Reviews of Toshiba Satellite P755-S5274 15.6-Inch LED Laptop (Black)

Customer Ratings:

I purchased this laptop 6/30. I received and un-boxed it 7/5. It is well-equipped for the price.

Positives

-The 2nd Gen Core-i5 has excellent benchmarks, comparable and even better than some 1st Gen Core-i7. (See Passmark Benchmark ratings)

-The video card puts out 1080p video without issue. It is not really capable of doing any gaming but that is to be expected at this price from the Intel HD 3000.

-For the price point the theoretical specs are fabulous, hence my purchase and excitement upon arrival.

-It comes with a full size keyboard built in which I enjoy. The sizing and spacing is all acceptable although the backspace is a touch smaller than I would like.

As far as negatives are concerned,

-The webcam is horrendous, I mean, it works, but the resolution and video quality is pretty shameful. I knew this going into the purchase and was willing to accept it, but if you are hoping for a decent integrated webcam this is not a computer for you. Of course you can always get a very high quality external webcam which will best any internal.

-Toshiba Bloatware, I haven't fully investigated them, but a lot of them are redundant to services that windows provides, or just excessive little power hungry toys. Thus far I do actually like the extra power settings, but that is the only one among many.

-Other Bloatware (Extra links to install trial programs...etc)

Now, the reason for 1-star.

The laptop I received on 7/5 was defective. The audio card integrated on the motherboard was deemed defective by Toshiba. Of course Toshiba customer support made me re-install the driver, and "revert to factory settings". I found this excessively annoying as I has just opened the box and reverting to factory settings wouldn't do anything. Regardless the problem remained and they agreed it was defective and told me I could send it to a repair facility (a brand new laptop? and wait a few weeks, i think not). Or Amazon could send me a new one. I have had better dealings with Amazon than Toshiba so I opted for a replacement. Props to Amazon for the prompt replacement (it arrived within 24 hours). Now, believe it or not, the 2nd laptop is also defective. I then had to call Toshiba again to inform them of this. They didn't seem to find it odd that two of the exact same computers are both defective. Anyway Amazon is refunding me the money and I intend to get something else. Preferably not Toshiba despite my previously high impressions of them.

I would be interested to know if anyone else is having these issues. For anyone who may be skeptical as to the fact that two computers are both defective let me assure you sound was tested with several samples of audio from the HD, and the internet. It was also tested on both computers using the laptop speakers, Sennheiser Headphones, and a high quality system with Polk Audio speakers.

Bottom Line:

The specs are great, but I cannot recommend a computer that has come defective 2/2 times. Once is acceptable, it happens, but twice is not acceptable and both Amazon and Toshiba should be ashamed to be selling faulty merchandise repeatedly.

[UPDATE]

After receiving a third defective laptop I have ordered a Lenovo from Best Buy. I cannot fathom that nobody else is having this issue. This has been tested on numerous receivers, numerous cords, numerous speakers. I have had friends with me to verify that I am in fact not going insane, and Toshiba has verified they are all defective. The error occurs upon setup without changing factory settings at all.

Stay away.

In other news the touchpad is definitely a little far to the left and while typing I often touch it with my left palm. Minor issue though.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

Bear with me here folks, I'm still trying to pull together my thoughts on my brand new laptop here, consider my review a "first draft". :)

Received this laptop early this morning. My first impression is pretty good, but I've only been with it for a few hours thus far. I've surfed around online some, streamed some HD video, played a couple games, and removed a ton of bloatware.

Was a little worried at first, because the first boot-up took quite awhile, but once I removed some bloatware, shut down, and booted up again, it's ready to go within 20-30 seconds. After running it for 2 hours straight, mostly surfing around online, it's not hot enough to even call it warm, so it should be good about keeping cool. The fan seems to come on pretty often, but it's not very loud, it's mostly just the sound of air moving in and out. Wireless internet seems to work perfectly, and I easily connected to my network.

I actually quite like the touchpad on it, which is strange for me to say, because I'm picky about touchpads. I think it works well, and it's slightly textured, but not overly so. The keyboard seems nicely built for a laptop too.

I don't own much in the name of games, but I've played some Sim City 4 and The Sims 2 on high settings without any hiccups. HD video streamed smoothly as well.

Overall, I'm quite happy with my purchase. I'll be updating this review once I spend more time with it and finish getting my thoughts together.

Edit: Okay, so I never updated my review, too lazy to do it. However, it is now February 3rd 2012, and this computer is still up and running like new. I've owned it for 7 months and I have had no problems, even though I run it about 7 hours everyday. It continues to run cool, fast, and with no issues at all.

Best Deals for Toshiba Satellite P755-S5274 15.6-Inch LED Laptop (Black)

This is my first laptop, and even though I've only had it for 9 days, I believe I've drawn a conclusion already.

Pros: 6gb ram and huge 640gb hard drive

Extremely smooth Youtube video playback

USB 3, Bluetooth 3, Wireless B/G/N, HDMI and VGA out

Quiet

Great battery life (in my opinion?)

The "chiclet" style keyboard is incredibly easy and satisfying to type on. The keys give off a satisfying light click, and they're far enough away from eachother so I rarely hit another key.

I have never seen an HD Youtube video play back so smooth before, not even on my desktop with an Nvidia Geforce GTS 250.

Speaking of video performance, Minecraft plays as smooth as my desktop plays it. I have not played other games, but DO NOT buy this laptop for gaming; you'll likely regret it.

It takes 22 seconds from power on (with the BIOS option "Load BIOS onto harddisk" checked), until you get a usable Windows 7 login screen.

The laptop has quite a few ports and features including: USB 2 and 3, Bluetooth 3, Wireless B/G/N, and HDMI and VGA out. Very handy to have and use all of them.

Internet browsing is far from slow, it feels much faster than my desktop.

You can only hear the fan occasionally speed up, if you strain to hear it in a quiet room.

Battery life is awesome, I was able to type an entire 725 word essay from start to finish with 10% left.(3 hours at least, maybe 4. I lost track of time)

Speedfan claims both cores are idling at 109f, but you can hardly feel any warmth from the laptop even after several hours of use.

Display is glossy, vivid and bright. Some may see it being glossy as a con; it's fine indoors, but tough to use outside (I never use it outside).

The numpad is an awesome feature to include, it was one of my main requirements in a laptop.

Windows 7 makes everything feel instant and responsive.

I've never run out of ram with the included 6gb.

Now onto the bad stuff (Minor whining on my part)

Cons: Keyboard is not backlit

Off center touchpad location interferes with typing

Dust magnet

Bloatware madness

Speakers suck(ish)

This laptop has doesn't have backlit keys, not a con if you know how to type; I just always thought they looked cool at night.

Regularly while typing, my hand rests on the touchpad and jumps the mouse around as another reviewer also mentioned. Annoying at times, just reposition your left hand slightly.

