Apple MacBook Pro MD313LL/A 13.3-Inch Laptop (OLD VERSION) Review

Customer Ratings:

I recently made the switch from PC to Mac, and I can say that I'm not sure why I waited so long. Considering that I have only had my computer a few weeks I can't say much about the durability and longevity of the hardware, but I can say that the operating system (mine shipped with Lion) and software is top notch.

I labored for a long time trying to decide whether the 13" MacBook Pro (MBP) or MacBook Air was the right choice for me. I liked the form factor, screen resolution and weight of the Air, but couldn't get comfortable with the comparatively small hard drive and the RAM fixed at 4GB. Considering these factors along with the significant price premium for an Air, I decided that the MBP was right for me.

I also thought long and hard about whether to go with the base model with the 2.4Ghz i5 processor and 500 GB HDD or the 2.8Ghz i7 processor with the 750GB HDD. after looking at reviews and benchmark tests I decided that for my uses, the less expensive model would be perfect and that the incremental added performance of the more expensive model is not worth the additional cost. When large solid state drives become more affordable I will probably switch my HDD out, but until then 500GB should provide plenty of storage.

I opted to get my computer locally, but purchased the Crucial 8GB Kit (4GBx2), 204-pin SODIMM, DDR3 PC3-10600 Memory Module (CT2KIT51264BC1339) from Amazon for a great price. Once I got my computer home I installed the RAM in 10 minutes, start to finish. If you are planning this upgrade just be sure that you have the right Phillips head screwdriver.

After using this computer for the past few weeks and carrying it on weekly business trips I am very pleased with my choice of computers. It handles the Microsoft office suite flawlessly, and the added ram allows me to open and view very large pdf files without any lag. I have done minor video and photo editing on this computer and it performed very well. The added weight compared to the

Air hasn't proven to be too noticeable, but I am a big guy at 6'4" and 210 pounds.

So far I am pleased with this computer and my Mac experience overall. The process of learning a new OS and overall user interface was daunting at first, but Apple has done a great job creating a system that is intuitive and easy to learn.

I would recommend this computer to anyone looking for a new laptop that they expect to have for awhile and would like to be able to customize to fit their needs.

UPDATE 5/29/12: I have been using my MBP for six months now and couldn't be happier with it. I may have been lucky enough to get a great unit, but during the time that I have owned my MBP I have NEVER needed to contact technical support. I use my Mac for my primary business computer every day and have traveled extensively with it.

Aside from its performance and reliability the feature that I like most about my Mac is the multi-touch trackpad. By using gestures on the trackpad I can be very efficient, and I'm not sure that I will ever be able to go back to a regular mouse or trackball.

One addition that I made was to get the Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter MB570Z/A to attach a second monitor when I'm at the office. This allows me to use both my MBP monitor and an external, which provides me with much more area when using Excel or other programs and also allows me to keep my mailbox visible when working on other things.

Considering how pleased I am with my Mac, I have a feeling that I will be buying a lot more Apple products in the future.

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The reviews here are for the MD313LL/A, yet the computer is actually MD314LL/A, which has a faster processor and bigger hard drive.

The MD314LL/A features a 2.8 GHz i7 processor, integrated Intel 3000 graphics and a 750 GB hard drive. I've never owned an Apple laptop before, so there was a little bit of a learning curve. Now that I'm getting the hang of it, I'm beginning to like OSX Lion better than Windows. Programs can be run on separate virtual desktops, and the computer never misses a beat when several programs are active. Switching between different desktops or open programs can be done by merely sliding three fingers forward on the large touchpad. Control-clicking on words or phrases in Safari brings up a context sensitive menu which allows the user to select to view a dictionary, Wikipedia, or do a Google search in a pop-up window in the browser. You can also ask the computer to speak the word or phrase, if you have any doubts about pronunciation. Safari also includes links to a library of plug-ins at extensions.apple.com, which includes a plug-in for Flash, so you can now watch free Hulu videos and other videos online. The network preferences window makes it far easier than Windows to set up a list of public DNS servers to bypass the sometimes slow, glitchy ISP servers.

This computer is completely silent. I wasn't even sure it had a cooling fan until I downloaded a utility to monitor the fan speed. This computer is super fast, and the base plate never gets more than lukewarm. The light weight, small footprint, lighted keyboard, crisp screen and speed really make this computer shine.

The attention to detail is really outstanding. The cooling vents on the back of the base are completely covered by a sliding plate when the lid is closed, keeping dust out of the innards. The power supply has flip out legs for winding the cord for storage and the prongs can be removed so it can be used as a brick type supply with the supplied AC cord. The computer also has a green LED battery status gauge built into the left side of the base, which is activated by a flush button. The lid snaps shut quietly even though there are no cheesy stick-on rubber bumpers, and it is held closed by magnets. The built in light sensor shuts off the keyboard backlighting and brightens the display in bright ambient light. The computer also has a 3 axis accelerometer to protect the hard drive from damage. The attention to detail is why Macs are more expensive than the various PC clones.

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I waited a month before writing this review to make sure my initial impression would hold up & it did.

MacBook Pro's -

1. Track Pad (Fantastic!)

2. No Trial Software (everything installed is fully functional no more nag screens)

3. Battery Life (I get around 5 or 6 hours on a charge)

4. Incremental Backups with Time Machine (You can use almost any external HD instead Apple's expensive Time Capsule)

5. Support is Awesome (Nuff said)

6. It's Just Plain Sexy (No more Windows bricks for me...)

MacBook Con's -

1. No HDMI out

2. USB Ports too close together

3. Steve Jobs is Dead

If you're a long time Windows user; ask yourself if this story sounds familiar?

You've got a girlfriend/boyfriend who annoys you on a daily basis, but you stick with her/him year after year because you don't want to spend the time learning the ins & outs of a new one?

Then one day, a sleek, sexy chick/dude catches your eye & you start hanging out with her/him & pretty soon you're kicking that old broad/bum out on the street.

That's me & Microsoft.

I started; decades ago, as a DOS user with an 8088 machine & continued all the way up to Windows 7.

I've got a new girlfriend now & she blows the old one away.

The old one just blows.

Honest reviews on Apple MacBook Pro MD313LL/A 13.3-Inch Laptop (OLD VERSION)

Packaging:

Very impressed with the packaging. I was very impressed how well this thing was packaged. A well thought-out design protects the content and minimizes customer dissatisfaction.

First impression:

I am sure everyone who are interested to buy this product, has gone to best buy and played with it a bit. well, the new MBP right out of the box is 90% more impressive and attractive than that of the store. It is a good looking piece of machine.

It came with a charger, extension cord for the charger, instruction book, screen wipe, and nothing more that I needed. I took the cord out, and started charging it. A full charging is highly recommended before use. after a few setup screens, I am up and running.

Upgrade time:(Make sure you shut down your machine first)

I ordered this machine with a 8GB memory upgrade (DDR3-1333) from Crucial. I did not want to pay a premium for the apple upgrade. Instead, I bought a dual channel kit separately for $39.00. I highly recommended Crucial brand as they use Samsung memory chips and for one more reason I am telling you next. I will not go through how to change the memory(a lot of youtube videos available). when I took out the existing memory out of the MBP, guess what chips they use on the memory sticks? yes, guessed it right, samsung.And I also have reasons to believe that the RAMs are OEM version of crucial memory judging by physical similarities. but, that is just my opinion, not a fact.

User Experience:

After the upgrade, turned on the machine and few beeps and clunks later, it started flying. I repeat, it is flying and my machine is currently running over 600 threads without any sign of slowing down. virtual box? NO PROBLEMO! this little beauty is a little beast in performance. I have installed over 50 applications, running dozens simultaneously, 10 more browser windows open, and it just happy. I can't say enough about the multi-touch gestures. No other laptop I have ever used that had such ease of switching between applications, scrolling, searching, sliding and navigating. I have never used Mac OS before(not more than a few minutes of playing around at best buy), and I felt it was very intuitive to use and learned fairly quickly. I still don't know a lot about the OS, but it has not stopped me from doing what I need to do.

What could be better:

Not that I cared much, but the standard power cord is a little short. I bought a sleeve to keep it safe, and it does not allow room for the extension cord that comes with it(big and bulky).

It has good speakers that play nice sounding beats. But the 15" plays them better.

