionally good pro gear. It protects my computer from the elements quite well, holds more gear than I can explain here (I have reviewed it), and can highly recommend it to anyone who wants to protect their MacBook with the kind of case that it really deserves.

Browser note: I've used the included Safari browser, but my de-facto standard remains Google Chrome. Safari is a decent browser, but because I find it necessary to synchronize my email on the Mac, the PCs and even one older Linux-based notebook (it's a geek/support thing), Chromes just works better, and I find it faster. Your experiences may differ, so try whichever works for you.

I'm running Office for Mac 2011 and have found its interface to be even better than Microsoft Office 2010 or 2007 on the PC. Didn't know if the implementation of Outlook for Mac 2011 would be better than Entourage, which was buggy, but Outlook turned out to be excellent, and it's become my mainstay over the PC version.

Heat is an issue that I had heard of by some, yet I have not experienced. The heat level is better than my old HP, Compaq or Dell, and far better than my VAIO (which was very bad). The only one that has been better heat-wise is my current ASUS notebook running Windows 7, but not by much. Had been tempted to get a keyboard skin for general protection in the field, but heard that these interfere with the ventilation, so that idea has been tabled for the present.

Future:

I may upgrade to 8 GB of RAM, which has been recommended by a number of people if and when system performance issues arise. The RAM upgrades are quite reasonable, but I'm pleasantly surprised at how well it runs with the standard 4 GB at this point.

In Conclusion...

I could say more, but the best advice that I can offer is that if you get one, take it out of the box, plug it in and charge it. After that, turn it on and see how easy it can be... the MacBook Pro just works, as you'll see. Think Different is a reality, and this one proves it.

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Alienware M14X R2 14-Inch Gaming Laptop Black, Intel Core i7-3610QM 2.0GHz, 8GB Memory, 750GB HDD,

There isn't too much to gripe about this laptop. The only downside I can really think of is the screen touches the keyboard when its closed so when you open it there is small smudges. However, there are screen protectors out there or even little rubber dots that can make that stop when closing.

Its pretty much all out there. 16 gigs of ram, i7 quad core, and it came with windows 7. Now compared to my desktop Windows 7 is great for gaming, while running Windows 8 I've run across a few issues. Therefore, Windows 7 is ideal since this is a gaming PC and most products like steam tend to run a little better.

I bought the computer mainly so I could take some games with me on deployment and get some college out of the way. One thing I didn't expect but is a great little quirk is that you can customize the colors of nearly every light on the computer. It doesn't affect how it runs, but it is kind of cool.

Over all this PC runs like you'd think it runs and behaves as it should and I do recomend it if you can find one for cheap enough as I had. If you don't want to build a desktop or don't know how to(easy but time consuming) this would be a good purchase for the next few years if you want to play higher end games on a computer.

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HP ENVY Pro B8U90UT 14" LED Ultrabook - Core i5 i5-3317U 1.7GHz (B8U90UT#ABA) -

I have purchased of few of these for our more mobile employees and they have worked great so far. The laptop seems to be quality construction and has held up well so far to the rigors of cross country travel. Its fast, light, sleek, and the battery life is good.

My complaints are the lack of a back-lit keyboard (not huge) and the lack of an SSD. I have found traditional hard drives to be more reliable, so this is minor.

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ASUS Republic of Gamers G75VW-AS71 17.3-Inch Gaming Laptop

So I noticed some weak reviews for this product and am quite disgusted. I bought this unit from Best Buy and have so far been impressed. I typically am a desktop user, in fact, I normally custom build my own rigs. I was in the market for a laptop, and didn't want to frustrate myself with custom building one so I shopped around a lot. For the price, it will be difficult to beat this machine. The only laptops that will come close (Dell XPS, AlienWare, and MSI) would all likely cost and extra $500-$1000. Every game I have played so far (Portal 2, Skyrim, etc) have ran on ultra settings with extremely great frame rates. Now for the Pros and cons:

Pros: Great heat displacement, it has two large exhaust ports on the backside of the machine. This keeps the heat off of the bottom and allows for "lap-top" computing. Processing speed is amazing. Cost is low, but shop around, I got it at Bust Buy for $200 cheaper (though the build is not exact to this model make your own decisions as to what you need). Back-lit key board is extremely neat. Large vibrant HD screen. Its not loaded down with a bunch of bloatware and demos. GTX 660M is a great GPU for most all (with the exception of the have to have the most expensive and overkill, melt your face GPU) users. Additional port for secondary HDD. Easy access for upgrades to HDD an memory. Ivy Bridge! This thing has blistering fast multi-app processing power!

Cons (and the reason for 4 stars): The biggest drawback for me is the 1TB HDD, as it is slow (7200 RPM). For this reason alone Windows Experience Index rated it a 5.9. All other ratings were mid to upper 7's. Shame on you Asus. For $130 buy a 128GB SSD from Amazon and up your computing potential. Just use the 1TB as a slave. It is bulky, but to be expected as it is a gaming lappy. Good luck trying to find a case that fits it.Lastly the power brick is enormous and the battery is lucky to give you 1.5 hrs unplugged. Again, this is a gaming laptop so this is to be expected.

Other thoughts: The pros highly out weigh the cons! For the price this Republic of Gamers laptop by Asus is a great investment.

I'm not a super gaming computer geek, but i know computers well and am an avid console gamer. I like playing fighting games like SFIV and the like and I also love first person shooters, action games, etc. Well so far I am VERY impressed with this behemouth of a machine! Not that street fighter is the most graphically intensive game, but i was coming from runing on my macbook pro under bootcamp with windows 7. Night and day difference. I can crank up all the settings including 8x antialiasing and the frame rate is stunning. no lag whatsoever. full screen full resolution all the bells and whistles enabled. Just Cause 2 i couldn't get the same with everything maxed out, but you probably would need a higher end machine to do that. With everything maxed out i was getting like 20fps but when i turned off the GPU water effect and toned down a couple other things i was getting a solid 60fps on the in game benchmark tests. Batman arkham asylum and the newer arkham city look positively stunning and smooooooth. The picture is great on this machine and the sound is quite good especially with the subwoofer. The power supply practically needs it own carrying case! Seriously this is the biggest brick i've ever seen on a notebook. The keyboard is very nice as is the track pad. the buttons on the trackpad have quite a bit of travel and feel kind of soft, but not mushy. The track pad also supports two finger rotation and pinch to zoom and 2 finger scrolling and 3 finger aero conrol of the windows 7 windows ala macbook (although it's nowhere near as smooth as the mac, but i didn't get this machine for smooth window navigation). I LOVE the rubberized feel of the plastic of the case. I also love that the machine doesn't come with 100 pieces of "bloatware"

