Discount Dell Inspiron 1545 15.6-Inch Jet Black Laptop - Up to 4 Hours 34

Customer Ratings:

I've owned several laptops and would be considered an intermediate to advanced computer user. I've built my own desktops, tweaked a few laptops and owned various brands of laptops including HP, Fujitsu, Sony and Dell (Inspiron, Latitude and XPS series).

I purchased this exact laptop directly from Dell (got a better deal than current Amazon pricing) based upon Consumer Report's November 2009 article recommendations where the Dell Inspiron 1545 was rated a 'Best Buy' for every day computing. I purchased it for my husband who will use it primarily for watching an occasional movie from Netflix streaming wirelessly on our home network, emailing to share jokes and videos with his friends, and browsing the Internet.

After setting it up, which other than running into a snag with my home network was a breeze, and playing with it for about an hour, these are my impressions.

The PROS:

+ Comes with Windows 7 no need to upgrade, and the 64-bit combined with the more than adequate memory makes things move nicely. Slightly different than Vista's look, but should be easy to use.

+ Adequate hard drive (mine came with a 320) for storing photos, videos and music.

+ Great 1.3mp webcam which delivers pretty nice snapshots (not too grainy) as well as excellent video (very little drag of movement).

+ Good speakers! Better than those on my Dell XPS, for which I paid 30% more less than a year ago.

+ 3 usb ports

+ Bright 15.6" display; nice size. I sometimes find the 13" on the XPS too small and the Fujitsu had a 17" which is fine for a desktop replacement but really adds weight to the overall unit.

+ Virtually silent running. No fan noise to speak of and yet...

+ Stays cool to the touch! Not worried about overheating on this one.

The CONS:

Keyboard is OK, but not as responsive as some others I've used.

The touchpad seems a tad small and the buttons (left/right click) seem too low by comparison to the keyboard. It could be the size of my hands (small...) but I tend to think it's just the layout.

The high gloss finish inside and the glossy display (versus matte finish) look cool, but do show fingerprints and reflect light to the point of sometimes being a nuisance.

There is no 'media only' button like on the XPS where you don't have to turn on the computer to watch a movie, but this is something that higher end laptops would have and may simply be a perk to paying more.

Heavier than some others, but at under six pounds, it's still not too bad.

Matte finish on the outside shows greasy smudges where you've touched it. I have the same issue with my XPS, but frankly I've never found a finish that doesn't show something.

Not a multi-media or gaming powerhouse. It will play dvd's and games, but if you're buying a laptop and really into those things, spend a bit more and make sure you upgrade your video and audio to support your interests. The 4GB of memory really helps as much as anything and I didn't notice any issues with the media I tested.

SET-UP:

The only issue I had with setting up this laptop was with my home network not being accepted because Windows 7 didn't like the security settings I had in place. I could get the 1545 to recognize my network, but it wouldn't connect until I changed the settings. I had my wireless settings on WEP and Windows 7 wanted WPA. Once I changed the settings, the laptop connected. I then had to go to 8 different devices on my network and make sure they were happy. Only one item: Myine Electronics IR001 WiFi Internet Radio Adaptor wasn't happy, but eventually accepted the settings with some concentrated tweaking.

BATTERY LIFE:

Battery life seems to be about 3.5 hours. I think the 4+ hour estimate is high, but that undoubtedly is also based upon what things you are doing on the laptop and mobile power settings.

CONCLUSION:

If you purchase this Dell you are getting a solid workhorse for every day computing for a fair price. I think it's quality is certainly higher than an Acer with the same specs, and backed by a 1 year warranty from Dell. (Having had a Dell laptop that needed the keyboard replaced recently, I truly think the warranty service provided by Dell they came to my house the next day is exceptional and worth the small price hike over some other brands.)

The Dell Inspiron 1545 is perfect for a student, a grandma who likes to email or wants to keep up with the grandkids on Skype, or anyone who has no need for the latest and greatest gaming, multi-media computer. For a laptop with a webcam, 4GB memory, and Windows 7 (64-bit) that's ready to fly right out of the box... it's a good choice.

**WIRELESS NOTE: If you are having trouble connecting to a wireless network, be sure you check the included 'set-up guide', page 10, to find the wireless key on your keyboard. You can inadvertently press this key and turn off your wireless capabilities. Handy on airplanes... not so handy at home.

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We bought the Dell Inspiron 15 (1545) to replace an aging ACER laptop as an "everyday" laptop for my teen son to use for homework and casual gaming. For the price, the performance, features and display have far exceeded our expectations. While not a gaming or graphics power machine, it has more than enough processor speed, memory, and hard drive space for our needs.

This is a very simple laptop to set up and use. The box only contains the PC (with battery already installed), the power supply, and a packet of software CDs (which I did not use) with minimal documentation. The instructions recommended charging the laptop for 12 hours before using the battery, which was fine as I just left it plugged in while configuring the machine. The initial setup took about 20 minutes, and was very straight forward as it found and connected right away to my WEP protected home WiFi network. The Windows 7 configuration was straight forward and no errors were encountered. Dell also recommends updating the BIOS right away and the instructions are included in the documentation. It was a very easy process and only took another 20 minutes or so to complete.

PROS:

+ Windows 7 is preinstalled 64 bit OS, works well

+ Very Nice 15.6" Screen Very clear and bright

+ Good Webcam and Software Provides better than expected image and video quality

+ Fast DVD+RW Drive

+ Large Hard Drive

+ Large Amount of RAM

+ Good Touchpad very responsive and doesn't have the "random jump" issue seen on other laptops

CONS:

Only 3 USB Ports, no HDMI, Firewire, etc

Finish is a Fingerprint Magnet

Limited Pre-installed Software

Overall this is a good value laptop that will meet most general daily office, homework, and web surfing needs.

Recommended!

Best Deals for Dell Inspiron 1545 15.6-Inch Jet Black Laptop - Up to 4 Hours 34

I also have had issues with Dell and the Inspiron 1545. Firstly, there is a known issue with the cursor randomly jumping to a different spot while typing. At first I thought it was an issue with MS Word, but then it began happening anywhere I was typing outside of Word such as Gmail or even writting a review for Amazon. Researching the issue online, I found I was not alone with this problem. Trying to get support from Dell was a joke. They give you the run around until you give up. Then, about 3 months after I bought it, the touchpad stopped working. I only paid $649.00 for the machine, so I expected mid-level performance, but needless to say I was disappointed with my first Dell laptop. I own 2 Dell desktops that I have had no issues with. However, I will not be buying another Dell laptop.

Honest reviews on Dell Inspiron 1545 15.6-Inch Jet Black Laptop - Up to 4 Hours 34

First off, let me state that this is an excellent laptop for any user. It has any basic requirements that a casual user would want such as: wireless internet, easy-to-use mouse pad, fast start up speeds, DVD/CD player and recorder, and a beautifully sized screen. For the more advanced user it is also more than suitable comprising of 4 GB of RAM, 300 GB of hard drive space, and a 64-bit CPU. Not only all does it contain these features, but it is extremely simple to set up. Dell makes an excellent laptop. All the parts run smoothly and placed into a very durable shell that comprises the Dell Inspiron laptop. Not only does it look great, but with the the new Windows 7 operating system this computer runs faster than ever before. I have owned this laptop for over a year and half and have still yet to come up any issues involving my laptop. The only downside i have to this laptop is the battery life. After about a year of usage the battery life seems to start dropping more rapidly than most other laptops do. Other than the battery life, this laptop contains all the specifications most anybody would be more than pleased with and for the price this laptop is the best buy in the market place.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Dell Inspiron 1545 15.6-Inch Jet Black Laptop - Up to 4 Hours 34

I was looking for a laptop for my wife and I to use to replace our last laptop which was a Dell Inspiron 8100 (yes I know it would seem that this would be a later model but the odometer must have clicked over on their model numbering system). That laptop was 9 years old. Still original screen and keyboard. I did replace the hard drive with a larger one and had to replace the batteries once along with the screen hinge. Other than that my first Inspiron lasted well past its predicted life. The cost of that laptop $2500.

The year is now 2010 and I was able to pick this laptop up from Dell for $549 with a bonus of 4GB ram. It has a dual core intel chip. It is easily as powerful as my current desktop. I reinstalled the Windows 7 operating system right out of the box wiping out all of the Dell factory added software. Usually those programs are just clutter. In 30 minutes I was firing Windows 7 up on the new Inspiron.

We have had it for about a week and we are very pleased with the purchase. I'll just quickly go over a few of the positives, some of the items that could have been made better and some features that I didn't think about when ordering the laptop that I would have liked to add but didn't.

This laptop is the base model of base models in the laptop world. Make sure whatever laptop you get it has a great cpu and plenty of memory. The hard drive you can change later, the rest you can not. For this price point the CPU and memory is fantastic. No issues running multiple applications. It will work great for Photo editing software, internet browsing and watching online movies or playing music.

The network card included is a 54mb/s speed (G) however there was a choice to get the faster N network card which I opted not to get. Two days after I got the laptop my router broke and I bought a new N network router. Now my laptop is stuck at the slower speed. *BUT SLOWER IS PLENTY FAST FOR ANYTHING YOU WANT TO DO HERE* If you don't need the cutting edge speed then stick with the G option. A note about N there is no standard yet for this speed. This means that devices could be incompatible with newer Routers if the standar is finalized differently than it exists now.

