HP Pavilion Sleekbook 14" Laptop / 14-b015dx / Intel® 3rd Review

Customer Ratings:

Good overall laptop. Gets the job done. The build of the laptop does feel a bit cheap though. Had it for a couple months, take it around with me all the time. The plastic where i rest my hands when typing is beginning to make a bit of noise. I do use it a lot though.

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I like the laptop and it is working well. I don't like the Windows 8! Windows 8 seems to want to make my laptop into a tablet but it can't. I need to get work done on the thing and it constantly gets in the way! I would change it to Windows 7 if I could. I might load Linux on it. I know that would be an improvement over anything Microsoft!

Cheap HP Pavilion dv6-3250us 15.6-Inch Entertainment Notebook PC (Silver)

Customer Ratings:

An awesome laptop. Very good looking design (argento on brushed aluminum). Feels sturdy in hand. All the bells and whistles as per the specifications including a backlit keyboard (which was really the selling point for me). Only problem and I mean the ONLY problem for me is the click/touch pad... to click on an item and/or drag and drop is kind of cumbersome to execute...the click part of the pad feels a bit stiff or too far down from the location I'm used to it being in on other laptops...but I figure I'll get used to it after a while. What I think would have been great to just make this the ideal compact and economical merge of hardware vs. price would be integrated bluetooth. But no sweat for me I already had an IOgear bluetooth dongle to connect....Again, awesome laptop!

*UPDATE* I've recently discovered a work-around to my "only problem". The configurations for the touch pad allows you to set a double tap action as a means of dragging and dropping as well as selecting an item or an entire phrase/page in a document or web page. Quite nifty. So no more problems, just a great deal on a good laptop.

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I spent a good two weeks comparing laptops in the $600-$800 range, and this one gets you the most bang for your buck -by far. Huge hard drive, speedy processor, and enough RAM to run Pro Tools 9 (in other words, plenty of RAM). The back-lit keyboard and fingerprint reader are a nice touch, as is the wide screen. Speakers are surprisingly good for a laptop, too. My only qualm is that it comes loaded with useless software -a whole punch of programs and games made by HP and Microsoft that you really don't need. It only took about a half-hour to clear those out, though, and from then on it's been smooth sailing. Also, it doesn't come with a full Microsoft Office Suite, just the starter, which is Word and Excel with these annoying ads. But Word and Excel are clunky and weak compared to Open Office, which you can download and install lickety-split at . Did I mention Open Office is free, too? Goodness I love freeware.

In short: I am a very picky purchaser. I checked every store and website I could find, and if $800 is your limit, BUY THIS LAPTOP. The fingerprint reader will totally amaze your friends.

Best Deals for HP Pavilion dv6-3250us 15.6-Inch Entertainment Notebook PC (Silver)

This laptop is great. The processor is super-fast, backlit keyboard is amazing, and I love the fingerprint scanner. The graphics look great and once you tweak the sound a little, the sound isn't too bad. I would absolutely recommend this to anyone and I can't say enough about the backlit keyboard. It's kind of like getting your first DVR, you didn't see why everyone was making such a big deal about them, but once you get one you can't imagine going without it again.

Honest reviews on HP Pavilion dv6-3250us 15.6-Inch Entertainment Notebook PC (Silver)

The price I paid for this computer is well worth it. I LOVE this computer. It is my first HP laptop and the first day I got it I fell in love with the design. Another cool feature that I love about this dv6 is the backlit keyboard and fingerprint reader. The only disadvantage that I found with the fingerprint reader is that I get so use to it and I forget my password when I am on other computers because I am so use to just swiping my finger and it just logs in for me. One issue that I encountered when I first got it with the fingerprint reader is that whenever I log into pages like facebook, my cursor would become disabled and turn into a cross and not allow me to make any selections. After contacting HP about the issue, we figured out that my internet explorer needed to be updated. I was using the original IE9 that was installed in the computer so I had to update to IE10 and it finally worked to this day. Another issue about this dv6 is the battery life. It says that it can give you about 5 hours of battery life, but it doesn't. After a full charge and I check my battery life it says 3 hours and 45 minutes. When unplugged it does last the three hours and 45 mins. I LOVE that whenever I play a movie on here it automatically asks me to switch over to a power saving mode while watching to movie and extends my battery life. I've kept my laptop on watching movies and doing other things my entire flight from east coast to west coast and still had about 30 minutes remaining when we landed. I LOVE the energy efficient options that it gives. One thing that I'm still trying to figure out is the setting for the webcam. I've used it in really dark rooms and it automatically brightens up the background, but there are so many features to mess with that I haven't gotten around to figuring out the right setting for me. I am still trying to figure out how to turn on the power boost. According to the specs it has 2.66 GHZ but can power boost up to 2.93GHz. It loads the main screen really fast and connect to the internet really fast at 2.66GHz. I just wanted to see how much faster 2.93GHz was. Overall, this laptop is well worth the money. It comes with a 1yr manufactor warranty, but I would contact HP after making this purchase and insure it with accidental damage plus in home care services. It costs about $124.00 for a year, so I'd be sure to take full advantage of that service. :) I guarantee that you will love this computer for this price. Well worth it!! Excellent product and excellent customer service and support from HP.

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The $634 laptop computer worked wonderfully for 12 months. Within a few days of the warranty expiring, the powercord that originally came with the laptop charged the laptop inconsistently, but enough to keep it running. On the 13th month (1 month after the warranty expired), the powercord arced and fried the motherboard. This is an extremely expensive fix. We called HP customer service and were told that because the warranty expired a month ago, we are on our own! I googled this issue and found that this is a common problem. Before you purchase this computer, do a little more research to find out what problems people have had with HPs as well as what problems people have had with HP customer service. Had I done this before I purchased the HP laptop, I never would have made the purchase.

Cheap Lenovo IdeaPad Z570 1024-AYU 15.6" Notebook PC - Intel Core

Customer Ratings:

I would recommend it to students because the keyboard is awesome and it can do anything pretty much! My only complaint is it takes awhile to recognize flash drives but overall it is excellent!

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Review of Sony VAIO Pro SVP1321ACXB 13-Inch Core i5 Touchscreen Ultrabook

Customer Ratings:

SECOND UPDATE

===================

(1) Speakers

(2) Build

(3) Temperature/fan noise

(4) Tips

(5) General Thoughts

(1) Speakers: I know some of the professional reviews said they aren't the greatest but they are not terrible for the size. No, you're not going to get blown away and you're not going to get deep bass. The built-in speakers are located around the hinge, facing up and slightly toward the screen. The sound doesn't get distorted at max volume and fills a standard room pretty adequately at max volume. I'm sure the small size also provided some challenges for the engineering team, so I'm not disappointed.

(2) Build: The more I play with it, I'm not convinced that it's mainly carbon fiber. I sense that there is a decent amount of "plastic-y" material in there but I'm not complaining. The only issue it gives me is the accuracy of the trackpad when not on a hard surface (see the second update to this review below).

(3) Temperature/fan noise: OK, I'll concede a little here with some of the other reviewers. I'm not so concerned with the noise as much as I am with the durability of components that heat up this much. Yes, when the fan gets going, the exiting air temperature is very hot, and the underside of the laptop is as well. SpeedFan reported temps as high as 78 degrees Celsius (172 degrees F)!! That's hotter than any other desktop or mobile computer I've owned without additional heat-mitigating mechanisms. I just hope the components are able to handle that temp--at least it's an SSD instead of a traditional platter. It's also a little bit away from the hot components. The extended battery gives a little relief since it pushes the laptop up a little like a stand.

