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

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

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

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

I short, great buy!

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

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

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

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

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

Review of HP Pavilion dv6-3127dx 15.6" Entertainment Notebook, Intel Core

Customer Ratings:

This computer looks beautiful, the screen is awesome and has many great features. However, the trackpad is awful! I've owned many laptops and this is by far the worst trackpad I have ever used. I have adjusted the settings as much as I can with no luck. I read other reviews where people have said the same thing so I think it must be an issue with the models in this line. It takes forever to get anything done because you often have to click on something 3 times before it actually works. Then the cursor will just shoot out and you will end up clicking on something you hadn't planned to. Everyone says buy a mouse if you use this model but I don't want to use a mouse. Also, the computer seems sluggish as well, not what I expected from a computer with these specs. My Macbook is twice as fast and has half the RAM. I don't want to spend the money on a new Mac though so I am going to see if I can exchange this for something better.

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The production run for this computer was October 2010 December 2010. By the end of that year, HP had received so many complaints about this computer overheating that they requested retailers send the computers back to HP. The 3127 suffered too many catastrophic failures within the warranty period. In the next generation computer, HP changed the chip, the motherboard, and the fan.

I am highly suspicious of this model being sold as 'new' over 2 years after it's production run. I am guessing it's a gray market item (damaged or a return), since HP would otherwise have fuly compensated the retailer for the return of the computer.

Check Amazon for current HP models with a better i3 chip (2310, for example), 6gb of ram, and at least 640gb on storage for the same price or less. And buy from Amazon. The retailers selling this model will charge you a 40% restocking fee if you return it!.

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First off, this is a 2+ year old computer with 2+ year old technology. I found that a better configuration can be had directly from HP with W7 or W8 for the same price of $499 with current technology.

Second, having owned this model, I know that the 350M chip is a 'gas guzzler', so to speak. It's a power hog and drains the battery faster than any other computer that I have owned. The 7200rpm hard drive adds to this problem. But more than that, it generates so much heat that the fan, which seems to run constantly and at an irritatingly high level of noise, cannot keep up. Though I kept the computer on a flat surface, the smallness of the vent prevented the inadequate fan from dissapating enough heat. As a result, this model has rather frequent shutdowns due to overheating. Beware of this if you plan on using the computer for over 2 hours at a time.

Third, the chicklet keys do not have a bounce. So, they must be struck rather hard to get them to register. If you hunt and peck, this problem is minimized. But if you type with your fingers on the keyboard, you'll have to get used to the need to strike hard on the keys.

I can confirm similar issues with the touchpad and the lack of a numeric keypad is a bit of a pain.. The monitor technology was an improvement 2 years ago but it's been upgraded recently.

I guess my point is that $499 gets you so much more in the current configuration options. The technology used in this computer (motherboard, processor, ram, speakers, hard drive, and monitor) have all been upgraded by HP for the same price.

And one more thing. Though this is advertised as new, it very well may not have a warranty. If the two sellers of this laptop are not authorized dealers (and neither responded to that question when I posed it to them), you will not get the warranty. That began when the computer was purchased and ended a year later. And so if the high level of heat causes a meltdown, you will be paying for a new motherboard and cpu out of your own pocket. How these sellers came to have 3 antiquated models seems odd to me, unless these are returns.

Buyer beware on this product.

Honest reviews on HP Pavilion dv6-3127dx 15.6" Entertainment Notebook, Intel Core

Awesome computer! I was able to snag mine up on a Best Buy Black Friday deal for $499! I love it. It does everything that I ask of it and more.

Best ASUS Zenbook UX31E-DH52 13.3-Inch Thin and Light Ultrabook (Silver Deals

Customer Ratings:

I received the Zenbook a week ago and have the following to report, addressing most buyers concerns (including myself) when wanting to purchase the Zenbook:

I do hope you find it useful please vote this up if you did, to inform prospective buyers. Thanks!

Physical outlook:

The Zenbook largely resembles the MacBook Air in terms of svelteness. Even the tapering of the chasis 17mm-3mm is the same as the MacBook. This is a good thing because the Zenbook looks better than the MacBook air. The edges look more clean cut, more industrial looking. Definitely something for the corporate board.

