Great computer! Really fast and dependable. Keyboard works great, sound quality is fantastic and the battery doesn't die as fast as other computers. Overall great computer, looking to keep this one for quite awhile.
Showing posts with label writing notebooks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing notebooks. Show all posts
Dell i15RN-2727BK Inspiron 15 15.6" Notebook PC - Obsidian Black
Great computer! Really fast and dependable. Keyboard works great, sound quality is fantastic and the battery doesn't die as fast as other computers. Overall great computer, looking to keep this one for quite awhile.
ASUS N56VZ-XS71 15.6-Inch Laptop
This laptop arrived with a quirky mousepad. It seemed to click on its own making it almost impossible to type without the cursor jumping around. I used the fn9 for a few days and then it stopped working. My nice new computer is now on its way to California for repairs. Possibly the most disturbing thing is that, after spending so much money on a laptop, when I called ASUS tech services, they suggested that I let them tell me how to permenantly disable the mousepad. I would think they had enough pride in their products to want to make a new computer work correctly rather than cut off the broken stuff. So far, I'm not real impressed with ASUS.
HP Envy 14-1110nr 14.5-Inch Relic Laptop PC - Up to 3.45 Hours of Battery Life (Carbon)
Amazon appears to be the only place that has user reviews for the envy 14 WITHOUT the 1600x 900 radiance display, which is no long available. I searched and read every blog talking about this before I bought, here's the bottom line. I was so hesitant and hemmed and hawed about buying this after reading all the blogswhy? Because I'm like a lot of buyers out there, it really bugs me to get something new without having the best of everything installed on it, especially when it comes to computers because of the rapidness in which your brand new technology becomes 2nd best, and then nearly obsolete. The blogs were filled with people who got the radiance screen bragging profusely and potential buyers refusing to pull the trigger on this laptop unless the radiance display comes back...mixed with all the technical jargon about 1366x768 vs 1600x900 for this or that application, etc etc.I bought it anyway, why? It truly is the perfect size for the perfect balance between portability and performance. Amazon had an awesome price of less than 1000 bucks for not the lowest speed processor or smallest hard drive, a very nice build of 640 gb, 7200 rpm drive and the 3rd fastest available core i5. It also just plain looks sexy compared to any other windows based laptop being produced! It truly is a strong competitor for the MacBook pro, being made to look like it, but just different enough with some extra flair to set it apart.
Now the displayit is sad that HP lost the radiance display, that display is what in my opinion would have made the envy 14 laptop the absolute best laptop produced in 2010, and would have outdone the 15 inch and higher MacBook pro in every single category. As it stands now, I believe it outdoes the 13 inch MacBook pro, and for 300 bucks less! As far as windows based laptops in the same size and class, like I said, it's the best balance of price, performance, and portability, and best looking. The 1366x 768 edge to edge glass display is still nice, it honestly isiTunes movies at 720p look great, text is crystal clear, colors are brilliant, honestly, even if you are a power user, I don't see why you would be disappointed with the quality of the display, and remember the radeon 5650 card can do anything you need it to do more than what the laptop display provides when you hook it up to an HDTV or external LCD HD monitor. So, be angry at hp if you must, and refuse to buy this laptop without the better display, but if you can get over it, you will not be disappointed with this laptop if you do buy it...
This Envy is fabulous in terms of speed, heat management and fan noise is low relative to other HP laptops. However still higher than Sony, Dell and Asus, but not too bothersome.
Video card handles StarCraft 2 perfectly and is ATI 5650 is right up there with Nvidia GTS 360M, will handle upcoming call of duty black ops just fine.
You are here because you know all the good part, now Ill get to the bad.
Trackpad:
-Very jumpy, even moving your palm near it while typing cause cursor to jump all over, i nearly lost half of my note in class due to this.
-Poor construction, google HP ENVY 14 TRACKPAD NOISE, OR TRACKPAD PROBLEM, you will find pages and pages and pages of people (i'm one of them) with trackpad making loose clicky noises, or stuck or make loud clunky noises while being pressed upon. A comparable feeling would be driving a brand new Lexus with a loose and vibrating steering wheel. There's no way to self repair, you have to RMA or send it in for repair. As for software for the trackpad, there is an update that helps some but 2 finger scroll and the jumpiness still very much apparent. This trackpad cost it 2 stars and me to RMA the laptop.
-Wirless ON, display dimmed to lowest, no flash web site, only MS word taking note and stuff, power saving mode, real life battery under this condition is approximate 4 hours. U can squeeze 30 more probably with wireless Off.
PS: I have done extensive research online and went to see actual demo in store, trackpad degraded the experience of this laptop exponentially, otherwise if you will only be using a wireless mouse with it, this is a marvelous computer.
UPDATE as of November 13, 2010. Kudo's to Amazon, I returned the Envy 14 with defective trackpad, and received FULL refund plus shipping and got a replacement ENVY 14. Trackpad is a NONE issue now. Clicking is gone, while it's still a bit jumpy, but I just went to the synaptic trackpad setting and lowered the sensitiveness slightly and now it's perfect. Fan noise still low, display is gorgeous and all game can be played at max level e.g. Starcraft 2 and Black Ops. By the way, as a pleasant surprise, I just found out All ENVY series laptop are covered under 2 years warranty! This is the best laptop I have EVER owned, don't hesitate to buy it!
UPDATE as of January 8, 2011. After a software update for trackpad from HP last month, the trackpad works fabulously. 2 finger scroll and all other functions work as advertised. The laptop continue to provide 4 hours of battery life with power saver mode, screen dimmed to lowest,video card turned off and wireless ON, with a few office program running. This continue to deliver highest detail with no lag on Starcraft 2. I updated to the latest ATI Catalyst from AMD web site with no problem. Still runs quiet and cool. By quiet I mean I can sleep with it on overnight 1 foot beside me. BUY IT!
Buy HP Envy 14-1110nr 14.5-Inch Relic Laptop PC - Up to 3.45 Hours of Battery Life (Carbon) Now
Finally upgraded from my 4 year old Dell inspiron e1505 and I will never look back. Easily the highest quality laptop I have ever owned. Was able to get an i7 core processor with 6 gbs of memory and 500gb 7200 RPM harddrive for under $1000 with a coupon (watch gotapex.com, they pop up rarely).pros:
-beautiful! The laser etched aluminum frame and cover are unique and gorgeous. Yes it is vaguely reminiscent of the macbook but they really did make it unique.
-heat management. I am aware the the envy 13 and 17 series had overheating issues but mine (even with the i7 core) runs nice and cool. The fan never even has to kick it into high gear.
-excellent backlit keyboard. The nicest feeilng and most responsive keyboard I've used on a PC. Period.
-weight/size. My last laptop was 15.6 inches which was nice but very inconvenient. Myw ife's 13" macbook seemed just a bit too small. The Envy 14 (which is really 14.5inches) filled the gap idealy. Also manages to keep the weight off and be only 1.1" thick.
-mouse pad. You will read a LOT of negative reviews about this but I am very pleased with it. Note that there have been several driver updates since the initial reviews. I am absolutely thrilled with it.
-slot loading drive. Looks classy.
-beats audio. You should know beats audio does NOT mean that the laptop has special or unique speakers. It doesn't. Beats is a software driven optimization which provides clear, interference-free, crisp audio via the audio out ports. Makes a distinct difference when listening via external speakers or headphones. Can toggle on and off to hear the difference, definitely enjoyable.
-speed. I opted for the 1.6Ghz four core i7 processor and this computer is BLAZING FAST. Even if you don't play games the responsiveness of the operating system is truely remarkable.
-screen brightness/quality. The 1080p radiance display remains unavailable when I purchased this laptop. I have the lower resolution birghtview display (720p) which has it's plusses and minuses. The picture is VERY bright and crisp. Has much more liveliness when compared to my Dell. It WOULD be nice to have a slightly higher resolution but this in no way significantly detracts from the overall experience. Even if the radiance display was available I would not have spent the extra $200-300 to upgrade. Part of the appeal of the laptop is that it can be had for under $1000.
UPDATE: was on phone with customer service and inquired about the radiance display. HP says it is PERMANENTLY
discontinued from the HP envy 14 line.
-useful software/minimal bloatware: I only had to remove the Bing toolbar and that ended my bloatware removal. Also it comes with Adobe photoshop elements (which I had just bought seperately!) and adobe premier. Very usefull tools to apply that processing power!
-Build quality. This laptop is one of the only laptops in the sub-$1000 range with a metal frame. It is SOLID.
-comes with a TWO year warranty rather than the standard one year with other HP products
cons:
-battery life. I will admit that my poor battery life is mostly my fault for getting the i7. You should know that even though the graphics processor can be turned off (to switch to the integrated graphics) this feature is unavailable on the i7. Therefor I get to enjoy full processing power all the time, at the expense of battery life. I would say that using everything (bluetooth, wireless, full brightness, ect) I can get 2-2.5 hours of use out of it. I chose this because it is VERY rare that I use my laptop away from an outlet. I have a netbook for that purpose.
To sum things up I am happier with my envy than I have been witha ny computer before it. If you decide to buy you will not regret it.
UPDATE: Six months later I'm still extremely pleased with the laptop. I would happily purchase it again in a heartbeat!I received this laptop about a week ago, and I certainly have not regretted the decision. I was looking for something larger than 11", but smaller than 15", and solidly built. Battery life was certainly a consideration as well. Fortunately, I was able take a look at several laptops in person at our local MicroCenter, and take them for a test drive. Initially, the price of the Envy steered me clear when I first looked at it, as you can get comparable specs for 200 or more less.
