Toshiba Satellite S955-S5376 15.6-Inch Laptop (Ice Blue Brushed Aluminum)

Looked at a lot of different options for my son's laptop. The biggest issue was which one. I looked at Apple products and they are really cool, but the idea of spending $2,000 on a computer for a High School student put me off. Also thought about a tablet, but my son actually uses his computer for something other than texting and playing video games, sometimes.

I was very skeptical of Windows 8. Since he was most familiar with the Mac OS, I was worried. He was using it fully in 5 minutes. Since getting it his Mac has been back-benched.

The laptop is very thin and light, and still has connections for VGA and a wired Internet Connection. While WiFi is very prolific, the ability to connect to a wired connection is useful in difficult situations or dealing with old equipment often found in schools and Universities. With the bandwidth-sucking Tablets having an option could be the difference between a successful presentation and just standing there hoping the WiFi works.

The battery life is pretty good, but not awesome, about 4 or 5 hours under normal use so far. It is quiet and doesn't heat up the way laptops used to.

Special note about Windows 8. It is different. However, you can get a desktop if you prefer by hitting a button. People tend to freak out every time Windows makes a change. I remember Windows 3.1, 95, Windows 2000 (remember that fun), XP, Vista and 7. Each change generates a group of people who complain.

When Mac switched to Intel, I remember those freakouts. So don't let the fact it has a new OS freak you out. It actually is more App based and more like a Tablet. Younger users will figure it out quickly. Also, I imagine people with limited computer abilities will like it. Those of us who still know how to use the Command Prompt probably will suffer more of a learning curve.

The Bottom line is that for the price, this is an excellent laptop. It's not so expensive that I worry about it being attractive to thieves and while Apple likes to stay ahead of the curve (which is awesome for early adopters), students will still be able to hook up to the Ethernet connection at the Podium when the WiFi in the lecture hall goes out from all the people streaming Pandora during their presentation.

I give it 5 stars based on value for money. I would not recommend this for someone who plans to do a lot of Video Editing or processor intensive applications. This is a great option for someone choosing between a high-end tablet, an ultrabook or a laptop. WiFi is everywhere. When it doesn't work or there are 40 students connected in a lecture hall, I wouldn't want to depend on it when my grade was on the line or spend $100 on a dongle to connect to the VGA port in the old Conference Room.

Windows 8 takes some getting familiar with, but the laptop does everything it should. the only frustration I have with it is getting use to windows 8. To me windows 8 is not very user friendly. Toshiba makes a great product and I bought this laptop to replace another Toshiba laptop.

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Very fast computer with an elegant design. It connects to the internet in a few seconds, it loads up the desktop and all of the applications in a few seconds too. It's almost like an instant start device. I'm glad with this purchase.

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Love it so far. Would have been 5 stars, but read on....

I found this item on Amazon but bought it directly from Adorama, only because I called to be sure it was in stock and they offered me free next day shipping at the same price.

One caution: Adorama advertises this with the correct CPU clock speed 1.7 GHz; Amazon deceptively uses the "max turbo speed" of 2.6 GHz. I was a little disappointed when I went into the system properties and saw the lower number. Google "Intel Core i5 3317U" and you will see what I mean.

From Intel's site:

"What is Intel® Turbo Boost Technology?

Intel Turbo Boost Technology is a way to automatically run the processor core faster than the marked frequency. The processor must be working in the power, temperature, and specification limits of the thermal design power (TDP). This results in increased performance of both single and multi-threaded applications."

*Amazon should give standard specs on the computers they sell, or at least give a disclaimer.*

Moving on. Similar to other reviews, I have struggled a bit with Windows 8, but am realizing everything is out there, just hidden. Hit the window button (looks like a 4-pane window, lower left of keyboard), you can start typing and search for your favorite Windows programs, like task manager, control panel, calculator, etc. You can pin them to the taskbar (bottom of screen) or the initial start window that freaks everyone out.

Once you get the desktop and start window clear of all of the junk apps, it becomes a manageable environment. I am an experienced PC user and do not think I should have to work this hard to figure out a new OS version. Would it have been so hard for Microsoft to include a Win 8 tutorial?

Best thing I have found so far if you are somewhat comfortable with computers, you can schedule explorer.exe to run whenever you start Windows this bypasses the Start window and goes directly to the desktop we all know and love.

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I needed a new laptop because my hard drive went out on my last one. This connects to the internet quick, has good speed and functions great...Negative is Windows 8...it's NOT user friendly, hard to find your files, save pictures to load later, I go straight to the "desktop" portion so I can have at least some funcionality. As a general use computer its good, for a work computer, not so much with the Windows 8.

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Lenovo G585 15.6-Inch Laptop (Black Textured)

Windows Experience Index 3.3 (Determined by lowest subscore)

Processor: Calculations / sec 3.3

Memory (RAM): Memory operations / sec 5.3

Graphics: Desktop graphics performance 4.0

Gaming Graphics: 3D Gaming performance 5.6

Primary Hard Disc: Disc data txfr rate 5.8

HARDLY a dog for what it went for on Black Friday. I'm very satisfied with the performance thus far. It is also my first experience with Windows 8, but I'm picking up on it pretty quickly. The G585 is working very well with it. Sure, speed could always be increased, but I'm stepping out of an ACER netbook. Anything is going to feel like lightning to me.

Lenovo customer service is also second to none when it comes to hardware support.

I always build my own desktops, and though I love the mobility of the laptop, I hate paying laptop prices knowing that I could have 5 times the computer for the same price if I built it myself. But, for the Black Friday price, this thing was a steal.

