Review of HP Pavilion dv6-3050us 15.6-Inch Laptop

Customer Ratings:

As an AMD fan, this laptop is perfect with its combination of a quad core CPU and Radeon 56xx series GPU. It has the best combination of aesthetic design, build quality, and components. It will be hard to find another laptop at a low price with these components and a 15.6" screen others are 17" which can be bulky to carry around. The 1366x768 screen is good for tasks such as videos and gaming, but it might not be enough for those used to and require higher resolutions. The only negatives about this laptop are the lack of a firewire port (for the video folks) and an ExpressCard slot, and weak sound. Also, a couple things that aren't listed in the product description is that the HP logo on the lid lights up when turned on and an integrated Radeon 4250.

The Graphics

I recommend staying away from laptops by Toshiba, Sony, and Panasonic to prospective buyers that plan on playing games and considering similarly spec'd laptops. AMD offered to release Catalyst drivers for Mobility Radeons several months ago and these companies chose to opt out. This means that if there's a problem with the laptop's graphics driver e.g. game glitches, you will have to wait/hope that these companies release updated drivers instead of downloading ones released regularly by AMD.

As far as the Radeon 5650, it's been great thus far. I've been running Battlefield: Bad Company 2 smoothly at 1080p on an external monitor with settings on high, and AA and AF off. It will easily play most games out for the PC today and many games coming out. For the programmers out there interested in OpenCL, the 5650 is compatible and only requires downloading the Stream SDK from AMD.

The addition of the integrated Radeon 4250 is also welcomed. It allows for PowerXpress for power savings when running on battery or just to cut down on the electric bill. For those wondering, PowerXpress is AMD's version of switchable graphics. The general difference being PowerXpress is the combination of integrated and dedicated Radeon graphics, while switchable graphics is the combination of Intel HD integrated and either Nvidia or AMD graphics. This is another driver update consideration because Intel doesn't give driver updates to AMD for their graphics users will have to rely on the company from which they buy their laptops.

The Processor

AMD mobile CPUs have gotten a bad reputation for running hot. It's my opinion that it's just laptop manufacturers choosing to pair cheap parts and poor cooling solutions with AMD CPUs because they're "cheap" processors. In fact, the areas that get hottest on the dv6 are the left palm rest where the hard drive resides underneath and the vent on the left side where the laptop fan shunts the heat produced by the CPU and GPU under full load. Rest assured that the dv6 will run as cool as laptops with the Core i processors.

Now, the N930 shouldn't be compared to the Core i7. This CPU is designed and priced to compete with the Core i5 and i3 CPUs. The caveat to comparing it to the i5 and i3 is that the i5 and i3 are dual core with the i5 able to trick Windows into thinking it has 4 cores through Intel's Hyperthreading technology. With Turbo Boost technology on both Core i3 and i5, the Intel processors will perform better on single threaded applications due to their ability to intelligently overclock while the N930 maxes out on its 2.0 GHz limit. The N930 shines with multithreaded programs where it matches or beats i5 processors. For most users, none of this matters since performance differences in everyday programs like web browsers and Microsoft Office are unnoticeable.

The Power Consumption

Because the N930 is a true quad core, actual battery life for the dv6 is 2.5-3 hours with wireless on, Radeon 4250 activated, and 60% screen brightness while doing light tasks like listening to music, web browsing, and typing documents. Laptops sporting CPUs with fewer cores will have longer battery life due to less cores needing power.

In any case, I highly recommend the dv6 to anyone looking for a laptop at a low price with its specifications. A solid processor with the combination of the Radeon 5650 and 4250 make this laptop an excellent purchase.

Error Corrections and Additions (2010-08-19):

The hard drive is not under the left palm rest, but under the touchpad.

The GPU is under the left palm rest, which is what is generating the heat there.

The dv6-3050us is a United States quickship model for the dv6z Select Edition that's customizable on HP's website.

This does not come with the backlit keyboard or touchscreen. It was mentioned in the comments, but I thought to add it here.

The battery is a standard capacity 6 cell 55Wh battery.

This does not come with recovery DVDs. HP has a utility pre-installed that allows users to make them, which requires 5 DVDs or a USB Flash drive of equal capacity. Dual layer and re-writables will not work. I recommend everyone make these recovery discs the first thing after Windows loads and store them somewhere safe. Make 2 sets if you want to be safe.

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This laptop is Amazing, it's fast' light weight and seems to be very well built.I got right at 4hrs on the battery while playing music, surfing the net and transferring files from my old laptop. The battery recharged in just about an hour.

The keyboard is solid all though it took a little getting use to, coming from my 17in Dell with a full size keyboard. The track pad is great with pinch to zoom and gestures.

The AMD quad core is powerful and hasn't missed a beat yet. The laptop stays cool and quiet the only time i hear a fan is when it's booting up.

This is a great laptop and i would buy this again in a heart beat

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I actually ordered this from HP Direct, since they had a good sale going on, which I heaped a coupon on top of. But, that's neither here nor there.

I'm glad I opted for this unit rather than one of the units with a dual-core Turion II Ultra and a 17.3" screen. Honestly, to me, the 15.6" screen seems utterly ginormous. The laptop is definitely large and relatively 'in charge'...

Pros:

Seemingly huge widescreen LCD.

2 GHz quad-core Phenom II mobile processor.

Fingerprint recognition (didn't think I'd use this much; now I wonder how I ever lived without it, as I never even type my password to log in to the system any more, since a simple swipe of the finger logs me in)

Dual ATI video chips for high-performance and power-saving uses.

Nearly every port, communication device and connector you'll ever need (Ethernet, WiFi B/G/N, Bluetooth, VGA out, HDMI out, SD card reader, several USB 2 ports)

Massive 640GB hard drive.

QuickWeb Instant-On environment (lets to power directly into a limited windowed environment to connect to the web, certain online e-mail systems, stream video, listen to your music library, access an event calendar and one or two other functions).

It looks nice. It has an aluminum (I think) outer body, with a pleasant but not overly elaborate design etched into it.

Cons:

HD is 5400 rather than 7200 RPM. Haven't decided yet whether this will be a bottleneck on the system. I hope not. Startup doesn't seem SIGNIFICANTLY faster than Windows XP. A few seconds shaved off here and there. Not sure whether that's a HD seek-time / read-time issue, or if Windows 7 just innately has more stuff to load up.

There is a lot of pre-loaded software that folks may want to take off.

Doesn't come with a hard copy of startup discs. You have to burn your own restore media to a DVD or flash drive. The system only lets you burn them once. So, if you lose them, you're SOL.

By default, the fingerprint reader only lets you set up 8 fingers, not all 10. It's unclear why this is so or how to fix it. A rather silly and arbitrary setting.

When going from wall power to battery power, the system will switch from a high-power video chip to a low-power video chip. The switch in hardware sometimes causes software to hang if it doesn't know how to deal with the change. Best to close as much software as possible before switching chips, or else leave the high-power chip running and deal with the reduced battery life.

The QuickWeb environment seems to not be as good at playing streaming video as Windows proper is, so if you maximize the video it sometimes becomes quite blocky or stuttery. Not sure why this should be so.

