Reviews of Toshiba Portege R705-P35 Laptop, Intel Core i3 Processor, 13.3"

Customer Ratings:

I agree with those who say the keyboard is a little weird at first, but it took me little time to get used to it. I also agree that you should not buy this machine here since I just picked mine up at Best Buy for $699.99 with the added convenience of being able to take it back to them should anything go wrong (in the first year).

As with any computer you ever buy, the first question you ask yourself is, "What am I going to use it for?" I don't plan on doing any heavy lifting with it and the specs are better than either of my desktops which I've used to run Photoshop and AutoCad. I don't see how anyone can complain about the speed for the price. I want to do word-processing, surf the Net and watch video. This laptop handles all of these things nicely. Why did I pony up an extra $150 for this model over the other Toshiba at the store? It's small. Very important to me.

After reading a thousand reviews on this thing, I have one last thing to say: Suggesting to me that I should go get a MacBook instead of a Toshiba is the most useless thing you can put in a review. I already have a MacBook that I got as a hand-me-down, and it's sitting on the ping pong table in my garage. I don't like Macs, and there is nothing wrong with me because of it. It's like saying, "Oh, that's a nice laptop, but you really should have bought a Chevy." Just tell me about THIS computer, and then go make out with your Mac.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

At 1st I wanted to buy a mini because I thought of it being more portable. Then I found out that they are quite slow when you start to add programs like Microsoft office because they are mainly for internet, email, etc. plus they don't come with a CD drive (unless you purchase one separately)

But the laptops seemed too big and heavy for me to carry around (student).. After doing tons of research I found this computer. The R705-P35 it's super light, might be as light as a mini. It has tons of memory and it runs many programs at once with no problems. It's quiet, it's thin, and it's pretty small! 13.3in!! So, if you are looking for a mini with the memory of a bigger computer, this is the one for you.

Can't say much about battery life because I always have it plugged in, but I will make sure to update if there are any issues.

Best Deals for Toshiba Portege R705-P35 Laptop, Intel Core i3 Processor, 13.3"

This is the laptop I've been waiting for. It's light. It's lighter than my old netbook but includes a real processor (no atom) with a dvd player. Finally I have something I can do real work on that doesn't wrench my shoulder out of its socket. It has great battery life. Recently took two connecting flights down to FL no battery problems, and it was on pretty much the whole way. Amazing. And the small form factor means I can actually use it on the airplane without any yoga positions. It's plenty fast for what I need it for light duty programming, office apps, surfing the net, etc. Did I mention its lightness? I'm always handing it to people to amaze them with its miniscule avoirdupois.

What I don't like: not a whole lot. Toshiba limits the crapware it installs, but I wish it were easier to get rid of their proprietary "enhancements" to the OS. There's one left that I can't figure out how to ditch the webcam controls that pop out annoyingly from the side if you move the mouse over the edge. Something dumb that I wish I didn't have to pay for but that doesn't hurt anything Wimax. Useless to me (and most people I suspect). Also it's fan is sometimes a bit noisy but only a problem when watching dvd's with the speaker's volume turned down.

Honest reviews on Toshiba Portege R705-P35 Laptop, Intel Core i3 Processor, 13.3"

Pros:

-Big hard drive (500gb). Wont run out of room on this thing.

-New intel i3 processor is peppy. It runs fast and multi-tasks quite well.

-Portability (amazingly light)

-13 inch screen is just the right size for a decent work space.

-No noticeable screen glare

Cons:

-Chiclet style keyboard is not well executed. The keys are slick to touch and mushy to press. Space Bar is especially bad. Feels very cheap for a computer of this price.

-Touchpad needs to be fine tuned. Default settings for sensitivity and multi touch features are crummy

-Speaking of multi touch... It is EXTREMELY spotty. I installed Ubuntu Linux alongside the provided Windows 7 and the two finger scrolling worked much smoother

-I'm BIG on battery life. I got this computer especially for it's advertised 8-9 hour battery time. In reality, however, it gets around 4 1/2. Hardly enough to last me through the day. (This is on low screen brightness and in the "eco-mode" power setting)

All in all, this is a good machine. I would love it if the keyboard wasn't so crappy and it got a little better battery life. Still, for the money it's tough to beat the specs provided. If you've got some extra cash I would probably go for the MUCH better constructed Macbook or Macbook Pro.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Toshiba Portege R705-P35 Laptop, Intel Core i3 Processor, 13.3"

I've been looking for a PC equivalent of the MacBook Air since...forever. But so far, nobody has been able to combine light weight, big screen size, and affordability. I've looked up and down, and only the R705 can beat the MBA.

Pro:

1) Only a feather heavier than the MBA 13";

2) But has twice the specs in CPU, hard drive, and RAM.

3) Also has eSATA, SD reader, HDMI, DVD burner, WiMax and one more USB port. MBA = nada.

4) In case you haven't noticed, it's so much more affordable.

Con:

1) It's not sexy like the MBA. You're not going to fall in love with it. Strictly a workhorse.

2) Power adapter is still the same brick that Toshiba has been including for the past 10 years. No innovations there. Cable management definitely needs improvement.

This is THE laptop to get if you need a light but powerful travelling laptop!

MacBook Pro 17in 2.53GHz i5 4GB/500GB - Apple Factory Refurbished Review

Customer Ratings:

The MacBook Pro 17 inches is in a way a "legacy" Apple product. Apple has not made/sold a 17 inches notebook computer since about mid-2010, having discontinued the line of notebooks to which this MBP belongs about at the time of the release of this last member of that class.

This is a great machine, with a size of the screen ideal for professionals depending on a large size screen for sufficient screen real estate in their daily work (and play). I am impressed with the performance of this MBP today, three years after the product's official release.

The expected Apple quality and beauty and simplicity of design and the known Apple reliability and expectation of a long lasting pleasant computer experience (slower obsolescence) all gather in this MBP 17 inches. The processor speed and memory size are great today for professional usage, even after three years from release. For a computer that is three years old (albeit sold "as new" being Apple refurbished) the battery life is as impressive as the one of its much younger sister MBP 13 inch non-retina (released mid-2012).

The MBP 17 inches comes with OS X Snow Leopard, which lacks some improvements in the OS X introduced since (through Lion and Mountain Lion), but which is a solid pleasant OS with tons of valuable advantages of its own (if one can be satisfied with an OS two releases behind the current curve). An update to OS X Mountain Lion should be quite simple and no problem at all.

Unfortunately, Apple does not manufacture a current equivalent of this MBP 17 inches anymore. It would be nice if they continued (or restarted) a 17 inches line of portables.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

Discount ASUS G53SW-A1 Republic of Gamers 15.6-Inch Gaming Laptop

Customer Ratings:

I have been researching getting a new laptop for quite a while now. I am quite experienced with computers in general. I'm not really a PC gamer (I prefer to game on Xbox 360 and PS3 because I like to be in the living room). That being said, I like powerful PCs, because they do everything faster, so I was seriously considering an Alienware, the MacBook Pro, and this Asus. The Alienware has a really cool design, and great performance. The Macbook Pro was very sleek with a nice, elegant design, and provided the benefit of being able to install native Windows XP via Bootcamp (I still need XP for some of my vintage PC stuff). The Asus has a very cool design, very good performance, nice graphics card, excellent specs, and a beautiful 1080p screen. To get the same specs as the Asus on the other 2 you'd have to pay almost twice as much.

So I didn't like the other two twice as much as the Asus, so I took the plunge.

I ordered it from Amazon because of the very favorable experience I'd had with them in the past. I read about them putting the laptop box inside of another box with no padding, allowing the laptop to shift around during shipping which is not good for drives, etc. Some said to order 1 day shipping to avoid this. I ordered 1-day shipping, but they still shipped it in a larger box with no padding, so this part isn't great. I was very unhappy with the shipping arrangements (they shipped it signature required, which I understand given the $$$; I tried to get UPS to hold it at the distribution center because I wasn't going to be home so I could pick it up later that day they said NO, the shipper has to call to do this I called Amazon and they contacted UPS, but they DIDN'T tell UPS that I wanted to pick it up that day, so I had to wait a day. Ordinarily this is OK with me, but I paid $50 to get it overnight so I was not happy. I emailed Amazon about this. They apologized and refunded my shipping cost, which was nice of them.)

Anyway, I eventually got it. Opening the laptop box, it's well packed. I comes with a Republic of Gamers bookbag and gaming mouse (both with ROG logos and both seem to be high quality) pretty nice extras.

