M90 Dell M90 DELL M90 Reviews

Customer Ratings:

I'm very happy with this dell m90. This is the kind of computer not intended to go anywhere but still mobil, say from the office to home on the weekends for example. It may not be the latest technology out there but it is still a great computer for a great price!

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Discount Samsung Series 3 NP305E5A-A03US 15.6-Inch Laptop (Silver)

Customer Ratings:

This laptop would make the perfect family notebook, desktop replacement on the go laptop, or even a college gamer laptop!!

I played Batman Arkham City, Half Life and did the 3d Marked 2011, with low settings and just used the stock unit with out any adjustments:

Arkham City:

Average:18

Maximum:20

Lost Coast50fps

I did the free edition of 3DMark 11:

Graphic Test:

1-2.4

2-2.35

3-2.75

4-1.61

Physics Test-6.01

Combined Test-2.06

I got this as a "College Gamer" laptop. I could have spent more, but I don't feel it was necessary. The fastest graphics card in a laptop will cost you thousands of dollars, while a basic desktop card, like the one i got in my desktop, will out perform any laptop. So i saved my money and upgraded my desktop and got this affordable guy!

This little guy has a better multi-touch pad than the silver apple computers, and i am not lying. I can't emphasize on how much the feel of the mouse and the keyboard are when it comes to choosing this laptop. It makes the actual use of this laptop much more worth it! The only mouse that has as good as feel is the $1200 MBP.

This AMD Model is the way to go. From everything i know, the graphics will out perform the stock Intel graphics that are in the more expensive laptops. The quad core AMD is very powerful cpu. The i3 line are just dual core's that are slightly faster, but have way less graphic power! Not to mention that Intel charges more. So you get a great price/performance when you stick to AMD!

Description of Laptop:

It doesn't have any place where your finger prints smudge. The lid is solid and not all shaky. The screen is actually really crisp. Surprisingly there was very minimum bloatware, like a bunch of games, samsung software that is useful and a pack of cyber link software.

The GPU isn't the best you can get, but for under $600 you can't get anything this strong especially on the Intel's. All the other brands at this range all lack in 2 or more places and all the others lack when it comes to graphics.

This one is seriously top notch compared to the others. They all have smudge city, cheap plastic, worth-less touch pad and flimsy keys. The chiclet keys on this make cleaning it much easier. and way easier to use.

The weight on this is very light and I could barely feel it in my backpack. I started a timer from the second the computer booted and the battery said 100%. When the timer started I began playing Arkham City with 75% lighting. The laptop went "4 HOURS", with about 20% left. It probably would have gone another 30-40 minutes, but I don't like draining the battery.

There was surprisingly no heat at all. The hottest spot is on the left side of the mouse, but the other side was just cold. The sound on this can get as loud as you need. The sound played beautifully and was real crisp. I mean it was really nice quality!

Unless you want to spend an extra $250-$500, then this is your best bet for a good gaming/college laptop. Actually this is a laptop that everyone should get! Think of the graphics as the best you can get for under $800-$900!

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Pros:

1.5 Ghz Quad core processor with Turbo Core (2.4 Ghz)

4 GB of RAM

Multi in 1 card reader

BRIGHT, vibrant, matte finish screen

Full sized chiclet keyboard

500 GB HDD

Bluetooth

Discrete class graphics processing unit with 512 MB RAM with HDMI capable of 7.1 audio output

Light

Mostly ingerprint resistant

Webcam and digital microphone array

Easy access hardware upgrades

3+ hour battery life on "full" charge

Real, fully functional restore disc set

Can be easily and safely overclocked

Cons:

Some keyboard buttons are a bit small, placement makes editing your typing a chore sometimes

Touchpad gets in the way when typing

HDD is 5400 RPM instead of 7200

Frame around keyboard and screen is not fingerprint resistant

Battery configuration is slightly annoying

Restore disc set is one part aggravation

3 USB instead of four, no 3.0

Optical drive will not read all types of recordable media

Bloatware is partially necessary

----------

Indepth:

1.5 Ghz Quad core processor with Turbo Core (2.4 Ghz) can be overclocked to 2.4 for base speed and 2.6 for Turbo Core...and it's stable! (The free k10stat program is required, but not included.)

4 GB of RAM, with one slot unoccupied. Throw in a second stick 4 GB and max out the system to 8 with ease. (This upgrade should be a priority. The full 8 gigs really make a difference.)

Multi in 1 card reader (You'd be amazed how much you'll use it. Can also be used to make your spare SD cards function as a ReadyBoost device. (creates a cache to help with HDD read times speed up)

BRIGHT, vibrant, matte finish screen with no glare, no gloss to grab fingerprints. Beautiful.

Full sized chiclet keyboard with numeric pad, really comes in handy since the Fn key isn't always needed.

500 GB HDD is spacious, even with their recovery partition. They even give you partition software that makes it simple and easy to customize your PC.

Bluetooth works amazingly well. Grabs a hold of all the signals I've sent it's way.

Discrete class graphics processing unit with 512 MB RAM is more than enough power to run Source engine games such as Left 4 Dead at 1366x768 with everything maxed out in the graphics settings, along with 2-4x AA and 16 AF! Even Sega's Sonic Generations and Activision's War For Cybertron can be run at 1024x768 to 1366x768 with medium graphics quality and look gorgeous, with no drops in frame rates.

Lightweight. Not a back breaker if carried in backpack, or shoulder bag. Weighs 5 pounds, even!

Easy access hardware upgrades with ONE panel and screw to remove. So easy. HDD, RAM and optical drive access in one spot!

Real, fully functional restore disc set...with a catch. The Windows disc is factory made and comes in the box. The drivers/software disc must be made by the user, through an easy to use wizard interface.

Battery configuration is slightly annoying because of the 80/100 setting. When charged all the way to 100%, the overall life span will diminish like all batteries of this type. You have to go into the BIOS to fully unlock the battery, plus settings in Windows. A real hassle. If you leave it locked at 80% (factory, out of the box setting) it's supposed to ensure long life of the battery.

Restore disc set is one part aggravation because the optical drive is picky about which brands it'll use. Philips will not work. Maxell and Verbatim will. Of those that won't, it won't even read them or detect their presence.

Bloatware is partially necessary to get full functionality, such as enable/disable of: wifi, touchpad, backlight, print screen key, you get the idea. Without it, many important things will not work. At all.

All in all, this is a very powerful system for under $400.00. As is, it's a fantastic multimedia machine. With the mods I made (maxed out RAM, overclocked CPU, Blu-Ray I added) this is a hearty HTPC, with medium to high gaming, that is easily a desktop replacement PC that's portable!

I highly recommend it. Fantastic machine.

Best Deals for Samsung Series 3 NP305E5A-A03US 15.6-Inch Laptop (Silver)

I am a computer person. I do my research before I purchase anything and usually know exactly what I am getting for my money. I found this beautiful little machine and grabbed one for $399 while they were at Best Buy. I was completely surprised by the performance of this little beast. First of all, the laptop is beautiful, light, feels well built, and has a battery that lasts 4-5 hours even while streaming video over wifi. What really blew me away however was how strong the AMD processor and graphics capabilities are for a notebook at this price point. Since the video card shares system memory I bought another 4GB stick of DDR3 Ram for about $30 and installed it in the second slot (A nice feature) that starts empty on this laptop. I can run World of Warcraft on high with consistent 60fps everywhere, or even on ultra with up to 60fps in dungeons and 20-30fps everywhere else. I was also able to run The Old Republic for several hours at a time on medium settings with 30fps. This is a fantastic laptop for the price point, and for the mobile gamer or MMO person it gets the job done. The screen is very clear and resolution looks great, plus the HDMI port is a nice plus. Bluetooth built in is a feature usually found on more expensive laptops and makes uploading photos from your smartphone an absolute breeze.

Aside from the RAM upgrade, I would also recommend a decent laptop cooler mat, as like every other laptop this thing can get a bit hot after several hours of gaming. One that props the laptop up a little allowing air to move beneath it is the best. I picked up this one at best buy for $20 and it does a great job:All in all I paid less than $500 for the Laptop, Ram Upgrade, Cooling Pad, a nice case and a mouse for when I game.

This is unbeatable and if you are considering doing any gaming at all, I would definitely recommend these AMD systems over the I3 and I5. Only when you get up to I7 do they start beating the A6 in graphics capability.