(4) Tips: There are quite a number of Sony updates to install including a firmware/BIOS update. When you click on the assist button the updates are listed under "software" instead of "updates". I got an error message installing Intel Anti-Theft indicating that the device was not compatible with it. It is. I was able to fix it by going into the BIOS settings and clicking on enable TPM and AT (even though it already was). After a few reboots, it recognized it OK. One thing that drove me crazy until I figured it out... the only way to get to the UEFI and BIOS settings was from a "shutdown" state, then pushing the "assist" button.

Another tip, this doesn't use the camera for light sensor as some have speculated. It uses the dedicated sensor next to the "assist" button. I personally do not like this since if a directional light is shining down on the device but not lighting the surrounding, it is thrown off. I have LED lighting in the main room of my house and it is constantly auto-adjusting the brightness. I believe there is a way to turn this off but I haven't played with it. It also has issues with adjusting brightness when your arm blocks the light for a few seconds. Why would your arm do that you say? Oh, I don't know, maybe because it's a TOUCHSCREEN laptop!! Come on Sony, so perfect in every other way! Again, not so bad that I would return it. I still think it's one of the best Haswell Ultrabooks on the market.

Purchase tips in the first updated review below.

(5) General thoughts: I haven't bothered to fix my Android tablet yet (the Asus TF300T is a pain to replace the digitizer unlike any other device I've owned). This has all but replaced my netbook and tablet that were used previously for separate tasks. All in a footprint smaller than either one individually. I am looking forward to the Windows 8.1 improvements. I have not installed the preview. I want to wait for the more stable release. On another note, the Intel Anti-Theft is $6.99 for one year on Amazon here.Intel 1 Year Anti Theft Service for Ultrabooks and Laptops Totally worth it for me. I take this everywhere.

FIRST UPDATE AFTER flying with this (and for the first time, without an additional tablet)

===================

(1) TRAVEL THOUGHTS

(2) CASES

(3) OTHER QUIRKS ("Flex", touchpad, wifi, fan)

(4) TABLET REPLACEMENT?

(5) PURCHASE TIPS

(6) TAKE APART/DISASSEMBLY

(1) TRAVEL THOUGHTS At first I thought a 13.3" device would be too big to use on the airplane comfortably especially if someone in front of me reclined. I must say this was not the case--furthermore, this is where the touchscreen really shines. Since it is very light, I can hold it closer to me and use it like a tablet without having the keyboard get in my way. The on-screen keyboard also helps for this. I had to ask my colleague to hold the laptop for a second and when I handed it to him he was shocked at how light it weighed!

(2) CASES: The EasyAcc 13.3 inch Laptop Sleeve Bag Case Cover Neoprene Shock Resistant Pouch Protective Handbag for Apple Macbook Air 13, Macbook Pro 13, Acer Aspire S3, Asus Zenbook UX31, Lenovo IdeaPad U300s, Samsung SERIES 9 NP900X3B, Toshiba Satellite Z830, SONY S... did NOT fit this ultrabook so be careful which MacBook Air Cases you choose. I ended up using this Case Logic QNS-113 13.3-Inch EVA Molded Laptop / Macbook Air / Pro Retina Display Sleeve (Black) because it also lets me use the ultrabook in the case itself and I can also stash my second really thin screen (GeChic OnLap--read my review there) GeChic On-Lap 1302 13.3 USB Powered Thin Slim LCD Monitor with ThunderBolt/Mini Display Port Adapter for Apple Macbook Pro Air 13 in the same case! I can also use the Case Logic 14" Case Logic LAPS-114 14-Inch Laptop Sleeve (Black) but it doesn't let me use the laptop in its case. TSA had no issues with either case and I didn't have to remove the ultrabook.

(3) OTHER QUIRKS: So, I think I have figured out the problem with some people reporting touchpad sensitivity and issues. The chassis is carbon fiber and has some "flex" to it. Therefore, if the ultrabook is not fully on a hard surface, and more specifically, half on a hard surface and the palmrest hanging off, the touchpad must be getting compressed inside somewhere as it bends between the palmrest and the touchpad. That is the only time I had issues. If it were fully on a hard or soft surface it operated normally. Imagine taking the laptop and pushing down on the palmrest while it is half over the side of a desk. That is what seems to be happening with me at least. Easy enough for me to adjust so it's a non-issue for me.

The fan noise that people are complaining about I must admit can get annoying sometimes, but I have not tried too much in the way of intensive operations yet. The initial DropBox sync (about 7GB for me) kicked up the fan a lot and it was noticeable. In airports and other areas, it wasn't too much of a distraction, but time will tell if I will be the "weirdo" with the noisy machine in day to day meetings, etc. Ah well, I guess I will have to avoid playing video games during my business meetings!

I did not experience any major Wifi issues other than with networks that do not broadcast SSID's. There are a large number of Sony firmware updates available so I would suggest installing them if you are experiencing issues with bluetooth, wifi, and NFC (which I haven't tried yet). My problem is that the Sony Vaio Update app keeps getting an error so I will contact Sony shortly.

(4) TABLET REPLACEMENT? My Asus TF300T's digitizer broke prior to my flight and it's a pain to replace so I haven't done that yet. Needless to say, I've used the Sony Vaio Pro 13 in many situations that I would have used the tablet for and honestly, I feel less restricted than under Android limitations (read: multitasking, productivity office apps, etc.). I have all but replaced it and since it actually weighs less than my TF300T with keyboard dock, I'm happy to be using this. Yes, it's a little bit large for some situations, so I might hold out and get a decent 8" Bay Trail tablet when they are released later in the year.

(5) PURCHASE TIPS: So, after playing with this for a while, and knowing that some options are pretty expensive, here is what I can offer: most of the components are fixed and not upgradeable. If you can afford it, go with the highest processor and memory that you can. The memory is soldered to the main board. The SSD, however, is Samsung's new XP941 PCIe "M.2" form factor SDD. While they are not available for sale (that I could find) other than to OEMs right now, it is likely they will appear in the market soon. Going from the base 128GB, it costs $220 for 256GB and $720 or so for the 512GB. While the speeds are among the fastest you will see today for SSD, I might be willing to hold off on that, especially since it appears to be user-replaceable (no confirmation on that but see below). Your best shot is to keep searching for them online and see when they pop up cheaper in the future.

(6) TAKE-APART AND DISASSEMBLY: While I have not tried it yet, there is now a good tear-down video () and pictures () so you can see for yourself.

ORIGINAL REVIEW:

===================

In this review:

(1) In the box

(2) PROs (+)

(3) CONs/Quirks (-)

(4) Windows Experience Index Ratings, Battery Life, and Performance Observations

(5) Extended sheet battery thoughts

(6) Thoughts on travel/portability/business use

(7) General Thoughts and Thoughts on tablet replacement

(1) In the box: power cord and adapter with neat USB port in transformer, brief setup pamphlet, VGA Adapter.

I thought I would include this section because there was some confusion as to whether the USB-powered Ethernet wireless router that attaches to the power adapter was included. Sadly, it is not. It is also not listed as available for sale (as of this date) in the US. If you need the part number (since it's hard to find), it's VGP-WAR100 and is available on Sony Asia's website ()

(2) PROs

Great battery life (later)

Super thin AND great battery life!

full-size spacing on keys

Tight integration between hardware and Windows 8 (even some 8.1 features done Sony-style on Windows 8.0)

Screen lifts for the most part with one hand (better than I could have expected)

brightness is decent

Carbon fiber build seems flimsy (because it bends) but actually feels and appears to be durable (if that makes sense)

Really light.

Did I mention that it's really thin and light?