I chose the 9-cell battery over the standard 6 cell. I am big on getting alot of time out of a charge in a laptop. It is nice to not have to plug it in for 6 hours. Which is about what I am getting at the moment. This will decrease over time so the higher starting point will make the mid life range of the battery probably be in 4 hour range. Note though that the 9 cell battery uses a modified battery cover and extends from the back of the laptop with 3 extra batteries.

The screen is bright and clear. It is not full high def but close to half high def. (The resolution is not the official 720p half high def but in fact just slightly higher.) Being a base laptop with an economy price the need for anything more expensive will really outdo the other components and I find it is unnecessary for my purposes.

The look is simple which is my preference. The insides of the laptop around the keboard and screen are Jet Black (and attract fingerprints) the outside of mine is flat black with a silver Dell logo. This also attracts greasy fingerprints. You will have to just not let this bother you and clean it with a soft cotton cloth every once in a while. Its a a budget laptop with great looks and clean lines.

So the good inexpensive, good option for a longer life batter, clear bright screen.

The annoying (I wouldn't call it bad because it is a budget laptop). Probably to make these next few items better the cost of the laptop would increase.

The pointer a pad in this model. We loose the fingertip pointer on the keyboard which I used almost exclusively in my old laptop. They cleaned up the touch pad and made it look integral to the remainder of the case of the laptop. There are no edges for crumbs to get caught in. There are two buttons below it for right and left clicking. This is adequate for the laptop of this price range. However the annoying part comes in that it is touch. Typing and a brief graze with a thumb will relocate your pointer. Annoying but you get used to it. The last annoying thing about it is that it is very difficult to select a larger portion of text. This can probably be fixed by adjusting the pointer setting in Windows. I just haven't gotten to that yet.

Since we didn't get a high def screen there is no high def output. I wanted to connect this to my tv to view some Hulu.com shows but there was nothing to accomplish this. There is a single VGA out to connect to a External Monitor or a Project but no dongle as in the Inspiron 8100 that just gave us an S VIDEO out. A sign of the times I guess.

Ok so I guess not too many annoying things. More better than worse with the best feature being the price making this laptop reachable by most budgets. Spend the extra $150 bucks and get this laptop over a Mini (netbook).

I would buy this from dell directly. Shipping may take longer however you can often find deals like I did for money off the price along with an upgrade to 4GB memory. It ships with Windows 7 64bit and this OS is plenty worth it, a large improvement over Vista. Brings me back to the Windows XP times.

I give this 4 starts not 5 because of the lack of the fingertip pointer, no external video connection to connect to the TV's of today. I would get 4 and a half probably. I hope this one will last me another at least 5 years.

One other note before I go Dell laptops are fragile. If you take care of them, don't carry them by the screen, close them with not in use and just be overall gentle with their use and placing them down. Keep it in a padded bag and it should serve you well. To get the best life out of the battery, use the battery! Plug it in to charge it to 100% and then unplug it. Use it until it has as close as you feel comfortable to 0% I usually use it to around 15% and then plug it back in overnight.

Hope you enjoy. (see my other reviews and support future reviews by visiting )

Sean

Sean's Review

sean@seansreview.com

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

Customer Ratings:

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

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

Sony VAIO T Series SVT1311CGXS 13.3 LED Notebook Intel Core Review

Customer Ratings:

As a corporate user I am really impressed with the light weight, great processing speed and sub 10 second Windows boot! As an IT professional I travel often and bought this for frequent travel. I'm so impressed with the performance this may be my main machine. I was nervous about the keyboard feel given the limited reviews I found on othe sites. In fact the keyboard is great!

Very happy with this machine, and as an owner of an Lenovo think pad, iPad2, iMac, MacbookPro 2nd gen, that says a lot! I did upgrade to 8GB of memory and love the SSD in this model.

Cheers!

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Sony VAIO VPCSE25FX/B 15.5 Inch Laptop (Jet Black) Reviews

Customer Ratings:

I found this laptop to be well thought out and comfortable to use. The i5 processor provides plenty of power for almost any task while not running so hot as to cause the fans to continually go on and off as a lot of the i7 laptops do out there today. The fans are pretty quite most of the time except during long software installs like installing multiple Windows Updates.

The display quality and lighted keyboard are excellent. The only "Con" of the unit I observed was that while running during ordinary tasks the battery life averaged only 2.5 hours. An extended life "sheet" battery is available but it has the disadvantage of adding thickness to the laptop. The laptop is very light and I wish Sony had designed it for a larger standard battery even if the weight would have been more.

All in all though this is one fine laptop and recommended.

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I've owned this computer for several months, and it has been a great computer. I saw there was a 2 star review of this model and I wanted to share my experience regarding his comments, and also some of thoughts of my own.

Fan Yes it is located on the back and and substantially "blocked" by the screen, but the screen is so thin that I think it acts somewhat like a radiator, and like the other reviewer, (Neil) said, heat is not an issue. Also, in my experience the noise from the fan is minimal, (usually I have to put my head closer to the computer to confirm that the slight whirring noise is actually coming from the computer, and not something else nearby) This is by far the quietest computer I've used, save for some Apple laptops that don't have a fan at all.

Yes, it is mostly, if not completely plastic on the exterior, but it doesn't seem like "cheap" plastic, it has a decent texture, and it doesn't look gaudy as many laptops do.

Battery life is not very important to me, but is does have enough life to play about 1-2 BD movies, or 2-3 DVD movies.

The 1080p HD Screen is this laptops strong suit, I also really like the back-lit keyboard with auto on/off.

The touch pad is accurate and easy to use with both light or firm touch.

So far I haven't experienced any soft/hard-ware issues, the computer always starts up quickly, and has NEVER needed a restart, (other than restarts required for software installs).

I have used both the STAMINA and SPEED settings, fan speeds for mine don't differ very much. I haven't noticed any difference in "speed" of operation between the two settings, but what I have noticed is when the computer is in the STAMINA setting, the screen refresh rate dramatically reduces, and while under florescent, (60Hz) lighting, screen flashing is noticeable. I think this is the big contributor to extended battery life, (having the screen "on" less of the time, (probably 60Hz instead of 120Hz or more)). Also, when the computer is set to Speed, the WiDi feature doesn't work, I don't view this as a problem, because I'm convinced that most of what this switch does is change the screen refresh rate, and since you won't be using the computers screen it shouldn't be a downfall.

My Conclusion: Very nice laptop, minimal fan noise, stays "cool", awesome screen and back-lit keyboard, nice touch-pad, light weight, versatile, powerful, and I think, the only light weight, large HD screen, BluRay Disc playing laptop on the market. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!

Thanks for reading,

Sean

Best Deals for Sony VAIO VPCSE25FX/B 15.5 Inch Laptop (Jet Black)

I've had this computer for about 2 weeks now and my impressions so far are mixed. The computer is a great balance of features and portability, especially for the price. It is thin and light weight, which is great considering it has a large hard drive and blue-ray player. I also love the LED backlit keyboard. The display is great as well. Now for the bad I hate most Windows computers come with so much junk software. This thing seems to be relying on too much of the processor considering it's new and I haven't installed much yet. When I open performance monitor with no programs open, it hovers around 5% CPU usage. I may end up doing a clean reinstall of Windows to see if it addresses the problem because deleting programs hasn't helped. The microphone is also terrible. I don't know if it's the fan that causes interference, but the microphone is not acceptable for recording or for Skype-ing. I had to buy a USB microphone (there is no microphone jack), but now I have fantastic sound quality. I record videos so I probably would have done this anyway. And for the ugly as I mentioned, the processor seems to be overworking for some reason. Unfortunately, the fan placement is terrible. The vent is on the bottom of the computer toward the right side. There is no way not to have it sitting on your right leg if you have it on your lap, constantly blowing warm air on your leg (and I do mean constantly the fan has not turned off since I've owned it, except when it's in sleep mode). This thing definitely runs warmer than I would like. I'm probably going to end up buying a cooling pad for it because it's intolerable in the summer. I would actually give this computer 3.5 stars if that were an option. The only reason I bumped it up to 4 is because it's probably the most computer (without bulk) that you can get for the money.

Honest reviews on Sony VAIO VPCSE25FX/B 15.5 Inch Laptop (Jet Black)

I was really excited about this laptop until it I saw it and used it.

The huge cosmetic surprise was that this laptop is essentially ALL PLASTIC. Some reviewer said it is aluminum which is totally wrong. Every major external part is made of plastic (like many laptops).

The biggest functional flaw is by far the FAN PLACEMENT. It is located on the BACK of the laptop. Normally this isn't a bad thing, except on this laptop, when you open the lid/screen, IT BLOCKS THE FAN. IT'S SO FUNNY. I can't imagine who would design something so stupid? If you open the lid/screen, it essentially blocks the fan causing the fan to run harder and harder making a lot of noise. Essentially Sony sacrificed function for style (cooling and fan placement is not something you want compromised).