The laptop just looks so cool. I'm very glad I decided to get the 15" screen as opposed to the 17". Both have 1080p, and I like a screen with higher density pixels. Really nice design on the whole. Magnetic lid closure, bright clear screen, no dead pixels. It's really quiet and stays quite cool, although I haven't given it a real test yet. I burned my Recovery DVDs without a hitch. Tested the media reader, camera, microphone, ports, etc. Everything checks out. The keyboard does have a little flex, but it's hardly noticeable. If no-one told you it had the flex, you probably wouldn't have noticed it. Sure, if you STARE at it when pressing keys, you notice it, but I think people are really blowing this fault out of proportion. The key backlighting is nice, but it looks a little messy with the light escaping from the edge of the keys. I would prefer that just the letters on the keys are lit. The trackpad works well, although smaller than many other laptops, and much smaller than the MacBook Pro. It's very zippy, and runs everything very quickly. Lots of bloatware, but I'm in the process of reinstalling a clean windows copy.

Design things I would change: 1) I would have put the power plug in the back because it looks so messy in the middle of the right side of the laptop. 2) I would like to have had the USB ports towards the back not the front, so the cables stay out of my way. 3) screen hinge is a bit stiff, so you have to hold the base down while opening it to keep it on the table, 4) screen doesn't pivot back quite far enough for me. These quibbles are pretty minor though.

One thing that is clear the moment you open this thing up. It's so masculine. It really makes the MacBook Pro seem quite girly. The stealth-fighter look is totally badass. Now I love macs, and I've got a few, but this machine just makes you feel like a man (grunt, growl). Yes, it's heavier and thicker than the MacBook Pro, but I plan on using it as a desktop replacement anyway.

So I'm very happy with my purchase. I would have liked to have a Blu-ray drive in it. Given the sale price with the $150 rebate on top of that, it can't be beat for value.

If you've been considering it, GO FOR IT! I think you'll be very happy with your choice.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

I received this laptop yesterday and I've been very satisfied so far.

Packaging: Amazon put the laptop box in a larger box with no padding. It could have easily shifted back and forth in the box. Previous users mentioned this problem so I opted for the overnight delivery to minimize UPS handling of the unit. It seems to have worked.

Screen: Looks amazing although strangely there wasn't a plastic covering when I first lifted the lid. There was no damage or scratches so it didn't bother me so much.

Sound: It's nothing fantastic but it's doable. The laptop has a sub woofer so it's definitely better than most out there.

Video: I tried playing starcraft II at 1920 x 1080 at "Ultra." It wasn't amazingly smooth and there was a bit of lag. I turned the resolution down and textures to high and the game works flawless. This is the only game I've tried so far. 3dmark01 score was 39,421.

Keyboard: I love the backlit features. I've had no problem with it so far. I read reports that the lights will sometimes go out but I've yet to experience that.

Mouse/Backpack: Quality items. The backback is pretty awesome and stylish. The mouse is a Razer Abyssus.

Overall I'm very satisfied with the purchase. There was a lot of bloatware pre-installed however. I simply removed everything that wasn't windows related and installed the drivers again (included on a CD). All of the hotkeys work great and windows boot-up is very fast. I would definately recomment this computer especially since Asus is offering a $150 mail in rebate. Mine is already in the mail.

Note on rebate/warranty: You have to send in the warranty card that comes with the notebook. I've read that if you don't mail it in you will experience troubles in the future if you need to utilize warranty repair. The mail-in rebate is very strict and has small details you have to include be sure to read the instructions carefully. The most annoying part is the UPC code there were so many I didn't know which one to include. It turns out the one I needed was taped on the very tough cardboard box. I just sent the cardboard cutout itself.

UPDATE: 7/25/11

I've been experiencing freezing issues. A couple of times per day my system just freezes. It has yet to freeze while gaming though. When I'm viewing pictures, browsing the internet, etc. When the computer freezes, about 5 seconds later the system makes a large "beep" noise. After a few seconds it unfreezes for about 5 seconds but the freezing continues it's a never ending cycle. I have tried for hours to get ahold of phone support, but while I'm waiting for an agent I get disconnected which leads me to believe phone support is non-existent. I've written an email but it says it'll take 48 hours to respond. I've dropped my review from 5 stars to 1 until this problem gets handled.

UPDATE: 09/23/11

Problem has been fixed. I forgot exactly what I did but it was related to hibernation/sleep mode (which is now disabled).

Best Deals for ASUS G53SW-A1 Republic of Gamers 15.6-Inch Gaming Laptop

I realize that this laptop probably isn't very popular anymore, but I thought I would chime in on it anyway.

The Good-

In terms of hardware for the price, this laptop really can't be beaten. Starcraft II can be run on Ultra/High, and multiple processes (eg. Photoshop, Sony Vegas, Powerpoint) can all run simultaneously with ease. The 12 gigs of RAM is frankly a bit much; I don't think I've gotten over 4 gigs of usage at a time. However, it can be useful if you're looking to create a RAM disk.

The screen is extremely sharp and vibrant. The keyboard illuminates nicely, and the "flex" that other reviewers mentioned is really insignificant. The default sound, while nothing special, is pretty good for a laptop.

The Bad-

Most of the bad things about this laptop are annoyances, and not that bad at all. For example, all of the ports are on the side, which makes things very crowded. Also, sometimes the keyboard fails to register a keystroke, although this isn't common enough to be frustrating. Of course the battery life is horrid, but that comes with the territory.

The Ugly-

There is a freezing issue associated with this laptop. I have to manually reboot the computer because it completely locks up. Another annoyance is that the sound card in this computer is garbage. My subwoofer barely works with it, and (the sub) works perfectly with my friends $600 Dell and my iPod.

Overall-

The tone of this review may have seemed negative, but really the laptop is pretty awesome except for the annoyances. It's powerful, looks good, and is cheap (for what you get). 4/5 stars

10/2/11 edit: Upgraded this review to 5 stars because I fixed some of the issues with it. The freezing issue can be avoided if Hibernation or Sleep mode are not used. The sound card is fine. A pre-installed THX program was set to laptop speakers, preventing the sub from working properly. It sounds great now. 5/5

Honest reviews on ASUS G53SW-A1 Republic of Gamers 15.6-Inch Gaming Laptop

I had the ASUS G53Sw-A1 for about a month now. The first thing I did was put it to a rigorous, non-stop, two maybe three day download. After which I would play a game that takes a fair chunk of the processor to run. The game ran smoothly and the cooling fan (I call it the jet-engine) stayed cool although it did get hot when the GPU was running. I was impressed that only the region around the vent heated up and not the entire back surface of the computer. Even more impressive was how cool the laptop stayed when the gpu was not in use. Casual use of this product for however many hours will barely produce any heat. The ventilation system is top notch for the price!

I own an old 32" 360p t.v. so the difference between HD and standard definition was made very clear (no pun intended). This laptop provides vivid colors (along with other visual preset settings like "theather mode") and sharp pictures. 1080 pixels is enough said. Sold with a high tier graphics card, this is deal is really a bargain. I don't know how people tests Graphics card but just as a benchmark, I'll note that I've played BFBC2 on this laptop. It ran smoothly despite the high settings (although you can really go beyond 4x filtering without compromising the frame rate).

The laptop speaker comprise a strip of space just in front of the keyboard. I don't like the sound quality but would rather listen to the audio of this laptop over another laptop's audio any day. I use headphones most of the time so I can't give an accurate review of the audio quality although the sound outputing to the headphones is great. It had a nice range of power for you party animals and casual listeners out there.

When I called ASUS tech support for help with nonresponsive Function keys, they directed me to download some drivers and the problem was fixed within 10 mintues. I wasn't happy that the laptop wasn't shipped with this particular driver installed but it was a minor detail. Tech support is mediocre but I don't expect a jolly welcome from my laptop provider.

Windows 7 runs nicely on this laptop. I like the slide-show background feature. The first thing I did with this laptop was load the computer with 146gig of files. It handled them without incident.

My only gripe was the battery life without the power adapter. You'll get about 3-5hrs of use running no applications, 2 hrs of use running nonstrenous applications, and 45mins-1hr intensive running of the gpu.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for ASUS G53SW-A1 Republic of Gamers 15.6-Inch Gaming Laptop

This computer is a monster. I was able to play all the games I wanted including WOW, Crysis 2, SC2 and Portals at high resolution.

It also included the following:

1Targus Gaming Backpack.

2Razor Gaming Mouse.

I have no complain about the laptop itself just about Amazon packing it was not that good however ASUS packing was good enough to protect it.

I have had this computer for over a month and I have not faced any problem. I did an update of the drivers and even changed the OS to a ultimate edition.

I am running GNS3 with several routers and the computer performs smoothly. The battery is not great but it is not bad too. I mean if you are playing then yes the battery will last no more than 2 hours, however if you are working on any office program it might last 3 hours.

Yes, I strongly recommend this product, I talk with Amazon about the packing issue and they were extremely polite about it and gave me several solutions.

