Discount HP Pavilion 17.3" Laptop Computer - AMD Elite Quad-Core A8-5550M

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $599.99
Sale Price: Price Unavailable
Today's Bonus: 22% Off

I got this locally for $400 after my Asus i5 laptop overheated and crashed leaving me

desperately searching for a replacement, I got lucky.

Here's what you get, a quad core APU with Radeon HD 8550G graphics, 4Gig Ram, 740G hard

drive, and a DVD-R/W, plus a 17.3" display in a lightweight and beautifully designed

carbon fiber look silver frame with Win8/64 pre-installed.

My only con, this display could be better, the colors are a little washed out, no way to fix this

and there are only 3 resolutions, a 1600x900, a 1280x, and 1024. OK, I'm done venting, I didn't

pay for a premium piece of glass and if you're not looking at it next to your desktop display you

may not notice.

Needs more RAM, 4Gig isn't enough as 768M are allocated to the video, and as yet I haven't found

how to allocate more after I added another 4Gig stick. HP uses a captive screw on the backplate

so you just unscrew it and slide the panel down and off. But to HP's credit, the Ram that is installed

is DDR3 PC3-12800 * CL=11 * Unbuffered * NON-ECC * DDR3-1600 * 1.35V * Performance was greatly

enhanced with the addition of more Ram, the Windows Experience number jumped from 5.9 to 7.1, and

you can tell an obvious difference when you are navigating the web or running multiple programs.

As a test of stability, I opened 6 video players all running 1Gig+ files and after 20 minutes they

were all still chugging along, I was shocked actually, this has been quite a surprise overall.

Also, video editing is a breeze with this cpu, it just rips right through large files.

The chicklet keyboard is workable, but the touchpad is laggy and you will want to add a mouse ASAP.

However, after attaching to a separate monitor via HDMI I find that the colors and some of the controls

are all there. Problem is, I cant install a copy of Catalyst on this Win 8 thing to give me more

flexibility over colors and contrast. I guess I'll just have to be happy on my extended monitor...but

again, I'm limited to only 4 resolutions on a 1920x1200 monitor but I can live with that. The main hard

drive is not partitioned so its a little clunky. I'm running 3 USB devices with no lag and they connect

right up via an upstream to my Dell monitor. Also a Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse were plug and play.

On the plus side, there is a Cyberlink Media Suite included that has PowerDVD and PowerDirector10

among other features. I would like this laptop better if it had Win 7, but because of all the

Bios tweaks there is no way to go in reverse unless you buy a machine with Windows Pro, then Microsoft

gives you "downgrade" rights, which is funny because Win 8 is a clear step in the wrong direction

and a BIG FU to consumers.

BTW, if you're freaking out over Windows 8, thats OK, go right ahead. Windows 7 was the best thing

Microsoft ever did, and Win 8 is just the most ridiculous hodgepodge of a software geek's wet dream

I could have ever imagined. However, 2 days after buying this laptop I have discovered a world of

workarounds and tweaks, such that I am about 70% back to the look and feel of Win 7, so there is

help out there, and most of the fixes are free. "Start8" was a good investment though that gives you

back your Start menu and kills the insanely stupid Windows 8 App screen and all its intrusive popups.

A final note, what finally made me fall in love with this model was the surprise DVD encoding time using

ConvertX/DVD 5.0. On my previous i5 (2.3Mhz) with 6Gig Ram, whenever I would encode DVDs there was a problem

with overheating, maxed out CPU usage, and maxed out Ram....then POW, my laptop would shut down. Also

to encode 2.5-3G worth of video typically took 1 1/2 2 hours. On my first run today, this machine ripped

through 2 video files totaling 2.8G in 30 minutes! WHAT??? Thirty minutes at 100+fps, with no overheats

and even though the CPU was pegged at 98%, the system was still usable, it would lock up on that i5 machine.

For an APU this laptop is a beast! 4.5 Stars, I'm very happy.

My apologies in advance for anyone with questions, apparently in Amazon's great wisdom I have been banned

from posting comments for life. But this machine has 2 memory slots, and one 4G stick installed. Did I mention

I HATE Windows 8?

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I'm using this laptop for work right now. It's great at multitasking. Maybe it's just a new computer but no complains so far. I really like the sleek design and smooth surface. Would definitely recommend.

Best Deals for HP Pavilion 17.3" Laptop Computer - AMD Elite Quad-Core A8-5550M

I got this computer on clearance from Best Buy at $460 a month ago and I can only say that it is incredible value for the money. It comes with windows 8, but can be downgraded to windows 7. The display is huge and beautiful, I'm not sure what the other reviewer is talking about! The audio and video cards are very strong and the processor is one of the strongest AMD processors around. I would recommend this laptop to anybody who is looking for an all-around workstation that can also double as an entertainment center. What really makes it amazing is the price, though! A++++++++++

Honest reviews on HP Pavilion 17.3" Laptop Computer - AMD Elite Quad-Core A8-5550M

I am a Mac user, always have been, always will... but I needed a PC for some work things that I can't do a Mac. So, I literally had 2 requirements in looking for a laptop:

1) large screen

2) it turns on

So, since this satisfied both of my requirements I bought it. I am extremely happy with the purchase (even though I abhor Windows 8) but it's served me well. I can do what I need to for work and it's got a nice clean view. So here's my Pros and Cons:

PROS:

17" screen. Crisp pictures

750 hard drive

4 GB RAM

CONS:

Battery Life is shorter than I'd like.

The touchpad has a life of its own. The double finger scrolling I'm use to on my Macbook only occassionaly works properly

The keyboard is very dark and the letters are very hard to see with anything other than direct light (I keep a USB light plugged in all the time and use a wireless mouse)

I bought mine for $399.99 at a big box store that rhymes with Vest Guy

Cheap Acer Extensa EX5230E-2177 Notebook PC Intel 2.2GH CPU Webcam DVDRW

Customer Ratings:

We purchased this laptop here on Amazon just before Black Friday 2009. We paid $309 even though it was $249 at Best Buy the following week. After getting it home and realizing the single core Celeron 900 was an absolute dog of a processor, I went on eBay and bid $41.66 for a Pentium dual-core T4300 processor. I installed that and bumped the memory up to 3GB from 2GB using a PC2-5300 chip I had available from another machine. PC2-6400 memory can be used but it does increase temperatures inside the laptop. To put it simply, the computer now flies. Video is clean, clear, and stutter-free. It does not hang at times during booting. It does not freeze or lock up when multitasking. I use it as my primary computer and it blows away every desktop I've owned in the past few years. To be honest, I don't use it as a laptop, but as a desktop. I use an ASUS 23.6" LCD monitor (full 1080p video on a VGA connection), Logitech optical mouse and USB speakers, Kensington Keyboard For Life, and I just stick the laptop in my keyboard tray, put my external keyboard on the desk itself, and it's perfect.

