Showing posts with label notebook 10. Show all posts
Showing posts with label notebook 10. Show all posts

ASUS Zenbook Prime UX31A-DB52 13.3-Inch Ultrabook

ASUS Zenbook Prime UX31A-DB52 13.3-Inch UltrabookVery pleased with the design (probably an intellectual property violation of Apple's Macbook Air design!). Performance with 256GB SSD is blazing. The screen is amazingly bright and sharp. I compared it to my business partner's MacBook Air, and the Asus is MUCH brighter. Great for my aging eyes! The speaker sound is a bit low on volume. The most significant issue I have is the sensitivity of the touch pad. I noted that others identified this issue with other UX31s. I have never experienced this with any previous notebook computer. If you so much as touch in the slightest way the large touchpad while typing, large swathes of text will be highlighted and, upon the next key stroke, erased. I have used my undo key to correct this more times than I like to remember. Hopefully, there is a software update that corrects the problem. Other than this, I am pleased. Best notebook I have ever had, even with the concerns I expressed.

Pros:

Almost everything, this is by far the best laptop I have yet to encounter. Its resolution and blazing speed (with the i7 Ivybridge processor and Solid State Hard Drive) excede any needs I have (word processing, watching videos, and Adobe Photoshop CS6). It's battery life is fairly good for an Ultrabook, especially with the excellent (and even) screen brightness. The USB 3.0 Ports are great to have, though on rare occasions more than two would be preferred.

Cons:

My only minor criticisms are its non-upgradable RAM and some keyboard issues.

In regards to its 4GB of RAM, 4GB is decent but isn't as much as I would prefer these days(though with its size, up-gradable components might just not be feasible).

Unfortunately, the first laptop I received had a malfunctioning On/Off button (which is part of the keyboard), that stopped working after about a week. The computer was promptly exchanged though, and this computer has not had that particular issue. Though, it should be noted that on occasion certain keys stop working (especially the backspace key) and I find lifting the computer, and sometimes lightly shaking it seems to help. This suggests to me that the keyboard attachment to the logic board occasionally comes slightly unseated. Based on a past Asus laptop I've owned, and these two additional Asus computers having this issue, it appears to me that Asus computers might be prone to such keyboard issues, but the pros far outweigh this minor inconvenience, to me. Further, I'm sure I could exchange it for a third computer, but it isn't worth the hassle.

UPDATE: The keyboard issue has gotten frustrating enough that I'm going to try sending it in again... apparently this is a common problem:

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Sony VAIO VPC-YB15KX/S 11.6-Inch Laptop (Silver)

Sony VAIO VPC-YB15KX/S 11.6-Inch LaptopBought this for my wife and she loves it. The keys have a good spacing between them, much better than cheaper flat style keys found on most laptops in this category. It is quick for most tasks, even playing HD video content, doesn't run hot and is quiet. I think specs are good for the price. Battery lasts 5 hour on average. It did cost a little more when it came out first, but now it's in the same ballpark as other Fusion-based laptops. Overall a very nice product from Sony.

So I bought this for traveling and I was expecting a decent Netbook from Sony. Unfortunately Sony only partly came through with that goal. I think it is a very good Netbook but not a good ultra portable. The positives first. The key spacing makes typing better but the with keys themselves are too small. Bigger keys closer together would have worked better. The screen is very sharp and bright. The features are nice with HDMI, VGA video outs. 3 USB ports and very good speed from the AMD Fusion APU which is Advanced Processor Unit. A CPU/GPU combination. It provides good graphics and Video playback.

OK here is the bad. The sound is awful! Get a pair of headphones because anywhere but a quiet room and you won't hear it.

Battery life is not great for a Netbook. Sony really skimped on the battery. Touchpad is too small, and even though it offers multi gestures you won't use them because its too small. The camera is very poor quality, the WiFi only connects up too 65Mbps in G and N mixed mode. Also experiences WiFi connection drops. The "Value Added" software from Sony is primarily redundent with Windows 7 already having tools to do the same functions better. They really slow the computer and cause the fan to run more. When I uninstalled most of the Sony software the computer ran much better. Why companies really handicap their own computers with this crap is beyond me? So in closing I think for the money Sony could have done better, but the saving grace of this computer is the very responsive AMD APU. Some have mentioned the HP model similar to the Sony's. I agree it does have a bit better battery specs. Although I found HP to have a much worse defect record so I passed on HP. You may find its worth the risk for the better specs.

Buy Sony VAIO VPC-YB15KX/S 11.6-Inch Laptop (Silver) Now

Admittedly, I was looking for an 11 inch alternative to the Macbook Air. While I love the Air and Mac OS, the price is just ridiculous. Enter the Vaio. I love this little PC. Its the perfect size for travel in every aspect. The keyboard is generally full sized (aside from the shift button on the right) and the screen is wonderfully vibrant. But I'll go over the pros and cons.

PROS:

Portable & Slim : It has an 11 inch screen that plays HD movies wonderfully. Its body is slim and compact and fits in most netbook cases.

Smooth: The specs of this computer make it less like a netbook and more like a small laptop. Its smooth playing back HD video and is wonderfully snappy online.

Battery: This one is relative. The most I've gotten on medium brightness is 4 hours. That's pretty good all things considered. Its a pc after all, so battery life has never been all that great.

CONS:

Speakers: They're pretty bad. They don't go very loud at all and even then, they sound tinny. Not that big a deal for me personally, but it should be noted.

FAN: For the love of all that is good and mighty, I wish the fan was a bit quieter. If a room is completely quiet, its pretty annoying.

Body: While I love the design of the PC a lot, I noticed that the lid already has some light scratches. It scratches pretty easily.

Games: While on paper it looks like it could play games, it's actually a little too basic to play heavier games

I would but NO CD DRIVE under cons but for this size, an omission is acceptable. I wish the keyboard had a backlight but that's no big deal either. All in all, I recommend this PC. Its a great cheap alternative to a Macbook Air.

SOME TIPS:

1) When you get it, optimize the Windows 7 settings to "netbook style" so that it can work way faster.

2) Uninstall half the crap that Sony installed.

3) Buy it in black. If it scratches you won't notice.

Read Best Reviews of Sony VAIO VPC-YB15KX/S 11.6-Inch Laptop (Silver) Here

I bought this small notebook to replace a Toshiba netbook that I used when riding the bus to and from work. I already have a top of the line Vaio notebook, and this little machine cannot compare to it. But I knew it couldn't, just as I know I don't want to lug my big Vaio on the bus. And this little notebook is so much more potent than my Toshiba netbook while only being about an inch wider and perhaps a half pound heavier. If you want a powerful notebook, I recommend a top of the line Vaio, not this little one. But if you are looking for a netbook, consider this ultra small notebook instead. The slightly heavier weight and size are well worth the extra power and speed over a true netbook.

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I recently purchased a Sony Vaio Y series 11.6" laptop, and I am almost fully satisfied. Great display (1366x768 LED), comfortable keyboard, acceptable webcam, 4GB RAM and 500GB Hard Disk. SD and MS card reader, HDMI socket for HD connection, Bluetooth and WiFi connections are desired features. Major drawback is video capability... Video RAM is shared within the system RAM. I wish it could have better display card built in. Last thing is about the battery, unfortunately battery life is not so long as it was advertised (6 hours...), but only 3.5 hours, or 4.0 hours max. As the conclusion; this laptop is the best one to be purchased on this price...

Dell XPS XPS13-40002sLV 13-Inch Ultrabook (Silver)

Dell XPS XPS13-40002sLV 13-Inch UltrabookGreat product, very happy with my purchase. The laptop is constructed amazingly well and really feels premium. The soft touch keyboard deck is much more comfortable than the aluminum of the Macbook Air or Pro. I use the laptop on my lap and it never feels warm. Very quiet. SSD speeds up the computer. From boot to opening the web browser takes about 20 second with no slow down at all. Trackpad is great, just make sure you install the latest touchpad drivers on the Dell website. It was awful at first but now it is definitely acceptable and responsive. Only thing I wish was better is the screen. Wish the resolution was higher and viewing angles were better. That is my only problem with this amazing ultrabook.

Netbooks were never an option for me, but I wanted something small like a netbook with just a bit more oomph. Then Intel started pushing these "Ultrabooks" into the market, and I gotta say I love it. I've owned Dell Desktops my whole life, but this is my first Dell laptop. I've had a couple HP laptops that have burnt out on me after just a couple years. So far, this little guy is doing just fine. Right away, I noticed that it doesn't ever get nearly as hot as my HP laptops did.

I still wish the intake wasn't at the bottom of the computer, but the design definitely works well on flat surfaces. It's silent up until you get a couple different applications running, then it gets a bit noisy, but nothing too crazy (yet). It certainly isn't a mobile workstation or high-power machine, and I certainly wouldn't recommend it for gaming or anything like that. It can definitely handle watching movies/clips in HD though.

The screen is beautiful, and is very, very bright. So bright in fact that most of the time I keep it around the middle, otherwise it actually hurts my eyes. It's great to have the ability to make it so bright though, especially when using it outside. Just wish they could have made the screen resolution a bit bigger!

Thin, very light, with a beautiful display. Keyboard layout is nice, keys feel good. Boot/restating/resuming is INCREDIBLY quick and a wonderful feature. Loving the SSD.