However, after much consideration, I went back to the Envy -especially so after this 14" model was released with revised specs. Now, onto the meat and potatoes:
Pros: Bright Screen, excellent keyboard, backlit keyboard, decent switchable graphics, excellent battery life (about 4 hours), not much bloatware (easily uninstalled), LED's for various functions are not super bright, slot-loading DVD drive, solid construction, attention to small details compared to other laptops, and most importantly, my wife is a big fan.
Cons: The touchpad. I don't hate it, but it does take a bit of getting used to. A bit heavy for a 14" laptop. A tad expensive. I wish the screen could tilt a bit more back. The ethernet adapter "disappears" from device manager, until you plug a cable in -could be just a power-related setting though.
All in all, I feel this laptop fits our needs very well, and unlike the competition, has current hardware and a bit of muscle under the hood. For those of you interested, the Windows 7 Scores are as follows for the high performance GPU:
-Processor: 6.9
-Memory: 5.9
-Graphics: 6.7
-Gaming Graphics: 6.7
-Hard Drive: 5.9 (Highest a standard hard drive will go -need a SSD to increase this score)
Highly recommended!When I received this laptop the right speaker was not working. Can't believe HP has no quality control over their Flagship product Envy 14. But Full marks to Amazon. I just picked the phone told the Amazon rep on the phone about the issue and with in a couple of minutes they shipped another laptop which reached me Next Day. HATS OFF to Amazon customer service. I am very happy to see Amazon stepping and taking measures to keep their customers happy. HP please learn some thing!!!
About HP Envy 14, really liked the build quality, though there is still a little flex on the back of screen but much better then any other laptop ( except Mackbook) Touch pad has its own learning curve. I really think they could have kept the old touch pad. But then its large too which is a step in right direction. Key board is best in its class. Love to type on it. Screen is ok compared to other Pcs but no way close to radiance display or Macbooks display. Gives around 3.5 hrs battery life with wifi on and normal surfing. Stays cool ( have not tried Gaming Yet. Another complaint to HP about graphics card. Clocking it down DOES NOT HELP MUCH. Hope they can fix this with next upgrade of this product. All and All I really liked the Product, Its fast, shut down and boot time are also less ( comparative to other Pcs.) Tip :do minimal recovery to remove all bloat ware and then see how zipping fast this machine could get.
Gateway NV55C28u 15.6-Inch Laptop (Satin Black)
My first computer was a Gateway and I keep coming back. I love the full key board on this computer and the touch pad works like an iPhone which I really like. I wasn't sure that I would like the color, but the texturing adds dimension to the color and I'm liking it more than I thought I would. Its pretty fast and picture quality when Skyping is good.Some people don't think the speakers are lound enough, but they are fine for what I want to do. I also love the sleeker design and the larger screen makes it easy to watch movies. I use an HP at work and since getting this computer -I hate the work computer. I would recommend this to anyone!
No Problems at all.
Buy Gateway NV55C28u 15.6-Inch Laptop (Satin Black) Now
Really stylish! Love the look and feel! Have not any issues with performance or any issues with anything breaking! So far so good! Highly recommend! Great product for it's price, well worth what it cost!Read Best Reviews of Gateway NV55C28u 15.6-Inch Laptop (Satin Black) Here
I've been using my Gateway laptop for awhile now and have not had any problems. I love the color too. This laptop suits my needs perfectly. My only issue has been the black keyboard. I use my laptop in dim lighting and find it hard to find the correct keys. I put a little felt on the 2 main keys (f & j) and my problem is solved. Even though the keyboard is black, I still give this laptop a 5 star.Want Gateway NV55C28u 15.6-Inch Laptop (Satin Black) Discount?
At first i was very upset. The speakers were not working, nor the video. i had to call, speak with technicians, the video improved but I had to send it to them to change the speakers. After that has been ok, although the sound is not great.If you are not computer savy you should be ok, but if you are into watching movies and videos in it, not very recomended.
It is ok as a work tool or for emails.
Toshiba Satellite C855-S5194 15.6" Laptop (Fusion Finish in Mercury Silver) Windows 8 / 640GB HDD /
I researched and researched looking for the best machine I could get for my money and I could not be happier after purchasing the Toshiba C855-S5194. But........I purchased it locally at a major office supply store because their 'in store' discount coupled with the $50 rebate was a better price than here. Most of the negative reviews I'd read about *any* laptop was that Windows 8 was horrible. Well, that has nothing to do with the performance of the laptop. AND, Toshiba sends you a free e-copy of Windows 8 for Dummies (only 32 pages) so there's no excuse to say you don't know how to navigate. Memory was a huge selling point for me, there's lots of it on this machine, and it had a better processor than some of the others I was looking at. I did have to change some of the settings on the touchpad because I didn't like the defaults (i.e. to scroll you have to use TWO fingers and I'd rather use one on the side or bottom). You have to be slightly deliberate in your typing, but I'm ok with that too. And I've really been impressed with the battery life. I can work on it for up to four hours (maybe a little more). The web cam is very clear and adjusts the light accordingly. My husband and I Tango (free video chat app) and the images are good (depending on your signal). I installed Office Home Professional without any trouble. It's light for the size it is. I would highly recommend this machine to anyone in the market!
The screen has a good resolution and the exterior design it's fineSize a litttle bigger for my taste. but is great laptop screen very nice and 6g of memory gives good performancei am glatd to buy this laptot till now its working good and met my expectations
I will shuggest to buy this good deal
Save 14% Off
Toshiba Satellite A505-S6980 (Black)
Lets just start with.. The computer is great! It is packed full of features you would expect from a more expensive laptop ( when purchased for $599.00 from BestBuy ). I put in many hours of research before buying this model. Just Google it and you will see all the great things people have said.But I must say...Amazon usually has great prices. Lord knows I have purchased just about everything from here. In this instance the above seller, not Amazon, is making an absolute killing. Buyer be warned!
Buy Toshiba Satellite A505-S6980 (Black) Now
To start, this is not a gaming laptop. Don't buy this if you are a hardcore gamer and need the latest computer games to run perfectly. You will be disappointed. But for the casual user, a student, or someone who uses their computer for business, this Toshiba Satellite is a great investment. The speed is great, there's plenty of storage space, and the battery life is amazing as far as laptops go. Fully charged, the battery will last for 5-7 hours, depending on what you are doing. The large battery is a little awkward if you have the computer sitting on your lap, but it's great for on top of a desk or table. The battery props up the computer up so you can type in a more comfortable position.I've had this laptop for over two years and I only have a couple of negative things to say about it. The speakers aren't the greatest. They work fine, but they don't get very loud which can be a buzzkill if you're playing some music for friends. I also was not happy with the amount of Toshiba "crapware" that came pre-installed on the machine. I eventually upgraded my harddrive and was happy to have all that useless software eradicated. Overall, this computer has been well-worth the money I paid for it.
Read Best Reviews of Toshiba Satellite A505-S6980 (Black) Here
We purchased two of these in November of 2009. We have has the hard drive replaced in each one and will now have to replace the hard drive again in one of them. It's not right. We only use it for normal household use. E-mail, facebook, school papers. It stays in one place and is well taken care of. We don't load external games on it and the only outside items we run is Quicken, Turbo Tax and Webroot software.Look for something else.
Want Toshiba Satellite A505-S6980 (Black) Discount?
At first, this laptop was wonderful. It ran fast (still does) and has a nice screen size. However, The touch pad is extremely sensitive and the surrounding area as well. I always have trouble scrolling. I also have had problems with Toshiba's battery port for the computer end. I've had two Toshiba Computers and both ports have brpken within a 6th month period. I haven't dropped either of them, shaken them or mishandled the computers in any way. I also got an extended battery for my laptop and that runs down in a short amount of time. If Toshiba got their act together hardware wise, I would've rated my old computer and this on a little higher.
Apple iBook Laptop 14.1" M9165LL/A (1Ghz PowerPC G4, 256 MB RAM, 60 GB Hard Drive, DVD/CD-RW Drive)
Ok, I know you have read time and again about making "the Switch" to which most just shake their heads. Me I'm sold! I got the ibook over the powerbook due to the fact that 1) I am not a graphic designer, 2) the battery life, 3) the price, and 4) I didn't like squinting at the 12" screen. The battery life on the 14" is awesome! It is pretty true to the advertising of 6 hrs, even if you are running airport extreem and playing itoons as you surf the web as I am right now. The battery life dipps a little when you are watching DVDs, or playing a game, but then again that's because you are crunching some serious graphical goodness due to the ati card. Over all, I say it's a great buy for the money! I will recommend to everyone to max out the ram though, a must with OSX. If you are looking for a great laptop that just works and runs forever GET THIS ibook.
