Buy Acer Aspire AS5733-6838 Laptop, Intel Core i3-380M, 2.53GHz, 4GB

Customer Ratings:

Two of the USB ports will charge but will not recognize devices. I added a powered USB hub to the working port and provides all I need. Usb port problems seem common on the model of Acer.

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This is a great laptop, and perfect for all my needs. Like advertised, the laptop came practically new, and I have had absolutely no problems with it. In fact, I have ended up using it more than my desktop, which I have packed away. This has become my primary computer, and it stands the heavy use and transportation very well. The battery is not very good, and it's a little heavy for my slight frame, but the speed is good, the memory excellent, and it runs like clockwork. I would definitely recommend this computer.

Best Deals for Acer Aspire AS5733-6838 Laptop, Intel Core i3-380M, 2.53GHz, 4GB

Pro: Laptop was advertised as an Intel Core i3 processor but when you check the properties on the computer it shows it actually has the Intel Core i5 CPU M560 @ 2.67GHz. I think there must have been an issue with the i3 so later models of the AS5733 were upgraded serupticiously. If they advertised it as an i5 they would have had to ask for more $$ so as not to cheapen the laptops with the i5 as advertised. So it was an even better deal than expected.

Con: The only thing I find a little distracting is the keyboard keys, they are flat instead of concave like you have on a standard keyboard; takes some getting use to. However, I use my laptop connected to a Kensington universal docking station most of the time so it really doesn't affect me that much; regular desk monitor and keyboard used 90% of the time.

Tip: I pull out the battery when using the docking station or power cord so that saves the battery from being charged unnecessarily. Battery lasts much longer that way.

Honest reviews on Acer Aspire AS5733-6838 Laptop, Intel Core i3-380M, 2.53GHz, 4GB

nice laptop for a good price. highly recommend. big screen, good speed, the only minus is the battery doesnt last long

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Acer Aspire AS5733-6838 Laptop, Intel Core i3-380M, 2.53GHz, 4GB

It is as good as I thought it would be! I love the buttons display and is very practical to use and very quick.

Cheap HP Promo 3115M E-300 11.6 4GB/320 Pc Hp Promo 3115M,AMD E-300, 11.6

Customer Ratings:

a full laptop with a real processor, win 7 home premium, 4 GB RAM. a really good value and runs great. Shipping was prompt and as expected. I would buy from seller again. So much better than the ASUS mini 10" with atom processor and only about 6 ounces heavier. I recommend this laptop to those who need a real laptop that is very light.

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It has good battery life and is very quiet. Sound production is good. Pretty much all I need for work and is a light carry for bicycling to work. Don't buy it directly from HP. They're nuts.

Review of Dell Latitude E5520 15.6 LED Notebook Intel Core i5 i5-2520M 2.50

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $1,208.00
Sale Price: $649.99
Today's Bonus: 46% Off

I'm an IT tech, and we buy Dell for all our customers, both commercial and residential.

We buy two models, the Optiplex and Latitude laptops, and have a long list of satisfied customers. The most common model we buy is the Latitude E5520 because it offers a good balance of speed, versatility, scalability, and function. It's a high quality item designed for businesses and private users. The E5520 isn't available from Dell anymore (replaced by the Latitude E5300 and 5500 series).

It's a mid-sized machine with a 15.6" widescreen monitor. The machine itself is pretty big, about the same size as my 17" MacBook Pro so about 12" deep, 16" wide, and over an 1" thick, and weighs about 6 lbs. It's constructed mostly of sturdy plastic, which covers the chassis top bottom, and palm rests. with the exception of a thin piece of brushed gunmetal colored aluminum with a matte finished Dell logo covering the top of the lid. The bottom is also metal, and the sides are reinforced with extra plastic. There's a full seal around the edge of the screen, and a zinc alloy latch firmly secures the assembly, which is very secure. The LCD itself is sealed to the lid and protected around the edge of the lid by protective bumpers. The frame is constructed from a mix of aluminum and magnesium to keep it lightweight, and the lid's hinges are steel. Overall the machine is very sturdy, solidly built, and is able to withstand some heavy use and abuse. The keyboard is sealed underneath the keys to prevent leaks or spills from getting inside. This machine is not far off from being a Toughbook.

The touchpad is offset from center to the left due to the full 10-key pad on the right side of the keyboard. The touchpad supports multitouch and is a little small, but not too bad, and features a pointing stick like Lenovo machines, with auxiliary mouse buttons above the touchpad. As a plus, this model comes with a backlit keyboard.

The monitor is a 15.6" anti-glare, LED backlit, 16.7 million color widescreen. In stock trim it's 1366x786 resolution, so it's not super high resolution, so don't expect a full HD experience on it. You do have the option of a full 1080 HD screen though, but the stock display is plenty bright, has excellent color reproduction, contrast, and does a good job of showing fine detail. The anti-glare works very well outdoors.

Hardware set varies and there are a dizzying list of available options. We order ours with the Intel Core i5-2520M 2.5 GHz quad core CPU, 4GB DDR3 RAM, 320 GB SATA 6 HDD, DVD-R/RW super multi optical drive, and Intel's HD 3000 graphics chip, which shares system memory. Nothing fancy. There's also gigabit ethernet, b/g/n wireless card, an eSATA/USB port, 4 USB 2.0 ports, memory card reader, 54mm express expansion slot, 1 full and 2 half height mini card slots, HDMI, VGA, and 1394 800 FireWire, and Dell's docking port on the bottom that lets you connect the laptop to an expansion bay with extra USB or other ports. This configuration makes it fast and reliable. We exclusively order Win 7 Pro 32 bit. The Intel CPU sips power, runs cool, and has great performance for lots of computing power. You can get 3 battery options with the Lat: a 4, 6, or 9-cell lithium ion pack, with the top being good for 97 watt hours. I forget which battery we ordered, but the machine lasts for about 3 hours under normal use with WiFi running.

Overall, it's a very good package that rivals Lenovo, HP, and Panasonic's Toughbook for features and affordability. Adding options adds to the price considerably though. For a similarly configured HP or Lenovo, figure on the Latitude costing a couple hundred more dollars. For a business or home user, it's great. The E5520 will last a long time, and if something does happen to it, Dell's warranty is first-class. If you add the optional 3-year, you extend the 1-year, which in itself awesome. If it breaks, Dell will fix it by either sending a tech or shipping a new part. As a plus, the Latitudes are fairly easy to work on, unlike the Lenovo's, which are a nightmare. I've been inside lots of Latitudes, and can say it's nice to work on them. I love how Dell doesn't load their machines with bloatware from the factory. There is only one or two programs that are easy to remove if you don't want them.

Pros:

Dell quality

Well built solid construction

People proof

Easy to maintain

Great performance

Backlit keyboard

Good features and lots of expandability

Little bloatware

Excellent warranty

Cons:

Touchpad is a little small

Screen could be better

Gets really expensive with add-ons

I highly recommend the Latitude. It's a no-nonense laptop that does whatever you ask it to (aside from playing graphics intensive computer games), offers a lot in terms of reliability and durability, and performance out of the box.

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I love this computer it's fast, efficient and very asthetically pleasing with a streamlined clean design. My favorite feature is how fast it isno hicups or waiting around just smooth continous operation. I recommend it for someone like myself who is just looking for a good solid computer for work, study or entertainment. (watching videos or listening to music) I don't do gaming or download movies so I can't coment on thatbut for basically anything else you can think of this computer delivers and then some. Highly recommended.

