Official Laptops Review Thread

With all of the questions concerning the recommendation of laptops, we figured it would be a good idea to start a thread where members can review their new or old laptops to help others looking at the same models. Feel free to post your review of your current or even an old laptop that you may have liked or disliked for various reasons. Before writing your review though, post the following specs on your laptop (if you know):

-Brand:
-Model:
-Bought From/Price:
-OS:
-CPU:
-GPU:
-Resolution:
-RAM:
-Usage (Gaming, Internet, Office Apps, etc…):
-Real World Battery Life (in your estimation):
-Your Rating (out of 10):

Feel free to include any screen shots of benchmarks or of the laptop itself if you feel that they will contribute to the review. Also keep in mind that this thread IS NOT for questions. If you have a question, create a new thread with your question.

Thanks for contributing and helping other members of Tom’s find their perfect laptop!

I'll give everyone a short example of my current laptop:

-Brand: Toshiba
-Model: Satellite M305
-Bought From/Price: Best Buy for $700 (included extended warranty)
-OS: Windows 7 Pro 64-bit (Vista originally)
-CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo T6400
-GPU: Intel 4 Series
-Resolution: 1280x800 (LCD)
-RAM: 4GB of DDR2 @ 800Mhz
-Usage (Gaming, Internet, Office Apps, etc…): Internet, E-Mail, and Word Processing
-Real World Battery Life (in your estimation): High Performance Setting- 1.5 hours/Balanced Performance Setting- 2.5 hours
-Your Rating (out of 10): 7.8/10

I bought the Satellite for a casual use PC after my previous HP laptop died just after 1 year of use. My previous 2 laptops were HP's and did the same thing, so I decided to switch to a more reliable brand (in my opinion). Obviously, it isn't a power user's machine, but it gets the job done for my primary uses that include Internet related activities, e-mail, and word processing. For heavier usage programs and the occasional game I use my superior desktop (in comparison the laptop). It handles MS Office 2010 with ease and does a decent job with flash based video play back. The only improvement that I have made upon it was to install Windows 7 Pro (64 bit) when it was released, as well as the beta version before hand (I use it as a kind of "test machine" as well). It cools fairly well, as the T6400 usually sites in the low 30's (C) when idling and heats up to the upper 40's to lower 50's with heavy use (which is rare), i.e. it has never shut down due to heat related issues. The fans, like many laptops, can get a bit loud at times, but it is more than tolerable. Finally, the battery life is suitable for my needs, as it is usually plugged into the AC adapter.

My only issues with the M305 are the relatively low screen resolution and lack of brightness on the LCD (nothing noticeable to the untrained eye, but still annoying). I should also mention that perhaps due to a shoddy inverter or a loose connection, I'll get the occasional flickering of the LCD when I move it too quickly. Finally, like many newer design laptops, it comes with a very shiny case/coating, which is a finger print and whatever else you can imagine magnet. Otherwise than that though, it's a nice laptop, which for my use and needs is why I gave it a 7.8/10.

I wrote a review of iPad and my old XPS M1730,and since they are quite long, here are the links to them
Apple iPad 64GB Wifi
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] pad-review
Dell XPS M1730
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] ing-laptop

-Brand: Sony
-Model: Vaio VGN-FW170J
-Bought From/Price: Best Buy $999 (Oct 2008) + $200 in recent upgrades
-OS: Win 7 Pro 64
-CPU: Core 2 Duo P8400 2.26 Ghz
-GPU: Intel m4500HD
-Resolution: 1600x900
-RAM: 8GB Corsair PC6400 800Mhz
-Usage (Gaming, Internet, Office Apps, etc…): Everything but Gaming
-Real World Battery Life (in your estimation): 1.5 - 3.5 hrs (after 3 years it is starting lose some charge)
-Your Rating (out of 10): 8/10 Lose 1 point for being old and 1 more for integrated graphics.

Bought this when the Centrino 2 platform was brand new the lower TDP P-series cpu's helped increase battery life and the ability to use 800mhz ram was a big plus. The price tag on my model was a little higher because out of the box I opted for a 320gb 7200rpm HDD instead of 5400rpm and a blue-ray drive with HDMI out. It has 2 different card readers , 1 for mmc/sd and another for memory stick ( sony). It has run everything I have thrown at it pretty well but recently I was itching for more power. Instead putting it out to pasture I switched the HD for an OCZ Agility 2 SSD and doubled the RAM from 4 -> 8gb . The old girl sprung right back to life with fresh OS install. I very often use the HDMI out to watch netflix or Hulu on My HDTV and ever since flash 10.1 it is buttery smooth. Best part about the Vaio line though is Keybaord. Individual keys with spaces in between and a great tactile feel.
Windows index numbers
Proc - 5.9
Ram - 5.9
Graphics - 3.5 it plays blu-rays just fine though.
Disk - 7.7

-Brand: eMachines (Acer)
-Model: E620-5885 (Aspire 5515)
-Bought From/Price: Tiger Direct/$310CAD
-OS: Originally Vista Home Basic but I got rid of that crap and put on XP Pro
-CPU: AMD Athlon 64 2650e 1.6GHz Single-Core
-GPU: ATi Radeon X1200
-Resolution: 1200x800
-Screen Size: 15.4"
-RAM: 2GB DDR2-667
-Hard Drive: 160GB WD SATA
-Usage (Gaming, Internet, Office Apps, etc…): Internet, Office Apps, School, Multimedia
-Real World Battery Life (in your estimation): 1.5hrs
-Your Rating (out of 10): 10

Yes, I gave it a rating of 10 because for my uses, this laptop is flawless. I bought it to replace my aging Dell Latitude C610 (which still works by the way) when I went away to university. This machine is by no means a powerhouse but considering the price I paid for it, it was the deal of the century for me. I have a philosophy that one must NEVER get a good laptop, just one that's good enough. Use a desktop build for all intensive programs like games. This laptop does all I ever needed it to and all I'd ever ask of a laptop. Now, of course, this laptop is not meant for gaming because the Radeon X1200 is (let's face it), primitive. However, like all GPUs it handles 2D functions like Video and Windows flawlessly. I have read that the X1200 also works perfectly smooth with Windows 7 Aero but I'm never going to put that on this machine I don't think. I can upgrade the RAM because although Acer did put only 2GB in this machine, it's a single 2GB stick so adding another is a piece of cake. Maybe then I'll try using Windows 7 but in all honesty, I like XP and I don't see much reason to use an OS that takes another 10GB away from my 160GB hard drive. The bottom line is that this laptop gives me the mobility I want, it was cheap, it's extremely reliable (no problems in 18 months) and does everything I could hope for except gaming. Even then, I still play old NES, Genesis, N64 and Mame ROMs on it and it does those just fine. For all newer games I have my Quad-Core gaming monster. That's why I gave it 10 out of 10, for someone who wants to flush money down the toilet for a gaming laptop, this is not for you. If you want it for simple internet use, multimedia and school/office applications, this computer could be your only home computer. My father and my aunt both have one and they are very happy with them. To sum it up, it's a glorified netbook with double the RAM, a REAL CPU, a DVD-RW drive, a big screen and ATi graphics.

