Discount Dell XPS 15 CI5/2.4 15.6 6GB 750GB DVDR W7HP 64

Customer Ratings:

My specs: Dell XPS l502x (Purchased May 2011)

Processor: i5 2410M

RAM: 6GB

HDD: 640 gb 7200 hard drive

Resolution: 1366 x 768

Video card: GeForce 540M 2GB

First off: the audio on this model is truly incredible for the price range. The JBL speakers with subwoofer make it unnecessary to have to plug your laptop in to external speakers for almost any situation (except of course... parties and what have you). In fact, you'd truly be hard pressed to find better audio quality in a laptop even now. The new Lenovo y410 and y510 models do come with JBL speakers, however they are not of the same quality.

The keyboard is comfortable for my usage, since I have fairly large hands. I have heard that some people complain about the spacing between keys, but honestly... unless you have tiny fingers I don't really understand how it's an issue.

The screen quality is pretty good for the price and resolution.

Now for the bad.. well, horrible.

The battery quality is horribly sub par; the 9cell battery I purchased with the unit barely kept about one hour charge after a year and at current lasts about 35-40 minutes with wireless enabled. Considering that the laptop is plugged in almost 85% of the time, this is fairly terrible.

And most importantly (or annoyingly), the video card. The Nvidia GeForce 540M comes with either 1GB or 2GB of dedicated video memory. I opted for the 2GB over the 1GB merely because it was only about a $20 upgrade at the time of purchase. The card has pretty solid reviews on notebookcheck in terms of performance and can play modern games at decent quality. However (and this is a HUGE however), the thing crashes. It crashes a whole ton. Like a ridiculously ludicrous amount. And by crash, I do mean that the entire computer freezes along with a looping stuttering audio sound (which is incredibly loud and annoying) and must be powered down via the button.

There are several theories as to why the video card crashes (be it overheating, which obviously can occur in laptops, or more commonly, with this video card, that there is an issue with the clock speed). While it is possible to lower the amount of crashes by a great deal by switching to the integrated graphics card, I eventually found that this card would freeze during certain games, such as Starcraft 2. You can also go the "underclock the core speed of your 540M main card" which will also lower the frequency of crashes, but they still do inevitably occur under medium to heavy load. This could be an issue with the motherboard, 540M speed, etc. and that would be fine if Dell acknowledged the issue and voluntarily replaced or provided solutions to fix the crashing errors. But they haven't. In fact, they have gone a highly petty route by forcing users to extend warranties and continually replace the motherboard and video card. Oh, I said petty because on their forums, they also mute people and delete comments on their forums who even whisper anything overly negative about the computer or Dell's possible knowledge that they shipped out faulty components with the laptops and did not voluntarily pull the laptops back to replace said faulty components (if you read dell community forum posts in regards to how frequently and readily dell replaced motherboards for this laptop, it becomes fairly obvious they know of the issue).

Yes, it would cost them money to replace everyone's faulty components. But this is a premium laptop and by my standards, shipping out a laptop with faulty components is essentially shipping out an incomplete product, which Dell should be held liable for.

I am honestly stuck at a crossroads for rating this laptop. On the one hand, everything but the video card and battery runs perfectly and as it should, and the audio quality is superb. But Dell's horrible business practices in regards to informing their customers of faulty hardware (this also happened with the XPS M1530 line, see Nvidia 8 series class action lawsuit) leads me to have to ultimately give this laptop a 2/5.

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I bought mine direct from Dell (preferred customer) to replace my tired

Studio 1550.

i7, 2.2ghz, 1tb drive, 8 gig ram, GT525 & intel HD graphics, JBL sound,

bluetooth etc.

1st thing I do is set it up, and then pull the HDD out, pop in a clean one,

and set it up my way, and leave the "factory" drive on the shelf with the

expiration date of the warranty. If I have a warranty claim, pop in THEIR

drive with no personal data on it and send it back.

I didn't get the back-lit keyboard.

This thing screams on photoshop, which I use daily. Keyboard is responsive,

and easier than several of my older laptops. Keys are solid, not spongy.

The dual video is nice on the battery also. I went with the bigger battery

& charger. The bigger battery has the advantage of tilting the entire laptop

up. The sound on this thing is something to make you wonder how they get that

sort of sound out of a laptop. The JBL logo on the bottom, I guess the entire

cavity of the laptop is a tuned port. When it is sitting on a table, you can

really hear the bass pumping through. The case speakers on the top side are

clear & pretty loud. 3 USB ports. One on the left, one in back, and a combo

e-sata/usb on the right. USB 3 is plenty fast for my needs. I use a BT

mouse, and it works without any issue.

Battery life for my use is excellent. I can have it charged, unplug it after

work at 5pm, put it in sleep mode, and leave it that way til the next day, and

it might use 1-3% of the battery, making startup faster.

Wireless works perfectly, no issues.

Best Deals for Dell XPS 15 CI5/2.4 15.6 6GB 750GB DVDR W7HP 64

Great laptop, super performance.

If you need something to use primarily at home, it will be great.

I needed to buy another laptop, smaller and lighter to carry around, because this one is quite heavy.

Honest reviews on Dell XPS 15 CI5/2.4 15.6 6GB 750GB DVDR W7HP 64

My first XPS 15 worked for about 6 months and then everything started failing: serious connectivity issues, screen randomly turning on and off, scratchy sound, terrible picture, .... Dell customer service was horrid. They went on for about 9 months trying to convince me that there was nothing wrong with it. Eventually, when the laptop could not stay turned on for more than 5 seconds, they replaced it with another XPS. Now, 8 months later, all the problems are back and so is the horrible customer service.

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I bought mine about a year and a half ago, with specs for gaming and the computer has given me nothing but problems. The moment it was out of warranty, the hard drive failed, and when I got that repaired, the battery failed. Now, once I've fixed the battery, the graphics card is giving me issues and I can't even enjoy my games any more. I've dumped over 1500$ into this trap. Never buying another Dell product again, always skimp on quality.

Reviews of Acer Aspire V5-171-6471 11.6-Inch Laptop (Silky Silver)

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $579.99
Sale Price: $539.99
Today's Bonus: 7% Off

I really adore this mobile computer. I am a mobile person and the size is perfect for every day commuting and long-distance travel; it has a small footprint and can fit on any surface be it an airplane seat tray or a lap. The computer does not have a disc drive (which I think is a plus), freeing it to be made very thin; it is not Macbook Air thin, but still very thin. One of my favorite features is the touchpad. It recognizes Apple like gestures and is free from the casing, so that it can physically move up and down when pressed. This gives it a very responsive feel akin to the Apple touchpad. The keyboard has keys separated by the case molding. It is not a full size keyboard, but I find the Chiclet-like keys helps prevent pressing more than one key at a time when typing; it also looks very cool.

I like a fast computer and this Acer has a lot horsepower for its price range since it has an Intel Core i5, instead of a Core i3. This means it comes with Intel's Turbo Boost technology. I believe the Turbo Boost makes a big difference in a laptop where power consumption is directly related to battery life. Most of the time a lot of horsepower isn't needed, e.g. web surfing, so battery power is saved. But when you need to open or run a demanding program like MATLAB (you'll see I love MATLAB) then Turbo Boost really shines and everything will run faster.

I took this computer to another level by upgrading to a solid-state hard drive and highly recommend this. The SSD makes boot up incredibly fast. (Note about installing Windows via USB: Format a USB (>4GB) with FAT32. Then extract a Windows Installation ISO to the USB using 7-zip. Super simple :)(Note 2: or use Clonezilla to clone the Windows that ships with the drive onto the new one.). With this setup the computer is very snappy. The computer boots in about 5 seconds. MATLAB opens on my laptop faster than my desktops!

I did not want to spend more than $800 on a new laptop. This laptop perfectly fits my computing needs and wants without breaking the budget. I think it is as cool as a computer can be without being a Macbook, which this computer clearly used as an inspiration. I don't believe in spending top-of-the-line money for laptops, because the dollar goes further in a desktop and laptops don't have as much longevity due to wear and tear (I'm pretty rough on laptops. They get banged around in my backpack when I bike around or travel). However, being unwilling to spend enough can result in an impotent laptop: more than a Chromebook (which are awesome in their own way, but specialized), yet not quite powerful enough for doing more than surf the web, write docs, and make slides; having a computer powerful enough to run MATLAB (or a similarly demanding program like Photoshop) was important to me. The Aspire V5-171 has met my needs and surpassed my expectations. It represents a fantastic value: it combines computing power and great aesthetics into a very convenient and mobile form factor.

The only caveat I can think of is this is not a "gamer's" laptop. However, it has the best integrated graphics chip Intel offers and will play a lot of modern games on the lowest visual settings at decent frame rates.

Finally, there are a few miscellaneous features that further prove how this laptop is the complete package. In addition to an HDMI port, there is also a VGA port. I think it is great to have both, because there is now the flexibility of giving a presentation on an HD screen or an older projector without needing to tote around extra adapters. There is also a USB 3.0 port to help future proof this machine. Another nice unheralded feature is the power cord, which does not have a "Ghostbusters brick". Instead it has the adapter plug directly into the wall; this seems to have reduced the size of the power cord and represents to me less of a trip hazard. My only wish is that the power cord would connect to the laptop using a magnet ala Apple (the ultimate in trip prevention), but I don't mind so much because this laptop comes in at such a nice price.

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Funny that companies are trying to make these smaller laptops seem like something new. They were everywhere a few years ago; with screen sizes from 7 to 14" and simply called netbooks. For whatever reason, at the time, they bombed and just didn't sell so they were discontinued by most major manufacturers. Skip ahead just a couple years and tablets popped up on the scene and as of the time of this writing (7-14-13) are all the rage. And guess what the screen sizes are...7-10". While I think they are a great form of entertainment (I purchased one myself, an Asus 10.1 Transformer currently their top of the line for almost a year).

