Review of Apple Ibook G4 1ghz LEOPARD 10.5 OFFICE 2004 512mb 30gb DVD/CDRW

Customer Ratings:

I have an iMac in my office and I like it very much. So, when it came time for buying a home computer, I got the same iMac, but got the version with the larger screen and more memory at the advice of my wife. Well, we've blown two hard drives on the home iMac (covered under warranty, except for the lost files) and I'm rather annoyed. Nevertheless, I really like it as a computer. Alas, my wife likes it too and she's constantly working on eBay things. Too much so, in my opinion. I've been constantly on her for working at the computer all the time and blocking my usage. As a solution, she gave me an iBook G4 for Christmas (1907).

I really like this little iBook. It's been completely trouble free, and in that respect is better than either of my iMacs. It's fast and my enjoyment of working on it greatly increased after I purchased a Mighty Mouse to go with it. I'm a college professor and I give about 12 classroom lectures per week. I also give visiting lectures (about 2 per month) all over Southern California. I store my PowerPoint presentations in the computer and it works out very well. I simply walk into a classroom or hall, plug in the equipment and I'm ready to go. Everything works real well, as long as I'm the one setting it up. When others have set it up, I've had a couple problems which they then blame on Apple equipment. There's an "Apple Phobia" that's widely prevelant. That's nonsense. It's their own ineptitude that's the problem. This is a real nifty computer and works splendidly for my purposes.

Gary Peterson

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I've had a 12" iBook G4 since 2005 and it's still my favorite notebook for browsing the internet, writing letters, and even reading pdf's. It's very lightweight and I consider the screen the perfect size. It's held up very well. One of the keys has a hairline crack and one of the rubber feet on the bottom fell off but I clean it every month or so and it still looks almost new.

My only criticism is that it gets a little warm so I keep it on top of a clipboard when holding it in my lap. No viruses, no crashes, no worries.

When netbooks started becoming popular a couple of years ago, I had to laugh because I already have a lightweight, handy netbook. In fact, I'm using it right now to write this review. Given a choice between a new Asus or Dell netbook or a used iBook G4 for the same price, I would take the G4 without thinking about it for a second.

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The short description of this item describes it as having a 1.2GHz processor and 1.25 G RAM. Only after proceeding to the checkout page is it possible to read a further description indicating 1.0GHz processor and 512Mb RAM.

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The Ibook was shipped fast by Midwest. Product was as described. It works great!

Sony VAIO VPCEB36GM/BJ 15.5" Display Laptop / Intel Core i5 Reviews

Customer Ratings:

I recently purchased this laptop at a big-box store (price was lower) and I love it. It's a replacement for my 3-year old desktop, and I couldn't be happier. I run a lot of photo-editing software so I needed a system that could handle multiple large programs at once and this laptop doesn't flinch everything is smooth and seamless, the display is beautiful and the 10-digit keypad is a nice touch. The battery life is solid at 3.5 hours, too. No complaints!

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I bought this laptop from best-buy yesterday evening to replace my antique desktop.

So far it's done everything I wanted it to do.

Windows 7 pro sure is sleek to compared windows xp home. Plus having a processor bigger than 933mhz is amazing :D

No cons yet!

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My wife bought this for me at Christmas and I definitely have opinions on it. Experience level: Geeky =]

The screen is beautiful, and movies and such look great.

Performance was surprisingly slower than I would expect a 4 core processor to be, but it is running Win 7. It's possible some more RAM may help, or putting Win7 on a diet (preferred) would be in order.

Love the half a terabyte!

As I commented in another review, getting used to the offset keyboard and mouse took 5 weeks or so, but it's worth it. I assume they put the keypad in to fill the lower portion of the laptop. I do like the keypad, it's handy!

The worst thing they did was the mouse pad. It is a capacitive type that allows for pinching which I turned off a few days into it. Unfortunately it also makes the mouse movement erratic during normal use, and when the cover is closed and it's left on, the mouse does it's own thing. When I return I find many windows have been openedsometimes 20+, and it's dinging at me because Windows wants input and the mouse is still possessed. FAIL. Especially when you have it next to the bed.

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I'm a skilled touch-typist and long-time laptop user. Bought this one a few days ago from a big-box store (lower price). Fingers kept hitting the wrong keys. Couldn't figure out why, until I realized I needed to move the laptop about 4" to the right, so that my head is in centered on the touchpad, not the center of the screen. I don't like this design.

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I had an opportunity to use this laptop or attempted to. I was tasked with removing a suspected virus from this laptop which was thought to be causing BSOD on startup. Placed hard drive in another PC to scan for viruses. None found. Ran complete system recovery to return system back to factory default condition. System recovery ran to 100% and upon restart would BSOD before even making it into windows 7 pro. Replaced memory and hard drive with new. Ordered recovery CD's from manufacturer. Thought this has to work. Same results. I would not buy this laptop. Even with new memory, new hard drive and factory recovery CD's this system would not startup even on factory recovery completing to 100%. The only thing left is to send unit to Sony. This laptop either has poorly engineered cooling properties or is not truely x64 capable. I would avoid this laptop. Valueable advice...anytime you get a NEW laptop. Make your recovery CD's immediately and then run a complete system recovery to ensure the integrity of your new purchase. If a NEW laptop cannot function after running complete system recovery, it is not worth keeping.

Toshiba Satellite T215D-S1140RD 11.6-Inch Notebook PC - Gemini Red Review

Customer Ratings:

Personally, I love this product. The company had done a great job at getting my order to me in a timely fashion. In fact, it came sooner than I thought. The unit itself, works great, as it booted right up. I do like the fact that the computer is light, and that you can use a USB key to create a system restore disk. Moreover, I did end up buying more ram for it, while 2gb did not seem to be enough for now. I now have total of 4gb installed which in due time, I am planning on upgrading again. However, I did not want to max out the machine at this time, so maybe in a few months I will purchase additional ram, thus taking it up to 8gb. Nonetheless, the company is fast in term of shipping. I did not have any problems and would recommend buying this product from this company, as well as this model. In fact, my friend had been looking for one of these and could not find one in the stores. He did purchase his from the store, but his is black whereas mine is Red. I liked the red color since it was something new. Again I recommend this product, and getting it from this company. It arrived just days after I ordered it, which again was a good thing.

Excellent service, delivery time, and great product!! The only problem is that it does not come with blue-tooth built in. But, I have one that plugs into the USB, so it is not that big of deal. Moreover, I do have an external DVD drive, so the unit is lighter. More or less, I really do not use DVD drives that much, while I commonly use USB or external hard drives for most of my work. So if you are looking for a light weight unit that has a solid design I recommend this product. And again, delivery time was quick and painless from this company.

Highly recommend if you looking to replace your netbook, or want a small laptop with the capability to dock it when at home!

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I actually have the S1150 model.

A decent computer that is everything that I expected. I deducted one star for a sticky F8 key and the fact that Toshiba couldn't be bothered to set up the display colors properly. As delivered the display is badly washed out. Adjusting brightness, contrast and gamma makes a huge improvement. Adjustments are obscurely hidden in Catalyst Control Center/Advanced.

After about two weeks the hot keys stopped working. Pressing the FN key produces a drop down menu that allows settings to be changed. No hot keys means that I can't turn on the WiFi or the touchpad. Toshiba's tech support suggested doing a full recovery. The recovery discs that I made and which showed as being verified after burning did not work. Several files could not be read and the recovery program terminated. This left no operable operating system. It also apparently overwrote the system image stored on the hard disk.

Toshiba suggested factory recovery discs. The discs are free! Shipping and handling are $25!! I needed them what could I do? Toshiba would not sell them to me. My credit card is billed in the US Virgin Islands and could not be accepted. You have to live in one of the 50 "real" states and not a territory. The Toshiba web site list their coverage area as Canada, US, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Central and South America and parts of the Caribbean. The drop down menu when you try to order only accepts Canada, the 50 States and Argentina.

I eventually got my operating system working again from a Windows backup on a USB hard drive. The hot keys still don't work and I guess never will.

So 4 stars for the computer but if you need support from Toshiba you will wish you had bought something else. I do.

Discount Toshiba Mobile Satellite M505-S4947 14.0-Inch Laptop - Black/Silver

Customer Ratings:

Have been shopping for a new laptop for a while and decided to choose this instead of the A500. It costs a couple hundred more but has all the features that I need and want. The big selling point for me is the modern and sleek style. It is beautiful to look at and not chunky like the A500 with the extra number key pad that I do not use. Greater mobility with the 14" backlit led HD screen and a better Intel Core2 duo P7350 processor. The 400 GB hard drive that I can carry everywhere and no need to bring an extra storage device. The build in 3D sensing is a plus so if you drop your labtop the hard drive is protected. The backlit keyboard is really cool and the touchpad also have multi-function. The touchpad looks small but it is the same size as my 14" IBM thinkpad T43 so it works okay with me. The multi-function touchpad is easy to use and you seldom need to use the click bottom. All you need is slightly move your fingers across the touchpad and slightly tab on the touchpad instead of clicking the left button. It also come with the extra 12 cell battery for extended use compare to the standard 6 cell and it does not extend outside the labtop like others. The harman kardon speakers is also a great value and sounds great. All these worth the extra couple of hundred dollars. I tried to customize the same build at toshiba and it cost a lot more than this and Amazon ship free and tax free and no recycling charge so it is a very good buy. The fingerprints and dirt is easy to see and clean with a wipe after each use and it is not that bad to keep your labtop sanitize especially if you have multiple users to spread germs around.

