Toshiba Satellite L775D-S7330 17.3-Inch LED Laptop - Brushed Review

Customer Ratings:

I have owned this laptop for about 4 days now. I did a lot of research to make sure I found a laptop that I could do multiple things. From office work to light Gamming (Guild Wars) including some poker.

Anyway, I owned (still own) a Dell laptop that I have had for about 4 years, I had already maxed the memory and I didn't want to go through the expense of upgrading hard drive.

My fiancé bought a similar Toshiba laptop just like this one but it's a intel icore 3.

I checked hers out and I was hooked. Now I wanted to get something with a little more processer power but without breaking the bank. I choose the AMD Quad core A6. And I'm so glad I did.

This laptop is AWESOME Screen size speed smooth blue finish and everything Dolby sound, blue tooth the works.

I didn't get to buy it here at Amazon though which I would have if I didn't find it on sale at Brandsmart USA.

The laptop is worth it. I don't normally right reviews but I just had to give my input on this laptop. For what it's worth to you ...I would highly recommend it.

Nice job TOSHIBA!!

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Purchased this laptop based on the feature rich specs and great price. I got everything I expected. Great display, fast quad core processor, plenty of RAM. Good battery life for the size as well. Toshiba built another winner here. With all the known Intel core i7 issues people are having, it was between an AMD A6 or Intel i5 processor for me. At about 100 bucks less than the i5 this machine is every bit as good if not a better performer on all the tests I have run. I get great frame rates on my games too.

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I never write reviews but wow. I am amazed at the performance of this laptop! I just got it today. I am a gamer and was looking for something that was a good price and a good performer. This computer is way over my expectations. My first test was skyrim.. When I started it up it recommended High settings (8xAA and 8xAF)! I did not believe it but gave it a shot. It loaded the game in about 7-10 seconds and was perfectly smooth. I closed the game and had to write this review. This A6 processor is amazing AMD really did a great job. Intel cannot touch this for the price. Well as a matter of fact they can't even touch the versatility of this processor at all. If you are on a budget and do not want to spend over $1000 for a gaming laptop get this laptop. You will not be disappointed at all.

Honest reviews on Toshiba Satellite L775D-S7330 17.3-Inch LED Laptop - Brushed

Very easy set-up. Product is as exactly as expected. Past experiences with Toshiba lap-tops lead us to this product and it is on track to keep our loyalty to the brand.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Toshiba Satellite L775D-S7330 17.3-Inch LED Laptop - Brushed

So far everything is running fantastic...Does NOT have the "fast clock" issue.

Nice display...Quality sound...Great features...

The blue brushed aluminum is nice, but darker than the web photos show.

Review of Sager NP7330 (Built on Clevo W230ST)

Customer Ratings:

I purchased my Notebook from Sager, This notebook has been outstanding since day one. The backlit keyboard really helps when working in areas with low light. I have played numberous Games on this laptop with high Settings and a few Games on Ultra Settings. This laptop does not have any heat issues, and boots up very quickly. I upgraded the Hard Drive to a 250GB Samsung 840, and added (2)Crucial 256GB mSATA Drives in Raid 0, and 16GB Corsair RAM to this laptop. The boot time is around 6-7 seconds from a cold start. The Display (1920x1080) is amazing. I highly recommend this laptop for Gaming, Multi-Media..etc.

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Obviously your already know what comes inside, that's why you're buying it. In addition the ease of access for hardware upgrades and installation makes it very easy to do just that. So as far as hardware goes, it's up to you, do you want a great little system that packs a punch, then this is for you.

I bought my system from LPC-Digital, Larry is fantastic. You get personal customer service and Larry will beat any other companies price, he did for me. You can see his level of support from other customer's over at Notebook Reviews.

Not all is great though and there are some things I'd like to point out. The screen though sharp and with great viewing angles, suffers from some really annoying bleeding on several spots. Thankfully I have no dead pixels.

The trackpad is another area that could definitely use some improvement. Gestures in Win8 are a no go, very hard to register for the most part. I also find it small, had Clevo designed the keyboard to be further up towards the screen it would grant more real estate for a larger trackpad. If you've ever used a Macbook Pro you'll know what a trackpad should feel and work like. If there's one thing Apple does right, this is it.

The laptop feels solid, but it doesn't necessarily scream build quality. The lid flexes and the bottom of the machine is made with what seems like a lower quality plastic. Like and entry level HP or Dell. The palm rest area all feels very solid by comparison.

The speakers sound tiny and lack bass. Yes I know this is a laptop but I've heard better from comparable systems. I must also mention they do sound detailed, so that's nice.

The sleep button is on the F4 key, this is between the volume down key and the mute key. Seriously who thought that was a good layout? Not a deal breaker by any stretch but not a great design either.

Again I don't need to mention numbers and hardware, you know what's inside and what it can do. If you don't google is a few clicks away. So as far as the hardware you don't know, what I do like, for one is the keyboard. I find it very comfortable, the keys are a bit on the stiff side which in my opinion makes up for their short travel. I think it's a great laptop for typing, for a laptop of course.

The price is right as well. I got mine for $1024, that's with Win8, the 750GB HDD and the 7260AC.

That's really it, you buy this machine for two reasons, the hardware inside and the price. You could buy the Y410p and hope Lenovo will release their bay GPU but you'd lack upgrade-ability and resolution. You could also buy the MSI 14 but there's been reports of overheating, you'll sacrifice resolution again and it's more expensive as well.

If you can live with the quirks I'd highly recommend the system. Plug in a couple of xbox controllers and the living room TV can be your gaming room very easily. Close it and it can be your school laptop, highly portable. Load up Lightroom, Photoshop or whatever it is you need, it can handle it.

EDIT: I've found that two finger scrolling works significantly better in Ubuntu 13.04. A lot more response then on Win8.

Discount Thinkpad T520 15.6" 500GB 4GB

Customer Ratings:

No problems here great system that comes with an NVidia 4200M graphics card and a nice screen resolution (1600x900). 9 Cell battery makes it last quite long (at least longer than my prior Thinkpad), and happy it comes with Win 7 Professional as that's the version I needed. All in all, very happy with the purchase and the quality seems good. I've had it for about 3 months now and everything seems solid.

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Please read this before you buy a Lenovo Thinkpad.

I have owned several laptops in the past and I this year it was a good time to replace my 500$ Acer home laptop which is still working after 4 years.

Since I use my computer as my main working tool I decided I was going to get something that is robust. A business laptop.

My first choice was an Asus Business edition and I regret that I did not bought the Asus vs this Lenovo.

After several failed HP (screen dies and other problems) I was recommended to get a ThinkPad, its suppose to be a Enterprise laptop and to be a rock solid computer initially designed by IBM.

IBM is really trashing their brand leaving their ThinkPad name to Lenovo.

This Lenovo I got here from Amazon and its not even 2 months old and I just have problems I never had with other laptops.

First, let me say that from day 1 I could never open the "Smart Audio" control panel that comes with this Lenovo. I just go an error "Failed to initialize Smartaudio.....

I updated the drivers for this several times, there seems to be just fine but I cant open this thing at all.

This is annoying on a brand new laptop. The software that comes with Lenovo their Access Connections, Power Manager etc is a garbage. The system will suffer from load performances because of this badly programmed software running in the background. Example, when the system goes to sleep it disconnects the wireless device. After waking up the system you will find out you dont have Internet for at least 5 minutes, until it turns on again. Actually it turns on again by you will just have no connectivity.

The screen has dead pixels, if you see it from the sight I can see a bright spot in the screen, something that never happened in my cheap Acer laptops.

I have a logitech laptop stand, now here comes the strange thing. You have the laptop in bed or in this stand the laptop is not in horizontal position and it starts to make a strange sound like if the hard disk is starting to fail. If you put the laptop on a table in normal position again it stops. This is highly annoying, I checked the drive several times and it seems fine. Still this electronic sound it makes every 15 seconds is strange.

2 times the computer started to make an horrible sound and I just had to reboot it and it was gone.

The system is slow. Very slow, when I boot another Acer One, which has a cheap Atom processor and 1 GB ran its twice as fast booting as this i5. I can start browsing in Chrome already and in this Lenovo I still see the Windows 7 loading icon. I suspect something is wrong with the power manager software that this computer is just not performing like it should. It doesnt feel like a new computer at all.

It also never locks correctly. Example, if I go away 20 minutes and come back the screen is off, and Windows is suppose to be locked, when you move the mouse the screen turns on and instead of seeing the Windows Log on screen you see first "Windows is locking..." and then it locks itself and then you can log in again. What ???? Everything just seems to work horrible.

Last week I opened VmWare and suddenly the full screen change to a vertical position, I have this lenovo reading optimization installed but it was turned OFF, I have to open this software, turn it on and then again off so the screen would go back to a normal position.

Today and the reason im writing this review is something that just raised my blood levels to anger for a laptop I paid over 1300$.

I played a youtube video and suddenly the whole system was frozen. I mean the whole computer !!! The speakers started to make an horrible loud sound, nothing was responding, not even the power button. Was this Windows 7 crashing? I never saw Windows 7 crashing and if it was the OS at least you can hard reset the system. No with this Lenovo you cant. The power buttons would not do nothing. Unplugging the power neither. I had to take the battery off to kill the system.