The left and right mouse buttons are built into the touchpad and are 'touchy' to say the least. If you tap-click either of them it only works as a left-click. I haven't found a way to set the right button to tap-click as a contextual menu right click. Since they're touch sensitive, if you try to push the buttons manually by pressing down on them, you will likely end up unintentionally moving the cursor off what you were trying to click in the first place before the button is fully depressed. This has become rather noisome. I haven't yet found an adequate software or hardware workaround/hack to make this function 'as-expected.'

Overall, I very much like this laptop. I can't really compare it to any other models out there, since I only need one laptop, really.

The QuickWeb environment is nifty for quickly powering in to a usable environment and surfing the web wirelessly from our WiFi router. Setup was pretty simple. Only take about 1-2 seconds to power into it and 3-5 seconds after you click the browser icon for it to hook up to the WiFi, on average (it's a bit odd that it doesn't hook up immediately, so you get a 'page not found' error, but as soon as it connects, it automatically refreshes the page and connects, so you're up and running).

The fingerprint scanner is a rather nice feature. I never log in manually anymore. Much easier to just swipe a random finger and let it figure out who's logging in, and have it load the appropriate desktop (I only have one desktop, but I'm quite certain that's how it works; it does the heavy lifting). It'll also let you set up website password storage where you can just swipe your finger as authentication. I actually somewhat prefer to type web passwords manually, so I can remember them. But I can see how some folks might be lazy enough to use it, and for them it probably would be handy.

I haven't started gaming on it yet, but with what appear to be some pretty decent video chips built-in, I have little doubt it should do pretty well on the gaming front.

The quad-core processor seems to power through Seti@Home computations like they were nothing. It seems BOINC can make use of the GPU for additional computing power, too. So things it predicts should take about 156 hours take about 54 hours. Things BOINC figures on being about 8 hours are done in about 4-5. At least that seems to be the case so far.

Unlike the one or two other reviewers, I have not encountered any problems with this unit, in terms of defective parts or hardware failures. One assumes they're simply one-offs and not a systemic problem. Granted, I did buy mine from HP, so there may be some additional room for jostling and breakage by buying retail where things get shipped from warehouse to warehouse, then by the Post Office or FedEx before arriving at the end-user's home or business. Not saying that's THE reason things break. Just one possibility. HP does warranty its new products for a full year. They also offer extended warranties for a little extra money if you're really worried about breakage and up-time.

So, in general, I find this to be pretty much everything I was expecting... Yay for a new laptop! :)

Honest reviews on HP Pavilion dv6-3050us 15.6-Inch Laptop

Came very quickly. Kudos to Amazon for shipping and packaging. Love this computer. It has in my opinion, the best array of features for a sub $1000 computer. I thought initially that a 15.6 inch screen might be a tad bit to big but it is perfect. Not too big and not too small either.I still feel like I have to be careful in handling this computer. Maybe because its my first, but it seems to be well built. I like the brushed aluminum finish versus the glossy finishes many laptops have had up till now. great thinking from HP. The combo Ati 4250 and 5650 video cards are awesome too. Now granted, it won't run the absolutely newest spankin brand new titles coming out, but if you are a light to moderate gamer who has mostly older titles (2-4 years old) or just needs a system with good graphics this system fits the bill. Flight Simulator X has issues when flying in new york. Not sure if that's a processor, video card or actaul game issue but then again, that game is hard to run on any system. Did run Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 on this dv6 and it handles it like a dream. The 1 GB of DDR3 ram on the Ati Mobility Radeon HD5650 is good, but the best in line for gamers is GDDR5. But then again, I didn't buy this computer for gaming alone. I look forward to doing more with it as I've only had it for a couple of days, but so far it is excellent. It runs videos, even HD Videos (720P) very smoothly. A must buy...especially for those going to school.

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I purchased this computer last summer. I use it for work and play, and overall I've been happy with it.

Pros:

1. Big screen with nice graphics. Important for my work, which involves analyzing microscopy pictures.

2. Fast. Starts up fast (I usually set it to hibernate rather than turn it off, making start up even faster) and runs fast.

3. Decent memory (see above with all the microscopy...the images take a lot of disk space, and I'm not even close to filling up the memory. Not to mention tons of personal pictures)

4. Fingerprint log-in is fun, and keeps the computer slightly more secure.

5. Decent built in camera and microphone for video calls.

6. Quiet keyboard with decently spaced keys.

7. Touch pad can be turned on and off easily, and has that cool zoom in/out two finger motion.

8. Decent speakers (better than my last Dell)

9. Easy buttons for controlling sound/screen brightness/calculator/etc

10. Lots of input sources located on the side of the computer (USBs, video, headphones, etc).

11. Lightweight.

12. Windows 7 is much nicer than Windows XP or whatever that other version was that came in between XP and 7. It's fast and has few glitches.

Cons:

1. When trying to zoom into pictures or PDFs, it's easy to turn the image rather than zoom in/out.

2. Runs hot, thanks in part to the quality graphics. I'd recommend getting a fan to cool it off, or a lap desk so you don't overheat it. I haven't over-heated the computer yet, even though I run it all the time, but I definitely make sure I don't keep the computer on my lap (which I could do with my Dell). An easy fix is placing the computer on a book or binder rather than your lap.

3. I really wish it had a number pad. I do a lot of data entry, and it's easier to enter numbers in with a number pad.

4. Really short battery life. I'm lucky if I still get 2 hours on a charge (it started with just 3 hours) thanks to the fan that always runs.

5. The fan always runs.

6. Occasionally when the computer is switching between graphic cards (which it does when you switch from an AC source to the battery, to save on energy), the screen won't come back on until I hit the "increase brightness" button. Occasionally that doesn't work either, and I have to restart the computer. I haven't called HP customer services to ask about this yet.

7. If you run the lower-quality graphics card when the power is coming from the battery, the quality definitely decreases, which is a bummer.

All in all, I can work around the running fan and don't have too much of an issue keeping the computer plugged in. For the price, it's a decent deal. If you want decent memory and speed and can deal with the fan running and an occasional quirk, it's worth the savings.

UPDATE: Hard drive quit after 2.5 years. Bummer.

Best HP ENVY DV7 17.3" Quad Core Laptop, 8GB DDR3 Memory, 750GB Hard Deals

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List Price: $799.99
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What a laptop!! I have no idea what that other guy was talking about with the slow responding issue. This laptop is extremely fast!! I am able to play all sorts of games like minecraft and call of duty on nice settings. I will recommend this to anyone who wants a multimedia laptop! I was really happy with my purchase but I wish they had a back-lit keyboard included, not that big of a deal though.

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I have the 15.6" version of this and its a great laptop for the price. The graphics card is integrated and runs on system RAM, meaning it will outperform many 1-2gb cards with dedicated RAM when the laptop demands more performance. The A10-4600m is a strong AMD CPU, able to compete with the comparablely priced Intel i3 & i5 CPUs. For gaming purposes, it will run almost all newer games at low-medium settings with antialiasing off. Older games 3+ years old all run at high-ultra settings, including games like Fallout 3/NV, Oblivion, Age of Empires 3, Bully, Company of Heroes, Lord of the Rings BFME2, and many others without issues. I would recommend this to anyone who needs a graphics intensive laptop for music and video editing, as well as gaming or just facebooking.

Best Deals for HP ENVY DV7 17.3" Quad Core Laptop, 8GB DDR3 Memory, 750GB Hard

I receive this laptop has a present. Its worked fine so far. No problems at all. It plays games like Minecraft, and even the original Halo combat evolved pretty well. If you are using it right, the battery could last for four hours, which is nice. Like I said in the title, it is a all around nice laptop.

