Dell Latitude D620 Notebook Computer Duo Core 1.66GHz 1GB 40GB CDRW/DVD WiFi

I've been enjoying my Dell D 620 for about 10 days now and I am very happy with it! Worked great right out of the box connected to the internet in 3 seconds! Purchased from BTG Electronics. I would recommend them for any computer purchase. They answer any question promptly and are very helpful in making your decision. If you are like me and cannot afford a new laptop, try a refurbished one from them. Great product and reliable seller!

I RECIEVED THIS PRODUCT RITE AWAY. IT HAS MET MY EXPECTATION FOR A USED PC. IT WAS VERY CLEAN AND WORKS WELL. FOUND ONE MINOR FLAW, BUT IT GETS THE WORK DONE THAT IS NEEDED. GOOD SIZE. NOT TOO BULKY OR HEAVY.

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I bought two of these one for my daughter and one for myself, they both work great and were in great condition , look forward to purchasing from this co again. Good Customer service, product arrived quickly and was what was advertised.

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It must have been dropped because a peice of the outer casing is broken off on the corner. The DVD drive does not play DVD's, only CD's, but this may have something to do with the original video card that can't be updated. Taking it in to have it upgraded would probably cost as much as I paid for this. Have to touch the mouse pad with a delicate touch or the cursor barely moves. I bought this for my daughter because it has the software used by her school which benefits her to get homework and online assignments done. The graphics is the only dissapointment because she has to use my pc to get somethings done.

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The product was shipped in time. I Received the product in time and in a good condition however the System Software is informing me to replace the battery! Thanks.

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HP Mini 1000 Notebook (Intel Atom Processor N270 1.60GHz, 10.2" LED Brightview Infinity Display, 1G

I just picked up the HP Mini 1000 with 10-inch screen, 1GB of system RAM and 60GB hard drive today for a family member and it's a great notebook. Technically, it's a "netbook" because it uses the low voltage Intel Atom processor and uses a smaller screen. Basically, a "netbook" is just a compact, lightweight notebook that has a weak processor and generally a smaller hard drive and less RAM than a full notebook.

The benefit of the Mini 1000 is that it's extremely easy to take with you everywhere, and unlike most netbooks this computer actually has a reasonably large keyboard that makes it easy to type.

Although the Atom processor isn't as fast as other new dual-core processors found in full-size notebooks, the Atom has more than enough power for web browsing, working in Microsoft Office, listening to iTunes, or very basic photo editing (although I wouldn't suggest buying a netbook for Photoshop work).

I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the built-in speakers on this netbook. You can listen to iTunes songs and movies without needing to use earbuds (unless you don't want other people to hear what you're listening to).

There are only two minor issues that I have with the Mini 1000. First, the mouse buttons are located on the sides of the touchpad rather than underneath the touchpad ... which takes time getting used to. The other is the fact that the "Infinity Display" is highly reflective which makes it hard to read the screen outdoors in bright sunlight or while you're inside your car during the day. Under normal indoor lighting the screen is gorgeous, but take it outside and you can't see what's on the screen because of the reflections on the screen. If you don't use your notebook much outside this isn't a problem.

Overall, this is a great netbook.

I've been keeping an eye on this "netbook" market for the past 6 months, watching dozens of various models hit the retail stores. I stumbled upon this little gem in a local Costco it took about 3 minutes of messing around with Costco's floor model before it was apparent that this is currently the best netbook on the market right now. Here's why:

1. The keyboard is almost full sized, and is true to most industry-standard layouts. Several of the other netbooks have tiny right shift buttons and smaller buttons, and I honestly don't know how people can type efficiently.

2. The screen is 10.2 inches, whereas most netbooks are right around 9 inches. Note that the resolution is still the same; however, the extra inch is welcomed.

3. The touchpad is a decent size, and has a built-in vertical scroller, which comes in VERY handy while surfing the internet. One gripe is that the mouse buttons are located on the left and right sides of the touchpad, and they feel very awkward at first. However, after a day or two, I started using both hands to manage the mouse controls. I use my left finger to click the left mouse button, and the other to move around the mouse. So, the button placement actually didn't turn out to be a dealbreaker for me.

4. The form factor and exterior design of this netbook is far better than any others. The computer is less than an inch think, and has a very sleek look when closed.

Now, here are a few minor complaints:

1. Currently you can only get the computer with a 3-cell battery, which will get you anywhere between 2 and 3 hours. I highly recommend picking up an extra AC adapter ($49 on the HP site) in the event that you need a quick charge.

2. there is a lack of external ports on the computer the biggest issue being the lack of a VGA port. So, if you're looking to hook this up to an external video source, then you probably shouldn't go with this model.

So, if those last 2 issues won't affect you, then I can definitively say that this is one of the best netbooks on the market right now.

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I had been considering buying a new Macbook to replace my ageing iBook G4, which at 3 years old is getting ready to be retired. My ventures into the electronics shops to play with the Macbook brought me into contact with netbooks... and was I amazed at their price!

Although I was an Apple convert of 5 years these tiny gems seemed to be able to do everything I wanted with a mobile computer (remember I still have a functioning iBook... and a new iMac). I wanted something that was very portable and light. I wanted to be able to surf the net, read emails and type the occasional document. And I figured I could live with Windows XP at a push, so I started my research. I read all the reviews. I flipped through every PC Mag I could find. And I tested them in-store.

The HP Mini 1000 got my attention for three things

a) The stylishly compact design and high quality build

b) The almost full size keyboard

c) The amazing screen with glowing colours

Now to be honest I must admit that it looks a lot like the black MacBook (which has been discontinued) and as a Mac user I do like design. But the keyboard is so easy to type on compared with the other ones on the market. And the case is very very stylish and professional looking (unlike some of the other netbooks out there). And the edge to edge glass covered screen makes it look even more impressive. The build is solid and it is sturdy enough to throw into a backpack.

I also appreciate the lack of extra pre-installed trial software as well so I don't have to spend hours removing it.

Oh, but I forgot to mention the price! It's about 1/3 the price of a Macbook! Not bad in these bleak times.

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I've been using this HP Mini 1000 Netbook for a while now, and decided to write a review for Amazon because I'm so impressed with the device. If you are considering a "Netbook" like this, chances are you've never owned one, and are perhaps a bit skeptical about the device. So was I.

First off, let's set the parameters. This isn't a multi-core Pentium processor machine with a high end dedicated graphics card. It isn't meant for running the most processor intensive applications faster than any other computer on the market. Most of you have one of these number-crunching machines at home already, or perhaps a high-end laptop with all the power-intensive support. This is a "Netbook," which means a slimmed down laptop that can be used for basic functions, such as web browsing, e-mail, and some minor picture viewing.

That's a bit deceptive, because when you read descriptions like that, you expect that the HP Mini 1000 will essentially be a performance "dog" that can handle only a web browser, and perhaps Picasa. I can tell you, that's a real mistake.

There's no doubt this in one of the lightest and smallest computers you've ever seen, but, surprisingly, it is also one of the most sprightly performing laptops you're likely to find in the price range (and speaking of price, it's basically a steal at between $400 and $500; I had two other laptops not long ago that were both sub-3 pound devices, and they each cost over $3,000). I went ahead and just took a gamble on loading all of a trial copy of Microsoft Office 2007 (Outlook, Word, Excel, OneNote, etc.), and then just piled on other applications I typically use on my regular laptop (a dual core T8100 processor in an HP Dv2000 body), including picture viewers, utility programs, etc.. Surprise. It not only handled all the software, but it runs the programs remarkably well, with little lag time and surprisingly deft performance. The Intel "Atom" Processor powering this thing can easily be seen as a "sleeper" technology that people are going to increasingly talk about.