This is just to much. This computer is garbage honestly. It was allot of features and stuff you would say WOW, but I cannot trust this system anymore with my data. This is for sure not a IBM ThinkPad at all. The reviews that say you can drop this laptop from 50 feet of go with a car over it... Well I think if I would drop this laptop from 3 feet high I would break. Only moving this laptop around and playing a video at the same time and the video will start to play sluggish, the minute you stop moving the laptop it plays fine.

My Bluetooth 50$ plantronics headset doesn't work with this correctly either. The minute you go 3 feet away from the laptop the sound goes horrible, so you have move again infront of the laptop so the Bluetooth will be in range again. I suspect the bluetooth is just to weak, the signal is so weak that if you go just 10 feet away it will disconnect. Why do you want a wireless headset if you need to sit infront of the PC all the time?

I could go on and on about the problems I have, in Skype I hear myself when talking as well, something it works perfectly and other times it doesnt. This when I use the build in mic and speakers. It doesnt do echo cancelling at all like it should, the webcam is suppose to be HD but its terrible as well. Colors are washed out.

The keyboard on Thinkpads is suppose to be the best keyboards in laptops. I just hate it from day one. I thought, ok give it time, you will get used to it. No, the design is just made by a monkey. Honestly the IBM design is fine but Lenovo just introduce changes that make it terrible. The control key in the left is not in the default position. This is just bad, I use Logitech external keyboards all the time and I cant get used to this, you always hit the Fn key instead. And Lenovo decide to put a forward and backward keys next to the arrows key. Oh boy !! What a terrible mistake. If you happen to hit one of this accidentally, you will go away from the page you are, which happens allot. Example, im writing this review here on Amazon and I have to be very carefully not to hit them by mistake or I will just lose everything I just typed here when the browser goes backward or forwards depending on which key you pressed by mistake.

The battery is also a bit lose, it doesn't fit tight. I would not expect this from a quality laptop and they even recommend you Lenovo batteries...

A battery should fit perfectly and not move once its secured. A friend of my with another Thinkpad suffers from this as well so Its just bad quality testing from Lenovo. And his system suffers from slow performance as well, he has a i7 and it gets to hot that you can burn yourself. At least this is 1 positive thing I can say about my Lenovo, is just doesnt overheat ever.

To finish this, I have a 23 inch Samsung monitor. If I plug this to this Lenovo the screen will flicker. I tried everything, resolution change, drivers updating, using the Nvidia card or the integrated Intel, nothing, the screen just flickers and you can really see this on black backgrounds. You can plug any other laptop and it doesn't so this.

I think all problems are related to something in the power settings or maybe the power adapter or just bad quality hardware. On the end I don't care, I dont have to figure this out for myself. Lenovo should before shipping a laptop.

So since im travelling I just cannot return this. Otherwise im thinking into going to a Lenovo store in the country im right now and have a replacement. The problem is I dont want Lenovo anymore. This is the worst possible laptop you can buy. Remember this is not a 500$ laptop. It costed me over a grant and I also bought the leather lenovo case for almost 99$.

It seems you can really see this is not made by IBM anymore. Its just a cheap laptop, they put tons of features most that work correctly and put the thinkpad name to sell it for a more expensive price. This is for sure a cheap quality laptop and from design its ugly as well. Everyone ask me if this is a laptop from the 90s and its heavy. I dont care about design, I knew it was ugly but I wanted something that could stand hard usage, a rock solid laptop for work. This is for sure not a work laptop. It feels cheap and it works cheap. It suffers from almost unlimited problems that will just make you hate this laptop.

Toshiba Satellite T215D-S1140RD 11.6-Inch Notebook PC - Gemini Red Review

Customer Ratings:

Personally, I love this product. The company had done a great job at getting my order to me in a timely fashion. In fact, it came sooner than I thought. The unit itself, works great, as it booted right up. I do like the fact that the computer is light, and that you can use a USB key to create a system restore disk. Moreover, I did end up buying more ram for it, while 2gb did not seem to be enough for now. I now have total of 4gb installed which in due time, I am planning on upgrading again. However, I did not want to max out the machine at this time, so maybe in a few months I will purchase additional ram, thus taking it up to 8gb. Nonetheless, the company is fast in term of shipping. I did not have any problems and would recommend buying this product from this company, as well as this model. In fact, my friend had been looking for one of these and could not find one in the stores. He did purchase his from the store, but his is black whereas mine is Red. I liked the red color since it was something new. Again I recommend this product, and getting it from this company. It arrived just days after I ordered it, which again was a good thing.

Excellent service, delivery time, and great product!! The only problem is that it does not come with blue-tooth built in. But, I have one that plugs into the USB, so it is not that big of deal. Moreover, I do have an external DVD drive, so the unit is lighter. More or less, I really do not use DVD drives that much, while I commonly use USB or external hard drives for most of my work. So if you are looking for a light weight unit that has a solid design I recommend this product. And again, delivery time was quick and painless from this company.

Highly recommend if you looking to replace your netbook, or want a small laptop with the capability to dock it when at home!

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I actually have the S1150 model.

A decent computer that is everything that I expected. I deducted one star for a sticky F8 key and the fact that Toshiba couldn't be bothered to set up the display colors properly. As delivered the display is badly washed out. Adjusting brightness, contrast and gamma makes a huge improvement. Adjustments are obscurely hidden in Catalyst Control Center/Advanced.

After about two weeks the hot keys stopped working. Pressing the FN key produces a drop down menu that allows settings to be changed. No hot keys means that I can't turn on the WiFi or the touchpad. Toshiba's tech support suggested doing a full recovery. The recovery discs that I made and which showed as being verified after burning did not work. Several files could not be read and the recovery program terminated. This left no operable operating system. It also apparently overwrote the system image stored on the hard disk.

Toshiba suggested factory recovery discs. The discs are free! Shipping and handling are $25!! I needed them what could I do? Toshiba would not sell them to me. My credit card is billed in the US Virgin Islands and could not be accepted. You have to live in one of the 50 "real" states and not a territory. The Toshiba web site list their coverage area as Canada, US, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Central and South America and parts of the Caribbean. The drop down menu when you try to order only accepts Canada, the 50 States and Argentina.

I eventually got my operating system working again from a Windows backup on a USB hard drive. The hot keys still don't work and I guess never will.

So 4 stars for the computer but if you need support from Toshiba you will wish you had bought something else. I do.

Cheap Acer Aspire V5-171-6860;NX.M3AAA.004 11.6-Inch Laptop

Customer Ratings:

Replaced my old netbook with this baby and didnt want Win 8. This compact laptop has EVERYTHING. 500GB hard drive, 6GB Ram, and 3rd generation Intel processor. Chose this number over the new Mac Air 13" which is sayin alot cuz I wanted the Mac BAD. But for the same crazy insane price as ONE Mac Air, I got this smokin laptop, a refurbed iPad direct from Apple, and replaced my cell phone. I am a genius.

Btw, this is same computer as the Acer V5-171-6422, with Win 7 instead of Win 8. (Comes w/optional Win 8 Pro Upgrade if you want it.) Check out the reviews on the V5-171-6422 this is the identical machine with no Win 8 grief.

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Ive had it for 6 months now and i love it. The sound quality is awful though. Get some speakers if sound quality matters to you. (Xmini does a great job since its small and portable too). Small size and big features like a 15". Perfect for school, bus or airplane. I bought a antiglare screen and now i have no problem taking it outside on a sunny day. Get before its too late. With tablets and windows 8 netbook running windows 7 are an endangered specie.

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This is one fantastic little computer .I had a hard time finding something that's 11.6" with Windows 7. Once I found this Acer with win7,Intel i5 I was ready. The first and second time I tried to order it, I ran into the problem of the listing company not really having it in stock as" new " or at all. Finally I found one that was refurbished and decided to give that a try. Wow, I have no idea what had to be fixed in this but I think it's faster than my big laptop with the same i5,in fact it blazes as well as the big desk top we have with the Intel i7. The only thing that hasn't lived up to what's published is battery life. After a full charge it says the time left on the battery is 4hrs. 6min. I don't know if a newer battery would solve that issue or not, but at least it's kinda close to the advertised battery time of 5hrs. I know that more people want a small laptop with Win8 and I'm sure that Acer has what you are looking for and would definitely recommend Acer as a product to look at.

Honest reviews on Acer Aspire V5-171-6860;NX.M3AAA.004 11.6-Inch Laptop

A very nice size for travel and toting around. The smaller size can mean that some tasks are harder for older eyes. I do not find the smaller keyboard size to be a problem even though I have arthritic fingers. I did find it necessary to also purchase a mouse and a portable speaker for music, but I am a very fussy person. This was the very last one available with Windows 7 and is a great and stable little machine.

