HP Pavilion DV6871US 15.4" Laptop

HP Pavilion DV6871US 15.4" Laptop (1.83 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5550 Processor, 3 GB RAM, 320 GB Hard Drive, DVD Drive, Vista Premium)
Designed for fast access to your entire entertainment library, the HP Pavilion dv6871us notebook PC is a great choice for both families and business travelers on the go. The 15.4-inch high-definition BrightView display looks good even in direct sunlight, and you'll enjoy movies or music in seconds with the external DVD or music buttons to launch HP QuickPlay (which bypasses the boot process). Control playback settings from up to 10 feet away with the included HP remote, then store it conveniently in the Express card slot. Easily manage your digital photo library and share with friends and family using the included HP Photosmart Essential software. This stylish laptop also features a high-gloss, durable HP Imprint finish with the Radiance pattern of concentric waves.

It's powered by the 1.83 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5550 processor, which offers a 20 percent performance boost over its predecessor while using 28 percent less power--so you get the benefit of a powerful dual-core PC plus all the benefits of mobility. This notebook also features a 320 GB hard drive, 3 GB of installed RAM (4 GB maximum), quad-mode Wi-Fi connectivity (802.11a/b/g/n), 8x dual-layer DVDยฑRW drive (which also burns CDs), ExpressCard slot, Nvidia GeForce 8400M GS with up to 1535 MB of total allocated video memory, 5-in-1 memory card reader, and HDMI A/V output. It also includes an integrated Webcam in the LCD's bezel and an omnidirectional microphone for easy video chats.

It comes preinstalled with Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (Service Pack 1), which includes all of the Windows Media Center capabilities for turning your PC into an all-in-one home entertainment center. In addition to easily playing your DVD movies and managing your digital audio library, you'll be able to record and watch your favorite TV shows (even HDTV). Vista also integrates new search tools throughout the operating system, includes new parental control features, and offers new tools that can warn you of impending hardware failures.

The Basics

• Processor: The Intel Core 2 Duo T5550 processor has a 1.83 GHz processor speed, fast 667 MHz front-side bus (FSB), and 2 MB L2 cache. (An L2, or secondary, cache temporarily stores data; and a larger L2 cache can help speed up your system's performance. The FSB carries data between the CPU and RAM, and a faster front-side bus will deliver better overall performance.)

  With two computational execution cores in a single processor, it provides greater system response when running multi-threaded applications simultaneously with no significant increase in power consumption. It's optimized for multitasking and is ready to support the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system. It can simultaneously run multiple demanding applications--such as graphics-intensive games or serious number-crunching business productivity applications--while downloading music or running virus-scanning security programs in the background. Some of the advanced Intel innovations of the Core 2 Duo processor include:

  • Smart Memory Access: Improves system performance by hiding memory latency, thus optimizing the use of available computer data bandwidth to provide data to the processor when and where it is needed.
  • Advanced Digital Media Boost: Effectively doubles the execution speed for instructions used widely in multimedia and graphics applications.
  • Dynamic Power Coordination: Coordinates Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology and idle power-management state (C-states) transitions independently per core to help save power.
  • Deeper Sleep with Dynamic Cache Sizing: Saves power by flushing cache data to system memory during periods of inactivity to lower CPU voltage.

• Hard Drive: The extra large 320 GB Serial ATA (SATA) hard drive (7200 RPM) offers a wealth of storage space, perfect for storing a vast multimedia collection or for editing digital video. This SATA hard drive has a 3Gb/s interface speed that enables up to 300MB/s data transfer rates (double the speed of the current SATA interface of 1.5Gb/s).

• Memory: The 3 GB of installed RAM (PC5300, 1 x 2 GB, 2 x 1 GB) helps boost the amount of available video RAM that's shared with this notebook's video card. It also offers a top-of-class 667 MHz speed. This notebook has a 4 GB maximum RAM capacity (2 x 2 GB). To receive the faster data transfer benefits of the dual-channel DDR2 RAM, any RAM additions require memory modules of same capacity and clockspeed.

• DVD/CD Drive: This multiformat DVD/CD drive is compatible with writing both DVD+ and DVD- disc formats as well as dual-layer (DL) DVD+/-R discs, which can store up to 8.5 GB of data. It features 4x DVD-R DL Write Once, 2.4x DVD+R DL Write Once, 8x DVD+R, 4x DVD+RW, 8x DVD-R, 4x DVD-RW, 16x DVD-ROM, 40x CD-R, 24x CD-RW, and 40x CD-ROM speeds.

  This LightScribe DVDยฑRW drive lets you laser-etch silkscreen quality text and images on to CDs and DVDs . Your software, PC and discs work together for a no-hassle way to burn just the labels you want. After you burn content, just flip the disc over, reinsert and burn your label--anything from a simple title to a full-disc work of art.

