Review of Lenovo G560 0679ALU 15.6-Inch Notebook

Customer Ratings:

This is a very nice entry-level laptop! I'd rate it somewhere between 4 and 5 stars closer to 5.

It has a decent processor and plenty of RAM (4 gigs) to better realize the advantages of 64-bit Windows. I may consider doubling up to 8 gigs in the future.

In my mind, 4 gigs should be the minimum amount of RAM offered with machines using 64-bit OS.

I bought the Lenovo G560 when the price dropped around Presidents Day The Microsoft store briefly had it for a real steal, but sold out very quickly. Luckily, that price drop influenced other vendors such as Amazon. This review pertains to the G560 at the bargain price I paid. Had I been willing to spend more, I might've gone in a different direction.

I have had this for almost a week now and these are my initial thoughts and observations, in no particular order:

** It seems solidly built, as to be expected from Lenovo.

** The surface of the lid is designed as to not collect fingerprints.

** The display is nice not too much glare.

** Great to have a numeric keypad!

** I find that I miss the convenience of having a "mute" button for the speakers. No mute button to be found.

** The webcam and microphone performances are sub-par. Not a big deal for me, but for others it might be.

** The G560 runs very cool. I had it compress and process some video for well over an hour and there was little noticeable increase in heat/warmth. The Intel P6200 is going to run a bit slower, but much cooler than a Core i3 processor I consider that an advantage in an entry-level laptop. The P6200 is plenty fast paired with the ample RAM.

** There are a number of convenient power management options that influence performance and battery life. The battery charge still expires fairly quickly, though.

** Likewise, there is great attention paid to ease of backup and system restoration. The "One Key" backup options are excellent and should be taken advantage of immediately. I recommend making "system default" backup dvds that will restore the machine to its "right out of the box" condition and then, after configuring the software to your liking, backing up the system to the default Lenovo partition.

** There is no HDMI out That would have been nice to have.

** The optical drive tray feels a bit flimsy, but I guess that is to be expected these days they don't build them like they used to. Not a big worry for something that can be replaced easily and inexpensively.

** There is not a lot of bloatware to remove. I have found that I dislike Office Starter and will replace it with Open Office.

** Likewise, once the trial McAfee Security Suite expires, I plan to replace it with the free Comodo Suite.

Avira is an excellent and highly rated free AV option as well and can be used in conjunction with the Windows Firewall and Windows Defender to provide decent security.

** The VeriFace log in pops up all the time, whether you use it or choose to use only a password to log in. You cannot shut it off you must uninstall VeriFace or click through it every time you log in.

** The G560 also features AnchorFree's HotSpotShield. This seems like a useful app for unsecured hotspots, but it does foist 3rd party advertising upon you and may or may not contain mild spyware. I haven't studied this version and I don't remember being presented with an EULA to look at. Older versions admitted to collecting tracking data in their EULAs...

If this is a feature you really want, I would suggest an alternative with a better reputation. There are a number to choose from, but I recommend Comodo's TrustConnect. [No, I don't work for Comodo :)But I volunteer in a number of Security Forums and find Comodo's free products to be excellent. You'll pay $20.00 annually for TrustConnect, though....]

** This model does indeed have the 5 in 1 card reader, just as advertised. It also has a USB/eSATA combo port in order to accommodate eSATA.

** These are the "Windows Experience Index" scores right out of the box. You are able to tweak various settings to improve these scores, if you so desire. System components are rated on a scale of 1 7.9:

Processor: Calculations per second --> Score of 5.8

RAM: Memory operations per second -> Score of 5.9

Graphics: Desktop performance for Windows Aero --> Score of 4.4

Gaming Graphics: 3D business and gaming graphics --> Score of 4.9

Primary hard disc: Disk data transfer rate --> Score of 5.5

All told, this is a pretty good value for what I paid for it. It runs all the software I want it to run and it does so quickly and without error. Obviously a week's ownership is not enough to assess durability, but the G560 seems to be solidly built.

Two thumbs up!!

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Pros:

1) Matte skin all around (except the screen), non of that glossy plastic nonsense. Gives it a very solid feel, not cheap (though remove the stickers around the trackpad, even the windows, intel and lenovo experience ones. I feel it looks much better without it and your wrists won't get slippery whilst typing)

2) Full keyboard in a 15.6" laptop (number pad much appreciated)

3) Futureproof amount of RAM.

4) Dual core processor + Intel HD makes multitasking (even Youtube at 720P viewing) a breeze (just be sure you have Chrome installed to reap the benefits)

5) Price.

Cons:

1) Glossy screen, which is unfortunate but expected nowadays

2) Function and ctrl keys are switched on these for some reason. It's a minor annoyance but worth mentioning. Also the number pad on the right is a TAD thin, but I got monster fingers and didn't have much trouble using it. A thin numberpad > no numberpad .

3) Bloatware, but this is only bothersome for the first hour. I recommend CCleaner for the uninstallations and replace McAfee with Microsoft Security Essentials.

4) No HDMI port, which was unfortunate but expected. You still get VGA though and most HDTVs today still support it.

5) Webcam is a lame 0.3 MP. Don't expect much with it and be in a well lit area otherwise you might as well have it off. (Also, the microphone is under the Function and Ctrl key, but it doesn't seem to hinder audio performance much) **UPDATE** The other end can really hear you typing, so unless you are simply looking at the screen and talking and nothing else, I recommend a headset.

Overall, it's very solid and I didn't experience any keyboard flex. Typing on this gives me nostalgic feelings of the Model M IBM Keybord.

Once you clean it up, this machine rips through the boot up. Waking up from sleep is instant.

I never thought 4 GB of RAM would be such a difference (I have worked with pentium + 2GB RAM + Windows 7 laptops) but it really does give it a boost.

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Few months ago, I received this laptop as a gift from my dear friend. And this is my first 64bit computer. I loved ThinkPad 570 when it came out and I used it well. I always loved IBM/Lenovo products because they make solid and reliable computers. And this is no exception.

[UPDATE 8/29/2012: I have installed Windows 8 RP (Release Preview) and everything works out of the box, including WiFi, hot keys (volume, brightness), and touchpad. Dualbooting with Win 7. Win 8 is much faster and performs better in: productivity, multumedia, web, online movies, and general computing. So do not be afraid to upgrade, if you desire Windows 8]

1. OVERALL QUALITY. [BUILD] The first impression is that the notebook feels solid. It does not feel cheap. From the edges to the center of the notebook, it is built tight and solid. The black plastic does not have the "flex" issue. It is sturdy. [FAN] The fan noise is quiet; you could adjust it through BIOS setting. [PROCESSOR] Intel P6200 is plenty processing power for everyday computing. Sure i3 or i5 will be more powerful, but for an average user like me, P6200 (2 Cores, 2.11 Ghz) is more than enough processing power for MS Office, web browsing, watching online movies, etc.

2. SCREEN. The screen resolution is 1366 x 768, which is sharp and clear enough for this price range. The screen is bright enough (I use 70% of the brightness and it is perfectly fine). The screen however is glossy finish instead of matte. Personally I prefer matte finish over glossy, but nowadays, glossy seems to be the standard. Generally speaking, glossy is better for entertainment and games, because it captures the resolution and the color well. Matte on the other hand, is great for office work and non-entertainment areas, because it is easy on the eyes (non-glare).

