Cheap MSI Computer Corp. GT60 0NE-403US;9S7-16F311-403 15.6-Inch Laptop

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List Price: $1,799.99
Sale Price: $1,661.16
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GT60-ONE

Just a little backround, I build my own computers and also do so for my friends and family, probably about 20 or so over the years. I am not a professional, nor do i claim to be any type of expert, however i do have a decent amount of insight and knowledge in modern PCs. I also do a lot of research on the components i buy.

First let me start with the Cons, so you know upfront what you are dealing with.

This laptop is quite large and heavy for a 15/16 inch laptop, which is to be expected for a gaming laptop. The laptop is about the size of most normal 17" laptops. It is about 15 3/8"W x 10 7/16"D x 1 9/16 in the front to 2 1/8"H -this includes the feet in the rear. Whether you deem this "portable" is based on personal preference and uses. For me, being basically a portable Desktop that i can take to other locations, it is definetly portable and i dont mind carrying this around. (I have a tablet and a phone to use for light web surfing/social/media applications/checking scores etc)

The power brick is also quite large but yet a little slim at 6 3/4"x 3 1/4" x 1 9/16". You should basically expect to use most 17" laptop bags/carrying cases/backpacks.

Turbo Fan setting is loud, I would liken it to tower style fan (home fan, not desktop tower) on high setting loud. However while the noise level gets up there, it isnt irratating loud and has very little whine to it IMO. Seems like a great feature to use while alone and using headphones as the cooling boost is nice. Of course this can be turned on/off very easily

Windows 8.... still havn't found a reason to like it, it feels a bit more clunky to use than Windows 7. I am debating installing windows 7 back onto this computer.

No SSD, for the price it is debatable whether this is a negative, I installed my own SSD on the side so i can have a boot 250GB ssd and use the 750GB as a disk drive. Performance does suffer compared to any SSD laptop, so for the price i would definetly recommend an SSD.

There is shiny plastic around the screen, which sometimes can be annoying if it gets hit with the right light angle.

So with all of that said, here is what you get.

For basically $1900 -$2000 w/Mail in rebate (price of SSD included) you get:

GTX680M probably the reason most of you are looking at this laptop, It is also the 4GB version. This thing performs. Dont expect 680 Desktop performance, but for something you can carry around, you play most games at Ultra, or high and get great FPS. My 3Dmark 11 (No Overclocking) scores are about 6200 or 3000 or so less compared to my Ivy I7 GTX670 4GBVRAM Desktop. Keep in mind my desktop graphics car alone is probably 1/3 the size of this entire computer!

Optimus I get between 2 1/2 Hours to 3 1/2 hours off the plug depending what am doing. Keep in mind though that performance is throttled down when off the plug, so dont expect full performance off the plug. To me this is exceptional for a gaming laptop with desktop performance.

I7 3630QM slight upgrade from standard I7 Ivy QM, probably not much difference, but nice upgrade.

12GB Ram dont need to put extra ram in which saves some $.

15.6" 1080P Matte HD screen This screen is really really nice. Comapred to my desktop screens which are samsung LED's of last year, the screen on my laptop is noticibly better. It is bright, and clear, and most importantly has no glare (switching from an Alienware this is a huge difference). It is not one of those 95% NTSC High Gamut screens, however it also does not need color calibration programs which can be tricky to operate in some games and look off without proper calibration software, and also all of these screens cost extra on top if you buy Clevo Chassis Laptops.

Steel Series Keyboard this is one of those preferences, but i like the keyboard, it has a nice feel to it, and the backlight and customization are nice. Keys aren't quite full mechanical, but also not close to mushy like a lot of other laptops, a little firmer than my alienware which i liked for gaming. The keys have to me a 3/4 satisfying click of a mechanical keyboard id say, which is pretty darn good for a laptop keyboard.

Blu-Ray Burner! Pretty awesome to have a blu-ray burner not that i would burn any movies or anything. I think all nice laptops these days should come standard with atleast a blu-ray player. It is definetly a plus to be able to watch blu-rays on this nice of screen on the road without having to carry an extra drive. Also Blu-ray Disk rewrittables anyone?

Dynaudio Speakers I can say that these are without a doubt the best speakers I have personally heard on a laptop. The sound quality is really impressive for laptop speakers. The sub isnt that powerful, but the overall sound quality is really exceptional. I'm not an audiophile, but I have a decently trained ear. A lot of people try and compare these to their 5.1 or 7.1 home speakers saying how its not that good, but there is no comparison IMO because i am not going to carry a 5.1 or 7.1 speaker system or even a 2.1 speaker system around with me ever.

Killer 1202 Fast Dual band 2xMIMO wifi card, and also has bluetooth. Very impressed with the speed of the Killer Wifi cards overall.

750GB 7200RPM HD + (should add) SSD IMO this isnt too bad a deal. just add in your own ssd and use the 750gb as a disk drive since it is atleast 7200 rpm.

Has a nice combination of ports, no DVI, but it has HDMI, displayport, and VGA, USB2/3, esata ports. Also I like that the Ethernet port is on the back, I didnt like that my Alienware had the Ethernet on the side.

Cooling works well, laptop stays cool even during gaming. I havn't run any prime test because this thing performs perfectly for what I wanted to do out of the box minus the SSD and probably windows 8.

Build Quality Brushed Aluminum Wrist area and back cover, lots of plastic everywhere else. Doesnt bother me other than fingerprints, however I have not met too many laptops that are not fingerprint magnets! Overall Build Quality is good, not macbook level, but until macbooks can fit a 680M and/or even come close to the price with that card, I think this is your best bet if you want a GTX680M Gaming Laptop.

So In Summary,

Here were my guidlines

Must have:

Intel I7 Ivy Bridge

GTX680M-4GB or AMD 7970M (680M prefered due to speed and optimus if included)

1080P Screen nice looking hopefully:)

Killer 1202

Like design (Obviously preference)

Let me start out by saying I wanted the Asus G75 or G55. I like the design, and i actually buy Asus over MSI unless price is more of a concern.

Here is too me what is wrong with each of the computers and why I did not buy them.

Asus G55/G75 Weak Video cards, great design, but 660m-675M just doesnt cut it for me, especially for the same or more $.

Alienware IMO comparable to Apple Build quality. All these people who rag on alienware, they probably are just haters or just repeating things they heard. They are actually not overpriced anymore, and have the best warrenty/service and build quality of the gaming manufactuers IMO. But their prices are still too high for certain configurations and they do overcharge for add ons. Their best deal was for a 7970M, however while the 7970M is comparible, the Enduro issues and the fact you have to add on the 1080P screen just made this laptop too expensive for the configuration (considering how well priced the GT60ONE is). Oh and they charge Tax which adds on.

IbuyPower Best hardware for price, build quality and brand is questionable still. Very intriguing, however Not looking to burn 2K on a brand i dont really knowthey used to be mostly a pc building operation.

Samsung Nice build premium price, 675MX which is about 30 percent slower than the 680M.

Clevo Brands more expensive for same build, custom build time. I was set to get a sager or mythlogic, however the better speakers, better 720P webcam, better keyboard, mic not being on the keyboard all drove me to the MSI. Basically for what i paid overall, I am spending $200-$300 less for the MSI that has better speakers, about the same build quality, a better keyboard, better warrenty, 2HDD bays instead of 1, and I can buy it from Amazon!

Overall I am very pleased, It is a Great computer. Still trying to get used to windows 8. What really set this over the top for me is the speakers. I watch a lot of movies/netflix when I am on trips along with gaming. These speakers do not disappoint. Oh an Very little bloatware!

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I've had this laptop for just over a week. I installed an SSD in the second drive bay and had a pretty annoying experience completing a clean install my Windows 8 Pro license, but that is not MSI's fault in any way. I ended up having to install Windows 7 and then "upgrade" to Windows 8 in order to get my install to work.

Now for the good:

This thing performs as expected based on other reviews and the hardware included. It handles everything I've thrown at it thus far with ease (Total War: Shogun 2, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Borderlands 2) on high/max settings. It gets a bit warm in the upper left hand area of the keyboard under heavy load, but not disturbingly so. The speakers are very nice for a laptop. The potential volume output is great. The multi-touch pad is acceptable but nothing special (as in don't expect Apple touch pad like response, but you can 2 finger scroll and swipe in from the sides).

The not so good:

The build quality appears to be pretty bad. My unit has a few apparent problems. The plastic panel to the left of the power button pops out and will not stay in place. The backspace key is finicky and has to be hit just right to consistently respond. The keyboard itself doesn't seem to be fitted properly. There is a noticeable bulge/warp to it around the o/p/bracket keys. I'm probably going to need to make a warranty claim on it, but I'm concerned they will deny it because I "tampered" with the laptop by installing the SSD. I'll update on that later, if there is anything to report.

Overall, I'm very pleased with the performance of this thing, but am disappointed with the build quality. When I spend this kind of money on a laptop, I want to feel completely satisfied with my purchase. In this case, that cannot truthfully be said. If MSI stands behind the product and gets these issues taken care of, I will be a very content/happy customer!

Best Deals for MSI Computer Corp. GT60 0NE-403US;9S7-16F311-403 15.6-Inch Laptop

I own the MSI GX660R so I have enjoyed that enough to purchase another MSI Gaming Laptop.

Build Quality and Stuff:

I recently purchased this computer from another reseller and so far I have had zero complaints. I own the 15.6" variant so I could fit it into most laptop bags. The build quality is very good. It feels solid throughout. The body is mostly brushed black aluminum and the keyboard feels very sturdy,(more than the GX660R, mostly plastic body). It has a Steel Series brand keyboard which is an attempt to make it like a mechanical keyboard for laptops. They did a good job too because typing on this computer is a joy for me. The GX660R would flex a bit, but not this keyboard. It also lights up just like you see in the picture. It is fully customizable in color so you can make it what you want. It can light up in different modes as well. The sound system on this computer is the best I have ever heard for a laptop. Its not some low budget sound system I hear in most other machines. My build uses the stock screen and I must say that screen is amazing. The clarity is just brilliant. I wanted to get the 95% color gamut but couldn't justify it as I would mostly be using an external monitor (ASUS VE278Q). The laptop screen blows the doors off my external monitor though. The touchpad is nice as well. Although I rarely use it, it gets the job done. Built-in webcam is clear. Hinges on this computer feel solid. I have had zero issues with my previous MSI so I only expect improvement from here on out.

Performance:

This machine is currently able to run every game I have thrown at it. That isn't saying much in my opinion. What matters is that I can run mostly every game at the highest graphical settings in the native resolution of 1920 x 1080. Now that is saying something. The frame rates on this computer are sometimes choppy though depending on the game. Maybe I can get some feedback from someone who has encountered this problem and resolved it. I am currently playing Borderlands 2 and I get mostly 50fps but there are some instances where the frames drop to close to 16. I believe this to be a driver issue and here is why(Nvidia 310.90 Driver at the time of writing). If I stand still in that spot of low frames, the frames slowly ramp back up to the 50ish range (waiting 5 seconds or so). As I move around after the frames rise, they stay high and don't drop again until I arrive somewhere else completely new. Its like the video card doesn't know I need that power now, not in 5 seconds. I also am experimenting with the Nvidia Optimizer in hopes that this issue would be resolved, but no luck yet. I also signed up for the GeForce Experience but this appears to be in closed beta and I have not gotten an invite yet. I have also been playing WoW MoP, Saints Row 3, and BF3. All of these games pretty much run flawlessly and stay around 40-60fps.