The outer shell is aluminium, but don't think you can't scratch it. I spent a sleepless night just cause it put a small scratch under it by accident. But, I am over it now.

Advice to the people who wants to take the plunge:

I felt like it was the best $1100 I spent on a laptop. I could not justify it before using it as I always thought that Mac is more style than performance and usefulness. I admit that I was wrong. This machine offers more features and performance per dollar than I thought. This is a well-built machine that would serve me longer than any other laptop ever has for me. I have half a dozen windows machines in my house including a 990X extreme desktop that I built 4 months ago. I love windows, but I have learned that I can like both (Macbook pro and PC).

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Steve Jobs had returned to Apple, which had been a struggling company, and it was time to align it once again with world of creative users. In 1997 an ad was run with actor Richard Dreyfuss reading the voiceover, which began with: "Here's to the Crazy Ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently." Think Different... that was the 1997 slogan and theme for Apple's comeback to the world of serious computing after the return of Steve Jobs, and perhaps it was a cynical reference to IBM's famous "Think" slogan. Whatever it was, this was the ad campaign that restored Apple's reputation under the leadership of the late Steve Jobs.

Take this MacBook Pro review as one from a dedicated Windows PC user who made the switch awhile ago, with time enough to put it through its paces, to do side-by-side comparisons. I've owned a Mac before, back in the day of the Macintosh SE, and though I found it to be extremely useful for desktop publishing in the days when Aldus PageMaker reigned supreme in that area, I saw things blend as Microsoft slowly got its act together, for the most part. When it came time to upgrade back then, I stuck with the Windows PCs... until recently, when I found the need to diversify a bit.

To make this easy for those who just want to get to the facts quickly, I'll list the positive and negative points that I've personally found with the MacBook Pro first, then elaborate with details a bit further on. Please also remember that these are coming from a satisfied Windows 7 PC user, and one with multiple computers.

MacBook Pro Positives:

* Well thought-out packaging, easy out of the box setup

* Excellent build quality, unparalleled detail in workmanship

* Superb aluminum unibody chassis construction, has a good solid feel

* Sharp 13.3-Inch backlit display, first-rate 1280-by-800 Resolution

* Screen display has excellent color resolution and contrast for photos

* First class backlit keyboard, easy to use in low-light situations

* Very fast boot up even with password protection enabled

* Proven Mac OS X operating system; based on UNIX (like a server)

* Built-in SD card slot; great for transferring photos to computer

* Responsive ergonomic multi-touch trackpad; no buttons, excellent cursor control

* Well-engineered 60W power adapter with decent cable management system

* Automated incremental backups with Time Machine, works with almost any external HDD

In Between:

* Claimed 7 hour battery life; 5-6 hours is more like it, depending on the apps that you're running

Negatives:

* No built-in HDMI or VGA output, adapters must be purchased separately

* Only 2 USB 2.0 ports, and they are too close together

The Details:

We each have our reasons for the computers that we own. Mine were primarily to have a compact yet sturdy platform for word processing, accessing the Internet, and digital photo processing. That stated, there's little to not like about this MacBook Pro. The Intel Dual-Core Processor is fast and efficient, and even better than the Pentium Dual-Core 2.20GHz processor on my Windows 7 notebook PC. It's one thing to see it in the store, but when one gets it home and takes it out of the well-designed box, it's apparent that this is a better grade computer than might have been anticipated. The first thing that is noticed once it's unwrapped is the workmanship. The unibody main enclosure, constructed from a single block of aluminum, is proof of this attention to detail and it helps add to its durability.

The 13-inch backlit LCD display is sharp, and has the excellent color resolution and contrast that I need, especially when working with photos. The glossy screen actually helps to see images with their full clarity. Using both Adobe software apps and Nikon Capture NX 2, having clear and sharp resolution is an absolute necessity, and this MacBook Pro offers that. The backlit keyboard is a pleasure to use, and quite functional in low-light mobile locations. I'm also very impressed with the quick boot up, even with the password startup screen enabled, a security necessity when at some mobile locations.

It's hard to fault OS X in any way. This operating system is UNIX-based, and therein lays its strength, along with its ability to run 64-bit applications. It works right out of the box without fiddling or tweaking. It's far better than Mac OS 9 and its predecessors, and the security while on the `Net is reassuring.

The tiny built-in SD card slot has proven itself to be good for transferring photos from the digital cameras to the computer. I've also used it to transfer other media files and documents between computers in a pinch. It took awhile to get used to the trackpad, with its so-called "multi-touch gestures," but once mastered it's easy to use. Must admit that I do revert to using a mouse when using the computer at home... call it years of conditioning.

This computer really shines with the inclusion of the Time Machine application, and I was happy to find that I could use a reasonable priced off-the-shelf hard drive to do automated incremental backups. I have a Toshiba 500 GB USB Portable Hard Drive, and all I did was reformat it to HFS+ Journaled file system to use the Time Machine backup software. It works like a champ.

The external 60W power adapter is well engineered and keeps my computer running cooler than PC notebooks with internal power supplies. I appreciate the magnetic DC connector as it pops off easily if some klutz trips on the cord, necessitating a costly repair as I found out when someone did that to one of my PC notebooks. The LED in the connector head helps: amber it's charging, green it's charged; very simple and effective.

Other Notes:

The battery life being less than advertised I can live with. I would have expected HDMI and/or VGA output to be built-ins with a computer of this quality. But I have yet to buy the adapters. But to have only two built-in USB 2.0 ports is irritating, and those are too close together. Problem solved with an external 4-port ISB adapter, so that issue is closed.

I have had issues with laptop carrying bags in the past, and now carry my MacBook Pro in a ThinkTank Artificial Intelligence 15 V. 2.0 Laptop Bag. I picked this one over many others from heavy experience with photo gear, and know that Think Tank makes exceptionally good pro gear. It protects my computer from the elements quite well, holds more gear than I can explain here (I have reviewed it), and can highly recommend it to anyone who wants to protect their MacBook with the kind of case that it really deserves.

Browser note: I've used the included Safari browser, but my de-facto standard remains Google Chrome. Safari is a decent browser, but because I find it necessary to synchronize my email on the Mac, the PCs and even one older Linux-based notebook (it's a geek/support thing), Chromes just works better, and I find it faster. Your experiences may differ, so try whichever works for you.

I'm running Office for Mac 2011 and have found its interface to be even better than Microsoft Office 2010 or 2007 on the PC. Didn't know if the implementation of Outlook for Mac 2011 would be better than Entourage, which was buggy, but Outlook turned out to be excellent, and it's become my mainstay over the PC version.

Heat is an issue that I had heard of by some, yet I have not experienced. The heat level is better than my old HP, Compaq or Dell, and far better than my VAIO (which was very bad). The only one that has been better heat-wise is my current ASUS notebook running Windows 7, but not by much. Had been tempted to get a keyboard skin for general protection in the field, but heard that these interfere with the ventilation, so that idea has been tabled for the present.

Future:

I may upgrade to 8 GB of RAM, which has been recommended by a number of people if and when system performance issues arise. The RAM upgrades are quite reasonable, but I'm pleasantly surprised at how well it runs with the standard 4 GB at this point.

In Conclusion...

I could say more, but the best advice that I can offer is that if you get one, take it out of the box, plug it in and charge it. After that, turn it on and see how easy it can be... the MacBook Pro just works, as you'll see. Think Different is a reality, and this one proves it.

Reviews of Dell Latitude D610 Notebook PC (Intel Pentium M 1.86GHz, Windows XP

Customer Ratings:

I couldn't agree more with the other reviews regarding the deceptiveness of some outfits in this case Tiger in selling refurbished items as new. I felt that it was important, however, to review the product and not the vendor. I've used the D610 professionally with great success for several years. I was so pleased with its performance that I bought one for my personal use as well as two more for my in-laws. I bought all three as refurbs but I knew what I was getting and the price was unbeatable at approximately $250.00 each. If you're a wannabe geek such as I am, you can easily find all of the service literature necessary to service the D610 yourself. I've never had to service any of the three that I bought, but I did expand the memory in all of them. I was pleased with how easy the upgrade was, how well engineered the product is, and how clear the service literature is as well. I bought a hard drive caddy and an additional 80GB HD to fit in the CD port, so now I have 2 bootable HDs and a ton of storage. If forced to search for a negative, the only thing I can come up with is the click action of the pointing device. The feel is a bit stiff and the sound is somewhat irritating. That said, if the pointing device ever became bothersome enough a USB mouse could be purchased for a couple of bucks. I was looking for another D610 to buy for my wife when I stumbled upon these reviews so I felt compelled to put in my two cents worth. Good luck with whatever product you choose!

