Dell Convertable Inspiron Duo Notebook-Marlin Blue- Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium , 32bit, Intel

My only negative feedback about the seller is that it took a couple of days to process my order and get it shipped. The seller did state the processing takes 4-5 days on the ad, so I wasn't unaware. Dell has discontinued these netbooks, however, their popularity has continued to rise. This one was brand new and works great. It was quite a task to get duoStage installed. Overall, very happy!

I have sent the seller over three messages..If I cant get any information on the product or no reply back , how can I trust ordering from this person.

Buy Dell Convertable Inspiron Duo Notebook-Marlin Blue- Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium , 32bit, Intel Now

Read More >>

ASUS R500A RH52 - 15.6" - Core i5 3210M - Windows 8 64-bit - 6 GB RAM - 750 GB HDD (R500A-RH52) -

Had this for a couple of weeks now, it is sufficiently quick for what I do. I don't game so I can't give any opinion on that, From what I understand intel i7 and up would be great for that. For documents, browsing and general downloads, this one is great. I synch with mobile devices and manage other things like scans and pics. no backlit keyboard, no biggie, Cd-R works great, I haven't used the DVD-R yet, will have to update once I do that. I gave it 4 stars because of the test of time will be something to see in time. Again, will have to update on that as well. No Bluetooth, you will have to see about using a dongle, not a geek, so being careful will be in order on trying that. Windows 8, getting used that will be a work in progress. It does give you the option to toggle between old desktop and new tile screen (Windows 8 feature). if you have any questions I will answer as best I can. I had the Toshiba L755d-s5160 laptop, that was a great laptop, this is better, I was looking around to be close to those specs it offered and found this one, so far I found an upgrade on speed and storage with the exception of not having Bluetooth on this one. But, with anything in electronics you sometimes may need to improvise and sacrifice some things to get what you need overall. Enjoy this one if you decide to get it, as any purchase, be very patient and look at everything you can and be comfortable with your choice, not just settling on it. rushed decisions, more times than not is not a good one. Good day.

----------Update--------

2-28-13

Used the DVD-R to burn events onto DVD rather effortlessly. now only the test of time is left.

Save 12% Off

Read More >>

Thinkpad T420S 14" 128GB Ssd

Have had very bad experience with this product and I want to share it so you don't make the same mistake. Lenovo customer service did not deliver on this purchase.

I Bought this top of line laptop in early December with 8 GB of memory and all the bells and whistles including SSD hard drive. the System arrived right before the holiday and I was heading out of town so my first chance to use it was not until early January. After setting this machine up I was very impressed with the speed and features. The machine was great. Then it failed 7 days later. It would not start up. The machine was in a docking station the whole time. After calling Lenovo and running through troubleshooting steps with them, they determined it needed to be send back.

I asked them if they can just send a new one but they said no sorry we can only do that within 21 days and you have had the system 24 days (customer service failure #1). They said they would overnight a box and I would get the system back in 6 days (overnight after repair). The box took 2 days to get to my place (not a big deal). I then sent it back hoping to have the system repaired in a week. I understand that sometimes things happen and I was not holding against the product. Every Thinkpad I had ever owned was solid.

Now from here the customer service spirals out of control. The system went back to Lenovo on Jan 11th. I inquired with them around the 15th to see where we were with the repair and they sent me to a web site where I was able to see it was holding for parts. I asked them what this means and how long it might be. They said they have no idea how long it takes and they have no way to get an estimate of delivery on parts. IBM handles the repair process and when I called Lenovo they referred me back to IBM. When I complained to IBM they said we will escalate to Lenovo since they have the part that IBM needs to install. I have been on the phone with various people from IBM and Lenovo and no one has been able to help me or even taken an initiative to get a resolution. It just gets passed on. The latest update on the web is that the system is still waiting for parts. IBM escalated this to Lenovo and said I would be contacted within 48 hours. I was not contacted.

This has been a nightmare. I paid a lot of money for a laptop in early December and here it is February 5th and I have no system, no communication, and 100% lost faith in Lenovo as a company. I am now going through the process of filing a complaint with American Express and have already submitted a complaint to the Better Business Bureau. In searching the web I cam across this site which highlights how bad Lenovo's issues are. There are new complaints against the company every day.Lenovo has no excuse for not following up with their customers on issues especially when they have been escalated and when promised a follow-up within 48 hours.

I loved Thinkpads up until now and I think some of my initial fears (when Lenovo bought IBM) are coming to fruition. The quality has gone down and the customer service does not exist. This is the first brand new laptop I have ever had fail within a year of purchase (and this one failed after only 7 days) and I buy a fair number of these as I am an IT tech and buy these for customers.

Buyer Beware.

This computer didn't have a review when I bought it last September, and it deserves better than one star. It's a great machine for the money, the SSD is blazing fast and the machine is solid. I have had no issues with it, and am buying a new one to replace it as mine was stolen.

Buy Thinkpad T420S 14" 128GB Ssd Now

We ordered 20+ of these for employees, along with 433815U docks and dual monitors. Great performance, fast boot, no problems at all. Only complaint is battery life is a little short.

Read Best Reviews of Thinkpad T420S 14" 128GB Ssd Here

Read More >>

Sony VAIO E Series SVE14132CXW 14-Inch Laptop (White)

I was very happy when I received this laptop. After doing research and looking at my budget, I thought this would be the best fit for me. I am mainly using it for web browsing and photo editing. So far, it does everything I need it to.

If you're looking at a higher end windows product, I would go with a Sony Vaio E series. I'm particularly an Apple fan, but a Macbook pro was not in my budget. So I went with the next best thing! I'm still getting used to Windows 8, but it's very easy to use once you get the hang of how everything works.

So if you're looking for a higher quality computer for photo editing, school work or just browsing the internet I would highly recommend this laptop. It gets the job done and doesn't hurt your wallet.

This is my first Sony VAIO purchase and I have to say it's really good! It's design is beautiful as well as the Sea-foam color I believe that's what it's called. It has a beautifully back-lit keyboard makes it very easy to see at night obviously but in the day too it looks really nice. It's very lightweight and thanks to it's 5400RPM HDD it does not get hot at all which is a relief because this is a problem I have run into with other laptops.

It comes with an Intel i3 processor which is great for everyday tasks and having several programs open. I use Cisco Packet Tracer while listening to music on YouTube or Pandora and having my browser, Mozilla open with multiple tabs open and it handles it very well.

I plan on slapping another 2 gigs to this PC to run better because I need it but for everyday use and stuff it should be fine.

This PC comes with Windows 8! As stated on the product specs. Okay Windows 8 is pretty good, yes it has a new interface but not so different honestly. When the PC boots you will be prompted with MS new Metro UI (User Interface). It 's very nice actually the apps are pretty cool and it just shows where OS(operating system(s)) are going. Many people have approached Windows 8 with a negative attitude because of the interface but if you look back when the transition went from WinXP to Windows Vista soon after Windows 7 people reacted the same but then got used to it and so I believe that's how Windows 8 is going to be.

*I do advise you to invest 5 dollars in a program called Start8* This program brings back the Start button that we are so used to seeing in Windows 7 and it functions just like Windows 7 and it makes the transition a little less painful with all the extra clicking that Windows 8 forces us to make.

Graphics are good too it's nothing spectacular but hey it's good enough. This PC can edit HD & 3D videos it's sort of like Windows Movie Maker, and it comes with Sound Forge where you can create your own music which is pretty cool don't think I will use it but somebody else probably will.

In the package where the instruction manual comes will be a promotional credit where Sony gives you 3 credits for you to use on Google Play where you can watch 3 movies of your choice with the selection given unlimited times. I don't think you can download it which is unfortunate but still it's 3 movies.

I know this is a long review and not the best but I do hope it has helped anyone interested in getting this PC.

Overall, it's a great PC. This is not suited for somebody needing to have Photoshop open with some Adobe Illustrator and 10 tabs on your browser open. But more for someone with little-moderate use and also this is price range I was looking for as well.

Feel free to leave a comment or a question and I will try to answer it to the best of my ability!