While tablets come in a variety of sizes and are very easy to use (their big selling point) they really are suited for entertainment primarily. The public has finally starting noticing this and even through you can add a keyboard to a tablet, it still is very limited using "real world" applications. While many people have written programs (apps) to try to expand their usefulness, a word processor or spreadsheet on a tablet is far more complicated than on a Mac or PC. Thus the resurrection of what people now refer to as "smaller computers" (a.k.a., netbooks).

I write reviews and articles for a variety of blogs and yes, even newspapers (contrary to popular belief they do still exist though the number is dwindling fast). I tried using my top-of-the-line Asus tablet with a variety of word processing applications and while I'm looking for a program with all the features I need, salespeople seem to be programed to talk about nothing but "pinch and zoom" and the gigantic 32 Gig of storage memory they contain. No matter what you ask them they always bring the subject back to that. It's like dangling shiny trinkets in front of a baby and listening to them "oooo" and "ahhh" over the pretty shiny things. Kids, time to grow up.

While tablets certainly have made a place for themselves and at the moment are continuing to grow in popularity they really are most practical for entertainment and not productivity. I'm not saying you can't send off an e-mail or edit a document but to write a 5 or 6 page article (even if you have a keyboard for your tablet as I, myself do) you really need something with a little more power and better design...at least for writing. And that means a fully functional word processor, be it MS Word, Open Office. But many times, in writing articles, when I start in the research phase I might have 20 tabs open in a browser, a word processing program, a drawing program with something as simple as clip art open as well. Guess what happens to a tablet (mine actually has 64 gig of ram). What happens is that it comes to a screeching halt.

I have a quad core, 15" laptop and a quad core desktop that uses wireless keyboard, mouse and even dictation software so when I am home I barely have to touch the keyboard. Oh, and the screen is a 50" diagonal flat panel. There isn't anything I can't do with my home system. Now the problem; I'm not always home. I don't know how many people have tried carrying a 15" laptop (with power brick) and other accessories around all day but by afternoon my shoulders feel like they are going to fall off. Thus the need for something smaller but not too small.

First stop, as always, Amazon to hunt for something more practical for my particular needs. I looked a Chromebooks (those are basically netbooks that use the Google operating system). Problem is that everything has to be done in a browser and Google's word processor isn't very powerful and as I said, I may have 20 tabs open at once. Google's browser answer for this, since it creates a lack of memory, is to close (and no it doesn't ask it it's okay) the oldest tab. And while there are supposed to be ways to bring them back it just doesn't always work. In reading reviews on Chromebooks I kept seeing the same comments over and over. Why does Asus produce netbooks with 4 gig of ram and a 320 gig hard drive since it really has no use for anything that big since it stores almost everything you do on the web. So I wrote the model numbers of a few down and searched Amazon for them. Sure enough, there was the exact same computer that had been used for Chromebooks but with Windows 8 as the operating system.

I made my lists and compared and decided on this machine. While it claims to have a 5 hour battery life, in reality it is more like 2 to 2 1/2 hours. The reason for this however is because they are showing most of the specs of Chromebooks that have very low-end processors that don't need much energy to run while this computer replaced these low-end processors with and Intel Core i5. With the entire line of Intel processors, this is the second from the top of the line. It is fast and even has a turbo mode so that if you are over-taxing the processor it literally kicks in to overdrive and gives a little extra boost as needed. I've been working on it for about a month and with a browser open with 32 tabs, a word processor and a spreadsheet (and playing music in the background) it has only kicked in once! It also has 6 gig of ram to support all those open windows. I may upgrade it to 8 gig but at this point I am not sure it's really even necessary.

The keyboard is also worth mentioning. While my 15" laptop has a full sized keyboard with a separate numeric keypad, this computer has only the full sized keyboard and no separate numeric keypad. But then that cuts about 3-4" off its size. I have been asked why I didn't just get a Macbook Air (super slim and lightweight + another $1000). So I decided to opt for the Acer V5. I even purchased an external DVD drive since this computer doesn't have one built in and contrary to the "knowledgeable" salespeople who tell me that no computers will have them in another year since everything can be downloaded, I disagree. The drive is 1/2 inch thick and runs right off the power from the usb port you plug it in to. A couple people also said that software would be delivered in thumbdrives (usb sticks). I reminded them all that people have been saying that one for about 2 years. Other than a couple programs, everything I've seen that isn't a download comes on that other thing that will be discontinued if you listen to them...a DVD! As I said, no keypad but the rest of the keys are the "chiclet" style keys with ample space between them that your fingers don't hit the wrong keys (some chiclet style keyboards are so close together that they are more of a solid, flat and connected row of keys and it is difficult to keep track of where "home row" is for typing.

This computer has a 500 gig hard drive in it. I have considered swapping it out for a SSD however the speed that this computer has at start up is actually quite fast for a standard hard drive and from the time I hit the power button, while an SSD might have it up and running in 15 seconds, it has never taken more than a minute to be up and ready to use. And for the cost of a 500 gig SSD, I can wait another 45 seconds longer.

It does come with the usual assortment of partially cripples games, trial period software for the major programs. But I always make my first project on any computer to 1st, make a back up of the operating system in case something should go wrong (forgot to tell the salespeople about that one no DVD or usb stick and if the computer dies, you can't go on line to download the operating system). The 2nd thing I always do is delete all the garbage software and finally, the 3rd thing to do before adding my own software is to defrag the hard drive after just erasing so much junk.

The screen is bright and clear. You would have a hard time counting pixels. For those who don't like non-reflective screen, you'll need to buy one of those clear, plastic non-glare screen covers because this screen, as beautiful as it looks is almost impossible to see in a brightly lit room. Not because the screen is dim but because it is so highly reflective. But you can get an anti-glare screen on line, almost anywhere. They go on like the clear plastic screen protectors do. Just slide them on and try not to get air bubbles under them.

While this doesn't have a DVD drive built in, it does have a network port, 3 usb ports, a SD card slot and an HDMI port. At the rear of the PC (where the hinge for the screen is located) the height when closed is just under an inch and at the front it's about a little more than a half inch. I put my 10 inch tablet on top of it and it was 3/4 of an inch longer and 3/4 of an inch deeper. So size-wise it's almost the size of my tablet. I actually carry both in my computer bag.

Lastly, a friend asked if it got hot sitting in my lap? Answer is: warm. It's never gotten so hot (like my larger laptop) that I thought I would burn my legs. And besides, for convenience sake I also have a small stand that folds flat (also fits the computer bag) that is designed to put the computer on if you are in bed or sitting in a chair. That allows a little air to flow beneath it. It has a fan built in but it is barely noticeable, especially if you are playing music.

Actually, this is the last thing: the speakers are mediocre at best. You have 2 choices really. You can use a set of headphones and the sound is full and clear. I'm not big on wearing headphones while I work so I spent $18 (also found here on Amazon) and purchased X-Mini II XAM4-B Portable Capsule Speaker. Strange looking. I looks like a small pod/half a ball (hard to describe) but it is a small external speaker that you just plug into your headphone jack (it has a built in battery and I've used it on a single charge for 11 hours one day) and while you aren't going to get Bose quality sound out of it, the highs and lows are nice and clear. If you want to spend about 1/2 to 3/4 more $ you can also get it in a blue tooth version so you don't have to play with an extra wire. The only reason I didn't get that one myself was because while it pairs up to your computer with no problem and sounds as good as the wired version; again, it has a built in battery but since the battery has to power bluetooth as well as the speaker, it only runs for about 5 hours before needing a recharge. My career is built around the computer so I use it much more than most people so I liked the less expensive model, not because it cose less but because I get 11 of play time out of it.

Hope this has been of help to someone looking at it, one way or another. It is a great little computer but is just big enough that you don't feel like your trying to work on a toy. And with a core i5 processor, 6 gig of ram and a 500 gig hard drive if you are looking for a physically smaller computer (something that can produce real work), it's a great machine.

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It might be helpful to describe my PREVIOUS computer. For the last two plus years I have been using an Acer one, 10.5" notebook. I had upgraded the ram to 2 GB. I never had anything that small before, but really I liked the size, and also the ACER quality (for the price).

I did a lot of research before I bought this new ACER. I'm a tightwad and I didn't want to pay for any more than I needed. After the first week I am totally pleased.

One of the problems with the previous notebook was the undersized keys and keyboard. The move up to 11.5 inches has allowed for full sized, fully spaced keys. I'm a writer and I need a real keyboard that I can use anywhere. Someone else referred to these keys as "chiclets". Yes, they protrude up individually through the casing. They're very easy to type on. It verges on fun. The only thing that concerns me is that they may accumulate dirt, which may be difficult to get out. But, that can't be any worse than most other keyboards.

I don't do any gaming; So, the 6 GB is really great. The processor and RAM are quite adequate for word processing, spreadsheets, surfing, and watching Netflix.

It is super slim, portable and very light. Note, however, that the power cable is on the right side. I would prefer the left, but it's not a big deal.

The screen quality is very good for the price. The size of the screen is perfect. It is the smallest possible screen for a real keyboard. It is big enough for all the programs to run without size problems.

In regard to software: I was very skeptical of W8. I spent 3 or 4 hours familiarizing myself with it. I finally got it set up. Basically I only see the APPS screen when I boot. I go straight from there to a (more or less) familiar window's desktop. It's working OK, but I'm thinking about defecting to Linux Ubuntu.

I also may install an SSD drive when I do that. This is not because I am dissatisfied with what came in the box. I think it's a great value for what I paid.

Now, a word to the wise about MS office. MS is really trying to rope everyone who needs office into annual fees, high prices, and so forth. I refuse to do it.

