Bought one of these in 2007, it is now 2013 and going strong. It also has a great keyboard, its time for me to upgrade but i half dont want to because this laptop is so great.
Showing posts with label new laptop. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new laptop. Show all posts
Remanufactured IBM ThinkPad T21 800 MHz Pentium III Notebook PC with 20 GB Hard Drive
Bought one of these in 2007, it is now 2013 and going strong. It also has a great keyboard, its time for me to upgrade but i half dont want to because this laptop is so great.
ASUS Taichi 21-DH51 11.6-Inch Convertible Touch Ultrabook
UPDATED ON 6/9/2013This is a quick update of how things have evolved with the Taichi and I guess a final feeling after five months of use.
-So far I haven't had any technical issues, the laptop is holding up very well. I even dropped it on its side once and it dented the housing but the screens didn't break and all works fine. Lucky break I think, this is not a laptop you should be dropping for sure!
-I'm still getting 3 to 4 hours of battery life, so I haven't seen any degradation, which is great because I'm plugged in must of the time and I was afraid of battery degradation and no way to replace it. It's only five months though, we'll have to see.
-I haven't seen many software upgrades from Asus, so what was buggy is still buggy. Like the palm rejection when using the pen, that's still there, I thought I had fixed it but nah, let's not kid ourselves, I have even stopped using my pen as much because it's just not as great of a experience as I'm used to. With that said, it's good to have the pen for signing things and what not, but I wouldn't recommend it for prolonged note taking.
-My gripes with the Asus management software kind of went away, no more brightness issues, etc.
All my other comments remain. I still love this laptop and don't think, even to this day, that there's anything better on the market for my needs. I hope they make a new version and keep improving on this design over the years, I would certainly love to buy a new one in another couple of years with longer battery life, better digitizer and a bigger SSD.
Written in January 2013
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I ordered my Taichi just two days ago from us.ncix and they supposedly only had one in stock which I luckily got overnighted to me. They were top notch with service and went the extra mile for me by shipping the item right away and even making a special trip to UPS to make sure I got it the next day as the pick up for that day had already been done.
Now onto the Taichi.
Pros
-It's a great laptop all around, as long as you can live with some cons.
-The keyboard is outstanding. I type a lot, all day long really, and the keyboard couldn't be better. And this coming from a Thinkpad owner of 10 years.
-The touchpad is flawless, it works like a charm. I've never used a touchpad this good. I think it's pretty on par with mac touchpads, both on desktop and modern areas of Windows 8.
-The build quality seems top notch and it's a gorgeous piece of hardware. Sure, you have to handle it with care because of the screen on the lid but overall it's a great build.
-The 1080p Screens are top notch, the viewing angles are great, the colors look great, the text is sharp, a lot to like there.
-UPDATED: The size is good for a laptop. Enough space for a great keyboard. I got good vision, but the screen on desktop is very useable at 1080p resolution. I don't have to zoom or anything, that said, I am young and have great vision. My IE browser seems to be auto zoomed in to 125% and thus I didn't have any issues reading web pages, however, after installing chrome I see that at 100% zoom you really can't browse the net, it's too small. The 125% zoom works well though, and everything in the desktop looks good.
-The lid collects finger prints but you can't really see them from a far, so that's great because I was concerned about the laptop looking bad all the time due to finger prints.
-It has a tablet on the lid! Sure, this is not your light and small ipad, but it works well, the colors are great and I do plan to replace my tablet and laptop with this one device.
-Backlit keyboard. This is a huge pro for me and one of my requirements.
-Comes with a good quality laptop sleeve, VGA and Ethernet adapter. That's $100 in accessories right there.
-Comes with a one year accidental projection damage warranty, that's another added value/bonus there.
Cons
-UPDATED: Battery life. After some use, I seem to get from 3 to 4 hours of battery life while working full steam, typing, listening to music on headphones, backlit keyboard on, wifi and Bluetooth on and screen in medium brightness or so. If I dial things back a bit I can get past four hours just a bit, but I'm not sure how they got their five hour estimate though. For me this is fine as I'm plugged in most of the time and I may buy an external battery for long trips or meetings. Using it on and off as a tablet (and putting it to sleep when not in use with 2 second smart resume) I can get through most of the day.
-UPDATED: I had some big issues with the digitizer pen at first, but I recalibrated the pen and touch input under windows settings and ever since it's working great (as intended). I no longer have lag when writing and the palm rejection is much better than before, although not quite all the way there in my opinion. Is it as good as Wacom? No, at least not in my opinion, but it does the job. One thing I'm not happy about is that it has no eraser head and the eraser button doesn't work on Microsoft's metro pdf app, there's no way to erase in this app with the pen, I can erease just fine with my Wacom pen on my thinkpad on that app. That said, the eraser button works fine on pdf annotator and onenote.
-UPDATED: The Asus "management" software is a bit buggy, it seems to be fighting with Windows for authority. The main issue I see is with brightness, sometimes you set it to something and then it comes back to something else, this is due to power profiles not acting correctly I think. Also, auto brightness never ever gives you the top brightness even if you choose to get full brightness. The only way I got full brightness was by disabling auto brightness and then the brightness still changed some times on its own, mainly on tablet mode. Maybe there are two light sensors and the tablet one can't be disabled? Don't know. The screen switcher was a bit off at first but after some updates it seems to be doing fine.
-UPDATED: The brightness is said to be a bit low, and it is mainly if you leave the auto brightness on, however, I find it adequate on both tablet and laptop mode, even on bright sunlight it seems adequate in my opinion.
-The size for a tablet is a bit big, but if you want mainly a laptop and second a tablet then this is the best option in my opinion. I was expecting it to be lighter for some reason, as I have a HP TouchPad with a cover on and that package seems like two pounds to me, so you would think another .75 pounds wouldn't be so much, but it feels a bit heavy, that said I can live with it.
-I had read on some tech sites that using a tablet with 16:9 aspect ration on portrait was a bit ridiculous, and you know what, it kind of feels weird. I guess it's something to get used to, but don't expect it to feel natural right off the bat.
