HP Pavilion dm4-2050us Notebook PC (Silver)

I bought this laptop in the summer of 2010 at Costco and it has been holding up very well.

People compliment its appearance, I enjoy its 14" screen, and I use it all the time.

It's reasonably fast and is able to execute any of the programs I use easilyI spend a lot of time on Photoshop, Google Chrome, and Microsoft Office. I love the memory card readerworks so quickly! I kinda wish it had more USB ports, but that is made up for because it has an HDMI port.

Sometimes it glitches and I end up rebooting to fix the problem, nothing terribly catastrophic so far. My complaints would be the loud factor"waking it up" it makes a LOT of noise, very quiet speakers (no I haven't blown them out), and now I'm not so impressed with the battery lifeI can't go my whole school day (maximum 4 hours of being on the computer) without it needing a charge, even on lowest brightness settings and not running any programs besides Chrome and Word or Powerpoint. I've gotten used to carrying my charger around with me, as much as I don't like the extra item in my backpack.

I can't say I'm impressed or unimpressed with the fingerprint reader or any HP software itself.

Overall, the machine works and I'm content.

She recently started a new job that requires her to have her own lap top. This worked out perfect, for the price she was surprised at how powerful the computer is and it does fit her needs perfectly.

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I have to admit I saw this at Costco and bought it online primarily for the aesthetic qualities. I purchased it about a year and a half ago but only recently started to use it frequently. Finally far too late given that this particular model is a little outdated I can write a review.

The keyboard is comfortable. It's an island keyboard with fairly squared off chicklet keys, and no backlight. The keyboard is high-contrast and easy to read, even just by the light cast from the screen in relatively low light. It's a nice soft-touch keyboard but I have to admit it takes some getting used to. They key travel is not as restricted as some netbooks, but no better than others. What this means is that if you're accustomed to the key punch travel from an 'old style' 100% laptop keyboard or a full-size desktop keyboard, this will seem a little awkward. Sometimes I miss a few keys, have to hit M and left shift a little harder than I expect to for the key press to register.

The screen is bright, crisp and colorful. It's not leap-out-at-you bright and super-saturated colorful like a Samsung or Apple display but this, as with most HPs, is really very bright and crisp anyway. Contrast on the screen is medium; I may see if the Intel HD 3000 software has any ability to increase contrast a smidgen. The viewing angle is good, colors are intact and image is clear up to around 35-40 degrees and starts to wash out around 45 degrees. It's not 180-degree viewing.

I upgraded this one to 6GB RAM, but don't really do anything too intensive. RAM is so cheap, though, that I always tend to 'overkill-upgrade' all my new laptops. If you're spending $500 to $1000 on a laptop, and overkill-RAM is only another $20 to $60... why not? The performance is very snappy on this thing, even old Core i3 is plenty of horsepower to push around PDFs, Word Docs, graphics editing, videos. I haven't attempted any gaming on it yet, but any laptop without a discrete GPU is going to be so-so. In every case, it'll run older 3D games in low res and newer RTS or RPG games in low res but that's just about it. This isn't designed for gaming.

In everyday desktop computing, the thing stays perfectly cool, just about the best I've seen for any laptop. After an entire day of browsing, documents, charging the phone, plugging in the USB thumb drive, etc., the bottom is still BARELY warm. Again, I haven't tried any games, but this thing isn't going to really cook unless you try to watch a movie or play a FPS game on it.

It has the standard DVD-RW combo drive, and maybe the only less-than-solid part of this notebook is that the cosmetic shell of the DVD drive the silver outside edge of the DVD door is a LITTLE loose. There are three USB (I believe USB 2.0) ports, one full-size HDMI, Ethernet, VGA, headphone, mic, and SD card slot a standard, complete compliment of ports. It also has a fingerprint scanner, which I've actually found to work really well. I generally only use it to unlock the notebook but to date, I have never once needed to re-scan a fingerprint. It has worked 100% accurately scanning my index finger over several hundred tries. This is a neat feature in that it encourages you to be a little more secure about your personal information without much inconvenience. Most of the time I do not put a password on personal computers, only work computers.

I have not exercised the battery life. For my purposes I rarely use it for more than a meeting or an hour here or there off the wire.

Finally, the aesthetic. The brushed aluminum shell is very attractive. Feels cool to the touch and very solid. The specs say 1.27" thick but it feels very light and slender at that. It feels nice when you carry it, it fits in my attache. The lid and the keyboard surface have the aluminum surface. On the keyboard surface, there's a thin strip of polished metal around the edges of the keyboard tray and mouse, which is a nice touch. The bezel around the screen is gloss black plastic and the bottom is textured black plastic. The keyboard tray is also black plastic. That's slightly regrettable; although you don't spend a whole lot of time looking at the bottom of your laptop (or, YOU may, but I don't) it's still nice to see when you're folding it up and putting it away, and nice to feel the same smooth, solid material when you hold it. This isn't a new lesson for HP. The brushed aluminum ProBooks from this same generation had a brushed aluminum bottom case as well. Of course it's a cost cutting decision and this isn't a high-end laptop, so it's well within expectation. If you care enough to have metal on the bottom of your laptop and in between the keys, there are plenty of options available. Sony, Apple, Asus, HP, etc. etc.

When I rate any consumer product I always consider "value" to be the final deciding factor. No product is completely, 100% perfect, with every possible feature and convenience. It's always a weighted evaluation of what you get for what you paid. As mentioned, this notebook has some very nice features and a nice form factor, and I believe I got it at a pretty good price, less than Costco or Amazon's current price. Even with a RAM upgrade it's a great deal. Although the 2050us model may be a bit dated by now, I would highly recommend a current dm4 model if you're looking for an attractive, portable, reasonably powerful full laptop with a full-size keyboard and optical drive for day to day browsing, documents, graphics, videos and movies.

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It is very light but durable. 4 gigs is plenty for me. I like the cordless camera download feature. My last HP lasted 6 years before I justed needed an upgrade. It didn't breakdown. Hoping for the same with this laptop. Keyboard keys are not super small making it easy for me to type.

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So far, so good! I will amend this review, but I am pleased with the performance thus far and for the price I think this was a fabulous deal!!! Thanks again Amazon...plus no shipping and no tax plus a 'deal'...can't beat this with a stick as far as I am concerned. Good job Amazon. I am a fan!!!

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Lenovo G570 4334EAU 15.6-Inch Laptop (Black)

The setup:

I normally use a Toshiba L755, which I love. However, due to circumstances nothing short of disastrous, it required repairs I couldn't manage myself. These took FOREVER. I needed a computer in a hurry, and my only option was to buy a new, inexpensive one. This is the model I chose.

The beginning:

When I opened the box, I was pleasantly surprised. The computer feels very well made, more so in fact than the Toshiba. First, I upgraded the memory to 8GB, which was easily done. I plugged it in, turned it on, and started the lengthy update process necessary to keep Windows happy. It completed without error. I then set about installing the software I planned to use, and expunging the bloatware, which was less than came with the L755. Heartened that this might mean there would be no teething problems, I then went to work.

The muddle:

Though not as fast, everything appeared well... at first. This did not last long.

I burn a lot of DVDs. Instructional videos, Youtube videos, home movies, work videos, etc. the quality of these is very important to me. Those I created with the G570 were a DISASTER. They locked up. They skipped. They refused to play. I was furious.