I really just wanted a laptop for word processing, browsing the web, and responding to email while I was on the go. I wanted to replace my netbook, which was barely running at that point, but knew that I wanted more screen real estate going forward. Given what I was using it for, anything that cost more than this was absurd. This, however, was agreeable.

To my surprise, though, it's not too shabby for gaming. I installed Steam and have been playing Torchlight II, and even beat Portal and Portal II over Christmas week without any hangups. On the default settings, of course. It's not a gaming rig, after all.

I also love that they included a full 10-key on the right hand side of the keyboard. I can't imagine having a laptop without this now. It's awesome.

I like the multi-touch trackpad overall. I've tried to fine tune the sensitivity, but it still seems to have a few quirks, which are annoying but not a deal breaker. It will often zoom when trying to perform two-finger scrolling. It will also often scroll in the wrong direction if you're trying to scroll a very short distance. There was a problem with it activating app switching when trying to navigate too far to the left of the trackpad. There's an option to reduce the area that will activate app switching (or turn it off completely if you prefer), so now it only switches apps when I start with my finger off of the trackpad and swipe in from the left, just like using a Windows 8 tablet. Two-finger scrolling doesn't work in parts of the Metro UI, which is annoying.

The only thing that really irritated me, and the same thing that irritates me about all laptops, is the bloatware. I expect them to be there, but in this instance, most of the applications that Lenovo pre-installed merely duplicated the features that were already included in Windows 8 by default. Completely useless, and then taking up my hard drive space to boot. For the price, I can't really complain about having to take an hour or so to hunt down all of the junk they installed to remove it, but if I'd paid full price, or the price of most other laptops, I'd have much less to say about this laptop that's positive. It's 2013. People know how to use computers, they know what software they use, and they don't think they're getting a better deal because you're shipping your products with "OMG! So much free stuffs!" It's time for manufacturers to start shipping with clean, unmodified installs of Windows. The hardware is cheap. Most of what I'm paying for is software licenses. Given that, I'd like to get the software I'm paying for.

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Bought this on Black Friday. Good basic computer. Decent speakers and screen. Good value. Would recommend this laptop to others.

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I got this for my Son for college. It meets his needs fine. Getting used to Windows 8. My only concern is that it shows as having an HDMI port, but it does not. Otherwise, it works good.

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After reading a magazine tech review for Lenovo computers I thought I would give one a try.

Purchased this model for my daughter who needed one for school. and boy was that a mistake.

At a little over 3 weeks the computer would not start up but instead will only show a black screen with the Lenovo logo.

It will not go into safe mode or anything else. However I Did some research on the net and this is a very common problem with Lenovo laptops(regardless of model).

The problem seems to be a bad motherboard which can be replaced if sent back to the company and as usual you pay to have it sent in. Personally I'm still waiting on the return results.

Note: this is my 5th laptopin the past I've purchased HP/Compaq's & Toshiba brands and all are still running without fail.

Do yourself a favor and stay away from Lenovo

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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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Acer Aspire 13.3-Inch Ultrabook / 3rd Generation Intel Core i7_3517U Processor/ 4GB DDR3 Memory / 2

This is by far the best laptop computer I have every used, though it does have a few flaws as we all do. This is my response after about 3 weeks of daily use.

First the PROs:

1. It is as described very light and thin. I switch from use of this computer to another frequently and the heft and size make this movement easy to do without requiring movement of everything else on my desk. I like it!

2. The speed of the i7 chip and of the two solid state "hard drives" are also as described fast to recalculate large spreadsheets and quick to load any program. I have never had this performance available to me short of some sort of mini-computer.

3. And one is spoiled by the responsiveness of the solid state flash drives.... I don't ever want to go back to the performance of what many of us remember in the 1980s as Winchester hard drives which at that time we thought were above our expectations! Programs seem as if they instantaneously load.

a. I deliberately bought a unit with two 128 Gb solid state (flash) drives. After I loaded a normal (but not "extensive") array of programs I had only about 128 Gb of flash storage available for data and other programs. I needed that second drive and I anticipate most others will as well.

4. The solid state drives provide another advantage I never shut the machine off. I just save my files and close the cover when I am through work. There are no moving parts, no heat is being generated. The programs are in the condition as left at shutdown when I restart.

5. The unit is rugged. When I open the display by lifting from the left-hand corner, there is no strain on the display or movement of the chassis.

6. The screen is bright and easy to read from most any angle associated with my use.

7. The published (CNET) concern about not having enough ports is unwarranted at least for my use. It comes with a Bluetooth connection AND very nice Logitech Bluetooth Mouse. It also comes with an HDMI port AND an adapter to connect HDMI to VGA (for my large flatscreen monitor). So there remain unused two USB3 ports and a Thunderbolt port.

8. Music sounds both very well and adequately loud through the backward pointing sound system. I think sound from laptop computers has finally become adequate!

Then the NEUTRALS:

1. The fit and finish are smooth; the unit feels solid, balanced. The chassis is of jet black anodized metal; it's not shiny. There is no special appearance factor, except that it is thin and looks just OK.

2. The published (CNET) concern about lifetime of the lift system which exposes the array of ports at the back for use appears also unwarranted. Actually, this lift is nearly always in the upward position (exposing the ports) because it also raises the computer frame to allow improved heat transfer from the chassis. In my experience, the lift is nearly always in the up position to improve heat transfer or to expose the HDMI port for use to drive my flatscreen monitor.

3. Keystrokes are solid despite the presumed short stroke length with a thin chassis. They are not "springy" or "dead."

4. The keyboard is not backlit as are some on other machines. That's the single feature I missed on this machine

Finally the NEGATIVES:

1. The thinness comes with a price. Necessarily, the power switch (located on the back left side of the frame) is very thin, and hard for me to activate with finger or thumb. This flaw stops being annoying and becomes difficult when I have to hold the power switch down for 6 to 8 seconds in order to reboot (that does happen, especially with Chrome!).