Needs to be wiped off daily or it grows a beard of dust. (Or maybe I just need to vacuum my room more than once a year)

Copious amounts of bloatware -some bundled with drivers. Google a program before deleting to make sure you don't inadvertently kill flashcards or the touchpad.(Happened to me)

Extremely slow until you kill off bloatware and stuff you don't plan on using.

As another reviewer stated, I have had the laptop claim it had an hour of battery life left, then 5 minutes later, it shut off. I remember reading through the Toshiba manual, and apparently it has to kind of "calibrate" the battery meter and run itself down once in a while to be accurate; I am guessing this applies to the first cycle especially. It has not done this since.

Speakers are clear, but severely lack bass. Using skullcandy earphones remedies that problem.

The bright Satellite letters and line above the touchpad can be turned off in the BIOS. I believe another reviewer said that already.

I am not a picky person, so these cons don't annoy me enough to be worth subtracting a star. The bottom line is that this is an awesome laptop for everything except gaming. (After you get over the minor quirks.)

Honest reviews on Toshiba Satellite P755-S5274 15.6-Inch LED Laptop (Black)

I've had this laptop for about two weeks and I love it. It's fast and loaded with a lot of useful features. Multi-tasking, installing programs, removing crapware and transferring data onto this machine have been a quick breeze.

I love the keyboard and number pad. They both have a normal set-up so you don't have to spend a lot of time trying to figure out where a certain button has been misplaced (an issue I've had previous laptops/netbooks I've owned and other models I've tried out in stores). Keys are pretty easy on the fingers and feel nice to the touch. Keyboard is NOT backlit as far as I can tell but it wasn't an important feature for me so no minus marks there.

Screen is crisp and has good contrast; it's not washed out like a lot of laptop screens I've come across in my research. It's viewable from almost any angle so it doesn't need to be at an exact precise angle for you to see the screen well-lit.

Speakers can go pretty loud for laptop speakers. They aren't the best speaker quality but pretty darn good for a laptop.

Unlike previous laptops I've had, this one runs pretty cool. Haven't had an issue with heat at all (even when I've absentmindedly left it running on top of the bed or on carpet). I do feel heat being pushed out by the fan but the system itself remains pretty cool to the touch (ie you won't burn your lap if it's resting on your leg and you'll probably have no need for a laptop cooler fan).

Other people have commented on the placement of the touchpad. This was a concern for me before I purchased it but it turns out that I rarely have an issue with it. Once in a while the touchpad does act up while I'm typing but in comparison to a lot of other models I've tried out it's a pretty minor problem. The touchpad on/off key is conveniently located near the touchpad so it can be switched off right away if you need to do some heavy-duty typing.

Laptop has a high-quality plastic feel (yes, it's plastic). No flexing in the keyboard or case; feels very sturdy. The grooved design all over the laptop is a nice touch that prevents fingerprint smudges.

An added bonus is the free Xbox for students. I haven't received the xbox credit yet. I'v contacted Amazon and they swiftly replied that the xbox credit is on it's way so we'll see how that goes.

It took me a while to decide on buying this laptop since I couldn't find the exact model in any brick and mortar store to try out personally. You can't go wrong with the specs but I would recommend going to an electronic store and trying out similar Toshiba models to see if you like the configuration of the keyboard, touchpad, etc since those are all based on personal preference. I think I tried out P755-S5215 at Best Buy; it has nearly an identical appearance. For the price the specs on this machine are great. No regrets so far, very happy customer.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Toshiba Satellite P755-S5274 15.6-Inch LED Laptop (Black)

I replaced an 8 year old Satellite with this computer. This new computer is very quick, keyboard keys have a nice touch. Fairly quite, lightweight and solid feeling. Windows 7 seems to be pretty good.

I find that the dolby advanced audio is not good and distorts music, try turning it off to make your music sound good. Also when you plug your speaker line into the headphone jack, select the headphone option, otherwise the line-in option also takes away from the music.

I was afraid that off center keyboard would be awkward and it is. Maybe I will get used to it. There is very little room for the left palm to rest on the computer and frequently inadvertently touches the mouse pad causing the mouse to do things I don't want it to do.

I chose toshiba again because my previous satellite served me near flawlessly (replaced hard drive once)for 8 years.

HP 14" Pavilion dm4-1165dx Entertainment Notebook PC Review

Customer Ratings:

I very much liked this computer when I got it. Then about 1.5 years after using it only for school and barley travled out the house with it the hinge on the left side broke. It got to the point where I couldn't close it properly. I needed it deperatly so I bought a replacement part and had the entire screen replaced (the only way to fix the problem) Now its six months later and the same left hinge broke. This time I decided to look up if anyone experinced this. To my suprise this happens a lot. For hp to know of this problem and ignore it is terrible. I am annoyed at hp for this. This take 700-800 dollars out of my pocket. Being a student I can not afford for a computer to last only 2 years. I don't think I will ever buy a hp again.I have never written a bad review because I know no product is perfect but hp straight up took my money for this junk of a computer!!

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

This laptop was bought more than 6 months ago and I think it is a good quality laptop. It could be better in some areas like the mouse pad. The pad is a little finnicky and it is hard to control sometimes. Other than that, it seems to be pretty good quality with everything else, including a big hard drive and a good processor. The battery life is pretty long, I find it usually lasts around 4 and half hours or so if I am just surfing the web and using word/excel type functions. The coolest thing about the laptop is it's sleek design and its light weight aluminum brush finish.

I have found the customer service to be pretty helpful when my laptop wasn't working properly for a minor issue connecting to the internet. They are contracted from India somewhere, but they did solve my issue which seemed pretty abstract to solve in the first place; so that is a good sign. I actually ended up taking out the battery and holding the power button for 45 seconds to discharge any static built up in the laptop.

All in all, I would give this laptop on a scale of a 100 an 85. If I had to grade it on marginal dollar value, I would grade it a little higher, maybe 90 out of 100. Hope this helps.

Best Deals for HP 14" Pavilion dm4-1165dx Entertainment Notebook PC

I also have been having problem with its left hinge. After googling, I have concluded that this is a design flaw of the Pavilion dm4 series -there are too many people experiencing problems regarding to the left hinge, repeatedly. And bad reviews of the hinge problem are everywhere -quite a few topics on HP forum, people mentioning the left hinge problem on other Amazon reviews, and, there's even a youtube video regarding fixing the left hinge of Pavilion dm4! As a customer, I feel raged, being told by the HP Customer Service people that the hinge broke because I dropped it -NO, I didn't. You simply cannot deny the design flaw by blaming your customer. I am sorry, HP, if you think that this is the right way to treat your customers, then you probably deserve to be bankrupted.

