Best HP Envy 15-3040NR 15.6 Inch Laptop (Black/Silver) Deals

Customer Ratings:

I really wanted to like this laptop, because on paper, there are very very few (if any) laptops that offer a similar package at this price point (up to 30% off MSRP after various HP coupons on the web for i7-2620qm, powerful graphics via 7690m, but most of all, 1080p IPS display). However, after 2 months of patience, I can no longer ignore the glaring issues HP has chosen to overlook. First, there have been numerous reports first appearing in forums about users' complaints about the Envy 15 1080p's inability to produce red colors. Since the initial reports in January, numerous tech blogs like the Verge, notebookcheck, and Engadget (among others) have confirmed this issue. While I had tried to overlook the issue myself, the non-reds eventually became far too big of a distraction, especially considering that this was a $150.00 upgrade option. If HP charged $250.00 for a screen upgrade that had a decent color gamut (come on! I'm not asking for Dreamcolor quality or even 95% Adobe coverage like Lenovo offers, just a screen that can reproduce the THREE PRIMARY COLORS!), I would have gladly and without hesitation ponied up the extra cost. I regret that HP chose to cut corners like this, when they were so close to a phenomenal laptop/display. -1 Star for display.

The second issue I take is the keyboard. To be fair, when I first received this unit, I had no skipped/missed keys, and I decided I could live with the slight flex on the left side of the keyboard. But ever since a BIOS update (F.05, for those of you keeping track), which by the way was ON HP's OWN SITE, the keyboard will miss literally about 15% of my keystrokes whenever I'm running on AC adapter (but strangely, I have no problems when running on battery!). The keystroke issue is actually distracting enough to disrupt my day-to-day web browsing (missed spaces and mistyped web addresses are nothing but common); in fact, the only way you are reading this review without typos in every 3rd word is by my proofreading. Again, to be fair, I am understanding of the fact that software/updates can be buggy at times; it's another matter when the manufacturer does not fix these bugs, not to mention refuse to acknowledge the numerous complaints from customers (google for forums in notebookreview.com and HP customer support forum for "Envy 15 BIOS keyboard" and skim through results). -2 Star, 1 each for keyboard/HP customer service handling complaints.

Others have complained about banged up USB ports, scratches, paint peeling, etc., but my unit arrived cosmetically flawless so I will not dock any stars for that.

It is my own fault for waiting 2 months to try to like this laptop and end up discovering all of this, instead of returning the unit within the initial 21-day period. I hope others will benefit from my less-than-pleasant experience with the Envy 15. I will update this review should HP offer any solutions to these and other complaints not even mentioned in this mini-review, but I am not holding my breath.

EDIT 2/21/12: BIOS F.06 also does nothing to address the keyboard problem.

EDIT 3/20/12: I'm adding one star back to my review. F.07 was released a couple of days ago, and I'm happy to report that all of the keyboard woes are gone! Here's to hoping that those problems don't return... I would like to add on a half-star if I could, for the fact that HP's coming around to responding and ACKNOWLEDGING the problems surrounding the Envy. HP recently made a formal (though somewhat vague) announcement about HP's proposal to fix the screen issue. This gives me some hope that the company's at least taking steps to do what it can to remedy the issues at hand. I will update again after seeing what HP ultimately does w/ the LCD problem.

EDIT 5/10/12: HP released a software that allows some control over colors for the display, but as I had suspected, the software doesn't do anything to fix the red/violet issues (I wasn't hoping for too much out of the software option anyway since my research had confirmed the colors are a limitation of the LG panel itself).

EDIT 7/10/12: I honestly didn't think I'd be updating this review again, but here I am. First I have to say that HP's engineers offered better customer concern/service than any dedicated customer service departments, period (Thanks again, Jonathan!). Second, HP contacted me a few weeks ago to ask whether I had the orange-red issues with my panel, to which I provided details about the problem. Long story short, I was offered a free exchange (HP paid shipping both ways), and quite frankly, I wasn't expecting any difference despite the different panel part number of the new panel. Well I was wrong--wrong about my customer service comments above, and wrong about the panel. The new panel isn't perfect or even great by any standard, but it is definitely a noticeable improvement on the original Envy 15 panels' reds. In light of these two points, I'm adding one more star back mostly due to the way that HP decided to handle the crappy-display issue because the screen, as improved as it is, is still only average. Here's a quote from a post I wrote on another forum, describing the difference:

"While the reds on the new panels are still definitely not a natural, deep red, it's a noticeable improvement from the older panels. The red is at least almost on par with my Galaxy S phone, and noticeably but not hugely worse than my Dell U2311h. Reds are noticeably more orange than on my Dell U2410, but I'm not expecting much there because that is, after all, a 118% gamut display. My Envy 14's red is definitely redder, but I didn't expect the E15 to be as good anyway since the E14's panel is 84% gamut, and the E15's is supposedly 60%. The reds are indistinguishable from the reds on my wife's Late 2011 Macbook 15 (1680x1050 panel), and in some cases (netflix website, fullscreen red in Paint), the E15 actually appears redder--and no, there is nothing "wrong" with the Macbook's panel.

It's very hard for me not to expect more though b/c I've been far too long spoiled by the likes of HP's dreamcolor display, Dell's no longer existent RGBLED XPS 16 display, and excellent desktop monitors... yet, in spite of that, I can confidently say that at least the color aspect of the new panels are no better or worse than the colors of a typical TN panel on the average laptop. That said, I always thought that given equal color reproduction, there is little/no reason not to opt for IPS or TN (at least on a laptop), so I think I can lay aside my gripes about the orange-y reds. I can always wish/complain about wanting a higher gamut, but I know that's not what I paid for, nor did HP advertise high-gamut displays on the E15 as they did with the E14."

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I bought this from Amazon but I ordered it through my wife's account (she has a prime student) and that's why Amazon is not showing as verified purchase. This laptop is gorgeous, very much a clone of a Macbook pro. I use a Early 2010 Macbook pro 17" for my work, and I can assure you it excels my Macbook pro in the following functional aspects:

1. It has a full keyboard. The Macbook's so called "Full" keyboard is really not that full. Macbook misses all the home, end, page up and page down button. And trust me, even after two years of regular usage, I find it irritating. True, you can use Command + Up/Down etc. combination. But it's really a productivity issue.

2. The Envy's 4 speakers and the woofer combination is really awesome. In fact, this is the first laptop that I saw that outperforms my 17" Macbook pro speaker (both sound quality and volume). Previously I compared Asus N53, hp DV5, Lenovo (forgot the model number) and hp DV6 and all of them had much inferior sound quality than my Macbook pro

3. The USB ports are distributed on two sides, which is really nice

From aesthetics and ergonomics part, it excels my Macbook pro in the following aspects:

1. The corners of the rectangular chassis is not sharp like my Macbook pro, which is really nice. The Macbook's sharp edges cut into my palm everytime I lift it. Even while typing, it feels like a knife against my arm.

2. I liked the back lighting of the hp keyboard better

Now some cons in comparison to my Macbook pro 17 (early 2010):

1. My hp envy 15 power button's painting is already peeling off!! My Macbook pro still looks like brand new (not just the power button). To be fair, the Envy 15 doesn't seem to have any other weak part to peel off, and I am planning to keep the laptop as that minor cosmetic blemish is not a big deal for me.

2. The screen on my Macbook pro still would outperform the radiance display (to be fair, this is the best display of all the non Macbook pro that I have seen (refer to the earlier mentioned laptop models that I played with)). That being said, the Macbook pro 15" display really SUCKS. Refer to my updated comparison with Macbook pro 15" at the end of this review.

3. My 2 years old Macbook pro's 640x480 resolution webcam (yes that's only 0.3 mega pixel) still outperforms this Envy HD webcam (True vision or whatever they call it). That being said, again, to be fair, this is one of the best webcam that I have seen in non-Macbook pro laptops. Particularly, my last attempt with Asus N53SV webcam was horrible! It was sooo laggy and soo horrible quality that it was a deal breaker for me. (UPDATE: I changed my opinion, and kindly refer to my updated part of this review for my current subjective opinion).

