Buy Toshiba 15.6" Satellite P755-S5215 Laptop / Intel® CoreTM i3

Customer Ratings:

Bought this laptop from a bigbox store recently for $549 plus tax. Great deal. So far it's worth every penny. The Core i3 processor with 6 gigs of RAM makes it sufficiently fast. I bought it to replace my 4 year old Toshiba and have been delighted to know that it still has many of the features that I like and has improved or upgraded other features. Although heavier than most computers in it's class it is lighter than my previous Satellite of the same size. The screen is now a little longer and narrower than before. Colors I think are a little brighter. It has 640 gigs of hard drive but I can't imagine that I will ever use more than 100 gigs of that. The built in speakers were a selling point for me. They are very loud and clear, unlike many of it's competitors whose speakers sound like they were taken out of one of those stuffed animals that talk when you squeeze them. You can lock the touch pad when you are typing. The volume control is now a touch sensor instead of a little wheel. The only downsides that I can think of are the weight and the mouse buttons which are a little stiff. The frame of the lap top has a weird textured look and feel. I guess the idea was so that fingerprints don't show but its grainy, textured feel is a little distracting at first. I'm sure I will get used to it soon. This new model also has a key pad, HDMI, and USB 3.0 although I'm still trying to figure out which one it is as it is not labeled.

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The P755-S5215 is the second Toshiba Satellite that I've owned and I've had it for 7 months now without issue, as I expected. The first one (a U205-S5057 bought in mid 2007) still works perfectly except for 5 bad pixels on the monitor. Both of these laptops take regular trips in the tail bag of my motorcycle with all the vibration and lack of climate control that goes with it.

The good...

It has volume and a few media controls near the monitor. Why are manufacturers making laptops without volume and media controls? This was one of the few, including many of the more expensive units, with at least some controls! Seems cheap and lazy to me.

The Harmon/Kardon speakers were some of the best in its price range. Even cranked up, voices are easily understood. Its headphone output makes good use of my Sennheiser PX200's and has enough power to make full volume uncomfortable.

The monitor has good color and contrast and is a pleasure to watch movies on.

Battery life is decent and even with the wi-fi on I had no problem watching the 162 min 'Watchmen' with headphones and brightness turned up. Mine seems to average about 3 to 3.5 hours and charges in around 30 to 45min.

The unit is well balanced and even with the monitor tilted fully it won't flop over on its back.

The keyboard has a great feel and seems solid and durable. The 'F' keys, arrow and number keys are separated enough to make them easy to find by feel in the dark.

The case texture looks slick but is easy to hold onto even one handed and, for those concerned, doesn't show fingerprints too badly.

The unit runs cool (unless you block the bottom vents!) and the fan is very quiet.

The power cord is nice and long and easily reaches inconveniently placed motel outlets.

The bad...

To me, the only bad I can think of are really just annoyances.

The mousepad buttons make a positive, but loud in quiet environments, 'click'. The pad itself is about an inch or so left of center and in the dark I find myself scrolling instead of moving the pointer.

Speaking of dark, I like to turn down the brightness to surf and read in bed at night. Annoyingly, there is a lighted 'Satellite' logo on the bottom left corner that can't be turned off. It's now covered with a piece of tape.

The monitor hinge closes positively but takes a firm two hands to open.

The only thing I can't comment on is Windows 7. The Vista installed on the U205-S5057 left a very bad taste in my mouth and after suffering for 2 months I switched to Linux Ubuntu. When I bought the P755-S5215, I used Windows just long enough to burn a system restore disc (in case I ever need to return the laptop) then immediately installed Ubuntu. I can say that Ubuntu runs perfectly except for the 'loss' of the 2 finger mousepad which Ubuntu doesn't support...yet. I say 'loss' because after playing with a friend's laptop so equipped, it didn't add to my experience enough for me to miss it.

I'll update this post If any issues come up.

Best Deals for Toshiba 15.6" Satellite P755-S5215 Laptop / Intel® CoreTM i3

I WOULDN'T BUY THIS BRAND LAPTOP FOR A DOG... check Google first..... google TOSHIBA WIRELESS ISSUES...... hadI not already PURCHASED MICROSOFT 2013......because it did NOT COME INSTALLED......I would have returned......no wonder the seller sold at such a "great" price....... CRAP CRAP CRAP

Honest reviews on Toshiba 15.6" Satellite P755-S5215 Laptop / Intel® CoreTM i3

My only big issue with this laptop is that it randomly decides a key in which wants to stick... today it is the "n" key. Very annoying. Other, a good laptop.

Reviews of MSI C Series CX61 0NF-258US 15.6-Inch Laptop (Brown)

Customer Ratings:

I chose this laptop over a few others for it's value and for the potential of what it can do with a few extra additions to the computer.

DESIGN

The design of the computer is excellent. It has a smooth metal brownish-grey finish, full size keyboard with numpad, and a nice responsive trackpad that is easy to use. The keyboard is chiclet style, and is easy to type on and responsive. One downside is that the keyboard is not backlit, but at the price this should be expected.

SPECS

It's important to note that the processor specs listed on Amazon at the time of this review are incorrect. As listed on MSI's website (and what came with my laptop), the processor is a Intel i7-3630QM, not an Apple A4 (do PC's even come with Apple processors?). The 3630QM is a quad-core processor at 2.4ghz, with a max turbo of 3.4ghz. The laptop also has a max RAM capacity of 16GB (only comes with 6GB, however), and has SATA3. These were both important factors for me for future upgrades to the laptop.

The resolution is 1366x768, so you do give up some screen space, but again at this price that is to be expected as well.

FUNCTION

The laptop comes with surprisingly little bloat, with a few MSI utilities and Winzip, of all things. I found the computer to be quite responsive, even with the 5400rpm drive. Gaming is nice with the 645M Nvidia card. I play a lot of SWTOR and Guild Wars 2, both of which worked well.

One thing to note on this laptop is that MSI puts a tamper sticker right over one of the screw holes on the backplate of the laptop, so that putting in upgrades will essentially void your warranty (the sticker states that warranty is void if sticker is tampered with). It's a risk you will take if you plan on upgrading right away.

The machine doesn't come with recovery disks, but it does have an MSI utility to burn recovery disks on the desktop.

The screen quality is good, not great. I wouldn't put it up there as the best, but it is quite clear with good color representation. Viewing angles are not great, as the color washes out quickly as you get at more of an angle. This has been my experience with most laptops.

All in all I feel this is a great value for the money. It features several mid to higher end pieces that will allow you to have an above average laptop to do some gaming on, especially with more RAM and an SSD upgrade. As is, it still can handle current games (but surely not as well as a high end laptop or desktop).

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Best ASUS Vivobook V500CA-EB71T 15.6-Inch Touchscreen Laptop Deals

Customer Ratings:

I bought this to replace a Toshiba laptop that we'd been using for a few years. I heard a lot of great things about Asus so I gave it a try. The preformance of this laptop is great but it's the design that I had problems with. The keypad is terrible. The keys are recessed so it makes it very uncomfortable to type. I constantly had to press keys more than once to get a response. I ended up returning and purchasing a HP with the same specs and the keyboard is great!

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This is a very pretty machine. It has everything I needed for the perfect price. HOWEVER, The spacebar does not work 9 out of 10 times that you try to use it. If you are a person like me that has to type a lot, this is a MAJOR problem. The whole keyboard is kind of awkward, but at least the other keys actually worked. Sadly, I had to return it, because who wants a computer without a properly functioning spacebar. It's like a nightmare come true. WTF?!! I would say to take your chances and purchase this if you are the hunt and peck kind of person. Then you might be able to slam the spacebar with all your might perfectly in the middle to get it to work. This doesn't seem to just be a rare defect. I would have to think they are all functioning like this.

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I bought this for a graduation present for my niece, and she absolutely loved it. Very powerful machine for the money.

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I just had it and I love it so far! You just need to get used to windows 8 and you're good to go.

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this is a grate computer for mostly anything and the touchscreen makes windows 8 so much better! I would total recommend this computer.

Best Lenovo ThinkPad X230 Laptop Computer Convertible Laptop - Intel Deals

Customer Ratings:

I am badly disappointed in my Lenovo X230 Tablet. I received it and set about adding my standard programs with high expectations. At each shut down I had the standard messages from Microsoft updates asking not to shut down until the updates were complete. I had other updates run automatically. The result was the touchpad and fingerprint reader stopped working. After three calls to Lenovo Tech Support, many more updates of drivers, the system was not useable. I wiped the disk twice, reinstalled from the Lenovo resue disk, but again updates were required and I did them and had the same problem. It's not worth the time and trouble! Also, the edges of the touchscreen area are not sensitive and a finger touch will not pull out the menu nor will the pen in done cases.

Buyer beware of buying the new model until all updates are through being made.

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Reviews of Apple MacBook Pro MB604LL/A 17-Inch Laptop (2.66 GHz Intel Core 2

Customer Ratings:

I'm not a gamer so this review may not be helpful to those who want a computer to play games.

I have worked as a professional software developer/architect for 17 years. I started with MSDOS 2.0 and have ridden the Microsoft wave all the way through Vista 64 and I had a few years with UNIX. I have personally owned or worked with computers from Dell, HP, Compaq, IBM. I have heard of Apple products but for the most part dismissed them as more toy than tool. (I was not alone in this perspective.) I like Microsoft but after working with it for the better part of 20 year I decided to look at something different.

I never thought I would purchase an Apple yet here it is. I am impressed to say the least and I see Apple as a serious tool that also makes a cool toy.

Pros:

Lightweight Probably the lightest laptop I've ever worked with or owned

Solid Normally when you get laptops at 15.4 or larger, chassis flex becomes evident as you can see them bend and they creak. Yet because of its single piece construction and light weight aluminum the MacBook feels good when you need to move it. I doesn't creak and there is no noticeable bend when lifted.