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I bought one of these laptops two months ago. It has been working just fine. Today Microsoft told me that the license is not valid. It has a valid certificate of authenticity on the back but does not have a second "refurbished" CoA. When I look at the internal System Properties/General tab it says "XP Corporate" which means it was covered under a mass/site license which can not be transferred or sold. I will probably have to buy a fresh copy of XP ($100) and re-install.

Before I made the order I checked to see that the advertisement specified "Genuine Windows XP". I also checked the CoA when it arrived. When the Microsoft updater offered to run "Genuine Advantage" to check the authenticity I confidently thought "sure, go right ahead."

BEWARE!

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I can hardly say enough good about my purchase of a used Dell Latitude D610 laptop from Tampa Laptops through Amazon.com. The machine arrived two days after I placed the order, it was exactly as advertised, worked perfectly and was priced right. I wanted to introduce my wife to the digital world, both of us being advanced in years, and to have a machine to teach her on that operated just like my desktop with XP. This laptop is perfect for that purpose and the transaction was completely painless. Thanks to Amazon for the Tampa Laptop contact and the security of purchase that Aamzon provides.

[ASIN:B002TOKT74 Dell Latitude D610-1.73 Laptop Wireless Computer (Refurbished)]]

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Laptop was very hot after about 20 minutes of use, almost too hot to touch mouse pad and bottom of laptop, due to a faulty/defective battery. I was afraid it was going to catch on fire; it got so hot laptop would shut down. Finally, after a few days, battery just quit charging, etc. Took the battery completely out and laptop works fine. So, now I have a "desktop" until I purchase a new battery, which is not so good because I do Medical Transcription on the go. Make sure if you purchase that you add into you budget for a new battery because I don't think they guarantee them, though my slip said battery was in good working condition, and they do not replace batteries.

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This older laptop arrived with a replaced E key, and a small spot of fingernail polish barely noticeable.. Other than those minor flaws, this laptop was more than I expected. More hard drive space than advertised, more ports than I thought would fit on a laptop and it even has a burner, not just a player and it works perfectly. The first time I turned it on,it immediately found my wi-fi and it's been a joy to work with since. It's made my Inspiron 1501 look like a piece of junk.

I bought from perfectbuy_perfectsell who responded to my email immediately and offered a 14 day return policy.

Sony VAIO VPCEB36GM/BJ 15.5" Display Laptop / Intel Core i5 Reviews

Customer Ratings:

I recently purchased this laptop at a big-box store (price was lower) and I love it. It's a replacement for my 3-year old desktop, and I couldn't be happier. I run a lot of photo-editing software so I needed a system that could handle multiple large programs at once and this laptop doesn't flinch everything is smooth and seamless, the display is beautiful and the 10-digit keypad is a nice touch. The battery life is solid at 3.5 hours, too. No complaints!

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I bought this laptop from best-buy yesterday evening to replace my antique desktop.

So far it's done everything I wanted it to do.

Windows 7 pro sure is sleek to compared windows xp home. Plus having a processor bigger than 933mhz is amazing :D

No cons yet!

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My wife bought this for me at Christmas and I definitely have opinions on it. Experience level: Geeky =]

The screen is beautiful, and movies and such look great.

Performance was surprisingly slower than I would expect a 4 core processor to be, but it is running Win 7. It's possible some more RAM may help, or putting Win7 on a diet (preferred) would be in order.

Love the half a terabyte!

As I commented in another review, getting used to the offset keyboard and mouse took 5 weeks or so, but it's worth it. I assume they put the keypad in to fill the lower portion of the laptop. I do like the keypad, it's handy!

The worst thing they did was the mouse pad. It is a capacitive type that allows for pinching which I turned off a few days into it. Unfortunately it also makes the mouse movement erratic during normal use, and when the cover is closed and it's left on, the mouse does it's own thing. When I return I find many windows have been openedsometimes 20+, and it's dinging at me because Windows wants input and the mouse is still possessed. FAIL. Especially when you have it next to the bed.

Honest reviews on Sony VAIO VPCEB36GM/BJ 15.5" Display Laptop / Intel Core i5

I'm a skilled touch-typist and long-time laptop user. Bought this one a few days ago from a big-box store (lower price). Fingers kept hitting the wrong keys. Couldn't figure out why, until I realized I needed to move the laptop about 4" to the right, so that my head is in centered on the touchpad, not the center of the screen. I don't like this design.

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I had an opportunity to use this laptop or attempted to. I was tasked with removing a suspected virus from this laptop which was thought to be causing BSOD on startup. Placed hard drive in another PC to scan for viruses. None found. Ran complete system recovery to return system back to factory default condition. System recovery ran to 100% and upon restart would BSOD before even making it into windows 7 pro. Replaced memory and hard drive with new. Ordered recovery CD's from manufacturer. Thought this has to work. Same results. I would not buy this laptop. Even with new memory, new hard drive and factory recovery CD's this system would not startup even on factory recovery completing to 100%. The only thing left is to send unit to Sony. This laptop either has poorly engineered cooling properties or is not truely x64 capable. I would avoid this laptop. Valueable advice...anytime you get a NEW laptop. Make your recovery CD's immediately and then run a complete system recovery to ensure the integrity of your new purchase. If a NEW laptop cannot function after running complete system recovery, it is not worth keeping.

DELL LATITUDE C640 2.0GHZ 512MB 20GB DVD WIFI XP PRO LAPTOP Review

Customer Ratings:

The dell computer I recieved was in very good condition although it has a minor scratch it is nothing to be upset about. With my initial order my restore CD was not included and the power cord had a small short..but I must say I would definately purchase from this company again, They quickly resolved any issues I had they even expressed me a new power cord and my restore cd to make it right..Again definately I would recommend purchasing from this company again.

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The laptop was purchased for only one reason to run the DryFire USA Trap program. The unit works really good. Because it is a reconditioned unit, I found that the battery would not fully recharge. Bought a new battery from batteries&butter for $64.00. It is a top notch unit now. This should be the only problem that you should have.

It was delivered before the time indicated by UPS. Oh yes, you do not get a manual with the unit, but you can download the manual at the Dell site.

Edward J Keefer

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Had a problem with the first computer sent out, co. bent over backwards to take care of us. Returned and shipped twice at no cost to me. Very unexpected in today's times.

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The product arrived on time and as advertised, in good shape. Price was highly competitive--better than E-bay.

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I received a laptop that was described as like new, the laptop was physically dirty, had many scratches on the screen and body, and came with a dead battery. The decscription and technichal details said that it came with 512 RAM and a dvd drive but came with 256 RAM and a CD drive. when i wrote to him about it, he told me that i should have read his comments to find those details. He should have written the correct details in the description in the first place.

Discount Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E420 1141BTU 14' LED Notebook - Core i3

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $1,158.06
Sale Price: $949.99
Today's Bonus: 18% Off

I have been pleased with this laptop. It stays relatively cool when in use and lasts quite a while on the battery supplied (I get about 4+ hours when word processing and browsing the web). I have a slightly different model. I have an E420 1141-A51. This machine is not for gaming. I have had problems with the video card drivers. Games and some video processes have caused the system to freeze or blue screen. After resolving these issues, I steer clear of these kinds of applications.

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As it was my first time to buy a laptop via internet, I was little nervous. But there was no problem at all. This new laptop is working very well and I am so satisfied.

HP G62-358nr Notebook PC, Charcoal Review

Customer Ratings:

I didn't purchase this computer from Amazon, but would like to give it my good review. I bought it directly from HP several years ago and have found it to be bullet proof. The only upgrade I did was to increase the onboard memory. I found the HDMI out is great for connecting to TV, the speedy optical disc drive with Lightscribe, the fast processor and other enhancements make it a winner even in todays high tech world. I hate to admit it, but if this baby doesn't die with a mechanical or software severe enough to kill it, I will keep it for a long time and not be enticed to upgrade. I might add I am not that anxious to upgrade to Windows 8 from Windows 7 which is what comes with all the new PC's anyway.