Regards,

Andrew Ramirez

Buy Sony VAIO E Series SVE14132CXW 14-Inch Laptop (White) Now

Worked just fine for two months and then the computer died. Every support person I dealt with from Sony was based in India. Each one of them wants to walk through a 15 minute trouble shooting routine of removing the battery, remove memory, etc. Non of the trouble shooting solved the issue. After two weeks they sent a repair person to fix the laptop. He replaced the mother board and the machine was alive again. Two and a half months later the computer died again. I called Sony to return the machine for a refund or a new laptop and they refused. They are planing to send a repair person out again. Does not sound very cost effective to me. At this point I would buy any brand of laptop over a Sony. I understand that sometimes you just get a lemon, the answer is replace the lemon or issue a refund. You really don't want to spend over 15 hours with Sony support!

Read Best Reviews of Sony VAIO E Series SVE14132CXW 14-Inch Laptop (White) Here

I had this computer for 4 months and the hard drive crashed one day with no warning. Sony has done little to help and it has to be sent out to be fixed. I have NEVER had such a upsetting issue with a computer so quickly! I will never buy a sony computer again. It was such a waste of over $700.00. Grr. Save your money and buy a Macbook!

Want Sony VAIO E Series SVE14132CXW 14-Inch Laptop (White) Discount?

I bought this laptop with just three things in mind: good portability, long battery life, and solid build quality. And to my delight, the laptop fulfilled all three. However, I wasn't completely satisfied with the product and, therefore, unable to give 5 stars. Why? Not even a week after I turned the laptop on for the first time, the hard drive starting making abnormal clicking sounds from time to time. Hard drives aren't silent, I know that, but the noises produced from the laptop's hard drive were definitely far from normal. Almost everything else about the laptop is stellar though good enough, in fact, to warrant 4/5 stars.

GOOD PORTABILITY

The laptop should be portable, given its compact 14" screen size. It's pretty thin, but also fairly wide for its class. The laptop almost fills my 15" laptop sleeve in fact. Weight-wise, it's right where it needs to be at just a little under 5 lbs. I like the slightly indented sides of the laptop which allow you to pick it up easily without having to really 'dig underneath' with your fingers.

GREAT BATTERY LIFE

Where this laptop really shines is its battery life performance. Just browsing around on the web, I was able to achieve almost 6 hours from a full charge without charging the laptop during use. The 5300 mah battery definitely helps. I left the screen brightness at its default setting which was pretty dim, but definitely ample enough to view comfortably. I like the fact that the screen automatically adjusts its brightness level to accommodate for the surrounding light environment.

DECENT BUILD QUALITY

Sony's never been shoddy when it comes to its products' appearances, and this laptop is no different. Though made entirely out of plastic, the plastic doesn't feel cheap. The laptop doesn't flex too much, but there is a little bit of a 'cratering' from the edge of the keyboard inwards. The backlit keys light up brightly as well. The touchpad is very large and responsive to multiple gestures. However, I wasn't a fan of the loud-clicking buttons below the touchpad. The buttons were not only loud but stiff too, requiring quite a bit of pressure to depress. And, again, the hard drive noise issue I experienced really was a drag on the quality too, but I hardly doubt it is a widespread issue for me to call the quality of the laptop poor.

Hopefully, if you buy this laptop, you won't experience the issues I had with it. If not for the issues I experienced, the laptop would've definitely been a keeper. Sony's made a really good laptop for the price!

Read More >>

Samsung Q430 14-Inch HD LED Laptop (Aluminum surface with Black finish)

I bought this laptop couple days ago and am very satisfied with it. I thought the design might look ugly just looking at the pictures, but the design is very nice.

Anyways here are the pros and cons

Pro: nice sleek design, comfortable keyboard, good performance, reasonable graphic card, cheap price (at least based on my price), light weight, and does not get very hot

Cons: lack of bluetooth (which i hardly use), lack of some ports such as memory card reader (which again I hardly use), sound quality is not very good, arrow keys kinda smooshed together with the rest of the keypads (not really a problem), lack of hoktkeys (which means you have to hold the "fn" button to control the volume and etc)

I really think this is a decent laptop for decent price (unless they raise the price up). Even though there seems to be a lot of cons, i think those are really minor issues (at least for me) and the pros outweight the cons. So if you are look for a decent laptop for a cheap price, I recommend this product.

Initially I was going to go for a more expensive laptop, and then I stumbled upon the Samsung q430 in a best buy as I was browsing that section of the store. Typically I'm wary of any pc's that are in the local stores as they usually get the watered down versions of laptops where you can find the better, more advanced models online.

While not on sale anymore, it was still relatively inexpensive compared to a lot of the other laptops that were no faster. icore5 2.4 GHZ processor, 4GB of memory, 500GB hard drive, 512 MB Nvidia video card, built-in SD memory card reader, DVD-burner...what's not to like!

Also, while it's easy to overlook something as simple as keyboard layout...it was one of the bigger selling points for me in finding a new laptop. I used to have a powerbook titanium G4 which had a nice keyboard layout, and even now the mac book pros have in my opinion the best keyboard design available in any laptop. The q430's keyboard is quite similar, with the raised, solid, black keys that are responsive, spaced out nicely and provide nice feedback. So once I made the decision to go with a non-mac laptop, I was hoping I could find something comparable in the keyboard area. And the Samsung q430 I think is the closest you can get to having a mac book pro keyboard on a pc laptop. I love this keyboard perhaps with the exception of a smaller than usual shift key, I love it.

If there was anything I would change about the laptop, perhaps it would be to not have a glossy screen as sometimes the reflection can be annoying. But nevertheless the screen is bright and strong when I need it to be and I notice it less and less.

Wireless works great, 3 usb ports, decent built in webcam, fairly lightweight and has HDMI out! I have even dropped it once already, transport it a lot and everything seems to be going smoothly with no issues. For the price, and even price aside, I think you can't go wrong. I truly feel this is a solid laptop, especially when coming from the world of sturdy, apple quality laptops previously.

It's a winner!

-MikeL

Buy Samsung Q430 14-Inch HD LED Laptop (Aluminum surface with Black finish) Now

I have been trying this laptop for two days now and I am very satisfied by it.

The Good:

1. Light for its size. I had a Dell XPS M1330 before and this feels lighter than that even though its a 14 incher !

2. Fast processor. The turbo boost on its Core i5 really makes it snappy for everyday work and also for photo and video editing. The new Office 2010 runs smoothly on it.

3. Looks expensive. The aluminium on its lid and around its keyboard give the product a distinct look.

4. Graphics management. The intel HD and nVidia 310m graphics switch seamlessly according to the programs needs. Runs 1080p HD video (native and flash) smoothly without any hitch.

5. The Keyboard is this laptop's strong point. Its chiclet style and good to type on.

6. Heat management is great on this laptop. The CPU and graphics card temperature didn't exceed 65C even after several hours of (moderate) use. The outside also felt cool.

The Bad:

1. Touchpad could have been better. The scrolling seems incosistence. (I am not sure if the touch pad or Windows 7 is to blame)

2. The battery life could have been better. It is giving me 3.5-4hrs on a charge with moderate use.

The Verdict:

Its a steal. I was looking at the Envy 14 before this but with this laptop's price, features and looks, I am glad I got it.

Read Best Reviews of Samsung Q430 14-Inch HD LED Laptop (Aluminum surface with Black finish) Here

READ TO LEARN ABOUT SOLVING ISSUES REGARDING THE PROBLEMS ON SOME REVIEWS.

This laptop had all the necessary components you would need. The design, processor, and graphics are the best in its price range. Considering that I was able to buy it for $649 including the $100 Amazon promotional code. The Intel i5 IMO is the best processor since it balances battery life and performance unlike i3(lacks performance) and i7(short battery life). On the graphics, It can play most of the latest games at low-medium settings only. Design...just look at the pictures. Everything else are just average for a laptop (screen, spekers, etc.) The things that bothers me is the Wireless Card and the wrong description of Amazon about having a Fast-Start feature.