Subjective Items
-UPDATED: No touch screen in laptop mode. To me this is a pro as the laptop screen doesn't have finger prints and it's matt which I love, I don't think I could stand a glossy screen for work all day. Also, the touchpad works so great that you may not miss touch so much in laptop mode. I can easily pinch to zoom, scroll, pull up charms, etc., all from the touchpad. You will want to touch the screen sometimes, specially after spending some time using the touch screen on the lid, but I'm happy with the way it is, another touch screen would've added more weight and a glossy screen in the front and that would've been a big issue for me.
-The audio is a bit low for my taste. I had read that the audio was pretty loud, but I wouldn't consider it loud, I would consider it adequate but that's about it. I was expecting a bit more bang. That said, I listen to a lot of loud music and may be a bit deft already, so your mileage may vary.
-This vs the surface pro? I went with this one because for just another $150 (vs surface with cover), I get a backlit keyboard, two screens and an adjustable screen that I can easily use in my lap, bed, couch, anywhere at the craziest angles, which I tend to do. The surface wouldn't work for me in the same way and I would've had to adjust. That said, I wanted mainly a great laptop with a nice enough tablet. I think the surface pro is a good tablet (not great due to low battery life too)and an OK laptop.
-UPDATED: The keyboard lacks media buttons for pause/play/next track, etc. Those are useful while playing music. It also lacks the new windows keys that come with some keyboards for charms, search, etc. That said, it's a small keyboard and they couldn't have put everything in there. The other thing is that the function keys, F1 to F12, are primary vs the other items like brightness and volume. I prefer it the other way, but again this is subjective. I did fine a tool called KeyTweak which allows you to remap your keyboard keys however you want, and I have changed F10 through F12 for media buttons, so that problem is solved!
**Lastly, this is a warning. The 128gb version, which is the one I have, only comes with 63gb of available space out of the box. This is crazy! I was expecting more like 90gb after windows, etc., but Asus has a 20gb recovery partition and a 4gb OEM partition in there, so that's pretty substantial and I plan to kill at least the recovery partition and get my space back**
So the final verdict.
I love it so far. Sure it has some drawbacks, but there's no perfect hybrid out there right now. I was planning to wait for second generation models but come on, life's too short to be waiting and waiting, I've been waiting long enough and this is 90% what I wanted so I'll take it and enjoy it. The battery life is the biggest limitation/con in my opinion, but I plan to buy an external battery of some sort to have around for emergencies or long meetings/seminars.
To me this laptop is just AWESOME and I wouldn't buy anything else on the market over this for my own needs.
Here is my take on the laptop.
First, I have had the previous laptops before this and they pale in comparison to the Taichi.
The Samsung ATIV PC Pro 700t. (Horrible keyboard)
The Samsung Series 9 late 2012 edition. (second favorite ultrabook)
Lenovo Twist, Lenovo Carbon x1, HP Spectre 14 with Ivy bridge(late 2012)(Heavy), The yoga (I call it the horrible bouncing screen), the ASUS Zenbook UX31A (Excellent), and my media laptop the HP ENVY 17 3d (Ivy bridge) spec'ed out.
Why am I telling you this?
I have come to find out that the laptops with the touchscreen right in front of the keyboard has become an unused option for myself, especially when you have a good windows 8 compatible touchpad. The new touchpads have all the screen moves with no arm movement to reach out to the screen, and once you learn to use the efficiency of the shortcuts there is no real reason to take the time to reach up to the screen. (I did less and less over time.) I did however want the touchscreen tablet version for the new OS and the desire for the touchscreen but not in the way that it is presented behind a keyboard. The touchpad is great for taking notes, touchscreen games, Drawing, and just plain fun to use with the windows 8 fluent OS. I really do love it. For those of you not liking the windows 8 yet, give it time. I have come to love it for its efficiency and ability to go PC, Tablet, Phone. With the learning curve mostly past me, there is nothing else that compares in my opinion. I would think that everyone would feel the same way once they put the time in and get past the learning curve of the new Awesome OS. I certain would think so at least.
This leading me to why I love the Taichi so much. I have a great ASUS Zenbook with a great touch pad and I blow through everything windows 8 style and never even think about wanting to have to reach up to the screen. There is no reason I have to do so. I am writing Documents, Surfing the web, Productivity, anything keyboard related I really have no need for the screen to be a touch screen in front of me. Now, when I am done and I have a craving for a touchscreen or I just want consumption with a touchscreen I close the lid and Voila, a tablet for bedtime, table, anywhere. I play with the stylus (try that upright with a keyboard in front of you.) I swipe through the games, web, and I love to draw (have you tried the Fresh Paint app by the way). The awesome stylus the Taichi comes with is the perfect tool for the tablet.
When I need to go back to writing emails etc... I open the lid and instantly have my awesome Zenbook back in front of me to do so.
My next desire in a laptop cross over would be to prop the tablet up at just the right angle to watch a movie without the keyboard in front of me. Taichi does just this.
Turn the laptop around hit the outside screen switch and I have a tablet at the angle I want and can watch movies or still just use the tablet as it was meant to be used.
I hope this is making sense to some of you.
To summarize, I don't want a touchscreen when typing and doing emails and regular laptop functions. I do want a tablet when I can touch it easily, write, swipe, and draw properly. I also want the ability to look at the tablet at my preferred angle for plain viewing. That is turn it around and there is the tablet. (note; with the bottom still on the bottom, unlike the lenovo yoga with the keys down on the table, yikes!)
This is another reason why I love the Taichi.
It is the perfect tablet for me and I have not covered the dual screen (My kid loves this part). The ability to have a movie playing on the back side while I am working at the table or sofa is a very cool thing for my 3 year old. I also can do some teaching with him like this as well. He also sits and watches a show sometimes while I work. OK, OK, that is not the top of everyone's list, but who cares, that part is still cool.
Everything else about the tablet is a 10. The quality, the touchpad, the three level backlit keyboard, the FULL HD SCREENS! The screens are VERY solid and I have no concern after using them that there will ever be an issue of two screens being on the lid. It is solid. I spent the 180 bucks for ADP coverage of course but I don't think it will be the screens that I would have to use it on.
