Discount Samsung Series 9 NP900X3C-A02US 13.3-Inch Ultrabook (Ash Black)

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $1,399.99
Sale Price: $1,396.80
Today's Bonus: $3.19 Off

I considered a wide range of ultrabooks, buying this one b4 I could see it, although I did play with the prior Sandybridge version. My biggest hesitations were twofold, based on both on-line reviews of the predecessor and my hands-on playing: 1) so thin that keyboard not great, and 2) poor battery life. I am happy to say that while yes the keyboard is not great for touch-typing, it is largely true you get used to it. It's not nearly as good as my old Lenovo X series, I do still make more typing mistakes, but I think probably just below par for most ultrabooks. On battery life, I am very happy to say it's fine, much better than the predecessor it seems. I can get a good 5+ hours of it doing regular Microsoft Office work and wifi surfing. I have not tested it playing videos though, as I just use my laptop for that.

Other pros: you likely heard the screen is very bright and clear, and it's true. It's also matte, which I prefer. And yes it's just about the thinnest and lightest ultrabook (maybe Toshiba technically beats Series 9 here?). Lastly, I didn't place much importance on looks when choosing, but after I unpacked it, I realised how really gorgeous it is!

Other cons: The need for proprietary ports puts it behind say the HP. I decided that as I almost always use wifi, I can just leave the extra dongles in my travel bag (e.g., VGA dongle to present to clients), so not a big negative to me. Backlighting is only visible in totally dark rooms, not dim rooms, unlike Macbook air or some other ultrabooks. And yes the 128G version seems to largely (or only) come with the Sandisk SSD, which is slower than the competitors. The speed itself doesn't bother me (and I have SSDs in my desktops for comparison), but it has some odd qualities such as getting messed up with some bluetooth mouse due I'm told to the way those mice do I/O and overload it. Net, for most folks not noticeable. Lastly, like many ultrabooks, it comes with a recovery portion of 20G set aside, so if you buy the 128G version, you lose a large percentage of space (if I recall, after Windows you have ~45G for yourself). As I do my own imaging, I have deleted that recovery portion

Net, I am very very happy with my purchase, I researched literally every ultrabook out at the time. The biggest reasons it may not be for you are 1) different aesthetic tastes; 2) it's expensive; 3) limited ports

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pros: light, powerful full computer (not just a netbook), short boot up time (SSD)

cons: sligthly glitchy touchpad, cost

Have had tons of desktops and laptops in past. Needed a new laptop but this time decided to get something more portable as my typical "desktop replacement" laptops in the past were, in retrospect, a hassle to lug around. Read a great cnet laptop review and decided the 13 inch was the way to go (not too small of a screen, not too heavy of a weight). Got it and love it. The screen is not too small, and if i need to i can zoom in on the touchpad. The weight is perfect. It does NOT get too hot for me as another reviewer suggested. The touchpad is a touch glitchy, but just a touch, and not a deal breaker. Reading the reviews before purchase i planned on getting a mouse, but I wont anymore b/c its not the touchpad isnt THAT bad. I gave Samsung an extra look when it came to laptops b/c of my great smartphone experience, (note 2) and I'm glad i did. OnSale seller did great and got it to me earlier than expected.

Best Deals for Samsung Series 9 NP900X3C-A02US 13.3-Inch Ultrabook (Ash Black)

Just got this ultrabook and so far I am impressed.

Pros:

Fast and efficient Ivy bridge processor 5/5 stars (latest and greatest CPU)

Aesthetically pleasing 5/5 stars (which i could give more stars here)

Extremely thin and light (lightest and thinnest laptop I have seen, including 13.3 inch new Macbook Air) 5/5 stars

Windows 7 PRO 64-bit standard (difference between A01 and A02) 5/5 stars

Pretty quick charging (~1 hour from close to no charge to almost full) 4.5/5 stars

Screen is BEAUTIFUL (1600x900 is really amazing to see in person) and matte screen works well. 5/5 stars

Backlit KEYBOARD YES!!! 5/5 stars

Cons:

Touchpad is not the greatest and takes a little getting used to. I'd give it 3.5/5 stars

SSD Be aware the SSD in this model is the Sandisk U100 128GB. This is a slow SSD, but still loads better than a HDD in terms of performance. 3/5 stars

4GB soldered RAM to the motherboard; non-upgradeable. N/A stars

Ports:

1x USB 3.0

1x USB 2.0

Headphone jack

Displayport

MicroHDMI

mini LAN port(requires included adapter)

So far, in my limited time with this ultrabook, it is indeed among the best I have seen (I checked out UX31A DB51 as well). The good news is that the SSD is upgradeable. Be aware, this laptop uses a mSATA SSD. My perfect laptop would be this one with a 512GB mSATA and SSD performance rivaling my desktops' Vertex 4. Alas, I will wait for SSD prices to continue to drop like a bag of bricks so I can cheaply upgrade the SSD. Right now it looks like Mushkin makes a good 240GB mSATA drive if you have-to-have the fastest SSD.

Bottom line: If you can live without integrated ports and a DVD drive built in this is the Windows equivalent of a Macbook Air essentially, except this comes without all the Apple fan boys and their snottyness. This is indeed an elegantly designed and a well thought out machine; perfect for those who are always on the go.

Update: I have decided to return this laptop for a few reasons:

1) Touchpad drivers are finicky at best (caused Windows 7 to freeze and jump out of Aero mode)and randomly highlights things on the page as you move the cursor.