the 750gb hard drivecomes partitioned with about 300 (drive c) for OS and other programs and then a drive D (presumably for your gaming data) is about 400gb. There is still an open expansion bay for another hard drive I believe. Now remember, this is kind of the "bottom of the line" G75 with the 2gb graphics card (the 660) and the processors on the higher end units run a bit faster. So far the machine stays quite cool and it not even as noisey as my macbook pro (and not nearly as hot, you could make toast on my macbook when i was runing games in bootcamp). I don't know a lot about gaming machines but i've read that you can't just look at the graphics card or the processor but you have to look at everything together including how well the machine can cool itself because that can affect how well the gpu runs. I'm sure there are faster notebooks out there, but for 1500 bucks I am beside myself. I use an xbox 360 wireless controller and it works flawlessly, just make sure you download the 64bit driver from microsoft. For steam users, install it to the larger partition (the D drive). There is plenty of room on the 400gb partition. Even if every game you use is 10gb (which they usually are not) That's a lot of games with no external drive and you still have the C partition to store files on, plus you can always get another drive installed. I'm giving it 4 stars just to be conservative, but so far the only thing that's a bit off-putting is it's sheer size. it's much deeper than my 17 inch macbook and won't even fit (width-wise) into the sleeve of my 17inch backpack although it barely fits the length. I had to order an alienware backpack that accomodates the larger machines with the 17.3 screens. I travel A LOT and it is going to be really fantastic to have a complete gaming library with me wherever I go! Unless you're an uber-geek I would highly recommend this unit. Im sure it will do me for several years, but then again, technology is such that you're constantly kicking yourself for not waiting for the next better, faster, quieter, cooler, more power efficient thing to come along.

Oh, by the way, the unit is lighter than it appears. Still heavy, but it is a desktop replacment, so that's just part and parcel...Hope this helps

Buy ASUS Republic of Gamers G75VW-AS71 17.3-Inch Gaming Laptop Now

Everything you've read in the other reviews about its power is true. Portal 2, Skyrim, etc. all look beautiful on this laptop. The matte screen with full 1080p resolution is very nice and easy on the eye. The jet engine fans on the back of the laptop have allowed for hours of gaming without feeling like I could flip the laptop over and grill an egg.

Now, some issues. One is that the space bar is not as responsive as I would like on a gaming keyboard. If I have my thumb too far over to one side, it will fail to register the press. This being the jump key in a lot of games, one can imagine the annoyance this has caused (I've run straight off of platforms like a dork).

The major issue, however, is that the subwoofer will sometimes play when you have headphones in. For a while, every time I started a media source that had audio, I would have to pull out my headphones and reinsert. This is quite annoying when you are trying to play something in a crowded room, or when someone in your house is sleeping. I uninstalled the drivers and let windows install its own, but now it mutes the audio until I click mute then unmute again. I don't know what is going on with this audio chipset, but there appear to be some kinks to iron out.

The audio issue is not a dealbreaker for me, as the laptop really is quite nice looking with excellent performance.I am hoping an update in the future will make my $1300 purchase perform as it should.

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I purchased this laptop from Amazon around a month ago. I planned to use it for analyzing my data in Matlab and gaming. Mainly as desktop replacement, but also for travels to conferences, collaborators, etc. I think I made the right choice, since up to now I am completely satisfied. Computer performance is extraordinary good, design is neat, keyboard is good.

I experienced one unpleasant problem which I managed to solve. The computer every now and then (couple of times in an hour or so) makes a latency spike for about 1-2 sec, during which nothing works and if you happen to listen to music or watching a movie, it will make horrible screeching sound. I am pretty tolerant person, so I didn't care until this thing started to interfere with my League of Legend tournaments (2 sec lag in a wrong place equals to loosing a 45 min game). So I went online, and found this thread on the Republic of Gamers forum rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?14960-G75VW-random-audio-and-graphics-spike). It turns out that many people have this problem with G75. Someone on the forum reported that uninstalling McAfee antivirus worked for him. I tried and it worked for me too. I do not experience this problem anymore. But I have to warn you that some other people report that this solution doesn't work for them.

There are other minor problems, which I want to report.

1. When the computer came, the bottom rim of the screen was detached, that is, disconnected from the screen itself. I fixed it by gently pushing onto the rim, so the holders on the other side went inside the corpus where they belong.

2. Sometimes, if I use a headset, the computer doesn't give audio output into earphones, but instead gives it to the speakers (sometimes both speakers and earphones at the same time). So I have to unplug headset and plug it in again.

3. Touchpad works strange in double touch mode. It is supposed to implement mac-like scrolling with double touch, but it works only half of the time. I found that it works better if you touch it sort of ridiculously gentle, like almost to pressure at all. Well, anyway I don't use this function.

Update-02/12/2013: Still very satisfied. Had no further problems, computer works very stable. Problem with headset has been solved in latest audio card patch. Touchpad scrolling works fine too, turns out I wasn't using it right: for bottom-up scrolling you are supposed to make double touch in vertical axis, but I was making in horizontal.

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I just bought my new Asus Laptop June 2 at a Best Buy. The unit I received has slightly different specs than the one listed here however they are minimal. The laptop I purchased has only 8gigs of RAM instead of 16 but has a 1TB Hard Drive. Besides that it is the same machine. However, I found it at Best Buy for 1299 instead of 1499 (which is rare because I never expect Best Buy to have the best price). I ended up paying 1566 after 5% tax but that included two year comprehensive warranty, Microsoft office, and two years of antivirus which I couldn't pass up. I went straight home to try it out and so far I am impressed. The unit looks beautiful with the matte screen and the fingerprint resistant finish. The resolution is stunning and the backlit keyboard is solid. (though the keys feel a bit cheap I am not at all concerned)

As my main concern was graphics, the first thing I did was download Skyrim from Steam. Booting up the game for the first time showed me how this unit is worth every penny. Many reviews talk generally about the graphics of their system but at the end of the day, I want to be able to say how it handles specific games. That being said, Skyrim looks FANTASTIC. I played it on my xbox360 in HD and the performance on this laptop makes the 360 version look like its from the 90's. The lighting effects, graphical details, and resolution are all amazing and the smooth framerate blew me away. I couldn't believe how well it was rendering the dense foliage and textures without missing a beat. I am confident this baby will run anything I throw at it for years to come. I also noticed that getting my music onto ITunes was fast as well. On my old computers, uploading hundreds of files into the program often caused it to crash and took hours. I got all my music up in a matter of minutes.

One thing I did notice was the vibrations of the DVD drive when it is reading a disk. I didn't worry at all but you always prefer quiet disk drives. As I don't plan on using much media from DVD/CD's the concern is minimal. Also the sound quality is rich and there seems to be a built in sub woofer but the volume doesn't quite reach loud enough for my tastes. However, I have external speakers whenever I really need great volume so this is another non issue for me. I have yet to find any real cons to this system yet although I have only had it for a day.