Cheap Acer Aspire V5-171-6675 11.6-Inch Laptop (Silver)

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $504.99
Sale Price: $380.49
Today's Bonus: 25% Off

Acer made a good name for themselves by providing reliable desktop computer components, and that reputation carried over when several years ago, the company advanced into providing laptops. Now after owning three of them, I have never been disappointed in the operation or reliability of any of them. This one is very small and solidly built and it has a brushed aluminum finish I really like in contrast to the nice shiny metallic finishes usually associated with Acer laptops.

So now we enter into a new era of Tablet computing and Windows 8, and it is a definite change from the previous computing we learned so well. Advancing cautiously with the help of Acer's desktop, Windows eventually revealed that it is still the same old Windows inside with a new graphical sugar coating and some new enhancements that make it very appealing for use with the new Touch Screen Tablets that are steadily gaining in popularity.

Windows 8 has your back if you still find better use for a computer than a Tablet, so this Acer has the familiar touchpad mouse built into its keyboard, but I still prefer using a BlueTooth mouse whenever possible. Additionally, many Android users may find Windows 8 is very similar to using the data provisions of their cell phones, complete with an endless number of available apps.

This little 11.6 inch wonder in electronic wizardry will always remain readily available whether I am at work or travelling. Sized the same as the newer Tablets, I consider this laptop to be better provisioned, and best of all, it sells for about half the price of a top-rated Tablet. It is provisioned with the least expensive version of a set of three new CORE Intel processor configurations that increase in cost at each level of complexity, but really don't provide enough in additional abilities to warrant a higher price over what I already have in this very basic laptop computer. This i3 runs very cool and is built into the smallest laptop frame Acer provides, and I even have a little accessory carrying case for it.

This laptop is too small to accommodate a mounted optical disk drive, but that is easily fixed since there are several external CD/DVD RW drives available at a nice price, all provisioned to plug into a laptop's USB ports for immediate use. Regardless, Acer Support provides a Recovery Flash Drive for this computer that can be plugged into one of its USB ports if a recovery to factory specs ever becomes necessary.

With a little more time researching some of the other similar laptops available from Acer before purchasing this one, chances are I would have also seriously considered the Acer Aspire One laptop. That would have saved another couple hundred $$ since it is a very close duplicate to this one. The only real difference is its slightly slower Intel processor, but it also has a smaller but more practical 320 Gig hard drive, which for all my needs is still HUGE. Either one of these laptops is perfect for students who must store and do their work on a fully provisioned computer, and there are also some AMD provisioned 11.6 Acer laptops as well at an even lower price.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

Okay this is a pretty capable little notebook computer. The i3 CPU will make it considerably faster than the older generation Intel Atom chips. The quality seems decent for a $450 part.

Now here's some information that can save you some grief:

1. The BIOS is set up from the factory so that you can only reach it from the Windows 8 environment. I spent the better part of an hour trying different keys and combinations in a futile attempt to reach the BIOS aggravating. The following is courtesy of user "gr8stapeoftx".

From the Windows 8 Sidebar:

Settings

Change PC Settings

General

Advanced Startup

Restart Now

Troubleshoot

Advanced Options

UEFI Firmware Settings

Personally, I don't like this setup. I Like the Bios to be agnostic of the operating system. What happens if someone decides to downgrade to Windows? Fortunately, once you reach the BIOS screen from Windows 8, you can set the bios to work in legacy mode. After that, the F2 key will get you into the bios upon bootup.

2. Getting to the internals is incredibly easy. I think it is literally just one screw to remove the bottom chassis plate. Upon removing the plate, the RAM is a breeze to upgrade. There are two slots, and one of them is populated by a 4 GB chip. You can add another 4 GB chip for a total of 8 GB. Doesn't get easier than that.

3. Hard drive now this is much more tricky. If you are looking to replace the conventional hard drive with an SSD drive like I was, pay attention. Many of the SSD drives on the market will *not* work with this computer (Sandisk Extreme, Kingston, OCZ Vertex, Crucial M4, etc.) Why? Because they are all a tad too tall at around 9.5 mm. They must be of the 7 mm variety. The Samsung and Transcend drives seem to work because they are around 7 mm.

All in all, this is a pretty good computer for your money. I wish the battery life was more like 6 or 7 hours, but the battery is not sealed, so you should be able to buy aftermarket batteries down the road.

Best Deals for Acer Aspire V5-171-6675 11.6-Inch Laptop (Silver)

This is a nice, solid, basic laptop. I've only had it for about a week, so can't speak of its longevity. Physically, it is very solid. I've noticed some laptops out there have a little bit of wiggle in the screen or keypad, but this one is solid, which is impressive for being so small and thin. They keyboard is easy to type on for me, but I have tiny hands... my larger-handed husband has some trouble, but its not his laptop. The mousepad is OK, I would prefer dedicated left and right click buttons rather than pushing the pad itself for this, but I'm getting used to it. There are a lot of USB ports for being such a small computer. I also appreciate that the screen is very clear and bright... so bright, I even had to turn it down. The screen is also wide-screen, so even though the laptop is 11 inches, it is almost just as wide as my 15 inch... I was concerned it would be difficult to read being so small, but this was not the case. The sound is weird, the speakers are on the bottom of the laptop, so if its on my lap, my lap mutes a lot of the sound... when its on a hard surface, its fine. But, I don't plan on using the speakers, I use headphones if I ever REALLY need to listen to anything anyway. Its no bother for me, so it wasn't a negative, but others might find that info useful. The computer was super easy to set up, its processor is VERY fast, websites pop up quickly. I personally don't like Windows 8, but there were plenty of websites out there (CNET mostly) that helped me download some free programs to bypass some of the annoying Windows 8 features (start screen, start menu, hot corners, etc.)... but this is to no fault of the laptop. Solid laptop and a great price. Highly recommended.

Honest reviews on Acer Aspire V5-171-6675 11.6-Inch Laptop (Silver)

The computer itself feels and looks fantastic. I have been using this since early December 2012 and I would give it 5 stars except for the following reasons:

1. Acer support (out of India?) is incompetent. They don't take time to read the description of the problem and just send you cut and paste solutions that have nothing to do with the issues. If you are unfortunate enough to have to deal with their support demand to have the issue escalated as that was the only way I was able to get a resolution.

2. Windows 8 without a touch screen is not a good combination in my opinion. Some people like it but I don't. Windows 7 is not an option for this computer. Acer support (see above) initially told me that I could buy the Restore DVDs to downgrade the computer to Windows 7. So I paid $35 for an external DVD and $20 for the disks from Acer and then embarked on a week long test of patience because the DVDs would not install and Acer Support just kept sending me unrelated documents on how to install the disks. After demanding that someone actually read what I had written, looked at the screen shots, etc. I was finally advised that they do not offer Windows 7 for this computer. What happened to the $20 for the restore disks? Acer kept it.

3. When seated at the desk, I use external speakers for better sound. If I am using Skype and I disconnect the external speakers the internal speakers take over as one would expect BUT the internal microphone quits working. To get it working again, I have to end the call and start over again. What does support have to say? Well, the sent me cut and paste responses that have nothing to to with the problem and in the end, the supervisor said something like "That there is nothing wrong that is the way it works."

4. The wireless connection seems to enjoy randomly dropping the connection with my 802.11 N router. I don't experience this problem with my Dell laptop or my Asus desktop connected with a wireless adapter and I have also substituted two other routers but it still drops connection even when it is in the same room as the router.

The Good:

Super light, the battery lasts a long time and recharges quickly. The display is excellent and the keyboard, while compact, is easy to use. It feels sturdy, is compatible with all of my legacy hardware and software once I added software to restore the Windows 7 type of menu.

By the way, if you want to restore the Windows 7 menu functionality then Google "Windows 8 menu add-on" and read the CNET review. I tried both Pokki for Windows 8 (free) and Start8 ($5) and either one is up to the job.

Would I buy this again? No.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Acer Aspire V5-171-6675 11.6-Inch Laptop (Silver)

The laptop is great when plugged into a wired network, but is honestly hopeless on wifi.The wireless card drops internet connection every 5 or so minutes, and sometimes it comes back on its own, sometimes you have to open and close the wireless adapter, sometimes you have to reboot the laptop to fix it. I have two other laptops in the same room, a dell and an asus, both work great on wifi without problems. The wi fi signal is great. I have looked online and read a few reports, wifi problems appear fairly common with Acer laptops with this qualcom wireless adapter.

Because I purchased and installed office on this machine, I am now stuck between a rock and a hard place. I can return the laptop for credit and lose the $120 I paid for office because I have to buy a new copy, or I can keep the laptop without working wireless. Some choice that is! 2 stars is generous. Dont buy this laptop if you need reliable wi fi connection.