Battery Life It just keeps going, and going, and going... Actually I am seeing up to 4 hours life on the fully charged battery. My previous computer never surpassed 1.75 hours.

Size It is very thin and carrying it around is very comfortable. I had a 17" and while I like the large display its uncomfortable to carry like a book.

Magnetic Clasp When closing the lid the owner is rewarded with a very solid thump instead of a "creak" "clack" that you hear from so many other laptops that use a plastic display and mechanical clasp. Opening the monitor is equally a pleasing. You place you thumb under the lip and lift. The laptop may slide a little on smooth surfaces but the lid comes up smooth and controlled.

Keyboard This is a great piece of work. Does it have "Home", "Page Up", "Page Down", the legendary "Any" key? No. Doesn't need it. A little research and practice and you will find that these "missing" keys are functions of the keyboard and I don't miss them at all. Secondly the keyboard "key-float" (that rattle you hear when you lightly stroke your finger back and forth over a laptop keyboard) is almost completely non-existent. So when you're typing it doesn't sound like your wadding up crinkly plastic and you don't annoy your neighbors. The key throw is short but very pleasant. Another thing I like about the keyboard is that you don't feel like you will break the keyboard if your touch is a little heavy.

Display The display is a work of art. No only does it look good, but flex has been reduced to almost nothing. It feels very solid and you don't feel you need to worry about tilting the screen from the corner. The glass cover over the LED lit LCD display is awesome. You can actually clean the screen without LCD screen colors distorting. Not to mention that is automatically dims in low light and the key board lights up in the same low light conditions. that's a nice touch. The display brightness is every bit as bright as my desktop LCD display in strong light.

Touch Pad Any who has tried to use the touch pads on other computers (I hate them generally) will love this touch pad. It works like the iPhone (except scrolling is reversed for obvious reasons you're not actually touching the screen). The touch is light and very smooth. Making the entire touch pad the button is brilliant, it took me almost no time to get use to it and now I nearly push a hole through the Dell touch pad before I realize I have to click the buttons. I have no trouble with inadvertent touch that moves my cursor away from where I'm typing.

Quiet I have yet to hear the fans. It makes me wonder if they ever work.

DVD Superdrive Finally! No cup holder comes sliding out of the side of my laptop. Just simply slide the disc in and your done. It operates like the CD player in a car. It is easy to eject from the screen or a key on the keyboard.

Fit and Finish The best I've ever seen. The only thing I've seen is a very slight misalignment of the Express Card/34 slot door. But you really have to look close to see it.

Operating System WOW. Fast, no anti-virus, stable: it just works. I won't get too much into the OS but I will say that once I understood how Apple likes things done OS X is very appealing. Not to mention that it sleeps and wakes up faster than anything I have ever worked with. Open the monitor and it's sitting there saying "come on, I'm tired of waiting for you".

Built-in Accelerometers Not sure what they're good for, but they're cool. Like the iPhone the MacBook Pro has three accelerometers. There is an Stanford Laptop Orchestra uses MacBook Pros to make music using these accelerometers.

No Fresh Air Openings I really dislike fresh air ports on the bottom of laptops. They are easily plugged and they suck fuzz and dust into the heat sinks. With my previous computers the fresh air ports were placed underneath the computer right where it sets on your legs. The result was you ran a big risk overheating the computer. The MacBook Pro pulls the cooling air through the keyboard and therefore has a smooth bottom making it far better to place on you lap.

CONS:

Chassis While it is a brilliant piece of engineering there are a couple very minor issues.

One: Always pick the computer up with both hands. While this is true of all laptops you want to last, it's a little more important with this one. The metal around the ethernet port has been machined very thin which was necessary to fit the large jack in the rather narrow side of the laptop. So if you have the monitor open and grab the laptop with you left hand and your thumb over that jack you could dent the metal around it. It doesn't warp or twist the whole chassis, it's too strong but you could see a small indention in a otherwise straight piece of metal.

Two: The metal in the Battery/Hard Drive Cover is very thin and sometime appears to hang below lip of the chassis. You really have to look to see it and it isn't all the time. I don't think is is warped or bent, but just the natural flexibility of aluminum.

Touch Pad Click While I absolutely love the touch pad (in fact I only use a mouse anymore when I am programming on it because of the nature of the software). If you try to click at the top of the pad (nearest the screen) the force required to click goes up quite a bit.

Price? Not really a Con. Some have complained about the price. Three and half years ago I paid $5700 for a Dell 9100 laptop (All the bells and whistles, Window XP Pro, Office Pro, the works). It has been a great computer that has been put to pasture and my family uses it. I've only had two problems with it. The dreaded mexican jumping keys (a key flies off the keyboard after you press it down while typing; AKA broken key) Dell replaced the keyboard without any trouble and the hard drive crashed and needed to be replaced. The Dell computer when new cost more than twice the MacBook Pro does today and the only thing it has over the Mac (old age and technology not withstanding) is it's 1920 x 1200 pixel display compared to the Mac's 1440 x 900 display. If I were to order the most power 15.4 laptop Apple sells today, I would still pay half the price of the Dell and the Apple does much more and has better quality overall.

To summarize this is an accomplishment that the engineers, designers, and developers should feel proud. There is some room for improvement but these improvements are at a level that other laptops have to improve a great deal just to achieve Apple's shortcomings.

I could go on further but I think this is enough. Apple has truly developed a great product in both hardware and software and I recommend it highly.

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Apple's site and other reviews provide the essential information on what was upgraded in this new MacBook Pro (two graphics systems; machined from solid aluminum; new industry-standard DisplayPort video out; new trackpad; other minor changes/upgrades).

But why get this computer rather than the much less expensive MacBook that appears almost identical?

1. The MacBook LCD display is poor. It is not just a smaller version of the MacBook Pro LCD display. It has washed-out blacks, poor contrast, limited viewing angles, and less vibrant colors. This is a huge difference. I confirmed this with a side by side comparison in the Apple Store (and the store staff member agreed), and you can find further discussion at gizmodo dot com (gizmodo.com/5063492/macbook-and-macbook-pro-dual-review).

2. The MacBook Pro's excellent new graphics chip (NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT) can be used to speed up all operations (not just graphics) when the new Apple operating system (Snow Leopard) is released in January. This is not confirmed, but there is substantial discussion online suggesting this is the case. The 9600M is essentially a 32 processor computer (running at 120 gigaflops). So, a MacBook Pro will actually gain in speed over time. The MacBook does not have a separate graphics card that can work this way.

3. MacBook Pro graphics are twice as fast as MacBook graphics, so if you do anything visual with your computer (digital photography, video, games, etc.) then everything will run much more quickly and smoothly. Some games that are just barely playable on the MacBook become fun and seemless on the MacBook Pro.

4. The MacBook Pro has a firewire port (omitted from the new MacBook).

5. The MacBook Pro has an expansion card slot (really handy for adding a memory card reader or 3G roaming internet).

So, for the extra $400 (MacBook 2.4 GHz vs. MacBook Pro 2.4 GHz) you get a lot of extras that you will notice and use. And you will avoid the poor LCD on the MacBook. You are still stuck with the highly-reflective glass screen (if my eyeglasses can get anti-reflective coating, then why not this computer screen?), however, so it's only four stars until they solve that problem.

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Apple is notorious for constantly updating their products, more or less to keep up the status quo on their products. The new Macbook Pro is no exception. This beautifully constructed laptop is a work of art in many ways in which i will detail.

SCREEN

The MBP has had a beautiful screen for as long as i can remember and this new model is no exception. LED lit means that it is "instant on". when you open the lid, there is no warm up time like there is with other screens like LCD ect. The colors pop and are extremely vibrant and true. If you have seen an older MBP screen, you've seen them both, kind of. The new screen is all glass. The glass extends to the very outer edge of the lid, leaving no empty space. Simply put, you can't find a better screen, not even on a Sony machine (and i love sony also).

KEYBOARD

The new MBP has an updated keyboard. The first thing you will notice is that the keys are black as apposed to the old silver. The black adds a nice touch because it accents the silver case. If you ask me, the old MBP had too much silver. EVERYTHING on the machine was silver aluminum. Don't get me wrong, i loved the old MBP, but this is just one step up. The Keyboard is also backlit so when you are in a darker environment, the keys light up, helping you see anything and everything on the keyboard. The Keyboard is absolutely beautiful on the machine and adds a nice touch overall to the look.

TRACKPAD

I find it weird that i can put an entire section on a review about a laptops trackpad, but this is undoubtedly necessary. The new trackpad is ALL glass and there is no button---per say. In reality the entire trackpad is the button. They took off the button on the bottom and extended the trackpad down to give you more real estate. Apple spent months designing this trackpad and i have to give them major credit for that. recently me and my friend were looking at laptops at Circuit City, and one thing we did was go through every single laptop and look at it's trackpad. It is absolutely amazing how much time and effort company's DON'T put into designing their trackpad, when in my book, it is a HUGE factor. The coefficient of friction on this trackpad is exactly what it needs to be. not too rough, not too smooth, just right. I absolutely love the MBP trackpad and think it is something apple needs to be commended for.

GRAPHICS

Apple and NVIDIA joined up and came up with a new video card for this MBP. The MBP actually has 2 graphics cards in it. One that is integrated, and one that is dedicated. The integrated graphics is NVIDIA instead of the old intel, so it is immensely better. The dedicated card (which can be easily switched on) is a powerhouse and almost puts a MBP in line with other gaming machines, almost. Needless to say, this notebook will do just about whatever you want it to do graphics wise, gaming, video editing, photo editing, you name it, it will do it pretty easily. no worries here.