Keyboard:

This is a hit and miss issue with many users. You either love it or hate it. I found the keyboard better than the MacBook because I could actually type faster on this laptop.

1. The keys have much lesser travel than the MacBook Air.

2. They are well spaced.

Some people were complaining about how unresponsive the keys would be. I had found that to be true when I first used the laptop, but adapted to the typing style, applying a little more pressure with each keystroke. Now I can type faster than I can with my iMac wireless keyboard!

It's just a matter of getting used to.

Poor Trackpad:

This is perhaps one of my most pertinent gripes about the Zenbook. The trackpad, like the keyboard is a matter of getting used to. Asus did a poor job in this aspect because they did not standardize the parts used in their Zenbook series. Some Zenbooks came with the Elan touchpad. Others came with the more inferior Sentallics branded touchpad. Both touchpads had different drivers and performance. The sentallics version performed poorly even with updated drivers and felt like using a year 20000-esque trackpad. There was very poor control over the trackpad, it seemed to have a mind of it's own especially when using multitouch gestures.

I managed to get the Elan trackpad, and my experience was not better off. When using two fingers on the trackpad in Opera (one finger on left click, the other to move the cursor around) the Zenbook did not recognize this even though my other finger was on the left click BUTTON. It kept recognizing this as a pinch and zoom, resizing the page I was browsing. This is irritating as I have to adapt to using the laptop with one finger. MacBook Airs don't even have a specific left click button and they don't accidentally recgnize my gestures as pinch to zoom. In this aspect, Asus has tragically failed in one of the key aspects of interaction with a laptop the touchpad.

Slow SSD:

As with the trackpad, the Zenbook shipped with two 128GB SSD variants, the slower Sandisk u100 and the faster, more superior ADATA SANDFORCE. I received the Sandisk variant and I'm seriously having buyers remorse on the purchase. Major reviewers (engadget, anandtech, pocketlint, ars technica) somehow received the superior ADATA variants as their test units, and based their judgement on the drive they received. Most buyers purchase because of the positive reviews made by them. Their reviews would have been much different with the SANDISK SSD.

What Asus did was misleading, and very inappropriate. Advertising the faster ADATA SSD's then shipping other units with the lousier Sandisk units.

The benchmarks I done using Crystal Disk Mark showed the vast difference in speeds. Below:

SANDISK

Size Read Write

4K 16.92 12.49

512K 253.2 21.81******

1GB 460.2 247.1

ADATA (Data from notebookcheck.net)

SIZE Read Write

4K 26.38 51.15

512K 374.7 131.7*****

1GB 429.6 132.8

As you can see, the speeds on the ADATA is easily 6 times faster on write speeds. The 1GB is similar but for day to day usage like surfing and microsoft office, the most commonly used size is below 512K. Thus, the ADATA offers a tremendous speed increase compared to the Sandisk.

As a consumer paying the same amount for a laptop, it is only fair that we receive what we expect. There should be no deviation from what Asus advertises and what we receive.

In this instance, getting a perfect Zenbook combination was like striking the lottery given the amount of permutations given. We only have a 1 in 4 chance of getting both the Elan touchpad and ADATA SSD.

Wireless Problem:

Many users were facing problems with their Wireless card receiving slow speeds. An updated driver would solve the problem. I did not experience the Wifi problem and the Zenbook worked fine out of the box.

I found that the weak wireless problem may be attributed to the Power Options settings. Goto power options -> change plan settings -> changed advanced power settings -> Wireless Adapter settings -> Power saving mode -> MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE.

Audio Hissing Sound:

Some users complained (in the UX21 reviews) that they heard very loud hissing sounds coming out of their earphone port with earphones. I did not hear it on my unit. Perhaps he received a lemon?

In conculsion:

Truth be said, I am not an Apple fan and was very happy to see such a good looking ultraportable that trumps the MacBook Air's air of sexiness. The zenbook is downright awesome to look at. The full aluminium chasis offers the kind of durability no other laptop can offer in it's class.

But with further comparison, the Apple ships with same compenents across the board. We appreciate this reliablility because we KNOW what components we are getting.

We aren't playing the lottery Asus, and this Zenbook certainly isn't my idea of a $1000 lottery ticket.