The 1 GHz processor and maximum RAM provide lightening fast boot-up and application loading. Add the Airport Extreme card and you can surf the web from hotspots all over the country.I've been using and defending PCs for a long, long time! Ever since I got in front of a computer (about 20 years ago), all I've worked with were PCs. And I stubbornly kept defending PCs and disregarding Macs as thought they were inferior. As of late, however, I've been using UNIX quite a bit and knowing the strengths of all *IX OS's I knew I wanted a *IX compatible laptop. Well, alas! Apple came with Panther and I was sold! I bought this laptop through my university's Apple store and got it "souped-up" and I tell you with confidence that this is the *best* laptop I've ever owned! The weight is lower than most competitors' comparable laptops. The power of Panther is outstanding. I feel confident recommending this laptop to anyone without any reservations. Apple is giving consumers, for the first time, a TRUE alternative to MS Windows' hegemony. Some of you who have been around computers might read the title of this post and giggle for that is what people were saying back in the mid-80s and never became a reality (at least not for the consumer as evidenced by the market share apple holds). But I think with this laptop and Panther Apple has made a believer out of me. Very solid, good-lloking, powerful laptop.I AM UPSET HE LIED AND THE LAPTOP IS WORST THAN HE EXPLAINED I AM SO MAD NOW I HAVE TO PAY MONEY TO SEND IT BACK AND THE INTERNET WONT LOAD DO NOT TRUST THIS MANi was surprised at how nice and easy this laptop has made out to be,, it arrived with a new battery and last about 6-7 hours on a charge.. it came with instructions that the merchant has loaded into the computer to assist with setting up the user profiles... this laptop has the fastest boot up time nearly instant than my other brand new laptops... very happy with my purchase.
Lenovo ThinkPad T400 Notebook - Intel Centrino 2 vPro Core 2 Duo T9400 2.53GHz - 14.1" WXGA+ - 2GB
I own this laptop with the LED backlit screen. I purchased my laptop directly from Lenovo March 2009 and installed Win7 almost a month after purchasing.What's typical about win7 on laptops is the lack of battery life. It's miserable. On Vista I had near 12hours of uninterrupted use with the extended battery, while on win7 i'm lucky to get 3.5 hours on a dimmed screen. That's Microsoft's fault, not Lenovo's. So I'm going to say it's got EXCELLENT battery life with the supplied Vista operating system.
Now I've owned 3 thinkpads prior to this and I have to say the quality has gone down considerably since the IBM days. The keyboard is mushy, so are the wrist pads and overall construction is inferior to how it used to be. Deflation and poor manufacturing don't end there, last week my fan seized to work. It had rattled for a couple months before it seized so I knew at some point it would fail, but I don't think a year is good enough for a thinkpad. It commands a price and should live up to it.
As far as reliability issues go, that's about it. In a little over a year I spent $60 in fan, and $10 in screws on maintenance which is a bit unacceptable for me. I was hoping for at least 3 years before any maintenance was required. If I had sent the laptop in, there would be shipping and handling, inflated parts price, and labor which would probably cost even more.
For the good, it's a typical Lenovo generation thinkpad. Construction is still noticeably more robust than the competition and has the classic look. Hinges are strong and beefy looking, integrated periphrals are well placed and has the "think light" embedded into the top of the monitor which is surprisingly usable, however doesn't replace illuminated keys. And in this day and age, I don't think it's too much to ask for illuminated keys on such an overpriced computer (bang per buck is low) but I suppose this is the simplicity they are going for.
I could go on and on about it's shortcomings, but that's with any product I've ever bought. Overall, I think this is a genuinely good product from Lenovo, only if you can get it on a bargain.
Toshiba Satellite C875-S7340 17.3-Inch Laptop (Satin Black Trax)
This laptop offers a well-balanced set of features for its intended purpose: not an ultralight machine for entertainment but something closer to a desktop PC for serious work. The display is attractive, the speed is good thanks to the Intel i3 processor, memory and storage capacity are adequate. In my case, it was an excellent value for the money since I bought a practically similar machine for $399.I had some reservations about a machine running windows 8. After a few days of use I am reassured that it was a good choice. I started out in the tiled mode but soon discovered the Desktop mode. This is how I will use it, with few exceptions. I like to have the option of the two modes:
The windows8 mode (tiles) is perfect for playing around or for those who are best at clicking or touching after being spoiled by tablets. I think I understand the reason for Microsoft giving this mode preference: money. What used to be 'programs' are now 'apps', with the difference that they now ask one to 'accept' something or enter data to milk our personal information, and try to suck us into some 'store' to buy... more 'apps'. I have immediately removed from the start menu the tiles of the most stupid 'apps', and will only use this mode when I allow myself to be childish.
The 'Desktop' mode is the real one for productive work. I promptly installed the program "Start8" that makes the PC boot into this desktop mode and restores the Start button to its function in windows 7. After trying it out I'll spend the $4.99 to permanently use Start8.
Buy Toshiba Satellite C875-S7340 17.3-Inch Laptop (Satin Black Trax) Now
This computer has an awesome CD/DVD burner! We run a DJ/KJ show and the burner is super important for creating and backing up music as well as playing customer CD+G or MP+G discs. Great big hard drive to store digital music.Read Best Reviews of Toshiba Satellite C875-S7340 17.3-Inch Laptop (Satin Black Trax) Here
It's not a bad computer but the keys feel cheap and the touchpad isn't smooth. It came with Windows 8 which was a pain to get setup since no documentation came with the computer. Since it doesn't have a touchscreen I would have rather had Windows 7 installed.Want Toshiba Satellite C875-S7340 17.3-Inch Laptop (Satin Black Trax) Discount?
Toshiba Satellite C875-S7340 17 inch Laptop went still wrapped in the Amazon packing box to Best Buy Geek Squad for set up (I have a 3 computer set up and repair contract with Geek Squad). Here is the Geek Squad report: "Unit was purchased from Amazon and is missing many software that comes from manufacturer. Also had diagnostics software that started at boot that put unit to sleep every 30 sec. Recommend returning to Amazon for refund or exchange."I sure think Toshiba should send me a new laptop for saving them the trouble this model will bring to them if they don't take it off the market ASAP. It went on sale at Amazon on 11/12/12. I bought it the day prior and so was one of the first buying it at Amazon. I am not fond of buying junk that needs to be returned especially $599.00 junk. Gee Wiz how much does the Toshiba CEO make in an hour. Please multiply that by about 6 hours of my time and send me the money whoever you are!
Compaq Presario CQ60-212US 15.6" Notebook PC. AMD Athlon X2 QL-62 Dual-Core Processor (2.0 GHz), 4G
It has vga out but no svideo or hdmi out, other than that its great.I've had this about one month now and so far not one issue. Compared to the last Compaq I bought this thing is way better. It seems that Compaq has learned about it pervious errors in making "introductory" laptops and corrected their mistakes. It has better quality parts than what compaq was using four years ago in its presario laptops. For example, the keyboard has keys that actually come off and go back on easily; and the machine is much more modular so taking user serviceable parts out and replacing them is easy (again keyboard is a good example, it requires only removing the battery and three screws which are aptly labled with a litte picture of a keyboard).
It seems like more thought went into this product than previous presarios. Its 4GB and dual core processor make running vista a reality. Putting vista64bit on it gives me a leg up because I actually have some 64bit apps to run on it, the most aggressive being the Oracle database. Screen is nice, keyboard is nice, touchpad works well, cdrom responds quickly when given a disc, the 8200m geforce video means I can actually run all but the most recent of games which is one of my requirements, 250gb disk lets me load lots of those games, and store lots of data in my database.
Again about the only thing I am sorry about is that it has no HDMI port and so I cannot hook up a hdmi monitor as a second monitor. It does have a vga out port so I can hook up a monitor that accepts vga input.
For the price I paid there is no way I will find anything better. Shop around, the price on this varies considerably, especially if you can find a special at a chain store. At the price I paid, I wish I could get another three for the family, but they sold out in one day all across my state. In my mind unless a person is a major gamer who has to play the most recent games, or has some special need, this laptop is more power than you can want. It will do all the basics great (internet, office toolset, email, even run a large database how bout that).
Lastly, sevice is good. My daughter's cat peed on the keyboard and shorted out a couple of keys. It took 40 minutes, but HP agreed to ship me a new keyboard for 70$ which I replaced easily rather than having to send it in for repair which would cost a minimum of 200$. Here is a recap:
1) dual cpu and 4gb make vista runnable and snappy
2) 8200m geforce video makes gaming possible for most gamers
3) inexpensive, but not junk, parts feel like quality
4) screen is nice sized with good picture at its highest resolution
5) 250gb disk gives plenty of space
5) has no problems like prior presarios (no overheating, no lost keys, no slow cpu, no dead pixels)
6) HP service came through for me and let me save 130$
** only negative is it that though it has a vga out port, it lacks a hdmi out port
Hail Flavius!
This computer I bought new for $400 on Feb. 15th 2009. Compared to my almost two year old HP desktop with 32 bit Vista, this seems flawless. This laptop does not come with a lot of periferal connectivity (but its a laptop), you can't expand the ram (but it already has 4 Gigs) and only has a so-so graphics card (like all packaged HPs) but who cares? I couldn't be happier. Lots of bang for the buck and 64 bit OS, yes sir.I bought this and it works fine. However, 6 months in, the adapter/charger stopped working. Called Customer Service. Said they would send a new one. Ten days later it is a no show. I call again, it is on back order. Ten Days! this is ridiculous. My daughter has a Dell, called on a Friday, it was in my mail box Monday. Same issue. Different result. who knew I would be here touting Dell!
Slow Slow Slow with parts. What good is my laptop without the charger??
