Apple MacBook Pro MB991LL/A 13.3-Inch Laptop

I want to break this into TWO reviews. One about Mac in general (specifically OS X) and one about THIS computer.

Mac in general:
I was raised in a PC household. Dad worked with old-school technology in the 70s and 80s, and was serious about PCs. As a Linux / UNIX admin (and former Windows server admin), I am just used to working on PC gear. Since I can generally figure it out or reinstall, it was never a problem. Then I met Mac. Gone are the days of rebooting and trying to fix driver conflicts. Gone are the days of vague error messages. I love the simplicity and the way OS X just… WORKS. Aside from Office, everything you need is included right in it. If I can make the switch from PC to Mac, so can you. And I’m not just spitting the propaganda that the “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” commercial does. It really is that solid of a technology. I am a Mac, even though I’m paid to be a PC from 8-5.

And this product in particular:
I’ve used a 2005-era 20″ iMac at work, plus my wife has had a MacBook (plastic white) for a while. I, being the computer geek, kept buying random cheap PC laptops and netbooks, hoping to find a simple solution. Sadly, I was just wasting more time trying to install OS_X86 or make the software do what I wanted. I had a Ghost image of my PC laptop so that I could restore it every 6 months when the XP began slowing down. Buying this Mac was a luxury, but was much needed for my own sanity!!

On a side note, I love Apple’s ability to create products that solve problems, and their ability to charge almost a fair price for them. For example, the 500gb airport / backup is *almost* worth it to me, and will likely become worth it sometime soon. The same applied for this MacBook. I drooled for months at the unibody and waited for the new product line. I wholeheartedly believe that this exact model is the best laptop ever made. While it seems painful to pay a bit more than a PC laptop, look at what you’re getting. Comparable hardware in a PC laptop (I priced out a few Dell laptops with the same specs) and this one is really a good price.

I upgraded mine with Crucial’s 4gb RAM and stuck in a 500gb SATA drive. I can run 3 VM desktops (Fedora 11, Ubuntu, and Windows) simultaneously on VMware and… well, I see the performance issue, but I can still function. The battery is good too. While I’m getting more like… 5 hours of battery life, I’m also running the keyboard backlight and screen on bright all the time.

I love my new MacBook Pro 13. This thing is solid and light and absolutely beautiful. Fast, functional, and suits all my technology needs. Don’t underestimate iPhoto’s ability to sort photos by faces. I had an UNMANAGEABLE amount of photos… imported them in and POP! All done. Duplicates ignored, sorted by the embedded date, including videos. My iPhone photos (where I allowed the GPS to store data) show up on a map at the exact point where the photo was taken. Yeah, this is cool stuff. And face recognition works.. “pretty well”. It gets me and my toddler confused, but in all fairness, she looks a lot like me. I just wish it was a *bit* smarter, but it’s still a feature I’d miss if I didn’t have it.

This laptop is the last one you’ll ever need, at least for the next couple of years. I will not let mine out of my site. Buy one!!

For more information on this product visit Amazon.com

HP Pavilion DV4-1541US 14.1-Inch Espresso Laptop - Up to 4.25 Hours of Battery Life (Windows 7 Home Premium)

Since my Dell laptop is seven years old, I’ve been looking for a replacement for the last few months. There are so many options that it was hard to make a choice. Since I bought a Sony Vaio for my wife recently – the VGN-NW270F, I had a good laptop to compare to this HP DV4.

You basically have two general choices to make: do you want a powerful laptop that can do lots of things, but has a shorter batter life or do you want a lighter less powerful laptop which has an extended life. I went with the power laptop which the HP is.

In general, I’m very happy and impressed. The HP is a bit smaller – 14″ vs 15.6″, but I actually prefer the smaller form factor. The 15.6 is more a desktop replacement size. They both have the same 320 GB hard drive and plenty of other ports and 4 GB or ram. I wanted an HDMI port and both have this feature. When you connect the HP to my 42″ TV the screen looks sharp and stunning. I can now watch internet video and ripped movies on my big screen. One feature the Sony has is the ability to play Blue Ray disks, but since I don’t own any of those, it’s not a factor.