Honest reviews on Samsung Series 3 NP305E5A-A03US 15.6-Inch Laptop (Silver)

I liked this laptop and still kinda like it, I got what it says on the box, fast, lightweight and cheap. The only reason what I am giving a 1 star is because of the material what is made of, pretty cheap plastic. I mean this is a portable device, the case material gotta be enough resistant for the daily handling: holding, lifting, open/close the lid, whatever. Well the story is after 2 months of having this computer, after a full day of working on it (was pretty hot btw) I grabbed from the left side of the case using one hand (lid open) and then I heard the crack and a big fissure appeared at the topcase, from the internal side of the lid support until reaching the keyboard (even through the keyboard by now), I gotta say this is not a heavy laptop, it weights the half of my former vaio computer and I am really not a strong person that crush stuff while holding it. I would feel better if I just dropped it or something, at least it would be my fault, but in this case I don't feel that was my fault, it wasn't a crack on the screen which the most common thing that might happen when you hold a laptop badly, it was a fracture on what's suppose to be the strongest part on a laptop. The temperature might also influence in this situation, but if you have bad quality plastic and heat then there is not surprise. Called Samsung and they consider this as an accident so it's not covered by the warranty. The crack is on the topcase, which is not a common replaceable part, after digging on the web for a replacement found a chinese site that sells the top cases for this brand, 50 bucks + shipping, received it today and during the replacement just found out that everything is cheap regarding this computer from screws to wires used on it. I almost broke the new topcase while replacing it. So beware about this product, use both hands while holding it, treat it extremely careful like you were holding a baby.

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Before buying this I had my doubts if I'd ever get used to or get to like this weird keyboard. However, it did not take long. The keyboard is nice. The touchpad is the best I've had so far yet in a laptop.

The screen resolution is amazing once you get the proprietary ATI driver installed.

I had a little trouble with this system at the start. It would boot to blank black screen in Bodhi 1.3 and the current Linux Mint. However this seems to be an issue with "new hardware" and the lag time of linux support for the chipsets related to the amd a6 3400m family. luckily google pointed me to a message board thread relating to this; setting the linux kernel boot parameter with the option "radeon.modeset=0" made mint and bodhi installable from CD.

My summary of pros and cons is listed below.

Pro:

--speed of quad cores and GPUs, as well as the internal drives and memory; amazing, especially considering the low wattage of the integrated CPU chip--a supercomputer that runs on batteries, something that could not be imagined a decade or two ago.

--great value for a sub 500 usd laptop.

--amazing crisp display; has hdmi output also.

--great touchpad, good keyboard, and first impression makes me believe quality of components seems nice.

--fits in a backpack; light and fairly compact.

Con:

--bluetooth (nor wifi) cannot be turned off from bios directly or from keyboard fn buttons--needs --software to do it. haven't figured out how to make linux do it yet.

--no caps or num lock lights.

--only 3 usb jacks (1 left, 2 right)

--linux setup and support leaves a lot to be desired; thank goodness for message boards, google, and the kind geniuses posting on said boards.

--I'm still very bothered and annoyed by not being able to shut off the RF of wifi and bluetooth with a single tap of two buttons like I was in my old laptop.

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

Customer Ratings:

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

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

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

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

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

Best Deals for Toshiba Mobile Satellite M505-S4947 14.0-Inch Laptop - Black/Silver

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

Honest reviews on Toshiba Mobile Satellite M505-S4947 14.0-Inch Laptop - Black/Silver

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

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

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

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

Cheap Lenovo IdeaPad U400 09932JU 14-Inch Laptop (Graphite Grey)

Customer Ratings:

I actually didn't buy this product from Amazon but I REALLY wish I had. I owned this laptop for 6 days of light use before it died. The laptop simply wouldn't turn on. I called Lenovo and they had me ship it to their warranty repair center and told me I should receive it in 7 business days. 4 weeks later I still don't have a laptop! Lenovo customer service is absolutely horrendous. Apparently my laptop had been put on hold due to lack of parts. I asked for a refund or a new laptop to be shipped ASAP since going without a laptop as a student is life-ending, however Lenovo refused. I actually had to file a complaint with my credit card company to have the charge disputed because Lenovo left me no other choice.

Update:

I finally received my laptop 4 weeks after initially shipping it to be repaired. I was appalled because I went to turn on my laptop and it still didn't work! They didn't even fix my laptop. The report said my mainboard was replaced and my laptop passed all tests. Obviously that was a lie since I was currently experiencing the exact same problem from 4 weeks ago. Customer Service said my only option was to send it back a second time for them to fix it. Needless to say I found that response unacceptable and demanded a refund. I'm now waiting 2-3 business days to hear if my refund request will be "accepted" or not.

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I wish I read the rest of the reviews closely. Let me save you some time. Do not buy Lenovo. I've spent the past 10 years buying Lenovo laptops and something has drastically changed with product quality over the past 2-3 years.

The laptop shipped with a faulty WIFI card.

Lenovo makes it difficult to get support. Getting transferred back and forth between software and hardware departments is not how I want to spend my day. 3 hours deep on the phone, still no end in sight. I've learned my lesson. I can't stress it enough. Lenovo is the worst customer service. I'm shipping this garbage laptop back. Between the runaround on the phone, faulty product, and unhelpful support, Lenovo has lost a customer for life.

Best Deals for Lenovo IdeaPad U400 09932JU 14-Inch Laptop (Graphite Grey)

This machine broke down on me within 3 months of using it. For the period where it did work I had connectivity issues, poor battery life, and "special features" that only hindered the machines performance. So now its been in Lenovo's repair dock for 2 months with no estimate for when it will come back. Whats more, after they had the thing for a month they demanded 400 dollars to repair it. I can't even describe how infuriating this whole process has been. I regret my purchase with all my heart and soul. Don't buy this computer, and don't buy a lenovo product.

Honest reviews on Lenovo IdeaPad U400 09932JU 14-Inch Laptop (Graphite Grey)

Pros: Good looking, good finish, perfect size.

Cons: Very poor usabilitythe touchpad takes up half the room where your hands sit for typing, so you end up touching it very often, causing what you are typing to end up somewhere else. The two finger scrolling is also very pooreither does not move, or scrolls too fast. Keys have been made very small so hard to typeshift key is almost as small as regular alphabet keys. I would never have thought this would be an issue with a computer (seems like this is the simplest thing to get right), but it is truely frustrating. The keyboard and touchpad were designed with looks not functionality in mind.

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I rarely write reviews and I try to be positive when I do, but I just had such a bad experience with Lenovo's Support Service that I am compelled to write a negative one. I had this laptop for 6 days (with only 3 days of actually playing and around 6 hours of use since I have been traveling). This is supposed to be a work machine for me, but I am glad I have not migrated anything on it yet!

First of, I'd like to say that it is a beautiful machine. I like the solid feel. It doesn't feel "plasticky" and cheap like some of the other marketed Ultrabooks out there. The laptop stays cool and quiet. The display is a bit muted in color in the beginning but a few tweaks on the display configuration made it better. The touchpad needs some getting used to. The only real issue that I have on the hardware is the lack of easy access for changing the battery.

Now for the software: WARNING! This laptop does not include any recovery disks!! Windows did its automatic updates on my third day of using this laptop. I tried a reboot after. The Lenovo Boot Optimizer started up...tells me there's an error but proceeded in trying to boot Windows. That failed. Windows started running its repair utility or whatever it needed to repair, but then says it can't repair (It said that it might have been caused by a software that I recently installed...I have not done anything on this except to install Microsoft Office Starter on the first day!!!) and I have to call customer tech support. Ok, so I called Lenovo Support. The first thing after briefly describing my problem, they told me that I the ONLY option that I have is for them to send me the recovery disks. I said great, send it to me please. But apparently I have to pay $59 for it!!! They said that it's a software issue and that it's not covered in their manufacturing warranty. I asked if there's a way for me to create my own recovery disks (by downloading the files from the website). Yes, he/she said...I can by burning it from the laptop! What irked me is the fact that after I described my problem, their "policy" is to "set my expectations" right away and tell me that they are a paid service. I wasn't asked any additional questions except "How can I help you today?".

I returned this laptop right away. Thank goodness for Amazon's excellent customer service policy! I gave two for stars for the hardware, but "product" for me extends to not just hardware but also software and customer service.

Buy MSI A6000-225US Notebook PC - Intel Pentium Dual-Core T4500

Customer Ratings:

I bought this because it is a slightly lighter (under 5lb) 16-inch machine at a good deal. Here are my peeves in order of frustration level.

1. Wireless reception is VERY weak. I read about this on MSI Wind on other forums too. It cannot catch 802.11 n over a 2 story 2500 sq ft house. Only in the room with wireless router and the next room. All my other devices have no problems AT ALL. I can catch signals upstairs, downstairs, in bathrooms with other devices (laptops and iphones/ipods)...