I first tried Open Office, but soon learned that they (apache? I think) are not keeping it up. I had trouble with migrating excel files and formatting. But, Libre Office is really great. They're on top of it. It's open source. It's free and it works. It doesn't have all the features of the later versions of office, but for my needs, it is just fine.

Honest reviews on Acer Aspire V5-171-6471 11.6-Inch Laptop (Silky Silver)

I would give this laptop a Four except that its battery life is quite poor. After adjusting the power settings for minimum power, I have trouble getting more than three hours from it. Acer should have give it a larger battery. Acer doesn't have a larger battery available for after market either.

Like the machine, hate the battery!

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I'm a software engineer and professional Linux user. I was a little nervous about buying this machine, because I have had bad luck in the past with hardware compatibility on very lightweight machines. There was no need to worry, practically everything works perfectly (see notes at the end of the review).

** Fit and Finish **

It looks nice. Actual metal would have been nicer, but it's close enough. The keyboard feels a little sloppy, and you'll notice odd clicking sounds in the keys from time to time. This is most of where the lost one star is. I wasn't expecting much from a chiclet board on a computer this thin, but I know that it could have been done better.

** Battery Life **

With low display brightness, but performing regular tasks, I was able to get about the advertised five hours of battery life. On Windows, I would expect about an hour less.

** Graphics **

The CPU and onboard graphics are very powerful, especially given the size of the computer. I was able to run Counter-Strike: Source with 60-200 FPS on the recommended settings. For a machine I don't expect to do any gaming on, that's impressive. Naturally, this allows for smooth video playback. Display resolution being 1366x768 on the 11" LCD, the pixel density is good. The viewing angle of the LCD is poorer than I was expecting, and may impact your ability to use the computer when it's not directly in front of you.

** Audio **

The speakers are absolutely awful. With how thin the computer is, this is not a surprise. You will need headphones if you want to actually listen to something.

** Overall **

It's a solid machine. Great value for the price, extremely portable and powerful. I would recommend this to anyone.

Technical Notes: Tested Crunchbang Waldorf, with a Debian Jessie (Linux 3.10) base. I needed to modprobe a couple of modules in order to get the wireless card working correctly (see instructions at the bottom of the page here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2124592). The touchpad may need a special input configuration file for xorg in order to enable right clicking/click and drag.

Cheap HP Envy 17-j050us 17.3-Inch Laptop

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I have had this PC for a couple weeks and I love it! The finger scan for passwords, fantastic. I have not mastered the Leap Motion but I am working on it. I was so worried about Windows 8, with all the reviews saying they hate it. But I am finding I love it too. My last HP laptop lasted 7 years and is still running just slow. Hoping this one lasts as long. The easy transfer program for transfer of files is great. I bought the transfer cord and it's working out.

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ASUS UL30Vt-X1 Thin and Light 13.3-Inch Black Laptop (11 Hours of Review

Customer Ratings:

I had been excited about the ULxxVT series from Asus since they were first announced a couple months ago. I originally purchased the UL80VT back when it was released in October but ultimately returned it due to a very noticeable dead pixel right in the middle of the screen. This was probably for the best as a week with the UL80VT made me realize it was bigger then I needed and I didn't really have much use for the optical drive.

Due to my brief ownership of the UL80VT I knew certain things to expect with the UL30VT but I have to say the UL30VT has exceeded my expectations. While I never felt the build quality was bad on the UL80VT it's much better on the smaller UL30VT. Clearly due to the smaller frame everything is quite a bit more solid as there is almost no chasis flex at all. The keyboard is okay. Everything is well spaced although the small right shift key is a bit annoying. Honestly the only thing about the keyboard that isn't great is that it's a bit on the noisy side as its very clackity when you type. I know a lot of people don't like the dimpled ASUS touchpads but honestly I don't think it's that bad and it has tons of multi-functions that really make it a joy to use. The single button touchpad button isn't as firm as on the UL80VT so its a bit easier to press for those who don't just use tapping. The screen is also in my opinion much better then the UL80VT in regards to contrast which I felt was subpar on the the larger model. Viewing angles still aren't great but they aren't on most laptops these days. The hard drive is a bit noisy but it's not really that noticeable.

I know a lot will be made of battery life on these UL models and it should be pointed out that this comes with the 10 hour battery, not the 12 hour one Amazon lists. Even still its a 63whr, 4400mah 8 cell battery that I have easily been able to get 7 hours of wifi web surfing and there still being life left (sorry, I haven't had it long enough to do a full battery test yet). So while it would have been nice to get the larger 84whr battery I don't think I will have had too many instances where I will even need it. Also just to correct another incorrect part of the Amazon listing, the UL30VT weighs 3.92lbs according to my precision scale with the battery installed. Still plenty light for me but I don't know how they got 3.7lbs that is listed here. The UL80VT also has the wrong weight listed in it's listing as it weighed 4.8lbs when I weighed that back in October.

Overall I am very happy I waited for the UL30VT, the idea of creating an overclocked low voltage system is a genius concept that ASUS has executed very well here. The end result gives the user performance equivalent to a regular full voltage Core 2 Duo while still providing great battery life. There is truly nothing else on the market like the VT series laptops and for $799 you get a lot. Sure the larger battery or longer warranty of the A series UL models (this is an X model) would be nice but it would then cost more and lets be honest, it still has better battery life then most systems on the market and almost all consumer laptops only come with a one year warranty to begin with! Given the price I can't recommend this system enough, sure there are a few things that could be improved but for me it's exactly what I needed in a laptop at hundreds less then I was originally expecting to pay.

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I've been searching for the perfect, best, finest, fastest, coolest small notebook for almost 5 months, believe it or not, and here it is the Asus UL30Vt-X1. It could have reached out and bit me, it was so close at hand, so easy to find, but you almost never look right under your nose do you? Well, so much for finding it...let's tell the nice Amazon.com readers what it does, and how well it does it, and a whole slew of TIPS and TRICKS this user knows in and out!

I've put together some sections where I am going to describe settings and specific control panel functions that work optimally for my uses, and I tell you what to expect when using them...this is a User's Review as much as it is a Review for pre-sales questions and general interest. Hope you like it!

**13.3" 1366 x 768 pixels HD LED Backlit LCD Display-nVidia G210-M 512MB Video+ Intel GMA-4500 Integrated Graphics, SWITCHABLE GRAPHICS ENGINES! RealTek HD Audio! nVidia HD HDMI Audio!

It's not the brightest display(200 Nits by measurement) nor the most defined by contrast, unless you get into the nVidia CP and adjust things...so go to nVidia Control Panel (right click, on the desktop), Adjust Video Color Settings, check "Dynamic Contrast Enhancement", and "Color Enhancement", then hit 'Apply' and BAM! Your LCD will become very, very nice, with deep blacks, browns and blues, while the bright colors themselves will 'Jump Out At You'--you'll think you are looking at a much more expensive computer's display. That's something that anybody can do to enhance the graphic power of the nVidia G210-M 512MB discrete video card output, and it does make a HUGE difference...try it, you'll like it!

The native HD display is capable of rendering virtually any type of content with either of the video settings, as the GMA-4500 Intel Graphics (integrated video, that uses up to 4095MB of system RAM if the computer has 8GB RAM...with 4GB of RAM the video uses up to 1795MB RAM) are capable with HD content. It's just the nVidia card, however, that you want to use (whenever possible, ie not on battery) that fetches up 30-40FPS+ with Call of Duty: World at War for example! Yes, this notebook is a gamer's delight, to a point...don't expect 70+FPS in deep battle scenes with heavy, hard detail settings, but it is adequate for playing virtually any of the current crop of 1st-person shooter games...Crysis, literally any game available right now. It's that good!

When on AC Power, PowerGear4 Hybrid set on High Performance and Turbo Boost, fire up any game you want and the UL30Vt-X1 springs to life, loads the game rapidly, enter your control panel Option settings and you're off and running, full screen if you want...this is a fantastic nVidia graphics engine, and it will do the job. I also have had xlnt results playing HD video/audio content.

Do you like Hulu content, the online TV that displays programs/movies in HD? This is one notebook that will not disappoint Hulu fans, so let's get cranking! Open up "The Dresden Files", for example, the Canadian Sci-Fi/Suspense Thriller from 2004-2007 that Hulu has all the archives of, choose Full-Screen Mode in the controls on screen, and WHAM! You're watching full HD video at 1366 x 768, and the UL30Vt-X1 will come through stutter-free, without any problems at all. The CULV CPU, the 1066mhz DDR3 RAM, and either of the graphics engines will do the job. You can count on this computer 100% with any type of video content, either online, HD movies from DVD's, or even BluRay discs can be played (with a player, of course) at full screen resolution. This video Rocks!

It helps if you have the latest, and greatest Flash Player Beta 10.1.55.xx installed, but that's optional as is a browser other than IExplorer (I've been using Google Chrome). The sound is xlnt also, coming from Altec Lansing speakers which are positioned in the chassis front edge, left and right, for true SRS Surround Sound action via the RealTek HD Sound Manager. You can access the manager's controls by clicking on the System Tray's hidden icons, RealTek HD Sound Manager, double-click on it and choose from 30-or more different sound effects! Here's a couple I found to be optimal:

RealTek HD Sound Manager: Set it to Stereo for headphones, then check "Headphone Virtualization" if you use headphones like I do 90% of the time. In Sound Effects, click on "Rock" which will enhance the sound just enough to put a slight EDGE on the drums, cymbals, bass is enhanced, and mids are subdued with voices accentuated perfectly. Click on "Living Room" for the Environment which stops any acoustic 'echo-effect' which many of the other choices will do. Then go to the last panel there, Default Format, and choose the Hz: I found that 24-bit 96,000Hz are perfect for this system, which is set OEM @ 24-bit 48,000Hz, just not enough Hz for my ears! TRY THOSE OUT! You will thank me a bunch, those are great settings for headphones every time!