The HP does have a nice Recovery partition and a few other features, but I don’t use them. The Sony has a better metal body, keyboard and track pad area (I use a real mouse.), but the HP is ok.

Windows 7 is a joy to work with and even though I bought a manual, I haven’t had to crack it open yet. I’ve gone from XP to Windows 7 without a hitch.

Pros
Fast bootup and performance
One click to turn wireless on and off.
Fantastic HDMI video to home TV

Cons
Case and keyboard not as nice as Sony Vaio.
Track area doesn’t have the nice feel of a Sony
A little bit of junkware you need to uninstall.

For more information on this product visit Amazon.com

HP Pavilion DV7-3060US 17.3-Inch Espresso Laptop - Up to 4.5 Hours of Battery Life (Windows 7 Home Premium)

Wow what can I say about this laptop? I placed my order on 11/7, product was shipped 11/9 and delivered 11/11! The shipping was listed as free super saver shipping but since Amazon had a free 2-day shipping promotion going on shortly after I bought it, I think they may have automatically upgraded it to that.

Anyways back to my review. Since I’ve only had this computer less than a week, I cannot be too critical or list every single pro/con. However I will attempt to list that which I have experienced (Typing the review on the laptop now!)

1) Computer came securely packaged and arrived on time, much earlier than expected. Package had the computer, battery, user manual, quick-start guide, power adapter + cord, and an HP remote (made for use with HP MediaSmart technology)

2) Initial set up is a breeze for a novice user. I’m not a novice by any means, so it really was a snap to get this computer up and running. Just make sure to plug it in and then let the computer run all the necessary updates and whatnot. Expect to set aside a minimum of 2 hours to get all this done.

3) I have been using Windows XP since…about my 7th or 8th grade year (2nd year sophomore in college, currently), so suffice it to say I didn’t want to use Windows 7. Because this is a 64bit computer, and it has 4gigs of RAM and a 2.4GHz processor, I must say that Windows 7 is surprisingly fast and a very refreshing change after the last disaster of Windows Vista. The transparency effects arent too flashy like in Vista, and everything runs very clean, fast, and efficient. It does take a bit of time to get used to all the new options, but that might only be me since I did NOT upgrade to Vista, so I’m really learning for the first time the new layout of Windows.

4) As far as performance and graphics, I have not done any task which is terribly processor or graphics card intensive for me to have any opinion on that. I have installed Unreal Tournament 2004 and Rome: Total War. Both games are pretty graphics heavy and have run very very smooth so far. The settings are automatically calibrated in the game and it is nice to see the game set everything to HIGH quality. Proves this computer really has the punch to deal with games, even in a laptop form. The 17.3″ screen is very vivid and bright while gaming, allowing the user to experience the best high-quality and high-def computing experience available.

5) A MAJOR point I want to make is the size of the computer and the search for a laptop case. I read alot about this computer before I bought it, and I did my best to try and shop online for a case to fit a screen this big. Unfortunately, not many case manufacturers have items made for a 17.3″ screen, so my advice is to NOT shop online and have it be a hit-and-miss for finding the right size. I initially bought an (overpriced) backpack from Best Buy for damn near $80, and very quickly realized the incredible markup and bloated price they charge. Very soon after I returned it since both Staples and a local computer specialty store (GT Computers) had much cheaper and better quality items. I do want to make a note that some cases say 16″, but they CAN fit this computer if they are spacious enough. My personal decision was to buy a laptop backpack rather than a case since this computer weighs in at a hefty 8lbs and is not the easiest thing in the world to carry around. Long story short is the advice to go to a store, rather than rely on a website, when it comes to buying a laptop case that actually fits.