(3) CONs/Quirks (not all are really terrible and I've overcome some as described)

Yes, there is a known WiFi issue. Supposedly, Sony is working on a fix though not all their stores and call centers are familiar with it. However, that being said, I did not experience any major issues. Just in case, I have a WiFi adapter I can use if needed.

For me: lack of Thunderbolt port is a disappointment but I understand that Sony had to sacrifice some things for such a thin laptop. I would have preferred Thunderbolt over HDMI but that is just me and the market supports the decision to stick with HDMI right now.

Lack of Gb Ethernet. Really wished it had this but a lot of ultrabooks are forgoing this option these days. To overcome this, I purchased a nifty Asus USB router (see below under travel)

The large amount of flex in the build makes using the touchscreen difficult to use or at least not as "seamless" as it could be. The screen vibrates back and forth a lot with each press making for a slightly uncomfortable but bearable experience. It certainly does not replace a tablet feel (nor is it meant to so no stars deducted). It's just that it feels like the touchscreen could have been left out altogether but I must admit I still use it extensively over the touchpad (but maybe not over a travel mouse).

The sheet battery is not flush to the device (more on that below under the "extended battery" section).

The keyboard is a little awkward for me, but to be fair, I'm accustomed to a 12.1" netbook keyboard. The keys for me are spaced too far apart but I can still type pretty fast and it doesn't seem like it will take a lot of getting used to.

The lights for the backlit keyboard are visible from underneath the keys when you are looking at the device. It's kind of annoying and I wish it were just the letters that were lit instead of an outline of the keys.

Silly dedicated "assist" button launches Sony's troubleshooting and repair/recovery apps. I'd rather be able to customize a dedicated hardware button (and maybe I can?)

(4) Windows Experience Index, battery life, and other performance measures

Overall: 6.3 (internal HD4000 graphics being the limiting factor)

CPU: 7.1 (This is for Core i7 model but the rest of this review is relevant to this model)

RAM: 7.6

Graphics: 6.3

Gaming Graphics: 6.3

HDD: 8.6

It isn't meant to be a super high-end gaming machine. The idea here is thin and light...but seriously, it does a pretty darn good job at everything else while it's at it. Data transfer rates are extremely good. If I get a chance, I'll post some samples.

Battery Life is really really good. I use Battery Bar and it varies it's estimate based on use but going from a full charge on just the main battery without the extended sheet battery, it varies between 7-8.5 hours, way over Sony's 6.5 hours estimate. To be fair, I have only been installing software and not anything otherwise intensive. With the extended battery which is almost double capacity, I would easily believe Sony's 13-14 hour claim and then some. Time will tell and I will update if this changes.

Performance is pretty snappy and I haven't noticed any major hiccups but to be fair, I haven't done a whole lot other than web browsing and software installation. I'll update as time goes on if it changes.

(5) Extended Sheet battery thoughts:

Honestly, I have mixed feelings. Since there are really no pictures for this model, I thought I would post this so you have a good idea of what it is like. I will post a picture soon as well. For starters, it does NOT sit flush with the laptop. In other words, it adds a significant amount of depth (almost double) but at least it is a smaller footprint and not the whole side of the laptop. It serves as a stand while it is attached. One thing I do wish: the cover for the connector for the extended battery can be difficult to remove form the laptop (it has a spot to reattach to the extended batteyr to hold it in place but even that is a pain to do in a hurry. If I have to switch batteries in a hurry or switch to the extended, it can be irritating. A sliding cover would have been more practical (but I'm not sure if it's feasible space-wise)

(6) Travel and portability thoughts:

For me, extended batteries are almost a necessity and I'm so used to just ordering them that I ordered it with the device. As I am using this, I am actually thinking I wouldn't need it if I were just replacing my netbook/laptop. Since the sheet battery adds such significant battery life, I might use it to replace what I normally defer to my Asus TF300T tablet for (notes, travel, work on airplanes/trains, etc.).

I will update this review soon--I have ordered two different MacBook Air cases and will see how they fare.

I also ordered the Asus WL-300NUL pocket WiFi router (ASUS Multi-Mode Pocket Router (WL-330NUL). This can be used in much the same way as the Sony part I mentioned above with the added benefit that it can also be used as a USB ethernet adapter and standard WiFi adapter as well.

For travel, I also ordered a USB combo mini outlet surge protector Satechi Compact USB Surge Protector for Charging MP3 Players, iPhone, Blackberry, Android, and Windows Mobile Phones and an inline surge protector TRC 90510-10 Lap Top Surge Protector 3-Wire which should arrive soon.

(7) General Thoughts and Thoughts on Tablet replacement:

I was really hoping for a Haswell ultrabook convertible that would double as my desktop via a nice Thunderbolt dock for two monitors, GbE, USB 3.0 drives, etc. I was hoping for said ultrabook to also double as a tablet and take advantage of Window 8 handwriting recognition with a digitizer (this does not have a digitizer). In the end, while this may have been a purchase out of frustration in waiting or the "perfect" device to come along, I think I am happy with it. The near-instant on feature is nice so that certainly helps in pushing the case to replace my tablet. I can still think of a need for a decent tablet with digitizer (perhaps a future "mini" Windows 8 tablet with Bay Trail?). I thought about the Sony Duo 13 as well but the limited one angle kind of was a dealbreaker for me. In retrospect, it might be more of what I was looking for. The trackpad is becoming more and more of an after-thought for me as I use the touchscreen more so the fact that it is much smaller on the Duo may not be bad. At least it isn't behind the keyboard like on the recently announced Samsung device. The Asus Transformer Book Trio is probably the closest to what I wanted but it may not be released until much later this year. For now, I would say I'm very happy with the purchase and will continue to evaluate my needs as I go on in terms of living without a tablet.

I do hope that Thunderbolt becomes more common and is standard in the near future. Partly due to cost and partly due to ignorance, I think people are missing out on something great that might be too early for it's own good. It's almost like the "Apple Newton" was way ahead of its time and didn't succeed because of ignorance and cost until Palm released their version of the PDA when the market was "ready" for it. I'm hoping this is the time for TB.

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I am an executive and work in a technology company. Over the years I have owned a number of laptops, most recently the Lenovo X301, which was the best laptop I had/have ever owned. Recently, I decided to purchase the Sony Vaio Pro, mainly so I could get the Windows 8 experience on a touch screen device. In purchasing this new laptop I had a number of requirements -first and foremost that it be light and secondly that it boot quickly (when getting on and off airplanes, in flight, etc., I often don't have much time or the patience to wait for my computer to turn on or off). Additionally, I wanted a laptop that would adequately perform basic office functions, e.g., word processing, email, etc., and that had a sufficiently high resolution display so that viewing an occasional video would be a pleasure.

With these requirements in mind, I purchased the Vaio Pro -and only after adequately researching all the other options available. I am pleased to say that now, after having used this laptop for well over a month and under all the use cases which I typically experience (planes, cars, conference rooms, the office, at home, etc.,), the Vaio Pro 13 has exceeded my expectations in meeting all of the above requirements, and it is noticeably lighter than any laptop I have ever owned (the X301 was about 3lbs). Most surprising, though, is the boot time -about 2 3 seconds. This combined with the weight make it the perfect executive/office worker machine.

As for the negative comments this laptop has received in other reviews (poor Wi-Fi reception and loud fan). Frankly, I've not had a problem at all. The Wi-Fi has worked in every situation I have been in; it's speed is fine, etc. I really don't know what others are complaining about -as long as you use the latest drivers which can be downloaded from the Sony web site. The fan does occasionally run, but not often. Using typically office applications, web browsing and so on, it does not run at all (keep the computer settings on balanced performance). On the other hand, transcribing pre-recorded text using Dragon NaturallySpeaking, transcribing video or converting audio file formats while having the laptop set in high performance mode -yes, the fan will run, and in a dead quiet room, you will hear it. It will be "loud" -though not any louder than a fan in the back of many other desktop PCs or for that matter nettop PCs often used in home theater settings. My point, the fan noise (at least to me) is not even a nuisance.