3. KEYBOARD. This full-sized keyboard is great! Vintage IBM keyboard, it is large enough and solid enough to type fast. The keyboard does not flex compared to other comparable notebooks in this price range. I do not use numeric pad, but numeric pad keys are smaller than the alphabet keys. Also this is "traditional" pc keyboard and not "Chiclet" styled keyboard.

4. DVD/CD DRIVE. The DVD/CD drive works well. It writes both CD and DVDs. But when you play a DVD movie, the drive is somewhat noisy.

5. WEBCAM. The webcam is average. It has .3 mega pixel camera, which is low resolution than the netbook Asus 1000HA which is 1.3 mp. It is adequate for its purpose.

6. AUDIO. The sound quality is surprisingly good! The laptop speaker is loud and clear enough to listen to songs without the earphone. But with the earphone, the sound is much better because you could listen to the details of the sound in depths.

7. SOFTWARES. Yes there are bloatwares (3rd party softwares), but you could easily remove them. I removed VeriFace program that recognizes your face to log in. I found it annoying and slowing down the boot up process. I only kept Lenovo Energy Management program, Pwer2Go, and Cyberlink YouCam programs. I replaced McAfee with FREE MSE (Microsoft Security Essentials), and the computer is flying!

8. PERIPHERALS. It has 3 USB ports, but NO HDMI port. I do not use or need HDMI, so it is moot point for me, but I know others NEED it, so you might have to consider other notebooks.

FEW Notes:

[1]. Upgrade your BIOS. The new BIOS just came out this year. This will fix the fan noise and minor screen issue when the computer awakes from Sleep mode.

[2]. This laptop is not really for portability. Consider this as your desktop replacement.

FOR LINUX users:

[1] Ubuntu 11.04 works out of the box. I tried LIVE CD and WiFi, touchpad, volume, and most of the hotkeys work out of the box.

[2] If you do not like Ubuntu's Unity theme, you could try Kubuntu 11.04 (works out of the box) or my choice, Elementary Unleashed (Dorian 1.1) Linux.

[3] I am dualbooting with Elementary Unleashed (Dorian 1.1) with Windows 7. Since G560 comes with 4 primary partitions, you need to delete one of them. But before you delete one partition, make recovery disks by using OneKey Recovery program that has been installed. It will make 3 DVDs of factory settings. Then, just delete (D:) partition and install your Linux there.

Overall, I love this notebook. Not fancy, dependable, rock solid, and fast. For the entry level price, you cannot find a better laptop than this. Highly recommended!

Honest reviews on Lenovo G560 0679ALU 15.6-Inch Notebook

Pros: Beautiful screen, some nice features. Compact for its screen size. This is the fastest budget laptop I've used (after all the bloatware and start up apps are removed/disabled). Respectable battery for a budget machine, just over 3 hours. Cool face recognition software, decent web cam. The sound is heaps better than lot of low end budget machines. The textured chassis is not a fingerprint magnet. This machine is perfectly adequate for the high school or college student to get 2-3 yrs plus use out of.

I am so thrilled with these machines I bought 2. For the money, they can't be beat. I chose these over the HP 4250 and 625 because they have 4GB of ram and 64 bit windows.

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I picked this up for less then $400 when I needed a very basic laptop for a couple of computer projects I was working on. My 2 year old laptop suddenly stopped working in the middle of my projects and I was out of town and didn't have the time or the tools with me to repair it. I only needed the computer for a couple of weeks so I didn't want to spend much on it. I bought this computer fired it up and installed my software and restored my files from backup and I was back in business within one hour.

Ok so on to the pros, very economical. It is hard to go wrong with that price. The screen is decent quality and and the keyboard was easy to use. The whole unit is lightweight with a nice thin case. I am pretty happy with the way it looks. Performance is decent and battery life is good.

On the negitive side, the unit only has 2 USB ports. The case uses low grade plastic and the speaker is subpar. The build quality is so, so and the hard drive is small and slow. The unit is short on documentation and light on extra software. They had to cut costs somewhere and this is where they cut costs.

Overall you get what you pay for. For less then $400 I had pretty low expectations. The laptop generally exceeded all my expectations and works fine on a very basic level. If your needs are very modest then you will do fine with this.

Apple MacBook MB061LL/A 13.3" Notebook PC Reviews

Customer Ratings:

This is a great laptop. First, let me say, I'm a software developer, so I'm very particular about my computers. I was in the market for a new laptop. After a lot of shopping around, I went with a laptop from HP for around $700. It was my first PC with Vista, and it was frustratingly slow. Here's an example... Put your laptop into sleep mode. Come out of sleep mode, and how long does it take to connect to your WiFi network? The HP laptop would take about 45 seconds while the macbook takes less than 5 seconds. It's a small detail, but it's the tip of the iceberg.

So, after I purchased my HP laptop, my wife bought a macbook. I was so impressed, I took mine back and got my own macbook. The battery is great. I haven't timed it yet, but it's easily over three hours. The LCD is great. You don't get all that bloatware that comes with a new PC (like antivirus software that you can't seem to delete) that fills up your new hard disk. And, there's no need to even worry about antivirus software since 99.9% of viruses are designed for Windows.

As for performance, these macbooks are plenty zippy. And, yes dual core does make a difference. If you like to multitask (browse the web while playing mp3 music), then you'll notice the difference. The user interface is more responsive during heavy loading. Just for fun, I took a program I wrote for work and ran it on my new macbook. (I won't bore you with the details of what it does, but it's CPU intensive.) On the HP laptop, the program took about 13 minutes to run. On the macbook, it took 3 min, 30 seconds. Just for fun, I ran the same program on a fully loaded Dell 820 ($3000), and it finished in about 3 minutes. So, I'm very pleased with the performance of this macbook.

And, there are great open source (free) applications you can get for Mac OS X now. So, I quickly installed Firefox, Thunderbird (email), NeoOffice (MS Office replacement), Chicken of the Sea (VNC client), XAMPP (Apache/PHP/MySQL), Transmission (BitTorrent), Burn (CD/DVD burner), and Eclipse (Java development).

The only way they could improve this macbook would be to bundle the DVD writer in the entry-level model instead of a combo drive (CD writer, DVD reader). It's not an issue with me since I have many other DVD writers on my LAN, but others may want to purchase the next model up that comes with the DVD writer.

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This is my first Mac computer as well, after many years of using Windows PC at home and at work. I'm very impressed with both Macbook and OS X. Macbook, performance is awesome with just 1g of ram memory.

From the first time Mac user, I'm very pleased with Apple hardware and software, it just works. And I'm impressed with how it all works together.

As for this specific version of the macbook, I have found no problems at all, works beautifully as advertised. The only thing I found is that mabook's screen needs to be calibrated or adjusted. Don't settle for default screen profile, pictures will appear washed out. Calibrate screens settings; you should be able to get it pretty close to what it should be with just what macbook has in OS X.

I also recommend buying this model, since it has a bigger harddrive, its worth it. This laptop is very fast and reliable!