This is the number one tablet in my eyes.
I hope this helps some people in making the right choice for their new Laptop crossover.
Buy ASUS Taichi 21-DH51 11.6-Inch Convertible Touch Ultrabook Now
It kills me to write this review as I literally counted the days until this was released and I was so looking forward to how the Taichi could improve my productivity but after having to return 2 faulty Taichi laptops I am convinced that Asus rushed this product to market before they got their technology right.
This is supposed to be a productivity tool but instead it has been a black hole of wasted time. I spent hours setting up the first Taichi I received just the way I liked it with all the settings and Office applications I needed. Only to find out all the bugs and defects that Asus failed to address before shipping this product.
Imagine trying to concentrate on a meeting when your Taichi on Tablet mode is registering touch input that you did NOT initiate. So as you are having your meeting the Taichi is busy launching your applications, closing them, selecting various random parts of the screen and generally making the tablet most unusable. Good luck using a stylus with all this going on with a defective digitizer! And when I tried to actually use the mirror feature it bombed and again wasted time and was actually an embarrassment as I was fiddling with my laptop when trying to show something to a client when I could have just turned the laptop around.
The first Taichi was returned due to the faulty digitizer but the second one in addition to having the problems with the touch screen/digitizer also has a defective battery. It sometimes refuses to charge the battery above 79% or some other arbitrary % figure. Other times no matter how much the laptop is used, the charge is always some arbitrary % and never changhes only to have the power cut off completely while the Taichi is being used. So the second Taichi I bought is even worse than the first.
What makes the situation even worse is the ineffective Asus Taichi support. They call it VIP support but that is a joke and there is nothing VIP about it. Some times hold times are 30+ minutes. All their "solutions" come down to you reinstalling windows, resetting windows, and when they fail help solve the problem they want you to ship your brand new Taichi to them with your data and applications and pray that they will fix and send your Taichi back without trying to access any of your personal data on the laptop. When I found a problem with one of their chipset drivers not updating the chipset version installed, they refused to help me solve the problem other than suggesting wiping the laptop clean or sending the laptop to them.
I would never send a defective new laptop only days old to the manufacturer for repair. They can sit on the laptop and you could end up with a laptop with the same problems but you no longer have the benefit of the 30 day return window. If you buy a Taichi and it is defective, just return it to Amazon for a refund and don't bother wasting hours of your time with Asus support.
After two defective Taichis, no more for me.
I am waiting for the ThinkPad Helix. Hopefully it is a solidly built business laptop that works with a solid digitizer and touch screen. I have no more time to waste on a laptop that is more of a gimmick than a serious productivity tool.
UPDATE 6/6/2013: With Intel's 4th generation chip Haswell just released it does not make sense for me to purchase the Think pad Helix anymore. I am likely going to instead purchase the Sony Vaio Duo 13 that is coming out this weekend. Hopefully it is a solid laptop with a functional digitizer.
Read Best Reviews of ASUS Taichi 21-DH51 11.6-Inch Convertible Touch Ultrabook Here
After all the reviews I had read about the Taichi I was very hesitant; but I was compelled by the form factor. So when I found out that it was available at my local FRYS I went to their to take a look and I was pleased with the aesthetic and great build quality, so I purchased the I7 with 256 GB. These are hard to come by and I didn't want it to get away from. Asus does a great job in packaging the right materials most of which you need, the ballistic nylon case, the stylus, the USB dongles and pouch, cleaning cloth and Velcro strapping for the cables...great stuff.When I took it home to set up it was easy and had no issues then had MS store techs do their PC tune up for $99 and the computer was cleaned out of all the bloatware and its just like getting a PC at the MS store with their Microsoft signature...it blazes now. OFFICE 2013 is great and works well with this form factor of a PC laptop, the screens are amazing both the matte finish and the tablet, you have to adjust the settings in the charm bar to stop having the system dim the display as I have read the reviews that pointed a dim display even with it being charged.
As for battery life its not that bad, 4-5 hours is good for me plus for what I use it for I can get up 6-7 hours, I didn't buy this to stream on line or gaming without the battery, this reason is a whole new PC itself, like a desktop but I use it more for email, and some web surfing, and fact finding, Sky Drive and Dropbox MS OFFICE, and travel.
Just give it some time, I think this the best form factor or "hybrid" PC laptop out their now, yes there is the Yoga and the Twist made from Lenovo and I have the twist but it doesn't compare to this, as for the Yoga I don't like the fact that the keyboard face down when in the tablet mode, this one the keyboard is not laying on your lap. And for now this is the only form factor that is out their that works the best, until the Lenovo Helix and the HP Revolve comes out, outside of that I am not sure whats out in the horizon, but I am sure ASUS will have an improved Taichi or a different named PC that has dual touch screens. I can live with one touch screen for now, the matte screen again is awesome..
The design is awesome and I am liking this more and more...again buy and give it some time and you wont regret it...
Want ASUS Taichi 21-DH51 11.6-Inch Convertible Touch Ultrabook Discount?
I have had the TaiChi for a couple days now and have to say it is everything I was looking for in an ultra-hybrid and am very satisfied with my purchase. I am the demographic that this form factor appeals to the most as I work for a large corporation, travel quite a bit, give presentations often, and like to play games at times. My goal with the TaiChi is to replace my HP EliteBook and my Asus EP121 tablet plus accessories when I travel. I won't go into specifics on the features as it has been covered very well by other reviewers but what is really nice for me is the power this device has, and the ability to put it into tablet mode and angle the screen for the perfect profile to use a touch device.I am also planning on getting a USB with "Windows to Go" so I can have the best of both my work and play worlds. The idea is that I can leave my work PC behind and still have access to corporate resources when I need to without having to have my personal machine managed by corporate IT. This way they can be assured that I am not a danger to the network and I don't have to have VPN and the bloat of other IT processes slowing down my user experience. If you are thinking about going this route, make sure the USB you purchase is certified for Windows to Go, I will update when I have it all running.