Boot time is also surprisingly fast. Mine usually loads within 20 seconds, certainly faster than my "powerful" laptop. Of course, the Mini is running Windows XP, not Vista, but still, that's pretty impressive. (By the way, I also installed Windows 7 RC1, and it worked just fine.)

The wireless has thus far worked without problems. I connect to my home network with high security settings, and to public locations using open networks, all without a hitch so far. (The unit, however, does not support draft-n specifications, so you'll be connecting at g speeds.)

The physical construction of this unit is excellent. Yes, it is small and light. But it is also sturdy in the way it feels, with little squeaking and a solid construction. The screen is bright and clear. And the keyboard is one of the best I've seen in any laptop. How did they do this?

Finally, when youfeel the tiny weight and size of the battery as you take it out of the box, you'll be thinking that it will run 30 minutes, tops. Well, with the Atom processor sipping current at exceedingly low amounts, you'll likely see some 90 120 minutes on a single charge. It's amazing.

You can probably tell I'm impressed with this device, because I am. If this is the beginning of "Netbooks," then I think they will become increasingly popular as people discover them.

Rating for Size and Weight: Five Stars

Rating for Price: Five Stars

Rating for Configuration: Four and 1/2 Stars

Pros:

1. Exceedingly light and small

2. Beautiful physical appearance

3. Clear and bright screen (but glare can be an issue)

4. Remarkable performance, even with software suites such as Office 2007

5. Excellent keyboard with good tactile feel and large size layout (how is this possible?)

6. Wireless that actually works

7. Lightweight adapter cord (you've been stung on this before, haven't you? They finally got it right.)

8. Two USB 2.0 ports, plus a network port and a HP adapter output port

9. Built-in webcam

10. Can put in a 2Gb memory card (even though it claims 1Gb is the limit)

11. Very good battery life for such a dimunutive battery

12. Great price for the package

Cons

1. No draft-N wireless available

2. Bluetooth not on every model

3. HP Proprietary connector required for VGA output

4. Non-common 1.8" hard drive format limits upgrade options to the 1.8" format

5. Screen resolution, though very good, is not as high as we might wish (but is good enough)

6. Display does not fold back as far as most laptops

7. Outstanding performance probably drives us to push the unit past its stated purposes (i.e., just don't be upset if you can't run a C++ compiler while listening to Windows Media Player and editing an Excel spreadsheet)

To sum it up, this is truly an outstanding breakthrough if you understand what the unit is designed to do. I'm already seriously considering substituting my main laptop with the HP Mini for most out-of-home tasks. Five stars.

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This is a great little netbook but for the price HP should include bluetooth and wireless n in addition to the installed b/g wireless of yesterday.

First I should mention I didn't pay the price Amazon is asking, I bought it direct from HP's site for $450 (built to order, same configuration as this model).

I also own an Acer mini with the same processor, ram, and XP.

Well after using both the Acer and the HP I much prefer the HP simply due to the beautiful screen. In other departments Acer got it right like having three usb ports, a 100GB larger and faster hard drive, and a 6 cell battery to name a few. But did I mention the beautiful screen on the HP? I love it! This doesn't come (or at least mine didn't) loaded full of ad's and crap which was very nice, there was very little to uninstall before I went to work configuring it to my personal taste and loading my software. Thank you HP for not bogging this one down with useless crap, it is very appreciated and will keep you in mind next time I'm looking for a similar product. Also I love the fact that the Windows Install CD came in the box, Acer wasn't so generous in that department.

HP really should include a nice slip case in the box, unfortunately none of the manufacturers do so I was forced to buy a generic third party case off of Amazon like everyone else, I'll post a review on the case and how it fits in a week or so once it arrives and I've tested it out.

Does anyone know if there is a way to upgrade the ram on this one yet? As far as I know there isn't but it would be nice to have 2gb verses the 1gb that it comes with. I should mention it runs pretty good on just 1gb I simply am a demanding consumer.

I usually buy most of my electronics on either Amazon, Newegg, or eBay but this time the price difference was remarkable I actually saved $250 by buying directly from HP.

I hope this review is useful to those of you out there debating which one to get, remember none of the other netbooks will even come close to this HP as far as screen quality goes but for the dollar Acer gives you a little more bang for your buck in the other departments.

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Toshiba Satellite L635-S3100 13.3-Inch LED Laptop (Grey)

I bought this laptop last week and sent it right back. It's small enough, but quite bulky for a 13" laptop. The description on the Amazon page said it was less than 5", but that's really not the case. It's battery life was also quite short--just a little over 3 hours using eco-mode. It isn't that light either. I have a 16" Toshiba and the difference between the two in terms of weight seemed so minimal. Also, the back part of the laptop, where the battery is inserted is very noticeably bigger ('fatter') than the front. I was looking for a really lightweight one that I could bring around with me. The good thing about this Toshiba model of course is that it's got an optical (DVD) drive, the others from ACER and HP at this size don't. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to get an ACER 13" as I need a lightweight machine that's got 4-5 hours at least of juice. Toshiba's are generally of good quality, but this 13" one was just not for me. (I also wish Toshiba's would start making slim laptops again like the ones I had a couple years ago. Their new models tend to be on the 'fat' side. Decent price though--as I got the one (last week) for only $ 498. Sent it back to Amazon via UPS.

Speed is great, lots of storage space...smaller than my old dell, but not too small like my netbook. The design looks awesome too, although I'm not too fond of gloss...however I'm able to get passed that so I just love it! Would recommend it to students and those who need a laptop at home

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Another excellent product from Toshiba, from whom I have purchased several laptops. The only negative I found was that it contains only two, not the typical three, USB input ports.

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After to have had a Toshiba Satellite from the 2005, I thought that I went to have the same experience when I bought another new one, but was not thus, from the beginning frisaba and after months in center of repair of Toshiba in my country, she hoped that she followed well, and after 5 months she returned to give problems me, at the moment is 2 monts old in repair center again. I believe that I will not risk to buy another Toshiba in my life.

Fiasco!!! Fiasco!!!

Después de haber tenido una Toshiba Satelite desde el 2005, yo pensé que iba tener la misma experiencia cuando yo comprara otra nueva, pero no fue así, desde el principio se frisaba y después de unos meses en el centro de reparación de Toshiba en mi país, esperaba que siguiera bien, y después de 5 meses ella volvió a darme problemas, actualmente tiene 2 meses en centro de reparación otra vez. Creo que no me arriesgaré a comprar otra Toshiba en mi vida.

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My review title says it all the hard drive failed 9 months after purchase, and it was outside the warranty window for a hard drive replacement. It took $200 to repair it (I had it done at an authorized Toshiba repair shop, so could have done it for about half if I did it on my own). Considering this was a ~$500 computer, paying another $200 nine months later just to keep it running is unacceptable.

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Lenovo G560 06793JU 15.6-Inch Laptop (Grey/Black)

I live in Costa Rica and ordered a Lenovo computer after several good recommendations from friends. I am a programmer and my main concern was CPU speed and amount of RAM memory. This computer works smooth after uninstalling all the bundled software that comes with it, including the face recognition software. The trackpad is very good, I personally like it, but I guess it is a matter of taste.