Best HP Pavilion g7-1368dx 1.5GHz AMD Quad-Core A6-3420M Entertainment Deals

Customer Ratings:

I have been a faithful fan of HP for at least 20 (twenty) years. Loved their products, good price point, their support, style,... everything. I've bought three HP laptops in the last five years, and they all have turned out bad from cheap plastic-y housings, loose-rattly keyboards, glossy monitors that start to flicker after two months for no apparent reason, slow startup, HP proprietary applications hungry for processing power with no added value and that take away resources... flat out bad performance. I've used computers for a very long time; my knowledge of computers and software is above the "advanced line" I know which "knobs to turn", how much, and in what direction to squeeze the most out of a computer, but this this model (and the other two HP's that I got, which are completely different ones) is flat out junk it has everything I described above... forget about trying to get info from their website but, if you're curious try getting the specs of a specific product, but be ready to deal with a maze.

I'll give Dell and MS Surface a try HP, you're out!

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Discount Asus Ultrabook UX31E-RHP5 13.3" Laptop - i5 - 4GB RAM - 128GB SSD

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $899.99
Sale Price: $699.99
Today's Bonus: 22% Off

This is a laptop that has a lot of great features, but ultimately I had to return it due to the subpar keyboard, hot pink color, and "sticky" pointer. I only need a computer for pretty basic functions (no major gaming or burning or anything), but it still fell short.

The laptop looks great, other than the hot pink, shiny frame around the keyboard, which is so bright it distracts from what is on the screen. It is lightweight, has beautiful HD display, and is quite fast for the things I used it for (schoolwork, streaming, music), and the volume can go pretty high.

The keys on the keyboard had to be hit directly in the center and pressed on harder than with any other laptop I've tried. Typing a paragraph on this computer resulted in many words with missing letters here and there. This issue could probably be fixed by an external keyboard, but that's not what I wanted. Also, less of a problem but still annoying, the pointer often got "stuck" for a second or two before it began responding to movement on the touchpad. It looks like these are common issues: http://www.cnet.com/laptops/asus-zenbook-ux31e-dh53/4505-3121_7-35033684.html

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Best X201 540M 2GB/320 Dvr Bt F C W7-32 Deals

Customer Ratings:

Not much to say here for introduction, I guess if you are reading this review chances are you know why we professionals buy ThinkPads... ;) :P

Pros:

world-famous, excellent quality FULL-SIZED KEYBOARD (=essentially Lenovo built an ultra-portable road-warrior around a regular-sized keyboard sans dedicated numeric pad which is available as accessory)

COMES WITH ULTRABASE w/ DVD-RW dockin station (model #32492FU from J&R, at least) included in the box ($200 savings!)

Ultrabase can charge a second battery and sports loads of extra ports while does not block any on-board ones

runs COLD, even after 5+ hours

netbook-class dimensions and battery life but much faster than a netbook and it can pretty

very good battery life/CPU performance ratio with mid-range battery and fast (i5-540) CPU combo: I regularly score above 5 hours on WiFi with medium-light usage (VPN Client connected, putty/SSH, Firefox + Chrome, both running 10+ tabs and loads of plugins including Flash Player etc)

good weight at 3.xx lbs w/ 6-cell battery

Windows 7 Professional license included

decent-sized 320GB hard drive

finally a 'reasonably slow' integrated (on-die) Intel HD graphics core

full Intel vPro stack including vT-d (DirectIO) means future Citrix XenClient support (launches in October 2010)

excellent security: fingerprint reader, Intel AMT, optional encrypting hard drive upgrade

excellent status lights with proper 'icons', readable even with closed lid

very convenient, very useful ThinkVantage Tools: all updates, profiles, locations, warranty, support issues etc can be accessed by the push of a button

dedicated hardware buttons all around: radio on/off/ volume mute/down/up, ThinkVantage Tools button to access everything else

usual unbreakable ThinkPad chassis (though feels a bit less sturdy than old IBM ThinkPads)

mile-long list of options (accessories, warranties/support, upgrades etc)

and of course, built-in ThinkLight, a switchable LED light source for nighttime typing, checking card numbers etc! :)

Cons:

2GB memory -> Windows 7 Pro 32-bit preinstalled, you need to reinstall from scratch to get 64-bit (serial works for both)

no bloatware (no, ThinkVantage Tools are NOT bloatware)

wimpish battery life with 4-cell -> only buy it with 6-cell!

9-cell gives great battery life but stands out in the back and pushes the weight well above 4lbs

rather craptastic LCD colors out of the box -> run a calibration tool, it makes a difference though viewing angles etc won't be better (cheap screen panel tech:

X201/i is 'only WXGA (1280x800), not available with WXGA+ (1440X900) -> only ultra-light X201s got it but then say goodbye to webcam... dumb compromise?

personal grievance: Fn button is outside instead of Ctrl... aaahhh, you shouldn't use anything other than ThinkPade, period. :)

Summary: for $1,200 it is the best all-around ultraportable road warrior with the most power and longest battery at the same time.

PS: make sure you check your warranty status because J&R apparently screwing around with your dates, mine came with a June 2010 warranty start date, that's a 2-months loss right there... just contact Lenovo and fax them your actual invoice, they will fix it (takes some time.)

Warning: if you want to upgrade your warranty to ThinkPad Protection (accidental damage etc) you MUST add in the first 30 days!

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Buy Sony VAIO SVS13A18GXB 13.3" Notebook PC - Black

Customer Ratings:

This Sony SVS13A18GXB replaced a Samsung Q430 with a second generation Intel Core i5 and GeForce 310M discrete graphics which has been a good laptop but is now overheating frequently even after cleaning the vent and fan. I use this laptop for work and play and the real test for me is game-play. I am running my favorite game with no hiccups and much faster than on the Samsung laptop. The 1600 x 900 resolution is far superior to the 1366 x 768 for detail and blu-ray movies look superb though I know it would be better on a full HD. The built-in widi solves that problem by being able to display the full HD on my large screen television wirelessly through the aftermarket adapter.

I like the fingerprint swipe instead of logging in every time I boot and speaking of boot time... it's almost instantaneous after opening the lid if you don't power down. Just close the lid instead of powering down and when you re-open... there it is within 2 seconds. You can literally go days by just closing the lid instead of powering down. Even running full brightness with the discrete graphics card I get almost twice the battery life than on the old Samsung. This computer is lighter, faster and the battery lasts longer. This was nearly twice the price of the Samsung but the performance is so much better it was worth it.

My rating is 4 stars because it is a bit pricey in comparison but there aren't many laptops this light with these features. I looked at the ultra-books but the graphics performance just isn't there yet with maybe one exception.

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HP Pavilion HDX16-1140US 16.0-Inch Laptop Reviews

Customer Ratings:

As compared to other laptops at roughly the same price point, this computer is a much, much better deal. I couldn't believe it when I saw it.

I bought this the 1st day it went on sale at Amazon was literally about to pull the trigger on another laptop, but this popped up new on a final scan, so I bought it instead.

Main features that make it a great buy for the price are:

A better, faster processor that is also Intel's latest offering (Quad Core Q9000)

Lots of memory (4G)

A bigger hard drive (500G)

A larger screen (18.4")

A Blu-Ray drive (for HD movies)

I wanted a very high performance laptop for under $2,000 and was especially keen to find something with killer processor speed, a graphics card to drive 2 external HD monitors, and a big laptop screen.

I use the machine for general business purposes, but also most importantly for web development work running Drupal and an Apache development server on the machine, along with big programs like Dreamweaver and Photoshop all running pretty much at once. I do not use for gaming, but believe it would be great for that, too. I also don't use so much for video / movies, even though it is heavily designed with that in mind.

I extensively researched machines from Dell, Alienware, Sony, Asus, and other leading vendors (I didn't want a Mac, so didn't compare against that). I'm not a hard core techie, but I wanted the best I could buy, so I also looked at the Intel site and their processor specs, visited the geek blogs to get the latest gossip on processor performance, etc.

So far I couldn't be happier with the machine! It is great. Very, very fast. Laptop screen is large and super high quality. The keyboard is really lovely very smooth, like silk.