The computer runs very quiet and looks like a professional/nerdy mix of materials and design. I would also like to emphasize that I did lots of research before arriving at this laptop. I found that it had minimal negative reviews with many good ones that matched my graphical expectations and price point. While some people may complain about the hefty size of the computer or the large AC adapter brick that accompanies the unit, you must remember that this is a desktop replacement gaming laptop and it serves its role admirably. I would strongly recommend this laptop to anyone looking for a gaming powerhouse laptop without breaking the bank and is willing to sacrifice portability for power.

**Update**

I bought a SanDisk 120 GIG SSD on Amazon and went to Best Buy to let them install it. The warrenty I purchased covered the instalation and migration of the OS to the SSD. It took them three days to complete the job and I now have both hard drives in the machine: the 120SSD and the 1Terabyte 5400RMP-HHD. I have to say it was a great idea to upgrade. My computer boots in 20 seconds (as oppsed to about 60 before)I was able to load saves in Skyrim in five second as opposed to 10-15 seconds. This is as fast as I have ever seen a computer run. I store all OS related files and programs as well as games on the SSD and my music, docs, and movies on the HHD. The people at best buy did remove the recovery partition, but I can take it back if something happens. I highly reccomend doing a similar upgrade if you have an in store warrenty or if you know how to do it yourself.

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Acer Aspire AS5733Z-4633 15.6" LCD Laptop (Pentium P6200 Dual Core, 4Gb RAM, 500GB HDD)

I had done lots of research before choosing this laptop. I am very happy with it and the price was just what i had in my budget. I would recommend this.

It.s a very fast laptop, with 4b of Memory RAM and 500GB for internal storage, I am very happy with this purchase in MongooseDirect

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I had no clue what kind of laptop I need and Acer came highly recommended.

I love my laptop!

slim, light weight.

have had no problems.

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No hdmi connection. The computer does anything else that I need it to do. I usually have at least 5 applications or sites open at a time and the speed is just fine. Picture is good. No out of the ordinary problems with the computer.

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This product is terrible! I've had it about a year. It constantly over heats!!

I can't even type a paper without it overheating and shutting down.

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HP EliteBook Revolve 810 11.6" G1 Tablet Notebook - D3K50UT

I'm updating my review now that I've resolved the problem...

Update: I managed to install win 8 and office 365. It took me about 6 hours as is was not as straight forward as stated in the installation instructions; had to go through some trouble shooting. I found great resources online to guide me through various hurdles. Now that everything is working I am very excited. The computer / tablet is beautiful, and the win 8 technology allows me to switch from desktop to touchscreen tiles so I can integrate work and play; very cool! I'm increasing to 4 stars and not 5 because of the frustrating start. If win 8 had been pre-installed I'd give it 5 stars.

I just got my computer out of the box and learned that Windows 8 is not installed, and instead it has windows 7 and a DVD with windows 8. What's the point of shipping tablets without win8? The technical details specs of the product clearly state that this product comes with windows 8 (see technical details). I inferred from this that win 8 was installed. I just went back to the product details and noticed that there are a couple of words in the product description that sate that this product has win 7 and a license for win 8. I did not pick-up on this at the time of purchase. The product description and technical details are not clear enough for my standards. This is quite frustrating because I'm not very tech savvy and because the computer does not have a DVD reader so I am unable to install windows 8. I just purchased an external drive online and will have to wait a couple of days to install windows 8. I hope the installation of windows 8 goes smoothly. And I hope I have no more surprises. I'll update my review once I've gone through the windows 8 installation process. For now I'll give it 3 stars because it seams like a great product (laptop + tablet + win 8 technology + small and cool design) but I have not been able to run it yet. (FYI I've been using apple for the past 4 years so I have high expectations of user-friendliness) More to come...

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Toshiba Satellite P755-S5182 Laptop

their service is excellent.

compliance and quality

would buy all the items in this shop

Please keep me informed of the products that this company has to keep buying

Regards,

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Panasonic Toughbook 19 Tablet PC - Centrino 2 vPro - Intel Core 2 Duo SU9300 1.2GHz - 10.4" XGA - 2

This is one of the best computer but made with very bad keyboard, typing is very hard on this computer. tacchscreen is ok since it moono touched, it was much better that it was a multitouch screen instead of single touch. panasonic with these great product has the worst customers services, and worst support system. If it was not the product i could give Panasonic 1 star only of its customer services. I hope this is helpful for you

Our fire-rescue department utilizes the toughbook to capture our reports on all the calls we run on. They are great laptops and are heavy duty as the name implies. Our toughbooks have fallen from 4-5 feet on many occasions with no adverse effects to the computer. Very durable, good keyboard and fast processor. I am pleased....and I am on a busy rescue doing on average 10 reports a shift.

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This computer is tough and I know it. We use it at the station to watch YouTube videos and use it to figure out how huge our pensions are going to be while we are waiting to rescue cats from trees. We've dropped it and it hasn't broke-but so what if it does-the taxpayer will just buy us a new one.

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I did not buy this model--i bought the CF-30, which cost me more than twice as much as this one is listing for...

it is a rugged computer, So, these computers rarely break. But they do sometimes break.

If yours breaks, forget about it. Just go buy a new one.

I don't like worrying about my warranties, so although the computer comes with a well-written standard warranty, i purchased

the

$250.00 Protection Plus Warranty Upgrade (Years 1-3) plus i purchased the

$180.00 Toughbook Premier 3 Year Service Upgrade and i also purchased the

$175.00 3-Year On-site Service

My computer broke (i dropped it--not from Six feet, but from about the height of my bedside table...

Panasonic made me prove the warranty by sending a copy of my sales reciept before they would even talk to me about service.

Then they tried to talk me out of having the on site service, saying it would be faster and easier if i just sent them the computer.

The onsite service guy was nice, but had not been trained on how to fix the Toughbooks, so he took it home with him and sent it to Panasonic.

That was a week ago.

The onsite guy said i should leave my hard drive inside the computer.

He called later and said Panasonic would send me a new computer right away.

Then he called back and said that they would not cover accidental damage...and i should have bought one more warranty...

I pointed out that the warranty covered "non-intential damage"...their representative said that while "non intentional" seems to mean "accidental" it does not mean that "accidental" is covered!

The manager at Panasonic promised to look into my case...but never called me back.

One of my warranties included 'overnight' service.

I was later told that "overnight' means next business night, which, on a Friday, means Monday...but because Monday comes after Sunday, Monday means Tuesday...

Anyway, they have my money, and my computer....and this review.