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I will try to give a unbiased and responsible review of this MacBook. As a college student I struggled with the decision between purchasing a Windows laptop or a MacBook, but due to all the horror stories out there about Vista imcompatibility and my previous Windows nightmares, I decided to give Mac a try. I don't regret it. The screen is glossy and beautiful, albeit the 13.3" screen can make the font in programs (especially in instant messaging programs) a bit small. You can adjust the font to larger size in, say, AIM, but then that would render the person you are talking to to receive ridiculously large font sizes from you as well. And, if you are new to MAC OSX, there is definitely a learning curve and an experimental phase, so you should be patient; fortunately, there are alot of MAC OSX tutorial sites on the web and resources as well. I love the fast fast FAST boot time (around 20 seconds!!!) from off to on. BRAVO!! And the 2.0 ghz processor is more than enough for me. The MacBook is also very very silent. One thing I don't like though is the mouse track pad. Even on the fastest sensitivity setting, it just doesn't keep up with my fingers. A bit annoying, but a problem that can be solved with an external USB mouse. Let's see how my MacBook holds up in the next four years.

Honest reviews on Apple MacBook MB061LL/A 13.3" Notebook PC

[UPDATE: Written 18 months after the review below: Compared to my iBook this machine proved better built (on the outside), maintained a tighter-action keyboard, was noticeably faster--for 15 months, at which point the hard drive simply, suddenly, and unexpectedly, died.] It's predecessor, the iBook, on the other hand, developed problems like letters disappearing from the keys of the keyboard along with the keyboard action becoming sloppy, loose, and chattery. I'd rather replace a keyboard than a hard-drive any day, but I probably got my money's worth out of both machines (Apple's least expensive models). If I had to do it again, I'd order the extended warranty plan with any Apple laptop. It's expensive, and it's not guarantee (if Apple judges the damage due to the user's incorrect or inappropriate use of the machine), but if it's a laptop and it sees heavy use, the two extra years are probably worth the several hundred extra. (With desktop models I'm still inclined not to buy the extended warranty.)}

I ordered my last small-screen iBook from Amazon just two summers ago. As usual, my heavy touch started shorting out the keyboard, and I couldn't afford several weeks of down time. Factor in the wait, the cost of repairs, and the improvements, and this 13" MacBook from Amazon seemed the best way to go.

It's about a hundred bucks more than the prior edition but worth it. The screen is wider, sharper and brighter (though I had no complaints with the predecessor). The speed of unloading internet pages is noticeably faster, a time-saver. The magnetically attached power cord should save the user the cost of an Apple adapter or two (about $80 each time you snap the thin wire). The keyboard area is larger, which is nice, though the different feel of the tracking area and right thumb-click (little play--it barely seems to go down) takes a bit of getting used to.

I didn't need a built-in camera or remote control, but what can you do. At least I was able to avoid the Superdrive (haven't found much use for DVD burning) and all the extras (and sales tax) they push if you buy from Apple Store. This machine doesn't require any additional memory or RAM, unless you're a heavy duty movie editor/audio engineer. It's a one-click purchase. I even took a pass on Apple's current iPod incentive (I still buy CDs, mostly from Amazon).

Even as I type this review, I'm conscious that the keyboard has a tighter feel and is quieter than the previous model. It also gets around in the often cumbersome and sluggish MS Word more quickly than the comparable machine of only two years ago. A great little work horse, and the transfer of information from your old computer has never been easier (make sure you have a firewire cable handy).

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I have been used to blazing fast desktops for years. This mac really combines all of the great features and capabilities you would expect from a powermac into a great little package.

I love the display, the ease of setup, the keyboard, ...

I thought the gloss display would bug me, but I love it.

Not sure I will want to go back to my desktop now that I have the freedom of wireless!

On thing I will note: The white plastic is like static cling. Dust, hair and dirt just love attaching to it.

ALSO, this does NOT come with a VGA adapter. If you plan on giving presentations, you will need to pick one up.

Sony VAIO E Series SVE14138CXB 14-Inch Laptop (Black) Reviews

Customer Ratings:

I wanted to purchase a laptop to use for just entertainment purposes and this seemed to be the most "bang for the buck" model available. To start, the Blu-ray disc player is definitely a nice feature. The video quality with 720p and a 14" screen is very good. Movies played were near seamless. Same with the Wi-Fi connectivity, very good

Sound quality is a bit disappointing. The "built-in stereo speakers with xLOUD and Clear Phase Technology" are mediocre at best. Even with the volume levels set 95% it was just audible. Set above 95% I did experience some cracking. I didn't expect full stereo quality, but I did expect more. In my opinion an iPhone sounds just as good or better.

Web-cam quality is cheesy. When viewing, the image is very pixelated. I haven't looked to see if this can be adjusted. I tried it with the default setting and didn't enlarge the image.

From what I've found using the default setting for power consumption, battery life is closer to five hrs which is still acceptable. If your using it just for movies, 4 hrs.

Overall performance is very good but the touch pad is too sensitive for my taste. I've read other VAIO reviews saying the same thing. I haven't tried adjusting it, but most other reviews said this can be corrected.

In my opinion, Windows 8 does not add value to the PC and is designed more for touch-screen models. If it didn't void the warranty, I would probably switch to Windows 7.

Last and very important, after transferring over 100 gigs of music and movies to my laptop from iTunes/iPod Classic I experienced a software malfunction with the CD/DVD player.(code error) I had to use a system restore and remove the 100 gigs plus the 35 windows updates and start again to correct the problem. If you choose to buy this laptop and are transferring, create several system restore points throughout the process. I wasted 12+ hours and learned the hard way. lol

It takes 5 DVD's to create a systems back-up which is not supplied. Buy yourself a 32gb USB 3.0 flash drive instead and save yourself some time.

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Ok...first off...I actually do love this laptop! Gonna do my best to make this simple and fast...hopefully I'll do it well! Gotta crash soon, work night shift...so sleeping schedule is all jacked up! lol

Ok...please excuse any improper grammar or spelling. Trying to complete this before my sleeping medicine kicks in! lol

Pros:

Light, thin, and looks great

Love the backlit keyboard

Love the TB storage!

Love and I mean LOVE Sony customer service! I've had to contact them prob...6 times, and always great with service!

Screen, as far as "HD" I guess, looks great! On a tv...that's a easy comment. Not gonna lie, on a computer..ya really can't tell!

Ok...I guess since I'm in a hurry, I'll just go str8 to cons lol

Here we go...

Cons:

For having so much Ram and specs built in, not gonna lie. It drags a lot! For instance...I was sending out several emails tonight. And CONSTANTLY had to hit backspace! I'm sitting here typing a email, and it freezes on me for maybe a split second. Soooo...words get tangled.

Drags a lot when just trying to use basic stuff on the laptop! As in...I go to something to copy and paste. Right click on a folder, maybe takes about 3-5 seconds sometimes for the options to even show up.

This one really isn't a "Con" but this model comes with SEVERAL media options for software. Well...they never ever get used! For all I know, that software that Sony provides...could be the reason this thing is lagging! lol

Windows 8!!! Wow..hate hate hate hate Win 8!!! Google Chrome sucks (which, was always my fav!) Have to use Firefox, because I can't stand IE. However, really don't think this is Sony's fault...but...FF even sucks sometimes! I have to close my Yahoo mail, and open up a new tab for it sometimes....just for it to be able to open up the inbox! Emailed both Sony and MS about being able to convert to Win 7, especially seeing how my laptop (at the time) was only a couple of weeks old. Negative! You have to buy a pc that comes with backward compatible Windows!