• Keyboard & Mouse: This notebook has a 101-key keyboard and a touchpad with on/off button and dedicated vertical/horizontal Scroll Up/Down pad. It also includes two quick-launch buttons (HP QuickPlay Music and DVD).

Screen, Video & Audio
You'll enjoy razor-sharp graphics and widescreen movies with the 15.4-inch WXGA high-definition screen, which displays an 18 percent larger picture than standard 15-inch screens and an improved contrast ratio. It has a widescreen resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels--perfect for watching DVD movies the way they were meant to be seen. Video is powered by the Nvidia GeForce 8400M GS graphics card, which provides up to 1535 MB of available RAM/video memory (256 MB dedicated video RAM) for unmatched HD video performance on a notebook PC. With support for Microsoft DirectX 10 Shader Model 4.0 and High Dynamic-Range Lighting (HDR), the 8400M lets you rip through all of today's most advanced and cutting-edge games and applications.

The Altec Lansing speakers provide exceptional sound, and a pair of stereo earbud headphones with volume controls is included. You'll be able to privately share enjoyment of multimedia with a friend via the dual headphone jacks.

Networking, Connectivity & Expansion
Be ready for the next platform in wireless connectivity with the integrated quad-mode Intel Wireless 4965AGN Wi-Fi chip. Based on the draft 802.11n Wi-Fi specification, it offers up to five times the performance and twice the wireless range as existing 802.11g wireless. It's also backward compatible with 802.11b/g networks (commonly found in home routers and wi-fi hotspots) as well as 802.11a networks (which has a higher throughput, but more limited range--great for closed office environments). It also includes a next-generation ExpressCard 54/34 card slot (though no standard PCMCIA slot), which lets you take advantage of thinner, faster, and lighter expansion cards for even more advanced wireless, networking, storage, and security features. You get a good offering of connectivity options:

• 3 USB 2.0 ports for connecting a wide range of peripherals--from digital cameras to MP3 players
• 1 FireWire (also known as IEEE 1394 or i.Link) port for connecting digital video camcorders and other peripherals
• 1 HDMI output (for connecting to a compatible HDTV or home theater receiver for uncompressed digital audio and video via a single cable)
• Analog video out: 1 VGA monitor port and 1 S-Video port for connecting to a TV or projector
• 1 ExpressCard 54/34
• 2 headphone jacks and 1 microphone jack
• 1 notebook expansion port 3 (for use with the HP xb3000 Expansion Base or the HP Notebook QuickDock)
• 1 consumer IR (infrared)
• 5-in-1 memory card reader (Secure Digital, MultiMedia, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, xD Picture Card)
• 10/100 Fast Ethernet
• 56K modem (V.90)

Operating System
Windows Vista Home Premium is the operating system for users with advanced computer needs, and it includes all of the Windows Media Center capabilities for turning your PC into an all-in-one home entertainment center for watching DVD movies and accessing your digital audio library. You can also use Windows Media Center to record and watch your favorite TV shows (even HDTV) and to access new kinds of online entertainment content. Computers that include Windows Vista Home Premium and an auxiliary Windows SideShow display will also allow you to access key data even when your computer is off. It is also easier than ever to share files between other PCs in your household and to manage your laptop computer settings to more securely connect via Wi-Fi.

Every edition of Windows Vista provides the essential tools and technologies to help protect you whether you are browsing the Internet, connecting to a wireless network, or just reading e-mail. All editions of Windows Vista include new tools that can warn you of impending hardware failures long before you have lost any important personal data. And, all Windows Vista editions include parental control features that allow you to manage and monitor your family's use of games, the Internet, instant messaging, and other activities.

Preloaded Software
Includes Microsoft Works, Microsoft Office 2007 Student and Teacher Edition (60-day trial), Muvee Autoproducer, Cyberlink DVD Suite, PC Recovery, HP PhotoSmart Essentials, and Symantec Norton Internet Security 2008 (with 60 days of Live Update).

Dimensions & Weight
This notebook measures 14.05 x 10.12 x 1.56 inches (WxHxD) and weighs 6.14 pounds.

Power
This notebook is powered by a 6-cell rechargeable lithium-ion battery, which offers up to 2 hours of battery life (dependent upon computing conditions).

What's in the Box
This package contains the HP Pavilion dv6871us notebook PC, rechargeable lithium-ion battery, AC adapter, IR remote control, earphones, and operating instructions. It is backed by a limited warranty for parts and labor for one year from date of purchase as well as technical telephone assistance for one year. Software is also covered for 30 days from date of purchase.