Pros: Intel i5-460m, Nvidia 310m!!(laptops with dedicated graphics are worth $700+), Design (looks like a Mac)

Cons and Solutions:

*The Wireless Card is below average and as what some reviews says that it disconnects occasionally is actually true. It happened to me but I was able to solve that problem. To repair it update your driver by downloading it on wikidrivers not on samsung site

*The Samsung Fast Start Feature is not available on this laptop. I tried downloading the software but it says that this laptop does not support it. Is there anyone who can confirm this?

*Trackpad issues, not true. Mine work perfectly except for the two finger scrolling which is not important since there is a traditional scrolling at the side that works fine. Some reviews says that the mouse is too sensitive, that is because the Momentum feature is turned on. Configure your mouse settings to remove undesired features.

*Battery Life sucks! 2-3 hours of battery life on power saving mode. Wifi-on, Lowest brightness, and internet browsing. If you don't mind staying near a power outlet this laptop is fine for you.

*Issues in streaming videos like youtube during full screen, don't use the update in samsung site. Search for Nvidia 310m driver 266.58, it will solve your problems. If your too lazy too search just look for the link in the comments.

To sum it up, this laptop is worth $650-$750(considering specs and quality) based on my several months of researching and comparing. I'm telling you right now that I did the best way of knowing the worth of a laptop and this one is a really good deal if your budget is really tight. I even checked the prices during Black Friday but no deal matched the "Specifications to price ratio" of this laptop if it would remain at the $600-$650 range. I definitely recommend this laptop for Students with tight budget and desires average gaming capabilities. Btw, I owned this laptop since December 16 2010 and reliability test is still ongoing.

Want Samsung Q430 14-Inch HD LED Laptop (Aluminum surface with Black finish) Discount?

I bought this yesterday while it was on lightening deal (699) with free 1 day shipping. And it arrived today at noon.

I've bought and sold (on ebay) many laptops due to my gadget addiction. So I think I know a thing or two about laptops.

For the people who are considering this. Things that I couldn't find it from other reviews.

(i) it's pretty big. The picture on amazon makes it look like 13 in notebook at best. But when you actually take it out of the box, it's pretty large. I've owned laptops from 10in to 15in laptops before. By far, this 14 in (wide) is very nice. 13 in macbook was even small for me. And 4*3 15in laptop was just not right. So this is bigger than what the pictures make you think.

(ii) Feel? Cover is blackish graphite aluminum and inside (palm rest too) is brushed aluminum. It's not too heavy (compared to macbook pro 15in, this feels lighter). This look elegant. Does this match up to Macbook pro? Probably not. I just don't like latest gen black keyboard macbook pros. Know that this samsung's bottom is plastic. Which I don't mind. If you have macbook pros, you know it's gonna get scratched up in a month. I like this computer.

(iii) keyboard: I hate thinkpad keyboard (some maniacs love it but I just can't understand that. How can you like buttons that are stiff and require more strength to type on? I never went back to Thinkpad). I love dell keyboards (that of notebooks). They give you not to soft but spring response which makes typing easier. So if you know some of the keyboards, this Samsung is in between thinkpad (talking about feeling, not the way it's made) and dell. That should clarify the feeling.

*Someone said in a review that these keyboards are rubbery and he likes it, but there is no rubbery feeling. This is as plastic as it gets. That review was kinda misleading to me.

(iv) I used it one day. Battery came at 60% (charged), so it took about 1hr to reach 100%. And it took about 2hrs to run it down to 10%. It's not great of course. But these days, schools & hotels all provide multijacks so no problem.

(v) cord; no one talks about this probably because they are not in the context of school. I'm doing my Doctoral next year. So length of powercord matters. It's not long. I've seen some wacky long ones to shortest (macbooks). This thing is about macbook (or pro)'s powercord. It's not long. And for students, you just need to get seats near the power outlet.

(vi) screen. it's cover to cover glass. So it looks and feels nice. I never had screen like this. But this is better. It's like iphone without cover. Think that way. iphone in INCASE and bare iphone. If you know what I'm talking about. There is difference. Shade or cover around the screen (by incase) makes screen look different. This is a plus. Very nice. Resolution is not super (my eyes are used to iphone4 or super amoled of phones). Don't expect that from this. But it's standard.

(vii) fast start (not cold boot, but from sleep to wake up; that's what samsung calls it); it's pretty fast. Definitely a plus.

(viii) Sound; is pretty big. Just watching youtube but had to turn it down.

(ix) fan noise; again something important for students who study in libraries. This thing makes audible fan noise when you install programs etc. But in normal MS word typing situation, it does not. So This unit won't make others mad in the library.

*forgot to tell you about touchpad. it's small compare to macbooks. Actually tiny. But it's ok. This thing doesn't have Bluetooth. So I again have to pay for Nano receiver mouse or something.

(x) The reason why I went Samsung this time for the first time was because Samsung makes memories and LCD/LEDs. Never owned Korean made laptops until now. Tired of Taiwan made. Sick of American made (I had multiple Dells and a HP. Don't know why I keep going back to Dell though it breaks down usually). Sorry. Time to go Korean. When Apple advertises that they make both hardware and software, it's misleading. They make body and assemble parts themselves. But you will find their harddisk is from toshiba. LCD from Samsung etc. This unit (just checked) has Toshiba hard, Atheros wireless. Both I hate. Both gave me failures before so I remember. This time the hard disk does not make as much as noise like old harddrives made by Toshiba. But you can still hear it. Wireless is so far so good. Don't know about memory and LCD. I have two LCD tvs. Samsung and Vizio. Someone said all LCDs are the same? No. It's not. That's why I wanted to try Samsung.

*i5 vs i7. I have i7 XPS Dell desktop. I can't feel the difference. All these processors, to me, don't make much difference. I bet I am not feeling difference between XP/celeron and this premium one. So don't worry about i7 and how it's better for multitasking. Also I did 1080p youtube. It take time to load but once it's loaded, there is no hiccup like in netbooks.

(xi) Windows 7 is a great OS. I've had everything from Linux, Jolicloud (same as Chrome OS; almost), Vista, XP, Apple OS X..this thing is not bad. Not bad. Start up time is fast around 20-30 sec. People; don't believe Apple never crash myth. Apple freezes all the time. Just go to mac store. "genius" appointment and see how many units they bring back to repair. If you are like some people (mac is blacktie, pc is jean), I have nothing to say. It's all about looks for some people. But you don't have to type on macbook pros to make it bestsellers. You know who are real deals? People who have macbook pro17. Most others just buy it just to try out or to feel better about themselves. (I went Mac after Vista; that thing is just a horror story isn't it. As hardware improves everything has to be faster. But somehow they make more memory consuming OS. So after 10 years, with i5 i7 processors,pc is still slow and lagging. Right? You don't feel much difference between your pc from 8 years ago and now; only thing you can feel is the hard disk size. That thing is a good. 500GB? Wow that's great. My first toshiba had 5gb hard disk) Remember, John Farve writes on a dell and became youngest speech writer for president.

Nor I suggest you buy cheap pcs. You get what you pay for. I think this unit is reasonable. I probably will sell this after 1.5 years (that's how long I keep laptops). But so far, this is not bad as a pc. it's 699 now! What? After selling this as a 4hr lightening deal, amazon dropped the price down on all pcs since yesterday. If that were the case, I "could" have gone to 15.6 in samsung. But soon I have to travel to Orlando to study and I don't regret.

This is a good buy. Buy it while it lasts (don't know about this seller, notice it's not amazon selling this now). Not bad. Not bad Samsung.

Read More >>

HP ENVY DV7-7212nr Windows 8 Notebook PC

Very fast laptop.

Boots up in seconds.

Stunning display.

Runs cool.

Looks nice.

ssd + hdd Impressive

No compatibility issues.

This laptop has amazing capabilities for the price. My only complaint is that I have not been able to install Windows 7x64 Ultimate, and HP's response is that it does not support Win 7x64.

I am a technical co-founder for a health tech startup. I needed a laptop for road warrior demos of clinical data warehouse analyses, and this fit the bill.

I bought it in the following configuration: 1080p screen resolution with internal 32GB SSD, 125W power supply, 2GB video card, oversized battery, 8GB RAM, 750GB 7200rpm disk. I then upgraded to 16GB RAM and added an additional 1TB 5200RPM Hitachi internal drive. The second internal drive required purchasing an OEM drive caddy and cable for $45.