6) Accessories + junk: The computer comes with an Altec Lansing Premium Sound System with Built-in Subwoofer. While this sounds good on paper, its not the best sound in the world in actuality. Perhaps I’m a bit biased since I have a 2.1 system with 40W subwoofer at my desktop, but for a pair of laptop speakers for the average user, they are really good. I was in a loud cafeteria setting, and my friend pulled out his USB powered speakers to hear a video he was playing…just for comparison purposes I turned my speakers up maxed and they not only drowned out HIS speakers (these were seperate, dedicated, USB powered speakers) but they also drowned out some of the cafeteria noise. An audiophile or someone who is really tech-savy will be able to tell the difference between low quality and high quality, but any other user or someone just looking for a casual computing experience will appreciate this laptop. Another fun accessory is the built-in HP MediaSmart remote control. It is slim, stylish, fits easily into the computer, and its alot of fun to show off to friends by turning my music on/off or skipping tracks and changing the volume from across the room. This computer really is aimed to be an entertainment PC, and hooked up correctly with an HDMI cable and a decent sound system, one could stream movies or videos from the internet, watch them on the tv, and control it all from the comfort of your couch! Very nice touch, and very fun to have.

7) Battery life: The product name boasts an “Up to 4.5 hour battery life” and I’m not sure how true this claim is, since I don’t get anywhere NEAR 4 hours, but more on the low end of 3. All my settings are set to low, including screen brightness…everything is designed to save power. Don’t get me wrong though: for a laptop with a screen this big, and with the processing power it packs, the battery has stunning performance. However, don’t expect to get more than 3 hours, maybe 3.5 hours if you do -nothing- but word process and web surf. Windows 7 doesn’t show the battery time remaining when you hover over the system tray icon like Windows Vista and XP do, but to circumvent that I downloaded a free program called BatteryBar, and it gives detailed statistics on the battery’s time left to charge, full charge capacity (measured in megawatt-hours, or mWh), as well as the charge/discharge rate, full lifetime, and battery wear (Mine is at 3.4% of 73,440 mWh, meaning I can use about 97% of the battery’s full capacity. Its current capacity is 70,963 mWh, and this is just due to normal degredation that happens as soon as the battery if manufactured.) On that note, it is really best to USE the battery rather than not to, since either way it is going to degrade. You cannot stop the natrual degredation process, so its better to just use it up. The HP user guides recommend discharging the battery down to 5% before fully recharging, to help the battery retain its charge/discharge cycles.

Anyhow, I think that is more than enough information from someone who has only had this computer 5 days. I’m sure I will write a revision to this review in the future, if I notice any major changes, or decide to upgrade the information for more potential buyers. Thanks for reading, and I hope it helps in your decision! My verdict? Get this computer if your are someone looking to watch lots of movies, view pictures or slideshows, and do alot of music/video based stuff (watching Youtube, movies, etc). I’m not a gamer but in looking for a laptop I wanted something that HAS the performance, if I need it, whether I decide to use it or not. If you are a college student (like I am), its a great laptop with great battery life, but be prepared to carry around a bit of added weight, just due to the sheer size of this thing.

Overall great laptop and I wouldn’t change it for the world. Thanks for reading!

For more information on this product visit Amazon.com

Dell Inspiron 1545 15.6-Inch Jet Black Laptop - Up to 4 Hours 34 Minutes of Battery Life (Windows 7 Home Premium)