I thought Lenovo had been saving money, putting a cheap DVD burner in my machine. I upgraded to a Samsung SE-208BB, which was simple, as Lenovo clearly has thought about ease of service. This improved things a bit. Discs no longer refused to play or locked up. However, they still skipped. Fighting my desire to find a fireaxe, I then turned my attention to Windows.

I burn discs using Windows all the time. It's easy, fast, and the best programmes for burning are FREE. I know my software well, and knew I wasn't at fault. So, I started tweaking.

Nothing helped. Days and DOZENS of ruined discs later, I was far behind, and entertaining dire thoughts about 'bargain' equipment. Then I had an Idea.

The end :

I upgraded the HDD to a 750GB WD Blue. This was easy. then I popped a Ubuntu 12.04 CD in the tray, and booted to CD. I whizzed through the Install/update cycle, added the equivalent programmes, held my breath, and set to work.

POOF! Problems solved! No skippy discs, no popups begging me to 'pleasepleaseplease buy our ', no 'reduced functionality' versions of software. All was right with the world!

Wait... why isn't the BATTERY charging?!

I GIVE UP

More when I figure out what the HELL is wrong this time.

UPDATE 25 Sep, 2012:

There IS a way to keep the battery at full charge in Ubuntu!

BEFORE YOU INSTALL UBUNTU!!!: Charge the battery fully, turn OFF all LENOVO ENERGY MANAGEMENT features, even those under the 'advanced' tab, then restart the computer. Leave the laptop plugged in whilst you install and update Ububntu. Restart the computer. It should now keep the battery topped up. At least, it has for me.

There remains NO WAY to burn an acceptable DVD under Windows7.

So far, very impressed. Fast, responsive. Like the non-top heavy lid. Keypad feel awesome, set up easy and complete walk through.

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I bought this laptop on May 2011. 5 months later the left hinge came apart. It was fixed under warranty. On October 2012 the left hinge came apart again even though this laptop is handled carefully. Local Lenovo lab says they can't do anything but fix it if I pay for it. Google revealed it is a known failure. Lenovo still refuses to fix it again. Cars are fixed under recall years after warranty expires. I expect Lenovo to do the same. Meanwhile, I offer not to buy Lenovo.

Lenovo G570 4334EAU 15.6-Inch Laptop (Black)

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I purchased the Lenovo G570 for my daughter to use in college. After reading several reviews, I thought it would be a great and affordable computer for her. Was I ever wrong! How I overlooked all the bad reviews, I don't know.

Go to the Lenovo forum at: to see for yourself.

Essentially the problem is that repeated opening and closing of the lid causes internal parts to break. Many people have this occur within the first five months of owning the computer. My daughter treats her laptop gently and so it didn't start happening to her laptop until at about seven months.

Most people on the forum have had Lenovo refuse to repair it under warranty. The best solution I've read thus far is to disassemble the computer and then glue the hinges on with epoxy! We're still trying to figure out what to do.

Other than this problem, my daughter loves her laptop. However, if you don't intend to leave your laptop open all the time, I'd recommend you look elsewhere.

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Couldn't have been happier with the overall buying and setup experience of this PC. Came from amazon with a very clean operating setup, and lenovo's boot optimizer is an excellent feature.

Would have bought a 14" unit purely out of preference and habit, the offset touchpad and placement of ancilliary keys seems odd compared to every other PC we have.

...but that was all ok.. until the screen hinge levered the case of this PC open at the left rear corner as it sits in your lap. Really? It's called a laptop. People, you know, set them in their laps to type with the screen open. So, that hinge should be,, um, at least vaguely sturdy!! #fail.

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Dell Inspiron i15R-2646MRB 15.6-Inch Laptop (Mars Black)

I bought this during the Black Friday week sales so I got a really good price reduction on the machine. Even at it's current higher price it's still a pretty good deal. It features a core i5 processor, 6GB of RAM and a 640GB internal drive. I haven't had any problem running software/games including Civ 5 which runs quickly and smoothly. The wireless and Bluetooth operate well, though the machine seems reluctant to automatically reconnect to a network once it has entered sleep mode.

The laptop is sturdy and the screen is bright. The keyboard takes a little getting used to as the keys are a bit off-center and some keys that you will use a lot are half-sized (cursor keys, delete, etc.). That takes a little getting used to. The fan is quiet and keeps the laptop cool. It runs noticeably cooler than my previous Dell laptops and much cooler than the HP laptop we have.

It comes with 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium and I haven't had any issues with older programs not running. Adding printers is noticeably faster and easier than it was with Vista. Office 10 trial is installed and you can run "starter" for free if you don't want to buy it. That's a nice feature if all you are going to do is basic word processing/worksheets.

The negatives for this model are fairly minor. The number and placement of ports is unusual. There are only four USB ports and two are on the back and the other two near the back, one on each side. I'd rather see over/under dual ports on the side. The other problem is the power cord falls out a lot. As in all the time. Even minor shifts in your sitting position can jar it loose.

Overall it's a very nice machine.

I got this for $785. It appears the price has gone up. It is a good computer, quite fast. I am hoping that it lasts as long as my previous Dell.

I have a few minor quibbles...none of which particularly bother me, but I can see other people not being satisfied as a result of them.

It is not as sturdy as I would like.

There is a lot of "bloatware" installed on the machine that really needs to be taken care of to achieve optimal results.

The faux metal surface where you put your hands to use the keyboard will get scratched by your watch. So if that bothers you, don't get this computer.

The battery life is not amazing. I am getting about 1.5 hours off battery.

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The real product name of this laptop, as shown in BIOS and in Windows System Information, is Dell N5010. For its price, this is a good laptop, but it can also piss you off if you are peculiar about things:

1. For a 15.6" screen, the resolution is low: 1366x768. Business laptops have standard 1400x900 for 14" screens. I've had one for years and that resolution was great for the screen size. The screen is glossy and will reflect light. Outdoors, it's almost impossible to see anything, unless you hunch over the screen to shade it. POOR vertical viewing angles. 20 degree off the perpendicular direction to the screen, colors begin to shift visibly: whiteout if you look at the screen from above, darkened if you look from a bit below.

2. The keyboard can be really annoying:

silly reassignment of Fn keys to perform laptop-specific functions (volume up/down, Wi-Fi on/off etc.) instead of doing those by pressing Fn+F#. Configurable from the BIOS though.

besides that, the F# keys are labeled a faint blue on black, and are barely visible in a well-lit room. The reflection of the screen on the glossy laptop finish near the hinge doesn't help. The visible labeling is for the laptop function keys (Wi-fi on/off, brightness up/down etc.). This shows how the laptop is aimed at those who don't know what F5 does.

odd placement of the PrintScreen key between Insert and Delete

narrow trackpad buttons, often annoying to hit with the thumb

the arrow keys are too thin, half the height of normal keys

after having used laptops without a numeric keypad for the past few years, the keypad is not only useless; it gets in the way. where I expect Backspace to be, there's now Keypad Minus.

there is no Break key (useful for Win+Break to get the Windows System properties, or Ctrl+Break in command line applications)

there is no context menu key (equivalent to right click on the focused control)

3. My unit had a problem with the fan, while other owners reported theirs worked fine. Maybe Dell has a quality control problem here. For no reason at all, my laptop's fan would ramp up and whir every 2-3 minutes for about 20 seconds, even if there is no spike in CPU load. This became really annoying in a quiet environment, such as a classroom or library. I had updated to the latest BIOS (A12), and the problem was still there. One possible way to "fix" this is to always have the CPU running one core at full speed, e.g. by running some CPU-intensive application like Folding@Home. This will keep the fan at a constant (albeit loud) speed.