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I got this for family and for hobby Android software development. It seems to work great for both purposes. It all feels pretty snappy (certainly compared to the 10-year-old Pentium M that it's replacing, but also doesn't feel any more sluggish than my work i5-based laptop). For just plain web browsing, it's very decent (Browsermark 4530 with Chrome).

Development work:

It's fast enough to run the Kindle Fire HD emulator that I couldn't run on my old laptop. In hindsight for that purpose it would have been better to get an i5-based laptop so that I could use HAXM which needs the Intel variant of the virtualization extensions. Still, for Android emulation purposes I can run Bluestacks on it, and Bluestacks runs at a very nice speed (it must be using the AMD virtualization, as expected since they have a partnership with AMD).

Startup times for things like Eclipse are good, and build times are fine.

I installed Cygwin and, just in case I need a real Linux for something (I sometimes find a need to run something on a Linux machine), VirtualBox with Lubuntu in it. I haven't played much with VirtualBox/Lubuntu except to start Firefox and install Chromium in it, and it seems to work at an OK speed (Chromium gets 3851 Browsermark, with only one CPU core dedicated to VirtualBox), so the virtualization extensions on the A10 must be doing their job.

Fun:

Haven't really tried any games other than Minecraft and Trine, which work quite smoothly. Most of the non-phone games I play are old, sometimes very old (e.g., Infocom text adventures) so I don't foresee any difficulties.

Screen:

Nice and bright. I was concerned about the glossy screen--I've always had only matte screens, but it's generally fine. The colors were a bit muted until I ran the Windows color calibration (Windows+Q and type in "calibrate") after which they are *really* nice. Slightly higher resolution would be even nicer, but this is acceptable. Unfortunately, the calibration was being reset each time I logged in, but I fixed that by starting the task manager (ctrl-alt-delete, Task Manager), going to Startup, and right clicking on Catalyst to disable Catalyst. (I didn't really need Catalyst Control Center.)

Trackpad:

I do occasionally hit it with my palm and it moves the screen. A smaller trackpad would be better, as would one that's better placed. This one is so placed that for natural typing, almost half of the right hand would be over the trackpad. One can turn it off, though, if that's a problem, with a double tap on its upper left corner. (Which also turns on a nice trackpad-is-off light.) If this continues to be a problem, I'll have to see if there is some software or hardware solution.

Sound:

The sound is very good for a laptop. Laptop sound has always been too quiet for me but this one is loud enough for comfortable movie watching.

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I ordered it and received it as it is in the description, its exactly what I wanted thank you very much:D I'm super excited, its my first laptop.:D

Discount Samsung -R540-JA08 Laptop / Intel Core i3 Processor / 15.6" LED

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I find the Samsung JAO8US is a great computer. It's loaded with Windows 7 which is a great operating system. Important feature with this computer it has VENTS on the back so it DOES NOT OVERHEAT.

It's great for gaming, emails, download Amazon Music, download Big Fish Games etc...I can also watch movies and music cd's example Richard Marx Night Out With Friends and Stories to Tell the 3rd cd is at Shepard's Bush London.

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After less than six months from purchase, the pixels started dying on my screen. I first went to the online chat and was directed to the service request. The form would not accept any characters, and there was no record of my registering my laptop (I always do). Then I called tech support who said I needed a serial number from the bottom of the laptop, there is none. It may have wiped away? No other numbers wiped away. I ended up going back to best buy who says this is a common problem with this laptop and with Samsung. Glad I sprang for the extended warranty because best buy fixed what Samsung wouldn't!

Besides the crappy display and customer support, the laptop does what I wanted it to do. I can create documents while streaming video. The video chat has been a great way for the kids to talk to grandparents and the games I play work fine. I would not suggest hardcore gaming with it, but I haven't had any problems with simulation games.

Review of Toshiba Satellite U845-S409 14-in Laptop Intel i5-3317U 6GB 500GB

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This laptops has all I need in my office, it has a strong processor, enough memory to handle multiple aplications and enough HD capacity.

I think it's a great deal for the price.

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Reviews of Dell Inspiron i14RN-1227BK 14-Inch Laptop (Diamond Black)

Customer Ratings:

At this price, this machine is a steal. It has the capability of a full-fledged computer and the convenience of an extremely portable laptop. At just over 5 lbs. it's certainly heavier than a tablet, a Macbook Air or an ultrabook, but then again it has all the advantages of a "real" computer. Responsiveness is outstanding since Windows 7 is a great OS, certainly when compared to Vista. Even compared to Apple's OS X, Windows 7 performs quite well, although it is of course much more "labor intensive", which is another way of saying that it's not quite as user friendly. On the plus side, it provides what is possibly the most widely used software platform in the world. All in all you can't go wrong with this device if you are looking for something that provides heavy lifting computing power as compared to a tablet or even an ultrabook.

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Before choosing this laptop I researched the other options in amazon and other websites and I believe this one has the best value for the price.

A few things to note on it's favor:

Did not come dead on arrival (DOA).

Windows Installation was fast.

Can run entertainment apps / casual and social gaming perfectly.

I love the idea of being able to use different covers (I have not tried it yet).

The trackpad's surface is one of the best I have used so far.

The battery holds it's charge as described and intended.

The internal speakers have great power, enough to watch a video in a medium-size living room without plugging other speakers.

Wireless adapter is pretty strong, it can list-down wireless points that my desktop adapter can't.

Some downsides:

Comes with the already-known Bloatware, simply uninstall all those pesky useless programs/games/antivirus.

After modifying the mouse / trackpad settings I got a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) STOP Error: 0x000009f DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE (This problem occurs because of a race condition between two bus resets.). However, after I updated Windows 7 everything seems to be in order now.

It's glossy, expect a lot of fingerprints on it.

Multi-gesture trackpad feature doesn't work 100%, it seems not to be so accurate.

The Trackpad can get warm when running process-extensive software or features but not to a point it is uncomfortable.

I have yet to find anything that ruins my experience, reason why I scored the laptop a 5. I will update this review in case it's necessary and let you know.

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I was in the market for a small laptop for school. Because the computer would be traveling as much as I do I didn't want to spent a lot nor did I want a overly large machine. I was contemplating on a net book before I came across this.

For the price you can't beat it. The Intel core i3 2.30GHz processor with 6G ram make it fast enough for just about everything you would possibly need it to do. The 446GB hard drive is large enough for most folks, just don't try to store your entire movie collection on there.

The reviews that I did read questioned a few things. One was over the graphic quality of the monitor. I found no issue with it. I'm sure for someone involved in editing photos or animation this laptop wouldn't do it, but for less than $500 your not going to get those sort of capabilities.

There are some bad reviews out there over the battery. Battery performance is based on how long the computer will hold power under the most ideal of circumstances. Heavy use, such as movie watching and gaming, and the use of outside peripherals will reduce your battery life. Even using the built in wi-fi antenna will reduce your battery life. This holds true for all laptops I have used over the years. Sony, Avertec, Toshiba, and HP were no exception. This is my first Dell computer.