I almost didn't buy this computer because I wanted to wait for the Haswell chip sets that I heard are coming out next but I think they were backed up to 2014 or something? Either way this machine makes me happy. I use it for everything, work and play. No regrets after 3 weeks of ownership. This machine is awesome.

My system is customized. It has all stock parts except:

I only have 1 hard drive, Samsung 840 SSD 500gb (updated firmware)

16GB DDR3 1600 MHz SDRAM, 4 x 4GB SODIMM

IC Diamond Thermal Paste on cpu and gpu

BIOS Ver. E16F3IMS.50U

Bluray Reader in place or writer

3DMark 11 Score P6071 Video Benchmark

Honest reviews on MSI Computer Corp. GT60 0NE-403US;9S7-16F311-403 15.6-Inch Laptop

I agree with many of the reviews you'll find here. Its hard to find a more loaded laptop at this price. I looked at alternatives and this was the best value for the money.

I'd give this laptop a 5 except for MSI's customer service. After having the laptop for 2 months, the hard drive is failing. I reconfigured my system to boot Windows 7 from a SSD and I use the 750 gig that came with the laptop for data. I couldn't save any files, got errors from Windows 7, the chkdsk program loaded on startup, and the drive failed the smart test. I called MSI and they wanted me to first rule out a software problem by reinstalling Windows 8 on the hard drive. They wouldn't just send me a new drive to swap out. They wanted me to send the laptop to them so they could do the work.

That's crazy. My laptop is confugured how I like it. It actually ended up being less trouble to buy a new hard drive for $72 then reinstall operating systems and send in my computer to them so they can realize that the problem is the hard drive and install a new one. Not very customer oriented.

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Don't think you'll be able to find a computer packing this much power for the price. If you're a gamer, you'll love it. It can be a little on the heavy side and the AC adapter is a brick but I'm satisfied with the purchase. I wish that it had a volume control on the side instead of having to use the function keys. Speaking of the keyboard, it is very tactile and the color changes are awesome.

Review of HP Pavilion dv8t Quad Edition series - FULL HD (1080) - Windows 7

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I've owned this machine for several years. About 3 months in, the touch buttons started to act oddly. At first the wifi would turn off unexpectedly. Sometimes the volume would go up and down sporadically or the treble and/or Base would adjust up and down. I knew this because it would show on the display which interrupted my work and sometimes turned the internet off.

I stupidly didn't do anything about this until after the warranty expired, but they still attempted to update some drivers and so forth for free despite being out of warranty. No such luck fixing it. I think I spent probably $3,000 on this laptop when I bought it.

I read online that the true fix for this problem is to dismantle the computer and wrap the button assembly in some kind of insulative tape. I did not do this. I just live with my internet occasionally shutting off and sometimes I can't get on the web at all until I bend and flex the laptop or push on the keyboard in just this one spot until it comes back on.

The machine performs well despite that complete defect. Other than that, the machine runs hot, the batteries last about a half hour fully charged because of the massive amount of memory and processor power. It is a massive and heavy machine for a laptop witch makes a great machine for computing, but horrible to take through the airport. I only found one laptop bag that would accomodate the size at the time.

The remote control is nice, although tied somehow to the HP entertainment suite of lame software that I have only once bothered to use.

My wifi has turned off twice during the typing of this post.

I will likely stay away from HP Products in the future.

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I have had mine since 12/2010. It came with 1 500 gig 7200 rpm hard drive, There are 2 bays for hard drives. I installed another 750 gig in the second bay even though H.P. said it would not work. Went on line and found the connecter for 12 dollars. Their Tech support sucks unless you are from India and can keep up with them when they start getting very exited and talking faster,and faster and faster. This laptop is very heavy, but the good (far outweighs the bad) The full 1080P picture is outstanding and, the sound is like no other laptop I have ever heard, It actually has a sub woofer.(IT IS LOUD) This computer never froze on me. I got mine with 6gigs of memory 1gig 230 gforce 230m video card, I7920 processor,8 cell battery.intigrated tv tuner,antenna,remote/bluray player/dual layer DVD burner/no blu tooth/Brightveiw screen that can be seen from all angles with no ghosting/fingerprint reader/Windows7Pro and built in recovery that I used about a year ago just to refresh it. The cons however are low battery life,and crappy H.P. software such as the tone control for bass and treble which will pop up on screen and drive you nuts.Go to start/run/ msconfig/startup/tone control and uncheck it. This due to a static electricity build up that HP has been aware of and has done nothing about. You can take the battery out and hold your finger on the power button for about 30 seconds to discharge the static but it will come back within hours.Just set your bass and treble and disable the HP tone control. Another one is the H.P. TV tuner software,(Garbage) use media center for you TV. Be aware that when using media center your computer will not wake out of sleep mode to record any shows that you selected?? HP doesn't know either,They just get exited and start talking faster when you ask them why??? One more little problem is after about a year you will get a rattle from the sub woofer on the bottom of the unit. This is due to the cheap little plastic cover that covers the sub woofer itself. My buddy got the same computer and his started doing the same thing. I just took a rubberband and made a gasket and it solved the problem. This computer does get warm but not hot like some of the other reviews said. If you use it for any type of gaming get the NZXT CRYO LX aluminum note book cooler from amazon, it is AWSOME! All in All any computer will have it's problems, They all do! The problems with this machine I can deal with! It has been a killer computer for what I spent in 2010 at $1400 with the 3 year warranty.Now I see them on line for $2500 dollars, What is that all about? (GREED)

Best Deals for HP Pavilion dv8t Quad Edition series - FULL HD (1080) - Windows 7

If you want a awesome large screen laptop for school, work, or multimedia, this is an awesome machine. I bought one 2 Christmas's ago and am typing this review on it now. I bought it for $1400 with the blu-ray and i7 proc with some free upgrades at the HP online store. I use it almost every day and it's been working very well. The only reason I can't give it 5 stars is that it has a heating problem, so I can't recommend this machines for gamers. If you have heavy graphics going on, the graphics processor will overheat and there aren't enough vents to keep it cool. It will start to freeze, especially when it gets older. You will need a laptop fan, and if you use the HDMI port you will need to set the graphics to only laptop screen or hdmi out, and not both. This will help keep it cool, especially at 1080P. I use this computer for surfing, Netflix, HBO-GO, and music to my Sony Bravia TV/receiver. I DO NOT recommend using it as a DVD/blu-ray player as it will wear down the hardware, use a $100 player for that.

Honest reviews on HP Pavilion dv8t Quad Edition series - FULL HD (1080) - Windows 7

I bought it from Sam's Club back in 2010. And within 2 weeks of using it, I had to do a hard drive reset by the recommendations of HP customer service to fix the screen freezing issues and the crashes, which happened a lot for a BRAND NEW laptop. Took it back to Sam's Club and get my full refund. Even though I liked the design and the sound system and Sam's club price was cheap(799.99). But get frustrated with it.

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In spite of the impressive specs this laptop was a huge disappointment. Even when fairly new this laptop would continuously run hot, the wifi and treble/base controls would continuously cycle themselves off and on again. All these problems persisted even after sending the laptop in for service. It died a mere two and a half years after purchase, I squeezed 7 years out of last laptop. Will not be coming back to HP for computers.

Reviews of AS5742Z-4459;INTEL Pentium Pro P6200(3M Intel Smart Cache

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I will probably never buy another Acer. It was great for maybe the first month (and it really is otherwise a wonderful computer), but I'm now having to buy a chill pad so that it stops overheating. It shuts down rather randomly because it gets too hot. Sometimes it happens more than once a day; other times it might go a week between shutdowns. It is really unreliable and is starting to get really sluggish now, too, even with a recent defrag. From what I've read, it is probably slowing down because of the heat issues. This seems to be a common problem with Acers. Buyer beware!

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HP Pavilion 2000-363NR Notebook Pc Review

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So I got this laptop for 300 at Frys on black friday. It's not too bad a laptop if you get rid of HP's crapware, minus two or so relatively useful utilities. Keep in mind this laptop is not meant to do any heavy lifting, so no gaming, vid editing, etc. What it can do is movies, light gaming like java or the like, music, web, email, composition, etc. For the price, not bad. The touchpad throws me off. I'm used to having an obvious border; this one just uses a light tactile feel. It's also wide, something I'm not used to. It also uses the dual finger thing which I'm not a fan of but I'm pretty sure I can disable this. The hard drive speed is relatively slow in the world of performance. Again though, not a huge issue for what this is supposed to do. One thing that does bother me; the UAC performance. The whole screen goes black for about half a second, which throws you off. You'd think that with a core I3 processor and windows 7 64 bit this would be damn near instant. However, I believe this is an issue with intel video lagging.

I'll possibly edit this in the future when I have more info.

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Toshiba Satellite M305D-S4830 (AMD Turion X2 Ultra ZM-80 Dual-Core Reviews

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I've had this computer for a year and a half and was happy with it up until recently. I am a graduate student and when I first got this computer it had exactly what I needed and did everything wonderfully and in some ways still does. I was completely impressed by this computer. It was fast at completing all tasks when I got it and a year later after much usage and lots of space taken up it is still just as fast. It's a beautiful, sleek looking computer and it comes with a lot of great features. It has small lights that act as buttons at the top of the keyboard you lightly put your finger on and they do tasks such as launching itunes, muting audio, and playing/stopping/fastforwarding movies so you don't have to navigate to other windows or the desktop to complete tasks. It also has labelflash which is useful if you want custom labeled dvd's. I have burned hundreds of dvds and cds with this computer and have never had any problems and the burner is still going strong. I've never had any issues connecting to wireless internet and have even used this computer to connect to other computers wirelessly to transfer documents. I can have multiple windows and tabs open and it doesn't effect the speed of the computer. I can run games easily and it plays programs flawlessly. It has three usb outlets and I am able to run a usb mouse, a printer, and a usb disk at the same time if I need to. This computer in many ways is great.

It does have its not so great points though and the main one is that its parts broke down fast. Around three months after I got this computer I started having issues with the screen flickering. At first it only did it on rare occasions so I didn't think much about it, but after while, after it was too late for returns, it flickered worse and worse. Four months ago I couldn't move the laptop from my desk for fear of flickering. The screen eventually went out and I had to replace it. It's been three months since then and the screen worked fine after I replaced it until a few weeks ago when the flickering returned. I'm afraid I am going to have to replace another part in the laptop, either the display cable or another part. If you do your research toshiba laptops are notorious for having screens go out along with other parts even when they are fairly new. This is a huge drawback and if I had done better research beforehand I wouldn't have bought this laptop.

A second minor issue is one small turnwheel. The laptop has a small turnwheel on the front you can use to turn volume up and down. This stopped working pretty soon after I got the laptop but this hasn't really impacted me much because I rarely used it anyway.

Another issue I am having is that I have had to replace the power cord. I do not move my laptop around much. It usually sits stationary on my desk so I find it odd the power cord has a short in it when I barley move the laptop off of one spot. So far I have put a lot of money into fixing problems I shouldn't have had to deal with at early times in a laptops life. Instead of fixing the screen again I am just going to hook it up to an external monitor and let it sit stationary on my desk and use it as an at home computer because my screen issues have made it too unreliable to trust in the future. It's not a good computer to travel to school and home with and doesn't seem to react well to you opening and closing it and I think that is what is causing my current screen issues. Instead of putting more money into fixing my toshiba satellite I am just going to buy a new laptop. I have loved this laptop because it has been great with the exception of the repair issues I've had. I've accomplished a lot of work using this machine and it has produced well for me. I am sad to have to give up on this one after trying so hard to get it to work correctly but putting more money into it isn't a possiblity now because I need a laptop for school that isn't going to break down again and I can't be sure this one won't.