The labtop come with a few bloatware and easy to remove using windows uninstaller. Would recommend to install a good registry cleaner and defragmenter free ware to optimze your labtop after the uninstall. The Window Vista Premium 64 bit is easy to use bur in my opinion still runs slow even with the 4 GB of ram and the newer Intel processors. You definitely need to remove the extra bloatware to lighten the load. I am looking forward to the free upgrade to Window 7 to make this work better. The RAM is expandable to 8GB so it is a plus for upgrade when the RAM gets cheaper in the future. I just upgraded and double the RAM of my 4 year old IBM thinkpad and it runs a lot faster than before with Window XP Pro.

I highly recommend this Toshiba mobile labtop for good looks, mobility and usability in this price range. It does not come with bluetooth but I am planning to get a bluetooth adaptor and it is very inexpensive. Overall, I am very happy with this labtop. I am glad I got this last week because I saw the price increase already.

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I did a lot of research on different brands and configurations. I was all set to buy a Toshiba (with an ugly chasis) for its functionality at a big box store when I came to Amazon. This laptop had all the configurations I was looking for at the same price. My only complaint is that I wish it had more usb ports and built in blue tooth. But I added a usb blue tooth dongle and it works fine (other than tying up one of my limited usb ports). The biggest feature for me was that it came standard with a 12 cell battery. Lifts up the back just slightly but actually makes the unit easier to type on because of the angle.

Fast shipping, secure packing, and overall great value for the money I spent. Thanks!

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I was very dissapointed that the battery life was not as advertised. It was advertised in all the stores to have a battery life of 8 hours. When I called Toshiba, They said they were not responsible for that advertisement. After fully charging the battery I get a little over 5 hours of battery life instead of 8 hours. When I told the toshiba representative I wanted to return the product and get my money back he said he would have somebody call me to arrange this. He took down my number but nobody ever called.

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This a horrible laptop for what they charge for it. And I am not the only one who has had issues. In the f'rst year of own'ng the (brand new) laptop, I had to send 't 'n for repa'rs tw'ce, and 't was gone for more than two months. The f'rst t'me was w'th the f'rst month of ownersh'p, and 'nstead of g'v'ng me a new laptop (wh'ch 's what ' pa'd for), one month later, they sent me a refurb'shed one (wh'ch 's s'gn'f'cantly less expens've).

I have owned the Satell'te laptop for just over two years now and have had to have the hard dr've repa'red FOUR t'mes. And each t'me talk'ng to customer serv'ce 's about as helpful as talk'ng to a recorded vo'ce.

Bad Technology AND Bad Customer Serv'ce. Why would anyone buy th's when the market 's full of many other opt'ons. Check those out f'rst.

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I've bought 2 of these. One runs without any problems and one gave me problems with booting. I suspect it has to do with the memory. If possible, order the unt with 4MB memory. It has a great suite of software and can be used easily at home and at work.

Review of HEWLETT COMPAQ PRESARIO 110C-1001NR MINI NOTEBK - VA729UA#ABA

Customer Ratings:

you gotta be weary about ordering online, especially when it comes to computers. But my choice of the hp mini 110

was based purely on price, what i could afford, and for that, its pretty darn good. it was freshly restored by the seller

to factory condition meaning the hard drive was formatted and the operating system was completely reinstalled.

for me that is a must in a used computer. overall a great value for the budget minded student or parent.

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ASUS VivoBook X202E-DH31T-SL 11.6-Inch Touchscreen Laptop ( Silver ) Review

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $569.00
Sale Price: $489.99
Today's Bonus: 14% Off

For roughly 550.00 this can hardly be beat for a small laptop that has windows 8 and a touchscreen. At first I was a little aggravated with the touch pad but, I installed the drivers from Samsung's website that are supposed to be for a series 5 laptop. This laptop along with several others have the same Elan touch pad in them. Once you install this driver it is a night and day difference in the touchpad.

The link for the drivers is in the first comment. Amazon won't let you link to an external website in the main review.

So go to the comment and get to the link then follow what is below.

You then need to click on the Manuals and Downloads link, then click Driver.

After that scroll down and click on the ZIP link for the Touch Pad driver 11.7.2.1

If you have the sorry Asus Smart Gesture installed, uninstall that first and reboot, then install this software. I have had various Macbooks for the better part of the last 7 years and this is my first PC laptop in a while. I was almost ready to return this laptop until I found these drivers. I would say the touch pad is 95% of a Macbook touch pad now and whether you like Apple or not, you have to admit they know what they are doing when it comes to track pads. Aside from all of that I'm extremely happy with the operation of this laptop now.

I am coming from a laptop that had an SSD drive in it so it does seem a little slow in some areas but, others it is working just fine. I have an extra SSD drive that I plan on putting in this machine as well as removing the half height mini PCI atheros wireless/bluetooth combo. I purchased an Intel Centrino 6235anhmw Mini Pci Express Bluetooth 4.0 to replace it with and based on my research I should be able to enable Intel Wireless Display on this laptop after that install. The card only cost me 30.00 bucks and I figured it was worth the gamble to see if it would work. I'll update this review once I get the card in a couple of days to state if it worked or not.

The sound coming from this laptop is actually quite good and I would say better than a lot of the previous laptops I am use to.

The touchscreen is extremely responsive and I haven't had any missed touches or erratic behavior out of it. I have played several touch based games and it worked flawlessly.

Last but, not least this thing is solid, the build quality on it is exceptional for something this cheap.

Okay, now for the bad which again considering this is a cheap laptop with a touchscreen really isn't that bad.

The fan runs constantly and while it is not overly annoying it does seem to run even when not doing much on the system. That is really my main complaint about the machine at this point. The second complaint is that the viewing angles on this machine are pretty poor but, again don't expect any machine at this price point with a touchscreen to have great viewing angles. Although viewing angles are bad, brightness is very good. I think with the brightness turned all the way up you could possibly do permanent damage to your eyes(a joke of course).

The keyboard is a little cramped but, really not all that bad. I would say I have slightly above average hand size but, again it isn't to bad and I'm able to kick out a reasonable speed without to many more mistakes than I usually make. Expect some adjustment if you are coming from a full size keyboard with large hands.

Again, the stock hard drive is a 5400rpm drive and it does seem a little slow for me but, if you are coming from another mechanical drive then you may not really notice it as a problem. I've been using SSD drives for some time so it does bother me a bit.

These might be major problems for others but, for me they are minor annoyances that I can live with on a cheap machine like this. This is basically an 11.6" Macbook Air that is missing the SSD(entry level is 64GB SSD), backlit keyboard, viewing angles aren't as good for the ASUS and fan runs more often than Macbook Air. However the Macbook Air doesn't have these features: touch screen, 500GB HDD that can be upgraded to a small or large SSD if you like and the Air cost about 450.00 more for the entry level. Granted the Macbook Air is considerably lighter but, it also makes your wallet lighter.

Sorry for all of the Macbook comparisons but, I have come from many years of having Macbooks and decided with Windows 8 to give PCs a try again. I'm glad I did.

Update 11/8/2012:

I installed the Intel wireless card I mentioned above, then installed the latest drivers for the card from the Intel website as well as the latest video drivers from the ASUS website. Then I installed the Widi display software and was able to connect to my Belkin Screencast. It took several tries and then it finally updated the software on the Belkin. After that it has been connecting perfectly with no problems. So I paid 40 bucks on Amazon for a refurbished Belkin Screencast and 32.00 for the intel card. Now for 72.00 bucks I'm able to use my 55" HDTV at 1080p as a second screen.

Update 11/14/2012

I finally got around to installing an SSD drive and replacing the mechanical drive. The drive that came in it was a Hitachi HTS5450A7E380 which is a 7mm thick drive. Unfortunately the SSD I had was a typical 9.5mm and was too thick to work at first. Luckily I was able to remove part of the casing on the SSD drive I used and that made for a perfect fit. So if you plan on swapping out for an SSD make sure it is no thicker than 7mm or it won't fit. I had some trouble where the laptop kept booting into the BIOS. when I went in and disabled fast boot as well as turned of drive security or something like that. I can't remember exactly now but, when the option is enabled you can go further into the BIOS and see PKI keys and DDB keys and a lot of other keys. I just disabled that portion and then it started recognizing the hard drive. This may not be a problem if you clone the hard drive to the SSD before you swap but, I did a fresh install. Laptop is blazing fast now as it boots into windows in about 10 seconds.

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This review is to dispel any incorrect info in the "User Reviews".

I'll quickly explain that I am a technician and have been modifying all the non touch Win 8 machines, to look and run like 7. It's a 2 minute job that requires a small program like Classic Shell or iobit's Start 8.

As I give tech advice on some forums, I felt the need to get some experience on Win 8's touch interface, Otherwise, how could I help others, if I've never even used it.

So let's get down to business and set the record straight of what it is, and what it isn't.