There are only two issues that I have with the computer and they are minor. The first one is its lack of software. It does come with ms-office starter. Word on it has a lot of the functionality of it removed so for a student you will need to get another word processing program or update your starter edition. (openoffice.org has one downloadable for free. It also doesn't come with copies of the software so you will need 3 recordable dvds in order to make your backups.

The other issue is the cover. This laptop is party of the Dell Inspiron series with the switchable covers. While I like the black and won't get another cover for it I have no idea how to remove it and the documentation in the box gave no explanation on this.

I am extremely satisfied with this machine and have no regrets in purchasing it

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Bought one of these a few weeks ago to use for a sports club I administer. Needed a simple machine to do basic taskse-mail, web browsing, word processor....and to run a sports meet software. Great machine for these basis tasks. Price point is super, cheaper than many tablets or even in some cases a cell phone, and much more capable. Tested WiFi in an area where most cell phones and computers have trouble with weak signal, and this works great. Runs cool, battery life even with the basic battery is good, and weight is light enough to make it easily used on a...laptop. HDMI output is great, I hooked this up to my projector with no issues. Connectivity options for USB, HDMI, eSATA great for this price range. Overall this is a great price on a premium brand laptop with super solid features.

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I am delighted with this purchase. I use it for business about 12 hours every day of the week. Staples had these on sale for $449 and was giving a $100 Visa card rebate with every purchase, so I could not resist the sub $400 price.

Pros: The PC is fast and reliable. Boot time and wake up time is *much* faster than my old Compaq Vista. Win7 is a much faster and user-friendly OS than Vista or XP. 6 Gig of memory on this laptop ensures the applications run smoothly and seamlessly with many windows open at once. The laptop is relatively small and light yet has pretty much all the features of a powerful desktop. Keypad feels very nicely when you are typing. The trackpad has some neat new features and is very adjustable. Machine automatically shuts off the trackpad when you plug in a mouse.

Cons: Battery only lasts 3 hrs if you are using the machine. It says 6 hrs when you mouse over the battery icon when fully charged. Also the ports are not labeled on the edges of the typing surface of the machine so you have to crane your neck to find the locations of the USB ports or the power jack if you are trying to connect something.

Reviews of Acer Aspire V5-571-6647 15.6-Inch HD Display Laptop (Black)

Customer Ratings:

I purchased this laptop to replace my older Acer model, which is still running fine after 5 years but I wanted to upgrade. This computer is a fantastic choice for non-gamers like me! It has a slim, sleek design (though some might find its solid matte black finish "boring"), plus it has the speed and power that my older model was lacking... not to mention the beefy 500 gig hard drive! Also a plus is the 3.0 USB port, which will certainly come in handy for transferring video files to a flash drive. The standard "chicklet" keyboard is nicely laid out and is comfortable to use, although if you are using a chicklet style keyboard for the first time you may have problems striking all the keys evenly so that all your "hits" register on-screen. Just takes a little practice, that's all. I cannot comment on the performance of the touchpad, as I have always preferred to use a wireless mouse. The 16 x 9 screen is brilliantly clear and easy to read, and the speakers are surprisingly adequate for a laptop this thin (about an inch or so). I'm also pleased that this model contains an optical drive (for DVD's and CD's, but not blu-ray), which many newer computers seem to lack. My only quibble is the absence of a caps-lock indicator light, although when caps-lock is engaged there is a momentary on-screen icon to alert you. All in all, this is a GREAT value for anyone wishing to purchase a new full-featured laptop that still has the Windows 7 operating system. I am highly satisfied with this computer, and I'm sure the majority of average users will feel the same way.

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Laptop met all my criteria, decent performance, light weight and good battery life all at a fair price!!!! Amazon had it on sale on daily deal and prime membership got it to me in 2 days. Can't beat it.

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For a newly purchased laptop I encountered too many problems. My computer won't start up properly of May not come on at all. Many times I had to reboot. Won't recommend this.

Honest reviews on Acer Aspire V5-571-6647 15.6-Inch HD Display Laptop (Black)

Excellent value for my son to use for school projects. Lightweight and thin, easy to carry. It's a little wider than some laptop bags.

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I like the V5 series. It performs well and it is lite and thin. I have had one come in DOA, but things happen. Future service on a simple thing like a hard drive will be an issue as everything must come apart to get to it. I wish they had made it a bit more accessible.

Reviews of HP Folio 13-1051nr, the Hunger Games Special Edition

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Just what i was looking for: fast boot, nice battery life, decent screen, good trackpad, decent *backlit* keyboard, slim, light, good wifi .... All that remains is how long it will last. I am happy. I only purchased the Hunger Games edition cuz it was cheaper than the non-branded one at the time..

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This item was not a hunger games special edition, but the standard edition. Be warned about items "fulfilled by Amazon." Customer service is terrible because Amazon provides the customer service, but doesn't own the shelves so the best they can do is offer you a refund. The refuse to acknowledge that this is basically a bait and switch, and send you the correct product. Furthermore, they refuse to change the language on their product listing to reflect the actual product. I would give zero stars if i could for not-as-advertised and really painful customer service.

That said, this laptop is great, good enough despite all this to garner two stars. Just look to purchase it from elsewhere!

Discount HP ENVY 14-3010NR Spectre 14-Inch Ultrabook (Silver/Black)

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List Price: $1,399.99
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Today's Bonus: 41% Off

Bottom line:

This is a very nice high quality machine. HP calls this zero sacrifice, I am about 90% agree with that. Yes, every component is premium quality, but the construction gets maybe 95 out of 100, due to the trackpad installation and the opening problem I note below. Most importantly, they can't make its price competitive enough, but street price should come down later.

Full review:

look & design

HP copied ideas from Macbook, but have enough of their own. The glowing logo on the back made me laugh. Well, whatever they need to do to gain market share. However, once you go pass the black island keyboard on silver, that's where the similarity on look stops. They did put in a lot of thoughts and effort at being different and unique. Like the Gorilla glass covers that give it a much polished and shiny look. If you like shiny, you will like this. The back cover is separated from the aluminum body made with quality plastic you can easily open without tools. The sides has more curves and ridges around the ports etc. The black color of the cover and the thin borders around the display are very nice, making this 14" just slightly larger than a 13" physically overall. The palm rest is a piece of gorilla glass that looks and feels good, it also helps protecting the keys from the screen when closed.

opening it & the distance the cover opens up

This is where HP fell short. They have a very short ridge on the cover that's suppose to give you an anchor to hold on to to open the screen, but it's too short, and there's not an indention on the body for you to put your finger into to grab the screen. So opening it is a slight struggle. Also, when the screen's open all the way it still doesn't go as far as I feel it should so it could be a very minor inconvenience at times. For example, when I am sitting up with it on my lap, I wish I could push the screen back just a tiny bit more.

display

It's a premium display, but not IPS. Colors are vivid and accurate. Even at lowest brightness it's still very visible. At highest it's very bright. The viewing angle is not as limited as some cheap ones, but still nothing compare to the near 180 degree of IPS. At about 40-50 degree and the image begins to change and become unclear. If I am sitting up with it on my lap, the image quality degrades slightly due to the view angle, that's why I wish the screen could open further back. The premium full HD 15" LCD on my 3 year old Dell feels slightly better.