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Acer Aspire V3-731-4649 17.3-Inch Laptop (Black)

I only owned Personal PC's until I purchased a Acer 11 inch "One" netbook for traveling and I was amazed at the picture quality and tthe prihe nice feel and the keyboard especially at that price. Lately my wife needed a laptop and so I decided on Acer again since I was so happy with the quality of my last Acer product. I got this for cheaper than most 15.6 computers cost without compromising any features. It is very fast, it is a breeze to set up, it has a lot of hard drive space, it has a full size keyboard with number keys on the right side. I'm glad I got the 17.3 screen mainly because if I want to stream anything you have a nice size picture and speaking of that the image quality is outstanding on this machine. The only thing I don't like about this laptop is the gloss black finish, be prepared to clean off fingerprints all of the time. That's the only thing I can find fault with but everything else about it I love.

i have been shopping for a new computer for a wile waiting for the right deal to come along,here it is .acer has put everything [but one of intels new i-chip's]that you could ever want packed into a 17'' large,beautiful screened laptop at any price and this one is only $429.

-what it's not:--a gamer lacking newer i-3,5,7 and has integrated video.no solid state hard drive,no blue-ray,not a touch screen.

-what it is: --quick and responsive

--connection's are endless -I've connected wired and wireless printers,media server,tablet,plasma

tv,wireless mouse,Bluetooth speaker and still counting with out any problems,

--light for it's size

--the screen wow i watch a lot of movie's,tv,and play some games they all look great.

-the keyboard is responsive and the key's look awesome surrounded by brushed aluminum.

There are a couple of not so stellar feature's.the sound quality is not great [I've never really been impressed with laptop sound anyway] and the glossy finish,wile it's beautiful only last's until you touch it. also the touchpad's a little touchy[I use an external mouse] .

Now about windows 8, the jury is still out.fancy widgets and app's.I downloaded mozzilafirefox and found the more familiar os hidden right behind.still learning how to use but I see it's potential.

I love this computer,I love the price.

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bought this laptop after my hp g72 went dead, and i must say it was a great buy. windows 8 is good but takes getting used to, the shipping was great as usual from amazon. it worked great after the initial out of box setup. connected to my wifi easily and removing the bloatware was the same

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A few glitches . . . . . Touch pad was a problem and had to download a new driver (an older driver than one on computer). At least I can type now without my cursor jumping all over the page! My touch pad is still not operating like i think it should. Sometimes I have to click numerous times to make it activate.

When I opened my computer for the first time, one of the keys was loose. i was successful in attaching it back, but then the other day, a different key popped off. it wasn't so easy to reattach. I hope this isn't going to be an ongoing issue.

Also, The shiny black finish is not something I would ever consider again. It shows fingerprints and smudges really bad. The buff grey that I had before was so much better.

This is my 2nd Acer and If this one holds up like the last one, it will be great.

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The Acer laptop met all my expectations. The screen is very large and extremely clear and I liked the built-in wireless Wi-FI connectivity. I was totally unfamiliar with Windows 8, so that took some time to research on the web, but I found several sites that provided step-by-step instructions on how to use and revise the appearance and location for the apps on the menu screen. I've had the computer for two weeks and am very satisfied with everything. Even the Acer support line was very responsive. I have no regrets about this purchase.

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Toshiba - Satellite C655-S5212 Laptop / Intel Core i3 Processor / 15.6" HD Display / 3GB DDR3 Memor

This is my first laptop, and I fell like I should have started with a worse computer.

I was drawn to the system from the cost perspective, and have found that the computer meets and exceeds my needs on many levels. Though I've had it only a few days, processing seems smooth, graphics are solid, overall function is great.

As of yet, there has been no power lag on any pages or programs.

I haven't tried out the DVD drive yet. I also haven't tried to run Netflix on the computer in an HD stream. Will update when those events happen.

So far, my only gripe is that 1) I managed to get a little coffee on it so far (still runs great though), and 2) sadly, this may become my main computer, as it seems to be better performing than my desktop at this stage.

I would recommend this product to anyone looking for a solid second computer for school, some business, or recreation. I'm sure there are better units out there, but for the money, this is an awesome investment.

Never buy a Toshiba laptop. After three months the screen displayed horizontal lines without being dropped or damaged. When I spoke to Toshiba I was hung up on twice and then told to speak to the place where I bought the computer. Finally I spoke to the customer service manager who informed me that the warranty didn't cover damage to the monitor even if the damage was not the fault of the owner. To say the least I'm very dissatisifed with the way Toshiba deals with its customers post purchase and the quality of a computer which would break after three months for no particular reason.

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Had the computer about 1 month when the hard drive crashed. I only used the computer about 1/2 hour a day at most. Toshiba made it difficult and charges $25 to fix the problem, in addition to not having a computer for 2-3 weeks. I realize problems occur with computers, but I would appreaciate more flexibility with their customer service when a major internal issue occers within 1 month of owning the computer. Will not buy another Toshiba product.

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I purchased two Toshiba Satellites model C655 August 2011. I use one for school, they both have excellent speed and are comfortable to use. The only complaint I have with one is that the hinge on the right hand side binds, and has caused the body of the laptop to separate.

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This is my 3rd Toshiba laptop, picked it up at Best Buy for $360.00. This laptop is plenty capable for what I and likely 95% of the population use computers for, day to day internet use, Itunes, Facebook, etc. The speakers are decent and the webcam is good for those that like to Skype. My three Toshiba laptops over the last 6 years were still cheaper than any Macbook Pro. You can't go wrong with this one!

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Dell Alienware M11X Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 Gaming Notebook PC

It's a netbook in size only. This thing is a gaming POWERHOUSE! It can play all of the latest games, the only thing it lacks is an optical drive, but i gains by a pre-install of the Steam Client and Portal for free. only thing that i don't like how the backplate isn't customizable anymore, and you can't laser etch your name into the plate when you buy off of amazon. It stock includes 4Gbs of RAM 250Gb 7200 RPM HDD and a semi-old (but extremely powerful) Intel dual core processor. I've been able to play these so far with 30+ FPS:

TF2

HL2

Black Ops

L4D

L4D2

Modern Warfare 2

Postal 2

Portal

Portal 2

Counter-Strike: Source

Homefront.

It's amazingly awesome, haven't had any problems yet! Tech support is appearently bad but i hear that you've been able to contact through Dell and not Alienware. Great resolution screen (I can play Crysis 2 with 25 FPS with native res) cheap cheap optical drives floating around as an option. Has great speakers! i have really really bad acoustics in my family room, but with the speakers up all the way i can hear it from the back of my house! So many LED's with alienware LED software and if your computer has a problem, you can use Alien Re-spawn, which comes with this computer. Has LED's on the hard drive, fan on the bottom, illuminative keyboard, and on the dual speakers in the front. It's classified as an ultra-portable and that's exactly what it is. 7+ hours on integrated graphics. Oh! and you can switch the graphics almost instantly with the press of a button from discrete to integrated. (Intel HD graphics 3000). Can overclock by going into the BIOS and just selecting "overclock enable/disable". Great computer, affordable price. Great video quality, and good Internet connectivity, great for streaming media like YouTube and Netflix. As an added bonus, if you order from Dell, you can ship it with a game and accessories like a keyboard and mouse, and also customizable LED's from the website factory installed to your personal liking. Has a great metal casing that is VERY durable. BEST computer I've ever had!