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Purchased Acer Aspire Timeline 1830T-6651 Intel I-5, as a travel laptop, exactly two years ago. The motherboard just died, despite being handled with kid gloves and with so little use. I asked the computer repair guy if the board going out so soon, with laptops in general, was prevalent these days. He said, "Yes". I thought with the tech advances in manufacturing, that laptops would become more reliable. He said, "The opposite is true". Didn't buy the extended warranty due to my misconception so have to buy a new laptop now. I'll tell you that I'll never buy a 'piece of junk Acer' again. Buy that extended warranty!

Buy Alienware M18x R2 AM18XR2-11481BK 18.4-Inch Laptop (Space Black

Customer Ratings:

This item is really very good, and I like it very much! It was really useful for me, thank you!

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The first computer I received had a display that was defective so I had to return it. The return process was very easy and Amazon shipped the new one before I even had a chance to ship the one I had back. Amazon customer service was very helpful. The only reason I gave the item 4 instead of 5 stars is because of the price. It is an expensive computer but I'm very happy with it. Great for gaming!

Reviews of HP Pavilion dv7t Quad Edition Notebook PC, Intel i7-2670QM (2.2

Customer Ratings:

Laptops have been around for quite a while and they keep improving. HP has really gotten it right with the DV7t Quad Series. These are powerful and beautiful machines that are well-thought out, with impeccable build construction, and lightning-fast performance. I bought the one featured here on Amazon with the exception that I added a 2GB Hard Disk Drive and went with 12GB of DRAM. Overkill perhaps, but there you are.

The screen is superb on this Notebook. I have an external HP 2511x 25 inch monitor which I have considered to be pretty much the gold standard for monitors. The 17 inch screen on the DV7t is every bit as crisp and bright (perhaps even a touch brighter and crisper) and is very, very pleasant to work with. The keyboard is well laid-out and the keys are what touch-typists like myself look for. The touchpad is about as good as pads of this type get, and it has a hardware off-switch by tapping rapidly on a designated part of the pad. So if you are using an external mouse, like I do, you can deactivate the touchpad without having to deal with layers of Windows menus.

One nice feature that the touchpad has is the ability to "pinch" the screen so that it is magnified less or more. This is a very convenient feature for those of us who wear reading glasses. If a given website uses too-small type, on this computer the user can "pinch" the touchpad causing the size of the type (i.e. the magnification of the web page) to increase to any desired amount. I find myself using this feature often.

The Blu-Ray disk drive works perfectly and the picture is incredible. I played several movies on it with great results. I have not burned any Blu-Ray files yet.

Performance of this computer is what you would expect: lightning-fast. It can manipulate huge digital files with ease and perform other heavy-duty tasks better than any other computer that I personally have used. Unfortunately most digital photography programs are still 32 bit, but when they become 64 bit this computer will be ready for them, with performance that we can only guess at.

Physically, this is a beautiful machine. The black chassis has a spectacularly nice metallic look to it that is not the fingerprint magnet of earlier HP chassis. There are 4 USB ports (two on each side) and an HDMI port, which many users will want to use in connection with a second monitor. Personally I would have preferred that the USB ports be on the back rather than on the side.

The audio on this unit is pretty good, but the volume could be better. Playing a Blu-Ray disk, I found myself wanting and preferring powered external speakers.

The fingerprint reader is easy to use and works well. This enables the user to scan a finger, and subsequently log into Windows with just a swipe of the finger rather than typing in a password. Very nice. The Hard Disk Drive indicator LED is (weirdly) on the side rather than the front, so it is not visible to the user and thus pretty useless. Not a huge issue in the greater scheme of things. In mitigation of this, the external headphone and speaker jacks are on the other side of the computer, rather than the front, which is a big improvement over earlier models on which these jacks were on the front, presenting the user with cumbersome cables. Plus, this unit gives you two speaker jacks instead of one, which is nice to have.

This is not a small computer. Most users will not be toting it around for casual use like a tablet or netbook. This one, with its 17 inch screen, is really a portable desktop computer and that is how it fits into my scheme of things. It is really designed to be the user's main computer (it has no compromises as regards performance) with the added capability of being portable and capable of use without an AC cable for a time. For me (I am an attorney) that means I can work with it at home or in the office, and when necessary take it to the courthouse. For this type use this computer is hard to beat. iPads and netbooks have their own niches, and this computer is no iPad. But there are still certain applications for which a full-powered computer is required, and the so-called demise of the personal computer will not be occurring any time soon.

This is the best computer that I have thus far owned and used. Recommended without reservation. RJB.

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The pavillion feels very cheaply made compared to previus pavillions. It feels like a toy and like it would break if I looked at it wrong. I picked the computer up by the bottom and the bezel and this caused the screen to crack. HP will not cover it under warranty because they say it was "accidental damage". I picked up my computer on purpose ... not accidentally. I should have a reasonable expectation that the act of picking up the computer wouldn't break it. I've tried on other laptops to apply enough pressure to the bezel to effect the screen and I couldn't do it. I would not buy from HP and buy from a company with a better constructed product and better customer service.

Update HP has decided to do the right thing and fix the computer for free

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I ordered this laptop to do CAD work on. So far no problem opening and working with the very large Catia files I use for design. I had to mess around a little with the switchable graphics to get it to run Catia with the stand alone video card. It was trying to run it off of the built in video card. The obviously wan't cutting it. The battery life is pretty short, about 3-1/2 hours but that is expected considering the hardware this laptop has. I only have a few complaints. No back-lit keyboard, minor but slightly irritating for such an expensive laptop. HP bloatware that slows the boot time down quite a bit. The flat keyboard bezel was not snapped down all the way on the top part of the keyboard right at the center. I thought I was going to have to send the laptop back because of it but was able to snap it into place with a little prying and pushing. I guess I would say that the laptop is fast but typical of the way things are built now a days, not very refined and kind of cheap feeling. You shouldn't have to snap the keyboard in place on a brand new laptop you just spent $1,250 on. I guess if you really want build quality you could buy the similarly spec'd mac book pro and spend $3,000 for the same computer with a different OS.

Honest reviews on HP Pavilion dv7t Quad Edition Notebook PC, Intel i7-2670QM (2.2

La mejor inversion, super rapida , calidad de sonido, imagen, y salidas de video increible.....El autocad funciona sin tiempos de espera, igual que corel, photoshop, pinnacle studio, etc.

Tengo pc para muchos años...

Discount Toshiba Satellite E305-S1995 14" Laptop (Intel Core i5-2410M

Customer Ratings:

I have owned 3 Satellites over the years--in fact, I'm typing on a fabulous one now (the C655). I bought the E305 for my husband thinking it would be a great computer like my C655. Boy was I wrong. First, it is terribly slow and crashes frequently. This is likely due to the paltry 4GB RAM on the unit, which I attempted to upgrade to 8GB yesterday--only to discover there's no RAM access panel on the back, and opening the unit up still didn't reveal the RAM location (since you can't actually pull apart the laptop once you've removed the back and the keyboard, as it's welded right smack in the middle of the motherboard in two places). So not being able to upgrade hardware makes this a crapper.

Adding insult to injury, the fan has been grinding loudly after a few months of excessively hot usage. Again, you can't pull apart the unit after unscrewing the laptop back and taking out the keyboard, which is normally how you do it. But with those two welded plugs keeping the unit together in 2 spots, you can't change the fan to a better one simply because you can't open it.

Normally, having a slow laptop and a bad fan isn't a kiss of death and wouldn't make this a terrible computer---IF you could open the stupid thing to repair them. Toshiba shot themselves in the foot with this one, simply by not making this a computer you can repair--so now I won't venture into buying another, for fear that when it has problems I won't be able to fix them. Won't buy another.

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I have had this laptop for almost two years now, and I can tell you that it was worth every penny.

I bought this as a Black Friday deal for only $600, which was a steal considering the feature set of this laptop. I heard of a lot of reviewers complaining of keyboard malfunctions and the sort, but I have not experienced anything so far.

PERFORMANCE:

The i5 processor is great and fast. 1080p video is streamed flawlessly for the most part. I have tons of third-party software on this laptop and the 6GB RAM helps in maintaining the speed. Compared to a year ago, I have noticed that start-up is significantly slower, but that is normal with any laptop.

The laptop does heat up, especially when you are doing graphic-intensive work, or downloading a large, high quality video file. And the fan is somewhat noisy too.

KEYBOARD:

I love the keyboard. It has a back-lit functionality which is useful and I use it often. The keys are spaced out well and I don't need to press too hard to get a response. The keys are swift and responsive. It is a glossy keyboard, however, so, after some time, the oil from your fingers will make some impressions on the keys, but you can easily clean this with a slightly damp napkin.

TOUCHPAD:

It's not multi-touch, which is one of the few drawbacks of this laptop, but the touchpad is still responsive and sturdy. It feels a bit rough at first, but I got used to it quickly.

SPEAKERS:

The biggest flaw. The speakers are at the front, bottom portion of the laptop, so most of the noise is directed downwards, instead of upwards. This is frustrating sometimes, with certain low-volume videos. I was particularly annoyed at Toshiba for missing something that could have been an easy fix. If the speakers were placed above the keyboard and retained the quality they have now, I would have definitely have given this laptop five stars.