CONS:

-FAN PLACEMENT (See above)

-Fan runs on high and very loud even for minimal loads

-ALL PLASTIC BODY (the plastic seems sort of cheap and light, likely to reduce the weight)

-Battery is life not good (less than would be expected for a 15.6")

-Only three USBs, all placed on one side

-It just has a weird look to it. It's nothing like the more or less standard look you find on HPs or MacBook Pros. It looked amazing in the pictures, but I didn't like how it looked in person. I think the square, sharp edges and corner (instead of round ones) have a lot to do with it.

-The "Stamina" or "Speed" manual switch on the top left of the keyboard is almost unique to this laptop. It is used to switch between integrated or discrete graphs. Normally this is a plus, except this laptop CANNOT HANDLE THE HEAT from "Speed" or discrete graphs so you always leave it on "Stamina"

PROS:

-Very light, among the lightest 15.6" laptops you will find (the cheap plastic probably helps with that)

-Very comfortable keyboard (similar to Lenovo keyboards)

-Full HD 1920x1080 resolution (major plus)

-IPS LED Backlit technology for the monitor (again, major plus)

CONCLUSION: This laptop is a very light weight 15.6" laptop with an incredible display. Just expect an ALL PLASTIC body and expect loud fan noise even under minimal loads. Surprisingly, heat was not an issue, but very loud fan noise was.

Buy Clevo P150EM (Sager NP9150) - 15.6" Gaming Laptop

Customer Ratings:

AWESOME! runs quiet & cool, great display, fast graphics. Great bang for the buck for an all-around gaming/work pc.

1). Cool extremely quiet during normal operation, runs cool while quiet. Runs multiple applications and a zillion browsing tabs at same time with no hesitation.

2). While in intense rendering operations (photographic manipulation and intense gaming), second fan comes on which has a slight noise. But it is still very quiet, just a low hum you barely notice at most. The heat output from the fans is thus increased but there are TWO fan air outputs on the REAR of the laptop I love this because it means NO hot mousing hand on either left or right the hot air is exhausted away from the user. This is nearly unique within the laptop spectrum, and great for ambidexterous or left-handed mousers, particular graphical and gaming mousers who have hotter running machines to contend with.

3). The specs for this machine are great includes eSATA, DVI-I, HDMI, USB 3.0 ports. You can have either an extra drive or a B/DVD-CD burner/reader on the left side. The battery has a pretty good life when unplugged, especially when not running intensive games. The display/machine size is either 15.6 (P150EM/NP9150) or 17" display (P17EM/NP9170, about 2-3 lbs heavier).

4). Clevo is the OEM for this machine, the P150EM. Clevo builds good stuff. The Sager NP9150 was built upon the Clevo P150EM platform.... I.e., Clevo P150EM was rebranded and customized/souped up with certain components (like the high quality monitor options, drive & RAM & optical options) by Sager, sold as the NP9150 & supported afterwards as such by Sager. Sager is really good stuff. The NP9150 Sager is then resold and customized more (with Sager-made and quality 3rd-party optional components and software apps) by any of a number of US custom resellers, some of whom are excellent (see user forum reviews) and have higher-priority tech support from OEMs like Sager as well as their own in-house tech support. Either way you go for purchase, this is a solid machine. I did not get this machine directly from this vendor (the platform OEM Clevo), or from Sager, but from a custom US reseller of the Sager NP9150, so I would have maximum customization options and better/best tech support quality in case that was ever necessary, or just to get good answers to tech questions. (I researched resellers & chose xoticpc out of about 10-12 US resellers of this platform, based upon pricing, desired customizations, and overall tech support; I have been pleased.)

5). I am writing this to apprise readers of the excellency of the P150EM/NP9150 in general. My NP9150 has Win 7 64-bit running on an intel i7-3720QM processor (now this would come with a slightly faster processor, this machine is a year old), 22nm, 2.70GHz, DDR3-1600MHz, and I had it configured with 16G RAM. (The RAM capacity is expandable to 32G, but it does everything I need fast on only 16G; I suppose a programmer or graphics artist or the most recent A/S game out there might benefit now or in the near future from 32G). Sager gives different monitor options, my machine has the higher quality 95% color gamut NTSC matte finish. It's wonderful accurate color, resolution, and no glare.

6). NOTE!!: the graphics processor on this amazon vendor's NP9150 configuration is the intel Radeon card very fast very good card, but some tech issues have been reported with certain gaming sitations, look it up on the user forums. My machine choice was the NVidia GTX 675, because I wanted less chance of tech problems during all applications and gaming, and I've been very satisfied with the GTX. The 675GTX graphics card system actually has two modes for efficiency intel graphics for regular stuff like Office and web surfing, and the GTX for intensive beautiful graphics when needed. That's another reason it runs efficiently yet handles anything you throw at it, "seamlessly" i.e., without fuss and with quickness & beauty.

7). With my hardware configuration, I can have multiple applications open and running, AND a rendering-intense game like Witcher 2 or a recent Oblivion game, running at the same time. Game graphics rendering and game processing runs fast. And the graphical quality is excellent in resolution as well as color rendering as well as for black&white text applications it does it all. Great eye candy! Movies and video graphics and operations are also excellent.

8). The keyboard is comfortable and quick, and since its relatively compact it is efficient ergonomically yet fits smaller or larger hands. It's about 14" wide because it has a numeric keypad on the side (handy for business or gaming needs). You could customize this by swapping the keyboard out (have your tech or customizer do this) with a MSI Steelseries for a smoother feel as some shops can do, but it's not necessary. If I remember correctly, the stock keyboard is illuminated & you can control the colors, flashing not, illumination on or off, etc.

9). The Sager NP9150 is the Clevo P150EM with some added customizations, support etc.

Sager/Clevo machines have been known for their higher reliability and also components quality and construction quality than most other laptops on the market. They are well worth the extra buck. It may not have the sleek flashy shiny thin appearance of more popular, marketed and trendy laptops like asus or dell, but the engineering quality is generally superior for lifetime sturdiness and operational reliability. It's only a little thicker. The weight is under 10 lbs WITH the power brick and carrying case for the 15.6" NP9150... You do need the big power brick because it is engineered to support power needed by graphics operations during intensive image rendering (like, games or photography work). You can damage your machine if you use a lower-rated power brick; stick to the OEM power brick.

10). If you get one of these laptops from a customizable reseller (there's about 14 in the US), you will pay a lot more, but you will have better overall warranty, and better support warranty service because their customers get priority at the manufacturer over consumers who have to go directly to the manufacturer for support if that becomes necessary. Also, the US customizer houses like xoticpc offer more custom option choices for the laptop components than off-the-shelf from the manufacturer... with the entire still backed by the manufacturer warranty.

11). But either way, if you choose this machine from a well-reviewed vendor (that's VERY important do your research) with just the standard OEM warranty, you'll probably be happy with it. Sagers overall have the superior performance and reliability, and that is why gamers often choose Sager/Clevo over other makes/brands of gaming laptops like asus, msi, etc... which are flash in the pan compared to Sager/Clevo build quality. Sager/Clevo don't chintz on components & construction so reliability is higher while providing excellent performance, and also design intelligently for servicing at the same time. Discerning laptop consumers return to Sager/Clevo. For that reason, used Sager/Clevo machines often cost more than other used laptops they are a good bet compared to others. This machine (NP9150 for 15.6", or NP9170 for 17" display) has been a top gaming and all-in-one laptop choice for those who can afford it. This machine is no longer brand new but it still handles anything I throw at it. It is also known for its excellent of handling action/shooter games there are some youtube demo user posts and user reviews online.

12). Another strong unique feature of this machine is that its design is very modular. So it's easier for you or your service tech to modify and upgrade for memory, disk drive, etc. because everything is easy to get to, yet sturdily put together.

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This laptop is an absolute beast! For a 15.6" laptop it can run any game on Ultra settings and run like a champ. The only thing that I could complain about is that you may want to have a laptop cooler or use it on a hard surface while gaming. Anyone that games on a laptop already knows this though. Besides that, the mSATA leaves a whole 2.5" bay open for additional storage and this thing has great wifi reception. 5 Stars all the way!

Discount Sony VAIO CW Series VPC-CW17FX/W - Core 2 Duo- 14- Inch Widescreen

Customer Ratings:

I researched for a while on a laptop, I wanted one that could process very well but also be used for fun on the go. A well rounded laptop without a price that would leave me in debt (being a college student). The Sony Vaio VPCCW17FX, meets all my needs and more.

Pros:

Just about everything, but specifically,

The keyboard: Possibly one of the most comfortable and ergonomic laptop keyboard I have ever typed on, I'm typing this review on the laptop right now. The keys are individual buttons with just the right spacing popped up out of the base of the laptop. It kinda reminds me of the Macbook keyboard. In fact the whole computer looks and feels like a macbook that was assimilated by Sony.

Features:

Blu-ray player with a HDMI output is a nice feature, most likely you already have a blu-ray player if you have a HDTV and are buying blu-ray discs, however its a portable one that you can just hook up to your HDTV and be ready to go.

This model also includes a SD card reader and a HG Duo reader right in the front, very convenient.

Touch pad is also very nice, has a good feel to it and the click buttons are actual buttons so you know exactly when you are clicking things, my only complaint with the touch pad is using the right side to scroll pages doesn't always work but it works well enough.