Conclusion: This is a great laptop. My only complaint. Scratches show in the carbon fiber. It doesn't take long for the Sony Vaio Pro to look used. But then, I'm not worried about that. Use it is what I want to do, and carry it I must. The scratches, after all, don't add to the weight or take away from the performance.

Best Deals for Sony VAIO Pro SVP1321ACXB 13-Inch Core i5 Touchscreen Ultrabook

Love the high resolution screen, back-lit keyboards, light weight, battery life and fast start-up... Just what I need and want to be able to go around with my work. I would have given it a 5 if not for the below problems:

I had to return the first device within a week because of a bad USB port (broken pin), which was random problem anyone can run into.

Pre-installed Intel Anti-theft service is trash. Do not activate it without backing up everything! Not only it caused problems running some important software, its file protection service can lock or corrupt your important files even after you disable and uninstall it. It caused all my Office files stored in Dropbox folder and my Quicken database no long usable. This probably has nothing to do with the device itself, but something to call out.

Occasionally, after waking up from sleep mode, it will give you the Windows blue screen of death and restart. So you better make sure all you important works get saved before sleep.

Honest reviews on Sony VAIO Pro SVP1321ACXB 13-Inch Core i5 Touchscreen Ultrabook

Background: I'm a PhD electrical engineer/computer scientist and developer and consulting professional

I bought this laptop from Amazon and have now had it for a week. I carefully reviewed options and it came down to this laptop or buying a Macbook Air as I really wanted light weight, long battery life, and fast. After a week of intense work on the machine including updating to Windows 8.1, installing an extensive Python development environment, and doing work on a lot of different software (including LibreOffice), I have come to love this laptop. And I am a tough customer to please!

Things you will LOVE:

HARDWARE: Astonishingly thin and light and I genuinely like the look of it. It took a little getting used to but the character and look is nice and there are a number of nice small touches like the little clear "winglets" at the bottom screen edge that turn out to be support feet when you unfold it.

BOOTUP/SHUTDOWN: This was one of the most pleasant surprises! Most reviews of this laptop barely touch on the fact that it is fast to start and stop. The startup is easily as fast as my chromebooks or a macbook air and startup is just a couple seconds. Together with the very light weight and very good battery it has changed my approach to computing as there is now no overhead or minimum effort needed to start it up and use it. I can access my Sony VAIO Pro just as fast as going to the iPad when I need to jump into Amazon to buy something, so I use this laptop a lot more than my others.

-TOUCHSCREEN: I've been on the bandwagon that WINDOWS 8 was a mistake to insist on touch but it really works here. This was another surprise to me. The high quality and accuracy on the Sony together with the fact a laptop is close enough and well positioned for touch makes it more handy to just use touch rather than mouse or touchpad for a lot of things like accepting ToS, moving icons, or even using the menus in desktop mode apps. I was very surprised by this. Until this laptop I disapproved of touch sense screens on laptops/desktops.

-BATTERY LIFE: One of my goals was to have a light laptop with enough battery life that I can put the charger in my checked bags. This laptop fits the bill. I just finished a weekend torture test where I ran on battery from Friday night to Monday morning (not continuously, obviously). I did a lot of coding, a fair amount of web browsing, and lots of document review (over 80 pages). My particular work style turned in over 8 hours of battery life, so the Sony engineers have put together an excellent system of SSD and power savings. A nice review on Anandtech after I ordered found that the work-time per battery watt-hour of this laptop are astonishingly good.

Things that could be better:

-WI-FI: There is a lot of online argument about the WI-FI on this laptop so I've been carefully characterizing it everywhere. I have found that the WiFi is normally quite good *except* when sitting within about 5 feet of another, older, laptop that is accessing the same Wi-Fi on a direction that passes *through* the Sony VAIO. In that case the connection fits the online complaints perfectly with sub Mbps rates and infuriatingly long latency (e.g. pulling up Google Search takes ~7 seconds). This is the only scenario where I have found a problem and I am able to eliminate it by moving 10 feet. Additionally I found that the same spot next to the other laptop doesn't create a problem if I change Wi-Fi access points. This was infuriating when it happened (and is the only reason I don't give 5 stars) but now that I understand how to eliminate the problem I haven't had to deal with it.

-SCREEN ANGLE: I'm kind of mid-tall (not huge, above average) and find that if the laptop is sitting on my lap I have to tilt the laptop back because the screen doesn't bend back enough. Minor issue.

Overall this laptop is just a great game changer. The battery life is incredible and the startup time so fast that the two of those traits together make this laptop a practical replacement for grabbing the iPad when I want to get online for a few seconds and do something. Additionally, I can leave my programming environment going and hibernate the laptop and just open it up to code for a couple minutes while the kids are busy and I'm waiting. I wasn't able to do this before because my other laptops take too long to boot, are too heavy to have handy, and don't have the battery life to start up 20 times in a weekend.

Great laptop! I was worried about windows 8 and touch but this laptop makes them work really well do to high quality of build and very long battery life. I'm way more pleased than I expected!

I will update this as I find more details people may be interested in, feel free to ask questions.

Cheers

Buy HP Pavilion g6-1d38dx Core i3-2350M Dual-Core 2.3GHz 4GB 320GB

Customer Ratings:

Love my laptop. Have not had any problems with it. It came with Windows 7 loaded, but I am considering upgrading to Windows 8. Not in a hurry though. I take my laptop on my bike with me and it has about 4,000 miles on it so far with no problems. I would definitely recommend one to a friend.

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The price is great but you get Garbage. Within 1 week of buying I see that the keys on the keyboard stops working. You will hit a J and it thinks you are trying to do F2 or screen swap. The only way to get out of this is to log off and log back in. The hot keys at the top of the keyboard are swapped. So F5 does not do refresh. I have never been able to successfully connect wirelessly with my printer. Now after about 2 years, entire folders disappear. What do I mean by that? Well you can go to Windows Explorer (file manager) and you can go to your My documents folders and you can see your "Kids" folder (as an example) but if you write a word document and then go to save it, the "kids" folder within your My documents folder cannot be seen. So what I have to do is save it to my desktop and then move it manually to the kids folder. This also means that for the most part if I want to send an email with an attachment I need to save to the file to my desktop to ensure I will be able to find the file to attach to the email for sending. I bought this laptop brand new and before this I had a Compaq Presario CQ60 that went bad a few short years after buying brand new. I am really starting to think I should avoid all HP laptops all together.

Best Deals for HP Pavilion g6-1d38dx Core i3-2350M Dual-Core 2.3GHz 4GB 320GB

Buggy As Hell! Locked Down Crappy Inside Flash Bios Leaving You No Options To Change Anything At All. In Other Words You Spend Your Hard Earned Money On This Notebook Only To Find Out HP Locks Your PC Like It Still Belongs To Them. HP Has A Long History Of Shunning Their Customers. I Got This From My Sister Cause She Hated It! And I See Why.

Honest reviews on HP Pavilion g6-1d38dx Core i3-2350M Dual-Core 2.3GHz 4GB 320GB

I have owned this laptop for a year now, and with proper care, it runs just as fast as the day I bought it, with the same battery still in it. It is a nice laptop with good features. The only thing I don't like about it is that the speakers suck. You can change them in the SRS sound settings, however they still aren't great. No big deal, I just use speakers. However, I would just buy the new model. They put the speakers above the keyboard (were I believe they should have been in the first place) in the new model whereas they are at the ends of the computer in this model. If you want to update to windows 8 you can, but I actually prefer Windows 7 because windows 8 isn't compatible with a lot of programs because it is relatively new.