The laptop itself is great. The first couple days it will seem glitchy and thats because you need to do all of the updates for its especially windows 7 service pack 1. After that the blue screens of death stopped.Mine came with one of the rubber stands on the bottom shorter than the others so when you rest your left palm on it it jiggles. I just superglued a penny to it and the problem is gone.

You should buy this from another source because this seller didn't respond to my emails to resolve an issue. My issue was that literally the day after I bought they slashed $50.00 of the price and I didn't think it was fair and that it would be alot more efficient for them to refund me the difference rather than go to the trouble of returning it for a full refund only to buy the same computer again. I thought of doing that but I loved the laptop so much that I decided to go ahead and keep it because it was a price I was willing to pay to begin with and I still had consumer surplus.

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When first purchasing this I did not know what to think. Wanted a good laptop but did not want to pay alot of money for. Went to Dell site and for everything laptop has in it put it why over the price I purchased it for. It Intell dual Core processing speed 1.30Ghz,4GB OF Ram and can expand up to 8GB. And a 250GB Harddrive and a very good 11.1 viewing screen with a 720p HD viewing and a dedicated graphics cards 1GB which means one hella gaming machine. Other features I like lighted keyboard face recondition wireless abgn and webcam and mike. All this for one low price and would deal with this retailer again. Thanks bulldog7062

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I bought this laptop used with upgrades including a 500GB 7200RPM Hard Disk Drive, brand new internal LCD, and an external DVD-RW Drive with Lightscribe for $377 USD. It also came with the soft case, box, and everything else you'd get with it had it been purchased new. Despite being an excellent buy for the money, I was a bit concerned if it would be a good enough buy for myself, as its intended use was to be a work computer for graphic design and animation. After using the machine, I can honestly say that I am more than satisfied with its work capability, primarily in Photoshop CS6.

My main concern when buying the laptop was with the LCD; as the LCD is the first thing one looks at when buying a laptop, considering it cannot be upgraded; it can only be pushed to the side by adding a second (or third?) external monitor via side video ports. I thought that there was no way that an 11.6" screen would suffice for work, but the M11x has the same resolution as the much larger, 15.6" laptop screens at work.

My second concern was the fact that it didn't have an internal optical drive, but an internal view reveals that the space where an optical drive is normally stored is occupied by a portion of the immense battery instead. I primarily utilize USB and SD cards for data storage and transfer, but the fact that the seller also included an external optical drive removed any doubts from my mind. With the battery in mind, I must say that I am overwhelmed by the battery life of this laptop. This laptop is several years old with the original battery, yet the battery life is true to the boxed specifications despite the fact that the battery has been heavily used and has to power the CPU I have overclocked to 1.7Ghz.

The overclocking process was painless. A quick trip into the BIOS reveals an overclocking option that is a simple toggle. There is no messing with voltages. Depending on your personal preference, this may be a pro or a con. Although I was expecting a little more to play with inside the BIOS, I understand that laptops are laptops and desktop options would only drain the valued battery life. Overall I am pleased with not having to enter the BIOS from time to time in order to refine things, the main thing that I'd need to change in the bios can actually be altered from within the Windows OS on the fly.

The dual GPUs are amazing! Simply press a command on the keyboard and swap video cards without having to enter the BIOS. Battery life is excellent with the more powerful GPU alongside an overclocked CPU. As for the software side of things, Windows 8 installed flawlessly and works without issue with the Alienware software. Boot speed is drastically improved from the Windows 7 experience. The Alienware software is easy to use, and really allows your personality to shine through with the various color options you can assign to your backlit keyboard, logo, etc. In an sea of whitewashed Macintoshs and other drab laptops, this option really allows an artist to be expressive in a positive way.

As far as the wireless networking goes, the wifi seems to work well for connecting to the network and accessing the internet. So far there are no issues with that at home, the office, or on the go at cafes etc. The only negative thing I can comment on is that I have issues transferring large files from PC to Laptop or vice versa. I haven't taken the time to troubleshoot my aging network, so I cannot blame these issues on the laptop; at least not yet anyways. My network currently is in need of upgrades to be brought up to the Wireless N and Gigabit standards of today's hardware.

There are some pros and cons with the laptop, but considering the price, the pros heavily outweigh the cons.

Pros:

-customizable lighting that compliment both the form and function of the device

-extensive battery life

-dual GPUs

-ease of use

-sharp screen resolution. Screen size would be a con, but I can't objectively complain when the amount of pixels included is the same amount as a much larger 15.6" display.

Cons:

-No DirectX 11 support

-No internal optical drive (not really a con for me, but I'm grasping for straws to include some cons)

Final Thoughts:

This laptop really packs a punch despite its size and age. Considering that this laptop is being hauled to and from work in a case along with the charger and a 15" Wacom Intuos5 Touch Medium Pen Tablet (PTH650), I am now really starting to appreciate its lightweight 11.6" form factor. For under $400 It can't be beat. At around $500, buyers might have to weigh their options. At about $529 plus shipping (depending on retailer), the Acer Aspire V3-551G-8454 Gaming Notebook is a formidable challenger. It too has dual GPUs thanks to the A8 processor and 7670M dedicated video card. It has the same resolution, but it is stretched across a larger screen. Same desktop area, larger image, but a fuzzier picture. The GPUs support DirectX11, but with AMD (ATI) chips that do not support CUDA. If you need to utilize CUDA for various programs including Adobe CS6, then the Alienware is for you. The Acer has the internal optical drive, but sacrifices 25% of the battery you'd get with the Alienware. On the other hand, the Alienware laptop sacrifices the full sized keyboard you'd get with Acer in favor of the sharper image and 11.6" form factor. One final thought would be my personal preference for Dell's customer support over Acer support.

WORD OF CAUTION:

This model laptop was recalled due to an issue with the VGA components in the laptop hinge that was prone to breakage. When buying this laptop, be sure to check that the laptop was sent to Dell for supported repairs, or be sure that you will be able to do it yourself after purchase.

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Hp Mini- Pink

I chose 1-3 days shipment, ordered it on Wednesday night, shipped at Thursday afternoon and arrived at my door at Monday moon time, 9 hours before my flight :P just awesome lol

Totally satisfied :)

I've been using a HP 15.3" laptop for a year:) so this time I got this 10.1" mini laptop to take home

FAST DELIVERY, GOOD PRODUCT !

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HP Pavilion dv6-6c48us Laptop Computer - 15.6" LED Screen, AMD A8-3520M 1.6GHz, 6GB memory, 500GB H

My daughter is preparing for high school and she wants to attend a school dedicated to communications and graphic arts. As such, I needed to purchase a laptop well-suited for her needs and one that would last 4 1/2 years until she goes to college.