The backlit keyboard is ever so cool... I have wanted something like this for years.

I replaced the existing 2 800MHz 4GB DIMMs with 2 666MHz 8GB DIMMs. The BIOS recognized the lower-speed DIMMs, and adjusted the interface appropriately.

I'm now running a 16GB RAM/1.75 TB disk laptop.

My workaround for Windows 7 compatibility is to run a Windows 7x64 virtual box client on the machine.

The machine runs MS SQL Server 2012 without a problem. SQL Server database performance is on a par with comparably-equipped desktop machines.

Network data transfers: with Jumbo Frame support set to 6KB, I get 118MB/sec network transfers over a gigabit switch; best I've seen in a notebook-class computer.

The USB 3.0 ports transfer data from an external Seagate 2TB 7200RPM drive to the internal 750GB 7200RPM drive at 100 to 125MB/sec.

The internal 32GB SSD consistently transfers data at 191MB/sec.

The internal 750GB 7300rpm drive transfers data at 70 to 125 MB/sec, averaging 97MB/sec.

The 1TB 5400rpm drive that I added to the second drive bay transfers data at 50 to 104 MB/sec, averaging 82MB/sec.

I haven't tested the BluRay movie playback capability.

Buy HP ENVY DV7-7212nr Windows 8 Notebook PC Now

Does everything the description says. Runs very smoothly. Most of the Windows 8 kinks have been worked out already. I personally enjoy windows 8 more than any previous operating system. The learning curve is small for anyone tech savvy, though it may not be the best OS for business purposes. Love the fingerprint reader combined with the HP Simple Pass. Truly a desktop replacement. Should last me many years with the current hardware, though I'm sure Ill drop and break it before it is outdated, as is when I usually upgrade.

Read Best Reviews of HP ENVY DV7-7212nr Windows 8 Notebook PC Here

Very, very fast. Great for gaming if on a budget and you don't want to drop $2000 for a real gaming laptop. The build quality is excellent and it doesn't feel cheap or flimsy. The sound is amazing for being a laptop too, having the volume all the way up is almost too loud, and the sound doesn't get distorted when you crank it up. The only gripe that I have with it is the border around the screen shows fingerprints really bad because of the gloss finish. It's the only area on the laptop that is glossy, the rest is the black brushed aluminium or matte (like the keyboard, mousepad, and underside of the laptop). It has the usual HP bloatware, but HP thankfully included a restore option called a 'Minimized Image Recovery' that removes all the crap you don't want, but leaves the useful stuff like HP Update that you'll probably want for driver, bios, and service alert updates. Windows 8 works fine for me as well, and I've been using Windows since 95. It takes a little bit getting used to, but there's several free programs out there that can add a start menu to the desktop mode if you really don't like the Metro tiles and menus. Most of the reviews are giving the laptop a bad rating because of Windows 8, and that's not fair to HP or this laptop. They didn't design Windows 8, they designed the laptop which is great.

Want HP ENVY DV7-7212nr Windows 8 Notebook PC Discount?

I did much product research on notebooks prior to this purchase, and finally settled on this one. The biggest reason I was shopping for a new laptop was to handle the loads of graphics work in Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom. I work occasionally on very large .psd files, and my former laptop would really bog down. This new HP ENVY is indeed as advertised and as expected. I have done a considerable amount of photo editing work, and it is superb. I do plan to upgrade the RAM to 16GB, but haven't encountered a situation where I really needed it yet. This notebook is a very competent system, and better than most for the price. The only feature I wish this laptop had is Lightscribe capabilities.

There is much hubbub about Windows 8, and here is my two cents: I have been well-experienced in every Windows platform since ME, so I feel I have a pretty good grasp of both consumer-level interaction and tech-level interaction. From a consumer point of view, I think Windows 8 is very good. While having a touchscreen would be a big advantage, I find that the multi-touch pointing device does a considerable job, and makes W8 very easy to use. Before purchasing or upgrading a PC to W8, make sure it has either touchscreen or multi-touch capabilities in my opinion, a must!

I am 99.9% pleased with this purchase, and recommend it highly to anyone looking for a desktop replacement processing power on a budget.

Save 18% Off

Read More >>

Lenovo ThinkPad Edge 15 031946U 15.6 LED Notebook Core i3 i3-380M 2.53GHz 2GB DDR3 320GB HDD DVD-Wr

I got this laptop from an IT school. Considering it was part of the tuition and it is supposed to be used FREQUENTLY in class especially for VMs (virtual machines) ie, Server 2003 and Server 2008. I am very disappointed with their (the school) choice of laptop. I eventually upgraded the 4 gb of RAM to 8GB max (cost $50). I had also went ahead and upgraded the stock 5400rpm, 320 GB SATA HD with a crucial 512GB SSD (cost $300). I transfered the whole OS/Drive onto the new SSD via a USB/SATA cable, worked like a charm. Now, instead of waiting literally 5 minutes for Windows 7 to load. The OS is up and running in 30 seconds. For me the cost of $350 was ok, even though I had already kinda' paid for it in my tuition. I use it as a 'test' laptop. I will most likely try to find ways to upgrade/change the FAN and CPU (maybe to an i7).

So, I would value this laptop at $400 max. There are others out there that can be upgraded piece by piece and still be under the asking price of $600.

hope this helps.

Read More >>

HP G7-1272NR 17.3-Inch Laptop

I got this laptop on Black Friday and it's a great deal, even at the regular price! I'm a multi-tasker, so I tend to have numerous programs and Chrome tabs open. This laptop can handle it thanks to the generous amount of RAM. I also have a lot of music, pictures, tv shows and Sims 3 installed and it hasn't slowed it at all.

I'm pretty computer literate, but setup was so simple even someone who's never used a computer before could do it.

Definitely recommend it!

I recently got this computer for a $100 bucks off on Cyber Monday, and so far it seems to be what they advertise. It's a huge screen but the computer itself is pretty thin and its surprisingly light. Only thing I have a complaint about is they say its 500gb, not exactly the truth. They have loaded it with some much software and other obvious advertisement shortcuts and programs that the usable hard drive space is 416gb...but remember 416gb is still huge and they have dedicated 15.2gb to perform a system recovery

Buy HP G7-1272NR 17.3-Inch Laptop Now

I bought this computer during Amazon's lightning deals. So far, it works great! I have had multiple windows open at the same time, added multiple applications, watched videos, played games, all of which worked better and faster than any other computer I've had! Internet connection has been great so far. I did have it disconnect a couple of times, but when I told it to connect automatically, I have never had it disconnect again. The only cautious thing I have found so far is the Disk door is not as "solid" as I would have liked. I feel like I should be careful putting disks in it so that I don't crack it or something. But, as long as the inside parts work great, I can deal with being careful with my computer on the outside :)

Overall, very happy so far! I definitely love the big screen!

Read Best Reviews of HP G7-1272NR 17.3-Inch Laptop Here

I purchased a laptop about a year and half ago and there was something wrong with it everytime that I lifted it up it turned off. I bought this laptop to replace it and I am pleasantly surprised. The computer is fast and works really good. I work from home and go to college online so I need a good quality laptop to do my business or and school work with. The performance is great and works fast.

The only "negative" is that the laptop is a little bigger than I am used to. I compared it to my other one and it is a few inches longer but I don't really mind because it fits comfortably on my laugh.

Positives: fast loading, turns on and off quickly, good storage size, love the number keys on the side for quick typing.

Want HP G7-1272NR 17.3-Inch Laptop Discount?

I've always used desktops and this is my first laptop. Shipping was quick (1.5 day) and when i turned it on, setup was quick and extremely easy. Touchpad and keyboard are articulate (no backlight for the keyboard though). This was bought during cyber monday and i got it for $450 which is a great deal.

Read More >>

HP - Pavilion g7-1167dx Laptop / AMD Phenom II quad-core processor P960 / 17.3" LED Display / 4GB D

This laptop is very responsive and fast with files conversion. I can throw any games on this and it will run great. The only downside is the battery life, but in return you get a very powerful laptop with incredible viewing screen. The sound on this laptop is amazing and very loud. You won't be wrong buying this laptop because Quad Core processors will be great for multitasking.