You should also be aware that this is an HP computer, so the battery life won't be stellar.

I hope this helps

Buy Toshiba C655-S5507 Satellite Laptop / Intel Pentium processor B960

Customer Ratings:

You have found it!

I say single-tasking because you need to know that it is a single-core computer and set your expectations accordingly, do not expect it to work as well with multiple programs open at once.

This gets a very admirable 5.1 on the Windows Performance Index, where all of the other laptops that I looked at in the sub $400 range get 4.4 to 4.9. Desktop Graphics is the lowest of the scores at 5.1, and suprisingly it picks up a 5.9 for Gaming Graphics! Surely you won't do any hardcore gaming with a computer in this price range, but since I will be doing light vector graphics work as the primary use of this computer, I was very happy to see this.

I was fortunate and found it for $330 at a local retailer, and IMO it becomes the best option with considering cost to performance of similar laptops. Also to my suprise, the SATA controller had AHCI mode already active, so I will probably look into getting a low capacity SSD to boost the performance a bit more, although it already seems quite snappy on the 320GB 5200 RPM drive that it comes with.

For tinkerers, there are two panels on the bottom with one screw in each, one gives you access to the two RAM slots, the other gives access to the HDD. There was a lot of pre-installed "junk" that I got rid of for the most part, but I hung on to a few of the apps as they seem useful, such as a hardware setup wizard that lets you adjust BIOS settings from within Windows, and the native driver updates application.

Of all of my WiFi devices, this one seems to pick up signals that I have never seen before, so I imagine that a lot of this is due to the low density and therefore unobtrusive materials used for the chasis and body rather than a super-powered WiFi module. Regardless of the reason, it is a nice bonus.

UPDATE: Installed 8GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD without issue. I have also had an opportunity to work with the computer a little and after selling my first generation ASUS zenbook after several months of ownership and use the only difference I notice is aesthetic. One more positive that should be noted about this laptop that I have noticed after some use is the screen. It is not the highest resolution, but it is crisp with very good color reproduction and max brightness looks very usable and good.

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I purchased this laptop at Best Buy on July 7, 2012. 5 months later in December it stops burning dvds. I called 800-457-777 given under properties in My Computer for Toshiba support. Don't waste your breath. The little laptop did well for 5 months, but even with the one year warranty which he acknowledged covered all hardware issues you have to pay $49.95 for the phone call if you want them to "fix" this issue over the phone.

There is no yellow exclamation mark in device manager it says the device is working properly. It will read cds and dvds and will burn cds but stopped burning dvds about a week ago.

I would suggest looking around to see if there is any company left where you can understand their "tech support" and will honor their warranties. If you are just looking for an inexpensive laptop to search the internet and get email then this one may do just fine for you.

Discount Alienware AM11X-2894CSB 11.6-Inch Laptop (Cosmic Black)

Customer Ratings:

I have been looking at this item for quite a while and finally pulled the trigger. My concerns with the speed of the processor on the Core 2 rather than i5 and i7 and the high price were my only reason not to buy. After reading about the battery hit taken on this with the faster processors and the price dropping about $100 so that the price difference with the i7 become quite large, I decided to go with the Core 2 and I am glad I did.

First off, the screen is glossy and only of average brightness but the viewing angles and the ability to turn the contrast all the way up and still see a good picture a plus. Second, there is no bluetooth but there are so many tiny dongles these days it isn't a huge issue for your mouse or headphones just use of one the three usb ports. Third, the reason to buy this is for gaming and I am happy to say I was able to load all my games on the spacious 320gb hard drive with room to spare and they are all playable anywhere from medium to ultra settings. I play almost exclusively real-time strategy titles such as StarCraft II and the Command and Conquer titles. They all run really good.

The build quality is phenomenal on this thing. It is fun to just look at and admire. Being able to change the lighting in five zones and in various ways makes night computing perfect. The small keyboard is a little tougher to type on than a chic-lit style on a netbook but the razor sharp backlighting makes it work out fine after a little practice. Touch typing works great. The wrist area does not show fingerprints, the mouse has a great texture and really soft press buttons but I use an external mouse.

My first unit did not work the second day. It went black screen on me and Amazon shipped me a replacement the very next day that has been perfect. I also went into the bios on the second one and enabled turbo mode and it works no blue screens.

I spent all day loading up my gaming titles and look forward to playing on the go and around the house a lot more now. I was also pleased that 1080p YouTube worked flawlessly and my programs seem snappy. So far, so good, enjoying it. The kids love it too and like to change the keyboard to pink for the girls and incredible hulk green for the boys.

A fun toy, I hope to enjoy for a long time, and recommend.

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Dell's m11x is a wonderful, fast gaming laptop with one FATAL flaw: it has a design defect; the screen hinges separate from the chassis with normal use. This defect has occurred in a LOT of computers. Close to 100 are listed on one fan website alone. So far, Dell has not acknowledged this defect, nor have they affected reasonable solutions like extending the warranty on the hinges and tasking an engineer to design a permanent fix. Let me state this again; this is a design defect on the part of Dell and not the fault of the users. Check out the fan forums on Notebookreview or other websites if you need more feedback. This is a great little computer but Dell needs to own up to their design mistake.

Best Deals for Alienware AM11X-2894CSB 11.6-Inch Laptop (Cosmic Black)

Alienware m11x is most powerful 11.6" laptop in the market comparing with all other 11.6"/12.1" netbooks/laptops.

I would give this laptop 5 stars if I write this review in the begining of 2010 because it comes with Intel C2D SU7300 (Performance closer to Intel C2D T5670) and Nvidia GT335m (Performance closer to ATI5730) provding good enough computing power plus graphic engine to play all current PC games at least mid graphic setting.

Why do I only give 3 stars for it after half year?

Because Alienware m11x has the 2nd generation and current amazon price is higher.

The 2nd generation comes with i5 or i7 processors instead of original C2D SU7300, and Dell normally proivde discount coupon to the customer.

I purchased my i5-520um, Nvidia GT335, 4GB Ram, 160GB HDD, and Bluetooth m11x per "$920 + tax" after 100 off coupon from Dell.

Let's compare with another similar model Lenovo U160, which is also 11.6"/12.1" laptop with i5/i7, but its selling price is $1000+ without any GPU. As you already knew, Alienware gives you i5/i7 with GPU (Nvidia GT335m) and better cost.

Beside powerful specs, m11x is easier 11.6" laptop for you to upgrade memory, hard drive, and wifi card. It's the reason I choose 2.5" 160GB hard drive. You can easy get a 2.5" 500GB hard drive in between $50 to $60 to replace the 160GB one without paying Dell like $100. You can check youtube, and find out how easy that you can change those components inside Alienware m11x and how hard for you to change componetns within other 12.1" laptop/netbook hard drive such as ASUS EEE PC 12" series. Alienware did a great job providing user easier way to upgrade the system.

Well, we know that price is higher than EEE PC and other 12.1"/11.6" netbook, but it's a i5/i7/C2D LAPTOP (NOT A NETBOOK) with Nvidia GT335m and up to 8 hours battery life making a unbeatable conditions for user.

Currently, DELL Price is $949 for i5 alienware m11x (2GB Ram + 160GB Hard drive) before all upgrades and discount coupon. For C2D SU7300 m11x (2GB Ram + 160GB Hard drive) starts from $799. That isn't a final cost because Dell keeps providing discount coupons very offen.