On a side note, the Customer Service people were also extremely not helpful -I was describing the problem to them trying to find replacement parts, but they basically told me that I just need a hinge cover, which is definitely not true. After a lot of research, I found that the main problem comes from the hinge and the cracked plastic anchor on the back cover. I have done my homework, and it shouldn't be this way -forcing your customers to become computer experts?! Ridiculous.

My roommate, who also had a Pavilion dm4 (she bought it 2 weeks after I did), is now back to IBM since that her dm4's system board and memory broke. It would have costed her more to fix it than to get a new one, so she got a new one, from IBM... And she also agreed that she would never go back to HP again.

This is my first time writing a bad review. I have just send in a complaint to HP, hopefully they will come up with a solution. Will update when they solve the problem.

Update 1:

HP contacted me back (which is quick and efficient of them), saying that they don't have any records of it being a designed flaw. Based on the information I have gathered, I requested HP a further investigation on this issue. They did offer me half off repair, which considering how they have offered other out of warranty Pavilion dm4 customers free repair, I am starting to feel raged again.

Honest reviews on HP 14" Pavilion dm4-1165dx Entertainment Notebook PC

I had this computer for a few years and absolutely love it! For the dude with the sensitive mouse pad you can adjust the sensitivity in the control panel. I don't know why someone would call it a cheap design. I'm not sure what the charging light is all about,but I don't think it should get a one star just for that. Like I said, I have had this computer a couple years with no issues I love it and am writing a review because I saw the low star rating and was completely perplexed. I think the low reviews are nit picky. I understand a bad review if your hinges broke, but the rest appear to me to just be written by cranky people and are baseless.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for HP 14" Pavilion dm4-1165dx Entertainment Notebook PC

I bought this laptop a few weeks ago. Frankly, it is really light, fast and portable, easily fits in your backpack and has a long-lasting battery life.You can use it for hours while enjoying a coffee at Starbucks or when doing a homework in a library.

Its shape is pretty thin and helps you grab it with confidence. I also like the screen resolution, gives out perfect pictures and makes video watching so enjoyable.

The only think that would make it deserve an A+++ would be a back-lit keyboard, but this can still be put on afterwards, right?

Anyway, I think it still gets a 5* from me, not that I am very generous, but let's render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's...

Reviews of HP Pavilion DV7-3160US 17.3-Inch Laptop (Black)

Customer Ratings:

Anyone unhappy with this unit is nuts or spoiled as hell. Can't really find a complaint. Fast. Been using for over a month now problem free. Took it out of the box, turned it on, set it up, and started working, and remember saying out loud "I can't beleive I own this". Most computer hardware wise for the money I could find. Solid. Only thing that disappointed was that the HP Media Bundle has issues but the Windows programs are reliable. I like to install my own media software anyway so I still give this machine 5 stars.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

I have used the HP Pavilion DV7 for the 17 months now. It was purchased by my company as I would never have considered purchasing such a "cheap" laptop. I only preface with this bit of nerd snobbery so you can know this review is written by someone who hasn't touched a notebook under $2K for over a decade and has rather high PC performance standards:

In short, this is an AMAZING steal for the price. The technical specs are superior to what you'll find in the more "elite" market and the performance of this PC is really impressive. In fact, I'm leaving my company and am only on Amazon writing this review as I prepare to purchase another of these models for my personal use...

PROS:

I originally thought I'd only use it for work (aka spreadsheets, etc) but started using it for video watching, gaming, movie burning, etc because it was working so smoothly. I'm a very hard PC user. I don't like to close applications and am always multi-tasking as in: several Microsoft Excel spreadsheets; a few Word documents; at least one Project file; iTunes playing in the background; Outlook running and checking mail every 15 seconds; Google Chrome open with 7 tabs; and Mozilla Firefox open with 7 more tabs. This PC has performed expertly for a year and never even paused despite my harsh use. As in, no crashes, no hesitation to respond to a click despite aforementioned heavy (ab)use and because it's worth repeating--no crashes.

CONS:

The only thing I have to report, is after 17 months of solid use, I've worn the "E" off (key/hardware works fine) and the "R" is on her way out too!

Although I had no issue with mine, I feel compelled to report that of the 4 PCS my company purchased, one did end up with a fried motherboard. To be fair, that particular employee was prone to visiting...websites of ill-repute...and could have caught himself a virus (ironic) that turned the fans off.

Best Deals for HP Pavilion DV7-3160US 17.3-Inch Laptop (Black)

Research the documented motherboard issue on the HP Pavilions before you buy!!!! I thought for many years that HP was a trusted reliable brand. I spent $1200 on this HP just to find out 13 months in that there is a motherboard issue. This unit overheats easily (often without you being aware) and you will lose your motherboard (and your investment will be lost). The dv7 has the same overheating/motherboard problem that the other pavilion dv series exhibits. If you buy the unit anyway (or have already purchased) watch carefully for signs of problems BEFORE the 1 year warranty expires. Motherboard problems can present initially as odd issues such as power problem (powering off, turning off while booting up, etc). ALWAYS use laptops on a hard surface. In this case using a cooling surface didn't prevent the problem but often this can help you avoid issues. Good luck!

Honest reviews on HP Pavilion DV7-3160US 17.3-Inch Laptop (Black)

I know that for the price your paying for this computer it isen't that bad. It only has one fluck that I have experenced and that is that the dislay drive stops responding and immediantly recovers after the screen gos black for a few seconds. It has something to do with the kernel drive 184.66 and I can't fix it because hp and nvidia haven't come up with a solution too the problem yet and yes I did a system recovery several times also uninstalling and reinstalling the driver. Other than that I really can't complain other then that little problem with the display drive. I really dont like the fact that they took out the 500GB (7200RPM) hard drive and replaced it with a 640GB (5400RPM). Overall I give this computer a 4 out of 5.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for HP Pavilion DV7-3160US 17.3-Inch Laptop (Black)

This is a powerful laptop, it has a decent video card and a lot of memory for todays standards. Blu-ray works fine and the power of the processor is kind of equal as a Desktop Core 2 Duo @ 2.6 Ghz. Graphics runs faster, I can play some games @ 1600*900 resolution, but others that need more graphics I play them @ 1280*720, which is not an issue for me.

The only problems I have is that when you render MPEG4 video the CPU heats a lot, it goes from the 60 degrees celcius to 90 degrees celcius and that is something dangerous because the CPU can only resist 100 degrees celcius.

Other thing I want to mention is that the sound quality is bad if you let it at default, you need to install the audio drivers and try to adjust them with a lot of diferent combinations for a decent audio quality.

And the last thing about this PC is that battery doesn't help that much. If you spend your time going through the internet, etc. the battery will last about maximum 2 and half hours, and if you play games or edit video, it will only last about 1 hour.

Overall, if you want something for games and video editing this computer is fast for that but heats a lot, but if you want a computer just for navigate though the internet, this is not for you.