Toshiba Portege Z835-P370 13.3-Inch Ultrabook (Silver)
The Toshiba Portege Z835-P370 is Toshiba's latest entry in a very competitive ultrabook market. Toshiba's aim here was to produce the lightest ultraportable laptop while maintaining some functionality and they've done a very nice job. The laptop weighs in at a hair over 2.5 pounds (which is about 3 slim magazines). This is a welcomed replacement to my eight pound 10 year old Apple Powerbook.Structurally, the laptop is sound. You can pick up the laptop by one corner and the chassis will not flex nor bend. This is surprising considering how thin the laptop is. Conversely, the screen is very flexible and bends easily. I've read reports that the screen wobbles when you are typing with the laptop on your lap but I haven't experienced that at all. While the hinges are stiff enough, you wouldn't want to open the laptop screen with the corner of the screen. You would hold the screen from the center to open it.
The SSD is zippy and loading takes only 4-5 seconds from cold start and almost instantaneous from sleep mode. The i5 processor is very capable of handling the demands of most business users and casual gamers. The laptop never hiccuped when running Microsoft Office products with multiple documents or spread sheets open. While the laptop is not intended for gaming, I was able to play Star Craft 2 on the lowest settings without any lag at all. However, turning up the graphics settings slowed the game down quite a bit.
The only complaints I have so far:
spacing of the keyboard keys. The keys are spaced out in such a way that I tend to miss keys sometimes. It may be a good idea to go to a retail store and play with the keyboard for a bit to see if you like it.
built in webcam picture quality is slightly grainy not what I expected out of a laptop this expensive
fan noise in a quiet room, there is an audible hum coming from underneath the laptop, do anything processor/graphics intensive and the fan kicks into overdrive and can be annoying
Despite some shortcomings, my initial impressions have been very good thus far. This was my first laptop purchase online and I was a little hesitant that I wouldn't be happy but I have been nothing but pleased so far in the week that I've owned it. I'll be back in a few weeks to update my review after I've had a chance top play with it some more, but so far, I'd have to give it two thumbs up.
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After reviewing the Macbook Air 13, the Zenbook UX31 and the Toshiba Z835, I selected the Toshiba. In my opinion an ultra-book should include as many features of a standard size notebook as possible into the lightest, most compact form factor possible. The Z835 wins on the most ports and expansion options. The Z835 wins on being the lightest weight. The Z835 wins with having the most reasonable price. The MSRP is $1049.99, however OfficeMax had a sales promotion and the device was $949.00. On top of that, the Z835 also had all of the features I wanted including the i5 quad core processor, 6 gigabytes of ram, Bluetooth and HDMI out. I also like the sleep and charge USB port which allows me to charge my Clear hotspot, a huge plus because I don't have yet another ac adaptor to carry around. The subdued styling works for me being as I'm not crazy about shiny / polished gadgets. The keyboard is great with the key spacing and key travel just fine for me being as I'm a touch typist. The keyboard backlighting also works well for me. The multi touch touchpad is one of the best I've ever used. The response is extremely fluid and smooth. I've stopped using my arc touch mouse, it's that good. For such a small device, the sound system puts out high quality sound. Between the speakers and the audio enhancement software, the sound is excellent. The sound is also great on Bluetooth when I stream to my Plantronics BackBeat earphones. I normally stream music from jazzradio.com, digitally imported or audio galaxy so I've always got access to great tunes. When out taking pictures, I either use the included sd card slot or use my Eye-Fi 4 gig wi-fi card to transfer photos. Everything has worked without a hitch. With the i5 processor, 6 gigs of ram and the SSD, the Z835 is extremely fast and has handled everything I've given it with absolutely no performance issues. Being as I have not been on battery power that often, I can't accurately discuss battery life. However all of the reviews I read give it very high marks for battery life. About the only complaint I have is the small SSD. I hope when larger SSD's come available I can swap them out on my own. For now I carry my 1TB WD USB 3.0 drive, which contains all of my music, pictures, data and movies. For my school and personal files I use on a daily basis, I sync with my cloud based DropBox account. The Z835, along with my Apollo 4G hot spot have become my complete mobile solution, it is that versatile. No more tablet or smart phone and the associated data access plans that come with them. In my opinion the Z835-370 represents the best overall value of all of the ultra-books currently available. The Z835-370 comes highly recommended.Read Best Reviews of Toshiba Portege Z835-P370 13.3-Inch Ultrabook (Silver) Here
I debated buying a Thrive or this and chose the laptop.What's great:
+ Weighs very little and I can easily stow it in my leather padfolio case with expandable file.
I have gotten positive feedback on both. Be careful of making your executive team jealous!
Many a project manager and business analyst just want a lightweight PC for taking notes, recording a meeting,
processing email or surfing the web. Ideal match.
+ Thin! My LG phone is thicker than this notebook.
+ The Solid State Drive (SSD) is sweet. Instant on. No long boot times. Spoil me baby!
+ Includes 1 USB3.0 port and 2 USB2.0 ports, one of which is on the side, the rest on the back.
+ The Ethernet off the back is wonderful, being out of the way, though I had to get used to it being mounted upside down.
+ Anecdotal battery review: I unplugged at 10am this morning to use it in meetings all day and a working lunch and near 5pm
it was low and finally hibernated. 7 hours work without complaint? OK for my purposes.
What's not:
At 128GB, you start the Windows experience half-full. I upgraded from the Home version of Win 7 to Professional.
Now, I have 67 GB free. The formatted 128 GB is actually only 102 GB capacity, 67 GB now free.
Why oh why won't Toshiba make this product with 256 GB drives?
So, how do you get a little more space to buzz around with this tiny dancer laptop?
Well, while I bought a SanDisk Extreme Pro (45 mb/sec) SDHC card, I was wondering how it would play with the Portege.
Answer: Toshiba has a crappy 15 SDHC unit built in and all I could get out of it was 15 mb/sec.
Nevertheless, I am planning to pickup a slow (15 mb/sec) 64 GB SDXC card and check that for compatability.
Watch out for cooling. My first unit arrived and booted with an OS complaint the cooling system was not working. Exchanged!
The new unit arrived working fine, but I quickly learned the laptop is silent only when doing little or nothing.
If you dare to install something that requires CPU power, like a game, you will hear the fan ROAR as it tries to keep up
with the heat generation of the CPU. I dumped the games I installed immediately. Back to work I guess.
The screen is 1366x768, which is OK, but not great. This low res vertical is still one of the day-to-day
most annoying feature of laptops, when we live on the web and screen real-estate is king. 1024 would have made this an
awesome design, but it is only OK.
Last caution is that the thin screen is a handling risk. If it seems fragile (and it does) then it probably is fragile.
Get insurance.
Personally, I would have rounded the corners if I were on the engineering team, but the squareness fits in with the Microsoft
world. Haha, sorry MSFT.
So, am I happy with it? You bet I am!
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I had the computer for one month and the screen malfunctioned. I sent it to Toshiba for them to repair it under warranty. Then about two to three weeks later I receive it back, with a copy of the warranty and a note saying the repairs are not covered but without stating the reason. What they did with it for three weeks is anyone's guess as I heard nothing from the company. After more hours on the phone with the company, it appears that any issues with the screen are assumed to be the customer's fault and Toshiba calls you a liar if you try to convince them otherwise. For comparison, I had an Asus whose screen malfunctioned after 11 months and they replaced it no questions asked. The computer itself is a fine machine but if you happen to get a lemon, you will get no love from Toshiba. So thanks to their policies, I will not look to purchase any Toshiba products in the future.Update: After receiving it back from their repair facility, the computer would not charge or turn on when plugged in. Weeks more with the Toshiba repair facility await. What a horrible product
ASUS N56VM-AB71 Full-HD 1080P 15.6-Inch Laptop
Build:First of all, the build quality on this machine is EXCELLENT. Having never owned any asus product, I'm seriously impressed at the build quality on this thing. Even though I only paid $899, this feels like a $1500+ machine. The aluminum finish is fantastic and feels really good. I will say it's a bit of a fingerprint magnet, but that's nothing a quick wipe with a cloth won't fix. Also, since Amazon doesn't disclose this, the ASUS logo on the front lid is BACKLIT. Some reviewers have knocked on the weight a bit, but for everything you're getting, it's a non issue. Unless you weigh about 30lbs, I don't see how you could knock on the weight.
Keyboard:
The keyboard is great. I very much enjoy the feel of the keys and the response is excellent. Even for someone with big hands like me, I have no trouble typing at full speed. Also, this keyboard is BACKLIT for those of you not sure, and it looks great in the dark. You can also adjust the level of brightness as you see fit.
Touchpad:
Wasn't too happy with this at first but I've grown to like it. I'm a big fan of the pinch to zoom and all the other features it comes with. Yes, sometimes you might not get the exact response you want or you'll accidentally zoom in on something, but the touchpad is great. No regrets and no serious complaints.
Performance:
Initial boot up takes a bit, but even with all of the bloatware ASUS puts on this thing, it's pretty fast. The i7 along with the 6GB of RAM really makes navigating through all programs a breeze and I've no freeze ups or noticeable lag. I plan on installing an SSD sometime in the near future and doing a clean install but for the average user, there shouldn't be any performance issues.
Graphics:
As some reviewers have previously mentioned, you are using dual cards for graphics. The laptop uses the Intel 4000 for non extensive actions and the NVIDIA for heavy graphic tasks such as gaming. I don't really plan on gaming at all so this is perfect for me. But from what I've read, gaming shouldn't be an issue.