WIFI

Those folks who have wifi connectivity problems, have a defect. If they reinstall the OS from the partition that is provided for that purpose, and then it still has wifi problems, then it's time to return the machine or get it fixed, or even get another wifi card. Anyone who thinks that it's inherent to this machine and has decided to put up with it, is mistaken and being inconvenienced unnecessarily.

TOUCHPAD

Those who find that the touchpad is wonky, are either palming it while typing, or have a defect. The same applies as above. Try installing the OS again and if it is still acting up and you're 100% sure that you're not palming the touchpad, then it is defective and needs to be returned or repaired. This is NOT a normal condition.

BUILD & SCREEN

This laptop is well built with premium quality materials. Anyone who feels their screen is weak, should return it. It is NOT a normal condition for this machine, and for those who complained about the bezel being too wide, it is built that way to be structurally strong enough. A touchscreen receives light impact from being touched, thus it needs to be built a bit more solidly than a normal screen.

Complaints about the screen being shiny are valid in a sense. It is truly shiny, but it's a necessary evil. Matte surfaces get dirty faster and are harder to clean.

KEYBOARD

The keyboard is neither exceptionally good or bad. Everyone has a different concept of what a keyboard should be, so there's no right or wrong. It's just an individual's preference. If the keyboard doesn't work perfectly, the machine should be returned or repaired.

BATTERY LIFE

We've heard a wide range of claims, from 2 to 7 hours. Obviously, someone is wrong. Most of the User Reviews, have it straight, when they claim approx. 4 hours. Even if you dimmed the screen and avoided multitasking, you'd still be hard pressed to get 5 hours out of it, and it's unrealistic to expect that, as the screen would be hard to see, at that low brightness. Those who have claimed 3 hours or less, may be running power consuming programs, like watching video/movies at full brightness, in which case, it is 100% true that it will only get 3 hours or less, under those conditions.(See Suggestions below for some revised info)

CAMERA

Yes, it is true, that it's horrible. If you are not in a brightly lit area, the image will be grainy. It is certainly way below the quality of the average laptop webcam.(see SUGGESTIONS below for a revised evaluation)

POWER & SPEED

Those who find that this notebook is slow, or it hesitates/stutters or freezes up, have a defect. Redo the system as mentioned above and if it persists, it is a defective machine. Even with all the bloatware running, this Vivobook has ample power, to handle all the normal use, without ever hesitating or freezing up.(See SUGGESTIONS below for additional info on power plans for better performance)

SSD

Yes it is true that it will be substantially faster and more responsive, if you swap out the hard drive for an SSD. Any and all laptops will benefit, but it is not necessary to swap the hard drive out, as it performs just fine as it is. It's a luxury to go with an SSD. I have swapped the HD out for an SSD in this machine, because I wanted to know how much of a difference it would make, and not because it ran poorly with the included 500 gig hard drive.

While on this subject, those who feel that it is difficult to remove the backplate to access the hard drive, are mistaken. Yes, it is firmly in place and it requires the right tool to pry it apart, but that is entirely normal for almost all laptops. Swapping out the hard drive on this unit, is a breeze.

FINGERPRINTS

I got lucky and received the Silver model (looks like champagne to me) as the silver lid does not show fingerprints as much as the black version. Again, this is normal. Black brushed aluminum laptops, are fingerprint magnets and they need to be cleaned everyday.

VALUE

The sum total of this Vivobook's exceptional build with premium materials, slim and light, great performance, decent battery life, all the necessary ports, good wifi reception and a very decent touchscreen, make it a real bargain at $500 or less.

COMMENTS, CONS & COMPLAINTS

The webcam is very poor.

It would be wonderful to have a backlit keyboard, even though it would shorten the laptop's battery life.

This unit is slow to charge. From bone empty, it may take as long as 4 hours to get to 100%. This may inconvenience some folks (not me), but on the positive side, the internal battery may last several more years than if it were fast charged.

A few users have suggested changing graphics setting to -20 brightness, 51 contrast and 0.9 gamma, and I agree that it looks better that way.

I ran a timer since turning the laptop on at 100% charged and it is now up to 2 hours and 7 minutes, having used 44% of its battery life, so that would come out to a potential 4 hours and 48 minutes, however the machine will shut down before reaching 0%, and it should be noted that I was only running this webpage and the timer, nothing else, so it would be unrealistic to expect that much battery life under normal circumstances.

The Win 8 touch interface is vastly superior to iOS (iPad), Android, webOS or any after market ones. It is true that the store does not have very many apps, but that will come with time. You'd be hard pressed to find any high quality free games, so don't get your hopes up, YET!

_________________________________________________

edit.

SUGGESTIONS

1) Download an app called "Show Me", which will give you detailed visual explanations of everything you can do in Win 8's touch interface. Even if you think you know it all, I bet you'll learn a few new things.

2) Clean the screen around the webcam area and you may discover (as I just did) that the camera is a lot better than it was, presumably a bit dirty from top of the screen swipes.

3) If your machine hesitates, stutters or freezes while on battery but performs well when plugged in, you may have to change your power plan to "High Performance". The Power4Gear system, halves the CPU, ram graphics and Wifi power. If you do go to High Performance while on battery, you may want to turn down the brightness a bit, so as to improve battery life.

4) If you use the Powe4Gear power plan while on battery, it is possible to reach 5 hours of usage, provided you are not running many processes in the background, and are not playing games or viewing video.

5) After updating your Vivobook with Asus' Live update program, uninstall it, to stop it running in the background (it can't be stopped otherwise). If you need it again in the future, you can download the installer from the Asus website.

6) If you run Windows Defender, there is no need for any additional Anti Virus programs, as Defender in Win 8, is a full Anti Virus program that is reputed to do as good a job as any other free AV program. If you are running another AV program, either uninstall it and use Defender, or keep it and turn Defender off in "Services". Running both at the same time will seriously slow down your computer.

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I'm an IT professional, and have dealt with a few ASUS laptops, which I now prefer to Dell.

If you take remove the 9 phillips screws on the bottom, you have access to some of the internal components.

You will need to tug a little, as the case is still held in place by little plastic clippies all around.

You might break a nail, so be careful.

MEMORY:

The memory is soldered into the board, so 4GB is all you will ever have. Period.

DISK DRIVE:

The HDD is a Hitachi HTS5450A7E380 (7mm 2.5") and can be replaced with another "Low Profile" 7mm SSD or HDD. You simply remove 3 screws that hold the cage in (the 4th screw is already removed from removing the back panel), remove the cage, remove 4 screws holding drive in cage, replace with a SATA II/III drive. (It is a SATA 3 6.0 GB/s connection).

I recommend the Samsung 840 series, as they are 7mm 2.5" and very low on power usage. When you remove the old HDD, it has a plastic backing glued on it with two rubber foam strips.

Don't worry with removing it from the old HDD. An SSD doesn't need the shock absorption and will be mounted securely with the screws.

WIRELESS:

The Atheros AR5B225 Half Mini PCIe WiFi/Bluetooth 4.0 module is replaceable.

I am replacing mine with Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6235 so I can use WiDi and Dual Band Wifi.

It was as easy as removing the two antenna wires from the Atheros, popping in new card, reattaching two antenna wires to the Intel 6235.

BATTERY:

The 5136 mAh 2 cell battery is replaceable, albeit proprietary. Not sure what this means for the future.

MY GENERAL OPINION OF THE LAPTOP and Windows 8:

I have been using Windows 8 at work for a bit, and as an OS, it's hard and confusing with a dual monitor desktop power user setup (as I have no need for the Metro interface there, and I feel like I'm fighting it). I had to tweak it to get my start menu back (Open source utility called "Classic Start"). However, with a touch screen laptop, it is very easy to use. I've been thoroughly been enjoying it as a tablet replacement. I admit, I did install an SSD in it, and it is SO much more responsive now (and shaved some ounces on weight as well has dropping at least a watt of power draw). I also have access to a Windows 8 volume license key, and mine is running Windows 8 Enterprise.

Honest reviews on ASUS VivoBook X202E-DH31T-SL 11.6-Inch Touchscreen Laptop ( Silver )

The form factor, specs, and cost all made the Vivobook a product that I was excited to have and to recommend to whoever I came across. Of course, the highlight was the touchscreen which is VITAL if you're using Windows 8. Adding to that was the excellent workmanship (metallic palmrest) and the perfect size and weight (liked it better than the Zenbook or MacBook Air).

But less than 2 months later, it all turned into a nightmare.

I can give the conclusion from the very beginning: Swap out the 500GB HDD for a 256GB SSD as soon as you take it out the box. I'm convinced that Asus put in a cheap part (HDD) in order to keep the cost low. But you will pay dearly for that error.

1. During normal usage, the dreaded "Click of Death" came, which is when the head/arm in the HDD touches the platter (disk). I tried to shut it down as soon as possible. But the next time it turned on, the OS wouldn't load and only the BIOS screen would appear. The machine was effectively dead.

2. Asus's warranty would replace the HDD but wouldn't recover the data, all while taking 2 weeks to return the machine to you. And just opening the machine to swap the HDD yourself would void that warranty.