-Brand: Sony
-Model: Vaio VGN-AW350J
-Bought From/Price: Amazon.com $1400 (Dec 2009)
-OS: Win 7 Prem 64 (Original OS Windows Vista)
-CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo P7350 Processor (2.00GHz) FSB 1066 MHz,
-GPU: Super Multi NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT Dedicated 512MB RAM
-Resolution:18.4-Inch XBRITE-Full HD Technology 1080P @ 60Hz HDMI Output
-RAM: 4GB DDR2 800 SDRAM (Max Supported 8GB)
-HD: 500GB SATA 5400rpm
-Optical Drive:Blu-Ray R/RW DVD+-R Double Layer / DVD±RW Drive
-Security:Biometric Fingerprint Sensor Platform Module (TPM) TCG Ver.1.2 compliant
-Usage (Gaming, Internet, Office Apps, etc…)

Ok I baught this laptop to replace my HP that was 5 years old and it was time. I had $1500 to spend and wanted as big HD screen as I could get. Before you say other laptops are cheaper I'm partial to Sony products. I also was not educated on the diffrence between i7,i5 vs dual core but for the price I think I did well concidering screen size/resolution and all the other goodies.

Now do I like it? Yes very much. The speed is good, recently I went to Fry's and looked at some of the i7s and i5s I didn't see much diffrence in speed just doing normal stuff. I only have one complaint/warning. I got the free upgrade from Windows Vista to Windows 7 and for anyone reading this the upgrade is not Windows 7 just a big crappy patch and was hard to instal/upgrade. After I finally got it done(Downloading the drivers from the Sony site sucked) my PC ran verry slow and was maxing out one of my CPUs with very little load. I took it to a near by Sony Style several times and got the run around, blaming it on the HD screen and the Blu-ray. So, I ended up taking matters into my own hands and calling Microsoft for a replacement full version of Win7( DL the drivers from the Sony site sucked again) then the Vaio was much faster and the CPUs can handel much more load, so the moral, don't trust the upgrade disks, later I was told the same thing by someone that had similer problems. One other thing the Vaio won't talk to my Sony Bravia 2 TV or my Playstation3 very well no big deal just thought they would be more plug and play thats all. Its pretty heavy too.

Overall I would say get one even for gaming. I'll be much better once I increese the ram to 8 GB and maybe change the HD to a faster one. Watching Blu-rays on it is awsome, gaming looks great, gets alittle choppy online when there is aot going on but thats why I have a Playstation3. The battery doesn't last very long but what can you expect with a 18.4 Xbrite HD screen. I do have a question. Sony stopped making the AW models, why havent the prices came down at all for the old ones new or used?

-Brand: Lenovo
-Model: T500
-Bought From/Price: lenovo.com: $1900
-OS: shipped with Vista, now with Win7
-CPU: dual core 2.5ghz
-GPU: ATI ???
Intel integrated.
-Resolution: 1280x900
-RAM: 4GB
-HD: Intel 160gb SSD (added last month)
-Usage: PC replacement when I travel (games, development, web, chat, movies, music), otherwise it sits on my desk & runs ventrilo.

-Real World Battery Life:
According to the battery gauge: 7hrs -- this is while on the airplane with the networking shut off.
Actual use: 2hrs while playing lotro. ( we didnt realize it was unplugged until the low battery warning came up)
Normal use: 3-4hrs with websurfing and such

-Your Rating (out of 10): 9/10

Comments:
if you want an inexpensive (cheap) laptop - skip this one. If you want something that will last forever, a thinkpad is what you want. My previous thinkpad I got in 2001, and its still running. I expect this one to last 5+ years.
My only complaint is its not very light. I havent actually put it on a scale, but the laptop + case + power brick is about 7lbs. The switchable graphics were the main reason I got this thing. on the road or airplane, I activate the integrated chip and get really good battery life. When its time to start gaming - I switch to the ATI card and get very nice performance.

And it also haves an fingerprint scanner

Well im not saying game with a touchpad......but sometimes while you are playing casually(like in GTA) you just wanna have fun and you are on a plane you cant take out the mouse to play so you play with the touchpad.I have played games with lot of touchpads and you just cant play with this touch pad and if one mouse button is pressed you cant press the second one simontaneously. The touchpad is awful.

And regarding battery life I was using power saving option(both on windows and catalyst).And that was the battery life i got since it runs the i7 and 5650 simontaneously its bound to consume power(even if i7 is locked at 1.6ghz).

The power consumption is up to 45 Watt (TDP) is quite high for a laptop CPU.And extra 10-20 watt for 5650.So this adds upto 60-65watts which is quite high for a laptop.Mobile techology meant means it consumes less power than the desktop i7.

-Brand: ASUS
-Model: G73JW-3DE (3D, 17.3" 1080P display)
-Bought From/Price: Amazon/$2K with extra pair of 3D Vision glasses
-OS: Win7 Home Premium 64-bit
-CPU: i7-740GM
-GPU: GTX-460M
-Resolution: 1920 x 1080 @ 120Hz
-RAM: 8GB DDR3
-Usage (Gaming, Internet, Office Apps, etc…): Gaming/3D movies
-Real World Battery Life (in your estimation): 2~2.5 hours on 8-cell LiOn battery
-Your Rating (out of 10): 9.5

Just got this about 10 days ago to replace my old Dell M1710 gaming laptop. This is one of Asus' "Republic of Gamers" laptops with the matte black finish that doesn't show fingerprints (unlike my wife's HP laptop from a year ago). Has a matte screen which does not show much glare (my "office" has a double-window facing south, behind my desk) and also doesn't show fingerprints (my 4-yr-old son often gets excited and touches the screen despite many reminders from me ).