As for the speakers, they sound great with the same settings turned up to at least 70%... That's right, they will NOT distort at those settings I've listed above, which is what you want every time not a bunch of unnecessary sound effects. Experiment all you like, I did, but you'll come back to those settings I just listed as they are pretty pure, nicely enhanced music settings without bringing too many special effects to the party.

**Keyboard, Special Fn Controls, PowerGear4 Hybrid (Power and Energy Saver Settings), GraphiX Boost Button (Switchable graphics!), HDMI Port Viewing!

This is a fantastic chiclet-style keyboard with about a 1.5mm reach per keystroke, so it's TIGHT and nice, just like your best girlfriend is, right? I mean who wants a weak pulse that doesn't squeeze, not I! The keyboard does not flex, as it's structured over a metal frame, that has a couple fans and some acoustic things underneath it when you take it off to check it out (don't tell Asus, but we got the take-apart directions!), so if you like chiclet-style you'll love this one 110%! There are some special functions, so let's get into them and let's see how she performs and works for us.

The Function Key, just below the Shift Key of course, performs a bunch of nice things for us, and here they are:

Fn F1 = Computer Put To Sleep

Fn F2 = Computer WiFi and BT Controls (Bluetooth)

Fn F5/F6 = LCD Brightness UP and DOWN

Fn F7 = Turn Off LCD Display (!)

Fn F8 = Turn On, Off, External Display, or Projector

Fn F9 = Turn Off/On Trackpad (VERY IMPORTANT!!--YOU'll use it a lot!)

Fn F10 = Audio Defeat (all audio, speakers, headphones all of it!)

Fn F11/F12 = Speakers/Headphones Volume UP or DOWN

Fn Space Bar = PowerGear4 Hybrid Energy Saver Settings, Power Settings

Fn Pause, Break = For Use In BIOS

Fn Prt SC/SysRq = Print Screen, System Rq

Fn Insert/NumLk = Insert and Number Lock

Fn Delete/ScrLk = Delete and Screen Lock

Why did I just list all of those? Because nobody else has who has done a review yet, that's why, and people want to know these things! People who don't own the computer yet..! And there's no owner's manual to speak of either with the UL30Vt-X1/A1, it's a pathetic thing that's a generic "Notebook PC User Manual". That's why I listed everything of importance that the Fn Key strokes will accomplish, and besides, it's my review, and I get to write what I Want!

Next we've got Switchable Graphics, and the Asus P4G Hybrid Switch/GRAPHIX BOOST BUTTON, which is at the left, top corner of the keyboard surface, not on the keyboard of course...Click it once, and click it again, and you cycle through the three possible choices therein:

1) Auto Detect Mode The computer detects whether you are on Battery Power or AC Power, and adjusts the video output accordingly...battery gets Integrated Intel GMA-4500 graphics, AC Power gets nVidia Graphics, every time!

2) Power Saving Integrated Graphics The computer detects nothing! You are on Integrated Graphics no matter if you have it on Battery or AC Power, you are stuck with it!

3) High Performance For you performance phreaks, here you go! It's the setting which gets you nVidia Discrete Graphics on battery or AC Power, it doesn't matter you get HIGH PERFORMANCE!

***Now there's been discussions about the P4G Hybrid Switch/Switchable Graphics button in the various forums that support this computer, and I'm going to explain a couple things that you need to know, and how to avoid thinking your computer is broke to boot! This is a discrete switch, and it does NOT work all the time. Along with Turbo Boost, there are caveats to operation, which I will get into real quick-like for owners, and for prospective buyers both.***

I'll try and make this clean, clear, short, and sweet, but I may have to repeat myself a couple times, so don't mind the dialog...If you notice that the switchable graphics switch is OFF, and is not working it's probably because you have selected Energy Saver preferences that are not allowing nVidia Graphics to load, so here's how you solve this issue if you want nVidia back! Restart the computer, and immediately begin tapping F2 fully, every 1/2 a second or so, not stacatto-like, but 1/2-second intervals...That will get you into BIOS, which is where we need to go!

Once into BIOS use the arrow keys to cycle over to the Final Screen, (rigtht side of the choices, all the way RIGHT!) the DEFAULT Screen as it is known, where you set User or Manufacturer Values to use. SELECT "LOAD MANUFACTURER DEFAULTS!" After you do that, exit BIOS and SAVE the Values... Hit F10 once, Return, and WHAM! You're out of BIOS and the computer will load Defaults from Asus Gods! (not kidding!) It will take awhile for the computer to return to the desktop, don't think it's broken, it's NOT! Log on normally, and once the desktop stabilizes, it will take a few seconds as opposed to the normal Fast Boot Routine...then Right Click on the Desktop!

Voila! nVidia Control Panel Returns! It should be in the selections that keystroke generates, and THAT is HOW you get back the MISSING SWITCH, and the nVidia Control Panel if it ever happens to you, so that is down, dirty, done.

Next time you restart the computer, or shut down then restart, go back into BIOS again, ie hit F2 as above while the computer is offline, after Restart or Power Command is given, until BIOS Screen shows. Go back to the Default screen, the last BIOS Screen you can load, this time use the arrow key to select "Load User Defaults", then Exit BIOS...then F10 again, Return again, and KABAM! You're out of BIOS, and the computer will start up normally, Fast Boot is again enabled (if you have enabled it or it's at Default), and the desktop quickly appears. CHECK AGAIN... Right Click on the Desktop! Does the nVidia Control Panel appear as one of the choices? Yes? Good! All is Well in Asus Land now!

That is how you reset Power4Gear Hybrid Controls and nVidia Control Panel! Got IT!? Good, now let's get onto some more interesting topics, but that is how we get things back to Square No. 1 with the Control Panels.

**Next topic, the HDMI Port, which is on the left side of the computer, next to the USB Port there. All you have to do to enable HDMI is insert an HDMI Cable, select the correct HDMI port setting on your HD TV, insert the HDMI Cable into the HDTV's HDMI Port, and WHACK! The Asus UL30Vt'X1 Desktop is on the TV! If necessary hit Fn F8 to dismiss the desktop altogether on the computer, just remember to hit Fn F8 again when you dismiss the HDTV and take the HDMI cable out of the computer/HDTV! Easy!**

***Now some folks have complained about the computer's Trackpad, and I for one don't have any problems with it. There is NEW SOFTWARE out for the trackpad, which was released the week of February 28, 2010 at Asus Central, so go to Support at the Asus web site, enter the UL30VT as your Support Model Choice, select "All" to select software, firmware, and utilities, and hit Return! That will transport you to the software web pages for this computer, where you can download the new Trackpad Drivers if you want them, if you need them, or if you just have to have the latest of everything with this computer. I don't need the new software, but some do, so there you go.***

As for the trackpad being a pain, and dragging or erasing letters and numbers when you are typing fast, like I do: TURN IT OFF! That's what I do, when I am typing madly, and that ends the problems of the "Trackpad Blues"!! So hit Fn F9 and SLAM! Done Deal, trackpad is disabled so you won't be bothered with it, and that's the end of the story. When you want it back, Fn F9 =RETURN OF THE TRACKPAD! Simple In, Simple Out!***

***That's the story there, so let's get into a look at the Energy Saver Control Panel, and how that works, that is P4G Hybrid all over again, sorry about that, it's redundant in the computer too!***

P4G Hybrid is chosen by the keystroke Fn Space Bar = 4 Modes of Energy Saver, preferences that are OPTIONAL, you don't have to use these settings, or you can MODIFY THEM in the Control Panels area of the operating system! That is what I have done with ALL of them, because the arbitrary controls didn't suit me, but nonetheless I am going to pretend I didn't for this review, and I'll tell you what the controls do, and what to expect...

**Battery Saving Mode: The processor will cycle to no more than 60% full power, down to as little as 5% available power. The screen will dim to approximately 60% brightness. The hard drive will go to sleep quickly, as quickly as in 5 minutes of non-use. The display will DIM to 30% if not used. Now, the freaky part, the Desktop Will VANISH, the one you were looking at before you selected this mode will! If you have been using Gadgets, they will VANISH! A new Desktop Wallpaper will appear and your custom or normal wallpaper will disappear also! WHY does it do all this? To save POWER, that is why!

Battery Saving Mode is one I use often, and I've customized it to my way of looking at the control panel now, but other than my customization it's still selectable by Fn Space Bar=Battery Saving. I've also customized the settings in the control panel itself, apart from the operating system control panels! That is correct, the OS Control Panels can be customized, just like the Control Panel itself can have certain settings changed, just make certain that they do NOT conflict with what you have set in the OS Control Panels!! ****IMPORTANT!!****

**Entertainment & Quiet Office Mode: The Processor will be set about about 1000Mhz, and the normal settings will be Moderate. Display will dim, etc...these two settings I don't use much, so will let the user discover more about them, but they are available by Fn Space Bar selection...take it from there.

**High Performance Mode: Everything is optimized here. The CPU will be @ 100% power for minimum and maximum speed, maxxed out. The screen will be @ 100% brightness. The HD will be set at NEVER in terms of sleeping. The screen will dim during period of non-use, but not to 30%, just a little dimmer than 100%. Now, the tricky part...

****HIGH PERFORMANCE TURBO MODE****

Click on the word TURBO, and it turns RED, but only after a RESTART! That is correct, to enable Turbo function you must restart the computer, and after that it is enabled UNTIL YOU DISABLE IT MANUALLY in the control panel once again! TURBO MODE=+33% CPU or shall I say, it is overclocked to 1733Mhz! That is correct, the computer overclocks from 1.3Ghz to 1733Mhz upon being restarted and it will STAY THERE ONLY IN HIGH PERFORMANCE MODE--will stay there until it is deselected, the computer is restarted once again, and BAM! Back to 1.3Ghz.