2. The keyboard is a compromise, as I suppose one would expect with a thin/lite computer with a 13.3" screen.

a. While it has all the normal set keys, some of them are hard to access. and and half size and only accessible through simultaneously pressing the blue Function key. For those who use spreadsheets, this is a drawback.

b. And for those who use a word processor or Adobe Reader, both the and keys are impaired by being half-sized sharing and respectively.

c. The good news is that there are two broad keys, that the and keys are full-size. Four function keys are unused: , , , and . However, these keys do work in other programs.

d. The normal "full-size" keys are slightly smaller than those of an Asus laptop with a 13.3" screen which is not "thin" and "light" which has no half-sized keys.

3. It's overpriced! The Decide (http://www.decide) rates it on July 3, 2013 as a 71 on a scale of 100 with values above 90 being excellent buys and below 60 being "don't buy." The price from Amazon on that date was $1,099... From about late April to late May the price from Amazon had been between $925 and $975. I got it in late May 2013 for the lower number! The thing is that one really is socked for the second 128 Gb flash drive as the same machine with one flash drive sells for $710 at the same time.

SUMMARY

This is a fine machine. I would buy another at a favorable price.

Best laptop I have ever owned. Thinnest, lightest laptop on the market. Uses two solid state drives in a RAID array that gives it the fastest read/write access of any laptop. Had issues getting the bluetooth mouse to work, as another reviewer pointed out, but once I fixed that it works beautifully (i deleted the existing driver, let windows install driver, now it connects automagically just fine). Long battery life, maybe 6+ hrs. So slim, light, long battery, love the aesthetics of this laptop.

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I like it so much!,

Lightweight: weighs very little

fast: turns and loads in less than 10 seconds

comfortable: small intestine, you can carry around

powerful: good processor, good RAM, fast hard drive

I recommend it 100%

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I purchased an Acer 13.3 Ultrabook (i7, 256GB SSD). While the ultarbook seems to be very fast, the display awesome and the size and weight are prefect for travelling. However, I ran into a small problem with the mouse and had to go through an awful and arrogant Acer Technical support service. The product came with an Acer Blue-Tooth which was not recognized by the notebook. I tried the chat facility first. It took hours to go through the entire procedure to address the problem. The advice I got re-install the OS and loose everything you have already installed on the computer. This did not seem to be the right approach, so I tried the support number. I was told that the product warranty does not support peripheral and that I would need to pay for the phone support. After spending hours and losing my temper I was routed to a supervisor. He repeated the unbelievable claim that the warranty did not include peripheral support. He suggested that I purchase a USB mouse. It took me a while to convince him that the purchase included an Acer Bluetooth mouse as the pointing device and it should work as advertised. He finally agreed to send another mouse. The problem was resolved immediately after I received the replacement mouse. The conclusion the product may be fine but do not expect to get good warranty or other support after you purchase it.

Acer Aspire 13.3-Inch Ultrabook / 3rd Generation Intel Core i7_3517U Processor/ 4GB DDR3 Memory / 256GB Solid State Drive (SSD) / HDMI / USB 3.0 / Bluetooth / Win 7 Home Premium / 2.65 lbs (Black)

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Samsung Series 3 NP355V5C-A01US 15.6-Inch Laptop

This baby has LOTS of power, and I would put it up against an i7 any day of the week. Plus it will automatically take up to half of the available memory, in this case 3 of the 6 gigs, and make it available for graphics. The new A10 APU is a great chip, and combines the processor and the discrete graphics all on one chip so there's only one chip to power, one chip to cool, and one chip to carry, plus it has Turbo Core and automatically over-clocks when it needs it. Great battery life too. Can't say enough about this laptop!

Pros:

1. Super fast

2. Plays HD and blueray videos (from youtube) smoothly, without any delay

3. Light

Cons:

None (as of now)

Great value for money; Very happy :)

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So I would like to say that I was saving up for a new Laptop to perform better than my old one. My main reason for getting a new Laptop was so I could play my games much better but without resorting to buying a gaming Laptop. I was researching for months while saving up and was really skeptical in getting something I couldn't test out before buying.

I read the review by LA LA LA and thanks to that review, and the fact that this Laptop has specs I was looking for as well as having a decent price, I bought it and I must say it's working much better than my old one. Not only does it not overheat and keeps a constant temperature it plays most of my games a lot better and smoother than my old one. Now I can't be 100% about the overheating issue since I haven't played my games in a prolonged period but its temperature is consistently perfect if I've played up to 2 hours.

The games I currently play that play really well are Borderlands and Minecraft. For some reason The Binding of Isaac is pretty much the same as my old Laptop and that it can get a little laggy in certain rooms of the game but for the most part it plays pretty decent. I have other games as well including Borderlands 2 and Terraria but I haven't tried those games yet. I would imagine they would play just as great as most of the games I have and hope that is true once I try them. Bottom line if you wish for a Laptop to play games but don't want to pay for a gaming Laptop this one has performed as I had hoped and possibly even better than I hoped once I use it more often.

One thing I would like to say is I can see why everyone hates Windows 8 and I myself feel the same way. I am getting used to it however I still hate it like most people. The only reason I bought this Laptop was to save money because by the time I had enough money for a new Laptop it would have been really hard to find a Windows 7 Laptop with the specs I wanted and most likely would have had to pay extra to get the one I wanted but request a Windows 7 version. So if you would rather save money than try to get everything you wanted this one is just right, especially if you can get used to Windows 8.