Reduce your impact on the environment with this Energy Star-certified system and HP's innovative take-back options, including trade-in, recycling and donation.

Customer Review: VERY VERY decent laptop

I purchased this product as a desktop replacement. I've had it for a few weeks now and it is great. It actually came with more than I expected. Great wide screen, mic, webcam, quick-key buttons for quick play, mouse pad disable option, all of the jacks and ports you need, quick on/off switch for wireless network card, decent speakers, dedicated cards, and more.



The only things that have been poor thus far is that my disk player would open itself randomly (it has been a little while since it last did that), and when installed Windows Live Messenger it began to restart itself as windows kept saying it was in a critical state every time it booted up. Thank heavens for safe mode and restart points! A bit of bloatware but there is no problem with uninstalling.



Overall, I highly recommend this well-rounded laptop to everyone in search of something perfect for the price.

Tags : laptop , Computer

Sony VAIO VGN-CR407E/P 14.1

Sony VAIO VGN-CR407E/P 14.1" Laptop (1.73 GHz Intel Pentium Dual Core T2370 Processor, 2 GB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, DVD Drive, Vista Premium) Pink
Sony customer service sucks but the pink color is HOT!
I have the newer CR-490 version of this computer ( Intel® Core(tm) 2 Duo Processor T8300 ,2.4 GHz, 2 GB RAM, 250 GB Hardrive). I was on my way to the apple store when the pinkness of the laptop caught my eye. My ex has had Vaios for a few years and swears by them. After going to the Apple store & being overlooked by all the sales reps ( a class was about to start, so in all fairness maybe they didn't realize I was there to purchase), I decided on this cute little number instead. I had to wait a little over a week because they can't keep them in stock but I was able to buy one 10 days ago.

About 5 days after buying it, my network adapter stopped working and I had to call Sony support. The two gentleman that helped me were wonderful. The first tech couldn't get my adapter to start, so he transferred me to a senior tech who corrected my problem via remote access. I was pleased, until my adapter went out again last night. I called sony support again and this time the tech was RUDE! He asked if I remembered what the previous tech had done to fix the problem. When I replied he fixed it via remote access, he said remote access was too vague and that I had to have remembered some of the things that he did. I stated, again, that the tech used remote access to try several things and that I was unsure of what he did because none of it required my assistance. ( Anyway, if I could remember what the tech did, I wouldn't need tech support again now would I ?) He then went on to tell me to look in my tool bar for items that did not exist and no matter how many times I told him that there were no double arrows showing, he kept instructing me to look for them. I finally got fed up and requested to speak to someone else. He said there were no other techs available. I requested to speak to a supervisor and of course no supervisor was available either. He told me to call back the next day. I called back today and low and behold I got the same guy. I ask for a supervisor and he comes back, after leaving me on hold for several minutes, and states that no supervisor will be available until 9 am EST. I informed him that I was calling from the east coast and the time was currently 9:34 EST so therefore I would like to speak to a supervisor. He argued that it was 7 am EST and that a supervisor wouldn't be in for 2 more hours. I hung up. I called back at 2 pm EST and asked again for a supervisor. A young lady stated that she would see if a supervisor could accomodate me. She placed me on hold for several minutes, only to come back and state that the supervisor said he could not accomodate me at this time. I told her that as a repeat Sony customer (several tvs, video game systems and vaios) that my family would not be dealing with Sony anymore if this was the kind of service they offered. I called the store that I purchased the computer at to see how to make a complaint with Sony's Headquarters. I was told that unfortunately phone support isn't always the best but that they would be more than willing to help in the store. They are going to exchange my laptop for a new one and will allow me to deal with them in the store from now on. The only problem is the store is an hour away and it's the closest one.

That being said, the laptop is an eyecatcher. Several friends have been oohing & aahing over the "girlyness" of it. It's very lite and doesn't burn my leg like the old Averatec back up laptop that it is replacing. The battery power could be better. I get about 2 hours. Sony states 2-4 hrs. I noticed some reviews complained about the feel of the keys but I haven't noticed anything distracting about them. The touchpad is also easy to use as well. I am having difficulty getting used to Vista though. It is soooo much slower than XP. I was told that Vista takes about 1GB of memory to run and that if I increase my memory to 4GB, I should see an improvement. I hope so. Vista's layout is also a little annoying. I'm used to having everything in plan sight with XP and find myself having to frequently use the help menu to locate things. I guess I'll get used to it in time.

So if you're in the mood for an eyecatching design and have easy access to a Sony store, this might be the laptop for you. If you will have to deal exclusively with Sony phone support, I'd suggest getting an Apple or a Dell( comes in several colors as well). Also beware, if you purchase it from a Sony Store, there is a 15% restocking fee if you return it. OUCH!