3. Upon opening the HDD, I found that the head was defective (after just 2 months) and tried everything to recover the data. The pros would charge approx $2,400 (no exageration) to repair this kind of HDD problem. After 3 days, this became a lost cause and I knew I'd have to start from scratch.

4. I installed a 256GB SSD.

5. Asus wouldn't give me an ISO image of the factory Vivobook. They told me I also had to get the OS from Microsoft directly, who in turn said they couldn't get me a full version Windows 8, but only an upgrade from Windows 7. This meant I had to install Windows 7 first, then upgrade to Windows 8.

Now I'm stuck because the BIOS won't let me set the boot order to the USB drive. And, yes, I've flashed it to version 206. IF YOU KNOW HOW TO DO THIS, PLEASE COMMENT.

In spite of all the headache, my only advice is to swap for a SSD immediately. 95% of my docs were backed-up but I didn't make an ISO image of the whole system, so I'm paying for it.

In the end, I still think this is a good machine which just had 1 cheap part which went bad very quickly. (BTW, the floor model at the store also had the same problem.)

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for ASUS VivoBook X202E-DH31T-SL 11.6-Inch Touchscreen Laptop ( Silver )

Firstly, some reviewers have referred to this laptop as a netbook. I have nothing against netbooks, but this is actually an ultraportable notebook. In fact, if it had even a hybrid SSD it would meet ultrabook specs. It certainly has the build quality of an ultrabook.

The good:

As I said, excellent build quality including the very responsive touchscreen. People have been guessing that I must have paid at least $800 for this machine based on its look and feel alone. It looks and feels like something between a Macbook Air and Pro.

Remarkably thin considering that it has built in VGA and ethernet ports, and yes, some people still need those!

It's fast. Obviously with a Core i3 and 4GB of RAM it's not the most powerful device on the market, but if you're not a gamer or into heavy multimedia editing it runs like a breeze. It boots up faster than ANY computer I have ever seen not equipped with an SSD. I guess Windows 8 is to thank for that.

Speaking of Windows 8, this is a review of the machine not the OS, but I'll just say that it's basically Windows 7 with a better start menu and some handy touched based functionality. On a touchscreen device like this one, I don't see any reason to complain about it.

Incredibly compact power cable. No brick. It's like a tablet charger. You can literally coil it up and carry it in your pocket.

The Bad:

Battery life is indeed about 4-5 hours... that is, with careful power management and light use. Not stellar, but I guess it does deliver the "up to 5 hours" promised.

A little heavy for its size, certainly not so much to be tiring to carry.

Some reviewers have complained about the trackpad. I haven't updated any drivers and I don't find it to be terrible by any means, but it can be a hair too sensitive at times, sometimes registering a single tap as a double.

Overall:

I'd actually give it a 4.5 if I could. I've looked into a lot of alternatives, and I don't believe there is currently a better laptop for under $600 on the market right now. Certainly not in the 11.6" form factor, where the alternatives are either netbooks of inferior build quality and specs, or an ultrabook/Macbook Air for hundreds of dollars more.

Best Toshiba KIRAbook 13 i5 Touchscreen Laptop Deals

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $1,799.99
Sale Price: $1,499.99
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Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program When it comes to laptops, I'm at a point in my career when I am no longer willing to compromise in terms of performance and style. That mindset costs me a little more in terms of the purchase price of a new machine, but when I consider that I usually keep a laptop a minimum of two years, then the premium I pay for a truly state-of-the-art laptop like the Toshiba KIRAbook 13 is about $1 a day more than a model with weaker specs and FAR less style. To me, that's the definition of "affordable luxury" and given how many hours of use my laptop gets, it's well worth it.

I had an opportunity to test both KIRAbook 13 touchscreen models--the i5 and the i7--before deciding which one to go with. On paper, the differences are negligible. The KIRAbook 13 i5 has a 3rd gen Intel i5 processor and the regular version of Windows 8. The KIRAbook 13 i7 has a 3rd gen Intel i7 processor and Windows 8 Pro. If you're not hung up on processor specs, or need the few incremental features of Windows 8 Pro, then save yourself $200 and go with the quite-capable i5 model.

My testing involved a number of real-world scenarios that relied on the software tools I use on a daily basis--the Microsoft Office 2013 suite, the Adobe CS6 suite (InDesign, Illustrator, Lightroom 4, and Photoshop primarily), and various other programs that are RAM and storage hogs. I also did a lot of testing of media files like streaming video, downloaded 1080p video files, super-high-resolution graphics files, and streaming radio and music. The media tests gave me a good idea of graphics throughput and the ability of the large 256Gb SSD to perform when massive amounts of data were being written to the disk. The final set of tests were benchmark tests designed to see how well the hardware performed in real life vs. rated speeds published by the manufacturers of specific components.

I'm not a big fan of wordy, highly technical performance reviews like the ones you might find on Tom's Hardware, so here's what I learned in plain English:

Processor performance: The i7 is definitely faster in terms of the benchmark scores, but the real-world difference is negligible unless you're using industrial strength software like Photoshop or InDesign. Those programs are going to tax any processor, and you will definitely notice a meaningful speed boost when you're driving the i7 KIRAbook. For me, that kind of performance bump alone is worth the extra $200.

SSD performance: Incredible. The KIRAbook throughput is faster than any SSD-based machine I have used, and is as good as anything on the market. Boot time is awesome, as is awake from sleep (one word: instantaneous).

Graphics performance: Also incredible. The Toshiba KIRAbook has the highest resolution display of ANY Windows laptop and it is absolutely STUNNING! Anybody who works with spreadsheets or programs with tons of toolbars (like the Adobe CS6 applications) will LOVE the expansive real estate you get with that display. Watching a movie is a joy, as well, and I would offer that once you've experienced a 1080p movie on the KIRAbook display, you will absolutely hate having to watch one on any other laptop.

In terms of head-to-head testing, the machines are nearly identical in every meaningful way. The i7 is faster in certain applications, and Windows 8 Pro does have legitimate incremental value for power users and those who work in corporate environments. Aside from that, the two machines are identical twins.

For me, the real test wasn't i7 machine vs. i5 machine, it was Toshiba KIRAbook vs. the competition. I have a background in graphic design and product development, and how a machine looks and feels is as important as what's under the hood--sometimes more so. Toshiba really nailed the design of the KIRAbook. Sure, it's as light as a feather compared to most laptops AND ultrabooks, but I'm not as concerned about engineering feats as I am about what the machine feels like in my hands, and how it looks on a conference room table next to my colleagues' machines. In this regard, the KIRAbook kicked a**. No matter where I used one of these laptops, people would come up and want to see it and try it--particularly that Retina-quality touchscreen. I love it when a device I own elicits a response like that, and I can assure you that that alone is worth the extra $1 a day it will cost you to own the sexiest computing device on the market.

The Toshiba KIRAbook 13 i5 and i7 models are BOTH fantastic performers and genuine head turners. Want one? Go for it!

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Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program Human nature being what it is, there must be lots of people out there like me: I resist change. Therefore, the night before I was to receive this laptop in the mail, I lay awake for a few hours worrying about how hard it would be to let go of the comfort of my old laptop. Obviously, I had already made the decision to upgrade, but I worried nonetheless. Would I like the touchscreen? Would my older eyes be able to deal with the smaller screen? Will the Norton security software (already installed) work with my internet connectivity problems at my home location? What about Windows 8? And, until I opened up the box and took a look at this beautiful piece of equipment, I continued to baulk. Obviously, from what I've already admitted and questioned, you can tell I'm not a computer wiz. I'm not afraid of computers and things electronic, but you could say I'm not totally aware of the most current electronic technology available and how to use it. So, if you are like me, keep on reading--I'll try to convince you that this is the laptop to buy. If you are looking for a review with a lot of technical commentary, you might want to save yourself some time and pass this one by.

Bottom line is this: I'm very glad I upgraded to this laptop. All of my fears have faded away. The more I use it, the more I love it, love it, love it. Can you see me hopping up and down in excitement, with a big grin on my face?

The touchscreen on this baby is so helpful and very easy to use. It is user-friendly and your common-sense responses will aid you. I can fly to the bottom of a page in a blink of an eye. I can move things around, and twist them. Immediately, I can enlarge the screen to see small type or a tiny item in a picture. The touchscreen is responsive and accurate. If can be used in conjunction with a mouse (And that is what I'm doing now, until I gain more confidence and experience.).

The size of the screen is not an issue because the touchscreen has the zoom feature. Because of the zoom feature, this screen size actually works better than a larger screen.

Besides the touchscreen, I also find the backlit keyboard to be immensely helpful. How did I ever do without it? If I only consider the touchscreen and back-lighted keyboard: I will never go back to my old laptop again, except to transfer files.

The sharpness and brightness of the screen is amazing. The control panel allows for even more adjusting if necessary. The clarity and the contrast seems to allow my eyes to focus on even smaller size type that on my old laptop.

The sound is rich and full; almost as good as what is produced by a pair of Bose speakers. Great for listening to music. Be aware that the speakers are on the sloped underside of the laptop, which means that it should be kept on a flat surface. It is not recommended that you use it on a bed or cushion or on you lap. If you must use it on a soft surface you should probably get yourself a riser.