Pros

* very fast computer

* incredibly fast startup and shutdown

* good for CPU intensive apps and full screen videos

* very elegant design

* keyboard of very high quality

* glossy screen looks beautiful, with bright colors

* very thin and light for its size and price

Cons

* exaggerated amount of pre-installed software (reason why I give it a 4-star rating and not 5). After uninstalling, I recommend making backup DVDs...

It is a pity that Lenovo installs that amount of software in a computer. It should be an option, at the first time of use. Otherwise, a great computer. Highly recommend it if you don't mind spending at least 1 hour uninstalling all the crap... For my part, for $699 (bought at Amazon on Marco 2010), I like this computer very much...

After much debate I decided on purchasing a Lenovo G560. Spec wise, an i5 processor, 4gb ram, led screen, sleek design, and lenovo quality made it seem like a great bargain. Off the bat I had to agree. The fit and finish are top notch. I was not bothered by the smuding of the outside because when the screen is open you can't see it! When you are working on the PC, it feels like a desktop, the space is utilized very well. The appearance is minimalistic and sleek. IMO if it had chiclet style keys it would be even a more beautiful interior setup than apple. The keyboard is nice to type on. The shift button is a bit small but this didn't really result in any functional problems. In addition, the number pad is a bit cramped, especially if you have big fingers. I did not have that much trouble with the track pad as others. It has a nice textured feel and supports multitouch. The integrated buttons although appear nice, are a bit cumbersome because it seems like the whole pad clicks, but you must press in the designated area for it to work. I use a great wireless mouse so this is not an issue. The screen is absolutely gorgeous. The only screen that looks better is the high resolution optional screen on the apples. Windows 7 works very fast on this computer with super fast start up and shutdown. Windows 7 in general is pretty sweet and IMO if you are used to windows, provides much of the "it just works" features of a mac with the familiarity of a PC. So at this point, I LOVE the computer. Heres the downfall, I am listening to music and it sounds just beautiful. I notice my battery is starting to fade so I plug it into the wall. Buzz buzz buzz, there is static from my headphones! Remove the plug, no buzz, put it back, buzz. I've read about this happening on other computers and everyone says oh just get a hum reducing this or that but when i'm spenind $700, I don't want to buy adapters to reduce humming! Although with loud music this isn't and issue, I do my work with soft instrumental music and in lulls and in between songs I can hear it and it drives me crazy. In addition, it is supposed to have fan management to reduce heat and fan noise. This feature seems to work well most of the time, but sometimes, it goes into this mode where it will turn on for 30 seconds, then off for a minute, and repeat for several minutes and is somewhat annoying. Again, it was only noticable because I was in a very quiet setting. Overall, this computer is neaaaarly amazing, but it has some issues, that for me, are just too significant to continue dealing with. Verdict: will return the computer, hope lenovo addresses these issues and will either buy another lenovo, or go back on the hunt.

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DO NOT BUY...till they fix the mousepad on this thing. This thing seems to have gone through absolutely no QA before being shipped.

I've been using HP's and Dell's and heard a lot about Lenovo's so went ahead and bought this one. Nice laptop with a good LED screen and i5 processor but what's the point if you can't work it using the mousepad. It is beyond horrible the mouse has a mind of it's own. Does not follow the finger well at all. Sometimes I'll keep moving my finger and the mouse would be left behind somewhere. Just grabbing a window slider to scroll a window is a hugely frustrating task. I've tried all kinds of mouse setting available but nothing seems to make this better. And the buttons are all part of the mouse pad. On my HP I can move the mouse and hit the left/right button using just one hand. No such luck on this one. You need mucles to depress that button and the fact that it's built into the mousepad instead of being separate buttons makes it even harder. So now you need two hands one to move the pointer around and another to depress the mouse.

Going to talk to Amazon right now to figure out what to do about this. Once I started using this and figure out the mousepad is so horrible I thought I got a bad piece so I googled. Apparently it's a known issue but Lenovo continues to ship defective laptops. My first and last Lenovo for sure. Don;t know if I can [ut in links but just seacrh for Lenovo trackpad/mousepad issues before buying....

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I regret purchasing this laptop. That being said, It appeared to be a great deal of machine for the price. I chose it because of the Core i5 CPU, plus the 4gb of ddr3 RAM that is expandable. I reasoned that for $600 I might as well take advantage of the latest offering from Intel.

The Core i5 chip has four internal processors, but the mobile version doesn't. It does offer four threads versus the two of the Core 2 Duo, and the chip is thinner at 32nm. It is questionable where the marketing claims of Intel and reality lie. For instance, the Turbo-Boost sounds great until you read the fine print and realize that 300mhz is not much extra bang. The desktop version of the Core i5 and i7 CPU are real number crunchers, while the i5-430 mobile CPU on this laptop may be something else.

All the reviews regarding the track-pad understate the frustration I have felt!

KLUDGE !!!

However much I like this machine, the track-pad made me want return it, or throw it...

Additionally, you will need a cooling pad. The new processors run hot and suck 35 Watts of power. The fan is the loudest of any laptop I have owned. Rather irritating as it still runs periodically even with the cooling pad.

If I had to do it over again, I would have chosen an ultra low voltage Core 2 Duo laptop, either the SU-4100 or SU-7300 series. The thought of eleven hours versus less than three hours of battery is tempting after this experience. Lenovo does not offer an extra capacity battery for this machine.

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I've had this laptop for about 2 weeks.

Pros:

* sleek modern design (gray, brushed metal)

* good value (HDMI out, i5 CPU, webcam w/ mic, 4gb RAM)

* bright clear and crisp LED screen

* decent battery life

Cons:

* as other reviewers have noted trackpad is unresponsive at times (see below)

* low screen resolution (1366×768)

* preloaded with lots of bloat-ware.

The trackpad at times seems overly sensitive and sometimes not sensitive enough. At first, I thought it was my hand interacting with the multi-touch software (which lets your scroll down webpages, drag and drop, etc. with motions on the trackpad) but even after turning off those features, it does not completely resolve the problem. Lowering the sensitively of the trackpad does help, but even then the trackpad seems to not respond to motions and does not even detect a mouse click. Since the mouse buttons are integrated into the trackpad, I can only conclude it's an issue with the pad itself.

The 1366×768 screen resolution is fairly standard with 14-15" laptops these days, but that seems low. The desktop icons seem huge. With a i5 CPU and a 15.6" screen, I'd expect the resolution to go up to 1280×1024.

Overall, I'm a bit disappointed with the Lenonvo G560. On paper, specifications and price point offer a lot of value, but unfortunately, the trackpad issues ruins an otherwise solid laptop.

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ASUS S46CA-XH51 14.1-Inch Laptop (Black)

With a shrinking number of ultrabooks with Windows 7 on them as shipped, this system offers a really good mix of hard-to-find features including VGA and HDMI port, an RJ45 network jack, and throw in a DVDRW drive and 1 USB 3.0 and 2 USB 2.0 ports. The traditional hard drive with small SSD cache is a good compromise on a low-cost system. Very thin yet feels solid with aluminum casing. Really the only negatives are lack of backlit keyboard and trackpad a little tricky to get used to (left/right buttons are integrated into pad), and no recovery media and no way to make them, a poor trend for most vendors.