Intel core duo2 processor is fast makes this computer fly with the windows 7 home premium edition 64-bit default OS, I haven't had any performance issues yet and I was surely putting it to the test installing 3-4 programs at a time while downloading 2-3 more. Not a hiccup while the installations were in progress. Runs games well, on lower settings mainly due to the graphics card being the weakest component in the package for game play (according to the windows experience rating).

The 14.1 inch WIDE screen is beautiful with a LED back light, it doesn't ever seem to heat up, and the core itself stays cool for long periods of time. Some have the opinion that its a little small however I think its the perfect size for a portable computer, if I wanted a large screen I would just hop on my desktop PC

Easily accessible USB ports 2 on the left side 1 on the right, could use more but its pretty good.

It feels good, looks good and has a good weight to it, I've heard some people complain that its too heavy, however if it was any lighter I think it would feel cheap, the only thing that doesn't look top notch are the hinges, however they aren't flimsy or anything like that, and they flow well, so it leads me to believe that its just the light im looking at it in.

This laptop never ever seems to get hot, I had it on for 7 plus hours and it still felt cold to the touch. The only time I've ever felt heat from this laptop was when I was running graphics intensive games, where the left side of the laptop where the GPU (graphics card) exhaust is emitted heat, it got hot but not extremely burn hot, I'd also like to mention that only that part of the laptop heated up and no where else. Also worth mentioning is that when I exited the game, within minutes the GPU became cold to the touch again. This laptop seems to have a very efficient cooling system.

Another thing I'd like to point out that the laptop comes with a free ONE YEAR of TrackItback service from Sony, if you register your laptop with them. Basically you stick a sticker on your laptop saying that if its found to call the number and get a reward for returning the laptop. Its a nice service if you ever foresee yourself misplacing or forgetting it anywhere, although if I found this thing...well ID RETURN IT OF COURSE.

Cons:

Speakers are a bit soft for a Blu-Ray player, even at the max volume, its a bit on the softer side. Not a biggie since I will not be using the speakers for blu-ray playback, a handy set of headphones or ear buds easily solves this con.

Although the finish is beautiful, it makes me nervous to touch the computer, I leave fingerprints everywhere and I'm uneasy resting my hands on the rests beneath the keyboard, because it feels like I'm going to leave smudges.

Battery life is about 4 hours on normal settings (the settings that the computer comes with out of the box. You can choose to boost battery life by changing various settings though, such as screen brightness and the way the computer uses the battery life in order to facilitate faster processing.

Overall the pros for this laptop outweigh the cons, and I believe that its a great buy, especially if you get it on sale. I think Sony hit a home run with this laptop in both ascetics and hardware. Its honestly a powerhouse of a laptop for the price you are paying and I recommend it.

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I don't understand why everyone rags on the graphics chipset in this laptop. It really isn't that bad.

Here I some games that I are very playable for me on medium and sometimes even high settings.

-Dragon Age: Origins(medium settings, native res, frame buffer enabled) 20 fps

-Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion(medium-high settings, hdr enabled, 1280x720) 20-30 fps

-Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2(high settings with no extras... there are one or two levels that have more demanding lighting effects that will force you to drop down to medium settings in order to maintain a stable framerate) 20 fps

-Crysis Demo (all Medium settings, no AA) 15-20 fps

-Sins of A Solar Empire (Max settings)30-40 fps

-The Sims 3 (Max settings)15-30 fps

I have heard that this laptop will also run assassin's creed on medium with playable frame rate. I have yet to test that claim.

This laptop will play most DX9 games fluently and plays DX10 games often on medium settings. Older popular games like WoW or Guild Wars would run very efficiently on this machine. I ran the crysis SP demo at very playable framerates using all medium settings. If you are a hardcore enthusiast gamer who wants to game in 1920x1080 resolution with x16Q AA all the time, then you probably won't find what you're looking for. However, if you're just an average joe who plays the game because it's fun and not just because it has a crapload of over-done HDR effects and hair splitting anti-aliasing, plus you just want a good, solid, decent machine for the price, then you should totally check out this laptop.

Here are the strengths of this laptop.

-Blue ray drive(and it didn't cost me an arm and a leg...nice)

-HDMI

-Firewire

-EXCELLENT cooling system...this thing stays safe even in the middle of game. Sitting on a pile of blankets.

-Good USB positioning

-Sleek look, very portable

-Card Reader

-Chicklet keyboard keeps cleaner than the other types and looks nice

-Webcam is a nice feature

-Solid build, doesn't flex or snap around much

-CPU is upgradeable

-DDR3 1066 Ram

-Wireless N

-Gigabit Ethernet

-Windows 7

-Bluetooth

-Display looks fantastic...excellent contrast and clarity, very vibrant colors.

Here are the weaknesses of this laptop.

-Battery life is not the worst I've ever seen, but still not especially good unless you put it in battery saver mode...which makes windows 7 look like crap. I think you can upgrade the battery, but I'm sure it costs an arm and a leg from sony.

-Finding driver updates for my graphics was a pain in the butt because sony's website was down for days and the correct driver package for this model is not available directly from nVidia's site.

-Considering that this laptop appears to be fully compatible, a P series core 2 CPU would have been nice. However, the t6600 is decent.

-(This is more a win7 issue, I think) I have trouble loading a desktop contrast/color profile. I always have to reset it...soemtimes it just flat out doesn't work.

-I don't really like how the bluetooth off/on is consolidated into the wireless off/on switch. I would have liked for that to be done separately. But it's a minor thing.

-The graphics do bottleneck when you try to run some games at high settings. But it's a low-profile laptop...what do you expect? It's very good for it's class.

In conclusion: Why do I give this laptop 5 stars? Because in my honest opinion, for the price/performance/quality, these weaknesses really aren't that bad...and they are even things that can be fixed. The CPU, from what I've investigated, CAN be upgraded to a faster one if you want the 1066 FSB and extra cache, the battery can be upgraded to an 8 cell if you want to shell out the cash. Drivers aren't really a huge issue for the graphics if sony would just make sure that their support site works. The graphics do what I want them to do, they run most games on medium settings and are more than sufficient for watching HD movies or Blue Ray.

This laptop was a Christmas present from my wife. It was a wonderful gift. I love this machine. I use it all the time. It is capable of all kinds of fun.

Here are all the things I do with it which work plenty effectively for my needs.

-Home Recording(music, guitars, tracks, etc. using cakewalk and a line 6 pod xt)

-Productivity(writing, document creation for work, powerpoint, etc.)

-PC Gaming

-Networking

-HD Video source(via hdmi)

-Skype Video Conferencing

-Presentation Display via a video projector(powerpoint, gaming, videos, etc)

Best Deals for Sony VAIO CW Series VPC-CW17FX/W - Core 2 Duo- 14- Inch Widescreen

I wish I'd read more reviews before I purchased my Sony VAIO VPCCW2 series laptop. I bought it new in February 2010, and now I own a very expensive paperweight. I paid for diagnostic at an electronics store and was told the motherboard is out. I called Sony customer service, but they wouldn't even address my issues without an additional $49.95 service fee to run diagnostics and troubleshooting on a laptop that won't even boot up. I use to think paying a little more would get me better quality, but that's not the case at all. Buyer beware...

Honest reviews on Sony VAIO CW Series VPC-CW17FX/W - Core 2 Duo- 14- Inch Widescreen

I just want to address the people who keep bashing this computer and sony products. I have this same computer but in Red since october 2009. I absolutely love this computer and it has never given me problems. There is one trick i've realized with sony computers. You must use VAIO care which comes with the computer. It finds and fixes issues with the computer and prompts updates. You only have to use it when it automatically appears on ur screen. I've found that if I ignore it...the computer starts to act up. If i go ahead and start the VAIO care all the issues go away. I compare it to a whining child who will bother you until they get what they want. I hope this helps anyone who isn't pleased with their sony. VAIO care does wonders.

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Amazon is awesome! sony is not. My hard drive crashed two months after i bought the computer and i've been trying to get it fixed for the last four month... it's under sony warranty. still haven't got my computer back and i have to be the one who calls to see if it's fixed yet. will never buy another sony, i'll stick with an apple or a hp.

Reviews of Dell Inspiron 15 (1545)Laptop Notebook PC (Jet Black)

Customer Ratings:

I hate this laptop. Since day one, I've had nothing but problems. Problems with the keyboard, the mouse, internet access, speed, etc. Customer service is not helpful whatsoever. This is my first Dell and DEFINITELY will be my last. I hate it with pure passion.

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Computer gets very warm on the bottom and would not sync up with our wireless router-called Dell SEVERAL times-got cut off (hung up on "accidentally"?) three times and had to start over again. Customer service in India kept passing me off to different people until finally, got hung up on again. As soon as you say you want to send it back to Dell, they don't care about you. At one point I was told that for a fee they could help me connect to the internet! Alas, I am packing it up and sending it back from whence it came! I wish I could write about the features but I only had it for 3 days and couldn't get online so I can't coment. Dell Customer Care leaves much to be desired-NEVER AGAIN WILL I BUY DELL!!

Best Deals for Dell Inspiron 15 (1545)Laptop Notebook PC (Jet Black)

I bought this computer a few months back and I have found it to be solid, reliable, and well worth the reasonable price.