2) Slow SSD ....at first I thought I could live with this machine having a slow SSD, but I quickly realized that I need a faster drive and I am not willing to spend more money on an already pricey machine. I'd rather go with a cheaper machine and then replace the HDD with a fast SSD, but perhaps the new machine will have lower screen res and weigh a bit more.

3) Lack of integrated ports. In my opinion, I will loose the dongles and/or forget about them at home so it's best to go with an integrated solution rather than use dongles (Eliminates going with the MBA as an option since this too uses dongles).

My bottom line remains the same. This is great for someone who 1)is on the go all the time 2) can live without integrated ports, and is mindful to bring dongles and 3) doesn't mind a slow SSD.

For me, at this price, a slow SSD and finicky touchpad is ultimately the dealbreaker.

Honest reviews on Samsung Series 9 NP900X3C-A02US 13.3-Inch Ultrabook (Ash Black)

I am an owner of a MacBook. Therefore, saying that I have "high standards" when it comes to laptop computing almost goes without saying. I bought this laptop because I needed it for law school, specifically since you cannot download OneNote onto Apple and that program ROCKS (Shame on you Microsoft: Apple users can get almost every Office program but OneNote? Really? Please change this policy immediately).

I digress, so let me get right to the details:

Pros:

-The matte non-glare screen is amazing! I have yet to experience any problems.

-Keyboard is wonderful and incredibly functional for typing.

-Touchpad can be configured to be more OR less sensitive!!! THIS IS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT for professional students such as myself who find ourselves from time-to-time accidentally "palm-swiping" the Touchpad while typing. The result is that the pointer would move to another part of the page while typing (causing headaches). The Touchpad is visibly embedded into the computer and that reduces the likelihood that this will happen.

-Easily rivals the Macbook Air for lightness.

-Very intuitive controls (esp. on the keyboard).

-Boots incredibly fast.

-Samsung software can easily configure updates/problems on their proprietary PCs and their support staff has been very helpful thus far.

-Design is STUNNING.

-Does not easily get scratched and has a very nice texture.

-The screen hinge feels great and stays stable.

-An ultrabook in every sense of the word.

Cons:

-Battery life can be improved (but maybe at the cost of how ridiculously light it is).

-Screen brightness could be increased (but this may affect the aforementioned battery life).

-When you close the lid, it can come into contact with the keys, leaving small square-ish marks upon the screen. You won't see this when the screen is on but will be reminded of it once the computer goes to sleep.

-Keyboard keys could be spread out just a few mm (now I am getting nit-picky).

Conclusion:

-If this is within your budget, GET IT.

-If you have a little more to spend or can wait then buy a newer version of this laptop or one with more RAM. Again, as a MacBook owner, I'm blown away by how well Samsung did in putting together a BEAST of an ultrabook.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Samsung Series 9 NP900X3C-A02US 13.3-Inch Ultrabook (Ash Black)

I am typing on it now. Which brings me to my biggest problem with it. It gets hot. My hands are very very warm right now. Its bearable but much hotter than the 15" Samsung I also am testing. I have the luxury of having both but one at least is going back. I have to buy a few more for business and this is the test.

Right away the size. turned me on. It so small, light and the display quality so much better than the 15". But actually using itits too small. I prefer a larger screen and keyboard. But hey this is the trade. These things are getting so small that perhaps we really have reached the turning point of too bloody small for pratical use. I dont really care what anyone at a cafe thinks I do like to carry less at the airport but the difference in these ultrabooks is not that great. 3lbs or 3lbs .... talk about getting lazy. Hmm the heat is a bit much now. Perhaps stuff is packed to closely for airflow.

My unit (NP900x3c-ao2ca) has a liteon 256gb SSD. Better than the u100 sandisk in the 15" so they say. My test programs showed it to be faster in all. Real life I don't notice a difference. The display is much much better quality than the x4d 15" version. The PLS screen has great viewing angles and blacks be black but with detail view able. Nice but has a mild green hue that I cant seem to dial out. Yes I am splitting hair at this price point. I will say the Apple screens are still better but this one is getting very close. Wifi is still an issue for Samsung. Move away from the router and signal drops faster and more than any of my other devices. It suffers some of the same trackpad issues as the x4d. Trackpad just isnt great. Workable but apple is so smooth why not samsung?

My case is a little out of whack. One corner "swoops" up and stands proud so the unit bounces and doesn't lay completely flat. This bothers me at the price point. The x3c is much more $ than the comparable Mac air. So yes I want it all and perfect too! Plus is the case is out then each time I rest my wrist on it I am flexing the sides .... that's how circuit boards fail.

I got mine on sale. Otherwise I wouldn't have even considered it an these are priced VERY high. THe sale brought it just a little over the mac. Overall is a beautiful machine, snappy, fast boot .... but it does get hot. The fans are not moving as much air as the 15". I must give credit to Samsung as these fans are dead silent ... on both the ultrabooks I have here. The 15" x4d gets warm but never hot. The 13" X3C is getting warmer as I type this review and concerns me as to how it will degrade performance. Or maybe something is blacking airflow? There have been complaints about quality control and general build quality

Backlight is so so. Connectivity is minimal. 2 USB and a network requiring Dongle. and there goes the trackpad .... I was typing and it went crazy once again with false clicks and dragged stuff around. Samsung needs to address this.