To Dell, I would recommend just a few things:

1) The CAPS LOCK light is so nice! Why not do it for WiFi or anything else?

2) Power Cable slips out just a little to easily.

3) Make Dell software that's initially installed more accessible. Offer a quick explanation of what everything is, and how to use it. Nothing is more frustrating to a user than having things on their machine, and not knowing what it is or what it does!

4) Power/heat management is good, but the fan needs to be just a bit quieter.

Despite those few (minor) cons, I feel this machine is well worth the price tag.

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First of all, as with all ultrabooks, you need to know you are paying a sum of your money for the design and premuim quality built get, so just put that in mind before you start comparing this little big guy to other lappys with similar specs!

The look: straight 5 stars, it is really smaller than all other 13" ultrabooks. Yet a bit bigger than 11" ones, which is great, I don't want to feel like I am just using a net book after all!

performance: Who said only ipads take no time to boot?! people never turn off their ipads, they put them to sleep(By clicking only the screen lock button) then start talking about how quick they boot! Well this guy here boots from sleep in almost no time! A full power on takes an impressive 15-20 secs from pressing the button to opening Google chrome! It is just lag-free , till now!, no matter what am I using it for. Everyday computing is a breath, even games ( I had Steam gaming software installed) like Batman Arkham and Need for speed perform flawlessly on it as well. So another 5 stars here.

keyboard and mouse: Though i loved the backlit keyboard with a little cushion for comfort when you press the keys, I didn't like the trackpad much. It did get better after installing the update from Dell website but still it didn't feel normal to me, I ended up installing Synaptics which cancelled the touch click, so I may only use the hard click. Eventually I would just use a bluetooth mouse. A 1/2 star off cos of that.

Screen: Not bad, but not impressive. Though I can't complain about the resolution, I really wished it could get brighter ( I had an Adamo XPS with a really bright screen, I guess I got used to it!) Also could have got better viewing angles. So another 1/2 star off for that.

Battery: I didn't count exactly how much time it gives, but it definitely gives around or more than 5 hours, which is pretty good for a laptop that small(i.e. has a small battery). Good enough that I don't take the charger with me when I take the laptop to Starbucks or to the library for example.

Weight: As light as all other 13" ultrabooks, and that is really light!

All in all, I enjoy the looks, the premium feel and the amazingly quick SSD & i5 processor. Based on looks & performance it is the best ultrabook around, and I looked a lot!

One last thing, though Dell's customer service does take longer time than average, I HIGHLY recommend buying a hardware warranty, I needed it in the past and it paid out well, in fact my former Dell Adamo was a replacement for an older model that Dell simply offered to send instead of repairing the older one, how cool was that?!

Read Best Reviews of Dell XPS XPS13-40002sLV 13-Inch Ultrabook (Silver) Here

I'm a software engineer and a maters student, and I bought this laptop both for work and for my studies. I have it for almost a year now, and I don't have a single word of complaint to say about it. It goes up FAST, the battery time is great, the keyboard and touch pad are top notch (you never notice they're there which is the highest praise I can give to a keyboard and a touch pad), it looks amazing, the it's light weight and even the speakers are actually fun to listen to.

I really love it.

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Bought this from amazon themselves, not a "seller" per se. It arrived a day earlier than expected so all in all it took 2 working days instead of 3-5 which was great! The laptop itself was packaged in an amazon box, then the dell box, then the xps box. The computer is beautiful! Super light, though hevier than it looks, and super thin. The lines and profiles are absolutely beautiful. Everyone who has seen me with the laptop has asked me about it and expressed how much they love how it looks. I bought it specfically for school. As a barrister in training I carry around a brief case filled with a hell of a lot of papers and books etc and needed a laptop (NOT a netbook) thin and light enough to fit in with everything else. Not only does it look beautiful, professional and serve its purpose, but this thing PERFORMS. Start up time is maximum 8 seconds. From hibernation (closed lid) it directs me to thelogin screen within a second of opening the lid (no kidding!). The machine runs so smoothly. I ended up uninstalling macafee and installing microsoft security essentials for free because I find it works better. It comes with office starter which means you dont get the full suit (which would be a problem for those who use things like onenote and powerpointAKA me). I think that's the only real downfall in terms of the system as you would have to purchase the full microsoft office suite. The web cam is great-pictures are clear (obviously not high res).

It does heat up a little if you're taxing it (lengthy youtube visits, typing up lengthy reports for a few hours etc), but not bad. It doesnt heat up as much when it's on my lap and there's space underneath it, unlike when you have it flat on a table.

The screen is really clear, sharp and the colours are vivid. It is, however, a FINGERPRINT magnet due to it's gloss.

The keyboard is lovely. It's nottoo small and the trackpad for me works excellently. It's also very comfortable for my palms. Though they say the finish doesn't attract finger print, it soaks up any oil you may have on my your hands (natural or otherwise) and leaves it looking a bit shiny rather than matte. Not a big deal for me as it's bound to happen sooner or later.

Once the computer starts and i log in I can access the web browser within 2 seconds.

Battery life isn't bad at all. I went for about 6-7 hours full use during advocacy lectures and drafting sessions (note: this does not include excessive taxing of the machine, that is, watching video etcrather microsoft office/adobe reader/ie). Not bad for such a small machine with such a tiny battery.

The only thing that worries me is that if/when the battery fails I cannot just replace it myself. You will have to send it into a dell service centre and have them replace the battery for you.

All in all it's a beautiful computer. Completely portable, enviable and super fast and efficient.

Would definitely reccommend to students,businessmen/women, and people on the go. A high performance laptopultimate portability.

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ASUS K55N 15.6" AMD Quad-Core 500GB Notebook

ASUS K55N 15.6' AMD Quad-Core 500GB NotebookI like how it works, it's so fast; i like AMD technology and the keyboard is really help full and resolution is great.

I actually wanted a quad-core Acer, which had hardware more to my liking, but the OS was Windows 8 which I don't want. So I got the Asus because it advertised Windows 7 as the operating system. That's how bad I hoped to avoid Windows 8--that I would pay a comparable price for an inferior machine.

Well, guess what operating system it came with? Yup, Win8. So because of the false advertising I chose the machine I didn't really want and got double-screwed.

I've had this laptop plugged in for a couple hours now and the battery refuses to charge. In fact, I'm being told there is no battery.

And guess what? MS Office isn't even part of the bundle. I thought I'd at least get Word with the purchase of a brand new computer. Nope, but I do get a whole lot of crap I don't want to eat up my memory which I can't even expand because I chose the ASUS over the ACER due to the aforementioned false advertising. I've had this laptop out of the box for only a few hours now and I can't tell you how much I regret buying it.

Oh joy--I have to pay for shipping AGAIN to get my refund.

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dell vostro V13 silver/ intel core 2 duo SU7300/2GB/320GB/13.3" LDE Backlit/6Cell/ bluetooth

dell vostro V13 silver/ intel core 2 duo SU7300/2GB/320GB/13.3' LDE Backlit/6Cell/ bluetoothThe first thing to mention is that these units are disappearing rapidly as inventory lowers and Dell stopped production as of May 1, 2011. There were specials on for over a month as Dell popped them out at a ridiculously low $350 US, presumably using the existing tooling until a new model went into production. Like a fool, all my instincts told me I should have bought a few and after receiving mine on May 6th, I realized that I should have bought a dozen at that price.

Well I managed to get one for myself (at least) and here is the info that should assist any and everyone in deciding if they should buy one.

Obviously it's difficult to accept paying so much more than when it was on special, but I will attempt to evaluate it, given the present price of $630.

It's fairly simple to make comparisons to other 13.3 inch Ultra Slims and from that info, you can decide for yourself if this is the most appealing of the group.

Since the specs are sparse on Amazon, here are the basics. An Intel ULV (Ultra Low Voltage) CPU SU7300, 2 gigs of DDR3 ram and a 320 gig 7200 rpm hard drive. None of the units in this class (Acer, Asus, Toshiba, etc) have dedicated expensive high level graphics cards built in and they all share similar video performance.(Intel HD Series 4 graphics)

So what would make you choose the V13 over the others?

2 things.....

1) The looks, build, slimness, brushed aluminum finish, etc

2) The superior speed from having a 7200 rpm hard drive.

A 7200 rpm drive is approximately 50% faster in performance than a 5400 model, however that does not translate into 50% more performance across the board. Booting up and shutting down will be faster as will all applications that are opened for the first time in a given session. Once these apps/programs are in the cache, the competitive machines with their slower drives should open apps as quickly as this Dell.

As an example, after booting up, let's say 15 seconds after arriving at your desktop image, the V13 might open Internet Explorer to a simple website like google.com, in 3 seconds flat, and then 1 second each subsequent time, whereas the 5400 rpm models from the competition might take 6 seconds the first time, but will also open it in 1 second, the second time and all subsequent times.

One might argue that is not enough to sway you away from other brands, but bear in mind that all apps opened for the first time in a session, will open a lot faster with the V13 than the others, so when you open Firefox, Google Earth, Microsoft Word and all others, you will not be made to wait as long as you would with the 5400 rpm models.

Hopefully, that issue is now 100% clear and we can move onto establishing whether it is the machine for YOU.

If you are reading this review, I presume it is because you have an interest in purchasing this model and there is no reason that we can't establish the pros and cons for you, well enough for you to make a good sound decision, sight unseen.