I originally settled on a Sony at Best Buy on sale for $599 but I did not pull the trigger before it went up in price to $629. Although $599 was a very good price for a laptop that sells for $700 almost everywhere else, I'm glad I didn't. That Sony had the 2nd generation Core i5 processor, which I thought was the sweet spot between exceptional performance and price.

As I did more research, I discovered that the AMD Vision A8 processor was vastly superior to not only the Intel Core i5 but also the Core i7 on graphics tasks. Yes, both of the Intels beat the AMD A8 on basic computational tasks in the various tests but in reality any of these processors are quite fast in the real world and unlikely to be noticeably different. I decided that the graphics capability was going to be more noticeable.

I got lucky and found this model HP at OfficeDepot for $499 after $50 rebate compared to a "retail" price of $699. It was $130 cheaper than the Sony and identical on everything except the processors and for my daughter's application this processor is better. Plus, this one has the USB 3.0 standard and the fingerprint scanner.

I would never recommend paying $700 $800 for this laptop but if you are opportunistic and can find a laptop powered with an AMD A8 processor and a 15" 16" screen for $500 $550 then scoop it up! It will give you 3 5 years of capability.

It's much better than my old XP. It's much better than my old computer. It's much better than my old PC

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This laptop has been greate. I love the AMD A-8 CPU and its graphics acceleration. I even play Left 4 Dead 2 on it without issue. The boot time is quick, and the extra features like fingerprint scanner and single sign-on is awesome (swipe a particular finder on the scanner and it launches apps and logs you in automatically). System is a good size, not to big or heavy. Good for school, work, and mobile use. Full size KB with ten-key pad is well designed.

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The button near the battery can be used to open both the battery and the back side of this laptop. So it is convenient to replace the hard disk and the memory. Nice design. However, making a mistake in pressing the button will bring troubles to you.

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Acer 17.3" i5-2430M 2.40 GHz Notebook | AS7750-6423

For $450 (when it's on sale) you can't beat it. The display is bright and very crisp, but has a limited viewing angle. That's okay for most uses, but if you're streaming a movie and wandering around the room it can be a pain.

The ram installed is a single 4gb unit. So if you're looking to max the motherboard out to 8gb like I did, don't buy two 4gb chips thinking that it comes with two 2gb ones in it. just buy another 4gb (like this from crucial CT2679447) and you're set.

Audio is a bit tinny, but has a eq in it that I haven't messed with.

Overall, a huge display, fast computer, and unbeatable price!!

Looking for a 17.3" with i5 Intel processor and this was listed for $448.00 right after Christmas. (Also got a $25.00 online Gift Card)

Did my research and decided to buy it. Well no disappointment here. This Acer does a great job with everything you want for a PC under $450. Quick and responsive with all the options you need. Nice that it gives you the option to buy the completed Microsoft Office version or if you just want the basic MS Office, i.e. Word & Excel then you have the option to activate it for the free MS Office version just using Word & Excel.

Whats nice is that Acer quickly reminds you to make a Recovery Disk using DVD's and with the i5 processer, it wasn't long before you had a set made.

Home Wireless connection was a snap and everything was great.

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Good choice for home use. Gets a little bogged-down with too many windows open but overall very happy with this computer. Wish the button on the drive on the right side wasn't so sensitive. Pops open every time I pick the computer up from the sides. Does the job nicely.

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I'm not a computer expert. I'm just an average user and this is the most frustrating laptop I've ever owned.

Just point by point why it's such hard work to deal with:

The keyboard layout is just terrible.

The power button is located on the top left corner in the exact place your thumb naturally goes when picking up or adjusting the laptop resulting in

shutting down your computer accidentally over and over. I've had this computer almost a year and still it happens on occasion that I look under the edge of the laptop for a paper or pen and hit the power button. Due to it's location It's nearly unavoidable.

The sound on this Acer is weak and I know laptops generally don't have great speakers but these are awful and guess how you adjust volume... You must hold down the fn key and use arrow up or down. Yes, you just read that correctly. It's awkward and annoying.

Within three months of having this laptop the 2 on the calculator fell off. The keyboard has unusual flip up keys that can become loose and floppy. I'm not really rough with the computer. I don't travel with it and it stays in my bedroom so this damage is just not wear and tear it's shoddy design.

The hinges on the laptop appear woefully inadequate to me. This laptop has a 17.3" screen with netbook hinges holding it on. I mean the hinges just don't look or feel up to the job and it's worried me the entire year I've used this computer. The hinges aren't slipping or cracked yet but I'm sure it's only because I've been very conscious about carefully closing and never whipping open the laptop. These hinges have been babied.

There were other reviews here a few months ago that said they had pretty grave concerns about the hinges as well but now I don't see them here.

Another annoying feature is the fan exhaust is largely expelled from a vent directly on the edge of the left side towards the back. Again, this is the exact area your hand naturally goes to pick up the laptop giving you a palm full of heat if you've had it on for a while. If you want to hold the laptop in your lap and use it the heat blowing from half the entire left edge is bothersome but it won't bother you for long because as you adjust the computer to avoid the heat you'll hit the power button and then you and the computer will go off and both need to cool down.

Good luck if you're reading this after you've had a problem because the resell is lousy and if you've not purchased this yet and are considering it, keep looking! This is not the laptop you're looking for.

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First off, if I wanted to purchase this same system, or a similar one, it would cost me $300 more today.

It is a laptop meant to replace your PC. I mention this because it is a bit on the heavy side, and the large 17" screen is the main reason for it's weight. Worth every pound. Fantastic resolution, great size "in your face", and large enough that you can have it a few feet away and watch a movie.

The first unit that was delivered to me had a malfunctioning sound and recording device. I decided to give it another shot and replace it and it was well worth it. Very good sound, excellent with aftermarket speakers, and a very decent webcam.

The battery life will last you longer than 3 hours, more on the 5 hour range.

The touchpad is very sensitive, one must get used to shutting it off when typing, and use the arrows for scrolling. However, like anything else, it is a very easy task. May be inconvenient at first, but once one gets used to it, it is as easy as hitting the Caps key on and off. But be ready to feel a little irritated at first.

The speed is phenomenal, I did purchase the additional 4GB, but at first wanted to see what it felt like without the 4GB. It went from very good, to better. Well worth the small investment.

It is a complete system. Quiet, good cooling system, won't burn your lap, though after a couple of hours of course you do feel the heatyet it won't burn you.

I don't think that it is possible to get a more complete system unless one was to spend around one thousand.

Highly recommend it, unless you have money to burn for a superior system.

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Sony VAIO Core 2 Duo 1.83GHz 2GB 200GB DVD±RW 15.4" Vista

I have had my Vaio for going on 3 years. And it still runs beautifully, except only when hooked to an outlet. On battery power, I get less than 20 minutes of battery life. Otherwise I would suggest this computer to almost anyone! It's getting to be a little out-of-date, but still works well with most programs. I currently can play The Sims 3 well on it, but only if it is the only thing running. I use my laptop for Photoshop and school work mostly.