Display & Sound:
The display is AMAZING. Videos, websites, programs......everything looks excellent. Hands down the best display I've used on a Windows machine. I would highly recommend pushing for 1080p if possible. The sound quality for a laptop is amazing. It's loud and clear. I've just started doing insanity workouts and using this and the sound and look of everything is amazing. No complaints at all. I haven't used the included speaker, but I'll get around to it. Webcam is also nice and clear and video chatting is no issue. Other party can hear me loud and clear with no echo.
Overall, I am completely satisfied with my purchase.
I really wish Amazon would get proper specs up for this. I ordered in hope that it would have a backlit keyboard, and I got lucky.
I will update this review with more info if I find anything worth remarking on the specs speak for themselves, and of course there is a ton of nonsense bloatware, but that's easily dealt with.
I highly recommend this machine to anyone who wants something that looks good and you can be proud to own.
Buy ASUS N56VM-AB71 Full-HD 1080P 15.6-Inch Laptop Now
I received this laptop about four days ago and still in the process of removing and loading software. Started with the standard operating procedure, Windows updates and removing McAfee (this requires a special removal tool from the McAfee website to do a clean uninstall). Had trouble with the wireless connection crashing and had to call Asus customer support who directed my to their website to download a new driver for the Atheros AR9485-EG wireless adaptor. Seems to have taken care of the problem from what I can tell. 1920 x 1080 resolution is nice most models with that resolution are $1,200 or more.... 750 GB and 6 GB ram great specs. Having some problem with the spacebar. I type about 70 w/minute and it doesn't respond as well as I am used to unless I hit it dead center and pretty firm. Other people reported a similar problem after researching this issue in forums. I will wait for a few days and if needed have Asus install a new keyboard under warranty. Sound/speakers are OK not great and for movies I would recommend external speakers. This model has the separate numeric keyboard off to the side (good for working on spreadsheets) which makes the model a bit larger and likely heavier.Ran down the battery yesterday and got over 4 hours out of it no games but lots of installing and downloading. Good buy for the price and is has everything once could ask for for a desktop laptop.
Update I had to return the first laptop because I did not want to go through the hassle of getting the keyboard repaired Amazon exchanged it with no problem (same model) and the keyboard on the replacement laptop works great. The first one didn't have the backlighting (or maybe it was a driver problem) this one works without any hitches.
Read Best Reviews of ASUS N56VM-AB71 Full-HD 1080P 15.6-Inch Laptop Here
Received it yesterday, great turn around time by Amazon. That said, I have the following gripes with this laptop already.1). I bought this laptop hopefully to build a Hardware Specification equivalent of a Macbook Pro without paying the Apple Hardware Tax and without having to use MACOS.
2). Window 8 Sucks. Hated it immediately. I would have bought the Windows 7 version of this Laptop, except it is slightly different and has less base memory. So I bought the Windows 8 version and just installed my own copy of Windows 7.
3). The UEFI is locked to Windows 8. I removed the hard drive and replaced it with a SSD. The Boot process would not hand-off to Windows 7 during the setup process when using UEFI and mounting Windows 7 install as a CD. If I toggled the "Launch CSM" setting in the BIOS to "Enabled" this worked fine, but without UEFI. Less exciting but still very usable. (CSM means Compatibility Support Module and it's a UEFI setting for backwards compatibility with older BIOS devices.)
4). The only 16gb memory I was able to get to work to upgrade this machine to 16gb was Kingston ValueRAM 8GB 1600MHz DDR3 (PC3-12800) Non-ECC CL11 SODIMM Notebook Memory (KVR16S11/8). I tried three other sets of 16gb DIMMs without any of them working before I found the Kingston. Thanks to the person in the comments who suggested it.
5). The upgrade plate is on the bottom toward the front and merely requires removing the one center front screw. This involves prying up the plastic foot thing in the center and unscrewing. Easy access to the HDD, the Memory and the NIC from there.
6). The laptop was both heavier and thicker than I expected. This is not a fault of what is reported, but a fault of my expectations. Temper your own expectations to match.
7). As others have noted here and elsewhere, the trackpad gets in the way of typing sometimes. It's very easy to click things with you wrist while typing. I personally think this is true of many laptops due to my own typing style, so YMMV.
8). Once I got Win7 installed on the SSD, this laptop screams. Really loved how fast it boots. Haven't installed much yet though, so we will see.
9). If I could not have gotten Win7 working I would have RMA'd this faster than you can say... well, just about anything.
10). If you are looking for Windows 7 x64 Drivers, you will not find them on the Asus website under the N56VJ model. You need to look under the N56VZ model and use those drivers. The N56VJ and the N56VZ are basically the same computer with slightly different specs. All the drivers are common and seem to work just fine. Drivers can be found there.
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I spent a lot of time searching for this machine. Well, okay, I spent 5 hours one night waiting for my paycheck to clear. I investigated a lot of different machines, including the higher-end Asus gamer rigs, and I settled on this one. Including tax I spent about $450 less than I would have on one of those boxes, and I'm happy with my purchase so far. So let's get into the review.The good:
The screen is really good, but it's not as good as my Vaio from several years ago. Basically the viewing angle is great left-to-right, but the vertical viewing angle leaves a bit to be desired. It's still better than my last laptop, a Toshiba Satellite. This one has about 20 degrees of vertical tolerance, and the matte finish helps a lot with sunlight, so it's at least a step-up from my last machine. Cautious thumb-up on the screen, it's within my tolerance zone, and when you view it at the correct angle it looks fantastic.
Performance is very respectable. Diablo 3 runs full detail with everything on high in 1280x768. LA Noire runs about 50 frames in the same resolution on performance detail (though you have to hack it to overcome the hardcoded 30fps limit), about 30 frames with detail on max.
The build quality is impressive. The unit feels very solid, and I'm impressed that it comes with 1 year of accidental damage protection. Amazon tried to upsell me a year, and I almost bought it because I didn't realize that it already came with the unit. My friend tells me the Amazon policy kicks in after the manufacturer policy, so it still might be worth it if you want to play it safe, but I'm confident I won't drop my laptop, so I'm going to gamble for a year. I don't mind the island keyboard at all, and I haven't had any problems with the spacebar like other reviewers reported.
The audio is great. I don't expect much from onboard speakers, so to say I'm impressed is an understatement. Clean, crisp separation of the left and right channels, you'd almost think it was magic, provided you are right on top of the machine. In my experience laptop speakers fade out over time, though, so I wouldn't make my purchase based on that. It's just an added bonus.
The bad:
The home, pgup, pgdn, and end keys are in a crappy spot. That will take a lot of getting used to.
The unit isn't raised on the bottom, so you have to keep it on a flat surface at all times. I'm using my old broken laptop for the time being as a surface.
6GB ram? Really? I think Asus did that just to make you buy a more expensive machine. The 8GB models cost a lot more. I'll be popping my own ram in before too long.
Occasionally the swap-monster eats my mouse movements. So far this hasn't happened in games, but it's concerning. I'm planning to upgrade to an SSD (or maybe 2 SSDs) before too long. I'll update the review when I do that.
The air runs pretty damn hot when I play games. For now it's not a problem. The bottom of the unit feels only slightly warm. Over time this will mean I will need to dust out the unit to prevent it from overheating, and the problem with that plan is that the intake for the fan is far, far away from the vent. So I'm thinking I'm probably going to have to take it apart from time to time to get the dust out, instead of using my standard strategy of just blowing out the fan. In fact if past experience is any indication, I might just replace the fan. Laptop manufacturers tend to cheap out on them.
The trackpad is not quite as bad as people say it is, but give up on pressing the corners. But hell, I knew it sucked going in, and I usually plug in a mouse anyway. I'd recommend getting yourself a bluetooth mouse and disabling the thing. Still, given all the terrible reviews on it, it's surprisingly usable. I haven't had a problem with multi-touch.
I will update this review as the machine ages.
Update, ~1.5 weeks:
1. The trackpad really is as bad as everyone says. I take back anything good I had to say about it. Get a bluetooth mouse for sure.
2. There is definitely a problem with video playback and audio glitches with the software that ships with the unit. I would recommend this computer, so far, to an intermediate to advanced user. The problem seems to be related to McCafee. I couldn't swear on it, but after I got rid of it the glitches seemed to go away. Bottom line is that I recommend reinstalling the entire operating system, and wiping the disk.
3. My computer crashed over Thanksgiving. I think it was my fault but I'll never have proof. The machine comes with a C: and a D: partition. I married the partitions, and the next time I booted the machine, I couldn't boot windows. Long story short I had to reinstall. So far the machine is a lot better than the factory installation, so I would recommend wiping the machine for advanced users and the adventurous.
This is a nice little machine if you (are, or) have a really good friend who is a nerd. After having to reinstall I am waiting for the other shoe to drop. I will update again as new information is available :).
Update 2 weeks:
I'm downing my rating to 4 for a few reasons.
1. It's a damn good screen, and has a nice finish, but the leds are too bright at the top and bottom edges.
2. As someone pointed out in the comments, the battery life is pretty standard for Windows machines -bad. About 3 hours with a brand new battery. I have access to power most of the time so it's not a big deal for me. For some others it probably will be.
3. Having run for a few days after my own clean install, it shows how crappy the factory software install was. Definitely reformat if you can lay hands on a Windows 7 home premium 64bit disk (your license key that ships with the unit works with any Win7 HP64 disk).