I bought mine from Dell with a little better price but I buy a lot from Amazon and find the reviews helpful. I have a Dell XPS which is a high end Dell and running my benchmarks it is really preforms quite well considering the cost. Like one lady said the sound is better than the xps, maybe the best I have heard on a laptop. The screen is about a 1/2 inch shorter from top to bottom but about 1/2 inch wider. I thought I would be to skinny like the new 16:9 but its fine. The screen is excellent in sharpness and color very good. The intel graphics card is ample for video and is ok for older games. I am not a gamer high end graphics are not a issue.It does have 32mb of its own ram and the rest is shared. Dell has finally installed a app to back up the system for restore like other oems. The roxio is pretty much worthless and you need something else for the normal burning that windows 7 cant do.Mine came with 15 months of mcafee and I uninstalled it as soon as I got it. It is a resource hog and will slow your computer to a crawl at times. Microsoft finally has a free security essentials app instead of having to pay someone else to protect your computer and I use it as well as Avira anti virus (free)from time to time. I am going on 4 hours battery now and the battery says I have 50 minutes left. It only has 1 led for power and low battery, I dont care for this and prefer a full set of leds to let me know whats going on. Software indicators work but or a cost cutting feature.
My only problem is the space bar feels loose at times and hinges for the monitor are quite stiff and hope they don’t break.
I have had my share of problems with Dell and have sent back 2 different computers. To be honest this is the best computer for the money I have had. Only time will tell if it holds up or not but I am quite happy with it. Charging $40.00 for a different color (on there website)lid is a rip off to me, but each to their own. Mine came with 3gb ram and I added a 2gb chip for 4gb I had and it does make a difference. I would keep an eye on the price as they do change. One of the main reasons I bought this is because I despised vista, but I have had no problems with 7. My wifi and networked worked with no problems.
Update: a nice feature that might confuse some people is that the fn key need not be pushed to use the media keys and the sound volume and brightness. There is a bios setting that can change the priority of the fn key to media first or number keys (like f1 f2 f3) first) It is set by default to media first. I have never seen this before but I like this feature.

For more information on this product visit Amazon.com

Apple MacBook Pro MB990LL/A 13.3-Inch Laptop

Well I must say I am very happy i did not buy apple’s first iteration of the 13″ aluminum macbook last year b/c they really got it right the second time around upgrading it to a macbook pro! Its nice to have that “pro” stamp on a 13″ now! Apple has listened to their customers adding almost everything we have asked for and more, and managed to reduce the price! Thanks Apple!

CHANGES FROM LAST YEAR
- $100 less
- 13″ aluminum macbooks became macbook pros
- 2.53Ghz up from 2.4GHz dual core
- 4GB RAM up from 2GB
- led display has 60% greater color gamut than previous model
- new advanced built-in battery that lasts up to 7 hours vs 4hrs
- FireWire is back (after all the complaints of first model)
- SD card slot (replaces express card slot)
- new models now come with iLife ‘09
- separate digital audio input is gone
- new model uses the same integrated mic and headphone port as the iPhone

PROS
- finally a price cut with a performance upgrade! i knew apple could do it. i was tired of paying for aesthetics and not performance.
- new Snow Leopard Operating System comes pre-installed! Same great ease of use with much faster performance!
- much better lcd screen! inline with the pro models…still glossy and still some glare but much nicer!
- backlight keyboard on all 13″ models now! ( i really enjoy this as it can be controlled from low to high)
- battery life is significantly better than last year.( i get about 6 hours w/ regular use not the 7hrs that is reported)
- the computer is designed beautifully truly a head turner.
- iLife 09 suite is superb for pictures, movies, and music. Good software really does sell hardware.
- SD card slot accepts SDHC, which goes up to 32GB and works like a charm. (can boot from SD card as well)

CONS
- aluminum outer casing does dent easily if dropped. (buy a soft case for it!)
- power cord is short and does not reach as many places as I would like…must sit very close to power outlet.
- battery can’t be removed easily
- SD card sticks about half way out of slot. eye sore.
- blu-ray option would have been nice but understandable given licensing fees. (many blurays are offering digital copies which help)

Taking into consideration all the great improvements over last year with a nice price cut I can now truly recommend this near perfect Macbook Pro!

For more information on this product visit Amazon.com

HP G60-530US 15.6-Inch Black/Silver Laptop - Up to 3.75 Hours of Battery Life (Windows 7 Home Premium)

I purchased this Windows 7-64 bit notebook to replace a crashed desktop. It’s nice enough that there’s a sleek design with its black case and aluminum touchpad and trim, but there’s a lot more “under the hood” of this budget-priced model. 4GB of installed DDR2 @SDRAM with 1MB of installed memory cache, a 320 GB hard drive and a 2.1 Ghz speed on its T4300 processor. The 1366 x 768 BrightView is crisp and clear with a 15.6 display size. The G60 weighs less than seven pounds yet has enough bells and whistles to perform like a desktop. In fact, I am using it as one with a purchased flat screen monitor and wireless keyboard and mouse.

