HP 2000-2b19wm 15.6-Inch Laptop PC (Winter Blue) (Personal Computers) Review

What costumer say about HP 2000-2b19wm 15.6-Inch Laptop PC (Winter Blue) (Personal Computers) ?

I am Happy with this computer - I ordered this computer about a week ago and I was pleasantly surprised that it was shipped in 2 days and arrived in 4 days from the day or ordering. I was apprehensive about Windows 8, so I read up on it a little in Wikepedia. When the computer arrived I was able to start it right away once it got pugged in and learned how to use Windows 8 in 2 days . It is fast and I am glad I did not settle for a tablet ,instead. For the price I paid I am really happy and I called for and received good tech support from HP in a prompt and efficient manner. I strongly recommend it .

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Acer C720P Chromebook (11.6-Inch Touchscreen, Haswell micro-architecture, 2GB) (Personal Computers) Review

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Pixel for the masses - I love this little computer. I had one of the older samsung Chromebooks based off the original CR-48 Chromebook. It showed me that I could be productive, but the performance left a lot to be desired. Video's stuttered, sometimes network performance was slow and on occasion it would lock up for a few minutes. Fast forward to this little gem...

The ACER's screen is about the same size as the Samsung's 12" screen, the color of the Samsung is warmer and better, and the keyboard keys of the Samsung feel firmer and make for a better typing experience but that's where its advantages end. The Acer is faster, shows youtube 1440HD video without stuttering, I can open as many tabs as I need, and although I WANT the 4GB of memory, from the earlier Acer, I am really not missing/noticing the any performance lapse because of the reduced memory. As a matter of fact the ACER outperforms the Samsung on every level except the afore mentioned keyboard/screen quality.

The acer has Bluetooth, USB 3.0, SD card slot AND 32GB SSD, and a touch screen. I thought the touch screen was a bit gimmicky initially but after you find a few Google Apps that use it you see that the touch screen has real value. Most notably apps like "Cut the Rope" where getting the right motion/timing is important. Its so useful that when I use my Samsung again I find I miss not having the touch screen for scrolling through pictures, and opening apps, etc...

Microsoft really, really needs to be nervous about Google, and its Chromebooks, especially now that some of the apps like Google Docs and games like Cut the Rope, can be used without a network. Add the bonus of 2 years of 100GB of storage ($120), 10 gogo passes ($100+) and one extra month of google music ($10), and the hardware is pretty much free. Also Google continues to update the OS. My older Samsung is at the same software revision as the Acer C720P. On the Samsung I would notice a slowness with the computer when the updates were downloading, on the Acer I notice no such slowness. As a matter of fact when I see the update sign at the bottom of the screen, I stop what I am doing and reboot so that I can see the new, sometimes subtle goodies/features from Google. This beats the pants off of a MS update, which while automatic will reboot my pc with a 15 minute warning, whether I am ready or not. Simply put the chromebooks are very very easy to live with.

Anyrate, if could only have two devices this would be the second one after my Android phone. Yes I like this better than the tablets I have.

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ASUS VivoBook X200CA-DB01T 11.6-Inch Touchscreen Laptop (Black) (Personal Computers) Review

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Not the fastest but plenty fast for $280 - I've had several net books over the years and they were pretty slow. They ranged from 399 to 500 in price. So I wanted a touch screen laptop for cheap and found this. It's amazing! I downloaded 8.1 which did take several hours but worth it. It's very fluid in motion and fast enough. I can't quite compare it to my MacBook Pro with retina but this is a fun little machine that I hope to enjoy for years to come. Asus makes good products. Also I recommend the nexus 7 2013 model. Awesome tablet.

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Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E545 20B20011US 15.6-Inch Laptop (Personal Computers) Review

What costumer say about Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E545 20B20011US 15.6-Inch Laptop (Personal Computers) ?