4. The touchpad on my macbook pro has NO competitor. It's really awesome, and the hp touchpad can only dream to be of that quality.

Now some common complaint and their solution:

1. The touchpad is horrible, doesn't do smooth scrolling, doesn't register click etc. The solution is to install the latest driver. The notebook review forum has a Envy driver page which is up to date with the latest drivers (including drivers that are still not officially available from HP) and I downloaded a Synaptic driver from that link. It's a direct download from HP server, so nothing to be worried about. HP is probably going to release that soon. The driver was built at the end of January and after installing that, this touchpad is REALLY awesome. Almost as good as my Macbook pro (but as I said, it's still has a long way to go)

2. The two finger tapping has no right click configuration: If you come from Mac world, you are probably accustomed to tapping with two fingers and that acts like a right click. You can install an open source program named TwoFingerScroll (hosted on google codes) to achieve that. After that, IMHO, the touchpad is feature complete (you can configure many options in original Synaptic control panel + TwoFingerScroll)

3. Battery issue, and smooth switching between built in and ATI graphics card: Right now I have fixed mode driver enabled and I am only using built in Intel Graphics, which is more than adequate for me as I don't play games. You just need to go to BIOS settings and set Fixed mode in video switching setting (instead of Dynamic (the default)), and then right click on the desktop and go to Configure Switchable Graphics and set the power saving GPU as the graphics card. That seems to give me around 5 hours of typical usage, where I can edit the documents or browse typical web. Please refer to the updated review at the end of this review for some battery comparison with Macbook pro 17" and 15".

4. People complain that the red looks orange. But that's a common problem of the recent IPS panels (I heard Sony has same problem). And to me it doesn't look bad at all. The notebook review forum has some color calibration suggestion to improve the red accuracy. But I don't think it would be fixed with such a simple solution. So, if you really need a very accurate color output, look elsewhere.

Some features that I really like:

1. The analog volume control: Oh my gosh, that is sooo handy and sooo cute. You really need to feel it to understand how great that feature is. I always got lost between various top row volume control button. Now I never miss volume up and volume down. And they also have a cute mute button next to the analog volume control.

2. Buttonless touchpad: While they copied it from Apple, I think that's really great. Particularly, now you have the whole area as a touchpad and for multi-touch gesture.

Some issues that I hate:

1. The fan sound. It's definitely louder than my Macbook pro (Which is almost silent), and it's even louder than my Asus N53!

2. The left side of the keyboard (a, s, d etc. keys) feels loose (probably people call it flexing??) It doesn't feel solid.

3. I hated the crappy painting that is peeling off from the power button

All being said, this is the best non-Apple laptop that I have ever seen in my life. I am really happy with the build quality and the look (which they definitely copied from Apple), and the laptop is really very snappy (as you would expect from such a high end laptop). Unless the IPS Red accuracy is an issue for you, and you can live with some hit and miss on the build quality, it should be fine. Give it a try, and of course Amazon's excellent customer service would help you get a refund if you are not happy.

UPDATE 02/22/2012:

I now played with the laptop little more, and I also compared it with my brother's late 2011 Macbook pro 15" (The latest model). Here is my findings:

1. Envy's display might be inferior to my Macbook pro 17" which has a full HD (not 1080p) 1920x1200 display. But it blows away the latest 15" Macbook pro's display which only has 1440x900 and you cannot even upgrade that display. In fact, the Macbook pro 15's display looks super pixelated next to Envy's display.

2. I heavily tested the webcam, and compared it against both my Macbook pro 17 and my brother's Macbook pro 15. While the Macbook pro's webcam looks more brighter, it is actually inferior to HP's true vision webcam. The hp webcam gives high color accuracy and more contrast. In return, you get more noise. In a first look it does appear that Macbook's webcam is smoother. But my wife pointed to me that my green t-shirt during testing was looking almost whitish with the Macbook pro (both 17" and 15") webcam.

3. Moreover, on the Webcam part, the HP webcam is buttery smooth. I don't have a scientific comparison. But, I felt like they are capturing the frames at at least 20+ FPS. Macbook pro's Webcam is also quite good. But I felt like they have little bit of lag and not as smooth as HP.

4. Apple actually lost their battery edge! This is particularly surprise to me. My 17" Macbook pro still gives me 6+ hours of battery life. While the brand new Macbook pro 15" actually depletes within 3 hours of continuous video playback! On skype video calling, it was showing me a dismal 1.5 hours of estimated battery life! The MBP 15" battery life is therefore very similar to Envy's battery life. I believe this is because of the quad core processor. Another thing that irritated me is Apple's unwillingness to disable the dedicated graphics card. In my Early 2010 MBP, there was an option in System Preference, where I could disable my dedicated graphics card to save some power. As I never play game, I never use dedicated graphics card. But, looks like in OS X Lion and the late 2011 MBP, they only either allow you dynamic switching or a dedicated graphics card. Neither could accomplish the best possible battery life with just an exclusive non-negotiable built in graphics card (as I mentioned, both my MBP 17 and Envy is currently set to built in graphics only).

5. And finally, I really got disappointed at my brother's latest Macbook pro 15" after introspecting with what he got after paying 1.5 times the cost of Envy:

5.1. MBP 15 has 512 MB of graphics RAM, while Envy 15 has 1GB.

5.2. Envy 15 came with Radeon 7690M while MBP came with 6750M.

5.3. Envy 15 came with 750GB Hard disk, while MBP came with 500GB HDD. Also, Envy came with 7200 RPM faster Hard disk, while MBP 15 came with 5400 slower hard disk.

5.4. Envy 15 came with 8GB 1600MHz RAM, while MBP came with 4GB 1333MHz RAM

5.5. Not to mention the super CRAPPY display of 15" MBP. That itself would be a deal breaker for me.

That being said, would I stop buying a Macbook pro in the future, when such a perfect Macbook pro clone is around? NO. I am a Computer Science researcher and I love the power of Unix. I am writing this part for those parents who often times buy Windows machine for their college going sons/daughters with Computer Science major. I personally believe that for productivity of a Computer Science major, Mac OS X has NO competitor. While Linux could be a viable alternative, it doesn't have any polished software. E.g., when I first bought my Mac, I commented that just for Unix compatibility, Omnigraffle, Keynote and native PDF integration of Mac OS X, I would pay the Apple premium. Linux simply doesn't have the Apps ecosystem. And Windows will never be able to emulate a Unix system as it doesn't have the POSIX layer. That being said, Windows is an excellent Entertainment OS. E.g., you cannot easily stream your media to your TV through a MAC (it doesn't come with DLNA and UPnP support), while Windows 7 is bundled out of the box with all those nice features. I can keep going on. But, my point is, for productivity, buy a Mac. For leisure and entertainment buy a Windows machine. That's just my personal opinion of course.

Update 03/24/2012:

After updating the bios to F.06, my keyboard started missing lots of keystrokes. Fortunately, Amazon was happy to send me another one. The new one came with F.06 pre-installed, but it only missed keystrokes when the backlit is ON. Luckily, HP released their latest F.07 BIOS. And now, all my problems are gone! The keyboard is perfectly working, and thanks to Amazon, I have got a new laptop with no power button paint peeling. So, I am hereby updating my review to 5 star. I know I have gone through lots of ordeal to get to this point. But I don't wanna keep any hard feeling, particularly when the laptop is so fast and smooth, and cute looking.

Best Deals for HP Envy 15-3040NR 15.6 Inch Laptop (Black/Silver)

My previous laptop was a Macbook pro 17" unibody. It was a beautifully built product. I'm quite surprised that I'm just as happy with the Envy as I was with the Macbook.

Pros:

Good build quality. Almost up there with the macbooks.

Based on the pictures, I thought the bottom and the lid were made of plastic. They're made on metal instead!

The drivers and base software bundle is very polished.

Re-install from recovery media is very streamlined and a pleasant experience.

Not a single crash so far.

The 1080p display quality is great. But there are some drawbacks. I use it in graphic design at work.

Quick boot time ad least with an ssd. The bios/post screen is a blink of an eye.

Battery life is good in normal tasks. I haven't tested anything heavier so far.