ASUS was recommended to me as a good brand, this seems to be the best 14" with Win 7, Amazon had the best price through another seller Technology Galaxy. However, return policy for TG is once the box is open it's yours, no exceptions, my bad for not reading the fine print. Right out of the box the cooling fan ran fast and loud, you could hear it in the next room. When typing in Word, email or in a web text box, the cursor would jump around causing you to manually set it back to the end of a sentence to continue typing. That's enough for me to return it, but as stated above, the return policy won't allow it. I spent hours with ASUS tech support via chat (tech support was good) to download a chipset to solve the cooling fan problem and some other software upgrade to stop the cursor jumping. Fan is solved, it runs quiet now, the cursor is still problematic, but we finally figured out how to disable the touchpad, the laptop is primarily used with a mouse. Another review talked about the touchpad being the deal killer too, take note. Other than that, the unit works fine (now) for word processing, web surfing, and some simple psychology testing software. If you want to buy this brand/model, go find one that you can demo before you commit. Buy direct from Amazon so you can return it if you don't like it. Beware of sellers selling through Amazon, they might not let you return it if you open the box.

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this was by far the easiest setup of my 10? laptops -based on reviews i read here i chose this model (with win 7) over a new vaio with win 8 (my last 5 computers have all been vaios) -seamless, fast setup, speedy, lots of RAM -only caveat is no numeric keypad but i only used it to type accents, so --

downloaded browsers, software, printer drivers & updated versions of this n' that -no problem whatsoever. so far so good -it's only tweaking & transferring files now -from the previous laptop whose touchpad i drowned --

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I chose this laptop primary because it had a very fast processor and it was a Windows 7 instead of the new Windows 8. It was actually a little more expensive than Win 8, but I heard Win 8 has problems. I still prefer a full size keyboard, because I like to type fast. The keyboard on this laptop is too small and very flat. It is difficult to use and the pad is inaccurate. I spend quite a bit of type with the pad to try and move the cursor around. The mouse works a little better than the pad. The keyboard also has options that let you use certain keys for other functions. It is these extra things that make for a bad experience. Besides being hard to type, there are regular problems, where the cursor just flies all over the place when you are trying to type. The way the keyboard ends up working is more akin to a cell phone than a computer. It is just very frustrating to use. Start up to my surprise is very slow. It takes about 20-30 seconds to start. The internet connection was flawless and has worked very well. The area surrounding the keyboard and pad is a very nice aluminum finish. The rest of the computer feels and looks cheap. It is very light plastic and there are places where the plastic finish is pretty rough. The screen is pretty good, it works well even strong lighting conditions and even when it faces the window. I don't know why it got such high ratings. With the exception of the aluminum finish and the screen, it is very average and substandard in some instances.

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I was looking forward to using this computer I did a lot of research before purchasing it and finally found the best deal here on Amazon. A few people had said that they hated the trackpad (ASUS' new version of the mouse) but they just plugged in an external mouse and it was fine.

I tried for over a month to get used to the trackpad (I can't really use an external mouse because I'm not often sitting at a desk with my laptop), and I hated it so much that I finally gave up and returned it for a refund. The computer itself seems great, but the trackpad was a deal-killer for me. I'm unlikely to look at ASUS in the future and I am back to hunting for a new laptop.

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Acer Aspire 5739G-6959 15.6-Inch Widescreen (Crystal)

This laptop was an awesome buy in 2009 and considering I got it for $650 I couldn't go wrong. I only have 3 problems with this laptop.

1. The touchpad doesn't work right while gaming and I have the newest drivers and such

I don't know why someone would want to use a touchpad for gaming but if you do it won't work

2. The sound quality is very nice but it is also very low...

It has amazing sound quality but in a slightly noise environment you can forget about using the speakers

3. It actually overheats during intense gaming and will shut off completely for 10 minutes. I had the laptop hit 108 degrees Celsius...

This is easily solved by purchasing a cooling pad but those aren't very cheap.

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Dell Inspiron i15R-2632sLV 15.6-Inch Laptop (Silver)

First off, this laptop is actually a Dell Inspiron 15r 5520. Dell has no record of the model # i15R-2632sLV, and WILL NOT be able to help you if you refer to this model # (have no idea why Amazon lists it under this name). There are 4 configurations to the 15r 5520, and this is the best one. This information can be found directly from Dell here:

This is a very powerful laptop for the price. The Intel Core i7 3612QM handles multi-tasking seamlessly, and the 1TB hard drive is larger than most that you will find in this price range. While it would've been nice to include a 7200 rpm hard drive (like the comparably priced Samsung Series 5 laptop which also has a Core i7), the 5400 rpm drive will not produce as much heat, especially during tasks like gaming. The processor is more than powerful enough to make up for the slower hard drive speed as well. The design is sleek, the keyboard feels very comfortable, and the whole case is a quality build. If you are looking for a fast, powerful laptop at a low price, this is a great choice.

However, note that if you are interested in playing the most current games at high settings (a "hardcore" gamer), this is not the laptop for you: the graphics card is integrated into the CPU, so there is no dedicated graphics card, and thus the graphics card can't be upgraded. It includes Intel HD Graphics 4000 (currently the highest rated Intel HD Graphics set as per the date of this review), which is perfectly able to handle most games, but will be unable to bring you the most current games at the higher-end settings.

Overall I would recommend this laptop to anyone other than intensive PC gamers who crave the razzle-dazzle of fully realized optimal graphics from demanding games (such as Battlefield 3). I can't say enough about the power of the processor for the price. Most comparable to: Samsung Series 5 NP550P5C-A02US, and Sony VAIO E Series SVE1511MFXS.

I bought this laptop for my son, looking for any latest configuration and a good price for it! And I found this Dell which is amazing, it is fast, good quality of sound and video! I am very pleased with it!Dell Inspiron i15R-2632RED 15-Inch Laptop (Red)

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This is a great computer, very fast, i can watch netflix, have 10 browsers open, and have downloads going in the background and there is still no lag time for new tasks. The video quality is great, and there is plenty of hard drive space for movies and music. Carefull with the case the sliver scratchs so very easy and shows bad. It comes packed with alot of crappy trial software, tho, it took over an hour to unload all of it.

Read Best Reviews of Dell Inspiron i15R-2632sLV 15.6-Inch Laptop (Silver) Here

From very early on, the computer has had trouble with going into sleep mode when it shouldn't; these days it's usually fine, but throws a fit every now and then. And it has seemed kind of slow given the fancy hardware. I called Dell and they tried to deal with it, but required either a steep one time fee or an even steeper service contract. I got the one time fix to deal with the sleep mode problem. The problem went away for the next several days. But a week later it was back again. Perhaps reinstalling windows would fix things, but it's a hassle.

Otherwise it's been alright.

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The computer is very fast and very good! Intel Hd 4000 graphics are very good for the price.

8 gb of ram, plenty to keep programs running smooth. You can't go wrong with a terabite (1000) Gb hard drive!

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HP Envy dv6-7245us 15.6-Inch Laptop (Black) Windows 8 / 3.2 GHz AMD Quad Core A10-4600M Processor /

I picked up this laptop from a local computer store, and I'm loving it so far, the advertised 4 speakers (5 if you include the subwoofer) sounds better tan all my other laptops, maybe it's the beats speakers, or the subwoofers.

I didn't see the finger print reader, so that was a real plus, the hp fingerprint software is fast and easy to use, no problems so far.

