I am by no means a computer expert, but it runs great, especially for the price I paid. The only thing I'd complain about is the RAM, but I can easily upgrade it, and plan to do so soon :)
Showing posts with label notebook computer deals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label notebook computer deals. Show all posts
Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E535 3260EFU 15.6-Inch Laptop
I am by no means a computer expert, but it runs great, especially for the price I paid. The only thing I'd complain about is the RAM, but I can easily upgrade it, and plan to do so soon :)
MSI Computer Corp. G Series GT683DX-840US 15.6-Inch Laptop (Black)
The product came new, in the original manufacturer's sealed packaging. Delivery took only a few days, on the early side of the estimated time for delivery. As for the product, it looks and works great so far. I have had no problems running Skyrim, which has very high requirements, on ultra hi-res settings for the last couple of weeks. Overall a great buyer experience, and a product worth considering for anyone thinking about purchasing a gaming laptop.
Buy MSI Computer Corp. G Series GT683DX-840US 15.6-Inch Laptop (Black) Now
Acer Aspire AS5749-6492 15.6" LCD Notebook (Intel Core i3-2350M, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, DVDRW, Windows
This 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.
HP Pavilion g7-1365dx Laptop - AMD Quad-Core A6-3420M Accelerated Processor with AMD Radeon HD 6520
I bought this laptop several weeks ago, right after it came out on the market, as a replacement for my old, obsolete Lenovo Thinkpad R61e (and as a backup for one of my desktop computers that, at nearly 7 years, is really showing its age). I was attracted by the balance of price and features, and so far I haven't regretted this purchase for a single moment (though I did get a wistful moment when I saw a similar HP model at a local computer shop that had a Blu-Ray drive :) )!The g7-1365dx is one of HP's latest entrants in its highly successful Pavilion series of notebook/laptop PC's, with a slightly less capable twin in the g7-1355dx model which came out about a week after this model did (the only difference is that the 1355dx has a 500GB hard drive as opposed to the 1365dx's 640GB hard drive). With a quad-core AMD A603420M CPU, Radeon HD 6520G graphics, 640GB hard drive, 17.3" display (bigger across than some desktop LCD monitors!) and 4GB of DDR3 memory installed, we have here a suite of features that's comparable or superior to a great many more expensive laptops, so much so that one hesitates to call this machine a "budget" laptop for fear of unjustly labeling it a cheap or corner-cutting machine, neither of which it manifestly is.
I strongly recommend adding another 4GB of RAM to this computer, a cheap upgrade which I performed within an hour of purchase. This simple upgrade will significantly boost the power and speed of a machine that is already highly capable. The Windows 7 Home Premium system starts up and shuts down quite speedily. The graphics unit is rated as "A6" by AMD, the second-highest rating on its scale, which means that this computer is at least theoretically capable of playing Blu-Ray discs with the appropriate hardware. You will need to buy an external Blu-Ray drive, however, and probably a HDMI cable to connect the drive to the available HDMI port (the computer also has a traditional monitor port for connection to an external monitor). The hard drive has more capacity than the internal hard drives on any of my other computers, but depending on how much data you have to store, you may want to purchase a compact external HD to take along. The machine is very elegant in design, with an attractive black/silver-pewter color scheme, and has a satisfyingly hefty, solid feel. While it weighs 6+ pounds, when stored in its laptop bag along with the peripherals I've purchased for it, the whole package actually seems to weigh less than my old Thinkpad!
Some users feel that the built-in speakers are a bit puny, but it's my experience that speakers on notebook PC's tend to be comparatively undersized/underpowered affairs due to the constraints of the design, so I'm not really bothered by that (plus which, since I'm hearing-impaired, the sound system is less important to me anyway than the graphics quality). And speaking of which, the LCD monitor delivers beautiful, crisp, clear pictures. Fans of cutting-edge FPS games might need to step down the graphics level to play their favorite games on this machine (notebook PC's, again, tend to have less powerful graphics than desktop PC's so are usually not the best options for playing highly graphics-intensive games in any case) but other genres of games (e.g., strategy games like the Civilization series) should play without any issues. I got Cyberlink PowerDVD, my preferred movie-playing software, installed it on this machine, and it works like a charm very important since playing video away from home is one of the more frequent uses to which I intend to put this machine. (At the time of this writing, I haven't experimented yet with the built-in webcam.) Take note, also, that the hard drive is actually _larger_ than its marketed size of 640GB; the usable partition shows up as 678GB in all reporting software, along with two smaller recovery partitions, totaling some 700GB (which makes me wonder if HP actually installed a 750GB HD in this model remember that usable formatted sizes on a hard drive are always smaller than the size on the label but decided to market it as a smaller one).
No computer is ever perfect, though, and I do have a few quibbles with it. The battery life is advertised as being "up to 5 hours, 30 minutes", but that's marketing talk; as it comes from the factory, battery life is probably going to be closer to 2 hours and you'll need to do some work with the power scheme to stretch out the battery (and be sure to buy a spare battery once they become available for this model). There are only 3 USB ports, a common limitation on laptops, but if you have several USB devices to run, you'll need to buy a USB port hub. The media card reader only accepts SD and MMC cards, so I had to buy a USB card reader that accepts xD picture cards (the type that goes with my camera). The arrow keys are fairly small, which can lead to some awkwardness with certain games and applications that require lots of arrow-key manipulation; a USB keypad with full-sized arrow keys might be in order here.
All things considered, this is probably the best, most powerful laptop PC I've ever owned, and right now it's the single most powerful PC I do own! I strongly recommend this machine to anyone who's looking for a notebook that delivers a sound balance of features, power and price.
EDIT: (February 25, 2012): Grab this machine while you can. It's *already* (!!!) being superseded by the dv7-6c95dx, whose main differences seem to be that the latter system boasts Beats Audio, a redesigned keyboard and 4G capability. However, the dv7-6c95dx appears to cost up to $350 more, which makes it a very poor cost-to-value choice for the relatively minor improvements. Also, watch for another model called the g7-1355dx, which is identical in all respects to the 1365dx except that the 1355dx carries a 500GB hard drive as opposed to the 640GB hard drive of this model (this is very likely due to the ongoing hard drive shortage which may have restricted supplies of the 640GB hard drive used in the 1365dx).
UPDATE (March 21, 2012): The hard drive advertised as being 640GB in this laptop is actually 750GB! I found this out this morning when I installed the PC analyzer program HWInfo64 onto my own machine (I recommend it, by the way). That explains why the primary partition is listed as 676GB, nearly 40GB more than the stated/marketed capacity of the HD in advertising, and why there are two additional smaller partitions available for recovery and maintenance. This is a GOOD thing it means that you're getting even more of a bargain when you buy this machine, because you're going to get a hard drive that's bigger than anything found on anything except high-end laptops. I have no idea why HP chose to advertise this drive as being so much smaller than its actual size; perhaps they were concerned that people might see the actual formatted size of the drive and, not being aware that formatted capacities of hard drives are always smaller than the unformatted capacity, complain mistakenly about malfunctioning parts or even false advertising.
So I decided to purchase the: HP Pavilion G7 1365DX.
How do I remember the name by heart? Naieve one you are, 'tis the fact that this computer is brand new off the lines, and has virtually no developer support for it as of yet. I've scoured thousands of Google pages looking for everything and anything about this laptop, but alas, to no avail.