Personally, I think 14" at 1600x900 is the sweet spot for laptop display. 13" would start to feel cramp, and 15" would start to feel cumbersome, especially when using in bed. The icon and text sizes at 1600x900 on 14" is just the right size, yet giving you much more pixel real estate. I stare at 5 24" monitors every day and this 14" still feels plenty big enough.

size & weight

Size is very nice. Slightly larger than a 13", but due to the thin display borders, you get a 14" LED screen. Once you've tried the thinner 3lb laptops, this 4lb feels heavy and thick, but still, very manageable.

battery

An informal test, just normal browsing (amazon, google, yahoo), writing this review, leaving it sitting around but not going to sleep with display eventually turning off, never turned off keyboard backlight, I barely got more than 5 hours out of it. Nothing near the 9.5 hrs in the spec. Slightly disappointed, but still happy, since I turned the display brightness near max most of the time. I guess to get 9.5 hours you have to turn off a bunch of things and run at lowest brightness or something. I might do a more precise and controlled test on it later.

speed

Having used machines with the fastest i7 and extreme xeon, I definitely noticed the ever so slight slower this machine's i5 CPU shows, but you could just call it my imagination. For doing normal browsing, email, word processing, and watching videos, there're ample power to spare. The built in HD3000 graphic chip is fairly limited, but it handles the normal operations and video playback admirably. I even managed to run Skyrim on it, at lowest settings and sluggish of course.

camera

I am so sick of the useless camera most PCs throw in I almost forgot about it on this, but when I tried it, I was pleasantly surprised. It produced smooth motion images that's very resilient to light changes. With an overhead lamp above me, the camera performed perfectly and produced a very clear image, unlike the typical washed out images cheap webcams make. With the lights off and only the light from the display, the camera adapted almost immediately, and gave smooth images that's very respectable: it's grainy, but at least color and the picture are fairly accurate and viewable. This is one quality webcam. HP spec says it's HD, but not sure if it's 1080p. The software allows you to record videos.

power connector & power supply

My bro used to complain about the flimsy power connector on a very old HP he had, but on this machine, looks like HP put some thought into designing it. Other than the actual connector, there's a bigger piece that holds the connector in place so it doesn't wiggle and break easily. The power supply is smaller than usual, and has a USB connector for supplying power to your USB devices.

trackpad

The trackpad is a quality glass cover Synaptics trackpad. However, on mine, its installation is not perfectly aligned. So there's a hairline gap on the right top side. The left edge is also a hairline higher than the right edge. I had some trouble with mine at first where multiple touch didn't work well. It would get faulty touches. After sometime playing around, I found the default sensitivity level is not good. I had to set it to lightest touch and now it works great. Moving the pointer around is very smooth and feels very comfortable and natural. Multiple touch scroll, pinch zoom, all work smoothly. Tap to click, double Tab & hold to drag, and Edge Drag all work well. The software gives you very flexible options and you can basically configure every aspect of it. Using it to browse the web for a few hours I became unaware of the trackpad and just do the motions naturally, and very comfortably.

keyboard

I don't like Island keyboard, but it's the best way to make slim laptops. Typing on it is very comfortable. The glass palm rests feel good, and actually grows on me a little, but it may be different for someone else. The keys are OK but still short on travel distance. I am a touch typist, but I missed noticeably more letters while typing this review, but I am sure I will get used to it in a few days.

Each key has its own LED for backlit, and it shows. The lights through each key is full and bright, the whole thing looks quite pretty. You can just turn it on/off manually with F5, which stays lit all the time, regardless of back lit being on or off. It's supposed to have proximity sensors that detects the user's presence and turn the backlit on/off, I noticed that it did its job a few times, but didn't really do any deliberate test on it.

fan & temperature

The fan out vents is on the bottom back. Since the edges have big curves up, and vent are on the curve, they are harder to get blocked. The fan comes on briefly every once in a while, even when I am just browsing the web, like on amazon. The noise is noticeable, but not annoying. Normal browsing, watching videos, never noticed anything beyond slightly warm. The fan does its job while not being annoying.

audio out

The beats audio sounds fuller than the usual laptop sounds I am used to, but it also gives it a muffle effect for some audios. Overall, it's nice and a signature on HP's Envy line.

volume knob

A physical volume knob is nice. I've seen quite a few moments in meetings where people had to turn on their computer but can't turn down the volume until they're logged in, so the welcome sound plays loud and disturb the meeting. However, it also has its shortcomings. Like turning away from you is volume up, which is opposite of what I naturally do. Also, holding the machine with right hand frequently touch the knob by accident.

Other gimmicks

It's got bluetooth. A NFC device that seems to be experimental HP doesn't have it mentioned on the spec. I borrowed my bro's android phone and downloaded HP's touch to share app. They don't seem to know what they want to do with it. The app apparently allows you to share a URL from the phone to your computer. I got the phone to connect, but after touch, nothing happens. Tried a few times and gave up.

The full size HDMI & Display Port are helpful, as is the ethernet jack. I have not bothered with the WiDi.

expandability

Since the back can be easily opened and immediately exposing the electronics parts that are secured with screws, you can actually replace the battery, which is held on by about 10 screws, but I am not sure if it would void your warranty. I also read somewhere that underneath there is an empty memory slot that lets you upgrade to 8GB.

I am actually glad that they didn't bother with an optical disc drive (CD/DVD/BD), and have a full size SD card slot. Personally, everything being equal, missing a SD card slot is a deal breaker for me on any laptop.

other thoughts & the price

Aside from the minor issues with the trackpad I mentioned above. I got a unit with a pixel on the LCD stuck in blue. Getting a replacement, hopefully it will be problem free.

Price: Given that same spec machines thinner and lighter can be had for less than 1,000, this is overpriced, even considering the premium display and quality parts. I wouldn't pay more than 1,200 for this, and I got it for less than that, when amazon was having a price war with the other mega retailer whose name starts with a W, and giving out a free gift card with the purchase.

Other things I wanted to test but haven't had a chance:

* recording audio

* watching a HD movie

* torture test

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Read that title again because it's the most important line in this entire review or any other regarding a notebook device.

When shopping for a notebook you have two choices.

1. A mobile workstation

This device boasts strong battery life, low weight, portability, often connectivity, and the ability to run most office and some design programs on the road. The mobile workstation comes with the compromise of being less powerful (i.e. slower) than the top of the line computers on the market. Students, traveling professionals, and people who need more than one computer (for whom a tablet is not sufficient) are attracted to this category.

2. A replacement desktop

This device has a massive amount of computing power, often a stellar video card, and will perform any task that a home computer does with nearly equal aptitude. As a result, replacement desktop systems suffer from poor battery life and tend to weigh a ton. They come with big, beautiful screens and are designed for people who need to carry a lot of horsepower to different locations but don't need to pack the thing around in a briefcase or backpack. Gamers and video engineers are attracted to this category, as are people who only want one computer.

When judging a notebook it is important to use the metrics for which it was designed.

The HP Envy Spectre is an Ultrabook, which means it's a mobile workstation. This is not a computer designed for playing the latest games, rendering 3D scenes, running complex software synthesizers, or having 12 programs open at a time. It is a mobile office with superb battery life and an impressively bright screen (which will, in fact, significantly reduce your battery life if you use it at full power).

As a mobile workstation, this is quite simply the best notebook I have ever owned. The keyboard is incredibly comfortable and the battery life is excellent. It is not as light as the Samsung Series-9 but the comfort, style, and ease of use make up for it. Because it uses a solid state drive it doesn't heat up to 1000 degrees in my lap. I am, in fact, typing this review in bed with the laptop sitting near enough my manparts that it would be quite uncomfortable if I weren't using the HP Envy Spectre.