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Buy Apple MacBook Pro MC723LL/A 15.4-Inch Laptop (OLD VERSION)

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $1,999.00
Sale Price: $1,945.00
Today's Bonus: 3% Off

First, a little background. Aside from a TI-99 we had when I was a kid and the Apple IIc computers at my middle school, I've always been a Windows guy. I feel very comfortable in the Windows environment and have been building my own PCs for about 15 years. I don't hate Microsoft. But when the need for another laptop became clear, I decided to focus my search on the higher end machines. I wanted good horsepower, but I especially wanted a nicer form factor than the creaky Dells I had become accustomed to. As I had fallen in love with the interface on my iPhone, I decided it was time to give MacBooks a try. I kept my Windows desktop in case I ran into compatibility problems.

The short version of that story is that I quickly dismantled my PC and now use this laptop as my only machine. I am fortunate to be able to do so because my work as an attorney requires only Word, Excel, and an internet browser. As a bonus, my copy of Lightroom 3 also installed on the MacBook. I'm trying not to sound like a Mac zealot, so let's have a list:

-Aluminum unibody is no marketing gimmick. It's sturdy and feels great with no flex and no creaking. Looks nice, too.

-Keyboard is well-engineered. The key travel and spacing between keys feel just right for my taste. There is no flex here, either, which I often find disconcerting on other laptops.

-Trackpad is a marvel. It really is. It's very large, but I've yet to feel like it's in the way. And the finger movements are intuitive and work very well.

-The screen is bright, clear and has great color. The reflectivity is sometimes an issue in bright locations, but I find tilting it a little solves most problems. Otherwise, you can custom order the anti-glare screen direct from Apple.

-The lid closes with a magnet, so there's nothing to break.

-It is very fast. In my experience, Mac OS X starts up and shuts down far faster than a comparably spec'ed Windows machine. I have yet to feel a need for 8 GB of RAM, but an upgrade would only cost $90 if you know how to do it yourself. Otherwise, I have no issues running lots of standard programs at once.

-Comes with Time Machine. As an attorney and amateur photographer, I have lots of stuff that needs to be backed up regularly and reliably. Time Machine works so well and so seamlessly that I can't imagine how I survived before.

-Spotlight is brilliant. Type in any word, and Spotlight almost instantly gives you results from your entire hard drive, including INSIDE your searchable documents, preferences, web results, and even definitions of words.

-Seven hours of battery life is very possible, even on wireless. I can sit in Starbucks for hours unplugged and still have plenty of life left. The caveat is that you really can only surf and use programs like Word. I also have Flash installed, which is a huge battery drainer, so I grabbed a Flash-blocking program that let's me choose which Flash files to activate. Nice solution.

-HD webcam. Nice quality, though I haven't really done more than messed around with it.

-The magnetic power cable is slick.

-As a former Windows user, I find the Mac OS X interface to be really nice and intuitive. There's obviously a learning curve, though I've found it be surprisingly short. Lion is anticipated to be a nice upgrade, too.

-PRICE! Well, a lot of people complain about the Apple premium, and it definitely exists. I found this laptop to be a few hundred dollars higher than the really nice Windows laptops with mostly similar specs, although I don't think comparing raw horsepower between two different operating systems is always an accurate benchmark. I live on my computer, so I'm willing to pay a little more to get what I want. It's like buying a BMW because you have to spend three or four hours a day in your car. Whether that value equation works for you or not is up to you and your checkbook.

-Anything I dislike? Not really. I'd like maybe one more USB port and a CF card reader. I'd love to start seeing cheaper SSDs in these things, but that's really not Apple's fault. Decent SSDs with any size are still expensive for everyone. I was a little nervous about having a 5400 RPM HDD. I think transferring large NEF files from the card reader might be fractionally slower. The tradeoff in battery life is probably worth it. Will Thunderbolt be worth it? Who knows? I don't care just yet, but ask me next year.

I know there's more to say, but I'm running out of steam. I'm happy to discuss anything in the comments.

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The update to the 15-inch MacBook Pro in February 2011 was significant. Indeed, significant may be an understatement when it comes to the increase of processor performance offered by the updated machines. Quick thanks to Amazon and Apple Stores for having these immediately available at launch.

The primary upgrade to this revision? The processor! Intel has a brand new architecture called Sandy Bridge, and these MacBook Pros are the first Macs to feature this technology. Some have called it some of the most significant changes to Intel architecture since Pentium 4 was introduced. These 15-inch MacBook Pros as well as its big brother, the 17-inch, not only take advantage of Sandy Bridge, but the Quad Core i7 Variant. Quad Core processor in a notebook Mac! Wow.

I actually chose the 13-inch model for my personal use (only Dual Core on the 13-inch), but a 15-inch is replacing an aging iMac at the office to save space and leap over its performance. These Quad Core Chips are amazing. Early benchmarks are showing this entry-level 15-inch, 50 percent faster than the upper end i7 15-inch MacBook pro from a year ago. A dramatic improvement. This higher end model is even better. Furthermore, if you're still on a Core 2 Duo machine such as the iMac I am replacing, the performance is as much as 2.5 times faster and 3x faster with this higher end model. At least in terms of the processor. This is most beneficial in processor intensive applications, for consumers such applications are iMovie and Garageband. Professionals will see the new processors beneficial in any professional photo editing, video, or music work.

This model also includes a fantastic dedicated graphics card with 1GB of graphics memory. 1GB of graphics memory is a a first for Mac notebooks.

One downside is that due to cost, the machine still comes with a spinning hard drive standard. In this case, the standard drive is a 5400 RPM 750 GB drive. That offers plenty of storage, but is slightly slower than a desktop 7200RPM drive and much slower than a new, solid state drive. You do have options. You can special order the machine from Apple with a 7200RPM drive, or Solid State Drive. However, what I have decided to do, is simply, when I'm ready, swap out the drive myself. Other World Computing sells solid state drives compatible. It might not be easy for every user, but for those with some computer experience, it is a fairly easy swap. Then I can install a faster solid state drive, when the more acceptable capacity drives come down a bit in price. You might also choose to do the swap yourself because you can then put the hard drive that was originally in the machine, into an external enclosure, and use it as an external drive for backup. Of course, any damage you cause to the machine would not be covered under warranty. Therefore, if you have any concern, you might want to see if you can special order from Apple online, or in many situations, you will find the standard hard drive to be acceptable.

After the processor advancement, Thunderbolt is the other great new technology included in this revision to the MacBook Pro. Thunderbolt looks like the Mini Displayport that was already included on the MacBook Pros. Indeed, it will still function perfectly as a Mini Displayport, for connecting an external display. However, Thunderbolt is more importantly a new interface to connect external devices in the future, such as, external hard drives, HD camcorders, and perhaps even iPads, iPods, or iPhones someday. Data would then transfer many times faster to and from these devices than it does currently. These devices were not available at the time of the MacBook Pro's launch, but we have already heard that external drives should be available later this year with Thunderbolt connectivity.

iSight camera has been upgraded to HD resolution and Face Time pre-installed on the computer. This gives you the ability to video chat, easily, with other Macs and notably, iPhone 4s and the newest iPod Touch with front facing camera.

The consumer software you expect to be included by Apple is once again here. The latest version of Mac OS X Snow Leopard (operating system), iLIfe 11 including iPhoto, Garageband, iMovie, iDVD, and iWeb is all here. OS X always includes Safari web browser, iTunes, and Mail applications too. The average user would be good to go out of the box. You might pick up Microsoft Office for your office document needs, or simply purchase Apple's iWork applications (Pages, Numbers, and Keynote) from new Mac App Store on your computer.

The new MacBooK Pros, thanks to Sandy Bridge technology are fast. They will save you time, when using processor intensive applications. Time in business, saves people money and frustration. The average consumer might see less gains with this update as physically the MacBook Pro has retained it identical appearance, size, and weight. Nevertheless, under the unibody, improvements have certainly occurred which result in a much faster notebook. The fact that these 15-inch and 17-inch models now include Quad Core Processors standard is really extraordinary. This is putting recent top of the line desktop performance, into a sleek and attractive Mac Notebook. A breakthrough. Recommended Product!