The gpu switching utility is simple and very useful. You specify which programs you want to fire up the more powerful gpu. That's something I missed on macs.

The usb port which lets you charge devices even when the computer is off is superb. Tablets and phones charged without problems. Now you can charge your phone when it's getting low on battery even while walking down town.

Nice stylish font on the keyboard.

Quite decent connectivity for such a device

Ability to function as a wlan access point and share the internet connection even while you're connected via wlan yourself.

Cons:

The bottom cover wobbles just slightly after a couple of opens. Normally no one needs the open it though. It is opened only if you replace the hdd, memory or battery

The volume levels tend to be to high with headphones and the volume knob. On the first level of volume it's too low and on the second level it's too loud. It kind of takes the usefulness out the knob. I haven't found a way to fix that so far. You really shouldn't need to search for a solution for volume settings.

The displays black levels seem to be quite high. The back light bleeds through quite a lot. On the other hand it's very uniform (led backlight), so it doesn't bother that much.

The power brick is huge and hideous. HP really needs to do something about these. It's a pain to carry them around. I bought a smaller one right away and use the original one only on my work desk.

Super reflective display finish.

Arrow keys are awful.

Recommendations:

I recommend to reinstall everything from the recovery dvd and select minimized install. That way all the non-essential software won't be installed.

Buy an ssd. It makes the world of difference.

Honest reviews on HP Envy 15-3040NR 15.6 Inch Laptop (Black/Silver)

Spec wise and all. This laptop is pretty good.

The display is very crisp and clear.

It's fast.

It has a sleek design.

Cool button for changing volume.

Back lit keyboard.

Switchable graphics can save power.

HD

Beats Audio provides great sound through the speakers.

That being said, there are some issues I have with this laptop.

First, as I type this right now, it seems I have to hit my space bar key pretty hard when I use my right thumb since it seems to not respond when I hit it from the right side.

The red is not so red. I don't really care much about it, but it's an issue some of you might not really enjoy.

Switchable graphics not so switchable. Sometimes, it doesn't switch GPUs, but it's not that big a deal since you can simply, no, I advise you to change it to manual switching on the BIOS if you chose to get this laptop, so you can switch the GPUs yourself.

As I feel through the edges of the laptop, it feels uneven. It's not noticeable when you look at it, but you can feel it.

Looks like a Mac book. Originality please.

As for game performance and display, it performs great for the basic games, though it struggled a bit with GTA IV, but I was not on High Performance power mode, so I can't be certain.

Summary: If you are into Photoshop or you do stuff that involves colors, than I'll advise you to stay away from this laptop. If you are just a gamer(casual) looking for a portable gaming machine from this era, and you don't care much about color, then go ahead and get this.

Color-wise, I don't feel like returning it. Keys-wise, I just might.

EDIT(2/21/2012): According to some info I got from another forum, there was a BIOS update to attempt to fix the keyboard issue (BIOS F.06). I installed this update, but it didn't fix anything for me. On the other hand, some people claim that it fixed the issue for them. There was also another fix which would force the BIOS to recover, and some said that fixed it for them while others, like me, still remain with the keyboard issue. I guess right now, it's a game of chance for those with this laptop.

I have also decided to return the laptop since I couldn't bear the missing keystrokes any longer.

EDIT(3/8/2012): Long story short, I couldn't return the item yet, but I was able to ask for an exchange. I received another Envy and this one works way better than the one I got before even though it is still running the F.06 BIOS. The one thing you'll have to do to avoid skipping keystrokes is to dim the back light of the keyboard while on AC (You don't need it to be too high anyway). While on Battery, you should turn off the back light, and that should solve, or "improve", the missing keystrokes issue (It did/does for me) until HP decides to throw out a fix.

EDIT(3/28/2012): Hp released BIOS F.07 update to fix the keyboard issue. I have updated to that version and I am convinced, and can conclude, that the keyboard issue has been rectified. So if you aren't running F.07, get that.

Later.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for HP Envy 15-3040NR 15.6 Inch Laptop (Black/Silver)

I purchased a custom Envy 15t-3000 directly from HP. I received the laptop 16 days after placing my order.

The laptop was packaged nicely, and the appearance of the Envy was amazing. The aluminum chassis was nice. If I held down the front left corner and lifted the right corner, the laptop only flexed about 1/4 inch. The backlit keyboard is a great touch, and the clarity of text on the 1920x1080 screen is wonderful.

That's where the good stuff ends. The computer cost $1224.99 after using a 30% coupon ($1749.99 originally), which I consider expensive. This expensive beauty cannot perform the simple tasks my $200 netbook does perfectly. I ended up returning the computer for a full refund. Many people in the notebookreview Envy 15 3xxx forums have done 3+ exchanges with HP just to keep getting computers with hardware issues. HP quality control is terrible.

Reasons I returned mine:

1. Terrible trackpad. Two-finger scrolling is difficult, random right clicks, detects palms as fingers while typing

2. Missing keystrokes. Different letters at different times would not register as I typed them. If I pressed T 100 times, it would only register 5 of the pushes.

3. Display. The clarity of text was nice, and I didn't mind the orange issue (reds appear orange), but a 1920x1080 in a 15inch screen doesn't work well. I had to used 150% dpi, which some applications such as iTunes cannot handle well.

4. Audio Issues. Random volume increases and decreases, and many times I had to throw my headphones off my head to save my ears from instant, unexpected pain. The Beats volume wheel will randomly increase volume as it is turned to decrease. Listening on the lowest possible volume setting was still very loud. Static through headphones when nothing is playing. Beats software stopped working after installing updated driver to fix above issues.

5. Heft. This thing was heavy, and it is unusually long making it difficult to put into my DaKine laptop backpack (designed for 15inch laptops).

6. Back up. It took 3 hours to burn the 5 backup disks. No way am I doing that again if I exchange. So, I'm getting a refund instead.

7. Performance. It's not much faster than my Asus UL30vt. My envy had the hybrid drive, and that only took about 5 seconds off of boot times, and 2 seconds off of Outlook open times.

My build

Envy 15

* Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

* 2nd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2670QM (2.2 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 3.1 GHz

* 1GB AMD Radeon(TM) HD 7690M GDDR5 Discrete Graphics(TM) [HDMI, DP]

* 8GB 1333MHz DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)

* 750G 7200 rpm Hybrid Hard Drive

* Microsoft(R) Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word/Excel(R) only, No PowerPoint(R)/Outlook(R)

* 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery

* 15.6-inch diagonal Radiance Full HD Infinity LED-backlit Display (1920 x 1080)

* SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support

* HP TrueVision HD Webcam

* Intel 802.11a/b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth(R) with Wireless Display Support

* Full-size Radiance backlit keyboard

* Adobe(R) Photoshop(R) Elements 9 & Adobe Premiere(R) Elements 9

* 2 year limited warranty included

* HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope

Cheap HP ProBook 4520s XT988UT 15.6" LED Notebook (2.53 GHz Intel Core i3

Customer Ratings:

I purchase a lot of laptops for my friends, colleagues, relatives and etc. But This one is much more better and cheaper than other comparable laptops. Bluetooth, webcam, card reader, dedicated num pad, metal cover, color and etc what I liked on that.

Great deal, recommend everyone, of course if the price is as low as when I bought it:-)))

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This computer is beautiful looking and extremely fast....

The machines metallic surface is very pleasant to the touch and to the eye. As soon as I took it out of the box I as impressed with it. The dark brown color is truly handsome.

Without being extremely hefty, the machine sports a beautiful large screen and soft full keyboard.

This design and size and speed is without my favorite among hundreds of laptops I have used before.

It has a lighning Fast i3 processor.

And 2GB have proved enough for speed at least for me.

A definite winner....

Best Deals for HP ProBook 4520s XT988UT 15.6" LED Notebook (2.53 GHz Intel Core i3

very nice laptop comes as described, very light too its size is kinda big but its not very heavy at all, appearance is amazing too, very professional for school or work, the camera is awesome very clear on Skype. One bad thing is if you want to upgrade the ram there is no specific spot for it( the whole computer needs to be opened from the bottom which I think pretty much kills your warranty)!, one thing to note the computer at first froze a couple of times I thought there is a problem but don't worry though its a Microsoft windows 7 issue after several updates it works fine.