Overall a super portable ultrabook that looks great and have a nice display. My problems working with its size are just preference. The other kinks are not total deal breakers but something to consider when paying top dollar. 8mb RAM should be here IMO. 4gb .... not enough as the RAM is soldered to the board and not upgradable. Perhaps they simply couldnt fit more in the package. It is the smallest and lightest computer I have ever used. 2 pounds 7oz.

To have a working computer this small really is an impressive feat.

Discount HP Elitebook 6930p INTEL Core 2 Duo 2400 MHz 120Gig Serial ATA HDD

Customer Ratings:

While this isn't the latest, greatest thing in laptops, the refurbished unit I got (at about 10 percent of the original list price) was quite a bargain. I ordered mine with Win 7. No problems getting it registered and on my network. It doesn't come with a "recovery disk" as advertised--they never do anymore. Nothing was in the box except the laptop and the power supply.

The cover is a stainless steel sheet--very very sleek but it has to live in a laptop bag because unlike an ABS plastic shell, the stainless will dent like a '74 Ford Pinto. Ask me how I know? I now have a nice little "door ding" from a pen because I threw it in my suitcase and danced off to a four day conference.

The touch pad is so good, I haven't even added a wireless mouse. The keyboard feel is also good, the screen bright and clear. There is a funky little keyboard light (for airplane night use) that pops out and lights up when you open the laptop. It's fairly useless, but was a nice thought.

The battery life on wireless seems to run about 3 hours. The power supply is a honkin' big brick.

Bottom line; for what I paid, I'm completely satisfied. It's not meant to replace my desktop (I know, I know, who uses a desktop anymore?) but I use it around the house as a mobile computer, and it travels well. It's fully functional for uploading pictures, running DVD's and accessing the internet. As it's heavier than a netbook, if all you do is go online, this is overkill if that's all you really want to do.

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I needed a starter computer for my brother and this unit does great. Being refurbished meant the cost was less and I got the most computer for the buck. Its been working great.

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buy them because they reported it was perfect but it was rebuilt in perfect condition but it turned out that the battery was bad, the place where the energy supplied was broken and was all scratched, and so many details, please put in fact as are the conditions equipment of me lose a client and all who could recommend

Honest reviews on HP Elitebook 6930p INTEL Core 2 Duo 2400 MHz 120Gig Serial ATA HDD

This didnt come with a preinstalled OS and the Windows license code they gave me wasnt valid. For the price I paid for a used laptop, Best Buy has far better/cheaper/faster options.

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computer looked good for a used model but that's the only good thing I can say about it. Most features never worked. Many start-up problems. I'm returning it .Too late for a refund

Buy Dell D610 Pentium M 2.13GHz 1GB 60GB CDRW/DVD 14.1" XPP

Customer Ratings:

My first material internet purchase rocks! I needed a quick cheap laptop for school and CAD modeling (Solidworks & AutoCAD) and the Dell D610 with 2.13 ghz Pentium M cpu fits the bill just fine. Everything worked out of the box, shipping was reasonable and prompt. Not perfect...the power supply cord (which works) had ripped insulation, but this is an easy fix. This computer is a deal at $130.00 including shipping. Thanks Amazon!

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I purchased this lap top as a gift for my daughter. She had a small notebook and was thrilled with the lap top. It was used but looked new and works great.

Best Deals for Dell D610 Pentium M 2.13GHz 1GB 60GB CDRW/DVD 14.1" XPP

Daughter is thoroughly enjoying the computer. Will enable her to take online classes and keep me up to date on my grandson. Service was very quick

Discount Toshiba Satellite P755-3DV20 15.6 Inch LED 3D notebook- Intel Core

Customer Ratings:

I received this laptop on September. One month later the screen start with serious problems (data flex according with the technical support). Also, the wifi antenna is very weak, several problems to have good reception being a few meters of the router. Internet navigation very slow even with good wifi signal. I hope Toshiba can replace for a new one laptop.

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I have received this laptop as a Christmas gift. it is an amazing laptop. It has a very attractive design. The sound is very loud. The keyboard is very convenient. It has a blu ray player. It is the best laptop that I have ever had so far.

Best Deals for Toshiba Satellite P755-3DV20 15.6 Inch LED 3D notebook- Intel Core

good graphics, could have been better for light , when 3D is on oe while watching the movies.

please include 3D enables software or tools. overall i satisfied on this product

Honest reviews on Toshiba Satellite P755-3DV20 15.6 Inch LED 3D notebook- Intel Core

I only just received this laptop 2 days ago but I have set up the 3d capability (very easy to do) and used it to watch Avengers in 3D as well as play Guild Wars 2 in 3D and let me tell you, this is an exceptional mobile multimedia device for the money ($780 from Beach Camera). Only time will tell about its longevity but in my extensive experience with desktop, laptop and handheld computing devices I know that one of the most important contributors to a laptop's reliable life-span is how well it vents heat in order to stay cool. Aside from the more obvious forms of abuse, heat damage will significantly reduce the life of a laptop's components and I am very pleased to say that this machine remained shockingly cool when placed on a smooth flat surface even after playing Guild Wars 2 in 3D for about 20 mins. Playing video games in 3D will likely be the most demanding task the average computer user or even gamer can put on a computer so this is quite a feat.

Other points of interest:

-It's main vent on the left side does put out quite a bit of heat as does the power adapter.

-Its frame, though made of plastic, still feels solid and not too cheap and keeps it at a very comfortable weight.

-Track pad can be turned off and on easily.