Comes with very good speakers (for a laptop anyway), including a subwoofer and EAX 5.0 and an HDMI 1.4 port so you can hook it up to a 3D TV if you want immersive 3D gaming (or movies for that matter). However, the 17.3" 3D display is simply awesome - although this is my first 3D system so I have no experience to compare to, the gaming and movies are excellent, both 2D and 3D. Weight is only a bit over 8 lbs, quite light compared to the brick of a Dell (which has a 17" glossy screen and a burnt-out Nvidia 7900-GTX that I'm waiting on a replacement for due to the recent settlement). The Dell has a bit higher res - 1920 x 1200 - vs. the Asus 1920 x 1080, but then watching DVD's on the Dell leaves a band at the top and bottom of the screen anyway.

It also comes with a BD burner (haven't tried it yet, but burns DVDs OK), USB 3.0 (one) and 2.0 (3), variable brightness backlit keyboard with separate numeric keypad (good tactile feel although keys are smaller than a regular desktop keyboard). Storage is two hybrid 500GB/4GB SSD 7200rpm drives, which means Windows and apps load faster. Both the drives and the BD burner are very quiet in comparison to the Dell - great for watching movies.

I was going to wait for Asus to upgrade the CPU to the Sandy Bridge but now I'm glad I didn't . The quad-core i7 is plenty powerful for a laptop and the 460M GPU with 1.5GB of DDR5 VRAM is great for gaming. The laptop has 2 large exhaust ports on the backside so it stays pretty cool, even with it sitting on your lap (which Asus does not recommend). The Dell got too hot (not to mention heavy) sitting in my lap, so it was pretty inconvenient on flights - always had to fold down the seatback tray, then if some moron needed to get past me I had to do the economy-class tango to put things away.. Haven't tried the Asus on a flight yet but it should be much less of a problem with it on the lap instead of the tray. It also comes with an express boot utility which lets you bypass Win7 in case you want to check email, browse the internet, etc in a hurry.

I had been looking at Alienware and Sager and a few others and this seemed to be the most bang for the buck, esp. since I wanted to try 3D. This has a 2-yr warranty (incl. a 1 year warranty on accidental damage), zero bright pixel guarantee, 2-way free shipping on the warranty.

Cons - comes bloated with a load of crapware (although some of it actually looks interesting). Why put Windows Explorer 8 and Chrome on the same laptop? I can always use one to download the other.. Battery life is sufficient to game about a couple hours, or watch 3+ hours worth of BD movies on the BD drive - about the same as my Dell so this is probably not bad for a gaming laptop, but way short for overseas flights. Also, no OS reinstall disk - you have to make a backup image of the restore partition of the boot drive. Finally, although not a problem to me, the 802.11n Wifi card only comes with 2 antennas, so you're limited to 2.4GHz "N" according to one of the posters on Amazon.com. However he points out that for $15, you can buy a third antenna and install it yourself for true 5.0GHz connections. I guess if you're streaming 3D BD movies this might be important..

Sure, glad to help.

BTW, I was going to buy Avatar 3D to watch, but Amazon wants $140 or so for it. I currently have Resident Evil Afterlife as well as Tomb Raider Underworld, both of which are pretty spectacular in 3D.

This past weekend I went shopping at Best Buy for a 3D HDTV to replace my plasma, and found a 58" Samsung plasma that is #2 rated on CNET, incl. 4 pairs of active 3D glasses, a Samsung 3D bluray player and a 3D movie for $2699. But after speaking with a knowledgeable friend, it seems best to wait because right now there is no standard for the active 3D glasses - my Nvidia glasses will likely only work with the laptop and not a 3D TV, and ditto for other brands. However a standard will be forthcoming shortly so that should remedy the problem.

I would advise waiting for the SB 2630QM update, and maybe the NV 5x0M update as well - maybe a few months from now..

-Brand: Dell
-Model:XPS M1530
-Bought used, traded a 1st gen macbook pro for it (total cost basically $0 since I traded for the macbook pro as well)
-OS: Win7 Ultimate 64 bit
-CPU: Core 2 Duo T9300
-GPU: Nvidia 8600m GT
-Resolution: 1280x800
-RAM: 4GB DDR2
-Usage (Gaming, Internet, Office Apps, etc…): Gaming/3D modeling, internet and transcoding movies
-Real World Battery Life (in your estimation): 2.5-3 hours on power saving with 6 cell battery
-Your Rating (out of 10): 9.0

Got this machine in a trade for a 1st gen macbook pro (which I got in a trade for some other stuff so essentially no monetary cost to me) It's nice and snappy with 7 ultimate on it. It's got all the nicesities like fingerprint scanner,slot loading optical drive and firewire. One of the nicest most sturdy laptops I've ever owned personally. Only thing I'd have to say for it is that the 8600m GT feels like it's a little slower than it should be even with updated drivers but maybe I'm simply expecting too much out of it. It does play Quake Wars on high at native res as well as BFBC2 at 1024x768 at high details or 1280x800 medium. I think the biggest bottlekneck may be my hard drive as it's a 5400rpm model.

With that said for a late 08 model laptop it's faster than the Gateway that I reviewd previously which I still own and use as my portable linux machine now.

I'd definitely buy another XPS if the budget permits. Great build quality amazing features and with the prices on them coming down into the realm of only slightly higher price than a basic laptop I figure why not.

Here is my review of the new macbook with Sandy Bridge

http://minilaptopzone.com/2011/03/ [...] e-refresh/[url=http://minilaptopzone.com/2011/03/macbook-pro-13-review-2011-sandy-bridge-refresh/][/url]

-Brand: Dell
-Model: E6510
-Bought From/Price: Wintronic computers (off lease) trade in of XPS M1530+250
-OS: Win 7 Ultimate
-CPU: Core i7 620m
-GPU: Nvidia NVV3100m
-Resolution: 1600x900
-RAM: 4GB DDR3
-Usage (Gaming, Internet, Office Apps, etc…): Gaming,surfing the web,watching movies,3D rendering,photo and video editing
-Real World Battery Life (in your estimation): 5.5 hours with 9 cell battery
-Your Rating (out of 10): 9/10

I picked this up in a trade and wasn't too sure basically on the graphics card as I'd looked all over and even saw a thread here that said it was basically a downclocked G310m with better drivers. So I know the guy that runs the local wintronic computers (they deal in off lease machines and I'll often buy from them for friends or whatever that want a better than compaq quality machine at a good price) I asked if I could load up BFBC2. He was like ok sure we can always restore it to factory if it doesn't work for you. So i loaded it up and cranked it up and that's what got me to plop down my trade+ cash. Seeing BFBC2 at 1600x900 on high everything (except for shadows) made me drool. It was running incredibly smoothly and I couldn't ask for better performance out of this machine honestly.