As you may know by now, it is the slimmest koolest looking Ultra Slim 13.3 incher on the market, bar none.

If you like the idea of having a kool looking machine that occupies so little space and is so easy to move around

(it's actually thinner than an iPad 1), this is probably the dream machine for you, but we need to look at one other aspect, performance vs battery life.

Competitive models like the now discontinued Toshiba T135, will get you 50% more battery life in exchange for the slightly slower performance. The V13 not only draws a bit more power because of its higher performance hard drive, but it also has a smaller battery, in order to fit into such a small slim case.

In short, in power saving settings, you will get 4 hours of service if your unit is well tweaked and you do not over burden it.

For example, I can have Yahoo Messenger, Live Messenger and Skype on, whilst viewing 4 internet pages, and I will get 4 hours of usage.

If you watch video or listen to music, the battery will run out a lot faster, as much as twice as fast.

If you are a frequent traveler, I suggest you consider the Asus/Toshiba or Acer models with longer battery life. The performance from those machines is quite acceptable and the battery life is fantastic.

If you are satisfied with a potential 4 hours of battery life and love the idea of having the koolest looking laptop around, the V13 is the machine for you.

People just go googoo gaga over it, when you hand it to them in their hands.

The easy portability is unsurpassed in its class.

So here is the price you will pay for having the koolest, slimmest, metal construction 13.3 incher with the fastest performance.

You will lose battery life as mentioned above, and some ports.

The V13 has only 2 USB ports and does not have an HDMI out for hooking up to your TV.

It does have Bluetooth which may come in handy for some folks, a VGA out, sound out and microphone in, an SD card reader, an Ethernet port and that's it.

There may come a time when you would like to use an external DVD or hard drive that requires both of your USB ports, so you wouldn't even have one to spare for your mouse, for example.

Personally, I have no problems with what I lose as compared to the competition's models, in order to get this fantastic form factor and the superior performance.

Others may disagree and with good reason, specially if additional ports are essential to them and if longer battery life is a critical factor.

If you have now decided that you want a V13, do not waste any time as the price will continue to go up until there are none left.

overpriced due to dell outlet sells this for $325. with $600 you could already buy the vostro v130 with i3 processor. I rate this 5 stars due to the design and weight of laptop is nice and i personally love it due to already having one. Beware this is overpriced

Buy dell vostro V13 silver/ intel core 2 duo SU7300/2GB/320GB/13.3" LDE Backlit/6Cell/ bluetooth Now

I bought one of these used (this model is no longer available from Dell), and I like it a lot.

Let me point out right away though it's one bad point: short battery life. 3 4 hours for web surfing etc. Less for more demanding tasks like playing video.

If you can live with that, I highly recommend it. It's not much heavier or bigger than a netbook. It's wider and deeper but it's really thin, so overall size comes out about the same really. You get a much better CPU (low voltage core2duo in mine), a 13.3" HD resolution screen, and a full-size keyboard. A major plus for my usage is that it plays full HD videos with no sweat, even streaming videos. Atom-powered netbooks just can't do this.

And this thing looks really cool... it's well-styled and it's strikingly thin. The lid and base are metal (aluminum I think). It attracts attention whenever I use it and people think it must have cost like $1000.

Dell has updated this model. The new one gives better battery life and a more powerful CPU, but it's heavier, thicker, and there's a battery "bulge" in the bottom. I actually much prefer this older model.

Read Best Reviews of dell vostro V13 silver/ intel core 2 duo SU7300/2GB/320GB/13.3" LDE Backlit/6Cell/ bluetooth Here

By far a perfect laptop for what I needed. Web, Office and mobile thin, good looking and power behind it.

Great buy if you looking for a ultra portable laptop with great performance and stylish look. I will admit the biggest downfall is the battery life...3-4 hrs max. Which based on new ultra notebooks coming to the market these days is too short. An outlet is never too far away for to long -

Taking the laptop as is it works great. No complaintsprob about a 3 in ranking. It was pretty basic everyday laptop.

However after adding a 128 SSD, 4GB Ram & 64 OS this thing flies! Would have bumped to a 5 if the battery life was around 5-6 hours. Definitely recommend doing if you decide to get before the stocks run dry.

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Needed an updated, affordable and durable laptop for work. This product was marked "Like New", but I can't tell that it has ever been used! Perfect Condition, Perfect Operation, and Perfect Vendor! Arrived earlier than promised in perfect condition. Would definitely buy from them again.

HP Pavilion G7-1277DX Laptop (AMD Dual-Core A4-3300M 4GB DDR3 320GB HD 17.3" LED)

HP Pavilion G7-1277DX LaptopI've had this laptop for 4 months. The build quality is pretty good and the screen is bright and vivid. Has a decent Radeon HD 6xxx series GPU and runs linux well.

My *biggest* complaint is while the laptop offers lots of physical room for expandability, HP has locked down the BIOS so no wireless cards or other upgrades can be made to the machine. Inserting any other mini PCIe upgrades to the machine results in the bios complaining at boot about a "unapproved upgrade" and locking.

Had lots of potential, but the lack of upgradability is a game killer.

I've had my laptop for a couple of weeks now and I am very impressed with the speed and capabilities that it has to offer. The graphics are awesome!!! The Windows 7 program that it comes with is also very easy and straight-forward. I'm really loving this. I would recommend this product. For the price it can't be beat.

Buy HP Pavilion G7-1277DX Laptop (AMD Dual-Core A4-3300M 4GB DDR3 320GB HD 17.3" LED) Now

I've hand this laptop for over a year now and its been exceptional. I use it as my secondary machine for when I need a larger screen to collaborate with others in meetings. I also use it quite a bit in my office. In spite of it being an A4 all my applications run snappy.

This week I upgraded to Windows 8 without any issues. I did use HP Support Assistant software to ensure that all the proper drivers were downloaded.

I like the imprinted touchpad quite a bit as well as the ability to turn it off with a double-tap when using a mouse.

I would like a firmer keyboard but I'm able to type fine on this one.

Read Best Reviews of HP Pavilion G7-1277DX Laptop (AMD Dual-Core A4-3300M 4GB DDR3 320GB HD 17.3" LED) Here

Just bought this over the weekend and it performs perfectly! Great value laptop packs a punch! Beautiful large screen and is pretty fast! No regrets and I would definitely recommend this to a friend :)

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I have been using this laptop for the past 6 months.

+s:

Extremely good screen (you can't find this quality screen in many cheap laptops. It does not have the regular "mesh" pattern of other cheap laptops)

Very well balanced performance. Not very fast for intense calculations, but I can do almost anything with it. It will handle it, but with a bit of patience.

17 inch screen is wonderful for multitaskin (excel, word, paint, gimp, matlab etc all open at the same time)

-s: feels not very durable (plastic feeling). Won't dare to drop it.

fan noise (specially when firefox and opera run at the same time)

Not the fastest cpu. But having a nice cheap 17" system needs some sacrifices.

tmouse-pad is ok but scroll-down/up 2 fingers gesture is not easy in practice.

Unlike Dell, HP does not send a Windows installation cd. So if necessary, I will need to use Dell's cd to install a fresh Windows!

All in all, I can't complain about this considering the price. It is well worth more than the price at the time of purchase (~ $380). Did I mention how perfect is the screen?!

GATEWAY NV5927U LAPTOP WITH INTEL CORE I3-330M (2.13GHz), 4GB DDR3, 320GB, 4xBLU-RAY, 15.6" LED LCD

GATEWAY NV5927U LAPTOP WITH INTEL CORE I3-330M, 4GB DDR3, 320GB, 4xBLU-RAY, 15.6' LED LCD, GbE, WEBCAM, CARD READER, WIN 7 HOME PREM 64-BITI've had my NV5927u for a couple of years now and it's been a great machine. I've edited a feature length movie on it and can still play many of the latest games. It's not a top of the line machine and that should be considered, but for the money I paid, I cannot complain at all.

I wish I could give less than 1 start if any. The worst laptop and worst customer service ever. The battery went bad in a year. the charging cord went bad in two years. The hard drive broken in 2.5 year. I was lucky enough to buy an additional warranty which changed the hard drive for me. However, the original win7 came with the laptop expired because of the change of hard drive (speculated by customer service). I could have reinstalled win 7 if the key number at the bottom is not worn off. Since the key is not readable, I asked Gateway to send me again my key. Sorry, your warranty expired and we cannot help. But, if you buy reboot CD and reboot yr system, everything will be fixed. I paid $20 and bought the CD. The CDs (4 total) do not work. After two 3-hour chatting with customer services, they told me the CDs may be defective. I could be better off to buy win7 from my college book store for $20, but the customer persuaded to buy their dame CD. They have told me to reformat my computer to allow the CDs to work, which did not work. The next time, I tried to contact them, they told me again, sorry your warranty is expired. I told them, maybe, but the CDs you sold me last week are not expired, right? They told me to call during office hours to try again, whereas no phone number could be found anywhere on their website.... Gateway, the worst laptop and customer service. Do not buy it.

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TOSHIBA T4400 2.2/4GB/320GB/DVD

TOSHIBA T4400 2.2/4GB/320GB/DVDThe Toshiba Satellite L455-S5009 is a great everyday use laptop. It packs more than enough power to get your work done. The video card doesn't allow for much game-play, but it is not a gaming laptop. For everything you get inside, the price is more than fair. Shop around to look for a deal, I have seen them go for as little as $399. I would gladly recommend this computer to anyone in the market for a new laptop.