Discount Asus G1Sn-X1 Refurbished Gaming Notebook PC - Intel Core 2 Duo

Customer Ratings:

I have had this laptop for almost a year now, bought it July '08 over at Best Buy. It's a great laptop for several reasons. A big plus is the fact that there are two different buttons for powering on, one for 64-bit, and the other for 32-bit. 64-bit is a must, because it unlocks the full potential of 4GB memory, and being a gamer, it truly helps. The HDD is partitioned into two drives, one with the OS (149GB) and a clean partition (140GB). The e-SATA hookup is there physically, but not virtually. What I mean by that is that there is an e-SATA port, but there is not yet drivers for it. I called up Asus and they told me to uninstall/reinstall JMICRON drivers, all in vain. Another con is the processing power, would have liked to see this push 2.0GHz. The screen resolution is considerably lower than most laptops, but it does have Asus Splendid Utility, so there truly is a trade-off there.

All-in-all, considering this being nearly a year old with no visible or virtual wear and tear, I give this a rating of four stars. In the near future, I plan to swap HDD's, because this model makes it possible to do so.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

The ASUS G1Sn series redefines mobile gaming with advance graphics solutions, exclusive display technologies and unique design details. Enjoy revolutionary entertainment on the go Intel Core 2 Duo processor in G1Sn enables breakthrough mobile performance, high-definition capabilities and improved battery life.

Cheap ASUS A52F-XA1 15.6-Inch Versatile Entertainment Laptop (Black)

Customer Ratings:

After a few charge/discharge cycles to get things started, the battery lasts about 3-4 hours under normal circumstances with normal settings (e.g., LED screen is on medium brightness). It will last fewer hours if you play movies or something because it takes more power to spin the DVD disc. It's annoying how Amazon listed everything EXCEPT that vital stat, huh? I hope they fix that soon.

This is a good laptop for normal usage like websurfing, MS Word, Excel, light gaming (Plants v Zombies, etc.), and playing movies/watching Youtube/etc.. The P6100 is basically a 2-GHz Core i3 without hyperthreading (but hyperthreading is only useful when you are doing very heavy multitasking or using a highly threaded program). It's even made on the same process/fabs as the Core i3. Thanks to the P6100's integrated memory controller and other efficiencies inherent in the Core i3-style design, it's about as fast as a 2.5-GHz Core 2 Duo. In fact, if you look at PassMark's CPU benchmark list, you can see that the P6100 CPU is in-between a Core 2 Duo E5200 2.50GHz and a Core i3-2312M 2.10GHz. Thus it's well-balanced with a reasonably fast processor and competent GPU (graphics processing unit) that can handle 1080p playback very smoothly in my experience.

The weakest part of this laptop is the relatively slow hard drive, a WD Scorpio Blue at 5400 rpm, which is pretty good for a laptop, but not up to par with a good desktop 7200rpm or SSD. (NOTE: The WD Scorpio Blue's clicking noise is apparently normal and a result of the drive head parking or moving around or something, probably as an energy-saving feature. It's louder than what I've experienced with Thinkpads, but it's not defective just because it's loud.) By the way, if you think ASUS's reliability is bad, wait till you get a load of other companies' "reliability." ASUS is tops in Squaretrade's reliability index (they keep track of which laptops need the fewest repairs), and laptop magazines sometimes run reliability articles where ASUS usually places first or second. Laptop parts can and do fail, so I wouldn't read into one or two bad apples as meaning the entire batch is bad.

This laptop will ask you to make recovery DVDs when you first boot up, though you don't have to make the backups there and then and can delay the backup indefinitely. Backup takes 5 DVD-Rs and several hours. Use quality DVD-Rs if you are getting readback errors. Don't skimp; this is your BACKUP COPY we are talking about here! I recommend Verbatim and especially Taiyo Yuden discs sold by rima.com. The higher-end Kodaks are fine but probably excessive; you don't need the archival-grade gold stuff. Sony DVD-Rs are okay. RITEK is hit or miss, depending on the variant. I dunno about the rest, but chances are that a no-name brand won't last long. If you buy a DVD movie at the store, it is stamped. There is no ink and thus the DVD will last for decades. Stampers are extremely expensive (more expensive than many people's houses, so only big companies own them). Most home users use DVD burners to make DVD-Rs, like this laptop does. The problem is that burned DVD-Rs may last mere months if they use cheap, unstable dyes or have poor bonding (DVD-Rs are made like sandwiches, unlike CD-Rs which are asymmetric and basically a slab of plastic with some dye and lacquer; this is why it's almost impossible to find a "bad" CD-R but much easier to find a "bad" DVD-R).

The laptop doesn't get that hot, so feel free to put it on your lap without fear of sterilizing yourself.

Edited to add: I ran some benchmarks and it seems that there is probably a mediocre RAID controller in the laptop's motherboard, so average sequential read is around 150 MB/s with my Sandforce-powered Vertex 2 SSD, which is laughably slow compared to the >250 MB/s that a Vertex 2 ought to be getting. So feel free to get a slower SSD for this laptop, since it can't max out the faster SSDs on the market anyway. At least you retain the other benefits, like low random access times and shockproof data storage.

The rest of this review is just my general recommendation beyond this laptop:

In my opinion, it's not worth getting a A52F variant with a faster CPU. If you pile on the CPU speed it's still hamstrung by the video so there's no point in getting the faster versions--what are you going to do with a much faster CPU and the exact same GPU? The only times it would matter would be if you were doing something highly threaded that required little to no video, and how many of us do heavy, multi-threaded number-crunching tasks on a laptop? If you want a gaming rig, look elsewhere because the video card here won't be good enough for new games, with maybe a few exceptions here and there. Ditto if you transcode tons of video: get a laptop with a higher-end GPU for that, or get a desktop to pair with the laptop.

By contrast, the difference between a laptop with HDD and with SSD is night and day, so you may want to skimp on the CPU and pour the saved money into an SSD instead. Switching to an SSD is painless: just remove the backplate of the laptop, remove the 2.5" drive carriage, swap drives, and put it back together again, all while touching something grounded or a big piece of metal or something like that, to ensure that your static electricity doesn't kill the drives. It literally took me five minutes to switch to an SSD. You can either use data migration software like Acronis to clone your hard drive onto the SSD (as long as the SSD is large enough to handle the data on the hard drive), or you can install via a spare copy of an OS, which is problematic because this laptop doesn't come with a Windows install disc, and using the recovery DVDs may not work right if you don't install it back onto the original 320GB hard drive. (Note: You can probably use any regular Windows 7 64-bit install disc and use the product key that comes with this laptop [it's on the bottom of the laptop on a sticker]. The product key is the thing that tells the Windows installation DVD which version of Windows to install.) Then use the DVD that ASUS includes with the laptop to install the proprietary drivers.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

Seems like these laptops are hit or miss in terms of reliability. Previously, there was a one-star post that got deleted. The reviewer said that he got the blue screen of death the first time he booted up the laptop. One other person on slickdeals also reported a blue screen the first time the laptop was booted up. Also, many have reported an intermittent clicking noise coming from the hard drive. I can confirm that this is true. Another issue reported is that when creating recovery discs, it keeps on failing when it tries to verify the discs. There are 5 recovery discs in all. I had disc #2 fail, but it was ok on my second try.

I also have an issue with the battery not charging correctly. I cannot power on the laptop from the battery. I must use the AC adapter. If I disconnect the AC adapter, the laptop will shut off. The battery indicator icon says that the battery is charging, but it has been stuck at 46% for the past couple of hours. Researching this issue on the internet, it seems that Windows 7 might be causing this. I guess I could blow the HD away and install XP, but I only have the 32-bit version and would waste 1 gig of memory. Not worth the headache.

Unfortunately I have already opened the laptop, so instead of returning it and only getting back 85% of the purchase price. I will take my chances and exchange it for another one. Hopefully the odds will be stacked in my favor the next time around...

Best Deals for ASUS A52F-XA1 15.6-Inch Versatile Entertainment Laptop (Black)

The Asus A52F-XA1 is essentially the same machine as the Asus K52F-BBR5 with the latter having 1GB less memory.

It's a nice overall package without breaking the bank. HDMI, Bluetooth, and separate numeric keys are nice additions you don't usually find at this price point. Not a gaming machine (not expecting it) but does the job for everyday use. Programs, startups, shutdowns are pretty fast. It even runs iTunes (64-bit) without much noticeable lag. Battery lasts about three hours if the screen is dimmed and put in battery saving mode. Good for home use or desktop replacement and the occasionally hookup to a flat-screen TV with HDMI connection. This model also comes with a one-year accidental damage coverage, on top of the standard one-year warranty.