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This is a great notebook with awsome battery life (5+ hours of standward def video with 20% battery left), good keyboard (not as good as Lenovo's), good trackpad (after driver upgrade), good scren and great look. I do wish that I can find a place to purchase another power supply as I usually have one charger at work and one at home. Although the power supply is thin and small, I would love to have 2, but I cannot find any retailer's online that sells the power supply for this notebook. I also wish there is some soft of port aggregator for this notebook. On the right side of the notebook, you have power, USB3, mini VGA and mini HDMI port. ASUS could easily make an psudo dock that plugs into all 4 port then you have in instant notebook dock. Coming from a T series Lenovo, I miss the docking feature and not having to plug 3 things in everything I goto my desk (power, USB 3, and mini HDMI).

Warning: DO NOT UNINSTALL Instant on, PowerWiz and Power4Gear. When I did so, my computer begin to blue screen. I believe it has to do with how the hardware operates in sleep mode and how Windows expect it to behave in sleep mode. Those 3 software bridge the gap between what Windows expect and how the hardware behaves. Without it, don't expect a stable notebook.

HINT: I've had some wireless stability problem earlier, but that was solved by disabling MIMO power save in the advance setting of the wireless adaptor by going to Network and Sharing Center, Change Adaptor setting, right click the adaptor, properties, configure, Advanced, and set Dynamic MIMO power save to disabled.

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This is a brief video review of the Asus Zenbook UX31. I recommend this notebook for anyone looking for an ultra-portable and fast laptop that has a great design.

Honest reviews on ASUS Zenbook UX31E-DH52 13.3-Inch Thin and Light Ultrabook (Silver

To start with, I consider myself to be very tech-saavy and tech-educated. I don't discriminate on brand but rather on form and function. I've owned iPhones and Androids...I've used macbooks, laptops, and desktops and have built them (desktops) from scratch, etc. etc. When it comes to a machine like this, it is a whole different ballpark. At first, I was hesitant at purchasing the Zenbook. I wasn't sure if I wanted to purchase this or the Lenovo U300s or the Macbook Air (13 inch). I read reviews about how people hated the keyboard and the touchpad, how there were issues with the touchpad along with the wireless card and this scared me. Of course, the saying goes, an unhappy customer is louder than a happy one. Besides these issues, which I will address later, the specs on paper looked extremely good. The Zenbook is significantly faster than the Lenovo U300s and is neck in neck with the Macbook Air with a smaller price tag. The Macbook Air has better battery life but I think in this case, it is an operating system thing because if you bootcamp Windows 7 on a 13 inch Macbook Air, the battery life goes down to 4-5 hours compared to the Zenbook's 6-7 hr battery life (I haven't reversed it and installed Mac OS on the Zenbook so I can't give you details on that). So on paper, the Zenbook seemed to be the winner. As for looks, I personally prefer the Zenbook. I think it is one of the most beautiful laptop computers ever made. The Macbook Air looks bland next to the Zenbook and several of my coworkers fell in love with the design when they saw it and not knowing that it was mine, started talking about it behind my back. Looks and specs aside, user interactions are one of the most critical aspects of a good computer. I am currently typing this review on my Zenbook. Coming from Lenovo keyboards, my personal favorite the Logitech DiNovo Edge, and MacBook keyboards, there is a bit of stretch (maybe a couple days max) of getting comfortable with the keyboard but I wouldn't say it was a bad experience, it was a nice change and typing on the keyboard feels nice now. The trackpad, I have had no issues with. After reading the reviews stating that the trackpad was horrible and that it was okay after driver updates, I immediately updated drivers and the bios when I got the Zenbook and have no problems whatsoever.

Right now, if this were to be my review, this product would have 5 out of 5 stars however...this is actually my 2nd Zenbook. The first one I returned after noticing wifi problems. I uninstalled and updated drivers, I checked forums, I did tweaks but the wifi thing was killer for me. It would go from one bar to five even though I hadn't moved. Speed fluctuations all the time, I just couldn't take it and so I returned it and gave the Zenbook another chance. The one I have now has been smooth since day 1. No issues at all but because of inconsistency in production because I believe the wifi issue is a hardware issue and not a software issue that's a full star down.

Now for the more definite pros and cons list + comparisons.