This laptop can game. The Intel HD graphics (X4500MHD) is on-board, but it is THE BEST on-board graphics set you can get today. The performance is comparable to any of the following modern PCI Express cards:

ATI Radeon HD 4550

ATI Radeon HD 5450

nVidia 9400GT

nVidia 9500GS

nVidia 9500GT

nVidia GT120

It delivers close to 8600GT performance as well. I couldn't be happier with this laptop-as-a-desktop.

The computer having 3 USB ports is a slight problem, but a 4-in-1 USB hub solved that. I now have all ports in use and one free plug on the hub for flash drives, camera docks, printers, and other such temporary connections. It does not have a webcam (I use an external model) and it has no card reader (I have a microSD adapter and will be getting a full-size SD to USB adapter soon, but worst case, I can plug an SD card into my Kodak camera and unload it from there using my camera dock). The laptop's case appears to support these upgrades and other models of Extensa (5630 for example) do have these options. But a deep research into the computer's service manual shows that the card reader cannot be added to this motherboard.

Other processors that do absolutely for a fact work with this motherboard, chipset, and BIOS include:

Stock Celeron 900 (2.2GHz)

Celeron dual-core T3000

Celeron dual-core T3100

Pentium dual-core T4200

Pentium dual-core T4300

The T3200, T4400, and T4500 should also work fine as they are in the same processor family (Penryn-3M standard voltage, socket P) they are just newer models than when this GL40 chipset was introduced.

The T4300 does not have a noticeable heat increase over the Celeron 900, a degree or two hotter at idle, but identical under load. A T4500 might see another degree here or there. Other chips like Core 2 Duos may work in theory but may run hotter. These include T6400, T6500, T6600, T6570, T6670, T8100, T8300, and some later T9300/T9500 steppings,

Do NOT discount this computer, or any other cheap laptop with the GL40 chipset, for having a single core Celeron in it. These dual-core Celerons and Pentiums can be bought for $50 or less and provide a much needed kick in the rear as far as performance in daily use. The third GB of RAM just provides an extra cushion against slow operating when you're really busy. A $300 or $400 laptop with a $50 processor and $50 in RAM upgrades is now equal to a $700 model. Anyone who bought one of these at Best Buy for $249 just gets to do it cheaper than the rest of us.

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Simplemente excelente producto y funcional. Muy bueno sinceramente, cumplió todas mis expectativas y funciona perfectamente. Totalmente recomendable para todas las personas. Muchas gracias

Best Dell Studio 1537 Black Deals

Customer Ratings:

I purchased this laptop in 2008. I used it mostly for work, and didn't need the sound features much, until this year when I needed to use a variety of sound-based applications for work (SKYPE was one). The sound output is inconsistent at best it works sometimes, then quits. Of course, it's beyond warranty, so I can't do a thing. There are posts all over the web about the sound problems with the 1537. If this were a car, there would be a RECALL and a FIX. If Dell wants to keep its customer base, these issues should be addressed. No one cares about unhappy customers anymore! I don't plan to buy another Dell.

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unlike the other reviews before me i never had any serious issues with this laptop but i do agree that the sound from laptops are pretty useless. i really like the backlit key option and screen is quite nice. My main purpose was graphic design and it worked exactly the way i needed it to but if i was listening to music the headphones weren't too far. performance, design and quality are actually pretty good but it is a pretty heavy laptop. the only time i had any issue is when i switch the video via hdmi to a tv back to the laptop the sound doesnt play so i have to set the laptop speakers as default instead of the hdmi but it's more of an annoyance since it's not broken. for some reason it doesnt recognize that it's switching from hdmi to pc. overall it's a pretty good buy because it's pretty cheap and there is plenty of software. i stopped using it because i am doing more video editing so i picked up a macbook pro. the laptop can handle basic video editing through windows media maker but for what i needed i had to switch to apple. :) i still keep the dell around just as a backup.

Best Deals for Dell Studio 1537 Black

I had continual problems with this laptop. Upon arrival the keypad was flimsy and warped, I sent it back and had it replaced with a less warped keypad. The touch buttons never worked right, ever. There is an annoying blue light around the charger plug that ispart of the design. After 8 months the battery stopped working, Dell replaced it in a timely manner. For the price it is fine, but after 18 months it just died out of no where, of course after the warranty was over. My hubby is an electrical engineer said the bios was fried. Out of warranty Dell was useless, I spent an hour on the phone get transferred from here to there and finally just gave up. My replacement laptop is a lenovo sl 510 thinkpad. It doesn't have the visual oompf of the dell but at least the keyboard doesnt feel cheap and nothing is warped on it.

Honest reviews on Dell Studio 1537 Black

Please do yourself a favor and don't buy this laptop. I had a Dell for 4.5 years before this one and that one worked better!! I "upgraded" last year to this 1537 and it has been nothing but a headache ever since. Don't buy it. I only wish I could rate it less than one star.

Discount Gateway 15.6 in. Celeron 320GB HDD Notebook

Customer Ratings:

I bought this refurbished about a month ago, and it's a great computer for the money. The external side of the lid was scratched a bit, but the inside of the laptop looked like it had never been used. So far I'm not a big fan of the Windows 8 operating system, but I have no complaints about the computer itself.

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this computer is unable to connect to interet and stay connected the experience is worst I have ever had in my life. It slow and was not good for the purpose I bought it for

Buy MSI Computer Corp. Notebook GT70 0ND-492US;9S7-17212-492 17.3-Inch

Customer Ratings:

Day 1: Wow, I really dislike this keyboard. I really wish I had paid more attention. I understand changing laptops means changing keyboards, and that brings a period of awkwardness, but this keyboard hurts.

1) The keyboard layout has been narrowed by removing the space from between key-groups, so I'm finding it impossible to locate the arrow keys and navigating the function keys without taking my eyes off the screen to look at the keyboard. Consider this: This 16:9 laptop is 1.2 inches wider than my old 16:10 machine, yet the keyboard is .75 inches narrower. [EDIT.3.2013 Using adhesive mini bump dots has made the keyboard navigable.]