IT DOESN'T GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS LAPTOP BEST FEATURES AT THE LOWEST PRICE HP IS THE BEST!

Honest reviews on HP ProBook 4520s XT988UT 15.6" LED Notebook (2.53 GHz Intel Core i3

One of my favourites!!! Cool look good finish.Just tht after i buy it i have to add 2gb ram more n its running faster.Infact i bought 2 of these.

Apple iBook Laptop! 14" Screen G4 iBook 1.42 GHz Processor, 1GB Review

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I am happy with this computer. I had trouble with some keys not working when I first got it. The keyboard was swapped out and everything was fine. A few days ago I started having trouble when I used the right shift key. Using that shift key caused everything I just typed to disappear. I have been using the left shift key instead and all is well. I will contact the seller for "help" but have not done so yet. The seller has been very cooperative about helping me get used to my new computer and replacing the faulty keyboard. I am just outside the one month warrantee that comes with a refurbished computer. I hope the seller will be able to solve the right shift key malady. I thought getting an Apple laptop for under $400 was reasonable price. I don't know if keyboard problems are common for laptops or if I am just unlucky.

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Mac was delivered over 10 past the last day it was promised. The box was destroyed that it was sent in. When I tried to use the Mac the operating system wasn't installed properly resulting in the WiFi not working. Most of the promised applications wouldn't work because of that. After repeated attempts to resolve this with seller and being absolutely abused by them I ended up having to file an A to Z claim with Amazon. I would never, never, never consider purchasing something from ClasMac EVER again, even if they were giving it away for free! Please take this review very seriously and give them wide berth and save your self lots of frustration, abuse and time. They have another very bad review that they tried to convince me was the purchaser and not them, hmmmm.....

Best Deals for Apple iBook Laptop! 14" Screen G4 iBook 1.42 GHz Processor, 1GB

I Have owned a I book g4 14.1' 60GB For quite some time now. And it preforms very well for all user applications. The shipping was fast thanks to DR Bargains. I currently own one and I'm very Happy with it. I would definitely buy this laptop again. Thank you apple!

Honest reviews on Apple iBook Laptop! 14" Screen G4 iBook 1.42 GHz Processor, 1GB

We bought this for my mother, for Christmas. I am not a Mac user. But, she is coming along. It would've been nice if it had a NEW outer casing. It looked slightly used. But, so far, so good.

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I am always skeptical when purchasing "refurbished" electronic equipment; especially computers. However, I am absolutely please with the quality of both purchases (that's right i came back for a 2nd). Additionally, the vendor was very prompt in replying to my emails regarding set up questions.

Without question i would/will use them for all my refurbished computers in the future and would encourage others to do the same.

Jeff from Texas

Discount Gateway M675 Notebook Laptop Computer

Customer Ratings:

My experience with Gateway has been terrible. Here is my story. I decided to purchase a new laptop computer last month and with Lenovo buying IBM Thinkpads, I decided to try a new brand (I have owned IBM Thinkpads in the past). I ordered the $3,000 Gateway NX 860 XL before leaving for vacation in March and received it while on vacation. Upon returning home, I had a business trip scheduled and decided to open and use my new computer. Within 3 days of using the computer, my power supply failed and I was without my laptop the last 2 days out-of-town. At the same time, Gateway was proactively trying to schedule a technician visit to fix a faulty video card within this computer. At this time, I decided to return the machine because of its lack of dependability. Now it came time to deal with the customer service department. When buying the machine I was assigned a sales rep who promised to be available with any questions I might have in the future. Therefore, this was the first person I tried to contact with the problems on my new machine. Needless to say, I NEVER received an answer from him after numerous voice/emails. Next, I wrote a letter to the CEO and finally received a call back from Gateway executive offices. A gentleman in that department informed me that I was outside the 15 days return policy (by 2 days) and that instead of getting a refund, I would have to return the machine for service. The next day my machine incurred another defect the screen failed. I can hear the machine start but I get no response from the screen (I even attempted to externally connect the laptop to another video screen with no luck). This was the final straw. I called both my sales representative (no response) and my new contact (from Gateway executive offices) leaving 4 messages in 2 days with no return call. It was not until I searched through the Gateway voicemail system that I got a real person who physically delivered the message to my contact for me.

After speaking again with Gateway executive offices, I received the same conclusion no return and I would need to send it back to the company. He informed me that it would take 1-5 days to receive a box from Gateway to pack up and ship out my product. Then, it would take 2 weeks to service and if I'm lucky to have my machine back in a month. Are you kidding? I have already ordered a new machine (Lenovo). Right now, it is as good as a $3000 doorstop.

All I wanted to do was return a product that did not work. In my business, reliability is extremely important and this machine is not reliable. Also, Gateway does not show respect for their customer. They hide behind policies instead of standing behind their product and realizing a product defect on their side.

Don't buy Gateway. The computer is lousy and the customer service stinks.

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I am an IT Professional with 7 Degrees and Certifications. In fact I am working on 3 more now. I have had the M675 since 2004. It is still going strong. I also have a Gateway M685 (2007) that has bit the dust hard. It needs a new laptop screen. And I have a Gateway NW78 (2010). Obviously I like Gateway and their full size keyboards. The M675 is as solid as can be. It has had some work done on it but it still works. I am going to upgrade it to Windows 7 in the next two weeks. It does get hot but I am sure it will be around for years. It just works. It has 4 TB of external drives attached and just has no issues at all. Wireless works great.

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I've owned the Gateway M675 notebook since February of 2003. The only problem that I've had with the system was a motherboard problem, which Gateway fixed without issue. Aside from that, I've used this computer for all of eight years and while heavy, it's extremely reliable.

The wireless, Gigabit Ethernet, CD-RW/DVD-RW drive works great, keyboard, LCD panel, front audio controls and everything else.

The only thing that I've had to buy for the system for replacement was a new battery (about $35) and a new power supply (about $45) a couple years ago. I also upgraded the RAM to the max capacity of 2GB and the hard drive to a 160GB drive.

Overall, I'd place the downfalls on this unit with the fact that it doesn't boot from USB devices, but then again, this laptop was made in 2003 and was no longer manufactured after 2005. The boot from USB requirement in the hardware simply did not exist in 2003. Why they haven't since added it, I don't know (the existing hardware technology would certainly support it).

Also, other downfalls are weight and heat. It's 8.7 lbs on my bathroom scale and the heat it generates is quite a bit...don't actually use this system on your lap, your thighs will be burning in no time. My boss felt the heat coming from the system while sitting on my desk and he actually said "Man...you can pop popcorn with that kind of heat!"

Other than those, I would place this system as a very, rock solid system. I've had more parts fail in my desktop computers than I have with this laptop (which is actually a desktop replacement system given it's got a 2.4Ghz Pentium 4 processor, 2GB of RAM, 160GB HDD, 802.11g/b wireless, CD/DVD burner, four USB 2.0 ports and a FireWire (1394) micro port, and an ATI Raideon Mobility 9600 with 64MB Video RAM). Oh...it's got a floppy drive as well, but you can obtain accessories to go into the left bay (where the floppy drive is) that will enable other functions and features.