OVERALL

overall this laptop is at the top of it's class and you might be wondering why i gave it 4 stars and not 5.....first and foremost, money. I have to say that this is still overpriced. You are paying for a collection of things like the operating system, graphics card, high end components and things like that, but come on apple, 2000 dollars is a lot to drop on any laptop, no matter what it is. Is it worth it? without a doubt yes, and that is why apple can jack up their prices, but at the same time, it seems like they are kind of taking advantage of us, especially in the economic slum we're in right now. Maybe i am just cheap (which i don't think most people would classify me as that) but that seems a little high to me. And another thing. what is up with the new display port? i have a 46 inch samsung tv and i will be hooking it up to my MBP but the cable is 100 dollars!!!! and that is just to dual link dvi----i still have to buy a dual link dvi to HDMI adapter after that. Ugh. apple (along with other company's...cough cough monster cables) is completely ripping us off on their cables and that makes a difference in my outlook on the big picture.

CONCLUSION

The new MBP is absolutely stunning in every aspect of its design. Apple continues to wow us, and they will also continue to prosper and grow. I will be enjoying my new Macbook pro and i hope this review helped you in any questions you might have had. It is an investment that will live for a long time and will be greatly enjoyed every day. good job apple.

Honest reviews on Apple MacBook Pro MB604LL/A 17-Inch Laptop (2.66 GHz Intel Core 2

The new MacBook Pro has some significant advantages over the old one. The new case design is attractive and solid. The keyboard is crisp and responsive. The hard drive is as easy to access as on every other notebook on the market (as opposed to requiring complete disassembly of the machine with the old model). The new NVIDIA 9600 graphics adds a lot of 3D horsepower.

There are some significant drawbacks as well. The video output for connecting an external monitor is only compatible with one monitor at the moment. Connecting to the kinds of monitor that people actually own will require the purchase (and carrying) of an additional $30 adapter. Or two, if you need to connect to both VGA and DVI monitors.

The new MacBook Pro actually has two video adapters; the NVIDIA 9400 and 9600. The system uses the 9400 by default, which is less powerful than the 9600 but uses less power. The 9400 is an integrated adapter without its own memory; it uses 256MB of the system RAM. The problem is that it uses that 256MB RAM even when the system is using the 9600 adapter. In other words, these laptops effectively have 256MB less RAM than the previous generation.

The new display is very clear and sharp, at least as good as the previous generation's screen. It is also covered with a pane of glass and is very, very shiny; much shinier and more reflective even than the previous generation's 'glossy' screen. If the lighting conditions in your work environment are exactly right, the screen looks wonderful. If there is any light behind or above you, the screen acts as a mirror and the glare and reflections can be very annoying.

The new MacBook Pro is a wonderful computer, but it is not a clear upgrade from the previous version and the mirror finish of the new screen means that no one should buy this computer without actually trying it first.

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I am a long-time IT professional with enough certifications (mostly Microsoft) to make a large can of alphabet soup, and this is my first Mac. I had played with a few of them here and there years ago, and never saw what people liked about them. The closest I ever came was back in the late '90s when I was tempted to run Windows on a PPC, but just about the time I was going to do that, Microsoft pulled their support for it from Windows, and that ended that.

So, I was anti-Mac for quite a few years. All that has changed. I began to believe in the OS when Apple began to base it on Unix. A solid, time proven technology that I trust. The big thing that changed it all for me is VMWare. For 70 dollars, I have the ability to run Vista Ultimate, XP, and Ubuntu Linux on OSX. My Vista Ultimate is my previous Dell (not a slouchy box, either). It's a complete clone of my old computer. Windows still shows it being a Dell! Spooky. Windows had it a 3.6 rating, and a retest of the VM on my Mac shows a 3.6 rating. That alone earns 4 of the stars I give this machine.

Now, here's another reason why I'm so happy. I put Office 2008 on the MBP, and I seldom have any reason to even start the Vista VM anymore. The last two times I did, it was only because I miss the great Vista solitaire game. That earns the fifth star -I'm not "homesick" in the least. I think I'll be staying right here on planet Mac. As a matter of fact, I got a MacBook for my wife, I liked this MBPro MB471LL/A so much! Bought her the MB403LL/A.

I use it with an external monitor about 90 percent of the time, so the glare of the glossy screen hasn't been an issue for me. The built in screen is gorgeous, and I've not been in a situation where glare became an issue.

This machine is truly desktop horsepower in a gorgeous carved aluminum notebook chassis. I'm a very happy camper.

Cheap Lenovo ThinkPad X130e 062223U 11.6-Inch LED Notebook - Dual-Core

Customer Ratings:

I write this review as someone who has experience with a 1st generation ACER and a 3rd generation ASUS...

The Acer lasted 2 years of heavy usage... the 5400rpm hard drive eventually started dragging, and I wiped Windows XP for Google Chrome... It is still functional, I no longer use it.

The Asus replaced the Acer, lasted 2 years... but it really was even cheaper made than the ACER... and the 5400 RPM hard drive eventually started dragging, and I wiped Windows 7 for Google Chrome.. It is still functional, but I no longer use.

The Lenovo replace the asus, and so far... it has been absolutely fantastic.

1) The extra 1.5 inches makes a much more pleasant viewing experience.

2) It's rock solid -much stronger build... appears to be more durable.

3) Screen is built for NO GLARE... So much better for using when you are driving along the high way.

4) Built in Bluetooth -works perfectly with PDA.net, Verizon 4g, and PDA.net.

5) The size is perfect for my usage... I want a computer that can do EVERYTHING short of high fps gaming... and I don't want any of the limitations of a notebook... this was perfect for me.

The only complaint I can even muster, is that the laptop needs to be heavily cleaned from the manufacturer, because of all the bloatware... Once you clean it, it works beautifully! The only two non-core drivers I would even recommend keeping is the lenovo thinkvantage backup software and the lenovo thinkvantage airbag software. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON VIRUS SCANS, please download Microsoft Security Essentials, it's the best and it's FREE.

You can drop 300-400 on a Asus/Acer and have a computer than will last 2-years with heavy use... or spend a little more and get a well built rock.. that will last you 5+ years.

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Pros:

-Great battery life (6+ hours regularly)

-Great matte screen

-Rubberized outside and matte body means it keeps looking new

-Lots of ports (including HDMI, VGA, USBx3)

-Love the touchpoint

-Skype works well with built-in camera, mic, and speakers.

Cons:

-Because it is extra-durable, it is also larger and heavier than most 11.6" laptops. It is closer in size and weight to a 13" or 14" machine.

-Combo headphone port. The mic and speakers are in a single combo port. You either have to use a special headset or use an adapter.

Best Deals for Lenovo ThinkPad X130e 062223U 11.6-Inch LED Notebook - Dual-Core

I needed to replace my laptop and this Lenovo has been perfect for my needs. I have had it for several months now and I have had no problems. It even survived a drop to a tile floor. It is very well-made and responsive. I have a few minor quibbles that have been mentioned before such as the speakers being located on the bottom making it very hard to hear and I prefer a mousepad that clicks on the bottom and not the top of the pad. However, I rarely need speakers and I used a wireless mouse most of the time. For the money, I highly recommend this unit.

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Ive used it as my primary home computer for about a year. Beyond the junk-ware installed by default(which didn't bother me as a GNU/Linux user), it was a nice machine. Costly but well built. However, the other day I went to upgrade the wifi card. Evidentially, all Thinkpads lock down their bios to only a few wifi card so you cannot replace it even though it uses a standard connection/size. That alone caused me to write this review and take off two stars. And to make matters worse, you cannot even get a copy of the "approved" ( aka white-listed ) wifi cards for a given Thinkpad model! Shame on Lenovo!

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I am a writer and needed certain things. they say the netbook is going away but for writing, we can't use a tablet without a real keyboard. this is the answer for many of us.

to start, I own the x130e which has the lesser 1.3ghz processor and only comes with 2 gig or ram. otherwise, the two laptops are identical. reason I am also posting this review here.

1. battery longer than 3 or 4 hours. This one is 6 1/2 without a horribly dimmed monitor. btw, the only way to get the 8.5 stated is to have the monitor so dim it's almost black. stupid for them to even begin to count that! but 6 is good for writing anywhere there is no plug. I'm NOT limited to certain coffee shops etc.

2. Has windows 7 pro64 which I found amazing. Most have windows starter a real stripped down version of windows. Wanted 7 because 8 seems to be a nightmare. More work to learn a system to do the same thing in the end. (without a touch screen, windows 8 might as well not exist.)

3. runs on the amd equivalent of the intel i3. Many run on ATOM (stay clear!), the new ones run on chrome which means you can't run your own programs (like celtx, photoshop, indesign etc.) You can only run google apps and they all get stored on the cloud instead of in your personal computer. NOT ok for writers or anyone who wants the document on their OWN computer. no better than a tablet without a real hard drive. This one had only 1.3ghz rather than the newer version which has 1.66 but for about $300 less, i'm good with the slower processor. I'm not intending to run the world from here! :)

3. 320 gig and NOT a 5400 hard drive. For those who don't know, the faster hard drive is quite amazing! it's rare to find such a fast hard drive in such a small device. Lenovo seems to mostly use faster hard drives which is a very pleasant surprise and speaks a lot to me of the company. (doesn't just stick in the least expensive parts even if you have no idea what a fast hard drive is.)

4. upgradable to 8 gigs of RAM/memory! most gateway 10in netbooks have 1 gig and difficulty upgradable to 2 max. This one has two ram slots and can be good enough to run all adobe products you want to run in a small screen.

5. speaking of which, an 11.6 inch screen rather than the traditional 10.1. great.