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I purchased this laptop in March 2009. It was fast, had good video and sound--for a month, then we had video problems. The faulty hard drive and defective LCD cable harness were replaced in warranty. Today, 11/02/2010, it would not power up. I will have to pay $425 for a motherboard replacement. When it worked, it worked well, but to have to replace the main board, hard drive and video cable within two years is ridiculus. The reliability of this model is very questionable.

Best Deals for Toshiba Satellite M305D-S4830 (AMD Turion X2 Ultra ZM-80 Dual-Core

I bought this Toshiba laptop 3 years ago. Since then, my screen started flickering then it just went completely white, now its doing a long flash that prevents me from doing my work properly or watch a movie in peace. My keyboard is not working anymore and it's just pushing off an odd heat now. Looking at other people's comments, we all have the same issues. This is an unreliable machine and I would NEVER buy another Toshiba device again. Horrible! And here i thought HP was the worst! DO NOT BUY!

Honest reviews on Toshiba Satellite M305D-S4830 (AMD Turion X2 Ultra ZM-80 Dual-Core

I bought this Toshiba laptop 3 years ago and it worked great for 1.5 years. At the 1.5 year mark, the screen started to flicker and died not long after that. I had to hook it up to an external monitor and used it as a 'desktop' because I figured the repair cost was too much. It hobbled on for another 1.5 years then died completely. I think my experience with Toshiba's poor reliability is very common, judging from reading many others' similar experience. I would never buy another Toshiba computer based on so many complaints by so many people. By the way, my 8-year-old Sony laptop is still going strong, slow but working still.

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Pros(1) lasted me 4 years. (2) never slowed down on me (3) easy to restore all info. Buttons and extra lights are convient. (4) fits right in my puma purse (5) plays games smoothly and quietly.....Sims.. (6) 3 usb ports & sd slot

Cons (1) gets very hot (2) delicate laptop don't drop it.

Good buy for student or kids or even grannxy. Not good for hardcore gamers

Review of Gigabyte U2442D-CF1 14-Inch Ultrabook (Aluminum Champagne Gold)

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List Price: $1,099.00
Sale Price: $969.95
Today's Bonus: 12% Off

This notebook could be improved in a number of ways, but since there's nothing else quite like it, I give it a full 5-stars.

Asus was supposed to release a similar notebook, as were a couple other manufacturers, but they turned out to be vaporware.

I searched high and low for a lightweight/ultraportable with a decent resolution (greater than 1366x768, this one is 1600x900) and a proper dedicated graphics card (2gb GT 730M).

The GT 730M is more than just a rebadged GT 640M as some sites have called it, it's has a higher stock clock speed (725 vs 625)putting it closer to the GT 650M and some reports have referred to the core as a GK207 vs GK107, w/ 24 ROPS vs. 16. I haven't yet figured out how to verify this, nor have I been able to get the latest drivers directly from Nvidia to load. On the subject of drivers, Gigabyte offers Windows 7 versions of all the software, drivers, and even a Windows 7 bios so you don't have to use Windows 8 if you don't want to.

The notebook really is light weight and runs quite cool. The stock msata SSD is the tried and true Crucial M4 which doesn't have the top benchmark numbers, but in real world use, it's a rocket. The notebook also has room for a second normal 7 or 9.5mm hard drive which is completely unheard of in a 'true' ultrabook. I believe the Gigabyte U2442D doesn't get to wear an "Ultrabook" sticker because it comes with an i5 instead of an i7, however the i5 is much faster than any of the low voltage dual core i7's and many of the previous regular voltage dual core i7's. i7 used to mean 4-cores with hyper-threading flagship performance, but now it just means at least $200 more on the sticker price.

A few things to consider if you're looking to purchase one of these notebooks; the aluminum lid has a gold-ish tint to it and the rest of it is just grey plastic. It doesn't really look premium and I slapped on a skin for the lid and a few stickers on the palm rest to keep it from getting scratched up too quickly. The screen is a traditional matte which is great for glare, but not so great for keeping clean or getting the sharpest colors. The notebook comes with Windows 8, which really sucks for productivity (but most computers come with Windows 8). The Nvidia Kepler architecture is great for gaming, but even with 384 Cuda cores, it sucks at openCL so GPU acceleration of programs like Matlab, Solidworks, Photoshop, Ansys, Comsol, etc aren't going to really benefit from the dedicated card like they would with an ATI/AMD dedicated card of the same level.

At the end of the day, it's a very capable, very light weight notebook for playing and getting work done. When the box arrives you will not be disapointed, the packaging is sharp and Gigabyte throws in extras like a very nice leather sleeve and a keyboard cover/screen cloth.

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Had high hopes for this model, but alas -quality control is apparently a severe issue with Gigabyte's laptop line.

At the time of purchase, over two months ago, this ultrabook did occupy a unique place with features others did not have and a low price. It's poor screen quality is its one obvious fail.

However, within one week, it inexplicably failed to turn on or show any sign of life when plugged in. Gigabyte issued a RA# and it was sent back via slow UPS on their account. Two weeks later, they reported no problem and send it back.

However, the same problem occurred after 3 more days, rendering the unit useless. It was sent back again and Gigabyte tecch said they had now figured out the problem and I would have to get a whole new unit, losing my HD setup and info.

A new unit was sent to me, 6 weeks after purchase with time spent on using it amounting to less than a week.

Turned it on and there was a big dead green pixel in the middle of the screen. Haven't seen that in a new laptop for many years. With no way of fixing the totally dead pixel, I had to return it yet again.

This time I asked for a refund, which had to come form GB because they had sent a new unit and the seller could not refund for that. Getting a refund from Gigabyte is not an easy feat -seems to have to go through Taiwan management .

Nine weeks after purchase, I am left with no answer to emails about when or how the refund will be issued. Chuck, the lone man in LA handling such customer service, seems to be an honest enough guy, but Gigabyte management and policies -and obviously Quality Control -are a clear fail.

Buy Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 14-Inch Touchscreen Laptop (Black)3444CUU

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $1,999.99
Sale Price: $1,475.00
Today's Bonus: 26% Off

Update: Got machine on Jan 18th. It stopped working on Jan 21st. I had to lower my rating from 5 to 3 stars due to service problems. My new laptop is stuck in "depot" repair, waiting for a new touch screen to arrive. They can't offer me even an ETA on the repair. I would not ding them for having a design problem in a new machine, so long as they fix it quickly. As it is, they're selling new machines with new displays, but they're not fixing the machines that are breaking. Service really is everything, and Lenovo failed in this case.

Update: I lowered my rating from 3 to 1 stars due to the continued service nightmare. I've paid for depot service, and couldn't get a person to talk to me about my machine for two weeks. Now, my machine is in limbo... I needed that machine desperately in January, and now the slow hard drive in my old one is causing some schedule slip. You just can't develop Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 web apps with a slow laptop hard drive... it's totally miserable. Two months in limbo and counting. when will a company finally figure out that business users need good support? It's just like the freaking airlines that no longer get me to my meetings reliably.

Update: March 15th, and I can't even get Irma, Lenovo's customer loyalty person assigned to my case, to call me or e-mail me about the new machine Lenovo was supposed to build to replace the broken one.

Update: March 20th. I just got an email saying Lenovo estimates my replacement machine will ship April 10th. Unfortunately, it seems to be standard practice at Lenovo to lie about ship dates.

Update: April 9th. PC Connections rocks. They sent me a replacement machine a week ago when Lenovo wouldn't. I'm using it right now. This machine is fantastic when it works. Lenovo finally delivered the new machine yesterday. In theory, my replacement from PC Connections is from the same batch of machines which have bad displays, so I started to configure the new machine from Lenovo so I would not be left with another broken machine any time soon. The new machine is already dead! It's battery is fully charged and diagnostics say it has good health, but when power is disconnected, the machine dies instantly! Thank goodness for the machine from PC Connections! That's 2 out of 3 of these things that broke within 3 days! On top of that, Lenovo service is a disaster!

In short, I strongly recommend looking elsewhere, and avoid Lenovo. I don't know who makes good hardware or offers good support, so you're on your own. However, I do think it's a good idea to buy through PC Connections.

------------------------------

Pros:

Touch screen works well with Windows 8

Fantastic build quality

Beautiful, small, thin, and light

Outstanding keyboard

Keyboard backlight

Excellent touchpad

Very fast SSD, excellent overall performance

Rapid charging

Fingerprint scanner

Good phone support

Quiet

Spill resistant keyboard

Does not get hot

Cons:

Some Lenovo bloatware

No VGA or Ethernet port

A bit light on battery life

Power brick is a bit large

This machine will change how you use your laptop. Before, I always left my laptop on the table by my chair when I got up. With the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch, I grab the laptop in one hand, my soda in the other, and walk around. Because it stays cool, I don't mind using it in my lap, unlike my previous workstation class laptops. I'm finding that I'm working all over the house. It's not quite as mobile as a tablet, but it's close. If I'm going out for coffee, taking it along is a no-brainier. Being so mobile, I find that I don't bother plugging in the laptop as often. I'm finally truly wireless.

While Windows 8 has issues, I doubt I will ever again buy a laptop without a touch screen. Being able to pinch and zoom in the browser is huge, and half the time I see something I need to poke on the screen, I just poke it, rather than finding my mouse cursor, moving it over and tapping the touchpad. As someone with poor vision, I have to give Microsoft huge kudos for their work on accessibility. Windows 8 is the most accessible operating system ever. The high contrast mode works wonderfully, and zooming in on text has never been easier. With Windows 8, most people should choose a touch screen.

Compared to my wife's 13" MacBook Air, the X1 Carbon Touch is slightly heavier, but has a slightly larger screen. My screen seems slightly brighter, but both seem excellent to me. I'm not one to worry about screen resolution, but I love the high contrast on the X1 Carbon Touch. Like many people, my wife protects her MacBook Air with a plastic shell. With that protector, her machine is thicker, feels all plasticy, is uglier, and slips on surfaces easily. Why anyone would want a phone or laptop that they worry about scratching so much that they dorkify it is beyond me. With a ThinkPad, you just throw it in your case and don't worry about it. The main difference in thickness is the X1 Carbon Touch has a much thicker lid. It's stiffer than the MacBook Air's, which is good for the touch feature. Overall, with this machine, I am finally rid of MacBook Air envy. Now it's my wife's turn to envy my laptop's touch feature.