The duel screens work very well and PowerPoint presentation mode works as you would expect with the two screens. The TaiChi comes with a micro HDMI to VGA adapter so I am good there, but I would also recommend getting a micro HDMI cable or adapter as well if you are giving a lot of presentations and need to be able to connect to various setups.
The only nitpicks I see to this experience has been:
1. Battery life – While it is not the same as my Kindle HD Fire I also understand that I have an Intel i7 processor and can run any PC software I own. I travel with my Kindle so it is not a big deal for me on airplanes and I am fine for power at work and hotels. I of course always want it to last longer!
2. Windows logo – I wish there was an option to turn down the brightness of the Windows logo that also acts as the home button for Windows 8. When I watch a movie in a darker room, or potentially in a darkened aircraft it is annoying as it can be right in my face with the unit lid screen facing me. It should dim it like the screen based on the ambient light.
3. Screen cleaning – I am always wiping down my screen but understand that it is a touch device for oily handed creatures.
4. Windows shortcut keys for moving apps between monitors does not seem to work, but maybe it is me.
Overall I would recommend this device for anyone that does a lot of travel and has to bring a lot of junk to support both your work and play worlds!
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Dell XPS 13-L321X Ultrabook - i5-2467M 1.60GHz - 4GB - 128GB SSD - 13.3-inch
Solid construction. Mostly aluminum. Extremely fast startup. Only reason for missing star on review is that it does not come with a hard-wire Ethernet port, but I think you can buy an adapter. Also, the mouse pad is a little finicky every once in a while... but a external mouse fixes that. (not a deal breaker by any means)
It feels very solid like it's made of high quality parts. It looks cool too. It starts up lightning fast, much faster than my Dell laptop. It worked flawlessly right out of the box
and hasn't missed a beat since. The builtin WIFI works at Tim's and all other hot spots I tried, as well as at home. Battery life is very good.
The only snag I found is the trackpad sometimes doesn't recognize a touch. My workaround is to left-click the trackpad button instead.
If you want a reliable mobile computer, get this one you won't be disappointed.
Buy Dell XPS 13-L321X Ultrabook - i5-2467M 1.60GHz - 4GB - 128GB SSD - 13.3-inch Now
Samsung RC512-W02US 15.6" HD LED Notebook (Intel Core i5-2410M, 4GB DDR 3, 500GB HD, Genuine Window
I am very impressed with this laptop. For being a 15" I was worried it might be a little too heavy, but the the construction of the laptop is solid and yet it is fairly light. The i5 processor is fast and 4GB RAM is enough for me to zip around the web, do some gaming, photo editing and sharing. I have the Microsoft Signature edition so there is no crapware which makes this machine even faster. I don't know what this means but there is an option for enabling and disabling WiMax I will have to do some more research and figure out if I can get WiMax service on this machine. Oh, and the trackpad supports two finger scrolling a must for any modern laptop.[12/5/2011] The WiMax mentioned in my review is actually WiDi which is used for wireless connection to the TV. Get this -you can wireless stream video to the TV, granted the TV has the capability to receive the signal. This is awesome. My next TV will have to be a Samsung with this functionality.
Cons; no backlight on key board
Pros; Great Wifi technology (WIMAX)
Cons; No Bluetooth
Pros; nice sound output
Pros; great on games, including NFSHP, MW3
Cons; cant run NFS The Run
Pros; Very Quiet system
Cons; dvd drive makes weird sound when starting up only
Pros; Camera is amazing
Pros; HDMI is a plus
Pros; large Storage
Cons; ???????
What more can i say hmm, great note book, the wifey says its ah little too big, but what i think its just right, light and keyboard has lots of space.cheap as needed, good as wanted, it works great for gaming and the led screen is great, it has a video mode were colors come alive.. just great . love itThe screen is so much brighter and the colors so much better than my old laptop, which this will replace. The only thing hard for me to get used to is the keyboard layout. I wish there was more space between the keyboard and the numeric keypad. I keep hitting the "num lock" along with the "backspace" key. Other than that, I love it.The specs on this laptop is pretty decent. I purchased it however for telecommuting purposes. Since the battery only lasts about 2hrs, working from wherever, whenever is severely compromised. It is better to search for a laptop with at least a 6hr battery life.
Lenovo 2904-FZU ThinkPad T410s 14.1" Notebook (2.4 GHz Pentium Core i5 i5-520M Processor, 4 GB RAM,
I was attempting to go back to PCs from Mac life, having straddled the fence for some time. I bought one of these T410S's from Lenovo directly (so, this is nothing at all to say negative about this seller, only about Thinkpad T410S). I have the SSD which I must say is blazingly fast. I also got 8MB of ram. The machine is so fast. Really, did I mention it's fast?The computer is also pretty light weight. It feels so much lighter than my 15inch MacBook.
The keyboard on these T410S's is marvelous, btw. This was always a strength for Thinkpads. This may be the best keyboard yet on a PC laptop(it is different than any others ones I've had on Thinkpads. Just overall better build quality and some nice, intelligent changes in a few keys and all. Track pad and pointing stick work great, too.).
But, the battery life has been just dismal. I have the main 6 cell battery (because of the configuration, you cannot put a larger main battery in these units). I also have the extra, ultra bay battery. I have been able to go about 2.5 hours doing regular work (some emails, word processing, spreadsheet stuff) and then it's out.
UPDATE: Turns out the main battery in the one that I had was defective. They sent me a new battery today and the machine is running with much less heat and battery life is at least twice what it was before. I would guess that with the two batteries that I might now get 4 hours or a bit more doing light work.
Screen. Not so hot. As some pro reviews on web note, not very good contrast. I am amazed that this screen is as poor quality as it is. It is, however, very bright. That's good. It's the brightest Thinkpad screen I've seen or had. But the screen is a weak spot in my view compared to something like what's on an Apple. It's also a little blotchy, so that there are some unevenly lighted sections along the bottom. I tried to get Lenovo to swap it out and they would not. I paid a great deal for this computer, and you'd think they might try to please a customer. They also made it very hard to return (I was going to just return the unit over the screen blotchiness but they were going to charge a few hundred in restocking fees.) Poor customer service experience. To buy what I think is their most expensive computer and not be happy, and not have them try very hard to make me happy about the screen problem is not impressive.