A few notes on things I've learned about the machine so far:

It is a big laptop. That's probably obvious from the 18.4" screen, but it is also pretty heavy and the power cord/transformer is bigger and heavier than normal (takes a lot of power to fuel the processor and screen). So while the computer is certainly portable, it sure doesn't fit in your back pocket. If you are a highly mobile worker, this might be a factor.

Baseline graphics card will support dual external monitors and/or an HD TV connection. I am currently running 1 external 1680x1050 plus laptop screen, but will be adding 2nd external soon (the cabling for doing this is a bit confusing, but I think I now have it figured out).

The entire HDX line of laptops is new (introduced Fall '08 from what I understand) and there is not yet a complete line-up of accessories available. For instance, I was thinking to get a docking station to configure my monitors, but only docking station that currently works with the machine is the HP QuickDock or xB4 and these do not have digital video/monitor ports (VGA only) which renders them pretty useless if you have high performance monitors. As well, they do not yet sell 'official' HP memory upgrades for this machine yet (tech support indicates they probably will later this year, so worth checking if that's important to you). In the meantime, you can use off-the-shelf memory from Amazon or wherever. Memory is DDR2 800Mhz 200 pin (which isn't stated anywhere obvious that I saw), but can be switched over to DDR3 if you upgrage to the enhanced graphics card.

After many painful hours on hold and being routed from one tech support rep to another, I learned that there is a dedicated tech support group for the HDX laptops. For some reason, they provide only the main number in the collateral that comes with the machine and no one at that number seems to know about this special group. But eventually somebody figured to route me there and I recommend you go there directly. 866-408-5408.

Overall, I love this machine and highly recommend it to others.

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I just purchased this January 1st 2009. All in all a great computer. Really nice display. It feels solid. The camera works great. It has a real nice sound. I would purchase it again. I would also recommend it to a friend.

Here's the case I also purchased from Amazon. Miltigiant 20 Largest Multi Design Nb Case. Copy and paste in the search bar. Miltigiant 20 Largest Multi Design Nb Case

But let's get to the complaints.

I use Filemaker all day. The arrow down key is already starting to wear to a solid black. I would say that at my rate the silver should be gone by the end of the year and I will have a black key where the arrow down should be. All other keys look fine so far. My Thinkpad is 5 years old with 5 years of Filemaker use and still doesn't have any signs of wear on that key or any others.

I don't know how to describe the feel of the keyboard other than saying it feels worn out, cheap, imprecise. Very noisy compared to my old Thinkpad. Clicky. If the keyboard is your most important criteria, I highly recommend you go try one of these out at Best Buy or WalMart before purchasing. That way it won't be a big shock when you get it.

When I get a chance I'll post a picture of the key that is wearing.

Right above the power button there is a vibration at the speaker that sounds like the speaker is distorting. It is not. All you have to do is press slightly on the mesh and it will go away. I would attempt to fix this, but I have external speakers, so I won't be bothered often.

Right where my hand rests on the front, I get a squeek from the seams in the plastic. Not a big deal for me. It could be bothersome to some. You go to put your hand down and "squeek". You lift it back up and "squeek".

I wish there were some sort of rubber plugs to fill all the open "peripheral" holes to keep them clean over the next few years.

This is a 64 bit edition of Vista. AutoCad 2004 doesn't work on it and AutoCad could care less. AutoCad says I need to upgrade. This is not HPs fault or Microsoft. I just thought somebody might want to know before it's too late.

Some of my Adobe programs have issues with Vista 64 which Adobe has no plans of addressing.

What's funny is that I have a picture viewing program that I purchased in 1996 that runs just fine.

This is vented from the bottom. If you would like to put this on your lap or on the bed when traveling etc., you will need some sort of "table". I have a 1/16" aluminum panel, slightly larger than the computer, always underneath unless I'm on a solid surface. The panel also helps stiffen the case when transporting.

06-09-09 update

You also must use the cloth protector that goes between the keyboard and the screen. Keyboard parts will rub on the screen and cause marks.....like I now have. I don't know if the cloth would actually help or just make things worse.

What is really sad is that here is a new product from HP and nobody has bothered to contact me about these issues. If it were my product line, I'm sure I would read the reviews on the largest online retailer in the world and attempt contacting some. I guess it's just a sign of the times. Nobody really cares after you've spent the money. And I'm not asking for anything.

That's it for now.

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I bought this laptop a few weeks ago to use for my small business in various areas of my home and for travel. The laptop saves energy compared to using my desktop (also Energy Star compliant). It's also a great desktop replacement because of the expandability, powerful processor, screen size and keyboard layout. I looked at comparable units from Toshiba, Dell and ASUS, but they cost a lot more and/or didn't include the faster processor. I think you get a lot of bang for your buck with this one.

For those who want to be able to view TV on the laptop, HP sells a USB TV tuner for around $98, so no need to worry about the lack of a built-in TV tuner. The media drive includes Blu-ray, which is nice.

PROS: The extended keyboard with separate numeric keys is a nice feature. You can even turn off power to the touchpad if you use a USB mouse. I also like the fingerprint reader. You don't have to use it, but it saves time typing in passwords when logging in to Windows or sites online. The HDMI port is great for connecting to larger monitors or TVs. HDMI outputs sound as well, which is awesome!

CONS: I'd prefer XP over Vista. Some of my specialized 32-bit programs don't run as well on the 64-bit OS, but most are fine. I wish the screen weren't glossy because it's hard to use outdoors with the reflection.

UPDATE: I've had the laptop for a few months now and still love it. The keyboard is great for touch-typists. The only glitches I've noticed have been related to the sound device and fingerprint reader. I think the problems were OS-related, because they seem to be resolved now. For a short time the fingerprint reader wasn't being recognized even though it worked initially. Then the OS had problems detecting when to use the HDMI sound output, even though that also worked correctly initially. I had to help it detect which device I wanted it to use for sound output, and now it's working fine again.

I'd definitely buy this laptop again and have already recommended it to friends. A great backpack for it is the Alienware Orion backpack. It fits perfectly and isn't bulky at all, although it's a bit more expensive than some other options.

December 2010 update: This laptop is still going strong. No hardware problems as described by others so far. Some of the keys are starting to turn black from daily use. The screen hasn't been affected at all by the keyboard. Maybe it's because I never place anything on the laptop when it's closed. At any rate, it's been very reliable. The upgrade from Vista to Win 7 made it even better.

Honest reviews on HP Pavilion HDX16-1140US 16.0-Inch Laptop

About Me: Graduate engineering student, so I spend most of my life working on design codes/viewing movies/listening to music/playing computer games/IMing with friends on this machine

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Pros:

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The clear and sharp 16:9 display combined with the Dolby surround sound audio w/ the integrated sub-woofer and the little hp remote makes this laptop an ultimate media center platform.

The 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 processor, 4 GB ram and 512 mb Nvidia GeForce 9600M GT dedicated graphics make this laptop perfect for the gamer and the programmer.

The 16" screen appears a little odd at first but works out to be perfect for viewing 2-page documents or 2 application windows side-by-side. Coupled with the number pad on the keypad, the laptop is quite suited to office productivity.

The hard-drive shock protection provides significant peace of mind considering its upto 500GB of your life's work. The finger-print scanner has also exceed my expectations in terms of utility with very easy & convenient linking with any webpage account log-in information.

Appears to have every port known to man (most of which I never use) but the useful ones are placed in practical places to avoid a jungle of overlapping cables.

The HP Total Care and HP Media Smart software packages seem to a significant improvement from their predecessors.

Its gorgeous (non essential, but always a plus!)

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Cons:

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The screen is a little too glossy, which makes outdoor use hard and long term use a little tasking on the eyes.

The fancy underlit volume and bass/treble touch controls on the laptop look good but dont function very seamlessly.