Some things are confusing. As in...it says in the description, that it has a USB port that charges without the power on (Just had to hit backspace twice, because of the lagging on typing). Don't get me wrong, YES it's confusing....but again..Sony help was great! I emailed them, and within 24 hours...they replied back with help!

Ok...I guess most of my cons are gonna be the lagging and Win 8! lol I emailed Sony twice about the constant lagging with this model. Again...they were FANTASTIC when it came to replying! However..they did (just had to hit backspace again lol) the usual. Told me to go to startup...and see what all programs were running (backspace twice...again). Ok...here's what I have running in my background. Itunes, Webroot Security (Which is fantastic when it comes to performance) Firefox and Samsung Sync or whatever (use it for my tv) THAT IS ALL THAT I HAVE RUNNING WITH THIS LAPTOP! Everything else is factory...I'm guessing your usual Windows programs, Sony programs, etc. Sooooo...with the fantastic specs this product offers...in NO WAY WHAT SO EVER...should it be constantly lagging!

Anyways...guess I'm about to finally crash. Just wanted to throw my 2 cents in on this model. All in all...for future buyers! I actually do...recommend this model. If Sony customer service sucked...I'd say stay away!!! But...if you do get this laptop, IMO...I'd get Win 7 software with it. It might just be me..But I never ever ever use all those crappy apps that Win 8 has been bragging about! And I actually think they might be the main reason for my issues with this product! Again (just had to backspace...AGAIN!! LOL) I actually...believe it or not...after all my bitching!! Love this laptop! So far...as far as laptops go, I've owned Sony, HP, and crappy crappy horrible Toshiba!! (Never ever buy that piece of crap product!) And...I can honestly say...I love this 10 times more than I loved any of them! I even love it more than my BF's Mac! I just really wish there was some kind of Software that pointed out EXACTLY what was messing up my performance! I've ran everything I can think of...and it's showing nothing!For running a 8gb Ram, 64 bit, and 2.60 GHz....it's preforming slightly better (as in speed, and the barely used word "Lagging" lol) than my piece of crap Toshiba! And from everything I've looked up..8gb RAM is as high as it can go. Everything I've looked at so far...says it comes pretty much maxed out as it can get. Well...I know I have repeated myself prob about 10 times in this email...but I'll do it one more time for you guys that love me! :) Buy it, you'll love it! BUT...kill Win 8!!! Don't even think about installing Chrome (which makes me sad!!) (Also..if any Chrome geeks out there, know how I can fix the issues I have with Win 8 and Chrome...PLEASE PLEASE HIT ME UP!!!) And...if any of you reading this that already own it...and for you that have fixed the lagging problem...please let me know how you did this! Also...please let me know how you got the USB port to charge while off! :)

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fantastic, I love how fast it is, is very well cost me something to get used to windows 8 but nothing else, I recommend it, price, versatility, thanks for this

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Great Value Laptop good looking, love the light up keyboard and the blu ray drive windows 8 is a little lame

wonder what thet were thinking but its relatively easy to learn

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Great Laptop! Took a little getting used to going from Windows 7 to Windows 8 but I am getting better with the new operating program which does have a lot of good options. Took a little time to get everything set up but well worth the effort.

The Sony Vaio is a very good laptop. Very fast and has just about every feature you could Want. Having the 3.0 USB port is great and the Blue Ray player has worked with every disc that I have tried. The picture quality is excellent. I would highly recommend this Sony laptop.

Cheap Dell Inspiron 15R i15RN5110-7223DBK 15.6-Inch Laptop

Customer Ratings:

I purchase this laptop 3 weeks ago, it fail on the 12th day, I call Dell to validate the waranty and they told me that only have waranty and tech support on software or windows problems, the laptop motherboard was defective and the hard drive, they refuse to change my laptop and told me they only give 10 days to tested and change parts or give replacement within those days, besisdes the call center is awful.

Thanks Amazon and their return policy, I hope to get a refund and buy another brand, Dell is very dissapointing.

Beware do not buy Dell.

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I ordered this laptop to replace an older Dell Inspiron I had that worked very well and I had a good experience with. As stated in the title at first it was great; fast, it ran Star Trek Online and Fallout: New Vegas on medium settings with no problems. After completing some Windows updates it wouldn't wake up from hibernation. I reset the computer and it never rebooted, it would stop at the Windows loading screen every time.

I sent it to Dell to see if they could fix it, they did......sort of. After taking out of the box fresh back from the Dell repair shop, it booted very fast like the first time and then thirty minutes later the touch pad died. Just died. Luckily, I had wireless mouse on hand and after looking around on the system for awhile I found that the computer no longer recognized that the touch pad existed at all. I went to the Dell support home page and found the drivers for the touch pad, they wouldn't take. I installed them and nothing the touch pad is still dead.

Dell wanted me to send it back to them so they could fix it again, no thanks I said. Amazon however agreed to give me a full refund after talking to them for about 20 minutes. Great customer support. So now I'm waiting for the refund and will be buying a new laptop from a different company.

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When I first unpacked this and set it up I was very excited the machine itself is solid and functional, screen is great, keyboard quite good for a laptop. However, two sets of issues have presented sufficient frustration that I don't think I will ever again buy a Dell product.

The first to appear is the huge amount of preloaded software, some of which is very difficult to get rid of. Central in annoyance is the row of huge tiles across the center of the screen for quick access to all the stuff I will never ever use, totally blocks the screen until you find the little "x" to get rid of it until next time. I probably spent 3 hours figuring out how to make it go away permanently.

I don't know if it's Dell or the new version of windows, but it is all but impossible to get rid of those silly useless little logo tiles and again it took several hours even to figure out how to control them. Documentation is seriously crappy, and there is no support.

I use a wireless transmitter so I can listen to Pandora, as well as to the music I have stored on my hard drive and play them on my stereo in the other room. Almost every time I want to use the transmitter for Pandora, I have to configure the machine to send the signal out through the wireless instead of to the built in speakers (which are tinny, good for nothing beyond talking on Skype). Again documentation is crappy; the little pictures on the devices menu say it is hooked up and running, and it takes an hour or longer to figure out how to get it to work. Often I have to play something through RealPlayer (which for some reason does go to the transmitter) then I turn off RealPlayer and, like magic, Pandora comes out of the living room speakers. But next time I turn it on, it's through the tinny little built-ins again and I have to go through the whole routine all over again.

I bought a wireless printer with the package. Same problem the cute little pictures say it is "ready" but when I print the job goes to a file, not to the printer. Every time I want to print something, it takes an hour or longer to figure out how to get the printer to work I often have to go through the entire setup again.

I've had this machine for over a month, have wasted probably 20 hours trying to iron out the bugs, and it still isn't working right, and Dell offers absolutely no support.

The menu of little pictures they have in place of the former detailed system menu is worthless. Very few options, almost none of what you need in order to get rid of the cutesy crap and clutter or make the peripherals work.

Great engineering, terrible software and interfaces, almost no documentation, help menu worthless, and far too much pre-loaded junk. This is the 4th Dell machine I've bought and the last.

Honest reviews on Dell Inspiron 15R i15RN5110-7223DBK 15.6-Inch Laptop

If Amazon would permit a post with ZERO stars, that is the rating I would give.