Heat. I had read a review online that suggested there was minimal heat on this unit. Not really true. It puts out quite a bit of heat when plugged in, from the fan/vent area. There is enough that if you are actually using this laptop on your lap (bizarre concept, I know), your left knee/thigh will get pretty toasty while the right is enduring nothing. This also I find annoying. How come Apple MacBooks can run with so much less heat with similar if not identical processors? PC maker just can't seem to get that down. Anyway, I find the heat not a deal breaker but it is quite annoying, none the less.
Overall. I give this model 3 stars. I'd give Lenovo and this model Thinkpad 4 stars if they would have replaced the screen for me.
Toshiba Satellite U845W-S400 14.4" Ultrabook (3rd generation Intel Core i5-3317U 1.7GHz, 6GB DDR3,
I really like this ultrabookwhat I like
1sound is amazing
2screen is very bright and vivid colors (contarary to the previous comment, you can actually adjust it)
3battery lasts 6 hours on ECO
4boots up very fast. It takes me about 18 seconds to open up the internet browser
5windows 7. I upgraded to Windows 8 after I boughtit but I could only endure it for 10 or so days. Thanks to Toshiba, they save an image of factory settings on this computer, I could just roll it back with couple button pushes
6looks very nice
7you can charge things when the computer is off, you can even use the speakers to play music from external players when the computer is off
8I like the extra wide screen, you can have couple windows open while working and things are still workable.
9backlit keyboard
10wifi connection to an external screen
11very thin
What I did not like
1-Keyboard felt a little weird in the beginning but I got used to it.
2all ports are on sides, wish had some in the back like hdmi, it would look better when you attached a second monitor, but you can get around with wifi connection to a secreen if you buy the modem you need for this which is not expensive but you are still exposed to waves
3battery is internal and I do not know how easy to replace it
4max supported memory is 10 gb. Wish it was 16 gb
53 usb ports, 1 hdmi. wish it had 5 total
Overall, you are getting a very nice ultrabook for less than 500. I paid less than 500. You cannot beat it. I highly recommend this ultrabook.
2. Starts up quickly
3. Spreadsheets look great on the wide screen
4. Lots of real estate on the screen.
Cons
1. Not the most vivid colors on this display.
2. This is not Windows 8.
3. Not a touch screen.Slick and powerful but came loaded with junk software and ads to the degree that I had to have it professionally cleaned and tighter malware protection added. Now is great except that screen has lots of glare outdoors.i bought mine for $600, and the specs for that price range, well this was the best deal.
the fan placement is the biggest issue. they put it in the back between the battery, and the display. i had this laptop for 3 months. i have used it in total
HP ProBook 4530s XU015UT 15.6" LED Notebook (2.1 GHz Intel Core i3-2310M Dual-Core Processor, 4 GB
***Pros***I bought this laptop as a family utility machine, it sits in my living room and at least 4 people use it regularly. I was looking for something that was new and had new components, this has a 2nd gen Intel I3 processor along with a USB 3.0 port and bluetooth 3.0. The major pro to this machine is the price along with some new features. The screen display and keyboard are nice as well. It also has a 720P Webcam with facial recognition software and fingerprint reader(it doesn't always work though). For those that care about noise this thing doesn't really make any, my previous laptop fan ran a lot.
***Cons***
I took a star off because the machine has lots of crap software on it. It would be nice if you could have the option of just getting it shipped with the OS only. There are also 3 partitions on the hard drive, 1 called HP recovery, 2nd which is FAT32 for HP tools, and a 3rd for everything else. I'm still working on removing crap software, but it still runs fast and boots in 20 30 seconds.
***Other***
This is not a gaming laptop so if you want it to play the latest and greatest games look elsewhere. You should be able to play most web games or anything that doesn't require a dedicated video card.
Overall I am very satisfied with the purchase. I researched for about a month straight and ended up on this one based on highest functionality for the price combined with the newest hardware.
***Update 8/19/2011***
I updated to 5 stars because I am very satisfied with this machine. The processor is really fast and I really like the USB 3.0 backups are super fast. I don't use the webcam or transport the laptop much so I can't really comment on that. For the price its an excellent machine.
Our goal was to find a decent laptop for home use within budget of 400-450$ dollars. We compared HP-Pavilion g6-1b79dx priced at 429.99$, Toshiba C655-S5128 at 449.99$, Toshiba C655-S5212 at 399.99$, Dell Inspiron 15R i3-380M at 399$, Lenovo ideapad z560 at 449.99$.
For this kind of price, i receive a HD webcam, anti-glare screen, bluetooth and WiFi. Plus i also receive a HDMI port for viewing images/movies on my larger LCD TV. It also comes with Windows 7 (64 bit) which enables the OS to handle large amounts of data (RAM) when compared to 32 bit. The only flaw if i could say so is that it comes with 320 GB Hard drive whereas others might offer you a 500 GB capacity, but who cares! atleast i find the storage capacity enough. Also only HP Probook 4530 XU015UT provides both, bluetooth and WiFi when compared within this price range. (so transfer files from any device to your PC hassle-free)
This is touted as a business laptop in HP website, so you know it means business and not some decorative (read flashy) home laptop. It also comes with a brushed aluminium finish.
This laptop also offers HP enhanced security comes with fingerprint, face detection and other security features which you can enable using HP proprietory software. I found it so good that i ordered 2 of these from Amazon.
We have been using it for about 2 weeks now and thoroughly enjoy watching movies, using WiFi, Skype and other stuff. CircuitCity promptly delivered this to us and i have no reason to complain whatsoever.
Hope you all will find the review helpfulThis laptops is awesome.
This laptop has the sandy bridge version of the i3 which has really strong integrated graphics card. and very quick processor.