I just picked this laptop up at Best Buy for a meager $450.00. I've had it for about 4 days now and am extremely impressed. It will multi-task with literal ease. Not to mention that the SRS (surround) sound is very decent. I needed an inexpensive laptop with a 17.3 inch screen that could run multiple programs without issue. I was really wanting an Intel i3-i5 processer, however, once I spotted this AMD Phenom P960 Quad core for under $500.00, I figured I'd take a chance. Bottom line, for this price your getting a 500 GB HDD, 17.3 Inch Screen, Gorgeous 1600x900 HD Resolution, and a processer with 4 cores. If your looking to save some money and still get a decent PC, you really can't go wrong for the price.

Buy HP - Pavilion g7-1167dx Laptop / AMD Phenom II quad-core processor P960 / 17.3" LED Display / 4GB D Now

My 1st HP purchased at Best Buy for $449.95 and I felt it was a great price for the product. The computer is awesome and fun to work with and I had a Dell before. Purchased Geek Squad set up & optimization, probably wouldn't do that again. I feel like they just slammed the install & optimization to get it out and I have had to use tech support several times as a result. Even having said all that its a great buy and great laptop so far.

Read Best Reviews of HP - Pavilion g7-1167dx Laptop / AMD Phenom II quad-core processor P960 / 17.3" LED Display / 4GB D Here

Ok. Purchased this product as an open box refurb of this laptop from Microcenter for about Three hundred and Eighty dollars, US.

After a week of paces putting... here's the good the ok and the "why you might not want it"

The good....

The processor is wonderful...BUT if you're going to do ANYTHING with video or graphics invest the less than $50 to max out the RAM to 8gb... Why? b/c the video card shares its ram with the computer... For best results.. max this fella out! The good news is that you'll only need to by 1 module of 4 gb of ram instead of 2 4gb because HP has thoughtfully realized how much more convenient it is to have only one module and not have loose unused ram that you paid for with it that you can't use!! :) Bravo HP!!!! :) Windows 7 premium works well... As does the multi-core processor--I've tested with trial versions of Adobe Lightroom 3.5 and Photoshop CS5.5 with large raw images and processing multiple images... :) works like a champ!!!! With BOTH open at same time! :)

The size... I'm 6'2 and have big hands... a 17.3" Laptop for me DOES fit in MY lap... but for most you'll find this thing to be a bit clunky... The keys are not the contoured ones on most keyboards but rather are flat textured plastic that are flat to touch... I like it... your results may vary. The directional keys (up, down, left, right) are placed oddly and in an odd constellation--but I like this because it IS odd and doesn't fit into the keyboard so it is easy to find by touch. Again, your results may vary! The touch pad is the same--flat to the case, and textured so you can. Note: you CAN turn the touch pad off by tapping twice in the upper left-hand corner of the touch pad. The function keys at the top of the machine are uh... pretty clearly marked.

I did use the machine to burn several music discs I received for Christmas onto my network drive for use in my house on my secured network--1 copy of owned music--all legal--all the time. The drive works well but the machine did not come with software for using the drive like most have in the past. I am using and recommending Nero Kwik Media (free!) to run this with! :) I like it... It's not the fastest burner--but it's not bad. What is annoying is how exact you must be to put a disc into the drive. It MUST be snapped down into the drive place so you will be using BOTH hands!

The screen is bright and beautiful, and... you'll have no need for privacy filters from 3M as the viewing angles are such that you really DO have to be the ONE who is straight on with the machine. For me this is a virtue in a laptop--where it wouldn't be with a monitor or LCD/LED TV. No you won't be working with this on your airplane tray table but that's ok... My next trick is to try to shoot tethered to it in Lightroom :) I'll update if I can work it out! :)

It's not the dream machine... BUT :) for less than $400 you CAN NOT beat it!!!!! I did purchase MicroCenter's 2 year service agreement and would recommend doing that for any portable lappy. :) but that's just me! :) I hope this is helpful, let me know if I can answer any other questions for you!

--Dave

Want HP - Pavilion g7-1167dx Laptop / AMD Phenom II quad-core processor P960 / 17.3" LED Display / 4GB D Discount?

This is an excellent laptop for the price. No problems so far. It arrived on time and very well packaged. I would recommend for a low cost laptop option.

Read More >>

CTL E09XPH 9-Inch 2goPC Laptop (900 MHz Intel Celeron Processor, 512 MB RAM, 40 GB Hard Drive, XP H

Truthfully, I bought this unit for the sheer 'gee whiz' factor. It was also not that substantially more expensive than the Asus eee. The base eee costs around $300 but that includes a puny 2 GB HD and no webcam. For roughly $140 more I got a 60 GB hard drive and a webcam.

While the Asus comes with a flash drive generally limited to about 8 GB or less (some newer models come with a standard hard drive), the Classmate comes with a 60 GB hard drive (on the Series 2 model, 30 on the first series). The Amazon website lists the HD as 40, but it's actually 60.

My unit was the bone grey model handle and covering with Windows XP Home edition and wireless capability. Straight out of the box this unit located my wireless signal and locked on.

This unit is slightly more bulky than the eee but this is mainly because of better protection. The eee was an accident waiting to happen while the Classmate has rubber bumpers and a protective covering to make sure the kids don't bash it in.

The Classmate is better built than the eee, though. My eee looked nice but creaked and groaned as the cheap plastic parts sometimes meshed. Using the mousepad on the eee was something of a chore, also, as it constantly clicked and flexed. The Classmate is definitely better in that respect. No flex, no play, just solid.

As I later found out from some reviewers, the eee also has a problem with falling apart in any drop more than a few inches high. Although I didn't try it, I'm sure the Classmate would fare better, not that I plan to drop it anytime soon.

The only fault I could find is that the computer comes with no owner's manual but you can get one for free at Of note, the manual comes in German, English and French which may be why it isn't shipped with the unit (this would put it in violation of NAFTA which requires English, French and Spanish in the U.S.).

My eee booted in 15 seconds with Linux on it but it took a good 2 minutes with XP and 1 GB of RAM. The Classmate took about a minute but I'm sure this is due to the rather miniscule 512 MB RAM included. Since the machine utilizes a DDR chip, I'm sure I can upgrade to 1 or 2 MB later (one chip instead of two so you'll to buy your preference since you can't double stack the chips). Since both units utilize the Celeron chip, the difference in boot times is somewhat confusing when using XP, especially since the eee's 1 GB of RAM should make a difference (but it didn't). Making this more confusing is that the eee uses a solid state drive while the Classmate utilizes a 1.8' PATA hard drive spinning at about 4,500 RPM. A sold state hard drive should always boot quicker than a rotating one.

The eee's keyboard was an absolute nightmare. It was way too small and difficult to use. The Classmate's doesn't appear much larger, but it is easier to use, albeit not as easy as a standard keyboard. Again, it's made for kids. It's much better marked than the eee's and doesn't require a manual to figure out.

Both manufacturers include a recovery disk for the unit without realizing there is no CD drive in either. Duh! How about a small flash drive instead of a CD for the recovery system?

Both units accept external CD drives, burner or not.

Heat is a problem with these small units but the Classmate doesn't have the heat dissipation problems of the eee. While using the eee it quite often became too hot to leave on my lap. The Classmate never seems to get hot although it gets warm. Part of this may be due to the leather covering on the bottom (which is held on by Velcro and is easily removable to access the RAM and HD).

In the end analysis, I'd choose the Classmate any day over the eee. I got rid of the eee after two months of frustration but I'll keep the Classmate!

I had just received my 2GOPC today and I'm very impressed so far. I had purchased this for the kids (8 and 5) since they've trashed a couple of full sized cheap laptops and I could tell this unit can take a beating it's like a tiny TOUGHBOOK! Performance wise it's pretty speedy with WINDOWS XP and the screen is fantastic very bright and deep color and the size is perfect. The keyboard is a little small for adults, but not unusable it has great key travel. The wifi worked well and the little web cam is surprising sharp. Battery life is decent 3 hours on full brightness primarily surfing the net. The built in handle is bonus too. Truthfully, I've been having so much fun playing with it, it might be a while before the kids actually get their hands on it...