This machine has now eaten up four (4) months of my office time and $$ in computer restoration. Dell has had me return it 3 times in the past 4 months, commencing in month 6 of my ownership (brand new from Costco). It does not work, at all, the hard drive and motherboard have been replaced; the techs verbally assured us memory had been replaced although this doesn't show in Dell's internal records. It doeds not finish booting up, it turns itself off (except the power button remains lit up in white, and the internal "guts" keep whirring, so it cannot be turned off except by removing the electric plug as well as the battery.

The Dell floor supervisor in Tech support just informed me that since I've "Owned" it almost a year now they cannot replace it. WTF? I've "owned" it 6 months, and it's been in Dell's hands during the last 4 months while Dell keeps NOT repairing it. I've owned laptops, and this baby is nothing but a very expensive paperweight. DO NOT PURCHASE IT!! You have been warned. I will NEVER again purchase any DELL product; in each call for support we are tossed around through at least 3 departments. Just today, whilst typing this, I am now on the phone 56 minutes, awaiting department #3. Now a second "floor supervisor" who "just wants to help me" is sending me "up two levels" to another department via "escalation", saying that "Corporate Team" may be able to replace my machine.

Wait time, and this is the shortest Dell call to date these past 4 months, is now officially over an hour.

Think Dell looked at my location and realized that shipping me another substandard "refurbished" machine would be cheaper than sending a tech to fix a laptop which obviously is not capable of being repaired.......at least not at the hands of its manufacturer. What a bad, bad, bad joke.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Dell Inspiron 15R i15RN5110-7223DBK 15.6-Inch Laptop

I've always bought Dell computers because they seem to have a better support system and reliability history than most other brands. I was right about that part--Dell tech support have been very good lately about responding to calls and emails and fixing whatever is wrong. Despite that, I only bought this laptop 7 months ago, and I wasn't expecting to have any type of problem with it for a few years.

So what do I like about it?

-The keys are very responsive to touch.

-It isn't too heavy to lug around.

-The size of screen is just about right for the writing work I do.

-It has plenty of memory for my docs.

-It's fast.

-It's starts up and restarts quickly.

-The battery lasts a few hours so I can leave the house and expect it to work for a while.

What's not to like?

-After a few months it started to not come on at all. I was instructed to take the battery out and put it back in, sort of like those pathetic calls you make to your phone company and they tell you to do things that will not fix the long-term problem. Wisdom prevailed, though, and a guy came to the house and fixed it.

-Occasionally every single window I have open will start spazzing out on me, flashing up and down before my eyes, sort of like when you open the wrong URL and all the pop-up windows start to display content you never want to see again and you can't close them all fast enough. It won't let me close each window; I have to shut down the computer with all the windows open and start over.

-Sometimes the sound and display settings will show up on the screen and won't go away so you have to have a Skype session with the setting box to the side.

-The sound system is terrible. I didn't care about the sound to begin with because I never really listen to music on this, but the speakers are underneath so it comes out sounding far less than clear.

-The keys are so sensitive that you could tip one accidentally and it will move your tracker to some other place on your document, so you go back to typing and don't realize you're typing two paragraphs up. This is a very persistent problem and drives me crazy.

Overall, I wouldn't recommend buying this particular model.

HP Envy 4-1030us 14-Inch Ultrabook (Black) Review

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $879.99
Sale Price: $799.99
Today's Bonus: 9% Off

Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program This computer is well designed, fast, and easy to use an excellent choice for most people for use at home or school. It is an Ultrabook, which means it is Windows-based computer that is thin, reasonably light, and has an Intel chipset inside. The designation is owned by Intel so only Intel-based computers can be called Ultrabooks. The other large maker of chips, AMD, calls it's equivalent "Sleekbooks" and this model computer also comes in an AMD variation for a bit less money (and a bit less performance).

This runs Windows 7 x64, which is an excellent operating system. I know there are major debates about operating systems, but I think we are fortunate to have several excellent ones from which to choose. Windows is my preference in my household and is on our 5 other computers. I won't go further into this because the operating system is largely independent of the computer hardware. If you don't have a strong preference, Windows will work great for you; if you do and you're reading this I need not say more.

The computer is good looking and feels solid. It is black brushed aluminum on the top and around the keyboard and a nice red on the bottom. It is thin (my calipers say a little over three-quarters of an inch), light (mine weighed 3 lbs., 15 ounces), and feels solid, being made largely of metal. The screen is a true 14" from corner to corner, is glossy (not my preference) and opens easily without any latch. Along the edges are ports for networking, storage, headphones, video (HDMI) and power. It shows fingerprints readily.

The computer starts up quickly. On first-use there are questions about timezone and user/computer naming, but after that each startup is less than 20 seconds from the computer being off (not sleep or hibernate, but off). This is because this computer has a small solid state drive that is very fast and which contains much of the operating system and other components needed to start the computer. Combined with a generous 500GB conventional hard drive, this computer has a great mix of speed and capacity and I think HP clearly delivered on its promise in this regard.

The desktop has just a handful of items on it: shortcuts to HP Marketplace, HP Support Assistant, MS Office 2010 trial, HP Myroom, WildTangent Games, and eBay. I simply dragged these to the trash and my desktop was clean. I don't see much that is actually installed on the computer outside of HP's utilities. The exception is Norton Desktop, which is a virus/security program. I deleted this program (type "add or remove" remove at the start menu, hit return, find Norton, then click uninstall) because it is not my preference and I don't want to pay periodic license fees for updates. I then installed Microsoft Security Essentials, which is free and can be found by searching the web. All said it was an easy process to get this running.

The screen is bright and clear. I'm not a fan of glossy screens as they show reflections more than matt screens do, but they do have the advantage of appearing brighter. For text and such, there is a decent viewing range for the screen, but on videos, there is a fairly narrow range for optimal viewing. It is easy to find and doesn't impact its use for a single viewer, but it isn't something ideal for many folks to crowd around to see something. Those viewing it from off-axis will see some reduction in color fidelity and an overall darker picture. As a 14 inch laptop, I think this is fine as it isn't made for group use and a single user will be more than happy with the screen. I ran some 1080p video on the computer (although the screen is 1366 x 768) and it handled it easily and looked great. 14 inches is a good size; 15 inch is too large to carry around and 12 is too small. 13 or 14 inches is the sweet spot, in my opinion.

This comes with Beats Audio, which just means the sound system meets some standard put out by the "Beats Audio" people. This includes slightly better speakers and a "subwoofer" to improve bass response. I think it does sound very good compared to other laptops I've had, although I'm not going to give up my headphones or home stereo. Don't expect great sound, but is more than passable and certainly fine for casual videos and such. On other laptops I'd find watching movie impossible without external speakers, but this is fine and speech is clear. For music you can certainly hear an improvement with bass response, but it isn't very deep and the highs are still a bit tinny, as one typically finds on a laptop. Volume is more than adequate. Overall a plus, just don't expect miracles here.

The trackpad and keyboard are fine. The keyboard is the flat island keys that are considered stylish nowadays. I prefer more sculpted keys, but as I type this review on the laptop, I don't find it slows me down and simply takes some getting-used-to. The trackpad is an integerated unit with the buttons in the lower left and right. This makes for a larger pad to support gestures, such a two-finger scrolling, pinch to zoom, and rotation. The gestures all seem to work well although it is the scrolling that I use the most. It gives up the discrete left/right buttons, so it takes some getting practice to know you are clicking in the right place, but again it just getting-use-to.