-The hard drive has a shock sensor that will temporarily pause reading/writing when it detects potentially damaging levels of vibration. This an uncommon feature on budget laptops but a very nice one to have as it will likely increase the life of the hard drive significantly.

-2.0 Harmon-Kardon speakers sound amazing for a laptop. This is coming from a self proclaimed audiophile. I was perfectly content with the sound quality while watching Avengers.

-The Nvidia 3D vision glasses that are included are top quality and very comfortable. I've already ordered a second pair from a seller on Amazon: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005963JTY/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00

-Though the screen is not 1080p, which seems counter intuitive to the 3D feature, I've found it perfectly sufficient. I don't believe the high resolution will make much if any difference with a screen this size. Lower resolution also vastly improves performance in video games so its a trade off that I've found more beneficial in this case.

-The viewing angle for the screen IS very limited. Should you wish to purchase addition glasses as I have, I don't believe that you can reasonably sit more than 2 people snuggly in front of the screen at a comfortable distance. So if you're looking for a 3D experience for the whole family to enjoy at the same time, this is not it.

-GW2 will definitely play well at mid to high graphics settings in 2D. The frame rate drops down considerably in 3D but is still manageable even in LA and WvW. I will likely stick to 2D with higher quality graphics in most cases but I recommend at least testing the stereoscopic 3D in various games just for the thrill of it.

All in all, if you're looking for a relatively inexpensive outlet to 3D media that will also cover the rest of your mobile computing needs, this is it. I scoured Amazon and the rest of the web for endless hours to compare a vast range of laptops and features and, at least at this point, I've found no other laptop with a blu-ray player, 3D capability, and sufficient specs to play the freshest online games for under $1400. Even without the 3D, I'd consider this a great laptop for the price.

Cheap Dell Inspiron 14R i14RN4110-8073DBK 14-Inch Laptop (Diamond Black)

Customer Ratings:

I've had a week to play around with my new Dell Inspiron 14r and I must say that I was disappointed at first. My initial reaction to this machine wasn't due cosmetic or ergonomic factors, but performance. On paper, this Dell should be able to handle basic web surfing while listening to mp3s with some Windows updates going on in the background. But no, this guy would almost slow to a crawl. Opening a simple application, such as Mozilla Firefox, would take around 10 seconds and would often freeze after loading. Even the boot-up time was a painful 2 1/2 minutes. Now this laptop has an index rating of 5.8, indicating that the dismal performance wasn't due to hardware. Which led me to the other possible culprit: software. Specifically, Dell's crapware, bloatware, etc. When this computer finally loaded, there was Dell DataSafe Online, Dell Data Backup and Dell Dock all running in the background. Manually uninstalling these through control panel gave no positive results. So I did a clean install of Windows 7 and let me tell you, it is a world of difference! The machine boots in about a minute, all applications open and load much quicker (without freezing) and this Dell can now adequately handle anything I throw at it. So if you're considering this laptop, just know that you may experience some performance issues thanks to the useless applications Dell has installed. If you're computer savvy, don't hesitate to do a clean install of Windows 7, you will be a much happier user. I know I am.

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This review is based on initial impressions as we just received it today. This rev of the Inspirion is a step up in terms of build quality, compared to the 1st gen Inspirion 1440 we got 18 months ago. It feels more solid, the exterior plastic is a notch above the last version, and the chiclet keyboard is a definite improvement. The LED backlit screen is very nice. The Windows Experience Index rating is a respectable 5.6, reinforcing my impression that this laptop is more than adequate for email, browsing, and casual gaming.

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This is excellent laptop for the price... got everything you basically need. If you can clean up the dell bloat-ware it will be 5-star. Either clean up the dell junk-ware or just do a fresh install of windows 7. License key is on the back of your laptop. Use that to register your windows 7 copy.

You will have an excellent, fast and efficient laptop. Rating 4 star for the additional effort needed, otherwise 5 star!

Honest reviews on Dell Inspiron 14R i14RN4110-8073DBK 14-Inch Laptop (Diamond Black)

I got a great deal on this through the Kindle with Special Offers, but I think it's also a good laptop for the regular price. It's about as light as you're going to get in this price range.

It's solid and works well. There wasn't nearly as much bloatware as other people are saying. I uninstalled all of it (especially Dell Datasafe but create your backup discs first), and it's very speedy now. I use it for occasional video editing, and it's sufficiently powerful for that.

The keyboard does occasionally miss a letter. It's happening much less often after a couple of months, but still once in a while.

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My dad and I spent the time and bought this computer in may 10. I'm a college student. I was excited to have a computer that was new. When I got it there wasn't an issue but once I got to school by nov it was frustrating to use. My track pad just stops working and I thought oh well I have a back up anyway. But then it started freezing and listening to music or watching a video is unbearable it freezes the picture but the sound keeps going or it makes high pitched noises and then keeps going. Typing anything up means that it freezes and stops responding. Its really bad when you have something like music and word up and your righting a paper or on the internet. There are no viruses on it. 2 of my other friends had dells as well this model. they to experienced the same problem and actually had to buy new computers even though they werent a year old due to the same problems. There is no quality check on these laptops and they aren't reliable if you have to use it any day for a long time. Get something else these are all hardware problems

Buy Apple MacBook 13", White Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz, 1GB, 120 Gb Hard

Customer Ratings:

The computer is great, has tons of great programs already on it, and had less cosmetic damage than the description warranted. I was pleased except for the trackpad's issues-it clicks around and selects stuff when I'm not even touching the computer, which can be really frustrating, especially when I'm trying to type. But I got a really great deal on this computer. However, my main complaint was my communication with the seller; they didn't respond to my questions promptly and I didn't like doing business with them. All in all I'm glad to have the computer, but am irritated at the sellers and not very happy about the issues with the trackpad that I didn't know about before I bought it.

