HP Stream 11 Laptop Includes Office 365 Personal for One Year (Orchid Magenta)

CUSTOMER REVIEW



I just bought my nephew who is going to college an HP Stream 13 for $230. Beautiful and powerful computer, but it took me 90 minutes to remove all the stickers and all the crapware & adware. I still need to offload the recovery partition to a flash disk to recover the SSD storage. It has a total of 32 GB SSD storage so every bit counts. I'm also waiting for a 64 GB MicroSD card http://ift.tt/S79fhJ so I can expand the storage.



Removing the crapware and adware took 2 hours plus another hour to install Windows update. I removed all the browser extensions and add-ons in IE and then installed Chrome. Then I installed CCleaner and removed McAfee anti-virus so that I can just use the free Microsoft AV. Also removed a bunch of bloatware like Cisco wireless networking utilities like LEAP and Apple Bonjour. Removed the Realtek card reader software since it slows the card reader down. Then downloaded fresh Realtek card reader driver and manually installed the driver without using their setup program.



UPDATE - I had to remove all the HP tools (support and registration) as well. They were intermittently hammering the CPU to 100% and other people in HP forums were complaining about this problem. Once uninstalled, the CPU usage problems went away. Something else that caused some mildly high CPU usage during media playback was the Realtek DTS audio processing service and I've disabled that and the system performs better. It was not needed for playback quality and it was actually detrimental to audio recording quality.



The thing that slowed me down was that I had to gather my nephew's personal info to create a Microsoft account for him. It was mandatory since this is the free version of MS Windows 8.1 (with Bing). But the MS Account allows him to use MS Office online for free so it's worth setting up. I also had to carefully remove 3 stickers on the keyboard rest. Intel sticker was tilted. Now it's a beautiful clean system and it boots very fast and loads everything fast. It handles most computing tasks just fine and now I'm loathed to give this away.



Some people will complain about the 2GB of RAM which is not expandable, but I never have any problems with 2GB RAM because I don't leave a 20 browser tabs open. You're not going to use this laptop for 3D intensive gaming or 3D rendering so the RAM shouldn't be an issue. I have a desktop computer with 8 GB of RAM for running games and virtual machines and content production and no one should expect the HP Stream 13 to perform this role. It runs fewer than 10 web browser tabs just fine and it's extremely snappy running Microsoft Office Online or Google apps.



I ran a Youtube 1080P on Chrome browser. Google is screwing all of us now by forcing their VP9 codec on us which forces this computer to use software video decoding. This dual-core CPU is pegged at 100% utilization and forced to overclock to 2.58 GHz and it will still hiccup if a youtube ad shows up. Of course this is just chewing up the battery. By comparison, I tested a 1080P H.264 .MP4 video downloaded from Google and the CPU hovered around 8% during smooth playback. Google needs to shove their VP8 & VP9 codec where the sun don't shine. But thank goodness for "Magic Actions for YouTube" (a Chrome plugin) letting me disable Google's VP9 HTML5 crap. Now Chrome runs Youtube in flash mode with H.264 hardware decoding and the CPU hovers around 20%. Here's a screenshot of the CPU pegged at 100% with VP9 software decode http://bit.ly/1u0O3bV. Here's the CPU hovering at 20% using Flash mode with H.264 hardware decode http://bit.ly/1uahXfx.



I've been hammering on this system with tests for over two hours. The Intel N2840 2.16 GHz processor is being forced to burst to 2.58 GHz from all the work I'm throwing at it. Windows Update is hammering the IO and CPU. The brightness level is even set to 60% and the battery level still reads 79% with 4 hours 24 minutes remaining.



After all the tweaks and cleanup I've done, the slim HP Stream 13 3.42 lb laptop is running smooth as butter. The 13.3" 1366x768 non-glare matte screen is the perfect compromise between viewabiliy and compactness. Would be even nicer if HP could sell us a 1920x1080 13.3" screen but probably not at the $230 price point. Another small gripe is that the bezel is a little bigger than I'd like.



The Stream 13 has a 720P webcam, but I wouldn't even call it 360P quality. It's incredibly grainy using indoor lighting, but what were you expecting for a $230 laptop? It's certainly not going to look like the camera on the MacBook Pro. Get yourself a $66 Logitech C920 which has awesome image quality and 1080P hardware encoding if you want a nice webcam. Even a $29 720P webcam will look leaps and bounds better.