Big Bang For small bucks - I bought this ThinkPad for backing up my business pc which is failing. This one starts fast, runs quiet, has a very good screen, and is reasonable fast. The Window 7 Pro was easy to work with and easier than Windows 8 Pro. Very good keyboard. This could easily become a very productive note book. I bought the Plugable dual monitor docking station and the E545 lit up both external monitors. The one problem I had was when trying to install Office 2010 Pro, it said the dvd was empty. I ended up installing Office 2013 for business. Great notebook for the money.

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Apple MacBook Pro ME866LL/A 13.3-Inch Laptop with Retina Display (NEWEST VERSION) (Personal Computers) Review

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New MacBook Pro Retina - Excellent new laptop. Light, quick and robust. Used migration assistant to move all my MacBook Air files and apps over (had to install an app on my 2011 MacBook Air to talk to macbook Retina's migration assistant - and work. Only downside was that my MacBook Air only has USB so I had to get a Ethernet cable with two USB adapters to connect and move the data. It took about 2-1/2 hrs to do my transfer and about 30min to do my wifes's (I have much more data in my Air than she does). Not all files could come over because of operating system differences (2-3 out of quite a few).

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Acer C720 Chromebook (11.6-Inch, Haswell micro-architecture, 2GB) (Personal Computers) Review

What costumer say about Acer C720 Chromebook (11.6-Inch, Haswell micro-architecture, 2GB) (Personal Computers) ?

Great buy for college students! - The Acer C720 is the perfect laptop for students. I just bought this chromebook from Best Buy primarily because I wanted something light and compact to carry around campus. I have a Windows laptop that's fully loaded with a SSD, Core i7, 8gb ram, etc. All of that is fast but my laptop weights nearly 7 pounds and honestly those specs are overkill for what I need. I'm a biochem major so I don't need fancy AutoCAD or photoshop programs. All I need is document editing, browser, and a PDF viewer.

The first thing I tried once I bought this little guy was opening up my PDF textbooks. I put the text books on my flashdrive, transferred them to the onboard storage and it worked! The textbooks open up offline in Chromes PDF viewer. It's brilliant! That was my main concern. I uploaded my entire iTunes library (about 4,000 songs) on to Google Music. It took several hours to upload but now I have all of my music on the cloud and it's ALWAYS with me. Yes, you will need an internet connection to listen to it but my campus has wifi everywhere. I even get connection outside between buildings.

In terms of hardware, this chromebook is much thinner in person than it appears in the pictures. It is also quite a bit smaller than I was expecting but that's not a bad thing. The keyboard is slightly smaller than I would like and the keys are extremely shallow. It doesn't bother me but it'll take me a little bit to get used to. People have been saying that the trackpad is loose but I don't find that the case. I actually find it rather pleasant to use and it has many gestures that come on Apple computers. The screen is awesome on this. Sure it's not an IPS but this matte display has ample brightness, clarity, and size. I quite enjoy it. The speakers were surprising. I was expecting something sub par but for a $199 laptop, they really deliver. The bass could be stronger but I think they sound nice as they are. Lastly, the batter is awesome! The computer had no charge when I got it but it took less than an hour to charge to 100% once I plugged it in. When I unplugged it, it should 9:42 till empty! WOW! That's with two tabs open.

For those wondering how the 2gb compares to the 4gb, I've got to say that the 4gb is overkill unless you open more than 30 tabs some of which are all playing video at the same time. Who does that though? I typically have 4-5 open. Occasionally, I could get up to 10 but that doesn't slow this machine down at all. I'm glad I went with the 2gb as I would never find use for the extra 2 gb of ram.

This is definitely a great buy. I was really hesitant for about a month. I just couldn't decide but with Best Buys holiday return policy, I decided to give it a try. I definitely will not be returning this. In fact, I think I will be using this way more than my Windows laptop.

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Apple MacBook Air MD760LL/A 13.3-Inch Laptop (NEWEST VERSION) (Personal Computers) Review

What costumer say about Apple MacBook Air MD760LL/A 13.3-Inch Laptop (NEWEST VERSION) (Personal Computers) ?

Best laptop available for the price at the moment - This laptop is really nice. For the price I would recommend this as the very best laptop for your money and here is why.

