Apple MacBook Air Core i7 1.8GHz 11"-4GB RAM-128GB SSD-Lion-(2011) Reviews

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $1,879.00
Sale Price: $1,299.00
Today's Bonus: 31% Off

Do not buy from Techno Intelligence. Their listed price is a scam.

The laptops are good, I own one myself. But they are not worth as much as what they are asking.

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Small

Fits in a small neoprene carry case made for the iPad I picked up and that fits into my mini-backpack/carry case, goes through the security X-ray at the airport with only a slight tug and a flip into the plastic bin.

Lightweight:

I needed to lighten the load this thing is about the same weight as my iPad 2.

Fast:

The ability to work in graphics programs like Illustrator and photoshop is a must, this thing has no problems with either program and with a small scratch drive it runs photoshop like a champ. Both photoshop and Illustrator pop open in less than six seconds and all the controls move at speeds better than my aging Mac Pro.

Excellent screen and expandable:

While quite small the screen is excellent and the colors are great, I also like the ability to connect HDMI to a big screen and uses photoshop in its greater glory in the hotel using the LED TV screens common.

What did I ever do with my MacBook pro at twice the weight... (I handed that down to the wife and she is quite happy).

I wish the battery life was longer but at that size it is what it is (about 4.5 hours now) on the next long trip I may get a small external battery.

I was worried that I would miss a CD/DVD drive but I have only had the chance to use an external for installing the new CS6 and other goodies.

Thunderbolt is fast it works great as a replacement to my older FW800 stuff.

All in all a great addition to the traveling team.

Toshiba Satellite L645D-S4036 LED TruBrite 14-Inch Laptop (Black) Review

Customer Ratings:

The triple core 1.8ghz Phenom II is a strong and economical processor choice for a desktop replacement-type laptop. This computer regularly gets 3.5 hours on the battery with only the screen brightness turned down a bit. I really enjoy this.

The video card is listed as an ATI Radeon 4250, which it is, but the M880 chipset for it gives it power way beyond the Radeon 4250's power in itself. When I checked the GPU benchmarks, the M880 chipset Radeon 4250 was consistently ranked middle of the pack, above such GPUs as the ATI Radeon HD 5145.

This computer is nice and portable, and the size is perfect for carrying with me. The screen isn't small to where it creates any issues with seeing for me; I'm actually enjoying the fact that it is shorter and I can cradle it in my lap perfectly and totally comfortably.

The keyboard is not one with a full NumPad, but that doesn't bother me much. The keys don't have a loose sensation at all, which I really enjoy. I am still getting used to the location of a few of my keys, especially the backspace, but I'll certainly get used to it soon enough. The trackpad isn't bad; you can tweak it however you like. One major issue I noticed right away is that the Webcam drivers were so out of date that the webcam wouldn't work when I first got the computer. I tried to update it and was told that this was already the newest available driver, but it still didn't work. I ended up taking it off altogether and restarting the computer and it works just fine now. Just a word of warning for those who are looking at this one: The webcam may take a second of fiddling with to get it set up correctly. IT is nothing too bad, and there are guides all over the internet explaining how to do this.

Other minor gripes, the touchpad can be seems a bit insensitive at times, even with it turned up almost all the way... The two finger scrolling also isn't as intuitive as it was with my last ASUS. I also have to press the power button to get it out of sleep... All minor gripes that I will come to terms with soon, after which I will be completely satisfied with my purchace. ;)

These are my impressions after a few days with this computer... Great specs and performance for the money! I'll be sure to update this review if anything else comes to mind.

EDIT I want to add that the sound quality that comes out of these speakers is not too bad. Look in the Control Panel for a utility called SmartAudio. It controls all the sound output for the computer and will give you much greater control over your desired sound. You can go into the SmartAudio settings and have it appear in the System Tray if you're going to be listening to a lot of music! I'm not claiming that the speakers are perfect; you're still going to need good external speakers or headphones if you want an excellent and LOUD audio experience. Basically, these are good for stock speakers, mainly because of the SmartAudio software (found in Control Panel)...

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I don't think I need to say much coz the reviewer before me did a pretty good job explaining features and benefits of this machine, and that is the only reason I bought this laptop.

So now it is my moral duty to leave a review of this product so others might learn from my experience with this laptop.

I used to have an HP before this one which by the way was a complete piece of junk compared to this one, and the build quality on the Toshiba is much better that any of the HP's out there right now, given that this one does not have the bells and whistles like HP's have like a remote control to control your media or a wifi on-off switch, but still it is so worth the money when you actually have this thing in your hands.

The only thing I don't like about this laptop so far after a week of use is that the mouse pad buttons make a clicking noise and are not silent when clicked. Windows 7 loads up fairly fast and compared to my desktop which has a 3.0 ghz quad core processor, this one loads up may be a second or two later, so really impressed by that.

I have really been looking for a 14" screen laptop coz 15" seemed to big for my portable computing needs, and I dont know for what ever reason the 14" laptops Ive been looking for have been more money than the 15" laptops, so I was lucky enough to find this one.

Haven't tested the graphics card yet, but I know it should be alright for playing suitable games on the laptop since I use my desktop for playing power and graphic hungry games.

I also like the feature where you can put two fingers on the track pad and maximize or minimize your fonts going in or out on the track pad.

If you are on a budget, you need a laptop for yourself or your son or daughter going to college this should satisfy most peoples needs.

Oh and by the way I did go to a best-buy and turned on a laptop with an i3 processor and this one has a much faster load time than an i3, so people out there debating Intel i3 or this one, it should be a no brain er, I didn't have a chance to compare i5 to this one, but in comparison with an i3 I would think that this processor should be at par if not less than an i5.

Oh and by the way the battery on this thing is really good, It lasted me about 4.5 hours before it needed a charge in Toshiba Eco mode.

I think I've done my job for leaving a review for this laptop so now I can sleep good, coz I know hopefully I helped in simplifying someone Else's decision out there.

Best Deals for Toshiba Satellite L645D-S4036 LED TruBrite 14-Inch Laptop (Black)

My review may not be as thorough as the previous two which were extremely helpful for me, but here goes!

I spent a good deal of time researching what I needed in a computer. I debated a netbook, desktop, larger vs. smaller laptop. My previous computer was a 6 year old HP desktop which had worked well for me, but I needed something for commuting back and forth to school with. I was not a fan of laptops in general as I had never had one before and had only used a couple of laptops. My research brought me to another store at first and I had settled to wait to buy the laptop there for my state's tax free weekend, but a week before I was going to buy it the store raised the price which caused me to do some more shopping around.

This brought me to Amazon where I found this great deal! The Toshiba was a better model at a lower price and after reading the reviews I purchased it.

I have had the laptop for two days now, but I am thrilled with it so far. The difference in speed is amazing and I have never had a computer that starts up as fast as this one does. The size of it is perfect for me; it feels small and compact without being as tiny as a netbook (my sister has one and the screen size would drive me bonkers!). As far as the webcam issue, I have been able to use my webcam without any problems so far and haven't had to do anything to fix it.

I like windows 7, but I did have some minor problems trying to get some of my older software to work, but I have now gotten it all up and running (it took me an hour or so to work through these minor issues as I'm not terribly tech savvy).

The battery has been lasting somewhere between 3.5-4 hours. Great keypad for typing. The speakers are decent.

The only drawback with this laptop was that it doesn't have lightscribe technology which I use fairly often, but other than that I have no complaints. I would (and actually have already to a friend) highly recommend this laptop if you're looking for something portable, fairly powerful, and easy to use. At this price you just can't beat it!

UPDATE: I have now had this laptop for about 6 months. I would still say I LOVE IT! However, I will alert others that the hard drive crashed after less than a month of my owning it. This was an inconvenience due to classes having started. I called tech support and they were very helpful and able to address my issues, but they kept asking me what I had done to it as if it were my fault! That is the only issue I had because I had not done anything different with it than normal, but other than that the technicians were helpful and clear about what I should try and then quick to tell me my options about sending it in for service. I opted to pay to have it overnight shipped from a UPS store instead of waiting for them to send me a box that I could send to Toshiba for free. I am so glad I did this! I sent it in the next day (a friday) and was able to track progress online. I had it back within two weeks and I have not had a problem with it since. I have read some of the bad reviews and I would disagree with the two major complaints I have seen. I do not think the laptop is loud at all and my battery still lasts 3-4 hours. Still very happy with my purchase!

UPDATE: Coming up on 3 years with this laptop now. I have had to get a new battery, the original one would no longer hold a charge for more than an hour, but I nearly always have my laptop turned on. The webcam has become rather testy and if the screen is not in the right position it will not work for online video chatting, but I have not had the same issue with just turning on the webcam to use for taking video or pictures. Other than that it is still a very reliable laptop and I have not had other issues with it. I did drop it on the floor this morning (Darn cat getting in the way asking for breakfast!) and a small chip was broken off of the front right corner, but on putting the chip back in, it seems to be staying perfectly in place and the functionality of the computer was not affected at all. Still very pleased with my purchase! (I paid about $550.00 for it in August 2010.)