A few words on the Intel i5 processor: What is the difference between i5 and i7? From what I've researched online, a "normal" user will very seldom, if ever, need to tap into the extra power the i7 provides. So far, I've not noticed any difference between the speed of the i5 and the i7. If you do a lot of sophisticated, detailed work with a lot of data, or use an intricate or elaborate software program, or if you just want to buy the best there is, you might go the extra $200 or so for the i7. (For instance, if I wanted to install a Primavera software product on a laptop, I would choose the i7. Engineers and Designers might also consider the i7 if they have thoughts about taking work home.) The i7 also allows you to connect your personal computer to your work or school network, and it runs Windows Pro (which is a $80 upgrade at this time). Otherwise this i5 model should be way more than adequate.

The graphics card is also top-of-the-line.

Last, but definitely not least, the Platinum Service and Support is TLC for a person like me--someone not quite up to speed on the latest technology. I can get quick, expert help whenever I need it. It kind of feels like having an AMEX black card...

One extra FYI: If you don't want to, or can't, part with your CDs and DVDs, you will need to purchase an external drive.

Like I said before: The more I use this laptop, the more I love it. Even in a relatively short period of time, I already feel that it is part of me. Who could ask for more? I can't.

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Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program I find this ultra-portable to be excellent in overall performance, with good headset sound, adequate internal speakers, a very good display with touch capabilities, and a great keyboard, but to be a bit on the expensive side and with only average battery life.

Design:

The device is larger on the end farthest from the user, with a wedge shape that allows full sized USB and HDMI ports. The left side has the power input, two USB 3.0 ports, a charging indicator light, and the HDMI port. The right side has a single USB port, the headset port, and a slot that holds an SD card. The keyboard area has the touchpad, an illuminated power button, and a small WiFi indicator light. The front and rear have nothing at all. The bottom has dual speakers, a couple of small feet so that the dual speakers can be heard, and a cooling fan.

Setup:

The setup is very simple; Toshiba includes a small booklet, plus some cards that show how to navigate in Windows 8 with either touch or a mouse. For those with more questions, it comes with Platinum setup service that has phone assistance. The only issue I had is that the device really expects you to have WiFi to set up; this is part of Microsoft's implementation of Windows 8, where you really are expected to log in on line. That isn't a problem for home users, but for business use don't expect to be able to plug in a TCP/IP-to-USB device until after set up is complete. Toshiba highly recommends completely finishing all setup actions before installing add-ons. I used the WiFi router built into my phone.

Use:

This laptop is truly outstanding for Windows 8 computing. The touch screen is sensitive (but not too much so), and everything moves quickly and snappily. Typing is great; there is no sag to the keyboard at all, the touch indicators on the F and J keys are well done, and the keys feel nice when touch typing. Due to the extremely high resolution on a 13.3 inch screen, some of the toolbars in various programs are fairly small. Fortunately, Toshiba provides a utility that changes the size of the menu text, and that helps a lot. But on some programs (like Firefox), the toolbar icons will be small. This won't be a problem on Windows 8 applications; only desktop programs.

Battery Time:

A lot of the battery time depends on the computer settings and how it is used. For my test I used the default settings, which include just under 50% screen brightness. I made use of the computer for word processing primarily, so the screen was on pretty much continuously. In this use the battery lasts about 4.5 hours. Note that the default mode has full speed on the processor, memory, and SSD (so there are some savings available to increase time). On "eco" mode I would expect about 6 hours based on the energy savings created by that mode. Conversely, if you crank up the screen brightness and play games or videos, I would expect only about 3.5 hours. I plan to use this for business, and this level of battery is fine. It would also be sufficient for most college classes on a typical day, but one might need that charger at the library for the evening studies. It should be noted that the time estimates are not accurate (they assume about 6 hours of time on a full battery). Perhaps those estimates will get better. I'll update the review if these battery times change.

Pro:

+ Good overall performance numbers. The Windows Experience Index is 5.6 due to the graphics card. Other scores: Processor 6.9, RAM 7.4, gaming graphics 6.3, hard disk 8 (a perfect score!).

+ Cool and quiet operation.

+ Beautiful 2560 X 1440 screen. It does a great job of showing pictures and movies. The text is very crisp. I had to use the Toshiba utility to increase the text sizes in order to make the screen text readable (it is very small by default) Windows indicates the increase is 200% of normal.

+ Very snappy in MS Office 2013, using the trial version that comes ready to be activated.

+ It includes a free 2 year subscription to Norton Internet Security, Norton Anti-Theft, and 25 Gb of online storage.

+ Includes copies of Adobe Photoshop Elements 11 (photos) and Adobe Premiere Elements 11 (videos). Both are desktop applications.

+ Windows 8 software: Skype, Vimeo (video sharing), Netflix, and Huluplus.

+ Three USB 3.0 ports.

+ Brushed aluminum body beautiful and sturdy.

+ USB drives can be set to provide power when the computer is asleep (for charging phones and etc).

+ Full sized HDMI output, excellent for porting the video out to a TV.

+ The device includes a 2 year "Platinum" warranty with 24/7 technical support, set-up assistance, annual tune-up, and gloal emergency assistance. It even comes with a credit card sized warranty card.

+ Backlit keyboard for dark computing. It turns on and off with FN+Z.

+ Excellent for typing, with a good touch and an almost full sized keyboard.

+ Snappy 256 Gb SSD. The drive is excellent, and that amount of storage should suffice for most business users. The SD card slot can provide up to 128Gb more via SDXC cards. Due to the backup partitions and installed applications, there is about 185 Gb of space actually available listed by Windows.

+ Eco-mode capability, which reduces energy use by 40% or so, and can be adjusted.

+ Toshiba includes a special battery mode that will not charge the battery past 80%. This is intended to provide longer battery life, especially for those who keep the laptop connected to the power adapter a lot.

+ The webcam includes video stabilization.

+ Audio customized by harman/kardon. As noted elsewhere, it is great with headphones, but only adequate for internal speakers.

+ The touchpad emulates the Windows 8 swipe actions. For example, one can swipe in from the right of the touchpad to bring up the charms menu. It is a bit difficult to close items with the touchpad, but it is simple to do charms or the task manager. Well done.

+ The included charger is a mini brick, and the brick part itself is the smallest I've seen. This is great for storage.

Con:

The internal speakers are a bit tinny. Headset output is excellent.

There seem to be an inordinate amount of Toshiba utilities (12 programs are shown in the control panel).

The laptop comes with a program called PC Health Monitor installed it collects lots of data and sends it to Toshiba. The only way to disable it is by uninstalling. However nothing is listed by that name in the control panel "Remove Programs". At least the manual makes it clear that it is collecting lots of information. I believe this information is used to help Toshiba find better ways to improve their laptops, but it does raise some privacy issues.

One cannot make a backup media from the internal SD card slot (this may be a Windows 8 issue).

Touching the screen does not really work unless near the base of the screenthe entire display moves backwards. So swiping down is often a two handed (or wobbly) affair.

The laptop is expensive. One can find ultra portables for less money but probably not as nice in the little details of construction.

For an ultra portable device (at at this price point), a GPS module might have been useful.

The camera is only .9 megapixels. It is adequate for video conferencing and not much more.

I think they would have done better to put the speakers on the top of the device rather than underneath. They cannot be heard well except on a hard surface.

The estimated battery remaining is very optimistic. I found that if the computer went to sleep, the calculation started creeping upwards (obviously the computer adds in the time, even though the device was not awake). It seemed to settle somewhat after a few minutes, but I would not trust the estimate for accuracy. This is in line with other computers I have seen running Windows 8.

Value for the Price:

This model uses the I5 processor, which provides a balance of good speed and power consumption. There is an I7 version for an additional amount if one really needs more speed, but I found this one to be quite sufficient for my computing needs. However, in many ways the touch screen is really unnecessary. I did not find myself touching the screen (except when I first used it, for the novelty). For a device with no "tablet" mode, there really isn't much point to a touch screen. The keyboard is always present, and the touchpad is closer to the hands when typing than reaching up to use the touch screen and it is more accurate. Microsoft produced what is basically a tablet and phone operating system in Windows 8, and this ultraportable shows up the fact that touch is not really useful in a device with a full time keyboard. (I'm not attempting to criticize or review Windows 8, and Toshiba was basically forced to include this OS, but it is relevant to the decision on which laptop to buy). In my opinion, if you really want the great characteristics of this model, you would be better served by ordering the same model without the touch screen. It is hundreds of dollars cheaper and I don't think most users will find the touch screen that useful. I installed Classic Shell, which restores the start menu and bypasses the Windows 8 menus, because at this point I will be using mostly desktop applications anyway. With this sort of add on installed, it is basically the same as Windows 7 unless one pops back into the Windows 8 menus.

Summary: A beautiful screen and silky smooth computing experience. If you can afford the cost and your computing needs fit into this battery life, this is a wonderful ultra portable. But check out the non touch screen model as well before buying. Highly recommended.

Honest reviews on Toshiba KIRAbook 13 i5 Touchscreen Laptop

I have had this laptop for 2 days now.

The good is:

1) Screen is amazing.