The lack of a latch on the screen is cause for some anxiety

Comes with a thin protective sleeve which is extremely slippery making it more of a hazard than offering any kind of actual protection

As a "premium" laptop, it should have come with a spill-proof keyboard

Not HP's fault, but it comes with Windows Vista Home Premium which has its pros and cons. I'd still prefer Windows XP and am waiting for MS Windows 7.

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Summary:

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I love it! Bravo HP!

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for HP Pavilion HDX16-1140US 16.0-Inch Laptop

I love this laptop. The num pad is a welcome addition! I play WOW on it frequently and it has enough power and RAM to handle that with no issues so if you want to use it for gaming, game on! I am not a big Vista fan but this is the best perfomance I have gotten from a computer running Vista thus far. I figured I would be wiping it out and replacing it with XP but it's working so well I've decided to leave it with the Vista 64-bit that comes preloaded. I did go in and delete the "bloatware" that comes pre-installed after I made a complete backup before I even used the system. The finger print reader is PERFECT! It makes signing into the computer and anywhere I want and/or need to have a password to access. The graphics and sound are impressive for a laptop as well. Overall, it's the perfect laptop in size, performance, and price!!! I would not hesitate to buy another HP.

The reasons I didn't give it 5 stars are: It's a power hog, it would have been so much better had HP made the stock battery the extended battery as they did with my last laptop. The laptop runs hot after it's been on an extended amount of time so I do recommend purchasing a chill pad with USB fan to keep it from overheating. Mine overheated so bad after being on for several hours of gaming (12+ hours) that the system crashed stating it couldn't find the hard drive, turned it off for a little while and it worked like a champ again. Lastly, the screen does not work well in bright light so if you're looking to use it outside a lot, you're going to have trouble reading the screen but you could always add a filter to correct this.

HP Pavilion dm4-2180us Entertainment PC - Gray Reviews

Customer Ratings:

I love this computer. Absolutely head-over-heels love it. It's compact and light enough for me to carry to and from class without breaking my back (can't say this of my old, 7-lb Dell!). They keyboard feels WONDERFUL. Construction feels solid. Beautiful design. Really amazing specssame hardware as a MacBook Pro!for half the price. The trackpad is a tad finicky, but I've adjusted the settings so it works for me. It'll take a tiny bit of getting used to, but there's an adjustment period with any new computer. I'm super happy with my purchase, and with the SquareTrade warranty I bought with the computer, I see us having a long, happy life together!

EDIT: I just realized that the keyboard on this computer has a strange hill in the center, like it's being squeezed or something. It doesn't interfere with typing at all, but a brand new computer shouldn't have this kind of defect. What's more, when researching this computer, this was one of the things someone cited as a flaw in a review on another website, so I guess it happens fairly frequently. I didn't mention in the first draft of my review that this is my second of this model of computer; I bought the first one at Staple's a couple of weeks ago and had to return it because it had a faulty "W" key and a really jumpy track pad. I've noticed that this track pad is kind of inconsistent, and maybe more finicky than I previously thought. These design flaws have me considering returning the machine, but you just can't find this kind of hardware and gorgeous design for the same price point. Maybe I'll just get another one... third time's a charm, right?

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If you type reasonbly fast (i.e. 45wpm or above), you want to think twice before you buy any HP DM4-xxxx series of Pavilion laptop.

I had a HP DM4-2070us and it skip letters like crazy after 3 months. Every 5-6 keystrokes you type will have one keystroke that is missed, that is, even though you did type that key, it will not appear on the screen. Or, you would hit the space bar or the Backspace key and it will not respond.

I had to call and deal with HP Technical Support. They wasted my time trying out all kinds of stuff: Windows system restore point, uninstall and re-install keyboard drivers, full system recovery (that's a fancy term for re-formatting your whole hard disc), etc., etc. All these attempts failed to fix the problem.

After struggling with all these for over two weeks, I have to ship it back to HP Warranty Repair Center and that took two weeks back and forth. During those two weeks I was out without a laptop to do my work. The Warranty Repair Center replaced the keyboard and ship it back to me. Unfortunately, that does not fix the problem. HP is kind enough to replace it with HP DM4-2180us but the whole process took another 7 days. I would be happy if that solve the probelm. Unfortunately, when I get the brand new HP DM4-2180us, it has exactly the same problem -as soon as you type fast (over 45 wpm), the problem is obvious.

I am not the only one with this problem. Use the two links below to take you to the HP Support Forum website and you will see different people with DM4-1165DX, DM4-1127 sb, DM4-2015dx, DM4-2070us and most recently, DM4-2180us having the same problem:

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I spent a long time researching computers and this one fit the bill in terms of functionality and price point. I really like almost everything about this machine its cool, quiet (even with the fan running), and fast. I did uninstall a little bloatware when it first arrived, but that was easy and quick. The only issue i'm having is with the keyboard. It is very stiff and significantly slows down my typing speed because I have to hit all of the letters very hard to make sure they all come up on the screen. The shift key in particular is hard to use to the point of severe frustration. Nobody else seems to have this issue, so it may just be my machine.

Honest reviews on HP Pavilion dm4-2180us Entertainment PC - Gray

I was looking for a computer to replace my 4 year old Dell laptop, and came across this HP in consumer reports. It was recommended by them, so I figured it must be a good one. And it certainly is!!! I have always had Dell laptops, but I thought it would be a good time to try HP and I'm really glad I did. It has wonderful features, and Windows 7 is amazing. I don't do any sort of gaming or anything like that, so I can't speak to the graphics or processor capabilities. I do however, normally have many internet and excel windows open at once, and it has yet to skip a beat. It never hesitates. This is an excellent computer, and I highly recommend it.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for HP Pavilion dm4-2180us Entertainment PC - Gray

I was very hopeful getting a laptop, having been used to desk top computers for business and home. I must say, that I agree with the reviewer that if you type more than 40wpm or so, the keyboard inputs aren't always correct. The "shift" button seems to me to be too low and to the right and I always end up hitting the "enter" key, changing the paragraph. When I consciously type slow, as when I force myself to look at the keyboard, it's ok. Worse yet, when I type an email, the message often times gets deleted mid-sentence. I'm not sure what key does this all the time, but it's annoying because I have to retype a message, sometimes multiple times, to get it through. I love the computer in every other respect and find the display to be crisp and the navigation and speed excellent. But the small keyboard introduces many mis-keys and errors typing. To me,it seems like a desk version of an ipad. Is it a sub-notebook? I don't know...it's not advertised as such. But for all but the most ardent believers of everything small, this notebook computer should be skipped for one with a full-size keyboard.

Best Apple MacBook Pro MD212LL/A 13-Inch Laptop with Retina Display (OLD Deals

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First, some context. I'm 64, with a 64-year-old man's eyesight. I live on my computer -Internet and word processing. I am a retired professor (Rutgers). I'm a born again blogger, I write books, and I run a minuscule publishing house.

I like writing in all rooms of my home. My study, at the kitchen table, sitting up in bed, on a counter in the basement. I prefer a laptop to a desktop. In my study, I have two computers going at once. One is a Windows (XP) desktop with an excellent 21" screen. The other is an Apple laptop. (Yes, I use both Windows & Apple simultaneously, on two separate computers. Both have virtues.)

For the past year, my laptop has been a Macbook Air (MBA) 13.3", bought new, here at Amazon. I have loved it. Those of you who own an MBA know what I'm talking about -and this review is aimed chiefly at MBA users. Last spring, I tried the Macbook Pro 15" Retina, and returned it. Too large, too heavy, too expensive, and not enough programs and sites were Retina-ready. I never regretted returning it. My MBA was the ideal laptop for me. I had found the "perfect" laptop.