2) The PageUp/Home and PageDown/End keys have been combined. PageUp and PageDown are the default functions. The Fn key must be pressed to access the secondary Home and End functions. I hate that this was done, but if it was truly necessary, I wish they had done it the opposite way, making Home and End the default functions. (Update: I was able to fix this well-enough by running KeyTweak.exe)

3) The Fn key must also be pressed to adjust the volume or mute. So it takes two hands when you need a quick volume adjustment/muting.

4) Most of the light emitted by the keyboard comes from under the keys. This is an issue because I almost exclusively use the laptop while sitting in a recliner. From that angle the bright light from under the keys way outshines the keypads. I'll have to find a way to increase the unit's tilt in my lap to make this problem go away.

5) The tactile bumps on the F, J, and 5 keys are nearly non-existent and I expect they will wear away soon.

6) So it occurs to me just now; Will I be able to replace worn F and J keys for this keyboard.

7) The Windows Start key is moved to the right side of the space bar. I understand why they did this, but with the particulars of Windows 8, some folks may have preferred it stayed on the left.

Day 2: Everything seems top notch. 2-boxing EQII at max quality has been all smooth goodness. Skyrim is beautiful, CODBO1 rocks. The sound quality is pretty impressive and the the fast boot from off the SSD is really sweet. The optical disc drive however is kinda on the slow side; but I have to say, it reads damaged DVDs like no other drive I've ever had. It might be that when it comes to optical drives, slow and steady wins the race. Also, the unit came with nearly no junk-ware, so purists won't have to spend much time striping it down to the essentials. Lastly, the Power button and LED indicating sleep-state both blink. Besides disliking blinking lights, this is just plain annoying when you set the unit to the side in a darkened room. I suppose this can be avoided by having the unit go into hibernate instead of sleep, but I chose to use a bit of electrical tape and a static-cling sticker; problem solved.

Week 2: The installed 128GB SSD is on the small side. Mine arrived from MSI with 43.5GB free space. I understand data goes on the 750GB HDD, and Windows' 'Library' concept makes that easy enough. But after installing some games and a bunch of applications it got down-right cramped. So I'm already migrating over to a 256GB SSD.

Week 6: Over-all, a very solid machine. I like it alot, but if I had it to do over again, I would not buy it. It's the keyboard. Whether I'm healing the tank or re-naming files, wandering Freeport or navigating a spreadsheet, this keyboard has me taking my eyes off the screen all the time. So unless you just have to have it now, I recommend waiting till next summer. By then numerous manufactures will be offering up comparable configurations, most of them with more conventional keyboards. And by then, probably three to four hundred dollars less. [EDIT.3.2013 Using adhesive mini bump dots has made the keyboard navigable.]

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Great computer at a good price. I have had the computer for several months now and am very happy with it. It is thick and very well ventilated. I expect it to last well. No slimline notebook here. Keyboard looks great and has a ton of backlighting options.

The power cord plugs into the middle of the back of the computer, which I don't love, but wouldn't prevent me from buying it again.

Best Deals for MSI Computer Corp. Notebook GT70 0ND-492US;9S7-17212-492 17.3-Inch

I'm an avid gamer, and try to keep my gaming laptops semi up to date. I'd say about every 3 years (sometimes that's pushing it) it's time to upgrade to new tech. It comes with a useable boot SSD, but if you want even better performance swap out the 750GB 7200 RPM HDD with another SSD and you're set to go. As soon as I verified everything was working properly, I replaced the stock 750GB with another 512 Crucial SSD and don't regret it a single bit. (Although, this does unfortunately void the warranty). And actually, while I'm on that subject why? A simple HDD upgrade or RAM upgrade shouldn't void anything in my opinion. These are easy, non system-threatening upgrades! Ok, other than that, I'm getting amazing performance on everything cranked to it's highest settings. Boot time is 6 seconds to Win 8. Still miss Win 7 but I'm making the best of it. If I had to do it all again I'd get this same model. The keyboard colors give it an extra "wow" factor, and make gaming in the dark so much easier. Getting tons of games reinstalled takes time, but it's great having a fresh system. Good stuff!

Honest reviews on MSI Computer Corp. Notebook GT70 0ND-492US;9S7-17212-492 17.3-Inch

Love this laptop. Played every game you can imagine on max settings with no hiccups. Speakers sound great. Display is bright and clear. Not going to find a better bang for the buck. Windows 8 is not my favorite but I'll get used to it. Highly recommended!

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for MSI Computer Corp. Notebook GT70 0ND-492US;9S7-17212-492 17.3-Inch

First off, I would like to say this computer is great if you are sent one without any problems.

Hope to Jeebus you don't get one with problems. I was sent a broken computer, and let me tell you, I am being punished for it.

There is something wrong with the internal hardware, not sure what, but the scrolling ability on my computer would go haywire after just a few minutes of use, and would render the computer itself almost useless. For this reason, it was extremely difficult to type an e-mail to tech support, so I tried to call them instead.

If there's one thing you should know about MSI tech support, or customer service, is that one does not simply call MSI tech support, or costumer service. Because you will get no answer. No matter how many messages you leave, or that you call in the middle of work hours. The recording will talk at you, then promptly give you the figurative finger.

After cursing and raving at my broken new computer while trying to type e-mails with a cursor afflicted with tourette syndrome, I finally got a helpful reply with information to send my computer to the RMA department. This was two months later. I was so happy they they were finally going to fix it that I almost didn't get annoyed about the fact that I had to find my own shipping box to fit this behemoth computer, buy my own package materials, and pay for the shipping. But then I got annoyed. I live in Alaska.

The story doesn't end there. I get an e-mail today from the repair department with pictures of the package, and it looks like someone dropped it in a muddy puddle, then a velociraptor promptly stomped on it after chewing on it for a while. Despite the big red sticker stating "FRAGILE! HANDLE WITH CARE!!!1" plastered right on the front. Now, I know it's not their fault, but they want another 300 dollars out of me to repair the resulting -surprisinglysmall dent to the corner of the blasted machine. And for me to send them all my credit card info.

So, yeah, you can buy this computer if you want to take a gamble that you will never have to deal with MSI after the purchase. I read that customer service sucked in previous reviews before buying this computer, but I never thought I would have to deal with them. I wish I had a time machine so I could go back and slap myself in the face for wasting 1700+ dollars.