The core runs at 1400mhz idle, 2300mhz with a decent workload, and 3100mhz with turbo core/turboboost, it's a A10, which means its a quad core

Details

A10-4600 APU

radeon 7660g APU 3GB dedicated memory

(note that the core and gpu are combined (APU)

6GB (4+2gb) DDR3 1600mhz (PC3-12800) 2 slot

Expandable to 16 gb (2x8gb)

1366x768 (720p hd) screen

640gb 5400rpm HDD

12.7" Sata II DVD (kind of flimsy, convinced me to give it 4/5)

Replaceable with universal 12.7mm caddy (google it)

Full size keyboard, island style (not backlit)

I belive a 720p HD webcam

Dual mics

Power2go 8 included

HELP:

To disable fn keys: settings>change of settings>general>advanced startup, you can acess the bios from there (yess, windows 8 has a bios, it's just well hidden)

Can't connect to network, disable and reanble the wifi adapter va network and shavings center, there seems to be a glitch

Simply the best computer to get your schoolwork and gaming done in. I purchased this because as a college student things get demanding sometimes and every once in a while you get bored so this is where this baby does the job!

Buy HP Envy dv6-7245us 15.6-Inch Laptop (Black) Windows 8 / 3.2 GHz AMD Quad Core A10-4600M Processor / Now

If you need maximum power for a low price this is the way to go. gets schoolwork and gaming done right quick. With the quad core processor you play almost all new games and windows 8 makes it even better.

Read Best Reviews of HP Envy dv6-7245us 15.6-Inch Laptop (Black) Windows 8 / 3.2 GHz AMD Quad Core A10-4600M Processor / Here

Really fast start-up, had it up and running in a few hours. Windows 8 takes some getting used to, but I got the hang of it in 1 use.

Want HP Envy dv6-7245us 15.6-Inch Laptop (Black) Windows 8 / 3.2 GHz AMD Quad Core A10-4600M Processor / Discount?

I was under the impression that this was touch screen enabled and it is not. Not a deal breaker, but to use the full functionality of windows 8 you need a touch screen. Sure, it is possible to use W8 without a touchscreen, just not ideal. Other than that it is great. I was trying to determine before I bought if the screen was touchscreen enabled, but it wasn't clear.

Save 24% Off

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Dell Inspiron 15R-N5110 Intel Core i5-2430M 2.4GHz 6GB 640GB DVD+/-RW 15.6" Win7 (Black)

Great deal, good computer, good sound and screen, long battery life. Would buy another. Outdoes the HPs I have had in the past especially in sound quality from speakers.

it is usefull and for what i need it is ok, i hope to use it for a long time!

Buy Dell Inspiron 15R-N5110 Intel Core i5-2430M 2.4GHz 6GB 640GB DVD+/-RW 15.6" Win7 (Black) Now

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Dell XPS M1530

I've had this laptop for 3 years. I bought it refurbished from Dell with a 3 year complete care warranty. It has been a good laptop. I had a hard drive crash once and replaced the hard drive (covered under warranty). Otherwise it has been super. It still runs the games I like to play, like Civilization 5 and MMORPG's, though I have to play Rift with super low graphics settings. Considering that I only paid $800 for it three years ago and it is still functional and useful, I can't complain.

Cons--1. The battery life is low. I have a 9 cell and (as another reviewer states) it doesn't last long at all. However, I always play plugged in, so it isn't a real problem with me. 2. Heat. It does get really hot. The graphics card is a bit much for this computer, and it could use a better fan. It works best on a cooling pad with a fan. That's about it! If you want to buy an older computer (it is 2012 now) that can still play medium level games, this is worth a shot. :)

Not a pc fan as a vetern mac user. But after buying this laptop slighty customized better opposed to this one I am very impressed. The speed, performance, reliability, and gaming on this machine has been terrific, not up to my mac or OSX standard but very well made. Vista sucks hard, but we all know that. Thankfully I only use this machine for gaming or multiplayer when friends come over or online. From a OSX/Mac user this laptop is a very good purchase save the bloated windows OS.

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I have had to replace the hard drive and it has now failed again.

Need to look for another laptop, as i am not about to invest anymore time and money in this one.

other problems I have had with this laptop

1. very hot

2. can hardly hear speakers at full volume

3. will not update windows

4. no battery life at all

Read Best Reviews of Dell XPS M1530 Here

I've owned my XPS M1530 for just over four years. During that time I have replaced the key board twice along with the battery, the hard drive, and the fan. In addition, I found it necessary to re-install Vista twice (or was it three times?). As was mentioned in other reviews, the laptop can run very hot so hot that on a couple of occasions it suddenly shut itself down. Apparently, the Dell M-series laptops have faulty nvidia 8400gs chips which is the source of the heat problem. To prevent damage I purchased a cooling pad, which is not convenient if you travel with your laptop.

Performance and graphics have been acceptable; however, I do not use my laptop for gaming or watching videos. In addition to MS Word and Excel, I mainly use the laptop to run computer algebra systems such as Mathematica and Matlab, or type documents in latex. Maybe I was spoiled by my Inspiron 6000, which I continue to use as a backup. It is about 8 years old and is still going strong (it's just a little too slow for everyday use).

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DO NOT EVER buy this computer. My husband has had it for a little while now and when we got it the mother load was malfunctioning. We bought the warranty with it, but the problem existed when we first got the computer. They will not fix the problem, even though we bought the warranty. We have spent countless hours on the phone with dell and they still will not fix the problem. We are ready to throw the computer out the window. DO NOT EVER BUY. Also DO NOT buy dell computers at all because they will not help you with any problem even if you have the extended warranty. They also tell you one thing and then never document it on your account so what they just told you doesn't exist. Horrible Customer Service. (May 20, 2011)

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HP Envy 15-3040NR 15.6 Inch Laptop (Black/Silver)

I really wanted to like this laptop, because on paper, there are very very few (if any) laptops that offer a similar package at this price point (up to 30% off MSRP after various HP coupons on the web for i7-2620qm, powerful graphics via 7690m, but most of all, 1080p IPS display). However, after 2 months of patience, I can no longer ignore the glaring issues HP has chosen to overlook. First, there have been numerous reports first appearing in forums about users' complaints about the Envy 15 1080p's inability to produce red colors. Since the initial reports in January, numerous tech blogs like the Verge, notebookcheck, and Engadget (among others) have confirmed this issue. While I had tried to overlook the issue myself, the non-reds eventually became far too big of a distraction, especially considering that this was a $150.00 upgrade option. If HP charged $250.00 for a screen upgrade that had a decent color gamut (come on! I'm not asking for Dreamcolor quality or even 95% Adobe coverage like Lenovo offers, just a screen that can reproduce the THREE PRIMARY COLORS!), I would have gladly and without hesitation ponied up the extra cost. I regret that HP chose to cut corners like this, when they were so close to a phenomenal laptop/display. -1 Star for display.

The second issue I take is the keyboard. To be fair, when I first received this unit, I had no skipped/missed keys, and I decided I could live with the slight flex on the left side of the keyboard. But ever since a BIOS update (F.05, for those of you keeping track), which by the way was ON HP's OWN SITE, the keyboard will miss literally about 15% of my keystrokes whenever I'm running on AC adapter (but strangely, I have no problems when running on battery!). The keystroke issue is actually distracting enough to disrupt my day-to-day web browsing (missed spaces and mistyped web addresses are nothing but common); in fact, the only way you are reading this review without typos in every 3rd word is by my proofreading. Again, to be fair, I am understanding of the fact that software/updates can be buggy at times; it's another matter when the manufacturer does not fix these bugs, not to mention refuse to acknowledge the numerous complaints from customers (google for forums in notebookreview.com and HP customer support forum for "Envy 15 BIOS keyboard" and skim through results). -2 Star, 1 each for keyboard/HP customer service handling complaints.