I just picked this up at Best Buy for $399 and can't believe the deal I got. This computer packs a great processor, 4GB of ram, a 320GB hard drive, Windows 7 home premium, wireless and a beautiful screen you can't go wrong.

It isn't the sleekest computer on the market, but you won't find anything as powerful near the price.

You can't go wrong with this laptop.

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I admit I have not been the most careful with this laptop, and I need to carry it around a lot, which I do not recommend if you need a highly mobile laptop. It is very easily damaged. Right now there are scuffs all over the laptop because it shows very easily. There is litereally a square of white marks where the screen hits the keyboard when it closes and there is a giant white spot on the touchpad just from clicking with it. The left clicker has been broken since the day I got this computer, the charger has stopped working and I had to get a new one twice in a 2 year period, the dvd cover fell off, the internet has been slowly deteriorating, as I used to get 5 bars in my room and now I get no reception (This is not the internet provider, because my roommates and iPod still have the same reception, and I am experiencing lower reception everywhere). Also, once I was using the laptop and I closed it and there was a large crack, and one of the hinges had fallen off. The battery life is AWFUL. It used to be just annoying, but by now it lasts me maybe 45 minutes on lowest brightness possible. The speakers are really quiet as well.

The actual computer runs well-it is fast enough for what I need and I have had no problems running programs (I am not a hardcore gamer by any means, just everyday usage). But like I said, the laptop is built cheaply.

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I got this laptop in the January of 2010. A few months after I got it, the touchpad began to wear down, which has resulted in a huge and very unsightly white spot in the middle of it. The left clicker also has a black spot worn into it, as if a Sharpie was used to draw on it. The spots on both have grown over time. Another issue I had with the left clicker was sticking and sometimes not working.

I had many problems in regards to performance, and I often found my laptop not being able to run some programs, and while it's not a gaming computer by any means, it couldn't run even low-performance games very well.

Lastly, the hinge broke after about a year and every time I opened the laptop, there was a loud clicking noise and the top of the laptop would be crooked and coming loose. Just an hour ago, it completely broke and the screen is now barely hanging on.

I've decided that I would rather just buy a new laptop than get this one fixed. This laptop is not worth your time.

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I got this computer a bit over a year ago, and for the most part it works great. I use this computer a lot for school and in my free time quite a lot, and it can handle most minor and commonplace things without any problems. The one way I feel that this computer falls short of is the lack of a decent graphics card. It has trouble playing any games, even some that have been out for over 4 years. I don't really mind it all too much, but it tends to be a bit of a hassle in the long run.

So yeah, for anything other than games, this computer certainly isnt a bad choice.

Samsung Series 3 NP300V5A-A0EUS 15.6-Inch Laptop (Black)

Samsung Series 3 NP300V5A-A0EUS 15.6-Inch LaptopI recently purchased this laptop mainly for college use and some little gaming. This is my third laptop I've owned, and overall I'm very pleased with it (my others being an HP dv6t and Sony VAIO E-series).

Pros:

Very sleek and modern

High quality island-style keyboard (My Sony VAIO felt VERY cheap)

Fast 2nd Gen. Intel Core i5 processor

6GB of RAM (rare for this price point)

Feels very light for a 15.6"

Not a lot of bloatware compared to my previous HP & VAIO laptops

Non-glossy LED screen

Cons:

The back of the screen is actually plastic, not brushed aluminum

Sound is good, but not loud in max volume

No light on the Caps, Number, and Scroll Lock buttons (it actually displays it on the screen)

The zero on the number pad is small (I'm used to using my thumb for hitting zero)

No USB 3.0 ports

Intel HD 3000 graphics (Then again, I'm not a hardcore gamer)

A bit difficult to stick something to a USB port

Overall, for $650, I'm very happy with the purchase I made, and it's a lot better than my previous laptops.

After receiving my laptop in record time..2 days after my order, I was excited to open it up and test it out. After going through the initial setup, and finally on the desktop page, my screen started filling in with a dark gray color from the bottom to the top. Slowly started getting higher and higher... until I could no longer see the lower third of the page. Went right to Samsung tech support, where the techs had me do a basic restore.. which did not fix the problem, then contacted tech support again, where I was told to do a complete restore to fix the problem. I was told this would uninstall and reinstall the video drivers. Still didn't fix it. At this time I started seeing a pink line at the bottom of the screen also, and i'm getting fed up. Third and final chat with tech ended in "you must return the laptop for service under warranty". YEAH RIGHT... it was less than an hour old and you want to service it! NO WAY.... NOT HAPPENING! sooo Amazing Amazon to the rescue. (I should mention here that I absolutely love buying things on Amazon for many reasons, including this) I contacted Amazon who was soo helpful in processing the return of the defective one, and shipping a replacement before the old one was even sent back. Now, I can say that the little amount of time I did "use" the computer, it seemed very nice. Nice crisp clicks on the keys, a very nice large trackpad, lightweight, nice design, very fast, but what good is all that when the darn thing didn't work right. Even so, I decided to give Samsung one more try when the replacement shows up. Maybe I received a lemon, but it's the first Samsung product I have purchased, and I'll try once more before I go back to Toshiba or Dell. Will update this after some time with the new one.

UPDATE***

Received a new laptop which has so far run without a hitch. After deleting all the bloatware, it is lightning fast for my needs. Still like the physical features of this thing, great keys, touchpad, display, lightweight, nice design.

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Bought this laptop about 3 months back and have been using it everyday at home. It is a nice laptop and has not given me any issues. Starts and shuts down real fast. Not giving it a 5 star because I think the touchpad could have been more responsive. The earlier Compaq laptop I had had an amazing touchpad and this really pales compared to that.Also the side scrolling on the touchpad is not present. I had to download a third part software to put that feature in this. Was not a big deal for me but someone who is not tech experienced might have difficulty. Rest other things are pretty decent. I bought it from Amazon in the $530 range which is way less than the current ~ $660 range. I did not see any deal breakers in this laptop.

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Purchased this item on amazon through J & R Computer World. Wow, the reason that they don't mention the finish is that it is brushed black plastic, and it just screams CHEAP. I returned it to J & R and upgraded to the ultra book which is much better. The NP300v5a looked like a black plastic brick.

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Samsung Series 3 NP300E5A-A02UB 15.6-Inch Notebook (Intel Core i3-2350M, 2.3GHz, 6GB, 500GB, DVD+/-

Samsung Series 3 NP300E5A-A02UB 15.6-Inch Notebook BlackI've had this laptop for a couple of months now, and I am very satisfied with it. Very fast overall, and the display resolution is very detailed and clear. For any of the thousands of laptops out there, you can more or less know what to expect when you review the specs. But what separates this laptop from any laptop of the same specs is its design. You sit at a coffee shop with someone using a quadcore i7 of another brand/model, and this particular laptop will absolutely turn more heads. Beauty with performance, I can't ask for more.

Laptop is super fast, looks new, has no problems, and is super silent. It also has a side number pad which is very convenient. Definitely glad i bought this.

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Very stylish, and I think a great value, if you're willing to deal with tons of bloatware and crapware.

All the stars I removed are due to this being absolutely loaded with bloatware. And crapware like Firefox plugins that redirected everything through babylon. Tons of other FUD.

My mother in law bought this and Firefox (preloaded) wasn't even stable with the babylon and other plugins and bloatware. I handed it off to my 10 year old IT guy who had to spend several hours removing bloatware after bloatware after crap ware.

Nice laptop but it really horks me off all the "partner crud" they load on. It really does a disservice to customers particularly those not IT savvy to restore the load to pretty-bare-windows as it should come. Minus two stars for the crud and fud.

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When typing it will jump to a another place. As in this review if I stop for a second to think it may start me typing anywhere but where I left off and is very frustrating to use. Just about to the point of throwing it away. That bad. Have not been able to fix it yet and have had two I T people work on it.

Steve Culp

culpspecial@yahoo.comSamsung Np300e5a-a02ub Laptop 15.6" Core i3-2350M Laptop 6GB RAM 500GB HDD DDR3 intel HD Graphics 3000 Black/Titanium

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Acer Aspire AS5749-6492 15.6" LCD Notebook (Intel Core i3-2350M, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, DVDRW, Windows

Acer Aspire AS5749-6492 15.6' LCD NotebookThis Acer is a great bargain. It is light, battery life is decent, and it does what it is meant to do basic business applications. It is a little plasticish, which surprised me, but that is probably understandable for the price category.

MacBook Air 1.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

MacBook Air 1.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duoi am currently writing this review after several weeks of use. i spent about 3 weeks researching different laptops before i got this one. it was no easy task. i hope this review will help you decide.

i have the 1.6GHz, 4GB Ram, & 128GB Flash Storage. (not sure if this review will be placed for this specific spec or for all MacBook Air 11".)

LAPTOP USE:

mainly for work. checking email and managing contacts. viewing documents.

i am also an amateur photographer so i will be doing some light photo work.

huge gamer. see below for more details.

DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION:

there's not much to say regarding this. it's built like no other machine i've ever used. it's rock solid. i have read some reviews stating that they were concerned with the joint where the screen meets the keyboard area but it should not be of any concern. it feels great in your hands. i can find no flaws with the laptop itself. make sure you go to an Apple Store and play with it to see for yourself.

OS:

i am currently running both OS X 10.6.5 & Windows 7 Ultimate 64. it came installed with OS X 10.6.4. make sure you update this before you install anything.

Apple states that you can only install Windows 7 through Boot Camp using a DVD player. after some research before i bought the laptop, i found this to not be true.

by using an open-source program called rEFIt, you can install Windows 7 using a USB flash drive. you can also install Linux, if you wish. by using this program you can dual boot or even TRIPLE BOOT on your MacBook Air.

if you would like to install Windows 7 using a USB flash drive, you can use a program by Microsoft called "Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool" to accomplish this. make sure your USB flash drive is at least 4GB for installation. YOU ALSO NEED A COPY OF WINDOWS THAT YOU PLAN ON INSTALLING HANDY.

INSTALLING WINDOWS WITH A USB FLASH DRIVE...

** UPDATE ADDED **

** before you go and install Windows 7 on your shiny new MacBook make sure you've updated your OS X to 10.6.5 first! i was so excited to get Win7 on my MBA that i installed it first before upgrading. i had installed EVERYTHING. all my PC programs and had it set up perfectly. bad mistake. when i upgraded the patch it wiped my NTFS (Windows 7) partition and everything there. ugh. save yourself that headache and PLEASE UPDATE OS X to 10.6.5 FIRST!!!

i have recently increased my Mac partition to allow for more room for my Mac needs. it is now at 48GB for Mac and 70GB for Windows. your needs may vary so give yourself ample space for both partitions. if at a later time you need to increase/decrease your partition sizes, you can do so easily by doing a FULL BACKUP WITH A SYSTEM IMAGE using Windows BACKUP or any other Backup program. remove your Windows partition ONLY AFTER doing the backup. go into Boot Camp Asst and create a new partition. connect your choice of Windows 7 installation, either USB OR DVD. do a RESTORE with the backup of the system image and backup files you made. VOILA... you have everything the way it is again. ***

make sure you first go into OS X. click on Boot Camp, which you can find using the Finder feature or go into your Utilities folder. get to the second page. download the Windows support software for your Mac. you're going to need it later after you've installed Windows. save this on your other PC. hopefully you have a PC to run that Windows 7 USB/DVD Tool. just go through the steps it tells you and you should be done. now place the "WindowsSupport" folder you dl'ed through Boot Camp onto your flash drive. you should have 3.65GB used. i used Windows 7 Ultimate 64 so your size may be less.

now you should already have installed rEFIt. if not, you should do so now. follow the instructions on their site. this gets installed through OS X, just in case you're wondering. after installation, make sure you reboot your MB Air at least twice. don't ask me why. it just takes at least twice before it gets fully working.

as you're about to do your second reboot, plug in the flash drive you have Windows 7 installed. as your MBA loads up, you should get a screen with a few icons, which you may have noticed after your first reboot. just select your USB drive and VOILA! you should now be starting your Windows 7 installation. once you're done make sure you install the Boot Camp drivers in the "WindowsSupport" folder. Boot Camp 3.2 is out so make sure you update to that ONLY AFTER you've installed 3.1 first. you will not be allowed to install 3.2 without 3.1 installed.

WINDOWS 7 GENERAL USAGE:

Windows 7 Ultimate 64 runs smoothly on the MBA. i was very surprised. it boots up almost as quickly as my 3.4GHz desktop which has a SSD drive. considering the MBA only has 1.6GHz this thing can only be labled as a BEAST. i like to tinker with my computer a lot so i've removed many startup services and programs that i don't need and just eat up valuable resources. i will not go into details about it now but if you are curious just ask and i will comment back with some good info for you.

i have installed Lightroom 3.3 and Photoshop CS5 and they run very nicely. it will definitely not give you the same experience as a 3.4GHz desktop but considering the size of this laptop, you should be pleased.

Hulu & Youtube runs quite nicely. definitely not as smooth as my desktop but then again look at the size of this laptop.

i personally have not installed Windows Office 2010 because i've opted to go with the free Libre Office program. it is still in beta stages but runs quite nicely without any major hiccups. i also have Firefox and Thunderbird installed. they both run well.

WINDOWS 7 GAMING USAGE:

i currently play Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and Black Ops. i installed both on the MBA. i was quite shocked that it ran pretty well. of course, you will most likely have to run at lowest settings but if you need to get your fix for blood and you're away from home then you can! let's be realistic though. you really don't want to be playing games on a 11' screen. to be honest, i had such a hard time seeing enemies that were far away in BFBC2.

MAC USAGE:

this is my first Mac. i was very hesitant booting up the MBA the first time. it's like that first day at high school... as a freshman. you thought you knew it all but now you're in a totally new environment. fear strikes in.

don't fret. you're about to embark on a wonderful new adventure!

i am beginning to love the Mac OS X. it's so stable and runs as smooth as a babies bootie on this laptop.

i have Aperture 3, Final Cut Express 4, Lightroom 3.3, Photoshop CS5, Firefox, and Thunderbird installed on the Mac OS X. they all run very well. Final Cut Express will not be the same as a desktop experience most definitely but you can do some light work on your MBA. i also suggest you install a program called Onyx to remove any garbage files. also get Growl. a very nifty program for Mac's.

** UPDATE ADDED **

** a commenter had asked about doing a fresh install of the Mac OS X. i know what he meant immediately. most laptops come with some sort of BLOATWARE (garbage programs that slow your system down). Mac's are not plagued by this issue so you do not have to worry. since the storage on your MBA will be limited compared to other systems, every bit of free space is valuable. OS X contains files for use with X11, which is a X Window System implementation for running X11-based applications on Mac OS X. Based on the de facto-standard for X11, the open source XFree86 project, X11 for Mac OS X is compatible, fast and fully integrated with Mac OS X. It includes the full X11R6.6 technology including a window server, libraries and basic utilities such as xterm. if you have no idea what i just wrote, then you won't need this. :) i'm not sure if it's installed by default but since i had to do a fresh reinstall due to the OS X 10.6.5 Update patch wiping my Windows partition. there are also over 1GB worth of language support files within OS X and other Mac programs. you may want to do a fresh install due to these reasons but if X11 is not a concern of yours and only removing the language files then there is an easy solution. check below for more details under the "RECOMMENDED MAC OS X PROGRAMS". **

RECOMMENDED MAC OS X PROGRAMS:

after a few more weeks of use, i have been using OS X a lot more than i had first thought i would. due to these reasons, i have been researching for more OS X programs. here are my results. i will add more as i come across them.

1. CleanMyMac: this program is A MUST HAVE. it does so much i can't even begin to tell you everything it does. basically, it cleans out all your garbage files, unnecessary junk, and language support that you won't need. i gained over 2GB worth of storage space from this program. THAT'S A LOT! considering i just got my MacBook so it wouldn't have any accumulated that many temp files. it goes to show you how many other files there are you don't need.

2. Onyx 2.2.1: this is another MUST HAVE. it is a multifunction utility for Mac OS X. It allows you to verify the Startup Disk and the structure of its System files, to run miscellaneous tasks of system maintenance, to configure the hidden parameters of the Finder, Dock and of some of Apple's own applications, to delete caches, to remove a certain number of files and folders that may become cumbersome and more.

3. KisMAC: it is an open-source and free sniffer/scanner application for Mac OS X. i've used this for when i'm out and need to get more WiFi info than is given through OS X. many of you probably won't need it but it's a nice program to have.

4. WinClone: clones your Boot Camp partition. can be useful for many applications. (use with precaution, as it seems to be no longer developed. i suggest you google this application and see if it fits your needs.)

5. Libre Office: an open-source Office platform program. it's the better version of Open Office, in my opinion. it's FREE so try it. it's also available for PC.

6. Text Wrangler: 90% of you won't need this, but for the other 10% it can be very useful. this is the only free program that does this that i could find. A powerful and richly-featured tool for composing, modifying, and transforming text stored in plain-text files. It features flexible "grep" pattern-based search and replace, syntax coloring, and function navigation for C, C++, and Objective-C. Also includes integration with the UNIX command line via the "edit" tool, built-in support for opening and saving files to remote FTP servers, and a rich plug-in architecture.

SUGGESTED PRODUCTS FOR YOUR MACBOOK AIR (which i am using. do a search on Amazon for these products.):

elago Mobile Nano II USB 2.0 microSDHC Flash Memory Card Reader (Black)

Western Digital My Passport Essential SE 1 TB USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 Ultra Portable External Hard Drive WDBACX0010BBK-NESN

Logitech Wireless Performance Mouse MX for PC and Mac

Samsung USB 2.0 8x DVD Writer External Optical Drive for Mac and PC SE-S084D/TSBS (Gloss Black)

Transcend P8 15-in-1 USB 2.0 Flash Memory Card Reader TS-RDP8K (Black)

FINAL WORDS:

i love the MacBook Air 11". i do not regret purchasing it at all.

i hope you have all found this review helpful. i am sorry to those who i have bored with my long rant. i hope i helped a few people decide on purchasing this laptop. if you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments section.

cheers!