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ATTENTION: If you need drivers for this laptop, go to the Samsung website, start an online chat, and just ask them for the SW Update program. They will send it to you free right through chat, and it basically downloads and installs all the drivers you need automatically. VERY convenient, especially since their driver page is down for this laptop.

SO, i was originally going to by the A8-4500M ASUS laptop that was on sale for a while at $380, but decided against it because many people were complaining about the track pad. I ended up finding this laptop for $450 on Amazon, which is a STEAL!

I have had it for a couple days now, and I'm really digging it. Everything feels good and is working well. I did upgrade to a 500GB hybrid XT hard drive which is absolutely amazing, and threw in 8GB 1600Mhz of dual channel memory with CAS 9 latency to help out any gaming I would be doing. I also installed Windows 7 on it right away. I tried Windows 8 for like 5 minutes and voted against it.

My uses for this laptop are kind of spread out, but it's not my main computer. I wanted something cheap and good for school, travel, gaming, IT type mobility, etc. I know I won't be gaming at max graphics, but I'm pretty impressed with what it CAN do so far. It runs Minecraft at 60 70 fps with everything maxed, and most newer games with around medium settings at around the 30 40+ mark at 1280x720 resolutions, which just happens to be what my flat screen tv resolution is, so i can hook up my laptop to it via HDMI and hook up my XBOX 360 Windows wireless controller and get some gaming done if i don't want to sit in front of my gaming PC. This laptop is very versatile, and I dare you to find anything else that can do this much at this price. BTW, I sold the memory and hard drive that came with this laptop to supplement the price that I paid for upgrades, so in the end I only paid $500 for a quad core, dual channel 8GB 1600Mhz CAS 9 memory, w/500GB SSD/HDD hybrid drive, w/ 7660G gaming grapics laptop. It's feeling pretty smexy.

btw, this IS a matte finish screen and not a shiny screen which I'm very happy about.

Cons:

-Fingerprint magnet on top of laptop.

-Driver support is a bit messed up on the Samsung website. I actually used the live chat through Samsung and told them their driver area was down for this laptop, so they sent a program over chat that basically automatically downloaded all the drivers I needed for the laptop which was very convenient. If you have the same issue, just ask them for the SW Update program. They were a great deal of help so I'm not going to punish them too much for that one.

-Battery is not great, even on power saving. If it's left on and screen doesn't dim, 4 hours max. Not horrible, but not impressive either.

-Air is always quite warm, even if just on normal desktop processes. Luckily you only really feel it on the side coming out and not too much through the bottom of the laptop.

-Made on the cheaper end of materials for case.

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Acer Aspire Ethos AS8951G-9630

Some product details, since amazon did not post any :

Operating System : Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64 Bit

Processor Manufacturer : Intel

Processor Type : Core i7

Processor Model : i7-2670QM

Processor Speed : 2.20 GHz

Processor Core : Quad-core (4 Core)

Cache : 6 MB

64-bit Processing : Yes

Hyper-Threading : Yes

Chipset Manufacturer : Intel

Chipset Model : HM65 Express

Standard Memory : 8 GB

Maximum Memory : 16 GB

Memory Technology : DDR3 SDRAM

Memory Standard : DDR3-1066/PC3-8500

Number of Total Memory Slots : 4

Memory Card Reader : Yes

Memory Card Supported

Memory Stick : xD-Picture Card, Secure Digital (SD) Card, MultiMediaCard (MMC, Memory Stick PRO, MMCplus

Hard Drive Capacity : 750 GB

Hard Drive Interface ; Serial ATA

Hard Drive RPM : 5400

BD-Reader/DVD-Writer

Optical Media Supported : BD-ROM/DVD-RAM/±R/±RW

Screen Size : 18.4"

Display Screen Type : Active Matrix TFT Color LCD

Display Screen Technology : CineCrystal

Aspect Ratio : 16:9

Screen Mode : HD 1080

Backlight Technology : LED

HDCP Supported : Yes

Graphics Controller Manufacturer : nVIDIA

Graphics Controller Model : GeForce GT 555M

Graphics Memory Capacity : 2 GB

Graphics Memory Technology : DDR3 SDRAM

Graphics Memory Accessibility ; Dedicated

TV Card : No

Wi-Fi Standard : IEEE 802.11 a/g/n

Ethernet Technology : Gigabit Ethernet

Bluetooth : Yes

Bluetooth Standard : Bluetooth 2.1

Webcam : Yes

Microphone : Yes

Finger Print Reader : Yes

FireWire/i.LINK : Yes

HDMI : Yes

Total Number of USB Ports : 4

Number of USB 2.0 Ports : 3

Number of USB 3.0 Ports : 1

VGA : Yes

Network (RJ-45) : Yes

eSATA/USB Combo : Yes

Microsoft® Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word and Excel® only, with advertising. No PowerPoint® or Outlook®. Buy Office 2010 to use the full-featured software.

Battery : Number of Cells : 8-cell

Battery Chemistry : Lithium Ion (Li-Ion)

Battery Capacity : 6000 mAh

Maximum Battery Run Time : 5.50 Hour

Maximum Power Supply Wattage : 120 W

Height : 1.5"

Width : 17.3"

Depth : 11.6"

Weight : 8.38 lb

Security Features

Kensington Lock Slot

BIOS passwords :

User

Supervisor

Hard Drive

Green Compliant : Yes

Green Compliance Certificate/Authority : Energy Star

I purchased this laptop from a different site as it was on sale for $999. And quite simply its the most impressive laptop I've ever used (which is quite a few). I ordered another 8 GB of ram for 25 bucks, so it was a quad core Core i7, 16 GB of ram, 750GB hard drive, 2GB of video ram alone. It's fast, runs cool, and the luscious 18.4" full HD screen is wonderful.