So make sure these things don't bother you, or you'll hate the laptop. Try to get a feel for the keyboard and trackpad at a local store (Staples, Office Max, Office Depot, Fry's etc.)

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overall this is a good value laptop esp considering 6 GB RAM/500 GB HDD. screen resolution is great; however battery life is only 2 hours even with dimming the screen. my other dell laptop with a 9 cell battery (albeit 14 inch screen) lasts 4 hours.

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I got this laptop to use while traveling and it does what I wanted it to do. Add to that, the graphics and you have a great deal here. I'm not a big PC gamer, but I decided to try a couple games and see how they would work on the laptop. All the games I've installed so far, have worked perfectly. I've got a couple other Dell laptops I use for everyday things and home entertainment, both cost more than this laptop. The 2 older Dell's I have have the 17" monitors and continue to work great, but it is nice to have the slightly smaller Dell to take on trips with me. I don't use it battery powered too often, but it does have a fairly short battery life. If battery life is your biggest concern, don't bother with a laptop, pick up a netbook. I'm pleasantly surprised at the quality of this laptop, especially for the price paid to get it.

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Sony VAIO VPCSE25FX/B 15.5 Inch Laptop (Jet Black)

I found this laptop to be well thought out and comfortable to use. The i5 processor provides plenty of power for almost any task while not running so hot as to cause the fans to continually go on and off as a lot of the i7 laptops do out there today. The fans are pretty quite most of the time except during long software installs like installing multiple Windows Updates.

The display quality and lighted keyboard are excellent. The only "Con" of the unit I observed was that while running during ordinary tasks the battery life averaged only 2.5 hours. An extended life "sheet" battery is available but it has the disadvantage of adding thickness to the laptop. The laptop is very light and I wish Sony had designed it for a larger standard battery even if the weight would have been more.

All in all though this is one fine laptop and recommended.

I've owned this computer for several months, and it has been a great computer. I saw there was a 2 star review of this model and I wanted to share my experience regarding his comments, and also some of thoughts of my own.

Fan Yes it is located on the back and and substantially "blocked" by the screen, but the screen is so thin that I think it acts somewhat like a radiator, and like the other reviewer, (Neil) said, heat is not an issue. Also, in my experience the noise from the fan is minimal, (usually I have to put my head closer to the computer to confirm that the slight whirring noise is actually coming from the computer, and not something else nearby) This is by far the quietest computer I've used, save for some Apple laptops that don't have a fan at all.

Yes, it is mostly, if not completely plastic on the exterior, but it doesn't seem like "cheap" plastic, it has a decent texture, and it doesn't look gaudy as many laptops do.

Battery life is not very important to me, but is does have enough life to play about 1-2 BD movies, or 2-3 DVD movies.

The 1080p HD Screen is this laptops strong suit, I also really like the back-lit keyboard with auto on/off.

The touch pad is accurate and easy to use with both light or firm touch.

So far I haven't experienced any soft/hard-ware issues, the computer always starts up quickly, and has NEVER needed a restart, (other than restarts required for software installs).

I have used both the STAMINA and SPEED settings, fan speeds for mine don't differ very much. I haven't noticed any difference in "speed" of operation between the two settings, but what I have noticed is when the computer is in the STAMINA setting, the screen refresh rate dramatically reduces, and while under florescent, (60Hz) lighting, screen flashing is noticeable. I think this is the big contributor to extended battery life, (having the screen "on" less of the time, (probably 60Hz instead of 120Hz or more)). Also, when the computer is set to Speed, the WiDi feature doesn't work, I don't view this as a problem, because I'm convinced that most of what this switch does is change the screen refresh rate, and since you won't be using the computers screen it shouldn't be a downfall.

My Conclusion: Very nice laptop, minimal fan noise, stays "cool", awesome screen and back-lit keyboard, nice touch-pad, light weight, versatile, powerful, and I think, the only light weight, large HD screen, BluRay Disc playing laptop on the market. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!

Thanks for reading,

Sean

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I've had this computer for about 2 weeks now and my impressions so far are mixed. The computer is a great balance of features and portability, especially for the price. It is thin and light weight, which is great considering it has a large hard drive and blue-ray player. I also love the LED backlit keyboard. The display is great as well. Now for the bad I hate most Windows computers come with so much junk software. This thing seems to be relying on too much of the processor considering it's new and I haven't installed much yet. When I open performance monitor with no programs open, it hovers around 5% CPU usage. I may end up doing a clean reinstall of Windows to see if it addresses the problem because deleting programs hasn't helped. The microphone is also terrible. I don't know if it's the fan that causes interference, but the microphone is not acceptable for recording or for Skype-ing. I had to buy a USB microphone (there is no microphone jack), but now I have fantastic sound quality. I record videos so I probably would have done this anyway. And for the ugly as I mentioned, the processor seems to be overworking for some reason. Unfortunately, the fan placement is terrible. The vent is on the bottom of the computer toward the right side. There is no way not to have it sitting on your right leg if you have it on your lap, constantly blowing warm air on your leg (and I do mean constantly the fan has not turned off since I've owned it, except when it's in sleep mode). This thing definitely runs warmer than I would like. I'm probably going to end up buying a cooling pad for it because it's intolerable in the summer. I would actually give this computer 3.5 stars if that were an option. The only reason I bumped it up to 4 is because it's probably the most computer (without bulk) that you can get for the money.

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I was really excited about this laptop until it I saw it and used it.

The huge cosmetic surprise was that this laptop is essentially ALL PLASTIC. Some reviewer said it is aluminum which is totally wrong. Every major external part is made of plastic (like many laptops).

The biggest functional flaw is by far the FAN PLACEMENT. It is located on the BACK of the laptop. Normally this isn't a bad thing, except on this laptop, when you open the lid/screen, IT BLOCKS THE FAN. IT'S SO FUNNY. I can't imagine who would design something so stupid? If you open the lid/screen, it essentially blocks the fan causing the fan to run harder and harder making a lot of noise. Essentially Sony sacrificed function for style (cooling and fan placement is not something you want compromised).

CONS:

-FAN PLACEMENT (See above)

-Fan runs on high and very loud even for minimal loads

-ALL PLASTIC BODY (the plastic seems sort of cheap and light, likely to reduce the weight)

-Battery is life not good (less than would be expected for a 15.6")

-Only three USBs, all placed on one side

-It just has a weird look to it. It's nothing like the more or less standard look you find on HPs or MacBook Pros. It looked amazing in the pictures, but I didn't like how it looked in person. I think the square, sharp edges and corner (instead of round ones) have a lot to do with it.