Till a month ago, when I began reading reviews of the Macbook Pro 13.3" Retina (rMBP 13.3). "Hmm," I thought, "this baby might be worth trying. It's smaller than the 15", lighter, and I'm getting hints from reviewers that the display is perhaps better than the 15"." I ordered it, got it set up, and was soon in love -except it had a (slight) flaw. (Trackpad was janky; it rattled when tapped.) I sent it back.

No, I did not immediately order a replacement. I wanted to ponder whether the rMBP 13.3 was truly a significant improvement -for me -over the MBA. Days went by. I read articles online about the narcotic effect of owning Apple computers. ("Yes, Virginia, there is something called Apple Syndrome. Apples are just so darn good, in every respect, that Homo sapiens is neuro-physiologically incapable of resisting them. Like the fabled apple in the Adam & Eve story. You bite into the Apple "apple" and you experience, in person, in the flesh, the Fall of Mankind into an unimagined world of computer perfection. Yes, it is a full-blown seduction, and, yes, it's worth it.") "Have I become an Apple addict," I asked myself? (It didn't make things easier when my wife, a psychiatrist, assured me I was indeed an Apple addict.)

By the end of the week, I knew the answer. No, I was not an Apple addict; I have demonstrated the strength of character to resist Apple's "apple" in the past, and, by golly, I could do it again. Furthermore, upon considerable reflection (I'm a PhD; we reflect a lot) I concluded that the rMBP 13.3 was worth the money. I knocked on my wife's study door, sat down, and made my case. Brilliantly, I add. She came around.

The rMBP 13.3 arrived the next day. I made the right choice. This is a vast improvement over the MBA -and that's the real purpose of this review. Retina is fabulous. Retina is a quantum leap over everything else. Now, lots of programs and sites are Retina-configured. All my voluminous research notes have been converted to PDF's, and I spend hours reading them. Now, reading PDF's using the onboard Preview utility is a dream. Even scanned PDF's read extremely well. I can read for hours & hours and my eyes don't get tired. It's like reading a book.

There's more. The text is larger on the screen in the rMBP than the MBA. This had become a major drawback, for me, with my MBA: screen text (that is, non-adjustable text) was just too small. This is not the case with the rMBP; it is a delight to read with my aging eyes.

I said, above, that I have two computers going at the same time -a big desktop PC and my Apple laptop. The screen on the rMBP seems as large as my 21" monitor, for some reason. I'll leave it to others to explain why this is so -but it is.

The weight of the rMBP is comparable to the MBA. Only slightly heavier. The size is nearly the same. (I believe the rMBP is slightly smaller in footprint than the MBA.) The battery-charge lasts longer on the rMBP than the MBP -easily over 7 hours, for me. Like the MBA, the rMBP recharges rapidly, and it turns on and off rapidly. Speakers are excellent (remember, it's a laptop). Trackpad, fabulous. (Nobody makes a trackpad like Apple.) Keyboard touch, excellent. The rMBP has a dictation utility which is really cool. Yes, it works well. You don't have to train it to your voice. I have used Dragon Naturally Speaking for years. Dragon is the "gold standard" for voice recognition and dictation. Apple's dictation utility is about as accurate as Dragon, in my experience. It's not as stable as Dragon (meaning, it loses its connection rather easily), but that's not a big deal; you simply tap the "fn" key twice and continue talking. No need for an attached microphone; the onboard mic works as well as a plug-in mic (I tried it).

Think of it this way. Pretend there was no MBA. Pretend Apple introduced the 13.3" MBA and the 13.3" rMBP simultaneously -on the same day. You are standing in front of a new 13.3" MBA and 13.3" rMBP, and you are going to buy one or the other. There is no question but that you should buy the 13.3" rMBP. Yes, it's about $500 more than the MBA. Yes, it's vastly superior.

I write this review for democratic purposes. I consider Amazon's review feature to be the finest expression of "commercial" democracy in existence. By this I mean, I am one of the millions of people who benefit enormously from Amazon customer reviews. Whenever I buy on Amazon (which is a lot), I study all the reviews. Hence, I consider it my duty to write my own -to benefit someone else.

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The new Retina MacBook Pro is outright gorgeous in terms of its form factor and screen resolution. There are several improvements in this version compared to the 2011 MBPRO 13" that I owned previously:

SIZE Feels significantly lighter and thinner. Somewhere between the MBAir and old MBPRO. It's almost a full pound lighter than the 4.5lb older MBP. A much more portable feel to it compared to the old MBP.

RESOLUTION No question, the resolution is what this device is all about. Refreshing new look as the screen is incredibly crisp (and that's an understatement) with it ridiculously high pixels and also more on-screen real estate to work with. The screen is less reflective compared to its predecessor, making it easier to work in bright conditions.

PORTS Great improvements in my opinion addition of an HDMI port and moving the second USB port to the other side, giving a USB port on both sides. Makes using them slightly easier. Firewire port replaced with an extra Thunderbolt port. Ethernet port and optical drive eliminated.

MAGSAFE 2 Original MagSafe connector replaced with MagSafe 2 connector. I personally am not aware of any advantages of the new connector in terms of charging/data transfer speed, but this was annoying because I had to buy another $80 MagSafe 2 charging cable for my office I leave one at home and one at work.

SPEED Flash storage makes using this device significantly faster. Boot up time and loading time for apps is super fast. Opening up the screen from standby takes less than a second.

BATTERY not sure of the battery specs but I get about the same use on this as I did with my older MBP. If I am away from a wall outlet, a full charge is god enough to get me by the day with 20-30% battery remaining. This could of course vary depending on personal usage.

STORAGE and RAM The rMBP comes with 128GB of flash storage and is also available with a 256GB configuration at an additional $200 or so. A device with higher capacity storage can be configured but that pushes up the price pretty quick and pretty steep. The processor is a 2.5GHz dual-core i5, the Apple rep told me there was no option to get a quadcore processor for this device. Only upgrade possible was I think a i7. If the storage or processor is a deal breaker for you, consider getting the 15" rMBP which comes with a i7 quadcore processor and 256GB flash storage. Performance wise or based on configuration options available, the 15" fares significantly better than the 13" but it is quite a bit more expensive.

Bottomline the 13" rMBP in my opinion offers a good balance across all MBP and MBA devices it offers fantastic portability (only slightly thicker than MBA) and great performance (falls short of rMBP 15 but better than other models).

At the end of the day, whether or not to buy this device is entirely a personal decision based on several factors. IMHO, if portability is a major factor for you, the MBA might be better suited though I think if you try both devices side by side, the difference is insignificant. If performance is a must-have in terms of computing power and storage, the 15" is definitely the better option with the additional $500 price tag . If you don't care about either and just need a good functioning Mac, the older version MBP would be perfect and it's much cheaper at $1199. That being said, once you see the resolution and form factor of this rMBP, it would be difficult to go back to the old MBP!

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I agonized over this purchase, and even considered a few ultrabook options, but in the end, there just is no substitute. As a photographer, my primary consideration was screen quality. On the Mac side, that pretty much ruled out everything but the 15" rMBP. On the PC side, there are a rapidly growing number of relatively inexpensive Ultrabooks with really nice displays. The Asus Zenbook Prime in fact has a really nice IPS matte screen and was the main PC option I considered. The biggest issue there though (setting aside OS preference) is the 4GB of ram and the fact that it uses the slightly lower performance, low voltage intel processors (just as the Macbook Airs do). The screen also has light bleed issues around the bezel, something which I know would eventually drive me nuts. In contrast, the screen on the rMBP's are about as uniform and perfect for still images as it gets (beyond a wider gamut desktop display).