I was actually able to get around 35 FPS on Civilization V on low setting which means I could run smoothly at medium settings, which also means that you can play alot of other games like MW2, Fifa, NFS, Portal, Mirror's Edge, Red Alert 3, and games at this intensity on low settings. Fifa will surely run on medium settings.
Aside from the specs, The touchpad is a little bit rough at first as if you're touching very fine sandpaper, but after a while of use you get used to it and realize that it actually works better than glossy touchpads on other laptops.
Also the USB hubs are a little bit hard to get extensions in them, but for me that's a plus so that the USBs don't fall off easily.
The screen is really vibrant, although I haven't tested it in direct sunlight. You will also notice that there is a lot of space beyond the display in the front (a good .5 inch on both sides and like 1.5 inches on the top.)
The speakers are actually really loud and crisp clear.
There is bluetooth built in. And there is two USB 3.0 hubs.
It ways a little bit more than your average 15.6 inch laptop, which I guess is due to the brushed aluminum finish on the back and surrounding the touchpad.
Overall this is the best laptop purchase I have ever made.There seems to be a lot of conflicting reviews on this laptop. Some say they have one usb 3.0 port, some say they have two. I purchased this laptop a couple of weeks ago, and the laptop I received DID NOT have any usb 3.0 ports. If that is a problem for anybody they should probably look elsewhere.
As far as the build quality, this laptop is very nice. I really like the brushed metal lid and the hard plastic bottom seems sturdy enough to me. The webcam is decent enough and the dual microphones perform really well. The chiclet keyboard is really nice, and it's convenient to have a number pad. I find myself using the fingerprint sensor to sign in to windows a lot, and so far I've had no issues. Once again the lack of usb 3.0 might but an issue for some, but I find the four usb 2.0 ports sufficient.
Performance wise this laptop is very good for the price. It can definitely handle web applications with ease, but can also easily handle programs like Lightroom 3, and of course microsoft's suite of productivity programs. I have also done some light gaming with games like Counterstrike Source, Portal 2, and Team Fortress 2 with no problems at all. Anything more demanding than those games, and you should look elsewhere (minecraft gave me lots of frame droppage). One more note, the computer was loaded with a lot of crapware (as expected from hp). I had over 90 processes and 50% memory usage on startup, but I don't consider it a huge issue because it's easily fixed if you want.
Overall this laptop is really nice and I would definitely recommend it to anyone except hardcore gamers and others who would need a dedicated GPU. For the price you can't really go wrong!This is an excellent computer,lending me to believe that HP puts a lot into their probook series of laptops. The touch pad is annoying, but not annoying enough to complain. And as far as the extra software, there was not a lot on it at all. And all you need is a good uninstaller (a third party one, I suggest either Revo or Advanced Uninstaller Pro). Took what I wanted off and I have no problems. This thing has so many other features as well. I would suggest not to uninstall any of the HP software, for some of them have been very helpful. Overall, this was a good solid buy, and I am very happy.
Oh, and unless it is a high model specially designed LP, none of them have good speakers, so don't expect them to. Find a good pair of usb speakers and call it a day.
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HP Pavilion dm1z 11.6" AMD Dual-Core FUSION Processor E-350+AMD Radeon HD 6310M Discrete-Class Grap
Specs:CPU: AMD Zacate 1.6GHz Dual Core
Memory: 2x4 GB Allcomponents Memory
HDD: On Video Seagate 320GB 7200 RPM
*Boot time reference 128GB Samsung PM800
Video: HD6310 APU
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium
Screen: 11.6 inch LED display
Price: Base system $428 free shipping w/o taxes
Total with upgrades: $670 with taxes.
I've owned the HP Pavilion DM1Z now for two weeks. During this time I've managed to use it under various conditions. I've used it as a word processor, as an MP3 player, as a video player and as a gaming unit.
This is AMD's first outing incorporating video and processor under one microchip. The result is a chip that is able to run everything without the need for more cooling and more battery use.
Currently, the Zacate e-350 uses 18 watts. This is while running at 1.6 GHz dual core and a GPU Clock of 500 MHZ. The GPU has 80 cores too, which enable it to render 1080p HD content without much hesitation.
The chipset, which is nicknamed Bobcat, is not meant to be a processing or rendering beast, but instead a chip that can combine every day processing, while also being able to be used as a multimedia device.
The processor has the capability to decode H.264, VC-1 and MPEG-2 with hardware acceleration. It also supports STS-HD MA bitstreaming over HDMI and Dolby TrueHD. This makes the Zacate more capable than Intel Atom processors when incorporated in a multimedia unit.
The one drawback, currently due to Adobe Flash and the Zacate architecture, is the ability to cleanly run Flash video at 1080p. Some people are experiencing lag when running video in full screen and when using the HDMI out on their screen.
What happens is that the CPU cores get maxed out trying to render the video and the video comes out choppy. Something AMD is aware of and is currently working with Adobe to fix.
The HP Pavilion DM1Z:
The laptop itself is a nice looking laptop. It has a glossy outside shell with a footprint design.
The feel of the laptop is sturdy, with a well-built chassis. I couldn't find any parts that raddled or any gaps in between components.
The netbook does not come with a DVD/CD player. You will have to purchase that separately.
Keyboard:
The Chicklet styled keyboard has become a big deal ever since Apple popularized it on the laptops. Coming from an IBM x61s and a MacBook Air, the keyboard is solid. It's a full-sized keyboard with minor inconvenience. I do miss the END, HOME and Page UP and Page Down keys. Something IBM was able to implement on their X series.
The keyboard has dedicated multimedia buttons on the top. Rather than looking for the function keys to make the screen dimmer or brighter, they are just assigned. The same thing can be said for the Multimedia control buttons. I would like to see these buttons control other multimedia devices/players on the background. Currently, they only control Windows Media Player, but I use iTunes to catalog my music. The only way to go to a next track is by pulling up iTunes and then pressing the NEXT key, which defeats the purpose.
Mouse/Track Pad:
Though not as good as a MacBook, it is pretty good. However, I'm noticed that sometimes while typing if my hand goes over the trackpad it can cause the pointer to move. This can be a problem if you are typing away without looking at the screen.