2. Touch pad is slightly different for scrolling etc. from the Synaptics style so that's a little relearning curve.

3. Windows Update gave some failures. Could be a Windows 7 issue but I have not seen these on other Win-7 machine. And I haven't even installed too much SW or apps yet.

So if you want long-distance wireless or Synaptics style touch pad, this is not for you.

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Best HP SPECTRE XT TouchSmart 15-4010nr 15.6-Inch Ultrabook (Silver) Deals

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $1,349.99
Sale Price: $869.99
Today's Bonus: 36% Off

HP Spectre XT TouchSmart Ultrabook Review

Highlights: Stylish with a full HD 15.6" IPS touchscreen display, Core i7 ultra low voltage cpu, 8GB RAM, 500GB hard drive with 32GB SSD cache.

The HP Spectre XT TouchSmart is HP's top of the line Windows 8 ultrabook. Like all ultrabooks it has a dual-core ultra low voltage Core i-series cpu with HD4000 graphics; in this case HP has chosen to pair a Core i7 with 8gb RAM, which adds a 15-20% speed boost over the Core i5's with 4gb RAM often seen in ultrabooks. The screen is a 15.6" wide-angle IPS touchscreen. A 5400rpm disk with a 32GB SSD Intel Smart Response cache provides storage. The HP is powered on the go by a 4 cell 48wh battery.

The HP comes nicely presented in a black cardboard case. A soft beige cloth bag encloses the laptop, and a black nylon bag stores the power accessories.

On the outside the HP is a stylish and thin brushed aluminum wedge which calls to mind a largish MacBook Air. Weight is just under 5 lbs, about 1/2 lb heavier than the 15.4" MacBook Pro Retina. It feels very sturdy, if a bit unwieldy when held by the side with one hand due to the width, which is 14.87 inches. The bottom is a nice soft-touch material with a vent in the back for the fan, and vents on the sides for two speakers (two more speakers are under the screen behind the keyboard). Inside is a wide palm rest with a large trackpad. The trackpad is set in a depression, and is made of glass. The spacious keyboard eschews the common practice of adding a numeric keyboard to 15.6" laptops. The hinges are sturdy and a bit stiff the display can be opened without holding down the base of the laptop, until a certain point when the base starts to lift.

Connectivity is good. The HP is one of the few Windows laptops to have a Thunderbolt port. Unlike many other laptops, the two USB 3.0 ports on the left are not blue colored. The USB 2.0 port on the right can be used a charging port when the laptop is off. Rounding out the ports are an HDMI port, Ethernet RJ-45, a headphone/microphone combo jack, and an SD/MMC card slot. A Kensington MicroSaver lock slot is also included.

The 2x2 a/b/g/n WLAN is provided by Intel and supports wireless display (WiDi) for connecting the laptop to compatible TV's or adapters. Intel Smart Connect Technology can be configured to wake the laptop from sleep periodically and download email, etc. This could be useful if you need to just pick the laptop up and go with all your email already downloaded. Bluetooth 4 and an HD webcam are also included.

The HP comes pre-installed with Windows 8 64-bit. A recovery partition is included to reset the laptop to factory settings. Windows 8 makes this easy via the settings menu.

It is not easy to get inside this laptop. Fourteen Philips screws protect the underside. More await inside. However, once opened up the 6Gb/sec SATA hard drive and 6Gb/sec mSATA cache drive can be replaced, although the cache will need to be disabled first via the included Intel Rapid Storage Technology console. The single memory slot is populated with 4gb RAM, and another 4gb is wired on.

The warranty for the non-customizable model 15-4010nr is standard at 1 year. However, the customizable 15t-4000 (not always available on the HP web site) comes with a 2 year warranty. This model can be customized with Windows 8 Pro, a faster 7200rpm hard drive, or an SSD.

The black keyboard is wide and spacious. Unlike most 15.6" laptops, the HP does not have a numeric keypad which means the keyboard is centered, and combined with the spacious palm rest provides a decent typing experience; although it is no match for the Thinkpad keyboards of old. The arrow keys skimp on the size of the up and down arrows; it would be better if the 4 arrow keys extended below the rest of the keyboard slightly (as in some Lenovo's) to make them easier to find and allow for full size up and down keys. The Windows function keys are tied to brightness, loudness, screen, wireless on/off, etc, which means that you must press the "Fn" key to activate the regular Windows F1 F12 function keys. This is particularly annoying when having to refresh web pages with Fn-F5. In a nice touch, Alt-F4 works as usual to exit a program (Alt-Fn-F4 would be a bit much). In contrast, the Lenovo Yoga does this better by dedicating the F5 key to refresh and the F4 key to the exit function (particularly important with Windows 8 Metro style apps which often have no other way to force an exit). The caps lock and wireless on/off keys have a small LED to indicate when they are on. The keyboard backlight can be turned on and off by the F5 function key. This key always remains lit itself so it can be found in the dark.

The highly configurable Synaptics touchpad works well and the glass surface is smooth to the touch. It is set in a depression and there is no question when your finger gets to the edge of this trackpad a good thing. The touchpad can be turned off by tapping at the top left, which illuminates a small LED next to it. This functionality can thankfully be disabled in settings. The pressure required to click the touchpad is a bit too much and doesn't have very good feel; however it is rarely necessary to actually click it as a tap for left click and two-fingered tap for right click are usually sufficient. Selecting text is the main exception, where a click and drag is often required.

The display is a bright, glossy 15.6", full HD 1920x1080 IPS touchscreen panel. The IPS designation stands for "In Plane Switching" and indicates that the display has great viewing angles from the top, bottom, and sides. It is a bit on the heavy side, however overall the laptop is not unbalanced. The ability to interact using touch is surprisingly natural in Windows 8; scrolling around web pages and moving/resizing/closing windows works very well. In Metro apps, touch is even better and the familiar two-finger zoom function works great in Internet Explorer, although oddly not in apps such as the news app. The panorama photos in the travel app and the maps app are particularly fun to interact with via touch. If Windows 8 is a success, touch will be an important reason why.

Alas the days of 16:10 aspect ratio displays are gone and this display is no exception at 16:9. While this is great for viewing YouTube, Netflix, etc, it is not great for viewing photos and interacting with lots of on-screen windows, because the vertical space is limited. Landscape photos have large black side borders, and portrait photos are even worse. This is one of the main usability issues of this laptop. It's a shame that manufacturers don't address this, as Apple has done with the MacBook Pro 16:10 displays.

To partially mitigate the lack of vertical real estate, the task bar can be positioned on the right or left side of the display so it doesn't take up space at the bottom. This also makes the task bar easier to interact with via touch, especially when using the "fingers behind the display, thumb in front" technique.

Display brightness is excellent, and can comfortably be used 1 or 2 steps below maximum in most situations. On battery, the brightness can be adjusted through it's full range. Contrast is good, and images and video pop nicely. Color range (gamut) is decent, but does not cover sRGB. Calibration would be required for better accuracy.

The glossy display makes for strong reflections. At certain angles, even the silver palm rest and the keyboard backlighting can cause distracting reflections (luckily the keyboard backlight can be turned off with the F5 key). In direct comparison, the Retina MacBook Pro does a better job of reducing glare.

For some, the high resolution of 141 dpi may result in text that is too small, and a finicky touch experience when interacting with windows. The Windows control panel for display personalization allows boosting text, icon, and window border size by preset or custom percentages. A custom setting of 113% seems to result in windows and icons that are more touch-friendly, and text that is nicely sized. Oddly, this setting does not affect native W8 apps like the news reader, which has no zoom function either. Browser text size can be zoomed using two fingers on the touchpad or screen for Internet Explorer, and via the touchpad or "Ctrl +" and "Ctrl -" in Google Chrome.

Performance of the HP Spectre XT TouchSmart is very good for an ultrabook, probably due to the 8gb of 1600MHz DDR3 memory and Core i7-3517U cpu. This cpu nominally runs at 1.9 GHz with Turbo Boost to 3 GHz. The Windows Experience Index clocks in at:

Processor 7.1

Memory 7.9

Graphics 5.7

Gaming graphics (1664 MB) 6.4

Primary hard disk 5.9

That's an overall score of 5.7, quite good for not having a dedicated graphics card.

The HP handily beats the Core i5 Lenovo Yoga, benchmarking at 13,722 in Google Octane vs the Yoga's 11,853. In the Furmark OpenGL benchmark, the HP pleases with 367 "Furmarks" vs the Yoga's 245. The benchmark was run fullscreen at 1024x768, with no anti-aliasing.