P.S. I recomend buying a good heat sink for this laptop.

Buy ASUS Eee PC 904HD 8.9-Inch Laptop (Intel Mobile Processor, 1 GB

Customer Ratings:

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

P.Cruz/Naples, FL

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

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

Best Deals for ASUS Eee PC 904HD 8.9-Inch Laptop (Intel Mobile Processor, 1 GB

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

Long may it wave!

Jfg

Honest reviews on ASUS Eee PC 904HD 8.9-Inch Laptop (Intel Mobile Processor, 1 GB

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

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for ASUS Eee PC 904HD 8.9-Inch Laptop (Intel Mobile Processor, 1 GB

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

ASUS UX31A-DH71 13.3-Inch Zenbook (Silver Aluminum) Reviews

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $1,499.00
Sale Price: $1,179.99
Today's Bonus: 21% Off

I travel on a regular basis and wanted a laptop to carry around. But still want form and function beyond a tablet.

This fits the bill perfectly. I was able to load the few programs I use and documents and still have a great deal of space left, which was my concern on the ultra-books.

Speed? you lift the screen and the unit is on and running. Programs run fast and smooth.

The other review talking about the track pad was correct, however they updated the software for the unit and its totally fixed. In fact right when it updates the first time its powers on this is fixed.

The only difficult section is getting used to the quick gestures that Windows 8 uses to move between programs, scan up and down a page etc. But once you figure them out its pretty quick and intuitive.

Overall this was a great purchase. I have had it for 3 weeks and love it.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

My Sony Vaio VPCSA was only one year old and got stolen from me, so I needed to buy a new laptop. It was quite clear that I wouldn't get the same model again. Just like last year, I spent a lot of time learning about the current state of the laptop market before purchasing the Asus UX31A. So far, I have been very pleased with my choice.

My hard requirements for a laptop are fairly basic:

writing

software development in Linux

the option to play games such as StarCraft 2 and Diablo 3.

possible to carry around every day: ideally not larger than 14"; if 15", then it should be lightweight

no fan noise during office use

battery life > 4 hours

My wish-list included:

very good display

non-glossy display

SSD drive

very good build quality

hybrid graphics card (*)

I learnt quickly that there is no perfect device and that you have to compromise somewhere. Luckily, the only compromise I had to make for the UX31A is the hybrid graphics card (*). It turns out that laptops with a hybrid graphics card are often at least 15" and quite heavy (such as the Macbook Pro Retina 15", which is the only Macbook Pro Retina that has hybrid graphics and is too expensive), and they generally have a relatively bad build quality, loud fans, and a very short battery life (even when the dedicated graphics card is powered off). I considered the UX32VD, but I didn't want to sacrifice both the SSD-card and the excellent build quality of the UX31A just to get a low-end hybrid graphics card.

I am so glad I did compromise on this point! I can play StarCraft 2 and Diablo 3 perfectly fine on customized Mid settings after playing around with some of the settings. Some options that only require RAM and do not depend on the GPU can even be set to High. It is important to manually switch to the "High Performance" power plan in Windows and not use the default "Power4Gear High Performance" since the latter appears to exhibit noticeably worse performance. The graphics still looks very good, and besides, I've heard that StarCraft 2 Pros actually play it on Low. In fact, I feel like these games actually run much smoother now than on my old Sony Vaio, which did have a dedicated graphics card. Maybe this is because you can't use ATI's original graphics driver, but you have to use Sony's outdated version. Furthermore, hybrid graphics has always been a hassle, especially in Linux, and it is annoying to switch graphics cards. It's awesome not to have to deal with this. The Intel HD 4000 appears to be a really decent card.

The display

The Chromebook Pixel, the Macbook Pro Retina, and the UX31A are, at the time of this writing and to the best of my knowledge, the only laptops with high-resolution displays. The gaming requirement meant that I couldn't get the Chromebook Pixel because it's not clear that you can install Windows on it (you can install Linux). The Macbook Pro Retina display is glossy, and apparently, even more prone to reflections than old glossy Macbook displays. The UX31A has an excellent non-glossy display and is a pleasure to work with!

The UX31A and Linux

I installed Ubuntu 12.10 on this device. I ran into some minor issues during the installation, but now that everything is set up, everything seems to work perfectly.

To install Ubuntu 12.10, you either need an external DVD drive or an external storage device. I used a DVD drive. Unfortunately, the computer did not automatically boot from the DVD, and I first had to change the corresponding setting in the BIOS (now called EMI). You also need to deactivate a strange "secure boot" feature in the EMI, as this does not work with Ubuntu.

The Wireless adapter didn't work right away on my device. However, if the USB to ethernet adapter is plugged in before the computer boots, you can get internet this way at the time of installation.

After the installation, going through this guide helped me to set everything up: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/AsusZenbookPrime

It is likely that the installation will be much smoother on Ubuntu 13.04.

Final remarks

The UX31A is sturdy, lightweight, and thin. It is so light that I have to open my backpack to check whether I really put it in there. I really like the keyboard and the display. The trackpad is a bit unusual, but of high quality too. The computer boots in seconds and is fan-free during office use. If you have needs similar to the ones I listed above, consider buying this laptop.

Best Deals for ASUS UX31A-DH71 13.3-Inch Zenbook (Silver Aluminum)

I travel a lot for my job and I thought I would give an Ultrabook a try with touchscreen capabilities, even though I like my trusty Sony Z series lightweight 13" laptop I've had for 2 years.

Bought this on the road at Best Buy and my initial impression was great until the next 5 hotels and other buildings I used it at. Whenever there was even a 2 to 3 bar signal the wifi slowed way down. I even brought out my aging Sony and my Samsung 10" tablet to be certain it was an issue with the computer and not all the crappy wireless signals you can get at certain hotels. It was this computer. Every time I compared it, it was painfully slower than the other 2. Downloads, and playback of video news stories were constantly stopping and starting, while my Sony and tablet just played and downloaded the same files without a hitch.

So I called tech support, downloaded the latest driver, tweaked the power settings to all max, did it all to no avail. Returned the unit and bought another one a few weeks later thinking maybe it was just "that" Asus, and wanted to give it another chance. Same exact problem occurs at every hotel, and now, even at home with blazing fast wifi (50mbps). As soon as I take it even 20' away from the router it fails miserably in general wifi performance. I am a pretty accomplished techie guy and researched the hell out of this noting wifi adapter strength settings in the power settings that I read in other forums. Nothing works to eliminate this problem. Unfortunately I will be returning this one as well.

Too bad really, because in most other ways this is a great ultrabook, which is why I've been trying so hard to make it work. Just have to wait for something better around he corner.