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Apple MacBook Pro MC723LL/A 15.4-Inch Laptop

I have spent months reviewing different laptops. I've gone through at least 10 laptops in the last year looking for that one laptop that I will be pleased with and keep for more than a year or two. I've had Acer, HP, Compaq, Asus, Sony, Toshiba, and others. Sony was the only laptop that didn't go FUBAR within a year or so.

So, I thought I would give Apple a shot and I was not disappointed. I first tried out a 17" dual core that was super but the resolution was just too small for my eyes and I returned it. But I was so impressed with the quality of the case, the screen (albeit the resolution too small for my eyes), the quality of the innards (no cheap stuff under this hood), the quality of the power cord, the very fast 800 firewire, the backlight keyboard, the ease of typing on the keyboard, and the mouse pad. The mouse pad on this laptop was the first one I have not had to disable while typing. I have no idea why we have been stuck with those stupid PC mouse pads for so long when the solution was so easy! On the Apple laptop you push the pad down instead of tapping it. This means the cursor does not move to some abstract place and you find yourself typing three pages back!

But, then Intel released their new Sandy chips. I figured that Apple would not use these chips for some time so I started looking at PCs again just for the new chip. I couldn't bring myself to buy a PC after owning a Apple. Fortunately Apple did release these new Macbook Pros with Intel's new chip with increased graphic memory and the new Thunderbolt. Plus Apple increased the speed of the memory.

I just could not help myself and I purchased this MBP 15" with the 2.2 i7 Sandy Bridge with the 1G memory. I am very glad I did. This laptop is fast. Its unibody case makes this the most solid and durable laptop on the market. The innards are easy to access to upgrade memory and the hard drive. Everything inside this machine is neatly arranged and is of top quality. The battery is rated for seven hours which is pretty accurate. The Mac OS is written to take advantage of the quad core chip, memory, etc. The LED screen is crisp and clear, and with the regular 1440X900 resolution I can easily use this laptop without any eyestrain.

I only have one puzzling complaint about this new laptop. Why in the world would a company build one of the fastest top quality laptops in the world and stick a hard drive spinning at 5400 RPM? Yes it is a 750 gigabyte drive, which few people including myself could never fill. But running at 5400 RPM? I just cannot understand this.

You can order the drive spinning at 7200 RPM or opt for a SSD on the Apple online store. The strange thing is that the 7200 RPM drive is the same price as the drive spinning at 5400 RPM. But that is not the point. Yes, most people will never notice the speed difference between a 5400 RPM and a 7200 RPM drive unless you are doing some pretty intensive media editing or are a avid game player. The point is why build a top of the line laptop and stick in a old busted down 5400 RPM hard drive like an afterthought. I fixed this discrepancy by installing a new Intel 160G SSD (solid state drive).

I have been using laptops since 1991 when they made great paperweights when they died. This is the best laptop I have ever owned. Do yourself a favor and try one. Even if you don't like it you can always return it. I don't think you will, but you do have that option.

Honest reviews on Apple MacBook Pro MC723LL/A 15.4-Inch Laptop (OLD VERSION)

I've been a power Mac user since its introduction in 1984, and have owned various portable and desktop configurations since then. Frequently, you will see major leaps in desktop performance, but it is rare to see dramatic improvements with laptops (you typically see 25-50% improvements). But I have to say, in all the Mac laptops I've owned since my very first PowerBook G4, this is the most dramatic leap in performance I've ever seen. Not only is it 2.8x FASTER than my mid-2009 2.66GHz Core2-Duo 15" MacBook Pro, it is slightly faster than my 2008 2.8GHz dual-quad-core MacPro!

I bought my 2011 MacBook Pro (2.3GHz quad-core i7, 15" high-res screen) as an upgrade from my mid-2009 15" unibody MacBook Pro. I wasn't expecting to be LITERALLY blown away by the raw computing and graphics performance of this update. I have run every standard benchmark suite in comparison not only with my 2009 MBPro, but also against my 2008 dual 2.8GHz quad-core Intel Xeon "Harpertown" MacPro. And to my surprise, this little wonder beats BOTH machines in CPU and graphics performance. Imagine carrying a laptop with true desktop power. My real-world tests (iMovie, Aperture, Photoshop and Nikon Capture NX) simply validate the benchmark results.

Here's what my tests reveal:

Geekbench: 10450 (vs. 3722 for 2009 MBPro vs. 9533 for 2008 MacPro)

Cinebench 11 CPU: 5.56 (vs. 1.53 for 2009 MBPro vs. 5.76 for 2008 MacPro)

Cinebench 11 GPU: 36.38 (vs. 13.77 for 2009 MBPro/nVidia vs. 26.51 for 2008 MacPro/ATI 5770)

Now THAT is impressive!

Even though the Intel "SandyBridge" core i7 processor in this Mac is advertised as quad-core, each core supports 2 simultaneous threads (8 operations), which you can literally see when running Cinebench. If your computing needs don't support multiple cores, the i7 can bump the speed of a single core up to 3.4GHz (TurboBoost) as well.

To truly match/replace your desktop environment, you'll need to replace the built-in hard drive with an SSD, because 2.5" hard disks, even in 7200rpm configurations, are much slower than their 3.5" desktop counterparts. I bought my SSD through OWC, and I'm seeing anywhere from 3-40x(!) faster performance for I/O intensive operations such as booting, working with VMWare/Parallels virtual machines, and processing large files (images, video, etc). It is simply the best investment you can make, if you can afford it.

Beyond the raw power, there are a number of incremental improvements over the 2009 model:

integrated Intel 3000 graphics, and ATI Radeon 6750M (dedicated graphics with 1GB VRAM)

1.33GHz memory backplane, supporting up to 16GB of RAM through third-party modules

new Thunderbolt interface using the Mini DisplayPort connector (super-fast 10Gbps interconnect for up to 6 devices, although no Thunderbolt devices are available yet)

Mini DisplayPort supports digital audio and video on a single cable (including HDMI with suitable third-party adapters)

higher-resolution FaceTime camera

SD slot now supports SDXC

updated optical drive (ingest mechanism is less finicky for me)

better battery life

The high-resolution screen in this model REALLY makes a difference over the standard screen (which I had on my 2009 model). The 1680x1050 resolution is the same as my older 21" Apple Cinema Display. I was afraid the higher resolution would make it harder to read (the text is smaller), but the brightness and wide-angle visibility makes this one of the best displays you can get in a laptop form factor. If you work in heavily-lit or outdoor environments, you might want to consider the anti-glare (matte) screen which is available in Apple's build-to-order configurations. Both dual and mirrored display configurations are possible simultaneously supporting full native resolution on the built-in display and up to 2560 by 1600 pixels on an external display, both at millions of color. Interestingly, in my configuration, I was only able to get an external HDMI display to operate on the high-performance discrete GPU only.

Another pleasant surprise for me was the battery life of this new 2011 model. Even with all that processing power, I'm consistently getting 6-7 hours of usable life (lightweight not heavy work). One big tip for saving battery life is to install the freeware gfxCardStatus utility, which lets you choose integrated only (much lower power), automatic, or discrete/ATI graphics. Apple's own Energy Saver system preference only lets you choose between automatic or discrete. And when you're running on the battery, this can be problematic because simply launching some programs (eg. PhotoShop) can force the discrete adapter. Like earlier designs, the battery is built into the unit and cannot be swapped or user-replaced. In practical use, I don't find this to be a problem because I'm getting the same extended runtime that I got on earlier MacBook Pros with 2 battery swaps.

Rounding out the compliment of ports (on the left side only) is Gb ethernet, FireWire 800, 2 USB 2.0 ports, audio out and audio in (both supporting analog and digital/TOSlink connectors). If there is any weakness, it would be nice to have a right-side USB port, or at least enough separation between the USB ports to not force you to use a short USB dongle cable with your 3G wireless card (if you want to use both ports).

As with Apple's other MacBook Pros, this model is built on their "unibody" construction, where the main case is crafted from a single piece of aluminum. This makes the laptop amazingly rigid, and also allows it to be lighter weight, thinner, and better at dissipating heat than more traditional laptop designs. Apple makes it easy to upgrade the memory or hard drive (you just need a fine #00 phillips screwdriver to remove the screws on the bottom plate).

One last note on this MacBook Pro Apple bundles a special build of OS X 10.6.6 which you will want to immediately upgrade to 10.6.7 using Apple's Software Update mechanism. (You can't apply the 10.6.7 combo updater since this version of 10.6.6 is later than the standard build). The "OS X 10.6.7 Update for Early 2011 MacBook Pro" includes an important fix for the discrete graphics processor under heavy workloads.