You can use two fingers to scroll up and down on a page and also make a page larger or smaller.
Overall, an improvement over the regular trackpad, but I wish it was better thought out.
INPUTS: 3 USB 2.0, HMDI, 1 headphone jack, SD card reader, Kensington Lock
On the right side of the netbook there is a Memory card reader, a headphone jack, 2 USB 2.0 inputs, and a networking cable jack capable of 10/100/1000 speeds.
The cover design for the network adapter is awful. To fully access the adapter you have to lift the laptop a bit on the right-hand-side and move the cover. Some manufactures do not cover the network adapter, but HP did.
On the left hand side of the device there is another USB 2.0, an HDMI input, the fan outtake Kensington lock hole and the AC adapter.
Screen:
The screen is truly beautiful. The 11.6" HP BrightView LED display runs at 1366x768 with a refresh rate of 60 Hertz.
I have 3443 MB of Available Graphics Memory and 384 MB dedicated to video. This is partially due to the scaling based on the amount of memory in the system.
Graphics:
This is what one of the things that makes this processor/APU unit so unique. In computing power the E-350 compares to Intel Atom processors; however, when it comes to rendering graphics the chip is more than capable. This is where the difference between the Atom processor and the Zacate start. Rather than separating the work load on an integrated or dedicated GPU the e-350 does it all without dividing the workload.
The APU is capable to run Team Fortress 2 on default screen resolution. The settings were also set on High and I got an average of 30 FPS and a high in the 40's.
It is also able to handle Starcraft 2 at default resolution on Medium settings.
With an external USB Blu-Ray player, the DM1Z is able to play content at 1080p without hesitation.
Webcam:
The laptop comes with a Logitech made camera and special effects software. The camera is 1.3MP. However, beware that as soon as you try to do a fresh install of Windows you will lose the FX software.
Speakers:
The speakers are supplied by Altec Lansing and are Dolby Advanced. Though it's something most people will not pay attention to it does make a difference while listening to video and music. The speakers are very loud and sound great for a machine so small. In fact, I can say they are way better than a MacBook Air's 11.6" speakers.
Memory:
Currently the DM1Z is only able to work in a single channel capacity. It also works at a maximum speed of 1066. So there is no need to get 1333 memory or worry about dual channel capability.
HDD:
Sadly, the DM1Z is not able to take full advantage of a solid state drive's (SSD) speed. The controller is limited in speed and is something most users are hoping is upgraded by software patch or a BIOS update.
The Samsung PM800 boots up the system in 39 seconds from system boot up and 51 seconds when it connects to the Wi-Fi.
Battery:
The HP website states battery life is 9 hours. With the Wi-Fi on and screen set at 60% brightness it is more like 6 hours and 46 minutes.
If you have Skype on you are looking more at 4 hours of battery life.
While viewing pages with Flash you are looking at about 4-5 hours of battery life.
With the SSD drive, Wi-Fi off and screen set to the lowest viewable option I did get about 9-10 and a half hours.
Conclusion:
This is perhaps one of the easiest netbooks/notebooks to upgrade. As per the video all you need to do is take out the battery and lift up the plastic bottom. This should be a sign of how easy it is to deal with this machine.
For $427, this mobile computer is able to handle 1080p video, game TF2 on high, and Starcraft 2 on medium settings. The DM1Z is definitely on top of the list. Not to mention that at base price it is still still cheaper than its Lenovo and Sony counterparts.
My use of the DM1 was basically limited to some light web browsing. It really did not get used much--perhaps an average of thirty minutes per day. It actually never even left the house.
As I write this, my DM1 is not quite two months old. Yesterday, I used the DM1 for a few minutes of web browsing. I powered it down, closed the lid, and walked away. A while later, I started it back up and immediately noticed some issues with the display. There was a row of dead pixels and a white rectangular block of dead pixels in the top left corner of the display, and a spot that I can only describe as looking like a black ink splatter.
Today, I called HP support to report the issue. With the laptop being not quite two months old, I figured there would be no issue getting this covered under the 1-Year Limited Warranty. The HP Support Assistant told me that I was fortunate that it was under warranty. He then put me on with a Hardware Manager, or something like that. I had to describe the issue again to this individual. The Hardware Manager told me that my issue is due to a crack on the inside of the display. He said that there might not be a visible crack on the outside of the display, but there is a crack on the inside. He also told me that this could only occur from some sort of "pressure or impact". I explained to him that the laptop was never dropped or impacted in any way. He told me that if the lid had even had any pressure applied to it, then that could have been enough to cause the internal crack. He also went on to tell me that the 1-Year Limited Warranty will not cover the damages. He told me that I could have them repair it for $329 plus tax and all shipping costs.
Nothing ever happened to this laptop that should have caused any damage. There is a little bit of flex in the outer surface of the lid (behind the display). If this flex caused the crack when I last closed the laptop prior to finding the issue with the display, then I believe this would be an issue with poor build quality, not a user inflicted damage issue.
Please beware this poor build quality! The laptop was barely used and was taken very good care of. No incident occurred to cause this damage. HP will not cover it under the 1-Year Limited Warranty.
I think this is absolutely horrible of HP. Now I have to buy something else, and it definitely will not be an HP.I was really looking forward to getting this laptop after reading all the online reviews. I'm sad to say I returned the device to HP.
So the good news about the laptop is its performance. I really doesn't feel like a netbook and its ability to play 720P streaming video full screen was fantastic. It did stutter when I tried to watch 1080P streaming video full screen from YouTube, but what do you want from such a little device!
The fit and finish of the laptop is great. The keyboard is wonderful to use and I really liked the quality of the plastic used throughout.
OK, now for the bad news. The main issue I had with the laptop was the high gloss screen. If you only use this indoors in dim light then you'll be fine. But when I tried to use it in an office environment under florescent lights all I saw was reflections from the lights. If I tried to tilt the screen to get rid of the reflections then the screen became difficult to see well. This really became a show stopper for me and ultimately made me call HP to return the laptop.