Honest reviews on ASUS UX31A-DH71 13.3-Inch Zenbook (Silver Aluminum)

Would you believe this laptop is not only amazingly thin, light, and fast, but it also supports two external monitors in addition to the laptop screen!? I run one monitor at 1920x1080 over the micro HDMI port and another at 1920x1080 over the micro VGA port.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for ASUS UX31A-DH71 13.3-Inch Zenbook (Silver Aluminum)

I really like this laptop. The screen is bright. The solid state HD makes it fast. The keyboard is lit and has a nice feel. (Yes, the delete key should not be next to the power button, but I've never accidentally shut it off.) The audio is good enough. The camera is excellent. The screen dimming range is less that I would like, but not bad.

The worst thing of all is the touch pad. First off, you must upgrade the driver or it will not work for you at all. I recommend doing all the setup with an external mouse until after you have updated the touchpad driver. Also, spend the time to remove the junk software that comes pre-installed. Note, you can turn off the touch pad from the keyboard using the function key.

Even after you install the new touchpad drivers, life is not good. The left and right buttons are built into the touch pad. They are continuous with the touch-sensitive surface, so I often end up moving the mouse or, worse yet, resizing the text/graphics while trying to click the left or right button. The pad is too large. It is designed for gestures, but it is too easy to accidentally touch the pad while typing. I am a very good touch typist and there is nothing worse than having a sentence jump into the wrong part of the document. The pad is cumbersome at best and burdensome at worst. I use an external mouse when I can, but much of my work is with the laptop on my lap (duh?).

Don't buy this laptop based on specs. The specs are great and it does meet expectations in that regard. But, try one out and see if you can tolerate the touch pad. "Tolerate" is all that I can do.

Review of Acer 15.6" AMD 1.30 GHz Laptop Gray - AS5250-0468

Customer Ratings:

We bought this for our 13 year old daughter for Christmas. The seller was great to work with. The original one was delivered with a broken screen. It looked like fedex dropped it the corner of the box was smooshed in where the screen was broken and of coarse like all shippers coming to our address they leave it on the doorstep and don't even ring the doorbell so we couldn't really dispute the damage. He replaced it and reimbursed us for the return shipping. Works well but she broke an arrow key after about 2 days. Im sure that was her fault. Other than that it works about the same as any other laptop i've used. It doesnt overheat even when she is playing sims and she has it stuffed full of programs already and it hasn't seemed to slow down any.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

Fast shipping! Item was as described. Comparable machines cost 2 times as much. Great PC for young teen to manage school work.

Reviews of Acer 13.3" Laptop 4GB 500GB + 20GB SSD | S3-391-6448

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $579.99
Sale Price: $419.99
Today's Bonus: 28% Off

First off, I bought this laptop brand new on ebay for about $400.

Now on to the laptop itself. I wasn't expecting much except for an ultrathin laptop. I was actually quite impressed when I first booted it up. Before this laptop I had any extremely bulk HP Probook 4436s with extended battery that was a pain to take around college. It had 8 GB of ram but suddenly, after booting one day, only recognized 4. That laptop died for reason I don't know why, but anyways back to this review.

Acer didn't cut any corners with this sleek laptop. It has a nice sleek brushed aluminum look and very minimal plastic. This ultrabook is so sleek that I can carry in my backback and barley notice it as my textbooks sometimes weigh even more then this. The performance of the core i3 1.5GHz is good for the needs of me, a college student. I can do web surfing with multiple browser windows/tabs open at a time and still have minimal lag. The 4GB on memory is soldered onto the board so it is NOT upgradeable if that is what you are looking for. It is speedy enough to do work on Libre office. Boot times are fast, but the sleep wake time is a little longer then what they state. It is more around 2 seconds but still not bad as my old laptop would take 15+.

The keyboard is extremely nice to type on. It is very quite and when I press a key I don't have problems with it not registering. I am a touch typer so I am more gentle then others when typing. My old HP would have problems with registering a key click and it would bug the crap out of me as I had to constantly go back and fix "lok" and "shool" from my writing. This is not a problem present in this Acer.

There is very minimal heat when this computer is doing basic tasks like word processing and surfing. It does get a little hot, I would say around 90-100 F but I don't know exactly. The fan is quite and even when it does turn on it is blaring loud like other laptops can sometimes get. If doing an intensive task it will get louder but nothing that isn't bearable.

The screen is altogether great for the price. It is not full HD like other screens but then again you aren't paying an extra $100 either. Viewing angles from looking from the top are bad. If viewing from the side or bottom it mostly gets dim and glare is more noticeable. As there isn't a anit-glare coating that I can see of. Colors are vivid on medium to high brightness.

The charger that is lightweight and doesn't feel like you are lugging around a giant brick. Also, it is somewhat small and fits nicely into a bag. Can't really say much more about that since I am not a electrician.

Had it for about two weeks and am so far impressed with this slim, speedy little beast. Might write another review after I get some more real world data.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

My wife has had hers for several months and I decided to order one as well. I love the 13" screen, light weight, no noisy fan, no cooling ports on bottom to worry aout blocking, never hot, quick start-up, construction. Note price fluctuates dramatically so one has to watch daily. Mine from Amazon was $426 incl. shipping. My old 15.5" Compaq was inexpensive and totally reliable but now its' size and weight etc seems like a dinosaur in comparison.

Best Deals for Acer 13.3" Laptop 4GB 500GB + 20GB SSD | S3-391-6448

This is a very nice laptop for the price. I paid under $350 for a refurbished unit and at that price point this laptop is unbeatable. The track pad is a bit "clunky", but that's not a deal breaker. It's light weight and ultra thin profile is fantastic and every bit as good as the ones that cost $300 $400 more. The time to up and running from sleep mode is very quick and the boot up time from a complete power off mode is acceptable for the price. This line of Acer Ultrabooks is at the bottom of the performance and specification spectrum for this category, but unless you place a high demand on your laptop you won't be disappointed in this machine for the price.

Honest reviews on Acer 13.3" Laptop 4GB 500GB + 20GB SSD | S3-391-6448

I just received this laptop for few hours ago. I've using it for about 10 hours and writing this.

First of all, I really liked its light weight compared to my old thick heavy laptop which caused me back pain.

I have charged its battery full and went out with it. After two and a half hours, it died. Apparently, it supposed to be run for at leat 5 hours, since the specification describes it runs about 5.5 hours. I was so not feeling great, because I didn't bring my charger with me, since I thought it would last for at least 4~5 hours. I was only using office word. After that I came back home, and I tried to adjust the brightness of the monitor, but it did not work. It still does not work. I just got the brand-new laptop, even if it is refurbished, I still paid for about $408 including shipping of $8 something. However, surprisingly, the major function does not work!!! It is really horrible... But still, it is worth with this low price. other functions work perfectly find, but the battery running time and control of the brightness.

So I just thought that I am the unfortunate one...ㅜㅜ

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Acer 13.3" Laptop 4GB 500GB + 20GB SSD | S3-391-6448

Very good looks, really thin, fast in operation, sound could be better. Real ultrabook just 0.5 inch thin and very light. I would recommend the product.