I will give the Laptop a good year to mature, before I can port Mac OS and Linux onto the device.
My review:
-Stock: 7.2/10
-Upgraded: 8.6/10
Stock Hardware Review:
6 Hard Drive Speed
8 Performance
8 Battery Life
5 RAM Speed
9 Graphics
----------------------
36 / 5 = 7.2 Rating
Pros:
-At these speeds, the Laptop was quite fast. Blazing actually.
-Plenty of Hard drive room, very slow access speeds.
-RAM is sufficient for everyday users.
Cons:
-The multi-tasking just isn't as good with only the original 4GB of RAM. (This is especially true if you set Windows to utilize all four cores simultaneously.)
-Power users will notice slow RAM access speeds, and will want to upgrade to faster/larger sized RAM.
-Normal/Slow HDD read/write speeds will cause slow down on games, and higher Graphically-based programs or Processor heavy programs will feel that wait time.
After Upgraded RAM and HDD Review:
9 Hard Drive Speed (Increased to Caviar-Black 1.0TB
9 Performance
7 Battery Life
8 RAM Speed
9 Graphics
----------------------
42 / 5 = 8.4 Rating
Pros:
--The Laptop will set your house on fire by how Blazing fast it actually is.
-A Mushkin SSD sped Windows 7 up to Jesus speeds.
-RAM is sufficient for heavy multitaking, and RAM intensive programs.
Cons:
-Installation can be problematic for a novice user.
-Can be pricey for replacement parts.I bought this in early February. I spent $450 on it, which is a great bargain. I previously owned an HP dv5-1235dx for $679, and due to a few viruses, I got credit for a brand new laptop with warranty, and bought this one. This laptop is twice as good as that one, which was very strong for me and I loved it and still love it, and its $230 less. Part of that is that computers become more bargains as the years pass, and the same price gets you abetter laptop year after year.
The 640GB hard drive is more than enough for me. Currently I have 498 GB free, and roughly 120 used GB memory. When this computer was purchased, HP had put about 30GB on it of its own software and windows 7 and etc... What I do is download 20 movies, watch them, and erase. So I do not foresee myself every getting half of this Hard Drive used up. Even if your someone that stores lots of data, 640GD(roughly 600 able to use) is still plenty. The graphics card is said to be very good but not optimal. In my opinion from what I can tell, it is very strong and impressive. The visuals are as good and better than my last laptop, and barring HD TV blu-ray quality, this wil suffice for most users.
The 4 core processors allow very high multi-tasking. I have had about 6-8 programs in the foreground running, and probably 4 or 5 in the background running with VERY minimal slow-down effect.
The audio and speakers sound great and pretty powerful for tiny laptop speakers. The dvd-drive is great, the 3 USB ports are enough for me, the battery life tends to be about 3 to 3.5 hours on average battery power savings(50% screen brightness, etc..). The webcam is as good as any built-in webcam usually comes. It has 6months of internet security on it. The best buy warranty is $270 for 3 years of the full, "black tie", broken, damaged, water damage, vitrus, full warranty that covers literally anything at all.
The many HP programs include so many that I wont list them all, there are about 12 or more off the top of my head. Some are new that I have never seen and still exploring them. The 17.3 inch screen size is larger than my last 15.6 and the difference is visually much better. It technically is 1.7inches but it feels like 2" or more difference. I love it. I have downloaded 5 or 6 games that are racing, golf, etc and they all play fantastically. Graphics are great even when there is alot of action on-screen.
The mouse pad is my first of this kind. Instead of the smooth pad, its bumpy and rough in order to detect motion better. You can only tell this in person, so try it out when you are in-store. I love the design.
The hard drive acceleration allows the processer to speed up when necessary. When it's not using accelerated mode, the copmuter is fast enough. When it comes on, there are no issues that it can't handle, seemingly(of course the biggest games and movies and everything playing all at once would be tough, but for any standard use it is great. I have absolutely no regrets with this computer and I will enjoy having it for the full 3 years of the warranty. I love this computer so much. Im nota HUGE computer guy, but I love my computers if you know what I mean. I think this computer is A) reliable, B) powerful, C)smooth and sleek. If your budget is $500 or less, I would HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend this. You can not be dissatisfied unless you expect $900 range while paying $500. Other than that, satisfied is what you wil be. Goodluck computer shoppers and I hope I madeyour decision easy..HP is a very reliable product and above all easily my favorite..I am very happy with this laptop. It runs quickly and smoothly. Downloading items from the internet sometimes takes a matter of seconds where with my last computer is took several minutes. The biggest problem I had was that this laptop is so big at 17.3" that I had a hard time finding a good computer bag that would fit it!This is my first HP and let me tell You I am very impressed with this performance. The Graphics are great. The speed is phenomenal, and just overall a great purchase. It was out of this computer, Samsung, or Toshiba. All had similar specs, but what sold me on this computer was better options for the price. I would recommend this computer to anyone.
Toshiba Satellite L855-S5138NR 15.6-Inch Laptop (Fusion Finish in Mercury Silver)
It was bought this to replace my old laptop when it died suddenly. Overall I am pleased with the laptop. It boots extremely quickly and is average weight for a computer of its size. The screen is bright and a nice size. I had to turn the screen brightness down to about 75% before I was comfortable viewing the screen for extended periods. I work with numbers making the full numeric keypad a selling point; however, the entire keyboard has gaps between each key which will take some getting used to. I thought the offset touchpad would be awkward, but you don't really notice because it is centered on the alphanumeric keyboard.There's no dedicated external volume control. You can use control+F9 or F10 or the on screen volume bar. Windows 8 takes some getting used to, but is not as bad as some reviews that I had read.
Only other complaint is that Toshiba did not include any recovery CDs which they used to do. When you initially set up your computer it asks if you'd like to create DVD or USB recovery materials. You do not have to create them at start up, but it is recommended.
Then, when it came, it was damaged. They wouldn't overnight it for Saturday delivery, and said it would show up on Monday. It didn't. You would think that when you already get a damaged item, Amazon would take care to ensure you're a happy customer. But, no such luck. I guess this happens when you get so big. I am not sure I'd trust them with that level of a purchase again.
(The laptop seems to be decent, by the way. Still checking it out.)
Buy Toshiba Satellite L855-S5138NR 15.6-Inch Laptop (Fusion Finish in Mercury Silver) Now
Battery life is not goodKeyboard is difficult and awkward to type on
Windows 8 is NOT user friendly (not the fault of the laptop though)
I would definitely not recommend this laptopToshiba's are cheaper because they manufacture their own hard drives and LCD's and pass the vertically integrated savings to their owners.
Whether by design or consequence, it is harder to find a more OSX and LINUX ready laptop,
If you hate Windows 8 more than blood porno, it is just horny for Windows Servers and other Windows all the way back to Vista.
Jack up the RAM to the max and you'll launch Hypver-V or VMware guests easier than monkey's flinging poop.
I've personally installed 2012 Datacenter edition with every single service and role enabled while launching six simultaneous 64-bit LINUX and Windows VM's without crashing or lag.
The wide high res screen makes it a practical iMax for your porn..... I'm gonna stop on that note because it can only get awkward from here.
Keep shopping and comparing, and you won't find a comparably priced system unless it was carjacked or a refurb. Bet me money on that, I'll win everytime even the day after Thanksgiving, ... you wanker.