I should admit upfront that I am not a scientist or engineer. Nor am I a gamer or video editor. I am a scholar and writer, so my use of this machine is largely limited to word processing, Power Point presentations, web browsing, and watching streaming videos. Thus, my experience will very likely differ from those who'll be using this computer to run several large and sophisticated programs simultaneously. Given these parameters, I am simply thrilled with this addition to Apple's MacBook collection. I am a relatively recent convert to Apple products after nearly two decades on PCs. So my views might be positively colored somewhat by the enthusiasm of the newly converted. I have been using a MacBook Pro 13" for the last year or so and I can safely say that this new MacBook Air 11" is simply a charm and a wonderful companion to the larger computer. Mine is the fully maxed-out model, with the factory-installed 1.6 chip, 4GB ram and 128 flash. I bought it to use for travel to libraries and research centers, and to carry easily from home to school. While I've only had the machine for a short time, there is no doubt this will be instantly more useful than any PC or Apple I've owned before. I have now spent several hours running it through its paces and I am genuinely impressed.

My first reaction was that it truly is as amazingly thin and sleek as it looks in the ads--almost disconcertingly so compared to my MacBook Pro. My first few times typing, I thought I might break it, it seemed so thin. But it's a toughie, no doubt about it. Light yet solid. Easily slips into my bag--hardly noticeable. It took almost no time at all to set up. The battery charged in less than an hour and, so far at least, seems to run almost as long as my Pro, though I do have to be especially careful to quit programs I'm not using to preserve and prolong power. I installed Office Suite 2011 in 15 minutes via the wireless network through the university. No need for a disk drive in this instance. Even more exciting, it easily networked wirelessly with my Pro and I was then able to operate its DVD drive as if it were part of the Air. Amazing. Assuming you have another MacBook, there really is no need for a DVD drive in this machine.

Since I write for a living, having a comfortable keyboard is essential. I was delighted and surprised to see that the 11" Air has a keyboard that measures exactly the same as my 13" Pro--no difference whatsoever. And the overall feeling is quite good with just enough bounce and resistance--essential in my view for effective typing. Only thing lacking are the illuminated keys--a nice feature, but certainly not essential. I don't think I'll miss it. The backlit screen is physically smaller, of course. But there are more pixels per inch, so it is amazingly bright and crisp. In fact, in a side-by-side comparison, this screen is every bit as brilliant as the screen on my Pro, and is certainly brighter and with greater high and low contrasts than the screen on the standard MacBook. Again, I am quite delightfully surprised by how good this screen is, since I was expecting something less in such a small package. Everything reads slightly smaller as a result, of course. But I still have no trouble reading whatever's on the screen. I imagine people with poor vision might have a slightly harder time reading their usual sites and documents. But I have no trouble--and my eyes are not perfect by any means. The improved track pad is a joy to use and genuinely intuitive. I am especially pleased to see the one finger "tap to click" option once again that you don't find on the older MacBooks--makes navigation that much faster and easier.

Despite the processor being only 1.6GHz, the speed seems to be about the same as on my MacBook Pro. Here, I'm sure more sophisticated users and gamers will disagree. But I am able to run Youtube, Netflix, and Hulu videos flawlessly. No discernible lag, no annoying pixelating. It certainly boots up faster (that solid state storage makes a noticeable difference there) and many of my usual websites seem to load up just as fast if not faster than they do on my Pro. So I'm not sure I will notice any difference in CPU speed, given my rather mundane needs and uses. But I'm glad I got the faster chip and larger RAM, nonetheless, given the ever-increasing demands of programs and the Internet. These upgrades make normal usage a breeze and should extend the machine's viability a bit longer.

Downsides? None yet--apart from minor issues like the lack of an SD slot, an Ethernet port (USB extension is available for purchase) and additional USB outlets. But I'm happy to sacrifice these things for the convenience of a light, ultrathin MacBook. No doubt this machine will now become my primary tool.

Be aware that this maxed out edition (1.6/4GB/128Flash) must be factory installed through special order. As a result, it takes longer to arrive than most might expect. Certainly longer than the 1-3 business days Apple claims it takes to process the order. Mine took 18 days from the time I placed the order until it arrived from the Apple factory in China. Your experience may be different. But don't expect it to arrive within just a few days.

In short, this is an excellent machine. Whether it is worth the price is up to you. But I'm more than happy with it. Obviously, I can't attest yet to its durability, but it feels solid and stout, and I expect it will get quite a bit of use.

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I have a core i7 main 15" MBP and I wanted a travel laptop. I figured for big trips I would need the big boy to take the load. I was wrong. I bought the pimped out 11" model and it has handled admirably. I would like a 256 model as well but I think I will be able to find a bigger flash drive soon enough. I have been amazed with the ease the 1.6ghz handled everything I threw at it and multitasked like a champ. I would not do any video editing or encoding on this little guy but I don't really do that on the road anyway. I think my 15" MBP will be getting a lot of at home time these days. if you have the money to pay the apple tax you will not be disappointed.

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I bought it, I love it. It has a full sized keyboard, a screen with about the same dimensions (in dots, not inches) as my old 13" Macbook, is small, light, and beautiful.

It also, to my surprise, will run World of Warcraft at a respectable frame rate.

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10 years ago, I bought a 12" powerbook. It was an amazing laptop. Small, powerful, the perfect travel companion. I used it as a road warrior for years. The full sized screen and reasonable battery life were ideal. I later replaced it with a 13" black macbook. I liked it, but it wasn't the portable wonder that the old powerbook had been. I've tried netbooks, bigger laptops, an ipad, etc, and they all work well, but still left a little something to be desired. Enter the 2010 Macbook Air 11". Wow. It's everything my old powerbook was, but better. Better screen, better keyboard, better battery life, and fast. It's not a replacement for a video render farm, you wouldn't want to run the latest game or lots of virtual systems on it, but for my needs, it's brilliant.

Apple MacBook Pro MD104LL/A 15.4-Inch Laptop (NEWEST VERSION)

Apple MacBook Pro MD104LL/A 15.4-Inch LaptopI had eagerly been awaiting the new Mid-2012 MacBook Pro upgrade primarily because of the move to the new Intel processor, "Ivy Bridge." The 2.9GHz Intel Core i7 dual-core processor just makes this MacBook Pro fly. And it runs much cooler than its predecessors. I had my laptop running while on my lap for a couple hours and the bottom case was barely warm. Fan noise was not noticeable whatsoever. To be honest, I don't even know if the fan was operating or not, it was that quiet.

The aluminum unibody case has remained pretty much unchanged for several years. In fact, my previous MacBook Pro, a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 4GB of RAM has the identical case that this new laptop has... it is designated as Model No: A1278 if you look at the bottom of the laptop case.

What Apple threw into the mix, which made my decision of which new Apple laptop to purchase more difficult, was the addition of the Retina Display MacBook. Initially I was tormented with making the correct decision of which computer to purchase. After I weighed the differences and factored in the cost, it became clear to me that for my use, the 13" MacBook Pro was the way to go rather than an Air or Retina Display MacBook Pro. Here are my reasons...

-The Retina Display MacBook lacks an optical drive. For me, that was a critical feature as I am a Mobile DJ and still rip a lot of CD's to my computer. I did not want to have to carry around an external optical drive so having the internal optical drive on the new MacBook Pro was key.

-The Retina Display MacBook does not have an Ethernet port. Again, this won't affect all people, but for me it was an essential feature that I use all the time. I wasn't ready to give up my dedicated ethernet connectivity port.

-The Retina Display MacBook was priced out of my comfort zone. It's a phenomenal computer but I just could not justify the price.

-The Air doesn't offer the disk space that I need nor the right combination of ports.

Honestly, the display on the 13.3" MacBook Pro is gorgeous. I can see where a photographer might enjoy the Retina Display, but for me, the 1280x800 resolution of the screen on this laptop is perfect. The display is bright, very bright, sharp and has excellent viewing from side to side. I'm a little conflicted with the glossy screen, but I think I have grudgingly accepted it for the most part. In most situations I find it nicer than a glare-free screen. For some situations however, it is not the best because of the reflections on the screen of surrounding lights and such. You must remember that while reducing glare on a screen might make it easier to view in certain situations by reducing reflections of light and surroundings, by its nature the anti-glare will reduce sharpness of the screen image. By having the glossy screen you have an amazingly bright, clear and sharp image that is just beautiful to view.

I had also considered getting an early 2012 refurbished MacBook Pro. That was my second-best option. But for the small difference in price, I would not have gotten USB 3.0 ports and that was important to me, as well as getting Thunderbolt. Admittedly, there are not yet many peripherals that utilize Thunderbolt or USB 3.0 but that is certainly going to change quite rapidly. USB 3.0 is 10 times faster than USB 2.0 and offers throughput of up to 5Gbps. Thunderbolt is even faster and allows daisy-chaining of monitors and other devices. This new MacBook Pro also has an upgraded facetime camera. It is now 720p HD and that's pretty awesome.

Firewire 800 is still included on this MacBook Pro. Undoubtedly, Firewire is getting towards the end of its lifespan but many videographers are still using video cameras that use Firewire and I also have external hard drives using firewire, so this is still useful for me.

The newly added Tunderbolt port is also useable as a mini-display port and you can easily obtain adapters to enable you to hook up to DVI, VAG and HDMI. I do miss not having a dedicated HDMI port, but at least it is possible to get an adapter to fill that need.