2) Light and sturdy (no flex)

3) Great keyboard

4) Fast, even with the i5

5) Very responsive touchpad and touchscreen

The bad:

1) The wifi has no signal areas of my house where other devices (Ipad, Dell laptop, Iphone) have 3-4 bars. For example, I can watch online videos on my patio with the IPad while the Kirabook shows no connection.

Here is the response from their tech support and I quote: "This is not normal behavior for the wifi reception to behave like. I would recommend reinstalling the drivers for the wifi." I did and of course it made no difference. Hopefully this can get resolved.

2) The scaling in some programs and windows is screwed up with the high screen resolution. For example, the Adobe programs that came with the laptop have really small menus that are impossible to read for me.

Battery life is mediocre at best. I got < 4 hours out of my first 3 charges. Maybe it will improve.

3) Only HDMI port. No mini display or VGA. Need to carry adapter for all presentations.

4) Looooong charging time.

Update: I have used this laptop now for ~ 2 weeks. The battery life for normal usage is between 3.5 and 4 hours. Even with the lowest screen brightness and when just typing/Outlook 2013 I cannot get more than 4 hours. With music listening on the side, its 3 hours.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Toshiba KIRAbook 13 i5 Touchscreen Laptop

Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program I have a Mac Book Pro I use for programming iOS and Windows applications and an Alienware 18x I use for running all my virtual environments to program and do proof of concepts with SharePoint, BizTalk, and other server run applications. By the time I am done with my laptops and need a new one although they are still fairly high end machines, I have beaten them to near death. Those are the laptops my wife would inherit.

This time she finally got a new one. A new one that is smoking fast, light to carry, and has a touch screen. She has an iPad so she likes being able to touch the screen and have it react to her touch instead of just leaving a smudge.

She likes the Adobe Photoshop Elements 11 and Adobe Premiere Elements 11 software that came with it and is already using it to create a scrapbook of our trip to Bonaire.

She loves the start up speed and the battery life has been great.

The one and only thing she does not like is Windows 8. Like most people that have used it she finds it confusing and would like to see the scrolling start menu gone. Other than that she loves it.

All in all this is a great laptop for the price!!!

Review of Lenovo G530 15.4-Inch Laptop (Black Matte)

Customer Ratings:

We have noted various other computers while both shopping and helping solve our family's various computer issues, so I knew about what I wanted when it came time to replace our 10 year old IBM T23 Think Pad. Price was also a factor in our selection and frankly I simply wanted a Lenovo having had a long and very good experience with my T23. Lenovo is continuing the tougness of the past generation of IBM laptops.

The Lenovo G530 is really a fantastic laptop. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles that the $1200 laptops have, but it is extremely quick in doing everything I need when I go online. There is tons of storage space with a 165 gig Hard Drive, plus tons of memory-and I am even starting to like Windows 7. I may eventually go back to Linux Ubuntu distro which is my OS of choice.

The Lenovao G530 has a very bright wide screen moniter. All functions are responding well. Lenovo has continued the IBM PC and Laptop appearance, and I chuckle at the black matte finish and think: "something only a mother could love." Don't worry about appearances, they still have the toughness that I enjoyed for years with my T23. Imagine going from 30 gig hard drive up to 165 gigs, and the same relative improvements on the processor speeds and memory capacity. This unit literally flies from on web page to another. The visual properties of the 15.4 inch monitor as well as the more than adequate sound card give good performance for enjoying videos as well as extended listening to your favorite audios through Windows Media which is included in the Windows 7 Premium OS.

I plug in my Koss PortaPro Headphones and hear every detail of the music. The sound card gives crisp digital audio performance that you will really enjoy. I'm not an audiophile but enjoy listening to a lot of good music and I appreciate the sound that I get with the Lenovo G530

We are very satisfied with this purchase which arrived from Amazon in just two days. We used the $40 Amazon Vista rebate so the entire purchase was $400.00 which is a very good value for a laptop with the large screen and obvious quality and speed. A tip that works for me, instead of paying extra to buy Windows Office, we installed Open Office which works great for me both on Windows 7 and our Linux OS which I have on our Dell Desktop PC.

I recommend this computer and feel you'll get many performance features that you get on computers that cost much more. I have owned Gateway, Dell, HP and IBM and much prefer the current Lenovo G530 to all of them. Our Dell Desktops are recent purchases. The G530 has quickly taken over as my favorite. Great Value, Very Fast, and Built Tough.

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Love this computer... its having Windows 7 doesn't hurt either. It's fast, and feels good & solid (not like some of the cheaper models that almost feel like toys that'll break at the drop of a hat). We have another laptop we recently purchased at a local store this other one, besides feeling 'cheaper' has a dvd/cd tray that doesn't have the button to open the drive. This Lenovo has that simple feature I never appreciated before.

It runs nice & cool (amazingly cool, actually), great picture quality (gotta catch the recent NCIS episodes!) and the keyboard feels good to use.

The black matte finish keeps it looking nice (without fingerprints, etc) too.

Probably my only very minor complaint is that the place to plug-in the earphones (and microphone/alt audio-in) are at the very front which makes them inaccessible when I use my laptop cradle (which sets the laptop at an angle, resting against something on that bottom/front).

Oh, and I absolutely love the feature that allows me to physically turn off the wireless card!!!

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This system is much easier to deal with than I had anticipated. I bought is based on screen size, price, and knowing that lenovo used to make IBM's laptops. Figured I'd buy it and then cope with all the new system joy.

Well, it did NOT come loaded up with crapware. I'm a real fan of that! I had planned on spending an hour or two removing unwanted bloat, but didn't need to. It works just fine for what I bought it for running some light weight stuff like word processing, spreadsheets, finance and a tiny bit of web surfing. At the price of this thing, I can afford to keep it dedicated to those business type tasks while I use my other machines for gaming, heavy web surfing, etc.

All in all, I'm very impressed with this, my first Lenovo. I'm fairly certain I'll go to them for my next machine as well.

Honest reviews on Lenovo G530 15.4-Inch Laptop (Black Matte)

I bought this laptop for my wife's birthday. So far, she loves it and has no complaints at all. It's not a fully loaded computer, but for the price, it's a great choice. One thing I noticed, though, is when you plug or unplug the power while the laptop is on, it makes rather loud beeping. It may be embarrassing when that happens if you are in a meeting. Does anyone know if the beep can be turned off?

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I probably ought to have researched this purchase just a little bit more than I did, but I do like this laptop. It's bare bones, but otherwise meets the standards of quality of earlier IBM-manufactured ThinkPads. For web browsing, internet video playback, Inkscape, GPS map unpacking / updating, Skype/Google video chat and telephone calls, and photo uploading (the types of tasks I routinely perform on my G530), it's fine. More than enough storage, speedy Windows 7 operations and boot / standby recovery times.

I use it regularly with HP's WiFi Mouse, Siig's USB to HDMI Converter, Sandisk's MicroMate SD/SDHC Reader, Belkin's Mini Bluetooth Laptop Adapter (for tethering to my Blackberry Storm2 9550, and Belkin's USB 2.0 4-Port Mini Hub.

The keyboard is first rate for laptops. Likewise, no problems with the trackpad (which features a scroll function along the right side). Operation is quiet, even when the cooling fan is on. And the unit never gets too hot. No problems with the mic or web cam to report.

But I do have a list of either "dislikes" or "things I should have considered before purchasing" that I think are worth mentioning. Hopefully these will give you some available features to consider before finalizing your laptop decision:

1. The screen is glossy, not "anti-glare" -which means brighter colors, but depending on lighting conditions, it can be difficult to view (or you may find you're looking at a reflection of yourself).

2. As much as I tether to my cell phone for internet connectivity, I could stand to have built-in Bluetooth. The Belkin adapter I use takes up one of two available USB ports.

3. The battery live is limited. I can get about an hour of streaming internet video before it's depleted. Not much more for just general web surfing. I haven't found an extended battery for this unit.

4. The speakers are lacking in volume output when something louder is needed, though the sound quality is fine.

5. To play online video from Hulu or NBC on my television, I have to use the USB to HDMI converter I mentioned. I'd much rather have purchased a laptop with HDMI out.

6. A built-in SD card reader would have been nice. The Sandisk reader I use is fine, except it's so wide that I need to use it through a USB hub because otherwise it interferes with the other USB port.

7. There's no backlighted keyboard, so typing in the dark can be challenging.

8. I'm not a fan of front-facing headphone jacks for those semi-regular occasions I use earbuds.

9. Part of me would like a numeric keypad for very infrequent use, though that usually comes with a marked size increase.

The narrow aspect ratio of the 15.4" screen is almost impossible to find on anything newer than this unit, which is too bad because none of the 15.6" laptops fit in my bag. (Boo hoo!)

Contrary to what I've written, I don't regret this purchase much -the price was right, the operation is solid, and since purchasing this G530 I've learned a lot more about how I'll want to use my next laptop (or, at least, what features I want in it). So I'm satisfied that I didn't overbuy this first time around, yet am able to do want with it.

If you're looking for a bare bones internet machine with enough processor to get through some drawing and photo editing, and will be close to a power source, I have no qualms recommending this on your list of consideration -especially at the prices you can find it for these days.