PROS

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

1. Number 1 on the list has got the be the screen and the screen resolution. Macbook Air has a screen resolution of 1440 x 900. Lenovo U300s, 1366 x 768. The Zenbook trumps them all with a screen resolution of 1600 x 900. In my opinion, 1366 x 768 does not look good. Everything is huge and it's difficult to do work in. The Macbook Air has a slightly better resolution but the Zenbook really hits the spot. I can have two documents side by side or a browser on one side and my thesis work on the other...having a larger screen resolution, without breaking the bank, is crucial. Zenbook has got that hands down. As for the quality, it is a glossy screen and doesn't have as much pop in colors as the Macbook Air but it is still beautiful.

2. Speed. The solid state drive makes life so much faster! I've used solid state drives for years now and they make bootups and regular activity faster and snappier. The Zenbook boots up in about 25 seconds (that's loading up Windows and every random program that is in startup like the iTunes stuff, antivirus, etc.) It also wakes up from sleep in about 2 seconds, which makes resuming activity smooth and seamless. Also, gotta give credit to the Intel 2nd gen Sandy Bridge processor powering this thing. Works like a charm.

On a more technical note, the Zenbook comes equipped with a 128 GB ADATA Sandforce solid state drive. Read/write speeds are 550/500 MB/s. This is way faster than the solid state drive in the Macbook Air, which is a Toshiba SSD with read/write speeds of 200/190 MB/s (Mid 2011 Macbook Air).

3. Quiet

Lenovo U400 099328U 14.0-Inch Laptop (Graphite Grey) Review

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $799.99
Sale Price: $699.99
Today's Bonus: 13% Off

I got this laptop in the mail yesterday. Here are my initial thoughts on the laptop.

PROS:

Pretty fast, handles Source games at 1366x768 on medium/high with no framerate problems. Beautifully smooth.

Trackpad is big and spacious, is a joy to use in comparison to other laptops.

This thing is thinnnnn, not as thin as an ultrabook, but for a laptop with the components it has I don't think there are many that can match it. The ASUS U36SD is one of the few that can.

Stylish, great looking computer. The shell is a dark gray, it looks nothing like a Mac clone that some of the images make it out to be.

CONS:

A little more expensive than it should be, at 800/950 for i3/i5 configurations. The graphics card also isn't a very good one, typically considered midrange at best. This is excused by the fact that its in a thin, stylish shell.

The gestures on the trackpad stop working sometimes. This seems to be a bug with the driver, its definitely not a hardware issue. Hopefully this issue stops happening or is resolved soon.

This is a small (14") laptop, so the keyboard is a little cramped. Most keys are perfectly fine, but the left shift key is half as big as I'm used to, and the up arrow key takes up that extra space. I find myself hitting up every once in a while. Something that will be adaptable, but it will take some time.

Lastly, the keyboard isn't backlit. Not a big deal, but hey, its worth mentioning. The backlit keyboard could have really put it over the top as a high class laptop.

All in all, I'm quickly falling in love with this laptop. I would definitely recommend it to anyone that has the money to pay a little more for style. Here is an album of photos I took as I unboxed it.

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This PC laptop is simply amazing. The sturdy and beautiful design almost exactly mimics the Mac Book Pro for half the price. As far as performance goes, its pretty damn fast. Once I optimized the boot time, my laptop booted up within 18-20 seconds. The screen resolution and display is very sharp and a lot better than I expected any PC to be. In fact, I would argue that the quality of this laptop may even rival the display quality of the Mac Book. The touchpad is wide and spacious with very fluid finger motion sensitivity. The only problem with the touchpad is that it lacks sensitivity when you try to bring up a window of all the separate screens. It seems to only work when it wants to. The only other gripe I would love to see lenovo do with this laptop to put it over the top is that if they had a backlit keyboard or maybe having the logo light up inside the laptop once you turned on the computer, I know I am nit-picking but hey its worth mentioning. Overall, given the price when compared to the quality of my lenovo u400, I would say that this was definitively a better bang for your buck.

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I bought the computer in July and now it will not turn on. I tried everything advised online to get it going again but it is dead. I will be sending it back. Thankfully I stored everything in DB.