The touchpad deserves special attention. It is nearly as large and works nearly as well as the one on the MacBook Air. Why did HP, Dell, Lenovo and others ship laptops for years with horrible multi-touch touchpads? That drove me crazy on my last too machines, so I'm excited to finally have one that works well. There are a couple of features I thought I would not use, but was wrong. I have sensitive data on my machine, so I got the 240G encrypting drive. I have an insanely long and difficult to type password (> 35 characters, with a mix of upper/lower case letters and digits). I found that my old 24 character passphrase had only 44 bits of strength, and could be cracked with a GPU in a few days. The fingerprint scanner saves me a lot of time, though I worry that it's not secure enough. The backlight on the keyboard is more useful than I'd thought it would be. Having low vision, I'm a solid touch typist, and often code in the dark, but with the new keyboard layout, the backlight actually helps. However, the extra pointing device in the middle of the keyboard seems to have zero utility now that the touchpad is solid. Because I wander around so much without my power supply, the rapid charge is quite useful. I spend a couple hours here, an hour there, and then in half an hour in my work chair, I've got back most of my charge. Still, the battery wont last all day, so you have to have access to a power source. I was worried about not having a VGA connector for presentations, or an Ethernet port for the rare cases when I have to plug in. However, I'll just put USB adapters in my laptop carrying case, and problem solved. I don't miss having a DVD drive at all. Why do people still carry these devices around when a USB thumb drive is cheaper, smaller, faster, higher capacity, and can be written to many times? As for the spill resistant keyboard, I've killed two laptops in the past with a spilled beverage, so I'm a fan. Also, I've read a number of complaints about having a USB 2.0 port, in addition to the USB 3.0 port. The reason for this is the USB 2.0 port has an always-on feature, which can be pretty useful.

I'm a full-time programmer, a power user, and I hammer my laptop about 10 hours a day. I require high built quality, high speed, a good screen, and an outstanding keyboard and touchpad. Our IT guys want us to buy ThinkPads, and I need a laptop with a touch screen to develop touch features in our software. Those requirements mean I had little choice but to buy the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch. Fortunately, I didn't have to compromise much. I would have preferred having a graphics chip, and a quad-core high voltage CPU capable of full speed full-time, rather than just in bursts. That would have required a bigger fan and much larger battery, but I would have chosen such a machine if Lenovo offered a ThinkPad W line laptop with a touch screen and large SSD. In reality, this machine is faster than anything in Lenovo's ThinkPad W workstation line of high performance laptops. My older high voltage quad-core laptop is slower, because the SSD drive in the X1 Carbon Touch is amazingly fast, and more than makes up for the loss in CPU power. Incredible boot times and wakeup times are the first thing you'll notice, but also file copy, starting bloated apps like Libre Office or my CAD tools, and doing any disk-grinding tasks are several times faster. I'm probably going to save 2-3 hours a week, because I do a lot of huge software builds and installs, and run lot's of huge applications. So far, I've installed 100G of stuff on my 240G SSD. On a regular laptop, just writing 100G would have taken all day, but with this machine, I hardly had to look at the hour glass cursor. Also, I'm enjoying the lack of fan noise compared to my older power-laptops.

For a professional programmer, reliability and durability are huge, and I feel good going with the ThinkPad line. When something does go wrong, I require quick and capable support. Losing a couple days of work can easily cost my company more than the price of a laptop. So, I tested Lenovo's phone support. If you buy an IdeaPad don't bother calling Lenovo when things go wrong you're mostly on your own. However, for ThinkPads, the support guys are located in Atlanta. I had a hard technical question, so after a few minutes, the guy I was talking to put me on hold and consulted their guru. He had the right answer when he came back. I miss the old support Dell had in the 1990's when a guru would answer the phone directly, but Lenovo's ThinkPad support is good enough. This is the main reason our IT guys are pushing employees to buy ThinkPads, rather than anything from Dell or HP. Because Lenovo offers the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch, I was able to get a machine that fulfilled my requirements with few compromises, while keeping our IT guys happy. At the same time, I'm finding new freedom in where I choose to code. All in all, at least for initial quality, it's easily the best machine I've owned.

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Lenovo was kind enough to send me a review unit of the X1 Carbon Touch for a few weeks to play around with and write a review of it.

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch is an impressive ultrabook that is (you guessed it) made of carbon fiber and it is extremely light (only 3.4lbs/1.55kg), slim and durable. Lenovo has done a fantastic job at making it as thin and light as possible and it really shows when holding it. It is slightly thicker and heavier than the original X1 Carbon non-touch (2.93lbs) which is hardly noticeable. The X1 Carbon Touch has the same look and feel as the regular X1 Carbon non-touch and Lenovo has added an impressive touchscreen to the X1 Carbon Touch. My review unit came with an Intel Core i5-3427U, 4GB of Ram DDR3, Intel HD 4000 graphics, and a fast Intel 180GB SSD. The X1 Carbon Touch comes with Windows 8 Pro 64bit that is (obviously) designed for multi-touch and can support up to 10 fingers and the screen is extremely responsive even to the lightest touches.

While the X1 Carbon Touch is definitely a premium ultrabook made with high quality materials, it also costs more than other ultrabooks on the market. The base for the X1 Carbon Touch starts at $1,257 and goes up to $1,785. Those prices were taken directly from Lenovo's website in case you are wondering. It's defiantly not a gaming laptop by any means but it has absolutely no problem handling all of your business work like a champ. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch has an excellent touchscreen and a great keyboard that I have always been very fond of. The battery life is also acceptable and it can charge extremely quickly and when I say quickly I mean you can easily charge it from 0% to 100% in less than 90mins.

Pros:

+Build Quality / Design:

The build quality is absolutely fantastic and it is made of the same materials as the original X1 Carbon non-touch. Previous Lenovo laptops were made of magnesium but the X1 Carbon Touch is made of carbon fiber (hence the name) and it is as strong as aluminum but only a 1/3 of the weight and almost fifty-percent lighter than magnesium. This makes it for a slim, durable and super light ultrabook. I love the nice thin bezel that it has around the edges and viewing angles are amazing in both the horizontal and vertical planes. The touchscreen is extremely responsive and supports up to 10 fingers and works really well with Windows 8. I found myself using the touchscreen more than the keyboard just because I'm so used to using smartphones.

+Keyboard:

The keyboard is easily the best thing about the X1 Carbon Touch. The reason why I purchase Lenovo laptops over some other brands is purely because of the keyboard. I mean it just doesn't get any better than this. It has an excellent backlight keyboard with scalloped keys that make it easier to type. The track-pad is glass this time around and it works really well. There's no hard buttons on the bottom of the track-pad but they are hidden beneath it and it works very well. I'm used to having hard buttons there with my personal Lenovo laptops but the soft buttons work really well in the X1 Carbon Touch. There's nothing negative to say about the keyboard on any ThinkPad laptop because Lenovo has perfected the keyboard so well that even if it had only the arrow keys, it would still be awesome.

+Ports / Sound:

On the front side you don't have anything but on the right side you have an SD card reader, mic/headphone jack, mini-display port, USB 3.0 and a Kensington lock. Moving on to the left side we have the AC adaptor, vent holes, USB 2.0 and a Wi-Fi switch. On the back side we have an option to put a full size sim card for 3G only, not 4G LTE. Both the USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 have the same color so make sure to use the correct one. The USB 3.0 port should have obviously been colored blue but oh well, it's not the end of the world. It doesn't have a lot of ports and lacks some ports that I would have loved to see such as HDMI but you can get an adapter for that. On the bottom of the X1 Carbon Touch, we have a small straight line cut on each side of the laptop and that's where the sound comes from. The sound is pretty decent and I normally keep it at 45% when watching YouTube videos but at 100%, it is somewhat loud and a bit distorted.

+Web Browsing:

The web browsing experience is awesome on the X1 Carbon Touch thanks to the touchscreen display. I found myself using the keyboard only when having to write something on forums but for everything else, I was using the touchscreen because it's so much easier and a lot of fun. I absolutely love the touchscreen and the on screen keyboard is pretty sweet. You can pinch to zoom which is awesome if you are reading something that has a tiny text.

+Screen/Display:

The screen is 14 inches and the resolution is 1600x900 HD+ and I'm glad that Lenovo didn't go with a 1366x768 resolution because that wouldn't have made any sense for an ultrabook this good. I know that Lenovo likes the 1366x768 resolution quite a lot and most of their laptops come with that resolution but they just need to let it go and stick with either 1600x900 or go full 1080p like other companies. What would be even better is if Lenovo put a 1080p display on the X1 Carbon Touch because most of the ultrabooks nowadays come with a 1080p display and 1600x900 is sort of small. The Dell XPS 13 offers a 1080p display that's IPS and looks fantastic. Don't get me wrong because the 1600x900 fits perfectly well with the 14 inch screen size in the X1 Carbon Touch but a 1080p display would have been better. The colors and viewing angles are fantastic and you can even tilt the screen all way back (180 degrees) and it still looks fantastic. The screen has a matte finish and it can handle glare from the window pretty good but the colors won't look as good.

+OS / Camera:

The X1 Carbon Touch comes with Windows 8 Pro 64bit that is optimized for multi-touch. You don't have the option to choose between Windows 7 or 8 when purchasing one because Windows 7 (obviously) doesn't utilize the touch screen and it wouldn't be smart to have an OS that's non-touch on a touchscreen ultrabook. For some reason, the X1 Carbon Touch comes with some bloatware that it is just not needed in my opinion and really harms the experience when using the laptop. Most of the bloatware runs in the background and I feel like it is wasting precious battery life and you could really improve the battery life if you just uninstall them. These are some of the bloatware that come pre-installed on the X1 Carbon Touch: Kindle, Lenovo Companion, Skitch Touch, rara.com, Evernote Touch, Accuweather.com, Norton Internet Secutiry, Skype, Intel AppUp, and an ad for Microsoft Office.

Another pre-installed program is Lenovo's QuickLaunch which is essentially a start button that includes the typical search functions that you would see in Windows 7's start button. I replaced Lenovo's QuickLaunch with ViStart 8 which is a third party program that replaces it with a start button that's identical to Windows 7's start button. I just had to have a start button because it was driving me crazy. But other than that, Windows 8 is awesome and works very well on the X1 Carbon Touch. The camera on the X1 Carbon Touch is 720p and takes acceptable low light pictures. It's not by any means the best camera on an ultrabook but it's more than acceptable if you ask me.

+Battery:

The battery capacity on the X1 Carbon Touch is 4-Cell 45.8 Whr which roughly translates to around 5-6hrs with the brightness turned down a bit. It is non-removable and you do not have the option of adding an external slice battery. I tested it by fully charging it to 100% and then letting it drain by just watching YouTube videos, web browsing, Facebook and other basic things like that and it lasted ~5hrs and 10minutes and that was with the brightness turned down a bit. It's not the best battery life on an ultrabook but for me it's more than acceptable. I know that there are other ultrabooks that get more hours than the X1 Carbon Touch but 5-6hrs isn't bad either considering that it's still running an Ivy-Bridge CPU and not Haswell. If you want the best battery life

on an ultrabook then you should wait for Haswell to be released and possibly wait for the ThinkPad T440s to be released as well.

+Storage:

It comes with a fast Intel 180GB SSD that has ~120GB of free space after doing all the configurations and installing all the windows updates/drivers. It boots extremely fast, less than 4 seconds if you don't have a lot of startup items and if you put it to sleep, it can resume in less than a second. Applications load extremely quickly and you never have to wait for anything to open. Transferring large files (10GB+) on the X1 Carbon Touch is blazing fast thanks to the SSD. I also installed the latest AHCI driver using Lenovo System Update software before I did any of the benchmarks listed below. I tested the speed of the SSD by transferring my large movie collection folder and it transferred in less than a few minutes considering my movie collection folder is 10GB+. I benchmarked it using CrystalDiskMark and I posted the results below.