-The "Stamina" or "Speed" manual switch on the top left of the keyboard is almost unique to this laptop. It is used to switch between integrated or discrete graphs. Normally this is a plus, except this laptop CANNOT HANDLE THE HEAT from "Speed" or discrete graphs so you always leave it on "Stamina"

PROS:

-Very light, among the lightest 15.6" laptops you will find (the cheap plastic probably helps with that)

-Very comfortable keyboard (similar to Lenovo keyboards)

-Full HD 1920x1080 resolution (major plus)

-IPS LED Backlit technology for the monitor (again, major plus)

CONCLUSION: This laptop is a very light weight 15.6" laptop with an incredible display. Just expect an ALL PLASTIC body and expect loud fan noise even under minimal loads. Surprisingly, heat was not an issue, but very loud fan noise was.

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Lenovo ThinkPad T510 431328U 15.6-Inch Laptop (Black)

I bought it because Lenovo, formerly IBM, is standard issue for a lot of companies and organizations. This is a nice, sturdy business computer meant for on-the-go work. I recently switched from an entertainment HP that was twice as heavy and twice as expensive with lots of flash and extras (it died just a few days after its extended warranty). Nevertheless, after running the T510 for a month, I must say I don't remember the HP being twice as good in any way. The Lenovo worked well right out of the box with fairly easy set-up. The biggest problem was synching up my wireless router.

The reasons I don't give it five stars are because there is no manual and it has frozen-up a few times. However, I added 2GB of additional RAM, so now I have a total of 3GB usable out of 4GB (for a 32 bit OS 4GB is the max upgrade) which gives it a nice little kick and no freezing up. The i5 Intel Core processor also helps in multitasking when I have Google Earth, Photoshop, Word, Excel, 5-8 open internet tabs, internet radio or streaming netflix, all going at the same time. Even with all this action, the unit stays cool and the battery has a long life.

After looking at a lot of popular brands up-close at a massive computer-mart, I can safely say that this was a great purchase. Yes, there are lots of computers that are sleeker and prettier, but herein lies the Lenovo charm. The black, non-glossy shell will remind you of sturdy sensible shoes and thick horn-rimmed glasses. Unassuming and unintended for kids or fashionistas, this box is built to 'get the job done'.

I am writing this review based upon what this Thinkpad is , strictly a business laptop, not a multimedia laptop. If your in the market for the ultimate business campanion, then the newest Lenovo T series line is exactly what you are looking for. The new T series,which comes in the T410, 14.1" screen and the larger T510 with a 15.6" screen, are identical in ergonomics and build quality to the older T400/500 line. If you are planning to travel allot with your Thinkpad, you should opt for the lighter and smaller T410, if your planning to operate your Thinkpad mostly in an office environment, you should opt for the T510 with the larger display.

Overall, the T510 continues the long and proud tradition of Thinkpad computers started by IBM in the early 1990's and carried on by Lenovo since 2005. The newest Thinkpads maintain the same design, sturdiness, reliability and build quality of the earlier design Thinkpads. What is new is all under the hood where Lenovo utilizes the new Intel core i5 processors to bring additional power and speed to the Thinkpad line. This processor is all you will need in a business laptop, probably more. The i5 processor runs web searching with an "n" wireless card effortlessly and opens large and complex Office documents very smoothly. Note that this Thinkpad is NOT designed for playing HD movies or music CD's although it does both very well. People should consider what they are buying a Thinkpad for, which is business applications. The obvious advantage with the Thinkpad is the terrific typing experience which is second to none in the laptop market today. If you spend allot of time on the keyboard with large files as I do, you should know that the Thinkpad offers a fabulous keyboard , a long tradition started by IBM whose engineers knew that on a business laptop, this was the single most important feature.

So if a business laptop is what your in the market for, look no further than the T series Thinkpad. You'll spend close to $1000 or more but you need to consider this a long term investment. No other laptop manufacturer has so many of its earlier units such as the T40/60 line still in operation today. This is why I give the T510 Thinkpad 5 stars without hesitation.

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This is my 2nd think pad and I have been happy with both of them. Mine is a 64 bit Windows 7 Pro 4 gigs of ram. This computer is solid (well built) but not to heavy. I5 built in video card works much better then I expected. Runs Aero easy on 2 26 inch displays with out a problem. (docking station required) The new docking stations max out a 2 displays.

In the front of my office is an IT group that works on repairing laptops. I can not recall ever seeing a think pad getting repaird. Tec support is based in the USA and is helpful. Sometime you get what you pay for.

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This is my first Lenovo computer, and I'll think hard before ever buying another one. It often runs slowly, for no apparent reason.

Lenovo's "customer care" department is another disappointment. Expect a long wait if you call during the business day.

And while Lenovo keeps you on hold, you have to listen to 4 announcements per minute telling you that you really ought to go to Lenovo's website. (One voice tells you twice per minute that you can deal with many problems by using Lenovo's online diagnostic tool. A second voice tells you twice per minute that you can check the website to find out whether or not you're still eligible for technical support.) All this gets really annoying when you have to spend 20 minutes or more on hold

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I had no major complaints with the laptop. However, as soon as the 2 year warranty is up, both the hard drive crashed and the battery completely died. So you might want to buy the extended warranty or plan on getting a new computer every 2 years.

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Sony VAIO VPCF136FM/B 16.4" Notebook (1.73 GHz Intel Core i7 - 740QM Processor, 6 GB RAM, 640 GB Ha

I did quite a bit of research for a new laptop. This Sony Vaio is excellent for the price. I wanted to make my own laptop on dell and sony website and everything was way above this price with all these features. For excellent performance and added features I didnt mind spending this much. I play games with no problem and multi task with amazing speed. The fan noise is a little loud at times of long gaming but I expected that. Overall I recommend this laptop.

I just purchased my Sony laptop to replace a 2 year old HP pavillion series that had many overheating problems. This laptop is does not have much lag time and does not seem to have the same over heating issues. I know I could feel different long term, but this last month I have been very pleased with how it runs my applications/games. I was even pleased that it did not seem to be burdened with a lot of extra programs. I definately would recommend this laptop for someone who need a little faster processing laptop. I know there are a few cons, but I have not run into the problem of accidently turning it off because the turn off is on the side where the mouse may be.

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I've owned this laptop since Jan 2011 and its been great. Great hardware and all-around performance. I bought it at a brick and mortar store for $1300 after taxes, so $1800 strikes me as pricey (maybe I just got lucky?) but it was a great value buy for me.

Battery life is short(90-100min) if you're using wi-fi or running the bluray drive, however if you have the wi-fi off it jumps up to almost 3hrs on power saver mode. I haven't had issues since I plan around those things. In addition the 5400rpm harddrive seems rather laggy if you're running large programs, not annoying but noticeable when loading sometimes.

I'm currently looking into a RAM upgrade and getting an SSD drive to replace the stock hdd to help with "laggy" feeling.

All in all, this is a great laptop if you can find it at the right price point. I highly recommend it!

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Great cinouter, however, updates and light programs cause the keyboard to heat up and its noisey as hell. Research Sony Vaios as a whole on youtube. The fans are riduclous.

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I find this laptop to be super fast and efficient for video editing, etc. so have to give it 5 stars. Using CS5 Creative Suite Pro Premiere Pro and it's a breeze working on this Vaio model. Left it at the standard 6G of RAM but upgraded the OS to Windows Ultimate (actually, dual-booted so I can continue to have Sony coverage).