The little things matter. The built-in media card reader comes in very handy for downloading pictures from a digital camera (no need for a USB cable). The touchpad can be turned off by simply hitting the FN + F9 keys or you can tell the software to turn it off when an external mouse is plugged in, good for avoiding that jumping cursor during typing when the palm is accidentally brushed against the touchpad.

In case anyone encounters errors during the recovery DVDs burning process, you don't have to start over -the process takes hours to complete. You can retrieve the ISO images of the recovery discs in this folder: c:\users\username\my documents\recovery_tmp\ , provided you don't exit out of the recovery disc burning software (AI Recovery Burner). You need to copy and save these ISO images to a different folder and burn the DVDs at a later time. Be aware that the \recovery_tmp\ folder will be automatically deleted once you exit the AI Recovery Burner program.

If the \recovery_tmp\ folder is hidden, you can unhide it by going through the Explorer menu: Organize > Folder and search options > Hidden files and folders > Show hidden files, folders, and drives.

All five DVD images (ISO files) are ready for copying when the first disc is being burned. The ISO files are named CD1, CD2, CD3, CD4, and CD5. These ISO files are not available prior to the actual (physical) burning of the first DVD disc.

Overall, it's a good value.

Honest reviews on ASUS A52F-XA1 15.6-Inch Versatile Entertainment Laptop (Black)

I purchased this laptop for a family member. I was a bit concerned because I was not that familiar with the ASUS brand. After receiving the product and taking it out of the box, I was fairly impressed. Its a good looking laptop with a nice keyboard and screen. Though my experience with it is limited, I feel pretty good about the value and what it has to offer. Lots of little touches like HDMI connection, facial recognition tech, and Office for Students add to the overall value. The technical specs are good enough to use it for just about any task except for hard core gaming. If you can get this unit for a good price, its a very nice purchase.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for ASUS A52F-XA1 15.6-Inch Versatile Entertainment Laptop (Black)

Excelente laptop, funciona a la perfección, me sorprendió que pudiera seleccionar idioma en español cuando la inicié por primera vez, así mismo me sorprendió muchísimo que Asus pensó en aquellos "Pro-users" y estableció una partición para el sistema operativo y otra partición que es libre para uno hacer con ella lo que uno quiera...!!.

Me hubiese encantado una tercera partición para el recovery pero tendré que optar por crearlo mediante dvds (Utilizando un software que trae instalado la laptop), para lo cual hacen falta 5...!!, lo malo es que si uno solo de esos dvds se daña o se pierde, el recovery no servirá...! así que hare 2 recovery para "irme por lo seguro"...

Pros:

-4 Gb. DDR3 (Excelente para estar cómodo).

-320 Gb. de disco (Buen espacio para almacenar tu gran variedad de cosas personales).

-Teclado numérico integrado.

-Buen acabado, la laptop es MUY presentable.

-Disco duro particionado.

-Windows con opción de Español.

-Complete care.

Cons:

-La pantalla LED si la vez en diagonal, no se aprecia muy bien la imagen, como ocurría al principio con las pantallas LCD, es como ver "sombras", aún así le doy 5 estrellas al producto, hay que entender que estas pantallas LED aún le falta cierto desarrollo.

-Con el rendimiento al máximo, la batería dura menos de 2 horas... así que no me da la oportunidad de poder ver una película entera mientras no esté cargando, pero ya se...!! Es una laptop...!

-Dual Core 2.0, Mmmmmmm.... Es bueno para hacer cosas básicas, muy rendidor, pero puedes fácilmente notar las diferencias que hay entre usar ese y un dual core o quad core....

Para concluir y en pocas palabras, me encantó, cumple con mis espectativas, excelente para estudiar y trabajar...!

Discount Samsung -R540-JA08 Laptop / Intel Core i3 Processor / 15.6" LED

Customer Ratings:

I find the Samsung JAO8US is a great computer. It's loaded with Windows 7 which is a great operating system. Important feature with this computer it has VENTS on the back so it DOES NOT OVERHEAT.

It's great for gaming, emails, download Amazon Music, download Big Fish Games etc...I can also watch movies and music cd's example Richard Marx Night Out With Friends and Stories to Tell the 3rd cd is at Shepard's Bush London.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

After less than six months from purchase, the pixels started dying on my screen. I first went to the online chat and was directed to the service request. The form would not accept any characters, and there was no record of my registering my laptop (I always do). Then I called tech support who said I needed a serial number from the bottom of the laptop, there is none. It may have wiped away? No other numbers wiped away. I ended up going back to best buy who says this is a common problem with this laptop and with Samsung. Glad I sprang for the extended warranty because best buy fixed what Samsung wouldn't!

Besides the crappy display and customer support, the laptop does what I wanted it to do. I can create documents while streaming video. The video chat has been a great way for the kids to talk to grandparents and the games I play work fine. I would not suggest hardcore gaming with it, but I haven't had any problems with simulation games.

Reviews of U47VCDS51 14.1" Core i5 2.5GHz 8GB DDR3 SDRAM 750GB HDD DVDR 64-bit

Customer Ratings:

Pros:

-User replaceable battery! Hard to find in thin notebooks.

-Lots of aluminum! Keyboard, palm rests and screen backing are all metal.

-Bottom/underside is a thick plastic. Not cheap feeling at all.

-Matte screen with a 1366x768 is perfect for 14 inch display.

-Chicklet keyboard leaves a bit to be desired, but my desktop has a mechanical so its a bit of an adjustment. Adequate for typing.

-Very easy to get to the memory and HDD bay along with the screw holding in the ODD. Memory comes maxed out for this computer (8 gig max supported) but that is plenty for the foreseeable future.

-Mouse pad is smooth, not that annoying bumpy junk lots of notebook OEM's are using.

-Dimmable backlit keyboard.

-Dedicated Graphics card.

Cons:

-Quite a bit of bloatware. Easy to uninstall, would rather just get a disc and install what I want.

-Mouse pad placement is not good for me. My left plam/thumb keep tapping the upper left corner of the pad causing typing errors.

-The mouse buttons are not good.

-Pretty much I hate the mouse pad. There, I said it.

-Speakers are bad. They are loud, but that's it. Very tinney and hollow sounding. No range at all. Even for laptop speakers, they have a lot of room for improvement. Speaker placement is right under the palm rest.

Overall, I am really happy with this machine. Besides the mouse pad, its just as good in my hands as it looked on paper. After making sure I was going to keep this computer, I immediately swapped out the HDD for an SSD I had laying around the house. The stock HDD was really a huge bottle neck.

Here is the WEI;

Processor 7.1

Ram 7.5

Graphics 6.6

Gaming Graphics 6.6

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

Researched many laptops. ASUS U47VC is the best around. I always have had great luck with my ASUS custom builds and this laptop is better than the 16" one I previously bought and took back. You cannot upgrade memory on many others. With this you can go up to 16GB. Best laptop I have had. Im not nit picky about the sound since I have a sound bar that sits on top and sounds great. Like I said before. Alot of research went into this laptop.HD,upgradable,great chiclet backlit Keyboard. Very easy to type on.Highly reccomend this model

Best Deals for U47VCDS51 14.1" Core i5 2.5GHz 8GB DDR3 SDRAM 750GB HDD DVDR 64-bit

This is my 2nd Asus laptop in the U series line. I previously had a 2011 model #U46SV and sold it recently to my cousin for a cool $700.

This review will be comparing both 2011 and 2012 models. As always with any laptop or ultrabook, I do a clean install on Win7 Pro x64 OS and installed a fresh Vertex 4 SSD 256gb I got on black friday sale!

My impressions with this year's model U47VC has met higher expectations than I thought.

It is slightly thinner, a bit lighter, and has extra features over last year's model.

Aesthetics I find the design of this laptop to be a major upgrade over the U46SV last year.

The battery is a lot more narrow and lighter.

Illuminated keyboard shines in the night time! Big + for me as I'm typing

this review in the night time :)

Brushed aluminum in gray this year over a silver finish. I like both whichever.

Touch pad design is neat and sleek. No separated buttons this time around.

Omission of VGA port. Finally yes! I cringed all the time, now it is gone!

Screen is anti-smudge fingerprint. Big + over last years model!

10/10 score on design and even feels like an Ultrabook. Well done Asus *Cheers*

Battery The battery lasts between 5 1/2 hrs 6 hours. It is just about the same amount

hours I get from a full charge than last year's model.

8/10

Gaming I played Walking Dead so far on Steam. Runs great with this nvidia 620m card.

However, I jumped from a 540m last year to a 620m and wonder if this year is weaker

or nearly the same performance. This is the only sacrifice I made in getting this

U47VC laptop.

Since I don't do much gaming on the go, this area here really suffices for me.