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Cheap Acer 11.6" AO725-0687 Laptop PC with AMD Dual-Core C-70

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $379.99
Sale Price: $348.00
Today's Bonus: 8% Off

I am rating the Acer Aspire One (AO725-0687) as 5 stars based off what it is, not what it isn't. So maybe the best place to start is to say what it isn't. It isn't an Apple Ultrabook, a tablet PC, or a google or linux machine. If you're expecting a superfast, sleek, no-thought machine then you should cough up the couple grand to get an Apple. It also isn't running linuxso if you want to be able to customize every detail then you should probably go that direction.

So what is it? It's a balanced machine, which offers good performance, and nice perks, for a minimal price. Let's be honestif you're looking at an Acer Netbook you're attracted by the price primarily. This computer gives exceptional bang for your buck. It's only $60 more (at the time of writing) than a Kindle Fire HD, but you get a real full-fledged computer, with Win 8, with 320 gig HDD, with a pretty screen, and snazzy color. What more can you expect at this price point?

For the haters of WIn 8, it's not perfect, but it's pretty good. I would say to go with Windows 7 if you want a real work horse (my work computer is a Win 7 Lenovo), but Windows 8 is a great home operating system. It's fast, fun, cool, and integrates pretty seamlessly with a lot of the mobile apps available (e-mail, pulse, netflix, amazon, etc.) The OS is nice and doesn't take long to get used to (contrary to other reviews) so long as you're willing to learn.

Bottom lineif you want something which is a balance of different factors (customizable vs. no-work, price vs. performance, "cool" vs. work machine, etc.) then you can't do betterthis is a great machine and truly a 5 star experience.

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This model has the C70-CPU and win 8. It does well in video playing. It comes with 1 USB 3.0 port, HDMI and long-life battery. My son loves it.

Best Deals for Acer 11.6" AO725-0687 Laptop PC with AMD Dual-Core C-70

I purchased this Acer 11.6" AO725-0687 Laptop 3 weeks ago & extremely satisfied with this Purchase. It is thin, light weight yet very fast for everyday use.Long Battery Life, Windows 8, USB 3.0, HDMI Port, Dual-Core Accelerated Processor, HD Graphics & a Very Stylish Look makes it perfect Machine for me.

Honest reviews on Acer 11.6" AO725-0687 Laptop PC with AMD Dual-Core C-70

I hate to break it to you, but this is not an Apple product that you can just take out of the box and wax poetic about. Some may find this unfortunate, but it is a Windows machine, which means that you'll have to spend some time customizing it for your performance needs. (No need to complain, we all understand how much you hate this.)

1. Uninstall all the crap that was pre-installed (McAfee, Windows 8 Apps you won't use, weird Acer programs, all 17 of those games, etc...).

2. Run Windows updates. If you've bought this new, it's really important AND it's going to take a while. Be patient. If you're nervous about any of it just create a restore point before installing.

3. Run the defrag and install whatever software you know you'll need for the duration (e.g.: iTunes, anti-virus).

4. Back it up! A note about using the Acer recovery management tool: It will tell you that you need an external hard drive with at least 16G of free space, and that it's going to wipe out everything else on the drive. This is true. In fact, it's going to partition 32G for itself, not 16G. You should partition your hard drive (split the storage) BEFORE you start this process. If you try to do it after, you'll have to reformat the entire drive and create another backup because your computer will only recognize those 32G designated for the 'Recovery' drive. You can Google 'how to partition a hard drive' if you don't know how. It's not as scary as it sounds.

A couple of things about the machine itself:

1. It doesn't have a disk drive (...but I haven't used a disk since about 2008).

2. The USB 3.0 is amazing (next to the HDMI port). So fast!

3. Some people have mentioned reduced performance when it's unplugged. I've adjusted my power settings so it's not making any changes while unplugged and I haven't had any issues, though it could just be my particular computer.

Overall, I think it's a great little computer. If you can manage to reserve judgment until you've completed some cleanup I guarantee you'll be much happier with your machine (Windows 8 aside).

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Has everything i need

3 usb ports, vga, hdmi*** card reader, web cam, mic,

2gb ram which is good enough amount to do 2-3 things at once

processor is fair fast enough

has a 320gb so pretty big drive

Not a big fan of new windows 8, its confusing at first.. but once u get the hang of it its alright.

The setup, just type in a made up email, info, takes a little bit to setup, u have a 8digit pass that u can change too a pin number of 4, nice options features, change login in screen, colorful

this is the red version, it is flaming red, love that. Speakers are good, loud enough, i have delicate hearing so could be a little better maybe

Great laptop for basic needs, email, chatting, skype, surf the web, second computer, watch videos, facebook, etc..

windows 8 will be confusing.. might frustrate u bcz well u dont know how to use it but they do have a how to use win8 video just about any where, if u really want windows 7 options

copy,paste

pick classic shell version, download it, it will give u win7 option version

quiet.. easy to use, very nice HD display, win8 upgrade, the BRIGHT excellent red color, keyboard is flat but feels good, has a power button on top, i like that, very thin and light, once everything is opened for the first time, it runs fast, smooth, very fast surf web browsing

the thing i dont like...

sd card reader is sort of on the bottom, hard to get the card out, other than that, awesome netbook

I own a 10.1 samsung, compare to this 11.6 acer, size isnt much of a difference, just a bit. The ram can be upgraded to be twice faster than a mini, this one has hdmi, which i will be using alot, i like the extra better features, something to think about

Reviews of HP ENVY dv7-7333cl 17.3" Notebook PC - Refurbished

Customer Ratings:

First, didn't get this on Amazon. The Envy has been a wish list item for me for quite a while but way out of my low end price range. Until Groupon offered refurbished dv 7 7333 for my kind of price. I've had it a little over a month now and it's my favorite computer ever.