+System Performance / Processor:

My review unit came with a Core i5-3427U (dual core/four threads) that runs at 1.8Ghz and turbo boosts itself up to 2.8Ghz. The Core i5 is a typical ultra-low voltage CPU that uses far less voltage than a regular full CPU. This is (obviously) done to prevent it from overheating and using as little battery as possible. At idle, the CPU uses around 0.801 volts and under full load (2.8GHz turbo boost) it goes up to 1.01volts but the majority of the time it hovers around 0.966 volts. The i5-3427U has a max TDP of 17 watts and has 3MB of L3 cache which is pretty nice. I find that dual cores are more than enough on an ultrabook for doing pretty much everything except gaming even though some people want quad cores on an ultrabook. There would be no way to cool a quad core CPU on an ultrabook and it would waste a ton of battery but I guess some people really want the very best performance.

The Core i5-3427U is blazing fast; it never lags and has absolutely no problem handling everything you throw at it. If you do a lot of multi-tasking then the Carbon Touch is fantastic on that area because it has a ton of ram (4GB), a fast dual core CPU and an Intel SSD 180GB that can handle everything you want running in the background.

It does run quite hot if you start running heavy applications such as Adobe After Effects or benchmarking tools such as Cinebench 11.5 or PCMark Vantage that really stress test the CPU to its limits. When I tested it by running PCMark Vantage, the laptop automatically shut down itself half-way through the test because the temperature of the CPU had gone well over 95c. I had to let it cool down for a few minutes before booting it up again. Running the CPU at 100% for a few minutes will give you a warning at the bottom of the screen which tells you to close whatever you are running. Even when the CPU was running at 100%, you could hardly hear the fan spinning. The fan is silent at all times and doesn't make any noise at all.

+Bios:

The bios has the typical features that you would see in a standard bios. Under the config tab, you have the basic options such as USB, Keyboard/Mouse, Display, Power, Beep and Alarm, Serial ATA, CPU, Intel AMT. If we go over to the Security tab, you will see that we have Password, Fingerprint, Security Chip, UEFI Bios Update Option, Memory Protection, Virtualization, I/O Port Access, Anti-Theft and Secure Boot. It also has Bluetooth 4.0 as well as Intel a/b/g/n Wi-Fi. I have posted some pictures of all the options in the bios here on Amazon along with other info so be sure to check it out.

+Benchmarks (CPU/GPU/SSD):

I'm copying the results that I got here but they are also uploaded on Amazon.

CrystalDiskMark:

---------------------Read ----------Write

Sequence: 437.5MB/sec --173.4MB/sec

512K: 370.0MB/sec -------179.3MB/sec

4K: 23.70MB/sec -----------45.76MB/sec

4K QD32: 235.2MB/sec -----80.86MB/sec

Cinebench 11.5:

CPU: 2.56 (Multi-Threaded)

CPU: 1.15 (Single-Threaded)

GPU: 14.54fps

Windows Experience:

Processor: 7.0

Memory: 5.9

Graphics: 5.4

Gaming graphics: 6.4

Primary Hard-Disk: 8.1

PCMark7: Score: 4836

Futuremark 3D Mark (2013) Fire Strike: 538

Cons:

-Expensive:

As I have already said, the price is the biggest con for this laptop and it is priced a lot higher than other ultrabooks on the market that offer better specs (i7, 256GB SSD, 1080p IPS and even a dedicated GPU) and are cheaper. It is a premium laptop and the built quality easily sets it apart from the rest but it just needs to be priced a little lower so it can grab people's attention. That's just my opinion.

Conclusion:

The X1 Carbon Touch is one the sexiest looking ultrabooks on the market and it is made of carbon fiber that is extremely light, slim and durable. I can safely say that it is by far my favorite looking ultrabook on the market but the price is what sets me off. It has a superb touchscreen that is very responsive, an excellent keyboard that is by far my favorite feature of this laptop and charges extremely fast (you can go from 0% to 100% in less than 90mins) thanks to the RapidCharge technology from Lenovo. It has a fast CPU that can handle of all your work without a hassle, more than enough ram for multi-tasking and an extremely fast SSD from Intel that can boot the laptop in less than 4 seconds. It is just all around a great looking ultrabook with great features.

The price of the X1 Carbon Touch starts at $1,257 and comes with a Core i5-3427U, 4GB of ram, Intel HD 4000 graphics and an 180GB SSD. There other ultrabooks out there that are cheaper (less than $1,000) that come with a Core i7, 256GB SSD, 1080P display and even a dedicated graphics card (Dell XPS 13 being one of them). If you have deep pockets then I highly recommend the X1 Carbon Touch to anyone who wants possibly the most attractive looking ultrabook on the market. It is made of high quality materials which make it extremely light, slim and very durable. When holding it, you can really feel that you are holding a premium ultrabook in your hands! Lenovo has another winner in their hands but the price easily ruins it.

I'd like to thank Lenovo once again for sending me a review unit of the X1 Carbon Touch and letting me write a review of it.

Best Deals for Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 14-Inch Touchscreen Laptop (Black)3444CUU

Having read about screen problems with Lenovo X1 Carbon Touch was wary but the new (2013) version seems fine and the machine is really attractive and fast. With Windows 8 and Office 365 I can get through my work very efficiently. Admittedly downloaded a free start button replacement (Classical Start Menu) which also has a "Shut Down" and "Restart" command and starts the X1 Carbon Touch in the Desktop, not Start screen.

Lightweight and fast somehow attractive, after a months use I am in love with this very useful companion.

Disadvantages new power socket (throw away your old extra power packs) and no Ethernet input, also built in battery so cannot carry a spare. However, now very rapid charging and it is easy to get a USB 3.0 Gigabit Ethernet adapter (Cable Matters SuperSpeed).

Honest reviews on Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 14-Inch Touchscreen Laptop (Black)3444CUU

The product was delievered quickly and was packaged for shipment extremely well. Everything worked out of the box and I had no troubles. I was concerned about getting a 14 inch screen because my eyesight is not that great. But the HD screen makes all the difference and I can read the small print just fine. I need the business features like encryption and connection to an LCD projector so was willing to pay more. It is surprisingly thin and light which my shoulders appreciate. The battery life seems as advertised. Windows 8 takes some getting used to but that was expected. I have not yet tried the web cam. It looks beautiful and I certainly will never feel outclassed in the laptop department. Overall I am very happy with my choice.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 14-Inch Touchscreen Laptop (Black)3444CUU

After I turned the computer on for the first time, i realized the touchscreen was not working. I tried to apply the fix that was released by Lenovo and that didn't work either. Contacted the store (17th Street) requesting the item to be replaced (a few hours after i received my notebook), and received the following message from them:

"Unfortunately we cannot take back opened computers, as stated on our Amazon page at this time we are not able to issue a return authorization for your order; you do have a manufacturer's warranty."

How would I know that the touchscreen was defective, had i not opened the box and turned the computer on?

Avoid buying anything from this seller. If the item is defective, you are on your own.

Discount Hp Probook 4540s C9k70ut 15.6' LED Notebook - Intel - Core I3

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $619.00
Sale Price: $536.59
Today's Bonus: 13% Off

I actually bought this model [a few weeks ago] w/ the I-3 Core Intel processor at Best Buy [online] for $499 w/ free shipping. I'm a IT/Network/Computer professional so I knew that the difference between the I-3 and I-5 processor is not all that great, and just boosting the RAM up to 8Gb [on this laptop] gives you plenty of operational efficiency and speed. Also the 7200 rpm hard drive gives much faster data transfer than the [standard] 5400 rpm found on most laptops, so [with the HP 4540-S] the extra cost of the I-5 is a waste of money AND if you're going to "step up" you should really go to the I-7 processor.

The features on this laptop are very good and the authentication/security software is excellent. I especially like the efficiency, speed and added security of the facial recognition and fingerprint authentication, which is uncommon for a laptop in this price range. I will also point out that most of the "problems" people have talked about here with the 4540-S are very easy and fast to fix by those with a reasonable knowledge of computers/software/hardware/protocols, but most people have minimal [troubleshooting/resolution] skills [and] "bite the dust" when confronted with the simplest difficulty.

NOTE; This particular item has the 5400 rpm hard drive, so find one with the 7200 rpm HD

So all you need to do is add 4Gb more of RAM [$40] and you're good to go with this laptop.

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So far so good, nice laptop. Will let you know if there are any problems in the future. bye bye.

Best Deals for Hp Probook 4540s C9k70ut 15.6' LED Notebook - Intel - Core I3

After my beloved $300 toshiba satellite died I spent weeks researching windows 7 laptops and ended up with this computer. It seems well made and has some good features. Processor is pretty fast as well. This problem is with the mousepad. This is by far the worse Iv'e ever encountered. Some of it may have to do with my skin? I say that because the pads that are really smooth and shiny like my toshiba had and the asus have work really well for me. This one sucks. Can't use it. It has no response to my fingers. Sometimes I have to hit it 7-10 times before it will click. I will move my finger all around and the cursor won't even move. I see why people over pay for macbooks.

Reviews of Toshiba Satellite S55-A5257 15.6-Inch Laptop (Ice Silver in Brushed

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $789.99
Sale Price: $719.99
Today's Bonus: 9% Off

Good laptop. Sounds is great. Fan can be loud at times as described but nothing you won't here from another laptop. Not a fan of the touchpad. It can be sensitive so change the settings, but also the right and left click are way at the edge of laptop. Great quality image. Runs great. Starts up super quick. Very efficient power saving. Quick sync of anything that you connect. Not saying you couldn't find better, but if you've been looking and you are hurting your head from the back and forth, this purchase is worth it. Good quality, nice look too.

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So I was kind of wary when I chose this laptop. I saw a lot of reviews that said, "Loud fan!" or "gets dirty easily" or "windows 8 is dumb" and things like that. Really, if it weren't for those reviews, this would probably have a 5-star rating. First of all, I don't hear the fan. Second, you can probably just wash your hands before using it. The touchpad: I personally like it. I don't see why people complained about the size. You can actually left-click anywhere on the pad by pushing down. To right-click you have to go into the right-bottom corner. (I also found out about a month later that you can right-click by tapping two fingers! Think of all the time you can save!) I'm not a big fan yet of Windows 8, but I downloaded a 3rd party "Start button," so now it's ok. But that's not a problem with the actual laptop. The sound on this thing is fantastic. It's fast too. The other complaints can pretty much be done away by customizing it a little bit. Final analysis: don't get scared away by user errors or off-topic reviews. This is a good computer.

Best Deals for Toshiba Satellite S55-A5257 15.6-Inch Laptop (Ice Silver in Brushed

I'm using this laptop as an on-stage soft synth host (I'm a keyboard player). The criteria I needed to hit:

1) Powerful CPU to run multiple plug-ins

2) Backlit keyboard so I can see things in the dark

3) A battery in case the power goes out for some reason

4) Enough RAM (8GB), with the potential to go 16GB if I need it for some reason.

5) Enough disk (500GB+) that's fast enough for my purposes. This model has a 750GB drive.

6) A screen with enough pixels

7) USB 2 for connecting adapters, MIDI, etc.

8) Ability to boot from an external drive in case the one onboard stops working for some reason

9) All at a reasonable price point

Nice to have was a DVD drive, which this model has, so I can read CDs/DVDs or burn them.

What I didn't need -

1) Bluetooth

2) 1920x1080 display

3) Ultra light weight

4) Touch screen

5) SSD

6) Discrete graphics card

Basically, lots of horsepower and no luxuries, which this laptop delivers in spades. Note that this is a VERY different requirement than for a gamer, student, etc. I actually prefer bigger pixels with lower resolution so that I can see the software running more easily.