I would say current Amazon posted Alienware SU7300, 4GM Ram, and 320GB hard driver making a good combination, but $999 is too high (You can m11x i5 version as $999). If they can cost down SU7300 m11x in between $849 and $899, it will be very worth to buy it.

If you have budget more than $800 for a thin, light, and powerful gaming laptop. It will be the best choice.

Honest reviews on Alienware AM11X-2894CSB 11.6-Inch Laptop (Cosmic Black)

This thing is perfect for me. Its light, compact, long battery life, and has the GPU needed to play my games on medium settings. I sometimes have to carry alot of other gear so the compactness and light weight is very nice. I have used the ASUS G73 series (they make great desktop replacment systems and are very powerful) but those are WAY to big and heavy for my intended use. I wont get into the lights issue as that has already been covered in other reviews.

I did ALOT of research before this purchase. I really wanted the R2 version with the i7 processor and optimus. However I went to several forums and there are many problems with the i5/i7, optimus, and DX10 when it comes to games like Civ V. The R1 has manually switching (FN+F6) and drivers that work really well with DX10. I really like the manually switching to save battery life when doing mundane tasks that dont need the 335M GPU. I also downloaded the updated BIOS (A05) and all the other drivers from the dell website and they all work fine.

I played the Civ V demo with everything on medium with textures and water on high at max resolution and it was very smooth. Company of Heroes online (the best RTS EVER made, its free and its even better than SC2!) plays perfectly on this machine. It also came with Portal for free on Steam, and it plays flawlessly with everything on high. I dont play very many FPS on PC because I have a 360 and PS3 and thats what all of my friends have. I also have a custom gaming desktop rig that I built my self using MSI parts so if I want to do some heavy PC gaming at home I use that.

After I updated the BIOS I was able to overclock the CPU to 1.6 according to CPUZ (great program). The overclocked Core Duo is comparable to an i3 when it comes to speed, the i5/i7 really isnt that much faster, and the battery life takes a big hit too. Some games run better on the R1 and a few R2 users have even traded in their systems to go back to the R1.

The R2 version from will cost you around $1200 out the door with the same specs (except the processor and bluetooth) as this one on amazon. The R1 comes in cosmic black vs the R2 soft touch stealth black. You cant really go wrong the R1 or R2 but there is a well documented hinge issue on both machines if you look on other forums such as . I guess I got a good one because the screen does NOT touch the keyboard on mine. Also the screen is really glossy. I dont use this outdoors so it is not an issue for me but it could be a deal breaker for others.

So if you need a light, extremely portable laptop, and want to play some Company of Heroes, SC2, or Civ V on the move, get the M11x. If you want a big, super powerful, heavy, low battery life destop replacement then look elsewhere.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Alienware AM11X-2894CSB 11.6-Inch Laptop (Cosmic Black)

Update:

Now after owning for about 15 months, during which its never been dropped or compromised, I've had 4 critical issues. The hinge broke twice (replaced twice, each time requiring 5 hours of my time), the mother board fried once, and more recently the battery is again having a connection problem that causes the laptop to shut off on its own when on battery power. Called and was told to replace the battery (at my expense, even though I had a four warranty a faulty battery is considered a peripheral and it not covered). Not exaggerating, I'm put in 30 hours on the phone or troubleshooting b/c of Dell's poor workmanship/engineering. I'm just going to sell this junk on ebay and get another computer. please pass on the "new" Dell owned alienware. It's cheaper, looks pretty, has great specs, but it's junk.

I'd had this for about 8 months. The honeymoon is over for this computer and Alienware in general:

1) The hinge is broken due to an engineering problem (google "m11x hinge"). I've been waiting for them to fix it/address it for weeks to months now. I've spent many unnecessary hours waiting to talk to CS or getting no useful help from Customer Service. I was hung up on twice by the their service team.

2) the computer shuts off on its own (even after turning off the accelerator). I spent hours trying to fix it with their service team. the technician they sent said he was confused and could not help me and to 'call back' to open another service issue.

3) even when purchasing the thing, it was close to a 3 hour process over the phone.

4) the computer feels 'junky'. The parts (side panels), hinge, stoppers, etc are made of a cheaper plastics, glues, and have already noticeably begun to fall apart. All stoppers on teh bottom computer have come off, and one of the top stoppers that rests between the keyboard and screen has popped off.

As context, I had, cared for, and used a Dell XPS for 5 years straight with no issues due to my mishandling of the product. This is a clearly sub-quality product.

Buy another computer, and I would advise not an Alienware. It is really not worth it.

Discount HP Pavilion dv6t Quad Edition Notebook PC w/Blu-ray & DVD burner

Customer Ratings:

Fast computer, no problems at all and very easy set-up... Great price along with a 2nd Generation Quad Core, Blu Ray & DVD burner. Also working great with gameplay, all web browsing and any school programs or software I needed installed without a problem.

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Just frustrated that I had to spend $900 plus to avoid Windows 8. Windows 8 is so much cheaper right now if your willing to deal with it. Also, the computer touchpad seems to have a cheap toy click to it. Anyways....I was in a hurry to complete a project and my other computer had crashed. So, I only have myself to blame for not shopping around, which I recommend. The seller was great at a quick delivery, which I really appreciated!

Best Deals for HP Pavilion dv6t Quad Edition Notebook PC w/Blu-ray & DVD burner

The specs and the price of this notebook is gr8 it has everything you need except for a backlight keyboard and a built in 3g/4g modem wich is not a big deal. the real problem with notebook is that the gpu will not run opengl software like all adobe software, most profesional graphics software and some games. instead it will run on intel gpu and there is no option to manually set use amd/ati card. a complete waist if you need opengl other wise a great machine.

Cheap HP ENVY TouchSmart15 15-j050us 15.6-Inch Laptop

Customer Ratings:

My last laptop was an HP Envy, and I needed a new one, that had Beats Audio, touchscreen, Windows 8. This has been one of the best purchases on Amazon. Good price, Sat shipping., exactly as if I went to the store. SAME specs. The only other option I would have liked as a "bonus", would be a backlit keyboard. But I LOVE the fingerprint reader!

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I have had it for only a month and tragically slipped in water in my over flowing laundry room with this laptop tucked under my arm. The corner of it hit when I fell, I was sure the screen was going to be shattered. It put a small gash in the corner of the screens border. Seriously the worst place it could have hit and the screen is untouched. After crying and being all upset how I could have injured my brand new laptop, I realized I got out lucky and need to tell people this thing is durable. BTW my laundry room is tile.

Review of Lenovo Ideapad Z570 1024AMU 15.6-Inch Laptop (Gun Metal Grey)

Customer Ratings:

Had this laptop for a few days now and I love it! Its super fast, lightweight and beautiful design. I really like the keyboard. The individual letters are spread out. Only complaint to the keyboard is the enter and backspace button is little small and the left arrow is right next to the 0 which is annoying at times. I couldn't believe the price for 6GB memory 500GB RAM and i5 processor. Comparing price vs. features, Lenovo beats the competition. I've had a HP for 3 years, which broke on me, and switching over to Lenovo was the best decision I've made.

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I purchased this laptop from Costco about 5 months ago. I purchased no extra warranty or any of that stuff. My general laptop-mantra is that it should only last you 2 years or so before changing to a better laptop... have to keep up with the rapidly improving industry if finances allow.

I'll start with the specs I purchased this laptop with:

i5 processor, 8 gig ram, 750 gb hard drive, no dedicated graphics card, windows 7 home

It's a pretty standard build, and for around 600 bucks, I was able to snag it from Costgo.