The Lion and soon to be released Mountain Lion operating system has garnered a lot of comments both positive and negative. Personally I have not experienced any issues with Lion. The integration with iCloud is fantastic and allows me to keep my contacts, address book, bookmarks all in sync across all my devices (iMac, iPhone, iPod Touch and another MacBook Pro.)

The iLife suite of applicatons included with the computer are excellent. iPhoto, iMovie and GarageBand are tightly integrated and work well. There is room for improvement, to be sure, but I use iPhoto and iMovie all the time and it is an amazingly capable duo.

If you're considering a MacBook Pro for the first time and are coming from the PC world, welcome. You will have a little adjusting to do but it's really easy and you will probably be impressed with how straightforward the operating system is. It just works. I can't even think of when I had a crash or freeze.

I've not yet reached the 7-hours mark for battery life, but still, I've been getting at least 5 hours plus so no complaints.

If you are considering the new MacBook Pro and you're already a Mac user then you will welcome the addition of a much faster processor, the addition of Thunderbolt and USB 3.0.

I am really liking my new MacBook Pro and with 8GB of RAM, and the new i7 Processor running at 2.9GHZ (turbo-boost to 3.6GHz) you will be very happy with the performance.

Regarding the 8GB RAM memory maximum for this MacBook Pro, it is interesting to note that Crucial sells a 16GB RAM kit for this particular model. Despite this, Apple does not acknowledge that the computer will accept 16GB of RAM. I called Apple Technical Support to ask about this and I was told that even though the computer may accept 16GB of RAM and seem to run without any problems with 16GB of RAM, the full amount of RAM may not actually be used by the MacBook Pro. It's kind of hard to say what the implications are of adding 16GB of RAM when Apple says the maximum is 8GB for this model. What will happen though is if you have any issues with the computer and Apple discovers that you've put 16GB of RAM in it, you could be denied service under the warranty. So I guess I'd be happy with 8GB of RAM until this issue gets more clarification, either by benchmark tests that show an improvement in performance or a firmware update or some acknowledgment from Apple approving the option of 16GB of RAM. I"d like to think that if Apple wanted to make as much money as possible that they would offer this computer with an 16GB option. Since they don't, there must be a technical reason why.

I've been using a protective case for my MacBook Pro and I recommend it. It's priced very fairly, comes in a variety of colors and has worked really well for me. It even lets the Apple Logo shine through the case. Here is a link to the Red color version of the case. RED iPearl mCover® Hard Shell Case for A1278 Aluminum Unibody MacBook Pro 13-inch (RED color)

UPDATE: July 1, 2012 I've been reading reports online about the fact that the new Retina Display MacBook Pro has pushed the graphics handling capabilities of the computer to the max. This has resulted in some problems that are only just beginning to manifest themselves, such as sluggish screen draw in some situations, slow frame rates in other situations and image retention issues.

In other words, by pushing the limits, as Apple frequently does (and I'm not suggesting that that's a bad thing) early adopters are paying the price. So I'm feeling even better about choosing this particular model rather than spending significantly more for the Retina Display MacBook Pro and having to deal with the first generation issues.

UPDATE: July 5, 2012 Note to PC users considering the switch to a Mac. Don't be intimidated to switch. Mac OSX is a fantastic operating system and not difficult to learn at all. But there are definitely some subtle differences between the PC and Mac user interface and experience. I would strongly suggest getting a good book such as Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Lion Edition. It's an excellent overview of what you'll need to know regarding the Mac experience and the Lion operating system. I use both Windows 7 and Mac OSX and own both a PC laptop and Mac laptop and desktop machines. I consider Macs to be my primary computer because of my familiarity with them and their ease of use. However, a helpful book will ease your transition and eliminate the guesswork.

UPDATE: August 24, 2012 I've upgraded my OS to Mountain Lion, 10.8, and have been running it for about 2 weeks. I have not noticed any issues and the upgrade went very smoothly. Some of the new features are great. I particularly like the dictation feature that lets you speak while in any application that accepts text input and the MBP will automatically and accurately convert your speech to text. The new way that messages are handled is very similar to IOS and I like it. Some users are reporting less battery life but I have not noticed any degradation in battery life on my comptuer.

This is not my first Mac computer, and certainly will not be my last. Before I begin, I will say that I am not like a good percentage of the people that will end up writing a review on this computer I am not an Apple fanboy. I have owned many PC computers as well, and like them too. I currently own a Lenovo laptop as well as my new MacBook Pro, and each have their own strengths and weaknesses.

To start with the strengths:

1. OSX Lion is a great performer..extremely fast and reliable. I have it installed on my iMac desktop computer as well and love it. Not to mention this comes with a free upgrade to Mountain Lion, which is very nice.

2. Screen looks great. Even though it is not the Retina display you can get on the 15.4 inch model, the screen is fantastic. Very bright and crystal clear with excellent color.

3. Quietest laptop I have ever owned. Keeps quiet even when the computer is under a heavy load.

4. First computer I have owned with USB 3.0. I bought an external hard drive when I purchased this laptop as well so I could utilize the USB 3.0. I got the hard drive yesterday and transferred all of my files from my old laptop to the new hard drive so I could put them on my MacBook. It took about 1/5th of the time it did with USB 2.0.

5. My Lenovo laptop does not have an illuminated keyboard, so the keyboard on this laptop is a big plus in my opinion. Excellent for people that like to work or surf the web while their significant other is sleeping.

6. The trackpad can't even compare it to any trackpad I have seen on any other laptop computer.

7. Excellent battery life while being a very fast performer. It definitely has the best of both worlds. I average about 6 hours on a charge. My Lenovo (with similar graphics, processor, etc. and same use) only lasts about 4 or 5 hours on a full charge.

8. Typical Apple simplistic styling. I love the look of the Apple products. Simple and clean.

9. Many, many more...but those are the most notable ones to me.

Now, for the weaknesses.

1. The only thing I dislike about this laptop are the rubber pads found on the bottom of the computer for grip. They may get softer and more sticky as time goes by, but right now they are far from that. The pads on the bottom of my Lenovo are definitely much better and don't allow the computer to slide around while I am using the computer on a glass topped desk.

2. Price it's a bit pricey for the performance you get, but the added perks of Mac OSX and the durability and support of Apple products makes up for it. For the same price, you can get a PC with more memory, larger hard drive, better graphics, and a faster processor, but then you remember you're running Windows 7, which isn't nearly as well built as Mac OSX.

In conclusion this is a great laptop. Although it is a little pricey, it is well worth the extra money. So far, the only issue I have with it (rubber pads) is a very small problem that does not change how this laptop performs in any way.

If you are thinking about getting a MacBook Pro laptop but do not want to spend a huge amount of money for one, this is definitely the way to go. It may be considered the "base model" MacBook Pro, but it still an excellent computer. The size and battery life of this computer makes it excellent for people that need a laptop that is very mobile. Between work and college classes, I needed a lightweight yet durable computer and this definitely fits that criteria.

9.5/10

Buy Apple MacBook Pro MD104LL/A 15.4-Inch Laptop (NEWEST VERSION) Now

I used to be a die hard windows fan. I was always bashing OSx for the usual things (too expensive, too dumb, et cetera, et cetera), and I never really gave it a chance. Windows 7 was my OS of choice from the day it came out, and I used it on many different computers with (or at least what I thought then) good results. It's certainly not a bad OS but...

This past holiday season, I got an Asus tablet PC. I wanted to love it, I really did. I gave it a five star review here on Amazon, and I tried my very hardest to use it to it's fullest potential. It was working fine for a while, until I tried the Windows 8 beta. It was all down-hill from there. Viruses, problems (beyond those that should be in a beta, and a general ugliness drove me absolutely insane, and I decided to move away from Windows, at least temporarily. I bought a Chromebook, and while I absolutely love it and highly recommend it, I wanted more out a computer than it offered.

So, nearly on a whim, I bought a Mac. I have never made a better tech decision. Literally everything about it is better than any computer I've ever used, from the operating system to the hardware.

People typically say that the real reason they love Macs and other Apple products is because of the build quality. While the build quality on this computer is INSANELY good (I feel bad hauling it around with me; I feel like it should be in an art museum), I really think it's the software that makes this a standout computer and computing experience. I've had absolutely zero backround in OSx up until now, and already I am easily finding my way around this computer. Granted, I've had a good backround in Linux and OSx is similar, but the fact that I'm easily navigating a brand new operating system after only one day is quite the contrast from Windows, now that I can look at it objectively. OSx Lion is wonderful. The multi-touch gestures and the multi-touch mouse itself are immensely helpful, and it's because of features like these that make it clear to me that it's almost necessary for a company to make the hardware for a product if they're making the software as well. Everything works extremely well together.

Like I said, the included apps put Windows to shame. With the exception of Outlook (which I personally hate, but my Mom has a Mac and can't stand the contacts App and uses Outlook), I can't think of a single, rational person who would pick Windows software over Apple software when it comes to things like media, photo/video editing, and email. To be perfectly honest, it's ridiculous how well all this stuff works. I downloaded the iWorks office suite (which is not free, though significantly cheaper than Microsoft Office), and they also work like a charm. I really don't create a whole lot of spreadsheets or slide shows so I can't guarantee a qualified opinion on Numbers (Excel) or Keynote (PowerPoint), but the Pages app is lightyears ahead of Microsoft Word. I also downloaded Logic Pro 9 (an music synthesizer/recording studio app) after having used it with friends a few months back, and have spent hours digging into another fantastic piece of Mac Software, and I can say for a fact that it is truly unparalleled in the Windows world.