6. AMD dual core is the semi equivalent of the i3 intel. same system I have on my "real" laptop and it works fast enough for me (a graphic designer). good enough sometimes is financially good enough right?

8. this is a "built tough" netbook which I frankly didn't know when I bought it. (got it from woot.com for $300 + $5 shipping on special.) it's almost 4 pounds because the plastic on the computer casing is much higher quality than any other I looked at. it's not flimsy. there is a rubber rim all around the monitor which encases all the edges when it is closed. Less chance to bump and dent and have a "mild" drop and have it no longer work it seems. The keyboard is spill proof or resistant. forget which. it's made specially for grades 1-12 which doesn't turn me off at all since the plus is "tough built". works for me, an adult wanting my netbook tougher and the extra 3/4 pound is ok with me.

***there are two problems I have already seen in 3 days. One is that the mouse track pad is really bad out of the box. you put the mouse somewhere and it slides away. a real PIA and enough to make me want to return it. You can't put the mouse between letters and next thing you know, you are typing elsewhere. NOT ok.

I googled the issue and found that on December 18th, they came out with an update to the drivers for the ultranav system on thinkpads. I installed it and bam, problem fixed. yeah.

the other thing that matters to me and may not to the casual user, is the placement of the fn key. I am used to the control key being at the end of the lower row of the keyboard. I use "control A" "control C" and "control v" tons. Its not working for me since I find myself always pushing the fn key instead. that will take adjustment is all. I wish they had put the function key closer to the space bar like it is on many laptops like my viao. bad design decision in my mind but I will adjust. also, i find myself hitting the cap locks instead of the shift. time will fix that as well.

otherwise, and with the ultranav update, this seems like it will be perfect for me. the ultranav update is on the lenovo website. don't have the link handy.

hope this helps.

Discount Sony VAIO Pro SVP1321DCXS 13.3-Inch Core i7 Touchscreen Ultrabook

Customer Ratings:

Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program I recently got this Sony Vaio ultrabook and thought in reviewing it I would compare some of is attributes to my Lenovo Yoga 13 since a lot of people will be weighing the plusses and minuses of these two notebooks when making their purchasing decision.

First, I found the Sony computer a joy to use, very responsive and easy to carry.

The Sony weighs 37.7 oz, while the Lenovo weighs in at 53.6 oz.

Although both computers have 13 inch screens (13.3 inches for the Sony), the footprint of the Sony notebook is actually smaller. It is about 1/2 inches smaller in width and length. (Keep in mind that I'm talking about the actual external dimensions of the notebook...not the screen size.).

My Sony has 128 GB Solid State Drive, while my Lenovo has 256 GB SSD. You can get the Sony with 256 GB as well if you choose. If you get the 128 GB keep in mind that you'll have 71.8 GB left over on the C drive when you get the computer. After you load Microsoft Office and do all the updates, you'll have about 66.9 GB free on C drive. But you have 2 USB 3.0 slots and an SD slot on the right side of the computer if you need additional hard disk space for photographs, videos and music.

I prefer the keyboard on the Lenovo, as I find the Sony has less feel, and is a bit slippery. But the Sony has a nice lighting if you are going to use it in a poorly lit area. Lenovo does not have a lit up keyboard.

The Windows Experience score on the Sony is 6.2, while the Lenovo is 4.8. But in real life, I didn't find any appreciable speed difference when using the computers. Both are able to reboot Windows 8 in about 20-24 seconds. The Sony had a 4 second edge in this regard.

Both screens have very nice color rendition and text depiction. The Sony screen is much more limited in how you view it. It tilts about 5 degrees back from straight up. That should work for most people, but I found it a bit limiting. My preference is if it could tilt a bit further back for more comfortable viewing. The Lenovo Yoga will flip over completely and operate as a tablet, or tilt in a manner where the screen is propped up and the keyboard faces down, or just simply tilt back to any viewing angle you wish. In this regard, the Lenovo is much more versatile...which is where it gets its "Yoga" name.

The touchscreen on both computers worked very well. But keep in mind that some people, including me have reported issues with the Lenovo touchscreen. I had two separate Lenovo Yogas. In one the touchscreen worked perfectly (I kept that one). The second had an erratic, sometimes nonfunctioning touch screen that made the computer unusable. Others have reported similar issues with the Lenovo Yoga.

The trackball is nicer on the Lenovo. It glides much more smoothly than the Sony, and has a better/larger area to click or right click the pad. The Sony trackpad functions decently enough. But it feels rougher.

I removed the Kaspersky internet security that comes with the Sony, because the updates are incredibly slow...watching a snail crawl across a football field would be faster. This is not a Sony issue, so don't let it detract you from the Sony at all. I noticed this issue with Kaspersky software I bought two years ago, and was hoping they remedied the problem. They haven't. Instead I use Windows Defender that comes with the computer.

A couple of issues with the Sony. The screen sometimes flickers or dims momentarily when you put your hand toward the screen in the center of the computer, or when you touch a link or menu choice. Not sure why this happens. You can certainly live with this, as it is quite momentary. But it is annoying.

Second issue is that some people have reported they find the fan to be noisy. Normally I don't hear it at all. But once in a while it sounds like the background sound of waves crashing at the beach. Not bad...not an issue for me. Maybe an issue for others.

I intend to make this a rolling review, adding more feedback the more I use the computer in the next few months.

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Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program I am a Mac user, let's get that out right up front. I switched to Macs over four years ago, but Windows is an ever-present specter even for hard-core Mac users, I'd guess. I'm not above using a Windows machine as long as it's top-notch, and thankfully, this Sony Vaio lives up to its "Pro" billing. It might not be quite as impressive to behold as a Macbook Air, but it's pretty nice indeed.

First impressions are everything and my first impression was of how light it was, hefting it out of the box with one hand so quickly that I almost felt like I was going to throw it. It was so light that I was certain the battery couldn't have been installed... but it was. It's that light. I won't say that it makes my four year old 13" Macbook Pro feel like it needs to go on a diet, but it's about half the weight. Considering the Vaio is largely made of carbon fiber, it makes sense. The outer shell is a very thin brushed aluminum that adds a big touch of class. Again, this isn't quite up to the standards of the Macbook line there are hints of plastic all over, and an alarming tendency to flex when picked up in certain ways (this, I read on tech sites, is due to the "give" in carbon fiber, not an inherent flaw.) For someone used to the rock-solid bodies of Apple devices, it doesn't instill much confidence, and reminds me of lower-quality laptops that creak and groan as you move them. The Vaio may flex a bit, but it's completely free of any bad tendencies to this effect, and I pray it stays this way. It's such a nice machine that I've already grown attached to it.

The Vaio Pro is fast. FAST. So fast I had to shut it down and restart it to show my wife how impressively fast it was able to cycle itself. In barely the time of a commercial it was able to shut down and restart back to the log in screen. Extremely impressive. Thank the 128gb SSD on board for this incredible performance. The only downside to this drive that I could see is that Windows 8 and various apps that came installed from Sony already ate into nearly half the available space. You'll want to have external drives or cloud space handy for files; this computer is meant only to handle small files or to be a place to work on larger materials that later get moved somewhere else.

It has a fantastic keyboard quick and light, requiring little action to operate but won't result in false keypresses, either. The keys are slightly springier and lighter than the Mac keyboard, making for very fast typing. They're also backlit when plugged in, they'll stay lit, when unplugged, they'll be lit when lighting conditions call for it. One nitpick that I've seen others making and I'll make it too: having to use the function key to change various function-row keys is annoying.

Once I'd downloaded and installed what felt like a barrage of updates from Sony and Microsoft during the first couple of days, I was truly able to check out the Vaio's battery. And it's as impressive as everything else. In a completely informal test (because I didn't know if I'd get even more updates and need to plug in for power) I can safely say that it easily ran for 6-7 hours without a charge, and perhaps longer.

The touchscreen is very responsive, no different than using my iPhone or iPad. We'll get to more about this in a moment.

A couple of downsides: the bottom of this laptop gets hot, really hot. The Vaio's design angles the lid so that it lifts the bottom off surface to circulate some air, but when it's resting on your legs, you'll feel that heat very quickly. Then the fan kicks in and it's not something you won't notice. Imagine the sound of someone using a blow dryer in the back of the house. It's not obnoxious, but it's noticeable.

I'm not a big fan of the trackpad so far. I love my Macbook's slick glass trackpad. It's extremely responsive. I know when I gesture on it, it will do what I expect. Not so with the Sony trackpad, which frequently ignores motions made on it. Windows 8 has a number of specific gestures and I often have to repeat them to cause the computer to react. Most infuriating so far is unreliable scrolling. The two-finger motion sometimes refuses to work. And then, inexplicably, it works... for a time. And then it doesn't. And then it does, but maybe it selects half of what you just two-finger scrolled over. It can be maddening. I don't know if this is a driver problem, or what, but it needs to be fixed.

I can't talk about this laptop without discussing the elephant in the room: Windows 8. I am completely new to this all-new OS. So new, in fact, that I've basically ignored all news about it and only knew the basics about the strange, two-faced nature it had. It seemed like this might be an interesting venture I like challenges. I jumped in head first here, let me tell you.

For starters, there's very little in the way of help provided to new users. I know my way around Windows XP and, to an extent, 7. Dropping into Windows 8, however, was like being dropped into a Bizarro World version of Windows. I was prepared and yet really didn't appreciate what might be coming. And Sony/Microsoft really don't prepare users there's very little help to get you going. Sure, there are a couple little pointers and a small "Getting Started" guide for the laptop itself, but nothing about preparing for life with Windows 8. I'm really rather stunned. My first evening with the Vaio was mostly a night spent searching how to do pretty simple stuff. Where's the control panel? I searched Explorer and found it. Little did I realize that Sony doesn't bother to tell you that it's purposely hidden, and they've provided their own Vaio-approved portal into the control panel with their own customized settings. You're just left to stumble onto these things. This is a tactic Apple has used well, the joy of discovering, but it's not a joy here because I don't find as much making the sense that things make on Apple's OSs.