Others have complained about banged up USB ports, scratches, paint peeling, etc., but my unit arrived cosmetically flawless so I will not dock any stars for that.

It is my own fault for waiting 2 months to try to like this laptop and end up discovering all of this, instead of returning the unit within the initial 21-day period. I hope others will benefit from my less-than-pleasant experience with the Envy 15. I will update this review should HP offer any solutions to these and other complaints not even mentioned in this mini-review, but I am not holding my breath.

EDIT 2/21/12: BIOS F.06 also does nothing to address the keyboard problem.

EDIT 3/20/12: I'm adding one star back to my review. F.07 was released a couple of days ago, and I'm happy to report that all of the keyboard woes are gone! Here's to hoping that those problems don't return... I would like to add on a half-star if I could, for the fact that HP's coming around to responding and ACKNOWLEDGING the problems surrounding the Envy. HP recently made a formal (though somewhat vague) announcement about HP's proposal to fix the screen issue. This gives me some hope that the company's at least taking steps to do what it can to remedy the issues at hand. I will update again after seeing what HP ultimately does w/ the LCD problem.

EDIT 5/10/12: HP released a software that allows some control over colors for the display, but as I had suspected, the software doesn't do anything to fix the red/violet issues (I wasn't hoping for too much out of the software option anyway since my research had confirmed the colors are a limitation of the LG panel itself).

EDIT 7/10/12: I honestly didn't think I'd be updating this review again, but here I am. First I have to say that HP's engineers offered better customer concern/service than any dedicated customer service departments, period (Thanks again, Jonathan!). Second, HP contacted me a few weeks ago to ask whether I had the orange-red issues with my panel, to which I provided details about the problem. Long story short, I was offered a free exchange (HP paid shipping both ways), and quite frankly, I wasn't expecting any difference despite the different panel part number of the new panel. Well I was wrong--wrong about my customer service comments above, and wrong about the panel. The new panel isn't perfect or even great by any standard, but it is definitely a noticeable improvement on the original Envy 15 panels' reds. In light of these two points, I'm adding one more star back mostly due to the way that HP decided to handle the crappy-display issue because the screen, as improved as it is, is still only average. Here's a quote from a post I wrote on another forum, describing the difference:

"While the reds on the new panels are still definitely not a natural, deep red, it's a noticeable improvement from the older panels. The red is at least almost on par with my Galaxy S phone, and noticeably but not hugely worse than my Dell U2311h. Reds are noticeably more orange than on my Dell U2410, but I'm not expecting much there because that is, after all, a 118% gamut display. My Envy 14's red is definitely redder, but I didn't expect the E15 to be as good anyway since the E14's panel is 84% gamut, and the E15's is supposedly 60%. The reds are indistinguishable from the reds on my wife's Late 2011 Macbook 15 (1680x1050 panel), and in some cases (netflix website, fullscreen red in Paint), the E15 actually appears redder--and no, there is nothing "wrong" with the Macbook's panel.

It's very hard for me not to expect more though b/c I've been far too long spoiled by the likes of HP's dreamcolor display, Dell's no longer existent RGBLED XPS 16 display, and excellent desktop monitors... yet, in spite of that, I can confidently say that at least the color aspect of the new panels are no better or worse than the colors of a typical TN panel on the average laptop. That said, I always thought that given equal color reproduction, there is little/no reason not to opt for IPS or TN (at least on a laptop), so I think I can lay aside my gripes about the orange-y reds. I can always wish/complain about wanting a higher gamut, but I know that's not what I paid for, nor did HP advertise high-gamut displays on the E15 as they did with the E14."

I bought this from Amazon but I ordered it through my wife's account (she has a prime student) and that's why Amazon is not showing as verified purchase. This laptop is gorgeous, very much a clone of a Macbook pro. I use a Early 2010 Macbook pro 17" for my work, and I can assure you it excels my Macbook pro in the following functional aspects:

1. It has a full keyboard. The Macbook's so called "Full" keyboard is really not that full. Macbook misses all the home, end, page up and page down button. And trust me, even after two years of regular usage, I find it irritating. True, you can use Command + Up/Down etc. combination. But it's really a productivity issue.

2. The Envy's 4 speakers and the woofer combination is really awesome. In fact, this is the first laptop that I saw that outperforms my 17" Macbook pro speaker (both sound quality and volume). Previously I compared Asus N53, hp DV5, Lenovo (forgot the model number) and hp DV6 and all of them had much inferior sound quality than my Macbook pro

3. The USB ports are distributed on two sides, which is really nice

From aesthetics and ergonomics part, it excels my Macbook pro in the following aspects:

1. The corners of the rectangular chassis is not sharp like my Macbook pro, which is really nice. The Macbook's sharp edges cut into my palm everytime I lift it. Even while typing, it feels like a knife against my arm.

2. I liked the back lighting of the hp keyboard better

Now some cons in comparison to my Macbook pro 17 (early 2010):

1. My hp envy 15 power button's painting is already peeling off!! My Macbook pro still looks like brand new (not just the power button). To be fair, the Envy 15 doesn't seem to have any other weak part to peel off, and I am planning to keep the laptop as that minor cosmetic blemish is not a big deal for me.

2. The screen on my Macbook pro still would outperform the radiance display (to be fair, this is the best display of all the non Macbook pro that I have seen (refer to the earlier mentioned laptop models that I played with)). That being said, the Macbook pro 15" display really SUCKS. Refer to my updated comparison with Macbook pro 15" at the end of this review.

3. My 2 years old Macbook pro's 640x480 resolution webcam (yes that's only 0.3 mega pixel) still outperforms this Envy HD webcam (True vision or whatever they call it). That being said, again, to be fair, this is one of the best webcam that I have seen in non-Macbook pro laptops. Particularly, my last attempt with Asus N53SV webcam was horrible! It was sooo laggy and soo horrible quality that it was a deal breaker for me. (UPDATE: I changed my opinion, and kindly refer to my updated part of this review for my current subjective opinion).

4. The touchpad on my macbook pro has NO competitor. It's really awesome, and the hp touchpad can only dream to be of that quality.

Now some common complaint and their solution:

1. The touchpad is horrible, doesn't do smooth scrolling, doesn't register click etc. The solution is to install the latest driver. The notebook review forum has a Envy driver page which is up to date with the latest drivers (including drivers that are still not officially available from HP) and I downloaded a Synaptic driver from that link. It's a direct download from HP server, so nothing to be worried about. HP is probably going to release that soon. The driver was built at the end of January and after installing that, this touchpad is REALLY awesome. Almost as good as my Macbook pro (but as I said, it's still has a long way to go)

2. The two finger tapping has no right click configuration: If you come from Mac world, you are probably accustomed to tapping with two fingers and that acts like a right click. You can install an open source program named TwoFingerScroll (hosted on google codes) to achieve that. After that, IMHO, the touchpad is feature complete (you can configure many options in original Synaptic control panel + TwoFingerScroll)

3. Battery issue, and smooth switching between built in and ATI graphics card: Right now I have fixed mode driver enabled and I am only using built in Intel Graphics, which is more than adequate for me as I don't play games. You just need to go to BIOS settings and set Fixed mode in video switching setting (instead of Dynamic (the default)), and then right click on the desktop and go to Configure Switchable Graphics and set the power saving GPU as the graphics card. That seems to give me around 5 hours of typical usage, where I can edit the documents or browse typical web. Please refer to the updated review at the end of this review for some battery comparison with Macbook pro 17" and 15".