So, in comparison to the 15" rMBP, the 13" rMBP would seem to not provide quite the value proposition as it's bigger brother as mentioned in other reviews (lack of discrete graphics, dual core vs quad core processor, base configuration with 128GB SSD vs the 256 SSD of the 15" rMBP AND the seemingly dramatic price premium to the 13" MBA with similar performance). Most, if not all of these negatives really boils down to price/ value with where the 13" rMBP sits in the line. At retail, Apple really sticks it to the person wanting the better display on a smaller, lighter Macbook...but knock say ten percent or so off of that price (which is what I paid and seems to be where the price is headed here and few other places) and magically, the 13" rMBP all of a sudden starts making a lot of sense. At that price, the terrific display and better keyboard can be seen as a very reasonable premium over the 8GB ram MBA and significantly cheaper than the base 15" rMBP. Advantages of the 13" rMBP over it's bigger brother? Well, weight and size of course (the 15" rMBP is about a pound heavier with larger dimensions making it not so portable). In fact, the 13" rMBP weighs only about half a pound more than the Air and actually has a smaller footprint. For me, it's really about the perfect size. Performance wise, it's not a desktop replacement for heavy duty use imo (which a high end configured 15" rMBP could be) but for portable use and light editing, it's perfect. Like most heavy user/ professionals, I'm not going to be doing major editing on a laptop anyway as I have a main workstation for that. Also, keep in mind that the 15" rMBP does not even use the discreet graphics unless a program specifically calls for it (that is, without the use of a separate utility) and, when that chip is used, forget about decent battery life (maybe 2 hours?) So, for most tasks, it's not used at all! Another possible future advantage of the 13" over the 15" is the huge space where the existing SSD is located below the trackpad (a different location to that of the 15" rMBP, which can be seen at iFixit). This likely means it's going to be very easy at some point to replace the smallish SSD with a larger capacity, off the shelf SSD with a proper connection adapter (the space below the trackpad allows for a commonly available, 7mm height SSD with regard to fit, though the connection is different). With the 13" rMBP, there is also something about it that goes beyond specs and the sum of it's parts. This laptop just feels right! It feels speedy and responsive in use, the build quality is impeccable, the screen is amazing and the keyboard is about the best typing experience one will have on a laptop. Sure, in a year or so when intels next gen, low power Haswell processors are used, the performance of the 13" rMBP will be at the level of it's bigger brother but even now, this is very close to perfect.

Update...This is probably minor for most folks but after using my shiny new Macbook Pro Retina for a week or so, I noticed that the screen bezel, when closed, did not perfectly match up with the bottom on one side. This creates a slight overhang on one side, the left side in my case. I thought this was really odd given the typical Apple build quality I have come to expect over the past decade or so. After all, the design and build quality represents a LOT of the premium one pays for an Apple product and Apple even advertise and pride themselveson how every single millimeter is perfect in their promotional videos and such. Anyway, just out of curiosity, I looked at the same Macbook Pro 13" Retina display model at various Best Buys and, of course, every single one was PERFECT! No overhang anywhere and perfectly smooth mating all around when the laptop is closed. I guess I somehow got the one unit with such a manufacturing defect.

Honest reviews on Apple MacBook Pro MD212LL/A 13-Inch Laptop with Retina Display (OLD

I've been a computer guy for over 30 years. Starting with Apple II (among others) and the original Mac with floppy disk (oh man!) I have been a DOS/Windows user for the most part. All of our computers, servers, network have been based on the Microsoft platform. The main reason was the flexibility of creating your own applications and systems. But Microsoft software has had its share of problems and they just can't seem to get rid of them. It's gotten to be annoying and the new versions today really don't offer much improvement.

My wife wanted a new computer to use while she works on her Masters. Macs are abundant at the university level both by students and professors. After some online research we went to the Apple store and within an hour and a half we walked out with a MacBook Pro with Retina Display. It is actually a joy to work with!

The MacBook Pro easily connected to our network which made it painless to transfer files. The only issue so far was transferring email. There is an app on the Apple store for $1.99 that works, sort of. It transferred most the Outlook Express folders but the larger ones, like the Sent folder, had to be separated out into smaller folders.

We have the 13.3 inch display and find it to be a perfect size: the laptop itself does not feel too big, the Retina display is superb. The Mac interface has also started to grow on me. While a lot different then Windows it doesn't take long to work around the system. Very intuitive and easy to use.

The touchpad is the best I've ever used. It's like having the features of a tablet. Using different combinations of fingers you can easily scroll around the system like on tablet. (I still like to have a mouse old habits die hard...)

The laptop itself is well built: aluminum case, lightweight, looks great. With the Pro we got 8gb RAM and the 128gb Solid State Drive. While the 128gb drive may seem insufficient, most of our data files reside on the network and you can add 128gb SD card or USB/Tunderbolt drives. The lighted keyboard looks really cool, too!

The Pro connections include: 2 Thunderbolt ports, 2 USB 3 ports, HDMI port, SD card slot, headphone and power. The power adapter can be plugged directly into an outlet or with the included extension cord. It also includes a 720p HD Camera.

The one issue I have is not having a file explorer. I have to know where my files are and find them quick and easy. There are work arounds but a little annoying for me.

We bought ours at the local Apple Store. Using the latest in technology our purchase was made right there on the spot then someone brought it out from the back. The sales rep walked us through setting it up. While we could have easily done this ourselves, it was nice to make sure the unit worked and get a basic run through of the operating system since we are used to the Windows environment.

The MacBook Pro isn't cheap but it's not over priced either. It is well built and deigned with great features. We felt the extra $500 is worth getting the Pro over the Air for the extra RAM, ports and the Retina display.

There was a time when file formats were an issue but we are finding the Mac works very well in our current Windows environment and plan to get more in the future. Windows is getting old, Droid is too basic Mac seems to be the wave of the future!

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Pros

Display: The retina display is absolutely jaw dropping. No magnifying glasses, no tiny icons, just pixel-tastic glory perfect for photos and video.

Fit & Finish: Sturdy aluminum chassis with typical Apple attention to detail. Everything just feels like it fits together perfectly.

Performance: Handles photo and video editing, and light gaming(Diablo 3 with medium settings) without issue.

Portability: The design comes in at about 3.5 pounds and happily spends the day in a backpack, or an evening on the sofa.

Trackpad: Think iPhone quality response and that's exactly what you have. Extremely sensitive and versatile.

Cons

Price: Yes this is not a cheap computer, but when you start to spec out comparable machines you're really only shelling out a few hundred extra. (Please do not comment about how the Vizio Thin-N-Light is way less expensive. That particular computer is not even in the same category.)

Regarding Disk Space: The 128GB version (which is actually around 121GB) comes with roughly 105GB of usable space (~16GB of OS and iLife) out of the box. While some may find this inadequate, it appears to be more than enough for me. I recommend using iTunes Match to save yourself considerable space (my 70GB library has been reduced to 10GB as I only need a small amount of music for when I have no wifi) and be diligent about keeping your machine free of junk.

Versus MBA: Don't get me wrong, the Macbook Air is an excellent computer, probably the best all-around machine when you factor in price. That being said the screen on the retina model is infinitely better. For about $500 more you're getting double the RAM, a slight increase in overall performance, and a massive screen upgrade. Is it worth it? Maybe. Guess it depends on how much expendable income you have, and how much you value the display. I tried them side by side and was left feeling there was no way I could be happy with the Air after having seen the Retina.

Bottom Line: If you're like me and enjoy getting your hands on some cutting edge consumer tech, then this is the machine for you. I'm sure eventually these type of displays will trickle down to budget-friendly laptops, but for the time being this is the only show in town. I recommend checking it out in store so you can get a feel for what an amazingly well rounded device it is.

Discount Dell Latitude D800 15.4" Notebook

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The computer was refurbished and in very good condition, it is not as fast as the new models now, but the price savings was worth it, it is being used by my daughter for school work and some games, I am planing on buying a second one for myself.