For those of you (like me) who still have older PowerPC software that hasn't been updated (Quicken!), this will most likely be the last generation of Apple notebooks to run on OS X 10.6.x "Snow Leopard". The next release of OS X 10.7 ("Lion") has removed support for running PowerPC applications (Rosetta). This alone was worth me upgrading to this model.

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I've used a pretty wide variety of both PCs and Macs, both for personal use and for work. I've used them for gaming, development, and run-of-the-mill tasks. However, my last two machines (three counting this one) were all Macs. I'm still a believer in the PC for hardcore desktop gaming, but as far as laptops go I'm pretty much sold on Apple. Why? Quite simply, Mac laptops are just a lot less fuss. They don't break down or exhibit weird quirks as often as PC notebooks, generally last longer on battery power, and take up less space. For my latest machine, I decided to splurge a bit and get something that can actually play gamesfully intending to take advantage of Boot Camp to run the loads of Windows titles I usually play on my monster desktop gaming rig. The 15" 2011 Pro with 1 GB video was the obvious choice: not so big I can't carry it around, yet with enough muscle to run anything in my library. Was it worth the huge price tag? In a word: yes.

Pros:

Case design is superior, not just elegant but functional as well. It's actually somewhat water resistant (don't ask) and very easy to clean. The form factor is slim and handyeasy to carry around.

Hardware layout is well thought out, and design is excellent. Speakers are positioned so the sound is crisp, almost as if you had externals. Camera is sharp. Trackpad is huge and very responsive.

Mac OS X is still the best OS out there. I must say, Windows 7 is a whole lot closer than any other previous incarnation of that franchise, but OS X still has it beat in many ways: no defragging, doesn't degrade over time (especially when used for software development), more stable, boots up and shuts down faster, and generally speaking more intuitive in UI layout. You'll also have a lot less to worry about as far as malware and spyware are concerned.

Screen quality is great, and the backlighting for both the display and keyboard are excellent. Note: I strongly recommend paying the extra for the high-res 1680x1050 display upgrade, unless you're always going to have your machine hooked up to an external display. It is totally worth it. Second note: if you do get this upgrade, don't bother with the anti-glare, as it's equally totally NOT worth it (you can get a third party stick-on that does the same for a lot less, and is removable).

Has enough power for pretty much anything. RAM/hard drive are easily upgradeablebuy it yourself and install it yourself; it's about as hard as loading VHS cassettes. This model straight out of the box can run most current games on max settings.

Dual boot is easy to set up. I'm running Win 7 64 alongside Snow Leopard for gaming purposes. Boot camp sets up all the drivers with little fuss. The only issues I've seen are that the graphics card switching doesn't work on Windows, which eats up battery a lot faster, and right clicking with the trackpad is a bit awkward. The latter is easily solved by hooking up a 2-button mouse.

Magsafe is awesome. I'd probably be out a few dozen machines from tripping over the cable if not for this simple yet brilliant feature.

Battery life is great. It doesn't usually last for 7 hrs as advertised; 5 hrs is more typical when doing various tasks. However, even that is huge compared to most similarly specced laptops.

For a laptop of this size with this power, it's really light.

Apple's customer support is top-notch. If you're in the US their stores are pretty much everywhere, and you can get same-day repair service in most cases. Try doing that with Dell or HP sometime...

Cons:

The mini displayport/Thunderbolt connector means you'll need an adapter for pretty much every different video device you hook up. They're a bit awkward to hook up and can get bulky if you have enough of them.

If you run 3-D intensive apps like most games the big video card turns on, and it runs pretty darn hot. When the fans kick in, it gets pretty loud.

Compared to some older unibody platforms, it's harder to get at the innards. You have to unscrew the whole bottom plate and remove it to even access the battery. For most users, though, this shouldn't be too big a deal.

It's considerably more expensive than a similarly specced Windows laptop.

Doesn't have a blu-ray drive, if you care. Most Windows machines in this price range do.

Is this machine for everyone? Probably not if due to the price alone, but I've found less to complain about than just about every other laptop I've owned. I'm still a fan of the regular MacBook for non-gaming/coding tasks due to its smaller form factor, lower cost, and lighter weight. However, it doesn't have the power to do anything more serious than video playback. If that's all you're going to do and ease of transport is a priority, then go for it. If you're planning on replacing a desktop or want some serious mobile power, then the Pro is a better choice.

Toshiba 15.6" Pentium B960 2.20GHz Laptop | C655-S5514 Review

Customer Ratings:

Bought one of these for my mother-in-law (BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU GIVE TO YOUR MOTHER-IN-LAW! HA!) in basically the same configuration. Her's was the C655-S5512 model and the only difference was a 320 GB hard drive, instead of the 640. Everything else was the same (processor, RAM, webcam, Win 7, Microsoft Starter.) Sorry Amazon, I bought it at the blue box store, but let's talk about THE COMPUTER.

Great little rig! Initialized and went through Win 7 startup with all the normal options and settings, jumped right in to wireless A-OK, registration, Norton, & Microsoft Starter. Unless you're a major presentation-constructor type, the included MS Starter works great, and has most all of the features for Word and Excel, more than plenty for my M-I-L. :) Battery life a little over 4 hours, (average for a new 6-cell,) and the numeric keypad in a 15.6" format is nice for the "number-crunchers."

Bought her a wireless mouse to solve the touch-pad aggravation many write of, but it's about like average and can be adjusted for sensitivity. Keyboard action is excellent, screen display is FAN-TASTIC, the case design doesn't "collect" fingerprints, and it DOES NOT get hot. This processor is FAST! (2.20GHz) and considering this price break with the 640 GB hard drive, this model is a very good buy. If my current laptop ever goes down, I'm buying a Toshiba like this!

I helped her set it all up and it's a SNAP! Lightweight, (she "packed it right up" into the shoulder bag,) fast, great speakers, good-looking, everything you'd want to give your mother-in-law, or anyone else. And remember, it's not nice to "fool" with your mother-in-law... :) Great computer, great buy, next time, Amazon, next time...

Oh, by-the-way, did I mention... SHE LOVES IT!!! :)

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Computer runs fine easy to set up out of the box....but it has a cheap flimsy case not near as sturdy as my last Toshiba which lasted 6 years till the motherboard shorted out. Computer is only 6 months old and screen hinge pops when you open it , will probably break any-day now.

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The computer came packaged safely and secure. As soon as I turned it on and started loading my software. The computer is awesome and I should have gotten one long ago!

Cheap HP Business Notebook 6710b DUO CORE 1.8GHz/1.5GB/80GB HDD

Customer Ratings:

Really love this computer, duo cor in a laptop for an affordable price wins in my book. Pretty fast for what its intended for, great on facebook, high graphics games off facebook run a little slower but thats not what its intended for, a little heavy but well worth what I paid

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Reviews of Dell Inspiron i15RV-6193BLK 15.6-Inch Touchscreen Laptop (Black

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $499.99
Sale Price: $439.99
Today's Bonus: 12% Off

I bought this laptop with the expectation to just do work. I have had the time of my life with the travel aspect of the "windows" file. The touch screen works perfectly and so far, no issues. I absolutely adore my laptop especially since it arrived on time and brand new.

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Has a slight learning curve when going to Windows 8. But the touchscreen is what it was made for.

I use it for school and it does everything I need.

Best Deals for Dell Inspiron i15RV-6193BLK 15.6-Inch Touchscreen Laptop (Black

I am not a computer wiz...but over the evening and this morning...I have figured out most everything....I am clumsy with the touch screen...but have that down now. It is fast....everything works...installed a trail of Microsoft Office...that all worked.....love the fact that I have been able to import photos from facebook into a photo file....for a little over 400 dollars I am very very happy. The only drawback is that ebay was already installed as an app...and it seemed to pop up constantly.....I like e-bay but was not interested in dealing with it as I was setting up the computer.

I had a MAC before...never quite got used to the lack of compatibility......this is going to be very nice and I am likely going to order one for my office computer too..since it needs to be replaced

the space bar is noisy..not sure why that is irritating but it is...if you need a functional, uptodate lap top for a modest price this seems to do the trick

Honest reviews on Dell Inspiron i15RV-6193BLK 15.6-Inch Touchscreen Laptop (Black

Anybody can learn how to use this product. The screen tells you and shows you everything. Good price and good buy!