Honest reviews on Lenovo U400 099328U 14.0-Inch Laptop (Graphite Grey)

Good performance, great screen, decent boot times. The only downside is the trackpad, as others have mentioned. New drivers goes a long way for multitouch capabilities. But its still much too sensitive when typing and my palms accidentally brush it. The only real solution is to plug in a mouse and disable to the trackpad for long typing sessions.

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this is basically a copycat of mac design, for much cheaper, it's a great deal and I love it! very cool keypad, relatively thin, slick metal design

Cheap Thinkpad T410

Customer Ratings:

I bought this laptop aftre reading numerous reviews on lenovo thinkpad 410/420 line (incl the one from anandtech) and determined to get this. The model I bought was a discontinued model replaced by newer T420, but because of this the price was very competitive. 1000 dollar laptop for 600 dollars is a stellar deal.

I-core5, 2GB RAM (can be upgraded to 8GB), 320 GB HDD, DVD-RW (can be replaced by second hdd using ultrabay slim adapter (on ebay such adapters cost $12) and switchable nvidia optimus video adapter (can switch based on demand automatically from integrated intel to dedicated nvidia video adapter), 2mpix web camera (no hdmi but there is a displayport so need to purchase an DP-HDMI adapter later) .

The quality of build is very strong, esp keyboard well up to the high praise reviews I read before purchase.

Well worth it price!

UPDATE: found one problem with headphone jack, if you insert headphone into it, the sound would come out very strange, not normal, the voices will be lowered like for karaoke, but the other sounds and effects will be at normal level. I don't know, maybe it is due to the Optimus drivers that Nvidia cooks. But otherwise, it is still the best notebook I had.

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Excellent notebook for engineers and students.

strong quality , not beutifull external, but beautiful inside.

the notebook only needs to upgrade ram memory for best performance.

thanks Amazon, thanks Tigerdirect.

Reviews of HP Pavilion dv7-4285dx Entertainment Laptop - Intel Core i5-460M

Customer Ratings:

Top notch value. The i5 processor is a big plus and a noticeable difference from my last PC. The computing experience is elevated using this machine. The aluminum finish gives this a nice clean cut look. The battery life is 3.5 hrs which is excellent considering the power of the machine. The beats audio sound system is a pleasant touch when viewing multimedia. Also for those who are tired with all the "log-ins" online the fingerprint reader is a great bonus that can automatically sign you in with one swipe of the finger. With all the features, this laptop can go toe to toe with any other 17" laptop on the market and is drastically cheaper.

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I got this laptop and after haveing an Acer for so long this laptop really makes you relize what quality and performance HP gives in thier PC's.It has a fingerprint reader which is so nifty cause I just scan my finger to log on to any website or enter my computer super security.This laptop is wi-max ready which is helpfull for anyone who needs long distance internet.The Silver titianium shell is durable and pretty.This is the nicest laptop anyone can get for the price;Also consumer report's gives HP laptops Dv7 modle notebooks 74 out of 100.

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I can't say enough good things about this laptop. Flight Simulator X works great. Windows 7 is so much better then Vista, it works! Battery life is super long I have gone about 6 hours without the need to plug it in. It has room for a dual hard drive witch I like. The i5 processor is really fast. I love the Beats Audio System it sounds super.

Honest reviews on HP Pavilion dv7-4285dx Entertainment Laptop - Intel Core i5-460M

I have had this computer for 4 months now and I love it. For one thing, I love the exterior design. Be forewarned however, if you have you laptop in your room like I do and you don't turn in off every night, the HP symbol on the back glows... VERY bright, I have to set something on top of it to block out the light so I can sleep (I haven't checked, but there might be a setting to turn it off).

When you lift the lid of the laptop, you have a very neat and tidy layout. The screen is huge, so there is enough room on the keyboard to have a numlocks pad. I also like the mouse pad. You can use two fingers to scroll and you can also zoom in and out on any screen (I just tested this on the desktop too, and it changes the size of your desktop icons when you do that). On my older laptop, the finger pad, left and right buttons were all separate, but on this HP it is all on one pad, so that took some getting used to for me.