The SSD disk cache works surprisingly well, and the disk rarely seems to be a performance bottleneck. With caching set to "Maximum" (the default) in the Intel Rapid Storage Technology Console, CrystalDiskMark reports 4K write speeds of over 30MB/sec! Set caching to "Enhanced" and this falls to 0.6 MB/sec. This is because the Maximum setting does write-back caching (writes written to disk in a lazy fashion) while Enhanced does write-through caching (all writes written immediately to disk).

Note, these benchmarks were done on an HP customized model (15t-4000) with a 7200 rpm hard drive, not the standard 5400 rpm model (15-4010nr). The 5400 rpm drive should still provide good performance due to the SSD cache.

8GB of the 32GB SSD cache drive is taken to support Intel Rapid Start, which is a kind of fast hibernate which kicks in after two hours of standby. The laptop wakes up and writes the contents of memory to an 8GB partition on the SSD, then shuts down. Pressing the power button brings the laptop back up in about 5 seconds. For some reason the Intel Rapid Start configuration utility is not included in the laptop build, however you can download it by searching for "intel rapid start download".

The Spectre XT TouchSmart is very quiet in casual use. The fan is often turned off. Even when the fan is on, it is usually not very loud, and is never obnoxious. HP Coolsense is included, which senses when the laptop is moving and runs the fan more often to keep your lap cool. In practice, the laptop doesn't get too warm, and Coolsense can be turned off to keep the fan from running as much. The one place that gets a bit warm is the well-placed fan vent on the underside at the rear.

The HP has four small speakers, two underneath on the sides and two behind the keyboard under the display. It can play quite loudly, and produces a bit of a thump on the underside. Audio enhancement is provided by Beats Audio, which boosts bass and treble, while performing all kinds of phase and other manipulations which make the audio sound "wider" and "more dynamic" (read: distorted). Thankfully there is a Beats control panel which can turn Beats off, and which also has a 9 band equalizer to customize the response curve. Dolby V4 on the Lenovo Yoga does a better job than Beats, although the HP still sounds better because it has better speakers. Once configured, the audio is pretty decent for a laptop.

Battery life is provided by a 48wh 4-cell non-removable battery. This is probably the biggest disappointment. Netflix streaming only lasts about 3 hours and 20 minutes with the brightness two steps below full. In contrast, the Lenovo Yoga can stream Netflix for about 5 1/4 hours at one step down from highest brightness (to match the HP). Casual web surfing might last 4 hours on the HP with the brightness lowered to 1/2 or less (which is still pretty readable indoors).

The power brick is not too large, yet the AC cord is ungainly quite thick with a large three-pronged plug. The power plug that connects to the laptop seems a bit thin and weak, although it inserts far enough into the laptop to have good support. It sticks out over an inch from the side though which gets in the way.

In summary, the HP Spectre XT TouchSmart is one of the top Windows 8 ultrabooks available as of this writing. HP made almost all the right choices to make this a very nice package. Although pricey compared to other laptops with similar specs, the HP stands out for its responsiveness, stylish looks, and big bright touch-enabled wide-angle HD display. The SSD cache works very well; an SSD main drive is not necessary, although nice to have as a factory option or via the ability of the end user to replace it.

Improvements would be to reduce weight by 1/2 pound, replace Beats Audio with Dolby V4, increase battery life by 50%, reduce the bulkiness of the power cord, and (Holy Grail time) move to a 16:10 1920x1200 display with low reflectivity.

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Update: 5/29/13 HP will not help me get this broken laptop replaced in time for the business trip that I bought it for. Even though it was already sent in for repair (under warranty) and they were unable to repair it, they are telling me that they have to try to repair it two more times before they can give me a replacement. It's been a month without a laptop now and I need it for my trip, so I had no choice but to purchase ANOTHER laptop just 5 months after spending $1300 on this one. I purchased a Samsung Series 7 and couldn't be happier with it so far. Sharper screen (even though they are both 1080p), HOURS more battery life, USB 3.0 ports that actually work as USB 3.0 ports without having to search for strange drivers that I never actually found, much more accurate color out of the box, less fan noise, and an amazing trackpad that does not register my palm and move the cursor every time I type a sentence. Most of all, it's not broken as this HP Spectre STILL is. Go with a Samsung or Sony, or switch to Mac... HP is only pretending to sell high-end devices that they can't back up with the customer service a high-end consumer device deserves. Full story of my problems are below in my last update:

It's 5/24/13 and I've been trying to get this laptop fixed for weeks. My laptop is a total lemon.

4 months after purchasing this laptop for my work in photography and filmmaking, the screen began to go absolutely haywire. It flickers, flashes, then gets stuck on screens of random lines and colors. I'd barely used the laptop prior to this starting, as I own much more powerful PCs at home. This is basically my business trip machine and I've only had to use it on one trip. From my experience, it looks as if the graphics card is fried, however it works fine when attached to an external monitor, which leads me to believe that there is faulty wiring going to the display.

2 weeks ago I began the warranty process with HP, sent the laptop to them for repair. It came back with the note that all they did was reinstall Windows. Now, with a fresh Windows install it is still unusable... absolutely nothing has changed. Even before I installed a single program. This is, and always was, a problem with the hardware.

I called HP support again and they started a new warranty repair, but I am going on the exact business trip that I bought this laptop for next Sunday. I will not even get the label to ship it to them until Tuesday. They would get it Wednesday. Then they'd have to ship it back, fixed, Thursday for me to get the laptop back in time. Considering it took them 5 business days to reinstall Windows the last service call, I seriously doubt they will repair a hardware problem in one day.

I'm at a loss of what to do at this point. I was escalated to HP Corporate on the phone today and explained my situation. I've been entirely polite, as I find that to be the best way to get things resolved with customer service. I asked to ship the computer to them myself, today, without their label to make this go faster and they can't let me do that. I asked for a loaner laptop while it is getting fixed and they can't do that. I asked for an exchange for a refurbished unit and they can't do that. I feel I am being completely reasonable here for a $1300 laptop that hasn't even survived 4 months of light use. I bought this mostly for video editing on the road, but had not even done any video editing on it yet, so I am definitely not pushing the system yet. I'm not asking for a refund, I'm just asking for my SECOND repair in a row to come with a loaner that I can use on my business trip! I mean, it's been 19 days now without a laptop and we're just now starting the whole repair process over again.

Corporate told me that they could send me a loaner if I had purchased a business laptop. That basically they don't care that I need this laptop for business because it's a consumer laptop. The problem is, I did plenty of research before purchasing this laptop and, at the time, they did not offer business laptops with 1080p IPS monitors, something I absolutely need so that I can color calibrate the screen and work on 1080p video. This laptop has professional specs (that outclass their business machines) and a professional price (that is more expensive than most of their business machines) but needing it for business doesn't concern them.

I own two HP desktop machines, each one costing over $2,000... an absurd amount for Windows PCs, but I really do need this stuff for business. I am a designer, photographer, writer, and filmmaker. Search my name on Amazon and you will find some of my cookbooks. I have done the design and food photography for cookbooks with over 1 million copies in print. Last year, I co-authored, designed, and photographed Great Food Fast, the 5th bestselling cookbook of the year. I am also a filmmaker. On June 4th, an award-winning movie I shot called "The Battery" will be released nationally by the same distributor as Super Size Me and Exit Through the Gift Shop. The movie was entirely edited, sound mixed, and color corrected on HP computers. My HP computers did the work of an entire post-production studio. When it comes to design, photography, and filmmaking, I have to constantly defend my use of Windows PCs instead of the more industry accepted Macs, so I guess this is my lesson learned.

Now, here I am, flying up to NY next week to promote the national release of my movie, and even after 19 days dealing with HP, I won't have a laptop to bring with me. I need to go up there to film and then edit commercials and promotional material requested by the press and my only option is to buy an entirely new laptop to do this... leaving myself with a $1300 paperweight that I'd be lucky to sell used for $800 if an when it ever got fixed. Quite honestly, I'd be afraid to sell it used, as I don't want to be responsible if and when it simply broke again for the next sad sack who purchases it from me.

Stay far, far away from this model... and I'd say to stay far away from HP if you expect a working device, or at least a warranty repair to take any less than a month. I'm still holding out hope that HP will read this and look up my case, under the name Christian Stella. But, seeing as I already have a caseworker (Diana) at the highest level of customer service, and she can't do anything to help me, I'm sure I'm simply screwed.

Quite honestly, I feel like filming myself taking a hammer to this piece of crap, since I won't even be able to use it for the first thing I actually need to use it for. I have no confidence in their repair technicians after the last repair resulted in them simply reinstalling Windows, something I could have done myself.

You can search YouTube for "Christian Stella Spectre Touchsmart" if you want to see how bad my issues with this laptop are.