BLURAY:

A great feature. I used it once with no issues. The quality was great and the player streamed the video flawlessly. The drive, however, does become rather noisy and warm, but not loud enough to really disrupt the movie.

Some reviewers say the laptop is fragile, but I have dropped this laptop from about 3 feet onto a hard floor, which only caused a minor dent on lower right hand side and a minor dent on the screen. This happened several months ago and the computer is still working fine. I was surprised that the laptop took so little damage!

Overall, I would recommend this laptop. It works great for students who want more than just an academic laptop. You can do your homework but at the same time watch high quality videos. This laptop can handle all of it.

UPDATE JULY 2013:

Well, it has been almost two years since I purchased this laptop. For the first time, I am seeing some "wear and tear". The touchpad can be scratched off to reveal its undercoat. Not a big deal, really, because the damage is minimal.

Best Deals for Toshiba Satellite E305-S1995 14" Laptop (Intel Core i5-2410M

It works well and is reasonably priced, buut the screen broke twice in 10 month and isn't covered by warranty.

Honest reviews on Toshiba Satellite E305-S1995 14" Laptop (Intel Core i5-2410M

Lots of nice extras, good battery life. This computer has a Blu-ray player, back-lit keyboard, a Hybrid Drive (part ssd part standard 7200 rpm HDD), great sounding Dolby speakers, WiMax, push2TV, and the Toshiba Eco Utility is really nice. With the click of a button I can go into a power efficient mode without having to sift through menus.

and oh yeah...

WINDOWS 7 FOR LIFE!!!!

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Toshiba Satellite E305-S1995 14" Laptop (Intel Core i5-2410M

This is a very fragile laptop. The keyboard is marginally responsive. The touchpad is extremely buggy. Even when three feet away the WiDi loses the connection. Worst of all, it comes with a two year warranty, but when you call Toshiba they say your one year phone service has come to an end. I'm not sure how to use the remainder of the warranty. I will never purchase a Toshiba again.

Buy HP Pavilion DV5-1003NR 15.4" Laptop (2.0 GHz AMD Turion X2 RM-70

Customer Ratings:

PRODUCT STATUS: Although HP still makes some Pavilion DV-5-series notebooks, the DV5-1003nr is discontinued in late 2008/early 2009. (If you are interested in this notebook, you should find excellent pricing on this particular model, because it is no longer being manufactured, but is a recent product and updates for drivers, firmware, and software are still available from Hewlett-Packard's Web site.

In August 2008, I received a new HP Pavilion DV5-1003NR notebook as an unexpected gift. I had been looking for a factory-refurbished IBM ThinkPad, two to four years old, with not operating system installed, because I planned to run Linux on the notebook. ThinkPads have become a favorite of Linux users because of their compatibility, durability, and reliability -and I personal find that widescreen displays (which seem to be the norm for standalone and notebook/laptop displays) adversely hinder my productivity, because the work that I do makes vertical screen space more valuable than extra width.

My DV5-1003nr notebook (officially an "HP Pavilion DV5 Entertainment Notebook PC") came with 4-GB of RAM, 1-GB more than the default, although the unit preshipped with a 32-bit, OEM version of Vista Home Premium SP1 (which cannot take advantage of 4-GB of RAM); a retail, boxed 32-bit Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate Upgrade (which was over $200 at the time, but was purchased because the Best Buy salesperson told "my benefactor" that Vista Ultimate make full use of the 4-GB of RAM (which, of course, is not true of the 32-bit version -but was the reason for the purchased of a 2-GB SoDIMM to replace the 1-GB soDIMM occupying one of the two memory slots) and stated that HP "should have no problem with the upgrade" and that, if the notebook was purchased with Best Buy's 2-year extended protection plan (which it was) that the upgrade from HP's OEM version of Vista Home Premium (without installation or recovery discs) to a Vista Ultimate was compatible with the extended service plan.

NOTE: My particular unit was assembled in Chine in May 2008 with a defective AMD processor. The notebook could not load Windows Vista the first time that I turned it on (which should have been a red flag to return the unit immediately for an exchange or, ideally, a refund). Because the computer was new, I had to keep refusing the Startup Repair option to select a recent restore point (and I was not offered the recovery option, presumably because Vista had not yet loaded and had not yet added the recovery partition as a boot option): After an hour, Vista loaded, but a growing barrage of errors and lockups started. I created two recovery DVDs on Maxell's best DVR-R data discs as soon I as was prompted to do so during the setup process. (This process took several hours.) I tried using the recovery partition and the recovery DVDs that I used to restore the computer to factory condition, but was trapped in an endless cycle -and HP support totally ignored my support requests for three months. Because I have built all of my computers myself (except for the Macs), I kept trying to resolve the cascading problems myself, out of habit, but realized that I should used Best Buy's 2-year extended protection plan.

A technician from the Geek Squad at the store where the notebook was purchased called me two days after I dropped off the computer, stating that the HP had built the notebook with a defective CPU, and that he'd seen symptoms of "motherboard issues" before the diagnostic software and computer crashed. I approved shipping the computer to a service center for repair, and the technician told me that he expected the motherboard with the CPU would be replaced. When the notebook arrived back at the store in three weeks, I was upset to learn that the hardware was not mentioned in the report (except in the condition comments, which stated that the unit showed no signs of wear or abuse) and that no repairs were performed: Vista was reinstalled because of "one missing and one corrupt system file, but all is well now." The extended coverage has a "no lemons" clause, but Best Buy will replace a computer only after "four valid repairs," and installations are not considered repairs. I have not yet found a way to escape this trap.

I contacted HP CEO Mark Hurd about my lack of support and was assigned a case manager who was was less than helpful and subjected me to verbal abuse and insults every time that I called him (and he never called me). My notebook came with a single-fan cooling mat, which I recommend for all notebook and laptop computer users, and I had always used it. My first unit had a tilt feature and I put the notebook in my lap for two seconds to adjust the tilt. During that time I jumped in as a reflex to an intense burning sensation, although I managed to catch the notebook before it hit the floor. The redness and pain (through thick denim jeans) last for three days. During a conversation with my HP case manager, I had mentioned my concerns about the heat and that the CPU typically runs at 70-72 degrees Celsius (roughly 160 degrees Fahrenheit or more) and he laughed and said, "they do run hot, don't they!?" -and he evaded my query of how he could help me resolve the problem. I then described my injury and my HP case manager told me that the burn was MY responsibility, because "HP actually makes a distinction between a laptop and a notebook computer; you put a notebook in your lap, and a notebook is NOT a laptop." My case manager became irate when I stated that his job was to resolve my problems, per Mark Hurd's wishes, not entangle me in semantics -and he started to rant and was unintelligible, so I quietly hung up the phone.

I have contacted Geek Squad's CI, Robert Stephens, whom I hope can intervene, but -after two more messages to Mark Hurd's office -I missed a phone call from someone in the HP executive department, but -based upon HP's ever-dropping service ratings (and the fact that I returned a new scanner that died after three months and received a filthy refurbished unit with felt pen marks scrawled around the control buttons) -I am hoping that Robert Stephens can end this message, but I also have 30 days before my HP warranty expires (which I have honored, not installing the Vista Ultimate upgrade because I was told it would instantly void my warranty), and if Robert Stephens does not contact me soon, I must contact HP, although I have been deceived, ignored, and fully expect HP to allow the warranty to expire.

PRODUCT OVERVIEW: Hewlett-Packard's series of wide-screen, shiny metallic and black, entertainment series of notebook computers is not intended for business use (for which its design is not intended or suited). I would describe the HP Pavillion DV5 series as "a portable DVD player for people who do casual computing for short periods of time."

The plastic (silver or bronze, depending on one's model) keys are so reflective that I struggle to see the characters. If I start typing "gibberish" and need to reposition my hands in the correct touch-typing position, the process strains my eyes and wastes time. The Synaptics TouchPad (which is actually metal) is difficult to customize and the two buttons require undue pressure and are very loud. (I recall thinking that I broke the switches several times.) The screen may be popular with people who view DVDs on the computer, but the reflective, glass-like surface generates glare that literally gives me doubleand triple-vision and causes my eyes to burn. Focusing has become a problem even when I am not using the notebook's display, and I actually visited my ophthalmologist four months after getting this notebook, convinced that I needed a new eyeglass prescription. (I also use an external keyboard and mouse, although I cannot afford an external monitor.)

If you decide to purchase a Pavilion DV5-1003NR, make certain that you purchase a new unit with a full warranty. Based upon my Web searches, and the growing number of Web sites such as HPLies.com, I suggest that you purchase a third-party, extended service plan from a trusted provider at the same time that you purchase any HP computer -although my experience with HP, sadly, is not unique, and I suggest that you do not purchase any HP desktop, laptop, or notebook computers -or any product that might require support.

Consumer Reports and other independent organizations have published comparisons of OEM computer manufacturers, based upon quality of product and quality of service and support. I "shot myself in the proverbial foot," because I was so used to building and troubleshooting my own computers. I suspect that bare-bones laptop and notebook computers and/or kits will be available in the future, but most computer users prefer to purchase a computer that works and for which they can get friendly and prompt, responsive service.