If I so much as launch Backyard Monsters, the fans will kick in like a wind tunnel. God help me if I try to play Diablo III. Does that mean the system loses a star? Oh god no. There are far too many notebooks that try to be everything to everyone and fail miserably at all of them.

This is device is fast for an ultraportable. The glass makes it a bit heavier but adds both style and comfort. The mouse is responsive, glitch free, and has decent multi-touch functionality. If I want to play a game, well, that's what my unlocked and overclocked Core i7 featuring a ton of RoG technology is for. This system lets me do my IT and web development work comfortably from a bar or coffee shop. Paired with a 4G connection I can get 4-9 hours of life out of the computer depending on the brightness of the screen and how much data I'm pulling down. To be honest, I push this laptop pretty hard. I've never thought "wow, I'm disappointed in how long this thing lasted on battery" not in the context of what I was doing.

I can comfortably write web pages and I can run Photoshop or Illustrator, though complex tasks on large files may be a bit slow. Ironically, booting is faster than waking from sleep mode but that's really a Microsoft thing. No points from HP.

If you want quick, light, sleek, professional, and mobile with excellent life this is the best Windows-based notebook on the market (positively Mac-like in many ways). I'm buying one for my wife when she starts her doctorate in a few weeks because I trust this model 100% with the way she will use it.

If you want fast & powerful gaming or a/v editing machine that replaces your clunky old desktop, steer clear. We don't need any more ill informed reviews of this machine resulting from unfair expectations. It's a 1.6ghz i5 processor with basic Intel graphics. Please, don't come back here to complain because you wanted i7 + nVidia/ATI performance out of it.

Best of luck making your selection.

Best Deals for HP ENVY 14-3010NR Spectre 14-Inch Ultrabook (Silver/Black)

I purchased this laptop even though it far exceeded my budget. I just wanted to see what all the hoopla was about. Honestly, I had planned on returning it if I found any fault with it in any whatsoever. I had read that the battery cannot be replaced, RAM could not be upgraded and the SSD was not replaceable by users. Well, I have not returned it and have absolutely no plans on returning it whatsoever.

The battery can be replaced as well as the RAM can be expanded and the SSD can also be upgraded. Albeit, not as easily as one would hope but easy enough as the manual walks you through it step by step. I've even found a battery replacement online that costs $120.00. Since there is only one Memory slot you can upgrade to 8GB and Amazon has a 8GB SODIMM that works for $51.99. Again, this takes some work and as the memory is not easily accessible. You can easily download the "Maintenance and Service Guide" from the HP website. There is even a link in the "Help and Support" link in the Start Menu.

This little laptop has far exceeded my expectations and is simply the best laptop I've ever purchased or received from an employer. It easily gets 5 stars. I could go into all the finer details but others here have taken care of that.

As far as the cost... After using this computer the cost is justified and when you really compare it to other Ultrabooks the price is a little more expensive but very competitive.

Honest reviews on HP ENVY 14-3010NR Spectre 14-Inch Ultrabook (Silver/Black)

After doing research on most of the ultrabooks in the market I finally settled with HP Envy Spectre 14. I already own Macbook Air and I am happy with it. Just wanted another Windows native machine for work and travel purpose. Let me tell you this is the most attractive laptop I have ever seen. But the Glass on top is hard to keep clean, its a finger print magnet. I found the boot time slow as other ultrabooks. But wake up time from sleep is instant. So if you can shell out couple of extra hundred bucks for good looking laptop this is for you.

Pros

Stunning Display

14 inch screen (text is better on 14 inch than on 13inch with 1600x900 resolution)

All the ports you need

Beats Audio

AC Adapter comes with extra USB port which you can use to charge other devices.

I really like that.

2 year warranty

SD card slot

Cons

128 GB SDD on $1400 laptop (You will get only 70 GB free. Rest is all OS and recovery).

Glass Panel (Gives you a feel that you may break it someday)

Overpriced.(1 start knocked out for this)

Slow boot time from shutdown (approx 24 seconds). Dell XPS 13 was on 13 seconds

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for HP ENVY 14-3010NR Spectre 14-Inch Ultrabook (Silver/Black)

This notebook is beautiful and I wanted very much to love it. I felt it was the perfect combination of function and style and I was willing to pay more for it than other comparable notebooks.

The first one I received was defective right out of the box with an error message that read "cooling fan is not operating correctly," and proceeding to shut down automatically. HP's online support was great and offered to repair the notebook and pay for shipping both ways. Since the notebook was brand new, I opted to replace it with a new one from the seller. I totally understand that there are duds in every make and model, so it was not an issue for me to wait for a replacement.

I received my replacement notebook and waited with bated breath as it booted up. It made it to Windows. Time to celebrate right? Not quite.

Four days later as I plugged the notebook in, there was a spark, pop, and smoke. My laptop's power port and the adapter cord suffered scorch marks. I couldn't believe it. I hopped on to HP's chat support again(from another computer) and asked if they could take my notebook in for repair. The rep advised that they would send me a new adapter instead. Only if that didn't work, would they take my notebook for repair. A few days later I received a new adapter and attempted to plug it in. Spark, pop, and smoke. I hopped back on with the chat support folks and the rep agreed that they would take the notebook in for repair. I waited for the empty box and then shipped it out.

Today, I received a call from HP and they advised that they fixed my DC port but the motherboard connector is damaged and that is going to cost me $200+ to repair since it's not covered by the warranty. Just to be clear, an internal part of the brand new replacement notebook (a part that I cannot access without voiding the warranty) is not covered for repair. It's been a month since I first ordered this HP Envy 14 and it's been an incredible waste of time dealing with this. I am now the proud owner of a defective $1000+ notebook.

If you value your time and money. Please do not purchase this notebook.

Reviews of Dell Inspiron 17R-5720 (Lotus Pink) - i5-3210M 2.50GHz - 6GB - 1TB

Customer Ratings:

She loves it. It is huge and Pink two things she really likes about it. one two three four five more word. Stupid to have to type more then just you want. Damn whighaitye people!

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X90cw Notebook - Atom Z520 1.33GHz - 11.6" - 1GB - Fast Ethernet Review

Customer Ratings:

Properly configured, this is the ultimate road warrior tool. The unit provides almost absolute data security by ensuring that the true, valuable corporate asset (the data) remains safely inside the datacenter. This unit requires an appropriate enterprise backend (generally Citrix XenApp or XenDesktop). If this unit is lost or stolen, the concern is replacing the device, rather than what information is on it. I am a long term Wyse user and this is the device I recommend.

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Hp - 15.6" Pavilion Laptop - 8gb Memory - 750gb Hard Drive Reviews

Customer Ratings:

I have only had this a couple weeks and I like it a lot.

Things I like about it:

the keyboard is easy to type on

you can turn the mouse off when writing something so it doesn't act erratic if you rub your palm against the touchpad

it has fingerprint password entry

it has the ability to use the touchpad to go forward, back, make pictures bigger and smaller etc.

it is very user friendly

it was easy to set up

The one thing I do not like about it is the screen and that's a big problem: it is very reflective; too reflective.