+It has the most modern SSD (released in Q1 of 2013) that runs 40% faster than Gen 1 SSDs. The drive and laptop in general is amazingly fast.
+It has the just released new wifi protocols which will future proof the laptop for some time. The wifi on it is amazingly fast and out performs all other wifi devices using the some internet source that ive tested.
+It has the legendary apple keyboard and track pad which are the best I've ever seen on any laptop regardless of price. The track pad especially is amazing... if you've never used an apple track pad you have no idea what your missing, it literally controls almost every function on your computer except for typing and it's very intuitive and easy to use.
+It has the newest integrated intel HD graphics (5000) which are faster, better and use less power than any other laptop. Very few other laptop options have the HD5000 graphics chip.
+It has Haswell processor. It is very fast and very efficient.
+It has 12 hour battery life (continuous use). Its battery is nothing short of amazing. I used the laptop off and on as I would normally use it and it took 5 days for the battery to die.

-Screen is mediocre. It doesn't reflect too much light though which is good and it performs well enough (but it's nowhere close to the retina display).
-Quality control is lacking. Numerous negative reviews on the laptop refer to specific manufacturing defects (wifi, laptop body defects, ETC). If you get a good one, you're good, but you might not be able to notice a defect until the return period has passed.

If you're on the edge, this is the laptop to buy if you want a light, portable machine that is fairly high powered. If price is not a concern I would wait for the Q3/Q4 2013 MacBook Pro as that will likely be a nicer, more powerful machine with retina display and the same great features found on the air.

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Acer Aspire V5-131-2629 11.6" Laptop (Black) (Personal Computers) Review

What costumer say about Acer Aspire V5-131-2629 11.6" Laptop (Black) (Personal Computers) ?

Good enough for the price. - It's cheap. Due to that fact, you can't expect too much. It's not amazingly fast, but I knew that before I bought it.
It plays 720p video off youtube without a problem. The keyboard and touchpad are pretty mediocre but not terribly bad either.
The whole bottom is detachable which makes upgrades relatively easy.

Pros:

-Looks good for the most part.
-It's got a matte screen. (Biggest pro in my opinion.)
-Battery life is good enough (approx. 4 to 5 hrs. in the real world)

Cons:

-Cheap plastic construction (doesn't feel very durable.)
-The battery protrudes from the bottom quite a bit.

For the price, this thing is just fine. Now, if it were $600, I would give it one star.

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HP Chromebook 11 (White/Blue) (Personal Computers) Review

What costumer say about HP Chromebook 11 (White/Blue) (Personal Computers) ?

High School Student Loves It - I purchased this for my son who is in high school. The small size and weight (2.3 pounds) allows him to carry it around all day. The 6 hour battery life means he does not need to carry the charger. Google Docs works when connected to the internet or not. Moodle, Khan Academy, YouTube, Google Music, Netflix, ReadIt all work great when connected. His school already standardized on Google Apps so his friends can just log into his Chromebook with their own Google log in and securely share the machine. There are no viruses because no software is installed on device. He just closes the lid to sleep the device between uses so it is up and running in 2 seconds. Really a fantastic device.

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Acer C720 Chromebook (11.6-Inch, Haswell micro-architecture, 2GB) (Personal Computers) Review

What costumer say about Acer C720 Chromebook (11.6-Inch, Haswell micro-architecture, 2GB) (Personal Computers) ?

Great buy for college students! - The Acer C720 is the perfect laptop for students. I just bought this chromebook from Best Buy primarily because I wanted something light and compact to carry around campus. I have a Windows laptop that's fully loaded with a SSD, Core i7, 8gb ram, etc. All of that is fast but my laptop weights nearly 7 pounds and honestly those specs are overkill for what I need. I'm a biochem major so I don't need fancy AutoCAD or photoshop programs. All I need is document editing, browser, and a PDF viewer.

The first thing I tried once I bought this little guy was opening up my PDF textbooks. I put the text books on my flashdrive, transferred them to the onboard storage and it worked! The textbooks open up offline in Chromes PDF viewer. It's brilliant! That was my main concern. I uploaded my entire iTunes library (about 4,000 songs) on to Google Music. It took several hours to upload but now I have all of my music on the cloud and it's ALWAYS with me. Yes, you will need an internet connection to listen to it but my campus has wifi everywhere. I even get connection outside between buildings.