Cheap HP Pavilion dv7-4165dx AMD Phenom II Triple-Core N850(2.2GHz) 17.3"

Customer Ratings:

I got this from another vendor as 'refurbished' for a similar price to amazon's.

Screen: huge, glossy, lovely. 1600x900 17.3"

Keyboard: interestingly different than most. I don't know the name of what this tech is called. The keys are not butted up against each other but separated, flatter, straight/individual. I like it a lot and I bet it's great for people with big fingers (or poor typing) who might normally hit more than one key. I'm not fond of the arrow key approach (it shrinks up/down to fit together between left/right) but I'll adapt. Has number pad. Bummer though, the numlock key has no light on it nor on the dash so you have no idea if it's on or not. However, the wireless and the 'mute' alt-function buttons have tiny lights as does the left caps lock. Black keys, typical of nearly all laptops nowdays, which since I use my laptop at night in the dark--and use a diff keyboard during my job hours so my brain-patterns are always 'adapting'--drives me crazy. There are little glow in the dark stickers you can get for keyboards to help with this.

Dash controls: nothing but power button and touch pad, however, media controls are built into function keys with ALT usage.

Touch pad: upside: large, smooth, defined edge. downside: pain in the butt to try and click. Not reasonable for constant use. The alternate 'tap' function so far is incredibly inconsistent. I may need more time/practice. A whole lot of it apparently. That is quite bothersome. Previous reviews I read elsewhere griped about this also. I don't think it's enough to weigh against the merits of the machine which are many--I'd still buy it--but if you don't mind mice (USB) because you mostly use it on a flat surface, you might want to get one. Definitely be sure you go into control panel and mess with your settings. It does have the various options for scroll, zoom in, zoom out, and 3-finger launch which is neat.

Ports: all the standards, USB on both sides, multi-option media card reader. Power cord on right side, sticks out the normal amount for laptops (alas). Standard wireless for this day and age. 802.11b/g/n Wireless LAN

Guts: has a pretty decent processor, 4G RAM (the main reason I got this). If you do advanced gaming or 3D animation you'd want something with a lot more speed and RAM, but I do basic graphics and database work and it's fine for all that. Hard drive is large (640G). Go get 'minitool partition wizard' from cnet (free) and you can split it into a few drive letters for more practical storage/scanning/searching/defragging. (Note: if MPW it won't let you create a partition due to 'no MBR keys', change the non-C 'primary' drives this HP has in place to 'logical' (right-click to do that), then it will.)

Peripherals: has mic, internal speakers, webcam. These don't seem special to me but I'm no expert on that. The optical drive is CD/DVD, Blue-Ray and Light-Scribe which is about as much as you can ask.

The case is actually lovely, metallic silver with fine lines of engraving. The back of the lid has the round HP logo that is lit up. I guess so either you can tell it's on when it's closed or just because it looks neat.

Power: typical AC plus a battery said to be much longer life than normal -and this despite the huge bright screen. I have not yet had cause to test this to verify it though. 9-Cell 93WHr Lithium-Ion Battery

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit.

Other software: well it's a typical fairly low-end laptop. So you mostly have a bunch of crappy bloatware that wants registration and you should uninstall it and use quality open source based software instead, if clicking a link to uninstall (control panel is where you do that) or install something (once you download an install file to your hard drive) doesn't seem too challenging. Use MS IE to go get free Firefox and Chrome then close IE. Use one of those to go to CNet and get free Avast (an Anti Viral program). Reboot. Uninstall the junk you don't want. Install all the windows updates critically needed. Install the various free software you might want. (I recommend: OpenOffice suite for all the microsoft-like programs, free. 7Zip or WinZip utility. Music Monkey or Jet Audio free jukebox. FileZilla free FTP. When possible stick to download dotcom and cnet dotcom for s/w because they will make sure it is 'clean'.) Textpad is not a free editor but is 'nagware' and is a good customizable colorcode editor if you write code or do much in text. This PC does however come with some decent software free such as two Corel graphic/video programs and Roxio. (I prefer PhotoShop but I can't afford it so I only have it if I steal it. PSP is a good program though. I haven't seen the photo version but the graphics version actually has a photoshop-style interface option.) The microsoft office stuff this machine says it comes with is just to suck you into $. So try OpenOffice which is just as good. Or just use google docs if you're not too demanding and like the idea of being able to get to your stuff from any computer anywhere.

Warranty: mine came with 90 days and I bought an extra year, I'm not sure what amazon's options are.

I think this is a really good computer for the price. I have had every brand of basic laptop (the

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Review of Apple White MacBook 13" A1181 2006 MA699LL/A EMC 2121 1.83GHz Core

Customer Ratings:

Fast even by 2013 standards. It doesn't ever even hiccup or freeze and I am confident this computer would work forever. Mac OS X is also the most stable, easy to use and beautiful OS I have ever seen.

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Gateway 15.6" Pentium P6100 2.0GHz Laptop | NV55C03U Review

Customer Ratings:

this computer was a gift for my girlfriend, and she is happy with it. the price was reasonable, and the product is as advertised.

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I got this laptop to use while in college. For the price, it has everything. Works great, good memory and speed. I use it for pretty much everything, work and leisure. Overall performance has been great, on issues whatsoever.

Best Deals for Gateway 15.6" Pentium P6100 2.0GHz Laptop | NV55C03U

I'm a repeat gateway consumer. Early last year, I purchased this laptop to replace my old mx6214 model. Well, a year and a half later, I'm typing this review on the trusty mx6214. It seems that the NV5503 I purchased has a faulty hard drive. Or at least it does not have the hard drive lifespan I would expect. I didn't know that Gateway had been purchased by ACER in 2007. I can't confirm that the buyout had anything to do with the substandard product, but now I get to either figure out how to replace a hard drive and somehow get the OS/files over to the new drive, or get a new computer. Ick.

Honest reviews on Gateway 15.6" Pentium P6100 2.0GHz Laptop | NV55C03U

I took my dad to a computer store and we got this laptop at a decent price. It's solid, great size, and doesn't feel cheap. It has a numpad and worked great for my dad who is of older age. I'd say battery life was 3-4 hours. Keyboard felt good too.

Best Toshiba KIRAbook 13 i5 Touchscreen Laptop Deals

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $1,799.99
Sale Price: $1,499.99
Today's Bonus: 17% Off

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.