Minor down-side is battery life (to be expected for i7 CPU) and also the fan nice (again, loaded machines tend to generate more heat). Bought it from the Sony outlet Center for a cut-throat price so am super-happy.

Bought my keyboard skin on eBay (from China because Sony didn't make em). Got my protector case and adapter case from Amazon (zero tax) so I'm all good.

Don't forget to email yourself the Serial Number for this and other gadgets you may have in case it's lost or stolen ;)

Good luck!

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Certified Pre-Owned Aluminum PowerBook G4/1.5 GHz, 1.3 GB of RAM, 60 GB internal drive, internal Su

This product arrived super quick, with extra software included. The seller even included a 1 GB card to upgrade the RAM. Would definitely buy from this seller again.

NO AIRPORT CARD LOOKED LIKE IT WAS REBUILT SCRATHES EVERYWHERE NO USB NO ETHERNET INPUT IT WAS JUST AWFUL SPECS WERE WRONG LIED ABOUT EVERYTHING

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ASUS U32U-ES21 Ultra-Portable 13.3-Inch Laptop (Silver)

As there are few reviews for this product I was a little wary, but I'm very satisfied with my first laptop. As a university student getting into upper division courses, the ability to take projects with me became a necessity, and since I recently built a powerful gaming computer, I needed something that I would *want* to travel with. After removing a bit of ASUS bloatware that comes with it, it runs pretty smooth. Some of the bloatware is actually nice like the power profiles switcher. All in all it runs faster than I expected with a low-power processor and 5400 rpm hard drive.

First week review:

Battery life is legitimately 7+ hours in battery save mode (which you can tweak).

24 hours in Sleep Mode only cost the battery ~7% charge, and Instant On works as advertised.

Computer is capable of light gaming in performance mode (it runs Dungeon Defenders on low settings).

Hard drive is divided into two even partitions, OS and Data.

Usable RAM is 3.6 GB as 400 MB seems to be dedicated to video memory, which is good.

8-cell Battery keeps laptop slightly lifted, which helps keep it cool, but adds a little size.

It is slim and light enough to compete with an ultrabook at half the price.

Hinge construction feels more solid than it looks. Overall the entire machine feels sturdy.

No optical drive. Helps keep it light and isn't an issue for tech-savvy users, but could be an issue for some.

Yes, there is some keyboard flex, but I have to pay attention to notice it. It would be nice if the keys were backlit, but since the screen gives off light, that isn't really important. The keyboard feels like the cheapest component, but there are zero problems actually using it.

Something to note is the USB ports are an extremely tight fit. It shaved some plastic off of my flash drive getting it into the ports the first couple of times. I've muscled in a couple other USB devices, but it doesn't seem to damage anything.

It's not easy to find a computer this slim and light without buying an ultrabook. This is half the price of even a low end ultrabook, so of course there are some compromises. It's not quite as sleek, the processor isn't that powerful, though it's good enough for most HD video and light gaming. The keyboard has a little flex to it as well. It's biggest flaw is the screen, which isn't that vivid and has poor viewing angles. That's to be expected at this price though. The battery life is very good, about 5-6 hours even with the brightness on high and the wireless on. I didn't want to spend ultrabook money on a laptop, so I was glad to find this.

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I really wanted to like this product it has many good features, but sadly, the system has 3* VERY bad points and 3 not so bad points.

Here's the bad;

*1. The viewing angle of the screen is horrible.10 degrees from dead-on at most.YIKES!

*2. The Wi-Fi has no problem finding signals, it just won't stay connected to any of them.

*3. Hard Drive is very slow.

o4. Decals on keys, not laser etched.

o5. Bluetooth is very picky and tempermental

o6. Multi-Finger gestures on the track-pad do not work as advertised.

Here's the good;

o1. Attractive aluminum and ABS-Plastic construction.

o2. Keys operate smooth as silk (despite the decals).

o3. Processor is quite efficient once all the crapware is uninstalled.

o4. Plays back video gloriously

o5. Two USB 3.o Ports!

o6. Can run three monitors at once. Wow!

o7. Plays semi-recent games at medium settings

o8. Sound is low but very clear.

o9. Thin Sleek Profile

If the 3 of the 6 bad points had not been so serious, I would strongly consider keeping this laptop, but the viewing angle is so poor that I strongly recommend that people look else where. AND that's a shame, b/c ASUS went to the trouble to design and build a fine computer out of decent materials, but then shot themselves in the foot by coupling the system to such a low grade glossy screen with dismal viewing angles.

This is a good effort, but ultimately a poor execution on ASUS's part. After working with this laptop for a couple of daysThe defective Wi-Fi, agressively low quality screen, and an annoying trackpad issue make this laptop a dud. Had to send it back.

Read Best Reviews of ASUS U32U-ES21 Ultra-Portable 13.3-Inch Laptop (Silver) Here

Pros:

Battery life is amazing! 6 hours of full use and charges up again in less than an hour.

Full size Keyboard.

Good size mousetrack, comfortable position and features apple-like touch controls, zoom in and out, two finger up and down that's great!

Very thin body and light weight (except battery)

Screen size is great for work and small enough to be portable.

Great low price!

Cons:

Aluminum color is NOT like the picture. Is way darker.

Battery is not flat, has a elevated part that helps ventilation, but make the back of the laptop bulky.

Mouse click sound is very loud (I'm that picky)

Sound comes very low but can be fixed, now it loud enough.

This is a beautiful, thin, ultra portable laptop. Great value for the money!

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So, the first thing I did when I got my new ASUS U32U-ES21 was format the drive and install ubuntu on it. So far, it's been fantastic!! I've been a little too busy to play around with the integrated video card yet (and I know Radeon GPUs aren't supposed to work all that well with Linux in general), but it at least plays videos, flash, and streaming videos all seemlessly. The only downfall of this computer so far is that REALTEK still doesn't have a Linux Kernal 3.0+ driver for it's multi-card reader, but everything else seems to work. Viewing angles are crap, but I'm used to that and the screen is twice as bright as my last laptop, so I'm not complaining. What I really love about this laptop is the battery life. I can work on it continuously for about 6 hours before it dies. That's truly incredible.

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Toshiba Satellite U945-S4140 14-Inch Ultrabook (Ice Blue with Fusion Lattice)

This Laptop is excellent in terms of performance and ability, but what I don't like is that it doesn't meet the 5 hour minimum battery life requirement to be considered a Ultrabook. This is largely due to the fact that it has a 4 cell battery. It gets closer to a 2.5 hour during normal usage. The Intel i5-3317U is a good processor. Heck I even got this rig to run Skyrim, and the frame rate was actually pretty good. If you're looking for a primary laptop then this is a good decision although there are still laptops in this price range that I prefer more...cough cough...Lenovo is awesome. Toshiba needs to make some improvements into the battery life, but in terms of responsiveness we got this device to boot in 11 seconds, from completely powered off to powered on state so that is pretty impressive considering this still runs a Hybrid Hard Drive. I do like that it has 2 USB 3.0s which are fantastic for flash drives and external hard drive. I've even appreciated that they can charge my tablet, Nexus 7, and phone, Galaxy S III, while the device is powered off, due to USB 3.0 and not because of any special Toshiba technology.

I use my laptop for nearly all my work and browsing time. I can spend hours processing video, recording, writing, reading, etc. I consider myself a heavy user.