Tags : Sony Laptop , Laptop , Sony VAIO

HP Pavilion TX1420US

HP Pavilion TX1420US 12.1" Laptop (AMD Turion 64 X2 Dual-Core Processor TL-66, 3 GB RAM, 250 GB Hard Drive, Vista Premium) Black Wave

Greal laptop, but some tiny things could be better...
Just got mine about 5 hours ago and love the look and feel of the machine... Vista is just horrible but that can be fixed with a downgrade. My one 'problem' with the design is the battery which kinda sticks out the back making the laptop difficult to handle other than from the front and sides.

One more small detail that bugs me is that the spring loaded slot for the stylus broke almost instantly and now it is very difficult to remove and re-enter... I dunno I guess it's no big loss but it still bothers me that something broke right away.

Overall a great little machine though, I'll update once I've installed some games and programs on it.

Update (5 days after arrival):
I ended up setting it up as a dual-boot machine with both XP and Vista and I have to say I'm VERY happy with the results, XP runs much smoother and faster but Vista still has some options I like so it's the best of both worlds. Vista runs autocad and solid works very smoothly and the games I've tried so far have all worked great at mid to max settings.

After reading some of the other comments about this laptop I have to say the screen is not that blurry (I don't notice anyways)... of course the texture is different because it IS a touch screen after all. Seriously this laptop runs cool and silent compared to all other laptops I've owned and even after being on all day... I wouldn't use it in bed or anything since the bottom vents need to be clear but who uses a laptop in bed that much anyways?


Tags : HP Laptop , Laptop , HP Notebook

Sony VAIO VGN-CR420E/L 14.1

Sony VAIO VGN-CR420E/L 14.1" Laptop (2.1 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T8100 Processor, 3 GB RAM, 250 GB Hard Drive, DVD Drive, Vista Premium)

perfect computer
i received my sony laptop after a short time of ordering.
computer is great by itself but white color.
you can buy same laptop with cheaper price but sony.
if you are crazy about sony brand it is a good choise.

Fast, reliable computer with a huge hard drive
I'm sick of slow computers, computers that get viruses even when you have the protection, bugs, etc. This computer was an awesome buy, and it's also stylish. the windows vista took some getting used to, but it really is a great computer

Stylishly designed notebook in indigo blue with 14.1-inch screen and multimedia playback control buttons
2.10 GHz "Penryn" Intel Core 2 Duo T8100 processor, 250 GB hard drive, 3 GB RAM (4 GB max), 8x multi-format/dual-layer DVD drive
Quad-mode Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n), Bluetooth (with stereo music streaming), 10/100 Ethernet, Intel X3100 video card with up to 358 MB of shared memory
Connectivity: 3 USB, 1 FireWire, ExpressCard 34 slot, Memory Stick & SD readers, VGA & S-Video output
Pre-installed with Windows Vista Home Premium (with Media Center capabilities)


Tags : Sony Laptop , Laptop , Sony VAIO

HP Pavilion DV6810US 15.4" Laptop

HP Pavilion DV6810US 15.4" Laptop (AMD Turion 64 X 2 Dual Core TL-60 Processor, 3 GB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, DVD Drive, Vista Premium)

DV6810us RUNS WAY TOO HOT + DVD DRIVE NOISY!
Beware! This laptop generates a lot of heat underneath, and on the palm rest. I don't like heat too much and I bought this laptop to use to watch movies and surf the web in my bedroom. Also, the DVD drive is very noisy. Additionally, the AC adapter gets SO HOT that it would burn my children if they were to accidentally touch it. Otherwise, the display was ok and it only took me about 2 hours to downgrade to XP and get everything working. I returned it and suffered a $102 restocking fee, but I bought the Toshiba A215-S5837 and it was ~ $100 cheaper so in the end I broke even and got a much quieter and cooler running laptop.
HP Laptops

Entertainment-centric notebook PC with widescreen 15.4-inch LCD and stylish high-gloss finish with wave imprint
64-bit 2.0 GHz AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-60 dual-core processor, 160 GB hard drive, 3 GB RAM (4 GB max), LightScribe dual-layer DVD drive
54g Wi-Fi (802.11b/g); Bluetooth; 10/100 Ethernet; Nvidia GeForce Go 7150 graphics (up to 1071 MB of available memory)
Connectivity: 3 USB, 1 FireWire, 1 VGA, 1 S-Video, ExpressCard 54/34, 5-in-1 memory card reader
Pre-installed with Windows Vista Home Premium (Service Pack 1); includes remote control

Tags : HP Laptop , Laptop , HP Notebook