Buy CTL E09XPH 9-Inch 2goPC Laptop (900 MHz Intel Celeron Processor, 512 MB RAM, 40 GB Hard Drive, XP H Now

I tend to agree with all the other reviews so far, so I won't repeat what they said. I do need to give a couple of warnings:

1. Wireless internet connection doesn't work after upgrading to Windows XP SP3. Once I upgrade, the wireless is able to connect to my router and my other PC's, but internet connection is spotty at best and broken at worst.

2. Customer support is nonexistent! I've emailed them a couple of times and no one has responded after three weeks. They don't seem to offer telephone support.

3. Reformatting drive using provided recovery disk crashes computer. I thought my wireless issues might be a software issue so I tried using the recovery disk to start from scratch, but after the hard drive was reformatted, the computer would freeze on the initial 2goPC screen with no way of going forward. I had to return the laptop to Amazon and get a replacement, which is when I figured out the wireless problem only occurs when Service Pack 3 is installed.

Read Best Reviews of CTL E09XPH 9-Inch 2goPC Laptop (900 MHz Intel Celeron Processor, 512 MB RAM, 40 GB Hard Drive, XP H Here

I originally purchased this for my 9 year old because the kids computer was losing keys and was sufficiently outdated that it would not run some of the games like the new versions of Zoo Tycoon. I liked the idea that this would have a more durable "kid-friendly" form factor. However, it is woefully underpowered and frankly, not significantly more durable than some of the comparably priced Acer or Asus systems. In addition, the CTL, Acer Aspire and Asus EEe do not have DVD/CD drives which is very inconvenient if you want to run children's games which require the original disk be in the drive in order to run.

I came across an Acer Extensa which is a dual AMD with 2 GB memory. I bought the Extensa at Best Buy for 399 which is less than the CTL or the Asus EEe and the Acer Aspire and it has better specs. It has a larger 14" screen and it is a comparable size to the CTL. While the Extensa comes with Vista and is an "ok" speed, if you wipe it and install Windows XP -you have a system with performance that should last indefinitely for the kids -particularly if you use Open Office (a great FREE alternative to MS Office).

So if you want an economical system for the kids that will allow them to play today's memory/CPU intensive games AND be able to do dual duty as a "real system" capable of running office and home productivity suites, check out the Acer Extensa or even the Aspire systems. In the long run, it will be cheaper since you won't be looking at having to upgrade in a year as the needs of the kids and your family changes.

Want CTL E09XPH 9-Inch 2goPC Laptop (900 MHz Intel Celeron Processor, 512 MB RAM, 40 GB Hard Drive, XP H Discount?

I purchased the CTL 2 go pc and it wouldn't boot to the operating system ( Windows XP )

When I called CTL I was transferred to a guy names John who identified himself as the 2go project manger. When I asked him if he could help me he was rude and aggressive and told me he didn't have the time to answer my questions and transferred me to the technical repair line. I then spoke to a guy who sounded Eastern European and he told me he wasn't in charge of repairing 2go pcs and then he transferred me to a guy named Jason. I got Jasons voicemail and left a message with my name, number and email address. 2 weeks later, no reply. I called again and asked to speak to the manager and was transferred to the voicemail of a guy named Eric Stronqist who is the guy in charge of CTL. Again I left my info, again no reply. Companies like these will be the first to go in this economic downturn and they deserve all they get.

Read More >>

Macbook Pro 17 Inch (2.33 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 Gb Ram, 160 Gb Hd, Dvd/cd Superdrive) 17" Display

this is the best laptop i ever own i love it such a great laptop!!! worth evey dollar of it!

We bought this computer for our granddaughter in order that she be able to use GarageBand. I wrote to Joseph at techToday before I bought it and he said it would be suitable. The computer arrived about 2 days later. It is in excellent condition and works well. It was advertised as like-new and indeed it looks like new.

It makes me wonder why my husband and I ever bought new computers. Next time I will surely check with techToday when I need a computer. I enthusiastically recommend this seller.

Buy Macbook Pro 17 Inch (2.33 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 Gb Ram, 160 Gb Hd, Dvd/cd Superdrive) 17" Display Now

Read More >>

Compaq Presario CQ56-115DX 15.6" 2GB 250GB Laptop PC

I needed a basic laptop for web surfing, email, writing, and some light computer programming. I got this one at Best Buy for about $. For the price I found it to be a good buy. It came with the 64 bit version of Windows 7 and had two gigabytes of memory, a single core AMD 64 bit processor and a two hundred and fifty gigabyte hard drive. Uses shared memory for graphics.

After using it for about a week I became frustrated with the length of time it took to boot up and another while for your program to load. Once your program was loaded, it would run ok but I did not run more than three programs at once. It also seemed relatively easy to stress the processor. The system monitor would indicate processor usage was at near one hundred percent by merely installing a program. The battery life was respectable and the built in wireless worked very well. I found the keyboard and touch pad to be a bit odd but I quickly got used to how they worked.

One peeve I had was that the initial memory came in two one gigabyte modules. It would have made more sense and been cheaper in shipping the laptop with a two gigabyte module. I however do not pretend to understand the business decisions of these computer manufacturers.

Bottom line.

Good value for the price but recommend increasing the memory to at least three gigabytes to work well. Good for light use around the home or at the office. I have not tried but I don't recommend games on this unit. I would give it 3.5 stars if I could but I cannot seem to give half star increments so three stars it is.

My initial needs which lead me to purchase a laptop were mobility, media storage and playback (HD and non HD), and 3D modeling using Google SketchUp. I was looking to spend around $450-$500. After some research,this model kept making the comparison and with the price, it started looking like a winner. I made my purchase and I have never been happier. The screen is the right size for mobility, without sacrificing it's viewing capacity. Having a discrete graphics card, while not the most recent of architecture, coupled with (shared) 256mb from the DDR3 memory it performs quite well. I have to say it this laptop runs SketchUp almost as good as my desktop rig Core 2 Duo 3.0ghz 8gb of RAM and Geforce 9800GT video card. In all fairness, Sketchup is 32bit and can only address 2gb of ram, and is only a single threaded so alot of what you think are advantages to my rig, they are infact not. I guess the point of this review is..... this laptop does a couple of things at a time really well. If you push it, it will perform like a cheap laptop. If you want to surf, watch Hulu, and model a spaceship in Sketchup, she will perform like a much more expensive laptop.

I should also mention it plays Age of Empires III, Starfleet Command 3, and Command & Conquer First Decade quite nicely.

Pros

Solid hinges

Battery life is excellent

Lightweight

Runs cool and almost completely silent

excellent performance

Usable gaming capacity

Cons

No HDMI

no webcam

Overall I am completely impressed.

Buy Compaq Presario CQ56-115DX 15.6" 2GB 250GB Laptop PC Now

Well let me start by saying that this laptop i got from the Nvidia settlement. It was to replace my dv9000 specific model 9428nr. my old computer had a 2.2 GHz AMD Turion (tm) 64 X2 Dual-Core Mobile Technology TL-64, 2Gb of ram max, and a 17 screen display, and that problematic nvidia chip, dual hard drive bay. use to do a lot of work on it for engineering classes it went well and it did everything i had to, but then it started having the classical problems of losing the wireless and over heating. by then my warranty had expired from best buy. So i was stuck with a half working laptop and it was not too old is was about 2.5 years old. so then i got a letter in mail that there was a legal class action and that my laptop qualify for an exchange for an equal laptop in value. So i said why not and i ended up sending it to the Nvidia settlement. So when i got my cq56-115dx i was for some big disappointment.

cq56-115dx came with a 15 inch screen, a single core amd V140, able to upgrade to a max 8 GB of drr3 ram, ATI 4250 graphics (not bad).NO second bay for a secondary hard-drive. NO express card, No 5-in-1 integrated Digital Media Reader for Secure Digital cards, No Expansion Port 3. and NO Number keypad on the right. Maybe i could have life without some of things, but what really got me mad was the single processor of the cq56-115dx. REALLY???? what a way to make it to customers who were having problems with the faulty nvidia and who paid $1200-$2000 for these laptops.