Cheap Wireless DELL Latitude D510 LAPTOP, 1.7 GHZ CPU, CD Burner, DVD

Customer Ratings:

First, I received my laptop in 3 days from the time of purchase. It was exactly as described. It was in perfect condition. It runs great and looks great. I am a mom going back to school and was thrilled to find this laptop for this price.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

I'm a pc and this pc definetley can make dell proud. Definetley great for any use may it be household use or on the go. Thanks for a great pc!

Best Deals for Wireless DELL Latitude D510 LAPTOP, 1.7 GHZ CPU, CD Burner, DVD

I know old and used laptops will hardly get a good battery in them. I still complained though about mine and was impressed by how well they addressed my concern. I like this merchant. No wonder they got high ratings from a huge number of customers.

Honest reviews on Wireless DELL Latitude D510 LAPTOP, 1.7 GHZ CPU, CD Burner, DVD

I got two of these I got one for my self and it worked like a new one I never got anything from on line until I was turned on to Amazon My wife liked mine so I got her one We went to Walmart and found we was going to have a lot more in just one computer We got two and it was still cheaper then going to any store Thanks Amazon I will be getting alot of things from you

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Wireless DELL Latitude D510 LAPTOP, 1.7 GHZ CPU, CD Burner, DVD

This product came a week early, and it works great. I am having no troubles. I could have been warned about the scratches and stickiness, but other than that its awesome.

Reviews of Acer Aspire NX.V6ZAA.010;TMP453-M-6696 15.6-Inch Laptop

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $840.89
Sale Price: $832.95
Today's Bonus: 1% Off

This is priced as much as I paid for a Lenovo z560 I purchased from Amazon two years ago. The Acer has the latest i5 but I still think this is overpriced becaue the Lenovo was somewhat futureproofed at this price whereas the specs on this machine means I can run some software programs but can't expect that it can lift more than its expectations in the future.

Acer has already exercised the downgrade rights on Windows 8 Pro to have Windows 7 Pro running on this system otherwise the advice of The Guardian's tech reporter is as follows:

"Start by disabling Secure Boot in Windows 8's Settings and use the Legacy BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) provided for backwards compatibility.

In the BIOS, change the Legacy Boot Order to DVD. I would also disable the Fast Boot system which is hidden away in a System Settings screen under Power Options.

You should now be able to reboot and install a full copy of Windows 7 Pro in the usual way, but you will have to enter a valid product key.

This key will fail online activation, so you will need to activate it over the phone. To do this, tell Microsoft you are downgrading and tell it the Windows 8 Pro key from your wife's Dell."

This has HDMI and one USB 3.0. I think it is still overpriced given the dual core processor and basic graphics but I am willing to pay more to get a hassle free Windows 7 Pro running.

All i5s reportedly have Turbo Boost while reportedly none of the i3s do. And this is 7200 rpm. So those two advantages is why this is 70 dollar more than Acer NX.V6ZAA.009;TMP453-M-6692 15.6-Inch Laptop.

Configuring similar specs on the Dell website cost AT LEAST $150 more and while the configuring of my ideal money-no-object machine was fun, it also illuminated how by losing a few treats, I could save a few hundred dollars with this Acer instead.

Based on reviews, I would disable Bluetooth in the OS if I didn't have the need for such devices.

Also, this is only expandable up to 8gb versus th Dell standard 16gb so ... BUT I am still using a 1gb Thinkpad surf the web with no problem.

HP ProBook D8C10UT 15.6' LED Notebook Intel Core i5 i5-3230M 2.60 GHz Tungsten is one hundred dollars more to expand it up to Crucial Technology 16GB (2 X 8GB) 204-Pin SODIMM, DDR3 1600 PC3-12800 Memory Module Kit CT2KIT102464BF160B but spending $906 would not make the HP into a dream laptop like MSI G Series GP60 2OD-072US 15.6-Inch Laptop (Black). So for $300 less than the ideal, this working laptop can run Sage 50 Pro Accounting 2014 US Edition and Microsoft Office Home & Student 2010 3PC/1User (Disc Version) but is LESS futureproofed ....

Acer NX.V7EAA.015; TMP653-M-6861 15.6-Inch Laptopis about one hundred dollars more and you get an extra USB 3.0 port and an eSATA/USB Combo.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

Discount Dell Inspiron 15R 15.6" Notebook with 2.26GHz Intel Core i3-350M

Customer Ratings:

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

1. For no reason at all, the fan will ramp up and whir every 2-3 minutes for about 20 seconds, even if there is no spike in CPU load. This can become really annoying in a quiet environment, such as a classroom or library. I've updated to the latest BIOS (A12), and the problem is still there. One possible way to fix this is using a tool called "i8kfangui", but installing it on Win7 requires some hackery (see the forums on its site).

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

3. The keyboard can be really annoying:

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

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

odd placement of the PrintScreen key between Insert and Delete

narrow trackpad buttons, often annoying to hit with the thumb

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

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

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

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

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

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

I bought this product, it is fast, however the support is horrible. The DVD player has never workers right freezes up even out of the box When I called dell, I got the run around and the long and short of it is that Dell doesn't stand behind their products. The Wi-fi is hit or miss, lucky it works well at home , but at work it doesn't connect and on public networks on the road it is hit or miss on getting a connection.

The unit is a bit of an energy hog, as the battery life doesn't last anything close to what Dell claims. Dell's answer was that I should buy the more expensive battery! The Battery lasts about an hour and a half, with all the power settings set to decrease energy use, and screen brightness turned down.

I would find another brand, Sad since otherwise it is a great computer.

Best Deals for Dell Inspiron 15R 15.6" Notebook with 2.26GHz Intel Core i3-350M

As description says "Sleek new design you can't take your eyes off of" it's a great well made laptop and I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a great deal($549.99).

Reviews of HP Pavilion g7-1317cl Notebook PC 4GB, 640GB HD, 17.3"

Customer Ratings:

This is a nice computer for the money. Works great,very fast shipping, seller easy to do business with,battery life seems a lot longer then my old computer, Thanks

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

Thinkpad X220 12.5" 320GB 4G Review

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $1,099.00
Sale Price: $979.99
Today's Bonus: 11% Off

I've owned a Lenovo T43, T60p, X61T, X200T and now the X220. Lenovo makes excellent machines.

Pros: Thinkpad Build Quality, Keyboard, HD IPS display, Battery life, Docking station, All day battery slice

Cons: Price for a tricked out model

I purchased the i7 model and then added an after market Intel OEM 300 GB SSD. This thing flys. Windows Experience Index is a 6 due to graphics but processor, memory and hard disk (SSD) all score in the mid-7's. I had heard great things about the IPS display and without a doubt, this is the best computer screen I have ever had. The resolution could be higher but with my vision it is certainly acceptable. The viewing angles are fantastic and the screen is bright.