Like many, I'm on a slow learning curve with Windows 8. Some things I've figured out easily, others I'm waiting till I feel like looking through the Kindle book about 8 that I downloaded a while back.

Love the keyboard -I typed 120 wpm on old-fashioned Selectric typewriters and I struggle with all computer keyboards because you just can't go that fast. But this keyboard has a nice feel and I do better with it than with most.

It's fast and everything that I've tried works well. Haven't gotten into streaming so far so that remains to be seen. Videos show up nicely although in full screen with such a large screen sometimes they're a little blurry here even though they're clear on my tablet.

I'm not crazy about the "mouse" on any laptop so I've connected a separate one -but I've found the one on board easier to use than others I've tried.

I mainly use the computer for word processing, and browsing/e-mail stuff so this is probably more fire power than I need but everything just works better on this than on my many old computers (my first was a 1987 no-hard-drive Mac) and I love it.

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Reviews of Core Duo T2300, 2GB, 120GB

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I ordered this laptop on Amazon, but the actual vendor was J&R. Amazon is very good in delivering package on time. When I opened the package I felt very happy to see the shining Acer Aspire notebook.

Installed everything, and started to use it normally, then I found that the volume is very bad. Its very low compared to HP. But the screen and the colours are very good.

Also the base gets heated up very fast. After using for some 45 min, the base of the laptop is like a burner.

I dont know, I didnt like the laptop for this volume & Heat and thought of returning back. I called up J&R and they gave me a RA number, I sent my laptop to them and after 1 week I got my money back.

Both Amazon and J&R are excellent.

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Plenty of cool stuff and used to be a good value for money at acquisition (march2006).

Draw backs: Speakers are terrible (miss the Harman option) and processor overheats Notebook shell and mouse pad making it unpleaseant to use.

Last, but not least, the screen started to generate an inch wide vertical line that soon after expanded into a second one and who knows where this will end (september2006).

A shame warranty does not cover it!

Tom

Lenovo Ideapad Z570 i5-2430M Dual 2.9GHz 8GB 750GB WiDi Win7HP-64 Reviews

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Cannot connect wirelessly. Ran a manual diagnostic test and says "failed", "driver version does not support intel PROSet/Wireless..." So frustrating!

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Works flawless. Very happy. No issues at all. It is robust, wish the screen size be a little bigger. Actually bought 2 of them

Best HP Envy DV6-7229wm C2M12UA (Midnight Black) - AMD Quad-Core Deals

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My friend kept trying to make me buy a Macbook but I decided to get this instead. I love it, it does everything its supposed to and comes with tons of memory.

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Technicly it's okay I guess, but it has some cosmetic damage on the top and at a side, not too much but it's there. Also the screen it's kinda loose, it moves a lot, I strongly believe that it suffered a fall. I know that the screen should be tighter, and I think that within a few months it could get worse and that would suck for real. So that's too bad!

Review of Toshiba Satellite L675D-S7013 LED TruBrite 17.3-Inch Laptop (Black)

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I was looking for an upgrade to my 4 year old Dell, and having had good luck with a Toshiba before I decided to buy another Toshiba Satellite. When the package was opened and powered up, the Satellite took off! It installed all of the software in short order. The screen is big and bright with really great resolution. The touch pad was a bit too sensitive, but it is easily adjusted. The keyboard is big, compared to my old Dell, and has a good feel. I also like having the number keypad, just like a desk top system. The Satellite comes with a lot of handy software for keeping the system running and protected (i.e. Norton security suite). The only thing which disappointed me is the built-in speakers. They sound cheap and tinny. Through headphones, the audio is great, so it is only the speakers.

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My wife received a Toshiba Satellite laptop as a hand-me-down gift a few years ago. This laptop is now about eight years old and wearing out, so for her birthday this year I researched economically priced laptops and was very pleased one of her best options turned out to be this Toshiba Satellite (L675D-S7014, to be exact).

I located this laptop new for a really low price that just crested the $500 mark. I was unable to locate a new laptop with 17.3" monitor, dual core, and 4Gb of memory for this price. Needless to say, I snapped it up and gave it to her for her birthday.

She squealed with delight when she opened it! She immediately took it out of the box and admired its beauty. It looks modern and sleek and while it's actually a large computer, it's not overly heavy. Her old 17" square-monitor laptop was at least 15 lbs. This 17.3" is under 10 lbs. In the past she would never use the laptop on her lap on our couch. It was just too heavy and hot. Now she does. The bottom of the laptop never gets past being warm and the laptop itself is very light compared to her old one.

Setup was as simple as turning on the laptop and walking through some questions. Upon its first power on, it installed and activated the OS build with only a few questions. Windows 7 is so simple to get started, but if you have a wireless LAN setup, make sure you have the wireless activation key. Windows will ask for this when installing the OS. Within maybe 10 minutes after power up she was on our wireless network Facebooking, e-mailing, and so happily working away. I couldn't be happier with this laptop.