On the audio output side, the HP Stream 13 has good sound output from the TRRS jack. It can drive my large 808 headphones with authority. By comparison, my Lenovo ThinkPad T430 business laptop couldn't push my 808s at all! The audio recording on the other hand stinks in the default setting. The integrated microphone sucks like most integrated microphones on laptops. It is very laggy because of all the noise cancellation algorithms they apply to it. The recorded sound (using Audacity) is noise free but it is extremely unnatural due to excessive noise reduction. I don't like the recorded sound at all.



UPDATE - After disabling the DTS Realtek audio processing, the playback quality was still just as good. Recording with the internal microphone actually improved a lot. The internal microphone in the HP Stream 13 actually isn't too shabby. It is surprisingly usable quality for VoIP or Video Calling.



The Stream 13 also has a 3.5mm TRRS phone connector port for headphones and earbuds with microphones. That means you can use the same earbuds with mic that you use with your smartphone. The problem is that while it sounds a lot more natural than the integrated microphone, it's a faint yet noisy signal. The input volume was set to 100% with a 10 dB (fake software preamp) boost and it's still only reaching 20% peak sound levels in Audacity. My Nexus 4 and Samsung S4 on the other hand produce extremely good quality recordings with the same earbuds or headphones with microphones. To put this in context, my Lenovo ThinkPad T430 from work has the same audio recording quality problems with the integrated mic and TRRS port.



If you want to work around these sound recording issues, buy yourself a $34 Samson GoMic. It's the best money you'll ever spend on a USB microphone. The other option is that you can get a bluetooth headphone with microphone since the HP Stream 13 has bluetooth capability.



The trackpad on the HP Stream 13 is large and usable. It supports gestures like two-finger scrolling. But if you really want a good experience, buy a bluetooth mouse and use the integrated bluetooth in the Stream 13.



Lastly, here are the disk performance results for the internal 32 GB SSD storage. It's one of the slowest SSDs on the market, but it's still around 15 times faster than a normal hard drive when it comes to small file transfers.

http://ift.tt/1vNXldt



Conclusion:

This is a superb mobility laptop for the money, but only if you remove all the crapware and apply all the optimizations I performed above.



Summary of crapware removed and optimizations performed.



* Apple Bonjour.

* Cisco LEAP and EAPFAST

* McAfee AV

* Realtek cardreader software (note that you need to download just the new drivers and then just install drivers manually without software. Don't remove if you don't know how to install new drivers because you'll lose the card reader)

* HP Tools registration

* HP Tools support

* Disable Realtek DTS audio effects. Just type DTS at start screen and the program will pop up.

* Install Chrome

* If you use Chrome, install "Magic Actions for YouTube" plugin for Chrome to disable ads, pick the default resolution, and force Flash mode instead of HTML5 mode. Flash mode uses H.264 MPEG AVC video which supports hardware acceleration for very low CPU usage.



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ASUS 15.6-Inch Intel Dual-Core Celeron 2.16 GHz Laptop, 4GB RAM and 500GB Hard Drive

CUSTOMER REVIEW



The notebook is absolutely perfect and fast enough for light (student) use however in the question and answer section someone from ASUS was posting a misleading information about this particular laptop, this machine doesn't have CD/DVD player but the representative from ASUS was telling people it comes with one. That is ASUS fault not the sellers since they didn't post it as if it's equipped with one.



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Lenovo G50 15.6-Inch Laptop (Core i3, 6 GB, 500 GB)

CUSTOMER REVIEW



I purchased the g500 with i3 core processor, 4G ram 17 inch model through Amazon Prime. It's a fantastic laptop. Lenovo laptops come with the one key recovery system which let's you restore the system to its original state or create backups of the system in its current state.



I found this feature useful and initially reinstalled the o/s a few times using one key recovery while trying to set up my system exactly as I wanted it. I uninstalled all the bloat ware and there is alot.



I now have windows 8.1 running. It takes some getting used to but is worth the learning curve.



The only problem I have is a very flaky touch pad. My laptop is still under warranty but I'm just getting around this problem by using a mouse and disabling the touch pad using function key 6. I tried changing the sensitivity of the touch pad which didn't help. I also tried reinstalling the device driver. That didn't resolve the problem either.



I hope lenovo will address the problem with the touch pad. Other than that it's been the most reliable windows laptop I've owned.