9/10

Features This laptop has an extra USB 3.0 port oppose to only one last year. The nice

architecture about Ivy bridge is it supports USB 3.0 natively from intel.

This means no more installing third party drivers. Yes finally!

10/10

Only downside to this laptop is the panel used in most laptops. TN panels have disaster viewing angles. I say enough is enough already with this low quality tech. IPS or AMVA panels are desirable.

9/10 laptop score overall. It is excellent and I hopefully will keep this gem for a few years to come until I get a super slim ultrabook.

Asus U47VC hits a homerun in the U series line in 2012. Again well done.

Honest reviews on U47VCDS51 14.1" Core i5 2.5GHz 8GB DDR3 SDRAM 750GB HDD DVDR 64-bit

I recently purchased this as an upgrade to a notebook I received for Christmas in 2010, and it's a very nice upgrade indeed. I've had some time to play with it and set it to my liking, and here are my thoughts:

Pros:

* Very light and thin, but it still has the RAM and storage space of a traditional full-size laptop

* 8GB of RAM, expandable to 16 even though ASUS says the max is 8!

* A dedicated graphics card. Not the best, but it'll do for some photo/video editing work and light gaming (can handle Portal and Team Fortress 2 just fine if that tells you anything. I don't think anything like Battlefield 3 would run at high settings though EDIT: Can play BioShock Infinite on high settings at a reasonable framerate. That should tell you it can handle just about anything you throw at it.). I should add that this laptop's cousin, the U47A-RS51, has the exact same specs minus the graphics card.

* 6-cell battery, lasts a very long time. Max is about eight hours which is great.

* Can easily be customized. ASUS is known for this.

Cons:

* The trackpad. Damn it, I hate the trackpad. You'll get used to it, but it's still kind of annoying. It can get in the way of typing at times and the multi-touch scroll is awkward for people with large hands (like me).

* ASUS bloatware, but this comes with any computer. Install Windows 7 (or 8 if you prefer) from scratch and you should very nicely get around all that.

All in all, great purchase. 10/10 would buy again.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for U47VCDS51 14.1" Core i5 2.5GHz 8GB DDR3 SDRAM 750GB HDD DVDR 64-bit

It took some getting accustomed and the mouse/cursor does jump around a lot. The screen recently (after only 2 months) had a green pixel line across it. But Asus did quickly get return set up and was under warranty. Still waiting to get it back (has only been 3 days since I shipped off).

Cheap ASUS ROG Republic of Gamers G75VX-DS72 Gaming Laptop, 2.4GHz Intel

Customer Ratings:

Enjoying everything about my new laptop, from the back-lit keyboard that can be turned off, to how long the charge lasts. It's quick, screen is easy to view. Keyboard has a positive feel but not stiff. Yes, it's heavy but I wanted it for a replacement desktop so won't be hauling it around. Plenty of ports, pleased they are on the sides so no struggle to use them. Fans are quiet and they are at the back. I've not had any problems with heat, any sort of odd behavior.

Windows 8, well, that's taken longer to deal with and honestly wish I'd purchased the same laptop with Windows 7. Who wants to pay an extra $70.00 for Windows Media Player is one of the easier things to gripe about. But that is on me, not Asus!

Overall, I am very pleased with this purchase.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

I love this laptop, it's amazing! I am studying computer animation, and rendering takes no time at all. My games run smoothly (if only I had better internet connection. The battery life is great for such a big laptop. I think the only thing I haven't liked is the weight. It's a little on the heavy side, but it hasn't been a hassle since I bought a laptop backpack.

Dell XPS 14Z X14z-2308ELS 14-Inch Laptop (Elemental Silver) Reviews

Customer Ratings:

Have been using this system for a couple of weeks now and love it. Great compact design, very thin for a system with a optical drive, and the keyboard is excellent.

Pros Elegant design, slim body, great keyboard + trackpad, Intel architecture, and Dell warranty.

Cons Dell bloatware. I would prefer to see Dell load very clean installs instead of some of the useless software they will load to collect bounties.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

We purchased this item for a Christmas gift in Nov 2011 and gave it to my 18 year old son Christmas Day. Since then, we have had 4 major repairs (cursar pad, wifi connection antenea, 2 hard drives!!!!) Warrenty (that I paid extra to get )has been great tech always repairs product but really ...4 major outages. Last one while my son was in the middle of a major college project. All data not backed up was lost. Arghhhhh.

Lets see if Dell makes good on their promise to look into this computer. Could we have a lemon?????

Best Deals for Dell XPS 14Z X14z-2308ELS 14-Inch Laptop (Elemental Silver)

I was looking for a compact and light laptop that I can easily carry around with me and that is capable of handling graphics heavy programs, as I am a graphic designer. Price was also a big consideration. After researching many computers with NVIDIA graphics cards and intel i7 processor like this one, I discovered that besides for being absolutely gorgeous, this computer is the cheapest in its class of light and thin computers that are capable of handling a little more than microsoft office. I have to admit, the looks of this computer definitely appealed to me and may have affected my decision when buying this computer... But i have had it now for about a month and so far I have no complaints.

Honest reviews on Dell XPS 14Z X14z-2308ELS 14-Inch Laptop (Elemental Silver)

I got this laptop couple of days ago, and i bought the used type but " like new ". This laptop is beast! very powerful! and it's good for everything and i didn't waste any money, i even saved couple of 100's..At first i was going to buy the Macbook pro 13"..but it had 4gb ram, i5 2.40..so i said why should i buy a macbook pro and waste $500 ? when i can get a better laptop and save half a gran ? so i bought the dell xps 14z and it's really good, fast, easy and light! i'll recommend a person who is thinking of getting a apple laptop, to buy dell xps 14z, it's better ! and you can do everything on this ! from an experience i'm saying this because i have a Macbook 2009, and i couldn't do anything on that.. except school work. But Dell xps i'm playing Guild Wars 2 and its really good !

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Dell XPS 14Z X14z-2308ELS 14-Inch Laptop (Elemental Silver)

This is the sleekest, coolest best looking dell laptop I have ever seen. I've owned it now for several weeks (purchased through Costco, not Amazon, for slightly more $). The specs are good. 8GB Ram, 750GB Hdd, i7core, dual core processor with hyperthreading, and a high-end clock rate during burst mode. The screen is fantastic, many more lumans brighter than my other dell laptop (an old m65).

Now why did I pick this PC? Because it is as close to looking like a macbook pro without being a mac. My personal preference for any laptop, is to immediately wipe the OS and put Ubuntu on it. I am currently running Ubuntu 12.04 with kde-plasma-desktop installed; this computer is behaving like a dream.

A quick comment on the device. It has more holes (aka vents) in it than I would like, but the engineer in me knows that this is Dell Trying to make sure the PC lasts a long time (good ventilation and heat dissipation are crucial). My Wife's Macbook Pro LAPTOP overheats often, sometimes too hot to put in her LAP. My other complaint is that while the laptop screen is well aligned with the base and clearly well attached, I can see that it is mounted .5mm (check a ruler if you can't envision how small that is) further to the right, than to the left. This extremely anal way of looking at the top when closed speaks to why I bought the PC to begin with: I wanted a precision cut and designed metal housing.

I am still giving this 5 stars, because I want Dell and the world to know that there is a class of people out there, who want precision crafted PCs like this, but don't want the inane constraints and cost-overages of a Mac.

Griffin Technology GB02587 Elan Folio Ipad 2 Pink Paisley Reviews

Customer Ratings:

This is one of the prettier cases I've seen. It's a fun conversation piece, too. With a few tweaks, this could be a keeper.

Pros:

Pretty design, unique among the plethora of solid tablet cases

Protects the iPad 2 reasonably well

Great dark red interior

Very soft lining

Quality stitching

Quality materials

Cons:

This case does not activate the iPad 2 sleep/wake feature

The flap that goes under the iPad is not held in place with Velcro

The corners of the iPad are exposed

The tuck tab on the back interrupts the pretty paisley design

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

I bought this for the color. When I chives it the color we more orange than pinkish. I was a little disappointed but it is still a nice cover for my IPad 2.

Best Deals for Griffin Technology GB02587 Elan Folio Ipad 2 Pink Paisley

I was impressed with how quickly we received this cover. The quality is very high. This was a gift and the recipient was also thrilled with the quality and I have not heard any complaints as of yet!!

Honest reviews on Griffin Technology GB02587 Elan Folio Ipad 2 Pink Paisley

I love the look. I wish it had velcro or something to hold the iPad inside when I turn it over to watch a movie.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Griffin Technology GB02587 Elan Folio Ipad 2 Pink Paisley

Bought this for my daughters Ipad one. This is a pretty cover and protects the Ipad well. Can use as stand also. Great alternative to all the black cases out there.