Honest reviews on Toshiba Satellite L645D-S4036 LED TruBrite 14-Inch Laptop (Black)

This is my first review; so please be kind. Thanks.

Here I go over my first impressions, go into detail about the specs and performance, and give some advice for potential buyers.

Two things I didn't address in the video is the "fan problem" and the build quality. Although I can hear my fan, it is in no way loud or distracting; people who buy laptops with more than two cores should expect the fan to be on almost always unless they want their processor to fry.

Second, the build quality is excellent. This laptop is solidly built; the only way the laptop will even flex is if you directly push down on it. And even then the flex is slight.

I hope this review helps.

-A. McKinney

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Toshiba Satellite L645D-S4036 LED TruBrite 14-Inch Laptop (Black)

I just received my laptop a few days ago and it dropped $30 in price since then, not sure why, but I wish I waited a couple of days to order. About the product, Toshiba did a very good job in everything, but forgot the acoustics parameter. It could be because the the triple core needs constant cooling, but the fan is on at full speed about 90% of the time. This is a big deal for me because it is just too loud and it gets to the point where it's annoying. Performance, weight, sound and battery life are just as specified, but too bad noise level was never mentioned anywhere. I had laptops with loud fans before, but usually the fan is on only for a few minutes and then turns off. This is not the case for this laptop, the fan will be on almost all the time and is very loud, even when I am not doing anything and the laptop is just sitting there. I am starting to wonder if my laptop has a bad temperature sensor because no one else complained about constant fan noise. I am thinking about returning it because it is way too noisy.

Cheap Samsung Series 7 Gamer NP700G7C-S02US 17.3-Inch Laptop (Black)

Customer Ratings:

It is a great product and gives quality gaming experience. The GTX 675m isn't the best card around anymore but still it holds great power and it is powerful enough to run all games that were released during 2011 at their max settings, It does seem like the graphics card is starting to get left behind as games such as Far Cry 3, Crysis etc. keep pushing the limits of pc gaming, but I can say that this graphics card will also be able to give you a great experience through those graphically intense games.

But enough about graphics, a laptop offers more than just that and I can say that this laptop delivers. The Dolby Home Theater sound system is great and it gives clear quality sound, great for gaming if you do not like using headphones, the system itself is pretty fast thanks to Intel i7 and the keyboard is one of the most comfortable ones I've ever used.

The screen is excellent, it is large and gives great color and brightness, I can say that it is one of the best screens out there for laptops, it even could be the best, the 1080p display does not disappoint especially the 120Hz support gives us beautiful fluent visuals. 4 USB inputs and all sorts of other ones such as VGA, HDMI etc. give great support for multimedia needs. Like that was't enough it also comes with a Blueray disc reader. The laptop also presents us with different modes with different situations, library, reading, balanced and gaming. All modes have their own different settings and work great.

The only problem I had with this laptop was that it has windows 8. Now, I am aware of the hate against the OS but after you get used to it, it is obvious that under the hood it's very similar to the other windows OS's and it even provides us with more variety since it supports apps. I have a Kobo account for books and it's great that I can use it with my computer to read books along with other apps such as Comixology and Tunein Radio. It can be confusing at first sight but once you get used to it Windows 8 won't be causing you much trouble anymore and you may even start liking it. But there are still some glitches here and there which I'm sure will be taken care of in time. It is a fast OS and with patience to learn, it can be satisfying.

This laptop for it's price gives more to it's buyers than other laptops do. I was actually torn between this and the Alienware M17x and decided to go with this since it had more features for the price. But it is still a fact that the Alienware M17x presents a more capable graphics card, yet like I said, the GTX 675m is still pretty capable, combined with the 16 gigs of RAM and the Core i7 this laptop is ready for gaming. If you know how to Overclock and also use the Razer Game Booster application you'll get even greater results. At the moment I tried out a few games such as Saints Row The 3rd and Crysis 2 and I am pleased with the performance. Saints Row the 3rd can be played at max settings on 1080p like butter and Crysis 2 with Vsync turned off never dips under 40.

If you are looking for the absolute graphics beast laptop, than you should try out an Alienware which will probably breakdown fast on you and won't be presenting other features than just graphics. But if you are looking for a laptop that is strong on all the fields, speed, ram, graphics, sound, memory, picture etc. than I'd say give this one a chance because it deserves attention. Plus if you are not satisfied you can always do a return and than get yourself another laptop. I hope this review has been helpful.

Games I've tried so far:

Crysis 2: Can be played well on 1080p with all settings maxed, I advice keeping Vsync turned off.

Assassin's Creed 3: Can be played well on 1080p with all settings maxed, I advice Anti-Aliasing on normal.

Saints Row The 3rd: Can be played well on 1080p with all settings maxed.

Just Cause 2: Can be played well on 1080p with all settings maxed, I advice keeping Anti-Aliasing around Off to 4X.

Hitman Absolution: Can be played well on 1080p with all settings maxed, keep Anti-Aliasing and Vsync turned off.

Rage: Can be played well on 1080p with all settings maxed.

Call of Duty Black Ops 2: Can be played well on 1080p with all settings maxed.

Alan Wake: Can be played well on 1080p with all settings maxed, I advice keeping Anti-Aliasing off.

The Amazing Spider-man: Can be Played well on 1080p with all settings maxed, I advice keeping Vsync turned off and Anti-Aliasing on low.

Farcry 3: It is slow on 1080p with all settings maxed, I advice playing on High settings with Anti-Aliasing and Vsync turned off or playing using Dx9. Otherwise you can experiment with the settings to see wether you can get 30+ FPS by lowering specific settings.

Max Payne 3: Can be played well on 1080p with all settings maxed, keep MSAA turned off.

Serious Sam 3: Can be played well on 1080p with all settings maxed, I advice keeping Vsync turned off.

So far so good, no game gave me issues except for Farcry 3 and I believe that is mostly due to the games' bad optimization for mobile Gpu's. I advice keeping AA and Vsync off as much as you can on 1080p since AA does not make much difference on such resolution and if a game supports it play using 120Hz refresh rate because it's definitely much better than the average 60Hz refresh rate.

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UPDATE: after about three weeks of not too heavy use, the backspace key fell off. Samsung wanted me to mail it to a repair station in Texas. Still within the return period, so I'm sending it back to Amazon to get another one. Despite the problem, willing to try another one of these; otherwise, it's a great piece of kit. Worst part of it, honestly, are the HDDs, but they seem to be easily changeable.

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

I've had this laptop for about a day, and so this is by necessity a first impression; I'll update it later once I've had it longer.

The build quality is superb. I'm not sure if there's any metal in this, but it's high-quality plastic with an attractive finish. The images don't really show that the visible surfaces when the lid is open are a shiny brushed gunmetal gray. It looks and feels good. The shiny closed lid is also good-looking, but picks up fingerprints like crazy. Not really a big deal for me.

The keyboard is perhaps the best laptop keyboard I've ever used. The keys are dished and fairly long-travel, and are probably as close to the feel of a separate, desktop keyboard as is possible to get on a laptop. The keyboard layout is reasonably full, though there doesn't appear to be any way to send a BREAK without remapping. This is only really a concern for software developers using the standard keybindings in debuggers.

The screen, as others have said, is beautiful. Samsung's a big maker of laptop displays as well as monitors and flat-screen TVs, and this laptop is a great advertisement for their quality. It's bright, desktop-like, with great color and clarity.

The graphics chipset is capable of running World of Warcraft on 'Ultra' graphics settings at 60fps+, even in 40-per-side battlegrounds and 25-man raids. That's about as demanding as I get with graphics, and it's wholly up to the task. There are more expensive laptops with the more powerful NVIDIA GeForce GFX 675MX or 680M chipsets out there, but none of them are this affordable, and most of them make worse compromises in terms of weight, size, heat and looks.

Don't mistake, this is a big laptop. However, its styling hides its bulk quite effectively, and the wedge shape means it's comfortable to type on. It's also substantially smaller and lighter than the Alienware 17" offerings, let alone the 18" behemoth.

I thought before getting it that the rotary mode switch on the side was a gimmick, but it's actually quite useful. The settings for each mode are very customizable, and the modes are well-chosen to match common laptop usages. Certainly a lot easier than digging in Control Panel to switch between power modes!

When not in Game mode, this laptop is also admirably subtle. It doesn't scream 'Gamer Laptop!' unless you want it to, unlike most alternatives. You could take this into a sober business meeting and not draw too much attention.