This is my computer that took place of my mid2009 macbook pro with 4 gb ram and intel core 2 duo + 250 gb hard drive...

I have to say that Lenovo made a solid build with this computer. It trucks through almost everything I've thrown at it! Keep in mind, this is not a gaming laptop, nor is it a heavy duty desktop replacement. Nor is it an ultraportable. It's just a 15.6 inch screen laptop with a bit of heft (but every port you could want/need) and with decent specs, it's just a really solid all-around laptop. You can find out more information on the usage and all that stuff from other reviews.

I simply wrote this to say that the product is pretty solid. One thing I will say though...about 5 months in, my motherboard fried but Lenovo offered to fix it completely for free. So really big kudos to them! Especially since my warranty was due to expire 2-3 days before they fixed it. So I'm really happy that the process went smoothly. I will say that the phone call took an hour, but it helped that I had a really nice guy from Costco keep me company while I was waiting...but that's to be expected since my Macbook Pro took 3 days to fix entirely with a similar problem (and you have to go through hordes of customers at the Genius Bar @ NYC where I'm from). So in that regard, I didn't really mind the 1 hour phone call and the mailing in of my computer.

I think I'll cling to this computer for about another year before I get a better one, but for the price...nothing beats it.

Best Deals for Lenovo Ideapad Z570 1024AMU 15.6-Inch Laptop (Gun Metal Grey)

Should not be writing a review when full of anger and frustration. This laptop was a Christmas present but by Valentine's Day it was dead. It will not boot up. Appears that power supply is fine because the power bar is lighted (amber color)

What is infuriating is the type of "customer support" I received. Raja S. (who refused to give me his last name) needs extensive training in customer support and technical troubleshooting.

He mocked me when I could not locate the tiny button he said I needed to hold along with the power button, "You have to hold them for one minute."

After a minute transpired, (I actually thought we were disconnected because of the dead air on his end), I informed him that nothing happened. The laptop is still not booting up.

He said, "You have to hold the buttons for 3-5 minutes."

WHAT?!?!?

Fortunately I had two other family members with me so we took turns holding the buttons while we watched for the 5 minutes to be up.

After that Raja S. said we have to send the laptop back to the Depot and we have to pay for one way shipping. What?? No RMA# he said no.

He also said we would have to pay if they find out the laptop is damaged. Ummm.. We already paid $599. for this paperweight.

When gathering my information, Raja was not very helpful in soliciting my contact information. Again, dead air. I could not tell if he was ready for my information or not or even if he hung up on me.

I finally asked, "Hello Raja are you there?"

He got snippy and said, "I am waiting for your address not just the street where you live."

I finally flipped out at him about this whole experience. I work in customer service and would probably be given a strong reprimand if I treated my customers as I was treated.

He proceeded to put me on hold from 16 minutes.

I will never purchase another Lenovo product again based on both the reliability of the product and the lack of customer support. This is the first time I ever had a computer or laptop die after such a short period of time and this is also the first time I called a "help desk" and spoke with someone so apathetic.

Honest reviews on Lenovo Ideapad Z570 1024AMU 15.6-Inch Laptop (Gun Metal Grey)

I bought it last year 8/31/2012, almost 1 month after 1 year warranty, there is a brighter mountain-shaped area like a scar at the bottom of the LCD, with size of 1 sq in.

This is the first LCD problem I ever have had with laptops. Very frustrating!

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Lenovo Ideapad Z570 1024AMU 15.6-Inch Laptop (Gun Metal Grey)

Worst customer service I have ever received in my life. I bought an Idea pad laptop and it kept crashing on me. After hours on the phone they offered to fix it if I paid for the shipping. I sent the thing in twice and they replaced the hard drive twice. Pretty dumb if you ask me. Each time they claimed they tested it and claimed that it worked but the computer was still crashing. After two months of waiting for a working computer I sent it to a local computer repair shop and they fixed it with a higher voltage power supply. Lenovo refused to pay because they said it was a software issue and software is excluded in the warranty. Lenovo is a company that does not care about their customers or the quality of the product. Someone really should do something because this is just not right.

Review of 11.6" MacBook Air 1.6GHz, 4GB RAM, 128GB Flash Storage, NVIDIA

Customer Ratings:

The 2010 11" Macbook Air is truly revolutionary. Its amazing that such a tiny computer can be so powerful and useful.

I had a 2009 13" Macbook Pro. Its had a much faster CPU, yet when I timed all the typical activities I do on a computer, the Macbook Air came out on top every time. The reason? The screaming fast SSD makes more of a difference in my usage than the faster CPU.

Overall a great little machine. The display takes some getting used to because its a higher DPI, text ends up smaller. Ends up with lots of information packed into the screen. I've become used to it and like it. Its also handy that Lion has several handy ways to zoom, including option-two finger scroll, and double tap in Safari. Also command + will enlarge text in browsers. Lion also has full screen mode which can help.

At home, I plug into a 28" monitor to get serious work done. For my use the 4GB RAM upgrade was a necessity. It cannot be upgraded later. I went with the 128GB SSD which is the minimum I could live with.

I love that I have a powerful system and huge display when I need it at home, and a tiny ultra-portable that I don't have to worry about taking everywhere with me.

Only downside is the cost. Low entry price but the upgrades really add up.

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Whats not to love!? This is a upgraded / maxxed 11" 2010 Macbook Air! Lean, mean, and a good value for the money.

Best Toshiba Satellite A305-S6916 Core 2 Duo T6400 2.0GHz 4GB 320GB Deals

Customer Ratings:

This is my second Toshiba Laptop. The first one still works great but it got confiscated by my family. This new machine has everything. Aside from what most laptops have today, this one sports HDMI, A/V, Monitor and bypass output for all formats of video input/output. The DVD+RW runs smooth, opposed to a Dell I have sitting on my desk in my office. Want to run it through a projectorits ready. Want to hook it into a digital TV, its ready. I did not have a screen problem as a previous reviewer noted. I'd take it back for warranty work if it were mine. This thing is fabulous. While it only has Vista on board, it is updated, so its not full of all the original Vista bugs. Windows 7 is an easy upgrade. If you can find a better laptop for the moneybuy it, I would be surprised.

-bg

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This is a excellent laptop that offers tremendous value to the user.

The A305-S6916 is my second Toshiba laptop, which I have owned for one year, and I am happy with every aspect of its function.

Some have noted that there is a finger-print issue with its glossy keys...I have not found this to be an issue at all. I can see some finger prints if I look closely, in the right light, but it couldn't bother me less.

The one issue I have had, which prevents me from giving an emphatic 5-stars is that a thin line of abrasion has developed on the screen about 3/4 of the way up. Not very noticeable, but I would prefer it not there. I commute to work every day on my bicycle with my laptop in my pack some days; the laptop gets somewhat compressed and there is apparently a pressure point when the laptop closes, 3/4 of the way up the screen.

Would I buy this computer, or one like it from Toshiba, again? In a second. Would I hope that they design out this pressure point? Yes...although I realize its probably not an issue for 98% of users.

Best Deals for Toshiba Satellite A305-S6916 Core 2 Duo T6400 2.0GHz 4GB 320GB

What a laptop! My work involves web development and this laptop handles every aspect. I wasn't sure about Vista 64 home pro or it being a factory refurb, but am slowly realizing that it isn't that bad. With the additional memory and graphics card there hasn't been a video or program that this laptop could not handle and handle well. The factory refurbishment is top-notch, not a scratch on the screen or casing. I am also an amateur photographer and the laptop handles large (NEF) RAW photos/jpgs/gifs with ease. I have worked on Dell's, HP's, Acer's, Sony VAIO's, etc and this laptop beats them all for speed and battery life. The only extra I needed for this was a laptop bag and picked up a reasonably-priced Samsonite bag that does the job. The glossy casing is the only downside and very minor. Just wipe it with a camera lens cloth or a suitable rag and voila! Very much like your cell phone if it rests on your cheek Just wipe it and go!