Now the rest of the review. On build quality I can't fault dell on this either. Aluminum lid and the bottom chassis looks to be made of high quality ABS plastic though it could be annodized aluminum I'm not exactly sure anyways either way it's got some heft and it's obvious that this machine was built to last. and to be a true mobile weapon for CAD or whatever else you may throw at it. Dell also chose a great screen on this machine it's a 1600x900 LED backlit 15.4 that's matte. Last but not least on the build front is the port selection well 4 USB2.0 ports,firewire,HDMI they've got it all covered.

Last but not least a closing paragraph on security features and general useability. Well on the security front it has a fingerprint scanner which after having one on my XPS M1530 I'm finding that it's a god send. I can easily have all my passwords stored in keypass and I swipe my finger over the reader and it retrieves the password for the particular site I'm on and it's whole database is encrypted with the hardware encryption offered by dell on this machine so 10/10 for security. As for general useability it performs flawlessly on EVERY front. Gaming at high resolutions check, rendering 3D stuff in Blender nice and fast check photoshopping and editing video with adobe CS5 check and let me tell ya boot up is from a cold start to useable desktop is no more than I'd say 10-12 seconds. I'd heard SSD's were fast but holy **** this one is just brutal in it's speed

Only knock on this machine would be the weight. Granted the heft denotes the high build quality but damn for a 15.4 it's heavy. Ah well that's all relative I can still carry it all day with no strain it's just heavier than most other machines of it's size but then again they aren't built to such a high standard

overall 9/10 just minus one point for weight which really isn't an issue for me but may be for some people

-Brand: Dell
-Model:Vostro 3350
-Bought From/Price: Dell Small Business Site, $691
-OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
-CPU: Intel core i5 2410m
-GPU: Intel HD 3000
-Resolution: 13.3" 1366x768
-RAM: 4GB
-Usage (Gaming, Internet, Office Apps, etc…): Office Apps and Internet primarily, I'm not much of a PC gamer
-Real World Battery Life (in your estimation): 7 hours of actual use. This includes Wifi on, browsing, downloading files, typing documents, etc.
-Your Rating (out of 10): 9.5. The only thing I would change is a slightly higher screen resolution, 1600x900 would be nice.

Overall I'm extremely happy with this machine. Comes with backlit keyboard, LED backlit non-reflective matte screen, bluetooth, fingerprint scanner, webcam, chiclet island-style keyboard, multi-gesture touchpad, Centrino 1030 wireless adapter, and 8-cell battery. It weighs less than 5 pounds. Has a nice brushed metal appearance, is constructed of aluminum. 2 USB 3.0 ports, 1 USB2.0/eSATA, HDMI out.

This is the perfect blend of mobility and power, the i5 2410m is snappy and quick. I dropped my Vertex 2 into this and did a clean install, my boot-up time is about 35 seconds to have Firefox open and functional. Probably the best feature is the battery life, I can work an entire day without needing to plug in.

For reference, Windows Experience Index:
Processor: 6.9
RAM: 5.9
Graphics: 4.6
Gaming graphics: 6.1
Hard disk: 7.5

Brand: Asus
-Model: G73jh-RBBX05
-Bought From/Price: 850 USD
-OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64x
-CPU: Intel Core i7 720qm 1.6 GHz, turbo boost to 2.9 GHz (That was not a typo.)
-GPU: AMD Radeon 5870m 1GB GDDR5 700 MHz (Usually UC to 450 MHz)
-Resolution: 1600x900p (16:9)
-RAM: 6GB DDR3 667 MHz
-Usage (Gaming, Internet, Office Apps, etc…): I use it for everything... Gaming, school, programming, photoshop, video editing... I really work it hard, average 8 hours a day, every day.
-Real World Battery Life (in your estimation): Maximum 2 hours... Probably 1 hour 30 minutes...
-Your Rating (out of 10): 9.9

This has been an awesome laptop. I got it factory refurbished from BestBuy in December2010. And I've been using it 1/2 the day, every day, since... Some days 15 hours...
I have been extremely happy with it.. My only 2 problems where:
1. The touchpad:
I don't like touchpads, but it is a shame, Asus has the largest touchpad around (except for the Macbooks) and it is glitched... It doesn't bother me since I don't like doing anything without a proper mouse.
2. Heat, I had a bit of a heat issue not too long ago. I was a bit surprised considering that Asus was pretty prideful about the cooling features... I got the issue resolved in the end. I had a problem with the AMD GPU, it was heating up to 80C on idle... The solution was a repaste and a total cleanout of all the DUST. Those things get full pretty quickly... you need to stay on top of things on the maintenance side... otherwise your going to have to open it up... which is a pain.
The battery isn't strong, but I don't really care, I'm not traveling with this laptop anywhere, so, I took out the battery, stored it in a Ziplock bag, and I've been depending on the A/C adapter to power the laptop.
The graphics... is spectacular, the graphics is sufficient, I don't play a lot any more, but when I did, I was normally able to get high settings on just about every game... A few games where a bit of an issue, but it wasn't because the graphics card wasn’t' capable.
The laptop's build is top notch quality, we've had Dell's, Toshiba, and HP laptops. But by far, this has the best build quality. It is the most comfortable surface to rest your hands on and type. Not only is that the only feature of the rubberized surface, but I also like the idea of a laptop that finally has no finger prints.
The keyboard is also very good, I've had a good experience with it, I've had no lags, no flexing (even after the tape was removed from the bottom after the repaste of the thermal compound.)
They keyboard is backlight, and after using it, you'd ask yourself how could you ever have lived so long with a dull, plastic keyboard.
The audio is also something to look forward to, the EAX Audio 4.0 has really made a difference, the sounds are so realistic, and so 3D like, that gaming almost becomes a reality. Listening to music has been an even greater experience surprisingly, because the subwoofer just really adds a nice kick to music... the beat is alive, and the music sounds great. Although, I've experience issues in the past, of small stutters in the audio, it rarely happens, in fact the last time it happened was a couple of months ago... It hasn't bothered me enough to figure out a solution when it did occur.
The screen, the laptop has a 17.3" display, which I've been very happy with, I know that there was a lot of people frustrated with the AUO screens (which I'm assuming I have since it is a default BestBuy model) I've had no issues with it, it looks perfectly fine, and I don't really care about viewing angles etc... Although not an LED, it is very bright, I keep the brightness toned at 45% all the time.. It is... too bright for me.
Boot time's are usually around 1 min 30 seconds, but I do have a password, and my C partition is nearly full.
The outside ports are perfect for my needs, 4 USB ports is probably a good standard for my needs, although I haven't used all 4 at one time before.
Everything works perfectly, although, I haven't tested the Kensington lock, hdmi port, or the microphone port yet.
The DVD drive is great, opens DVDs instantly, burns surprisingly fast. And never locks up or any other issues. I've had no issues with playback, and I've been using the retired Nero 6 to burn DVDs, but it still works great.
On the screen, the webcam and microphone are a different story, the webcam is a 1.3 MP webcam, it works, just not well, not good enough for Skype or anything of the likes. The microphone is also a bit cheap, it picks up a lot of background noises, and yet the recording quality is choppy and normally a bit distorted. It works good for the most part though.