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It wasn't so great at first but they fixed it they have the best customer service ever 10\10 these guys should be a well known company buy from them now

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Needed something inexpensive for my 12 year old to play on the internet and this can in handy. It is also very durable. It came as it was described, would shop with them again. thx

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Laptop was just what I expected. Very nice company to deal with. I'm very satisfied.

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I received my items on time and when I had a question about my order the seler responded to my E-mail verry fast. The gave me a curtacy call to check if I was satisfy with the item i received. This is the type of servises I love. Great job

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Photo direct shipped the product in a reasonable time frame however, they failed to "clean" the computer of their software and failed to provide the original disks. After my shipping them their disks, back I received a copy of windows with a validation code that was NOT original as promised! This replacement windows disk had a different product key than the one on the computer! The windows disk did work though.

The Dell system recovery disk that was sent was NOT the correct one and upon inquiry PhotoDirect responded with a copy of their original shipping order from Dell and stated that they felt they had done enough and that if I wasn't satisfied to return everything for a full refund. I still do not have the Dell system disk to this machine!!

After many hours trying to get the software issues resolved and working on the system on my own I find it frustrating to still NOT have a Dell recovery disk.

Beware of buying from Photo Direct!!! They can't seem to keep there computers and software matched up in any type of reliable inventory.

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Sony VAIO VGN-CS320J/Q 14.1-Inch Laptop - Black Review

Customer Ratings:

I have a white Vaio CS320J. I have had it for 3 months and have had issues with the loud fan noise as well as a rumbling soung in the fan. The computer has overheated and shut off. Took the computer back to the store I bought it and they tried to charge me to have it diagnosed under warranty. I bought an extended warranty on this laptop to prevent issuse like this. I have had problems with Sony products in the past and decided to give them another try. Big mistake. Sony product are poorly manufactured and fall apart within months. I would never buy another Sony product. Do not buy this laptop unless you are okay with wasting hundreds of dollars. I would buy anything else over Sony. ANYTHING.

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i pay this product 850 $ of my 5 yr saving hoping it be top quality and last long which sony is famous for but i was dead wrong not even 2 days after the purchase this laptop make noise worst then my baby brother it hurt so bad i got to wear muff to block out the sound even then it annoying as ever....never ever buy it if someone told me earlier i wouldn't but i guess it never happen since i brought it at best buy those guy never lie yeah right!!!! it hurt your ear and it damages it at the end i got done with it by throwing it to the waste pile which is the garbage can waste of 850$ :( this is like their robbing my whole life saving those corporate scammers

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I usually would not bother to spend time on writing a review, if I was not annoyed so badly.

I purchased a VGN-CS320J for my wife in June of 2009. After about 6 months a fan started making loud noise. The fan remains silent for 10 seconds and starts making noise for 10 seconds or so after that. This silence-noise-silence-noise pattern keeps going till I turn my laptop off. After some googling, I realized it's a quite common problem to the CS product line.

I am trying hard to calm it down and will update if I find a solution.

Don't buy VGN CS-320 (maybe other VGN CS models as well)!

Honest reviews on Sony VAIO VGN-CS320J/Q 14.1-Inch Laptop - Black

I have had this laptop for 1.5 years, it is not my first VAIO. I have had no problems whatsoever with my other Vaios, this model is a constant hassle. It makes incredibly loud fan noises, shuts down, or doesn't respond to keyboard commands while it is making the very loud noise. I brought this in to a specialist, they took it apart and could not find any reason for this fan noise. Naturally, while with the specialist, it did not make the noise.

I thought that I would love this lap top, it was quite expensive at the time, but I thought that it would be worth it. After allmy other SONY VAIO laptops were great. Now, I find myself using the older VAIO, it is quiet and does not have the keyboard command issues.

I am sure that other models of the VAIO are great, but do not buy this model.

UPDATE-December 31st, 2010 I read on the comments that SONY had finally admitted that the fans were defective and was willing to replace them. I called SONY, described the problem and they sent a Tech, person to my house to replace the fan. This all occurred within 1 week. The laptop works great now, no fan noise, no overheating, it is perfect. I certainly wish that SONY would have alerted all of us to this problem to begin with, it would have saved a lot of time. money and aggravation.

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Bought my Pink SONY Vaio Laptop in 2009. (Model Number VGN-CS320J). I bought SONY because I wanted to have something reliable that I could bring with my when traveling which was also capable of handling many applications at the same time. (I gave my old Dell Platitude to my son.)

I am disappointed on all counts. Battery has never lasted more than 1 hr. The Laptop heats up so much that it is too uncomfortable to hold on one's lap even over a 4" thick pad made to reduce heat transfer. The fan has been noisy from the beginning. Over time it has become even louder. It almost sounds like someone blowing their nose. (Don't even think about having a conversation with someone on Skype!) I expect the fan will fail shortly. The duo core does make it a little faster, but nothing spectacular. The keyboard is great, but hardly a reason to buy this piece of SONY cr-p.

Reviews of Acer Aspire E1-531-B9504G32Mnks 15.6" LED Notebook - Intel Pentium

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I have had this laptop for about two months now, it is very good. It boots up very fast so I can log on right away. I was a little concerned since it had an intel pentium processor instead of a core i3, but it still runs just as fast.

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Reviews of Acer Aspire 4810TZ-4011 Timeline 14.0-Inch Laptop

Customer Ratings:

I have been using the Acer Timeline (14 inch, Aspire 4810TZ-4011) since yesterday evening and so far so good. Here are my first impressions:

1. The delivery was quick and packaging was good.

2. The looks of the laptop are fantastic. Love the isolation-type keyboard. The screen hinges could have been more solid but for a lightweight machine appear ok.

3. The eject button for the CD, various ports, the card reader, are all very suitably positioned.

4. The colours of the screen are beautiful. There are setup options to adjust those to taste, but I did not need to use them.

5. The laptop was easy to set up. I loaded the battery for about an hour before starting, perhaps an overkill, and was rewarded with a blue light coming from beneath the touchpad.

6. Setting up Vista for the first time was much quicker than my last XP setup on a netbook. Feels natural so far.

7. Soon after startup I was prompted to create recovery disks, and made two DVDs with the system and one with software.

8. There is (was) a lot of preloaded software. I spent a good deal of time finding out what it does (on Google) and cleaning most of it up.

9. People who have complained from performance issues maybe should take care to remove the redundant backup software (two or three of those pre-installed?!), the trial antivirus and other FUD nonsense.

10. I registerted for a FREE copy of Windows 7 for Timeline owners, to be shipped in October (woot!).

11. Set up Skype (after combating for a while with the firewall settings of Vista), and made a call -the sound is good, the mic is well positioned, the camera works fine, even better after peeling off the protective plastic sheet :)

12. Tested a youtube video in HD and it did not play smooth, which was a disappointment.

Comparing this to my 4y old FS, the Acer Timeline feels about as solid, a lot more silent, cooler, lighter by more than 2 pounds, with 6 times the RAM, 4 times the battery time, and a newer processor -clearly an upgrade in every aspect.

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I have had my Acer Aspire 4810TZ for all of three days now, and am quite happy with it. Some observations:

The keys are spaced very well for me ... the keyboard has an excellent feel. The glossy black finish is a bit unfortunate, as they instantly show smudging. The trackpad mouse button does indeed require Thumb of Steel, but nicely accomodates leftand right-clicking without being separated into two buttons.

I'm amazed at how happy I am with the screen. I don't like the glassy displays, but as long as the backlighting is intense, it can be used in fairly bright light. That's the case with this screen. The resolution is very crisp. I have not had any need or desire to adjust the color settings.

Speakers are not great in terms of volume, but I just can't imagine docking a review for that quibble. The laptop is thin and light get some headphones!

The battery life is phenomenal, as advertised; the first time I've ever had a laptop that performed within 50% of the advertised battery life.