Want Toshiba Satellite L855-S5138NR 15.6-Inch Laptop (Fusion Finish in Mercury Silver) Discount?
HP Essential 3105m XU009UT 11.6' LED Notebook - E-Series E-350 1.6GHz. SMART BUY 3105M E-350 1.6G 2
This pc works really well for what i have got it for. for such a tiny 11.2 in pc it has a power to it, great vid card, and will work for what i tended it to do.
Sony VAIO VGN-FW490JEB 16.4" Notebook (2.53GHz Core 2 Duo P8700 4GB RAM 320GB HDD Blu-ray Read/Writ
At 6.5 pounds, the FW isn't the lightest laptop on the market, but it is probably the best value out there. Sony allows you to select a pre-built model or customize one yourself. My machine is customized:1080p LCD Screen
ATI 4650 1gb Graphics Card
2.53ghz Intel Core 2 Duo (3mb L2 Cache)
4gb DDR2 @ 800mhz
320gb Hard drive @ 7200rpm
Blu Ray Player (Read only)
Windows 7 64bit (came with Vista 64, but I upgraded when 7 came to campus)
This machine is great for everything. Gaming, image editing, word processing, you name it, it can do it. It does get a bit hot, so lap use should be limited to the length of battery life which is roughly 2 to 2.5 hours. The keyboard is chiclet style and is unfortunately not back-lit. The speakers could be better, but I am usually wearing my MDR-500 Sony headphones (which I also recommend for people who like pop/rock music).
The only complaints I have are centered around weight and placement of ports. Like I said, it is fairly heavy. I have a messenger bag that I used my first semester this year at Indiana University, and it got extremely heavy when dragging it around campus. I am going to find a backpack so that it is not as much of an issue. It is also worth noting that its 16.4 inch screen makes this thing fairly large so it take up a lot of real estate on your desk. VGA, HDMI, Ethernet, Firewire and Express Card slot are on the left side, and the tray loading Blu Ray drive and three USB ports are on the right. I would prefer if the USB ports and Blu Ray drive switched positions (drive moves forward and USB ports move backward), however, they work where they are.
Build quality is pretty good. I always seem to compare any laptop against the unibody Macbook Pro, and the FW holds its own. Even though it is entirely made of plastic, it looks great and is of solid build quality.
I chose the FW because it was the best deal on the market. I looked at every major brand and I could not find a cheaper computer with the same specs. In fact the only one that came close was, I believe, a Dell XPS. It was almost $200 more! The FW is a mulitmedia/gaming machine. It will play Crysis at 720p medium settings at 40 fps. All other games are playable at 1080p and high settings. It can also do some pretty hard core image editing. This a great all around computer.
Acer 15.6" i3-2350M 2.30 GHz Notebook | AS5749-6413
This laptop is a great value. I had a older Acer and liked it. I had a friend with a Asus and did not like the keyboard. I ordered the Acer for my son a year ago. It is i5 with 500 meg ran and 4 megs of Ddr3 memory. He is gaming on it and his friend has a ROG and it will run with the ROG. It is an excellent buy for the money a real sleeper.I liked it so much I bought two more. No problems with hardware. My only complaint is to much bloatware. But I guess that helps hold down the price.
Sony VAIO VPCEA3BFX/BJ 14-Inch Laptop (Black)
This Sony Vaio is a great basic laptop to have. Whether you are a college student or professional it's most useful in word processing, various editing programs, and just your everyday to day internet usage. Great experience so far and haven't encountered any glitches.
HP COMPAQ 6910P BUSINESS NOTEBOOK T7500/C2D-2.20C 1024MB/1-DIMM 80GB/7200RPM DVD
Wroks great for 120$ , first one was lost by UPS, , but the company (Gracetechnology2) sent another one when they found out, total process took about 5 weeks. added 1 gig memory, a 120gig SSD and windows7 32bit, it is now an extremily fast laptop, 10sec to boot.
The computers were as advertised and in excellent cosmetic condition. I purchased them knowing that I was going to upgrade both the hard drives and RAM, so the configuration as sold was fine.
I would definitely purchase from this seller again.
Buy HP COMPAQ 6910P BUSINESS NOTEBOOK T7500/C2D-2.20C 1024MB/1-DIMM 80GB/7200RPM DVD Now
I bought two of these...the first one I use for work and the second I bought for my mom (in-law). She absolutely loves it...she took her first Windows7 class this past Friday and I assembled a lovely cart-like table for her that she can use while sitting in her bedroom...she's really excited about the system and appreciates the advanced security features...especially the "finger print" sensor.I loved his service got back with me to help fix my problem when i bought a computer from him he was very helpful! thanks Nick!!Want HP COMPAQ 6910P BUSINESS NOTEBOOK T7500/C2D-2.20C 1024MB/1-DIMM 80GB/7200RPM DVD Discount?
This laptop was a good buy for me. The product was like new the price was low and service was fast. I would recommend this product and company to anyone looking for a good laptop computer.Jud Smith
Acer Aspire V5-531-4636 15.6-Inch HD Display Laptop (Black)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program It is a beautiful laptop. Sleek and light weight. [See update at the end Jan042013]I have an HP g7 1326dx that I just got a few months ago. This unit fares very favorably and despite some of the things noted below, I'd choose this one over that one. The Acer is noticably snappier, the display is better looking and the USB 3.0 port seals the deal. Integrated bluetooth 4.0-HS is a great added value that the 1326dx doesn't have, 4.0 or otherwise. That dang dongle is just about a deal breaker though. For what it is worth, the Windows score for the HP is 4.5 and the Acer is 4.3. HP's graphics drag it way down and the processor drags the Acer down.
The touch pad has no left/right buttons so that is something to get used to. The bottom part of the pad tilts down for clicks. I've found right clicking to be a challenge. Put your finger pad on the edge of the hard plastic and use your finger tip for right clicks.
Left clicks that need to be held, like Chrome's back button being held to see history, requires use of the bottom left click as opposed to a tap and hold anywhere.
The keyboard is part of the ventilation system so it cannot be covered with a protector if you like to use those.
The display is really crisp.
Although it doesn't come with a restore disk, you can make one. It offers to do that when you boot up the first time. Mine said I'd need 5 DVDs (~15 gig) but I reckon you could cut it down with higher capacity disks. If you don't have any pick some up so you can burn your restore image right off the bat.
Battery life is okay. I played some mp3s for about 2 hours before the battery gave out. Far short of the 4 hour mark but running the built in speakers non-stop isn't what you'd do anyway on battery power alone. I was just curious to see how long the battery would last. The 1326dx has much better battery life but it has 6 cells and weighs a little over a pound more.
There is one USB 3.0 port and two 2.0 ports. It is hard to believe that the price difference in the two types of ports is the reason for not having all three be version 3.0. It is backwards compatable with 2.0. The performance difference is huge. I'm guessing it was mostly a marketing decision so folks don't have to know 3.0 is backwards compatable or even what backward compatible means. A nice 3.0 thumb drive would be cool to get with this laptop: Corsair Flash Survivor USB 3.0 32GB Drive (CMFSV3-32GB)
[Edit 07/14/2012
I ran a some casual tests on the USB ports. Wow! The 3.0 thumb drive is super fast even on the 2.0 ports. I found that copying to the drive on the 3.0 was almost as fast on the 2.0 as the 3.0 port. For testing I used a folder that had a couple of dozen files with a size of about 450MB. The 3.0 was as quick as 28 seconds and the 2.0 was around 35 seconds.