If I had to carry this around every day, it'd probably be too heavy, but my personal laptop usage is as a movable desktop replacement, and this fits the bill. It can be easily packed up and moved, but it needs a substantial backpack and you certainly feel the weight.

For my needs, this is the perfect machine. The only real criticism I could lay on it is that it would be majorly improved by having SSD options, but I suspect the next revision of the hardware will. It does have a small caching SSD onboard, however.

Strongly recommended for the demanding user seeking a desktop replacement with no compromises on computing power and wanting something a bit more subtle than an Alienware.

Best Deals for Samsung Series 7 Gamer NP700G7C-S02US 17.3-Inch Laptop (Black)

Just received my Samsung Series 7 Gamer today which arrived on time with satisfactory packaging. Laptop looks very nice from an aesthetic standpoint and boots/ runs faster than my desktop does. The dial feature on the side to change between modes feels a little unnecessary but fun so no point in taking off points for that. WASD keys lighting up red from the normal blue of the keys in gaming mode is a nice feature as I've sometimes had difficulty locating my home keys at night ! Also purchased a cooling pad for my laptop, running World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria and League of Legends on maximum settings without difficulty, staying cool easily. Whereas my desktop would get start skipping on max settings in WoW: MoP the Samsung Series 7 Gamer seems not to have any trouble, only minor skip when changing zones etc. where there is a mass overhaul of environment but lasts no longer than a moment. Top of case tends to attract fingerprints rather quickly, just pulling it out of the packaging I already had several fingerprints from where I gripped it ! But then again, fingerprints scuff everything so no complaints there. A nice price-tag but I wanted to treat myself to a nice laptop for gaming (which I spend a lot of time doing) and it does not disappoint! Also, I did a lot of research prior to my purchase and to get similar builds I could not find a lower price !

Honest reviews on Samsung Series 7 Gamer NP700G7C-S02US 17.3-Inch Laptop (Black)

It's about a year now since I've used this laptop and guess what. It's still amazing as ever.

I get to play all the awesome games like heart of the swarm, bioshock, call of duty, dead island riptide etc, and they all run smooth, and laptop is very silent and never gets hot.

But by the way, the reason why I'm updating this review is because mostly people talk about the specs, but I wanted to talk more about how comforting physically it is to use this laptop. The laptop has a keyboard that almost feels like typical desktop keyboard with an actual satisfying feeling of press and guys with big hands like me can use it. Most thin form factor laptops use pebble style like macbook. There's no problem using such keyboards, but this samsung gamer laptop has one super comfortable keyboard. Hours of usage and your wrists arent tired compared to flat style laptops. I just hope Samsung comes up with a new gaming laptop and I would definitely up for that one as well.

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

So I've used the laptop since last August, and here's my opinion so far.

1. Hardware

pros

-fantastic screen clarity and brightness, size

-keyboard not cut down to fit laptop, but feels just like typical desktop keyboards (very comfortable)

-Dual cooler. it sometimes got slightly warm, but you'd never feel hot. great cooling system. but it does get hot when you play in a warm, hot environment. just play far away from the heater (obviously).

-speaker is fairly great and decent with light bass. it's at a decent level that unless you got a nice subwoofer speaker from bose, laptop's own speaker would suffice your usage.

cons

-heavy. even though I knew it was going to be heavy and big, I thought I could carry it around for work to other states. turns out it's better not to attempt that. can be considered as thick and heavy. power bar is the size of a brick.

-there's lighted up turbo icon above the keyboard. it has no use but doesn't really look cool either. different design or something cooler on next version.

final thoughts on hardware

-very sturdy and greatly designed laptop that can be used for a long period of time without discomfort that only downside is its thickness and size, but pros cover cons.

2. Features

-they got those four modes using dials. you will never use it. at least I didn't. always put them on game mode because I play games, but didn't really feel much difference and feels fussy switching whenever you're word typing and then play crysis, etc etc.

3. Power

-After 6 months of heavy, very heavy usage, everything still boots up instant, and loading is fast. I can still easily run Farcry3 on high and that applies to basically any games. there are no limits to this machine in current era. whatever you want to play will be playable on midhigh to very high.

Conclusion

-After several months, the laptop still greatly satisfies me, and always feels very comfortable to use.

who is this for: heavy gamers, or IT employees requiring processing power. or if you want something really cool at a decent and cheaper price from Amazon

who should stay way: people who want to travel with it often.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Samsung Series 7 Gamer NP700G7C-S02US 17.3-Inch Laptop (Black)

I was kinda hesitant about buying a laptop to replace my 4 year old media/gaming pc. I wanted something that I could connect to my tv in the living room for my main source of entertainment since I play a reasonable amount of games and use Hulu for shows. Also I wanted something that I could take with me and have the same great experience on the road. As of right now I have my gaming mouse and keyboard connected to the device. When setting up Windows, the keyboard on the laptop felt really well positioned and very east to type on. The screen on this looks amazing and a lot of my friends that see it can vouch for that. Being that its a Samsung screen i'm not surprised on how great it looks. What I'm more shocked about is that Samsung makes a great laptop. Ive owned a few Samsung devices in the past such as tvs, phones, and tablets and loved them all. When it came to computing I always stayed with my "goto" brands HP or Asus. Its only been about a week of owning this and I've thrown Starcraft 2, Diablo 3, Guild Wars 2, Torchlight 2, and Deus Ex Human Revolution at it and it seems to run everything on high really well with a high frame rate. I was kind of amazed on how good Guild Wars 2 ran because for some reason that game benchmarks a bit low on other systems. I was getting a reasonable 50-60 fps in major hubs so no complaints there. All in all I know for $1500 I could have built a pretty monster PC but I wanted the mobility and I believe I made the right choice. If your looking for a great laptop this is hands down the best price I've seen and I'm glad that Samsung is stepping up to the plate in gaming mobility.

Reviews of Samsung Series 5 NP530U3C-A02US 13.3-Inch Ultrabook (Light Titan

Customer Ratings:

Good laptop computer though the battery doesn't seem to last long enough as it said it is. I don't like the earphone/speaker set-up which is very confusing. I cannot figure out what device to equip when using internet calling.

pro: nice look, reasonably priced, fast startup.

con: short battery life (about 5 hours or less)

Samsung Series 5 NP530U3C-A02US 13.3-Inch Ultrabook (Light Titan Silver)

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I would say I am more skilled than the average user of computers. I currently use this primarily for graduate school research and assignments, but in testing its ability this computer can play intense video games for several hours at a time. I will concede to most of the other reviews by more experienced users.

USB 2.0 connectivity is very fast and re-boot time is stellar.

Cheap ASUS G55VW-ES71 15.6-Inch Gaming Notebook (Black)

Customer Ratings:

I just received this computer, and I have to say it's beautiful. Before I get into the specs, let me address some things the other reviewer has said.

Firstly, Asus's customer support is about the same as any other computer manufacturer, if not better. There's absolutely no way to have a bad experience with Asus, and the quality of their computers have been exceptional in my experience with them. I've never had a problem before, and I don't expect for there to be one for anyone now.

Secondly, as for the updating the internal components, there are probably guides on Youtube, and the guide is probably not included because most users won't need it.

Thirdly, yes, the power brick is quite large and heavy, but I don't see a problem considering you'll be stationary while playing, and it's a rather long cord. It's not as if you have to lay the power brick on your face while you play.

But as for the Asus G55VW -

+ The Asus G55 is a sleek, gaming-powerhouse laptop engineered specifically for long hours of use while playing the most demanding games. I can throw anything at this laptop, unlike many laptops, and know that it will never run hot. With the left exhaust port, if I remember correctly, being specifically for the CPU, the fan will run independently from the right fan at whatever speed it needs. The right fan, however, being for the GPU, will cool your GPU during long hours of hard gaming.

+ When playing games, the touchpad, keyboard, and palmrest stay at about 70 80 degrees Fahrenheit. The cooling system does an excellent job in capturing the heat and throwing it out of the back of the computer.... quietly. The sound from the fan is measured at approximately 30 decibels, which is not even as loud as a whisper. I was very impressed with this, as most laptops with the power that this computer has run hot.

+ The ports are in ergonomic locations. The Asus G55 features four USB 3.0 ports, with two on the right near side, and two on the far left side. On the right, this laptop has both an HDMI and VGA, alongside the DC power port.

+ The keyboard, screen, and touchpad are all phenomenal. Featuring a HD display, everything looks crisp and clear... and runs smoothly. I've got no problem playing Skyrim on Ultra, or TOR on the maximum settings.

The above is just from my personal experience with the computer, but if you want to know more, I'd direct you here.