4. The trackpad is even worse than a lot of people say... it's above the bezel a little in spots on my unit.
But after a reinstall it runs super-smooth with very decent graphics performance as well, which was my main objective. I'm not sorry I didn't get the ROG laptup instead, so overall I'm still pretty positive about the purchase.
Hard drive hasn't gone bad on me or anything, but seeing as that's a common problem I may get an SSD sooner rather than later. I kinda knew that going in as well. To some others in the comments: I considered Samsung but IIRC the units I saw had ATI cards. After my linux experiences I insist on NVidia for now. The card in this one is pretty decent, but I'm sure it will be out of date in about 2 years or so. It's not top of the line or anything, but it will play XCom and Skyrim in high detail, especially after the reinstall.
Sony VAIO VPC-SC1AFM/S 13.3" Notebook (2.3GHz Intel Core i5-2410M 4GB RAM 500GB HDD Blu-ray Read On
fast delivery. the vendor said the condition of the computer and match the product I received. They say it has some outside cosmetic scratches and interior clean, but They did not mention that the some keys from the keyboard felt stuck. they work but the do not recoiled. you also need to upgrade many of the windows programs on the net. overall, It is a portable computer compare to 15.6" which is kind of big to carry on all the times. It is like a tablet but with lot of computing power. After searching and comparing for 5 hrs and buy the best computers in the $400 range. I decide to get this one (it play blue rays-I feature that many computesr don't have). I can used it as a bluray player in the hotel's TV. I can save my bluray disc on the HD.
Dell Inspiron 15 i15-N5040 15.6-Inch Laptop (Black)
My Dell Inspiron 15 N5040 included 3gb of RAM and i3-2.53ghz cpu. I do intend to upgrade the RAM to 8GB but will be adding that separately. Dell's pricing on memory upgrades is absurd. so I just ordered 2x4GB (8GB) of Crucial memory on Amazon for $40. Installing them just involves lifting the keyboard out.For what most people do with their computers in the average day, this laptop is perfect. A lot of people think they need the fastest, newest, most expensive computer out there and nowadays, that doesn't have to be the case. Most of us aren't graphic designers or movie editors, so why spend hundreds more? For web browsing, email, skype calling, watching netflix, photo editing, and even movie editing (better with 8GB memory), I have had no issues at all.
It's a bit plain looking aesthetically, but I don't think that's a bad thing. Compared to the DELL XPS 15z, which I also own, it's only slightly thicker, which I found surprising since Dell has been touting how thin the XPS 15z is. It does have an off center mousepad which I found annoying since I'm used to them being centered. I found myself inadvertently hitting the right button when reaching for the left button. That is just a minor issue though. Another down side is the battery life. The standard battery doesn't last too long so keep the charger handy and stay near power outlets. I've been getting about 3 hours of battery life while web browsing.
I would recommend this to product to anyone looking for an affordable everyday laptop.
But see their are things you have to adjust to.
Here are the Pros:
Big 15.6 Inch Screen.
I don't know if it is safe to say this laptop's keys sort of resemble and feel like a mac's keyboard.
anyways...
The keys are a plus.
Nice screen colors due to the default intel hd graphics.
it is a lightweight machine sort of feels like it to me.
for $400-$470 it is a hell of a bargain,it does its job.
Cons: I haven't seen any at all.
Highly Recommend.
Enjoy. Dell For The Win.
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I've been a Dell fan for quite some time, and as expected, this little gem confirms why. Repeatable performance and Dell dependability in a sleek, easy to manage package. The price point for comparable units makes this purchase a true bargain, coupled with Amazon ease of ordering and confidence in the Amazon market place partners makes it that much more enjoyable. The seller, J-Tech Digital, was spot on perfect, caught a shipping error on my part and notified me by email soon after the order was placed. The J-Tech Digital Customer Service Team corrected my oversight, shipped it ULTRA FAST and took the time to follow up after the sale. Other retailers could learn a thing or two here. Very impressive indeed.Read Best Reviews of Dell Inspiron 15 i15-N5040 15.6-Inch Laptop (Black) Here
This is a good basic laptop. It has a lot of potential if you upgrade the ram memory.PROS:
+ Got it brand new for under 500 US$.
+ Intel core i3 is a really good microprocesor.
+ DDR3 memory support up to 8GB of ram.
+ Works well in high temperatures and it does not overheat like HP laptop's.
CONS:
Touchpad sucks.
Only comes with 3GB of ram out of the box.
Neutral:
~ The keyboard is very basic.
~ Screen is ok (it's advertised as a LED screen but i can't see the difference between this and a normal 2008 LCD screen).
I'm happy with this product, but i'll definitely buy a memory upgrade to enhance the performance..
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I have no complaints, although making the recovery discs didnt go well. Went thru 4 dvd's and then got a "failure" on the 4th disc. Called Dell support and the tech said this is a known problem and he said to use a 8GB flash drive. Sorry all mine are 4 or 6GB and i'm not going to go and spend money on a 8GB fd just to make up a backup Recovery.Battery life could be better, only get about 4 hours out of it on the basic mode...
Over all this laptop is worth the money, it is fast and so far works great.
W510 - Intel - Core I7 - 820QM - 1.73 Ghz - DDR3 Sdram - 4 Gb - Serial Ata - 500
I got this with 120GB SSD for business use, but very disappointed compared to previous T61P after a week use:Pro:
1. Quiet with SSD;
2. USB3 (not useful for me), eSATA i/f.
Con:
1. resolution maximum is ONLY 1600x900, while T61p can reach 2048x1536, almost 25% downgrade;
2. the "Insert/Delete" keys are separated, "Insert" on left, while "Delete" on right with 2-key space. I always had a hard time try to find the insert key, very dumb layout design.
3. no finger scanner (optional);
4. As a high-end laptop, no HDMI
Not recommended for a software business use.
1/7/2011 Update after 2 weeks use:
1. The left "Shift" key is fall off, and got the whole keyboard replaced
2. 2 USB ports on the left side stop working, on a process to replace it.
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Toshiba Satellite C875D-S7330 17.3-Inch Laptop (Satin Black Trax)
I did lots of research before purchasing a laptop. I settled on this one because it seemed to be the most bang for the buck. I have had no problems with it, and I've had it for about 3 months now. In fact, I do everything on it. I love it! The screen is huge. It's not super light, but that was to be expected. It has a great battery life, and I've had no problems with opening multiple webpages as one user said.The reason this didn't get 5 stars from me is because of the keyboard. It seems really cheap and plasticky. In fact, I can actually see the entire keyboard moving up and down when I'm typing really fast. Doesn't hinder performance, just seems cheap. Other than that, this thing is fantastic! I do recommend it!
Oh, also, Windows 8 is amazing. I'm sure that people who don't like it are those same people who complain everytime Facebook makes a change to their timeline... people who don't like change. It has all the features Windows 7 has, just enhanced. Give it some time and you'll get used to it.
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It was an easy process, high marks all around, highly recommend and will buy again... keep up the great work!Read Best Reviews of Toshiba Satellite C875D-S7330 17.3-Inch Laptop (Satin Black Trax) Here
Runs efficiently and supports games. Includes Windows 8. I would recommend this to anyone who wants a reasonably priced gaming laptop.Want Toshiba Satellite C875D-S7330 17.3-Inch Laptop (Satin Black Trax) Discount?
Good pc love the specs going to upgrade the ram to 16gb ddr3 and might get a 3tb extrenal grate buy hope price dont changeSave 19% Off
Apple MacBook Pro MC723LL/A 15.4-Inch Laptop (OLD VERSION)
First, a little background. Aside from a TI-99 we had when I was a kid and the Apple IIc computers at my middle school, I've always been a Windows guy. I feel very comfortable in the Windows environment and have been building my own PCs for about 15 years. I don't hate Microsoft. But when the need for another laptop became clear, I decided to focus my search on the higher end machines. I wanted good horsepower, but I especially wanted a nicer form factor than the creaky Dells I had become accustomed to. As I had fallen in love with the interface on my iPhone, I decided it was time to give MacBooks a try. I kept my Windows desktop in case I ran into compatibility problems.The short version of that story is that I quickly dismantled my PC and now use this laptop as my only machine. I am fortunate to be able to do so because my work as an attorney requires only Word, Excel, and an internet browser. As a bonus, my copy of Lightroom 3 also installed on the MacBook. I'm trying not to sound like a Mac zealot, so let's have a list:
-Aluminum unibody is no marketing gimmick. It's sturdy and feels great with no flex and no creaking. Looks nice, too.
-Keyboard is well-engineered. The key travel and spacing between keys feel just right for my taste. There is no flex here, either, which I often find disconcerting on other laptops.
-Trackpad is a marvel. It really is. It's very large, but I've yet to feel like it's in the way. And the finger movements are intuitive and work very well.
-The screen is bright, clear and has great color. The reflectivity is sometimes an issue in bright locations, but I find tilting it a little solves most problems. Otherwise, you can custom order the anti-glare screen direct from Apple.
-The lid closes with a magnet, so there's nothing to break.
-It is very fast. In my experience, Mac OS X starts up and shuts down far faster than a comparably spec'ed Windows machine. I have yet to feel a need for 8 GB of RAM, but an upgrade would only cost $90 if you know how to do it yourself. Otherwise, I have no issues running lots of standard programs at once.
-Comes with Time Machine. As an attorney and amateur photographer, I have lots of stuff that needs to be backed up regularly and reliably. Time Machine works so well and so seamlessly that I can't imagine how I survived before.