4. People complain that the red looks orange. But that's a common problem of the recent IPS panels (I heard Sony has same problem). And to me it doesn't look bad at all. The notebook review forum has some color calibration suggestion to improve the red accuracy. But I don't think it would be fixed with such a simple solution. So, if you really need a very accurate color output, look elsewhere.

Some features that I really like:

1. The analog volume control: Oh my gosh, that is sooo handy and sooo cute. You really need to feel it to understand how great that feature is. I always got lost between various top row volume control button. Now I never miss volume up and volume down. And they also have a cute mute button next to the analog volume control.

2. Buttonless touchpad: While they copied it from Apple, I think that's really great. Particularly, now you have the whole area as a touchpad and for multi-touch gesture.

Some issues that I hate:

1. The fan sound. It's definitely louder than my Macbook pro (Which is almost silent), and it's even louder than my Asus N53!

2. The left side of the keyboard (a, s, d etc. keys) feels loose (probably people call it flexing??) It doesn't feel solid.

3. I hated the crappy painting that is peeling off from the power button

All being said, this is the best non-Apple laptop that I have ever seen in my life. I am really happy with the build quality and the look (which they definitely copied from Apple), and the laptop is really very snappy (as you would expect from such a high end laptop). Unless the IPS Red accuracy is an issue for you, and you can live with some hit and miss on the build quality, it should be fine. Give it a try, and of course Amazon's excellent customer service would help you get a refund if you are not happy.

UPDATE 02/22/2012:

I now played with the laptop little more, and I also compared it with my brother's late 2011 Macbook pro 15" (The latest model). Here is my findings:

1. Envy's display might be inferior to my Macbook pro 17" which has a full HD (not 1080p) 1920x1200 display. But it blows away the latest 15" Macbook pro's display which only has 1440x900 and you cannot even upgrade that display. In fact, the Macbook pro 15's display looks super pixelated next to Envy's display.

2. I heavily tested the webcam, and compared it against both my Macbook pro 17 and my brother's Macbook pro 15. While the Macbook pro's webcam looks more brighter, it is actually inferior to HP's true vision webcam. The hp webcam gives high color accuracy and more contrast. In return, you get more noise. In a first look it does appear that Macbook's webcam is smoother. But my wife pointed to me that my green t-shirt during testing was looking almost whitish with the Macbook pro (both 17" and 15") webcam.

3. Moreover, on the Webcam part, the HP webcam is buttery smooth. I don't have a scientific comparison. But, I felt like they are capturing the frames at at least 20+ FPS. Macbook pro's Webcam is also quite good. But I felt like they have little bit of lag and not as smooth as HP.

4. Apple actually lost their battery edge! This is particularly surprise to me. My 17" Macbook pro still gives me 6+ hours of battery life. While the brand new Macbook pro 15" actually depletes within 3 hours of continuous video playback! On skype video calling, it was showing me a dismal 1.5 hours of estimated battery life! The MBP 15" battery life is therefore very similar to Envy's battery life. I believe this is because of the quad core processor. Another thing that irritated me is Apple's unwillingness to disable the dedicated graphics card. In my Early 2010 MBP, there was an option in System Preference, where I could disable my dedicated graphics card to save some power. As I never play game, I never use dedicated graphics card. But, looks like in OS X Lion and the late 2011 MBP, they only either allow you dynamic switching or a dedicated graphics card. Neither could accomplish the best possible battery life with just an exclusive non-negotiable built in graphics card (as I mentioned, both my MBP 17 and Envy is currently set to built in graphics only).

5. And finally, I really got disappointed at my brother's latest Macbook pro 15" after introspecting with what he got after paying 1.5 times the cost of Envy:

5.1. MBP 15 has 512 MB of graphics RAM, while Envy 15 has 1GB.

5.2. Envy 15 came with Radeon 7690M while MBP came with 6750M.

5.3. Envy 15 came with 750GB Hard disk, while MBP came with 500GB HDD. Also, Envy came with 7200 RPM faster Hard disk, while MBP 15 came with 5400 slower hard disk.

5.4. Envy 15 came with 8GB 1600MHz RAM, while MBP came with 4GB 1333MHz RAM

5.5. Not to mention the super CRAPPY display of 15" MBP. That itself would be a deal breaker for me.

That being said, would I stop buying a Macbook pro in the future, when such a perfect Macbook pro clone is around? NO. I am a Computer Science researcher and I love the power of Unix. I am writing this part for those parents who often times buy Windows machine for their college going sons/daughters with Computer Science major. I personally believe that for productivity of a Computer Science major, Mac OS X has NO competitor. While Linux could be a viable alternative, it doesn't have any polished software. E.g., when I first bought my Mac, I commented that just for Unix compatibility, Omnigraffle, Keynote and native PDF integration of Mac OS X, I would pay the Apple premium. Linux simply doesn't have the Apps ecosystem. And Windows will never be able to emulate a Unix system as it doesn't have the POSIX layer. That being said, Windows is an excellent Entertainment OS. E.g., you cannot easily stream your media to your TV through a MAC (it doesn't come with DLNA and UPnP support), while Windows 7 is bundled out of the box with all those nice features. I can keep going on. But, my point is, for productivity, buy a Mac. For leisure and entertainment buy a Windows machine. That's just my personal opinion of course.

Update 03/24/2012:

After updating the bios to F.06, my keyboard started missing lots of keystrokes. Fortunately, Amazon was happy to send me another one. The new one came with F.06 pre-installed, but it only missed keystrokes when the backlit is ON. Luckily, HP released their latest F.07 BIOS. And now, all my problems are gone! The keyboard is perfectly working, and thanks to Amazon, I have got a new laptop with no power button paint peeling. So, I am hereby updating my review to 5 star. I know I have gone through lots of ordeal to get to this point. But I don't wanna keep any hard feeling, particularly when the laptop is so fast and smooth, and cute looking.

Buy HP Envy 15-3040NR 15.6 Inch Laptop (Black/Silver) Now

So, I bought this computer after my last HP (which I loved) went bad. First of all, I own a MacBook (that I use for ProTools) and 4 other laptops that I actually use on a regular basis. This was bought to be my "personal" computer the one I actually use for me.

THIS REVIEW IS FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE ALL OVER THE PLACE FIGHTING ABOUT BRAND AND NOT PAYING ATTENTION TO FUNCTIONALITY FOR THE PRICE

So, maybe earlier versions had a few problems, or for Apple users (more likely) had a different feel. I get that, but it's clear that whatever early bugs this had were fixed. It's pretty common for all makers to have buggy first batches of hardware. I don't give anybody a pass, and I include HP, Sony, Apple, and MS in this category. Mine had no errors of the original buyers, so I can't comment on that.

I buy computers based on:

1. What's inside them are they fast, can they be upgraded, will they do what I want?

2. Are they durable/high quality, in terms of design?

3. Is the price being asked fair compared to other company's models with similar specs?

The amount of complaining about how it looks like an MBP "but isn't," or basing your decision on "how close is it to another MacBook? to me tells me that you're completely looking at the wrong things. Here's what I think about this computer, and also how I made it as fast/faster than several $2500+ laptops (yes, MBPs included) for a whopping total of $1200. I bought an 83" DLP TV and built a movie theater with the money I didn't spend on having a specific brand like Samsung/Apple/Sony on my laptop case. I bought the best computer at the best price on the market; simple if you can set aside some bias.