The trackpad's wonky, it's over 10 pounds, and its a beastly and unwieldy machine, but its really more of a slightly portable desktop rather than a large laptop. But you'll love it.

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Hard to say since there is no product information here to confirm what you are buying.

What is up with that?

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Acer didn't even bother to wire the 2nd hard drive bay.

It costs you $60+ for the cable and brackets and lots of research to make the laptop usable.

I will NEVER buy an Acer again.

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Lenovo ThinkPad X120e 11.6" Black Notebook

This little laptop is great. Since I rarely use a disc drive except to load programs and drivers, this is perfect for me, It has an ll.6" screen, weighs about 3 pounds, and Windows 7 profesional 64 bit, so I now have loaded 4 Gb of RAM. It is a very fast laptop, doesn't heat up like my old one, and the battery gives over four hours of use on a single charge.

Thanks,

Richard

This notebook is cute, tiny, and extremely portable. I look forward to using this as my daily development machine, once the new wifi card arrives... (see below)

The graphics performance is what you would expect: slightly better than a modern integrated card. This is not a gaming laptop by any means, but it packs enough power to run less demanding OpenGL games and demos. It is capable of playing 1080p video in Windows (haven't tried in Linux yet).

This laptop may have either a Broadcom or Realtek wireless card. If you plan to use Linux with this laptop and end up with the Realtek card, be ready to replace the card. There is a whitelist, but there are ways around it.

All in all, I would recommend this if you love Thinkpads and low-profile laptops.

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I bought two of these machines-one for work and one for my husband. About 1 year after purchase (right after warranty ended), the keyboard stopped working on my work machine. A quick search found that this is a known problem. This has been a pain for us at work. My husband's keyboard is still working which is why I'm giving it 2 stars.

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This is a very nice little netbook, but it is a little limited with only 2GB of RAM. 2 more fits the bill nicely and is cheap from Crucial!

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HP G42-230US 14-Inch Laptop

!!UPDATED!!

I have had my g42-230us for three months and found it to be a decent moderately powerful computer. The 7200RPM hard drive and 1Mb per core cache give it the extra "umph" it needs to compete with the Intel offers.

This computer, like most consumer targeted systems, came loaded with bloatware (software that isn't required and slows down performance).

I am a computer tech so the first thing I recommend for this and all consumer targeted computers is to make the restore DVD's as soon as you turn on the computer and before you connect to a network or the internet. Second thing I recommend to do is to get a genuine copy of Windows 7, then use it to reformat (and delete all extra hard drive partitions) and reinstall operating system. Doing this is almost literally the difference between night and day. You will realize more hard drive space, faster boot and shutdown, no software "nags" (other than Windows 7 "nags") or bloatware pop ups to activate and upgrade trial software and no performance robbing unnecessary running services and registry entries.

I tell my customers to consider this a required cost to any big brand consumer level computer purchased (comsumer level computers are typicaly computers sold that are not installed with Windows 7 Professional). You can get windows here on Amazon:Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Microsoft Windows 7 Professional . Keep in mind bloatware keeps the cost of the computer down (the computer's maker is often paid to install this trial software in hopes it will lead to the sale of the full product.

After installing Genuine Windows 7 64bit I have a decent professional grade laptop for a few hundred less than what HP sells them for otherwise.

Clarification from what other reviews have stated: All three USB ports are v2.0 and are powered to 500mA. I have tested them and confirmed this to be true even under battery power.

Note:

No modem is included and no PC Card socket is present.

The speakers and Altec Lansing, upward facing above the Function keys near the display hinge.

Wired LAN is not Gigabit Ethernet (this is a real downgrade from my almost four year old Acer Aspire).

Annoyances:

The power button is slightly recessed and very small. I have very small fingers but still have to press the button multiple times to get it depressed enough to activate (but now I just use my finger nail and it works fine).

The hard drive activity light looks to be a 1mm LED mounted behind a hole in the left side of the unit next to the media card reader. This is excellent for the person sitting to my left when they want to know if my hard drive is active but totally useless to me.

Also the power / charging light looks to be a 1mm LED mounted behind a hole on the right side near the DC input. This too is excellent for the person on my right that wants to know if my laptop is charging or on but totally useless to me.

There is however a power light in the power button above the Function keys and speakers near the hindge but it to looks to be a 1mm LED pointed straight up and can't be seen when the lid is closed so you cannot see if your computer is on/sleeping/or off unless you open the lid or look at the led on the right side of the unit.

Almost a deal killer is the fact that the touchpad area is not recessed or raised, nor does it have a different pattern or texture than the palm rests. Without looking, using the touchpad buttons as an guide, a person cannot feel where the touchpad area starts and ends on the left and right side. I used 3M blue painters tape 3M 2090 Scotch-Blue Painter's Tape for Multi-Surfaces 1-Inch x 60-Yard, 4-Rollto create outlines of the touchpad area to use the unit in the dark and without watching my fingers.

Battery:

The stock battery is a MU06 and the battery life is very good but I got the MU09 extended life batter anyway. The extended life battery does stick out some at the bottom causing a funny lop-sided look. Also an optional higher watt charger can be found but I don't know it would be any better than the one included. HP 90W Smart Ac Adapter US

I like Acer / Gateway laptops because I had always found them easy to work on but I have already taken this one apart pretty well and it isn't as bad as the HP computers of previous years.