The actual hardware internals of the computer are amazing. The new Ivy Bridge processors whip through anything I can throw at them, and the 8 gb of fast (1600 mhz) ram makes multi-tasking a breeze. The nVidia graphics card, while not a show-stopper, is completely adequate for some heavy-duty video editing in something like Final Cut or Photo Shop (though I haven't used Photo Shop in about a year now, so I'm not COMPLETELY sure about the latter of the two statements), or gaming (whether you dual-boot or pick one of the games from the increasingly impressive OSx catalogue). The speakers, while not mind-blowing, are much better than what I'm used to from integrated laptop speakers, and the screen, even though I opted for the non-HD screen, is very good; colors are bright and saturated, the pixel density is more than satisfactory, and the viewing angles are some of the best I've ever seen. Battery life is as good as advertised, and the computer starts and runs much more quickly than I'm used to, especially considering that this computer doesn't have flash storage.

I haven't run into a single thing I would change about this computer up to this point. I love the software, I love the hardware, and I love my decision. If you're in the market for an exceptional, powerful notebook, look no further. I can't recommend this computer highly enough.

Edit: While the great things that I mentioned about OSx are all still completely viable and even after several weeks (months, perhaps?) of heavy usage I haven't experienced any problems. Mountain Lion is a great update and even though I don't own an iPhone or an iPad (I'm more of an android guy), I still like almost all of the additions it brings to OSx.

However, I have since installed Windows. Bootcamp is a marvelous program, and in about 20 minutes I had Windows 7 working great on my computer. All the drivers were installed and performance was great. Once I actually started playing games though, several design flaw were suddenly extremely apparent to me, and they were apparent in a very bad way.

I'm not sure if Windows is just a more demanding operating system or if a fan driver was left out of my Bootcamp install, but the cooling of this computer when doing ANYTHING intensive under Windows is absolutely atrocious. The unibody design is gorgeous. It's revolutionary, it's stylish, it's classy, and it has major practical issues. The vents are hidden under the hinges of the screen, and anything but the most perfect of screen angles will block off much of the fans output. Even with the fans blowing full blast at nearly all times while running Windows, the computer gets extremely hot during usage. I use a laptop as a literal "lap" top computer frequently. This works fine under OSx; it's impossible under Windows. The bottom of the computer gets painfully hot during heavy usage (to the point where I literally can't touch it for more than a few seconds), and the metal area (ironically) around the "wasd" keys gets extremely hot as well. I've had the computer completely overheat three times only in the past two weeks. Since I only play online games, this isn't a real issue, but I can't imagine what would happen were someone actually doing something important on a Windows partition and have the computer overheat and shut down. Even with good ventilation (meaning smooth granite surfaces and a laptop stand specifically designed to enhance ventilation), there is no avoiding an extremely hot computer and constantly whirring fans.

Long story short, I'm very glad they improved the fan design in the Retina Display Macbooks, because it is, frankly, very, very poor here.

I'm conflicted on whether I should change my overall rating of the computer though. Even though Macs are equipped (through Bootcamp) to run Windows, they weren't designed to do so, and I certainly haven't had a single issue while running (the far superior) OSx. Considering the fact that I should be basing my opinion of the product on its own merits and not on those of a competing product, I don't think I will change my overall scoring. I do think it is prudent to add, however, that cooling while running Windows 7 is terrible. If you NEED Windows, stick with a Windows computer. They will most likely handle Windows better than this one will.

Read Best Reviews of Apple MacBook Pro MD104LL/A 15.4-Inch Laptop (NEWEST VERSION) Here

I purchased the newly updated 13" MacBook Pro and the newly updated 13" MacBook Air the day they were announced at WWDC and released for sale in June 2012. (My 13" MacBook Pro is the 2.9 GHz i7 model, and my MacBook Air is factory upgraded to a 2.0 GHz i7 processor and 8GB RAM.)

After using the two machines side-by-side for a couple weeks now, I can say that the MacBook Air outperforms the MacBook Pro in almost every task and in terms of overall speed and performance. Compared with the newly refreshed and updated Air, the new MacBook Pro is frankly a significant disappointment, and I've pretty much stopped using it altogether in favor of the faster Air. Despite the Air's slower CPU clock speed, it performs faster than the Pro in actual tasks due to the performance boost afforded by it's SSD hard drive. The SSD drive on the MacBook Air makes an enormous difference in everything from casual web browsing to video editing.

If you're debating which 13" MacBook to buy, the 13" MacBook Air or the 13" MacBook Pro, here's a side-by-side comparison...

Speed and Performance: Advantage MacBook Air

Apart from the hard drives and port configurations, the technology inside the machines is virtually identical in both the newly refreshed MacBook Air and MacBook Pro. Both Pros and Airs come with either i5 or i7 Intel "Ivy Bridge" processors, Intel HD Graphics 4000, USB 3.0, and lightning-fast Thunderbolt ports. While the MacBook Air models are at a disadvantage to the MacBook Pro models in terms of CPU clock speeds, any performance disadvantage from the processor speed is more than made up for by the lightning fast performance of the Air's SSD hard drive, which Apple markets as "Flash" storage. In everyday tasks from gaming to web browsing to watching Flash movies and editing video, the MacBook Air is faster significantly faster in virtually every task. The Air boots up in less than 12 seconds while the Pro takes upwards of one minute.

Screen: Advantage MacBook Air

If you've never used a MacBook Air, much less the new Retina display 15" MacBook Pro, then you won't notice just how outdated the MacBook pro's screen is. However, once you get used to the super high resolution 1440 x 900 LED display on the MacBook Air, the 1280 x 800 back-lit LED display on the MacBook Pro looks downright grainy and primitive. Simply put, once you get used to a higher resolution display, the 1280 x 800 display on the 13" MacBook Pro just isn't acceptable. Even for simple tasks like email or word processing where you wouldn't think the resolution would matter, the graphics look grainy and pixelated, which just isn't acceptable for a pro-level laptop in 2012.

Upgradability: Advantage MacBook Pro

The Pro's only major advantage over the Air comes in terms of the flexibility of its hardware, ease of repair, and upgradability. With only a screw driver and about 10 minutes of your time, you can add more memory to the Pro, replace the hard drive, and even add a second hard drive in place of the optical disc drive. The Air, on the other hand, is stuck in the configuration you purchase it in except that you can opt to replace the SSD "Flash" hard drive with a higher capacity SSD drive.

Design, Weight, Portability, Battery Life, and Form Factor: Advantage MacBook Air

The MacBook Air is the most beautiful computer ever produced by man, and the MacBook Pro looks like it's older, pudgy relative. The Air's aluminum case is impeccably designed, almost tailored to accommodate the necessary internal components, while maintaining practical ergonomics. It's an incredibly thin, svelte, sexy little notebook. The MacBook Air's aluminum case seems sturdy and durable, and its mechanics are very similar to the time-test unibody construction of the MacBook Pro. The MacBook Pro, on the other hand, is a bit of a dinosaur in its bulky circa 2006 unibody. The Pro is heavier than a half gallon of milk at 4.5 lbs, while the MacBook Air weighs in at less than 2.9 lbs. Battery life is roughly even on both machines at anywhere from 4 to 7 hours depending on workload and settings.

Summary Judgement: Buy the MacBook Air (or opt for the new 15" Retina display MacBook Pro)

Simply put, the guts of the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro are basically the same, but the Air's SSD hard drive gives it a tremendously significant boost in performance. Sadly, the MacBook Pro's 5400-rpm hard drive leaves the machine unable to capitalize on the newest, most expensive Intel "Ivy Bridge" i5 and i7 processors that you're paying a $300 premium for in the newly updated Pros. If you are going to buy a Pro, invest the extra money and get it upgraded with a SSD hard drive and get an extra external hard drive if you need additional cheap storage space for multimedia files. When you also consider the superior display, lighter weight, increased portability, and lower price of the MacBook Air, it's hard to find a reason to justify purchasing the current 13" MacBook Pro, which to me looks like a dinosaur rapidly headed for extinction.

Specs on the models compared:

13" MacBook Air (mid 2012) factory upgraded to the 2.0 GHz dual core i7 processor and factory upgraded to 8 GB RAM (1600MHz DDR3L SDRAM) with standard 256 GB SSD ("Flash") hard drive

13" MacBook Pro (mid 2012) with 2.9 GHz dual core i7 processor, 8 GB RAM (1600MHz DDR3L SDRAM), and 750GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm

Both feature Intel HD 4000 Graphics, 3.0 USB, Thunderbolt, 802.11n, etc.

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I just want to issue a warning to people who purchase this product trying to save a bit over Apple prices. I paid for a new laptop, but was sent a used one. I received this item in the original box that had been resealed. While it appeared to be a new item, once I booted it up, it was already set up with an account of another user. I couldn't have used it even if I wanted to. I returned the laptop to Amazon and received a refund, however had it been properly wiped of information, I would have been sold a used machine and never have even known. I'm sure this is not an isolated incident, so buyer beware.