I tested the same folder on my HP's 2.0 port and it took 101 seconds to transfer the folder to the drive.
So a good USB 3.0 drive would be a great purchase to go with your new laptop if you don't have one yet.
/edit]
All 3 USB ports are on the left side. Something to be aware of for sure. My other laptop has one port on the right side and two on the left which I find to be very convenient. All other ports for the Acer are also on the left side. The right side has only the DVD drive. A USB hub may be handy: J-Tech Digital SuperSpeed USB 3.0 4-Port Hub Backward Compatible with USB 2.0 with USB 3.0 Cable
There is no Lan plug. Nor is there a monitor port. Instead Acer has created a proprietary port that uses a dongle cable for external monitor and RJ-45 cable. I'm on the fence about that as a feature. It means that you have to keep up with the dongle or you won't be able to use a Lan cable or D-plug type monitor. So if you forget or lose the dongle and the location you are at does not have wifi you're up the creek for Internet access. WiFi is built in so that may not be an issue for you at all.
There is a built in HDMI port so you could use that if you didn't have the dongle with you. As long as someone had a handy HDMI cable and a monitor that supported it. Bah.
Amazon has this in the tech details: "500 GB 5400 rpm Hard Drive Solid-State Drive". Acer lists the drive like that too. According to Hitachi it is a SATA drive. [edit: Nor is it a Hybrid HD. Just a plain old normal HD.]
I really like this laptop. The snappiness seems to be better than the HP, which is a quad-core, and the screen looks better. It is a lot of bang for the buck.
[Update Jan 4th 2013
If you will need to do a lot of typing with this laptop's built-in keyboard you may want to rethink your purchase. I noticed that I made more mistakes on this laptop but I assumed it was just my poor typing skills. In the comments Running Rampant asked about that very thing.
I've been using a USB keyboard for a while now. So if that is an option then the no worries.
/update]
Buy Acer Aspire V5-531-4636 15.6-Inch HD Display Laptop (Black) Now
Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program The past 8 years has involved *extensive* travel for me, so I look at technology on the go from a unique perspective as someone who must pack light for crazy situations within the US, usually last minute, for unknown durations, yet needing access to current technology including a fully functional reliable laptop. The Acer Aspire V5-531-4636 15.6-Inch HD Display Laptop (Black) is just that the perfect laptop for today's Road Warrior. The laptop is designed for both work and entertainment in a form fitting feather light weight complete package that runs cool to the touch no more burnt legs from typing that report (or book) while resting in the recliner or in bed.Easy setup and configuration straight from the box to streaming Netflix in 10 minutes, flat. Wow. IMPRESSIVE smooth HD video! Great digital audio via "virtual surround sound" (per an audiophile!) Not alot of included junk and papers, just the bare minimums without sacrificing anything necessary, also impressive (and saves a few trees!) The viewing angle of the obviously HD screen is good I can readily read the screen or watch a video from a 45 degree angle to the screen.
Feather-light-weight, form fitting, cool package easy to use keyboard, very intuitive even in the dark for this touch-typist. Love the built-in numeric keypad! (This review was written and posted via this laptop during the first half-hour of use... during therapy time (while flat on my back...))
Included in the box:
Laptop and Battery (when installed appears as part of the hinge so tiny!)
typical 2-part power cord
Dongle for ethernet and 15 pin video (neither of which are used as much with today's technology but great to have for those necessary times.)
small collection of assorted documentation
Ports and Features:
15.6" HD display with true 16:9 aspect ratio viewable at least a 45 degree viewing angle
4 GB ram, 500 GB hard drive
1.3 megapixel webcam
Left Side Front to Rear:
Headphone/headset standard size (supports headset mic double circuit single jack)
2 USB 2.0
1 USB 3.0
HDMI full size
Dongle Port (ethernet and 15 pin video)
Power port
Right Side Front to Rear:
DVD-RW multi-drive (not always built into laptops anymore)
Cable lock port
Front left:
SD/SDHC/MMC card reader
All in all I am very impressed. I have not yet found how to "right click" with the built-in keypad as there are no left/right click buttons near the touchpad (instead I plugged in a mouse, for now...) left click is the typical tap on the touchpad. This laptop is now my goto laptop for both daily use and for those crazy days traveling whether for business or for pleasure.
Read Best Reviews of Acer Aspire V5-531-4636 15.6-Inch HD Display Laptop (Black) Here
Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program UPDATE: 29 Nov 2012:I continue to use this laptop and it continues to perform without any issues other than the battery not staying fully charged as noted in my last update. If you do nothing and leave the laptop plugged in and running, the battery seems to drop to 92% and then just stays at that level unless you power cycle it (see my July update).
I have the full version of Office 2010 loaded on this laptop as well as Visio Pro and everything runs perfectly. I am still pleased with the performance of this laptop and continue to recommend it as an excellent value for an entry level computer.
UPDATE: 27 July 2012:
I have been using this computer constantly now for about two months and it has started to show battery issues. If the computer is left plugged in and turned on for a period of 5 days or more, the battery level indicates that the charge level is starting to drop (around 94 to 95% charge) and states that the battery is not charging. The only way I have found to fix this is to unplug the power supply with the computer turned on and to drain the battery for at least 10 minutes. After that amount of time, you can plug it back in and the battery will start charging again and take it up to 100%. This then seems to hold until you leave it plugged in and turned on for 4 to 5 days. At that point, you need to go through the same process all over again.
This probably would not be an issue if you constantly use the computer on battery and only plug it in to charge it. However, if you are using it as a desktop unit for any amount of time you should pay attention to the charge level on the battery. Experience with other laptops that exhibit this has shown that if you do not pay attention and the charge level continues to drop, you may NOT be able to recharge the battery and will need to buy a replacement! Just something to keep in mind.
ORIGINAL REVIEW:
I received this product through the Amazon Vine program. This is a light weight 15 inch laptop that is configured as an entertainment, Internet use, and light computing work laptop. The battery is a 4 cell unit that is probably the smallest battery I have ever seen for a laptop. However, it delivers a bit over 3 hours when playing a DVD with the wireless connected to the network. The laptop is very thin, so thin in fact that it cannot support a wired Ethernet connection and resorts to a dongle that provides a video connection and an Ethernet connection (the cable is a Y configuration). This makes for a very light computer. Of course, if you have wireless, the dongle is probably not needed. The wireless on this computer is VERY easy to setup! It also supports all of the current standards. I had no problem connecting to my n-router.
Here are the features of this laptop:
The laptop is configured to deliver the best display for videos. As such, it displays in wide format at 720p and has a screen resolution max of 1366 X 768. Videos look decent as long as they are viewed straight on. Moving up or down and left and right from direct view causes the image to fade and colors to disappear.
The audio is pretty typical of what you would expect from most laptops, tinny sounding at the best and high volume distorts. If you want to watch a movie, I would suggest using headphones! I have a pair of Sony Studio headphones and with those I have more than acceptable audio. This same caveat also applies to music; use either headphones or good powered speakers if you want acceptable audio.