I have a report for Speccy on my unit:

CPU

AMD K10

45nm Technology

RAM

4.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 531MHz (7-7-7-20)

Motherboard

Hewlett-Packard 1444 (Socket S1G4)

Graphics

Generic PnP Monitor @ 1366x768

AMD M880G with ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4250

Hard Drives

313GB Seagate ST932042 3AS SATA Disk Device (IDE)

Optical Drives

hp CDDVDW TS-L633N SATA CdRom Device

Audio

Realtek High Definition Audio

CPU

AMD K10

Cores 2

Threads 2

Name AMD K10

Package Socket S1 (638)

Technology 45nm

Specification AMD Turion(tm) II P520 Dual-Core Processor

Family F

Extended Family 10

Model 6

Extended Model 6

Stepping 3

Revision DA-C3

Instructions MMX (+), 3DNow! (+), SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSE4A, x86-64

Bus Speed 199.5 MHz

Rated Bus Speed 1795.6 MHz

Stock Core Speed 2300 MHz

Stock Bus Speed 200 MHz

Caches

L1 Data Cache Size 2 x 64 KBytes

L1 Instructions Cache Size 2 x 64 KBytes

L2 Unified Cache Size 2 x 1024 KBytes

Core 0

Core Speed 2294.2 MHz

Multiplier x 11.5

Bus Speed 199.5 MHz

Rated Bus Speed 1795.6 MHz

Thread 1

APIC ID 0

Core 1

Core Speed 2294.2 MHz

Multiplier x 11.5

Bus Speed 199.5 MHz

Rated Bus Speed 1795.6 MHz

Thread 1

APIC ID 1

RAM

Memory slots

Total memory slots 2

Used memory slots 2

Free memory slots 0

Memory

Type DDR3

Size 4096 MBytes

Channels # Dual

DRAM Frequency 532.0 MHz

CAS# Latency (CL) 7 clocks

RAS# to CAS# Delay (tRCD) 7 clocks

RAS# Precharge (tRP) 7 clocks

Cycle Time (tRAS) 20 clocks

Bank Cycle Time (tR?) 27 clocks

Command Rate (CR) 1T

SPD

Number Of SPD Modules 2

Motherboard

Manufacturer Hewlett-Packard

Model 1444

Chipset Vendor AMD

Chipset Model 785GX

Chipset Revision 00

Southbridge Vendor AMD

Southbridge Model SB800

Southbridge Revision 40

BIOS

Brand Hewlett-Packard

Version F.0A

Date 06/08/2010

Graphics

Monitor

Name Generic PnP Monitor on AMD M880G with ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4250

Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels

Work Resolution 1366x738 pixels

State enabled, primary

Monitor Width 1366

Monitor Height 768

Monitor BPP 32 bits per pixel

Monitor Frequency 60 Hz

AMD M880G with ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4250

Memory 256 MB

Memory type 2

Hard Drives

ST932042 3AS SATA Disk Device

Manufacturer Seagate

Form Factor 2.5"

Interface IDE

Capacity 313GB

Real size 320,072,933,376 bytes

Optical Drives

hp CDDVDW TS-L633N SATA CdRom Device

Audio

Sound Cards

ATI High Definition Audio Device

Realtek High Definition Audio

Playback Device

Speakers (Realtek High Definition Audio)

Recording Devices

Stereo Mix (Realtek High Definition Audio)

Microphone (Realtek High Definition Audio) (default)

Peripherals

Standard PS/2 Keyboard

Device Kind Keyboard

Device Name Standard PS/2 Keyboard

Location plugged into keyboard port

Synaptics PS/2 Port TouchPad

Device Kind Mouse

Device Name Synaptics PS/2 Port TouchPad

Location plugged into PS/2 mouse por

USB Video Device

Device Kind Camera/scanner

Device Name USB Video Device

Vendor Unknown

Comment HP Webcam-101

Location USB Composite Device

I have been informed that there is a clean install restore option but this is not an option on my unit. The factory restore "clean" option still installs many services and registry items including HP "nags" and programs that connect to HP's web site to keep you informed up updates and messages (offers). The clean install I recomend will give a user the most out of the computer.

!!!!!!CAVEAT!!!!!!!: Some users do not mind or miss the lost performance and hard drive space and can very well live with the hp "clean" install or even the factory install.

I only mention the clean install in my review because I and most of my cutomers are "power" users and prefere a true Windows clean install from a genuine Windows disc. Plus a person can buy almost the same computer without the bloatware software installed for twice the price. I am just pointing out an alternative to spending twice the money and getting the almost the same computer as a pro model.

I purchased this computer from another site when they had a promotion on it. I looked at the specs and the price, and saw that it was a steal, and I abandoned my prejudice against HP for their past products and bought it. I am very happy that I did. I won't say the exact price that I got the computer for, but I will say that this computer is in the $600 and under category.

This computer is a good mixture of good technology. The processor in this computer is a very good processor for a number of reasons. The L2 cache is 2mb as opposed to 1mb in most Turion IIs; the energy consumption is 25w, which is very low for a laptop processor of this magnitude. The M880 chipset and ATI Radeon 4250 provide a decent graphics setup; obviously, this computer isn't for modern gaming due to the lack of a dedicated video card... However, this video setup is much better than you will get with any Intel onboard graphics and will work just fine for most anything short of intensive 3D gaming/ 3D rendering... The 14" screen on this computer is a good one, with great viewing angles. The speakers are good for laptop speakers, but really, there aren't any spectacular internal laptop speakers and so if you want great sound quality and volume, invest in a decent pair of laptop speakers. The HDMI port is wonderful... can't forget to mention that! HDMI is a nice feature to have on a laptop of this type!

Aesthetically, this computer is certainly pleasing. The silver-ish patterned case of the computer is really unique and I really enjoy it. 14" is the perfect size for me, as it cradles perfectly in my lap and is much, much more portable than 15.6" or so laptops than I have owned in the past.