After a fried motherboard on another machine, I bought this windows 8 model.

My trepidation was hearing all the reviews about the need for a touch screen with windows 8, and this model doesn't have it. After two weeks of heavy use, I've figured out how to work with windows 8 to do what I need as if I was in windows 7. The new start screen is a layer that is useless for me, so I've reverted to the familiar desktop.

The F1-F12 keys came with a configuration that is different than all my other laptops the special functions were the default as in F4 switched the displays to an unconnected monitor (that's annoying). The F2 key was rigged to switch between active windows (CTRL Tab), rather than to edit a cell in a worksheet. All the keyboard short cuts I've been working with for years were not default. I had to tool around to figure out how to undo that unhelpful setting.

Here is the annoyance.

The mouse pad is way too sensitive to react to the heat of my hands, causing the cursor to jump around on the screen to where ever the pointer is when I'm typing. I can't tell you how many times this causes errors, formatting changes mid screen, loss of focus and how many times I've hit "buttons" when I'm not done writing. The other day, this happened so much I almost through the machine out the window.

UPDATE: JUNE 13, 2013. . . This problem is unfixable via the touch pad settings. It seems the sensitivity fields extend even an 1/2 inch off beyond the track pad. I have made the zone as small as possible, require the heaviest touch and still, the mouse jumps around. I am forced to by a Usb mouse and disable the track pad.

Annoyance 2:

The mic jack on the laptop has a ground loop buzz, only when the machine is plugged into a powersource. If I want to record an audio, or talk with someone VOIP via the headphone jack, the laptop must be unplugged, obviously limiting.

The same is true with a usb headeset I own it has a buzz when recording, only when the power supply is on.

I have a Dynex usb external mic on a stand. It works correctly whether the laptop is plugged in or not.

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Great ultrabook format...my petite wife can drag this around with ease, and hardware wise, it is powerful. Windows 8, however, they just seemed to change things to change them, and made things that ARE relatively easy to use in Windows 7, obscure and difficult to find in 8...not sure HOW this is an advancement in user interface, just seems to be "different to be different".

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Amazingly fast, responsive, cool. The only thing I miss is a port for projectors and the battery life is a bit too low. I wouldn't call it an ultrabook.

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I have been using this laptop for 3 months and its performance is incredible. It last around 13 seconds from the moment that you turn on the computer until you can even being surfing in internet.

Pretty good looking, fast and powerful, those works summarizing this incredible ultrabook.

Good work Toshiba.

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Toshiba Satellite M645-S4118x 14.0" LED Laptop (Black)

This laptop may be up there in price as far as the superior Windows machines are concerned, but I guarantee that the price is worth it. One won't be receiving the Alienware powerhouses if that be what they're looking for, but the Toshiba M-645 S4118x provides one of the best portable all-around laptops. It easily runs any professional software that one might wish to use, and also runs modern video games with nice framerates should that be an alternate goal. Additionally, the Harman/Kardon speakers combined with the blue-ray playing capability make for a nice mini-theatre experience if one doesn't mind the small screen as I don't. I would highly recommend buying the Hi-capacity lithium 12 cell battery for it just because there's really no reason not to. More battery life means more usefulness.

Now, some might prefer a powerhouse machine, but allow me to put a little perspective into it. Alienware is known for having the most powerful computers on the market, but the cheapest one a person find on Amazon is currently the Alienware M14x AM14X-6557STB at $1350 American. This machine has the same specifications as the Toshiba M-645 with the exception of a higher hard drive RPM and storage space, and more memory. These bonuses don't really do much for being $350 worth. In my opinion, a powerhouse searcher is better off buying the Toshiba M645 and spending the extra that might have been spent on the Alienware on Laptop accessories such as the better battery.

I conclusion, I recommend this machine as a casual gamer and college student, because it allows for standard game playing, and superior Windows functionality without being far too expensive.

I have had this Toshiba m645-s4118x for just over 30 days and I love (most of) it. The Nvidia graphics card screams compared to many other non-customized laptops on the market. I have no problem playing Call of Duty's Modern Warfare 1 with the detail turned max. I can see the charicters' eye brows move. I have MW2 but have not tried it yet on this machine but will update this review when I do.

I gave it 4 out of 5 stars for not including the 12-cell li-ion battery; which it desperately needs to truly be portable. I can surf the web and play music for 8-10 hours on a full charge with the 12-cell batt. Although a full charge can take all night. Windows 7 is such a huge improvement to Vista 32bit. Wireless connectivity is a breeze.

Toshiba's proprietary software really does adversly effect this machines performance. I removed almost all of the Toshiba software that was designed to "monitor" the computer; resulting in faster bootup and freed up resources. I do not like that you cannot dim or shut off the lights for the power button and the "Satellite" logo, they do mess with my eyes at night. But I attacked them with a black Sharpie. I reported that to the Toshiba Cust service to include the dim and off for those lights in the next Bois update.

Overall this machine excells at graphics and overall use. You can see a video review on Cnet.com, just search there for Toshiba Satellite M645-S4118X. They only faulted the useless 6-cell stock battery. Although in the $900 range; most comparible models by other brands were in the $1200+ range. But $900+130 for battery= $1,030, so you be the judge. If you don't need a dedicated video card (GPU) for gaming or heavy graphics design, get this one without it. I've seen this same build 14" Toshiba at Best Buy without the video card in the $500-600 range.

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The laptop is quite expensive for casual PC users, but it is worth it for long-term use and anyone who needs a little extra power. It is not an alienware, but for the price, what were you expecting? The Toshiba M-645 S4118x provides one of the best portable all-around laptops. It easily runs any professional software that one might wish to use. I have used Revit Architecture 2012, and it works fairly well, though I might need to add another 2 gb of ram (comes with 6 gb standard with 8 gb capacity).

It includes all sorts of aspects for anyone needing performance: a Blu-ray player, GeForce GT525M, Wireless-N card, Bluetooth,a USB 3.0 port, and Harmon Kardon Speakers. The Blu-ray drive is decent, but when mirroring to a display unit such as your television, I think Blu-ray content can only be supported on one display (so the movie will not show on your laptop LCD and external display simultaneously). There may be a way around this limitation, but I really do not need that feature. Also, I believe the video card can output external content on a 3D display with Nvidia 3D Vision or other software. I am not sure about the limitations on 3D display models as I have not used this feature yet. The wireless networking card works well. I have not used the USB 3.0 port, but I hear it is super fast. I have to admit the Harmon Kardon speakers are amazing. They are not super loud, but the quality for laptop speakers is excellent.

The laptop comes with some bloatware, but some people may find it useful. The only downside to all this power is the meager battery, which has usually lasted me about 3 hours on normal performance operations. There is an optional battery, but it would have been better to include it in the first place. Another downside is the the lack of gigabit ethernet. I really don't need the feature, but it is useful for home network set-ups for high transfer speeds. There are not enough negatives to lower the rating, though.

I conclusion, I recommend this machine as a casual gamer and college student, because it has great performance for the price. No problems so far, and I hope the laptop will last for awhile.

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I did not hesitate to buy this great little machine when I was looking for a 14" laptop.