One of the amazing features of this laptop is the fact that the keyboard contains a full 10 key on it. Now, this is not a big deal if you do not work with numbers very much, but it is a great feature if you do a lot of numeric inputs into something like Excel. As long as we are talking about the keyboard functions, I find that the keys are responsive and I have not had any issues with them. I type about 100 WPM and I have a rather heavy hand as I learned to type on a manual typewriter (Ok, I know I am as old as dirt!). So, the fact that there is not any key bounce (double or triple letters on a key stroke) indicates a fairly well made keyboard in my experience. The widescreen format of the display allows for the increased real-estate for the keyboard width to support the full keyboard functions.
The touchpad on this computer is fairly large and includes the normal right and left click positions. This design provides a lot of area for being able to use your fingers to move the cursor, it also provides a wonderful opportunity for frustration as you try to right or left click on something. The reason for the problem is that since the area where you right and left click are also part of the touch pad area, if you do not strike straight down for the function you can wind up moving the cursor to something you did not intend to strike instead of the function that you were looking for. This is NOT my favorite feature of the computer and may be an area where I would adjust to in time. For me, however, this simply means that I connect a wireless mouse to the computer to use instead of the touch pad.
Speaking of using a wireless mouse, this computer only has two USB 2.0 ports and one USB 3.0 port. So, if you normally connect a few devices via USB ports, you are going to need an external port hub. One thing that helps with this limitation is the fact that the computer has built in Blue Tooth so if you have devices that will work with that you do not need to use a USB port.
As long as we are talking about external connections, this computer does have all of the options covered. There is a HDMI port, a combined VGA and LAN port (a supplied Y-cable plugs into a special port and that provides the VGA and LAN connections), a thoughtfully located combined mike/speaker/headphone connection on the left side of the computer right up front, two USB 2.0 and one USB 3.0 port, and the power connection all on the left side of the computer. A two in one card reader, battery charge indicator (orange when charging and blue when charged) and power indicator (blue) is located in front. The DVD drive and Kensington lock location are on the right side of the computer. All in all, a well thought out design that makes it easy to use.
The DVD drive is just that, a DVD drive that will read and write DVDs or CDs. It does NOT read Blue Ray disks so that may limit some of your movie choices.
The battery for this laptop is a very small 4 cell unit. The advantage in this is that the battery adds very little weight to the computer! The disadvantage is that the run time on battery is limited. The company lists a 4 hour battery life and I found that if you are using a DVD to play a movie and have your wireless turned on at the same time that the battery life is about 3 hours and 10 minutes. Long enough to watch a full length movie and then some.
Probably the two biggest limitations of this computer are the processor and the graphics chip. If you go to the Windows Experience Index (on the System Tab) this computer has a 4.3 number which is driven by the processor. The next limitation is graphics with a 4.5 while it surprisingly has a 5.6 gaming graphics listing. Still, the processor limitations will probably limit any gaming that you might be doing on this computer. If you do any picture editing and like making videos out of your pictures, you will find that the processor works well enough although rendering the pan and zoom features makes the playback a bit jerky.
Memory on this computer is delivered with a single 4 Gig memory module with room for a second memory module (the maximum memory the system bios will support is 8 Gig). This is unusual in that they did not put in two smaller and less expensive 2 Gig memory sticks. This allows you to just buy a single 4 Gig memory module to upgrade to the full supported memory maximum. The memory is easy to get at with the need to only remove two Philips screws. Lift the door carefully as there are two plastic snaps that must be overcome to fully open the door. Also, when you go to close it up again apply pressure gradually in the middle of the door as you close it to re-engage the plastic snaps. Then, re-install the two Philips screws and you are done.
This computer comes loaded with Microsoft Office (requires you to purchase a license key to be able to use all of the features) that gives you basic Word and Excel functionality if you do not purchase a license key. This is not trial software so it will not die in 90 days. This may be enough Office software to be adequate for many people.
Other things loaded on the computer include e-bay, Facebook, Netflix, Skype, and Nook for PC. These are all entertainment types of shortcuts. There is a 60 day version of McAfee anti-virus that will hound you to purchase the balance of a year's protection ( personally, I find the free version of anti-virus software from Microsoft (Microsoft Security Essentials) to work extremely well and it eliminates a recurring fee). They have also loaded Window's Live which provides you with several useful programs (including photo editing) that work quite well. Several games and a shopping center for games are included. As usual, there is a lot of software that you will probably wind up removing, but they do provide you with lots of options.
Speaking of options, the browser is preconfigured with BING as the search engine and with the BING tool bar. You will find that if you want to want to use another search engine, you also need to remove the BING tool bar or you will not realize that anything has changed.
All in all, this is a great laptop for the price for someone looking to surf the Internet, watch videos, have a cool looking laptop computer, and that wants to do business type of work (spreadsheets, Word documents, etc.), and e-mail. If you are looking for a gaming computer, a computer that will support intense graphics, or extended run times on battery, this is NOT the computer for you.
UPDATE:
Here is a link for a valuable quick reference for your new computer:
This link will provide you with a usable reference that shows you how to turn on and off Blue Tooth, Wireless, the touch keypad, and what all of the hot keys that are on the computer. This reference is much better than the one that shipped with the computer (too generic as it covered several models of computers).
I would also like to note that while they made it very easy for you to add memory to the computer, they also made it impossible for you to change out the hard drive! If you want to change the hard drive you need to ship it back to the company to have them change it as it is sealed in the unit. Shades of Apple technology here.
I have continued to use the computer extensively and find that it is keeping a very solid 3 hours with Wireless turned on and the DVD player in use. When I turn off wireless (both Blue Tooth and network) and I refrain from using the DVD player, I am getting just under 4 hours.
While this computer is very thin and light weight, I find it a bit large for use on a plane (if you travel in economy class like I do) and a bit bulky. I still prefer to use my 13 inch laptop for that function even though it is not as thin as this one is, it does better with the space on the plane if you plan on working while you fly.
Want Acer Aspire V5-531-4636 15.6-Inch HD Display Laptop (Black) Discount?
Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program I really love this Acer Aspire notebook. I've had 3 laptops, and I would say this is my favorite. I'm not at all technically inclined, so I can't say much about the technical side, except that 3 of my brothers who are "techi's" tried the Aspire out and all of them really liked it.My last laptop was a Toshiba satellite, and this notebook makes that laptop seem huge, yet it has the same size screen, and does everything and more than the Toshiba does. None of my other laptops had a webcam or microphone, and this one does, so I can talk and see my relatives that live out of state, which is really cool!
My favorite thing about it is probably the speakers, though. I've always had to use an external speaker with my laptops because the speakers weren't loud enough. These speakers are excellent, and loud! I haven't had to use an external speaker for anything not Netflix, YouTube, iTunes or anything I've listened to.
I'm just a basic computer user using email, facebook, iTunes, Netflix, etc., and I do a lot of online shopping this computer does everything I need it to and more. I also had a chance to deal with the Acer online customer service because something happened to my adapter cord (I suspect my puppy, but don't know for sure). I asked where I could buy a new one, and they sent me one for free! It got here in about 2 days, so I have to say their customer service is also excellent.
The computer has a nice, sleek look, it's very light as well. I honestly can't think of a single con for this one, and I highly recommend it.