Product Showcase Asus G55VW Unboxing & Benchmarks (by GenTechPC)

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I just received my laptop on 6/1 (ordered 5/30) and here is my review after a few days of tinkering. For those of you that do not wish to read through the entire review, here is a summary ~

Pros:

Beautifully sleek

Back-lit keyboard with adjustable brightness settings

Condensed full-size keyboard

Soft and comfortable palm rest

Extremely fast 3rd generation Core i7 quad core processor

Four USB 3.0 ports instead of just one

Insanely quiet fans

Comfortably cool in all situations

Cons:

Extremely large power brick

VIA drivers for sub-woofer

Cloning

Review:

The ASUS G55VW-ES71 far exceeds expectations when it comes to gaming or any other heavy processing activities, and it performs all of its duties while encased in one of the most beautiful laptop shells ever designed. The keyboard is laid out in a Chiclet style with each button as its own "island," and ASUS managed a 10-key number pad on the right hand side. The lighting behind the keyboard is adjustable, making it the perfect the brightness for anyone. The palm rest is layered with a soft mat material resulting in a comfortable gaming and typing experience.

The incorporated processor is blazing fast. Intel's new quad-core processor with eight threads lives up to expectations with a Windows Experience Index of 7.6 (out of a possible 7.9). Memory on this beast of a machine scores at a 7.8, and the graphics chugs up a more than respectable score of 7.3. This machine is only bottlenecked by the hard drive score of 5.9 (the only one out of all the categories that does not score a 7 or higher). Not to fret, with a little bit of dedicated time, replacing the factory hard drive with a shiny Solid State Drive (SSD) is quite a breeze, boosting this category's score to the max of 7.9. This of course means that the lowest score for this machine would be the GTX 660M's score of 7.3, but there should not be a soul who would be mad about the graphic card's performance when comparing to other similar machines.

ASUS took no expense in giving their users the best of the best. Keeping in consistency with the machine's speed, ASUS decided to load this rig with four total USB 3.0 slots. No more finding or struggling to look for more USB 3.0 inputs for your external hard drives because the manufacturer only decided to upgrade one of the four USB inputs to the 3.0 generation, now you can plug it into any of the USB slots and you will experience the glory of USB 3.0 speeds. The cable gets in the way for the USB slot in the back? Plug it in on the side! The user experience gets better. Usually gaming units such as the G55VW will need increased airflow to keep all its parts running cooler and lasting longer. This usually meant that the fan would have to run incredibly fast and loud. ASUS took the liberty to design a machine that runs comfortably cool and indescribably quiet! Whether you're on your bed instant messaging and gaming or you're at your desk, well, instant messaging and gaming, you will be able to relax without the noticing your laptop blazing on your leg and you will not be disturbing anyone else in the vicinity with what sounds like a giant portable fan that other gamers are lugging around.

As with all products, there are some drawbacks. For this particular machine, the power brick is quite sizeable. It is heavy enough to break a toe and large enough to make an uncomfortable bulge in just about any laptop storage bag. However, the power brick does come with two Velcro ties to sort both cables. This machine comes with a sub-woofer. YES! A sub-woofer! 2.1 channels! Sounds like an exciting feature, right? Unfortunately this is not the case because VIA's drivers are not performing as expected. Instead of using the sub-woofer to compliment the sound that flows out of the laptop, it actually plays every single sound its two speaker buddies are playing. It does not provide the bass that we all would love to enjoy, just awkwardly (and most horribly) acts as a third speaker that would output voice as you would think any sub-woofer would. Luckily, the sub-woofer can be disabled through the volume properties of the ASUS speakers.

Finally, although above I said that it would be a "breeze" to swap out the underperforming hard drive for a lighting fast SSD, it also contributes to one of the few low points of this laptop. This is because cloning this hard drive one-to-one is very much impossible with any of the freeware (and some paid software like Acronis) available online. I will not get into too much detail and just say that it is due to the fact that the hard drive is formatted under GUID Partition Table (GPT), and most cloning software does not know how to handle this. As of now I have not found any software that is able to handle GPT and would greatly appreciate the knowledge of one in the comments. The easiest way for anyone to swap in a SSD is to create recovery discs at first boot and then use the discs to boot up and install on the SSD.

Final Rating: 4.9/5.

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I was thrown off by negative reviewers when I was looking to buy.

With technology as it is now, a solid state drive is kind of an essential now. It gives you huge bang for your buck. True this machine doesnt come stock with one but it has room to install one easily and its engineered so its super easy to put one in.

The risks of buying a custom laptop is that your stuck with it indefinitely , in most circumstances. I'm an amazon prime member, so I get free shipping on all my orders, and amazon is awesome about returns so there isnt really any 'risk' in buying. So in the other gaming laptops in the 1500-2500 $ price range, that are NOT custom (MSI, alienware, Sager etc)(because in buying those, there IS risk involved and if you get a dead pixel in your screen, or some faulty part, your looking at weeks to months of repair time, and shipping charges etc) , the options are Asus G55 or G75, or Samsung series 7 gamer or toshiba qosmio.

the series 7 and qosmio dont have slots for an SSD which as i said , in my opinion is a must have component. that being aside the only difference then is just small differences in the internal components ie 12 gb vs 16 gb ram, 660m vs 670m , things which make difference on paper but not really in the performance of the computer. I chose the g55 because 8gb of ram is way more than enough, 660 is arguably a better card than 670 and 675m because of how it can be overclocked, and further the actual performance is so close you'll never notice it anyway. now the difference between 660m vs 7970 or the 680 is huge.. so thats a different thing , but then your looking at a "purely gaming laptop" and thats kind of a losing proposition anyway. you can hand build a better desktop for 900$ for gaming and it will outperform a 2200$ gaming laptop. so.. good to keep that all in mind. so the g55 works best for me compared to all the above models because it retains some portability, the screen is big enough, and if i want a bigger screen, i can plug it into an HDTV. the g75 is awesome too but a lot of the features, for 700$ price increase may not be worth it.. namely the 670m, and the SSD and double the ram. you can buy and install your own SSD for 120$.. and double of 8gbram is useless, so the upgrade from 660m to 670 is not worth the price increase in my opinion.

im listing this all out because when i was deciding what to buy, i had almost nothing to go on. I think others looking at this laptop will be having the same questions I had, so i hope this helps. the g55 was definitely right for me. its an incredible machine, performs awesome, looks awesome. my only gripe is that to increase the volume , you need to push FUNCTION key and then F12 . which is retarded because the FN key is on the bottom left of the keybaord, and F12 is top right. its not easy to push both with 1 hand. so I hope you dont ever eat food while you watch movies on your computer LOL or your going to have a dirty keyboard. that is a seriously retarded oversight.

other than that , asus all the way and amazon rocks you always have 30 days to change your mind.

Honest reviews on ASUS G55VW-ES71 15.6-Inch Gaming Notebook (Black)

Over the year's I've had a few ASUS gaming laptops. Personally I really do like this machine. I give it 4 out of 5 stars because of a few "quirks". They do not bother me but for the typical end user I don't believe it is fair to give something a 5 star review with a few "caveats".

Pros:

Screaming fast: I swapped out the HDD and put in a Kingston 128 SSD. With a base install boot time from power button to surfing is 18 seconds.

Keyboard: responsive to fast typing (over 100 WPM), good feeling keyboard

Ivy Bridge processor: most recent gen, fast, should handle processing needs for next 2-3 years.

8GB of Ram: I'm sorry but I hardly ever see anyone utilize more than 3 GB, I know there are some that do but for the average gamer 8 is ample enough.

Beautiful Screen: Great resolution, crisp delivery, glare is tolerable in direct sunlight

Casing: Good presentation, aggressive looking, solid feel

Ports: good selection of latest ports to meet almost all media needs (HDMI, Multicard reader, etc)

Gaming: So far it handles all games I throw at it on highest / ultra settings.

Cons:

Power brick: I agree with the first reviewer, no excuse this thing is huge. I travel for a living and have taken it with me a few times. It is large and cumbersome, but better than lugging a desktop around.

Sound: The sound is horrible, and you can't adjust the volumes. I personally NEVER use laptop speakers and bought this with the intention of using head phones. For some this may be a big problem, for me, not so much.

Weight: Gaming rigs are heavy, period. But for someone new to PC gaming, it may be a bit of a shock when you lug this beast around.

Other Thoughts:

I'm a IT Pro by trade and bought this with the intentions of making changes out the door. I was pleasantly surprised when I swapped out the HDD that the included CD contains all of the drivers in a very user friendly install interface. I am also very pleased that after running said software I had to remove very little bloatware. I personally wouldn't bother with upgrading the memory for a few reasons. One, it's more than enough for almost all users. Two, you would need to pull out the existing chips and find out the speed/type/timing. Even if you find memory of the same speed and type, you may "lose out" if you buy slower timing. Most users wouldn't notice it, but if you're going to that extent you should know what I'm talking about.