In terms of hardware, this chromebook is much thinner in person than it appears in the pictures. It is also quite a bit smaller than I was expecting but that's not a bad thing. The keyboard is slightly smaller than I would like and the keys are extremely shallow. It doesn't bother me but it'll take me a little bit to get used to. People have been saying that the trackpad is loose but I don't find that the case. I actually find it rather pleasant to use and it has many gestures that come on Apple computers. The screen is awesome on this. Sure it's not an IPS but this matte display has ample brightness, clarity, and size. I quite enjoy it. The speakers were surprising. I was expecting something sub par but for a $199 laptop, they really deliver. The bass could be stronger but I think they sound nice as they are. Lastly, the batter is awesome! The computer had no charge when I got it but it took less than an hour to charge to 100% once I plugged it in. When I unplugged it, it should 9:42 till empty! WOW! That's with two tabs open.

For those wondering how the 2gb compares to the 4gb, I've got to say that the 4gb is overkill unless you open more than 30 tabs some of which are all playing video at the same time. Who does that though? I typically have 4-5 open. Occasionally, I could get up to 10 but that doesn't slow this machine down at all. I'm glad I went with the 2gb as I would never find use for the extra 2 gb of ram.

This is definitely a great buy. I was really hesitant for about a month. I just couldn't decide but with Best Buys holiday return policy, I decided to give it a try. I definitely will not be returning this. In fact, I think I will be using this way more than my Windows laptop.

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ASUS Transformer Book T100TA-C1-GR 10.1-Inch Detachable 2-in-1 Touchscreen Laptop (Personal Computers) Review

What costumer say about ASUS Transformer Book T100TA-C1-GR 10.1-Inch Detachable 2-in-1 Touchscreen Laptop (Personal Computers) ?

This is a good value for the $399 price. - Asus was the manufacturer of the best motherboards available 25 years ago. They know hardware well. My Linux based EEE PC 1000 was my device of choice for years, before the days of tablets, because it was so portable. The T100TA is about the same size, weighs a fourth as much, has respectable processor power, and mine has been running on battery for about 7 hours now and seems to have a quarter tank left. Like the EEE, this device put good electronics in an ok package.

It would make my fingers hurt to do any serious, all day, writing on this keyboard. The right shift key is tiny. I wish they made the comma and period keys smaller instead. That was plain dumb. The touchpad is not what you get with a Thinkpad or a Mac; but it's far superior to sacrificing half the screen and using a touch input. The screen is perfectly fine, not as crisp as my son's Nexux 7, also made by Asus, but it looks sharp and crisp next to my two year old Thinkpad. The sound is good. Importantly, it can charge up with my micro usb cables from my Samsung devices and my son's tablet. The dock/keyboard is pretty much an external keyboard with a usb3 port. The upside of that is it doesn't get hot. In the real world, this internet counts.

I have been using Window 8 since it came out and 8.1 still feels awkward to me. Using my Thinkpad, I keep touching the non-touchscreen after only having this for a day. Use a touchscreen and you won't want to go back. I'm loving Bing News. To look at my information choices in a landscape format is comfortable on my eyes. Ebooks work well on this in that format as well. The recipe app can be used on a kitchen counter better than a tablet because it holds itself in place and it's way better than a big notebook which hogs the counter.

Internet Explorer let a website popup a commercial which blared at me while my wife was sleeping and I couldn't turn it off before she woke up. I killed the popup box but the audio kept going until I exited Explorer. I installed Firefox and made it my default browser because it has plugins to protect me from those shenanigans.

Are you a Kindle books user? This is the best device I have ever used for Kindle books. This counts a few tablets, including a couple Kindles. The reason is simple: Like a book, a tablet gets hard to hold after a while for those of us who have a hard time putting down a book. This sits on your lap, on a chair or in bed, and doesn't get hot or hurt your wrists holding it. The spacebar turns the page and seeing pages side by side feels right to me.