Do not worry about the overclocking--it is a good thing! The computer is FASTER, it is capable of editing video, audio, etc...you can use it like it has a 2Ghz CPU in it at that point, because it is practically there. So that's a nice surprise for owners of the UL30VT series. The performance is very adequate for a computer that is normally just saving energy @ 1.3Ghz or less, for long battery life and run time, low wear and tear on everything in general. Now a word about the CPU in general, and how this computer performs with a popular utility.

I used Everest Ultimate to do some comparison tests of the CPU, the memory, the video card, and this is a surprisingly adequate machine, especially using Turbo Mode and High Performance in P4G Hybrid Control Panel. I found that the computer was the equal or better than many faster machines, some with the word AMD before their Quad Core CPU's and at speeds up to 3Ghz, so it was a surprising statement. Everest revealed a bunch of secrets of the computer so let's look at some of them of interest:

Field Value

CPU Properties

CPU Type -Mobile DualCore Intel Core 2 Duo, 1733 MHz (6.5 x 267)

CPU Alias Penryn-3M

CPU Stepping R0

Instruction Set x86, x86-64, MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1

Original Clock 1300 MHz

Min / Max CPU Multiplier 6.0x / 6.5x

Engineering Sample No

L1 Code Cache 32 KB per core

L1 Data Cache 32 KB per core

L2 Cache 3 MB (On-Die, ECC, ASC, Full-Speed)

Multi CPU

Motherboard ID ASUSTeK Montevina

CPU #1 IntelGenuine Intel(R) CPU U7300 @ 1.30GHz, 1733 MHz

CPU #2 IntelGenuine Intel(R) CPU U7300 @ 1.30GHz, 1733 MHz

THAT is my computer in overclocked mode, so you can see that for yourselves. It described the CPU as being a Penryn-3M, a most capable mobile C2Duo CPU, and the motherboard from Asus is called Montevina! You can see the CPU has 3MB of L3 Cache at full speed on die (whatever speed the computer is operating at), a good thing again! The more L3 Cache the more information the CPU can cache at speed!

This is more from Everest Ultimate, and I hope it translates into the format here, but if it does not I'll edit it out...never tried it before! You can see here that the maximum memory amount is 8GB! And indeed I have installed 8GB of fast Crucial DDR3 1066Mhz SDRAM in my UL30Vt-X1, and it just flies...it's a bird all by itself now, and is a very capable multi-tasking machine now with 8GB RAM! Here's the readout on my computer in terms of the chipset:

North Bridge Properties

North Bridge Intel Cantiga GS45

Supported FSB Speeds FSB533, FSB667, FSB800, FSB1066

Supported Memory Types DDR2-667 SDRAM, DDR2-800 SDRAM, DDR3-667 SDRAM, DDR3-800 SDRAM, DDR3-1066 SDRAM

Maximum Memory Amount 8 GB

Revision / Stepping 07 / B3

Package Type 1363 Pin FC-BGA

Package Size 2.7 cm x 2.5 cm

Core Voltage 1.05 V

In-Order Queue Depth 12

Memory Controller

Type Dual Channel (128-bit)

Active Mode Dual Channel (128-bit)

Memory Timings

CAS Latency (CL) 7T

RAS To CAS Delay (tRCD) 7T

RAS Precharge (tRP) 7T

RAS Active Time (tRAS) 20T

Row Refresh Cycle Time (tRFC) 104T

RAS To RAS Delay (tRRD) 4T

Read To Precharge Delay (tRTP) 5T

Four Activate Window Delay (tFAW) 20T

Write CAS Latency (tWCL) 6T

Refresh Period (tREF) 7.8 us

Error Correction

Memory Slots

DRAM Slot #1 4 GB (DDR3-1066 DDR3 SDRAM)

DRAM Slot #2 4 GB (DDR3-1066 DDR3 SDRAM)

Integrated Graphics Controller

Graphics Controller Type -Intel GMA 4500MHD

Graphics Controller Status Enabled

Graphics Frame Buffer Size 32 MB

PCI Express Controller

PCI-E 1.0 x16 port #2 In Use @ x8 (High Definition Audio Controller [10DE-0BE3] [NoDB], NVIDIA GeForce G210M [10DE-0A74] [NoDB])

Here is one familiar quotient out of Everest, called PhotoWorxx, which compares the computer with a lot of very powerful machines, standards in their own class, and it came out surprisingly strong! You can see that the UL30VT came in 12th in this field of contestants, an amazing feat to me anyway...these are partial results, condensed to save space...more than 50 computers were ranked and this one came out 12th!

--------[ CPU PhotoWorxx ]----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4x Core i7 Extreme 965 HT 3333 MHz Asus P6T Deluxe X58 Triple DDR3-1333 9-9-9-24 CR1 35393

8x Xeon E5462 2800 MHz Intel S5400SF i5400 Quad DDR2-640FB 5-5-5-15 25575

4x Phenom II X4 Black 940 3000 MHz Asus M3N78-EM GeForce8300 Int. Ganged Dual DDR2-800 5-5-5-18 CR2 19168

4x Core 2 Extreme QX9650 3000 MHz Gigabyte GA-EP35C-DS3R P35 Dual DDR3-1066 8-8-8-20 CR2 17431

8x Opteron 2378 2400 MHz Tyan Thunder n3600R nForcePro-3600 Unganged Dual DDR2-667R 5-5-5-15 CR1 15896

2x Core 2 Duo E6700 2666 MHz Abit AB9 P965 Dual DDR2-800 5-5-5-18 CR2 11922

4x Core 2 Extreme QX6700 2666 MHz Intel D975XBX2 i975X Dual DDR2-667 5-5-5-15 11706

8x Xeon L5320 1866 MHz Intel S5000VCL i5000V Dual DDR2-533FB 4-4-4-12 9621

4x Xeon 5140 2333 MHz Intel S5000VSA i5000V Dual DDR2-667FB 5-5-5-15 8626

2x Athlon64 X2 Black 6400+ 3200 MHz MSI K9N SLI Platinum nForce570SLI Dual DDR2-800 4-4-4-11 CR1 7653

2x Core 2 Duo P8400 2266 MHz MSI MegaBook PR201 GM45 Int. Dual DDR2-667 5-5-5-15 7534

2x Core 2 Duo 1733 MHz Asus Montevina GS45 Int. Dual DDR3-1066 7-7-7-20 6896

8x Opteron HE 2344 1700 MHz Tyan Thunder n3600R nForcePro-3600 Unganged Dual DDR2-667R 5-5-5-15 CR1 6622

4x Phenom X4 9500 2200 MHz Asus M3A AMD770 Ganged Dual DDR2-800 5-5-5-18 CR2 6532

2x Athlon64 X2 4000+ 2100 MHz ASRock ALiveNF7G-HDready nForce7050-630a Int. Dual DDR2-700 5-5-5-18 CR2 6419

2x Pentium EE 955 HT 3466 MHz Intel D955XBK i955X Dual DDR2-667 4-4-4-11 6058

****Battery Run Time, Theoretical and Practical****

The utility that I like to analyze batteries with is called EmBatPower Battery Utility, and it's a legitimate contender for one of the most esoteric battery utilities that I know of, yet its accuracy is XLNT, so bear with me as I list some attributes of the OEM battery, how I describe it generally, and what kind of use I've been able to get out of it in the first 3 weeks of ownership, after Leveling the Battery, which is to discharge it down to its reserve status, then charge it fully.

The battery is made by Asus, and it's called a UL50-44, Its design capacity for charge is 61,600mWh or 4400MAH converted to MAH. My particular battery will charge up to 60,732mWh, about 99% of full design capacity, a commendable figure considering battery science is inexact in general, but that's very good! Fully charged, the voltage of the battery is quite high, @ 16,583mV, or 16.58V actual voltage. Asus tells us in advertising that we can expect up to "11 hours" of battery run time with this 4400Mah, 61,000mWh battery, which I find incredibly WRONG in actual use. I have used the battery extensively in the 3 weeks I've had the computer, discharging it no less than 15 times thus far, full discharges down to where the battery goes into Reserve Mode, and the computer Hibernates, this at about 4% of capacity to protect the computer and the battery.

During my tests I have had enabled typical things that most people would also have enabled, and I did not turn off key functions, so these are real world averages and they are quite different from Asus '11 hour run time' scenario. That just isn't possible with normal use, and here that is graphically put:

Run time with BlueTooth & WiFi, ON, iTunes ON playing music constantly without break: Discharge down to 4% battery to Hibernation each run:

Run 1) 6 hours 14 minutes

Run 2) 5 hours 45 minutes

Run 3) 5 hours 57 minutes

Run 4) 6 hours 06 minutes

Run 12) 6 hours 11 minutes

Run 14) 5 hours 37 minutes

Run 15) 5 hours 58 minutes

Then for runs 7-10 I charted run time with iTunes OFF, BlueTooth Off, and WiFi On:

Run 7) 7 hours 05 minutes

Run 8) 6 hours 58 minutes

Run 9) 7 hours 11 minutes

Run 10) 6 hours 45 minutes

Finally, I tried my best to eek the most battery run time possible, with WiFi Off, BlueTooth Off, and iTunes Off, with the computer virtually idling but a work script writing to disk in Microsoft Word until the computer went into Hibernation:

Run 5) 7 hours 45 minutes

Run 6) 7 hours 49 minutes

There you go, the average for all of that is in the mid 6-hour range, and that is where a user should expect to get out of this battery with normal things going on, nominal settings...not bare bones virtually everything turned off and the computer idling!

I haven't addressed WiFi or BlueTooth, but those are XLNT also! Range is top-notch in both. It has "Intel 1000BGN" WIFI, note the "N" there, 2.4Ghz "N" mode for network Gurus. I've neglected some things, I know, but I also covered a lot of techno-stats and info, so I hope I didn't lose anybody doing it!