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Dell Inspiron i15RV-6193BLK 15.6-Inch Touchscreen Laptop (Black

I've had my laptop for a few days now and I love the touch screen. It's been a little confusing trying to figure out things but I think I've getting it. Just a few more things to figure out but it's a nice laptop for a inexpensive price.

Reviews of HP ENVY TouchSmart 15t-j000 4th Gen i7-4700MQ Quad Core Edition

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $1,099.99
Sale Price: $887.70
Today's Bonus: 19% Off

This one was of many pieces of hardware I ordered for a technology show. I was surprised by the quality of this notebook PC compared to some of the other 15.6" models I ordered by other OEM manufacturers. The keyboard is full sized and comfortable, the device feels solid, and the speakers are high quality (with Beats audio). The PC was zippy thanks to the Haswell (Intel 4th Generation Core i7-4700MQ) processor and the display was crisp. It's definitely more of a stationary machine than one you would travel with due to the heavy weight and large screen size. The only complaint I have is the amount of crapware that HP installs on their machines it took quite awhile to remove it all via the Control Panel/Add Remove Programs.

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This is a nice, lightweight responsive laptop but some of the features are less then desired. Of course Windows 8 has a huge learning curve but my husband and I are getting used to it and like many of the features. I think Skydrive will be a favorite. However, we are less then excited about the simple pass fingerprint reader. Utube has a tutorial which sort of helps but simple pass doesn't work with all websites-possibly the website's fault-For those sites it does work on, it is really neat-one swipe and you're in. Getting it to set up is a trial and error thing, sometimes it comes up with directions and sometimes it does not. Setting it up to log on to the computer is simple simon, however.

One of the most frustrating things is signing in with a local account or a Microsoft account. We set up the outlook mail while signed in with a Microsoft account. If one signs in with a local account the mail accounts are not there and outlook wants to be set up all over again. Some things require a Microsoft account and some require a local account so it is confusing. We are in our 70's and not overly technical but not dumb either so we are figuring it out. If we can learn windows 8, anyone should be able to do so.

We had originally bought Toshiba and returned it because it was so slow, which was actually my fault for installing office pro 2000 which I now know doesn't work with Windows 8-oops. Love 2000 for the binders program but will update now. This HP is set up better than the Toshiba and is easier to find one's way around and the screen brightness is more pleasing. It also does NOT overheat like the Toshiba was doing. We have a cool pad to use with the laptops but it didn't work so well with the Toshiba. Don't think we even need it with the HP. We tend to spend a long time at the computer on the days we use it. All in all we are very happy with the HP. It recognizes peripheral hardware and wireless connections very fast-seems instantaneous, things are ready to use immediately. This may not be remarkable to some but our old laptop was bought in 2006 and was a 2004 build so this is a big step up for us.

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Envy 15t-j000 quad edition

* Windows 8 64

* 4th generation Intel® Core(tm) i7-4700MQ Processor

* NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M Graphics with 2048MB of dedicated video memory

* 15.6-inch diagonal Full HD BrightView LED-backlit Display (1920x1080)

* 16GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)

* 1TB 5400RPM Hybrid Hard Drive

* NO mSSD Hard Drive Acceleration Cache

* No Additional Office Software

* Norton Internet Security(tm) 15 Months

* 6-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery

* No Internal DVD or CD Drive

* Backlit Keyboard

* HP TrueVision HD Webcam w/ integrated digital mic

* 802.11b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth®

I upgraded certain components quite a bit, but what HP gives you is a decent start for the price tag. After configuring up the memory (just cheap enough and didn't wanna bother buying aftermarket memory), gfx card, HD, screen, backlit keyboard, and bluetooth (which is a silly option on a machine of this spec and age), it landed at about $1100, which is better than most of the competition I had checked out at the time.

As far as performance, the machine performs beautifully most of the time and my bottleneck is the hard drive, which was expected. There's no SSD option, although there is an option for an acceleration cache that's solid state, but the hybrid HD has 25GB of SSD space for speeding up, so it's practically the same thing but with 25GB less space. I didn't go for it mostly because the acceleration cache can't handle more than 8GB memory.

The display is fantastic one of the best I've ever seen. Colors are crisp and the backlight can get pretty bright. The whole thing is a little whitewashed, but I think that can be adjusted for according to personal preference. Touch is a new addition, so it's very gimmicky right now only really for fun and nothing functional. From what I've noticed, everything I do is faster using the touchpad. One activity that lends itself to touch is reading articles or books, and when needed, its responsive. The backlit keyboard is also nice never had one before, but it's a nice change and definitely helps in some situations. I found myself struggling to type on my old computer without a light though, so it did spoil me.

Even given the backlight, the keyboard is my least favorite part of this machine First off, it has a noticeable amount of flex in the center and is very telling of the lack of attention to quality in this one area. Its island style with chiclet keys and is responsive enough, but it can be a pain to get used to typing on it. I have small hands and I play guitar regularly, so they're deft, but I'm still having trouble adjusting to the size of the delete key. I've been trying to get used to using the numpad, but currently it is mostly wasted space for me I have it set to some shortcuts. But, it's got another bigger delete key, so there's some solace. Another button that is incredibly tiny given my frequency of use is the CTRL key (or keys), which are both smaller than the alt keys. It makes no sense to me the right one is an annoying challenge to hit without looking. I'm using autohotkey to bind the right ALT to another CTRL key for ease of use. The arrow keys are ridiculously done and incredibly frustrating to use (look at the keyboard layout to see what I mean). And if you use home, end, pgup or pgdown, it's a nightmare both to find and hit. The numlock button has no indicator (the wifi and mute buttons have LEDs embedded in them), which makes it significantly more frustrating to use the numpad because it's tricky to tell if you're going to be typing numbers or not.

The speakers sound great best I've heard on a laptop. They definitely sound bigger than expected, and you can make it quite loud if you use the beats settings correctly. There's a woofer on the bottom and it definitely works as well as one can hope on a laptop of this size. The fingerprint reader is really convenient, BUT there's only ONE way to use it, HP Simplepass software, but its already not supported by the OEM, which is a bit ridiculous and this shows no chance of future updates to increase functionality. The reader is fast and could be very useful, but is limited by software. It's convenient in the limited places you can use it.

The dedicated GPU is alright it performs most of the time, but I was underwhelmed by game graphics, although they were new high end games I was playing. As far as videos or any media, its flawless in performance. There's an occasional hang-up, but I think that's attributed to Windows 8 and the HD. It comes with 4 USB ports, and three of them is USB 3.0. The touchpad is nicely done and responsive as well, but it's tough to tell the right button from the left, but multi-touch clicking solves that for me. The case is well built aluminum that is very sturdy and doesn't shift at all. Battery life is better than expected, but I'm coming from a machine with a 1st gen quad core processor that worked like a steam engine and lasted 5 minutes. This thing can definitely last over 2 hours while using most or all of the functions.

Besides the new OS hiccups, there is practically no lags in day to day performance. I would definitely recommend this to anyone needing a well-designed machine for medium to heavy computing. I use Matlab, Photoshop, Visual Studio, Dreamweaver, Inventor (CAD) regularly without much trouble at all. And firefox as well, which is probably thanks to the 16GB.

I would caution you to take a look at the keyboard carefully, which can make for some frustrating times, and make sure it won't be a game changer. I'm getting used to it, but still resent HP for the design and plasticky feel. Definitely go for the HD display and the gfx card they're worth it and make up for other losses. The CPU is very efficient and fast no heating issues and generally no loss in performance. It could be better, but for the price, I've been very satisfied with the purchase.

Honest reviews on HP ENVY TouchSmart 15t-j000 4th Gen i7-4700MQ Quad Core Edition

Its sleek. I'm new to touch and I must say its great! Makes things really convenient. The laptop will run for about 4.5 hours with a full charge

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The specs says that it has Bluetooth, but when I turned on and try to use the Bluetooth, the machines does not find any bluetooth device, I even post a Q about it and some person (probably the vendor...) answered "all of the above fast and quick, no cd rom drive".

Anyway, it is a nice laptop but I could not help to find myself a little scammed...