The keyboard is not bad at all... No Num Pad, but the buttons and function button planning are very well done. For a 14" laptop, I'm not sure if you can ask for a smarter/ better keyboard than this...

As for the cons, there is one that may just be something I am misunderstanding, but it really seems like the USB port that is on the right side (for the mouse) is not USB 2.0... For some reason, it doesn't get nearly the transfer rate as the other USB ports. I recommend getting a high speed hub with this computer so that you can easily add the additional USB ports that you will surely need. The other con is also fair in magnitude... HP has a lot of programs that it installs to keep your computer running well with HP updates on the drivers on your computer and such. Some of these programs are helpful and some are bloatware. It is much harder to sort out which is which with HP laptops than other brands, since they get so much more involved in the upkeep of your computer. I have it set up just fine on my computer now, and practically any laptop that you get nowadays is going to have some kind of bloatware on it, so the problem is easily handled with a bit of time, just like with most laptops. Extra care is needed to make sure that you do not remove programs that HP has created to help your computer, such as keep the hardware drivers up to date, etc...

All in all, this computer is great... Just what I was looking for! This laptop is perfect for just about anyone that doesn't do intense 3D graphic stuff. I would even go so far as to say that anything better than this is overkill if you are not going to be doing that type of stuff. This is a great desktop replacement computer that is very versatile in its uses and very good on the battery given the power of the computer. I was hesitant to buy HP before this computer, but I am certainly not anymore.

Five stars from me!

Edit-

Windows Experience Index: (out of 7.9)

Processor 5.8

Memory 5.9

Graphics (Aero) 4.2

Graphics (Gaming) 5.3

Hard Disk speed 5.9

This shows that this is a well rounded computer, just a step below cutting edge in every category (and still pretty cutting edge in most categories). 4.2 for Windows Aero experience is a typical score for GPUs of this type.

This ranking also doesn't rank on things like battery conservation, which this computer is great at. I hope this info helps someone interested in this computer!

Buy HP G42-230US 14-Inch Laptop Now

I have had this for over a month. Best computer I've every owned.

*The keyboard feel is extremely comfortable, light, and responsive--highly important for a computer injury victim like myself.

*The 14" 1366 x 768 is clear and easy to read, even for largish spreadsheets.

*The 5 lb weight means I can carry it everywhere in my backpack. It's the right compromise between a heavier laptop with a bigger screen and a netbook. I have both with Windows XP, but I had to keep transferring data between them. Now I just use the G42 for home and coffee shops.

*I find I like Windows 7 better than XP. I upgraded to Professional and installed the XP virtual machine to solve any compatibility problems, but haven't had to use it much.

*Feels nice and sturdy.

*Decent price

*HDMI output.

Read Best Reviews of HP G42-230US 14-Inch Laptop Here

When I was looking for a laptop with the performance, style, and light weight, I naturally settled on this HP G-42-230US. It has a 14 screen that is perfect for your everyday typing, if you want to watch a DVD at a coffee shop, or if you're like me, the occasionally youtube video. So far, I have no complaints about this laptop.

Like the previous reviewer, I was surprisingly happy at the weight of this laptop. At 4.85 lbs, I feel like I can carry it with me everywhere. I even looked at some 13.3 inch Toshiba and Lenovo laptops, but theirs' measured at around 4.75 or 4.8 lbs with a bigger price tag.

Pros of this amazing laptop:

-lightweight

-long battery life

-very good quality camera

-a senor mousepad that allows you to turn it off or on with just one finger

-user friendly installation

-rank #1 in Newsweek's green ranking (it uses less energy than your average 14-in laptop)

-sturdy feel (good material)

-brought it when amazon had a fantastic price of only $550 with free shipping

If you're looking for a stylist laptop with the performance specs to back it up...this is the laptop for you!

Want HP G42-230US 14-Inch Laptop Discount?

I have had this computer for about 4 months, and it is not what I thought it would be...its worse. I bought it because it was a steal and i was on a budget. The battery life is about 1 1/2 hourse, which is not very good when you use it during a 2 hour class! I hate the mouse pad because it gets dirty very easily because of the crevices (the whole computer is acutually that way) The bottom gets SUPER, SUPER hot. I have acutually had red marks on my legs when I have let it sit to long on my lap, because it was so hot. I am currently saving my money to buy a macbook. If you can afford the extra couple hundred dollars, I would definately go for a little better laptop. I will not be having this on much longer because I dislike it that much.

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IBM Thinkpad T40

The IBM Thinkpad T40 is a great product, did not realize that it was not wifi but has a ethernet cable that can be linked to router. Bought for my 7 year old daughter to learn to type and play her CD-ROM games and she loves it -and I do not have to worry about her going onto the internet and finding inappropriate websites.

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ASUS F55A-AH91 15.6-Inch Laptop

I've gotten several laptops in my lifetime. And, this is the best one I've gotten so far. Nothing really stands out but it's just altogether well made. When you strike the keys, it feels very nice. The picture quality of the screen is good. Programs load up pretty quickly. Every laptop I've purchased I have regretted. I bought a laptop that was small and lightweight. I thought that it would be great to carry around. But, I learned that ease of carrying it around doesn't justify the small screen. Then, I went the other way and bought a huge screen. But, the weight made it so cumbersome. For example, just typing on your lap was annoying. But, this laptop seems perfect. Light, good screen size, and programs work perfect. Here are some points that I hope helps you make a decision.

Pros:

1. Touchpad. I love the touchpad. Very responsive. And you can scroll up/down and sideways by using two fingers. Never seen that before! Of course, you can zoom in and out by bringing your fingers together and out.