Now, I think the real major con, is the set-up, you will have to rip it apart of you want.. to ... for instance, clean the fans... the dust there gets packed extremely quickly, and it is very hard to clean it out, I'm investigating the possibility of removing the "dashboard" that covers the grill on the back, by unscrewing the nails in the battery compartment and the edges, to see if that will give me access to the fans enough to use a can of compressed air.
Asus did include a few smart programs, like Smartlogin, FancyBoot, Fastboot etc... They are neat little programs, but for instance, the SmartLogin, which utilizes the webcam as a method to log in- by recognizing your face, is a poor way of getting security, I'd rather use fingerprint reader... ( Which was not included)Mainly because, if you hold a picture of yourself up to the camera when your logging in, it will recognize the picture.. and you'll be able to log in, so... a secure password is probably much better.
Now, if I were able to change anything with the laptop, I'd probably want to get the GPU replaced with an Nvidia alternative.. which I can't but I'm fine as I am right now

The laptop isn't 100% cool, it still idles at around 65 Degrees C after the thermal compound repaste with Artic Silver 5. But it isn't warm to the touch, and underclocking takes it down 5-8 degrees C.

I've been VERY happy with this laptop, I hope to keep it for 3-4 years.

Anyways, some people included this, so I decided to include my WEI scores also:


Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU Q 720 @ 1.60GHz 7.0
Memory (RAM) 6.00 GB 7.4
Graphics ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5800 Series 7.2
Gaming graphics 3802 MB Total available graphics memory 7.2
Primary hard disk 2GB Free (116GB Total) 5.9
(2 HDDs, 1 500 GB (Asus default), 1 640 GB (Added later on).


If I had the choice, I would upgrade to something better, but I'd still stick to the Asus G7 series... There are a lot of systems I haven't used before. But, because of my experience (or luck) with Asus' laptop. I'm going to stick to their R.O.G line.

Brand: Alienware
Model: Area 51m-5790
Bought From: Direct from Alienware, $1600 in 2007
OS: Vista 32-bit
CPU: Core 2 Duo @ 2.0GHz
GPU: ATI mobility Radeon x1800
Resolution: 1920x1200
RAM: Bought with 1GB, replaced that with 2GB for $50 about a year later.
HDD: 80GB 5400 RPM Toshiba drive, later replaced with a 120GB drive.

Usage: Primarily gaming, also for generic use
Real World Battery Life: New, 2-3 hours. After three years of never running it from battery power: about 15 minutes.
Rating: 9.5/10 It had a minor overheating problem after a few years of use, otherwise, exactly what I wanted when I got it.

I got this laptop as essentially an all-purpose machine for college. Buying both a cheap laptop and a gaming desktop was out of my price range, so I went with a laptop I use mostly as an easier to move desktop. The goal was a system that could both handle games and general purpose use, without costing too much. The major reason I went with Alienware probably sounds odd to many here, but at the time it was the most cost-effective system out there given my budget. A similarly specced dell or gateway would've cost me about $400 more.

It's a very competent gaming machine, it could run oblivion when it came out, which was impressive for a laptop at the time. I haven't yet come across a game that isn't at least moderately playable at very low settings, probably because the CPU is still decent by modern standards. It seems the GPU is beginning to show its age much more obviously than the CPU.

Windows Vista was and still is a resource hog, but it runs without issues. Before swapping out the two 512mb sticks of ram it came with for 2 1gb sticks, the OS was a bit sluggish but still useable. After doing so, it's just as responsive as 7 is on a new pc. I haven't had any crashes or blue screens that aren't the result of games that are incompatible with the GPU series (and those are mostly older games)

Now to the system itself. Build quality is very good, but the system is also very heavy for a laptop, and rather large as well due to the 17'' screen and surronding bezel. Everything about the system is sturdy, and even after four years I've had no problems with the physical design. Accompanying the rather large size is a full keyboard, which is certainly a plus. It's pretty much your standard laptop keyboard, and even after years of use none of the keys are bad, stick, or are loose. I've almost never used the touchpad. It functions, and has buttons for left click and right click as well as a scroll bar area, but I prefer a mouse. The laptop only has four USB ports, but that's better than some laptops and worse than others. It has a DVI-out port for use with an external monitor, which is a lot more useful than I'd expected it to be. There's also a firewire port, SD card reader, and S-video port I've never used. The built-in wireless card works fine, although I almost always use a wired connection anyway. There's a convienient switch to disable wirless, which is helpful as Vista places priority on using avaliable wireless connections over wired connections for some mysterious reason. The built-in speakers sound no different to me than the external speakers I've been using more recently, and they haven't gone bad. It also has a built-in microphone, which functions without serious issues although it has a tendecy to pick up a bit of fan noise if used while the system is under strain.

The 1920x1200 screen is a big plus, as the 16:10 apsect ratio and glossy finish are hard to find in a laptop today and are nice to have. The high pixel density of a 17'' screen makes things very sharp. The screen has a quoted 16ms response time, but companies measure those differently today. I've never noticed ghosting.