If this were an expensive device, I would give it three stars. If the software was more user friendly, I would give it five. Some reviews have noted that Amazon's vendor is charging more than retail for it. I would wait for it to come to $399. I just ordered a 64 GB SDXC card and should have done so when I ordered this. It should be good enough to hold enough data for me to get done the things I want. If you want a perfect compact touchscreen convertable computer, look elsewhere and dig deeper into your pockets. I think I'm going to be happy with this, especially after getting more used to the software.

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Samsung Chromebook (Wi-Fi, 11.6-Inch) (Personal Computers) Review

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A paradigm shift in the role of a portable computing device. - A review of the new $ 249 Google Chrome Book

Google has introduced a new portable computer - they call it the perfect additional computer - and I see it as a paradigm shift in the role of a portable computing device.

The new Samsung Chrome Book has an 11.6-inch full color display. It weights 2.42 lbs and is .7 inches thin. It has a battery life of over 6.5 hours and runs on a Samsung Dual processor with 100 GB of online Google Drive space. It features a web cam with USB and HDMI ports and is Bluetooth compatible. It runs the Chrome OS, which means it has Google apps built in, and is priced at $249.

I think it's one of the most remarkable product introductions I've seen in my 35 years working in the PC industry.

This new Chrome Book re-defines what a portable computer can do and how it can be used, and is completely based on the concept of Cloud Computing . It works right out of the box, has no moving parts, and has built-in anti-virus protection.

Google has created a complete infrastructure for cloud computing; Google Chrome browser for surfing the web, Google email, online google docs application software compatible with MS Office apps, google drive to store whatever documents you want in the cloud, free downloadable apps such as google voice for phone calls and video conferencing with webcam, and dozens of other applications. And of course the Google Search Engine. All the software you need is in the Google Cloud.

I've had 5 portable computers over the years and I bought each one to be an additional computer to my office computers. But now you don't need a bulky expensive laptop computer with a big hard disk and Microsoft Office installed on it.

I had also bought an IPad as a possible new portable computing device. Trying to use my Ipad for email and type on the glass was maddening. I couldn't get it to print as I didn't have an Apple Airprint compatible printer, and I was shocked to learn that I could only buy music and media through Apple Itunes.

I could easily print to any of my printers with the Chrome Book, it has a great real keyboard, and I can buy anything from anywhere - Amazon or whatever vendor I can get the best prices from.
Placed side by side, The Macbook Air and The Google Chrome Book look almost like twins in design, keyboard and screen size.

With the Chrome Book, I can surf the web, watch Youtube videos, play games, check my email, video chat, make free phone calls, and If I want to create a letter or a spreadsheet I just use Google docs and I can store them online in Google drive. If there are files on my main computers I want to be able to access with my Chrome Book, I can upload those files to my online Google drive, and be able to access and edit them.

The new Samsung Chrome Book defines the new world of Cloud Computing and provides virtually everyone easy access to this world at an astoundingly low price. I also feel that many people could use this as their only computing device.

For Raw Bytes, this is Frank Delaney
Raw Bytes Computer News
KPBX Spokane Public Radio FM 91.1 National Public Radio

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Toshiba Satellite C55-A5245 15.6-Inch Laptop (Satin Black in TraxHorizon) (Personal Computers) Review

What costumer say about Toshiba Satellite C55-A5245 15.6-Inch Laptop (Satin Black in Trax Horizon) (Personal Computers) ?

Dead after five weeks - The manufacturer commented on the review belowSee comments 12 of 14 people found the following review helpful 1.0 out of 5 stars Dead after five weeks, September 18, 2013 By Fritz - See all my reviews Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?) We bought two of these. One works fine, by which I mean it is an adequate for the office-type chores it is called to perform, but otherwise unremarkable. If I just had this one, I'd give it four stars.

The other one suffered what appears to be a hard disk failure just after the Amazon return window closed. I'm starting the process of dealing with the manufacturer to get the unit repaired/replaced, which has already cost me more than the value of the thing.

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