Best Deals for Toshiba KIRAbook 13 i5 Touchscreen Laptop

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.

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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!!!

Best MSI G Series GT60 2OC-024US 15.6-Inch Laptop (Black) Deals

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $1,699.99
Sale Price: $1,639.99
Today's Bonus: 4% Off

Chasis:

The laptop is handsome if you're into the dull black thing. The entire base is composed of a monotoned strong plastic with hints of rubberization. Satisfied here. On top of said plastic the lid dons an apple-esk msi logo in the center, surrounded by what looks like aluminum with a satin long brush finish. I like it. It's aesthetically pleasing and of sound quality for the price. The hinges hold the screen firmly in place except for when the laptop is shut. There's a noticeable amount of play here because there's no latch, passing the job to the hinges. I don't like this design aspect and suspect corners were cut; however, the price is right. The keyboard, as one of the main selling points, is of course extremely aesthetically pleasing although lacks in practical performance. There is pliability in the unit which is something that takes away from the overall experience. Tactile feedback is affected from this. On a 1 to 10 scale, I'd give the keyboard a solid 5. Once again, corners were cut here.

The rest of the chasis is quite sound. No bending creaking or malleable areas noticed so far.

Noise suppression is superb. In a normal home environment with standard ambient levels, the machine is whisper quiet.

All in all, a sound chasis with sweet eye candy for the price.

Screen:

I considered alienware, dell, lenovo, and maingear when shopping and I'm happy I went with this machine because for 1600 (before tax), I got a FHD screen which is very easy on the eyes. The pixelation coefficient approaches 0 level, homogonizing the screen with your eyes' periphery. Couldn't be happier here. A solid 9.

Internals:

Of course, i7, 12 gb mem, and an mSSD cause this machine to be lightning fast. I was able to customize and set up this computer in record time, smashing any control system before it. And, as hard drive latency is a pet peeve of mine, I feel those days are behind me. Haven't gamed on it yet but normal operation is a delight. Even though Windows 8 is an abysmal performance hog, putting aesthetics and marketing for its own end before the needs of the end user, the combined performance of the mSSD, ensures minimum hard drive overhead, delivering the fullest power of the i7. Th mSSD is the real star here. With its 1,000 mbps reads, it bests any SSD. I'm able to run all my dev apps like VS 2012 and IDA Pro simultaneously with a dozen or so open tabs in Chrome, utilities, etc. Since this was the main reason I'd bough the laptop, I'm more than pleased in this category. The only tweak I see myself needing to make is a downgrade to Win 7. A loose 10.

Trackpad:

The consensus seems to be that there's little love for this trackpad. I'm satisfied with it so far. The material is all but certainly identical to the lid. Response is good. GUI driver interface with lots of options was good too. A solid 6.

Wireless: They call it Killer and now I know why. 2.2 mbps is the fastest I've ever had. Solid 8.

As for the many rest of the features of this laptop. Such as :

Camera

GTX 770M w/ 3GB MEM you can run apps on the gphx processor!

Gaming

Battery performance

Burn test

I've yet to use them. If my initial impression serves as a model, I shouldn't be disappointed and neither should you.

PROS:

FHD

i7

*mSSD*

1600 USD

CONS:

Keyboard

Screen latch

1600 USD ;)

Update: The keyboard issue turned out to be too bothersome to ignore so I ended up returning the laptop requesting a replacement. Amazon gave me a refund instead and blew the sale. I ended up going with Maingear.

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My old laptop just didn't work for the gaming I do now, so I got this.

Speed and Storage:

This is one fast beast! So fast that this laptop gets to the logon screen before the "loading wheel" even shows up! Many of the games I put on this computer also start pretty fast. I believe this is due to the Toshiba 128GB SSD which comes with this model (there's different variations of the GT60 with different specs, so be careful), and is also part of the reason I got this model in particular. I also believe this comes with one of the newer Intel CPU's that came out recently, so that helps even more. The secondary (internal) 1TB hard drive that comes with this, which, even though it's not an SSD, is pretty fast too. I have all of my games installed on the secondary hard drive, and they load very quickly.

Graphics

WOW! I get blown away by the Frames-per-second with games on this one! So much that it might be better than my desktop. Many of my games operate at framerates that are quite comfortable to play with. I believe that this laptop has a GTX 770M Graphics processor. Also, the display is a 15-inch 1920x1080 (1080p?) display, which is very clear, and also seems to have not all that bad of color accuracy from the basic looks.

Keyboard, input, etc.

The keybord? Very comfortable. It appears that this keyboard is by SteelSeries as it is said in front of the keyboard, and I've gotta say there's really that "click" feeling that feels comfortable when the keys are pressed, especially for gaming. It also has a backlight, which can have up to 3 different colors in 3 different sections of the keyboard at once. But I don't know about the trackpad; it's a bit small and the button on it is a bit uncomfortable to use at times, and I wouldn't use it for gaming. I use a mouse often when gaming, though.

Overall looks:

This thing just looks great. It really has a good sleek design, and nice looking colors (mostly black) and patterns on the chassis, too. It also seems rather sturdy to me. Kinda thick (and the power brick is too, well sorta), but considering it's meant to be a gaming laptop and there's high performance parts in it, I suppose it's a fair thickness. Not much else to say about it.

Sound:

The sound that comes out of this thing is amazing too! I usually use a 3.5mm headset and listen to music and such usually, and I really like the sound quality. Can take a little bit of adjustment in some of the tools that come with the computer for sound, but once it's done right, it's just perfect. I haven't really played around with the external speakers, but the one time I tried those, it sounded pretty good for laptop speakers. There's also a line in and a speaker out (not headphones out) on this too, so if you do some sound work (maybe even studio work), this might not be all that bad of a laptop for you.

Oh, and the price is good for what I got; really met my expectations.

So, overall, this is a great laptop and would definitely recommend it.

Best Deals for MSI G Series GT60 2OC-024US 15.6-Inch Laptop (Black)

I have bought this device several days ago and when I tested it, the first thing I mentioned was that

1. When you try to load it propose you to accept 2(!) license agreements with MS(R) and Symantec(R) without an options to decline both of them.

2. You can not load up from thumb-drive, despite this option is marked in setup.

After some careful reading I understood that UEFI of this device will not allow to load something that is not Windows(R), but despite switching to LEGACY mode does solve the last problem, thumb-drive still can not be used.