Another important feature is how easy it is to work on. The HDD has it's own compartment which only requires removing three screws, and the secondary HDD bay and all the other internal components are easily accessed by removing a single panel. These systems seem to have been designed with working on them in mind.

Now to the minor problems I've had with it.

After a year or two of use, the system started overheating on hot days. The system is set to automatically shut down when the CPU hits 90 C, and while that works as intended the system was reaching that temperature in just under an hour on full load on hot days. It's simple to clean out the system, I just hadn't done so very often. All I really had to do was take off the back faceplate. I chose to go a little overboard and replace the thermal paste on the CPU and GPU as well (they share a single large heatsink assembly). That was a lot easier than I expected it to be, all that was required was removing the bottom faceplate and then taking out a few screws to remove the heatsink.

Customer support was very helpful, far more so than I had expected. Alienware at that time had a set of customer support forums much like the forums here, and they had several active support employees on them regularly.

The only other problem was one I mostly caused myself. I ran it exclusively from wall power for years, and so the battery isn't very useful anymore, only lasting around 15 minutes when it lasted a few hours new.

Overall:

Pros:
Very competent gaming machine, good monitor, solid build quality, easy to work on, good customer support. Nothing has failed or gone bad after four straight years as my only PC.

Cons:
Moderately expensive new, it's four years old, heavy and low battery life, inpractical to use on-the-go very often, and the company was eaten by dell a few years ago. I'd have a hard time reccommending Alienware now, as they no longer operate as an independent company.

That was longer than I meant it to be, considering that no one is likely to care much about a four year old system today anyway.

EDIT: Shortened it a bit. It doesn't need to be so long.

-Brand: Lenovo
-Model: Y470
-Bought From/Price: Aprox. $771 w/ 2yr extended warranty & tax
-OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
-CPU: Core i5 2410M
-GPU: nVidia GT 550M (switchable)
-RAM: 4GG
-Resolution: 1366 x 768
-Screen Size: 14"
-Screen Type: TN Panel; Glossy
-Weight: 4.9lbs
-Usage (Gaming, Internet, Office Apps, etc…): Some games, video encoding, internet
-Real World Battery Life (in your estimation): 3.88 hours based on 8 timed actual use sessions
-Your Rating (out of 10): 5

----------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE - I decided to downgrade my original rating of 7.5 to 5. The reason is the high CPU temps and a cooling pad does not help. Installed GTA 4 to see how well the nVidia GT 550m can handle the game. It did fine, but the i5-2410m pushed 99C (worse than Crysis) which naturally cause the CPU to start throttling. I basically decided to disable Turbo Boost so that the CPU will not attempt to "overclock" itself and temps for the most part is around 85C. That kinda defeats the purpose of having Turbo Boost.
----------------------------------------------------------------------


This is my 2nd laptop. My first is my still functional IBM ThinkPad T40 from 2003; I would rate that laptop at 9.5 if I were to retroactively review it. I bought this laptop mainly as a toy and to perhaps bring it along with me if I were to go on vacation so that I would not have to rely on my Motorola Driod if I want to surf the net or research something when I'm away from home.

This is a short version of my review, a longer version can be found in the following thread. Any questions regarding this review should be posted in that thread since this thread is primarily only for user reviews.

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/ [...] top-review


DISPLAY AND SPEAKERS

The screen is a glossy TN panel and is very reflective. I don't really like glossy screen so I'll be buying a Green Onion anti-glare screen protector for this laptop. The 1366 x 768 resolution is standard for this size laptop. I don't recall seeing a 14" laptop with 1600 x 900 resolution in this price range. The bezel surrounding the screen is glossy black, and it simply loves fingerprints. The speakers are actually pretty good since they are JBLs. They are pretty loud at maximum volume and have a little bit of distortion starting at 80% volume, therefore I set it to no louder than 70% which is still loud enough.


KEYBOARD & TOUCHPAD

The keyboard is your typical chiclet-style keyboard that seems to be all the rage and is set against a light charcoal gray background. It is recessed into the laptop to prevent them from accidently touching / rubbing against th screen.

Above the keyboard are the power button and Onekey App button to restore OS on the left. To the right are touch sensitive mute, volume up, volume down, "Theater", and Thermal Management buttons. The "Theater" button can be used to set the screen and speakers to movie mode which basically darkens the screen a bit and makes the sound a bit more "surround sound-ish".

The touchpad is a little larger than what I am used. The touchpad itself is pretty responsive. The touchpad button is a single button. Not too crazy about it since you basically have to press the far left or the far right of the single button. Since it is flush aginast the surface of the laptop it is sometime difficult to know you are pressing the right spot without looking.


GRAPHICS CARD & GAMEPLAY

As gamer knows, it's kinda hard to play games if you don't have a good graphics card. This is especially important in a laptop since at least 98% of laptops sold do not allow you to upgrade the video card. The Y470 comes with a nVidia GT 550M which is an above average video card. The GT 550M can be switch on or off using the silver switch on the right side of the laptop's front edge. When the GT 550M is switched on, a white LED will come on. Switching the GT 550M off can help conserve battery power suppose.

I loaded Crysis just to test out the capablities of the the GT 550M. I allowed Crysis to automatically set everything to High Quality Graphics, then I started a game using the console command "r_displayinfo 1" to display the frame rates. While the game did run, it was not at a high frame rates. Frame rates did not manage to go any higher than 35FPS and it dipped as low as 17FPS, but frame rates generally ranged between 20 - 26FPS. It was playable enough. Anti-aliasing was set to 2x.

I switched all graphics settings to MEDIUM (anti-aliasing remained at 2x) and gameplay was a lot smoother. I highest frame rates was 55 frames per second, but mostly it has been 31FPS - 45FPS and the lowest frame rates probably dipped down to 25 from what I can remember.


HEAT

Under normal conditions, this laptop is quite cool and is pretty quiet. Using the Thermal Management button I mentioned earlier, I set it to "Efficient thermal dissipation" which basically means the fan speed changes depending on how hot the laptop gets. It is pretty much spinning a low speed unless I am encoding a video or playing a game. The palmrest can become warm, but never hot. So it is not uncomfortable using the laptop even after playing Crysis for over an hour. According to Core Temp 0.99.8, the CPU get's as hot as 93C while playing Crysis. However, I can put the laptop on my lap (bare skin) while I'm wearing shorts and it would just feel a warm immediately after playing Crysis. Using GPU-Z the nVidia GT 550M reached 61C.