PROS

FAST The i7, 8g RAM, Radeon, and 7200rpm HD make this thing incredibly smooth. Even before the SSD I put on (more in a second), it was a 5-10 second boot and had no lags/delays using any program or function.

STURDY The design on this is exceptional (in my opinion). While seemingly very simple, having an analog volume control on the side is a brilliant idea, and the computer is not cheap feeling. It's not heavy, and all and in the design/layout is great.

Easy Upgrade Potential (SSD!) For a whopping $200, I bought a new 240gb SSD, an external USB case for the existing drive, and the clone kit, and I literally was able to put in the SSD (including the clone) in about 40 minutes. This series has a back that simply slides off, lets you take out the 2.5" SATA HD case, put in the SSD, and close it up. With an SSD, this computer is insanely, insanely fast, and if I need it, I have my 7200rpm 750gb HD in a nice slimline case.

PRICE. Look at the specs, what you're getting, and then compare to Apple, Sony, or Samsung. At $1050, you're saving at least $1000 if you're considering an Apple (for close to equal stock specs), and probably $500 or so if you're looking at a Windows laptop. Given that I now have this with a top of the line 240gb SSD, and my TOTAL price was $1300.....it serious cannot be beat.

Windows 8 for $15 upon release this is what you maybe should use 1 of your 2 HDs for when it comes out? Have both OS's set up, and have a real copy for $15. I dig it.

HDMI Out, Full 1080p HD Screen no explanation needed...any computer that doesn't have an HDMI out now, to me, is a joke. The screen looks great, and I have no negative things to say about it vs my MacBook, MBP pro, or other high-end laptops..

CONS

Default TouchPad Settings The touchpad has (in my opinion) too many annoying double/triple tap and touch features. If you're in to those types of functions, they're all there, but it's annoying as hell at first to have the scroll and resize and whatnot on by default. I want just the touchpad to move the cursor and have the left/right buttons. I have the screen-res change ability on too, but that's it. Also, you should play with the scroll speed and sensitivity to have it set up "your way" right away.

All in all this is an amazing computer that costs about $2000-$2600 (if you factor in the SSD install) from Apple, or $1500+ from other makes. It has some neat design aspects, and is basically HP's "hip" computer for those people who don't care about whether their computer is a Dell, Asus, MacBook, or whatever.

The specs are great, and it has more features that I'll probably ever use. I've had no issues with it, and I'd recommend it both for its' specs and price, and for its 'fun" features like the audio/Blu Ray/etc.

Solid computer for a solid price, and if you put a Solid State in it, it becomes a speed demon. I'd buy again without blinking. The 15" is the perfect size for this type of computer, especially with the 1920x1080 resolution on the go.

Read Best Reviews of HP Envy 15-3040NR 15.6 Inch Laptop (Black/Silver) Here

My previous laptop was a Macbook pro 17" unibody. It was a beautifully built product. I'm quite surprised that I'm just as happy with the Envy as I was with the Macbook.

Pros:

Good build quality. Almost up there with the macbooks.

Based on the pictures, I thought the bottom and the lid were made of plastic. They're made on metal instead!

The drivers and base software bundle is very polished.

Re-install from recovery media is very streamlined and a pleasant experience.

Not a single crash so far.

The 1080p display quality is great. But there are some drawbacks. I use it in graphic design at work.

Quick boot time ad least with an ssd. The bios/post screen is a blink of an eye.

Battery life is good in normal tasks. I haven't tested anything heavier so far.

The gpu switching utility is simple and very useful. You specify which programs you want to fire up the more powerful gpu. That's something I missed on macs.

The usb port which lets you charge devices even when the computer is off is superb. Tablets and phones charged without problems. Now you can charge your phone when it's getting low on battery even while walking down town.

Nice stylish font on the keyboard.

Quite decent connectivity for such a device

Ability to function as a wlan access point and share the internet connection even while you're connected via wlan yourself.

Cons:

The bottom cover wobbles just slightly after a couple of opens. Normally no one needs the open it though. It is opened only if you replace the hdd, memory or battery

The volume levels tend to be to high with headphones and the volume knob. On the first level of volume it's too low and on the second level it's too loud. It kind of takes the usefulness out the knob. I haven't found a way to fix that so far. You really shouldn't need to search for a solution for volume settings.

The displays black levels seem to be quite high. The back light bleeds through quite a lot. On the other hand it's very uniform (led backlight), so it doesn't bother that much.

The power brick is huge and hideous. HP really needs to do something about these. It's a pain to carry them around. I bought a smaller one right away and use the original one only on my work desk.

Super reflective display finish.

Arrow keys are awful.

Recommendations:

I recommend to reinstall everything from the recovery dvd and select minimized install. That way all the non-essential software won't be installed.

Buy an ssd. It makes the world of difference.

Want HP Envy 15-3040NR 15.6 Inch Laptop (Black/Silver) Discount?

Spec wise and all. This laptop is pretty good.

The display is very crisp and clear.

It's fast.

It has a sleek design.

Cool button for changing volume.

Back lit keyboard.

Switchable graphics can save power.

HD

Beats Audio provides great sound through the speakers.

That being said, there are some issues I have with this laptop.

First, as I type this right now, it seems I have to hit my space bar key pretty hard when I use my right thumb since it seems to not respond when I hit it from the right side.

The red is not so red. I don't really care much about it, but it's an issue some of you might not really enjoy.

Switchable graphics not so switchable. Sometimes, it doesn't switch GPUs, but it's not that big a deal since you can simply, no, I advise you to change it to manual switching on the BIOS if you chose to get this laptop, so you can switch the GPUs yourself.

As I feel through the edges of the laptop, it feels uneven. It's not noticeable when you look at it, but you can feel it.

Looks like a Mac book. Originality please.

As for game performance and display, it performs great for the basic games, though it struggled a bit with GTA IV, but I was not on High Performance power mode, so I can't be certain.

Summary: If you are into Photoshop or you do stuff that involves colors, than I'll advise you to stay away from this laptop. If you are just a gamer(casual) looking for a portable gaming machine from this era, and you don't care much about color, then go ahead and get this.

Color-wise, I don't feel like returning it. Keys-wise, I just might.

EDIT(2/21/2012): According to some info I got from another forum, there was a BIOS update to attempt to fix the keyboard issue (BIOS F.06). I installed this update, but it didn't fix anything for me. On the other hand, some people claim that it fixed the issue for them. There was also another fix which would force the BIOS to recover, and some said that fixed it for them while others, like me, still remain with the keyboard issue. I guess right now, it's a game of chance for those with this laptop.

I have also decided to return the laptop since I couldn't bear the missing keystrokes any longer.

EDIT(3/8/2012): Long story short, I couldn't return the item yet, but I was able to ask for an exchange. I received another Envy and this one works way better than the one I got before even though it is still running the F.06 BIOS. The one thing you'll have to do to avoid skipping keystrokes is to dim the back light of the keyboard while on AC (You don't need it to be too high anyway). While on Battery, you should turn off the back light, and that should solve, or "improve", the missing keystrokes issue (It did/does for me) until HP decides to throw out a fix.

EDIT(3/28/2012): Hp released BIOS F.07 update to fix the keyboard issue. I have updated to that version and I am convinced, and can conclude, that the keyboard issue has been rectified. So if you aren't running F.07, get that.

Later.

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