Best Deals for HP SPECTRE XT TouchSmart 15-4010nr 15.6-Inch Ultrabook (Silver)

I didn't order this exact one off of Amazon, but rather ordered directly from HP. Generally speaking, I really enjoy the laptop. Everything seems to work great and it has all the bells and whistles you would expect from a unit at this price point. Screen resolution is bright and sharp, the keyboard has a really nice feel to it, all the peripheral connections are really nice. Loaded it with Win8 Pro and it's running great.

My only concern is the build quality. As I was swiping to change screens (from the left edge of the screen) I noticed that the screen was actually sticking out and above the case creating a little lip. It's not really consistent with the rest of the edges, so I'm pretty sure it's not a design 'feature.' When you press on it in the lower left corner, it seems to stick down into place, but come on... for a $1300+ laptop, you shouldn't have to squeeze the display back together because it isn't assembled properly. I'm a little surprised that this made it through QA/QC. Now to decide if all the positives outweigh the shoddy workmanship.

Edit 12/28 So I went ahead and got a RMA for the system I ordered directly from HP. In the meantime, I went ahead and ordered one directly from Amazon just to see if it was a consistent manufacturing defect, or if I had just gotten a bad unit. Well, in traditional Amazon fashion, the system arrived in 1 day and it doesn't have the same problem at all! Very excited to have received a good unit.

Honest reviews on HP SPECTRE XT TouchSmart 15-4010nr 15.6-Inch Ultrabook (Silver)

UPDATE 03/23 Upgrading the mSATA to 256 GB SSD

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

This laptop's SATA 3 on the mSATA connector, but only SATA2 for the regular HDD. No worries I have upgraded my mSATA SSD drive to 256 GB, but it wasn't easy here's what I did. Hopefully it will save you some trouble.

Installing the mSATA SSD

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

1. Was able to get the screws out back plate off without much trouble.

2. Remove the existing mSATA and put in the new one.

3. I chose not to have the existing HDD, so I removed it. (256 GB is plenty of space for me and I chose to have longer battery life than space. Just having an SSD has added 30 45 mins easy to existing battery life).

4. Even if you choose to leave the HDD in there, it is recommended that you disconnect the HDD so that it doesn't interfere with the new install of OS. You can reconnect it later.

Installing the OS and making the mSATA bootable

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

1. I chose to install Windows 8 via a bootable USB.

2. This laptop comes with a UEFI enabled motherboard, so you need to format the USB as FAT 32. UEFI will not recognize NTFS format for booting. Need a USB of more than 4GB

3. Mount the Win 8 ISO and copy all the contents to USB.

4. You will need another USB, also FAT 32 and copy the Intel RST drivers from here %208*&DownloadType=Drivers. Get the f6flpy-x64.zip file and unzip the contents to the USB. Win 8 will ask for these drivers during install.

5. Change the BIOS to boot from USB.

6. Insert the Win 8 USB only and reboot the machine.

7. You will get Win 8 prompt to install proceed and choose advanced options. You will not see any drives listed.

8. Insert the USB with Intel RST drivers and click load drivers installer will detect the drivers and install will proceed.

9. Once the OS is installed, pls go to the Control Panel\Hardware and Sound\Power Options\System Settings and turn off "Fast Startup" this was the biggest sticking point for me. I went through the entire setup twice before this, but everytime when the system went into the hybrid sleep mode and woke up, the system would not detect a bootable drive and I did not find anyway to recover from this than to go through the entire process again.

10. I also disabled Hybrid Sleep. You won't need all these features, your system is so fast while booting from SSD, that you won't miss them.

11. Install all the drivers for the machine I stayed away from Intel Rapid Start and Intel Smart Connect drivers, just to be safe.

I have the SSD running since 2 days and its working great so far. Keeping my fingers crossed. Let me know how your install goes, or if you have any other tips.

BTW, I did some hard drive speed tests and I am getting the advertised speeds (450+ read and 250+ write). I also upgraded the SSD firmware from Crucial website.

MY ORIGINAL REVIEW

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

Let me start of by saying that I would have given it 4.5 stars if I could. I was looking for an ultrabook to replace my trusty old Dell Vostro 1520 (Core 2 duo). This was my criteria:

1. 13 15 inches.

2. Core I5 or Core I7

3. More than 4 GB or RAM

4. Touchscreen.

5. 1080p display.

6. Ability to upgrade

I was willing to compromise on the processor and ram and not anything else. After several weeks of doing some research online I narrowed it down to the HP Spectre XT touchsmart and ASUS zenbook ux32a touchscreen. I was completely blown away by the Asus Zenbook, it has to be the most beautiful windows machine out there. But there were several things working against it. It came with a Core i5 and 4GB of ram and the worst part its not upgradeable. Although there is a higher priced version available with an i7 and 8GB of ram, but its nowhere to be found.

Why I chose the HP Spectre XT

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

I found that the HP Spectre XT touchsmart matched all of my criteria better than the Zenbook, so I started paying more attention to it. I am actually glad that I purchased this machine over the Zenbook because of the 15.5 inch vs 13 inch screen. I am a programmer and the bigger screen definetely helps while looking at code.The 1080p IPS screen is awesome and I absolutely love it! I do like the fact that this machine comes with an i7 and 8GB of RAM. The integrated SSD is great and resumes the machine in a matter of seconds. I love the keyboard and the touchpad and had absolutely no issues with them. The aluminum body definitely gives it that premium look. The speakers are quite good and I am more than happy for my use. The touchscreen works flawlessly and compliments the Windows 8 UI very well. Its not the lightest ultrabook around, but you have to remember that this is a 15 inch ultrabook.

The best part about this ultrabook is that its completely upgradable. You can even find a repair manual on the HP website which shows you how to replace each and every component. You can replace everything including the RAM, hard drive, battery which is really cool.

My biggest gripe is the battery you will be lucky to get 4 hours out of it. But I don't travel a whole lot and I can compromise with that. I would have give this laptop 5 stars if the battery life was a bit better. I am planning on upgrading to 256 GB SSD and that should help with the battery life and performance. The power adapter could have been designed better for a $1200+ ultrabook. Its just an old style brick and nothing fancy about it.

Inspite of the battery life, I highly recommend this ultrabook. You are no going to find a better ultrabook at this price point with comparable specs.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for HP SPECTRE XT TouchSmart 15-4010nr 15.6-Inch Ultrabook (Silver)

I purchased this laptop because of it's sleek design and touch screen. Everything was great the first couple of hours. Then I powered it down and left it to charge over night. When I came back to it, I noticed that the power adapter light was still orange. I powered on the laptop, and the battery charge was stuck at 11%. I unplugged it, plugged it back in, even changed power outlets, nothing worked.

I checked the reviews to see if anyone else had this problem, and read a few complaints about the screen coming off of the bezel. When I checked mine, sure enough, same issue on the bottom left of the screen. I sent it back to Amazon and decided to try my luck on a second one.

When I powered on the second laptop, the first thing I noticed was a dead pixel. My first thought was "You've got to be kidding me!" Then I checked the screen, and it was coming out of the bezel on the bottom right.

Doesn't HP check these things before they ship out? I'm shocked that a laptop this expensive has these types of manufacturing defects. I sent the second one back and will wait until later this year when the Intel Haswell Ultrabooks come out. Hopefully there will be a nice ASUS Ultrabook since I doubt I will be buying another HP product any time soon.

Alienware M14X 14" Laptop (2.0 GHz Intel Core i7-2630QM Processor Review

Customer Ratings:

Alienware seems to have gotten all the "little things" right with this laptop. The form factor is large enough to game or do "real work," yet it is small enough to be portable. The strange-looking beveled keyboard is actually very pleasant to type on fewer errant keystrokes and better speed. The trackpad has discrete buttons with nice tactile feedback. There is no annoying bloatware (trial AV, toolbars, etc) like you might find on an HP. I was worried that the styling would be garish and distracting/embarassing, but it really isn't that bad.

The components, are, of course, top notch. You could probably get them in other computers as well, though.

Overall, no complaints.

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I really wanted to love this laptop, I really did. The AlienFX thing is pretty cool with the whole keyboard lights and the rest, the screen was great (1600x900). It was nice and fast, although, booting it up took about 4 minutes before you could actually do anything on it, and that's WAY too long for a brand new top of the line computer. The video card (GT555m) was great and games looked great and the frame rate even at high detail never really took a nosedive. The klipsch speaker set up in this thing was awesome too, had a tiny little woofer in it that brought some great sound with it.