I also like having the finger scanner. I use it to log on to the computer quickly no more typing in user passwords. You can also use it to log on to other websites, such as skype, wellsfargo, hotmail, gmail, facebook, etc. HOWEVER!!!!!: DON'T EXPECT TO BE ABLE TO USE THIS FEATURE IF YOU ARE A GOOGLE CHROME USER!!! I hear it works on internet explorer and firefox, but as of YET, it is not compatible with google chrome. Personally, I can live without the finger scanner to log in to various sites until chrome gets this worked out I have no intention of switching to another browser.

The Webcam is FANTASTIC! I love it. Very high quality. It even has some fun features that come with it; faces, hats, drawing. It's cute. The microphone is also amazing. It will even pick up a very quiet whisper.

The graphics are beautiful, and the colors are very vivid. I am not a huge computer gamer, I just play Halo and Guild Wars and a lot of minigames on bored.com, but everything looks great while I play.

The speakers are good. I think the associate at Best Buy was right when he said that in order to use the Beats Audio to its full potential, you would have to get some external speakers or listen through headphones. But when I'm walking around the house, the speakers are good enough on their own.

USB plugs are on the side, not on the back. I like it when they are on the backside of the computer, because whatever you are plugging into the computer would be out of the way, but that's not possible with this computer because of the battery. It also only has 3 USB plugs.

The computer itself is also quite quiet. As I sit here now, even with multiple programs running and without the computer even being plugged in, it is very quiet just the faintest whisper of a fan.

And the battery life is long. Probably about 7 hours. I usually leave it unplugged on the kitchen table and it will last for about a week without it needing to be plugged in so long as I use the battery saving preference and close the lid when I'm done with it.

Before I decided to get this computer, I read the good and bad reviews from multiple sites. From my experience, it seems that people who wrote the bad reviews probably had a defective machine which is a risk with anything you buy, whether you're buying a laptop or xbox or a washing machine.

All in all, I love my computer. And this computer has turned me into a HP FanGirl. After this computer I got a HP External Harddrive, mouse, and my bf and I just bought a new HP Printer yesterday.

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Overall this is a great PC. It has performance, value, attractive, and reliable. I've bought 2 of them (one for me, one for my neice).

Acer Aspire 13.3-Inch Ultrabook / 3rd Generation Intel Core Reviews

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $1,399.99
Sale Price: $1,045.00
Today's Bonus: 25% Off

This is by far the best laptop computer I have every used, though it does have a few flaws as we all do. This is my response after about 3 weeks of daily use.

First the PROs:

1. It is as described very light and thin. I switch from use of this computer to another frequently and the heft and size make this movement easy to do without requiring movement of everything else on my desk. I like it!

2. The speed of the i7 chip and of the two solid state "hard drives" are also as described fast to recalculate large spreadsheets and quick to load any program. I have never had this performance available to me short of some sort of mini-computer.

3. And one is spoiled by the responsiveness of the solid state flash drives.... I don't ever want to go back to the performance of what many of us remember in the 1980s as Winchester hard drives which at that time we thought were above our expectations! Programs seem as if they instantaneously load.

a. I deliberately bought a unit with two 128 Gb solid state (flash) drives. After I loaded a normal (but not "extensive") array of programs I had only about 128 Gb of flash storage available for data and other programs. I needed that second drive and I anticipate most others will as well.

4. The solid state drives provide another advantage I never shut the machine off. I just save my files and close the cover when I am through work. There are no moving parts, no heat is being generated. The programs are in the condition as left at shutdown when I restart.

5. The unit is rugged. When I open the display by lifting from the left-hand corner, there is no strain on the display or movement of the chassis.

6. The screen is bright and easy to read from most any angle associated with my use.

7. The published (CNET) concern about not having enough ports is unwarranted at least for my use. It comes with a Bluetooth connection AND very nice Logitech Bluetooth Mouse. It also comes with an HDMI port AND an adapter to connect HDMI to VGA (for my large flatscreen monitor). So there remain unused two USB3 ports and a Thunderbolt port.

8. Music sounds both very well and adequately loud through the backward pointing sound system. I think sound from laptop computers has finally become adequate!

Then the NEUTRALS:

1. The fit and finish are smooth; the unit feels solid, balanced. The chassis is of jet black anodized metal; it's not shiny. There is no special appearance factor, except that it is thin and looks just OK.