Quad core / hyperthreaded CPU is at the top end and equivalent to high end desktops of a year or so ago. So far the i7-4700MQ has been great.

BTW, another handy feature is the ability to hit F12 to put it in airplane mode DPC latency can cause audio pops and clicks, usually with WiFi drivers in Windows 8. F12 immediately turns off wireless, and DPC Monitor comes up as being suitable for streaming audio.

There were a few of the usual bloatware programs which I removed. I clone my HD periodically so I don't have to worry about incremental backups, etc.

Build quality is sufficient, although not up to the top-end standards, but I'm not planning to bang it around. I'm running Start8 so don't care about the new dashboard, and given onstage use the noise of the fans is irrelevant (and they're not noisy in my opinion). Even when running Prime95 to see how 100% CPU load copes it was in line with any other system I've used.

For the price I paid on Amazon this was a steal, and hopefully should give me at least several years of use.

Honest reviews on Toshiba Satellite S55-A5257 15.6-Inch Laptop (Ice Silver in Brushed

This is a great laptop for a fair price. $600+ and you get a very fast computer that has a really nice feel to it. 8gb of ram make it run really fast, and you can always upgrade to 16 if you want it to run smoother.

Pros:

-Build quality, looks nice in the brushed aluminum

-Back-lit keyboard

-Very light and thin

-4th generation i7 quad-core processor,8gb ram (expandable)

-Decent battery life (5-7 hours depending on use)

-2 usb 3.0 ports (very fast)

-Good speakers

-Size is just perfect for transporting around be it school, work, etc

-600gb of hard drive space is more than enough space but you can always upgrade that as well

Cons:

-The mouse pad is not so great, takes time getting used to

-Screen is decent

-Keyboard is a dust magnet

-Fan is loud if you're in a room that is absolutey silent, otherwise it's not even noticeable

-Windows 8 can be annoying sometimes, especially for someone who is not computer savvy but it works.

All in all this computer is great, I've had it for over a month and no problems yet. If you get a lemon just make sure to contact Amazon. Their return policy is great. I also suggest buying a soft pouch to carry this in. The computer is very light and thin so an impact might damage it.

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This is a very nice laptop. VERY nice.

My second Toshiba Satellite (first was about 15 years ago or so). Tile keyboard (backlit) is nice and doesn't feel too much like I am pecking on Chicklets. Spankin' fast with the Core i7-4700MQ processor! 1366x768 display is the correct resolution for a 15.6" display [100 DPI]. Win 8 ... I won't go there, and what are you supposed to do, anyway? 8 GB RAM is plenty. Also has both VGA and HDMI outputs.

There is only so much that can be packed into a notebook. I wish that the USB 2 port had been placed on the right and the two USB 3.0 ports would have been on the left... that way, external drives with their larger cables wouldn't interfere with my mouse as much and the mouse receiver, if it were on the right side instead, would be barely noticeable. The front-side SD card reader is mounted where the front face curves to become the base of the case and is a tad tricky to push in/eject if you have clumsy fingers like mine. I need to lift the front up a half inch to make that operation easier. Perhaps I'll just get used to that.

This CPU has built in video of the earlier 4000 series graphics, not the new Iris graphics. Lots of reviews don't give it really high marks. My prior computer was an Intel quad core with a discrete nVidia GT-120 graphics card. I'm no gamer -the only 3D app that I use is Google Earth and this new cpu/gpu renders it 100% absolutely smoothly, so good enough for me.

I am running a second 1920x1200 monitor via VGA port and the video is fine for both.

The Harman/Kardon speakers sound great!

On the bottom there is a access lid for memory, but not for the hard drive. The whole bottom of the case must be removed to swap out the hard drive... that is no big deal once you determine that to get it off (after taking out the screws, of course) you have to gently pry at the hinges until it pops free. I have already upgraded this with a Samsung 840 EVO series 1TB SSD and WOW! Boot time dropped from 32-35 seconds to 5-8 seconds! Applications launch like a rocket! The only way to go!

I can't comment on battery life as I pretty much use this on a desk [internal battery, BTW]. That said, there is a nifty "airport mode" key that shuts off wireless. If you don't have a wireless connection, pressing that convenient button will extend your battery life a little more.

This laptop replaced my Intel Q8200 quad core 8GB/640GB desktop that (sniff, sniff) bit the dust. I wouldn't think of going back to a desktop now as fast as this notebook was before I upgraded the HD and especially now that I have.

Slightly different port placement would have given this very nice laptop 5 stars.

Buy Toshiba Satellite C855-S5356 15.6-Inch Laptop (Satin Black Trax)

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $499.99
Sale Price: $439.99
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My computer broke after 4 months and it was the fan and asked me to sign off and return it to manufacturer. When I have to return to the manufacturer, I have to pay for shipping. Why do I have to pay for shipping obviously the computer is defective and it is under warranty. The shipping comes with an option to mail it by yourself or with their glorified laptop box and the confirmation receipt for $24.99. What a big rip off!

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I love my laptop. the new windows 2008 is way different from anything I've ever experienced. Its at times sublime and simple, and at other times very weird and a little mind boggling. However I do honestly like it and enjoy using it. This laptop runs smoothly and facebook games are no problem on it.

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This computer is good and work is excellent, however the new system (windows 8) is annoying. If you are trying to buy a new laptop that would be a good choice but try to stick with (windows 7).

Honest reviews on Toshiba Satellite C855-S5356 15.6-Inch Laptop (Satin Black Trax)

I love the entire unit except for the key board seems kind of flimsy in its construction. Time will tell. Other wise excellent.

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THE BEST COMPUTER THAY I BUY! I RECOMMENDED, WINDOWS 8 IS FANTASTIC, THE ONLY THINGS IS THAT DIDN`T COME WITH OFFICE 2013

MSI G Series GE60 2OE-073US 15.6-Inch Laptop (Black/Red) Review

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I had a PC which was not as powerful as this notebook is supposed to be, but had to leave it in my country.

I had that PC for almost 3 years, and it was working WAY better than this notebook. The notebook sometimes crushes when all I have is google chrome open with, lets say, around 15 tabs, and maybe windows media player, and when it comes back from hivernating it takes no less than 2 minutes to begin working properly.

Besides, the battery life is a joke, using wifi (just mails and maybe some web surfing, no videos or whatsoever) and excel (basic, nothing too demanding) it won't even last for 2 hours.

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Cheap Dell Studio XPS 16 15.6-Inch Notebook - Obsidian Black

Customer Ratings:

Windows 7 Home Premium

Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2GHz

4GB RAM

64 -bit OS

ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3670

500GB Hard Drive

I have owned my Dell Laptop for a year and have no complaints. It can get pretty warm with graphic intense games, but so did my old laptop, which would freeze up every few minutes. My favorite features are the backlit keyboard and slot-load DVD drive. I miss the plethora of USB slots, and prefered the earphone jacks up front, instead of on the side, as they are on the XPS. The screen makes movie-watching fun. I carry it to work almost daily and reccomend a case of substance as it feels quite heavy. Probably not a good idea for a travel laptop; it is billed as a desktop replacement, but it works well for me on the go.

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Best HP g6-1d70us (15.6-Inch Screen) Laptop Deals

Customer Ratings:

Love this laptop. Definitely a bang for one's buck. As I write this, early March 2012, I got this machine for roughly $400 here on Amazon. This was a pretty great price, especially considering I found the exact same model on several other sites well exceeding the $600-$700 range.

A really solid laptop perfect for everyday use, and beyond. The 15.6" screen is extremely bright, and has excellent resolution. As someone who watches a lot of media (videos, movies, tv shows, etc) on my laptop, the screen is great. The Intel i3 Core, 4 GB of RAM, and mid-level Intel graphics card all make for a snappy machine that is also acceptable for light, online gaming. A sizable hard drive, over 600 GB, won't be filled easily. Add a wireless card, built in webcam, and Bluetooth, a feature which has become more prominent in the last year or two, and all your bases are covered. The Bluetooth is great for 'no cable' transferring of files to and fro from your Bluetooth devices.

The audio is no slouch either. We all know that many a laptop speakers out there have their problems; They don't get very loud. They sound tinny. Not enough bass. Too much treble. etc etc. While the speakers here aren't exactly perfect, I'm pleased to report they are more then solid. On maximum levels the audio gets quite loud and remains mostly tin free. I also have to say, after experimenting with not only online videos, but various audio/video formats, the sound quality rates about a 7.5 on my scale. Pretty high considering some of the bad audio I've experienced, even on high-end laptops.

The machine comes in at just slightly over 5 lbs. Perhaps a tad heavy for some, but still hardly cumbersome. The machine itself is a handsome matte finish gray, and when closed, it's rounded edges give it a modern, almost IKEA-esque quality. If I had one overall quibble, and it's a very minor one, it would be the keyboard. While the keys have a soft, pleasant tactile feel, the keyboard itself is a tad on the small side. This is made more frustrating considering the size of the machine.

Bottom Line: Looking for a solid, mid-level, wallet friendly laptop that can handle a variety of tasks and situations? This one will easily fit the bill. Overall, an excellent value for what you're getting.

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I have been using HP's for a very long time and find this one very quick and useful. My only comment is that is a little heavy and serves much better on a desk then if you need to take your laptop out..meetings, room-to-room etc.

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I recently purchased this laptop to replace my out of date Gateway and found the price to be great for all of the features that it has. It arrived in a timely manner (2 days) and was well packaged from Amazon. I was looking for a laptop with a 15.6" display and not a keyboard with the 10 key function. Here are the pro's and con's that I discovered:

Pros

Easy to set-up

Vivid display, HD quality

3.5+ hours of batt life over wi-fi

Charges quickly

Full size keyboard easy to type on

Windows 7

Decent built in camera

Cons

Not a fan of the trackpad, poor for internet scrolling

Would recommend purchasing a wireless mouse

Heavy, but well built

No docking station available from Amazon or HP

Overall I am extremely satisfied with this purchase, I purchased an HP for my parents for Christmas and they are also liking theirs as well, but I was able to get mine for over $100 less! Very happy customer, would recommend this product for anyone.

Honest reviews on HP g6-1d70us (15.6-Inch Screen) Laptop

This is no doubt the nicest and fastest laptop I have ever owned. However, it is not perfect. The Core i3 is plenty fast for streaming HD videoin fact, that was my main criteria when searching for a new laptop. The Pentium, Celereron, and low end dual core AMD processors simply can't handle HD video. You must get the equivalent of a Core i3 or better.

The good things about this laptop are it is small (at least is smaller than my 6 year old laptop of the same screen size) and light weight. It's got an HDMI port (which should be a requirement of all computers these days) and plenty of USB ports. I recommend attaching a "port saver" for the HDMI connection if you constantly use the laptop with different HDTVs. The mouse touchpad also has a nice feature that lets you turn off the touchpad with a double tap in the corner.

The bad is that the battery is difficult ro remove and install. Not impossible, but harder than it should be. I also don't like that the monitor does NOT have a clip to lock it down. It's just spring loaded so that means you have to hold the bottom of the laptop with one hand as you use the other hand to raise the screen. Again, not a deal killer, but a minor annoyance. Since the laptop has this spring loaded monitor, that means there is not enough room for any USB or VGA ports on the back of the unit. All ports are on the side including the power jack. The last thing I'm not crazy about is the monitor itself. The colors are way to intense. But that is a problem with all LCD displays IMO.