All these things kept me wanting to like or, or even to use it, but the ONLY thing stopping me, was the fan. Any other review that you read, if someone says the fan isn't that bad, is lying or borderline deaf. I'm sorry. I've been building and repairing computers for at least 15 years now, and never have I heard any fan that gets THIS loud. I understand that things need to be kept cool, but things also need to be designed better to keep the airflow going. The fan noise was unbearable playing a game to the point you had to use headphones just to hear what you were doing, even just browsing webpages in chrome fired the fan up and got it spinning, albeit not as loud as when gaming.

I tried everything I could to get the fan down to a comfortable level. Updating the BIOS to the latest one (which dell wrote specifically for the fan complaints), flashing an unlocked BIOS from the guys over at bios-mods, changing fan heat thresholds, propping it up on a book, using a laptop cooler. I even went as far as ripping the ENTIRE laptop apart and re-applying the best thermal grease I could find. The old stuff that I cleaned off looked like colgate. That was actually the only thing that showed any significant improvement, it actually dropped the temperature down by about 5-7 degrees celsius at idle and 10-15 degrees celsius at load.

Bottom line, this laptop needs two fans, or a shorter heat pipe to the CPU/GPU. the heatpipe had to be at least 6 or 7 inches, and for this dinky little fan to keep up it has to spin like a 737 taking off.

So after my issues with the fan I decided to return it using my "30 day money back guarantee" which turns out to cost about $250... those idiots at dell sell you a laptop with an obvious design flaw, and then tell you "oh, yeah, just box it up, pay for shipping, then we'll just go ahead and charge you an additional 15% restocking fee"

I will NEVER recommend this laptop to anyone, and probably tell people to just stay away from dell completely. That re-stocking fee is just plain robbery.

Just sold this laptop on craigslist about an hour ago, so technically, Dell still has my money, how depressing.

Best Deals for Alienware M14X 14" Laptop (2.0 GHz Intel Core i7-2630QM Processor

I purchased this laptop through Dell's website. I have a 6gb ram, 1.5gb graphics card configuration.

All in all, the laptop performs well. I did have an issue with Windows no longer being able to install drivers, which led to my graphics card no longer having a driver, which led to me having to respawn the system to factory settings to fix the problem after Dell's tech support was unable to correct the problem. However, all that is really due to problems with Windows rather than the laptop itself.

Pros:

Excellent performance, and the price isn't too steep for what you get.

The m14x is a nice looking laptop, and garners quite a few envious glares from people who see it.

The keyboard feels great, but bears a certain issue I will touch upon in the cons.

The touch pad is good, and has a lot of customization built into the Alienware control center software, from touch

sensitivity, to settings that help mitigate accidental palm grazes.

The keyboard back-light customization is a nice touch, though it can be so distracting I usually have most of the lights

off.

The screen is crisp and performs well.

Cons:

The screen has a very high gloss. I've gotten used to it a bit, but I can literally use it as a mirror in even low-

light conditions.

The keyboard, while it feels nice and responsive, squeaks a lot while typing. Yes, squeaks, like a bunch of little

rusty hinges. It isn't a deal breaker, but it is an oddity one doesn't usually see in keyboards.

It's a laptop, so it doesn't perform like a desktop gaming rig will. You'll find plenty of games that run at their

highest settings, but most newer games won't.

Since Alienware specialized in gaming PCs, I feel their laptops should come with a mouse. Mousepads aren't even

adequate for flash games.

All that being said, it is still an excellent laptop for those who want to be able to game, but need a laptop. The larger versions have some nice options on them, and prices to match, but the m14x nails the combination of balance and portability nicely.

Honest reviews on Alienware M14X 14" Laptop (2.0 GHz Intel Core i7-2630QM Processor

Like with anything you buy, you should do plenty of research about it BEFORE you buy so there are no surprises. People who leave poor reviews about this product obviously did not look into it very much. Yes the fan is noisy during gaming... many laptop fans are. But it really is not that bad. Also 90% of people who are gaming either have on their speakers or headphones. And let me tell you the speakers on this machine are absolutely amazing... crisp and very loud. The audio jacks are very good as well, both of which can very easily cover the fan noise while you are gaming. Other than that the fan is almost silent during normal day use. And I have yet to find the machine getting very hot while playing BF3, F.E.A.R 3, or other games for an extended period of time.

The build may seem bulky but it is very portable and if you adjust your power settings correctly, you can squeeze about 6 hours of battery life out of this machine in power saver mode. I use this when I go to class all day and my machine still performs very well despite being on reduced performance settings.

Gaming and entertainment wise this machine is amazing. F.E.A.R 3 runs perfectly on max settings, and when using auto-settings for Battlefield 3 the game sets all settings on medium quality with texture quality on Ultra and the game runs perfect. The machine is fast, portable, and even without the HD screen games are still very clear and very easy to play.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Alienware M14X 14" Laptop (2.0 GHz Intel Core i7-2630QM Processor

I ordered a new Dell laptop. I received it and the hard drive could not be found. Called Dell and after several attempts it booted up.

Then the fans became very loud and provided a high whistling sound.

The hard drive is very slow, taking the software minutes to respond to commands.

I, at this time, have had the system for 2 months. I contacted Dell within 21 days and they will NOT provide a refund or take the system back.

The LCD screen has imprints from the keys on the keyboard. I was told it was a design flaw. The touch pad quit working.

I am now, finally after two months of trying, getting them to repair it, but they will not exchange or refund, and I bought a NEW system, now I will have a refurbished lemon.

They are replacing the LCD screen, the keyboard, the frame around the keyboard, the touchpad and buttons, the fans, the hard drive, the battery and charger. I think with all of this additional cost to replace these things, and frustrate a customer, that they should just refund and let me wipe my hands of this.

THIS IS NO WAY TO TREAT CUSTOMERS!

Discount Lenovo ThinkPad Twist 12.5-Inch Convertible 2-in-1 Touchscreen

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $999.99
Sale Price: $824.95
Today's Bonus: 18% Off

Got this about a week ago and overall I'm pretty satisfied.

Pros:

-lightning fast startup/shutdown time.

-Solidly built. Don't let the twisting aspect worry you. Does not feel flimsy at all.

-Does everything I need a near perfect complement to my desktop computer.

-Speakers are LOUD!

Cons:

-Screen rotation upon switching from tablet to laptop can be a little buggy.

-Tablet form needs a little work Some functions when using desktop mode don't work as well as they should i.e. scrolling. Windows 8 apps do work spectacularly in this mode though.

-Trackpad is not the greatest in my opinion, but still not bad.

Overall, the positives of this laptop/tablet combo far outweigh its minor bugs/faults.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

Update Day 14.

I have purchased Anker Astro Pro External Battery pack. It is light enough and has enough "juice" to be a permanent travel companion with Twist. I will test it out in my trip to South Africa in 4 weeks time. It should prove handy during the flight from Amsterdam to Johannesburg. Twist is now my favourite e-reader.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

Update

I had to do fresh installation for another reason.

This time I just disabled autorotation in the device manager.

To get better battery life I disables a few other features.

Incredibly simple solution.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@2

I have had mine for one week. Having worked out the bugs with a new 120 gig ssd and a fresh installation I love the computer.

Reading customer reviews I was prepared for short battery life. However I did find the autorotation behaviour disturbing.

I found this registry hack from Windows 8 forum to LOCK AUTOROTATION and it works!

OPTION 4

How to Lock or Unlock Screen AutoRotation in Windows 8 and Windows RT

Best Deals for Lenovo ThinkPad Twist 12.5-Inch Convertible 2-in-1 Touchscreen

My school bought these for the teachers. I've had it for two weeks. The screen will not turn on after being in sleep/hibernate/shut down. Eventually it will come on after 3-4 forced shut downs using the power button. It already needs to be sent back for repairs.

Honest reviews on Lenovo ThinkPad Twist 12.5-Inch Convertible 2-in-1 Touchscreen

I bought this couple weeks ago and it's a wonderful machine. Proceeded to upgrade the 4 gig of memory to 8 or 16 and found of that the memory and soldered in and therefore not upgradable at all. Taking it back to the store. Would have loved to have kept it if the memory was upgradable. If you are content to run one application at a time this may be the machine for you otherwise take a pass.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Lenovo ThinkPad Twist 12.5-Inch Convertible 2-in-1 Touchscreen

This year I bought a lenovo computer using your services and it came with the hard drive damage. I had to fix it twice in less than a year. The international waranty I paid doesn't work, they take more than a month to fix it and they make you do everything. My experience with lenovo have been terrible, it's not a quality device.

Toshiba Satellite C855D-S5110 Notebok Laptop / AMD A6-4400M Reviews

Customer Ratings:

Only bad thing about this laptop is battery life. I've heard a lot of bad things about windows 8, but I like it. This laptop can even run low end games like stwor for the price.