Honest reviews on Gateway M675 Notebook Laptop Computer

I have had this computer for about a month now.And it is great.At first I said I would not buy a gateway when they first came out because I owned one a long time ago and it was not nice.Thats when windows 98SE was out and that was the worse operating system I have ever noticed. Ever! But now you have vista to take it's place.So I decided to go ahead after years of thinking and I bought this gateway and it is by far the best looking and the best working one I have seen today.I work on computers and I would normally by a dell are a IBM around 5 years of age because they last forever.They new model computers I don't care what model they are will last you for a year tops if you use them enough.As you can see this laptop is still around and still working! Get it ! How many can say that when they go to besy buy and buy a laptop new! How many times did you go back and if your warranty was up you were screwed! Its a great laptop with a full keyboard I mean a full keyboard like you have on a desktop.Not squeezed together like the newer model laptops! All kind of buttons for your every need.I give this laptop rave reviews and its still going and count the years when it first came out and then count the years of the newer model laptop you have and does it still work.For this laptop to still work after 8 years I am please with no problems so how about that! Cant say that for many laptops now a days.You get 1 year with all that junk in it and it will last 1 year.Now I ask you whats better a laptop working for a long time are a suped up one that last a year.I got my money worth plus and this laptop still works without a hitch.Upgraded to 2gb of memory and 100gb hardrive.And now I can add up to 500 gigs with the new IDE PATA DRIVES.Man I have no complaints take it from me it will last you for ever! And I can put any operating system on it including Windows 7. Hows that for a laptop 8 years old and still can hang better than the new laptops Haaaa! haaa!! I bet you understand me now! Good luck cause this laptop rocks!

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I purchased my new Gateway laptop and since I had not heard anything bad about the company, expected to have a satisfactory product. My main complaint is the exceptionally slow time it takes to install a program. The install goes along at a reasonable time frame copying the program to my hard drive from CD. But at the final install step which it states will take two minutes, instead goes on and on for hours. That was my spyware program. A few days later, I tried to install programs which came with the computer and again, two hours later when I tried to stop the install, a message came up that 'program xxx is still installing, do you want to quit?' I responded 'no' and the install contined for another two hours. I finally stopped it and have not bothered to install any other programs. My advice? Do not buy a Gateway.

Reviews of HP 2000-2c29WM 15.6-Inch Laptop PC (Black Licorice) / 4GB DDR3 RAM

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $449.99
Sale Price: $399.99
Today's Bonus: 11% Off

I do a lot of research before spending a lot of money on purchases. After reading reviews on several sites I decided to go with HP. I am very satisfied with this laptop, very good speed and no hangups!

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I am very pleased with this laptop. The start-up was easy. The screen and keyboard size is great. This laptop meets our needs for surfing the net, playing games, and word processing. This laptop appears to be very sturdy as well. I would recommend this product to anyone.

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Bought is as a gift. Sister raves about how nice it is. Can't go wrong. Buying another if I can find it at the

Reviews of Acer Aspire 3680-2682

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I got my notebook computer in August 2007 for my Birthday at Wal-Mart. This is my first notebook computer, but not first computer. At first I was scared about getting it, because when you buy something at a low price. Lot of time you end up getting what you pay for. I'm thankful I got it now. The sound is good on it, also the screen is nice. I like the speed on it.

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My Acer Aspire 3680 has no sound. I looked on the Internet to see if someone knew the solution. It seems everyone who ownes one of these has problems with the sound and no one knows how to fix it for sure. Some have had success by replacing the sound card (expensive). I'm not going to waste any more money on mine.

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I brought this Acer because a car accident put me in bed after a while. Previously I always enjoyed how you got more bang for your buck with a desktop. Anyway, since I wasn't planning for the purchase, I initially was looking for machines under $1000. But then I saw the Acer for about 1/2 that price. I was stuck on it because unlike many other machines in it's price range, it had 1GB of RAM installed; which I heard was a must for MS Vista. So I took the plunge.

Right away, I was impressed with the sleek look of this laptop. When closed, it is metallic silver with "Acer" placed demurely on the upper corner of the lid. Opening it up reveals a black keyboard placed close to the screen to afford enough room to rest your wrists. The display is gorgeous...clear and crisp. You have the standard laptop goodies...like a DVD burner, a multi-card reader, Ethernet port, USB ports. The only thing lacking was the Firewire port.

Acer's pre-installed software (Acer Arcade and the "Empowering Technology" app) are pretty handy. There is not as much "bloatware" as other machines have.

My main complaints with the machine are that the speakers are not good at all (listening through my iPod's headphones were a great improvement...so consider that!). Also, it has an odd "scroll square" thing between the touchpad buttons...I can't seem to get used to it. The 80GB hard drive is not the largest, but also Acer partitioned it into two (which seems odd...and prompts me to check my disk space, and I just got the machine!) And finally for volume control...you have to use the "Fn" key with some keyboard keys which can be tough in dim lighting where you can't read the blue decals on black so well.

Other than that, I am really pleased with this laptop. For under $500, you really can't do to much better. And most people would never know it cost that much by looking at it and seeing it's capabilities first hand.

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personaly i think this laptop is great for people who are just using it for chool work resumes you know college stuff. but i dont recomend this laptop for the people who love to play online games,music,and basicly people who stays on the internet 24/7 because the wireless capibility isnt all that great plus the vieo crd thats manually installed isnt going to match up with most online games these days.So thats it though overall i give this laptop a 3 out of 5

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I have had my Acer since 2008. It was given to me used from my sister. I use it a lot for video and sound recording. Other than replacing the small hard drive with a larger one and upgrading the memory, I have not had a bit of trouble with it. Bought a spare battery for it 2 years ago. Tough laptop as it has fell off the seat in the van many times when some NUT would pull out in front of me. Still workks GREAT!!!!

Review of Acer C710-2055 11.6-Inch Chromebook (Iron Gray)

Customer Ratings:

I have never written a review before, due to the fact i have never felt the need to. This is a great supplemental computer. I not sure I would have it for my only computer for now but i can see it becoming one in the near future after some needed upgrades (Skype for one). If it had Skype it would be the perfect computer for deployed military members. I have been deployed multiply times so when i say that i want you to know where i am coming from. It is quick and exceptional for travel. People complained about the weight but that complaint carries no weight. 4 1/2 stars is what it deserves but that's not a choice. I would recommend to other computer users who like to explore new IT solutions. Acer is the way to go with this....not the other choices.

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Your instinct is to compare it to a Windows PC but this is a new internet device which is 100% cloud based. Its also a Google product machine yet it runs thousands of apps one of which is MS Office 365 which is cloud based if you must have complete compatibility with MS Office files. Security is a strong point since no Win malware can infect this new OS and you don't need anti virus at all.

The display on the Acer is better than the slicker looking Samsung but it also has a VGA port not just a HDMI which means you can create a desktop by porting your current vga monitor, usb mouse and keyboard; it also has a ethernet port not just WiFi. The 2GB memory version is very fast so this 4GB will allow even more tabs to be open and responsive. The 6 cell battery makes it competitive with Samsung version and runs Netflix with no flicker at all. It has 3 usbs which work well with flash, SD, usb HD and optical too but for mostly read only. Unlike Win it does not slow down with use and is being improved ever few months with new functions for free. The remote control Chrome app is great for networking with a Win PC if you must gain access to programs or data remote. Printing requires either a Google cloud based printer (I got an Epson wf-3520; does Apple airprint too and dual side scanning...all for $110..awesome) or a Win PC acting as a print server with legacy printers or you can print as a PDF and then port them with a flash drive to a Win based printer. If you get the $200 version you can buy a $50 6 cell battery from acer to get the extra endurance. If you want a full size screen than look at the HP version.

Update.....Acer recently replaced the HD with a 16G SSD for the 2MB versions which means it boots as fast as the

Samsung now and now they have done the same for the 4G HD version here; if boot speed is your thing then take a look at that model too.

Overall this is a great choice for any public use PC and for students of all flavors due to price and function........the more people get used to this OS the more they will like it since its the PC we should have had day one not the kludge MS created for us all...............

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I love Chromebook and I love the Acer C7; see my big review at Acer C710-2833 Chromebook or Acer C7 C710-2847 Chromebook.

However, *this* Acer C7 version is not the Chromebook for most users. Most users should get the Acer C710-2833 Chromebook for $199 instead. There are three changes in this Acer C710-2055: (1) 2GB extra memory for a total of 4GB; (2) a 6-hour battery instead of a 4-hour battery; and (3) a 320GB spinning hard drive instead of a 16GB SSD. Don't let the sizes fool you, the spinning hard drive is a significant downgrade in performance, and a larger hard drive offers little benefit on Chromebook for most users.