Conclusion:

This is a solid gaming rig. It is capable of playing all the games out, and will be able to hold steady for at least 2 years of new games. There are definite trade-offs when purchasing a budget laptop. You can buy a better, larger, and more capable rig elsewhere but it will cost you. I think the device delivers perfectly at its price point.

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Review-Asus G55VW laptop computer

First let me point out some issues I had with this Laptop.

The first laptop I received was defective. Occasionally there was a grinding noise made from the fan vents near the back of the computer. This happened when I was playing a game and the fan speed would increase to a certain point. After some research I found the problem to be because of possible bent fan filter that would hit the fans. After a couple days I decided this bothered me so I requested an exchange from amazon. I can't say if Asus has poor quality control or I simply got unlucky but what I can say is that exchanging with Amazon is a joy. They took back the laptop with no questions and even crossed shipped the new one so I actually received the new laptop the same day that UPS picked up the old one. I just thought WOW! In my opinion amazon has great customer service. I am also happy to say that I received the new laptop and there are no issues with the fans. I cannot really reflect this in my overall rating because I may have simply gotten the 1/1000 bad one.

Now to get to the laptop,

OVERALL FEEL:

This thing looks cool. The matte black finish is rubberized to give it a more grippy feeling. This really stands out as a nice feature on the wrist pad where it adds lots of comfort when typing. Also it's hard to tell at first but the rubberized feeling also is on the keyboard keys which are very nice. The keyboard is alright however it seemed a little small to me at first. Something that you can probably get used to though and I also have larger hands. The whole feel of the laptop is quality and is definitely much better than my old Samsung laptop. The ports are all easy to get too and well placed out. The CD drive is not the easiest to hit the button but I would consider that a positive since on my old laptop I would constantly be accidently opening it.

PERFORMANCE:

The first thing I did when getting this laptop is put a SSD in. Other reviews that I read seemed to have issues when cloning the hard drive. Well I didn't have an issue except it did take a while. First thing you should do(to make it easy) is start the laptop. As soon as you do the initial setup (enter the date, time, name. yada yada) and windows desktop comes up for the first time there will be a box popping up that asks if you want to make recovery disks. Do that, know that you need to have 4 DVD's ready to make all of the disks needed though. Go through and make them, then simply install your ssd in the back. Next you need to go into bios and make sure the computer boots from the CD drive. Insert the first disk and start it up. Install windows from the recovery disks and tada! You now have the computer running all of the stock software. Alright, now to the real review again. This computer performs great. It plenty fast and runs what games I have played on it great. So far what I have played is Battlefield bad company 2(high setting runs super smooth), fallout new vegas(Completely maxed setting super smooth), and minecraft(well it runs smooth lol). I haven't had any issues with the graphics card and it seems to run anything pretty well. I would not expect it to play the latest and greatest games maxed out but I am sure that they will run with at least medium settings fine. The fans stay quiet and that laptop doesn't seem to get to hot even after 3 or 4 hours of battlefield. My last laptop would shut down all the time due to overheating with battlefield. Overall I would say this laptop performs well and for $1200 you can't beat its performance.

A few negatives and minor gripes I have.

The first and most obvious negative for some people is going to be the sheer size of this laptop. At just over 15 inches wide this thing would not fit in my 17in laptop case! Another thing to consider is the power supply if you are planning on taking that with because it is huge in its own right. It measures roughly 6.5x3.5x1.5 inches and should be considered if you already have a bag if it will fit. Also with all this size comes the weight. It is pretty hefty laptop that may be a pain if you're constantly carrying it around with you. For me personally however these aren't that bad of issues. Another thing that I noticed is that the backlight on the screen isn't all that even. On a black screen in a dark room there is lots of backlight spots on the screen. I would say that I am usually more picky then others when it comes to screens though and the issue is not bad on anything other than a completely black screen. Even during darker scenes in video games I did not notice it. Lastly if I had to find something else wrong is that the drivers are a little buggy as far as speaker control. As in other reviews there is an issue with the "subwoofer" (if you want to call it that) not changing volume. I am happy to say that I simply updated the drivers for the sound and now it seems to be working properly.

Overall I would give this laptop 5 star because personally it was everything I was looking for in a laptop. Blue-ray may have been nice as well as a slightly better graphics card but for this price you'll be hard pressed to find another laptop that offers the same value as this one. Hopefully I helped someone else make their decision selecting this laptop because I know I had a difficult time deciding!

Discount HP Pavilion G60-230US 16.0-Inch Laptop

Customer Ratings:

I don't know about the other reviewer's experience, but I can say that I love everything about this computer. The screen is bright and the colors are vivid. I have listened to other laptop speakers, and these sound very good. The keyboard is wonderful to type on. I had to uninstall some bloatware, but that was expected. Will upgrade to a 12 cell battery as soon as I can afford to. I highly recommend this laptop to anyone who wants a well made machine. Read the specs listed above and you will find that this machine has everything you would want in a laptop or desktop replacement. Con: somewhat large and slightly heavy, but then again your going to carry it in a bag anyways!

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The G70-250US laptop is a very capable laptop but with a 17" screen it is not a lightweight. After 3 days of use these are my initial comments. The "HP Imprint" silver finish on the keyboard is very smooth which has a glassy feel which I didn't' like initially, but it may grow on me. The 4 directional keys, which are grouped below the right shift key, are half height keys which seem a little too small. The volume control is a two key operation which uses the left function key and a volume key, and that is a slight annoyance as compared to my other HP laptop (NC6220) which takes only 1 key press. The speakers and the LCD display perform very well when viewing HD movie trailers and various DVD's. There is nearly 25GB of preloaded software, and I removed about 50% of which I don't care to use or have acquired previously. Microsoft Vista is a decent OS, however I found a case where it was not compatible with my Netgear WGT624V3 wireless router (search the web for details on making a registry change in Vista). I'll describe my laptop use to be 70% business, 30% casual audio/Photoshop editing and web shopping mostly at home. I'm pretty satisfied with this laptop knowing it's not a stellar performer but capable one for doing ordinary office work and recreational stuff which doesn't require the Intel "Genius" processor. It's a pretty good price performer from HP (and my 3rd HP laptop).

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after careful consideration & tons of research, I bought this laptop direct from the hp website mostly because of the hard drive space & the huge screen. I was a bit worried that i had gotten my hopes up too high but this product absolutely did not disappoint! This is the fourth laptop computer i've owned, the others being two ibms (one bought through my university, it imploded two months after the warranty ran out) & an iBook that i absolutely hated. this computer is by far my favourite. It runs fast, quiet & smooth & the screen has such a brilliant picture! For school i use a lot of (allegedly) very high end computers for Computer Aided Design & Illustration classes, & honestly the picture on this notebook is a thousand times clearer than those more expensive machines. Vista has taken some time to get used to, but eventually i will adjust, just like i did when XP came out. This computer is an absolute steal. It's definitely the best $700 i've ever spent.

Honest reviews on HP Pavilion G60-230US 16.0-Inch Laptop

I purchased this laptop after comparing price/performance for low cost laptops. I ruled out AMD CPUs as comparable Intel mobile processors are faster. I have been using this HP for 10 days and have found it to be an excellent computer after a number of changes as follows:

1. Uninstalled all the trial software and other programs I will not use.

2. Ran MSConfig, Startup, and removed every program from Startup except the four items for the Intel Graphics processor.

3. Went to Administrative Services and comparing it with the recommendations on changed a lot of services from Automatic (startup) to either Manual or Disable. This removed a lot more programs that ran at startup.

4. Added a number of new programs that I use.

5. Upgraded the memory from 3GB to 4GB.

Even before I performed step 5. above, this computer was now very fast It uses an Intel T4200 mobile dual processor which is only about 8% slower than the Intel T6400 processor featured in most of the higher priced mainstream laptops. If you wish to upgrade memory, there is one step that is not included in any instructions I have seen. After changing a memory module, you must disconnect the hard drive for 5 seconds or more or your computer will not start. I found this out after an hour on the phone with HP tech support. I highly recommend HP tech support as I found them to be knowledgeable even if they are in India. Upgrading the memory will not void your warranty. One thing to note the HP warranty is 90 days with HP paying for shipping both ways, labor and materials. After that for the balance of one year you pay shipping and labor and HP pays for parts.

Everything works well, from easy wireless connection to the modem, etc. I like everything about this laptop and recommend it if you can buy it a low price. HP has a rebate on this computer until June 27th, and also offers a full or partial rebate on certain HP printers when you buy this computer.

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First of all.., I've been an Apple computer user (lover) for almost 10 years that swear never to go back to PC.., however, due to a change of career and compatibility reasons I had to buy a PC.., I was SUPER hesitant, so after a couple of weeks of research I decided to go for the HP G70.., I use it to run a full version of AutoCAD 2008 on Vista for 3D mapping and engineering design and I can just say I'm more than happy, It has been the best buy ever!.. Thumbs up to HP for this one!