HP G42-230US 14-Inch Laptop Reviews

Customer Ratings:

!!UPDATED!!

I have had my g42-230us for three months and found it to be a decent moderately powerful computer. The 7200RPM hard drive and 1Mb per core cache give it the extra "umph" it needs to compete with the Intel offers.

This computer, like most consumer targeted systems, came loaded with bloatware (software that isn't required and slows down performance).

I am a computer tech so the first thing I recommend for this and all consumer targeted computers is to make the restore DVD's as soon as you turn on the computer and before you connect to a network or the internet. Second thing I recommend to do is to get a genuine copy of Windows 7, then use it to reformat (and delete all extra hard drive partitions) and reinstall operating system. Doing this is almost literally the difference between night and day. You will realize more hard drive space, faster boot and shutdown, no software "nags" (other than Windows 7 "nags") or bloatware pop ups to activate and upgrade trial software and no performance robbing unnecessary running services and registry entries.

I tell my customers to consider this a required cost to any big brand consumer level computer purchased (comsumer level computers are typicaly computers sold that are not installed with Windows 7 Professional). You can get windows here on Amazon:Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Microsoft Windows 7 Professional . Keep in mind bloatware keeps the cost of the computer down (the computer's maker is often paid to install this trial software in hopes it will lead to the sale of the full product.

After installing Genuine Windows 7 64bit I have a decent professional grade laptop for a few hundred less than what HP sells them for otherwise.

Clarification from what other reviews have stated: All three USB ports are v2.0 and are powered to 500mA. I have tested them and confirmed this to be true even under battery power.

Note:

No modem is included and no PC Card socket is present.

The speakers and Altec Lansing, upward facing above the Function keys near the display hinge.

Wired LAN is not Gigabit Ethernet (this is a real downgrade from my almost four year old Acer Aspire).

Annoyances:

The power button is slightly recessed and very small. I have very small fingers but still have to press the button multiple times to get it depressed enough to activate (but now I just use my finger nail and it works fine).

The hard drive activity light looks to be a 1mm LED mounted behind a hole in the left side of the unit next to the media card reader. This is excellent for the person sitting to my left when they want to know if my hard drive is active but totally useless to me.

Also the power / charging light looks to be a 1mm LED mounted behind a hole on the right side near the DC input. This too is excellent for the person on my right that wants to know if my laptop is charging or on but totally useless to me.

There is however a power light in the power button above the Function keys and speakers near the hindge but it to looks to be a 1mm LED pointed straight up and can't be seen when the lid is closed so you cannot see if your computer is on/sleeping/or off unless you open the lid or look at the led on the right side of the unit.

Almost a deal killer is the fact that the touchpad area is not recessed or raised, nor does it have a different pattern or texture than the palm rests. Without looking, using the touchpad buttons as an guide, a person cannot feel where the touchpad area starts and ends on the left and right side. I used 3M blue painters tape 3M 2090 Scotch-Blue Painter's Tape for Multi-Surfaces 1-Inch x 60-Yard, 4-Rollto create outlines of the touchpad area to use the unit in the dark and without watching my fingers.

Battery:

The stock battery is a MU06 and the battery life is very good but I got the MU09 extended life batter anyway. The extended life battery does stick out some at the bottom causing a funny lop-sided look. Also an optional higher watt charger can be found but I don't know it would be any better than the one included. HP 90W Smart Ac Adapter US

I like Acer / Gateway laptops because I had always found them easy to work on but I have already taken this one apart pretty well and it isn't as bad as the HP computers of previous years.

I have a report for Speccy on my unit:

CPU

AMD K10

45nm Technology

RAM

4.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 531MHz (7-7-7-20)

Motherboard

Hewlett-Packard 1444 (Socket S1G4)

Graphics

Generic PnP Monitor @ 1366x768

AMD M880G with ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4250

Hard Drives

313GB Seagate ST932042 3AS SATA Disk Device (IDE)

Optical Drives

hp CDDVDW TS-L633N SATA CdRom Device

Audio

Realtek High Definition Audio

CPU

AMD K10

Cores 2

Threads 2

Name AMD K10

Package Socket S1 (638)

Technology 45nm

Specification AMD Turion(tm) II P520 Dual-Core Processor

Family F

Extended Family 10

Model 6

Extended Model 6

Stepping 3

Revision DA-C3

Instructions MMX (+), 3DNow! (+), SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSE4A, x86-64

Bus Speed 199.5 MHz

Rated Bus Speed 1795.6 MHz

Stock Core Speed 2300 MHz

Stock Bus Speed 200 MHz

Caches

L1 Data Cache Size 2 x 64 KBytes

L1 Instructions Cache Size 2 x 64 KBytes

L2 Unified Cache Size 2 x 1024 KBytes

Core 0

Core Speed 2294.2 MHz

Multiplier x 11.5

Bus Speed 199.5 MHz

Rated Bus Speed 1795.6 MHz

Thread 1

APIC ID 0

Core 1

Core Speed 2294.2 MHz

Multiplier x 11.5

Bus Speed 199.5 MHz

Rated Bus Speed 1795.6 MHz

Thread 1

APIC ID 1

RAM

Memory slots

Total memory slots 2

Used memory slots 2

Free memory slots 0

Memory

Type DDR3

Size 4096 MBytes

Channels # Dual

DRAM Frequency 532.0 MHz

CAS# Latency (CL) 7 clocks

RAS# to CAS# Delay (tRCD) 7 clocks

RAS# Precharge (tRP) 7 clocks

Cycle Time (tRAS) 20 clocks

Bank Cycle Time (tR?) 27 clocks

Command Rate (CR) 1T

SPD

Number Of SPD Modules 2

Motherboard

Manufacturer Hewlett-Packard

Model 1444

Chipset Vendor AMD

Chipset Model 785GX

Chipset Revision 00

Southbridge Vendor AMD

Southbridge Model SB800

Southbridge Revision 40

BIOS

Brand Hewlett-Packard

Version F.0A

Date 06/08/2010

Graphics

Monitor

Name Generic PnP Monitor on AMD M880G with ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4250

Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels

Work Resolution 1366x738 pixels

State enabled, primary

Monitor Width 1366

Monitor Height 768

Monitor BPP 32 bits per pixel

Monitor Frequency 60 Hz

AMD M880G with ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4250

Memory 256 MB

Memory type 2

Hard Drives

ST932042 3AS SATA Disk Device

Manufacturer Seagate

Form Factor 2.5"

Interface IDE

Capacity 313GB

Real size 320,072,933,376 bytes

Optical Drives

hp CDDVDW TS-L633N SATA CdRom Device

Audio

Sound Cards

ATI High Definition Audio Device

Realtek High Definition Audio

Playback Device

Speakers (Realtek High Definition Audio)

Recording Devices

Stereo Mix (Realtek High Definition Audio)

Microphone (Realtek High Definition Audio) (default)

Peripherals

Standard PS/2 Keyboard

Device Kind Keyboard

Device Name Standard PS/2 Keyboard

Location plugged into keyboard port

Synaptics PS/2 Port TouchPad

Device Kind Mouse

Device Name Synaptics PS/2 Port TouchPad

Location plugged into PS/2 mouse por

USB Video Device

Device Kind Camera/scanner

Device Name USB Video Device

Vendor Unknown

Comment HP Webcam-101

Location USB Composite Device

I have been informed that there is a clean install restore option but this is not an option on my unit. The factory restore "clean" option still installs many services and registry items including HP "nags" and programs that connect to HP's web site to keep you informed up updates and messages (offers). The clean install I recomend will give a user the most out of the computer.

!!!!!!CAVEAT!!!!!!!: Some users do not mind or miss the lost performance and hard drive space and can very well live with the hp "clean" install or even the factory install.

I only mention the clean install in my review because I and most of my cutomers are "power" users and prefere a true Windows clean install from a genuine Windows disc. Plus a person can buy almost the same computer without the bloatware software installed for twice the price. I am just pointing out an alternative to spending twice the money and getting the almost the same computer as a pro model.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

I purchased this computer from another site when they had a promotion on it. I looked at the specs and the price, and saw that it was a steal, and I abandoned my prejudice against HP for their past products and bought it. I am very happy that I did. I won't say the exact price that I got the computer for, but I will say that this computer is in the $600 and under category.

This computer is a good mixture of good technology. The processor in this computer is a very good processor for a number of reasons. The L2 cache is 2mb as opposed to 1mb in most Turion IIs; the energy consumption is 25w, which is very low for a laptop processor of this magnitude. The M880 chipset and ATI Radeon 4250 provide a decent graphics setup; obviously, this computer isn't for modern gaming due to the lack of a dedicated video card... However, this video setup is much better than you will get with any Intel onboard graphics and will work just fine for most anything short of intensive 3D gaming/ 3D rendering... The 14" screen on this computer is a good one, with great viewing angles. The speakers are good for laptop speakers, but really, there aren't any spectacular internal laptop speakers and so if you want great sound quality and volume, invest in a decent pair of laptop speakers. The HDMI port is wonderful... can't forget to mention that! HDMI is a nice feature to have on a laptop of this type!