Others have mentioned the almost always on fan it's a bit annoying but I could have lived with that. The only other issue I had was with its weight. Given how small the laptop is you'd expect it to weight very little just like similar sized netbooks. It feels more like a regular value-priced laptop. Again this was something I noticed but was willing to live with if it wasn't for the screen.
I really wanted to like this little guy, but on Monday it goes back to hp...nice thing about that is they picked up the return shipping costs. I'll give them high marks for customer service!I purchased this laptop directly from HP. It took more than 3 and 1/2 weeks for this laptop to be shipped from China arrive to my home address. That's the worst part!
The laptop is very nice. Even thought it's built in China, HP did a great job on the design and the material selection. The screen looks sharp and vibrant. The keyboard and battery life have dramatically improved from last year's model. I can easily get more than 8 hours if I primarily use it for internet browsing. I haven't streamed video for no more than 4 hours, but there is still about 4 hours of battery life left. I am confident that I may be able to stream for amazing 8 hours.
For the $500 range laptop, I have to say this perfect size laptop is worth every penny. It's small, light, and powerful enough to be the best ultra-portable laptop I have ever used. You have to spend about $700 to get a laptop with similar performance and less battery life. This laptop is a keeper.
Updated on 3/1/2011: Some people have stated that they are having problem with NetFlix. I have not experienced such problem since I've upgraded to 8GB DDR3 memory from the first day of this laptop usage. I strongly recommend upgrading memory since you can feel a huge difference (esp turning the laptop on and off very quickly).I purchased this direct from HP with a $30 coupon, so the total cost was $419 + tax.
Nice little netbook, faster than the Atom. Battery life was about 51/2 hours, so not too bad.
It was fine with Netflix, which is what I wanted for travel purposes as well as internet.
Recommend.
Landel MailBug Email Appliance (LT-302W)
I have used the mailbug for the past 11 months, have bought 9 for family members and find the mailbug an unbeliveable tool for me at home. It sits in my kitchen and my wife and daughter use it daily.My father is literally on the mailbug 5 times a day sending email, checking his stock and being a news buff, checking on the latest political happenings.
I strongly recommend this product for ANYONE that wants easy access to email and news, stocks, entertainment and weather.
GREAT product !
Buy Landel MailBug Email Appliance (LT-302W) Now
I bought this device for my mother, who not only is not a computer person, but is also a techno-phobe (she still prefers old-fashioned 'round dial' phones!). However, I thought this would be a good way for her to keep in touch with people.It's been a tremendous success! She loves it, and emails people all the time. I tried it and it's got great usability, the keyboard is very comfortable (standard-sized), easy-to-read screen. This is really for non-computer people who are comfortable being limited to text emails. It has very limited internet functionality (current weather, sports results, etc, all text-based). Anyone who likes to browse the internet or read/send email attachments should not rely on this device. However, as a text-message communication device, it's perfect. My mother has now owned it for 7 months and it has been running solidly the whole time.
Read Best Reviews of Landel MailBug Email Appliance (LT-302W) Here
We purchased this for my 80+ year old mother-in-law who has no computer experience thinking it would be simple to use and practicle for sending messages to 4 5 family members around the USA. It was fine for about two weeks then the email account was inundated with SPAM. Mother-in-law could not cope with this and the service provider has NO SPAM filter nor any solution for the problem. We cancelled the email account and removed the appliance from mother-in-law's residence.Want Landel MailBug Email Appliance (LT-302W) Discount?
My wife's been using this little device for close to a year. It is what it says e-mail only. And that means no HTML, no attachments, no graphics, just text. It's very easy to set-up and use. My only complaint (because I had low expectations) is that you cannot set the automatic mail checking interval it is set at about every 3 hours. One nice extra, though we've got voice mail on our home line and the MailBug detects the odd dial-tone and indicates messages waiting. NOTE: The reason I'm even here writing this is because I'm trying to find the seller Landel or the service provider MailBug.com to re-subscribe. I CANNOT FIND WEB SITES FOR EITHER COMPANY. So, unless that's a temporary problem and you do find them, beware. MEPSave 4% Off
HP G62-144DX Notebook PC with Intel CoreTM i3-330M processor - 15.6" LED Display / 4GB DDR3 Memory
This was a great PC until it broke within 5 months of purchasing it.It takes a lot of force to open this laptop and the screen eventually cracked at the top. This laptop stays in our house and is not abused in any way.
This was within the warranty period, but I quickly found out a cracked
screen is not covered by the warranty.
I checked the screen mounting and the case is warped so the hinges for the
screen are not at right angles. This is why it takes a lot of force to open the laptop screen. Also there is not a latch to hold the screen down.
HP finally agreed to fix it but I had to pay 50% of the repair cost which was over $200. It was still under full warranty.
I finally have the laptop back and it is still hard to open, so the screen will eventually crack again. I may leave it open most of the time.
I am a design engineer and I know this is a design or manufacturing flaw.
I looked at G62 reviews on the Internet and others have commented that the screen is really difficult to open.
If you buy a G62, look it over carefully and make sure it is not hard to open. If it is hard to open, send it back right away. If the screen cracks after you purchase it, the repair cost is almost as much as the purchase price. The screen is not under warranty.
Most of the other i3 laptops at the store were running at least $100 higher or more, and didn't have all the specs of this unit. It is quite a speedy system for a very reasonable cost.i had this notebook for 12 months it used to heat up alot i dont know why one day i left it on charge for the night and the next day it didnt turn on took it to the reapir shop they said the mother board is deadI added in 5 star review to counter a couple of the 1 start reviews from people that don't know what they are talking about. 90% of peole really like this laptop for the cost/value factor and that it does exactly what it says it does and does it well. Built in mouse is horrible but so what when you can plug in a mouse if it bothers you THAT much. Screen is great (LED backlit LCD), and performamce is great (500GB 7200 RPM drive and 4 GB and i3 CPU). And I've opened and closed the case a thousand times without any "build issues" cracking the screen. Yes I know the laptop is old and not sold anymore, but I wanted to state the facts This was a great bargain in its time.