My prior computers have included ThinkPads and I tended to use just the trackpoint feature of those (a pointing device built into the keyboard), which meant I didn't need to use the trackpad. Trackpads require moving one's fingers and hands about and taking your hands off the keyboard, which is less than ideal, while the trackpoint kept your hands in place. But if you want a trackpoint, you are limited to Lenovo (such as Lenovo ThinkPad T420 4177RVU 14-Inch LED Notebook Core i5 i5-2450M 2.5GHz 320GB HDD 4GB DDR3 Matte Black). The keyboard is backlit; by hitting a key it lights up the numbers and around the islands. It seems a bit brighter than necessary and I'd prefer some way to tone it down, but otherwise it works fine. The button to turn on the backlighting is also illuminated and is bright enough to be a little distracting when the keyboard is not backlit.

This computer, like many coming out now, does not have an integrated CD/DVD drive. Most software and media are delivered over the internet, so this isn't usually a problem, but it isn't great if you have media already on DVDs/CD. My copy of MS Office was on a DVD so I had to use my network to install the software. On my desktop computer I shared the DVD drive, which I then accessed over the network from this HP laptop, then clicked "setup". I then installed the software as usual. Easy to do if you have a network and know what you are doing, but I think it isn't something most would be able to do. Your alternative is to borrow/buy an external DVD or ask someone to do this for you. It is a fine tradeoff as I don't expect to need an optical drive again for many months (I use it maybe three time a year) and it doesn't make sense to carry that around when it is used so rarely.

The ports on this device are fine. Two USB 3.0 and one USB 2.0 will let me hook up external storage, Skype headphones, and other peripherals. USB 3.0 is 10 times faster than USB 2.0, although in practice other hardware limits the speed. My USB 3.0 external disk drive, for example, will transfer large files about 3 or 4 times faster than my USB 2.0 drive, limited by the speed of the external drive. USB 3.0 has been around for a few years and there are many affordable peripherals for it, most all of which come with their own cable. A 1000 GB external (1 TB) USB 3.0 drive can be had for under $100 on Amazon.Western Digital My Passport 1 TB USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive WDBBEP0010BBK-NESN (Black), Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex 1 TB USB 3.0 Ultra-Portable External Hard Drive in Black STAA1000101 USB 3.0 is backwards compatible with USB 2.0, which is more than adequate for things like mice and transfer of smaller files.

Other ports are standard, HDMI for hooking up to a TV/monitor, headphones, and wired network. As far as wireless features go, it has Bluetooth, which can be used for mice, keyboards, and audio, as well as a wireless network card that supports the latest standards. I don't feel I'm lacking anything in the port department. If this were my work computer, I'd miss having a VGA connector as many presentation systems still rely on that for connectivity, but that would be out of place on this consumer laptop.

The laptop is plenty fast. The processor is an i5, which is the mainstream chip from Intel. Lower is the i3 and higher is the i7. The GHZ rating (1.7) means less nowadays with multiple cores and speed boosting technology, so I won't try to compare based on that. All I can say it that it does what it needs to do without any perceivable lag. It runs HD video, multiple programs up at once, streaming video, and more without making me wait. Speed is less and less important in many cases as that technology has outpaced the needs of most of us. I am happy with the performance.

I am writing this with the computer on my lap, which covers up some of the main vent on the bottom. As a result it is getting a little warm and the fan has just come on. HP advertises "coolsense" technology to keep laptop cool, but I suppose there are limits to this. It isn't hot, but certainly not cool, so this might be a little oversell.

The webcam is perhaps the only disappointment. It is fine, but not HD quality as far as I can tell (although HP calls it a TrueVision HD webcam) . The lowlight performance makes the picture grainy. In office lighting it is fine, but not great. I can't find the spec on this; taking a picture with the included "youcam" software results in a picture that is 640 x 480. I also tried Skyping myself and my image from my desktop (shown on the Envy) was much better than that taken by the Envy and shown on my desktop. My desktop has a Logitech Pro 9000 PC Internet Camera Webcam with 8.0-Megapixel Video Resolution and Carl Zeiss Lens Optics. So this is a bit of a letdown, but I don't use this often so it works for me. I will continue to look for setting for this since HP calls it HD and, and if I find them, I'll update this review. In any case, it should work great out of the box, and it doesn't.

As computers get thin, like this one, we give up some things, like the optical drive. We also typically give up the ability to easily upgrade the computer. There is no door for the hard drive, battery, or memory. Upgrading/replacing is therefore more involved than in the past, so consider getting what you need rather than planning on upgrading. A hard drive of 500GB on a laptop is typically more than enough for consumer use and 4 GB is also decent, although I'd consider a 6 or 8. As for the battery, I'll see what happens several years down the road when I need to deal with that. As far as battery life goes, I haven't had it long enough to assess. I've only had it out for three or four hours at a time and it reports to be about half-empty, so the 7 hour manufacturer estimate is not unreasonable.

Overall a top-notch laptop with some excellent design decisions. This is a great default choice where to start looking and then one could assess if to go down to save some money or up to get more performance, although I don't see any need for more performance than this for most folks. The bigger question is if to save a few dollars with the AMD version or another Ultrabook with an i3. I think most would be happy with this HP Envy 14 inch Ultrabook.

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The HP Envy 4-1030us Ultrabook is a fantastic machine! I ordered this because of the look, the thin and light design, and the amazing features. And it didn't disappoint!

Pros:

This laptop looks amazing! I love the black and red scheme and the bottom really is fun to touch (and not too hot thanks to HP Cool Sense).

The keyboard and touch pad are fun to use! Typing is an absolute breeze and the gestures on the touch pad are incredibly intuitive and efficient. The back-lit keyboard can be turned on and off easily.

The battery life is phenomenal.

The screen looks great and is the perfect size for mobile performance. The screen resolution looks good at this size.

Incredibly fast start-up and shutdown times. General responsiveness is great.

The built in audio is about as good as it gets. External audio still sounds better (it always does), but the speakers do go a long way.

The CPU does well at balancing performance and battery life. (Don't let the 1.7Ghz fool you, it boosts on its own up to 2.4 2.6, and Intel's latest Ivy Bridge processors pack more punch than older models.)

Neutral:

The RAM is a little low for me, I would have liked to see 6GB or even 8. But 4GB does get the job done for me now, and the RAM should be fairly upgradeable (to a max of 16GB) for users who aren't afraid to open up their machine. The 4GB is a single DIMM which is nice for upgrading.

The webcam is neither wonderful nor terrible. The microphones are better than the video in my opinion.

There is no optical drive. I rarely use one anyway, and I already own an external DVD drive so it wasn't much of a problem. If you don't have an external drive, I strongly suggest purchasing one along with this ultrabook. They are fairly inexpensive.

Cons:

Mine arrived with a noticeable crack on the front of the red base.

The left and right click buttons on the touch pad make an annoying sound when clicked. This is common for laptops, but for this slick, thin machine it's somewhat off-putting. I imagine I will grow accustomed to it soon. Frankly, you won't need to use those very often anyway, mainly for right-clicking.

Bloatware! Of course this is also common and somewhat hard to avoid. Several programs are easily uninstalled, but HP software should be treated with a bit more care. After a bit of time removing start up programs and advertisement-shortcuts, the computer feels a lot less bloated.