3. When I bought this laptop I also happened to buy the OEM version of some software on this machine. When I tried to call MSI, I got a response that I can not ask for refund, even if I am not going to use the software.

4. When I tried to install Linux on this laptop I realized that there is no driver for LAN of this "nice" device.

Summary.

I have no Idea, how this thing works in Windows world (in most cases problems with Linux drivers means that manufacturer don't care about users and use untrusted cheap hardware), but if you are not a Windows person, this device is not an option.

Honest reviews on MSI G Series GT60 2OC-024US 15.6-Inch Laptop (Black)

So just ordered this pc the other day and I won't bother listing off hardware and all the other base info since that has already been mentioned and discussed.

But I would like to state that since I have received the laptop everything works well and I can play every game I have with smooth frame rates, in fact only issue I have when using the laptop is the windows 8 os which is a bit clunky. (os can be replaced and is based on preference so did not change overall value to me)

Really though the reason I took off a star is due to the quality of the laptop's frame, in that after getting it out of the box i noticed one of the clips holding the battery block in was a little loose and part of a bottom panel did not sit flush with the area around it.

So overall, this is a nice pc that will do what you need it to, but the actual construction of the item could be a bit better.

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it's goooooood but when i installed win7 i faced some problems, i solve most of it ,they made this lap for win 8 and that's not good

Dell Inspiron 17R 17.3" Laptop, Intel Core i7-3632QM 2.2GHz, 8GB Review

Customer Ratings:

A perfect blend of features, value, and price! Met my needs perfectly with no problems yet noted. I would buy again!

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The outlook of this laptop is simply AWESOME. I like the design of this laptop very much. The screen resolution and color resolution of this laptop is perfect. Moreover, the configuration is fantastic according to the price. Definitely worth the price.

Best Deals for Dell Inspiron 17R 17.3" Laptop, Intel Core i7-3632QM 2.2GHz, 8GB

I chose this computer because I thought it would be fast and I used to have a Dell XPS workhorse. When the video card went in my old computer, I needed something right away. Because this laptop is not a touch screen, the Windows 8 product completely sucks. I had heard bad things about Windows 8, and looked for Windows 7, but not many computers are coming with the older product installed. It jumps around and seems to skip to different screens and applications a lot. I spend most of my time on my desktop using the windows button to navigate anywhere. My only other complaint would be the graphics. They are okay, but my Galaxy S III phone has better graphics and seems to process faster, so I watch most of my media from my phone!!! I guess I would suggest spending the extra to get touchscreen or hold out for Windows 7. The laptop case, size and weight are durable. Overall, a good laptop.

Honest reviews on Dell Inspiron 17R 17.3" Laptop, Intel Core i7-3632QM 2.2GHz, 8GB

This laptop needed to be repaired within the 3 mos warranty. Data Masters did not honor the warranty , my advice is to stay away from this company .

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In the beginning, the motor tended to make a loud noise when it shut down but I haven't heard in a while. Other than that, compute works great.

Cheap ASUS A55A-AH51-BU 15.6-Inch LED Laptop ( Blue )

Customer Ratings:

This Asus laptop has to be one of the better valued computers on Amazon. I spent a lot of time looking at the different laptops at various price points and I think that this is one of the more cost-efficient laptops considering the internals that this computer comes with. That being said however, there are a couple flaws with this laptop that other reviewers have pointed out, such as a not-so-perfect keyboard and issues like the computer randomly shutting down.

But first, let's talk about why I think this is a good value. This is one of the few laptops at this price point to contain a 3rd generation i5 processor, which can be considered one of the faster laptop processors as of right now. It's speedy enough to run pretty much anything you throw at it. Graphics-wise, this laptop comes with the standard Intel HD 4000, which isn't a great graphics card, but it's not as bad as most people make it out to be either. Intel has had a history of terrible integrated graphics cards, but the Intel HD 4000 is decent enough to run all low end games, and even more graphically-intensive games at a low setting. All in all, this laptop has enough power to satisfy the average user. If you're a power user, you probably know what you need and wouldn't be reading this review.

It also comes with 4GB of ram. If that's not enough for you, it's easy to buy extra memory for an upgrade. For the tinkerers here, the computer comes with 2 slots, and only one is used, so if you want to upgrade it, all you need to buy is another 4GB stick. This upgrade is relatively simple-two screws under the laptop and you simply slide off the cover and insert your new stick of RAM.

Another great thing about this laptop is the battery life. This laptop actually has a 4+ hour battery life, which is excellent in my opinion considering the size. 15 inch laptops tend to be huge power drainers, and ~4 hours is a lot for a laptop this size. The 750GB hard drive is also more than big enough for most people's needs.

Now, I'll address some of the complaints of the other reviewers as well as some flaws I've noticed. First, there's been a bunch of reviews complaining about the keyboard, specifically the spacebar, and I'm going to have to agree with those reviewers. The spacebar is bad. If you come from any laptop with a normal spacebar, you'll hate this spacebar. It's because the spacebar is very... insensitive. You have to press it pretty hard for it to register, and for touch typists, this is a pretty big pain. I hated it for the first 2-3 weeks, but now I'm more or less used to it (I press a lot harder now). My typing speed definitely drops a bit with this keyboard though. Also I bought this Universal Silicone Keyboard Protector Skin for Laptops Notebooks 15" 15.6" 16" 16.4" 17" 17.1" 17.3" inch which helped out my typing a bit. There were also some reviews complaining about the computer randomly shutting down, and I'll say that this has happened to me once in the 2 months that I've been using this computer (during my first week of use). I'm not exactly what causes this, but it hasn't happened since that first week. Finally there are some complaints regarding the touchpad. In my opinion, though, I think that it's all just a personal preference. The gestures all work fine for me. If they don't work, maybe you can reinstall the drivers.

Some final notes:

The screen is fine. It works, and it's bright enough. It's not super high-resolution, but I personally don't see enough of a difference between a typical 1366x768 screen versus a high-resolution screen to justify spending ~500 dollars more. Anyways, this is a matter of personal preference so I won't comment on it too much in this review. The webcam also works. It's not going to make you look like a super star, but it's good enough for your typical skype chats. It seems like a .9MP webcam, but I can't be sure on that as it doesn't say.