Ports/Connectors:
3 USB 2.0
RJ-11 modem
RJ-45 LAN
HDMI
HDDB15 VGA
headphone
microphone

Additionally, there’s a webcam and a 5-in-one media reader (alas, not large enough for a compact flash card, but an external card reader solved the problem).

Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit edition is pre-installed and took a little getting used to after my XP machines, but I think it ultimately will make home networking a much easier install as the system is quite intuitive.

This is my second HP computer and I am impressed with its performance. I especially like the software compatibility feature that allows me to run older programs in XP mode.

Gripes? Very few. The 5400 rpm drive speed seems a little slow after a 7200 desktop speed and I would not recommend it for serious games, however, for the beginner to average user, it’s a good solid machine.

Recommended.

For more information on this product visit Amazon.com

HP Pavilion DV6-1350US 15.6-Inch Espresso Laptop - Up to 8 Hours of Battery Life (Windows 7 Home Premium)

I ordered this laptop for high school and college classes i will be attending while in high school. Before i fully review this item please listen to me and disregaurd a couple reviews that have dragged the overall rating down such as the one complaing about the price increase (maybe you should’ve acted on the major sale when it happened now you have to wait), or the one complaining about the shipping (i picked free shipping and it took 2 days to ship and 2 days to get here (under the amount of time estimated)).

First of all my overall say for this laptop is: I have reasearched of and on for a couple of years and just standing back because i didnt really need one and as of right now after about a week of non-stop searching for the best computer for the money i came across this. When i found it it think it was about $730.00 with a $50 HP rebate bringing the total to $680.00 the next day after comparing and gawking at the pics and specs the price dropped to $680.00 with the $50 HP rebate bringing the total to $620.00. so i searched around found out noboody could beat that price and saw it was available at my local Staples and a car accident later i went home and purchased it. I couldnt be happier.

Pros:

Fast – when you click on something it opens no questions ask just does what its told.

Quiet – Not even the fan has made noise yet.

Battery life

Fast start up – from hibernation and from being turned completely off.

Well built – I feel like i could put my elbows on it and lean (but i wont haha)

Windows 7 – took less than a minute to install a printer that took me 4 hours to install on my XP computer.

Not really any useless space taking preloaded software.

Fast and Easy setup.

Beautiful Design – My friends are jealous!

Remote and storage for remote included – Great for my school presentations

Fast and easy cd/dvd burning and riping

Cons: (Just petty things that dont really matter)

Fingerprint magnet – doesnt really matter or take away from anything

The built-in webcam is kinda fuzzy but thats if you really look close – this can be easily overlooked

Power cord plug-in placement – it wraps around the computer because i have it set so that the outlet is to the left of the wall and the plug is on the right of the computer.

Notes:

When you start it up and set it up and its all ready the first thing you should do is make the recovery disks (it doesn’t come with them) incase anything wrong were to happen. All you need are three DVD-R or DVD + R disks and follow the instructions.

About the BIG battery it doesn’t really bother me. This is why i went to Staples so i could see if this was really a big deal like people made it seem. I like the angle it puts the laptop on, its easier for me to type on it. It makes a space so that air can go through keeping it cool. The only inconvenience i see is that it could be somewhat awkward to carry around. But again that wont really matter due to the fact that i have the big satchel bag to carry it around in and i think its a fair trade 8 hours of battery life for a simple awkward carrying complication.

Though it is a 320 GB hard drive when you get it it will only have about 250-260 GB (Or at least mine did) on it and thats normal its just windows and the software and the recovery software that HP has on it.

Things i personly like the best about this:

The slideshow background themes

The speed

Quietness

Windows 7 is sooooo simple and clean!