Acer Aspire AS5750Z-4835 15.6-Inch Laptop (Black)
I just bought this laptop and although I like the hardware, it does have a few minor parts. Not a bad thing just things I would like to point out. So I'll try to keep this brief and useful.Pros
1. Has space for 8gigs of ram. Mine came with four and I already had another four, so now I have a total of 8 gigs on it. Four should work just fine, I just happened to have the extra four. My old laptop only has 2 and I still use it.
2. 1.3 mega pixel camera, seems to work great in low lighting as the lights are low in my room.
3. Nice clear screen and gestures on the pad for zooming in and out on web pages is nice. Still haven't figured out how to use the other gestures.
4. Gigabit network jack, and b/g/n wireless built in.
5. I paid just over 300 bucks which was the reason I got it. It was on special at flys so it was hard to ignore it. So I got this for my dad to use since the old dell died. I also didn't want to spend more than this on a laptop now after I spent over 2k for my old sony years ago.
These are just the main 3 positive points I can think of at the moment but I'll update later. The rest of the hardware seems to work well.
Cons
1. The battery only shows 3 hours. I have it unplugged right now and now it shows 2 hours after about 20 minutes. So this is a big downer if you need to travel.
2. This one has no bluetooth, usb 3.0, or finger reader. I love the finger reader on my sony because I don't have to keep typing the login all the time, but I will not buy another sony again due to their proprietary downloads. Makes it hell trying to keep it updated and they never update anything either.
3. Windows home not pro, but I know it would add more to the price, so just a preference.
4. Weights more than a Toshiba I bought for someone else with the same size screen. Love that light weight on that Toshiba but only had 4 megs maximum.
5. The one other thing that really drives me crazy and that I am not a fan of are the chiclet keyboards. But I'll coin this one today too...this model comes with a mushroom chiclet type of keyboard. Basically each key looks like it stands by itself, and each one is flat. Personally I hate flat keys, I prefer the dented or concave keys so you can actually feel where the key is. I don't know why they keep doing this, but I just thought I point this out because this is why I still prefer to use my desktop over my laptops. So I only use them when I really have to go somewhere.
I only give it 3 stars due to the battery time. One of the most important parts of any laptop, but take that aside and the laptop hardware is pretty good. So even with the cons I would still get one again if I had to, at the lower price that is. As someone else mentioned, technology moves so fast, it's not worth putting more than I need to on these things.
Other
Just uninstall the trial Microsoft office, download Libreoffice and you got an office suite, add your printer and you're good to go.
I have also updated everything on the os and changed the shutdown button to lock, but when I hit the power button, the darn laptop still shutsdown. I accidentally hit the power button on the left corner and shut it down. So yes, I rather these buttons be farther in or middle to prevent accidental power offs. I also don't care for the plug on either side, I like them behind the laptop, but it is what it is. At least this one is near the rear corner and not in the middle like the asus laptop they had on special today.
Here are the Acer specifications...
Update...the power option for the button is under the battery settings, so it can be changed to lock instead of power off in case you hit the power button accidentaly. So this took care of this problem for me.
Update August 25, 2012
Since I started using the laptop and because I carry this with me and move around quite a bit I have found a couple of things that don't work too well if you have to go out to different sites.
1. Having the power button on the top left edge is just bad.
2. Having the power cord on the same top left corner adds to this.
3. The network jack next to the power cord is horrible as I have to use a wire to test things. This is tough since it's next to the power so it's hard to get the wire in and out as I may have to do this a few times at one location and many times throughout the day.
-Now because the power cord is on the left I usually set my computer on the floor on one side and not flat, which means I have to use the right side and the problem is that the cd rom will just pop out as soon as the button hits anything but I have no choice but to use this side. Needless to say the drive came out the first time I was about to do this and almost broke it, so I just use tape over it and don't even close it all the way in since it just pops out with the lightest touch due to that button sticking out of the drive. Also because of this, I have to hold the laptop on the left side which I then end up pushing the power button because that's exactly where you put your thumb to hold it. This has made it a pain to use this laptop on the field. If you don't have to move it around much, it works fine, but these minor things get in the way fairly quickly on this model.
Buy Acer Aspire AS5750Z-4835 15.6-Inch Laptop (Black) Now
I bought this laptop last Thursday while it was on sale at Fry's Electronics. It's got some flaws but it's great for being $300. I like that it has a numeric keypad which I really missed on my old Dell laptop but that shifts the keyboard about 1 key to the left. It took me a little while to get the hang of it but now I usually have my hands in the right position for typing. It boots up quickly. I did have some lag multitasking multiple tabs open in firefox, spotify, and a hidden object game running. It only lag while I was searching for music on spotify. Everything worked fine if I'm just streaming music. I love love love the battery life compare to my old laptop. I get at least 4 hours per charge. It also doesn't overheat like crazy (I got burns from my old one). I had really wanted to get a tablet but that's mostly just a bigger version of my smartphone without the phone so since the laptop was on sale I used the money on this instead. It's not that heavy and I use this on the couch while watching netflix on my TV. In conclusion, I think I made a good purchase and I dont regret not saving my money for a tablet. Will update review if needed.Update 5/25/12:
Still doing ok. I did notice that it lag a bit when my antivirus was updating but no biggie. I had forgotten to mention I couldn't find a physical volume control button which can be slightly annoying when I decide to change volume in the midst of a full screen game. However, lazy old me finally decide to take a closer look at the keyboard and voila. I just need to hold down the "Fn" key while using the up and down arrows. There's also a nice pause key which is also the Home key. Please do not accidentally disable your touchpad like I did trying out the F buttons. I also tried the webcam. It's really clear even in low lighting not like one I had in the prehistoric ages =]
The touchpad is a little finicky. So there's an up and down scrolling area on the right side of it which works great. There's apparently an invisible left and right scrolling area on the bottom. The problem is that the area isn't clearly define and I could be quite far from the bottom edge when the scrolling kicks in. It made me keep losing my page while reading an e-book on amazon's cloud reader. I guess you can always plug in a mouse if you're doing work where this would be a problem.
Update 6/12/12:
I figured out the touchpad side scrolling issue. Go to the trackpad icon on the taskbar. Under the Elan tab on mouse properties you click options. That will show you the different gestures you can use. Click on edge scrolling and uncheck horizontal.
I haven't had the issue of the cd drive popping out like others have. It's only done it once even with me holding it on the side and sometimes leaning it on it's side. I have to wonder how other people are holding theirs. However, I have accidentally hit the power button twice because of it's location in the top right corner near the hinge. It happens when I'm adjusting the position of the laptop on my lap and it's a good spot to grab because it's near the center of gravity.
Battery life is still good with me streaming music. Be aware that the screen is long and skinny compare to other screens that are the same diagonal size. Widescreen looks great on it. Might make it a little harder to buy a case. I was just trying to fit it in my old case but it's too wide to go in so I'll have to shop for a new case.
Read Best Reviews of Acer Aspire AS5750Z-4835 15.6-Inch Laptop (Black) Here
I've had two Acer laptops, which have been telling about Acer as a company. The first laptop I purchased when Acer was just starting out selling laptops. It was a superb computer for the inexpensive price. So after a few years of heavy use when it went out I decided to purchase another Acer (February 2012) until I could purchase a higher end desktop (March 2012).This second laptop went out after THREE months of minimal use as most of my computing is now done on a desktop. I sent the computer to Acer after literally scouring their website for a method to contact customer service, which should of been a sign. This computer was in superb physical shape when sent out, its only issue? Something had gone amiss with the OS and had the blue screen of death followed by a black screen.