The CPU is probably a little underpowered for Vista, but not terribly so. I'm sure that I will be happier with Windows 7 when it comes out.

Now for Linux. I shrunk the Vista partition down drastically using GParted from an Ubuntu 9.04 live CD. After that was done and I rebooted, Vista determined that something was wrong and launched a repair process that took a very long time to complete (2 hours+). It then came up into Vista and I have had no problems with it.

I formatted most of the freed space to give over to Ubuntu. I was completely floored by how much worked immediately: sound, wireless, keyboard control of volume, webcam, USB ... wow. After upgrading to a slightly newer Linux kernel (2.6.30), wireless now comes up correctly after being suspended, and keyboard control of screen brightness works. I can't think of anything that doesn't work other than multitouch gestures on the touchpad. Battery life seems to be as good as when running Windows. Speed for the tools of my trade is great when running Linux: emacs, X windows, SSH, Firefox and Flash.

Unlike a previous reviewer, I am in no sense a "casual" user; I do software development and am always a power user of software. But not a gamer or graphics guy who needs PhotoShop. I tend to view my laptop as a window to development servers using X and SSH, and a window to the Web using a browser. For those uses, this little laptop is entirely capable. So both the casual and the geeky can find happiness with the Acer 4810.

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I have owned it for 10 days now.

Just noticed !!! the DVD burner does NOT Burn DVDs... I did a full system recovery, and nope...just can't !!! I would leave three stars if I could change my rating because Acer warranty helpline is toll free, easily reachable and extremely courteous. I have yet to see if international warranty is worth something cause I took it back to France or do I have to mail it in the US...I got a lemon, it happens.

Let's forget this unusual defect, and focus on the rest

The positives :

I like the keyboard a lot (flat keys, well spaced, shiny surface...yes, fingerprints stay, and stays cool)

very silent fan

very bright screen with the led backlight, no prob to work outdoors

computer top, and screen don't get hot at all

two finger operations on the touchpad (zoom in and out with two fingers, keep scrolling with circular motion, backward and forward with right and left swipe)

neat design (overall), looks smart, feels sturdy

audio jack connections on the side

nice specs (320 gb of hd, 3gb ddr3)

great battery life

fast enough

stable system

audio digital output

hdmi and vga video output

it did reboot once on its own (crashed) when fast forwarding a video on vlc, but I cannot make it happen again, I believe it has been fixed by the windows updates (anyway, this would be a vista issue that would get solved by windows 7 upgrade, or did already get solved buy the automatic updates)

free upgrade to windows 7 (the form is in the computer box, whether the reseller tells you about it or not)

The negative

sound quality is nice, but not loud

no firewire port ! come-on, how do you connect your camcorder sure, you can by an adapter

Honest reviews on Acer Aspire 4810TZ-4011 Timeline 14.0-Inch Laptop

Any 4810T made before July has a problem due to thermal instability. When driven hard for a while the machine becomes slower and slower and just stops, showing 100% CPU activity, even with no user activity at all. This is caused by faulty peripheral drivers that cause the CPU to spend all of its time in interrupt service routines. The problem can be cured by downloading and installing the latest BIOS, driver, and application files from Acer's web site. However, if my experience is any guide, you will not find this out by talking to Acer's facetiously named Customer Care Representatives.

I bought a 4810T-8480 from Staples on July 27, 2009, and received a unit that was manufactured on May 8, 2009. Needless to say, the unit had "sleeping sickness". Before I researched this problem on the internet I called Acer's customer-no-service twice, each time giving a detailed explanation of how the machine slowed down and stopped with 100% CPU but no activity: The first time I was advised to clear the internet state (a total non-sequitur, since when the phenomenon occurs one cannot do anything). The second time I was directed to clear out Windows/Temp and /Tasks, another time-waster. It seems impossible that these people have not heard of this problem, so why are they misdirecting customers from the solution? A conscientious company would be pro-actively notifying customers with these machines and providing them fixes.

Anyway, I solved the problem by downloading and installing EVERY driver and application update offered for my machine on Acer's site and especially by flashing the latest BIOS, which as of this writing is ver. 1.23. Acer attempts to discourage BIOS upgrades, and includes a dire warning in red at the top of the BIOS downloads which reads in part: "...Acer recommends that you should only update your firmware/drivers if you have been instructed to do so by an Acer Customer Care Representative." However, since it is clear that Acer has only Customer Don't-Care Representatives, that isn't going to happen, so ignore that warning and forge ahead. After downloading and running the upgrade you may have one brief heart-stopping moment when a pop-up appears that says that the installation may have failed and seems to ask for your input. TOUCH NOTHING and the BIOS flash will end with an automatic reboot.

Be sure to select the correct OS in the not-so-obvious pull-down box when selecting drivers and applications to download and install. In general, it won't hurt to attempt to install the wrong driver, since the install will either fail or just leave a useless driver, but of course you needn't download drivers for peripherals that you don't have, such as in my case Bluetooth. The one exception to that that I found was in selecting the web camera application: There are two, one from Chicony and one from Suyin, and no obvious way to tell which vendor's camera is installed in my machine. I guessed and installed Suyin first; it didn't work, so I installed the Chicony application over it, which did work. It might have been better practice to have removed the first application before installing the second.

I hope that this helps anyone who buys a down-level Timeline Lord knows you won't get any help from Acer!

Once the updates are installed, this is a very nice machine. The battery lifetime, if not quite the advertised 8 hours, is still impressive. It is cool enough to actually use on a lap. No, the slow-down is not inherent in the speed of the processor, which is perfectly adequate for most uses. It will never satisfy a gamer, but that is obviously not its niche. It's a great machine for a student to carry around all day, running Office aps, accessing the web, etc. If it weren't such a do-it-your-self project I would have rated it higher.

If you see any Acer reps or especially Acer execs, give 'em Hell for me!

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This review relates more to the AS4810T-8480, but as it is not sold on Amazon yet, I wanted to make sure everyone is aware of the problems I am experiencing on that model, as this might impact the entire product line.

I received my new laptop 4 days ago. Overall it is great, and I'd love to post a positive review here. It looks great from the outside, the 6-8 hours of battery life is a reality (let's see how long it lasts before the battery worns out), keyboard is nice, etc... Also agree that the built quality is not perfect, but overall it is fine.

My major concern, is the overall system stability. I am not a heavy user, mostly internet surfing.

However, in the past 4 days, I have experienced a tremendous number of crashes, maybe 2 to 3 a day, just using normal programs such as Skype, Internet Explorer 8 and MSN Live Messenger... At somepoint, the CPU goes to 100% utilization and the system becomes very slow or totally unresponsive, so I need to do a forced shut down. I thought this was due to Internet Explorer, but experienced the same with Firefox yesterday...

I just tried to install a USB AT&T 3G key, and despite a successful installation, now I am unable to log into Windows because on the log on screen my cursor and keyboards are none responsive. I have just logged a ticket with their Support Team, let's see what they come up.

I have never had some many problems with a new laptop in the past and am considering returning it for a refund.

Again, I would really like to love this laptop, I think ACER has a great product here, BUT I cannot recommended it at this point, and hope I will be able to update my recommendation very soon.

UPDATE: just over one month after receiving the laptop and as I was about to return it after ACER's customer service proved unable to provide a solution, I updated the Intel VGA driver (as many of you suggested in your comments, thanks a lot my bad for not checking them out earlier!) and the BIOS, both being recommended on [..] and I am happy to confirm the issues have disappeared. The laptop is now fully functional, so I have decided to keep it.

In regards to other features of the computer, I would say that my main complaints are the lack of a hardware switch for the wireless, and the screen is a little too glossy for me. The speakers are a bit weak. Bluetooth could have been included but I knew about it so can't complain.

But overall I'm still happy with the Timeline, and would recommend it to anyone traveling a lot and not requiring high CPU power!