Best Dell Alienware M11X Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 Gaming Notebook PC Deals

Customer Ratings:

It's a netbook in size only. This thing is a gaming POWERHOUSE! It can play all of the latest games, the only thing it lacks is an optical drive, but i gains by a pre-install of the Steam Client and Portal for free. only thing that i don't like how the backplate isn't customizable anymore, and you can't laser etch your name into the plate when you buy off of amazon. It stock includes 4Gbs of RAM 250Gb 7200 RPM HDD and a semi-old (but extremely powerful) Intel dual core processor. I've been able to play these so far with 30+ FPS:

TF2

HL2

Black Ops

L4D

L4D2

Modern Warfare 2

Postal 2

Portal

Portal 2

Counter-Strike: Source

Homefront.

It's amazingly awesome, haven't had any problems yet! Tech support is appearently bad but i hear that you've been able to contact through Dell and not Alienware. Great resolution screen (I can play Crysis 2 with 25 FPS with native res) cheap cheap optical drives floating around as an option. Has great speakers! i have really really bad acoustics in my family room, but with the speakers up all the way i can hear it from the back of my house! So many LED's with alienware LED software and if your computer has a problem, you can use Alien Re-spawn, which comes with this computer. Has LED's on the hard drive, fan on the bottom, illuminative keyboard, and on the dual speakers in the front. It's classified as an ultra-portable and that's exactly what it is. 7+ hours on integrated graphics. Oh! and you can switch the graphics almost instantly with the press of a button from discrete to integrated. (Intel HD graphics 3000). Can overclock by going into the BIOS and just selecting "overclock enable/disable". Great computer, affordable price. Great video quality, and good Internet connectivity, great for streaming media like YouTube and Netflix. As an added bonus, if you order from Dell, you can ship it with a game and accessories like a keyboard and mouse, and also customizable LED's from the website factory installed to your personal liking. Has a great metal casing that is VERY durable. BEST computer I've ever had!

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When first purchasing this I did not know what to think. Wanted a good laptop but did not want to pay alot of money for. Went to Dell site and for everything laptop has in it put it why over the price I purchased it for. It Intell dual Core processing speed 1.30Ghz,4GB OF Ram and can expand up to 8GB. And a 250GB Harddrive and a very good 11.1 viewing screen with a 720p HD viewing and a dedicated graphics cards 1GB which means one hella gaming machine. Other features I like lighted keyboard face recondition wireless abgn and webcam and mike. All this for one low price and would deal with this retailer again. Thanks bulldog7062

Best Deals for Dell Alienware M11X Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 Gaming Notebook PC

I bought this laptop used with upgrades including a 500GB 7200RPM Hard Disk Drive, brand new internal LCD, and an external DVD-RW Drive with Lightscribe for $377 USD. It also came with the soft case, box, and everything else you'd get with it had it been purchased new. Despite being an excellent buy for the money, I was a bit concerned if it would be a good enough buy for myself, as its intended use was to be a work computer for graphic design and animation. After using the machine, I can honestly say that I am more than satisfied with its work capability, primarily in Photoshop CS6.

My main concern when buying the laptop was with the LCD; as the LCD is the first thing one looks at when buying a laptop, considering it cannot be upgraded; it can only be pushed to the side by adding a second (or third?) external monitor via side video ports. I thought that there was no way that an 11.6" screen would suffice for work, but the M11x has the same resolution as the much larger, 15.6" laptop screens at work.

My second concern was the fact that it didn't have an internal optical drive, but an internal view reveals that the space where an optical drive is normally stored is occupied by a portion of the immense battery instead. I primarily utilize USB and SD cards for data storage and transfer, but the fact that the seller also included an external optical drive removed any doubts from my mind. With the battery in mind, I must say that I am overwhelmed by the battery life of this laptop. This laptop is several years old with the original battery, yet the battery life is true to the boxed specifications despite the fact that the battery has been heavily used and has to power the CPU I have overclocked to 1.7Ghz.

The overclocking process was painless. A quick trip into the BIOS reveals an overclocking option that is a simple toggle. There is no messing with voltages. Depending on your personal preference, this may be a pro or a con. Although I was expecting a little more to play with inside the BIOS, I understand that laptops are laptops and desktop options would only drain the valued battery life. Overall I am pleased with not having to enter the BIOS from time to time in order to refine things, the main thing that I'd need to change in the bios can actually be altered from within the Windows OS on the fly.

The dual GPUs are amazing! Simply press a command on the keyboard and swap video cards without having to enter the BIOS. Battery life is excellent with the more powerful GPU alongside an overclocked CPU. As for the software side of things, Windows 8 installed flawlessly and works without issue with the Alienware software. Boot speed is drastically improved from the Windows 7 experience. The Alienware software is easy to use, and really allows your personality to shine through with the various color options you can assign to your backlit keyboard, logo, etc. In an sea of whitewashed Macintoshs and other drab laptops, this option really allows an artist to be expressive in a positive way.

As far as the wireless networking goes, the wifi seems to work well for connecting to the network and accessing the internet. So far there are no issues with that at home, the office, or on the go at cafes etc. The only negative thing I can comment on is that I have issues transferring large files from PC to Laptop or vice versa. I haven't taken the time to troubleshoot my aging network, so I cannot blame these issues on the laptop; at least not yet anyways. My network currently is in need of upgrades to be brought up to the Wireless N and Gigabit standards of today's hardware.

There are some pros and cons with the laptop, but considering the price, the pros heavily outweigh the cons.

Pros:

-customizable lighting that compliment both the form and function of the device

-extensive battery life

-dual GPUs

-ease of use

-sharp screen resolution. Screen size would be a con, but I can't objectively complain when the amount of pixels included is the same amount as a much larger 15.6" display.

Cons:

-No DirectX 11 support

-No internal optical drive (not really a con for me, but I'm grasping for straws to include some cons)

Final Thoughts:

This laptop really packs a punch despite its size and age. Considering that this laptop is being hauled to and from work in a case along with the charger and a 15" Wacom Intuos5 Touch Medium Pen Tablet (PTH650), I am now really starting to appreciate its lightweight 11.6" form factor. For under $400 It can't be beat. At around $500, buyers might have to weigh their options. At about $529 plus shipping (depending on retailer), the Acer Aspire V3-551G-8454 Gaming Notebook is a formidable challenger. It too has dual GPUs thanks to the A8 processor and 7670M dedicated video card. It has the same resolution, but it is stretched across a larger screen. Same desktop area, larger image, but a fuzzier picture. The GPUs support DirectX11, but with AMD (ATI) chips that do not support CUDA. If you need to utilize CUDA for various programs including Adobe CS6, then the Alienware is for you. The Acer has the internal optical drive, but sacrifices 25% of the battery you'd get with the Alienware. On the other hand, the Alienware laptop sacrifices the full sized keyboard you'd get with Acer in favor of the sharper image and 11.6" form factor. One final thought would be my personal preference for Dell's customer support over Acer support.

WORD OF CAUTION:

This model laptop was recalled due to an issue with the VGA components in the laptop hinge that was prone to breakage. When buying this laptop, be sure to check that the laptop was sent to Dell for supported repairs, or be sure that you will be able to do it yourself after purchase.

Honest reviews on Dell Alienware M11X Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 Gaming Notebook PC

The laptop itself is great. The first couple days it will seem glitchy and thats because you need to do all of the updates for its especially windows 7 service pack 1. After that the blue screens of death stopped.Mine came with one of the rubber stands on the bottom shorter than the others so when you rest your left palm on it it jiggles. I just superglued a penny to it and the problem is gone.

You should buy this from another source because this seller didn't respond to my emails to resolve an issue. My issue was that literally the day after I bought they slashed $50.00 of the price and I didn't think it was fair and that it would be alot more efficient for them to refund me the difference rather than go to the trouble of returning it for a full refund only to buy the same computer again. I thought of doing that but I loved the laptop so much that I decided to go ahead and keep it because it was a price I was willing to pay to begin with and I still had consumer surplus.

Review of Acer Aspire V5-131-2629 11.6" Laptop (Black)

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $440.53
Sale Price: $348.23
Today's Bonus: 21% Off

Long story short. I wanted an inexpensive 11.6 inch notebook with Windows 7 to travel with and use in and around my home. I found it with the Acer V5-131-2629.

When I discovered this Windows 7 laptop, I was excited to find that it was still available in mass quantities. In fact, mine was manufactured only a couple of months ago. I really didn't want to go the Windows 8 route for what I was trying to accomplish with this laptop.

This laptop had everything I was looking for; Windows 7 Home Premium, Intel Celeron 1007U 1.5 GHz dual core processor, 11.6" screen (1366x768), 4GB DDR3 ram memory, 500GB hard drive, Intel GMA HD Graphics, WIFI A, G, N and Bluetooth 4.0. It also has three USB ports (2.0) and not 3.0 as advertised along with HDMI, VGA and Ethernet ports. It also comes with a 6-cell lithium ion battery with a battery life of 6.5 hours. The battery does protrude at the bottom of the laptop, but in turn gives it a nice angle to use. You can order a four cell battery replacement if you want a slimmer and flush look to the laptop at the expense of battery life. I ordered one and will use the 6-cell battery as a spare.