As the previous reviewer mentioned, the X220 has a 7 mm drive rather than the standard 9.5 mm. Intel's 320 series SSD's with models ending in 301 are 7 mm high and come in sizes up to 600 GB. I used Acronis to clone the hard disk to the SSD, swapped the drives and was up and running in about 2 hours, 1.95 hours of that for the cloning process.

I was torn between buying this, a MacBook Air or the Lenovo X1. The other two may look better but in terms of pure performance, tremendous battery life and the IPS Display the X220 wins out IMO. Build quality is fantastic. It may look like the X200 or X201 that came before it but it is a proven succesful design with plenty of power under the hood. I have absolutely no regrets with this purchase, the X220 is a great machine.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

I purchased my X220 from an individual locally.

I think it is necessary to post this as a warning.

I really like this laptop. The performace is amazing.

BIG ISSUE:

The hard drive slot height is 7mm. The standard is 9.5mm.

Do not expect to buy a standard 2.5" laptop drive (spindle or SSD) and expect it to fit. I usually research before purchasing anything. My bad, didn't even think it would have this height issue.

I think Toshiba makes an HG3 series SSD (7mm height) that might just work. Does anyone know of where this can be purchased?

Please be aware of this.

Best Deals for Thinkpad X220 12.5" 320GB 4G

I like this notebook. It is really well built and a great business notebook with docking and performance. The power to weight ratio is really there and it is a breeze to travel with especially since it has great battery life. However I really do not like the touch pad. No matter how much I try I am not friends with it and it really baffles me that Lenovo put it on there. To me it takes so much value out of the laptop as I make erroneous clicks, scroll by mistake etc.

Honest reviews on Thinkpad X220 12.5" 320GB 4G

I had a Samsung Netbook with the Atom processor that was driving me nuts how slow it was. A good computer for $350, but too slow for my needs doing mostly internet browsing, the processor was always maxed out. This Thinkpad is so fast, much faster then my other 3 computers including a Dell, another older Thinkpad 400 and a HP desktop.

For example, to load CNN.com on my old Samsung, it took about 7 seconds, this takes about 1 second. I have Comcast wireless with 50Mbps speed and I get 45Mbps download on this. The dual core processor is very fast for all tasks. The Thinkpad came loaded with Windows 7 Professional, since Im a new to Windows 7 (use Xp on other 3 computers) it has been a learning curve, but I am starting to like it. I found many ways to make it look and feel more like my XP so I am getting more comfortable.

Back to the Thinkpad, there are some that criticize the trackpad. I found I had to customize it to stretch out the edge that it uses for detecting movement, that helped a lot as otherwise, I was finding errant selections to happen. It took me an hour or so to play around with the choices, but now it works great and is as good as any laptops pad. The keyboard is amazing also. I really like the light that you can turn on that illuminates the keyboard for working at night in low lights.

As for battery, it probably does get about 7-9 hours, but I have the backlit contrast turned all the way up which reduces mine to about 6 hours, anything better then 4 I consider good anyways. As for the screen, it is amazing, so much better then my old netbook. The sound could be better, but I like the volume and on-off buttons on the keyboard that are dedicated to the sound. My old Netbook was a bit lighter, but this is still a notebook weight, but with a full laptop speed (minus a DVD drive), and more, believe me this is a screaming fast machine, amazaing is all I can say.

I had some issues with my Symantec Internet Security not fully working, found out that I had to run Internet Explorer 9 in 32 bit mode, not 64, not an issue at all and a call to Symantec took me 2 minutes to change that. The PG UP and PG DN are at the top right, I like them on the lower right of the keyboard so I remapped two keys that are at the lower bottom to move forward and back on web pages, to now be the Pg UP and PG DN keys, it was a freeware program and I love now. The delete key is also in the upper right, but it is a double sized key so I like it now that I am used to it. When I am working and want to put it in sleep mode, I just press the on-off button and it goes right into sleep mode, pressing it again later, it comes back on within 5 seconds, then about 10 seconds more to reconnect to my wireless, very nice.

If you want a Netbook sized and weight computer that is more powerful then most laptops and desktops, this is the computer. I did a ton of research and even though this is much more expensive, consider you are getting a full computer with a dual core processor. I ended up getting the 4Gb model and bought another 4Gb (8 total) from Crucial that took me less then 3 minutes to install. If you can afford the higher price, buy this, you won't be sorry as I am extatic about this little lightening fast computer.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Thinkpad X220 12.5" 320GB 4G

I did my research and decided this was the machine for me -really attracted to the 8 hour battery life, light weight, keyboard and mid button cursor. Out of the box it did not work -sent back to Lenovo -it took me exactly 3 months to the day and escalated it to one level below VP of Customer service for customer service to actually get a new one -totally outrageous!!! Here's a really joke -the Executive that I dealt with said that he would send me an internal optical drive for my problems -they sent it -guess what -it doesn't fit an internal drive!!!

If you buy the machine get it locally where you can return it and if you notice ANY problems send it back!

Cheap HP Pavilion Touchsmart 11-E010nr 11.6-Inch Touchscreen Laptop

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $567.00
Sale Price: $375.45
Today's Bonus: 34% Off

I bought mine for $329 at Office max when they had an $100 off sale. It was a deal sealer. They said this model just came out, and it was top of line. Its an very attractive model over ASUS which is two tone with Silver and I hated that. This is my first HP and I love it.

This laptop boots up to useable screen in 3 seconds! And I set mine to shut down when the lid is shut.

It comes with windows 8 and you can switch to windows desktop with a push of the screen or by pressing window button on the keyboard. I believe windows 8 is far superior to windows 7 and the touch screen is a real nice item! I bought this after looking at a bunch of them and decided I wanted touch screen & windows 8-with desktop like windows 7. The start button is missing but its coming back in the next update. I'm using short cuts to 'my computer' and 'my documents' to get around it.

The screen is very vibrant to look at, has 2 USB 3.0 ports, and one 2.0port that I use for a wireless mouse. it has HDMI hook ups for HD external monitor and it appears to have an express card slot, VGA, and built in Ethernet for connecting to the internet if you don't have access to wireless.

It doesn't play DVDs with an external DVD player unless you have a program like cyberlink 8 or betterI just happened to have one laying around, those programs can be expensive. I bought the LG external player for $20+ and I used it to install software too and its very portable.

The computer is pretty fast and I had no problems installing stuff. It has 500 Gb hard drive plenty of space, 4 gigs of ram and I believe its upgradable to 8 gigs.

I have to say its the best laptop I have ever purchased.. lightweight, very portable, fast, very attractive, and you're up and running very quick.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

I needed a small laptop with a wired Internet connector (to use in hotels--their wi-fi is often not free, and often isn't very responsive). This unit more than met my needs, and has Windows 8 and a touch screen to boot. There is a LOT of capability here for a VERY reasonable price.