Sony VAIO E Series SVE14132CXP 14-Inch Laptop (Pink) Review

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $579.99
Sale Price: $569.99
Today's Bonus: 2% Off

I was very happy when I received this laptop. After doing research and looking at my budget, I thought this would be the best fit for me. I am mainly using it for web browsing and photo editing. So far, it does everything I need it to.

If you're looking at a higher end windows product, I would go with a Sony Vaio E series. I'm particularly an Apple fan, but a Macbook pro was not in my budget. So I went with the next best thing! I'm still getting used to Windows 8, but it's very easy to use once you get the hang of how everything works.

So if you're looking for a higher quality computer for photo editing, school work or just browsing the internet I would highly recommend this laptop. It gets the job done and doesn't hurt your wallet.

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This is my first Sony VAIO purchase and I have to say it's really good! It's design is beautiful as well as the Sea-foam color I believe that's what it's called. It has a beautifully back-lit keyboard makes it very easy to see at night obviously but in the day too it looks really nice. It's very lightweight and thanks to it's 5400RPM HDD it does not get hot at all which is a relief because this is a problem I have run into with other laptops.

It comes with an Intel i3 processor which is great for everyday tasks and having several programs open. I use Cisco Packet Tracer while listening to music on YouTube or Pandora and having my browser, Mozilla open with multiple tabs open and it handles it very well.

I plan on slapping another 2 gigs to this PC to run better because I need it but for everyday use and stuff it should be fine.

This PC comes with Windows 8! As stated on the product specs. Okay Windows 8 is pretty good, yes it has a new interface but not so different honestly. When the PC boots you will be prompted with MS new Metro UI (User Interface). It 's very nice actually the apps are pretty cool and it just shows where OS(operating system(s)) are going. Many people have approached Windows 8 with a negative attitude because of the interface but if you look back when the transition went from WinXP to Windows Vista soon after Windows 7 people reacted the same but then got used to it and so I believe that's how Windows 8 is going to be.

*I do advise you to invest 5 dollars in a program called Start8* This program brings back the Start button that we are so used to seeing in Windows 7 and it functions just like Windows 7 and it makes the transition a little less painful with all the extra clicking that Windows 8 forces us to make.

Graphics are good too it's nothing spectacular but hey it's good enough. This PC can edit HD & 3D videos it's sort of like Windows Movie Maker, and it comes with Sound Forge where you can create your own music which is pretty cool don't think I will use it but somebody else probably will.

In the package where the instruction manual comes will be a promotional credit where Sony gives you 3 credits for you to use on Google Play where you can watch 3 movies of your choice with the selection given unlimited times. I don't think you can download it which is unfortunate but still it's 3 movies.

I know this is a long review and not the best but I do hope it has helped anyone interested in getting this PC.

Overall, it's a great PC. This is not suited for somebody needing to have Photoshop open with some Adobe Illustrator and 10 tabs on your browser open. But more for someone with little-moderate use and also this is price range I was looking for as well.

Feel free to leave a comment or a question and I will try to answer it to the best of my ability!

Regards,

Andrew Ramirez

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Worked just fine for two months and then the computer died. Every support person I dealt with from Sony was based in India. Each one of them wants to walk through a 15 minute trouble shooting routine of removing the battery, remove memory, etc. Non of the trouble shooting solved the issue. After two weeks they sent a repair person to fix the laptop. He replaced the mother board and the machine was alive again. Two and a half months later the computer died again. I called Sony to return the machine for a refund or a new laptop and they refused. They are planing to send a repair person out again. Does not sound very cost effective to me. At this point I would buy any brand of laptop over a Sony. I understand that sometimes you just get a lemon, the answer is replace the lemon or issue a refund. You really don't want to spend over 15 hours with Sony support!

Honest reviews on Sony VAIO E Series SVE14132CXP 14-Inch Laptop (Pink)

I had this computer for 4 months and the hard drive crashed one day with no warning. Sony has done little to help and it has to be sent out to be fixed. I have NEVER had such a upsetting issue with a computer so quickly! I will never buy a sony computer again. It was such a waste of over $700.00. Grr. Save your money and buy a Macbook!

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I bought this laptop with just three things in mind: good portability, long battery life, and solid build quality. And to my delight, the laptop fulfilled all three. However, I wasn't completely satisfied with the product and, therefore, unable to give 5 stars. Why? Not even a week after I turned the laptop on for the first time, the hard drive starting making abnormal clicking sounds from time to time. Hard drives aren't silent, I know that, but the noises produced from the laptop's hard drive were definitely far from normal. Almost everything else about the laptop is stellar though good enough, in fact, to warrant 4/5 stars.

GOOD PORTABILITY

The laptop should be portable, given its compact 14" screen size. It's pretty thin, but also fairly wide for its class. The laptop almost fills my 15" laptop sleeve in fact. Weight-wise, it's right where it needs to be at just a little under 5 lbs. I like the slightly indented sides of the laptop which allow you to pick it up easily without having to really 'dig underneath' with your fingers.

GREAT BATTERY LIFE

Where this laptop really shines is its battery life performance. Just browsing around on the web, I was able to achieve almost 6 hours from a full charge without charging the laptop during use. The 5300 mah battery definitely helps. I left the screen brightness at its default setting which was pretty dim, but definitely ample enough to view comfortably. I like the fact that the screen automatically adjusts its brightness level to accommodate for the surrounding light environment.

DECENT BUILD QUALITY

Sony's never been shoddy when it comes to its products' appearances, and this laptop is no different. Though made entirely out of plastic, the plastic doesn't feel cheap. The laptop doesn't flex too much, but there is a little bit of a 'cratering' from the edge of the keyboard inwards. The backlit keys light up brightly as well. The touchpad is very large and responsive to multiple gestures. However, I wasn't a fan of the loud-clicking buttons below the touchpad. The buttons were not only loud but stiff too, requiring quite a bit of pressure to depress. And, again, the hard drive noise issue I experienced really was a drag on the quality too, but I hardly doubt it is a widespread issue for me to call the quality of the laptop poor.

Hopefully, if you buy this laptop, you won't experience the issues I had with it. If not for the issues I experienced, the laptop would've definitely been a keeper. Sony's made a really good laptop for the price!

Reviews of Sony VAIO E14 Series SVE14125CXW 14-Inch Laptop (White)

Customer Ratings:

Sony has gone downhill in implementation of an overall happy experience in their "lower priced laptops ($569.-$679.)". While I think this unit is overall a decent design, it has a major annoying aspect one can't ignore. The Track pad. Sensitivity is wayward, but the killer part for me is the cheap clacking noise it makes when clicking on it. It makes a cheap plastic clack every time you push it (and you must push it firmly). The PC works great, fast, good keypad, good heat dissipation, fast start up, etc. The speakers are lackluster and the case lid has some sharp edges. I bought mine at F**y's and am suspicious of their product source and them. I find it odd that when opening the box the item looked "almost" expertly repackaged. I suspect either they are selling overuns ,rejected quality items, or refurbished out of country items,and not letting on. Or maybe customs opens items more these days. The giveaway is the plastic covers that are supposed to be taped over(on new items) are not.I'll Buy Amazon next time.

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I was looking for a small laptop with a backlit keyboard at a reasonable price. I often use my computer in dim light and this one solves the problem. The backlighting is not intrusive at all and can be turned off in normal lighting. This computer meets my needs. Sony does not load on tons of junk software. This computer is does not have a touch screen for Windows 8, which is a function I would not be interested in a laptop anyway. This computer works well with the Logitech T400 touch mouse, which is optimized for Windows 8. Actually, this mouse mirrors many of the touch functions of a touch screen.

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this is a really nice computer, you can't obtain a better computer for this price. the backlit keyboard is very useful when you are in low lit conditions. Intel HD graphics 4000 run almost everything you need. bluetooth works perfectly (after some upgrades). procesor is really fast, letting you to run a lot of apps and programs. Windows 8 is a little bit annoying at first sight but you'll get used to it and when you do you'll find out that is a very nice system, really fast to boot up and very fluid. battery lifetime is quite good 3.5 to 4 hours with a single charge. and finally a thing that really impressed me is that this laptop doesn't heat up like other ones. no matter what you do with it, this laptop stay fresh.