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Toshiba Satellite C55-B5308 15.6-Inch Laptop (AMD E1-Series - 4GB Memory - 500GB Hard Drive - Jet Black)

CUSTOMER REVIEW



This is my second Toshiba Laptop and it's as solid as my first one. Long life on its Lithium-Ion Battery, Great Display and Keyboard (although I still prefer the wireless external mouse I bought to the mouse pad and buttons built in). Furthermore, this laptop has a GREAT processor and taking the price in account this laptop was one of the best I could find to buy new; and it doesn't disappoint. The computer has a great readable screen, plenty of memory, plenty of storage at 500 GB and a DVD or CD + and - player/writer, plus an HDMI port to hook up to your widescreen 1080i Big Screen TV as a second monitor, and Speakers built-in or headphone jack with microphone input. Another reason why I bought this laptop was because of my old laptop which is listed here:

http://ift.tt/1F8N8Nl my first time using



The laptop listed above was very slow and also had Windows 7 installed. So before buying this Toshiba Satellite with Windows 8 on it I was a little bit worried to use this for the first time but I can tell you that it is easy enough to get used to new Windows 8 interface.



Overall, this Toshiba laptop is a very decent laptop. Not lightning fast but certainly not slow either. And this for a good price in comparison to so many laptops out there (and also lower cost than many tablets!). So I would surely recommend this to everyone!



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Acer Chromebook 11 CB3-111-C670 (11.6-inch HD, 2GB, 16GB)

CUSTOMER REVIEW



My macbook pro died this Monday while I was writing an essay. I immediately headed to Best buy to get a Chromebook, thinking that if I got the macbook to work again, I'd just return the Chromebook and keep the 100gb of Google drive.



I'm actually loving this little laptop. It's very solid feeling and looks pretty nice without trying to be a macbook air. The screen is admittedly not the best in terms of viewing angles but for some people I know that's actually a feature.



The fact that it's matte makes it amazing though. I don't think I could go back to a glossy screen.



I installed Linux on it easily enough and thus can swap to a more powerful OS whenever I want to play games for instance ( got hearthstone installed and working well)



The best thing about this laptop though is that it's an absolute battery champion. Today it's lasted me through a 3h class during which I downloaded about 2gb worth of tv shows. After that I hopped on a bus to go to Massachusetts which got into an accident that delayed us 3h. Rolled up into Connecticut for my connection with 30% battery left having watched 2 movies, played a couple of games of hearthstone and browsed for the remainder of the 6 hour bus ride from hell.



I can not recommend this enough. Can't imagine anything being a better value for money. It's managed to not make me miss my 2000$ macbook!



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Acer Aspire E Notebook (ES1-512-C323) - Dual-core Intel Celeron / 4GB DDR3L SDRAM / 500GB HDD / Windows 8.1 / WiFi / Webcam / 15.6" HD LED Display - Black

CUSTOMER REVIEW



I purchased this for my kids and I have not been disappointed. Overall is a really well built laptop for the money, though it is a little under-powered. The “Intel Celeron” in this model is basically a high-end “Atom” CPU and it based on the new “Bay Trail” architecture designed for tablets. So for starters, think of this as a “high-end tablet with a big screen and keyboard.” That’s not really a bad thing. You get really good battery life (they claim six hours, my kids are getting around that) out of a pretty small battery (3 cell). That helps keep the weight and cost down. The graphics are only suitable for web browsing, Office-type programs and basic gaming. Anything like Minecraft and similar “App” type games are fine. You will not be able to play anything close to a new, high end 3D game on this (though older 3D games will run okay).



What this is really built for is basic web and productivity apps. This is a great laptop for a student, because you can be sure they won’t be off playing games on it. And if they break it, you aren’t out much money. The screen is not 1080p (it’s 1366x768) but you don’t really notice it much: it has no trouble with HD movies. It is NOT a touch screen. Frankly there are no good touch screens this size in this price range, so for me that is a plus (good touch screen 15” laptops start at $500). Note that there is *NO* DVD or CDROM drive. Again, for kids this is almost preferred, because they tend to just break them. There’s not much out there you can’t download (in fact I’ve grown to love Amazon’s software download service because the program stays in your “software library” on Amazon which makes it easy to re-download when you buy a new computer). You can buy external drives for about $40 (I have one, but I haven’t had cause to use it in years). This should only matter to you if you have old software that’s on CD or DVD or wanted to watch movies that you had on DVD or Blu-ray.



This laptop has wireless (including “Miracast” which allows you to wireless transmit video to many TVs and set-top boxes such as Fire TV) and plenty of USB ports. It does not have Blutooth. That’s not a big deal for me, as I’ve never had a reason to connect Blutooth to a laptop, but if you had a reason to want Blutooth then you are going to want to look for a different model. It has three full sized USB ports (including one high-speed USB 3.0 port). It also has a full-size Ethernet and HDMI port.