No, this laptop isn't perfect, but I do still like it and recommend it. To get a perfect laptop you would have to pay 2-3 times more than this one.

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Love the design, it's simple and elegant. I'm not even close to being an expert in computers, I mainly am a writer and use it as such, for my work. I do however see an issue when I try to run multiple programs, but I am inclined to think that is most laptops.

All in all I am pleased with my purchase, if you're looking for a laptop this is one of the best I have had and not all that expensive!

Reviews of ASUS UL30A-A2 Thin and Light 13-3-Inch Silver Laptop - 12 Hours of

Customer Ratings:

Like the previous reviewer, I also pre-ordered the UL30A-A2 and it was delivered on October 22nd proper. (Kudos to amazon.com for such quick delivery!) I also have only had it for a day, but thus far these are my impressions:

Middle of the Road:

1. Lack of an Optical drive either internal or external. While this may be an issue for some people, it is plenty easy to hook up an external optical drive to it. However buyers should keep a sharp eye out for which external drive they get. The cpu in this machine is an ultra low voltage processor, and some of the external optical drives out there that only run on the power of usb ports (1 or 2) will find that the UL30A-A2 does not crank sufficient power through the usb ports for many of the drives available. I fortunately had an external drive powered by only usb ports and one with an external power supply. The usb powered external drive I owned (a nu-esw860, which worked with an HP 8710w laptop) did not work, whereas the external power source usb drive (an dvd writer/cd burner from Iomega) worked fine.

2. The Touchpad and Mouse Buttons. While the touchpad is fine for me the mouse buttons actually consist of a single button that rocks back and forth. I find it a little awkward, but not unusable. In general I try to use an external mouse with laptops anyway.

3. DDR3 memory limitation. While the inclusion of DDR3 RAM is excellent in of itself purchasers should be aware that this model maxes out at 4gb of RAM that is, the amount it sells with. No upgrades in this area of the machine. And since the machine sells with a 64 bit OS, which is not subject to the 3.5 gb RAM cap of 32 bit OS's, it kinda makes one wonder what Asus was thinking, especially with the video card potentially borrowing so much memory. That being said, other UL models DO come with an 8gb max and ship with 4gb of RAM, although usually those models use DDR2.

4. Keyboard. While I very much like the chicklet design of laptop keyboards my unit has noticeable (but not terrible) flex across the keyboard proper. For those of you who are used to the standard of the old IBM laptops this is a bit of a disappointment. But even though I thought it should be mentioned it is very easy to live with nonetheless.

5. Tiny power adapter. A very small adapter comes with the unit, and although I too have seen reviews (admittedly of the UL30A-A1 model) where the adapter got downright hot thus far my use of it has not achieved that. At worse it has been noticeably warm. Maybe a determining factor for the size of the adapter was to shave a few extra ounces off of the overall weight of carrying the machine and its accessories around?

6. Intel x4500 graphics card. Not the greatest of cards, but sufficient to the the job on a basic daily level. Likely chosen in part for purposes of battery life.

Negative:

1. No bluetooth. This was a disappointment for me, but there are models in the UL series that do come with bluetooth capability. In the end I opted for battery life over the bluetooth a person could always get a usb bluetooth adapter if need be. Still it would have been very convenient to have this.

2. Usually Asus's laptops come with a bag and a mouse, as the previous reviewer has mentioned. No such extra accessories came with my machine.

3. Internal Wireless Card. My unit was bundled with an Aetheros wireless card and only one of the two antennae was attached/active. I would presume that this was to reduce power consumption. For me personally it is not a problem, but I have heard many fellow users complain about its weak signal and limited range. It works just not very strong or far-reaching. This has been a deterrent for some in considering to purchase this machine.

Positive:

1. Sturdy build, light weight. I am impressed by the general external build of so thin and light a laptop as this one it is not super sturdy, like, say, the old IBM T40 series, but it is quite adequate. Kudos to Asus on this front!

2. Screen. It is a lovely and vibrant screen indeed although potential buyers should be aware that it is the reflective screen.

3. Aesthetic Design. I personally think it is an attractive laptop as well. The same basic design comes in both silver and black. Looking only at pictures I thought the black looked slightly better of the two, but on receiving the UL30A-A2 (which is the silver model) I am quite satisfied with how it looks, and even impressed. Asus did a very good job on this one!

4. Cooling system. As advertised, Asus did an impressive job with this. The machine stays very, VERY cool when running. Even when doing high intensive cpu tasks the machine only heats up in a barely noticeable way.

5. HDMI Port. This is something I have seen many people ask about. Different models of the UL series either come with or omit the hdmi port. This hdmi port also is not of the sort that can also be used as a usb port.

6. Not a whole lot of bloatware. Mostly Asus programs a few could be useful, like the power saving app, which I have not yet used. Mine came with a trial of Trend Micro antivirus and MS Office 2007 student level both were easy enough to uninstall.

7. Windows 7. This is my first hands on look at the OS, and while it took a while to find my way around the thing, I have to say I am impressed, in particular by the power saving features and general speed improvement over Vista.

8. Battery Life. This was the deal breaker for me. The battery itself fits up very snugly to the overall design of the laptop, and the UL30A-A2 model was advertised (perhaps incorrectly) as having up to 16 hours of battery life. I put it through some initial tests and these are the rough figures I came up with:

Initial Battery Life Results:

When I make a power saving profile maximized for battery length (which means screen dimmed to lowest possible and wireless turned off) AND reduce the color from 32 bit to 16 bit this is what I got before shutting down the machine at 5% power these are rough numbers only, mind you:

Playing .avi files and installing a fair size program: about 8 hours of battery life.

Playing .avi files only: about 10 10 1/2 hours of battery life.

Only word processing: about 13 13 1/2 hours battery life.

So, at least based on the first run of draining the battery life, while it does not live up to the 16 hours listed on amazon.com, it DOES do better than the advertised "up to 12 hours" for the other machines but this is in extreme power saving mode.

Conclusion

Overall this is an ideal machine for me personally. I thought long and hard before choosing what my next laptop was going to be, and I am very satisfied with the result. I would recommend this machine to others who need long battery life with decent cpu strength and speed in their machine at the same time. For the record, the Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 cpu is very roughly the equivalent of an Intel Core 2 Duo T5500 and/or an AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-64.

I am hopeful that in the future Asus (or some third party) will make available larger power supplies and especially larger batteries! Then something like 16 hours of battery life could easily be reached with dedicated power saving settings (as opposed to ultra-extensive, as I did).

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If you're like me, you research hours and hours before deciding what kind of laptop you want to get. It's a big purchase no doubt, and you want to make sure that you're getting a great laptop for your money, which is why you've taken the time to scroll all the way down the Amazon page to the customer review section. So while I'm procrastinating from studying for final exams next week, I'll write this review for the Asus UL-30A2. While I might be a little biased because I'm already an owner, I'll try my best to give you some of the pros and cons to be fair.

When I bought my first laptop in July of 2008 for college, I thought that the sony vaio I was getting was great because it recieved alot of editor's choice awards. Being young and naive, I thought that it was a good purchase. While it was nice and flashy with the red cover, it didn't suit my needs as a college student. It was large (15.4 in), bulky (6 lb), and didn't even have the blu-ray player, which is why it won the awards in the first place, being one of the only laptops at the time to play blu-ray. It was meant to be a multimedia laptop, which is not what I needed as a college student. So this Thanksgiving, I started hearing about this Asus UL30 that was getting rave reviews and alot of attention. I researched it more, and the more I read about it, the more I liked.

Before going into college, I was positive that I wanted a Macbook. Apple claims that they're the most used computer on college campuses, and just by walking around you can see they're not lying. But the pricetag just wasn't cooperating with my dreams to get a mac. Not only does this computer have a mac-like keyboard, but you won't have to drop a grand to get it! So I stuck with Microsoft, which was further cemented due to my purchase of a Microsoft Zune HD (which I also highly recommend). But I digress, back to the Asus UL30.

Put simply, the Asus UL30 is probably one of the best purchases I've ever made. It is so thin and light, the 'UL' part doesn't do justice. Compared to that behemoth of a vaio, the Asus UL30 weighs less then a Mac for crying out loud! Weight and portability were one of my top concerns because I would be lugging around this laptop with me to campus, going from class to class all day. This laptop weighs less then my calculus book! I can easily carry it in my backpack, and when I get to class, just whip it out and go.

The hardware is simply divine. The screen is so bright and vibrant, as we speak I have the brightness level set to a little less than halfway, because I might get blinded if I put it up all the way. Yes, the screen is quite glossy, but you could barely notice it when you're using the laptop, unless you're sitting in the sun, which would make any screen hard to see anyway.

The speakers are unlike other laptops. They're situated underneath the laptop, towards the front. It kind of muffles the sound if you have it in your lap, but when it's on a hard surface, the sound bounced off the table and is amplified. When I first got the ASUS UL30, I set it on the table right next to my brother (HP) and sister's (some other 15.4 ASUS) laptop. I blasted the same song from all 3 laptops, and my ASUS UL30 completely hit the other two out of the ballpark in terms of loudness and clarity. You seriously have to listen to how loud the speakers on this small laptop really is to believe it. As I'm typing this, I have my headphones on and the volume set to 17% and the pandora volume set to like 25. The loudness capability of the ASUS UL30 is excellent, you will not be disappointed.

The part that I might (and that's a big MIGHT) come to miss is an optical drive. There is no way to play DVDs or CDs on the ASUS UL30, but that's a blessing in disguise! Because there's no optical drive, the laptop is lighter, and uses less battery because all it's running is just the hard drive. I don't really miss the optical drive because these days, everything you need can be downloaded off the internet. Ever since I've gotten this computer, there hasn't been a single time when I've had to play a CD but couldn't. Let's face it, ubiquitous storage on the internet and flashdrives are the future. The last time I used the optical drive on my former laptop was months ago to play some video game I rented from the library. Not having an optical drive should be no big deal.

Another part that I absolutely adore about the ASUS UL30 is the trackpad. The dimples are very unique and the single mouse button makes the laptop seem more simplistic, and I love simplicity. I remember reading a review about the ASUS UL30 and someone said that once you get a little 'finger grease' on the trackpad, that it's becomes really smooth, which I found to be a little disgusting, but now I know what the reviewer meant. When you first get the laptop, the trackpad is really dry, imagine yourself swiping your finger on any dry plastic surface, and thats what it feels like. But once you get some of that 'finger grease', the trackpad works like a charm. And it's so cute and unique, what other laptop has little dimples?

One thing about the trackpad that I do NOT like is the multitouch thing, like how you scroll down by using two fingers, and can right click by using 3. The 2 finger scrolling isn't that accurate, and the 3 finger right click is kind of a shot in the dark if it works or not. Often time, when 2 finger scrolling, accidentally I get that arrow thing that scrolls the page when you move the arrow to the edge. I admit it's kind of annoying, but hey, it's great when it works! lol fml

When buying this laptop, I was debating whether to get the A2 or the X5. I ultimately chose the A2 because its silver, and I read that the black attracts finger prints like crazy, and I liked the better battery life. I was already slapping down $700, so why not just spend another $100 and make sure that I'll be completely satisfied with what I get?