Honest reviews on Sony VAIO E14 Series SVE14125CXW 14-Inch Laptop (White)

My wife fell in love with this laptop. She loved the "pink" color. I read several of the reviews and had mixed feelings about this product. I even talked to the IT guys at work who told me Sony made a solid product. I had reservations based on some of the reviews but I bought this for my wife anyway. We received the laptop in 2 days via Prime, which is great by the way. The moment I opened the box I had concerns. The cloth bag the laptop was in had been obviously opened before so I figure this had to be a return. The fit and finish on this pink and white pastic case is terrible. The corners in the front do not match up well and leave gaps to snag on things. Performance was good, quite fast, but that's where it ends for the good stuff. The Bluetooth did not work, it would not connect with anything. The USB ports would accept some devices but not all. The keyboard area that is pink plastic, had some sort of residue on it that felt rough, almost like a paint overspray of some kind. We tried to get the wireless printer to connect but that would not connect either. We have 3 other laptops in the house that all connect flawlessly. I called Amazon and got an authorization to return the unit for a full refund. For the same money we went to Best Buy today and found for the same price $599.00 an Acer Ultrabook M5-581T-6405, 6gb of ram instead of 4, the same 500gb hard drive and it also has a 20gb SSD included. This think blows the Sony away on speed, picture quality, features and connectivity. Sorry Sony, I generally love all your products, I have several of them in my home, but this laptop is a dud!

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The laptop is beautiful and it Works perfectly, but it seams cheap, I fear that if I am not very very gentle with it, the computer may break. The keyboard and the trackpad look easy to break. But the reason why it looks cheap is because it costs less than other laptops. So, I think I would recommend it to people looking for something cheap, but only if you know you can be careful with it. I think you get what you paid for.

Acer Aspire V3-571G-6622 15.6-Inch Laptop (Midnight Black) Review

Customer Ratings:

I've had this computer for about 3 months and so far its been able to do everything I want it to. Runs my main game Aion between 30-40 fps on max settings (around 50-60ish on medium), has a decent battery life (4 hours) and isn't too expensive. I've also played GW2, Tera, CIV V & Anno 2070 without any problems. As the title says I have been looking for a computer for a year that is between $500-$600, has a dedicated gfx card and is 15'.

Windows gives it a base score of 4.6

Processor: 7.1

Ram: 5.9

Gfx: 4.6

Gaming gfx: 6.5

HD: 5.9

A few gripes:

1. Fingerprint magnet

2. I usually carry my laptop in the space that's between the top of the keyboard and the edge of the screen for stability, the power button is too close to the edge of the laptop and I've accidently turned it off a few times.

3. I appreciate the minimalist design, but there's nothing to indicate when caps lock/ num lock is on.

Overall, I would recommend this comp to anyone who doesn't want to break the bank while still getting decent performance.

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this computer arrived the 22nd of this month...took outta the box.......added another 4g of memory and this thing is fast. Have been a little worried as I know this version has not been out to long but i am completely satisfied. No problems once you figure windows 8 out. As a mid-range gamer I would have to give this 6 stars. At this time I have only played one game and that is WoW...runs anywhere from 60-100fps in starting zones. Have not tried dungeons or raiding with it at this time but will let you know. I run the autoselect for the video. It switches back and forth from the integrated graphics and the dedicated graphics when needed. For the price I will be buying another one in the near future. And I would also like to say Amazon customer service was excellent when I contacted them about the long wait to ship this computer. Talked with them Wednesday online and had the laptop here by 2 p.m. Friday. Thank you Randee!!!!

Best Deals for Acer Aspire V3-571G-6622 15.6-Inch Laptop (Midnight Black)

This laptop just blew me away. I love the sleek elegant look to it. It's not too heavy so I can take it with me on the go.

The downside is that it only comes with 4BG RAM and a 5200rpm hard drive. However with the 8GB RAM upgrade it is super snappy and fast, even with the 5200RPM hard drive. Also Windows 8 has fast boot times, even with this slow hard drive.

Windows 8 is really not bad at all once you "de-suck it" with one of the various programs available that let you bring back and customize the start menu and also lets you boot up to the desktop. I personally went with "startisback". It cost 3 bucks and gives you 2 licenses to use on 2 PCs.

Graphically this laptop is awesome! I can run Resident Evil 6 at max settings at 60fps as well as Deus Ex human revolution on high at 60fps. For the price you pay, it's a steal!

The battery life is decent when you set it to power saver, about 3 hours, when you're using wifi, longer without it. But if you want longer battery life get a 12-cell battery. But for me it's not an issue since I'm usually connected to the wall.

All in all, if you're looking for power, performance and decent gaming at a cheap price. This is it! you can't go wrong at this price. :)

Honest reviews on Acer Aspire V3-571G-6622 15.6-Inch Laptop (Midnight Black)

This is by far the best laptop for the dollar that I could find. Very sleek looking machine. It is also very thin. Not Ultrabook thin but thin for a laptop with an I5 and a dedicated GPU. The Laptop seems to be well built, pretty sturdy. No Flex. I also added another 4 gigs of memory to the Laptop. Overall the machine is pretty fast. I was surprised how well it ran Sim City and Mass Effect 3. The only thing that I don't really care for is the track pad. It works but it seems a little sensitive to clicks. I also don't like the fact that its not in the center. But that's just me. Highly recommend this machine to anyone looking for something with a little kick but dont want to spend an arm and a leg on a good performing machine.

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To get the maximum out of this laptop you will need some expertise. Apart from a slow disk, this is a two-GPU machine which uses NVIDIA Optimus technology to switch between uses. You have relatively low control over what get used where, and often things cause errors. Updating drivers can also be painful. If you'd like to go with it anyway, here are some things to note:

1. Do not set Chrome to use NVIDIA GPU but use chrome:flags to enable using the GPU. Otherwise it will either be too slow or work with errors.

2. The disk is slow; consider upgrading to SSD.

3. The screen resolution is low and you will notice that. I don't care much for it, but I know many people who do.

4. Battery life is good / satisfactory.

This is my main computer and I will be happy to answer any specific questions on this thread.

Review of Dell Inspiron 15.6-Inch Laptop - 3rd Gen Intel Core i5 i5-3210M

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $699.99
Sale Price: $470.09
Today's Bonus: 33% Off

I like the fact that it comes with Windows 8, so I didn't have to go through the painful upgrade process.

The laptop is quick to boot. I plan to add another 4GB memory at around $30 for added performance.

I short, great buy!

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I use it for gaming, watching movies, checking emails and reading daily news. The office applications help me to do some office work as well.

Best Deals for Dell Inspiron 15.6-Inch Laptop - 3rd Gen Intel Core i5 i5-3210M

I bought this for my husband. He really like it. And it was easy and fast delieved. it is very very good

Honest reviews on Dell Inspiron 15.6-Inch Laptop - 3rd Gen Intel Core i5 i5-3210M

I've had my laptop for about 6 months now and it's proven to be a very great investment. I purchased my product for under $500. I ended up with a great machine for my needs. I highly recommend!

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Is a beatiful and fast laptop, the color and the sydtem is good, the windows 8 was fantastic, it is perfect for me.

Reviews of HP 2000-2b09WM Fusion E-300 1.3GHz 2GB 320GB DVD±RW 15.6" Windows 8

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $449.99
Sale Price: $334.99
Today's Bonus: 26% Off

This HP laptop in Winter Blue, presents as a very expensive model. It is an impressive, attractive, affordable laptop for entertainment. Having spent $1200 on my previous laptop, which crashed the weekend before Black Friday, I decided to look for value. I was able to pick up this one for under $300. WOW I can buy 4 new computers for the price of my now dinosaur. With an 8GB memory stack this HP will surpass the features of my previous expensive laptop. Even if it lacks the higher speeds of more expensive alternatives, you will love the display, and did I mention the movie experience? Another WOW! I would definitely recommend this to my friends.

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Relatively inexpensive when compared to other computers with similar capabilities. Works great and a very good bargain. This product arrived on time and in great condition.

Best Deals for HP 2000-2b09WM Fusion E-300 1.3GHz 2GB 320GB DVD±RW 15.6" Windows 8

the laptop is good, meets all the requirements required to work in comfort, the presentation is simple but covers all expectations requested.

Honest reviews on HP 2000-2b09WM Fusion E-300 1.3GHz 2GB 320GB DVD±RW 15.6" Windows 8

I thought it would have the Microsoft office already installed but it is just a trial ! Other than that I haven't had any problems or troubles with this laptop. I actually needed the upgrade ! Thank you Amazon !!!

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Runs a little slow, Other than that I am quite satisfied. Why are nine more words required? I have a headache.

Reviews of Acer 15.6" Intel i3-2310M 2.10 GHz 500GB Notebook | AS5750-6421

Customer Ratings:

I bought this laptop as a post birthday gift for my man and I can say it was totally worth the saving. Since it is almost our 7th year together, I wanted to gift him something that he would really love! Acer was one of the first brands that came up with the latest intel 2nd generation core series processors and I found this one with more options in the price that suits my pocket. The delivery was finely on time, nothing unusual happened.