Aesthetically, this computer is certainly pleasing. The silver-ish patterned case of the computer is really unique and I really enjoy it. 14" is the perfect size for me, as it cradles perfectly in my lap and is much, much more portable than 15.6" or so laptops than I have owned in the past.

The keyboard is not bad at all... No Num Pad, but the buttons and function button planning are very well done. For a 14" laptop, I'm not sure if you can ask for a smarter/ better keyboard than this...

As for the cons, there is one that may just be something I am misunderstanding, but it really seems like the USB port that is on the right side (for the mouse) is not USB 2.0... For some reason, it doesn't get nearly the transfer rate as the other USB ports. I recommend getting a high speed hub with this computer so that you can easily add the additional USB ports that you will surely need. The other con is also fair in magnitude... HP has a lot of programs that it installs to keep your computer running well with HP updates on the drivers on your computer and such. Some of these programs are helpful and some are bloatware. It is much harder to sort out which is which with HP laptops than other brands, since they get so much more involved in the upkeep of your computer. I have it set up just fine on my computer now, and practically any laptop that you get nowadays is going to have some kind of bloatware on it, so the problem is easily handled with a bit of time, just like with most laptops. Extra care is needed to make sure that you do not remove programs that HP has created to help your computer, such as keep the hardware drivers up to date, etc...

All in all, this computer is great... Just what I was looking for! This laptop is perfect for just about anyone that doesn't do intense 3D graphic stuff. I would even go so far as to say that anything better than this is overkill if you are not going to be doing that type of stuff. This is a great desktop replacement computer that is very versatile in its uses and very good on the battery given the power of the computer. I was hesitant to buy HP before this computer, but I am certainly not anymore.

Five stars from me!

Edit-

Windows Experience Index: (out of 7.9)

Processor 5.8

Memory 5.9

Graphics (Aero) 4.2

Graphics (Gaming) 5.3

Hard Disk speed 5.9

This shows that this is a well rounded computer, just a step below cutting edge in every category (and still pretty cutting edge in most categories). 4.2 for Windows Aero experience is a typical score for GPUs of this type.

This ranking also doesn't rank on things like battery conservation, which this computer is great at. I hope this info helps someone interested in this computer!

Best Deals for HP G42-230US 14-Inch Laptop

I have had this for over a month. Best computer I've every owned.

*The keyboard feel is extremely comfortable, light, and responsive--highly important for a computer injury victim like myself.

*The 14" 1366 x 768 is clear and easy to read, even for largish spreadsheets.

*The 5 lb weight means I can carry it everywhere in my backpack. It's the right compromise between a heavier laptop with a bigger screen and a netbook. I have both with Windows XP, but I had to keep transferring data between them. Now I just use the G42 for home and coffee shops.

*I find I like Windows 7 better than XP. I upgraded to Professional and installed the XP virtual machine to solve any compatibility problems, but haven't had to use it much.

*Feels nice and sturdy.

*Decent price

*HDMI output.

Honest reviews on HP G42-230US 14-Inch Laptop

When I was looking for a laptop with the performance, style, and light weight, I naturally settled on this HP G-42-230US. It has a 14 screen that is perfect for your everyday typing, if you want to watch a DVD at a coffee shop, or if you're like me, the occasionally youtube video. So far, I have no complaints about this laptop.

Like the previous reviewer, I was surprisingly happy at the weight of this laptop. At 4.85 lbs, I feel like I can carry it with me everywhere. I even looked at some 13.3 inch Toshiba and Lenovo laptops, but theirs' measured at around 4.75 or 4.8 lbs with a bigger price tag.

Pros of this amazing laptop:

-lightweight

-long battery life

-very good quality camera

-a senor mousepad that allows you to turn it off or on with just one finger

-user friendly installation

-rank #1 in Newsweek's green ranking (it uses less energy than your average 14-in laptop)

-sturdy feel (good material)

-brought it when amazon had a fantastic price of only $550 with free shipping

If you're looking for a stylist laptop with the performance specs to back it up...this is the laptop for you!

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for HP G42-230US 14-Inch Laptop

I have had this computer for about 4 months, and it is not what I thought it would be...its worse. I bought it because it was a steal and i was on a budget. The battery life is about 1 1/2 hourse, which is not very good when you use it during a 2 hour class! I hate the mouse pad because it gets dirty very easily because of the crevices (the whole computer is acutually that way) The bottom gets SUPER, SUPER hot. I have acutually had red marks on my legs when I have let it sit to long on my lap, because it was so hot. I am currently saving my money to buy a macbook. If you can afford the extra couple hundred dollars, I would definately go for a little better laptop. I will not be having this on much longer because I dislike it that much.

Cheap Lenovo Ideapad P400 14-inch Touchscreen Ultrabook (Graphite Gray)

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $1,144.00
Sale Price: $649.00
Today's Bonus: 43% Off

Very happy with my purchase and love it. I use this for my application development work, performs very well. Very quiet, no fan noise in the background nor heating problems.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

I got mine at Best Buy for $530 and consider that a great price for an i5 2.6GHz processor and 6GB of RAM, plus a touch screen. I was a bit surprised to hear that Cnet considers this a "thick" and "old looking" laptop maybe for a grand you can buy one that is thinner and "newer looking", but for $530 I didn't see anything that would match it.

Anyway, here is the good:

Screen picture quality: 1600X900 on a 14 inch screen equals pretty amazing high-def stuff.

Speed: running IE, Chrome and Office 2013 (I am not into gaming, so don't know how that would work or not)

WiDi wireless screen sharing (with compatible devices).

Build quality

Not so good:

Touch screen not responsive to gentle touches, you have to poke it pretty hard some times (don't have much to compare this to besides a smart phone).

Keyboard is a bit cramped if you are used to full size keyboards, but you get used to it.

Strange keyboard issue when USB mouse is plugged in CTRL key "sticks" (not physically but in software), so as you type it acts as if CTRL is pressed all the time (typing an "i" turns everything italic, and so on).

For $530 I thought it was a great deal, and has worked out pretty good so far :).

Best Deals for Lenovo Ideapad P400 14-inch Touchscreen Ultrabook (Graphite Gray)

After my Sony laptop was stolen, I embarked on a search for an affordable ultrabook or near-ultrabook style laptop. This was on sale at Best Buy for about $540 plus tax, and I thought I'd take a chance on it, but things didn't work out.

The Good:

Great screen for a machine in in this price range. 1600 x 900 resolution, and fairly good (not amazing) color saturation. Touch is fairly responsive, though single-taps require a fairly forceful touch.

Backlit keyboard is nice, even though the keyboard has shortcomings; more below.

Nice feature set/specs for a machine in this price range. i5 processor, 6GB Ram, 500GB Hard drive with a 24GB SSD for booting.

Boots quickly and is fairly snappy, thanks to the SSD.

Lots of ports.

Design, while cumbersome and thick (more below), feels sturdy and nearly indestructible, as long as you can live with the weight...

DVD/CD drive is a nice feature.

The Bad:

HEAVY. A laptop in this size range feels like a brick at 5.5 pounds. This was one of the deal breakers for me.

Mushy/erratic keyboard. The keyboard was missing keystrokes with fairly heavy typing, and you can visibly see it buckling even with light typing. The whole thing has a chintzy, mushy feel, and leads to a horrible typing experience.

Chintzy plastic touchpad; clicks feel hollow and wobbly. Supports two finger scroll, but not any other two-finger gestures (couldn't right-click with two finger tap, for example)

Battery Life: I eeked out about 3 hours on a good day; otherwise, battery life wasn't impressive.

Overall, the heavy weight, low battery life, and sub-par typing experience prompted a return from me. It's not a bad machine, with a nice middle-of-the-road touchscreen and great internal specs; but for a road machine, I needed better battery life and more portability.

Honest reviews on Lenovo Ideapad P400 14-inch Touchscreen Ultrabook (Graphite Gray)

The Lenovo ideapad P400 14-inch is a fantastic laptop for the price. I was blown away with what you get compared to higher priced laptops less features and not as fast. Plus the quality and the name says it all. Buy it you won't regret it.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Lenovo Ideapad P400 14-inch Touchscreen Ultrabook (Graphite Gray)

1. A plenty of unused software was installed on it.

2. It hangs from time to time!

3. The return deadline was 14 days!

4. There is no customer service in my area. I have to go 50 miles away to benefit from the warranty!