-Spotlight is brilliant. Type in any word, and Spotlight almost instantly gives you results from your entire hard drive, including INSIDE your searchable documents, preferences, web results, and even definitions of words.
-Seven hours of battery life is very possible, even on wireless. I can sit in Starbucks for hours unplugged and still have plenty of life left. The caveat is that you really can only surf and use programs like Word. I also have Flash installed, which is a huge battery drainer, so I grabbed a Flash-blocking program that let's me choose which Flash files to activate. Nice solution.
-HD webcam. Nice quality, though I haven't really done more than messed around with it.
-The magnetic power cable is slick.
-As a former Windows user, I find the Mac OS X interface to be really nice and intuitive. There's obviously a learning curve, though I've found it be surprisingly short. Lion is anticipated to be a nice upgrade, too.
-PRICE! Well, a lot of people complain about the Apple premium, and it definitely exists. I found this laptop to be a few hundred dollars higher than the really nice Windows laptops with mostly similar specs, although I don't think comparing raw horsepower between two different operating systems is always an accurate benchmark. I live on my computer, so I'm willing to pay a little more to get what I want. It's like buying a BMW because you have to spend three or four hours a day in your car. Whether that value equation works for you or not is up to you and your checkbook.
-Anything I dislike? Not really. I'd like maybe one more USB port and a CF card reader. I'd love to start seeing cheaper SSDs in these things, but that's really not Apple's fault. Decent SSDs with any size are still expensive for everyone. I was a little nervous about having a 5400 RPM HDD. I think transferring large NEF files from the card reader might be fractionally slower. The tradeoff in battery life is probably worth it. Will Thunderbolt be worth it? Who knows? I don't care just yet, but ask me next year.
I know there's more to say, but I'm running out of steam. I'm happy to discuss anything in the comments.
The primary upgrade to this revision? The processor! Intel has a brand new architecture called Sandy Bridge, and these MacBook Pros are the first Macs to feature this technology. Some have called it some of the most significant changes to Intel architecture since Pentium 4 was introduced. These 15-inch MacBook Pros as well as its big brother, the 17-inch, not only take advantage of Sandy Bridge, but the Quad Core i7 Variant. Quad Core processor in a notebook Mac! Wow.
I actually chose the 13-inch model for my personal use (only Dual Core on the 13-inch), but a 15-inch is replacing an aging iMac at the office to save space and leap over its performance. These Quad Core Chips are amazing. Early benchmarks are showing this entry-level 15-inch, 50 percent faster than the upper end i7 15-inch MacBook pro from a year ago. A dramatic improvement. This higher end model is even better. Furthermore, if you're still on a Core 2 Duo machine such as the iMac I am replacing, the performance is as much as 2.5 times faster and 3x faster with this higher end model. At least in terms of the processor. This is most beneficial in processor intensive applications, for consumers such applications are iMovie and Garageband. Professionals will see the new processors beneficial in any professional photo editing, video, or music work.
This model also includes a fantastic dedicated graphics card with 1GB of graphics memory. 1GB of graphics memory is a a first for Mac notebooks.
One downside is that due to cost, the machine still comes with a spinning hard drive standard. In this case, the standard drive is a 5400 RPM 750 GB drive. That offers plenty of storage, but is slightly slower than a desktop 7200RPM drive and much slower than a new, solid state drive. You do have options. You can special order the machine from Apple with a 7200RPM drive, or Solid State Drive. However, what I have decided to do, is simply, when I'm ready, swap out the drive myself. Other World Computing sells solid state drives compatible. It might not be easy for every user, but for those with some computer experience, it is a fairly easy swap. Then I can install a faster solid state drive, when the more acceptable capacity drives come down a bit in price. You might also choose to do the swap yourself because you can then put the hard drive that was originally in the machine, into an external enclosure, and use it as an external drive for backup. Of course, any damage you cause to the machine would not be covered under warranty. Therefore, if you have any concern, you might want to see if you can special order from Apple online, or in many situations, you will find the standard hard drive to be acceptable.
After the processor advancement, Thunderbolt is the other great new technology included in this revision to the MacBook Pro. Thunderbolt looks like the Mini Displayport that was already included on the MacBook Pros. Indeed, it will still function perfectly as a Mini Displayport, for connecting an external display. However, Thunderbolt is more importantly a new interface to connect external devices in the future, such as, external hard drives, HD camcorders, and perhaps even iPads, iPods, or iPhones someday. Data would then transfer many times faster to and from these devices than it does currently. These devices were not available at the time of the MacBook Pro's launch, but we have already heard that external drives should be available later this year with Thunderbolt connectivity.
iSight camera has been upgraded to HD resolution and Face Time pre-installed on the computer. This gives you the ability to video chat, easily, with other Macs and notably, iPhone 4s and the newest iPod Touch with front facing camera.
The consumer software you expect to be included by Apple is once again here. The latest version of Mac OS X Snow Leopard (operating system), iLIfe 11 including iPhoto, Garageband, iMovie, iDVD, and iWeb is all here. OS X always includes Safari web browser, iTunes, and Mail applications too. The average user would be good to go out of the box. You might pick up Microsoft Office for your office document needs, or simply purchase Apple's iWork applications (Pages, Numbers, and Keynote) from new Mac App Store on your computer.
The new MacBooK Pros, thanks to Sandy Bridge technology are fast. They will save you time, when using processor intensive applications. Time in business, saves people money and frustration. The average consumer might see less gains with this update as physically the MacBook Pro has retained it identical appearance, size, and weight. Nevertheless, under the unibody, improvements have certainly occurred which result in a much faster notebook. The fact that these 15-inch and 17-inch models now include Quad Core Processors standard is really extraordinary. This is putting recent top of the line desktop performance, into a sleek and attractive Mac Notebook. A breakthrough. Recommended Product!
Buy Apple MacBook Pro MC723LL/A 15.4-Inch Laptop (OLD VERSION) Now
Apple MacBook Pro MC723LL/A 15.4-Inch LaptopI have spent months reviewing different laptops. I've gone through at least 10 laptops in the last year looking for that one laptop that I will be pleased with and keep for more than a year or two. I've had Acer, HP, Compaq, Asus, Sony, Toshiba, and others. Sony was the only laptop that didn't go FUBAR within a year or so.
So, I thought I would give Apple a shot and I was not disappointed. I first tried out a 17" dual core that was super but the resolution was just too small for my eyes and I returned it. But I was so impressed with the quality of the case, the screen (albeit the resolution too small for my eyes), the quality of the innards (no cheap stuff under this hood), the quality of the power cord, the very fast 800 firewire, the backlight keyboard, the ease of typing on the keyboard, and the mouse pad. The mouse pad on this laptop was the first one I have not had to disable while typing. I have no idea why we have been stuck with those stupid PC mouse pads for so long when the solution was so easy! On the Apple laptop you push the pad down instead of tapping it. This means the cursor does not move to some abstract place and you find yourself typing three pages back!
But, then Intel released their new Sandy chips. I figured that Apple would not use these chips for some time so I started looking at PCs again just for the new chip. I couldn't bring myself to buy a PC after owning a Apple. Fortunately Apple did release these new Macbook Pros with Intel's new chip with increased graphic memory and the new Thunderbolt. Plus Apple increased the speed of the memory.
I just could not help myself and I purchased this MBP 15" with the 2.2 i7 Sandy Bridge with the 1G memory. I am very glad I did. This laptop is fast. Its unibody case makes this the most solid and durable laptop on the market. The innards are easy to access to upgrade memory and the hard drive. Everything inside this machine is neatly arranged and is of top quality. The battery is rated for seven hours which is pretty accurate. The Mac OS is written to take advantage of the quad core chip, memory, etc. The LED screen is crisp and clear, and with the regular 1440X900 resolution I can easily use this laptop without any eyestrain.
I only have one puzzling complaint about this new laptop. Why in the world would a company build one of the fastest top quality laptops in the world and stick a hard drive spinning at 5400 RPM? Yes it is a 750 gigabyte drive, which few people including myself could never fill. But running at 5400 RPM? I just cannot understand this.
You can order the drive spinning at 7200 RPM or opt for a SSD on the Apple online store. The strange thing is that the 7200 RPM drive is the same price as the drive spinning at 5400 RPM. But that is not the point. Yes, most people will never notice the speed difference between a 5400 RPM and a 7200 RPM drive unless you are doing some pretty intensive media editing or are a avid game player. The point is why build a top of the line laptop and stick in a old busted down 5400 RPM hard drive like an afterthought. I fixed this discrepancy by installing a new Intel 160G SSD (solid state drive).
I have been using laptops since 1991 when they made great paperweights when they died. This is the best laptop I have ever owned. Do yourself a favor and try one. Even if you don't like it you can always return it. I don't think you will, but you do have that option.