Windows 8 feels as if you are "strongly encouraged" to use the touchscreen rather than a mouse. I find myself reaching for the screen and doing what I normally would with a mouth simply because it works better. Some buttons are too small to touch so I have to go back to the touchpad, but the machine feels more responsive and sensible when used mostly touchscreen. I wish the screen tilted further back for this, as it doesn't lean very far and sometimes makes this usage feel a little awkward.

That said, I'm not discounting Windows 8 entirely. I think they're onto something that could be really solid once the kinks are worked out. Windows 8.1 is coming soon, so I'm hopeful that this takes care of some of these issues.

Best Deals for Sony VAIO Pro SVP1321DCXS 13.3-Inch Core i7 Touchscreen Ultrabook

Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program There are a LOT of things to love about this laptop. The most immediate and obvious thing is the weight! This laptop is SO LIGHT.

Pros:

Super light

Great keyboard

Awesome trackpad

Nice monitor

3 USB's 2 in device, and one in AC adapter for charging of devices

Touchscreen is the only way to go with Windows 8

Cons:

PRICE

Heats up quickly, fan runs often

Hard drive

Even though there are more pros than cons, the cons are more important. This laptop is 105GB, it comes with 65GB available. So either this can't be your primary laptop or you need to add an external hard drive which adds both cost and weight.

The heating issue is really annoying. I've checked the settings, and called Sony to confirm all is as it should be. If you are watching a TV program or playing a game, after about 10 minutes the computer starts to heat up and the fan kicks in, and runs until you are done with that activity. And if it's literally on your lap, it's hot.

For the money, I just can't see choosing this as your only laptop. It's great for travel and light usage, but I don't believe much beyond that.

Edited to add: I don't use this laptop every day, and for some reason, every time I go to use it I have problems with the wireless, and I have to run the troubleshooter. It works fine once that's done, but it's a step I wish I didn't have to take every time.

Honest reviews on Sony VAIO Pro SVP1321DCXS 13.3-Inch Core i7 Touchscreen Ultrabook

Received the product a week ago, and it's still going strong. I previously had a Samsung series 9, and it had served me extremely well for the past year until it passed away due to some unknown reasons. With windows 8.1 coming out, I figured out rather than troubling me myself to try to repair my laptop, I might as well buy a touch screen, Haswell laptop. Boy, did it not disappoint. Even without the fixes from Windows 8.1, with the touch screen I have become ever more productive in this laptop. Sure, ignoring the touch screen is an option, but with the touch screen I can multitask so fast that I stopped doing productive work from my more powerful desktop. I'm not saying this product isn't powerful at all for multitasking and productive work since it packs a beefy i7-4500U and 8 GB of RAM. One interesting thing is that the RAM's clock is shown as 20,307 Mhz (just a peculiar discovery). After installing all the updates form Sony Vaio care (which I don't recommend to uninstall), all the old problems such as sketchy wifi and fans blaring are gone. Wireless is extremely stable, wide in range and fast and the fan only spins up when streaming 4K and 1080P videos. Sure, I wish the fan noise can be more subtle, but it is nothing one should be worried about in the classroom or library since it never even grunts a noise when I'm there. I do not game on this laptop but I figure y'all can find adequate reviews online. The screen is also an absolute joy to watch videos on, no matter streaming or through a DVD. The color gamut is about 22 percent larger than my series 9 and the blacks are way darker too. The keyboard is way better than my series 9 in terms of the feel though the touchpad is somehow lacking due to the fact that it isn't glass. Overall I am extremely happy with my purchase.

Btw, silver, though not as professional looking as black, gives it a premium feel with the keyboard backlight on.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Sony VAIO Pro SVP1321DCXS 13.3-Inch Core i7 Touchscreen Ultrabook

This is not a comprehensive review, as I'm not a tech expert. There are other reviews that cover the technical pros and cons of this computer very well. I just wanted to add a few things...

1) I've had this computer for about 3 weeks and I think the software updates have resolved the often reported wireless internet connectivity issues, as I haven't had many problems with it.

2) This computer scratches very easily. I received it in the mail one day prior to receiving my protective sleeve. It got multiple scratches on it the first day from being placed in my tote bag with my school books. I'm currently shopping for a skin to cover up the ugly scratches.

3) Lastly... I'm amazed at how light it is and how fast it starts up!

Buy Dell Inspiron i15z-2000sLV 15.6-Inch Ultrabook

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $738.00
Sale Price: $549.99
Today's Bonus: 25% Off

Dell has always made a nice computer, but the Inspiron series were always considered low-budget alternatives to their higher-end Studio and XPS series. No longer.

The z-series Inspirons are thin, lightweight, and first quality. I love the feel of the keyboard -nice and solid.

Alas, no blu-ray is available. And backlit keyboards are rare. Those are the only deficiencies, in my estimation. A good value if you can get a good sale price.

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Discount Apple PowerBook Laptop 17" M9110LL/A (1.33-GHz PowerPC G4, 512 MB

Customer Ratings:

Greetings all, the other review by Sherrila Levin for this item is inappropriate and overzealous (I'm a die-hard Mac fan). Make no mistake this is a PHENOMENAL computer yet there are some buts...

In a nutshell:

PROS:

You're walking around with 17" gorgeous object of envy that has a stunning display great for games, DVDs, doing PhotoShop/Illustrator work, etc. The great screen ratio is perfect for design apps with palettes, toolbars and the like.

For a laptop, GREAT sounding speakers

Backlit keyboard: Nifty little feature that is best when you have it plugged in. Otherwise, works well, but is an added drain on the battery when going mobile. Though, the AMBIENT LIGHT SENSOR that adjusts screen brightness and backlight is AWESOME when it fades in to let you know it's working.

Usual suspects of big hard drive, fast processor, pretty snazzy 3d card, lots of ports, DVD & CD BURNER and loads of RAM make for a REALLY AGILE portable workhorse.

It's always great owning something where you can see the designers put oodles of love and obsession to detail.

Slot loading drive (has no breakable moving doors)

Does not generate heat like previous G3 models or earlier G4s

CONS (Few and almost trivial, but worth noting for the uninitiated):

6.8 pounds isn't the lightest thing in the world if you're lugging it around on one shoulder

Shell is slightly soft and gives way to some small body damage easily (I accidentally dropped mine on the corner from about 1.5 ft off the ground now have a nice ding. Other users/reviewers have also mentioned this issue as well). Just don't be as klutzy as me and you should be fine.

Hope this helps.

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I don't know what more I can add to all of these great reviews

but believe the hype!!!

this is one AWESOME laptop!

I'll just make a list of why I love it --forgive me if it comes off with any irrationality ---

1. Portability ---seriously, feel free to laugh, but this laptop really is portable....... yes, it can get heavy (by the end of the day) but it really is comparable, if not lighter, than most laptops available......... I commend Apple for doing such a great job on actually making this computer portable enough to throw in a backpack and take with you

2. The Widescreen 17" screen!!! gosh this screen is beautiful! Sometimes I find myself using a smaller computer and I can't stand it ---I've officialy been spoiled! Even 15" widescreens won't do anymore!

3. Keyboard ---there's something special about this keyboard its pretty cool

4. Speed ---Apple gets knocked around a lot for its speed, but seriously, the G4 in this thing really handles things greatly! I highly recommend 1 gig of RAM, for the ultimate speed and stability ----this thing will run Final Cut Pro, Garage Band, OS X, all of those programs, greatly! Take my word for it ---no probs at all!

5. Stablity ---this is more of a software thing, but OS X is such a great OS!!! Never freezes, never crashes -----I have five different apps open right now (Safari, AOL, Preview, MS Word, and iTunes) and the speed isn't slowing down one bit!

6. Output options ----were talking Firewire, Firewire 800, USB, DVI, best of all, SVIDEO and AUDIO output ---making it VERY easy to connect this baby to a nice TV!!! its pretty freaking cool

I don't know what else to say ---buy it! IT ROCKS

for those of you afraid to switch, let me give you reasons why ---

Microsoft Office on OS X (which works better here than it does on XP)

Final Cut Pro (better than any Windoze editing system)

All Adobe apps available here

All Macromedia apps available here

did I forget anything?

Best Deals for Apple PowerBook Laptop 17" M9110LL/A (1.33-GHz PowerPC G4, 512 MB

Yes, yes, it's heavy and hot as hell. This is not the machine you prop up on your legs to read Google News in bed. Hopefully you have something better to do with your US$3K-$4K anyway.

I'm a professional media designer and image maker, and I replaced my old dual-processor Macintosh with the 17.1" 1.33 GHz Powerbook. This is a machine to tote onto a job site or to a presentation and produce great work...perfect for freelancers and those who might not work at their home base all the time.

Two great things I've not seen other reviewers mention are the audio hardware quality and dual-monitor support; these can't be under-rated. My Dell PC's audio line out is noisy and full of hiss, while the Powerbook's line out is so quiet that many musicians simply plug it into a club's audio system and it sounds great. Dual-monitor support is second to none. After chafing a bit at the widescreen nature of the screen (i.e., only 900 pixels tall), I instantly shut my mouth when I plugged in another monitor and it immediately started running at 1600 x 1200.

While there are some compromises one must make in going mobile, this machine does not disappoint. Rear legs for improved elevation, easy expandability, even a real tray for the DVD-RW drive ... all these things have been removed to make the machine as streamlined as possible. But I happily accept all these compromises to use a Macintosh that is powerful, relatively lightweight, portable...and sexy as all get-out. It's the only computing device I've ever owned that is a conversation starter. Now if these people would only just let me get back to work...