Performance of cq56-115dx as is no sugar coating

first of all you must upgrade the ram of the computer to a max of 8GB if want to be able to do some multitasking. with the 2GB of ram that came, multitasking was so painful.

After you upgrade the cq56 to a max of 8gb the computer runs a lot better. I was able to run engineering programs and do other things at the same time. but for more demanding programs the computer began to lag a lot. For example if you only run a program at a time then the computer is fine, but if you want to listen to youtube while running a demanding program forget it. solidworks with youtube on the background and some pdfs open equals total lag. Something i was able to do with my older computer.

Running videos on youtube at 1080 p is a total lag.

Last time i tried to run HD video on gametrailers web page, nothing else open, there was so much lag that i had to switch it make to standard view.

People who are going to use this laptop for Microsoft word, power point and internet they should be just fine.

bottom line this laptop will run great if you run a greedy program at a time, real multitasking is not existent with the cpu amd v140.

So i search to try and see if any possible upgrade here are the possible cpu upgrades

AMD Athlon II Dual Core Mobile DanubeChamplain

P320 2.1 GHz AMP320SGR22GM 25W

P340 2.3 GHz AMP340SGR22GM 25W

AMD Turion II Dual Core Mobile DanubeChamplain

P520 2.3 Ghz TMP520SGR23GM 25W

P540 2.4 GHz TMP540SGR23GM 25W

P560 2.6 GHz TMP560SGR23GM 25W

N530 2.5 GHz TMN530DCR23GM 25W

N550 2.6 GHz TMN550DCR23GM 35W

N570 2.7 GHz TMN570DCR23GM 35W

AMD Phenom II Dual Core Mobile DanubeChamplain

N620 2.8 GHz HMN620DCR23GM 35W

N640 2.9 GHz HMN640DCR23GM 35W

N660 3.0 GHz HMN660DCR23GM 35W

P650 2.6 GHz HMP960SGR23GM 25W

AMD Phenom Triple Core Mobile DanubeChamplain

P820 1.8 GHz HMP820SGR32GM 25W

P840 1.9 GHz HMP840SGR32GM 25W

P860 2.0 GHz HMP860SGR32GM 25W

N830 2.1 GHz HMN830DCR32GM 35W

N850 2.2 GHz HMN850DCR32GM 35W

N870 2.3 GHz HMN870DCR32GM 35W

AMD Phenom Quad Core Mobile DanubeChamplain

P920 1.6 GHz HMP920SGR42GM 25W

P940 1.7 GHz HMP940SGR42GM 25W

P960 1.8 GHz HMP960SGR42GM 25W

where copy and search on ebay HMP960SGR42GM

so at the end i bought a dual core amd phenom IIx2 N640 clock at 2.9 Ghz for $56 plus free shipping. let me tell that you what a big difference it makes. true multitasking, and now i can play hd videos without any lag. not to mention that i now have the ability to play some games.

how to replace the cpu amd v140 for a amd phenom IIx2 N640

first flip the laptop upside down on a table remove the battery. Now get a standard star screwdriver and begin to remove all the screws that you see on the bottom of the laptop. As you are taking them off remember where you took them off from. the ones with a little brown mark are bigger and thus correspond to the outer perimeter of the chassis. the little screws with blue are attached to the mother board and thus belong to inside. remove all screws even where the battery was before. Next open up and remove all screws of hard drive and remove hard drive itself. Next open up where the ram goes and remove the ram itself. remove the wireless card which has one little screw and is attached with two cables one grey an and one black or cable 1 and cable 2. double make sure you remove all screws, the hard drive, the ram, and wireless.

flip the laptop and open the display you will remove the key board. you will need a flat screwdriver if you look top left and right corners between the speaker panel and keyboard. place the flat all the way down and begin to lift the corner slowly then move the flat screwdriver to the other corner so that it becomes detached. Make sure you do not pull to hard on the keyboard as you lift tilt the keyboard and see the ribbon attached to the motherboard, finally carefully remove the ribbon and the keyboard (if you forgot to remove a screw you will have a hard time removing the keyboard and you might break it) . now remove the dvd drive just with your finger get hold of the dvd-drive and pull the dvd drive out, it should come out completely without any problems. next look where you just you took off the keyboard there are about three ribbons you need to disconnect (make sure you do it). after that with fingers of flat screwdriver began to detach the top part of the chassis off the bottom part thus exposing the motherboard (color blue). once you see the motherboard remove and attached cables to the motherboard about 4 or 5 cables remember where they go. DO NOT REMOVE THE SCREW OF THE DISPLAY YOU DO NOT HAVE TO REMOVE THEM. There are two physical screws on the motherboard take them off and lift carefully the motherboard. make sure to bring down the display because it flip on its own weight. So flip the motherboard on the back you will see the fan and the cpu. remove the cable of fan to motherboard. remove the screws of the fan. finally you will see the cpu with a flat screwdriver twist to let go of the cpu lift it up and carefully put the other back in. make sure you apply thermal paste (arctic silver only a little then with you finger spread it, it the cpu is a bit dirty clean ( clean the silver square)it with a little of alcohol and q-tip before placing it and putting thermal paste)and tight back the cpu with the flat screw driver. then began to put everythig back together. If you have open up computers before then this will be very easy.

10 mins to take everything off and another 10 mins to put everything back to together. if for some reason you do not place ribbons securely your computer wont boot and will just stay on the black screen with the fan running only and the caps lock key flashing light (happened to me. secure everything). so after you place everything together you should be able to boot into windows normally and start using the computer normally. you should have a better cq56-115dx.

Cpu $56 plus now about $40 8 GB of ddr3 ram, you are looking at $100 to make a good Cq56-115dx.

the ram i bought is crucial 8Gb kit 2x4Gb 204-pin SODIMM 512x64 DDR3 PC3--8500 CL7

I am happy now with cq56-115dx

windows rating

6.1 cpu

7.1 ram

5.3 graphics

benchmark of passmark of cpus

old laptop--2.2 GHz AMD Turion (tm) 64 X2 Dual-Core Mobile Technology TL-64 1049

cq56-115dx--amd v140 single core @ 2.3 Ghz 674

cq56-115dx--amd phenom IIx2 N640 @2.9 GHz 1794

having said all of this, hp has no quality control and what they did to us in the nvidia settlement is very very unacceptable by all standards.its a slap on the face and on the hard earned money of people. and worst part was that my old computer was a gift from my mom and the money she wasted. If i did the same poor job i'll would be fired from my job, but hp and nvidia have gotten away with a poor job. Hope this information is of some help to others. for me its the last time i buy another hp laptop.

Read Best Reviews of Compaq Presario CQ56-115DX 15.6" 2GB 250GB Laptop PC Here

This laptop is the best one in its class. Its processor is fine for the price. The ram is very fast(should be upgraded to 4 or more gigabytes to give this laptop its full potential) the hard drive is fast, but without a fast processor it is somewhat slow. the graphics card is wonderful, it actually can play WoW and many other games without lagging. The wifi card is fast as well(thank god for n wireless).The battery can get 3 hours on serious usage, and about 4:15 on very low usage with the brightness all the way down.

This laptop is the best of the cheap. If you need a computer for word processing, mail, Internet browsing, and the occasional game, the price is right for a great laptop.

Want Compaq Presario CQ56-115DX 15.6" 2GB 250GB Laptop PC Discount?

I purchased this machine a month ago. Mine came with the AMD processor... As an avid fan of AMD/ATI I had to grab this one. The only thing I did not like is the fact that the onboard peripherals use too much of the installed 2 gigs of ram leaving only 735mb of ram for the operating system and your software. I quickly upgraded my ram to the maximum 8 gigs and this thing runs sweet... It will chew up almost anything I throw at it; Games, 3D modeling, multiple OS's under VirtualBOX and high end multimedia... Great value for the price but it needs better and faster memory than the stock it ships with.