$80 is not a bad price for 2GB memory and a longer-life battery. But the hard drive is a downgrade. One of the best things about the Acer C7 is that it's upgradeable, so you could buy the $199 machine and upgrade the memory and battery yourself. (At present, March 2013, Acer C7 users mostly seem to get an after-market longer-life battery from a third-party supplier named CDW.) It would probably end up around $80 for an after-market upgrade too, so if you're sure you want the extra memory and battery life, this $280 one would be a reasonable choice; but for most users, I'd still advise against it because of the slow spinning hard drive.

Honest reviews on Acer C710-2055 11.6-Inch Chromebook (Iron Gray)

I bought this as an experiment, to some extent, although having downloaded ChromeOS to fiddle with over a year ago, I knew about what to expect. But I'd never used it exclusively on a dedicated machine. I'm very pleasantly surprised.

*The OS: Am learning more all the time, but have found it to be very useful once I resigned myself to using mainly Google Docs, which I had resisted up to now. It was a good thing to learn, because my misconceptions about its limits proved to be pretty much unfounded. Part of this machine's role will be as a travel laptop that will need to access company documents sometimes, and I now know that while I might not be doing heavy editing or writing a new SMS manual in Google Docs it will work for what I do need it to do. I also like the speed of the OS, both starting up and on the web.

The more I learn about ChromeOS, the better I'm liking it. There is a learning curve, but it's pretty easy. There is also a fun factor. I look forward to continuing updates and improvements, which will come to the machine in free, effortless updates nothing to keep track of. Freedom from malware is huge, too. Given what I intend to use it for, thumbs-up on the OS.

*The Hardware: I had tempered my expectations for the Acer, based on its low price I told myself not to expect too much refinement. But it's quite nice, really, if a little plain-vanilla looking; I've ordered a skin to jazz it up a bit. Quality seems good, fit & finish are fine, it's solid, I even like the keyboard. The screen is good, and bright enough for outdoor use I sit and work on the porch at home a lot. Battery life is as advertised about 6 hours. So no complaints about the hardware.

One reason I wanted the Acer instead of the Samsung is that I thought I might put ChrUbuntu on it, for the full OS and apps and the Acer, with its 320GB HDD, has ample room for the extra OS. It also uses an X86 processor, so it will run standard apps like LibreOffice unlike the ARM-based Chromebooks. I still might install ChrUbuntu, though I want to sound the depths of ChromeOS first. But even if I don't put the full OS on, I think the extra HDD room will come handy, as I'd like to keep large DrobBox and Google Drive folders on the laptop for off-line access.

Another thing I like about the Acer's construction is that HDD, memory and battery are replaceable or upgradeable. I like the idea that when SSDs get cheaper, for example, I could swap one in for a performance increase.

This is a good little laptop with surprising quality and speed at a very low price. I'm happy with my purchase and would recommend it.

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I love this little giant of a Netbook. I have a Kindle Fire HD-7 but found the fonts to small. Being in my late 50's and vision being being a real issue. I found the Chrome book the best value for the buck. If all you need is a good Netbook for bill paying, web browsing and basic use then this will be just fine. Having the ability to use Wifi and ethernet is excellent. The Chrome OS does not need any Virus protection and upgrades itself and you never really know it.It comes with a larger battery than the C710-2487, but has a "baby bump" on the bottom that adds a little more weight. A batt charger also comes with the book. The only two items I would suggest is the Case Logic 10-11.6 sleeve cover and a Mouse (easier to use than the finger pad). Its ready to rock when you open the lid.!! Don't wast your money on laptops that have more bells and whistles that you really don't need.

Lenovo IdeaPad Z580 16-Inch Laptop (2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 3210M 8 Reviews

Customer Ratings:

I've owned the Z580 for a few months and have found that this machine is a great value for it's performance level. The keyboard has a nice touch and feel and if you like having a numbers pad on the keyboard it's perfect(otherwise takes some getting used to). The cooling fan driver features a mode to clear dust (very useful) but otherwise operates super-quiet, nearly silent mode. The clear pluses on the value side are:

-Intel Ivy Bridge Core i5 machine for a nice price

-Classy look and feel; nice keyboard, lightweight and not a cheap setup

-Energy saving features and 5-hour battery charge

-Quiet and cool operation

The cons are:

-Issues with LED backlite driver; it reverts to an energy saving mode when rebooted (no fix as of this writing)

-Some sound features ("Dolby") but not as great as other laptops I've owned

-Video playing sometimes needs tweaking to get the best picture and sound

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The laptop is very lightweight, yet sturdy. I needed a laptop that would travel well, and this fits the bill.

Noise level nearly silent! :) Plus, it never gets hot in my lap!

Multi-gesture, sensitive touch pad. Its a bit too sensitive (ie, the occasionally (often) moves while I'm typing.

Numeric keypad one of the key factors in choosing this laptop was the inclusion of a numeric keypad. I do a lot of data entry. However, the keypad on this laptop is scaled down. Therefore, the natural position for data keying doesn't work. I find myself using the numberline above the alpha keyboard because its easier. Also, there is no indicator light for the Num Lock. Therefore, I always have to guess whether the Num Lock is in the on position. (The same is true for CAPS Lock.) This is very annoying. If a numeric keypad is a deciding factor in your laptop purchase, this is not the one you want.

They keyboard is supposed to be backlit. However, no function keys are assigned to this task. I've not yet figured out how to turn on this feature. (The salesman at the store was able to operate it, so I know its there.)

This laptop is responsive, it can handle a lot of graphics, and many memory eating programs at once. It is also easy to navigate back and forth between them thanks to Windows 8.

I use this laptop for presentations, video conferencing. The sound and video quality of this laptop are great. The forward facing camera works well. The DVD player works well and is easy to use.

Overall, I'm very pleased with this purchase!

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I was a little disappointed when I opened this laptop. It's dully lit in an enclosure that has an outdated design. The metallic color is an upside that kind of makes up to give a new gen look. Having used Lenovo T series for work for many years now I went with Lenovo because of it's good track record on reliability.

Pros:

Dolby sound (very impressive)

HDMI port (Connected to TV to watch a movie on Netflix with subtitle)

Quiet operation

Rugged built quality keys

LCD screen

Metallic finish

Cons:

Outdated design In the age of ultrabooks this bulky laptop's designers still live in the past

No fancy lights (while competitors offer backlit keyboard this laptop don't even have a wasy to indicate battery is charging)

Inferior camera

Wi-Fi (can be spotty at times, takes a while to connect)

Bulky

This will be a good fit if you are looking for an entertainment PC that you don't need to have it on your lap all the time. Plenty of storage (1TB) with decent performance (I5 6GB RAM).

Windows 8 is tricky and has already hanged-up and crashed a couple of times. I haven't installed any app other than anti-virus. A few times laptop installed windows updates but failed to complete the installation.

Honest reviews on Lenovo IdeaPad Z580 16-Inch Laptop (2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 3210M 8

I bought this computer and have been very satisfied. It is not as described in another opinion. It is extremely quiet. Works fast. Easy to figure out, once you get used to Win 8. In my opinion you get alot of bang for your buck with this sweet running PC.

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I'm enjoying this computer though the touch pad is large and touchy. I sometimes get pages popping up that I don't intend, seems to be getting better with more use.

Windows 8 start page (replaces desktop) is like apps on a phone and takes some getting use to. Can switch to the previous style desktop too as needed.

For my email, bill paying, Quicken, Facebook, etc. it has been so much faster than my older, cheaper eMachine that I finally gave up on. Seems like this is a fair price for what I got.

Review of Sony VAIO VGN-NW120J/S 15.5-Inch Laptop - Silver

Customer Ratings:

This is a nice looking laptop and I like the design.

As for speed and performance, it's a lot faster than my old Dell so no complaints.

I'm motivated to review the touchpad here because to be honest it's driving me crazy. It's not a smooth touchpad you'll see from the photos that there is a slight texturing to it. I didn't think it would be a problem but my fingertips no matter how light or hard I press don't move smoothly over it in any direction but downwards. They catch and start-stop. It's so frustrating I went back to the dealer and we tried cutting a plastic iPhone cover down to size and affixing it over the touchpad but it didn't stick very well. Sadly I'm contemplating returning it which would be such a shame.