Buy Dell Inspiron 15 i15RV-10000BLK 15.6-Inch Laptop (Black Matte

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $599.99
Sale Price: $456.50
Today's Bonus: 24% Off

I was looking for the perfect laptop to replace my old Toshiba. This laptop works great, no complaints so far. The price for this laptop is actually a steal with how fast the processor is. My mom bought one as well (her first laptop). I will update my review later if any problems arise and/or if my mom has anything to add.

Pros: Boots super fast (like SUPER FAST), lightweight (I carry it to class with me), Windows 8 is actually very easy to use once you get the hang of it (even the most computer illiterate person could figure it out), I LOVE the number pad as well

Cons: None yet

Sound Quality: It's loud enough for a laptop. I actually find the sound pretty efficient, but don't expect any "super bass" or anything.

But once again, this would be the perfect laptop for you, especially if you don't want to go buy an expensive MacBook.

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The first thing that you'll notice is that it's extremely lightweight and is very uncomplicated. This is something that my 87 year old mother-in-law would be able to use right out of the box. Since she's never used a computer before, that says a lot. Many of the everyday apps that you use on a daily basis, are preloaded into the device. It comes with things like YouTube, Gmail and other Google products, and there are literally thousands of free apps available. It starts up very quickly and according to Google, updates are installed automatically. I've found all applications to run smoothly and quickly.

Best Deals for Dell Inspiron 15 i15RV-10000BLK 15.6-Inch Laptop (Black Matte

The computer feels solid. There's no latch to keep the screen down when it's close, but if you're careful that's probably not a big deal. Don't lift directly in the middle of the lid though, that's where the camera is. It does attract dust and fingerprints like a magnet, but whether you'll care or not is personal preference. According to the sticker on the front, it actively tries to run your battery in charge cycles to prolong life, which assuming they do a good job of it is an awesome feature. Just a note, you'll have to go into power options and click Dell Extended Battery Life options.

The first thing you should do after you've set up the computer, is restart and press F12 before and as the Dell logo is coming up. Then choose diagnostics and test the system thoroughly. It'll take maybe 30-40 minutes, but it's well worth it. Then go into the My Dell application and stress test it again. Then do it again once a week or so. Your goal is to either fry the thing, so you're replaced rightfully so during warranty, or see that the system is rock solid and you're probably fine. You won't void any warranties, the Dell software specifically says it won't damage your hardware; if something gives out it's defective. DO NOT WAIT until you're close to or out of warranty to perform tests!

The DVD drive is about as cheaply constructed as they come. It looks very fragile and I wouldn't bet on it for a whole lot of use, however given a lot of video and games are digital now, it may not be a big deal. According to the Backup Media creation software, it burns at 2x so it's quite slow, but then again it's a cheap laptop.

Backup Media The backup media is not included; the software that creates it is awful. It ate two of my DVDs, failing both times, and took some time to hunt a solution online. Apparently they shipped it glitched so often times it will create the first disk, taking 20-30 minutes to do so, then fail on the second. You can alternatively backup to a USB drive. It appears as if they don't limit you to burning only one copy of backup media, which is one reason I got fed up and left HP. Tip: update the Dell backup software before you try to make backup DVDs or it'll just ruin DVD after DVD and fail every time.

Keyboard The keyboard is slightly eschew. To accommodate the number pad, things are just slightly off, so if you're a touch typist you'll probably be slightly off center when you first try it. The touchpad was responsive and the buttons had a satisfying click.

Windows 8 It's abysmal and makes everything harder than it needs to be. Dell did thankfully include a couple of videos to at least let you see how to turn the machine off. Hint: it's needlessly stupid and annoying. Move mouse to upper right of screen, then the "charms" appear and you can find it. Alternatively, you can do Ctrl+Alt+Delete and find the power button in the lower right corner. I'm strongly considering dual booting to Unbutu Linux.

Heat/Fans The laptop fan is very quiet. You can feel a lot of heat radiating off the keypad when the machine is doing a stress test, but this isn't necessarily a bad thing. A good laptop case should dissipate heat easily. My only real concern in this arena is that it doesn't look very easy to blow dust out of the machine as it accumulates. They should have designed it with that in mind.

USB Ports The USB ports and the power supply are all on the sides of the machine. Three are on the left side along with the cord and one on the right. I'd rather have had one in the back, because it's a little too crowded if a USB plug is fat. I'm finding it difficult to nail down, with several websites having conflicting information, but from the icons next to the ports it looks like 1 USB 2.0 and 2 USB 3.0 on the left and 1 USB 2.0 on the right side.

Memory Card Reader There's a multi-card reader located annoyingly in the front which you can easily miss if you don't know to look for it. Still, better to have it than not, but I wish they'd included some sort of cover for it for when it's not in use.

The picture in the webcam is not crystal clear by definitely OK; you will want to have some light in the room you're using at or it'll look really bad though. There is also an integrated microphone, which is a little scary really since some viruses can turn both on. I'm probably paranoid, but I'm going to put a small bandage over the camera when I'm not using it. As long as you're close, the sound quality on the microphone is just fine for video conferencing.

All in all, very decent machine for the money. I'll have to try it out with some games, but so far it's looking very promising I'll be using it for many years.

---Update 8-12-13---

I tried it with Saint's Row 2 and the game is virtually unplayable, but that's just because it's a horribly poorly coded game. The laptop can handle the graphics just fine, slightly decreased, but the game has a glitch that makes it run way to fast. I think what's wrong is the TurboBoost makes the CPU speed variable so it's messing with the modification tool which normally fixes that speed issue. If you want to play that game, you're out of luck.

For other games, it's running quite well. For example, I've played Shank on it the other day and while it put out a lot of heat, the game played perfectly. I've read online it's graphics are roughly equivalent to a Nvidia 220 card. As long as the game doesn't require much more than 2 Ghz processor, as a rule of thumb you're probably OK with games that weren't high end graphics maybe three years ago or lighter new ones, but of course check system requirements. It's not a gaming rig, but you should be able to play a number of older games.

Upgrading to a core i5 processor is essentially a speed and a graphics card boost in one, making this laptop an even better deal. Time will tell if the speed is balanced out by too much heat that kills the machine or some sort of hidden shortcut they took on build quality, but nobody can really say that for sure until the machine has been out a couple years. If you're worried about it, you can buy a warranty from Dell. Usually, the sooner you buy it the cheaper it is.

Honest reviews on Dell Inspiron 15 i15RV-10000BLK 15.6-Inch Laptop (Black Matte

love this, windows 8 is very easy to use, light weight, great for travel. the quality of this laptop was as expected,

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I like the hardware. It's got a nice size and weight. Doesn't feel like a premium computer, but doesn't feel exceedingly cheap. Works well, once you figure out what you're doing. It's great for such an inexpensive computer!

The cover makes for a nice grip, but collects fingerprints like you wouldn't believe, and then you can't wipe them off. That's the biggest flaw in the hardware.

I really hate to ding it for what is now the standard (which is why I only took 1 star)...

But Windows 8 has been a less-than-impressive experience. We had to google how to shut it down -I'm not kidding. You move the mouse over the lower-right, some faint buttons appear on the right edge, so you hold the edge and move the cursor up and they become visible. Then you click the gear, "power settings," and shut down. Seriously?

The Desktop vs Metro thing, including separate, non-inter-compatible programs is mind boggling. Switching back and forth between the two (IE can run in either mode, but the session is not shared, Word will only run in Desktop) is a pain. The lack of a task bar or even the ability to take IE out of full screen makes using two things at once a huge chore. Say you're updating a cover letter in word to line it up with a job posting (true story) was incredibly frustrating.

We haven't resorted to installing Windows 7, but it's going to happen sooner or later.

Review of Dell i15RN-2727BK Inspiron 15 15.6" Notebook PC - Obsidian Black

Customer Ratings:

Great computer! Really fast and dependable. Keyboard works great, sound quality is fantastic and the battery doesn't die as fast as other computers. Overall great computer, looking to keep this one for quite awhile.

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Refurbished Apple iBook Laptop with Microsoft Office Review

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I've been a fan of Apple products since I bought my first imac. This laptop is of similar quality. I bought it mainly to use for music projects but it's proved useful for much more. For the money spent, this has been well worth it, a number of times over.

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Very nice computer and works great. Bought this for my daughter to use for her school work and she loves it very much. Despiute being older it is a good solid APPLE product.