Really the only improvement I would suggest would be the sound quality of the speakers, but this is a nit. Really, for the price, this is a great laptop. The sound is in stereo with ample volume, but it's a little tinny. I really have no reason to complain. It's such a nice laptop, speedy, and has just the right amount of memory for everything she does. I would highly recommend this laptop to anyone looking for a low-priced, new laptop at a budget price.

In fact, I'm looking at one of the 18.4" Toshiba laptops for myself. I'm so impressed with this one and the robust performance of her last Toshiba Satellite, which lasted eight years, I think I'll get myself a Toshiba when I'm ready to retire my current Lenovo. For the price, you gotta love it!

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Excellent laptop, But, the keyboard skips letters typed and also inserts double letters of some typed. Typing is very frustrating.

Toshiba hasn't fixed the problem in 6 months... they say they are on the verge of fixing it.

There are a lot of people wishing they had never bought the computer... you may want to hold off until it is fixed or buy from a different brand.

You can check out the forum on Toshiba's website to see what aggrivation they have caused their customers:Think twice before buying...

Honest reviews on Toshiba Satellite L675D-S7013 LED TruBrite 17.3-Inch Laptop (Black)

Great laptop for the price. Examine the detail in listings since there are several models that are almost identical with slight differences.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Toshiba Satellite L675D-S7013 LED TruBrite 17.3-Inch Laptop (Black)

only lasted seven days before screen went bad Toshiba will not fix it . they only give 14 days to return it time starts when you order it . took seven days to get to me and that was a rush order THANKS FED X and TOSHIBA . Glad Toshiba only think it will last 14 days

Toshiba Satellite L645-S4104 14.0-Inch Laptop - Grey Review

Customer Ratings:

Still learning to use it but seems to be a robust and quite fast laptop. I have purchased now my third Toshiba and will remain with the brand for total satisfaction with all products so far.

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Im very happy with the stylish look, very fast and robust.

Im only missing the firewire port, never would guess that it did not have the 4 pin al least!

Only downside could by that finger prints are very noticeable on the keyboard!

EXCELENT PRIME ONE DAY SHIPPING

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Haven't had the computer that long, but so far, no issues. I can't comment on the software factory installed, as I reformatted the computer as soon as I got it (just don't like factory installed computers). It runs pretty quickly, and has plenty of HD space. Any other computer with the specifications of this one would have been 200 dollars more.

This is my second Toshiba, and I've been very happy with both so far.

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This laptop pretty much covered my basic laptop needs. I don't do much on the computer besides check email and type a couple of documents, but so far I have not had any problems. The only minor negative i have found is that the keypad retains fingerprints. I read this on a review prior to my purchase so it was expected.

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I purchased my Satellite 15 months ago and have loved it until two weeks ago when the 2 USB ports on the right-hand side came loose and fell inside. I took the computer to a repair shop and was told this is a common issue with Toshiba laptops due to the weld Toshiba uses for the ports; they couldn't repair it but could send it in to Toshiba for repair -at a cost of $400! I contacted Toshiba and was told that since I was 5 months out of warranty, they could repair it, but it would cost me ... $400! If you go online and search for "Toshiba USB Port Loose", you will find a slew of people that have experienced the same issue with their Toshiba laptops, even current year models. Save your money and purchase a different brand of laptop.

Discount VIZIO CT15-A4 15-Inch Thin + Light Ultrabook

Customer Ratings:

EDIT 12/1 I have had a chance to put the PC through it's paces with several full battery runs. That is, working on it (writing, web-surfing, email) a couple of times. The battery life with real world use is about 3 1/2 hours. Maybe a tad less. This is with setting the power plan to "power saver" and the screen at half brightness. Also I ran HWinfo and after 4 charges the battery wear is at 4.8% which is weird.

Bottom line. This is a terrific slim laptop IF you can deal with the terrible battery life. Ultrabook specs call for 5+ hours of battery life so I don't think it can be classified that way.

--

I received this ultrabook on Nov 28th and thought I'd give some quick thoughts then expand later. I'm a writer and I need a laptop with a good keyboard. I took a risk on this laptop but have been pleasantly surprised by the way the keys behave. They don't have the same travel as your typical keyboard it's a bit shallow but I am a heavy typer and I appreciate the over sized keys. The text is black on silver and a bit hard to read without a back light. Wish they had backlit keys.

The box and packaging was good in fact the box is white, colorful, and very sturdy. Amazon shipped the laptop in a small box with only some small padding on the side so I was a bit concerned but the laptop is fine. The docs are minuscule but who reads those anyway?

The screen is gorgeous. I mean GORGEOUS. It' bright and it is such a relief to view a true HD screen after spending several weeks looking at crappy 1366 resolution. Even the Samsung 15" Series 7 with a matte display looked washed out at 1600 x 900 and was the main reason I avoided the Series 9. The Vizio screen is amazing and the high point of the laptop.

It's fast, boots rather quickly. Seems to have overall snappiness with all apps I have tested including office 2013.

Now the downside. The battery life stinks. I'm at 60% and it says I have 2 hours left. I suspect the life is a bit under 4 hours. I was really hoping that this model, with the i5, would have better battery life.

More later.

Edited to correct some typos ...