I wanted a new laptop to replace my outdated one. In particular, I needed portability, looks, battery life, and performance, and I didn't want to give up features. This ultrabook was the perfect compromise. At just 0.78 inches thin and just under 4 pounds, it is incredibly portable. I love the mix of sleek, unique, and professional I feel comfortable bringing this to any situation home, work, or school. The battery seems to last forever depending on what I'm doing, even on full brightness. The performance is greater than I could have ever hoped, and the features (like Beats audio and dual-array microphones) are nice.

If you're looking for an affordable ultrabook with a unique, sleek design and excellent performance, this is the one!

Best Deals for HP Envy 4-1030us 14-Inch Ultrabook (Black)

Pretty good laptop. Nothing is perfect unless you want to spend thousands.. I've grown to like this laptop despite some things. It might seem like I have a lot of neutral and negative comments below but I am just trying to bring out as much as I can so people know what to expect when they do not get to see the laptop in person before purchasing. Above average build quality, on HP's behalf. I would highly recommend getting another stick of 4GB Samsung 1.35v ram for this laptop just so both channels are being used. My ram sticks are being shipped as well as a 7mm Crucial M4 SSD. Yes, this laptop needs a 7mm drive while most are 9.5mm thick. You have been warned. (And no I am not referring the the 2.5" aspect)

Pros:

+ Very slim and light weight. Looks nice with the red undertone.

+ Illuminated keyboard and ability to turn on/off (lock) the trackpad.

+ Fast boot times and responsive usage, long as you are not trying to use it like a decked out desktop.

+ Gestures on trackpad, such as 2 finger scrolling and pinch zoom.

+ Screen is bright enough, despite other reviews.

+ Keyboard may take a little to get used to but has a nice feel. Matte plastic.

+ HP has really good customer support, not that I've had a problem with the laptop (yet).

+ USB 3.0 ports are always good. The 2.0 port is a charging port and still provided power when I put the laptop to sleep.

Neutral:

= Base of laptop. It has a rubberized feel which is nice. Provides good grip when being carried but it is also a dust magnet.

= For a very recent machine, it should have used a single headset/microphone 3.5mm plug instead of splitting it.

= Brushed metal top can be a fingerprint magnet but it is easy to just wipe clean. Nonetheless it looks nice.

= Am I supposed to notice a difference with these beats speakers? Because I don't...

= Trackpad can seem to be not so responsive at times. May be caused by sensitivity levels. Has a textured feel as well.

= Power adapter goes in horizontally straight from the right side. Would be nice if it was angled for less stress on the wire.

= Resolution is crappy. 1600x900 would be LOVELY but this will do.

= No battery level indicator

Cons:

Bad marketing on the battery life. Real world multimedia use, at full brightness, comes up to about 4-5 hours of usage.

The battery is not easily removable, in case you decide to have a really long session with it plugged in the whole time.

Should have a somewhat illuminated trackpad, at least around the edges, to go with the illuminated keyboard.

The "FN" alternative to the F1-12 hotkeys are locked ON by default. May be useful but for a lot of people coming from original F key shortcuts, you will have to change the option in BIOS settings.

Power button is really "soft". When you press down you will not feel a "click" as the laptop starts to boot.

HP charges a lot for a factory restore DVD. You can make ONE factory DVD or USB but keep in mind that this laptop does not have a built in optical drive. You will have to buy an external DVD burner. If you choose to put it on a USB flash drive, you need 17GB minimum. USB drives come in size 16GB, then 32GB. You can see how ridiculous the scenario becomes. I recommend the external DVD drive.

Marketing stickers on the palm rest area. C'mon. I've already bought the laptop...

Bloatware. Bloatware everywhere.

Many of the BIOS settings are locked.

Honest reviews on HP Envy 4-1030us 14-Inch Ultrabook (Black)

In the past month, I have purchased a Macbook Air 11", a Lenovo U310, and this HP Envy, so I've got some good "hands-on" time with all three, but I'll focus on the HP for this review. Aesthetically, I'd rank all three as equally attractive, however, in terms of solidness of design, the Macbook Air is the clear leader. The HP comes in second, with one caveat -the brush-finish cover is an absolute fingerprint magnet, as is the surface surrounding the trackpad. You will need to wipe off the machine daily or it will look like it is owned by a recent winner of a potato chip eating contest. Performance for a 'typical' (if there is such a thing) user is good. The boot SSD provides rapid startup time and the processor and RAM are definitely adequate for most users (not talking video editing or high-end gaming here....). The display is clear and bright with good viewing angles. The Synaptic-driven trackpad is better than the Lenovo, but not as good as the MBA. The HP feels much more substantial than the Lenovo, with significantly less chassis and keyboard flex. But, again, the MBA is much more solid. HP plasters stickers all over the work surface -the obligatory Windows and Intel stickers, plus four or five more for good measure. I was able to peel off all but the Intel label very easily. The Intel sticker has stronger adhesive, so I let it stay....for now. The biggest annoyance of the HP is the horrendous amount of redundant HP utilities and bloatware installed on this laptop. I don't want desktop links to eBay and all sorts of nonsense I have to delete. I'm more of a Mac guy than a Windows guy, so maybe I'm ignorant here, but I fail to see the need for the HP Connection Manager, the HP Power Manager, the HP Software Assistant, blah, blah, blah, when all of these functions already exist in Windows. I deleted most of the HP stuff, but it took at least 90 minutes to get rid of all the junk. Overall, though, I feel this HP is a solid design and has a competitive set of features for its price point. I think it's definitely worth considering.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for HP Envy 4-1030us 14-Inch Ultrabook (Black)

I received this ultrabook in the mail (one-day shipping, love my Prime membership) a few days ago and I've got to say that I'm pretty thrilled with it so far. The computer is pretty fast to start up, restart, and shut down. I did go through and delete the programs out of it that came preinstalled, which helped me clean up my desktop. I am really enjoying the 14" screen. I didn't want a big screen for my next PC, but I wasn't sure 14" was going to be enough. To me, it's perfect! It's very light and takes up little room very easy to tote around.

Unlike some of the other reviews, I haven't had any problems with the arrow keys or with the Trackpad. I really love that I can use two fingers to scroll through a page and I haven't encountered any problems with right clicking. I do like that the keyboard has a backlight this is definitely something I thought I wanted since it seemed important to so many reviewers. But I've found that I rarely look at the keyboard anyway. Even so, I think it's a useful option to have, especially if someone else in my family needs to use it. I like the design of the keyboard, though I am still getting used to the placement of the "Home," "End," "Del," etc., keys.

This item comes with BeatsAudio. Personally, I think the sound is pretty good. This is definitely not the reason I chose this product, but I am still happy with it. 4gb memory is pretty good, but I would like to upgrade my memory to at least 8gb, I just need to figure out how to do that (any help is appreciated). There are 3 USB ports, 2-3.0 USB ports and 1-2.0 USB port. I think this is sufficient I could still charge my phone or Kindle, be connected to a printer, and access a flash drive. If you need more, simply purchase a USB hub.

The ultrabook comes with an AC adapter whose cord is much longer than the last laptops or netbooks I've had. This is something that I love because of the placement of my furniture versus the outlets in my living room. I paid about $30 more for the PC than it is listed at now but I did receive a $100 gift card for the purchase, which I see is not being advertised now. So I'd say I still won out. All in all, I am extremely happy with my purchase. It is big enough that I can do everything I need to comfortably, while still remining compact enough to pack around with me.