With all of the positive things going for this notebook, plus it looks fantastic in black--don't let anybody kid you it doesn't because it does, this is a winner! It earns the Wavey Davey Ultimate Performance Gold Award, because it does things that a much faster, larger, more expensive notebook might do, but for a pittance. Get yours before they are all gone, and it will be soon enough! Black is indeed beautiful in the UL30Vt-X1!

"There is no substitute for quality," Gottlieb Daimlier said around the turn of the 20th Century, and he founded Mercedes-Benz automobiles...I say the same thing about this super-performing machine. There is no substitute for this Asus, it's the hands down winner in the small notebook class, bar none!

Best Deals for ASUS UL30Vt-X1 Thin and Light 13.3-Inch Black Laptop (11 Hours of

Over the past 3 years I've owned a few ASUS laptops, and have not been disappointed by a single one thus far. Not only are their products great for the price, but ASUS has always given me top of the line customer service which definitely matters with laptops compared to a desktop PC which are somewhat easier to self-service.

The UL30VT in my opinion is the perfect all around package for any type of user. Whether you may be a business user or a multimedia-phile, all the bases are covered with the UL30VT while offering advanced graphics power in a thin and light package that is easy to haul around.

KEYBOARD 10/10

I instantly fell in love with the keyboard on this unit. Being a 13.3 inch laptop with a widescreen display, the keyboard is nice and spacious, giving just the right amount of tactile feedback for my personal preferences. The keys are a bit louder than I would like them to be, but the overall experience of typing on this unit is fantastic. The chiclet keys, spacious layout, and overall comfort with the large and not-too-hot palm rest make it an absolute hit. Only thing that this unit would need is backlit keys to make it better.

SCREEN 6/10

With the release of LED backlight technology in LCD screens, you would think that the display on most of these units would pop out at you, but not so in this case. Over a few hours the screen doesn't necessarily burden your eyes with extra strain, but the viewing angles from top to bottom are horrid at best. Left to right angles are more forgiving, offering an approximate viewing angle of about 160 degrees. Quality of high motion video on the screen is up to par, but overall the contrast, color saturation, and missed marks on blacks make it quite uninviting at times.

GRAPHICS POWER 8/10

For such a sleek and compact unit at the listing price at Amazon for 799 US, you can't really beat it. With Turbo33 Mode on and utilizing the G210M, i have been able to play single and multi player Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare without a hitch at its native resolution. Granted i did do some extra modifications in the BIOS of the laptop (albeit not much), it definitely exceeded my expectations for what i paid. Flash and Silverlight video are almost flawless with some extremely minor hiccups, but overall the streaming and native multimedia experience on this laptop is superb.

Hooking the laptop HDMI to a 1080p 50" LCD is impressive nonetheless, and watching any sort of content makes it a joy to have. As usual, Fn functions work flawlessly on this laptop as well making it a great Home Theater option for those people without a dedicated pc/nettop with their setup.

BATTERY LIFE AND HEAT DISPERSEMENT 7/10

So far utilizing integrated graphics and the battery saving profile of the packaged ASUS software, I've been able to squeeze out about 8 hours max with constant media streaming and wifi surfing. To be honest, this was a little higher than I expected with the lower included 4400mah battery and the advertised 12 hour longevity. In real world usage, I would say that its safe to assume you'll get around 7 8 hours with normal usage. Gaming on another hand is a battery drainer as usual, leaving me topped out at 3 hours playing Call of Duty over wifi. I have not gotten a chance to try DVD or Bluray drainage, but I would suspect it would last you around 4 5 hours max.

Of course like any CULV, this unit doesn't require the use of loud fans, as well as not being as hot as other Core 2's and Quads. Heat on the palmrest never even bothered me as well as having the laptop on my lap for casual surfing, but with the discrete nvidia graphics, things tend to get a little worse, but plenty bearable.

OVERALL 8/10

I don't use any kind of system with my ratings, its just what my personal connotations of each aspect of the device give me. I would highly recommend this laptop to anybody, whether you be a highly mobile road warrior, or a lecture bearing college student. With the spacious 500GB laptop, it should serve any purpose well and then some. Now granted the HDD is partitioned into two sections: 116 for the Operating system, and 334 for data, so this is something to be aware of if you plan on loading a lot of hard disk hogging software.

In my opinion, this unit should have an option with the higher capacity battery. I would personally consider this a hit device and eliminate the other UL30 models as having switchable graphics is definitely a must for the small price difference. If you're arguing between the new VT model and other UL30 series models, the small price jump is definitely worth it even if you don't plan on gaming or graphics developing. Having the extra oomph just in case never hurts, as I'm sure some multimedia that you may want to watch in the future will definitely benefit you, even if it is a little.

Honest reviews on ASUS UL30Vt-X1 Thin and Light 13.3-Inch Black Laptop (11 Hours of

This is just a quickie review since I've only had the machine for 6 hours.

Out of the box there's manuals, warranty card, AC adapter, back-up DVD's and the laptop.

The machine comes with a 1 year ADH (accidental damage & handling) warranty which you must activate within 60 days by sending in a warranty card. Other models come with 2 year parts and labor warranties, but this model comes with 1 to cut costs. Speaking of which, another area where they cut costs is the battery. It's a 4400mah battery that is stated to achieve a 12 hr run time. I'm seeing about 10 hours of battery life in power saver mode, still a great amount. The last thing I that bugs me is the wireless card. It's Intel, but it's only a 2.4Ghz card. I have a dual band router and would have liked to take advantage of 5Ghz. But at least it works fine and doesn't seem to have any issues like others seem to have experienced on other models (UL30A).

That's the end of the negative stuff. Everything else is to be great so far.

Build Quality (9/10)

I'm comparing this machine to a Sony Z750D which my fiancé uses. The materials on the Sony are better but actual build quality is very similar. No squeaking or sharp edges anywhere. The machine feels very solid and sturdy. The keyboard has very minor flex and is very comfortable to type on. One thing some may find awkward is the placement of the "home" button which is right next the "backspace" key. Those of you concerned with this aspect need not worry.

Graphics Performance/CPU performance (8/10)

With the CPU overclocked to 1.73GHz paired with a NVIDIA G210M video card, the laptop has no problems handling everyday tasks such as word processing, email and internet. The machine also has no problems handling HD content. Games such as L4D2 and Counterstrike Source run great as well. More in depth benchmarking can be found elsewhere on the net.

*edit* Let me add that I'm comparing this machine to the Sony Z which has a much faster processor. That being said, this machine is still fast and can hold its own. The addition of the Intel SSD makes this a 9/10 but since not many will add an extra HD like this, I took the 500GB into consideration.

Heat Management/Acoustics (9/10)

The laptop never got hot to the touch even during stressful games. You can go for hours on end with this machine in your lap without discomfort. The noise of the fan never became an issue. It is even quieter than the Z750D in that aspect. However, I must add that I am using an Intel G2 SSD. I switched out HD right when I received the machine. So take that into consideration as the traditional drive is a bit noisier.

Hope this helps.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for ASUS UL30Vt-X1 Thin and Light 13.3-Inch Black Laptop (11 Hours of

I am adding a new comment:

I have a little buyers remorse due to the difficulty of updating drivers for the graphics card. There are applications that will not work because they say I need to install a newer driver, but due to the graphics switching, updating drivers doesn't seem to be a reasonable option. The ASUS website is pretty bad for support.

[I have lowered the review to 4 stars due to the lack of a true installer for Windows 7. This means that I am unable to use the Windows 7 Recovery Media since one of the files on the my Drivers & Utility CD seems to be corrupt. The recovery media requires the Utility CD, forcing me to abort the reinstall of the OS in a bad state. If I didn't have an unused upgrade license to Win 7 Professional, my machine would have been left in limbo

If the Driver CD works, I imagine it is a very simple process to restore the OS.

Still a very nice machine. It is unlikely that many of the Driver CDs will have the same problem, so this likely won't affect many. Nevertheless, there would have been an easy workaround if there were a real Win 7 installer disk.]

My UL30Vt-X1 arrived on Friday, December 4. I have used it quite a bit since then. I give it 5 stars because it delivers a lot for the price in a nice package.

My wireless has been great. I know some were concerned about this. I have had no problems whatsoever. The screen looks good, though the viewing angle vertically is extremely small.

There is less 3rd party software on the laptop than came with my HP and Dell laptops, which is a good thing. Most of what comes preinstalled are ASUS utilities. These utilities tend to have no documentation. I Googled some to find out what they were. I went ahead and registered the Trend Micro antivirus that came with it and will use that for the free 60 days before installing Avast.

I like the Fastboot utility. It allows you to manage what starts immediately at startup for quicker booting. I assume that everything still starts up eventually, but some are delayed to allow you to get control of the OS first.

It is light and feels good when I carry it. It stays cool on my lap. The speakers also do a good job compared to what I expected. I haven't carried it around outside yet, so I can't yet vouch for its ultraportable-ness.

I'm still trying to figure out the implications of the warranty card. It says that you get another year of the accident warranty if you submit the card within 60 days. Does this mean my warranty for hardware failure would end in a year, but if hardware fails and then I decide you pour water on the machine, I could then get warranty coverage during the second year?

The video mode button is very convenient. Turning the turbo on and off is not as easily done. It requires going into an applet and clicking on a button (and then rebooting). I would like to see a one click method of overclocking (though rebooting would still be required). Perhaps something in the system tray could offer this.

I was sad when I found out that only black would be available for the UL30Vt at first. I thought the silver version had an incredible profile and black is so business world. The machine looks quite nice, but is a bit drab. The blue function labels on the keyboard help some, as does the subtle speckles in the palm rest. Finger prints are as bad as you can imagine.