Things go wrong with computers all the time. For the other commenters to assert that THIS particular model of Dell is sub-par is just unfair. Its the luck of the draw if you ask me.

Anyways, for me it was well worth the money and a great investment.

Honest reviews on Dell Inspiron 15 (1545)Laptop Notebook PC (Jet Black)

Really great machine in all aspects. The processor is fast and I haven't had any major problems since owning it. Also nice is the battery life has remained constant since I've bought it. Would definitely recommend!

Reviews of ASUS Taichi 21-DH51 11.6-Inch Convertible Touch Ultrabook

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $1,099.00
Sale Price: $879.65
Today's Bonus: 20% Off

UPDATED ON 6/9/2013

This is a quick update of how things have evolved with the Taichi and I guess a final feeling after five months of use.

-So far I haven't had any technical issues, the laptop is holding up very well. I even dropped it on its side once and it dented the housing but the screens didn't break and all works fine. Lucky break I think, this is not a laptop you should be dropping for sure!

-I'm still getting 3 to 4 hours of battery life, so I haven't seen any degradation, which is great because I'm plugged in must of the time and I was afraid of battery degradation and no way to replace it. It's only five months though, we'll have to see.

-I haven't seen many software upgrades from Asus, so what was buggy is still buggy. Like the palm rejection when using the pen, that's still there, I thought I had fixed it but nah, let's not kid ourselves, I have even stopped using my pen as much because it's just not as great of a experience as I'm used to. With that said, it's good to have the pen for signing things and what not, but I wouldn't recommend it for prolonged note taking.

-My gripes with the Asus management software kind of went away, no more brightness issues, etc.

All my other comments remain. I still love this laptop and don't think, even to this day, that there's anything better on the market for my needs. I hope they make a new version and keep improving on this design over the years, I would certainly love to buy a new one in another couple of years with longer battery life, better digitizer and a bigger SSD.

Written in January 2013

-------------

I ordered my Taichi just two days ago from us.ncix and they supposedly only had one in stock which I luckily got overnighted to me. They were top notch with service and went the extra mile for me by shipping the item right away and even making a special trip to UPS to make sure I got it the next day as the pick up for that day had already been done.

Now onto the Taichi.

Pros

-It's a great laptop all around, as long as you can live with some cons.

-The keyboard is outstanding. I type a lot, all day long really, and the keyboard couldn't be better. And this coming from a Thinkpad owner of 10 years.

-The touchpad is flawless, it works like a charm. I've never used a touchpad this good. I think it's pretty on par with mac touchpads, both on desktop and modern areas of Windows 8.

-The build quality seems top notch and it's a gorgeous piece of hardware. Sure, you have to handle it with care because of the screen on the lid but overall it's a great build.

-The 1080p Screens are top notch, the viewing angles are great, the colors look great, the text is sharp, a lot to like there.

-UPDATED: The size is good for a laptop. Enough space for a great keyboard. I got good vision, but the screen on desktop is very useable at 1080p resolution. I don't have to zoom or anything, that said, I am young and have great vision. My IE browser seems to be auto zoomed in to 125% and thus I didn't have any issues reading web pages, however, after installing chrome I see that at 100% zoom you really can't browse the net, it's too small. The 125% zoom works well though, and everything in the desktop looks good.

-The lid collects finger prints but you can't really see them from a far, so that's great because I was concerned about the laptop looking bad all the time due to finger prints.

-It has a tablet on the lid! Sure, this is not your light and small ipad, but it works well, the colors are great and I do plan to replace my tablet and laptop with this one device.

-Backlit keyboard. This is a huge pro for me and one of my requirements.

-Comes with a good quality laptop sleeve, VGA and Ethernet adapter. That's $100 in accessories right there.

-Comes with a one year accidental projection damage warranty, that's another added value/bonus there.

Cons

-UPDATED: Battery life. After some use, I seem to get from 3 to 4 hours of battery life while working full steam, typing, listening to music on headphones, backlit keyboard on, wifi and Bluetooth on and screen in medium brightness or so. If I dial things back a bit I can get past four hours just a bit, but I'm not sure how they got their five hour estimate though. For me this is fine as I'm plugged in most of the time and I may buy an external battery for long trips or meetings. Using it on and off as a tablet (and putting it to sleep when not in use with 2 second smart resume) I can get through most of the day.

-UPDATED: I had some big issues with the digitizer pen at first, but I recalibrated the pen and touch input under windows settings and ever since it's working great (as intended). I no longer have lag when writing and the palm rejection is much better than before, although not quite all the way there in my opinion. Is it as good as Wacom? No, at least not in my opinion, but it does the job. One thing I'm not happy about is that it has no eraser head and the eraser button doesn't work on Microsoft's metro pdf app, there's no way to erase in this app with the pen, I can erease just fine with my Wacom pen on my thinkpad on that app. That said, the eraser button works fine on pdf annotator and onenote.

-UPDATED: The Asus "management" software is a bit buggy, it seems to be fighting with Windows for authority. The main issue I see is with brightness, sometimes you set it to something and then it comes back to something else, this is due to power profiles not acting correctly I think. Also, auto brightness never ever gives you the top brightness even if you choose to get full brightness. The only way I got full brightness was by disabling auto brightness and then the brightness still changed some times on its own, mainly on tablet mode. Maybe there are two light sensors and the tablet one can't be disabled? Don't know. The screen switcher was a bit off at first but after some updates it seems to be doing fine.

-UPDATED: The brightness is said to be a bit low, and it is mainly if you leave the auto brightness on, however, I find it adequate on both tablet and laptop mode, even on bright sunlight it seems adequate in my opinion.

-The size for a tablet is a bit big, but if you want mainly a laptop and second a tablet then this is the best option in my opinion. I was expecting it to be lighter for some reason, as I have a HP TouchPad with a cover on and that package seems like two pounds to me, so you would think another .75 pounds wouldn't be so much, but it feels a bit heavy, that said I can live with it.

-I had read on some tech sites that using a tablet with 16:9 aspect ration on portrait was a bit ridiculous, and you know what, it kind of feels weird. I guess it's something to get used to, but don't expect it to feel natural right off the bat.

Subjective Items

-UPDATED: No touch screen in laptop mode. To me this is a pro as the laptop screen doesn't have finger prints and it's matt which I love, I don't think I could stand a glossy screen for work all day. Also, the touchpad works so great that you may not miss touch so much in laptop mode. I can easily pinch to zoom, scroll, pull up charms, etc., all from the touchpad. You will want to touch the screen sometimes, specially after spending some time using the touch screen on the lid, but I'm happy with the way it is, another touch screen would've added more weight and a glossy screen in the front and that would've been a big issue for me.

-The audio is a bit low for my taste. I had read that the audio was pretty loud, but I wouldn't consider it loud, I would consider it adequate but that's about it. I was expecting a bit more bang. That said, I listen to a lot of loud music and may be a bit deft already, so your mileage may vary.

-This vs the surface pro? I went with this one because for just another $150 (vs surface with cover), I get a backlit keyboard, two screens and an adjustable screen that I can easily use in my lap, bed, couch, anywhere at the craziest angles, which I tend to do. The surface wouldn't work for me in the same way and I would've had to adjust. That said, I wanted mainly a great laptop with a nice enough tablet. I think the surface pro is a good tablet (not great due to low battery life too)and an OK laptop.

-UPDATED: The keyboard lacks media buttons for pause/play/next track, etc. Those are useful while playing music. It also lacks the new windows keys that come with some keyboards for charms, search, etc. That said, it's a small keyboard and they couldn't have put everything in there. The other thing is that the function keys, F1 to F12, are primary vs the other items like brightness and volume. I prefer it the other way, but again this is subjective. I did fine a tool called KeyTweak which allows you to remap your keyboard keys however you want, and I have changed F10 through F12 for media buttons, so that problem is solved!

**Lastly, this is a warning. The 128gb version, which is the one I have, only comes with 63gb of available space out of the box. This is crazy! I was expecting more like 90gb after windows, etc., but Asus has a 20gb recovery partition and a 4gb OEM partition in there, so that's pretty substantial and I plan to kill at least the recovery partition and get my space back**

So the final verdict.

I love it so far. Sure it has some drawbacks, but there's no perfect hybrid out there right now. I was planning to wait for second generation models but come on, life's too short to be waiting and waiting, I've been waiting long enough and this is 90% what I wanted so I'll take it and enjoy it. The battery life is the biggest limitation/con in my opinion, but I plan to buy an external battery of some sort to have around for emergencies or long meetings/seminars.

To me this laptop is just AWESOME and I wouldn't buy anything else on the market over this for my own needs.

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I would like to say that there are some misconseptions about this laptop and some very skewed reviews that I have read.

Here is my take on the laptop.

First, I have had the previous laptops before this and they pale in comparison to the Taichi.

The Samsung ATIV PC Pro 700t. (Horrible keyboard)

The Samsung Series 9 late 2012 edition. (second favorite ultrabook)

Lenovo Twist, Lenovo Carbon x1, HP Spectre 14 with Ivy bridge(late 2012)(Heavy), The yoga (I call it the horrible bouncing screen), the ASUS Zenbook UX31A (Excellent), and my media laptop the HP ENVY 17 3d (Ivy bridge) spec'ed out.