The computer is great and have had no problem internaly other than the battery. The battery only holds about 30 minutes after a year of college student use. I have looked for replacements and most are over $200 giving me a reason to buy a new computer instead of a brand new battery. I love sony and the style they put into their computers but the battery power makes me secound guess buying another one.

Pros: Very fast for everything I have to do. Easy to navigate and to connect things. Tons of music and videos and bearly half way through filling up the hard drive.

Cons: Battery...

Buy Sony VAIO Core 2 Duo 1.83GHz 2GB 200GB DVD±RW 15.4" Vista Now

I'm writing only about the seller JS Discount Electronic's, don't buy anything from this seller!

I bought this laptop as a new and got used only with charger and battery.and those two items were non original,replaced items(Chinese).also there were removed serial and part number stickers and I could not find out anything about the item.

they said,that they did not know what were in the box(!),but when I received and opened it,there was a paper and the laptop was described as new(!).

so make your own decision.

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Acer Aspire V5-171-6422 11.6-Inch Laptop (Silky Silver)

This is a pretty decent laptop, especially considering that it's a few hundred dollars less than many of similarly sized Ultrabook alternatives if you're shopping around for an 11.6" form factor.

While it's less svelte than the ultrabooks and the battery life isn't fantastic, it's definitely a big step up in computing horsepower (an i5 processor, 6GB of RAM) from cheaper alternatives. You can also buy the same series and save $150 going w/ an i3 and 4GB RAM instead, which is probably a better deal for most people: Acer Aspire V5-171-6675 11.6-Inch Laptop (Silver). Or, if you don't need a workhorse, you could save even a hundred more w/ the Aspire One/other netbook style notebooks (lots less horsepower, but missing things like USB 3.0, Bluetooth 4.0, etc). If you don't need Windows at all, that new Samsung Chromebook (Wi-Fi, 11.6-Inch) is $250 and looks darn sexy.

There are lots of reviews online (search for Acer Aspire V5 reviews) that have video and do a good job of covering things. I'll just add a few notes from the perspective of someone's that's used a lot of hardware and software, but mostly uses Macs right now (and a Macbook Air for my primary laptop).

* Build-quality, svelteness is nowhere near the MBA of course, but overall it's well put together. The keyboard feels good and the hinge and overall chassis seems solid, doesn't squeak, etc. The hinge opens to almost 180 degrees, which is sort of nice.

* Screen is decent for the price range (as long as you don't compare w/ high-end IPS screen) glossy, but bright enough, if a bit washed out.

* Keyboard is good overall, but the arrow keys are teeny tiny.

* The trackpad is decent except for one thing that makes it nearly unusable by default the right-click is enabled for the right side, but it responds way too far left (there are no hard buttons, it's all software based) so that if you're right handed, and depending I suppose on the size of your hands and how you use the keyboard, you will end up right-clicking all the time when you mean to left-click. The only solution I could find w/ the included Elan Smart-Pad software was to make the right corner also be a regular click and assign right-click to a two-finger click. The trackpad supports gestures and two finger scrolling works fine but the "inertial scrolling" is complete crap and should be disabled.

* The AC adapter is a bit strange it's a big vertical wallwart. If you are using a powerstrip that is aligned vertically, you'll need to put it at the end.

* Setup was fine for a PC faster and less intrusive than a horrible Samsung Windows 7 Netbook I set up last year. Still, it took about 30min for the "PC Decrapifier" software to clean out the vendor junk.

* Haven't stressed it out, but haven't heard much fan noise.

* This laptop was primarily bought as a Windows testing bench at our office, but one of the reasons I bought this was also to check out Windows 8. Turns out, so far, I don't like it at all and much prefer Windows 7. As a general consumer, you may as well go w/ the latest since that'll be supported better in the future, but if you're happy w/ Windows 7, I'd try to see if you could find a laptop w/ Windows 7.

For the specs I was looking for (11.6", lightweight/compact, decent processing power) I think the V5 is a good value the best option I could find. The other laptop I was looking at was the Sony VAIO E11 Series SVE11125CXB 11.6-Inch Laptop (Black) , but the processor is much weaker (Brazos 2.0 about 2x older netbooks, but nowhere near the i5 on the Aspire V5), it's chunkier, and the battery life worse.

If you have the budget and you're planning to use this as your primary computer, I'd strongly recommend that you at the very least give some of the ultrabooks (Acer Aspire S7, Samsung S9, and of course the Apple Macbook Air) a spin, paying attention to how their screens, keyboards, and trackpads feel you may find that the extra price will be worthwhile for something that you spend hours everyday using.

I bought this on black Friday lightning deal to replace my HP DM1Z laptop which is comparable. For reference it's an AMD Zacate E-350 dual core with switching discrete graphics and 4GB ram. Anyhow, the little E-350 was not cutting it when I had lots of browser windows open or when watching videos it would get choppy and annoying.

With this new Acer that is no longer a problem. The i5 in here chugs along super fast and has made things very pleasant. The HD4000 is adequate for anything you would likely want to on a 11.6" screened laptop. I don't find myself angry with slowdowns or issues playing youtube videos, or having 30 tabs open with remote control sessions to multiple other computers.

Things I like:

-Size: It's a great, very portable, lightweight package that has the benefit of having real ports. Keyboard is good, touchpad is fine for the most part. It's thin with good hinges.

-CPU/power: It's plenty fast for all the normal business apps, Netflix, youtube, etc. things running with a ton of stuff open. It's great not having a sacrifice in performance to get the small form factor anymore. It seems to run cool too, haven't heard the fan and it's been comfortable to have on my lap for extended periods of time.

-Real ports: I love that I have an actual Ethernet port, HDMI port and VGA. I was looking at the Samsung Series 9 and the like and you have to have dongles and adapters for everything. Having the actual port and just being able to bring the laptop and not worry about 10 different dongles to actually get connected to something is priceless. Having the USB 3.0 is great as well. Ports are well laid out and easy to get to. SD card slot is nice to have as well.

-Price: This is a given, you're looking at 1100 for most of the other ultrabooks that even hit on the specs this has (gen3 i5, 6GB ram)

Things I don't like:

-This is nitpicky but I wish the touchpad was slightly farther over to the right. This is more a getting used to it issue though and it's only been better the more I use it but there were times I'd would right click instead of left on accident when using both hands on the touchpad with left pointer moving the mouse and right hand fingers to mouse button. This is more just a getting used to it thing. The multi-touch works decently well.

As mentioned the power adapter is kinda weird with no power brick in the middle but all the bulk is there by the plug. This can make it difficult to plug in to some places. There are aftermarket power adapters on amazon for 9 bucks though that have a more standard setup to ease this issue.