Finally, even if my particular unit were not built with a defective CPU, overheating is a problem that is plaguing HP notebooks -Intel and AMD -beyond the models that have had recalled batteries, which were the causes of the overheating. Heat and dust will always be enemies of computers, but small, powerful computers -and many people use laptop computers as their only computer -lack the space for air to flow or additional fans that help cold desktop computers. (Of course, additional fans are not a viable cooling option for notebook computers, because of their adverse effect on battery life.)

I am sure that my serious hardware defect is an exception, although it is my first (and last) experience with AMD processors, but Hewlett-Packard has a verifiable record of poor quality, poor or nonexistent support, and the deception and abusive treatment of customers that I have experienced.

'Caveat emptor'!

Cordially,

David

P.S. -Like many reviewers, I would like to give this product and HP a rating of zero stars, but one star is the minimum rating that I can give! :-)

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I purchased this computer in September, 2008. Though it is vista, I have not had any problems. The 3 gigabytes of ram are plenty for vista. I have enjoyed the perks that slow down vista because this computer has enough ram that it doesn't slow it down. I still find it faster than my 1 gigabyte ram XP netbook. I do not play video games with this computer (only simple games like the ones from addictinggames.com), so I don't know how good it is for that (it is not meant to be a gaming computer), but it is good for watching TV and movies online. The best part is if you upgrade windows to a 64 bit, you can add 5 more gigabytes of ram! As I mentioned in my title, my computer has been running great for over 3 years.

Best Deals for HP Pavilion DV5-1003NR 15.4" Laptop (2.0 GHz AMD Turion X2 RM-70

First off, Im not from the US, so dont blame me if there are any language mistakes ;)

I have been owning this laptop for about two and a half years now and it has been quite reliable over the past years!

The specs back then were pretty decent 3 gigabyte of ram and a blu ray disc drive, a 2ghz processor, plus the small price made me buy this laptop.

Here are the pros and cons:

Pros

+ It's handy

+ It has a good screen and the build quality is good

+ The keyboard has good pressure point

+ It has a blu ray drive

+ Its just fast enough for my needs

+ It almost never crashes

Cons

It gets quite hot

the graphic card is just good enough for writing emails and surfing on the internet. Games dont work fluently

The buttons in front of the display act weird from time to time when the laptop gets too hot which is pretty annoying.

I cant share the experience that it s a horribly bad laptop. Maybe I got lucky with mine, but It has for sure been a good buy for me.

Best ASUS UL80Vt- A2 14-Inch Thin and Light Laptop (Silver) Deals

Customer Ratings:

I needed to get a laptop to take with me before going on an out-of-state summer internship. I did not want a "desktop replacement" type laptop since I already have a very powerful gaming desktop here at home.

After much searching and deliberation, I decided to get the Asus UL80VT. My reasons were:

1) Asus reliability and reputation: I've always had good luck with Asus motherboards for the PCs Ive build for friends and several family members; plus Asus laptops are consistantly more reliable than other brands ([Amazon deleted the link I had here, go to your search engine of choice and look for "Asus laptop reliability" and see what I'm talking about])

2) Battery Life: claimed to be 11.5 hours. Real-world resutls are about 7-9 hours unplugged. This time is for light surfing and word processing, and allowing the Asus "Battery Saver" power profile to dim the screen, etc. You'll get much less times using discrete graphics, bright screen, DVD drive, etc.

3) Powerful, battery-sipping Intel Core2Duo U7300 1.3 GHz processor: this low-voltage processor is plenty powerful enough for everyday tasks, light gaming, watching HD online videos, etc. Asus is even kind enough to include a feature which automatically overclocks the processor when on AC power and your games demand extra "oomph"!

4) Came with Windows 7 pre-installed: Windows 7 is simply the best operating system Microsoft has ever made, period.

5) Size/weight perfect for me: I carry this laptop to class every day in a Case Logic ENS-14 14.1-Inch Neoprene Laptop Sleeve (Black) in my backpack. At 4.8 lbs (plus 0.8 lbs for the AC adapter = 5.6 lbs total), this is about the same weight as one of my textbooks, and infinitely more useful!

6)Chiclet keyboard: I love the spaced-out keys, great for typing, easy to adapt to from a full-size keyboard. (No full-size number pad, but that's to be expected in laptops this size. Get a 15.6" screen laptop if you need that)

7) Fit/Finish good for the price: I love the aluminum top of this laptop, much less smudgy than the black one. The screen bezel is still black on the inside, which does show fingerprints, but that area doesn't get touched very often.

7) Has an optical drive: I looked into 13.3" laptops, but they typically don't have DVD drives, which is a nice feature to have for watching movies on a plane trip, installing software, etc.

Drawbacks:

1) Glossy screen is very shiny, I have a custom screen protector for this I bought online at which cuts down on most of the glare too.

2) Right wrist rest sqeaks/clicks a little when you put your wrist on it. This is not very loud and I don't anticipate being a problem. I knew this was an issue with this model beforehand. Don't be surprised if it happens to you, although yours could be louder/squeak more, etc.

Other thoughts:

* Some people have complained about the track pad buttons being under one solid piece of plastic. This doesn't really bother me at all. It is not difficult to press the left or right side. The left 1/3 is the left click, the right 1/3 is the right click. Only the middle 1/3 of the plastic is unresponsive as it is solid underneath. I should note that I am using the Logitech Anywhere Mouse MX [Amazon Frustration-Free Packaging], so to be honest, I am not using the trackpad very often.

*People have also complained about the stickers present on the inside of the laptop. These peel off easily and leave no residue, in my experience. Those are mostly put there so people who don't know any better can know what's inside their laptop.

*Finally, people have complained about the bloatware/junk software present installed on this computer. True, these programs are very annoying. But one could understand why a manufacturer would agree to install these trial programs and come-ons: higher profits. If you're so inclined, take 5 minutes to uninstall the stuff you don't want, this is not a difficult process.

* People ask what kind of computer this is all the time! Classmates/coworkers/friends who haven't seen Asus laptops (too many Dells and HP's out there!) will ask where you got this laptop :)

* I have installed Microsoft Security Essentials as my anti-virus program, and have had 0 issues so far. I highly recommend it. (Free download)

Summary: Overall I would say the build quality of this Asus is about an 8.5/10. I still rate this as 5 stars though because the minor build quality issues are not enough to detract from the overall value of this fast, efficient, and powerful laptop.

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Had this laptop for a week now and I am thoroughly impressed. I've installed a couple ASUS motherboards on desktops and was always really happy with their performance. This is the first ASUS laptop I've owned/used, and so far it has lived up to the standards I come to expect from them.

I love the 14" screen size/overall laptop size, fast CPU/RAM speed, switchable graphics (very cool, helps conserve quite a bit of battery when unplugged, but still has some muscle to game when needed.) Battery life is amazing for this computer's size and power, I'm getting 8-9 hours with average surfing. Also, I am so far liking Windows 7, after trying Vista and absolutely hating it, it seems like they got it right this time.

Cons seriously take these with a grain of salt, I didn't rate the laptop 5 stars for nothing. The touchpad takes a little getting used to, it's a bit sticky at first but once you get some skin oil on there it works fine. I have had no trouble with the multitouch features others have complained about, in fact it's a pretty cool feature of this touchpad. The mouse button on the touch pad does suck, it's a one-piece, rocker button and it squeaks when I press it (BTW other than that squeak issue on the touchpad, it seems that ASUS has really improved their build quality from previous reviews, I have noticed no other poor build quality-related issues with this laptop.) The LCD screen quality is definitely lacking, the reflections can get bad when you've got a backlight behind you and the poor black contrast makes it look a bit washed out when compared to other LCDs. Finally, the speakers are pretty terrible, but hey, they work which is an infinite improvement from my old laptop...

Overall, excellent laptop. If you are looking for the perfect mix of power and portability, you've found it.

Best Deals for ASUS UL80Vt- A2 14-Inch Thin and Light Laptop (Silver)

I based my purchase off all the good reviews I read about the system. Now, I've had it for 8 months, and have had problems for at least 6 months. Many of the ASUS start-up files crash at system start up. Creating a recovery CD will cause a crash too. Also, system restore attempts often fail. I wish I'd read about all this 8 months ago.

The best part about this laptop is that there is dual operating system built-in where there's a Windows based system button and a Linux based button, so when the windows system crashed (daily) I could still check my email in the reliable Linux system. There was a period of time when I just didn't power down at all to avoid the startup issues.

Another good thing is if you call customer service you won't wait 30 minutes to talk to a person. They're good about that. Now, whether they actually fix your problem is an issue that remains to be seen in my case.

The touchpad and keyboard design has been a big problem as well. Even when I'm typing very carefully the mouse will jump around to other text boxes. This is a big problem when filling out any kind of form on the internet as well as typing a Word document. I've opted for a external mouse and have disabled the touchpad altogether.

I don't believe today's laptops are made to last, but I do think you can find a better one that will work as expected for a reasonable amount of time. I would not choose this model/brand again.