BATTERY

Actual battery life is based on an average of eight measurements. I use a fully charged battery for typical web surfing, playing some music from time to time and watching a few youtube videos. Nothing too stressful or unusual for someone who is using a laptop away from home. I use a stopwatch on my Motorola Driod to time how long the battery last from the moment I press the power button to when the laptop goes into hibernation mode with only a 5% battery charge left. I used my wireless mouse as well. I got on average 3 hours and 53 minutes which is not bad I suppose.


SUMMARY

Overall the Lenovo Y470 is a good laptop, if long battery life is not too important. It is pretty good for games given the resolution of the screen. The laptop is comfortable to use even while playing games because it does not get hot, it just gets warm. The noise from the fan is usually drowned out by the sounds from the game so it is not annoying at all. However, a CPU running at 93C while playing Crysis is a concern.

The biggest disappoint is the touchpad. It's a little bigger than what I'm used to, but I can adapt to it eventually. The single button is not my idea of an ideal setup for a touchpad button. It takes more force to press down than I am used to and since it is flush with the palm rest of the laptop, it is a bit difficult to locate the button itself and the far corners where it takes the least amount of force to press down.

Brand: ACER
Model: Aspire 5741G
Guarantee: 1 year
Purchased from: It was my BIRTHDAY PRESSY, although it goes for around 450~550 euros mark today (costed 100 euros more on July 2010)
OS: Windows 7 Premium x64
CPU: Intel Core i3 330M 2.13Ghz 3Mb L3 cache with Hyper-Threading technology
GPU: Geforce GT 320M/1Gb with CUDA & TurboCache technology
HDD: 320Gb
AUDIO: Realtek High Definition audio
Battery: 6 cell Li-ion
Screen: High definition 1366x768 15.6" LED technology FULL 1080p
Memory RAM: 4Gb DDR3 Epilson 1066Mhz
Connections/interfaces: multi memory card reader built-in, 1 x VGA, 3 x USB ports, 1 LAN Giga ethernet port, 1 x Kensington lock, 1 x HDMI port, Wi-Fi built in and a 1.3Mp web cam

Usage: Business purpose, general office applications, programming, CAD, even gaming, although not "extreme" gaming, Internet in general.

Its Core i3 32nm processor works very well for heavy duty calculations including video & audio compression, and with still alot of headroom to do other tasks simultaneously with virtually no sweat!

Its powerful nVidia Geforce GT320M does the job pretty well with sharp picture & graphics quality and reasonable DirectX 10 hardware acceleration with no problems at all for full DVD & Blu-Ray playback!

I'm pretty happy with this particular laptop, an all-in-one solution for any novice or professional. Why spend more on "top notch" laptops today?

Pros: Very good, affordable sturdy laptop with all you need for today's computing and multimedia in general
Cons: Only 1 year guarantee

Rating: 8/10


\/\/iZZkiD
Computer Programmer Analyst

My current laptop is a toshiba satellite (POS, but still works) I got from a best buy BF sale 4yrs ago for $220 (giving it to my father-in-law) with a 'free' printer, then I got an asus eeepc a year ago (a $250 mistake). I've been out of grad school for 3+ yrs so I am getting an HP Envy 17 for portable gaming (real) and writing scientific papers (excuse):
-Brand: HP
-Model: ENVY17
-Bought From/Price: HP/$1482 (inc. tax after upgrades)
-OS: Win 7 HP
-CPU: i7-2630QM
-GPU: HD6850 1gb ddr5
-Resolution: 1920 x 1080, 17.3"
-RAM: upgraded to 8gb
-Usage (Gaming, Internet, Office Apps, etc…): gaming, office apps, video playback/editing, internet, movies.
-Real World Battery Life (in your estimation): advertised/expected 2/1hr, but then again you don't run these dtr's purely off of battery power.
-Your Rating (out of 10): 9.0
WEI scores:
CPU: 7.4
RAM: 7.6
Graphics/Gaming: 7.1/7.1
Primary drive: 7.9

For $1168 (after discounts and before tax), this is an incredible machine. I replaced a 750gb seagate HDD 7200rpm with a m4 128gb SSD as the boot drive (the hdd goes back into the laptop once the drive caddy arrives) and a 2gb dimm with a 4gb that was on sale at newegg for $7 (after mir). It was ok before the upgrades, but now its friggin amazing. Loading applications and internet usage is on par with my gaming desktop. The sound is incredible for a pc, much less than a laptop, but then again I'm not much of an audiophile and never had a subwoofer on a laptop. Video playback/editing has not yet been attempted, but will soon. The lighted keyboard (full with number pad) is very nice and the feel of the slate keys has a very solid feel to it. The options on the keyboard make this laptop very user friendly. With upgrades the total for this laptop is $1380.

Now for the negatives (decreasing order). First and foremost, the obvious: the underpowered gpu- the 6850M. no choice here when it comes to the envy17 series, which makes me glad I didn't get the 3d upgrade, lest I'd be set up for a huge disappointment in 3d gaming (6850 with ddr5 not ddr3). I guess there's no flexibility in power as the 6870/6950M TDP is 50W as opposed to the 39W of the 6850M. Compared to the 5850M of the previous generation: same TDP, with about a 10% or more decrease in core/memory clocks, memory bw, and processing power (gflops). CCC was installed, but there was no option to oc the gpu. Now I'm stuck with the equivalent of a mediocre relative of a 5750 at 1080p. I would have gladly paid the premium for the option (within reason of course). For now, major gaming is done on the i5-2500k/6950 cf'd setup.
The second is the glare on the screen. Can be of annoyance, but manageable. Didn't think it was worth the $150 option and still don't. $50 maybe.
The third negative may depend on your luck. It was pretty difficult for me to remove the first cover (hdd) without yanking the cover after removing the two screws, which made the upgrading somewhat difficult. A youtube video showed the guy removing it with relative ease. So it maybe up to your particular envy17.

I will edit this review if anything new comes up.

This article is superb! I read your article and thought I’d tell you that I think your presentation is excellent and your views are right on track. I can’t imagine anyone putting this together better.....LAPTOPS

Hi all, here goes :-0

-Brand: HP Pavilion DV6 Notebook PC
-Model: 6001ea ( white limited edition model??? )
-Bought From/Price: local Currys £429
-OS: Windows 7 64bit home Premium
-CPU: AMD Phenom 11 P960 Quad @ 1.8Ghz
-GPU: AMD HD 6470M and HD 4250 onboard
-Resolution: 1366x768 @ 60hz
-RAM: 4Gb Elpida DDR3 10600
-Usage (Gaming, Internet, Office Apps, etc…):
-Real World Battery Life (in your estimation): 1.5 - 2Hrs MAX!!!
-Your Rating (out of 10): 9 out of 10

Bought this as had not had a pc for well over a year; lost the will to live building my own gaming rigs so had an extended break.