Read More >>

ASUS A55A-EB71 15.6-Inch LED Laptop (Mocha)

When I ordered this I was skeptical that it would come and be everything that I expected because of its reasonable price. It met or beat my expectations in every regard:

-The i7-3610QM processor, which according the is the 15th fastest processor on the market (unheard of speed for this price)

-Beautiful 15.6" screen

-Super-multi DVD burner

-Standard 500GB 5400 RPM hard-drive

-Mostly aluminum case with a really nice durable finish

-Sturdy hinge construction

-Face recognition login

The only things I wasn't thrilled about were a few pieces of bloatware that come in ASUS' core load and the trackpad, both of which after a few quick setting modifications are just fine.

I highly recommend it and still can't believe I was able to get such a powerful laptop for under $700.

Great Laptop, love the Asus quality.I am a consultant mostly working from home and use this laptop exclusively for all my work.

I don't watch movies or play games so don't care much for the resolution or graphic capabilities

Pros

-Very fast

-Windows 7

-Love the separate numeric key pad

-Ran for a whole day and the laptop is cool to touch

-Boot up to the password prompt in 20 secs

-Full boot up to windows less than 50 secs

Love the resume in seconds...

-Very light

-Ideal size and weight for travel

4+ hours of battery life

Best price for a core i-7 laptop (605$) with no shipping and tax in NJ.

Cons

--Not liking the Asus touchpad

--Asus bloatware

--Careful when uninstalling the asus bloatware. Read online forums to get a list and proceed with caution

Buy ASUS A55A-EB71 15.6-Inch LED Laptop (Mocha) Now

I got this laptop as a lightning deal from Amazon, and I couldn't be happier at this price. The construction is surprisingly solid, it's too quiet to be heard in most environments, it's cooled well, and the Core i7-3610QM (3rd-generation Core i7 Ivy Bridge) CPU is an unbelievably capable processor for a mobile application. That said, the 5400 RPM hard disk that comes with this unit is a bit on the useless side it's all it should be for a 5400 RPM disk, but that's not much.

Upgrading:

A day or two after receiving the laptop I went for a 240 GB Kingston HyperX SSD, as windows startup and application loading was sluggish on the stock hard disk. The other areas where ASUS skimped on this laptop are the memory, wireless card, and display. I just installed a 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR3-1600 (Low Voltage) kit from Crucial, which will be plenty for anything I'll ever need to do with this laptop, as well as an Intel combo WiFi/Bluetooth adapter to provide internal bluetooth functionality (simple swap, no other modification necessary to add bluetooth). With that, I've now addressed all the weak points of the A55A-EB71 except for the display, for about $250 after the initial cost, which is less than what you'd spend for the ASUS A55A-AB71 (the step up), but I have a laptop that's more than a match for machines costing well over a thousand dollars.

A Harder Problem to Solve:

The display: it sucks. Now, this certainly isn't unheard of for laptops, and this screen will suffice for those who haven't grown too attached to nice IPS displays like you'll find on MacBooks, iPads, and ASUS's Zenbook line, which are all worlds more expensive than this unit. Unfortunately, I have become somewhat accustomed to being able to actually see my screen (I use an ASUS PA24Q on my desktop), so I'm pretty disappointed with the screen I'm looking at right now (writing this from the laptop itself). The resolution of the screen is certainly adequate at 1366x768 (more than enough for 720p HD video), and it's quite sharp and clear, however the viewing angle is on the borderline of what I'd call seriously awful. Now, ASUS will be offering a Zenbook in a 15.6" format, so I'm waiting for that to come out to see if I can retrofit this laptop with the display out of one of those (should only cost $100-$120 for the new display hopefully). Should that turn out to be possible, this may turn out to be the deal of the millennium, whereas I'm already considering it the deal of the century.

Sorry for the long-windedness of all that, but I just had to share how overly pleased I am with this laptop after upgrading it. It should be noted that, as a software developer, I'm not concerned about anything going wrong with this laptop and, should problems arise, I'll likely fix them myself, so I didn't even bother considering that the modifications I've made to the machine have probably voided my warranty. For the typical user, this is probably not the case, but for those that can't help but tinker with their PC and upgrade this and that, this is an absolutely perfect platform. Without upgrades, this is still an excellent machine, but it is the sheer joy of having a blazing-fast laptop with 16 GB of RAM, built-in bluetooth, and an insanely-fast 240 GB SSD for around $800 that compels me to love it so.

Modifications:

Kingston HyperX 3K 240 GB SATA III 2.5-Inch 6.0 Gb/s Solid State Drive SH103S3/240G

Crucial 16 GB kit (8 GB x 2) DDR3 1600 MT/s (PC3-12800) CL11 SODIMM 204-Pin 1.35V/1.5V for Mac (CT2C8G3S160BM )

6230 IEEE 802.11n (draft) Bluetooth 3.0 Wi-Fi/Bluetooth Combo Adapter (Bulk)

Windows 8 Pro ($15 upgrade when you buy a Windows 7 PC during the transition, must be bought through Microsoft)

Total Cost (with lightning deals): ~$850

After upgrades:

Battery life: I haven't been able to get it die yet (seriously), but it appears to be about 6-7 hours.

Windows 8 startup to login screen: ~8-10 seconds

Windows 8 startup to desktop: ~12 seconds

Windows Experience Index:

Processor: 7.8

Memory: 7.8 (6.1 before upgrade)

Graphics: 4.8 (such is life on integrated graphics)

Gaming Graphics: 6.3 (excellent for integrated graphics)

Primary Hard Drive: 8.1 (~5.0 before upgrade)

Bottom Line:

This is a respectable laptop, which I would recommend, in its offered configuration, and, with a few upgrades, it can easily be turned into an incredible productivity powerhouse, though its lack of discrete graphics will hold serious gamers back.

Read Best Reviews of ASUS A55A-EB71 15.6-Inch LED Laptop (Mocha) Here

I've received the laptop today and it's pretty fast. A lot of reviews on here highlight the main features regarding design and mobility such as the USB 3.0 or the SD card slot. This is a very powerful laptop for the price and the next best improvement could be a dedicated GPU. For anyone that is considering this laptop in hopes to run modern games such as Call of Duty, it is definitely possible, resort to the end for tips.

Asus has conveniently provided us with 1 stick of 4GB RAM so you may easily upgrade the laptop to 8GB RAM using the extra slot. This laptop has a solid architecture when it comes to cooling and the laptop not only stays cool to the touch (Cool Palm technology) but it routes air in a logical manner. This is because the intake uses crossover technology and the CPU is positioned downward with it's own vent instead of trapping heat inside the case.

One of the best features about this laptop is it's unlocked BIOS which allows you to overclock your GPU if you really need to (voids warranty); that's to make up for the lack of dedicated video card. While the laptop does come pre-installed with bloatware, any factory reset will remove it. It's becoming very difficult to find Windows 7 machines and if you're looking to buy this one don't hesitate.

Gaming Tip:

Whenever you boot the computer hold the delete key, this will send you to your ASUS BIOS. In here you will want to navigate to graphic configuration and increase your on demand dedicated video ram to +512mb; this will ensure that your Intel HD 4000 will achieve smoother frame rate and FPS when playing graphic intensive games, it saves your Intel i7 from shifting into Turbo Boost everytime you walk into a scenic environment (Skyrim).

Want ASUS A55A-EB71 15.6-Inch LED Laptop (Mocha) Discount?

Pros:

Great power with i7 processor

Snappy

CD Burner is strong

Quite

Does more then I could ask for.

Asus treats they're customers very well (also own a Nexus 7)

great sound

Cooled very well

Cons:

No Bluetooth.

Read More >>

Samsung Series 3 NP300E5C-A07US 15.6-Inch Laptop (Black)

This item works great. The keyboard is really nice especially on windows 8. The screen was nice and wide cos its on HD

My son's laptop that was purchase as a Christmas gift went blank. Nothing could be done to retrieve any of his stored information by the tech team at his college. We sent it immediately to samsung. I was told it would be fixed and given back to us in 2 weeks. Well the computer is fried. I will get a new one in 7-14 business days. The semester maybe over by then.The customer relations department is worthless. I was blackmailed by them to pay to have the new one shipped to me sooner. I was told I should be happy I was getting a new one. I'm still paying on the one that fried.

Buy Samsung Series 3 NP300E5C-A07US 15.6-Inch Laptop (Black) Now

Read More >>