I don't mind using a USB mouse but still I encourage anyone thinking of going with this particular design to really give the touchpad a try. Maybe it's just me, but ... ugh.

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Nice product in a very good value. My only disappointment was the battery duration. I never could get up to 5 hours as described in the product especification. Battery lasts for as much as 2 hours. Consider in your budget a long duration (6-9 cell) extra battery.

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I do not like the bumpy, textured touchpad my finger catches frequently even with the lightest pressure and it is simply unpleasant to the touch, especially during long hours of use. The experience is obnoxious enough that I am considering getting rid of this laptop after only a few days!

Battery life is only ~2 hrs, not 5 as advertised.

Otherwise, the laptop is fast and attractive.

Honest reviews on Sony VAIO VGN-NW120J/S 15.5-Inch Laptop - Silver

I have nothing but good things to say about this computer. It runs fast and has everything on here that I need and more. Everyone else review has said it all in regards to good things. The only negative I agree with is battery life but for all the good that comes with this... I can deal with that.

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Though my Sony laptop has been dependable, I will never buy a Sony again. Sony has no automatic updates for software, hardware or drivers. They do not even have all of the Sony models listed, including the model that I own. They say that you can sign onto their site to see what if any updates might be available for your model, but if your model is not listed, then it is difficult to get to that site. Even if you do get to a comparable site, the updates that are listed tend to be generic updates that are applicable to a wide range of models. When I asked them which updates I should download, they said I should download the updates that fix any problems I am having. That is fine for serious problems because I actually know that I have them, but that advice does nothing for those subliminal problems that do not crash a program, but merely slow down the computer function. I am just a moderately savvy computer user, so Sonys might be great for the advanced computer user. Otherwise I would suggest that you look for a brand that gives better automated support if your computer knowlege ranges from limited to moderate.

Cheap ASUS F55A-ES01 15.6-Inch Laptop (Black)

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $399.99
Sale Price: $319.99
Today's Bonus: 20% Off

All is well with this product except for the touchpad, and that may be more me than anything else. I have never really liked or gotten used to touchpads, so will use this laptop with a mouse. Good price on this unit, and I have no regrets.

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Nice shape, very good keyboard design, it's not the best laptop in the market for sure, If you are looking to play the latest heavy duty 3D games, for sure you should look for something else, but for daily use, Internet with multi tabs on the browser, Chat software, Skype, Play basic games, type word documents, spreed sheets, it's very useful. Yes if you compare some other laptops with this one, they may load the operating system faster with one or two seconds, and run the other software faster with 1 sec, but for sure that does not bother me for the price I spend on this laptop, in another word, this one second faster thing does not worth to pay extra $100 or around.

It has 2GB of RAM, and 320GB of HDD storage space, for me, no need for more than 2GB of RAM, (and now i'm already opening 13 tab on my internet browser + Skype + watching movie all at the same time ), and for the storage space, it's fair enough, and in future if I need more space, i will get external HDD).

Anyone who want a low price laptop with a good shape, nice quality, good branded name, this should be the choose.

I tried to check the Asus website for drivers for this product ( as type of checking for future needs and there services, and I found at http://www.service.asus.com/#!downloads/c1wax ) that this product does not need any drivers if you are using Windows 8 32bit, that means all drivers already included in Windows OS.

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Great laptop Easy to use for school projects plays games perfect laptop for a starter laptop I think it is amazing

Honest reviews on ASUS F55A-ES01 15.6-Inch Laptop (Black)

It is a great deal for an actual laptop.I didn't have super high expectations, and don't need anything fancy. I've had no troubles with it so far. Its not quite as sturdy as my old HP laptop, and a little "noisy." Still, for the money, best deal ever.

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Very happy with the computer and it came with a great price tag (considerably better than an HP!!). Just wish it didn't have Windows 8.

Dell I15RV-1428BLK Laptop Computer / 15.6-inch Display Screen Reviews

Customer Ratings:

First I might say that I bought this identical computer model but my stock number was 1430BLK instead of 1428, but I can see no difference in the features. Ther are 4 USB plugs in mine. Disappointing is the absence of a parallel and serial connections, but there is an HDMI output for HD TV. I am not sure if the battery is the same as mine.

Good basic computer for the price. But I must admit I got it from a big box store and paid about $300 for it last week, so that might have affected the 5-star grade I gave it.

It boots up in no time. There are some pauses when it runs, but few. It is way fast enough for me web surfing, much faster than my old Pentium-4 2.8 GHz with 2 Gigs of memory.

Don't let the "slow" [dual-core] clock speed fool you. With the super fast memory, large data caches on the CPU, and the 64-bit operating system and hardware, it is pretty smooth. The state-of-the-art architecture more than compensates for the clock speed. This CPU was issued just last winter, and uses only 17 Watts, yet the power supply/charger is 65 Watts, with enough headroom for the DVD, LED monitor, and other peripherals.

The Windows 8 seems scary too, at first, but I transferred my favorites, documents, etc. with the help of a USB plug-in drive, and "mastered" the OS in two days, making shortcut buttons on the desktop for things I knew I would use again. There are downloads for two huge user manuals from the Dell website, which I haven't looked at yet. I got help from a $15 book on windows 8, called "Windows 8 in easy steps" which got me out of a few jams.

Win 8 changes are mostly cosmetic. Some things about the Win 8 interface are definitely confusing, and some features changed, but "under the hood" the technical functions are very similar to XP, but looks nothing like XP. Once you shrink or delete the "apps" boxes, and fix your own virus checker, etc. (Dell pushes Mac Afee) it ain't so bad.

Microsoft has tried to combine the typical mobile-gadget human interface with the classic desktop OS look. It is like two operating system interfaces in one. You can choose which way to go. and you pretty much have to do your own desktop building. The only thing MS puts there is the trash icon and the explorer icon (with the familiar "e".)

I myself do everything from the desktop interface. I never used cell phones or mobile devices so that interface is weird to me. There are some functions that, in order to use, you have to go to the "apps" interface.

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This Item is very good, in this moment I am using and has perfect funtion, available to browser explorer and fast search.

Reviews of ASUS G53SW-XA1 Republic of Gamers 15.6-Inch Gaming Laptop

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I've had this computer for about 3 days, and my feelings on it went from wanting to defenestrate it, to pure love. For starters, I ordered a separate 256GB corsair solid state drive so I can have fast boot and load times for the OS and apps. Now, installing an additional hard drive in most laptops requires mostly just removing the bottom plate, but not for this laptop. With this laptop, I had to remove the keyboard by prying it out and then carefully unlatching the connectors from the computer. Then, I had to remove the the piece with the touch pad and unscrew a set of screws that are holding the bottom plate in. Then, I'm finally able to remove the hard drive cover underneath the laptop after the last bit. Why did Asus have to make such a trivial thing so complicated?

Anyways, after I finally got to the hard drive bay I found out that the second empty bay has no bracket to hold a hard drive in. I looked online and nobody was selling them. Yes, that's right: this computer IS ADVERTISED as having the capability of storing an additional hard drive, but the company is not including or even selling any bracket to allow me to do it! I couldn't find them anywhere! So luckily, my drive was a solid state, with no moving parts. What I ended up doing is taping some business cards underneath the solid state drive and letting it rest evenly on those, and then folding one of them between the space that the drive and the bay would occupy so that it doesn't wiggle around. No issues so far, I'm pretty furious that I'm being put in this situation, and I'm definitely giving Asus a call and demanding that they ship or sell an extra bracket to me. There is absolutely no reason at all why I have to do this.

Lastly, once I got everything in place I decided to use the recovery cd's that I created in the beginning to reformate/unpartitian the primary drive and install windows 7 on the solid state drive... but guess what? The recovery cd's do not have the capability of reformatting. What I had to do was hunt down an .iso of windows and burn that to a disk, then use it as my windows install... because the recovery cd is not a 'true' windows. I don't understand why Asus doesn't include a generic windows dvd since, you know, I PAID for the licence and it costs them next to nothing. They did include a driver CD, which is generous.