Honest reviews on Apple PowerBook Laptop 17" M9110LL/A (1.33-GHz PowerPC G4, 512 MB

Yeah, I know it's a little more money than the knock-off PC clones from Dell and Gateway, but this is a far superior computer. The Mac platform is not only the most powerful one available, it is also the simplest and most versatile once you learn it.

The 15-inch is the perfect size for me. I looked at both the 12 and 17-inch models and felt they were a little too small/big respectively. There is something attractive about the 12 inch a friend of mine has one and he carries it around everywhere, able to write anywhere anytime. And seated at a desk the 17-inch is also attractive, presenting a massive, bright screen to work on. But all in all, the 15-inch provides the best both worlds. It's very portable maybe not as easy to tug along as the 12-inch, but certainly manageable with a small backpack. The 17-inch can be problematic on a plane if there are people crowding you, and it's certainly cumbersome to maneuver in tight spaces, whereas the 12-inch is easy to maneuver but can cause a little eyestrain from a distance.

I definitely recommend a Mac, first of all, and within that I recommend the 15-inch G4 notebook. If you must have a 12-inch, you might take a look at the 12-inch iBook, which is cheaper but obviously not as feature rich (the iBook's graphics card is not as powerful and the processor is slower, most notably).

The complaints I have are exterior the computer doesn't age well (i.e., it nicks and scratches rather easily) and there should be some sort of elevation device to raise the back end while typing (like the older Powerbooks had).

All in all you can't go wrong with any Apple laptop you choose. They are truly making the digital life a reality with all of their integrated software iTunes, iPhoto, iSight, and the iPod are particularly cool. No other laptop will have an operating system with so many fantastic programs that are so perfectly integrated together. If this is remotely in your price range, go for it. It can literally change the way you operate on a day-to-day basis.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Apple PowerBook Laptop 17" M9110LL/A (1.33-GHz PowerPC G4, 512 MB

I bought a 12-inch Powerbook after I gave my old Sony Vaio notebook the Pete Townshend treatment I put my fist through it. (Yes, it looks like a stained glass window.) I hadn't used a Mac in years, but I decided I'd had it with Microsoft and Windows. All it took was one weekend and a good book "Mac OS X: The Missing Manual," by David Pogue -

however, and I mastered the machine.

(Other than the size of the screen, the 17-inch model is the same as the 12-inch one.)

SOFTWARE

The computer comes with some great software. iTunes is the best media player on the market. I have almost 5,000 songs stored on mine. With the search function and browser display, it is easy to find a particular song. iTunes also keeps track of the number of times you've listened to a song and it allows you to rate your songs. It's easy to create a playlist. Also, burning one of those playlists onto a CD can be done with one click.

Safari is a great web browser. It has a Google search box built into the toolbar, prevents pop-up ads (I've never had one), has tabbed browsing (preventing a cluttered desktop), and allows for bookmarks to be added with one click.

iChat allows Mac users to customize their AIM and Rendezvous chat sessions in ways that the normal applications don't allow, such as adding pictures from iPhoto to their profile.

I haven't mastered iPhoto yet, but it is downloading pictures from a digital camera is as easy as plugging it into the USB port and clicking a button.

Also, Macs are less likely to get a virus or be overtaken by spyware.

The iCal and Address Book look good, but if you are going to sync a PDA with your Mac, you are better off using Palm Desktop software. Hopefully the functionality of those programs will be improved in the future though.

Finally, most of the programs work with each other. For example, if someone on my iChat buddy list is online, a green dot will appear next to a message from him or her in my Mail inbox.

I also use Microsoft Office, Quicken, Dreamweaver MX, and Palm Desktop they all work well on the Mac. Office shares files perfectly with PCs.

HARDWARE

Spend the money and get the superdrive (CD-RW/DVD-R). DVDs have more memory than CDs and blank DVD-Rs are becoming more affordable. If you are into collecting videos of concerts, a DVD-R is a must.

I'd recommend upgrading to at least 768 MB of memory and the 80 GB hard drive. Burning a DVD requires a lot of memory and can take a while this way you can use other applications while burning a DVD (on my old PC, if I was burning a CD, I couldn't use anything else). The hard drive space is really cheap. Plus, if you load your CDs on your computer, they can eat up a lot of memory, even as MP3s (my 5,000 songs take up about 25 GB).

Also, there is a lot to be said for getting the Airport Exteme card (although you can buy a third-party base station for less). I am able to browse the Internet in any room of my house well worth the extra $100 or so.

I have the 12-inch monitor, but that was because Apple hadn't released the 15-inch in the new style when I made my purchase. The 12-inch is fine it's much clearer than my old PC notebook but if I had the opportunity, I'd probably go with the bigger monitor.

DRAWBACKS

-While most software is available for Mac OS X, there are some programs that aren't (Google toolbar, Yahoo! toolbar, Kazaa, AvantGo) or minor problems in software that is available (Quicken can't access accounts on Ameritrade via Macs)

-The PowerBook doesn't have a fan, which is great for the battery, but can cause it to get a bit hot underneath where the user rests his left hand.

Regardless of those drawbacks, however, buying a Mac was an easy decision. If you have any questions about it, click on my profile and send me a e-mail.

UPDATE: After 14 months, the hard drive started making noise and system performance got slow and I couldn't run as many programs as I used to. I called Apple and had to spend $300 for them to put in a new hard drive and some other hardware. They were unable to transfer my data to my new hard drive, so I've spent the past four days reloading all of my software and applications. No idea why the hard drive went. Hence I dropped the rating from five stars to four.

Reviews of Dell Inspiron 15 i15RV-9762BLK 15.6-Inch Laptop (Black Matte

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $524.99
Sale Price: $459.98
Today's Bonus: 12% Off

This is a basic, inexpensive laptop that works fine for everyday tasks (email, web browsing, etc.). This model is made for Dell by Compal, and it's fairly compact and portable: about an inch thick and around 5 pounds. It's not a rugged laptop (all plastic), so I wouldn't recommend it for road warriors. It's a reasonable trade-off of features vs. price. In order to reduce the cost, this is a no-frills laptop, but still has enough power for most home users. Unlike the Dell Switch models, this laptop does not have a removable top lid/cover. The diamond pattern "obsidian black" finish reduces the visibility of fingerprints. The power button isn't illuminated, but there are indicators on the front left edge.

Pros:

6GB of DIMM memory

USB 3.0 ports

HDMI output to connect to an HDTV

low fan noise, vents are on the side/rear (not on the bottom of the case)

numeric keypad to the right of the keyboard

built-in memory card reader

Cons:

mediocre TN screen has low contrast ratio, dim in bright light

4 cell battery (provides less life when unplugged than 6 cell batteries)

tiny built-in speakers (limited bass)

no LEDs on the ethernet NIC (for link/data)

webcam resolution is noisy/grainy in low light

integrated HD 4000 graphics (adequate but low performance)

Metro UI for Windows 8

I won't bash Win8 here but note that Dell also offers a touch-screen model, which might be a better choice if you intend to run Windows 8. This is a decent basic laptop for non-gamers. The integrated graphics is fine for web browsing or viewing a movie, but don't expect high 3D frame rates for fast paced games. Since the body/case is plastic, you can flex/deform the lid/screen and DVD tray without much pressure. With a bit of care, this laptop should work reliably for home computing users.

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The camera has good resolution and a good processing speed and the volume is much better than my previous laptop by a different mfg. Also, it's much lighter than I expected.

It took me some time to get used to Win 8. I found a good book for Windows 8: Windows 8 Made Easy on Amazon.com.

I would say it's a really good computer at its price point.

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This is just a great notebook...lots of storage, fast, reliable. Not as wild about Windows 8, but that has nothing to do with Dell. I really have no complaints at all about this notebook.

Honest reviews on Dell Inspiron 15 i15RV-9762BLK 15.6-Inch Laptop (Black Matte

The laptop itself is great, what I dislike a little about are two things:

1) They touch pad buttons feel a little plasticky and have a loud click when pressed. But that is a small issue/

2) There is clicking sound in the CD-rom and no it's not the disc spinning, sounds almost like a failing hard-drive although it seems to be working fine.

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love this machine, nice big screen and easy to use keyboard and mouse pad good port access. luv it buy it

Review of HP Pavilion dv6-6110us 15.6-Inch Entertainment Notebook PC (Black)

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $649.99
Sale Price: $619.89
Today's Bonus: 5% Off

This laptop is an amazing value for the price. I purchased mine from HP's online store with the following specs:

15" standard screen

Blu-Ray player upgrade

AMD A6 Processor

USB 3.0 included (10x faster than USB 2.0)

HDMI port (for connecting to the modern plasma screens, etc)

The case is very attractive and has a sleek, grey shape.

The cutting-edge AMD "Fusion" processor produces amazingly-smooth graphics (DVDs, Youtube HD videos, Netflix, Hulu, etc). I run complex financial risk simulations on my DV6 laptop, and they complete within seconds. My previous laptop, an Intel Duo Core from Geteway, took minutes to finish the simulations, but this new HP laptop finishes 5x faster!

Naturally, internet browsing is awesome, as web pages seem to open within the blink of an eye. I never realized that an upgraded laptop could make my life so much easier. The laptop is incredibly fast and powerful, yet it produces virtually no heat.

I also watch BluRay movies from a projector connected to my DV6. Again, I have to compliment the amazing graphics capabilities on this laptop; completely smooth video!!

Hulu and Netflix caused my my old Intel Duo-Core laptop to stall and choke, but this new AMD-powered laptop runs completely smoothly on this laptop! If you have broadband internet, you will never see any flickering or missed frames.