-Battery: Well, it's pretty close to the 5 hours or so quoted with wifi on doing normal tasks. Which is really pretty impressive for a battery that is so small. I would love the option of adding a 6 cell battery for a bit extra capacity but as of 12/4/12 they don't seem to exist for sale. Battery is fine for what it is for the most part though.

-Hard drive: Reading the reviews on this ahead of time the 500GB 5400rpm HD was said to be a weak point. I put in a 240GB SSD to replace it as soon as I got it so I can't say too much on that. For the hour I used it with the drive it seemed fine. Do note though that if you replace the hard drive with the SSD you want one that is 7MM or thinner. I already had this SSD that I had loaded into the HP and it's a 9.5mm thickness. It works but it was quite tight putting the bottom cover back on and bulges a bit. It's been fine since though so I'm not going to worry about it. If you are getting an SSD, or for anyone getting the laptop really it's a good idea to buy a cheap 16GB SD card as well. The system recovery software from Acer will format an sd card and load all the recovery files onto it in case you ever need to wipe and reload the system. Or in this case put in a ssd and have it reload the system onto that cleanly.

-Windows 8 is frustrating in a lot of ways but I'm trying to force myself to get used to it in the stock form to better be able to support clients once they inevitably get some Windows 8 machines at some point. If I didn't have that then buying Start8 for a few bucks and putting it on here would make Windows 8 great. You can do all the multi-touch gestures on the touchpad so you can get away without a touchscreen for the most part. I don't even want a touch screen laptop as who wants all the finger smears all over the screen all the time. Windows 8 is quite fast though on the bootups and shutdowns. I do give it credit there.

So overall I'm quite happy with the purchase. (Especially getting it for $439 on black Friday). This computer is a much better deal than spending twice the price for a few MM of thickness saved. Definitely a solid choice for anyone who doesn't need a big screen. (You can run multiple external monitors with it with ease for a primary desk, there are some decent USB 3.0 docking solutions.)

***Edit 1/11/13 I have added a little more on the ssd and corrected the sizing of the 9.5mm thick one I have (you still want a 7mm ideally). I've been using the laptop daily now for well over a month and love it. Still nice and fast and it works great. Make sure if you buy this to go to acers website and download the latest driver updates, most namely the driver update for the Atheros wireless drivers. The put out a x.x.x.217-v3 version that you NEED to install. This cures some weird wireless disconnection issues a number of people were having. I'm bumping this laptop up to 5 stars now that that is good.

Buy Acer Aspire V5-171-6422 11.6-Inch Laptop (Silky Silver) Now

I originally bought this computer because it was small and portable but also packed a little bit of a punch. I have owned it for a couple months and I love it so far. I am not a huge fan of Windows 8 but can't blame Acer for that.

Pros: Very portable, Durable, Quick start up, Keyboard isn't as small as i thought it would, Price.

Cons: Miss a back light beneath the keyboard, Mousepad isn't as responsive as other computers i have used (macbooks). The keys on the keyboard don't have a high quality feel when you hit the keys (being picky)

Overall i would highly suggest this computer if you are looking for a step right above the lower level i3 processor computers. The price is great for what you get. If you are looking for a computer above the lower level $350 computers and the $699 i7 computers this is a great pick.

Read Best Reviews of Acer Aspire V5-171-6422 11.6-Inch Laptop (Silky Silver) Here

I ordered this laptop because I am a student, so portability and price are important. i was torn between the asus vivobook and this model, since both have a 11.6 screen. i was willing to trade off the touch screen option for a stronger processor. BIG mistake, esp for window 8.

I think if you are a student, a better choice would be a Asus Vivobook at 11.6, which like I said, comes with touch screen, but with a lower ivy core i3. the i3 is fine for basic uses and media purposes. (i saw it on sale for 400-range on slickdeals.net, which is slightly better than amazon prices).

now more into this laptop.

I am actually returning this acer for several reasons:

-erratic, weird touchpad. several reviewers have mentioned this but i heed no attention. but it DOES make such a BIG difference. after a while, it gets so annoying that i have to purchase a additional portable usb mouse (i got the sabrent mini high precision mouse for around 5.29 on amazon, which is great for me since i am a girl with small hands)

the erratic touchpad leads to another big issue, which definitely is the last straw for me. so, window 8 functions so that, everytime you mouse arrow is in the left margin, it automatically switches to the window 8 home screen, which displays plenty of apps. and what's worst. sometimes when you do not intend to click on the left corner, it STILL takes you back to the win8 home screen. after a while, it definitely disrupts productivity.

I have owned a hp, acer netbook, samsung tablet, an ancient dell inspiron 1525, and so far this is got to be the worst touchpad.

-3rd and last part, even with a i5 core, the video editing capacity is adequate. for sure, it will get the job done on cyberlink powerdirector.

I am returning this to get a SONY VAIO S 13.3 inches instead, since it is comparative to a macbook pro, however, sony has a student special deal combined with a free i5 to i7 upgrade, which costs around 850.00 there vs 1300.00 on amazon.

final verdict: if you can overlook the touchpad and really need something basic, i say go with the vivo instead. it is cheaper and the touchpad problem wouldnt drive you absolutely insane. if you are planning to use to laptop for basic functions, which some video editing capacity, then either the vivo or the aspire will do. but if you are planning to use it for intensive adobe cs5, illustrator, and video-editing work, then do shell out 3-400 bucks extra and do yourself a favor and stick with something else.

Want Acer Aspire V5-171-6422 11.6-Inch Laptop (Silky Silver) Discount?

I have been looking for an affordable 12" netbook with good performance for a long while. The Macbook Air 11.6 looked to be the only powerful candidate on the market, aside from the slightly larger Lenovo x230. Fortunately, Acer has created this awesome laptop. This laptop can run keep up with a Macbook air, especially if you add a SSD. What's more is you can add/remove components if you need (sorry Mac users, you'll have to go talk to a 'genius' in the Apple store and wait for a replacement). The only thing the Macbook has on this Acer is a backlit keyboard. The Atheros wifi NIC is always a plus (as opposed to Broadcom).

My beefs would be the touchpad's sensitivity, the lack of a backlit keyboard, and the battery life. The touchpad issue is resolved by using the ELANTECH touchpad drivers instead of the Synaptics (also adds two finger scrolling). Ubuntu didn't allow me to click+drag but Linux Mint 14 did (I prefer Mint anyways). The display is LED, but rather reflective. This is to be expected from a budget netbook. As for the battery life, I'm hoping for a 6-cell replacement to come along. All in all, a good buy for the price.

Update, 7/7/2013:

The touchpad has driven me to sell the laptop. In Windows 7, the only issue is that right-click is difficult to do, at least by simply using the right touch pad button. In Ubuntu and Linux Mint, the touchpad's navigation seems to only follow an x and y axis style of movement (using synaptics driver) and does not move diagonally near as well as it does in Windows 7.

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