I am not yet comfortable with the keyboard. I feel I have to hammer the keys to get them to register at times. Especially the space bar. The spacing is good -I have had no problems touch typing, apart from the 40 unregistered space bar hits in this review. Regarding key placement, my only complaint is that it is not easy to increase the volume with one hand due to the distance between the F12/volume increase button and the Fn key that needs to be pressed with it. My hand spans that distance uncomfortably.

The tracking device is a mixed bag. The stickiness is good for letting you know your finger is in the correct location, but it takes practice to get two finger scrolling down pat. I am improving, but it still can be a chore. I modified my 2 and 3 finger clicks to be right click and maximize respectively. I was disappointed that the maximize would only maximize. Doing it for a maximized window would not un-maximize it. Hopefully a driver upgrade could fix that if I complain to the maker. I do not like the trackpad button. It seems a blatant example of compromising function for form. Even that doesn't work well as it has a gift for collecting fingerprints that look even worse then the fingerprints on the chassis. I find myself wiping down the palm rest and mouse pad a lot, but it does look nice wiped down.

I haven't had a chance to test the battery because I have been indexing around 230GB of PDFs that I copied to my hard disk and want to get that done as soon as possible.

This grade may be inflated because of how much I hate my most recent portable laptop before this from HP.

Cheap HP ENVY TouchSmart15 15-j040us 15.6-Inch Laptop

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $1,098.00
Sale Price: $701.00
Today's Bonus: 36% Off

I like the look of the computer. It is a little "plasticky" feeling but not so bad. I like the keyboard. The track pad takes some getting used to. It just feels really hollow. It could be a deal breaker for you. I usually use a mouse anyways. The two finger scrolling stuff works for the most part. The right clicking function is a little hard to pull off though. The screen isn't very bright and colors are a little washed out but the fact that its a decent touchscreen more than makes up for it. The only thing that makes me consider making it three stars is the annoying fan noise. You can always hear it. If you play any type of game or any significant computations the fans kick into high gear and it gets pretty annoying. I wish it had an ssd and that would prob make this computer considerably better but that comes at a price obviously. I love that they made it 8gb of ram because its using about 4 gb already. Nice computer overall. I like the Samsung series 9 better but it doesn't have the number pad and its quite a bit more $. Great business type ultra-book with the inclusion of the # pad. Don't believe the BEATS hype. It may get a LITTLE louder but not much. Computer speakers just suck period.

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The laptop is awesome, I read reviews saying that there is something off about the keyboard. I really like the laptop. Sleek and beautiful

Toshiba Satellite C855-S5346 15.6-Inch Laptop (Satin Black Trax) Review

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $399.99
Sale Price: $349.90
Today's Bonus: 13% Off

Great value on this laptop..works great...all the cool features my daughter wanted like windows 8, webcam and sim card slot.

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Bought it in January 2013. On March 10 the screen failed without any physical damage done to it.

Called Toshiba and explained the problem. The technician instructed me to send the computer

computer to Toshiba Repair Depot (cost $25.00) to be fixed. Upon receiving the computer, Toshiba

informed me that their warranty did not cover damaged screen. First of all, the screen was not damaged,

it simply failed to perform. Second, why did the technician instructed me to send the computer for repair?

The compute cost me $365.00 at Amazon.Toshiba Repair Depot offered to fix the problem as follows:

Cost of the repairs (all amounts are USD)

Parts: $ 206.95 (LCD Panel)

Labor: $60.00

Total: $ 266.95

Plus: $25.00 already paid for shipping

Total $291.95

I declined their offer, of course. Contacted Screendoctors.com and bought a

a brand new replacement screen ($81.00 + 14.53 shipping = $95.53 total), including the tools

needed to do the repair (that's 1/3 of what it would cost me to have laptop fixed by Toshiba).

And the replacement screen comes with a two year warranty which Toshiba does not eve offer.

Shame on them!!! I will never buy another Toshiba product again and will spread the word around.

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This computer for the price is OK. I was disappointed in the quality of sound! But it works well, and has most of the things in it that I needed. Handy size and so far, a long lasting battery.

Honest reviews on Toshiba Satellite C855-S5346 15.6-Inch Laptop (Satin Black Trax)

I want to describe the positives and insist that if you buy it or already own it, you must download the Toshiba Value Added tools to unlock the BIOS/CMOS and do so immediately since it can be done from within Microsoft Windows and eventually when Windows 8 fails to start, Toshiba Tech Support will unsympathetically dismiss your warranty and refuse to render service if you haven't unlocked the BIOS. Their solution is demanding a fee to replace a hard drive they intentionally setup for failure.

Aside from that, this is a very underappreciated and overpowered system, dollar for dollar it is a high performance server disguised as a 5lb sled with a lid and the prettiest screen you can buy for any price, even Apple Retina displays can't outdo the brilliance of this display. Spend about $50 for a RAM upgrade to the max 16GB and you can host a true server environment such as Microsoft 2012 Server used for cloud computing (they're trying to) or 2008 DataCenter the top line Battlestar of Microsoft Servers, even the 2008HPC r/2 that is gibberish for a purposely built Ferarri Windows Server tuned for efficiency this Toshiba can use.

The color blue and violet is the best barometer when testing any LCD since those are the hardest colors mammals can interpret and it is masterful at depicting the entire color scale. I could give you links to blue scarves or ocean scenes to chase down but they won't accurately depict the intensity unless I refer you to an online professional color scale site that shows mathematically how brilliantly and expertly this LCD is and you should visit it with your computer to determine how yours compares.

But, it has major drawbacks that can kneecap your entire experience

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I'm still not sure why this laptop is cheaper than others less powerful, but we're very satisfied with this purchase.

Discount ASUS UL20FT-A1 12.1-Inch Laptop (Silver)

Customer Ratings:

I bought this computer mainly for school, researching and writing my papers and bringing it to class with me in college. I had been considering the similarly dual core 12.1" asus netbook, the 1215N. But on further examination and review, the UL20ft has a better and faster processor and overall style. (the graphics on the 1215N would be better for gaming, but I don't mind, the UL20ft supports HD pretty damn well)

It's extremely well reviewed, all over the nets:

"UL20FT way better processor so snappier experience in everyday tasks, but poorer graphics (will handle HD content but not games). 1215N is better in terms of graphics and way cheaper. UL20FT is better built and more solid."

I love how small it is. Super light and portable.

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I bought this laptop in October 2010 as an upgrade from my bulky Gateway laptop. It is so light and portable, I brought it to my college classes with ease. I get lots of compliments on this laptop and I haven't had any problems with it. I use it everyday for checking emails, doing homework, shopping online, and watching videos on youtube and netflix. The hdmi plug-in allows me to view movies on my hd tv.

Best Deals for ASUS UL20FT-A1 12.1-Inch Laptop (Silver)

I bought this laptop a few months ago and was looking for one with a long battery life and light weight. I had planned on buying a lenovo, but couldn't because I needed the laptop to arrive quickly (my old one had crashed) and lenovo would take 2 weeks.

Anyway, the suggestion that the battery can last up to 8 hours is a lie. Even if you set the screen brightness to zero and limit the maximum power to 20%, the best I could get was 6 hours. However, even this didn't last. The laptop is now only a few months old and the maximum battery length is 4 hours. Consequently, I need to carry the power cord with me, which adds to the overall weight of the laptop. I could have saved a lot of money by buying a larger laptop (which are much cheaper), given the added weight of the power cord. I know several people with Dells and Lenovos who have laptops that last 7+ hours with actual usage (while running large programs).

I have mixed feelings on the customer service. While they do not put you through a long battery of diagnostics (which is nice), the only options they gave me were to do a factory reset or to send my computer back to their service center, which would mean 2 weeks with out my laptop (not convenient). On the plus side, I had very little wait time to speak with someone and their customer service representatives spoke English very well (which is not the case for Lenovo customer service representatives). In fact, if you call during business hours, the representative will likely be based in North America, during early morning hours (2am EST) it seems their tech support is foreign, but as I said the representatives English was perfect.

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

I eventually sent the laptop to the tech support. It was under warranty, but I had to pay for shipping and purchase an appropriate shipping box (all other companies I have dealt with in the past have provided the box so that it would be properly packaged and paid for shipping). The freezing issue was fixed -they replaced the hard drive, updated bios and restored to factory settings. However, they didn't install any of the windows updates that have come out since Windows 7 was installed, so I had about 3 days worth of updates that needed to be installed. Furthermore, the windows installer would not work so I was unable to install anything that required this (such as Skype and itunes).

Once again I called the tech support and they offered the same 2 options: reinstall windows or mail in the laptop. I find it hard to believe that there aren't any other possible solutions, but they wouldn't even try to work through the problem.

This is the most disappointing purchase I have ever made. I do not recommend purchasing anything from this company.

Honest reviews on ASUS UL20FT-A1 12.1-Inch Laptop (Silver)

I bought this little laptop back in January for school. It was a replacement for an Asus Eee 1000 with a dead WiFi radio. I was hesitant to buy another Asus product, but the price and size were right, so I went ahead. This laptop lasted me about 9 months before the graphics card went out on me. I treated both laptops exceedingly well and they both malfunctioned overnight (as in they were fine the night before and then didn't work in the morning). The laptop is out for warranty repair now; it was received by Asus this past Friday and I am now waiting to hear the verdict. I would have rated it at 5 stars if it hadn't malfunctioned. As it stands I am giving this laptop 2 stars, because it worked well while it was functioning. I am reserving the final star for Asus: if they repair the laptop under warranty, I will add one; if they don't I will remove one. Unfortunately, this will more than likely be the last Asus product I will ever buy. One failure is an isolated incident, two failures shows poor quality control. If a company cannot produce a working product, then it does not deserve my patronage.

***UPDATE 10/28/11***

So i got my computer back. They had to replace my entire monitor and then decided to replace the HD for the heck of it. The issue is that the HD and software now has some kind of virus and I can't install any anti-virus to get rid of it. I am now going to have to waste half a day reinstalling Windows 7, and did I mention I have a lab due this evening? ASUS is HORRIBLE! Steer clear!