Now that I have a day on the laptop I continue to be amazed at it. I do think it is necessary to mention that the dreaded touchpad problems persist. I did not try the first generation just read the horror stories. At times this touchpad is great but at others it's maddening. Something like scrolling a page appears to be laggy until I lift my fingers. Swiping from the left to switch windows works about 25% of the time (this is a windows 8 gesture). Tapping and two-finger tapping work very well.

I wrote about 1,500 words today in a new project and found the keyboard to be quite nice. As I mentioned I really like the large keys. I've used macs for the last few years and find the keyboards to be amazing but I fat finger a lot on the small keys.

I've run the batter down to 10% today and I think I got about 3 1/2 hours out of it. That is simply unacceptable in an ultrabook but I can't find another computer with a true HD 15" screen with these kind of specs. As much as I want a 15" Macbook Pro Retina, I refuse to pay over $2,000 for a laptop. My next choice was the Zenbook Prime but I don't think my eyes can handle the tiny screen.

The power brick with the Vizio is really nice. It's compact and the plug features a light that indicates when the laptop is charged.

I noticed that Amazon added the CT-15 A5 to the $200 free gift card deal kind of irritating since I purchased this PC the day before. I would have paid the extra $250 since it now comes with the gift card. I thought about sending this one back and exchanging but with my luck the deal would run out the minute they issued my credit.

I appreciate the clean look off the PC as well as the free space on the hard drive. Because this is a Microsoft signature ultrabook it is not loaded with bloatware. I was really impressed that I didn't have to spend hours uninstalling Norton and Mcaffe crap. Also there were no stickers all over the case. Nothing says cheap quite like opening a new laptop only to find logos all over the palm areas and stickers hanging off the screen that show the PC stats. I KNOW what I just bought, you don't have to remind me that my computer has X amount of hard drive and RAM installed.

I'm really leaning toward bumping this review to a 4 star. It's a strong 3 1/2 right now. I hope that some new drivers will make the touch pad experience better.

BTW I'm a writer but I am also a gear-head with 20+ years of working PC experience. It's the day job ...

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I've been using this laptop for 2 weeks now and I've been extremely pleased with my purchase. This is the best value for an "ultrabook-style" laptop. I was pretty close to buying a 13" mac book air until I saw this computer. It has similar build, it's just as thin, it has the same components but with a larger 15" 1080 screen and it's almost half the price. I was a little concerned when i purchased it because there were quite a few reviews of the older model complaining about the track pad and the keyboard. I guess they've changed the track pad because it's one of the best I've used however the keyboard is still mediocre, not a deal breaker though.

Pros:

Basically a knock off mac book air that runs windows

price!

very fast. boot time is amazing

can do light gaming

excellent screen

battery lasts all day under normal web browsing/e-mail use

thin and lightweight

Cons:

keyboard is just okay

Other thoughts:

the keyboard doesn't have home or end keys. most people probably wouldn't even notice but it really bothers me.

15 inches is the perfect laptop size in my opinion.

SSD is a must for any new computer purchase. 128 GB is ample

Windows 8 is a little strange at first.

There is no bloat ware included. That was a refreshing change.

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I was very disappointed. It was the perfect computer, but it had keyboard problems sticking keys. The tech support on Vizio is very good and they told me I could take off the relevant keys and blow under them and then snap them back. This I did and it worked some of the time. But then the space bar decided not to space or sometimes would space.

The keyboard is not backlit and the keys are not indented so the fingers tend to slip on to other keys. The punctuation marks are just about impossible to see because they are minute and instead of their normal position at the top of the key they are placed at the bottom.. To make matters worse the color of the keys is close to the color of the letters etc, so that is an added difficulty. I loved the other features, but whoever chose the keyboard really missed the boat.

Honest reviews on VIZIO CT15-A4 15-Inch Thin + Light Ultrabook

Bought this for the wife for home and remote work.

Overall the design is very good. Light weight is definite plus and it doesn't get hot sitting on your lap. There is a small fan for cooling but it doesn't run constantly.

Display is bright and full 1080. This is a replacement unit though as the first one suffered a display failure in the first 30 days. Amazon sent out a new one with return shipping free in a day. 5 stars for Amazon service.

Boots up in 15 seconds with the SSD. Performance is very good. Video doesn't lag and HDMI output to flat panel works great. Wireless works very good anywhere in the house but then I put 7db gain antennas on my wifi router.

Lack of SD reader is minor but I have an SD/USB adapter to remedy that.

The biggest drawback is the keyboard. All the keys are flat hard plastic with very short keystrokes. I find myself having to retype for missed keystrokes and her nails are a problem for her. Definitely not a keyboard for heavy typing. I bought a Logitech BT keyboard and Dell BT mouse so she can use it at her desk when she has a lot of work to do.

They must have fixed the drivers on the mouse pad as haven't experienced any issues with it.

Windows 8? What a joke. Don't use any of the worthless new features. Run it in traditional desktop mode.

Just bought her a Nexus 10 so the daily use is going down for this laptop and will probably unload it before long.

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I had to return it because the trackpad was so bad. No amount of driver downloading could make that thing behave like a piece of 21st century hardware. It barely registered two finger gestures, forget three or four. When I realized I was getting anxious every time I wondered whether pinch-to-zoom was going to respond, I knew I was done.

The screen is beautiful, though. And the computer has set a new standard for laptop-to-tv resolution for me. Very sleek, all aluminium with a much appreciated rubberized underside. The part of the charger that enters the computer glows orange when it's charging and green when it's done (or was it the other way round? Whatever. I liked it), but you'll only get 2-3 hours out of a charge.