So that's all the bad stuff out of the way. Once I got everything up and running and with the right setup, things got much better. For starters, the performance on this thing is top-notch. With a solid state drive as the main OS, this laptop boots up in 20 seconds. It handles everything I throw at it with ease. I have the laptop outputting to a second 24 inch monitor as an expanded desktop and it runs starcraft at full resolution and mostly high settings at around 40-60 fps. Best of all, it doesn't 'downclock' to cool down like most of the laptops out there do. The reason for this is an extremely efficient cooling system in the back that blows air out one vent and sucks in air at the other. This keeps things relatively stable, and quiet. I'm not waking up my GF while I game on starcraft after she goes to sleep, and in comparison the Envy 17 I had and returned before this (which cost a beefy 2300) sounded like a jet engine.

This is a top-notch gaming rig, and I'm very happy with it so far. Would I recommend to anyone else? Well, it depends. If you're going to be happy with the measly 500GB of storage, then yes. However, if you want to do what I did or install a larger capacity hard drive, then I recommend you tread lightly or have a certified technician do it for you.

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We all know this is an incredible buy for the price, except for the reviews. I looked into this machine long and hard before I purchased it. Many from many vendors haved arrived "doa" and also had issues with the power button. Well believe it or not you can fix it yourself in about 5 seconds, all you have to do is swipe a magnet over the palmrest area (I go from right to left across the bottom) and wham your laptop WILL turn on. I recieved this yesterday as many had, it would not power on, let it charge for a bit, and tried the button some more, still didnt work, then tried the magnet trick and it has been working great ever since. There is a video on youtube of someone doing this as well if you need further assistance. Further what is actually happening is a sensor that is supposed to sense the lid closing is too strong (it is magnetic) it can over time while sitting build up a "magnetic charge" and thinks the lid is closed when it is not, by using a magnet you are resetting the switch. Should you have to do this? No, but at the price I dont find it to be an issue (mine has been working fine since the initial swipe of the magnet, ie the power button has been working, and if it stops in the future I know to keep a magnet handy).

Best Deals for ASUS G53SW-XA1 Republic of Gamers 15.6-Inch Gaming Laptop

Excellent laptop, people who want to play games, but don't like to spend 1000$ +

It was problems with magnetic proximity switch it (is remain magnetized, so when you push start button nothing happened). Basicly it think's that Lid is still closed and preventing laptop from starting (this is Asus safety measures).

For people who are not advanced in PC hardware it can be a real chalenge. Cause they can think that laptop is not working and try to return it. Don't do it please... The laptop is ok, there are no any hardware problem.

This is my solution (I am assembling PC's since 1996):

you just simply need to demagnetize the Sensore/switch:

Keep the system off, lid should be open and the battery in. It doesn't matter if the power cord is plugged in or not but its better if it is plugged in;

Ok now take a paper and put it on the palm-rest to the lower right side from the touch pad. To give you an idea, this is a 2 inch x 2 inch spot under the small sticker that says "New Revision Certified Design" and lies between the touch pad and the large sticker that shows system specs and features. Furthermore this is the very spot where the magnet in the LCD lid (located to the right side of the camera) comes in contact/proximity when the lid is closed;

Now take a light magnet with medium intensity, shouldn't be too strong or big and rub it in circles on that 2 x 2 inch square spot where you have placed the paper(The paper is only optional but it is recommended as it would save the palm-rest from scratches if any). Do this for a minute or two.

Press the power button and voilà! You are done.

Happy New Year and Kind Regards

Honest reviews on ASUS G53SW-XA1 Republic of Gamers 15.6-Inch Gaming Laptop

For me the laptop came and is working flawless. No power button issues or any problems for that matter. I can play Skyrim on high settings, and I'm blown away by the screen. 1080p on a 15inch looks very very nice. I don't normally write reviews but I had to on this item since it seems to be getting bashed pretty badly. I noticed the negative reviews before my purchase but took my chances based on the fact that all Asus motherboards I've bought were always top notch products. Needless to say at $900 you really can't get a better or a more powerful laptop. You have the assurance of buying from Amazon so if you got a faulty one, you can always return or exchange. Asus also comes with a one year accidental warranty which I thought was a nice touch since my last laptop from hp was ruined when my wife's friend spilled wine all over the keyboard..

For anyone who's on the fence about this laptop, I would say go for it. Chances are there are many who's bought this laptop and has a had no problems like me. The laptop is cool to the touch and the construction is very sturdy. The back cooling system looks great and works even better. I'm at lvl35 with my bow/thief in skyrim, and it's always so amazing to me that such a small little machine can run it so smoothly.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for ASUS G53SW-XA1 Republic of Gamers 15.6-Inch Gaming Laptop

I received the Asus G53SW-XA1 as a gift for christmas/birthday. This gaming laptop is a beast and runs all of my games perfectly, I would highly recommend buying it if you're an avid gamer!

There is a slight drawback though there are two minor flaws that can be easily fixed/avoided.

1) Power Button won't work: Rub a medium strength magnet on the bottom right area of the touchpad.

2) Power Pin is fragile: Buy an "L" connector for the power supply pin.

An interesting fact: the video card of this older series (G53SW/G73SW) is actually faster/stronger than the newer series (G53SX/G74SX).

G53SX/G74SX Video Card: GTX 560M, 128bit bus

G53SW/G73SW Video Card: GTX 460M, 192bit bus

Best Compaq Presario CQ50-210US 15.4-Inch Laptop (2.0 GHz AMD Athlon X2 Deals

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This Laptop is great for the price so far no complaints. Its great for business use. The Compaq Presario CQ50-210US looks similar to the HP 6000 series but without all the flashy aesthetics, which I prefer. Put in a finger print reader and it would be good to go.

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About six months ago i needed to purchase a laptop for urgent schooling reasons. At the time I knew nearly nothing about computers (buying or using)Some how i fell upon this Compaq presario and the price wasn't too unreasonable at $600 so i went for it.

The first bump in the road occured after the first month when i realized after about 25 "practice uses" for windows vista i was unable to use it anymore. In my haste i didn't bother entering my product key (located under the notebook) to make Vista official.

I also use my compaq stationary on my desk and kept it plugged in, so i never really realized the heat this thing gives off, and it DOES get HOT. So after some reading into it i bought a laptop cooler to prevent damage from overheating and whatnot. the fan can get rather loud as well(presumably from working so hard trying to keep it cool).

I had no problems connecting, and the few times it did have trouble, i shut it down, reset my wireless router and it was back up, so not the computers fault. I did notice that every so often Internet explorer will stop working(Not Responding) in the middle of use, resulting in opening task manager and closing the window. This doesn't happen an overwhelming amount, but enough to take notice.

Lastly(just a personal thing)the outside tends to get VERY smudgy. It's very slick looking when its clean, but easily leaves fingerprints.

Not a BAD computer, could be cooler, literally, and quieter, and my review probably could've been improved if i had been more knowledgable about the purchasing and the components of a good computer in the first place :P

Best Deals for Compaq Presario CQ50-210US 15.4-Inch Laptop (2.0 GHz AMD Athlon X2

I really like this laptop. Performance wise it is really good much better than I expected. The HP install of additional software is minorly intrusive, but it's easy to disable or uninstall the stuff that I didn't want. I use it as a general purpose laptop for accessing the internet, reading email, and watching videos. It fits my needs well. I've been able to successfully install Ubuntu Linux on the device, with the assistance of this link: . All features work correctly.

I paid $ for it (after $ in ). So from a price/performance perspective, that's one kind of hot.

But then there's another kind of hot. The devices generates extremely high temperatures. So high that I am concerned that the device will fry itself.

I use speedfan to monitor temperatures. The GPU seems to be parked at 110C, the CPU is typically above 60C sometimes going into the 70's and 80's, and the HD is usually around 55C sometimes spiking above 60C. The GPU and HD temp seem excessive to me: especially the HD. I just purchased a laptop cooler to deal with this (not yet arrived).

I occasionally need to leave the device running overnight (e.g. in order to complete a backup). In order to do this, I have to close the screen, and lean it against a wall so that the bottom side is exposed to open air. If I do that, the temps for GPU, CPU & HD fall back into much more reasonable ranges (GPU