The touch screen and Windows 8 work very well together, but of course Windows 8 takes some getting used to if you're not already familiar with it. Having the touch screen makes that a LOT easier.

The main thing I notice about this laptop is how nicely it is designed. The connectors, the keyboard, the lights, the case, the screen -everything just oozes quality and good engineering. HP must have hired some designers away from Apple, because this is a NICE machine, along the lines of Apple's famous hardware. It's not the fastest thing in the world, but after all it's a low-cost laptop.

There's no optical drive in the computer, and I haven't yet hooked it up to an external drive and tried to load any software. Based on other reviews, I don't expect any problems. I haven't used the machine on battery power, but it seems to have ample battery life. It gives you battery reports in percent remaining AND an estimate of what that translates to in time. I imagine that this is a Windows 8 feature, but whoever put it in, it's nice to have.

Best Deals for HP Pavilion Touchsmart 11-E010nr 11.6-Inch Touchscreen Laptop

Looking for a laptop to go to Florida that was not as bulky as my 15 inch, or as heavy I picked this up on sale and as of two days it seems a really good buy. It is quick,loads quick has windows 8 which I am getting used to and I am getting used to the key placement although I wush it had a back lit keyboard and as you know it doesn't have a cd dvd drive. Other than that for a little more than 350 I am very satisfied

Buy Dell XPS X15Z-7502ELS 15-Inch Laptop (Elemental Silver)

Customer Ratings:

Pros:

1080p Need I say more?

Fast Dual Core I7 processor

Thin Almost as thin as MBP

Sleek design (complete ripoff of MBP)

Future proof 2x USB 3.0

$800 cheaper than equivalent MBP

Cons:

No Quad Core option

A little loud

No Blu-Ray option (can't make BR drives thin enough to fit)

Overall:

If you are thinking about buying a MacBook Pro and dual booting to Windows, consider this instead. You can get a top of the line 15Z with a solid state HD for less than the entry point for a MBP.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

I finally took the time to write this review.

Four months ago I decided to change my old notebook and buy a top notebook. After a lot of research I decided to pick this Dell XPS 15Z, due to its good hardware specifications, high screen resolution and good aluminium casing. No one can denies this notebook looks beautiful, but it doesn't worth the problems it brings.

To be more specific, I will write one by one the troubles that I have with this piece of problems.

1. As soon as I turned it on, I could already notice that the fan makes a strange noise once in a while. You can see further details about it if you google "XPS 15z grinding noise". There will be plenty of results to prove that maybe all the piece sold come with this problem.

2. After one or two months, the notebook started to show a blue screen of death whenever I would turn it on. For first I thought it was a hardware problem, since usually the BSoD is related to it. So I decided to use the Dell recovery tool, which basically restores your computer to the original factory image. When performing this procedure, the DataSafe tool (a backup tool provided by Dell) said all my files would be available on my Desktop after rebuilding the factory image. And yes, they there. However, what I didn't know was that all my files would be encrypted and that the DataSafe tool provided by Dell wouldn't be able to open them. Whenever I would try to open my files, the program would tell me the files were corrupted. Resuming everything, I lost all my files. I even tried to make use of the online support provided by Dell. A guy connected on my notebook and seemed to have no idea on what he was doing (he basically tried to open the files, the same thing I did).

3. I tried to make use of the change of ownership tool provided by Dell since I am currently living in Brazil. Seriously, I have contacted them more than 10 times and this change is always denied after some days of wait. I have never had so much trouble with support in my whole life.

4. Today, out of sudden, the trackpad went crazy. Whenever I touch it, the arrow starts behaving in a random way. And guess what, I typed trackpad crazy on google and got many results. It seems like the trackpad is unstable with several drivers and I haven't found a solution for it yet.

To resume everything. I am extremely sad that Dell didn't create a quality product. Seriously, it looks like that problems are appearing all the time and sometimes they suddenly disappear. And actually I was pretty much convinced that all Dell products were good when I was buying this notebook. So, I changed my mind and really wouldn't recommend anyone to buy this PIECE OF PROBLEM.

Best Deals for Dell XPS X15Z-7502ELS 15-Inch Laptop (Elemental Silver)

I just got this laptop. I mean like 4 hours ago. Thanks to cloud and everything. I was ready to use it for work within couple of hours. Love Mozy, Dropbox. This is the second time I changed my laptop in 30 days. Last one broke down on me within a months return period. (That was Acer not Dell).

As programmer I don't need any high end laptops but recently I picked up video editing as one of my hobbies. That and I was really looking for high res screen to maximize productivity. On this laptop, I can open two files in 2 editors and work on them. Very useful during webdev.

So the good parts first:

Sleek looking

1080P

Overall good feeling to keyboard

Not too much bloatware (Acer was a nightmare cleaning up).

But it is not perfect. The 2 biggest issue for me right now are:

No separate home & end keys. As a programmer I need those keys. You can hold FN key and hit left or right arrow but I really wish they had regular home & end keys.

NO SLOT FOR LOCK!!! Almost all laptops come with a slot for locking via standard laptop locks. This one doesn't. Since I like to leave my laptop in office overnight every once in a while. Now I won't be able to lock it down. This is a big issue for me. You won't think that Dell would be missing such a basic thing on their laptops. Well I guess I should have looked at the pictures more closely.

I will update my review based on my experience.

Honest reviews on Dell XPS X15Z-7502ELS 15-Inch Laptop (Elemental Silver)

I bought this as a replacement for my old Dell XPS M1530. The only change I made was adding a 256GB SSD drive. Now this thing is lightning fast. Dual core with Hyper-threading makes 4 cores. Why pay extra for a quad-core machine? Compared to the M1530 its half as thick, twice as light, and 40X faster. This same laptop on the Dell website was over $1400. So getting it here is definitely the way to go. I never had a laptop with a backlit keyboard so that's a plus. I would recommend this to ANYONE looking for a laptop replacement for their desktop.

My only complaint is that I run Ubuntu and it does not play nice with the Nvidia Optimus card. To resolve this install bumblebee drivers first.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Dell XPS X15Z-7502ELS 15-Inch Laptop (Elemental Silver)

After just two weeks of use I would have to say I am very pleased with this laptop. It's sleek, fast, lightweight and the screen is just about flawless. The touchpad as well as the backlit keyboard are responsive and easy to use. Battery life has been good and recharges fairly quickly. Wireless connection has been excellent. I was up and running within minutes of delivery. It was surprising that it came without any manual or even quickstart guide but turns out it wasn't needed. My only negative would be the anemic sound quality, but this isn't really a problem for me since I wasn't looking for a media machine as much as a good all-around work/personal computer. At this point I would definitely recommend this laptop.