Read Best Reviews of Apple MacBook Pro MC723LL/A 15.4-Inch Laptop (OLD VERSION) Here
I've been a power Mac user since its introduction in 1984, and have owned various portable and desktop configurations since then. Frequently, you will see major leaps in desktop performance, but it is rare to see dramatic improvements with laptops (you typically see 25-50% improvements). But I have to say, in all the Mac laptops I've owned since my very first PowerBook G4, this is the most dramatic leap in performance I've ever seen. Not only is it 2.8x FASTER than my mid-2009 2.66GHz Core2-Duo 15" MacBook Pro, it is slightly faster than my 2008 2.8GHz dual-quad-core MacPro!I bought my 2011 MacBook Pro (2.3GHz quad-core i7, 15" high-res screen) as an upgrade from my mid-2009 15" unibody MacBook Pro. I wasn't expecting to be LITERALLY blown away by the raw computing and graphics performance of this update. I have run every standard benchmark suite in comparison not only with my 2009 MBPro, but also against my 2008 dual 2.8GHz quad-core Intel Xeon "Harpertown" MacPro. And to my surprise, this little wonder beats BOTH machines in CPU and graphics performance. Imagine carrying a laptop with true desktop power. My real-world tests (iMovie, Aperture, Photoshop and Nikon Capture NX) simply validate the benchmark results.
Here's what my tests reveal:
Geekbench: 10450 (vs. 3722 for 2009 MBPro vs. 9533 for 2008 MacPro)
Cinebench 11 CPU: 5.56 (vs. 1.53 for 2009 MBPro vs. 5.76 for 2008 MacPro)
Cinebench 11 GPU: 36.38 (vs. 13.77 for 2009 MBPro/nVidia vs. 26.51 for 2008 MacPro/ATI 5770)
Now THAT is impressive!
Even though the Intel "SandyBridge" core i7 processor in this Mac is advertised as quad-core, each core supports 2 simultaneous threads (8 operations), which you can literally see when running Cinebench. If your computing needs don't support multiple cores, the i7 can bump the speed of a single core up to 3.4GHz (TurboBoost) as well.
To truly match/replace your desktop environment, you'll need to replace the built-in hard drive with an SSD, because 2.5" hard disks, even in 7200rpm configurations, are much slower than their 3.5" desktop counterparts. I bought my SSD through OWC, and I'm seeing anywhere from 3-40x(!) faster performance for I/O intensive operations such as booting, working with VMWare/Parallels virtual machines, and processing large files (images, video, etc). It is simply the best investment you can make, if you can afford it.
Beyond the raw power, there are a number of incremental improvements over the 2009 model:
integrated Intel 3000 graphics, and ATI Radeon 6750M (dedicated graphics with 1GB VRAM)
1.33GHz memory backplane, supporting up to 16GB of RAM through third-party modules
new Thunderbolt interface using the Mini DisplayPort connector (super-fast 10Gbps interconnect for up to 6 devices, although no Thunderbolt devices are available yet)
Mini DisplayPort supports digital audio and video on a single cable (including HDMI with suitable third-party adapters)
higher-resolution FaceTime camera
SD slot now supports SDXC
updated optical drive (ingest mechanism is less finicky for me)
better battery life
The high-resolution screen in this model REALLY makes a difference over the standard screen (which I had on my 2009 model). The 1680x1050 resolution is the same as my older 21" Apple Cinema Display. I was afraid the higher resolution would make it harder to read (the text is smaller), but the brightness and wide-angle visibility makes this one of the best displays you can get in a laptop form factor. If you work in heavily-lit or outdoor environments, you might want to consider the anti-glare (matte) screen which is available in Apple's build-to-order configurations. Both dual and mirrored display configurations are possible simultaneously supporting full native resolution on the built-in display and up to 2560 by 1600 pixels on an external display, both at millions of color. Interestingly, in my configuration, I was only able to get an external HDMI display to operate on the high-performance discrete GPU only.
Another pleasant surprise for me was the battery life of this new 2011 model. Even with all that processing power, I'm consistently getting 6-7 hours of usable life (lightweight not heavy work). One big tip for saving battery life is to install the freeware gfxCardStatus utility, which lets you choose integrated only (much lower power), automatic, or discrete/ATI graphics. Apple's own Energy Saver system preference only lets you choose between automatic or discrete. And when you're running on the battery, this can be problematic because simply launching some programs (eg. PhotoShop) can force the discrete adapter. Like earlier designs, the battery is built into the unit and cannot be swapped or user-replaced. In practical use, I don't find this to be a problem because I'm getting the same extended runtime that I got on earlier MacBook Pros with 2 battery swaps.
Rounding out the compliment of ports (on the left side only) is Gb ethernet, FireWire 800, 2 USB 2.0 ports, audio out and audio in (both supporting analog and digital/TOSlink connectors). If there is any weakness, it would be nice to have a right-side USB port, or at least enough separation between the USB ports to not force you to use a short USB dongle cable with your 3G wireless card (if you want to use both ports).
As with Apple's other MacBook Pros, this model is built on their "unibody" construction, where the main case is crafted from a single piece of aluminum. This makes the laptop amazingly rigid, and also allows it to be lighter weight, thinner, and better at dissipating heat than more traditional laptop designs. Apple makes it easy to upgrade the memory or hard drive (you just need a fine #00 phillips screwdriver to remove the screws on the bottom plate).
One last note on this MacBook Pro Apple bundles a special build of OS X 10.6.6 which you will want to immediately upgrade to 10.6.7 using Apple's Software Update mechanism. (You can't apply the 10.6.7 combo updater since this version of 10.6.6 is later than the standard build). The "OS X 10.6.7 Update for Early 2011 MacBook Pro" includes an important fix for the discrete graphics processor under heavy workloads.
For those of you (like me) who still have older PowerPC software that hasn't been updated (Quicken!), this will most likely be the last generation of Apple notebooks to run on OS X 10.6.x "Snow Leopard". The next release of OS X 10.7 ("Lion") has removed support for running PowerPC applications (Rosetta). This alone was worth me upgrading to this model.
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I've used a pretty wide variety of both PCs and Macs, both for personal use and for work. I've used them for gaming, development, and run-of-the-mill tasks. However, my last two machines (three counting this one) were all Macs. I'm still a believer in the PC for hardcore desktop gaming, but as far as laptops go I'm pretty much sold on Apple. Why? Quite simply, Mac laptops are just a lot less fuss. They don't break down or exhibit weird quirks as often as PC notebooks, generally last longer on battery power, and take up less space. For my latest machine, I decided to splurge a bit and get something that can actually play gamesfully intending to take advantage of Boot Camp to run the loads of Windows titles I usually play on my monster desktop gaming rig. The 15" 2011 Pro with 1 GB video was the obvious choice: not so big I can't carry it around, yet with enough muscle to run anything in my library. Was it worth the huge price tag? In a word: yes.Pros:
Case design is superior, not just elegant but functional as well. It's actually somewhat water resistant (don't ask) and very easy to clean. The form factor is slim and handyeasy to carry around.
Hardware layout is well thought out, and design is excellent. Speakers are positioned so the sound is crisp, almost as if you had externals. Camera is sharp. Trackpad is huge and very responsive.
Mac OS X is still the best OS out there. I must say, Windows 7 is a whole lot closer than any other previous incarnation of that franchise, but OS X still has it beat in many ways: no defragging, doesn't degrade over time (especially when used for software development), more stable, boots up and shuts down faster, and generally speaking more intuitive in UI layout. You'll also have a lot less to worry about as far as malware and spyware are concerned.
Screen quality is great, and the backlighting for both the display and keyboard are excellent. Note: I strongly recommend paying the extra for the high-res 1680x1050 display upgrade, unless you're always going to have your machine hooked up to an external display. It is totally worth it. Second note: if you do get this upgrade, don't bother with the anti-glare, as it's equally totally NOT worth it (you can get a third party stick-on that does the same for a lot less, and is removable).
Has enough power for pretty much anything. RAM/hard drive are easily upgradeablebuy it yourself and install it yourself; it's about as hard as loading VHS cassettes. This model straight out of the box can run most current games on max settings.
Dual boot is easy to set up. I'm running Win 7 64 alongside Snow Leopard for gaming purposes. Boot camp sets up all the drivers with little fuss. The only issues I've seen are that the graphics card switching doesn't work on Windows, which eats up battery a lot faster, and right clicking with the trackpad is a bit awkward. The latter is easily solved by hooking up a 2-button mouse.
Magsafe is awesome. I'd probably be out a few dozen machines from tripping over the cable if not for this simple yet brilliant feature.
Battery life is great. It doesn't usually last for 7 hrs as advertised; 5 hrs is more typical when doing various tasks. However, even that is huge compared to most similarly specced laptops.
For a laptop of this size with this power, it's really light.
Apple's customer support is top-notch. If you're in the US their stores are pretty much everywhere, and you can get same-day repair service in most cases. Try doing that with Dell or HP sometime...
Cons:
The mini displayport/Thunderbolt connector means you'll need an adapter for pretty much every different video device you hook up. They're a bit awkward to hook up and can get bulky if you have enough of them.
If you run 3-D intensive apps like most games the big video card turns on, and it runs pretty darn hot. When the fans kick in, it gets pretty loud.
Compared to some older unibody platforms, it's harder to get at the innards. You have to unscrew the whole bottom plate and remove it to even access the battery. For most users, though, this shouldn't be too big a deal.
It's considerably more expensive than a similarly specced Windows laptop.
Doesn't have a blu-ray drive, if you care. Most Windows machines in this price range do.
Is this machine for everyone? Probably not if due to the price alone, but I've found less to complain about than just about every other laptop I've owned. I'm still a fan of the regular MacBook for non-gaming/coding tasks due to its smaller form factor, lower cost, and lighter weight. However, it doesn't have the power to do anything more serious than video playback. If that's all you're going to do and ease of transport is a priority, then go for it. If you're planning on replacing a desktop or want some serious mobile power, then the Pro is a better choice.
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