***UPDATE #2 10/28/11***

The WIFI on the laptop just died and the machine has been "shutting down" for 8 minutes now. This is after returning it to a factory state. WORST_MACHINE_I_HAVE _EVER_OWNED!

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for ASUS UL20FT-A1 12.1-Inch Laptop (Silver)

If you think you'll ever need customer service Don't buy an Asus. I had to replace my laptop 3 times over the course of the last 2 months and each time I contacted Asus customer service I was amazed by how bad they are.

The first 2 laptops that I got from Amazon (Asus20FT) started freezing about 3 hours after I started working with them. They would freeze about 10 times a day and needed force restart. The first time I called Asus I had to wait on the line for an hour (!) just to get a very unprofessional rep. . He immediately concluded that the bios needs an upgrade (and of course the bios had the latest version he just didn't check that).

After trying to call them back and waiting on the line for an hour, I gave up and emailed them with a complaint. For 3 weeks they couldn't call me because I was out of the US (The laptop has a colorful sticker that says "global support"). Then, again without to much diagnosis, they concluded that the laptop's hardware needs to be tested in their labs and I should sent the laptop over. They do not give a replacement during for that period so after almost 2 months of reseting the laptop 10 times a day, and installing the laptop again and again, they expect the customer to be without a laptop for another week.I wasted so much time during these two months.

I turned to Amazon at that stage and their customer service was amazing. They sent me a new laptop before I sent them the malfunction one back. The service was kind and thoughtful.

The product itself is rather light and works well now. The 2 main setbacks:

1. They still have some issue with writing to the disk and sometimes the laptop freezes for a second or two.

2. The battery doesn't last for more than 3 hours

Reviews of Toshiba Satellite Notebook Computer A135-S4527

Customer Ratings:

I got this computer to replace my PC and I'm glad I chose this particular one.

This notebook comes with Windows Vista Home Premium. I wasn't too sure about having Vista, but after using it I do like it. I use this notebook at home and the PC I use at work has XP. I like Vista better than XP. The biggest problem I had with Vista is that I could no longer use my very old inkjet printer. I checked the printer manufacturer's website for a Vista driver and it was not providing a driver for that printer. I can print from Vista with my somewhat newer laser printer. I would suggest that before buying any computer with Vista, it would be wise to be sure your printer will run with Vista.

The speed of this notebook is excellent. My husband decided to double the RAM and it is now beyond excellent.

This computer is great. I need to explore more of it to find out everything it can do, but it has more than met my needs so far. I would highly recommend this computer.

In response to another review, I have not had ANY of the problems mentioned. In fact, when we replaced computers at work a few months ago, I insisted on a Toshiba notebook for me (however it wasn't this particular model). I do not hesitate to recommend Toshiba.

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This Notebook is super fast with its Pentium Dual-Core Processor running at 1.73ghz. It also has a superfast integrated graphics card with 8-256mb dynamic memory and enough speed to run most games.

The internal wireless card quickly connects to the network and is very fast.

I'm really glad I bought this notebook computer.

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I bought this Toshiba about a year ago and it is the best laptop I have had. After you have used it for a while you will know what I'm talking about. The speed for the amount of memory amazed me. My roommate has a laptop with 3GB Ram and it is no faster. She was upset because she paid more and has better stats but my laptop is better. Her DVD drive also went out after 6 months of use. This Toshiba is quality. I have never had a problem with it and even though its a little older it runs like new. Decent screen display for a older computer but still not what you will get on a new $800 dollar laptop. Sound quality is decent and gets pretty loud. It just feels sturdy when you use it. It stays much cooler than most laptops under heavy use as well which may have a lot to do with its longevity. I think for the money you couldn't ask for more. If you are looking for a good day to day laptop look no further.

Honest reviews on Toshiba Satellite Notebook Computer A135-S4527

The computer stopped working a couple of weeks after I received it. I already sent a complaint to you and supposedly you are working on it.

It is, according to a computer technician who checked it, a severe electrical problem, probably due to an accident. The computer has rough marks and a glued track on the bottom!!!

I hope you would be able to take care of the problem. Thanks.

Best wishes,

Jose L. Martin, M. D.

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I got my Toshiba satellite A135 S4527 in April 2007, its worked great for me almost 3 years now. No problems at all to report, except that Vista sucks compared to XP. But, that isn't Toshiba's fault and I could always buy XP to replace it. The laptop was a good deal at the time, I paid $599 I think and have no regrets about it. One of my better purchases, I might stick to Toshiba since I had a good experience with this one. A friend of mine has a really high-end Toshiba and its also 3 years old, and very nice, lots of extra stuff on it.

Cheap Lenovo IdeaPad G780 21823VU 17.3-Inch Laptop (Black)

Customer Ratings:

= Update #1 2012-12-28 =

After installing a fresh OEM copy of Windows 7 x64, I thought my problems would have gone away. For the most part, they did the Windows Update continues to work fine, the system boots up a bit quicker, etc. But... (you knew this was coming).

The wireless card or driver seems to stop responding to the system at random times. Sometimes the system will stay connected just fine for hours at a time (through multiple sleep/restore cycles, reboots, etc), other times it can be powered up fresh and stop working after only a few minutes.

The "Lenovo BGN Wireless" drivers are the latest the Lenovo site, and Broadcom (the maker of the WiFi card) don't have anything for this card (I assume it's a Lenovo special/custom chipset). It's getting to the point that I'm going to re-install the Lenovo Windows OS (without any personalization) and see if the problem returns. I don't want to put them through this troubleshooting step so if someone has an idea on how to confirm the hardware or a driver, I'm all ears.

I'll leave my 4/5 stars for now, but if I track this down to a hardware or Lenovo/Windows issue I'll adjust accordingly. And to be fair, if the Lenovo support team assists in a positive way, I'll note that too.

= Initial review =

I purchased this laptop for some friends of ours. They are retirement age and do a bit of traveling and sitting on their deck, so their old tower system wasn't working for them anymore. The IdeaPad G780 came in at the right price with the specs they wanted so I can help them get quite a few years out of this one (their old tower system was 9 years old).

I tried to get the system updated with the latest Microsoft Updates and related driver updates three times. Each time I started with the "factory fresh" image on the hard-drive, and it would get through most of the updates before the OS (Windows 7) would stop taking more updates. In researching the errors, the Microsoft TechNet solutions always ended up with "if everything else fails, boot with the install CD and run the System Recovery". Sadly, this system didn't come with a regular Windows 7 OS media, nor did the media the system did create boot into a regular Microsoft recovery screen.

In the end, I installed a fresh OEM copy of Windows 7 I had purchased but never activated. This turned out to be the least problematic of all. The few Lenovo drivers/features I did keep (power control is a decent utility) re-installed fine, and the Windows Update and assorted hardware driver updates all installed without a hitch.

One word of warning to those who are new to Lenovo and their "OneKey Rescue" button. When I was trying to boot into the System Recovery, I tried the Rescue button. I pressed it (click #1), it booted into a minimal screen and I chose option #2 (click #2), pressed return (click #3) and it rebooted and went into a Windows-looking boot screen. I let it sit for about 45 minutes, and when I came back....IT HAD TOTALLY REFORMATTED AND WIPED THE SYSTEM CLEAN! I couldn't believe that three key presses and it nuked the drive. I never saw a warning of any-sort that hinted at what was about to happen. This will be good when they finally decide to part with the system, but it's way too easy to have an inquisitive youngster hit the wrong "power button" and erase the entire system.

In the end, the hardware seems rock solid and is acting fine for them. I just wish Lenovo would break the trend and provide a "real" Windows OS install image for those of us who need them.

Dan

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This one is very stable in running multi-program.

no blue screen. no fail. about 2 min boot. less noise. monitor quality is great.

MOA, the price is reasonable ($5xx).

AH... Me? a normal user who have used a dozen laptops before.

n now I'm using this as a main computer connecting two external monitors.

(the third monitor runs by externam graphic stuff)

For entertainment & business this is recommendable.

For gaming, I don't know because I'm not a gamer.

One weakness...

SSD upgrade means losing the one-year mfr's warranty.

I will upgrd next yr.

Overall, no regret! surely.

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

a week later...

the fan sound is often noizy. Lenovo could do better.

Best Deals for Lenovo IdeaPad G780 21823VU 17.3-Inch Laptop (Black)

I've been using this laptop for a little more than a month now, and I'm very happy with it. One, it has really good specs, and as a result, it's fast! I've installed Windows 8 on it, and there are times when it boots in 20 seconds (Windows 8 also deserves some credit for this). And all apps, like Word, PowerPoint, Firefox, and Winamp load almost instantly. Love it! Two, the keyboard and trackpad are very comfortable to use. And three, it cost me less than $600. You can't go wrong with it. The only issue is battery life. I had to return the first version of the laptop I received because of that. But the replacement is satisfactory. The battery now lasts about 4 hours on a full charge, which is acceptable for a Windows PC.

Honest reviews on Lenovo IdeaPad G780 21823VU 17.3-Inch Laptop (Black)

This is a very nicely equipped system that performs well. The price was very reasonable and the standard features met my needs. The setup was very simple. I liked the fact that it came with the 3.0 USB ports. I'm very pleased with the quickness of the delivery. I recommend this system to anyone needing a fast system that inexpensive.

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Bought this item and the description says it has a NVIDIA GT630M 2GB DDR3 Graphics card however after receiving and gifting the item I discovered that the grapics card is actually an Intel HD 4000. This was due to the optimus technology that basically switches to the lesser graphics card to conserve memory so, you buy this just be aware of that. The only problem we had was that the bezel on the side was coming apart but, I think a little glue would fix that issue. Overall, pretty satisfied with the machine.