Some people say that the laptop feels like it's made of cheap plastic. I can see why they would say that because if I press the front part down, it makes a little clicking noise. But that is barely noticeable and doesn't really affect the overall laptop. The ASUS UL30 doesn't get overly hot like my old Sony did, I could use it one my lap all day/night and I still wouldn't notice the heat. So now I kind of regret buying a logitech lapdesk for $40 a couple weeks before I got the ASUS UL30.

The battery is one of the strongest points of the laptop. I'm sure you've all heard how great the battery life is by now, and while I don't get the 12 hours as advertised, I probably get a good 8-9 hours from a single charge. And that's from browsing the web, playing music, watching videos, and the many other multi-tasking things that college students do. The battery life simply pays for itself over and over again. Whenever I go to the library, I don't have to walk round and around for a table that's close to an electric outlet. Now I just smile as I watch people walking all over the library looking for an outlet to plug in their drained computers that only last 2-3 hours on a charge, or at other students who have to turn their brightness down to the lowest level to conserve battery while in class. It's like they're reading from a fricken kindle for crying out loud! All the while, my screen is bright as the sun, and untethered from the bondage of electrical outlets.

Now I have to say something critical of the ASUS UL30 just to be fair in this review. If I had to choose something, the only thing that I wouldn't like about this laptop is that there's no bluetooth capability, so I cant wirelessly transfer pics I took on my phone to my computer. But that's not that big of a deal because there's a memory card slot so I can just pop that SD micro card into a SD mini reader and bam bam thank you ma'am, everything works fine.

Even though I gave the rating of a 4 out of 5 simply because I think 5 is some perfect, imaginary laptop that can only exist in our dreams. But this computer is fairly close to that!

The graphics are great, the sound and screen are great, the chiclet keyboard and dimple trackpad is real cute, the ASUS UL30 is one of the best 13.3" laptops on the market, and I'm extremely glad that I bought it!

Best Deals for ASUS UL30A-A2 Thin and Light 13-3-Inch Silver Laptop - 12 Hours of

After 1 month of ownership (as of tomorrow), I'm extremely impressed. However, I'm giving it four stars simply due to a few things that ASUS could easily change to make it even better.

First, before you consider buying one of these, you should realize what it's designed for. It's meant to be thin, light, and have extremely good battery life; it's NOT meant for extremely intensive tasks (video encoding, number crunching) or gaming. The machine is still very capable of everything I throw at it, and unlike netbooks you won't find yourself making compromises in every-day tasks to avoid slow downs.

Pros:

GREAT battery life. I've seen about 6-8 hours on average, with 9-10 hours during very light use (and that's all on the moderate "Entertainment" battery setting). 12 hours may be achievable using the "Battery Saver" setting, which dims the display quite dark, throttles the processor even more, and reverts to the non-Aero Windows theme.

Excellent size and weight. 13.3" really is the sweet spot for me; it's very portable, and really seems significantly smaller than my previous 14.1" laptop. This thing really seems as light as a feather compared to many other laptops. Too bad I just got out of college, I would have loved the "lug" things thing around.

Decent build quality. The brushed aluminum cover is a very nice touch, and really makes the UL30A look very classy (though it would have been nice to see aluminum used on other panels as well). The screen is firmly hinged and it takes some force to make it wobble. Unlike other reviews I've read, the battery is locked in very securely by two locks, one on each side. There are a few small areas on the laptop casing that can be depressed, causing an audible click, but it takes a decent amount of force and the chassis seems to be very sturdy overall.

Decent keyboard. The chiclet-style keyboard is a breeze to type on. Having the extra space between each key is very nice, especially when hunting for an unfamiliar key. There is some keyboard flex present, but it's much less pronounced that my previous laptop (ASUS N80Vn) and I generally don't find that it causes any problems with my typing speed (~90 WPM).

LED Backlit Screen. After using one on my previous laptop, and now this one, I don't think I could stand to go back to a standard CCFL screen. The lighting seems much more even, and the colors are far more vibrant. I find that the screen causes less strain on my eyes over long periods of time, and even when I dim it to save battery life, it's still MUCH brighter than other laptops. With that said, the laptop most likely uses a cheaper TN panel (are there any laptops available with MVA/PVA/IPS panels?), so it may not be ideal for professional photo work.

Great overall specs. Graphics card aside, you get a Core 2 Duo that sips power and is still capable of every day tasks, 4GB of memory, a 500GB hard drive, and Windows 7 Home Premium.

Some multi-touch support on the track pad. Two-finger scrolling really beats a dedicated scroll bar once you get used to it, especially since it frees up more track pad real estate. The three-finger right click gesture is also nice. Why can't we have more?!

Cons:

Intel Integrated Graphics. The X4500MHD (a.k.a. GMA 4500MHD) just plain sucks. It's more than plenty for basic desktop use, watching videos, and surfing the 'net. However, if you're looking to do any gaming, you should look elsewhere. For example, I read one review that stated they experienced stutters even playing World of Warcraft at a laughable 800x600 resolution. If you're not looking to do any gaming (or if the games you want to play are graphically simple, like Bejeweled, or over 5 years old, like Starcraft), the X4500MHD should do the trick. I REALLY wish the UL30Vt (user-switchable graphics between the X4500MHD and a Nvidia GT210M) was out when I purchased this one. If I had the opportunity to return mine and get the UL30Vt instead, I would in a heart beat.

No Bluetooth. ASUS, really... it's 2009. Bluetooth is popping up everywhere. Sure, I can buy a tiny, cheap USB Bluetooth adapter, but that ties up one of the three USB ports on the machine. Ugh... this is probably the only thing about the laptop that really irks me. Integrated please.

So-so track pad. The dimpled effect takes a little getting used to, but it's not horrible. I still prefer a smooth, recessed surface like traditional track pads, though. The available multi-touch gestures (mentioned above) are really nice, but I'd like to see more. I'm hoping more can be added with driver updates, and it's mot a hardware limitation. The biggest downfall to me is the buttons; they work fine, but they're a bit too stiff for my liking, and they emit a loud click when pressed. I use a wireless mouse (Logitech VX Nano highly recommended) most of the time anyway, so it doesn't make much difference to me.

Atheros Wireless card instead of an Intel card; lack of a gigabit network adapter (it's only 10/100), only 3 USB ports.

Overall, it's a a wonderful laptop for anyone looking for portability and battery life over raw performance. However, there are still a few things missing that would really make it a smash hit.

Honest reviews on ASUS UL30A-A2 Thin and Light 13-3-Inch Silver Laptop - 12 Hours of

This is an amazing laptop with a super bright screen, and amazing battery life. My only complaints are that the screen is a little too glossy (but what laptop isn't these days) and that no powerful dedicated GPU is available that can provide this much battery life. This computer can do basically everything though, and is a great buy.

With so many variations of the UL30A, it is hard to know which is the best.

A break down given by an ASUS rep somewhere on the web is below (unfortunately i can't find the link).

A2 vs. X5 vs. A3b

Battery:

UL30A-A2 = 8 cell 5600mAh

UL30A-X5 = 8 cell 4400mAh

UL30A-A3B = 8 cell 5600mAh

HDD:

UL30A-A2 = 500GB 5400rpm

UL30A-X5 = 500GB 5400rpm

UL30A-A3B = 250GB 5400rpm

RAM:

UL30A-A2 = 4GB DDR3

UL30A-X5 = 4GB DDR3

UL30A-A3B = 3GB DDR3

Operating System:

UL30A-A2 = Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)

UL30A-X5 = Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)

UL30A-A3B = Windows 7 Professional (64-bit) with XP Professional downgrade option

Warranty:

UL30A-A2 = 2 year global, 1 year ADW, 30 day no-bright-dot

UL30A-X5 = 1 year global, 1 year ADW, 30 day no-bright-dot

UL30A-A3B = 2 year global, 1 year ADW, 30 day no-bright-dot

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for ASUS UL30A-A2 Thin and Light 13-3-Inch Silver Laptop - 12 Hours of

I ordered my ASUS UL30A-A2 last week with one day shipping so I could get it ASAP with Windows 7. It arrived on Oct. 22, the Windows 7 release date, and I am very happy with it. I did a lot of research on thin and lights with large amounts of battery power, and from all the reviews I could find, the ASUS UL30A was the clear winner, with the Acer Aspire Timeline 3810T just behind it. I've had my computer for less than 24 hours, but keeping that in mind, here's my current assessment:

Pros:

It is very thin and very light. It's about half the wight of my old Dell Inspiron, and the size is small enough to be really portable and large enough to watch movies.

I haven't fully tested the battery life yet, but so far it's been pretty impressive.

The screen quality is amazing, and it comes with some of the most beautiful desktop images I've seen. I am truly impressed.

It doesn't get hot. It has been on my lap for hours at a time while working hard to transfer over files from my other laptop, and it hasn't been even uncomfortably warm.

The keyboard and touchpad design are great. I like the mac-style keyboard that will help keep crud from accumulating under the keys, and is easy to type on. The touchpad is flush with the wrist-rest areas, which means it also will stay cleaner with years of use. Some computer reviewers did not like the touchpad, but for me it's plenty big, and it only feels "sticky" when you press down too hard. You have to use a light touch, but it doesn't take long to adjust to.

It's fast enough and big enough for everything I need. I'm in the midst of transferring all of my music and videos, from both my old laptop and my external hard drive, only my Asus so that I can have everything with me at once, and only use my external as a backup. The system operates fast enough for my needs, though from what I've read it won't suffice if you're a gamer.

It doesn't come with Norton Anti-Virus pre-installed. This means you don't have to go through hours of trying to uninstall it so that your computer can run the way it's supposed to. It simply comes with a basic internet security program.

Most of the computer is somewhat fingerprint-proof. The only exceptions are the big glossy screen (which you shouldn't be touching anyway), the black border around the screen (which you will sometimes need to touch), and the touchpad button (which is small, but you will probably be touching it a lot). However it is still better than most laptops, as the rest of the computer will not show fingerprints.

Windows 7 is great! Again, I haven't fully tested the ins and outs, but so far it's been an easy transition for someone who has been using XP since it came out eight years ago. I avoided getting a computer with Vista, but have used it on friends' computers on occasion, and Windows 7 seems like an improvement.

I read that the power adapter would get hot, but so far mine has stayed cool. And it has been plugged in for 18 hours straight.

If you press Fn and the space bar, you can easily shift through 4 different power options: Entertainment Mode, High Performance, Quiet Office, and Battery Saving. This is an awesome feature because if you're watching a movie, it will let you change settings to stop the screen from dimming or turning off without even exiting the movie.

Cons:

The Amazon order did not come with the mouse or computer case it promised!

I don't like the reflections you can see in the glossy screen. This isn't unique to this computer, I just don't like glossy screens in general.

It came with a sticker on it saying it had 12 hours of battery life, so I'm not sure if the 16 hour claim is true... and like I said I haven't tested it. Either way, though, I don't think I'll ever need it to last more than 12 hours without being plugged in.

The way that the hard drive is partitioned is confusing. It has an OS C drive and a data D drive. However it automatically puts all of the users documents and music folders in the OS drive rather than the data drive. This is easy to change, but I still haven't figured out how to change the start menu links to my documents so that it takes me to the D drive instead of the C drive.

The touchpad doesn't support rotate and zoom motions that are common on Macs and coming out in newer PCs. Certainly not a huge problem, but they would be nice, since the touchpad does support scrolling and right click motions.

I think that's all for now. I'll try to update this when I find more pros and cons worth mentioning, and have measured the true battery life of the machine.