At this price, the DV6 is the best value you will find. It runs better and has a better build quality than similar laptops that are usually priced in the $800-$900 range.

I think HP and AMD did a fantastic job with this laptop. I am a very happy customer.

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HP sent me a defective screen on my new HP laptop. I requested them to replace the computer and they asked me to take a quick-ship model at a higher price. In addition, I have to pay for it first at a higher price with lower specs!! I asked for the manager and they rejected me saying they are busy.

I have bought 4 HP Pavilions over the last 10 years and this is how they repay me. If there are no problems, I am sure HP is fine. The real problem is if there is something wrong and you are stuck with their customer support. After 10 years, I am going with another brand. I have also spent 80 minutes on the phone with no avail.

I have put a similar comment on their HP website. Do you know they exclude the 1-star and 2-star comments from the consumers?!?! Therefore, I thought it is only fair for the consumers to know. If there is something wrong and you have to deal with their customer support, you will literally get the short-end of the stick. Therefore, you should think twice before purchasing from HP.

I have wasted two days of my life dealing them and now I am investing a full-day going through all the HP e-commerce sites to let the consumers know. Good luck with your purchase with HP.....

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I just received this computer today and to tell you the truth it is an awesome computer. The display screen is flawless and just gorgious with its brightness. The updates took less then 1hour so it was pretty fast. The A6 quad core works awesome, this computer can handle anything you throw at it with awesome resolution. The speakers are so loud and sound great. The keys are nice and easy to hit, they're not like some computers which has them hard so you have to press pretty hard to use them but rather this once has it just right.

This 500dollar computer out performs a 800dollar computer any day of the week. If your thinking about purchasing a computer for school, entertainment or just to play some hard core gaming but at a reasonable price, not like those $2000 alienware computer, then this is the computer to buy. You cannot go wrong with this computer. Do Not be afraid of the 1.4ghz processor, its a A6 quad core!!! Thats four cores that work consistenly to keep up with your demand, and the weight of the work is distubited evenly to the four cores so it hardly heats up. Its literaly impossible to hear the fan. Im trying my best to listen to it and it makes almost nooo noise whatsoever.

In Summary, If you want to purchase a great computer that can handle anything you throw at it then look no more and purchase this computer immediately.

Honest reviews on HP Pavilion dv6-6110us 15.6-Inch Entertainment Notebook PC (Black)

I purchased this laptop to replace my old Gateway.

The specs of this computer are fantastic!

The 4GB of memory is definitely enough to run most common software. 640GBs of hard drive space is going to take a LONG time to fill.

Unfortunately, the A6-3400M Accelerated Processor isn't at the top of the A6 series, but it will still help you get your tasks done. The higher processors will be found on high-end entertainment machines. I'm still happy with the chipset this laptop comes with!

The AMD Radeon HD 6520G isn't top of the line either, but video quality is still pretty great! As well as gaming, I was able to run World of Warcraft (at high settings), and both Doom 3 and F.E.A.R. at medium settings each.

As far as the way the laptop looks, the glossy black with silver borders looks very classy! Also, I've noticed that it prevents fingerprints on the case. That's a huge plus for me, especially coming from my old laptop which would have my fingerprints EVERYWHERE.

The keyboard looks quite different than you find on most laptops. It's a full-sized keyboard with an island style number pad, which is useful for quick number typing, or whatever else you plan to do. I do have an issue with the keyboard, however: up and down arrows under the right shift key are incredibly small.

The laptop is missing a fingerprint reader, which you can find on the HP DM4 series and higher end DV6s and DV7s. The 6110us doesn't come with integrated Bluetooth either. Something else that a lot of people look for is Beats Audio, which this computer doesn't have. However the built-in Altec Lansing speakers are good stock speakers, which provide decent sound quality and bass.

The Windows 7 Home Premium on this laptop ships with Office 2010 starter, which is nice in some ways. It has Microsoft Word, Powerpoint and Excel, but unfortunately doesn't have all the features as the full version of Office 2010 Home and Student, Home and Business, or Professional. It will do the job if you're just planning on using it for simple tasks.

Aside from the missing features which are found on higher end laptops, this machine has everything I was looking for. I'm a college student and didn't need anything super extravagant. This laptop certainly does the job, and I'm happy with my purchase.

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Got the HP-DV6-6110US after a dissatisfied experience with the Toshiba Satellite L755. Returned the satellite and picked this one up. Has a good build quality. The keyboard layout is a bit strange and needs to get used to. Keys feel a bit sticky compared to my macbook(less then half the price who's complaining). The AMD processor takes care of my needs. Surfing, basic pic editing, word documents,netflix streaming and gaming on onlive. A bit too much of bloatware but easily uninstallable. Most of these cheaper laptops have basic Windows 7 which doesnt let you backup to a wireless network drive. Plenty of connectivity options. Cant beat it at the 449 price I got it at the local staples.

Reviews of Toshiba L855-S5155 15.6" Core i5 750GB Notebook

Customer Ratings:

I did not purchase from Amazon (should have) and I have two specs that are different form the listing. Model numbers are the same. The HD i3 640 and I have 6G of memory. Otherwise the processor and all other aspects are the same. What is missing? I would have added a lighted keyboard had I been building the PC plus I would have opted for the 8G memory. The HD is not that big a deal for me. The laptop was taken right out of the bad and put to use. There are almost no instruction or paper work with this laptop. You are on your own and since I have owner many laptops that was not a big deal until I tried to use Windows 8. What a pain. Windows 8 is really designed for a touch screen and this laptop does not have touch screen. Since I have used all of the Microsoft Windows of the past I thought Windows 8 would just be an upgrade. The display, icons and the way you use the OS is a completely different process. I frankly would not buy another new computer with Windows 8 on it as there are still many brands and models that have Windows 7 on them.

The battery life thus far has been exceptional. The screen is very bright and the Intel processor is great. I love the brushed silver metal case. looks very good. The weight I wish had been a little less as it weighs more than 5 pounds. There is an extended full keyboard and that always adds some of the extra weight. Opening the lid of the laptop is a little stiff as there are no indentations or places to put your fingers. You just have to tug at the top and open the lid. Some reviewers on other sites have commented about a "flimsy" keyboard. I have not found anything wrong with the keyboard. The finger mouse pad is located just to the left of center and it works really well.The Intel Core i5 processor is great and will do the job I need the laptop for. I wish Toshiba had included a little more paper documentation for the setting up and first operations of the laptop. I had to go to the Windows 8 help section to even find out how to turn the laptop off. Very poor job on the part of Toshiba in not adding this as part of the start up info. I think I got a great price on this as it was under $500. This same model comes in a variety of features which can actually run the price up to several hundreds more than what I paid. I suggest you look for the unit that meets your specific needs.

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Cheap HP Pavilion dm3-3010us 13.3-Inch Laptop PC - Up to 7.5 Hours of

Customer Ratings:

8 MONTH EDIT: After owning the laptop for 8 months I've noticed some other things. First, the battery life is around 3.5hours for browsing the internet. Second, the laptop has started to heat up significantly compared to when I first got it. I think that this might be HP's bad heatsink installation, as I've had problems like this with other HP laptops. Third, the laptop cannot play Hulu or certain flash based videos due to the slower processor. It can play youtube 720p when connected to my TV, but there is a slightly noticeable drop in smoothness. Overall, I would lower my rating to 3 stars.

The HP dm3-3010us I got from Amazon was, at first look, all I expected from a portable laptop. It's got the following:

PROS:

-Thin and lightweight. Feels very thin because of the tapered design (similar to macbook air)

-Great size and weight balance making it easy to carry or put on a lap.

-Nice softtouch exterior with very nice styling (I like the black color and design better than apple's macbook styling)

-COOL bottom with fan vents on the side (this has to be the only laptop that has never gotten hot on my lap (it's barely as warm as my skin temperature at even the warmest spots on the bottom)). I have no problems keeping this on my lap all the time. No fan vents on the bottom mean its OK to keep this on carpet or a blanket in bed or anything without worry about blocking the vents. Definitely a great feature that is not included in most laptops.

-Easy to use keyboard with inverse function keys (don't need to hold function to access volume/brightness/wifi/monitor keys)

-bright, clear screen

-HDMI, VGA, and eSATA ports make for this to be a very good media laptop to connect to my TV

-webcam and microphone work well

But I was misled by the some of the claims, even though I should've known better:

CONS:

-Battery life. More around 4:30-5:00 hours with mainly text based internet browsing (definitely nowhere near 7.5h). I have not tested it with youtubeHD or movies, but I assume it would even lower in those settings.

-Touchpad. Is a pain (as stated by some reviewers). So the touchpad size and surface are great. However, the multitouch is very annoying. It requires a lot of fooling around with settings, and even then the only mildly useful thing is two-finger scrolling. But that doesn't always recognize, and about 20% of the time, I have to lift my fingers and retry the scroll gesture to get it to recognize. This touchpad made me very aware of how important scroll functionality is while browsing the web. Even after much tweaking, I still prefer using the traditional scroll area on the right side (thankfully works well), rather than two finger scroll.

-Touchpad buttons. There are good and bad sides to this. The buttons are integrated into the pad surface making the total area bigger. However, I control the cursor with my index finger and use my thumb to hit the buttons. On this trackpad, the touch sensitive area continues over the buttons so it will often think I'm trying to perform some two finger gesture instead of just a click. I've basically converted to using the tap-to-click functionality now.

-HP Bloatware. This laptop is loaded with so much crap out of the box that it's almost unbelievable. It's like the good old days of AOL, except twice as bad. After first bootup, I was so disgusted that I decided to reinstall Windows from the "recovery partition," but even then it still reinstalled a lot of the crappy software. So I had to manually uninstall several programs still. The good thing is that this might keep the price of the laptop down a bit for consumers.