I have the monster 18.4" Qosmio 505 with the works: BD combo, full HD screen, Harmon-Kardon speakers, i5 CPU, backlit keyboard. It is a fantastic machine: fast, gorgeous screen, great sound system. I love it. So, when I saw this laptopm with pretty much the same features in a smaller machine, I went right for it.

Of course, in a 14" screen I didn't feel full HD was required. I don't believe such a thing exists in a machine with this size screen anyway. But I did want the BD, backlit keyboard, and good sound. I knew the Harmon-Kardon speakers to be beautifully engineered and even the smaller versions on this model do not disappoint. They have a good, full-bodied sound, and plenty of volume. I am tired of weak and tinny speakers on a laptop.

The keyboard has a solid feel and the back-lighting is essential for me. The BD combo works beautifully: the Corel software functions as smoothly as any I have seen (despite some dreadful reviews for the separate software). I am used to the Cyberlink and this is just as good, if not better. I have the Corel on both my Toshiba's and find it easy to use, smooth-operating, jerk-free, and with a good, user-friendly menu.

This is not the cheapest laptop on the market in its size range but, considering its features, speed, and quality build, it is still a great value.

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I bought this Laptop for my brother and he loves it. Of course, it did come with an Xbox so he didn't really get it for gaming; however, that's all he does on it. Between Minecraft, Skyrim, and Fallout: New Vegas, that's all he does on his laptop. Mind you the graphics card can only run the game on Medium settings, he still claims that are better looking than they are on his Xbox. He hasn't had any problems with the laptop other than that the monitor is a little small (14 inches), but I think the smallness is good since he does a lot of moving around.

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ASUS G55VW-DH71 2.40-3.40GHz i7-3630QM 16GB 120GB SSD 2GB NVIDIA GTX 660M DVD RW

Make sure you get something with a larger SSD. The 120GB come out of the box with only 90Gigs usable. That means Asus allocates 20Gig to recover partition. And it is easy to fill up the rest fast.

The laptop also stains easily and you see finger prints on it quite easily. It's also very heavy. But fantastic performance.

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ASUS K53U-DH21 15.6-Inch Versatile Entertainment Laptop (Mocha)

[[ASIN:B005PAJVVO ASUS K53U-DH21 15.6-Inch Versatile Entertainment Laptop (Mocha)]

I was especially disappointed when I plugged in my broadband modem and the RealTek Global Controller wouldn't recognize the ISP IP address. ASUS told me it was Comcast's fault because the laptop diagnostic stated it was a broadband issue... a quick ipconfig command in DOS revealed that the laptop was reading the IP addresses correctly... 3 more calls to ASUS after a DNS flush and reset, winsock reset and system recovery that took 8 hours total (the first call we reloaded the driver for the adapter). 2 of the four reps at ASUS spoke clear english, and 2 had very broken accents that just prolonged the agony. I finally had to return the product when ASUS concluded that the unit was faulty. It seemed to be OK at first, but without connectivity... and the service hassle... what was the point? I would have liked to see how the unit performed actually... unfortunately the bad experience will probably steer me away from ASUS. The keys and unit were quiet enough, the right and left click buttons were a bit noisy, but that is no big deal to me. Startup into Windows 7 was very quick and shutdown even quicker but I hadn't loaded my recording studio onto the machine yet either. The touch pad was REALLY sensitive... which can be a plus or minus depending on what you are used to.

MY WIFE CHRISTINE IS VERY PLEASED WITH HER BIRTHDAY GIFT AND USES IT REGULARLY TO PLAY HER GAMES ETC.. VERY GOOD CHOICE....

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HP Laptop computer / AMD Turion II Processor / 14" Display / 3GB Memory / 320GB Hard Drive - Biscot

This computer is an excellant investment. Not only is it aesthetically appealing, but its performance well exceeded my expecations for the price. The built in webcam, while it does not take the best pictures and video is adequate. The built in microphone picks up sound very well. it's not a flimsy laptop, it's built like a rock so to speak, which is great if you are clumsy or have young children. The screen is a little small, so I wouldn't recommend it for anyone who has a really hard time seeing. If you are looking for a bang for your buck, and some quality performance this is the computer for you.

Great laptop. Just what I ordered and expected. So far so good. The laptop is performing as it should. Love it!

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I bought this laptop in September 2011 for my mother who used it only for watching DVD & streaming TV shows.

She never used its memory for downloading any file. The computer was working between 2 and 4 hours daily.

14 months later, the HP laptop does not work anymore. It shut down with a "90B" error message = "fan not working correctly".

HP customer service did not care of the problem unless I paid $60 for online repair + 2 hours on phone! The computer did not restart because the fan needs physically to be replaced.... HP asked $163 for the repair... sending me a prepaid box and to fix the 14 MONTHS OLD laptop!

Because I did not purchase an extended warranty from BEST BUY it was impossible to receive any satisfaction from HP customer service!

Apparently for HP, there is nothing significant about a laptop that does not work for more than 1 year!!!

Their product quality in my opinion is extremely piss poor. I feel like I was deceived by HP and will NEVER buy another HEWLETT PACKARD product. The customer service is not much better....it is obvious customer service appears to be somewhere other than the US. While attempting to help, I was just passed from one CS representative to another. All this over a mechanical fan that certainly should last longer than 14 months. Never have I had in seven computers a failed fan until I bought a HP laptop.

I bought two GATEWAY laptops within the last ten years and still work with. They are efficient and good quality.

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ASUS G53SW-XA1 Republic of Gamers 15.6-Inch Gaming Laptop

I've had this computer for about 3 days, and my feelings on it went from wanting to defenestrate it, to pure love. For starters, I ordered a separate 256GB corsair solid state drive so I can have fast boot and load times for the OS and apps. Now, installing an additional hard drive in most laptops requires mostly just removing the bottom plate, but not for this laptop. With this laptop, I had to remove the keyboard by prying it out and then carefully unlatching the connectors from the computer. Then, I had to remove the the piece with the touch pad and unscrew a set of screws that are holding the bottom plate in. Then, I'm finally able to remove the hard drive cover underneath the laptop after the last bit. Why did Asus have to make such a trivial thing so complicated?

Anyways, after I finally got to the hard drive bay I found out that the second empty bay has no bracket to hold a hard drive in. I looked online and nobody was selling them. Yes, that's right: this computer IS ADVERTISED as having the capability of storing an additional hard drive, but the company is not including or even selling any bracket to allow me to do it! I couldn't find them anywhere! So luckily, my drive was a solid state, with no moving parts. What I ended up doing is taping some business cards underneath the solid state drive and letting it rest evenly on those, and then folding one of them between the space that the drive and the bay would occupy so that it doesn't wiggle around. No issues so far, I'm pretty furious that I'm being put in this situation, and I'm definitely giving Asus a call and demanding that they ship or sell an extra bracket to me. There is absolutely no reason at all why I have to do this.

Lastly, once I got everything in place I decided to use the recovery cd's that I created in the beginning to reformate/unpartitian the primary drive and install windows 7 on the solid state drive... but guess what? The recovery cd's do not have the capability of reformatting. What I had to do was hunt down an .iso of windows and burn that to a disk, then use it as my windows install... because the recovery cd is not a 'true' windows. I don't understand why Asus doesn't include a generic windows dvd since, you know, I PAID for the licence and it costs them next to nothing. They did include a driver CD, which is generous.