2. The published (CNET) concern about lifetime of the lift system which exposes the array of ports at the back for use appears also unwarranted. Actually, this lift is nearly always in the upward position (exposing the ports) because it also raises the computer frame to allow improved heat transfer from the chassis. In my experience, the lift is nearly always in the up position to improve heat transfer or to expose the HDMI port for use to drive my flatscreen monitor.

3. Keystrokes are solid despite the presumed short stroke length with a thin chassis. They are not "springy" or "dead."

4. The keyboard is not backlit as are some on other machines. That's the single feature I missed on this machine

Finally the NEGATIVES:

1. The thinness comes with a price. Necessarily, the power switch (located on the back left side of the frame) is very thin, and hard for me to activate with finger or thumb. This flaw stops being annoying and becomes difficult when I have to hold the power switch down for 6 to 8 seconds in order to reboot (that does happen, especially with Chrome!).

2. The keyboard is a compromise, as I suppose one would expect with a thin/lite computer with a 13.3" screen.

a. While it has all the normal set keys, some of them are hard to access. and and half size and only accessible through simultaneously pressing the blue Function key. For those who use spreadsheets, this is a drawback.

b. And for those who use a word processor or Adobe Reader, both the and keys are impaired by being half-sized sharing and respectively.

c. The good news is that there are two broad keys, that the and keys are full-size. Four function keys are unused: , , , and . However, these keys do work in other programs.

d. The normal "full-size" keys are slightly smaller than those of an Asus laptop with a 13.3" screen which is not "thin" and "light" which has no half-sized keys.

3. It's overpriced! The Decide (http://www.decide) rates it on July 3, 2013 as a 71 on a scale of 100 with values above 90 being excellent buys and below 60 being "don't buy." The price from Amazon on that date was $1,099... From about late April to late May the price from Amazon had been between $925 and $975. I got it in late May 2013 for the lower number! The thing is that one really is socked for the second 128 Gb flash drive as the same machine with one flash drive sells for $710 at the same time.

And one more aspect of this purchase. Since it was actually made from an Amazon associate firm, they are not bound (apparently) bound by Amazon's pledge to collect sales tax in Texas. That outcome saved me nearly $1000!

SUMMARY

This is a fine machine. I would buy another at a favorable price.

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Best laptop I have ever owned. Thinnest, lightest laptop on the market. Uses two solid state drives in a RAID array that gives it the fastest read/write access of any laptop. Had issues getting the bluetooth mouse to work, as another reviewer pointed out, but once I fixed that it works beautifully (i deleted the existing driver, let windows install driver, now it connects automagically just fine). Long battery life, maybe 6+ hrs. So slim, light, long battery, love the aesthetics of this laptop.

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I like it so much!,

Lightweight: weighs very little

fast: turns and loads in less than 10 seconds

comfortable: small intestine, you can carry around

powerful: good processor, good RAM, fast hard drive

I recommend it 100%

Honest reviews on Acer Aspire 13.3-Inch Ultrabook / 3rd Generation Intel Core

I purchased an Acer 13.3 Ultrabook (i7, 256GB SSD). While the ultarbook seems to be very fast, the display awesome and the size and weight are prefect for travelling. However, I ran into a small problem with the mouse and had to go through an awful and arrogant Acer Technical support service. The product came with an Acer Blue-Tooth which was not recognized by the notebook. I tried the chat facility first. It took hours to go through the entire procedure to address the problem. The advice I got re-install the OS and loose everything you have already installed on the computer. This did not seem to be the right approach, so I tried the support number. I was told that the product warranty does not support peripheral and that I would need to pay for the phone support. After spending hours and losing my temper I was routed to a supervisor. He repeated the unbelievable claim that the warranty did not include peripheral support. He suggested that I purchase a USB mouse. It took me a while to convince him that the purchase included an Acer Bluetooth mouse as the pointing device and it should work as advertised. He finally agreed to send another mouse. The problem was resolved immediately after I received the replacement mouse. The conclusion the product may be fine but do not expect to get good warranty or other support after you purchase it.

Acer Aspire 13.3-Inch Ultrabook / 3rd Generation Intel Core i7_3517U Processor/ 4GB DDR3 Memory / 256GB Solid State Drive (SSD) / HDMI / USB 3.0 / Bluetooth / Win 7 Home Premium / 2.65 lbs (Black)