Why am I telling you this?

I have come to find out that the laptops with the touchscreen right in front of the keyboard has become an unused option for myself, especially when you have a good windows 8 compatible touchpad. The new touchpads have all the screen moves with no arm movement to reach out to the screen, and once you learn to use the efficiency of the shortcuts there is no real reason to take the time to reach up to the screen. (I did less and less over time.) I did however want the touchscreen tablet version for the new OS and the desire for the touchscreen but not in the way that it is presented behind a keyboard. The touchpad is great for taking notes, touchscreen games, Drawing, and just plain fun to use with the windows 8 fluent OS. I really do love it. For those of you not liking the windows 8 yet, give it time. I have come to love it for its efficiency and ability to go PC, Tablet, Phone. With the learning curve mostly past me, there is nothing else that compares in my opinion. I would think that everyone would feel the same way once they put the time in and get past the learning curve of the new Awesome OS. I certain would think so at least.

This leading me to why I love the Taichi so much. I have a great ASUS Zenbook with a great touch pad and I blow through everything windows 8 style and never even think about wanting to have to reach up to the screen. There is no reason I have to do so. I am writing Documents, Surfing the web, Productivity, anything keyboard related I really have no need for the screen to be a touch screen in front of me. Now, when I am done and I have a craving for a touchscreen or I just want consumption with a touchscreen I close the lid and Voila, a tablet for bedtime, table, anywhere. I play with the stylus (try that upright with a keyboard in front of you.) I swipe through the games, web, and I love to draw (have you tried the Fresh Paint app by the way). The awesome stylus the Taichi comes with is the perfect tool for the tablet.

When I need to go back to writing emails etc... I open the lid and instantly have my awesome Zenbook back in front of me to do so.

My next desire in a laptop cross over would be to prop the tablet up at just the right angle to watch a movie without the keyboard in front of me. Taichi does just this.

Turn the laptop around hit the outside screen switch and I have a tablet at the angle I want and can watch movies or still just use the tablet as it was meant to be used.

I hope this is making sense to some of you.

To summarize, I don't want a touchscreen when typing and doing emails and regular laptop functions. I do want a tablet when I can touch it easily, write, swipe, and draw properly. I also want the ability to look at the tablet at my preferred angle for plain viewing. That is turn it around and there is the tablet. (note; with the bottom still on the bottom, unlike the lenovo yoga with the keys down on the table, yikes!)

This is another reason why I love the Taichi.

It is the perfect tablet for me and I have not covered the dual screen (My kid loves this part). The ability to have a movie playing on the back side while I am working at the table or sofa is a very cool thing for my 3 year old. I also can do some teaching with him like this as well. He also sits and watches a show sometimes while I work. OK, OK, that is not the top of everyone's list, but who cares, that part is still cool.

Everything else about the tablet is a 10. The quality, the touchpad, the three level backlit keyboard, the FULL HD SCREENS! The screens are VERY solid and I have no concern after using them that there will ever be an issue of two screens being on the lid. It is solid. I spent the 180 bucks for ADP coverage of course but I don't think it will be the screens that I would have to use it on.

This is the number one tablet in my eyes.

I hope this helps some people in making the right choice for their new Laptop crossover.

Best Deals for ASUS Taichi 21-DH51 11.6-Inch Convertible Touch Ultrabook

It kills me to write this review as I literally counted the days until this was released and I was so looking forward to how the Taichi could improve my productivity but after having to return 2 faulty Taichi laptops I am convinced that Asus rushed this product to market before they got their technology right.

This is supposed to be a productivity tool but instead it has been a black hole of wasted time. I spent hours setting up the first Taichi I received just the way I liked it with all the settings and Office applications I needed. Only to find out all the bugs and defects that Asus failed to address before shipping this product.

Imagine trying to concentrate on a meeting when your Taichi on Tablet mode is registering touch input that you did NOT initiate. So as you are having your meeting the Taichi is busy launching your applications, closing them, selecting various random parts of the screen and generally making the tablet most unusable. Good luck using a stylus with all this going on with a defective digitizer! And when I tried to actually use the mirror feature it bombed and again wasted time and was actually an embarrassment as I was fiddling with my laptop when trying to show something to a client when I could have just turned the laptop around.

The first Taichi was returned due to the faulty digitizer but the second one in addition to having the problems with the touch screen/digitizer also has a defective battery. It sometimes refuses to charge the battery above 79% or some other arbitrary % figure. Other times no matter how much the laptop is used, the charge is always some arbitrary % and never changhes only to have the power cut off completely while the Taichi is being used. So the second Taichi I bought is even worse than the first.

What makes the situation even worse is the ineffective Asus Taichi support. They call it VIP support but that is a joke and there is nothing VIP about it. Some times hold times are 30+ minutes. All their "solutions" come down to you reinstalling windows, resetting windows, and when they fail help solve the problem they want you to ship your brand new Taichi to them with your data and applications and pray that they will fix and send your Taichi back without trying to access any of your personal data on the laptop. When I found a problem with one of their chipset drivers not updating the chipset version installed, they refused to help me solve the problem other than suggesting wiping the laptop clean or sending the laptop to them.

I would never send a defective new laptop only days old to the manufacturer for repair. They can sit on the laptop and you could end up with a laptop with the same problems but you no longer have the benefit of the 30 day return window. If you buy a Taichi and it is defective, just return it to Amazon for a refund and don't bother wasting hours of your time with Asus support.

After two defective Taichis, no more for me.

I am waiting for the ThinkPad Helix. Hopefully it is a solidly built business laptop that works with a solid digitizer and touch screen. I have no more time to waste on a laptop that is more of a gimmick than a serious productivity tool.

UPDATE 6/6/2013: With Intel's 4th generation chip Haswell just released it does not make sense for me to purchase the Think pad Helix anymore. I am likely going to instead purchase the Sony Vaio Duo 13 that is coming out this weekend. Hopefully it is a solid laptop with a functional digitizer.

Honest reviews on ASUS Taichi 21-DH51 11.6-Inch Convertible Touch Ultrabook

After all the reviews I had read about the Taichi I was very hesitant; but I was compelled by the form factor. So when I found out that it was available at my local FRYS I went to their to take a look and I was pleased with the aesthetic and great build quality, so I purchased the I7 with 256 GB. These are hard to come by and I didn't want it to get away from. Asus does a great job in packaging the right materials most of which you need, the ballistic nylon case, the stylus, the USB dongles and pouch, cleaning cloth and Velcro strapping for the cables...great stuff.

When I took it home to set up it was easy and had no issues then had MS store techs do their PC tune up for $99 and the computer was cleaned out of all the bloatware and its just like getting a PC at the MS store with their Microsoft signature...it blazes now. OFFICE 2013 is great and works well with this form factor of a PC laptop, the screens are amazing both the matte finish and the tablet, you have to adjust the settings in the charm bar to stop having the system dim the display as I have read the reviews that pointed a dim display even with it being charged.

As for battery life its not that bad, 4-5 hours is good for me plus for what I use it for I can get up 6-7 hours, I didn't buy this to stream on line or gaming without the battery, this reason is a whole new PC itself, like a desktop but I use it more for email, and some web surfing, and fact finding, Sky Drive and Dropbox MS OFFICE, and travel.

Just give it some time, I think this the best form factor or "hybrid" PC laptop out their now, yes there is the Yoga and the Twist made from Lenovo and I have the twist but it doesn't compare to this, as for the Yoga I don't like the fact that the keyboard face down when in the tablet mode, this one the keyboard is not laying on your lap. And for now this is the only form factor that is out their that works the best, until the Lenovo Helix and the HP Revolve comes out, outside of that I am not sure whats out in the horizon, but I am sure ASUS will have an improved Taichi or a different named PC that has dual touch screens. I can live with one touch screen for now, the matte screen again is awesome..

The design is awesome and I am liking this more and more...again buy and give it some time and you wont regret it...

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for ASUS Taichi 21-DH51 11.6-Inch Convertible Touch Ultrabook

I have had the TaiChi for a couple days now and have to say it is everything I was looking for in an ultra-hybrid and am very satisfied with my purchase. I am the demographic that this form factor appeals to the most as I work for a large corporation, travel quite a bit, give presentations often, and like to play games at times. My goal with the TaiChi is to replace my HP EliteBook and my Asus EP121 tablet plus accessories when I travel. I won't go into specifics on the features as it has been covered very well by other reviewers but what is really nice for me is the power this device has, and the ability to put it into tablet mode and angle the screen for the perfect profile to use a touch device.

I am also planning on getting a USB with "Windows to Go" so I can have the best of both my work and play worlds. The idea is that I can leave my work PC behind and still have access to corporate resources when I need to without having to have my personal machine managed by corporate IT. This way they can be assured that I am not a danger to the network and I don't have to have VPN and the bloat of other IT processes slowing down my user experience. If you are thinking about going this route, make sure the USB you purchase is certified for Windows to Go, I will update when I have it all running.

The duel screens work very well and PowerPoint presentation mode works as you would expect with the two screens. The TaiChi comes with a micro HDMI to VGA adapter so I am good there, but I would also recommend getting a micro HDMI cable or adapter as well if you are giving a lot of presentations and need to be able to connect to various setups.