So that's all the bad stuff out of the way. Once I got everything up and running and with the right setup, things got much better. For starters, the performance on this thing is top-notch. With a solid state drive as the main OS, this laptop boots up in 20 seconds. It handles everything I throw at it with ease. I have the laptop outputting to a second 24 inch monitor as an expanded desktop and it runs starcraft at full resolution and mostly high settings at around 40-60 fps. Best of all, it doesn't 'downclock' to cool down like most of the laptops out there do. The reason for this is an extremely efficient cooling system in the back that blows air out one vent and sucks in air at the other. This keeps things relatively stable, and quiet. I'm not waking up my GF while I game on starcraft after she goes to sleep, and in comparison the Envy 17 I had and returned before this (which cost a beefy 2300) sounded like a jet engine.

This is a top-notch gaming rig, and I'm very happy with it so far. Would I recommend to anyone else? Well, it depends. If you're going to be happy with the measly 500GB of storage, then yes. However, if you want to do what I did or install a larger capacity hard drive, then I recommend you tread lightly or have a certified technician do it for you.

We all know this is an incredible buy for the price, except for the reviews. I looked into this machine long and hard before I purchased it. Many from many vendors haved arrived "doa" and also had issues with the power button. Well believe it or not you can fix it yourself in about 5 seconds, all you have to do is swipe a magnet over the palmrest area (I go from right to left across the bottom) and wham your laptop WILL turn on. I recieved this yesterday as many had, it would not power on, let it charge for a bit, and tried the button some more, still didnt work, then tried the magnet trick and it has been working great ever since. There is a video on youtube of someone doing this as well if you need further assistance. Further what is actually happening is a sensor that is supposed to sense the lid closing is too strong (it is magnetic) it can over time while sitting build up a "magnetic charge" and thinks the lid is closed when it is not, by using a magnet you are resetting the switch. Should you have to do this? No, but at the price I dont find it to be an issue (mine has been working fine since the initial swipe of the magnet, ie the power button has been working, and if it stops in the future I know to keep a magnet handy).

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Excellent laptop, people who want to play games, but don't like to spend 1000$ +

It was problems with magnetic proximity switch it (is remain magnetized, so when you push start button nothing happened). Basicly it think's that Lid is still closed and preventing laptop from starting (this is Asus safety measures).

For people who are not advanced in PC hardware it can be a real chalenge. Cause they can think that laptop is not working and try to return it. Don't do it please... The laptop is ok, there are no any hardware problem.

This is my solution (I am assembling PC's since 1996):

you just simply need to demagnetize the Sensore/switch:

Keep the system off, lid should be open and the battery in. It doesn't matter if the power cord is plugged in or not but its better if it is plugged in;

Ok now take a paper and put it on the palm-rest to the lower right side from the touch pad. To give you an idea, this is a 2 inch x 2 inch spot under the small sticker that says "New Revision Certified Design" and lies between the touch pad and the large sticker that shows system specs and features. Furthermore this is the very spot where the magnet in the LCD lid (located to the right side of the camera) comes in contact/proximity when the lid is closed;

Now take a light magnet with medium intensity, shouldn't be too strong or big and rub it in circles on that 2 x 2 inch square spot where you have placed the paper(The paper is only optional but it is recommended as it would save the palm-rest from scratches if any). Do this for a minute or two.

Press the power button and voilà! You are done.

Happy New Year and Kind Regards

Read Best Reviews of ASUS G53SW-XA1 Republic of Gamers 15.6-Inch Gaming Laptop Here

For me the laptop came and is working flawless. No power button issues or any problems for that matter. I can play Skyrim on high settings, and I'm blown away by the screen. 1080p on a 15inch looks very very nice. I don't normally write reviews but I had to on this item since it seems to be getting bashed pretty badly. I noticed the negative reviews before my purchase but took my chances based on the fact that all Asus motherboards I've bought were always top notch products. Needless to say at $900 you really can't get a better or a more powerful laptop. You have the assurance of buying from Amazon so if you got a faulty one, you can always return or exchange. Asus also comes with a one year accidental warranty which I thought was a nice touch since my last laptop from hp was ruined when my wife's friend spilled wine all over the keyboard..

For anyone who's on the fence about this laptop, I would say go for it. Chances are there are many who's bought this laptop and has a had no problems like me. The laptop is cool to the touch and the construction is very sturdy. The back cooling system looks great and works even better. I'm at lvl35 with my bow/thief in skyrim, and it's always so amazing to me that such a small little machine can run it so smoothly.

Want ASUS G53SW-XA1 Republic of Gamers 15.6-Inch Gaming Laptop Discount?

I received the Asus G53SW-XA1 as a gift for christmas/birthday. This gaming laptop is a beast and runs all of my games perfectly, I would highly recommend buying it if you're an avid gamer!

There is a slight drawback though there are two minor flaws that can be easily fixed/avoided.

1) Power Button won't work: Rub a medium strength magnet on the bottom right area of the touchpad.

2) Power Pin is fragile: Buy an "L" connector for the power supply pin.

An interesting fact: the video card of this older series (G53SW/G73SW) is actually faster/stronger than the newer series (G53SX/G74SX).

G53SX/G74SX Video Card: GTX 560M, 128bit bus

G53SW/G73SW Video Card: GTX 460M, 192bit bus

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ASUS Eee PC 904HD 8.9-Inch Laptop (Intel Mobile Processor, 1 GB RAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, XP Home) Gal

This little pc is fabulous! Was hesitant, gave it a try, speed is great, XP smooth, display is crystal clear, quiet, does not overheat; i am extremely happy! would recommend to anyone!

P.Cruz/Naples, FL

My daughter love it. It's small, quick and light. Good resolution screen and not too small. I want my own. You just need buy it one external dvd/cd rom unit.

Buy ASUS Eee PC 904HD 8.9-Inch Laptop (Intel Mobile Processor, 1 GB RAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, XP Home) Gal Now

I bought the smaller ASUS because I wanted a light lightweight, and because I didn't think I needed much of a keyboard. I'm a MAC nut, but was absolutely flabbergasted to find this little gem has a great keyboard, can be dropped in my purse (my MODEST sized purse along with my Kindle), and I am armed for the 30 (130) minute pharmacy waits, doctor waits, my husband-in-Lowe's waits. In other words, I'm a happy camper, and my camping is happy due to my 8.9" Asus.

Long may it wave!

Jfg

Read Best Reviews of ASUS Eee PC 904HD 8.9-Inch Laptop (Intel Mobile Processor, 1 GB RAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, XP Home) Gal Here

I was looking for a nice, inexpensive laptop for my old daughter. This fit the bill......It was light weight, compact and perfect for her hand size. She gets the internet anywhere there is wireless without pushing a button. The drive size is nice for her pictures and the program, Xp is full size and works like your regular desktop. I reccomend this to everyone who has a child under 14 or so where they probably want something bigger. I have seen more expensive but this fit the bill and then some and was nicely priced. May not work for an adult small keyboard.

Want ASUS Eee PC 904HD 8.9-Inch Laptop (Intel Mobile Processor, 1 GB RAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, XP Home) Gal Discount?

This little PC rocks. I got it for my nephew and it is working perfectly. He plays his online kiddies game and his mom watches her soap on it. The fact that the OS is XP is a plus.

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