The laptop itself has a great design and form factor. If you have seen Acer's Chromebook C710 11.6" laptop, this is the same exact laptop, but in black and the inclusion of Windows 7. The chiclet keyboard and screen are very good. It is very easy to open the back panel for any user upgrades such as upgrading the ram or hard drive to an SSD. All you have to do is remove one screw and slide the back panel off.

After using this laptop, I'm very pleased with it. The Windows Experience Index rates it 4.4 out of the box with no upgrades. It is very fast and has no problems streaming 1080p video. I have noticed no lag at all.

If you want the flexibility of a laptop without the limitations of a tablet, this Acer laptop offers lots of bang and a real good look for the buck. I strongly recommend it.

I have a video of the laptop hands on. Check out my youtube channel HDiNDEMAND.

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I am upgrading to this unit from an Aspire One 751, which was also based on a dual-core Celeron but from the Core2 generation. Other than not being a fan of click pads (industry standard these days) and the lousy internal speakers, it's hard for me to find things about this notebook I don't like, especially considering the $350 price tag. I was surprised to see that Acer didn't cheap out and provided a nice 6-cell battery.

I had pretty specific criteria when considering a replacement for my old model:

-A low-end CULV ivy bridge intel CPU that doesn't produce too much heat

-RAM expansion up to at least 8GB

-11.6" Matte LCD screen

-Windows 7 or Linux

-Decent battery life (4+ hours per charge in real world use)

-Low Cost

This was really the only one out there I could find that met all my demands.

I also learned that Celeron 1007U in this model has Intel HD 2500 graphics, which is supposed to be supported in OSX 10.8, so this could possibly be a good contender for running OSX86.

I'll give this one 4.5/5 stars for the lousy speakers (you get what you pay for)

Best Deals for Acer Aspire V5-131-2629 11.6" Laptop (Black)

Although I only got this laptop this week I am very pleased with it. I was looking for something in between a regular laptop and a tablet and this is it. It only weights about 3 lbs which is perfect. It still has a full keyboard and a 12 inch screen so it is not hard for me to use but it is light to carry around. I did order a case for it. It came easy to set up for a wireless network. I got Skype loaded right away and it is great b/c it has a camera installed so works well with Skype. I wanted Windows 7 and it has that so I am also pleased with that. So far the battery life seems decent and I am trying to keep it charged up for when I leave the house with it.

Honest reviews on Acer Aspire V5-131-2629 11.6" Laptop (Black)

My three plus year old Acer Aspire one Netbook started to cause me problems, slow and overheating.

I found this Acer Aspire V5-131 on Amazon for a good price with Windows 7, which I wanted.

They advertised 3 USB 3 ports. Which it did not have, only 3 USB 2 ports. That is why I gave it only 4 stars.

It seems like a very good Notebook, small with full size keyboard.

Boots in 45 seconds.

Battery life is over 5 hours.

I ran a two hour movie from the hard drive 2 and 1/2 times until the battery dropped to 10%. (a little over 5 hours)

Screen brightness was on at almost full for the duration of my test.

Windows Experience Index is 4.5. Plays, with no problems, all the video types that I tried including .mts files from my camera.

Audio from the small speakers is poor but I expected this.

HDMI work good, Bluetooth works good, and the WiFi sensitivity is good.

I tried converting my camera video (.mts files) to .wmv. Processor ran at 90 to 100 percent and CPU temp never got over 60 C.

I would recommend this laptop it to anyone who needs a simple computer.

You should have good eyesite for this small screen though.

I might install a solid state drive to give it more speed and longer battery life.

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I've had the laptop for a few days, so this is just a first impressions, but it seems pretty good so far. My last laptop was a 17" ASUS gaming machine, which performed admirably, but having since built my own desktop and really settling into the college life, I found myself wanting something smaller and less cumbersome, not to mention that the ASUS had been slowly developing problems ever since I bought it about 4 years ago.

So for this purchase, I was looking for something cheap, mostly as a mobile programming terminal, and this thing performs quite well in that aspect. It's quite small and lightweight, and has some really good battery life. I turned it on this morning at about 11 o'clock to check a few things before going to class and have had it on -or at least asleepever since (for reference, it's about 5:30 and I still have 28% remaining, which the computer claims is still well over an hour). It's certainly better than my old laptop which only just recently (thanks to a driver update) managed to pull just over 2 hours.

The only downsides so far are that the speakers are pretty awful, but then again this should be expected and is easily counteracted by some earbuds or external speakers, and the mousepad is a little hard to use if you have big hands, but I pretty much always carry a wireless mouse with me anyways, so that still hardly an issue.

Overall:

Pros-

* Good battery life (easily 5-6 hours, more if you put it to sleep when not in use and dim the screen)

* Nice keyboard, even for those with large hands

* Decent boot time (takes about 45 seconds or so; could be made faster with an SSD)

* Comes with Windows 7, for those of us that still enjoy the interface

Cons-

* Speakers are bad (but why would you be using them anyway?)

* Touchpad is mediocre and takes some fiddling to work with, but workable

Will update if anything of note comes up.

Discount Dell - XPS 18 18.4" Portable Touch-Screen All-In-One Computer - 4GB

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $1,199.00
Sale Price: $1,025.00
Today's Bonus: 15% Off

I love this 18.4" tablet. It runs smoothly and is very responsive to my fingers.

Battery lasts forever and it's so light for being so big.

I've had this since early June and have been so incredibly pleased so far. It runs just like a desktop computer, but it allows me to hold it on my lap and browse like a giant tablet. Everything flows so well, and loads FAST!! The best thing is that when I need to really type i can get out the Bluetooth keyboard that came with it and type like I would on a desktop.

The XPS 18 is the missing link between tablet, laptop, and pc. It brings all of the strengths from all 3 categories while having none of the weaknesses.

The only real problem area that I've noticed is gaming. It absolutely works on many older titles, however not the best with some newer; at least with the i3 model. If you want to do some gaming i would recommend getting the i5 model or higher. That version also comes with double the RAM of the i3 and it'll tell during performance.

This is absolutely the smartest choice to buy whether you want to do some light gaming, browse the web, or take it on the go to watch movies. You can sit down at a desk with a keyboard for the traditional desktop experience or sit down on the couch or lay in bed with it like a super sized tablet to surf the web or watch a movie under the warm covers.

Get an XPS 18 today!

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Great for simple tasks, lightweight for its size. No Ethernet port, no HDMI or display port, only 2 USB ports. Might work as laptop replacement for some users.

Best Deals for Dell - XPS 18 18.4" Portable Touch-Screen All-In-One Computer - 4GB

Amazing little computer.

Out of the AIOs (All In Ones) -and I've checked them all -this is easily my favorite at the time of this writing. And I'm normally a Dell hater, and a Mac fanatic! (seriously!)

It's light enough (around 5 pounds) so you can drag it from room to room, or even pick it up and show people things.

You can also travel with it. Just throw it in your luggage with your clothes, and you have a FULL computer with you!!

A travel computer was what I was initially looking for, because I tend to get more work done on AIOs like iMacs than I do on anything else. For travel, giant laptops are no fun. They're always awkward, weird and kinda yucky. But this thing is fun! It's so light and enjoyable. It's also less fragile seeming than something like an iMac. It's MEANT to be moved. It's kinda like a gigantic (but still light!) iPad, that you can actually use creative and productivity apps on.

With Windows 8.x, it's starting to become almost as easy as a Mac. (and almost cooler looking with the live tiles)

With around 4 hours of real battery life, YES, you can use it unplugged! I can hardly believe you can use a full powered PC unplugged! woohoo!!! (I don't know how they fit such a massive battery in, given it's so light)

All in all, this was a massive surprise to me. I looked at every All In One on the market, and from online reviews, I didn't know this one would be as awesome as it is. But it is awesome, indeed. Try looking and playing with All In Ones IN PERSON, and you'll see exactly what I mean. It does edge out the iMacs for portability. Apple needs to learn a thing or two from this Dell. (I may try to make it into a Hackintosh)

Requests for the future:

Full Haswell chipset, so it works ever faster and gets better battery life. I don't know why Dell hasn't updated it yet. Haswell + XPS 18 make a perfect couple.

Real GPU option, not just the Intel crap. I have creative apps that use Nvidia GPUs only (CUDA) to speed things up. Even a lowlier Nvidia would mean the world to people like me. (and the world to gamers!)

And, uhh... I dunno? I find this PC so much more usable and lovable than almost anything in the market, it's hard to say. Maybe a full SSD option would be nice?

Seriously... go out and try this thing! (they have 'em at many big box stores as well as Dell kiosks) It's surprisingly enjoyable! Handily beats Lenovo, HP, Samsung, Apple and all the rest. Good work, Dell!

Honest reviews on Dell - XPS 18 18.4" Portable Touch-Screen All-In-One Computer - 4GB

There are plenty of other detailed technical reviews on here that cover it pretty well. However, I am going to sum it up. This is one Dell got right. A laptop, desktop and tablet all in one and it is very responsive.

The only negative is you can't play graphic intensive games.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Dell - XPS 18 18.4" Portable Touch-Screen All-In-One Computer - 4GB

great touchscreen all in one .

very easy to cary around.

toy soilders touch works great as does any pc game i tried.

windows 8.1 is very cool and easy to learn