The only nitpicks I see to this experience has been:

1. Battery life – While it is not the same as my Kindle HD Fire I also understand that I have an Intel i7 processor and can run any PC software I own. I travel with my Kindle so it is not a big deal for me on airplanes and I am fine for power at work and hotels. I of course always want it to last longer!

2. Windows logo – I wish there was an option to turn down the brightness of the Windows logo that also acts as the home button for Windows 8. When I watch a movie in a darker room, or potentially in a darkened aircraft it is annoying as it can be right in my face with the unit lid screen facing me. It should dim it like the screen based on the ambient light.

3. Screen cleaning – I am always wiping down my screen but understand that it is a touch device for oily handed creatures.

4. Windows shortcut keys for moving apps between monitors does not seem to work, but maybe it is me.

Overall I would recommend this device for anyone that does a lot of travel and has to bring a lot of junk to support both your work and play worlds!

Reviews of Acer Aspire AS1830-33U2G25ncc 11.6" LED Notebook - Core i3 i3-330UM

Customer Ratings:

AT&T also supplies this machine if one buys their laptop with a 3G data-only plan. It has an AT&T SIM built in, but can of course be used with another carrier's MiFi or USB stick. This is a quality, solid little unit and is identical to Acer's upper-market Ultrabook design, "TimelineX." In order to get this into a low price point, though, Acer has installed an Intel Core i3, 1.2 MHz rather than the TimelineXs' i5 or i7 CPU's. In Acer's defense, however, it should be pointed out that this dual-core Intel i3 CPU is INFINITELY superior to similar units which sport such processors as Intel Atom, ARM, AMD "C" or "E's," or Samsung Exynos brains. Those were primarily designed for smartphone use and, thus, have an emphasis on low power consumption rather than raw processing power. The Intel i3 is a, "Sandy Bridge" design, the latest generation of their mobile dual-core line and from the beginning was intended for use in laptops.

From original review: "One other possibly significant difference between this and the Timeline X: this model has a slot for a multi-memory card reader, but that slot is blocked off on the i3 machine." OOOPS! That is WRONG! A day after writing this, the plastic piece I thought was a blank popped off revealing a fully functional card reader! Due to manufacturers' using the same User Guide for several models, there was no indication this reader was covered and that the piece I thought was being used to cover the slot was spring-loaded. So, in short, YES! The Acer Aspire 1830-3595 does, indeed, have a multi-card reader!

SORRY!

Overall, decent performance and very nice quality for a reasonable price. Retailers are trying to get rid of now-obsolete Windows 7 models, so it pays to shop around! There are several fine deals to be had even a couple weeks before Christmas! Second benefit to buying a Windows 7 unit: if you've tried Windows 8 on a NON-touchscreen device, you KNOW you want to stick with Windows 7!!

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Buy Lenovo ThinkPad W520 427623U 15.6" LED Notebook - Core i7 Extreme

Customer Ratings:

I do not know about the QC of Lenovo; Has the Quality declined after removing the IBM Name? I can understand that nothing is perfect and that when some item has a flaw, it is a single flaw and not THREE:

1The WI-FI was not working on the initial install as it was missing a driver.

2The Touch Pad was not working even after installing the correct driver from the internet The Sales person was more than helpful , yet even after he sent me the original recovery CD's; The TouchPad and the finger print did not work despite the wi-fi controller finally worked.

3The finger print reader is not working as of now.

Although AMAZON agreed to refund the full Value, there is restrictions on shipping the product back to the US for security reasons!!!

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Cheap Toshiba Satellite C855-S5343 PSCBLU-025003 15.6-Inch Laptop (Satin

Customer Ratings:

Toshiba is a multimedia company and their laptops are designed to please your senses with supremely bright and gorgeous displays and decent speakers while still maintaining crisp performance. Toshiba claims to be the first notebook maker with color LCD's, it is easy to believe after seeing the screen in person and their LCD's are consistently beautiful regardless of which Toshiba you pick. GPU performance is anecdotally impressive, I DON'T PRETEND TO BE A GAMER SO ANY IMPRESSIONS ABOUT ITS GAMING PEFORMANCE OR COMPATIBILITIES WOULD BE EASILY DETECTED ATTEMPTS TO b.s., but I did stress it by simultaneously playing two USB connected DVD's and a BluRay and it was excellent without jitter (see the uploaded video review).

Toshiba Satellites are the least expensive Toshiba laptops and their "C" series is the least expensive Satellite, so buying the cheapest Toshiba notebook made results in some immediately noticeable sacrifices such as the creaky flimsy flexing case and an integrated mouse track pad that feels worse than using a floating potato to move the cursor. I hate the flimsy keyboard, it as unpleasant as flossing your gums with sandpaper because the larger keys and chiclet imposter keyboard aren't comparable to someone accustomed to luxurious ThinkPad keyboards but I can't find a ThinkPad/Lenovo comparable to Toshiba horsepower unless I want to spend twice as much.

At least a floating potato is predictable but Toshiba has found some way to smuggle the cheapest Synaptic pads from North Korea since I can't imagine any other country willing to make such an annoying version of a normally reliable input. I've used other trackpads without issue, Synaptics is the largest manufacturer of most TrackPads, but I have never used a Synaptics or any trackpad as misreabl as these are. Do yourself a favor and buy a/use an external mouse Targus Bluetooth Comfort Laser Mouse AMB09US (Black with Gray) and you'll also avoid blowing an angered blood vessel since any amount of track pad usage leaves a blocking layer of human sweat that renders the trackpad useless until cleaned or avoided completely. Some models might not include integrated BlueTooth and upgrading the mini PCIe adapter isn't easily done in the C Series unless you plan to split the case open at the seams and likely void Toshiba's oversensitive warranty policy (read the appended comment for an imperative fact about protecting your warranty status).

A cheap $5 USB B/T SANOXY USB Bluetooth Wireless Adapter for HP, Gateway, eMachine, Dell or ANY Laptop/PC Running Windows 98, 98SE, ME, 200, XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7plug still spares two USB ports for a jump drive and recharging your BlackBerry.

Wi-Fi performance is excellent with an included Atheros AR9285 adapter Atheros AR5B95 AR9285 802.11B/G/N Half Mini PCI-E Cardthat starts out of the box shouting loudly at a better than average 16decibels. For the curious I elaborate in further detail in the appended review comment.

Don't be afraid of upgrading the RAM because boosted to 16GB it comfortably becomes a mini data center unto itself by installing a dual 2012 Server DataCenter build and Hyper-V shoulders as many VM's as you want.

Unbuntu runs extremely nicely except my chosen distro (BackTrackR3) doesn't immediately appreciate the 1368 wide display and drops to a stretched 1024x768 usually reserved for traditional 4:3 square displays.

The same wildly Windows compatible Microsoft 3000 Wireless combo Microsoft Wireless Desktop 3000 set runs without issue even at bootup before loading Windows or any operating system and is fully supported in Unbuntu w/o the necessity of installing a driver or editing configs. Connecting the jump drive sized USB dongle enables remote KB/M control from a verified 90 feet in an Marriott ballroom in case you have the necessity to tease your children or present your thoughts to a larger than economy sized auditorium.

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I bought this laptop after much research and thought it had the right combination of hardware and software for the price(i bought it from another online store for $318) Well it wasn't long before i regretted the purchase. I can't believe i spent a whole day doing maintenance and tracking down a bad/missing file on the windows website. I looked up its history on its own event logs and found it had been having issues from the time it was produced! It struggles with the most basic of tasks, probably because of the horrendous amount of garbage software from Toshiba. You think im kidding? Log on to the internet and watch where it sends you. The touchpad is one of the worst i have ever tried to use and the plastic used for the body looks and feels like its from recycled material. Please dont buy. If you do, try it out and put it through its paces so you can see for yourself. Just make sure you dont let the return period elapse or you will be stuck with a major headache

Best Deals for Toshiba Satellite C855-S5343 PSCBLU-025003 15.6-Inch Laptop (Satin

This laptop was on sale at my local retail store. I was in the market for one, so I picked it up. If you can find this for a decent price? Pick it up! It's a lot better then a Dell. It's solid!

The only issue with it, and the main reason I'm writing this review: is the sound system. This is literally the worst sound I've ever heard. My Kindle Fire has better sound.

Honest reviews on Toshiba Satellite C855-S5343 PSCBLU-025003 15.6-Inch Laptop (Satin

A solid laptop for a really good price.

If you want a computer for surfing and general home or business use you are not going to find this at this price in any store.

Windows 8 is pretty useless on a laptop without a touch screen but is pretty easy to get around so it acts like Windows 7.

Like the built in camera and this laptop weighs less than my old Toshiba.

Dislikes as always is the pre-installed try and then buy crapware that seems to come with every computer ever sold.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Toshiba Satellite C855-S5343 PSCBLU-025003 15.6-Inch Laptop (Satin

I really like my laptop after a couple of months. I'm still trying to decide if I like Win8. The computer boots quickly, it's light and the battery lasts about 6 hrs.

No problems.

Best NP-QX411-W01UBR 14" Core i5 2.40GHz 6GB RAM 640GB HDD DVDRW 64bit Deals

Customer Ratings:

First of all, I am a huge Apple fan, turning into a huge samsung fan. While this laptop is not as compact and thin as a macbook pro, it is sleek and stylish, and half the cost.