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Lenovo Ideapad Z570 i5-2430M Dual 2.9GHz 8GB 750GB WiDi Win7HP-64 Reviews

Customer Ratings:

Cannot connect wirelessly. Ran a manual diagnostic test and says "failed", "driver version does not support intel PROSet/Wireless..." So frustrating!

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Works flawless. Very happy. No issues at all. It is robust, wish the screen size be a little bigger. Actually bought 2 of them

Buy HP G60-235DX Laptop Notebook

Customer Ratings:

The HP G60-235DX is the laptop computer I'm on right now! I love this computer it has 3 Gigs as opposed to the laptop I actually bought for myself which has 4 gigs. But, it starts up in a flash unlike the 4 Gig Lenovo. We have several laptops in our home because my husband has one for his work, I have one for mine, we have one we do most of our financial stuff and other important work on. Then our daughter in college has a laptop, and a couple for our other kids. We don't want our youngest running with one which he does so we also have to have a more inexpensive desktop.

One of the things I love most about this computer is the feel if you're familiar with computers, and know the feel of a Compaq as opposed to an HP, this one feels like a Compaq. I know Compaq is made by HP, but they truly do have a different feel.

The keyboard is a little wider, so sometimes my fingers go to the wrong keys, but the keys are pretty effortless not "clicky" like some keyboards. The shell is shiny black, but fingerprints aren't too bad, and the inside is a smooth fingerprint-less stainless color inside. Very sharp looking, a little bigger than our Lenovo, but a great sitting around the house computer. The feel is a little heavier than the Lenovo, but probably pretty standard for a computer this size.

One thing we didn't like was that the spare battery quit working for some unknown reason about 3 months after we got it, and it was the battery this computer calls for. We didn't know the battery wasn't working except the computer just stopped working after a couple of months. I was so upset we don't spend this kind of money only to have a computer stop working that quickly. My husband took it, and just happened to plug a Dell battery into it, and low and behold the computer worked! I was thrilled I hadn't been able to use the computer in about a week! I'm so glad it was the spare battery and not the computer!

Overall this is my favorite laptop....well...our daughter's is burgundy, and that would be so sweet, but despite the color, I do love this computer and would recommend it to anyone who was looking into purchasing a new laptop. The price was somewhere around $600 our 4 Gig Lenovo was approx $650, so I guess the price is pretty standards.

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I noticed there was no reviews that were recent, which had me hesitant to buy and it took forever for me to get the guts. It's pretty hard to find a decent review of it on youtube as well. So here it is : >

So I bought this a few weeks ago, and was a little reluctant because i heard you wanna buy newer laptops and this one is not as old as most of the ones that were in my budget, but definitely not new and pristine like the ones that cost 500 and so. But it works actually really well for the age, i was afraid it'd be slow as hell but actually it's as fast as any newer one.

Gaming: now, i have yet to actually experience any lags in any of my games, but keep in mind I am not a gamer. So don't know about all that, but my friends are and they play some high up games that i sometimes download to see if it'll be good. so far, no issues. But it is probably not a good idea to buy this soley for gaming (ignoring everything else, the laptop con is it's heating issues, which occur most when your putting too much pressure on it) so yes it can play games fine, but if that's what your hoping to play 24/7 then you'll be disappointed because it WILL get too hot on you.

Speed: First things first is it runs pretty fast with everything considering. Also, I can run a lot on it without lagging even once. Currently am running 5 tabs on firefox, one being a youtube video of nostalgia critic. Also running sai program and skype. I have yet to have any lag issues, which is awesome XD So for speed it's a plus

GRAPHICS/ ART: What i was REALLY looking for while buying my laptop was a laptop i could do my art on. It works well for that as well, surprisingly i like it more then using my pc maybe because the screen is pretty bright and wide enough i can draw ok with my tablet. That being said, I still prefer using a mouse while i'm using my program, if only because i switch through the settings often, Nothing to do with the laptop, just a personal preference.

TouchPad and Keyboard: Oh my god I love this touchpad, I'm not even going to go into too much detail, it's just freakin amazing. But this being said, all I really have to compare it to is my sister's laptop (netbook), and my aunts apple laptop (which is pretty thin and smallish too). So maybe it's different for regular sized laptops? Anyway, I love it because it's really smooth, my finger just glides on the surface XD I love that, and the fact that it reacts pretty well. That and it feels like the keys are placed just perfect, i can reach them with ease as i scroll and they aren't hard to push. Not too small not too big. Without a mouse I have no problem using the touchpad as a substitute, which..when i was thinking of getting a laptop, made me worry. Now the keyboard itself is pretty awesome, I like having the numer pad there (i see a lot of laptops don't). And so far typing on it is pretty easy and nice, there is even on the side where the speakers are a light when the caps are on, which is reallly helpful because i've been having problems accidently pushing caps when i shouldn't (on my computer). It also does this with the num lock over the keyboard. My only complaint would be that they don't light up. So if your in the dark you'll have to go by the light of the screen to see, though usually that's enough. But i'm pretty handy with a keyboard so light or no light i can type fine.

Size and weight: Honestly, I don't move my laptop around very much, but i don't really have much to complain about. But being my first laptop I feel like i could break it by just picking it up. But that's just my stupid clumsy self, it has nothing to do with the laptop. For the wqeight and build it's pretty ok, nothing really loose about it which is nice : > The screen size i have is big and nice for a laptop, which is awesome too because well..i like to read my manga and watch some movies.

Web cam and microphone: Ok..so...so far the web cam is ok. The one time my sis tried to use it on skype though it was acting sorta funky. But so was the other person's on the line, so that may just be an issue in skype or something. But during that the microphone seemed to work ok, they could hear each other. That being said the computer has a built in program for the webcam that works pretty awesome, a little slow with the camera so that if you were to move left you could actually count to two before it followed your movements. My cousin has a laptop that does the same thing, so i don't know if thats a real problem or not. But since I don't use the webcam much anyway..

*revised: after testing the microphone it is defective, it's ok for a bit but then goes way ogg like i see many hp g60 series microphones are. But again since i don't use the microphone or webcam much it's not too bad a problem for me.

But besides all that there is a con, and I mentioned it somewhat with gaming. It's something that bugs me a bit. It gets hot. Sometimes really hot, that it is uncomfortable to type on because as you touch it somewhat irritates your fingers. THANKFULLY it only happens occasionally and can cool down. Hopefully it's just somewhat dusty inside and once i clean it out i won't have this problem. Heating seems to be a common problem with a lot of laptops no matter what brand, so i'm not too perturbed.

That aside, everything else is great :)i hope to save up soon to increase my ram.

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This computer is reliable and intuitive. I love the huge bright screen for movies and the easy of utility regarding the wireless set-up. The number pad on a laptop computer keyboard is also a favorite.

Honest reviews on HP G60-235DX Laptop Notebook

This laptop comes with a faulty built-in microphone that makes the built-in cam, well, useless. What's more, the folks at HP KNOW that it's faulty but will not repair it. In addition, the Vista os is always coming up with either a new hangup or an imcopatibility issue with peripherals. Do yourself a favor and check out the discussion boards for this item on the HP website itself.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for HP G60-235DX Laptop Notebook

Compré ésta notebook hace un año. A la semana de tenerla, el pin interno de la conexión de la fuente a la notebook se partió, cosa más que rara, pensé. Como estamos en Argentina y la compra fue hecha en los Estados Unidos, resultaba más que complicado hacer valer la garantía y optamos por comprar el repuesto. Ahora, menos d eun año después, resulta que se cortó el cable en su parte articulada, es decir, cerca del enchufe que se había roto al primera vez. El uso de la notebook es casero, pocas exigencias, pocos traslados... la verdad, desastroso...

Buy Macbook 13", White, Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0, 2gig Ram, 250 Gb Hard

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the computer was around 400 or 450 i think, shipping was 50, which sucks, but you cant complain considering the savings your getting opposed to buying a fresh macbook. when i got it i was only slightly disappointed because the hard drive on the item on amazon said 320, the one in the computer was 160. Im not disappointed though, the mac was in very decent condition. i do also have to say the battery they sent me for it, which was brand new by the way, was a slightly different size so its very tight in the battery slot, and doesnt lock in as easily. the computer came with a bunch of good software, including a full version of office, so that was cool. overall. i recommend, for the price, you cant beat it. mac computers last for years anyway, it makes sense to buy them at half price from these guys.

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The computer hums loud enough while running it can be heard across the room. While my husband was playing a game the screen went black. My husband tried turning it back on, the screen remained gray with the apple on it and the gray spinning wheel for ten minutes, it never came back up.