Windows DVD maker is nice for making slideshows with pics and music and putting it all on a disk.

The new windows 7 tricks like putting to windows to the sides to compare and shaking a window to make all of the others disapear.

Fast start up – as opposed from my XP computer start up times have decreased by up to 3-4 minutes no more saying i dont want to go through the trouble of tunring the computer on!

My advice is if your looking for a laptop in this price range get this one. If you can go up in your price range then you can get this same everything with upgraded specs like processor and memory for just a little more but thats your choice.

Good Luck!

For more information on this product visit Amazon.com

Apple MacBook MC207LL/A 13.3-Inch Laptop

The last time I used Apple computers was somewhere in the 80s then the whole barrage of PCs took over. What a difference it made through the years. Like the others, have been using PCs and Microsoft basically that almost forgot how I missed this innovation. Every time I use my Macbook I can’t stop smiling by the ease and conception of every function it is capable of. Here are some points:

Pros:
-The design concept is truly amazing
-You can run 2 OS linear or parallel using Desktop Parallel 5.0 or Fusion
-Blazing fast, I haven’t upgraded mine yet (plan to increase memory) but it is very fast in every way
-Included software fits every need no matter what your background is
-Gorgeous LED display
-Core 2 Duo processor is very efficient and reliable
-Quiet operation and barely gets warm
-Larger hard drive than the Pro version
-Insane 7 hr battery life, Netbooks have 10 hr battery life but is limited in what it can do
-Included software is very functional to every need
-Very light
-User friendly
-Tutorials available on Apple site
-Boots up in approx 20 seconds and shuts down in 5 seconds
-Glass mouse has a myriad of functions not available in PCs

Cons:
-Non user removable battery (although you can charge it up to 1,000x)
-Additional software and accessories could be very expensive
-Dirt magnet
-USB ports could be more
-People are complaining about the missing firewire port but my Sony HD cam uses a regular usb connection when transferring AVCHD video files. Besides, firewire speed is rated at 400mbps while USB 2.0 is 480mbps.

I just purchased Desktop Parallel 5.0 to add flexibility in handling Microsoft apps and operation, still thinking whether to install Windows 7 or XP but definitely not Vista. I bought mine from Bestbuy and it came with a $150 gift card so it’s like I just paid $849. I wanted the regular white Macbook because it has a larger hard drive and I heard the aluminum unibody case dents easily. I am planning to use my Macbook for our church website construction even if we have an existing one I made through a PC software, the iWeb feature using MobileMe is just too nice to ignore. I’m planning to get an iMac next time for my 2 girls.

For more information on this product visit Amazon.com

ASUS K50IJ-X8 15.6-Inch Black Versatile Entertainment Laptop (Windows 7 Home Premium)

I have researched the hell out of laptops netbooks etc. I actually had purchased a ASUS netbook eee PC. They are all well and good, but honestly just too small for my taste. The keyboards are small and really are only good for surfing the net. So I figured for 200 more bucks I can get the best of whats out there. This ASUS laptop is fast can run WOW easy for all you MMORPG guys and gals out there and can handle multiple apps no problem. Worth every penny! So much better than a netbook, more ram, better CPU, more hard drive space and the abilty to play DVD movies in a much higher resolution!

Edit- battery life is lasting me about 4hrs and 25 mins. With basic apps running such as iTunes and internet surfing. This notebook is still the best thing I’ve seen around. I was lucky enough to purchase it for 599 during the black friday sale. But amazon still has a great price and more than worth the value!

Edit 12/4/09- I have to disagree about the review about the keyboard. I was able to type 3 papers very efficiently and had no typos. It feels very comfortable. I don’t use the number pad. I’m not an accountant and don’t have a need to use the number pad like its a calculator. Some people might need it. I do not.