I don't know much about lap tops so maybe there is a plastic covering or something I can put on this to make it less reflective. If that can be done then I'll adjust this review up to 5 stars assuming I find no other problems over the next few weeks.

Overall it's a good computer and if I can resolve the overly reflective screen issue then I will give this 5 stars.

UPDATE:

I've had this a while now. I fixed the screen reflective problem by buying an anti-reflective plastic layer that fits over the screen. I bought it online and I don't remember the name of the company (it was a private vendor, not amazon; do a search for "view guard").

The only problem I've had with it is the trackpad not responding to tapping to select a link or open a folder etc.

I downloaded a new driver from the hp web site and that SEEMS to have resolved the problem. If it does not and I continue to have problems I will post another update . Meanwhile you can assume I resolved the problem.

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This is a superb laptop. HP makes pretty nice machines this is very unique in with most laptops feeling so cheap this one really feels like a lot more then the $750 or so it retails for. It has a very good processor in the i5 and HUGE RAM at 8GBwhat that translates to is a very enjoyable and fast/responsive experience. I would not have felt cheated had this been priced art $1000. Make sure you get this one though as there is a little cheaper one out there that is very similar.

KEYS to why this is such a great machine:

Lightweight and slim design.

Processor i5 with huge RAM = great performance

back-lit keyboardand a really nice one

HDMI A must have these days allows you to connect to TV also has VGA

3 USB 3.0 = everything going the way of the 3.0 USB this has 3 so your covered/also one 2.0

fingerprint reader

"Just very well built = doesn't feel cheap, looks great."

It's one hell of a bargain! Be sure you don't get the wrong one thoughthis one is the BOMB!

Best Deals for Hp - 15.6" Pavilion Laptop - 8gb Memory - 750gb Hard Drive

The HP Pavilion m6 adds some high-end details from HP's more expensive laptops, while keeping the price down. This is a highly configurable system, with options for discrete graphics and fast CPUs. This near-ultrabook packs in processing and graphics power, along with an optical drive, at a reasonable price. The only real knock against the Pavilion m6 is that some of HP's higher-end systems hardly cost more but it's not a bad choice. Especially considering the affordable price and not a lot of them offer mid-range to high end specs like the Pavillion M6 does.

Honest reviews on Hp - 15.6" Pavilion Laptop - 8gb Memory - 750gb Hard Drive

We bought this Pavilion m6 laptop for a few primary reasons:

Here's what we wanted:

*3rd Gen Intel Core i5

*8Gb Memory with expandability

*500+ Gb storage (has 750 Gb)

*Optical Drive (Super-Multi)

*Built-in SD card reader

*10 key

*Light-weight

*Better-than average battery life

*Windows 7 (until kinks get worked out of Windows 8)

There were a few machines that met all of these requirements, but this particular model was released just a half-year ago at the end of the Windows 7 run, so that appealed to me.

Here are the extra perks that this machine has that we didn't count on for this price range (considering that we bought it second-hand for around $500):

*The chassis is beautiful, in it's sleek silver design

*Fingerprint authentication and launching shortcuts

*Beats Audio

*Backlit keyboard

*HDMI + VGA

Here are the items that cost it a star:

*While it's nice to have the media controls have dedicated buttons, they designed this at the expense of the F-keys. I regularly use F2, F5, F10, F11, so this was a bit of a nuisance to get used to using the Fn key.

*The screen seems a tad flimsy, which is disconcerting given the size. I have three young boys, and am afraid that at some point one of them is going to go bouncing through the house and the screen will get trashed.

*There is a curious glitch occasionally where the 'Enter' key no longer responds. A support forum described how Windows+X brings up a dialogue, that when closed, will solve the problem.

*Part of me wishes the screen were full HD. 1,366x768 isn't bad, but it could have been much better.

*The keyboard is responsive, but a few keys "squeak." Minor nuisance that gives the machine character.

Overall, I really enjoy this new addition to our electronics portfolio. True, the machine is discontinued now, and only refurbs and used ones are for sale, but in my book, that's a great opportunity to get something barely used for a significant discount! I'm not disappointed in this purchase, and expect the machine to last me for 3-4 years.

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Best deal ever! The laptop is magnificent. I absolutely love it. A perfect match for all my computer needs. I did not have to look anything else once I checked it I was in love.

Reviews of ASUS UX31A-DH51 13.3-Inch Zenbook ( Silver Aluminum )

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $1,099.99
Sale Price: $755.49
Today's Bonus: 31% Off

I've had this laptop for two days so far and it's a pleasure to use as well as gorgeous to look at!

It cold boots in six seconds and wakes up from suspend-to-RAM in two; the IPS screen is excellent and the i5 CPU, 4 GB RAM, and SSD give the system incredible speed. There are some downsides: I'm still getting used to the trackpad (no distinct buttons a first for me), and it isn't quite as thin as the marketing pictures would suggest (though the listed product dimensions are accurate), but I think this laptop is a great deal for $800.

After it arrived, I booted into Windows 8 to make sure all the hardware was working. After specifically testing the function keys and the speed of restarts, I updated to the latest BIOS, disabled UEFI Secure Boot, and then installed Ubuntu 13.04 Desktop 64-bit from a USB flash drive. Another reviewer lamented the space lost to the pre-existing partitions (I found boot, efi, Windows recovery, Windows OS, and factory recovery), but I opted to let Ubuntu have the entire disk (minus a couple hundred MB for two boot partitions). After formatting, it gave me 117.3 GB total, with 4.5 GB used by the OS after installing.

Once I was running Ubuntu 13.04, almost all of the top-row function keys (e.g. sleep, keyboard backlight adjust, screen brightness adjust) worked out-of-the-box. The exceptions are that wireless enable/disable doesn't always seem to work and I haven't had a chance to test the video output selector. The screen auto brightness doesn't work, nor do the function keys attached to C, V, and Space (in the factory configuration those last three were attached to software bundled by Asus within Windows, so I suspect that I could configure apps in Ubuntu to respond in a similar fashion, but I have not tested this).

The Bluetooth, USB-to-Ethernet (using the included adapter), web cam, built-in mic, and SD card reader components have all also been tested and they all work well without any configuration.

If you're looking for a sleek, portable, Ubuntu-ready laptop which doesn't sacrifice power or break the bank, I would recommend giving this laptop a chance.

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Slim, solidly built machine. Uni-body construction. Fewer ports built in, but a VGA and Ethernet dongles are included in their own matching case. #1 feature: the MATTE Full HD screen. Feels like I'm working on 15"+ screen. I thought it would make texts too fine to read comfortably, but the default setting for text is set at 125% at full HD and is very easy on the eyes. And yes, its matte, not glossy (THANK YOU ASUS!!!). Check out notebookcheck.net review of this and other machines.

As mentioned, there's a couple caveats to owning this puppy. If you video chat a lot, either invest in an add-on digital camera as the built in camera on this harks back to the 90' cell phone camera 0.3 MP and painfully slow. I can't put it any other way: the camera sucks. Its deliberate, as the thinness of the lid at that point limits the camera. If you cannot live with this nor be bothered to buy a separate digi-cam, this ain't your fix. Look elsewhere.