****UPDATE*****

I sent this laptop back within the 1-year warranty to be repaired by ASUS. It worked normally for 1/2 a day, and went right back to the previous issues of crashing. I truly believe their fix was merely to re-format the computer only. I could have done that myself. I declined to send it back again because I do not believe they'll resolve the issue nor do I have the time. ASUS has not updated ANY of the drivers the computer needs to function properly. I guess ASUS ripped me off. $700 out of my pockets for a bad product.

Honest reviews on ASUS UL80Vt- A2 14-Inch Thin and Light Laptop (Silver)

This is the third ASUS we've added to our stable and am very happy with what we've received from the company. You get a very high quality laptop without paying the premium that others charge.

a) Build Quality 10/10 -was very nervous about the build quality given some of the previous reviews. ASUS LISTENED. This is better than the Sony VAIO (bought less than a year ago) that we just recycled, the Dell I have from work and the HP that we bought a few months ago. Everything is tight.

b) Keyboard 9/10 -I actually care about how the keyboard feels when typing as I learned how to type of a manual, then selectric many years ago. This keyboard is almost on par with what you can get from Lenovo. And, no, there is no flex that I can feel at this point. I save 10/10 for Lenovo

c) Screen 10/10 -One of the most clear screens that I've seen. Have watched HD movies and also have manipulated images using Adobe Photoshop. Cannot be beat.

d) Video Card 9/10 -Hybrid Nvidia/Intel MHD is awesome. Cutting to the intel chip with battery is seamless and you really cannot tell that you're in powersaving mode. Only reason why not a 10/10 is because the Nvidia chip only has 512Meg on the GBU... Should be 1 Gig.

e) Case -10/10 -as stated in build quality... this looks awesome. Had to really work to figure out which panel was aluminum and which was plastic.

f) Hard Drive -5/10. I was a bit surprised that the HDD was only a 5400 rpm drive. I immediately created an image, replaced with a 7200 rpm drive and reloaded. I have found the 7200 doesn't seem to hurt battery life and does improve performance a bit. Given the prices of HDD's today, there should be no reason for not having a 7200 rpm.

g) RAM -DDR3. Need I say more?

h) CPU -Intel. Need I say more?

i) Battery life 10/10. I have done quite a bit with numerous laptops to try to extend battery life. I don't like having to drag around power cords when visiting clients. I am able to get almost 8 hours in battery saving mode.

j) Bloatware -ASUS seems to be increasing the amount of bloatware they install on their laptops. I just unloaded everything that said ASUS and the laptop still works very well... Some of the 'smart keys' don't work, but that doesn't bother me. The trade off between quick boots and flicking keys to change power modes is worth it to me.

I wouldn't look much further if you're looking for a laptop that can be lugged around all day. The secret for a 14" screen is the laptop isn't much bigger than a 13.3" case, but feels as if you're looking at a much larger screen.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for ASUS UL80Vt- A2 14-Inch Thin and Light Laptop (Silver)

I received my silver asus ul80vt laptop today, and I absolutely love it! This is my first review, but I thought it was necessary because it was such a great deal! In the price range, (I bought it for around $750) this was top of the line. The battery life is incredible, it was delivered in excellent condition, and best of all it's lightweight! The screen is, in my opinion, of great quality. The viewing angles are not nearly as bad as some of the reviews I read, and the color is awesome! Also, it's the perfect size. It's small, but big enough so that you don't have to squint! It's about the size of a hard back textbook, but much thinner. The processor is great, and the hard drive is adequate. Internet connection works great, and the camera is a lot better quality than I was expecting. I was expecting to have trouble with the trackpad, but so far it seems normal to me. The only thing I noticed is that I tend to move the mouse with the base of my hand while typing on occasion, but that's nothing major. I have heard that asus makes the motherboards for mac computers, and while I considered splurging for a macbook pro, I couldn't justify the cost difference. I could buy TWO of these for the price of a mac and it has more features!

Cheap Lenovo ThinkPad Twist S230u 12.5-Inch Touchscreen Ultrabook (Black)

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $899.99
Sale Price: $738.60
Today's Bonus: 18% Off

I purchased the Lenovo on the second day it was out. I am not normally an adventurer, but I urgently needed a new computer, and had waited until Windows 8 came out so that I could have long use. I was moving from an older Windows Vista, so those with Windows 7 won't be as impressed although it is hard to separate the experience of Windows 8 from the Lenovo, since they are designed to interact.

Touch Screen

The touch screen is amazingly responsive, it responds as easily as my iPad to my touch. On the other hand, the accelerometer is a bit finicky, and getting the picture to turn is not as responsive. Still, since 99% of my usage is in display or laptop mode, it hasn't been a significant issue. I hope that it is improved in later models.

Twist and Turn

I LOVE this configuration. I primarily use the display and laptop mode. Even with my iPad, I hated TeePee (an inverted V), and I preferred to be able to set my display up to watch and use it. Times I use this in tablet mode are working on games with my Granddaughter, playing solitaire, or it can be easier to use in this mode while sitting in a seat in a car. I use the laptop mode for work, and the display mode for playing games (so nice to have the screen handy and at just the right angle), watching Netflix or Amazon Video. The sound controls are extra easy to use and the "windows button" is quickly handy in display mode.

Special notes on Twist and turn, it is particularly handy to watch something with someone seated next to you, and the display mode is especially nice to watch videos on a plane, if that is something you do. I often will turn my screen to show my husband or daughter something on my computer. It is a really nice feature for families.

Speed

My average sleep to start mode is about 8 seconds. If I am running on battery instead of "leashed" it takes a couple of seconds longer to wake up. I have not had any lag in performance of anything I am using, and my only internet lag is when I am at the end of my router range.

Touchpad and pointer

This was my first experience with pointers, and I have pretty much ignored mine. It has the red pointer and the two pointer buttons at the top of the touchpad. The touchpad itself is very responsive and uses all of the usual gestures. It sets into the case and clicks on either side to mimic the mouse buttons. The pointer buttons may also be used at the top. Since I have carpal tunnel, I use a trackball, so after testing mine, I converted over.

USB ports

Both ports are 3.0. They are placed one on each side of the computer. The 3.0 was very handy when I was transferring information since it helped me to move the information quickly to this computer essential, since my other computer died only days after I purchased this one. I use a Seagate external drive to back up that has 3.0 USB, so it works well.

At the same time, having the configuration of 2 USB on opposite sides was a bit of an issue when running my external DVD player, since it has the option of plugging into two USB ports for power and the cord was configured for them both to be on the same side.

Interaction with Windows 8

I took time before it was released to learn a bit about Windows 8, which is why I decided I would like to have a touchscreen to use with it. I love how the touchscreen interacts with Windows 8, and how it quickly becomes intuitive to determine which works better, a mouse or keyboard move or just reaching out and touching the screen. My only complaint involves my fingerprints on the screen.

Another tiny issue I encountered, is that I decided to install Adobe PDF Reader since I didn't really like the Windows Version as much. Adobe has a new reader just for touchscreen that defaults to touchscreen, with no bars on the side. I have to unclick the touch mode in order to use it the way I normally do. It is nice to have software that knows and installs for touchscreens. I suspect more are on the way.

Battery

As you are aware, battery is based on usage. I find that I average around 5 hours running on battery before I get at 10 percent warning. This is mostly doing some internet research and creating word documents, but also includes some playing of simple word or card games. For comparison, I normally average 5 hours on my iPad. I know the battery says seven hours, but I always take that number with a huge grain of salt and divide it in half for a working number. So five, for my use, is a very nice feature. My complaint here, and with ultra books in general is that you can't carry a spare battery to pop in.

Reasons I wanted this model

I wanted a 500G memory, touchscreen, in a reasonable price range. When this was introduced, a local store opened with it on sale, making this particular model particularly desirable. It had the memory, speed, and flexibility that I desired, and it provided some cool configurations that made it particularly nice for someone already used to an iPad looking for a fully functional computer. I like the fact that in tablet mode, I am not worrying about damaging the keyboard. I love the weight a little more than my iPad actually the weight of 2 iPads, very nice for travelling.

I don't use mine to stream to TV or count on it for Blu-ray movies. It is a computer, and the screen is all that I personally need.

There are two things to consider when considering this.

Your use determines the laptop you use. If you already use a touchpad, you will enjoy this more than if you are a straight laptop user. If you want fancy screens for movies and such, you might want to look at it in a store before you decide. If you read books on your computer, display mode is perfect, and it sets nicely on your lap. Make sure that you find one that meets YOUR needs. Just because I love mine, doesn't mean you will.

Price is a consideration. There are others that are cheaper. There are others that are more expensive. All have their positives and negative points. Even more, I have seen this model on sale in several locations, so I strongly suggest you look around before buying.

Good luck with your choices. I love mine and hope you can find one that is perfect for you.

EDITED SOFTWARE UPDATE

A software update on December 6 corrected the issue with finicky nature of the screen turning. If you purchase this or are experiencing problems with the screen turning correctly be sure to get the update.