As for Windows 7 being a unstable system. I totally disagree. I’ve built all my desktops since I’ve gotten into PC gaming and windows 7 by far surpasses any OS i’ve used. XP is way to basic for my taste and Vista was a compatibility nightmare. I’ve ran windows updates already and it was flawless, boot up is literally half of what I’m used to on a desktop. As for upgrade options. No not really. This is a notebook not a desktop. 4gb is more than enough to do most things and as for the hard drive 500g is pretty massive. My desktop has 3TB, but thats mostly for storage.

Con: The speakers sound great. However, when the laptop is on your lap the sound isn’t as clear, but this is to be expected. If the laptop is on a desk or whatever it sounds great. Altec Landsing speakers are pretty amazing.

The touch pad took a few moments to get used too, but besides that great product.

TO the supposed “THE REAL REVIEW Only 100% Truthful Reviews”

“My ASUS was DOA and it was a rather bad experience…..AMZN saved the day. Feel free to read my review on my ASUS that is now dead and buried and sent back after 15 hours of ownership and that 15 hours was a NIGHTMARE!” November 16th 2009.

“The unit seemed very cheaply made…dvd drive was dead….power cord was sparking when plugged in…lousy viewing angles….no backlit keyboard makes this BLACK keyboard impossible to see…..got a zillion error messages..one after another after another..Customer support was a joke…14 hours on the phone with these guys and all I can say if if they are the best, I dont want to experience the worst….. I am very sorry I rolled the dice with ASUS but very thankful I bought from AMZN as they do a great job of resolving things for customers which is why I will continue to give AMZN my business….” December 4th 2009.

Are you kidding me man? Stop writing reviews to hear yourself speak. At least show a shimmer of intelligence in what you say. Yes, I’m sure the laptop that you just purchased actually through off sparks lol. Bottom line is this laptop is excellent for the price you pay and people don’t need to see your crap reviews that obviously are bias and EXTREMELY EXAGGERATED!

Edit: 12/5/09- I had mentioned previously that the touchpad was a little difficult to get used to initially. But asus has a excellent option for configuring it as you desire. I just turned down the sensitivity and it really has helped with scrolling and web surfing. ALSO for those who are picky about fingerprints this machine does attract very well. There are many options for skins out there that fit this laptop perfectly. Just an option! I’ve continued to fool around with the new options within Windows 7 and it is really amazing the amount of custom-ability that is possible. There thousands of options for display and such and the laptop handles the shading/pixels/ and resolutions like a champ!

For more information on this product visit Amazon.com

ASUS UL30A-X5 Thin and Light 13.3-Inch Black Laptop - 12 Hours of Battery Life (Windows 7 Home Premium)

Just received my Asus UL30A-X5 yesterday. After much review, and a try-out with an Acer 1410, I decided that I wanted a full-sized chiclet/island keyboard and the larger screen. I’m already quite pleased with my decision. At the <$700 price point, this is an excellent notebook.

Pros
- Keyboard. A pleasure to type on.
- Touchpad. It drags at first, but once you get some finger oil on it, and change the pointer speed, it’s one of the best that I’ve used. Very smooth two finger scroller. Support for customized two and three finger click.
- Screen. Bright and easy to read at 30 degree angles.
- Battery life. Yes, it will do over 10 hours.
- Weight/size. 1 inch thin and very light.
- Body. Love the brushed black metal look on the case.
- Asus facial recognition login. Didn’t think that I would care, but it’s nice to have the computer log in, without touch, when I’m sitting in front of it.
- Asus FastBoot (not the BIOS fast boot). This lets you configure which programs load during startup and which load after. Speeds up the boot quite a bit.
- Decent speakers. Not ear-destroying, but suitable for the size. Much better than most netbooks.

Cons
- Placement of touchpad. It still registers my palm as I’m typing even at the extreme setting. Downloaded the new touchpad driver, but that didn’t fix. Still looking for a solution. This is by far the most frustrating problem. UPDATE: The TouchFreeze utility seems to almost fix the issue.
- Case still shows fingerprints.
- Web cam is low res and has difficulty in low light (haven’t tried different drivers yet).

For more information on this product visit Amazon.com