In use this laptop is excellent; use for net, movies, odd document, some gaming and music.
The keyboard is excellent in use and being silver shines at night when only laptop for illumination ( mater stroke!!! ).
The display is excellently bright when using hi-performance gpu ( their blurb not mine :-), and not too dim ( but nice) when using on-board gpu.
Most days i have the tv dongle on News24 all day, the internet dongle on most times, listening to some tunes if tv is muted ( automatically displays subtitles, i love you Media Centre! ) while browsing the net; not really had any serious problems, a couple of freezes with browsers ( who does'nt? ) and the previously noted problem when taking power cord out and going onto battery.

The battery life is pretty average i suppose for this class of laptop with dedicated gpu, but still feels inefficient sometimes, especially if you have not charged before you leave the house, and no convient plug to charge when out. The only really frustrating thing is if you are watching a video or tv ( have dongle wich works well with bothe original software and Media Centre ) and you unplug power source then the switch to onboard graphics can cause app to crash, both Media Centre and Total Media do so. The switch from dedicated gpu to onboard involves a few black screens and a dimming of overall brightness, very quaint and feels totally retro now so no longer bugs me out :-)

The laptop feeds hdmi to tv without issues, the dvd-rw works as advertised, 4 usb2 ports, 2 either side, vga for you old scholl peeps, lan and front facing sd/mmc card reader.

One thing i am reall happy about is the Altec lansing sound system, obviously no real bass, but the presence is their if you know what i mean, but the overall sound is excellent, if a little bit tinny, though this will depend on the quality of source material as always.

Can not say enough good things about htis laptop, except for the ridiculous prices both Currys and HP want you to pay for their extended warrentys.

Being unemployed ( not going to tell you what occured so i could but this laptop :-) ), their prices are rubbish, £200 + for HP 2yrs and £269+ for 5yrs Currys. Either way, no bank account, so no joy!!! just does not work does it.

That aside, for light gaming ( currently playing HL2 and LPlanet again, as well as and then it moves, (( awesome game )) ), general internet use, productivity etc, this lapto is Perfect..... I must be mad!!!

Stayed away from laptops for ever,

-Brand: Lenovo ThinkPad x121e
-Model: 3045
-Bought From/Price: local Currys 3500 nis ~= 950$
-OS: Windows 7 64bit home Premium
-CPU:Intel Core i3-2357M Processor (1.3GHz, 3MB L3, 1333MHz DDR3)
-GPU: intel HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge) onboard
-Resolution: 11.6" W HD (1366 x 768)LED, Anti-Glare.
-RAM: 4 GB DDR3 - 1333MHz (2 DIMM)
-Usage (Gaming, Internet, Office Apps, etc…): CAD, 3D, Graphics, Facebook/multimedia/email.
-Real World Battery Life (in your estimation): 5-6 hours
-Your Rating (out of 10): 9 out of 10
Windows Experience Index 4.9 (Highest gaming 6.1 lowest processor 4.9 other values around 5.5)


IMPORTANT: I was looking for a small "cheap" lightweight but powerfull notebook. I didn't need it for direct work - just for showing my work done at home, on a laptop / projector in class.

I needed it to load medium complexity Sketchup models and CAD plans. I also wanted it to work with Revit and 3DS max that I want to learn in the future. Autodesk and Sketchup's site specificly stated that intel graphics are NOT recomended but since I need a cheap notebook and I wasn't planning on working on it - just viewing (And some facebook of course ) I decided to take the risk.

First hands the x121e is simply Ugly. there is a nice smooth cover on top and the screen opens out in a wide beautiful and functional angel (but might not leave room for a large battery). On the coolness factor this one comes last, oh well it least it has both HDMI & VGA out are avilable - just what I needed.
The x121e is light weight and comfortably small in size, but extreamly fast with a good batter life (6 cell bat & I worked it hard for almost 6 hours strait without plugin it in with wifi on and connected). The keyboard layout is excelent & the keys are spread apart but easy to type. the tuchpad is awful! and uncomfortable at all (plus no sliding detection on the right side) but I'm pretty coordinated so I got used to it. after insalling all the above software (some are trials or the small light versions) it still takes the x121e about 1 minute from clicking the restart button to go thourgh boot and back to work again - FAST.

For the main course, The 3d applications:
sketchup & 3ds max - works o.k. loads complex files and rotates the model (rotating forces wireframe but redraws details back fast) - I loaded with foliage but hidden it for the rotating but even my friends more powerful laptops have trouble rotating models with foliage.
CAD & Revit - loads great! works smothly and redraws on rotate without too much issues.

in conclusion - although integrated graphics aren't recommended for 3d applications for the sake of viewing and rotating the model they are still o.k. I think even working on cad and revit is possible but didn't seriously try it yet.

I have been playing with it for a week now & I'm really satisfied with the x121e for now, I hope I will feel the same in a year or so.


I deducted just 1 point due to the really crappy small annoying tuchpad - I used better. I usually use the tuchpad and not a mouse so this is important but live-able.

Brand: Samsung
Model: Rf-711 S02
Price: 800$
OS: Windows 7 64bit home Premium
CPU: i7 2630QM
GPU: Nvidia GeForce GT 540
Resolution 1600 x 900
Ram: 4gb
Usage: Multimedia, Gaming
Real world battery life: 1h load, 4-5 text writing
your rating: 2

The laptop was good when i first got it but after a 4 monds the problems came:

-dirt in the screen, some small brown spots.
-problems with the battery
-when i enable hyperthreading the laptop shut show me 8 threads, but instead it shows me four and sais this is a dualcore!
-when i burn a disk the disk won't play some of the song till the end.
The left speaker gives a lot less sound than the right one.

I think it's obvious that this is one problem machine.
Do not by this, if you look at the specifications you'd say that it's a lot for not that much money but you really don't wanna buy this one.
Go for something stronger and durabler than this ***.

I would go for the TOSHIBA based on the Intel Core arquitecture. - Good luck!