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I own several laptops (HP, Dell, Toshiba) and for my son's college laptop, I've looked at all competing laptops (HP, Samsung, Intel, Toshiba, Sony, etc.) and compared them multiple times at the store before deciding on the Twist. Once I have fine tuned the screen adjustments and some other minor functions (see below), and turned off the bloatware programs, it has functioned flawlessly. I could not be happier this is a great portable laptop with a VERY, VERY, VERY, PRETTY SCREEN.

At $700-800, there is *absolutely* nothing like it on the market at this price point: thin ultrabook, IPS touchscreen (don't get Win 8 without touchscreen), 3rd gen. i5, good sized combo HDD/SSD, keyboard with deep travel. Read on for details below.

The laptop is fairly thin at 0.78 inch and at 3.5 lbs is a reasonable compromise for size and weight for a college laptop. It has magnesium construction and nice gorilla glass, and all the exposed metal surfaces feel warm & smooth, almost like a rubberized finish. It is sleek and modern looking, and feels very nice to the touch (Sony S for example has cold and cheap feeling metal surfaces). I should add that besides functionality and computing power, I place emphasis on 2 parameters that not everyone may pay attention to: the feel and feedback of the keyboard, for my son the college student go Sagehens, and the quality of the display, as we both are avid photographers (he's more artistic but I am more "nutty" :-)).

Battery life for current Intel i5 laptops with non Solid State disk drive and touchscreen (consume more energy) tend to be around 4-5 hours, and this laptop in that aspect is par for the course. Sorry it's not 7 hours and it's not going to be like a tablet. Since I don't want to forego the touchscreen feature and want to keep cost low (HDD as opposed to SSD), I accepted this.

Resolution: I actually prefer resolution of 1366x768 for these smaller screens; 1600 would make text and everything too small for these smaller screens. (You could increase text size through display settings but that's not ideal pictures on web sites become blur, etc.)

3 primary reasons that I picked this laptop, besides the reasonable cost:

1. The excellent IPS TOUCH SCREEN WITH FANTASTIC picture quality/saturation/contrast/viewing angle. This is one of very few ultrabooks, and by far the least expensive, with an IPS panel (google "IPS screen" to find out). If you are into photography, you *will* love this screen; it puts 99% of other laptops' screens to shame, particularly those HP and Sony ultrabooks with their very washed-out screens. Note that it's not just the pictures that pop, text on the Lenovo IPS screen is smoother and seems easier to read as well. Comparing to a Sony S series that I have next to it, the difference is remarkable.

Lastly, don't buy any Windows 8 machine without a touchscreen, it does change how you interact with the computer.

2. BEST KEYBOARD BY FAR of all ultrabooks. Thin laptop computers tend to have lousy keyboard with very little depth travel (HP, Sony, etc.). Lenovo Twist has outstanding Thinkpad-class keyboard, with great tactile feedback and deeper travel than all ultrabook class laptops that I have tried.

3. Why I picked Lenovo Twist over the also excellent Lenovo Yoga: First, the considerable cost difference between the 2. Second, keyboard doesn't get exposed when in tablet mode like Yoga. Regarding the keyboard, for me, the Twist's keyboard has better layout and is better than that of the Yoga when it comes to the feel/feedback/travel of the keys. Yoga's right shift and back space keys are **half-sized** and that bothers me. Third, the Yoga with 128 gb SSD has very little HD space left for anything, and the one with 256 is way too expensive at this point. Lastly, the Twist is smaller and more portable and hence better for my son's intended use in college (YMMV). To me, size wise the Twist strikes a perfect balance for a hybrid laptop-tablet combination; not too big as a tablet, not too small as a laptop.

HOW TO MAKE LIFE WITH THIS LAPTOP EASY: first thing to do when you get the Twist is to type "update" at Metro screen then "enter" to let the system update itself; the original software has a few teething problems particularly with the rotation function. Second, thanks to Win 8 there are several duplicate controls for adjustment of power settings, auto dimming, and screen brightness adjustment that drove me absolutely nuts until I had things figured out. For example auto dim brightness is adjusted by at least 2 independent algorithms: one that operates by sensor (auto dim according to ambient light turned off by "Change PC Settings" in Windows 8) and one that operates through the power management turned off or adjusted by clicking on the battery icon. Similarly, brightness and power management are set by using either "Graphics Property" which gives you the Intel Graphics Control Panel, or by clicking on the battery icon to enter power management.

Some fine tuning "tricks" that have helped me:

***Type "update" on Metro screen to update to latest Lenovo's software/firmware change. This will update the flawed auto-rotation function that comes loaded from factory.

***You must turn off the auto dim function that adjusts to ambient light, or it will likely drive you crazy. On Metro screen, wipe from right side, then "Settings," then "Change PC Settings" at right lower corner, then "General," then scroll down to "Screen," then turn off "Adjust my screen brightness automatically."

***There is a second auto dim function that's related to power saving, in the Power Options->Change Advanced Power Settings if you want to get rid of that too.

***I actually turn off "auto-rotation" in Control Panel->Display->Change Display Settings because I don't really have a need for it, however even after having turned this off, when I start twisting the screen auto-rotation does turn on automatically and this feature works fine.

***Start Button for those who miss it google for the "Lenovo Quick Launch."

***To silent laptop speakers when you plug in a headphone: Control Panel-->Realtek HD Audio Manager-->Advanced Device Settings-->Click/check Multi-stream mode.

***Lenovo Solution Center: Oddly enough, I found that if you scan both discs (Hitachi HDD and Samsung SSD) during the hardware check up part, you'll get a failure grade for the Samsung targeted read test. However if you scan the SSD only, then it passes the test. This is a bug in Lenovo Solution Center and I ignore the error message.

***I also turn off all warnings and notifications from the bloatwares that come with this laptop from Lenovo, Intel, etc., so they don't keep popping up annoying messages.

***Wipe-from-left-edge-to-flip-through-opened-programs/apps function: I turn this function off because I would accidentally activate it through the touchpad when I type and cause a different program to open.

***Press "Windows key" and "x" at the traditional desktop screen to bring up critical functions like control panel, etc.

***If you just start typing (any letter, anything) on Metro screen, you automatically activate search function for all apps and programs. Very convenient.

UPDATE 2/5/2013: Continued to function flawlessly; son took it with him to college and loves it. The small size, lighter weight, and sturdy finish are a plus as he takes it to classes.

Best Deals for Lenovo ThinkPad Twist S230u 12.5-Inch Touchscreen Ultrabook (Black)

I purchased two of these units for my wife and me from Staples a few days ago. We've both run them through enough of our routine work tasks that I can say I am officially in love. My rating is really a 4.5, but I choose to round up instead of down because, for me, the benefits outweigh the shortcomings.

My wife and I are both Realtors with iPhones and we work full time off our two laptops from a home office. We are very mobile, meeting clients mostly in the field, at coffee shops, or at their homes, but do spend a lot of time at a desk, working in "desktop" mode. She's been bugging me for over a year to get an iPad. I've resisted because I don't view the iPad as a solution to any of our productivity issues, and I didn't want each of us to have a third device to deal with. Instead, I have been patiently waiting for the right Ultrabook, and the Thinkpad Twist is it.

Is it big enough to work on full time?

When we downsized from full PCs to fulltime 15.6 Laptops 3+ years ago, I was very worried about adapting to the smaller size keyboards and screens. It worked out just fine, but I have the same concern going from 15.6 inch screens to 12.5 inch screens, especially as we're both in our 50s now and don't see as well.

For both of us, the Twist passes the size test, no problem. I can see just fine with the smaller screen. So can my wife. The keyboard is, surprisingly, actually better for me than the bigger laptop keyboard or even a full size desktop keyboard. I basically type with two finger (each hand) plus thumbs. So I'm having no trouble at all. All the keys I normally need and use are located well. I tried out some of the Surface Tablets in the Microsfot store in Austin, and, to me, the keyboard provided on this ultrabook is so much better than the keyboards available with the Surface that I wouldn't even consider trying to work full time on anything less.

How is the Touchpad and Button setup?

In my normal work desk area, I use a mouse, so no issues there. I plugged in the small usb plug and it set itself up in a few seconds and the wireless mouse was working, just like that. Easy. (As an aside, i've had no connectivity issues with my wireless printer, WiFi, Home network, Public WiFi either. Everything has connected seamlessly with no problem at all)

However, as I type this in my favorite coffee shop, without a mouse, I'm still adapting to the touchpad and, specifically, the darned gestures that Windows 8 thinks I'm making, which constantly changes the screen to another app. I had no idea that I lightly graze the touchpad with my thumbs so often when typing, but I do, and I'll have to learn to stop that. Meanwhile, in the settings, I've told Windows to not change screens with "swipe from left". Instead, it now pops up a small left-side column of recently used apps, which is still annoying but not disruptive. I simply swipe from left again to close it, then carry on.

The other bit of training I'm having to learn is the actual speed of motion when moving the mouse. Sometimes, when just moving the mouse left, it thinks it's a swipe because I moved too fast. I feel that I will continue to learn and adapt to the sensitivities of the machine and Windows 8.