The other concern is more important. Though its listed as a 128 Gig SSD, only 66 Gigs are actually useable, as the rest are defined for Windows, backup, etc. I haven't had time to investigate all the software that comes along with it from ASUS. While I abhor bloatware, the few programmes that I did check out so far are essential add-ons for the full Win 8 experience, such as the ASUS Touchpad software for example. Some others may choose to reduce these partitions for more usable room but I don't need to go there just yet. having a flash drive or cloud adds lots of extra storage for files, which is what I'm planning on doing anyway. I know that 2 gig out of the 4 total are permanently on the board, so that the RAM can be upgraded in future. I'm not yet sure about the SSD, though it would seem highly unlikely that it cannot be upgraded.

While others cannot overlook the poor excuse of a digi-cam in 21st century, nor the actual 66 gigs of useable space on the SSD out of the gates, for my intents and purposes, it fits the bill, which is why I'd give it 4.5 stars (if I could...).

Best Deals for ASUS UX31A-DH51 13.3-Inch Zenbook ( Silver Aluminum )

The good:

full HD screen in a 13.3" laptop

Ultra thin and portable

Brushed aluminum

Comes with accessories (I got ethernet USB, mini VGA to VGA and, oddly enough, USB A to micro B, but I'm not going to complain about more cables to charge my phone with!)

Extremely fast boot up time with Windows 8, SSD and Asus Instant On

All USB 3

Once you fix it up, excellent touchpad behavior on par with Macbook Pro

The bad:

For some reason, Asus is not shipping Windows 8 product keys with this laptop. I contacted them and received the response that it is built in to the motherboard and is activated automatically when the system is installed. Not sure what this means if you want to reinstall from media... if you do I would suggest finding the key while the system is still installed with Belarc Advisor or Jelly Bean Keyfinder.

ethernet USB adapter appears to be USB 2 connector but I have not tested the speed yet

The ugly:

Asus SmartGesture touchpad driver/software. First, the laptop shipped with the November 2012 driver, which is the older version (there was a January update). Second, gestures will randomly stop working, and the software itself often fails to start after a shutdown/start up or wake from sleep (even after updating the driver_, causing scrolling to not work. There is much discussion on this topic online:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/689932-new-elantech-asus-smart-gesture-drivers-how-they.html

http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/700484-asus-smart-gesture-occasionally-disappearing-2.html

The accepted solution to get around the inconsistent Asus driver is to install the Elantouch driver (straight from manufacturer). That link is here: http://www.station-drivers.com/page/elantech.htm

I am using the most recent version and it is now working as expected. The Elantouch driver is also more configurable.

Other thoughts: For some reason, this computer (vanilla Windows 8) only displays programs that are set to run at boot in the Task Manger's Startup tab. If they are disabled it won't show them, as it does on my desktop (which is running WIndows 8 Pro, so that may be the difference). I also ran into a problem where, when using Ninite.com to install Steam and Skype, both programs somehow became set to run at boot but were not present at all in the Startup tab and did not have "start with Windows" set in their preferences. I was unable to stop them from starting with boot without removing them completely and then reinstalling by hand. After that their behavior was normal again.

All in all I would highly recommend this laptop, with the caveat of having to fix the touchpad driver.

Honest reviews on ASUS UX31A-DH51 13.3-Inch Zenbook ( Silver Aluminum )

This laptop is an awesome buy. Comparing spec for spec your getting much more for your money with this machine compared to the MacBook Air. The screen is really something you have to see to believe. The difference between a TN panel (the standard) and this IPS panel is amazing. This screen is so bright and being 1080p gives a super high pixels per inch. It literally boots completely into Windows in around 10 seconds. I did find the SSD to be a little small, but if you delete the recovery partition on it, you get much more space to play with (around 20GB). It isn't a big deal. You can always create a USB rediscovery drive in Windows if you'd like. That gives me around 110GB total, which is also much more than what you get with the Surface Pro (89GB total).

The build quality is also very good. I previously owned a Asus UL30VT, which was considered and ultra-portable computer in 2010. However the build quality was very poor. Many panels creaked and moved, over time some parts just fell off.

This is not the case with this machine. The core of it is what feels like a solid piece of aluminum. And the screen and bezel also is put together very nicely.

Over all it looks and feels like a very solid, premium quality notebook. I would say that 799$ (what I paid) was cheap for this computer.

The verdict: If you want a computer that's super thin, has an awesome display, is super fast... Look no further.

UPDATE

The micro HDMI port has given out after only 3 days of use. I purchased an adapter to use it on a desktop monitor or my TV. However it just gave out. It appears to not have been soldered onto the motherboard correctly, because if I wiggle it up and down, it starts to work. This is very frustrating and was one of the main features of the computer for me. I may be returning it. I have owned Asus machines before, and I can tell you that little stuff like this always quits working on them. Still a great buy for the price on here. But very disappointing for sure.

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If you 'google' this product, you will find many other purchasers have had massive problems with it. It would seem to have inherent design/manufacture problems to do with its power management system and the motherboard.

What is more concerning is that ASUS does not provide an acceptable level of 'ASUS owned' technical/service backup for their products. In California, the product has to go back to a small independent service company in LA which doesn't seem to get too much support and backing from ASUS. The same is true in Australia only a handful of small companies providing service for the whole of the country.

I bought mine on Amazon in 2011 for around $1500 (mine is the 256GB SSHD) it's motherboard died just outside the warranty period. That cost $600 to replace from the LA service agent. Within a few months it developed a fault which causes it to not be able to go into sleep mode and be 're-awakened', without the battery being run down; recharged then re-booted. I've read in forums this is a common problem which ASUS just doesn't want to know about. This product should have a recall it is that deficient.

Consumers should not buy ASUS products until this company fulfils at least the minimum acceptable service support obligation as does DELL, HP, Toshiba and others.

Discount LATITUDE E6400 P8700 2.53G 4GB SYST250GB DVDRW WL W7 NVS1603

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LATITUDE E6400 P8700 2.53G 4GB SYST250GB DVDRW WL W7 NVS1603Hi, I have a question about this product (which I attached the product link.) Is it a 32-bit operating system or 64-bit???

Please let me know when you guys can!

Thanks!

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Buy HP 2000-2b49WM 15.6-Inch Laptop PC (Black) Windows 8 - 320 GB Hard

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I got it. For now, I have no trouble. It replaces my Gateway that was causing me daily headache. It is fast and very light. I like it.

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I love it, its pretty and shiny black, nice size screen nice designs, love all the features it has,I am happy I read the previous reviews and selected this notebook.

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I got this computer and it is a very nice computer, it is very shiny on the cover, and around the mouse area. I didn't et this computer from Amazon so I cant say when it arrived and in what condition it was in, I got mine at Wal-Mart. but none the less it is a great computer. its windows 8 so it is different then windows 7, you may find it difficult at first to move around but after about 2 hours of just messing around I know my way around. the camera is very nice, it is very fast moving so you wont blink and 3 seconds later "you" in the computer blink. its more like .5 second delay, if not less. all in all I would definitely recommend this to anyone, this is my first laptop so you know it is a good one for beginners. I love this laptop and if you decide to get it I guarantee you will too :)

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My 17 yr old son use it all the time, he said he really like it! Hp laptop you rock

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for HP 2000-2b49WM 15.6-Inch Laptop PC (Black) Windows 8 - 320 GB Hard

Laptop was exactly as described. Absolutely love it, extremely satisfied with my purchase. Would recommend this to anyone seeking to buy a light and thin laptop. Overall, GREAT BUY.