Best Zotac ZBOX nano AD12-U Nettop Computer Deals

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $209.99
Sale Price: $207.98
Today's Bonus: 1% Off

For the benefit of prospective buyers (I'm a frequent Amazon user, but discovered this item after I had ordered it on Ebay), Here's how I got a satisfactory HTPC out of this micro-PC.

I installed 4Gb of ram. Make sure you specify notebook ram, like this:

Kingston KVR1333D3S9/4G DDR3-1333 SODIMM 4GB Notebook Memory

Add any notebook Sata Hdd; I used a 1Tb sata Hdd to have room to record TV.

Problems:

1. Heat

You'll need to go into the bios (press del at boot time) and find the smart fan settings.

I set it to 3, start temp 40, max speed at 80, slope 3. I am running between 57 65 degrees Celsius. Very little fan noise.

2. Wifi works at about 150Mbs, good enough for most compressed files but annoyingly breaking up on large raw .ts files. Can't watch live TV, it's in .ts format.

3. LAN did not work. After Zotac agreed to RMA which I would have to pay shipping costs, I ordered a USB ethernet adapter from Monoprice for $15. Works like a charm....

PID: 9467 USB 2.0 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter 1 1 0 $15.64

Much less hassle....

4. IR Remote basic functions are fine out of the box. However, the colored keys MCE green button, info, text did not work. The external USB IR sensor will not work for the extra keys; only the internal IR sensor will, provided you make the necessary registry changes. Here's the link:So, overall, not very good ZOTAC support, it's a low cost very small special PC; they can't afford to provide too much hand holding. So, for any problem, they'll agree to RMA, but the user is stuck with the shipping costs.

After fiddling with the smart fan settings, I'm quite pleased with the low noise and adequate CPU core temperature.

The wifi adapter is ok for internet browsing but not really sufficient for uncompressed video files. My external USB dapter (which I used until my Monoprice lan adapter arrived) at 300 mps was pretty good, but you really need a hard-wired ethernet connection at 1000mps which the USB ethernet LAN adapter provides.

I do recommend this micro-PC even with it's flaws. I attached it to the back of my kitchen TV, can't hear it (unlike my ASROCK), and it's quite responsive for any use. Uninterrupted 1080i or p, no breakup.

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It's a silent and small HTPC, but will do fine what it is supposed to. Have a great remote control.

Best Deals for Zotac ZBOX nano AD12-U Nettop Computer

Zotac makes awesome video cards, but their PCs are awesome too. I put 8gb of ram and a 5400 RPM 1 TB hard drive in mine, comes with 3.0 BT as well, well worth the $200.00 for it even without a hard drive and ram...mines running windows 8 and runs awesome...I wont even buy a PC unless its a AMD processor, and this one runs good at 1.7Ghz dual core

Honest reviews on Zotac ZBOX nano AD12-U Nettop Computer

For XBMC it's the best. It's easy to install and configure and the results are wonderful. I am very satisfied.

Buy Lenovo G580 15.6-Inch Laptop (Glossy Brown IMR)

Customer Ratings:

Got the computer in a timely mannor, thanks Amazon. Got it up and running, I was excited to try Windows 8. I was taking the leap. I like Windows 8 and after 5 minutes of getting used to the new interface it was working fine for me. We did buy this computer for our 14yr son and so it was his turn to have some fun. It worked well, very fast. Then day 2. He was playing his favorite game, and called me over because the computer was frozen. Could not do anything with it. Hard boot. No good. Used the "one key recovery" feature, to roll back to original settings. Came back up for a bit then, would not load Windows any more at all. Talked to the nice lady at Lenovo and she offered to send factory recovery disks at no charge. I will update this when we try to recover. Great computer, no so sure about the software, may need a few updates before Win 8 is perfect.

Update Dec 20th : Lenovo sent recovery disks. Attempted recovery with Lenovo on the phone to guide me. Did not work, the computer is going back to be repaired. Not too happy now, but cannot complain about the service, it was fine. I hope the machine works properly when it gets back, will update.

Update Jan 17th : Still waiting. They are replaceing the motherboard and do not have the correct one in stock at the repair center it is at, so they say, must come from China or something, not a very happy customer at this point.

Update Jan 29th : Lenovo is now not the company I would recomend

Update Feb 16th : Finally have the computer back. It is running well. Lennovo support was terrible giving mis-information and outright lies were told to us. According to the "Lenovo Depot Repair Center Repair Action Report" that came back with the machine, the repair was replace hard drive. The telephone support told us that the motherboard needed to be replaced and it was not available and that is why the repair was taking over 5 weeks. If it was jus t a HDD replacement it should have taken no time at all. There is no problem finding a HDD at a repair depot I would hope. I am a very unhappy customer Lenovo. I hope that some people will think twice about buying any product from you. As a small business owner, if something this bad happened, I would bend over backward to make sure my customer was happy in the end. No such thing with Lenovo. I asked maybe if they could put in an extra 4GB of ram to help make up for my inconvience, no reply. The only thing that really surprised me was that we actually got our computer back. Lenovo you need to seriously look at how you treat your customers.

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I bought this laptop for my uncle. It is a good laptop for decent home and office usage. It is not ideal for playing high graphics games. If you need a laptop for home and office usage, this is the one!

Pros:

Screen size

Weight

Keyboard with numpad

Big HDD

Good i5 processor

Cons

Average Graphics Card

Windows 8 (personal opinion I didn't like it that much)

RAM could have been more... although this is not a real problem as such!

On the whole, its a good i5/4GB/750GB combination!

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I bought a G580 and it failed right out of the box. Lenovo's customer service is not a service---it is a nightmare. Negotiating their phone menu is like trying to get thru a maze. I returned the computer as directed and heard nothing back. Nobody in their customer service knows what department does what. Constant holds and misconnections to wrong numbers. Then just try calling back. Finally after waiting (they said they would contact me) two weeks I told them to cancel sending me a replacement. DON"T buy Lenovo.

Honest reviews on Lenovo G580 15.6-Inch Laptop (Glossy Brown IMR)

Pros:

1. It seems to be a pretty fast machine for the most part.

2. It has the latest OS, Windows 8, only a disadvantage while getting used to this vastly different experience from any other Windows version.

3. Nothing has gone wrong yet with any of the hardware.

Cons:

1. Keyboard difficulties: (a) The standard key section is too close to the Num key section: this makes it harder to tell where certain keys are when the room isn't well lighted (very annoying!) (b) The CapsLk key looks the same whether caps lock is on or off.

2. The laptop user is led into using LOTS of junk software and software that s/he must eventually either give up or pay for.

3. Attempting to get a little laptop support online from a Lenovo rep was pretty much a waste of time and nevertheless a cost to Lenovo that the users probably pay for in the cost of the laptop.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Lenovo G580 15.6-Inch Laptop (Glossy Brown IMR)

The design/look is stylish. The color is such a deep brown that it almost appears black (and has faint sparkle specks in the finish similar to a car paint job). It looks really nice. The keyboard is also designed very well. I can type with no issues. The keys feel good and they are sturdy. It doesn't feel cheap. I'm also enjoying the Windows 8 experience. Even though the OS is made especially for touch screens, it still feels fairly natural for the laptop. I enjoy the apps interface of Windows 8. Anyway, I recommend this laptop.