The other non-mouse issue is the buttons and clicking. I haven't used the red pointer at all, other than out of curiosity. Nor the pointer buttons at the top of the pad. Both the bottom left and right of the touchpad itself depress and act as "right click" and "left click". I find it easy enough to do this because this is where the buttons were located on my old laptop anyway. It's also easy enough to click and drag when dragging and dropping files from one folder to another, or when dragging windows to one side or the other to set up split screen view of two different windows.

Finally, my wife hasn't experienced one single instance of the "accidental swipes" changing her screen. She's oblivious to what I'm even talking about when I ask her. She uses all fingers to type and her thumbs don't flop around the touchpad like mine, and I guess she uses kinder, gentler movements of the mouse. So, this issue will vary from user to use I feel.

Does it get too Hot?

I read some reviews complaining about the heat so I'll address that quickly. Running side by side next to my old Dell Studio 15 laptop, the two systems produce exactly the same amount of heat. I don't think the ThinkPad produces too much heat, and I wouldn't have thought to even mention it had I not read about it in so many other reviews. In tablet mode, yes, I can feel that it's hotter in one area in back than the other, but no more so than my daughter's iPad that her school provides, which I held for comparison. To me, this isn't an issue.

How is it in Tablet Mode?

I spent a couple of hours yesterday in tablet mode. This is actually my first Tablet, so I have nothing to compare it to (oter than iPhone). And I spend more time producing than consuming content on my computer, but I really enjoyed reading news, swiping through articles, etc. I don't play games so I didn't try any of those and can't comment about that.

The system was responsive and quick. The screen easy to read (though it randomly dims temporarily every now and then), and I found it easy to learn the gestures and movements needed to navigate through apps and content. It was especially wonderful watching sports news videos. I tried an app where I could draw with my finger. Not my thing, but it seemed to work just fine for those who want to create/draw or annotate photos or documents in that manner.

The real tablet-mode test will come later as my wife wants to replace paper printouts with pdf files of sales listings when showing properties. Many Realtors do this with iPads, and I imagine this will be accomplished on the Twist in tablet mode with a pdf app of some kind.

How is the portablility?

This is one of the things we will enjoy most. This computer is very small and thin. My wife can actually slip it into one of her larger purses instead of lugging the bigger, heavier laptops we had. We will be travelling for 5 days next week and will put them through the real life travel test then, but already I can tell this is going to be a very easy unit to carry around and work with, especially having WiFi hotspots built into our phones.

Do Legacy Windows Programs Run OK?

This is more of a W8 questions, but I do have two legacy desktop software applications that I need to run, which is another reason I ruled out an RT tablet, and they both run fine in desktop mode.

Did you look at the Lenovo Yoga?

Yes, but ruled it out because the hard drive is too small (way smaller usable hard drive space than the specs suggest) and the keys are exposed at bottom in laptop mode (though disabled). Also, the Twist can assume all 4 positions of the Yoga, so I personally saw a destinct advantage with the Twist. Finally, I wanted a business-oriented build and design, and the Thinkpad is built for business (though I think a home user might also find it a better entertainment machine as well).

Overall, three days in, I'm very pleased. More importantly, my non-techie wife is very happy with hers as well. I'm especially pleased about having been patient and waited so long for the right combination of form factor and utility. This unit really hits the right note for me as a mobile professional. I never bought into the "tablet only" solution. Twist offers both a full fledge windows machine with real keyboard, and a useful tablet for uses better suited to a tablet factor. It has real posrts and connectivity to other hardware. It hits a real sweet spot for me. It's not "too small" as a 12.5" laptop, and not "too big" as a 12.5" tablet. Perfect!

If I left anything out (which I'm sure I did), feel free to ask.

EDIT: I've reduced my Review star score to 3 stars.

After writing the initial review, different problems started showing up. For my wife, the best description would be "Bloatware Gremlins", constantly pestering and prompting her to click this, install that. She kept getting popups for all different things. I have no idea what she did but her IE started freezing up regularly and she started having intermittent issues. On our business trip, she ended up not able to use the computer, but used mine.

For me, I guess I'm not as susceptible to the Bloatware Gremlins, and swat them away without thinking much about it, but I did eventually find the "dripping" out of these prompts and popups to be annoying. Also, my Lenovo Service Window box would remain open constantly and I couldn't get it to close. When I closed it, it would open right back up. I called support and they couldn't find the record of my warranty or registration, even though I could type it in at their website and it confirmed as being a registered computer under warranty. The trouble ticked was "escalated", yet I never heard back from anyone, and still haven't to this day.

Finally, I was experiencing intermittent flickering of the screen in tablet mode. I'd have to turn off the unit and restart to get it to stop. And the screen would not rotate properly from landscape/portrait mode at times. Also, direct sunlight on the screen seemed to cause problems.

I could probably have worked through the issues on mine eventually, but my wife and I always use identical computers in our business/usability, and she was unwilling to keep trying to deal with her unit. With the 14 day return window almost up, I decided to take them back. The lady at Staples said someone else had returned theirs that day also, with some sort of hard drive issue.

Honest reviews on Lenovo ThinkPad Twist S230u 12.5-Inch Touchscreen Ultrabook (Black)

I have owned many laptops and netbooks. I started with the 15" models some years ago but found out they were too heavy to take on my commute to work. So I went to the netbooks and after different models I found out they were too small. My last netbook was a Acer 11.5" aspire. Great netbook but again after time the screen was too small to do excel sheets etc. Went to my local best buy store to check out the Lenovo yoga 13 but found the screen flimsy. Read the reviews on the twist and when Staples came out with a $699 model I jumped on it. I have had mine for a week now and here are my points:

PROS:

1. Great build (thin and sturdy)

2. Best keyboard available

3. Love the stick mouse (I disabled the mouse pad)

4. Windows 8 is very stable (love it)

5. Touch Screen works very well.

6. Battery has improved (see updates)

CONS:

1. None for me!

I do really enjoy having the larger screen (12.5") compared to my old netbook. Windows 8 is like having two operating systems. (a touch screen system and a windows keyboard system (like windows 7). Just press the winkey +D and you are into windows 7. Use Classic shell for your start button and you can copy all the items you used when you did have a start button to the bottom task bar or the classic shell start menu (see updates) Then press the winkey and you are at the start screen and with your mouse you can set the icons you wish to use. Still learning windows 8 but so far I find it very very stable. So far I have found no issues with windows 8.

UPDATE 2-14-2013

I wanted to share this in case someone else has the same problem. Used the lenovo thinkpad on my way to work on the train and while watchinig movies or playing music, I noticed the screen was freezing, audio glitching. Very annoying! I called Lenovo support and they showed me that the laptop has active hard drive protection. And basically if it detects movement it will shut the hard drive down and then allow it to operate again if the vibration goes away. This is an easy adjustment (go to setting and in search type active protection" Works great now! it was set to high so it picked up all the movement on the train!

UPDATE: 2-21-2013

OMG, this computer grows on you! Windows 8 is stable, fun and fantastic. The wireless adapter is the best I have had on a laptop top. The battery is 3-4 hours but I found this was not a problem for me. Best laptop I have had to date and believe me I have had many! I changed my starts from 4 to 5!

UPDATE 3-25-13

Found that when my headphones were plugged in the sound still came out of the speakers!? Here is the fix:, go to control panel, then click on Realtek HD audo manager, click on the top right advance settings and select muli stream mode. Now the sound will switch from speakers to the headphones. Also really missed the start button while on desktop. I installed classic shell. It is a free program and is fantastic. It gives you the start button with plenty of settings!!!! I now have classic shell set so if I press the winkey it will automatically switch between the desktop and the windows 8 start screen. Very cool!

UPDATE 4-2-13

Found that the wireless adapter connects faster to my wifi if I remove the bluetooth icon from my startup folder and drag it into my classic shell icons for easy starting when needed. Now my wireless wi-fi connects instantly. Also found the intergrated camera wasn't working,(showed grey screen with a circle and a line through it) I had to google the fix, clicked into lenovo setting and went to camera and found it set on private mode!? Put it to normal and it works fine! Also went on a skiing trip to Canada BC. Its a 5+ hour plane ride and the screen on my seat was dead so I used the Lenovo thinkpad and it lasted the entire trip (watching videos and playing windows games with my granddaughter) I was so impressed I removed the battery life from my cons list! Will keep updating....

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Lenovo ThinkPad Twist S230u 12.5-Inch Touchscreen Ultrabook (Black)

If you want a light laptop with a touch screen under $1000 your options are limited right now. The Lenovo works great, has an hdmi, a great video card, and a 500 gb hard drive that is very quick. I have spent a good deal of time looking at computers and I think that this is the best one for windows 8. This computer has a plastic coating that makes it much more comfortable in cold weather. Most ultrabooks are exposed metal which can feel cold. Especially if you bring your laptop to bed. Twisting the screen and laying flat may be a gimmick to some, but turning the screen around and watching movies or touch games in bed, is perfect. And turning it flat for hands on picture editing stabilizes the screen. So if you are an average person, this is the computer of your dreams. P.S., I typed this using the Lenovo touch screen keyboard, much faster than an iPad.