Other Thoughts:

-Don't expect a powerhouse of this laptop. It can barely handle 720p youtube videos without noticeable drop in FPS. However, switching to 1080p causes considerable drop in FPS to unviewable territory.

-Windows 7 runs fine with aero etc.

-General internet browsing using Firefox 4 beta is as snappy as any computer.

-The sound output is respectable in that I can watch a movie in bed comfortably. Its max volume is loud enough to be heard in most noisy environments.

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It lives up to the hype. I've gotten great battery life out of it, and it's so light, and the resolution is AWESOME. The matte Black finish is semi-grippy as well, so it's easier to hold on to. I wish it had one of the i -series processors, but you can't have it all....except you get so much anyway. On-board Bluetooth (Best Buy kept telling me that BT was being phased out, and nobody used it; guess what dweeb? I DO!), and lots of memory... it's a very nice machine and just the right size. And there are tons of 13 inch Macbook sleeves and cases that fit it PERFECTLY.

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Have had this machine for a week now. I wanted a very portable, but not wimpy, notebook PC to take to college classes and to use around the house when not in my home office. So far, I'm very pleased.

If I had to describe it machine in one sentence, I'd call it a "netbook on steroids."

It is very thin and light, but not too tiny. I'm in my fifties and need new glasses, yet the display is very readable for me. The keyboard is taking a little getting used to, but should not be a problem. I do like the "island" style because I don't "catch" the undersides of keys with my fingertips as on other laptop keyboards. (I'm a relatively fast touch typist).

Unlike some underpowered netbooks, this pc is nice and responsive thanks to the 4 GB of RAM. I have not measured the battery life per se, but it's clearly way better than my more powerful, but not-very-portable, 17" desktop replacement. I think 5 hours or so on a single charge would be doable, if one tweaked the power settings. That's just an estimate, though.

I haven't tried any truly intense tasks with this machine yet (like editing large graphics or video files), but I can say that remote-desktopping into my more powerful machine works beautifully.

One thing that freaked me out a bit at first was the absence of "Home/End/PageUp/PageDown" keys. But pressing the FN key along with an arrow key gives you the same functionality.

So far the "gestures" on the touchpad aren't really working for me, but I always have some trouble getting that sort of thing to work for me. (Must be my "magnetic" personality...)

All in all, a lot of machine for the money. And very, very portable.

Honest reviews on HP Pavilion dm3-3010us 13.3-Inch Laptop PC - Up to 7.5 Hours of

We just got the HP for the light weight and screen size. It's a fast computer, bright screen, light weight and well built. We have had it for about 4 days now and I think I will order a second one....just in case. For 1/2 the money of the Macbook air with twice the ram and memory it's a great computer.

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The case seems very durable, the screen is bright and easy to read, the keyboard has a nice feel, and the whole laptop is thin and relatively light. Comes with Windows 7 and all the bells and whistles. But the mouse buttons on the touchpad are unbelievably stiff. If you have any kind of repetitive stress injury, you'll feel the extra effort to click in the tendons in your hand and wrist after only an hour or two of use.

Am having to buy a separate mouse to use. I would not have bought this laptop if I had a chance to try it in the store first. Why, HP, why??

Buy HP Pavilion dv6-3020us 15.6-Inch Laptop

Customer Ratings:

This review is from: HP Pavilion dv6-3020us 15.6-Inch Laptop 5.9

Graphics 4.5

Gaming Graphics 5.4

Primary Hard Disk 5.8

I researched long and hard to find the perfect laptop for my needs and a good price... this did it for me. No regrets.

I have recommended this to my friends and I recommend it to you....you won't regret it...I don't work for HP or Amazon.

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UPDATED: 1/28/2011

I bought this laptop about 4 months ago. As of right now, it has been extremely smooth and not a single crash or issue.

Pros:

The multitouch trackpad is great.

--use 3 fingers to go back and forward

--use 3 fingers to launch a specific app by tapping

--2 fingers to scroll, rotate, and zoom

--no friction like those chrome plated trackpads

--enough room to scroll, no need to buy the mouse really in my opinion

--Trackpad can be turned on/off by double tapping on the indicator light in the upper left corner of the trackpad.

--1/28/2011Scrybe is the must have app for this track pad...you can use gestures to open websites, shortcuts, copy, paste...very cool

--1/28/2011 You can use the 3 finger gesture to go back in all browsers including chrome but need to google it to make it work....i just use ie9 :)

Camera is 2MP and is fairly good with a nice suite of applications.

--HP Webcam software adds some nice additions

--Used skype to talk to one of my relatives and it was about 90% good when compared to my brothers macbook pro 13...but then again I didnt pay $1200+

Fingerprint Reader

--Extremely accurate

--Dont swipe way too fast because it gets difficult to identify for obvious reasons

--Get Internet Explorer 9/Mozilla Firefox and work like a champion

Keyboard

--Great island style keys

--Dedicated quick launch keys on the left which I use all the time (calc, internet, hp key to open webcam, etc)

CPU, Memory, and HD

--More than enough because higher specs would require more battery

--1333mhz memory

--AMD Phenom II 2.8, it is not bad at all compared to my i7 920 in Alienware (It is comparable to the core i3-330M)

--Nothing less than 500GB should do now a days

--Dedicated graphics card...I dont play games on it. Have a Alienware for that but handles HD media really well.

--DVD Drive is great (not much to talk here :)

Design

--I've never seen anything like it.

--My friend was so jealous and he has a macbook.

--Screen size is great. Anything less than a 15" is really hard to see

--This weighs lighter than my sister's 2009 macbook pro 15"

--Enough USB's and HDMI, VGA

Windows 7

--Enough said, keep in mind i already had windows 7 on my Alienware but this windows is great for laptops.

--Pinning important shortcuts, dragging windows to compare, etc.

--Just used the printer attached to the laptop in the other room through my alienware (same homegroup)

CONS:

Screen

--A little bright due to LED

--Blacks are not exactly black but tune the settings and it should be fine (UPDATE: At a certain angle like many other LED's the black is fairly black but still not like the plasma obviously)

--Resolution could have been higher

Battery

--About 3 hours when I was using MS word to type and IE for browsing. Brightness at like 30%.

--Funny thing I never unplug it...its just me...also my brother with his macbook 13 pro with 10 hours supposed battery keeps it plugged in :)

Fingerprint Reader

--Only mentioning this because I got hooked on Google chrome and IE is different but just as fast now due to IE9.

Keyboard

--No backlit (have no preference really because its distracting to me in low light)

--Screen brightness is more than enough for me.

Seriously, the price that I paid and what I got...I still cant believe it (isnt that a song? :) You will love it. Any more questions, shoot me a message and I'll try my best to reply. I love HP and Windows 7 for this product...:)

Disclaimer: I dont work for either Microsoft, HP or Apple. I mentioned my brother and sister's mac to make a point here for comparison purposes.

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When it works and once you've realized that there's an extra column of keys to the left of the keyboard then it's a good computer.

The extra keys (print, calculator, and 2 others) are useless. I'm use to the far left keys being the ctrl key, etc. These extra keys just get in the way.

However, after having it for only 2 months the hard drive died. I turned it on in the morning. It ran slow. I turned it off. When I got home that evening I turned it on. It said the "hard drive not exist" (that's the verbatim message).

Now I need to return it to get servicing. I've had other HP computers that lasted years and haven't had any problems. I don't know what's wrong with this one.

Honest reviews on HP Pavilion dv6-3020us 15.6-Inch Laptop

This is just a great laptop. everything about it is wonderful and hip, from the light-up hp button on the front to the sleek design to the fast processor. This is jsut great, the speed is top notch and the laptop is nice and big and perfect for me, a student. you cant go wrong!

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I've been using it for just two days, but I must say IT IS WONDERFUL!!

Windows 7 seems to be a good OS. I like it so far.

400 and so GB in the hardrive works very well for me (Since my old laptop had just 120Gb).

Its also very fast. But what could you spect from 4Gb ram.. FAST!!

The thing I think I love the most is the HUGE touchpad, it is very big! (10.8 x 6.6 cms). You can zoom in, zoom out, move up and down with it. And you can pass your finger over the keys and move the pointer, because they will activate only if you click them.

The keys of the keyboard are very soft. So you don't have to click them too hard.

The keyboard also has some extra keys in the left column, so I'll have to get used to the new ubications of the regular keys we use to see in the left column (one column more to the right, if you can't undestand what I try to say (sorry for my bad english :S) you can watch photos on the web)

The external and internal design (Aluminium finish) is.. WOW. I love it! Looks very pretty.

The fingerprint reader is working good for me. Bad part: I mostly use Google Chrome and it doesn't work with it :S (as I know is because google chrome doesn't support it, not because of the laptop)

The speakers are very tiny, yeah I know, but music and stuff sounds very loud and clear! Love it!

The camera is alright, not a HQ camera, but it works fine for me. I also like the camera software a lot, is very funny and easy to use.

I haven't tried the microphones yet, but I think they both work fine.

The screen is big, (bigger from left to right than up to down)

The only bad thing I could think of about this laptop is: NOTHING

I guess the price was alright (got it at 674,99 from amazon, Now Its 659,99 i guess), not too expensive, but also not cheap :S.

It's been a huge changement replacing my two-year old HP compaq 6720s (120Gb hardrive, 1Gb ram) with this HP Pavilion dv6-3020us (500Gb hardrive, 4Gb ram)

As I said, I've been using it for just two days, so I hope it'll continue working as good in the future.

At the moment the only thing I could think of is: THANKS HP! and THANKS AMAZON!!