I would like to add the things I like most in the laptop and these are also the things that I didn't find in other laptops of the same price range. I don't use it everyday, so it is based on my experience with the laptop and the things that he agrees too. First of all, I just love the keypad; it's very user-friendly and I practically could work faster when I used it. ( I am a freelance writer so I do a lot of typing :p)

Secondly, the upper side of the laptop, which may not be very apparent from the pictures here, is textured. This makes the surface scratch and shock proof and makes it look extremely elegant in comparison to the laptops with glossy finishes.

The laptop is so lightweight that I can literally place it on my laps, sit in the couch and work for hours (I did it!).

Right now, I can't think of anything that I'd point as a minus one for this smart device. The only thing I experienced the other day and my man agreed too, is that when you use it while charging on your laps, keep your hands off the HDMI port because it may give you a very minor (you may not even notice it) electric shock. It's better to use the laptop on the table or any wooden surface while charging it. It also can be avoided you are in contact with anything that doesn't conduct electricity within.

He bought a Targus bag from a retail store for the laptop and it is till day serving great. He has a desktop PC with 22" LED, core i5 and other stuff but all he uses now is this laptop! I am so happy that it turned out just the perfect gift for him!

He is an average user and seeing him using it for almost 2 months now, I would definitely recommend it.

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Review of Samsung Series 7 NP700Z3A-S06US 14-Inch Laptop (Silver)

Customer Ratings:

I'm very happy with this machine. Fast, light, solid build, good-looking, great screen, comfortable back-lit keyboard. About identical in size and weight to a 13-inch Macbook, but with a 14" screen. Screen resolution is 1600 x 900, equivalent to Macbook and a step up from the 1366 x 768 standard on a lot of Windows laptops. (Sony touts its "full HD" 1920 x 1080 displays, but I found it made screen objects just too small. This is a happy medium.) It's quiet: the fan hardly ever comes on, and when it does it's not too loud. Good battery life: 5 to 6 hours easily without even going to the "max" power-saving scheme.

I have no real complaints, only a couple of wishes. More USB ports -it has one 2.0 and one 3.0 (although personally I've never needed more); a Blu-ray drive; a Core i7 option.

I bought this after returning a 15.5" Sony Vaio S-series, which had a flimsy, wobbly screen with the aforementioned "Full HD", an annoying off-center touchpad, and a form factor that was just too big and wide. I'm much happier with the Samsung.

One recommendation: whichever power-management scheme you use, edit it so that the wireless card is set to "Maximum Performance" when unplugged -the default slows wireless to a crawl in order to save a little juice. (If you see Samsung dinged on forums for slow wireless, that's why, and it's an easy adjustment that completely resolves the issue.)

Update 7/9/12: I'm still very happy with it. No changes to my earlier comments. Some people complain about the touchpad, it is very sensitive by default, but I lowered the sensitivity using the control panel and now it rarely misinterprets random thumb or palm touches as taps.

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The pictures for this product are for the 15.6" version and are NOT of the 14" version. The 14" version does not have the number pad on the keyboard. The 14" has one USB 3.0 port and one USB 2.0 port on the left side. There are no USB ports on the right side.

Overall I REALLY like this laptop. It is plenty fast, has a higher resolution display than most of its competitors, is very portable, and is well built. I am a big fan of matte laptop displays and Samsung does not disappoint on this device. I find the keyboard on this laptop to be easier to type on than most others I have tried, especially the Asus G51VX I am coming from. Unibody construction would be nice, but given the price point and the hardware this contains I can overlook it. The track pad is very large. If I'm not careful I can hit it with my left wrist while typing. I'm 6'2" and have large wrists though, it may not be an issue for everyone. This isn't a big issue for me since I typically disable the track pad and use a mouse anyways. If you're in the market for a lighter, very portable, but yet powerful laptop: I highly recommend the Series 7 14".

EDIT: Amazon has updated the photos for this product. They are now correct for the 14" version.

Best Deals for Samsung Series 7 NP700Z3A-S06US 14-Inch Laptop (Silver)

After having my Sony Vaio SA2 stolen I was forced into purchasing a new laptop. The things I loved about the Vaio were: dedicated graphics card, battery life, weight, hdmi output,backlit keyboard,screen resolution 1600x900, and appearance.

However there were some things that I didn't like; build, materials, noisy fan, and slow hard drive speed. So sense I had to buy a new laptop I wanted to make sure to address some of the issues I had with the Vaio, but maintain the things that I did like about it as well. Thus I came across the Samsung Series 7 NP700Z3A-S06US Laptop.

This Laptop addressed every single issue I had with the Vaio, its better built(screen is solid not flimsy like it was with the Vaio) has a bigger and faster hard drive(1TB, and 8gb of ssd),more ram(8gb vs 4gb on Vaio) and it maintained all the things I loved about the Vaio(speed, graphics card, backlit keyboard, screen resolution 1600x900, and size) .

The only very small, almost not worth mentioning difference, between the Samsung vs the Sony, was that the Sammy cost $150 dollars more, and it weighs about 1lb over the the Sony. Either way these minimalistic differences didn't stop me from making the switch and not looking back at my Vaio SA2

I also want to reinforce what the previous reviewer said, the picture that Amazon has is for the z5a and not the z3a. That being said if your looking for a well made, good looking, portable power house, BUY THIS LAPTOP!

PROS:

Speed processor(dual core i5 2.5 up to 3.0ghz speed)

Hard drive 1TB and 8gb of SATA(SSD like speed)

Screen 1600x900

Dedicated Graphics Card AMD RADEON HD 6490M

RAM 8GB DDR3

Build Screen Lid is solid, brushed aluminum

HDMI If you like to watch movies, play games, and stream videos on a larger screen this is a must.

Back Lit Keyboard Helps allot in low light situations it became a must for me after experiencing it.

Cons:

Weight Over 4lbs tends to be a little heavy(subjective)

Honest reviews on Samsung Series 7 NP700Z3A-S06US 14-Inch Laptop (Silver)

A little bigger than other ultrabooks, but alot more powerful.

PROS:

supports 8GB RAM, this was lightest laptop that I could find supporting 8GB of RAM

Very fast, CPU is better than most other ultrabooks

nice resolution.. things are small, but not too small

some newer battery technology, supposedly letting it last longer

the backlit keyboard is very nice, and the keyboard layout is easy to type with

CONS:

Only 2 USB, both on left side. The USB3 seems to give me issues, might be my driver.

Battery is NOT removable (as long as the battery-life works as intended, this shouldn't be a problem).

CD-Rom is NOT removable... i really not even need an optical drive

Weight is a little heavy, it's not bad.. but could be a little lighter

NOTE: If you do a clean install of windows, like i did, be sure to get the WIFI drivers from the Intel website (not from Samsung). I spend hours trying to figure out way my WIFI would not stay connected in Windows 7 64. Once I installed Intel's drivers (which claim to be an older version) it worked flawlessly.

For $1K, I'm pretty happy. The only comparable light/powerful laptop that met my RAM requirements was from Sony at about $2K.

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I've had my Samsung for two months now so I'm here to tell you about it!

What I like:

Screen is bright enough I usually just leave it at minimum brightness and it is suffice

The backlit keyboard and the spacing on the keyboard as well

Quick start-up

Webcam is decent-not amazing but better than my prior computer

Speakers are great-you get a lot of sound at a relatively low setting

Not too heavy

The screen isn't flimsy, after I got it I had to open my old computer for something and it felt so flimsy compared to the Samsung

The machine loads fast (although for the first week after I got it I would've said differently but after some updates that was fixed)

What I don't like as much:

The vent-it's in the hinges where screen meets machine so it can get hot but more so on the top so as long as you have some heat tolerance and don't go sticking your hand above the vent you'll be fine

It came with Skype installed but it was the 32-bit version so I had to get rid of Skype and download it in the 64-bit version-took about 20 minutes to fix but 2 days to figure out

Things to know:

CD/DVD player is a slot you slide the disc into (I have no negative opinion on that)

1 USB 2.0 and 1 USB 3.0 (I would have liked there to be one more, but I can settle for two)

Microphone and headphone are combined into one hole for both

Mouse pad has clickers built into the pad-beware, the clickers only work if you click on the fourth of the mouse pad closest to you

If you think you can't adjust something try googling it, I've learned a lot through doing so-For example the machine comes and it will change screen brightness to compensate the amount of light coming through the light sensor, but you can disable that

Some of the bloat ware like Youcam (similar to photobooth on Mac) can be very useful, others like Mediasuite I have no use for and it may pop-up when working with song files rather than iTunes (which you'll have to download if you want)

Be sure to do updates! Otherwise you'll feel like you got robbed, but it moves swiftly as soon as the updates are on

Overall I have enjoyed this computer so unless I update (if I do I'll post the date I do so) I'd have to say it might be a bit overpriced (I got mine on sale though) but overall I am happy with mine. I would recommend this as a personal computer, if you're mainly doing work I think you'll find a better price that will fit your needs but I'd defiantly recommend this to a person who spends a good bit of time with their machine!