Couple days after shipping it out, Acer informs me my nearly new computer (which has never been dropped or moved more than a couple feet on a flat surface) was sporting a crack and repairs would cost $99.00 on a $248 computer. I refused to pay the $99.00 and requested it be sent back. What I received, I can hardly believe is the same computer I sent to them. Keys are missing or busted, it had a nasty crack down the side, was covered in dust and some unidentified grime. Oddity of the situation is that Acer sent me photos of the USPS box I sent it out in and it was in grade A condition. The box I received it back in from FedEx was in excellent condition, too (not to mention the computer was shrink wrapped).
So, if the computer left me in excellent condition and nothing got crushed in shipping, however did all this damage happen? Furthermore, it was all classified as "customer caused physical damage"? And, for all those missing keys and dust, that certainly didn't get in or out after it was shrink wrapped for transport.
Think twice before you buy anything from Acer or have it sent in for repairs. You're either on your own to pay for phony damage claims or left with a piece of tattered junk for rebuking them. If you're still not convinced, look at the BBB and take note of their comments regarding the copious amount of claims made by customers regarding the extensive physical damage claimed by Acer upon arrival or what was noted after the product had been shipped back. Which, I quote: "Consumer complaints received by BBB allege this company sells defective merchandise that they have to return for repeat repairs that are costly and inconvenient.
Consumers also complain that when they ship their computers to the company, their merchandise is often returned to them with physical damage.
The company responds by stating they are not aware of any pattern suggesting defective merchandise sales requiring costly repairs or physical damage of merchandise returned after repairs. They say the original owners of their products receive an inherent manufacturing warranty period for their Acer merchandise. Within that warranty period consumers can also purchase an extended warranty to add to the initial manufacturer's coverage. Out of warranty repairs are made at a charge. The company also states they have very strict and safe packing practices and use reputable national shipping carriers for their return shipments. All products are packed in new packing boxes."
Problem is, shipping is obviously not the issue Acer. It is the company manhandling products to void warranties for extra income.
Want Acer Aspire AS5750Z-4835 15.6-Inch Laptop (Black) Discount?
I work tech support and have for quite some time, and also being a university student I needed a great computer for a cheap price.I can definitely say that this is one of the better computers that I have owned. I owned an HP just recently and that thing died after about three weeks! Never, ever go HP.
I'm not too much of an avid PC gamer but for surfing the internet, doing homework, listening to music, and burning CDs this laptop is perfect. And for less than 400 dollars, you can't beat the price.
I'm considering upgrading the RAM but other than that, I have no complaints.
Samsung NP-QX411-W01US Laptop Computer - Intel Core i5-2410M 2.3GHz, NVIDIA GeForce GT 525M, 6GB DD
So far, this machine has everything I could have asked for in a new laptop (and I even purchased it Refurbished)...Its performance is extremely fast, it pretty much never even gets warm--let alone overheats. It handles multiple demanding applications at once without a problem (e.g. running Photoshop while watching a movie and browsing Firefox with numerous tabs open...
The built in sound system is much louder and better quality than most other laptops I have heard.
The touchpad (and I hate touchpads) I think is the best I've ever used.
The fan is not only super effective at keeping the CPU cool, but its also the quietest fan I've ever encountered. And I mean absurdly quiet. This is really a stand-out feature of the laptop.
BATTERY LIFE:
I don't know what the other guy who reviewer is talking about--my machine has excellent battery life! Maybe he just happened to get the one in 1000 with a faulty battery. In fact, among the surprisingly useful pre-installed "bloatware" programs that every computer company ships their laptops with, there is a "battery life extender" function which gives you the option to only allow the battery to charge to 80% of its capacity, which actually preserves the life of the battery in the long run--an excellent feature for people like me who will be using A/C power most of the time anyway.
The keyboard is just plain sexy. It looks sexy and it feels sexy. Every key is perfectly spaced, it knows exactly which key my finger is aiming for and the "chiclet" or "island style" design makes the computer look so stylish that even mac users will question their choices.
The screen is absolutely brilliant. It has the perfect balance of brightness and reflection/glare from various lighting situations and the glass stretches smoothly from edge to edge (not resting behind some clunky plastic frame like most other laptops.
MINOR COMPLAINTS:
The model advertises a 14 inch screen size, but while most companies measure screen diagonally from one outside corner of the lid to the other, the 14 inch screen that Samsung advertises is only counting the diagonal measurement of the actual display area. If you include the black framing around the display area and measure diagonally from the outside corners of the lid, then it is actually 16 inches exactly. Fortunately for me, this wasn't a major selling point and its pretty much the same size as my last laptop, so it fits perfectly into my old case.
There is no quick-and-easy on/off switch for the touchpad, so when I plug in my USB mouse, I have to go to the mouse settings and disable the touchpad since I find that it (or any laptop's touchpad) can get in the way of typing.
Also, it'd be nice to find a laptop sporting an onboard 5.1 soundcard. I mean its nearly 2012 for crying out loud. That seems like a reasonable request, but I haven't seen any laptop that can hook up a 5.1 sound system without an external converter.
Anyhow, so far I am extremely happy with my purchase. I did a great deal of research and read/watched every review I could find for this model before finally buying it. It has met all my expectations, save for the minor 14 inch size misunderstanding that is. I highly recommend this product.
Ive been using this laptop for about half an year now and this is one has been just amazing. I decided to write a review because of the poor rating on this product because of the review below on the defective item apparently. I will tell you why I decided to go for this laptop than any others after doing research for months.
PROS
= GREAT PRICE!!!!!!!! For the specs that is better than macbook pro, its almost the half price! Need to say more? i5 processor. 6GB ram. 750GB storage.
= There are way too many pros but first thing you can notice right away is the GREAT DESIGN. Well spread out and designed island style keyboard. Big None-button mousepad also adds to the design. The surface doesn't leave finger marks. And yes, it looks like macbook pro but who cares it looks great and I am a consumer.
= One of the main reasons why this one stood out more than any other laptops as I was originally going to purchase Asus laptop was because of the MULTI-FINGER GESTURE MOUSEPAD just like the one on macbook pro. It has up to FOUR FINGER GESTURE which is VERY VERY VERY useful. Very Very easy to switch between windows. You have to try it to understand.
= Easy customization access. It is very easy to change volume or change the display brightness on this laptop which I have found them very useful while using this laptop.
= Battery life is great! I usually get one full day of use on battery on low light. Depends on how heavy you use it but I think usually lasts about good 8 hours.
= Super fast. Turns on any heavy program in seconds. Very fast boot time. I am too lazy to explain all.
= Very quiet. The noise on this laptop is non-existent.
= Display. It's samsung. Enough said.
CONS these are not major but the things that would've been nice.
= No backlit keyboard. This is not a problem at all but it definitely would have been nice if had one. but it was not an issue for me upon purchasing and still not a problem.
= CD DRIVE. It's the classic PC CD drive on laptop where it pops out and you have to put the CD. I prefer like the one on macbook where you insert in the CD.
I had $1000 HP Pavilion laptop before this one which lasted me only 3 years. It had problems in every way: horrible battery life, terrible display, overheating, SUPER LOUD NOISE, keyboard, etc..... literally in every way!