Cons:

1. low battery life. After a few hours of web surfing, you'll have to replug. My other laptops lasted much longer right after purchasing. (After a year or two, all of my laptops' batteries just sucked.)

The Intel version is considerably faster than the AMD E-450 model, which carries the same price. The only downside is a cut in battery life, the AMD gets a little over 4 hours, while I could only get about 3 out of this one. That is under constant use browsing web pages, and using wifi.

It is no speed demon, but it gets the job done. The display has good color, and is bright enough for use outdoors. The USB 3.0 port is a nice touch.

Before Windows 8 was released, this model was selling for $329, and could often be found on sale for $299. And at that price, it is an amazing machine. But at today's nearly $400 price, there might be other options to consider.

Buy ASUS F55A-AH91 15.6-Inch Laptop Now

I do my major computing on a Dell desktop, but I needed an affordable laptop for portability around the house and occasional travel. I'm very pleased so far with this one's performance. The screen is quite large and the quality of graphics & videos is more than good enough for my basic needs. (I can't speak to how it would be for gaming, since I don't do any of that.) This is a fine choice and good value.

Read Best Reviews of ASUS F55A-AH91 15.6-Inch Laptop Here

My sister, a high school student, needed to replace her junky netbook with a real computer, so I ordered this one for her figuring it was just perfect for a student.

We received the computer in two days (thank you, Prime), plugged it in, and started setting it up. My husband was so impressed with the Asus computer that he preferred it to our Toshiba AND our HP laptops. In fact, he spent nearly all of Thanksgiving break playing around on her computer. Speakers are good, graphics are good, and I genuinely prefer Windows 7 to Windows 8, which was probably *the* deciding factor in choosing this Asus laptop over several other models in this price point, most of which were equipped with Windows 8. Keep in mind this was during the week of Black Friday, so there were tons of deals on laptops, but this one seemed like the best buy to me, and I was right.

She absolutely loves the computer. We got her set up with a free 60-day trial of Microsoft Home and Student, which is actually my only complaint, that computers don't come with software like that anymore! Not anything against the computer itself, just against the current market and the unfortunate situation that puts many broke students like herself in...having to shell out an extra $100+ for software just so they can write a paper or create a presentation.

Bottom line: Buy it! This was a great buy for her, and my husband was so impressed with the Asus that I bought him one for Christmas to replace the 1 year old HP laptop that bit the dust...

Want ASUS F55A-AH91 15.6-Inch Laptop Discount?

I've been using this laptop for a couple of months, and I really love it. My last two laptops were a Toshiba and an HP. Both were relatively inexpensive at around $500 and they both felt really cheap. Both also died around the 3 year mark. I literally had tape holding the HP together at the end, and it barely ever left my coffee table. The toshiba was physically ok at the end, but totally crashed and could not be recovered even after bringing it to computer repair people. While I don't know what the longevity of this Asus will be, it feels and looks so much better out of the box, even though it is the least expensive. The screen is beautiful. It is fairly light for such a large computer. The battery life isn't great, but I am so used to the batteries on my last laptops loosing their charge after a year or so that I am happy to have any battery life. Programs were easy to instal. I really like the feel of the keyboard and track pad. Someone mentioned that the volume is too low, but that can be adjusted with the pre-installed desktop icon that says "Asus Sonic Foccus." I actually think the sound quality is pretty decent. Overall, my computing needs are pretty basic. This computer is great for the basic stuff. Of course, it runs slow until you install all of the windows updates, but as soon as you have installed all windows updates and an anti-virus program, you should be trouble free as I have been. This is the first laptop that I have actually been excited about in many years.

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Compaq 15.6" AMD E-300 1.30GHz Laptop | CQ57-439WM

Used as a second computer, no issues, works well, large screen, a bit heavy, but serves me well. Cost, quality, is a good value.

I bought this for a friend who needed a computer to do everything but had a small budget. This laptop is really a hell of a value for the price. Screen looks great, build is sturdy. It has everything you need, except maybe blu-ray. Yes, it's not the absolute fastest, but it's still pretty fast. And guess what just a few years ago, top of the line computers weren't even as fast as this one, and we did just fine. For the price of a top of the line computer, you can buy like 4 of these. You really can't beat that deal! I just feel bad wondering what slave labor must have been involved to keep the price so low.

Buy Compaq 15.6" AMD E-300 1.30GHz Laptop | CQ57-439WM Now

I chose this rating because the product met my expectations, I like that it has a 1yr warranty which gav

Read Best Reviews of Compaq 15.6" AMD E-300 1.30GHz Laptop | CQ57-439WM Here

I found this laptop at Walmart last week $228

I know, it's a special price but

you can save money...

Want Compaq 15.6" AMD E-300 1.30GHz Laptop | CQ57-439WM Discount?

I thought I dont need much. Stream a few movies check a few emails. Wow..No idea it was possible for anything to be this cheap. Speakers are no where near loud enough so I have to plug in powered speakers or head phones. No big deal in itself but the jack or plug doesn't get a good connection. Jiggle jiggle jiggle then stabilize the wire so it doesnt hang and cant move....I wont continue with everything I have done trying to keep the sound but it is the cheap computer. I know this because I have tried 2 sets of head phones and 2 pair of speakers and none of them work properly. Watching hulu or netflix it pauses 4 to 30 times an hour. It has froze up several times in the first 3 months of having it...OH 2 days here and a button or key just fell off it. I have no idea what it was ...3rd on left from the space bar. Sometimes its dial up slow and I have high speed-comcast. Yuppers, ya get what ya pay for. However this has been crap since day one so if they dont even make an effort to put out a quality product on their cheaper stuff there is no way compaq will ever get any more of my money in the future.

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