It does come with Windows 8, and it is a lot different from the previous versions. Personally, I'm indifferent towards it. What I did not like though, was that ASUS does install a set of their own bloatware onto the PC, which took a little while to uninstall. Overall however, this is a solid computer for it's price. While the spacebar and some of the glitches might make you question the overall quality, I personally think it's worth it. Of course, not everyone has the same tastes, and if you absolutely cannot handle a bad spacebar or uncertainty in terms of the laptop quality, then look elsewhere.

==UPDATE: 4/30/13==

So I've spent 3 months now with this computer and I'm more or less used to this keyboard now (pretty sure my thumb muscles have gotten stronger from pressing harder on this space bar). Everything's still running great.

==UPDATE: 7/14/13==

I'm updating this because as of this date, it seems that Amazon has ran out of stock and a 3rd party is selling it for $670.00, which I feel is just not a good deal for this laptop. If you're reading this review and still looking for a laptop w/ an Intel processor, there are laptops out now with 4th generation Intel processors (technology moves fast!). I think the 3rd generation processors (including the one in this laptop) is fast enough, but if you really want to stay up to date, then perhaps consider buying a laptop with the newest processor (it's a lot more pricey though).

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My review consists of reviewing the Asus Laptop + Windows 8.

Background:

This laptop plays a dual role in my household, it's used daily for normal tasks such as web use & office documents and will be used as a Windows OS + Windows Phone OS development laptop.

Laptop:

Plastic construction, nothing spectacular.

Lid isn't easily opened with 1 hand however this may change in the future when the hinge loosens up a bit.

Another reviewer complained about the mouse/trackpad, a few days of use is needed to break it in so your finger glides on the surface vs. jumps due to the lack of oils when new.

As a MacBook gesture power user, I wanted to see similar functionality in Windows 8 laptops that don't have touch-screens. This device supports basic Windows 8 trackpad gestures. E.g. swipe in from right to left brings up charms, left to right switches between apps. It would be nice to have many more gesture to be really fast; not sure if this is an Asus trackpad limitation of if Windows 8 currently doesn't support more advanced multi-finger gestures.

The screen is decent on this laptop but some text with the Windows 8 interface is not crisp (ClearType is on).

Quick boot time especially if you have the Asus boot in performance mode.

Windows 8:

I personally am a fan of Windows 8's UI/UX but I was able to see first hand how challenging this new interface will be for non-techie users. Others in my household have quite a difficult time understanding the new user experience and utilizing it, and often choose one of our iPads vs. this Windows 8 laptop. Perhaps Microsoft will release some improvements soon, but for now I only recommend Windows 8 to techies.

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This is a good laptop for the price, and is all-rounded, good enough for everything. The graphics and sound is not excellent, but it is very reasonable for most users. It is light enough for the price/processor combination, and your can just upgrade the RAM yourself.

I had a faulty laptop at first. The first laptop that came crashes often. It hanged the first day it arrived when I was setting up the computer for the first time. I thought it may be Windows 8's problem and tried to resolve it by factory resetting it / partitioning the drives dual boot it. Nothing worked and the crashes made me suspect there was something wrong with the hardware. I contacted Amazon and they offered to exchange the laptop. The new one is perfectly fine.

Pros

1. The touch and feel of the laptop is really nice

2. The weight is quite light for an i5 processor laptop

3. Price was quite low when I bought it (490 after tax and a 10% discount coupon, I think the price went up recently)

4. Windows 8 that came with it is pretty clean. Easy to use after some time spent exploring

5. There is a 1 year accidental damage protecting which covers things like spills and drops, which is useful for many people.

Cons

1. Don't like the touchpad at all the touchpad is really sensitive and moves when you are typing

2. The touchpad driver seems to have something wrong with it. It turns off by itself sometimes without warning. Your multitouch and scrolling will fail when that happens.

3. It is quite hard to change to a different OS because of the motherboard's secureboot configuration. If you are thinking of dualbooting or downgrading to windows 7, you will have to do some googling own your own

4. Didn't really like ASUS' bloatware

5. ASUS' website for drivers on this laptop were quite vague (I took a lot of time to figure out which ones were the right ones)

Overall, this laptop is value for money and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a laptop for general use.

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I'm an Apple girl. Been an Apple girl for 20 years. Never even used a PC, except on rare occasion, and I always described the experience (compared to my beloved Macintosh) as, "Trying to reach around your head to scratch your a**!"

However, my precious MacBook Pro flatlined on me last December. (I could hardly blame it; it was five years old and I do tend to give my laptops a workout!) I was not in the financial position to replace it, even with a used one. For my purposes (as a Graphic Artist), the model I would need, even being last generation's Macintosh, was running at around $1,700.

So I resigned to actually shopping for something other than a Macintosh. I was, understandably, lost, overwhelmed, and had no clue how to go about narrowing the vast array of choices out there. My fiance, being SuperITGeekMan, said his favorite brands were Sony and Asus, and promised to help me learn more about the functionality of the PC.

I came across this red one, and had to admit that, according to the specs, it met or exceeded everything I wanted in a Macintosh. And it looked cool, too! :) The $500 pricetag was like a breath of fresh air considering I was trying to figure out where to find $1,700!

I've had it for about 5 months now. I'm almost ashamed to admit it: It's not so bad... Okay, I like it! I actually like it. The Windows 8 thing doesn't bother me the way it seems to bother everyone else, I think, because I don't really know what I'm missing. I will agree with some of the other reviewers that the touchpad can be a bit quirky. It DOES register your palm touching at times and jumps your mouse all over the place. And the two-finger scrolling is apparently only functional for certain amount of time before you have to reboot it. (For my fellow Mac-lovers out there, you know that the 2-finger scrolling is a habit you develop EXTREMELY quickly and it's almost impossible to break) I don't know what causes it to stop working, (can't find any documentation about it) and I don't know if there's a way to reset it to work internally, all I know is that rebooting it seems to get it working again. And it doesn't work in all windows with all programs haven't figured out if there's a pattern to that or not.

It tends to randomly and unexpectedly just turn off on occasion? Not enough to worry about, or even enough to make me want to call tech support about it (it's done it maybe 5 or 6 times total), and it seemed to stop doing it for a couple of months and then it did it the other night once more. And it doesn't have bluetooth. If you want bluetooth, you'll need a USB adapter. (So I'm not ONLY giving it 4 stars because it's not a Mac. That's part of it :-P But not all of it.)