Then my husband plugged in the battery charger, first it was green then changed to orange. It is still charging. When my son was setting the computer up yesterday, he tried to load a CD, the CD player made unusual noises and would not load the CD. So we ended up having to buy the software from Apple over the internet. Right now I'm not happy with the computer at all, especially after paying $449.99 for the computer and another $99.49 for shipping. Right now I feel I've been ripped off good. The first time a bought a computer through Amazon it was great, even though I'm only getting a $20.00 trade. This time I am throughly disgusted.

Buy Toshiba Satellite S875-S7136 17.3-Inch Laptop (Ice Blue Brushed

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List Price: $749.99
Sale Price: $699.99
Today's Bonus: 7% Off

Got this laptop band new in May 2013. With wireless connection at my home, this laptop's download speed is just 0.7 MBPS,while my 4 year old Dell has a speed of 75 MBPS. I searched the internet, this is a very prevalent problem with Toshiba laptops, but I could not find a solution that solves my problem (change router settings, update Toshiba drivers, etc.)

See these links for other people's negative stories:

http://forums.toshiba.com/t5/Networking-Wi-Fi/Satellite-C855-Wifi-is-Horrifyingly-slow/td-p/372241

http://forums.toshiba.com/t5/Networking-Wi-Fi/Unbelieveably-slow-internet/td-p/77682

http://forums.toshiba.com/t5/Networking-Wi-Fi/RealTek-RTL8723AE-Wireless-Lan-802-11n-PCI-E-NIC/td-p/334864

I called their technical support (at about 8pm PST on 5/29/2013), and I had the worst experience ever with any product's tech support. The woman on the other side of the line was very rude and belligerent. She insisted that if the internet connection is slow, it must be internet service provider's problem, and "it does not concern us", despite the fact that I told her that there is another PC that has a 75mbps download speed at my home, which made it impossible for me to blame COMCAST.

She had an attitude of challenging me to return the laptop. She kept asking me "what are you going to do with the laptop?" In retrospect, she acted as if she's hinting for me to return the laptop by behaving in such a hostile way. It left me an impression that screwing her employer is her topmost priority, and insulting Toshiba's customers to make herself feel powerful is closely behind.

I cannot believe a company will tolerate someone with such an attitude problem on its team. One would expect that these companies will review the recorded calls after they've told you calls are recorded for "quality control purposes".

Toshiba: I challenge you to review the calls you recorded at around 8pm PST on 5/29/2013 and then post here to say my post is not accurate!

Buy a Toshiba at your own peril. As for me, I'll never buy another Toshiba again, whether it is a laptop or DVD player or whatever they produce!

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I just got this laptop today and, so far, seems great and running fast. The only thing I either can't find or it doesn't have is a keyboard backlight. I'm still getting used to the Windows 8 as I have an HP that is Windows 8. Too many things are hiding where you have to really look for them which takes time. Otherwise I'm happy.

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Worth the money! Easy play, pause and volume buttons at the top of the keyboard. It's a full keyboard by the way. The only thing I thought was a little disappointing was that it didn't come with Microsoft Word, but I can always buy it later. On the pus side it comes with Windows 8 up and ready for you.The screen is nice and crisp. The speakers are on the top of the laptop, like right on top of the keyboard, so the sound is excellent(somebody was smart enough to realize speakers shouldn't be on the bottom on the laptop). This laptop isn't really for a gamer or anything, it's more for people who need a replacement or for college students like myself.

Hope this was helpful.

Honest reviews on Toshiba Satellite S875-S7136 17.3-Inch Laptop (Ice Blue Brushed

love this laptop,best i have ever had,it does everything you need it to do...i only wish the battery would last longer

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Toshiba Satellite S875-S7136 17.3-Inch Laptop (Ice Blue Brushed

I am a freshman at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas and I have been laptop hunting for awhile. I finally decided on this one. Not only is it super affordable, compared to the overpriced HPs and Asus models available at LU's on-campus bookstore, but it has Windows 8 which is super fast and crystal clear. I love my laptop, and I have only had it for a few days! It is easy to use, very fast, and an excellent size. I recommend buying the separate $129 coverage for accidental spills and drops. Better safe than sorry, and the customer service is top-notch.

Gigabyte Ultrabook U2442F-CF2 14-Inch Laptop Review

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List Price: $1,199.00
Sale Price: $1,174.90
Today's Bonus: 2% Off

I got this ultrabook one month ago and I've had a pretty good experience with it so far.

For starters, it runs Windows 8 (basic, not Pro) which I've gotten used to fairly quick and is not the mess others say it is.

Combined with the SSD, the boot time is about 6-7 seconds.

The laptop itself was a bit pricey, I got it off Amazon through a friend who was visiting Stateside but they offer a 2 year

international warranty and they even have a service partner here, in Romania (who were quick to dismiss responsibility).

One thing to note it gets fairly hot (especially the base of the screen, where the vents blow hope it won't be a problem in the future)

and I recommend getting a cooling pad for it just to be on the safe side.

The fans tend to get a bit noisy even when they're not supposed to (when you're just browsing) but you can tinker with the cooling options.

Performance is top notch, it's of solid build, it's even got a backlit keyboard that you only find on high end laptops.

It's pretty amazing they were able to stuff so much powerful hardware in an ultrabook weighting just 1.6 kg.

Battery life's ok (3 hours of watching HD movies with the wifi on). It's a great combo of performance and portability.

Keyboard's great, trackpad as well. Doesn't have a numpad or a CD drive which I love.

I've had a tiny issue with it: I upgraded to Windows 8.1 Preview build which was highly unstable, but, in the process, it overwrote my Windows 8 product key.

I panicked for a bit as Windows Refresh was not working so I used Windows Reset and it never asked me for the product key (it's hardcoded in the BIOS).

Gigabyte's customer support were highly supportive during the whole process (especially their Facebook social media team), got nothing but nice words about them.

Do I recommend it hell yeah, the price is way cheaper than, say... a Alienware or a Macbook with the same configuration.

It's a great combo of performance and portability.

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It's a very good ultrabook, loads fast, it's light, runs smoothly, I played some games (ex.: Batman Arkham City) with no problems. But you have to know what you are buying. First, it has only 128GB of storage (SSD). That can be a problem. Also, be aware that it doesn't have CD/DVD/Blu-Ray or the like. And, at last, it's keyboard is not that good (this was the only "surprise" for me).

After all, I'd recommend it. It's a solid performance for a lightweight...

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After a few weeks of research, I went ahead and purchased the U2442F over the much more expensive ASUS UX51VZ. After a few weeks of using the laptop, overall I was pleased with my purchase. It's thin and very light. I'm getting about a 4 hour battery life. It's plenty powerful for multimedia, photo and video editing, and even played Dragon Age and Company of Heroes. The laptop handled itself well with minimal slow down.

I just have a few critiques. The keys feel mushy. They don't have a crisp feedback. I think it's due to the fact that it's so low profile, the actual key travel is not very long. Secondly the screen is a nice matte surface but the viewing angle is very small. Finally I wish it had more hard drive space. To compensate, I bought a 1 TB hard drive and plugged it into the USB 3.0 port. Seems to work well so far.

Honest reviews on Gigabyte Ultrabook U2442F-CF2 14-Inch Laptop

Sure it's not an excessive beaut when compared to maybe what you could buy in the same price range (e.g. air, zenbook), but in terms of features, you will not easily find another laptop that combines the impressive performance features and relatively lightness of this ultrabook (I can comfortably hold this laptop opened and powered on with one hand). I ended up deciding on this laptop because its processor, RAM, and get this: discrete graphics card were better than other laptops in the same tier.

Also, because its 128gb SSD is incorporated into the motherboard, it has an ADDITIONAL hard drive expansion slot available (how often do you find that in a laptop?). I'm planning to add another SSD into it later this month.

I've been using it everyday for the past month, and so far, Windows 8 runs buttery fast with no hiccups. Boot-up time takes less than 10 seconds, and its discrete graphics card handles casual gaming (TF2, Battlefield 3) very smoothly. Battery life on 'balanced' (medium setting) currently gets me between 4-5 hours per charge.

Before I purchased this ultrabook, I had been a bit concerned about the keyboard and touchpad, as that had been the concerns of other would-be buyers. After using it, I can say:

the keyboard does not noticeably flex in the middle for me, and I type pretty firmly too.

I would say the touchpad is definitely better than what you would get on a budget laptop (~$600-$800 range). I know that Apple is supposed to have one of the best touchpads around, but I've not noticed any difficulties using this, and this is coming from a previous desktop user. The gestures that the touchpad software supports are also pretty convenient (you can turn them off if you want)

All in all, I am very happy with my purchase and do not regret sacrificing a bit of aesthetics for what IMHO is solidly superior performance :) This is a jewel at this price.