Honest reviews on Toshiba Satellite A305-S6916 Core 2 Duo T6400 2.0GHz 4GB 320GB

I bought this used/refurbished. It was as advertised and looked great, at only $300 and with the included features it was a better machine than any $300 new computer, especially the sound. But it has dual 2.0 Ghz processors, and I bought it thinking it would have a little more or at least as much as my Toshiba with a single 2.19 Ghz processor. It does not. Even considering that my old computer was damaged, I should have waited to buy new.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Toshiba Satellite A305-S6916 Core 2 Duo T6400 2.0GHz 4GB 320GB

This laptop is amazing the sound is actualy not half bad for a laptop. This thing handles movies and World of Worldcraft like its adding 2+2

The Graphics are also amazing the 512 mb really is alot better than my old $1,250 Compaq Presario which i bought little over 2 years ago

This laptop delivers in performance. The only problem is that it has a giant battery that sticks out the bottom and hurts your legs a little but it runs for about 5 hrs on a single charge so it doesnt bother me much

the webcam is pretty good quality and and the mic is quite nice. Another nice point is that it has a ton of memory for a laptop and the best part is its expandable to 8gb so you can have lots of fun with that. Everything runs smoothly I recomend this laptop 100%

ASUS G73JH-RBBX05 Notebook PC - Black Reviews

Customer Ratings:

Since I am a student, I was looking for a very powerful laptop for a very long time. It had to be a real desktop replacement. First, I was thinking about G60VX-RBBX05 for 650. But it is an old model. Then I found G60JX-RBBX05 for 760 which has newer hardware. Then I found this one. I bought it immediately, because I had looked all gaming laptops, such as Toshiba Qosmio, Dell Alienware, Asus N series, Lenovo Ideapads...Some of them were more powerful than this one, but their price...

Actually, I didn't buy this laptop on amazon, but I bought it on bestbuy for 903 dollars (849+tax). It is also refurbished. The package is simplest laptop, battery and charger. Nothing more and nothing more was needed. It has 500 gb hard drive which is sufficient for me because I have external 1 TB hard drive. 6 gb of ram is more than needed :)

I could say that comparing to other gaming laptops this laptop has the best ratio of performance/money. Really, 903 dollars to almost fastest quad-core processor (820qm, 840qm, 920xm, 940xm, and Sandy Bridge processors are better) and almost fastest Mobility Radeon 5870 (GTX 460M, GTX 480M, GTX 285M, and future Radeon 6970M are better)!

Also, I chose Asus because I trust this company. But other people complain but it's support. I haven't tried to use it yet.

Pros:

1) performance

2) backlight on keyboard. Good to play during nights.

3) big screen (enough for me, 1600x900)

4) two places for drives. You can make a good combination of ssd+hdd.

5) powerful speakers+subwoofer.

6) aggressive design. However, girls, I think, won't like it. (it's not pro, actually, but it's what I like in the laptop)

7) Remarkably silent. Even if I put your hands in front for radiators, it is not hot. The bottom doesn't heat up at all.

I hadn't found cons for me. Nevertheless, I would like to enlist some aspects that you might not like:

1) Battery. Yes, it lasts short, but since the laptop is desktop replacement and gaming laptop, I don't care about this.

2) Set of ports and their arrangement. Because of rear cooling system, there are no ports and they are on sides. This makes mess of cables. Also, set of ports is poor. No DVI, no eSATA, no USB 3.0, no FireWire, no ExpressCard port, no dial-up modem (maybe not important nowadays).

3) Huge charger. Yes, it's huge and heavy, but it's desktop replacement. I don't move it at all.

4) Transportability. The laptop is huge and heavy, but again, it's desktop replacement. I don't move it from my table.

5) No multimedia or additional like quick launch keys. Actually, there are some, such as FN+arrows for media players.

6) No Blu-Ray.

7) No Bluetooth.

8) Small screen resolution. There are other g73jh laptops with 1920x1080 resolution.

9) Touchpad button are tough. But I got used to it for a while and moreover I use external mouse.

So, this is my review. Best laptop I ever had. All games run. For students-gamers it is one of the best deals.

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It died on me. Motherboard dead, price for new motherboard $920. I've had it for 6 months. Nothing else to add, there are some better deals anyway.

Best Deals for ASUS G73JH-RBBX05 Notebook PC - Black

Ok, the laptop is wonderful, I actually got it for like around $900 after taxes at bestbuy (refurbished). If everything on the laptop was in good shape, the only thing I could possibly complain about is the mouse pad, it drives me nuts, it skips and you need to press down very hard to click. So if you bought this PC brand new, that would be my only complaint.

Now, the refurbished one I bought had several major issues. The guy who did the refurbishing must have been completely careless. CRACKED SUBWOOFER SPEAKER (Sounds terrible!), it came with software problems as well, the computer would say "start-up is preparing your computer for first use" each time you boot it up, so I started hibernating it instead to bypass the problem. What else... Oh yea, several burnt pixels on the screen. So, a cracked speaker, software issues and burnt pixels is what I got. But I did save 3-400 bucks for the risk.

I would say buy it, I doubt this would happen to you, I just lucked out on the guy who refurbished mine :-/

Honest reviews on ASUS G73JH-RBBX05 Notebook PC - Black

I bought this ASUS G73J excited about its two year GLOBAL warranty and for its great reviews. However, within the first year of buying the laptop, I have had to send it in 2 times for screen repair. I am not talking about bright-dots. I am talking about TOTAL screen misfunction. It is a tempting buy because of its specs, but PLEASE do not buy this computer. For anyone who depends on it for their work, especially if they travel abroad, their global warranty is false advertising. Repairs are only available at certain centers in the US and in other limited countries, making it almost impossible for users who travel outside of those regions to get service. DO NOT BUY THIS BRAND OF COMPUTER. I have had a much worse experience with this brand than with any HP, Toshiba, Mac, Dell or other brand of laptop I have owned.

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I brought an ASUS g73 laptop less than a year ago. The laptop failed. I sent it to them for warranty repair and they sent it back with a whole new set of issues (missing screws, the keyboard was now defective, and the video was failing). I sent it back to them again, get it back and right out of the box again a new issue (no network card)! I sent it back to them yet again and they sent it back out to the wrong address! Now, I don't even know if my laptop is working or not yet and on top of it it's 100 miles from where I live. I have called them several times, they would keep apologizing and claim they would fix the issue, and then screw it up yet again. I have reached my limits with dealing with these people! They refuse to simply replace the unit with a new one or just refund my money, they even refuse to let me speak with a manager. I have never met people with this level of incompetence in my life! I can't get anyone at ASUS to actually do anything useful, FedEx won't re-route the package because they only let the shipper do it. So I guess I am just supposed to be out my laptop! (After a lot of screaming I got it Back).

This is the kind of service you can expect from these people. I guess that is why they have over 1000 complaints listed with the BBB over the last 3 years almost all for customer service and tech support issues.

Now, after 4 RMA's I am once again having issues with this laptop! The mouse pad is still not working, which was my original complaint with this machine before the kept returning it to me with more and more issues. I finally had enough of this! I called tech support so I could just get the part and repair this thing at my own expense and sell it so I would never have to deal with ASUS ever again. After waiting on the phone over a half hour at 11:30 at night I get this genius who couldn't even supply me with a part number for their own product! Her suggestion was to look for it myself!