I learned my lesson and did a careful research for months and I am more than satisfied with this item. DO NOT write reviews on defective items. It has been half an year and still this laptop is the best laptop out there. Get this laptop and won't regret it.
That's it, get this laptop if you are looking for a laptop.
PS. if you want a laptop with the cons above (backlit keyboard and the inserting type CD drive), check out Samsung Series 7 Chronos 14 inch.This is most likely the best laptop I've had to date for the price. I have had all sorts of laptops including the 13in Macbook pro 15in Macbook pro, Asus N53SV, Toshiba satelite, Hp pavillion. This laptop has two things that I wanted for a laptop. Great battery life and decent graphics (Nvidia 525m). The other choice available was the Asus u46 laptop with 8+ battery and 540m graphics. This Samsung laptop however beats it out in a couple of different categories. The screen, keyboard, and audio is better. If only this laptop had a Macbook pro screen (more quality, it is a edge to edge glass screen) and a backlit keyboard then this laptop would easily be the best laptop for under $1000. This laptop easily gets 8+ hours on 80% of battery.
Pros:
Long battery life (8+ on 80%)
Decent graphics (can be overclocked to a 550m)
Decent Screen (Edge to edge glass)
Decent Audio for a laptop
Touchpad (get the synaptics drivers, not at the macbook pro level but one of the best windows touchpads I tried)
750gb hard drive
i5 processor
Price ( I paid $599 at Tigerdirect, compare that to $1200 macbook pro with no dedicated graphics processor)
Never heats up unless your playing games (My macbooks used to become way too hot and that's 2011 model).
Keyboard (nice typing experience but not backlit, a little less quality then macbook pro)
Cons:
No cons just a couple of things that would make it better like macbook pro like screen and backlit keyboard would make this a great laptop. I would have even paid $800 for a laptop like that.After extensive research i have concluded that this laptop is the best within my range. It offers amazing battery life along with exceptional graphics from the Nvidia Geforce drivers. it allows me to play games on the my laptop that me desktop couldn't even handle. combined with the i5 processor and 750Gb of storage its a lethal competitor to laptops everywhere. Recently my sister began looking for a laptop as well and after her research she also settled with the Samsung.It also contains many small features that are easily overlooked such as...
Brushed Aluminum(no more fingerprints or scuffs from cheap plastic covers)
2 usb 3.0 ports (a must have for newer laptops)
spread out keyboard ( no more double pressing keys or junk getting caught for months between the cracks)
Quietfan and less heating (even while running bf3 the fan was subtle and unnoticeable)
good speakers for a simple laptop (headphones are optional)
great battery life( easily 8 hours for simple browsing)
no cons, but if it where to be made better...
put in a backlit keyboard
maybe some bluetooth or blue-ray
gorilla glass
Overall the best buy for the amazing features. i got mine for 670 with shipping from tiger direct.This laptop is a BEAST. First of all, for my fellow gamers out there, let me say that this thing has pretty much got you covered. It runs Skyrim on high settings, silky smooth. It runs Magicka fine. It runs pretty much everything. Even The Witcher 2, although on medium. Oh, and you know how Minecraft, simple game as it is, can be picky with which computers it runs well on, regardless of specs? Well it runs AMAZINGLY well on this, even if you're hosting a sever at the same time.
Everything is snappy and fast. HD 720p-1080p video on youtube or playing in VLC is lag-free and gorgeous. You can even have quite a few other things open at the same time, alt-tab to your heart's content, and it's totally fine--no freezes or hiccups.
The touchpad is the biggest I've ever seen on a windows laptop and it feels great, although I rarely use it myself, preferring a wireless mouse. The keyboard feels absolutely AMAZING. I do a lot of writing and this laptop is a joy to type on, provided you have some wrist support (or if you don't rest your wrists on anything like you're "supposed" to do.)
Besides the crap software it comes installed with, as does every PC (screw you Norton!), the only negatives I can think of are that the battery is internal, and thus can't be removed. I've unplugged laptops and taken out the battery before to get them to turn off when they freeze up really bad and holding the power button doesn't do anything, so I can see this causing a really bad day for a few people, but it's not a huge deal, in my opinion.
Asus K55A-RHI5N13 Intel Core i5-3210M, 6GB, 750GB, SuperMulti DVDRW Wireless, 15.6" HD, Webcam, Win
Purchased this Asus Laptop as it seemed to be an excellent configuration for the price. Mine came with 8GB and not the 6GB listed. Screen is nice and bright, It is speedy and easy to use. Setup was a breeze. The keyboard has a really nice touch. Not liking the Windows 8 all that much so I installed "Classic Shell" and it made it much easier to use and gives me time to play with Windows 8 when I have time. Great Value for the price.
HP nc6120 15" Notebook PC - REFURBISHED
The equipment was delivered in good working order, but was shorted a 256MB (DIMM). Advertised as 512gb RAM, had 256MB and start-up showed that the system had been altered. Someone obviously removed the DIMM.I e-mailed customer service. They referred to it a defective system, which was incorrect, it was merely missing the DIMM. They took no action other than to guide me to the 800 number. No service there. Should change their name to customer mis-direction.
While I like the laptop I don't feel this vendor did a very good job of delivering what they advertised. Poor on delivery, poor on follow-through. If I have to chase to get what I paid for it takes away from an otherwise good deal. I won't purchase from this vendor again.
UPDATE: November 6 2012 :: The seller called my home phone suggesting that I was trying to pull a scam by mistakenly placing bad review (from a different seller) in his seller comments area. I felt intimidated by the call and thought that it was far too reactionary for a mistakenly placed bad review. The above review was written first and he didn't even mention that. He was slightly rude and a bit too aggressive for my taste. The battery does not work but I was forgiving for that just because I am not one to stir up trouble. His response to my asking if the battery should be working was something to the tune of " we test them all before we send them out". Mine does not work. I am not a scam artist and I do not have a bad history with Amazon. This seller should apologize and allow me to post the exact apology here in the comments section and he should send me a working battery. NEVER LET THE SELLER HAVE YOUR PHONE NUMBER. Don't get the sort of call that I did. Get it all in writing as Amazon keeps the seller buyer text exchange for a while and you and or the seller can use that to back up your claim should an issue arise.
SELLER: Do not call me again. Put it in writing please. Thank you.
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Despite being around 6 years old, this laptop still has a lot to offer. Right out of the box I started it up and hooked up to the internet. My first thought was "Wow! I really got a bargain!", I could surf the web quickly and seamlessly. Later on I added Microsoft Word and other programs for college work. Even though it feels kinda hefty, it is very compact and can fit in a bookbag easily. Ive had it for a while now and never had a problem with it so far. Its great for college work or just surfing the web, which is exactly what I needed.Read Best Reviews of HP nc6120 15" Notebook PC - REFURBISHED Here
The refurbished laptop that I purchased works just fine. I don't see a problem with the body of it. I'm loving it, and its just the right size for me to take when traveling around town.Want HP nc6120 15" Notebook PC - REFURBISHED Discount?
At first I was very sceptical on ordering a refurbished product...-But then again it had to be better then the broken laptop that I had.So I took a chance and I Love it. So far so good...The price was excellent to because a new laptop was triple the price...Definately was the right choice and I would definately do it again...LOVE IT!