Pros:

-Super fast

-Sleek and stylish

-Runs very cool, has not yet gotten warm.

Fan is very quiet, I think I've noticed it twice.

-Screen is pretty good, seems a little washed out, but then again I just switched from an iPad, so no comparison there.

-Has nice island style keys just like the macbook

-BATTERY LIFE!!!!!! No joke 8 hours easy on this thing with light office work, even with screen brightness turned up

-Compact power cord

-Sturdy

-Speakers are pretty good, but hey, it is a laptop so no high expectations there

-TRACKPAD is multitouch, just like a macbook! This is so essential!

-Price, got it for $600 at Best Buy. Worth more like $900.

CONS:

-Like I said, the screen is pretty good but nothing to shout about.

-When you are first initializing the set up, make sure you don't accidentally partition the hard drive like I did, that is the default option, I don't know how to get it back.

********UPDATE****

So after a few months with the machine I still quite like it, however I have noticed a few things. More and more I have notice how washed out the screen looks, the colors just do not pop. I do not know if this is common with mid-range laptops, it certainly pales in comparison to a macbook pros screen and my cheap LCD TV.

Also, the amazing 8-9 hour battery life that I was raving about has already dropped to 5 hrs in a matter of 3 months. Again, don't know if that is common, but I miss being able to go all day without the power cord.

*****UPDATE*******

last summer this laptop fell out of our car and got pretty banged up. Bought a MacBook Air off of amazon for $800 and have never looked back. I know it's a bit more money, but everything about it is superior, highly recommend it. Screen is much better, crazy thin, and ssd just screams. And this is a 2011 model. I bought it used and apple still put a 1 yr warranty on it.

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Great computer for the money. Sometimes freezes when multiple tabs open but all computers have that problem especially on high ram sites i visit. Overall quite pleased and woukd reeccomend this conputer to anyone on a $500 budget.

Best Deals for NP-QX411-W01UBR 14" Core i5 2.40GHz 6GB RAM 640GB HDD DVDRW 64bit

Hi,

I bought this laptop (NP-QX411-W01UB) refurbished, however, it came very fast and in sealed brown box.

I assume that this model was supposed to be display model for best buy store. The laptop has best buy software, the same that you can see in any best buy display model with their logo and some video.

It feels solid, slightly have but it's not a problem. It work very fast and has a lot of good features, such as wireless display, 2x USB 3.0, good camera and speakers.

Nice keyboard feeling.

Screen is like a TV, I have seen some reviews where people were talking about screen reflection, for me it's not a problem, and I have to admit that it's present(screen reflection).

Battery life is excellent, but !!! the battery is built in and due to I am planing to add RAM and change HD to ssd it might be an issue which is I am not sure how to resolve yet.

As of right now I am very happy with this laptop!!!

4 stars out of 5.

Cheap Sony VAIO VGN-CR320E/R 14.1-inch Laptop (Intel Core 2 Duo T7250

Customer Ratings:

I bought the Sony Vaio CR320E/W after weeks of research. It is light, fast, and stylish (and cheap?). I needed something portable for college so I went with the 14" and I love it. The screen is really bright and glossy. The laptop itself weighs nothing compared to my dad's 15" Dell laptop. The build quality is very sturdy and the gloss white finish doesn't show fingerprints as bad as one would think. It does not have a latch to keep it closed but rather it relies on the tension of the spring. The spring works fine and has never been an issue. The Core2Duo processor is great for all around use. It isn't the fastest dual-core out there, but it is more than enough to get the job done for the average consumer. The bluetooth worked great and instantly connected to my phone. The camera is one of the neatest features. Besides taking regular photos and videos, it also has mac-like effects that can distort the image in weird ways and do random flips and rotations of the image. Another mac-like thing was the keyboard. The keyboard has a slight gap in between each key and they are all rounded a little. The keys have the just right amount of "roughness" to make good contact with your fingers. The speakers on this laptop are not extraordinarily load but they are not weak by any means. I said it was cheap because the older version of this laptop (vgn-cr220e/w) which doesn't have bluetooth and a slower/smaller hard drive is actually more expensive on amazon.com than this one. I personally saved a little more money and picked this laptop up from Best Buy after instant rebate.

There were 3 cons that I found with this laptop. First of all, it comes loaded with Sony bloatware programs. I spent the first 2-3 hours with this laptop just uninstalling the software. All they do is slow down the computer and most of them are very repetitive when compared to Windows programs (Sony Home Video Creator v. Windows Movie Maker). The other issue with this laptop was the battery life. Even though it is advertised as 2-4.5 hours, I just wanted to bring that up because it typically gets around 3-4 hours, which is a little bit too short for me. The third issue was that it comes with a weak graphics card. It is fine for general use, but it probably would have a little difficulty keeping up with the newest games. All in all, this vaio is a great buy.

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I can't tell you how happy I was about three weeks ago when I got this Gorgeous Pink Sony Vaio as a gift! Let's just put aside that my favorite color is PINK and this is just the most beautiful pearly pink color I have ever seen. It's like an accessory. Which is the main reason you buy a colored laptop isn't it?

This is a critical part of my work. I'm a paralegal and I needed somthing light but sturdy to take back and forth with me to work. I went with the 14.1" screen because it is big enough to see exactly what I need. Bright and colorful as well. I don't use the computer for much but work and documents, so I'm not sure how it stacks up with things like game play, etc. But I can tell you that it is quick (maybe not the fastest laptop ever) enough for the everyday consumer! This computer also comes in a variety of high gloss colors at great prices!

It took me all of two minutes to have the Vaio up and running wirelessly online! (and I'm definitely NOT a computer savvy person) But it's very easy to set-up. The instructions are clear and effortless! It's all that I need and more. It's quick, runs my necessary programs, music interface and Microsoft Office Professional without a problem. I've owned other Vaios and have loved them all as well. *This one is my very favorite hands down.

It has a lot of room on the hard drive, is super quick, gorgeous color and user friendly. I'm not the most computer literate person, but this comptuter makes it easy to understand.

It's compact and light. Perfect Keyboard, I absolutely love it! I also bought the Sony case for protection and it matches perfectly and keeps the computer padded, protected and easy to carry around!

There are a ton of programs preinstalled on it though. Some I found useful and some I don't need at all. The virus program is great, along with Microsoft Professional and a few others. Mostly I love that it has everything I need on it and more in one tiny, compact, sturdy, and gorgeous machine. What I see so far is wonderful and I know that I'll have many years to come with this notebook!

For me, I couldn't ask for more! You'll have to decide what you need it for, but if you're looking for a machine that does what most everyone needs it for in a compact, light, yet sturdy form, I can't see why you wouldn't love this user-friendly product. Sony is a name I've grown to know and love and would buy their products again and again!

Perfect for students in both high school and college and for adults that use it as a second computer or one to travel with. Not only does it download and play my music, but it also burns cd/dvds, which is a plus! I hope this has been of some help in your decision making, I know I don't know a whole lot about "tech talk", but I do use it every day and couldn't be without it!

ENJOY! I am! I've gotten a ton of compliments on this notebook! It's certianly a conversation piece! A Quality Computer At A Quantity Price! This is THE computer of my dreams!

Best Deals for Sony VAIO VGN-CR320E/R 14.1-inch Laptop (Intel Core 2 Duo T7250

My excitment of owning a vaio all went into the drain when I got first hand experience of its performance. In general its processing speed is worse than a pentium 3. And I dont have anything saved on my hard drive since I mostly use it for internet browsing. Everytime I switch on my computer I wonder what will go wrong in the processing today. e.g. internet browsers take ages to open, or if you type its takes ages for the text to appear. I have tried everything possible.

Sony is unwilling to admit that they have a defective model. I would not recommend anyone to buy this. HP, IBM or Dell will provide you with better processing speed. Otherwise you are buying a model claiming to be a core 2 duo and you are getting pentium 2 or 3 at best performance. So if this laptop cant take internet browsing... then if you do more stuff I am not sure how it will take.. it may just crash. So BEWARE!!

Honest reviews on Sony VAIO VGN-CR320E/R 14.1-inch Laptop (Intel Core 2 Duo T7250

After a few weeks of contemplation I settled on this as my first laptop for use when I start grad school in the fall. However, I've gotten much more than I expected. The graphics are AWESOME!! It's light and quiet, the keys aren't as hard to use as I'd expected after years of desktop use...I could go on and on : )

There are a few consthere's a few more programs loaded on it than I think I really need and like most VAIOs it gets a bit hot but generally I have no complaints!!

I would advise that if you want something like this to get the newer model which is only $100 morethe CR420...it's processor is 2.1 GHz and it comes with 3GB of RAM....commit to Sony and enjoy : )

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Sony VAIO VGN-CR320E/R 14.1-inch Laptop (Intel Core 2 Duo T7250

I originally went to Sony web site for this laptop to be built but Amazon had the same laptop ready to go, and I ordered it at 2pm on a Wednesday and it arrived the next day. It is a fantastic laptop, clean looking, all the applications I need were included, including some great trial applications I will purchase, for the money the Viao is a great buy