It's got 3 USB ports on it, which is really cool! I think one of them is of a lesser protocol than the others because certain devices don't want to work in the one USB port. It has HDMI, standard monitor port, and Ethernet; built-in WiFi, tray-loading DVD writer to the side (I haven't tested the DVD writing capabilities of it yet), and standard headphone and mic jacks. The screen is glossy HD, and it also has a complete number pad on the right side, which is something I have NEVER understood why Apple refuses to do. The battery life is pretty decent on it. It seemed I couldn't work an hour or so on my MBP before it was warning me to give it power (but it WAS five years old...).

So, okay, I'm admitting it. I like the darn thing! I'm a PC-convert. (Wow, did I just say that?) I still miss my Mac, don't get me wrong, and will continue to debate from that side of the podium, but having a PC opens up a lot of doors out there. Lots of things available to me now and I don't have to constantly look for or research "Will it work on a Mac?" or have to pass up something I really want or need because it won't or can't work on a Mac. This thing looks sleek, runs fast, and has made the transition *fairly* painless.

And for the price!?!? Have all you PC people out there been enjoying these kinds of prices for laptops all along??!?!? Man, was I clueless!

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I bought this laptop on Cyber Monday Sale for a total of $545, after tax and shipping. It was a pretty good investment considering that it is i5 and 750GB hard drive. The only setback on this laptop is the sound. The sound sounds a little choppy and, but you can just buy speakers or use a headset to fix this problem. Overall, good laptop for school/gaming and I would recommend this laptop to my friends/family.

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Customer Ratings:

Purchased this laptop during black friday from Microsoft Store. Comes with Windows Ultimate Premium Home, very light, stays cool and the battery lasts for about 4 hours. Boots up fast, is mostly setup and ready to go. I hooked up an external drive using both eSata and USB and they both performed well, with eSata being faster for file transfers. The internal 320gb hard drive spins well and the 4gb of memory is enough to run multiple applications simultaneously. The screen though, is small, so you can't have too many windows opened at the same time due to the small screen real estate.

The unit does not come with built in optical drive, but has SD slots, so you can use your MS, SD by simply plugging it in. The keyboard is very easy to use, for a small laptop and the keys are nice and big, so you don't really have to get used to it, its just like typing on a regular keyboard.

One of the best parts of this laptop is the built in camera, which comes with a little light next to it for Skyping or other video based calling. The light brightens up your face even in low light conditions and works really well, I was very happy with it. I hooked up my Sony TV using the HDMI and the system automatically detected the television type and set the resolution to 1920x1200 (HD) and played a movie off my laptop very well, here I was pleasantly surprised at the performance of the video card and the HDMI output.

Surfing shouldn't be a problem as the interal wireless antenna performs well and picks up and maintains a signal for reliable web browsing. Audio output is also excellent and very good for a small unit.

All in all, great little laptop for the money, highly recommended.

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I bought the laptop for 400$+14$ shipping. Its got EVERYTHING I need. Its LED 13-inch screen is crystal clear, and with Atlec Lansing speakers built right into this bad boy, its perfect for movies, music and what not. Gaming? Its CPU is bit weak(Dual Core 1.2 ghz) which wouldn't be expected to run any games. But this processor is a new one, with it's architecture the same as the i3, i5 and i7. With the 1695 MB of built in graphics memory, its runs games real smooth. Plus, its got a webcam built in. When you connect in a monitor/projector, it auto-detects the size of it and adjusts accordingly. The keyboard is just.......ordinary. You don't need to get used to it. If you know how to type, you'll be fine.

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VIVO Technology is my go to company when it pertains to laptop screens.

They ship quickly, prices are fair, and the screens are always in brand new condition.

Guaranteed no dead pixels, so if a few pop up on arrival of screen, they will do their best to take care of the buyer.

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I had purchased an Acer and had problems right away, fortunately I was able to return it for a full refund and decided to go back to an HP and am very pleased with its performance. The only downside, which hasn't really impacted me thus far, is the is no CD drive, but with downloads, etc this is probably not a big deal.

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This was a first time lap top for my son .. I paid almost twice as much for a top of the line sony.. for myself..This computer has every feature mine has as well as being able to do anything the sony can ...great choice for a great price other brands wanted 200-550 dollars more for the same features..it pays to shop around and the HPs that all the guys in my squad have are all great computers...

Buy ASUS X550CA-DB51 15.6-Inch Laptop

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $599.00
Sale Price: $565.98
Today's Bonus: 6% Off

Ill be quick about this. I rated it 4 but its more of a 3.5

Pros:

Speed. Ram and processor live up to expectations. Windows 8 running super good, and even though im not a big fan of the OS, Im learning to deal with it. CAnt imagine what itd be like running 16gb, which it can be upgraded to.

Storage. Almost a TB storage. Need I say more?

Aesthetics. It looks pretty.

Cons:

Touchpad can be weird sometimes. It might be I have to tweak the sttings but it just doenst feel right at times.

Screen could use a bit more detail, clarity...resolution? DOnt know what the term is here. DEfinitely not the sharpest or clearest screen in the market

USB ports. With only 2 ports, I find myself wanting at least one more.

So for the price? great buy, but dont expect the fanciest of laptops. Its still a decent looking machine

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The computer is ok, but the touch pad is a huge problem for me. It is too sensitive or doesn't work right. I also had a windows update problem where it would take forever to restart because of updating. The pc works fine when you plug a mouse in it.

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Laptop arrived today!

I've been learning Windows 8 and figuring out everything I can with this laptop and so far it's been amazing! Terrific picture quality and great sound! Apps run smoothly, Netflix and iTunes work great! Everything I could want in a laptop for school and work. So slim and light. I've only had it for the day but so far it's everything I wanted. Great buy and Great price!! Being someone who is not very tech savvy I found this laptop easy to use and learn. Also it's so quiet when running programs and even just starting up. I totally recommend this laptop for everyone.

The CD/DVD player worked great for me and my ipod hooked up to the laptop and works great.

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I liked this laptop and it is good and fast, but i having difficulties to enter space key, only this.

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Overall I like the computer but the track pad is so sensitive that by merely resting my left wrist on the computer it swishes the window that I am working on away and I have to search for it. Windows 8 is probably the biggest issue as it is a totally unintuitive operating system and requires extra steps for simple functions. You have to completely exit a document just to save it. And while I understand this is not the computer itself, it is what is running the computer.

It is not too heavy and the screen size is great. It seems to charge pretty quickly and works well, so far.