So why buy this? For the price of a 8” tablet you get a 15” screen, full Windows support, full size ports (instead of mini or micro ports you can’t find a cable for) and a much more powerful CPU. No it’s not as powerful as an core i3 laptop but frankly there’s not much more you can do on an i3 that you can’t do here (you’ll enable a few more games, but it’s still not a “gaming” laptop). If you want more power you’ll really want to bump up to a Core i5. To be clear if 3D gaming matters to you a $800 Core i7 is pretty much your starting point. But if you are looking to find a good “basic” laptop I’m not sure you could do better at this price. And you are definitely going to have trouble finding this kind of battery life in a laptop at this price.



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Acer Aspire E 15 ES1-512-C88M 15.6-Inch Laptop (Diamond Black)

Product Description

Capacity: 15.6 inches

Product Description

Acer Aspire ES1-512-C88M comes with these high level specs: Intel Celeron N2840 Dual-Core Processor 2.16GHz with Intel Burst Technology up to 2.58GHz, Windows 8.1 with Bing, 15.6" HD Widescreen LED-backlit Display, Intel HD Graphics, 4096MB DDR3L Memory, 500GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM), Secure Digital (SD) card reader, 802.11b/g/n Wireless LAN, Bluetooth 4.0, Gigabit Ethernet, Built-In Webcam, 2 - USB 2.0 Ports, 1 - USB 3.0 Port, 1 - HDMI Port, 3-cell Li-ion Battery (3220 mAh), Up to 7-hours Battery Life, 5.29 lbs. | 2.4 kg (system unit only)






CUSTOMER REVIEW



I have done thorough research and compared this with other similarly-priced products from Toshiba, Dell, Asus (2 of them), and HP. This Acer is definitely the BEST one of the five 15.6" in the $200-$250 price range. All five have the same basic specs (Celeron / 500GHz / 4GB / 500GB) but the below specs give this an edge over the others.



PROS:



USB 3.0

- Dell doesn't have it, the rest do.

- Acer has one port.



Bluetooth

- Only Toshiba has it, the rest don't.

- Acer has Bluetooth 4.0.



Battery Life

- One Asus has 3.75 hr life, the rest range between 4-5.5.

- ACER HAS SEVEN FREAKING HOURS OF BATTERY LIFE!



Speaker

- The Toshiba and HP speakers suck big time! They are very low quality and thin.

- ACER HAS AN AMAZING SOUND SYSTEM FOR A LAPTOP! You don't need a speaker to get crisp sound with enough base.



Thinness/Sleekness/Appearance

- Toshiba is the thinnest and sleekest, the rest are at least 0.25-0.50 inch thicker.

- Toshiba and Asus have a bad case of finger marking! It is so disgusting to look at. The slightest touch leaves finger marks on it. HP and Dell are okay.

- Acer is almost as thin as the Toshiba, which makes it neat looking too.

- Acer repels finger marks, thus no disgusting finger marks on them!



CONS:

- Acer is the heaviest of the lot, adding 0.50 lbs.

- Acer does not have the Caps or Num lock lighting

- Acer does not have an optical drive.

- Acer ports are at the back of the laptop, as opposed to the traditional sides.

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ASUS 15.6-Inch Intel Dual Core Celeron 2.16 Ghz Laptop, 4GB RAM and 500GB Hard Drive

Product Description

ASUS X551MAV-EB01-B Notebook PC Enhance your computing lifestyle with the ASUS X551MAV-EB01-B Notebook PC. This notebook offers you the power and the speed you need at your work. Geared with a Intel Celeron N2830 2.16GHz processor and 4GB DDR3 RAM, this notebook is all set to deliver superb computing and mobility. With Windows 8, there is no need for an optical drive. The 500GB HDD with a speed of 5400 RPM offers you enough space for storing all your files, downloads, music, videos, software and so on.






CUSTOMER REVIEW



*Update 10/5/14: Well, about two and half months after I got it and the wireless adapter has crapped out. Wasted a couple of hours troubleshooting the problem and I am 99% sure that it is a hardware issue. I won't change my initial review at this point, but this could possibly be a sign of the long-term reliability. I'll update later.*

*Update 11/1/14: Forgot ever making that update, sorry. The wireless adapter wasn't broken, I think it was an issue with the proxy software my school makes us install to use the university network. As a side note, I've since installed Linux (Ubuntu) on it as a second OS and it runs it beautifully without a hitch.*



This is a nice budget laptop for students and/or people just looking for something to do basic computer tasks. I'm a student, and although I already have a nice custom-built desktop computer that I do most of my work on, I felt like I would benefit from having something portable to have in-class or while hanging out on campus.



This is, obviously, not a laptop for gaming. Out of curiosity I installed Skyrim on it and surprisingly it did run the game on low settings (albeit not with ideal fps) and it ran Minecraft fairly well (minor stuttering from time to time--but still definitely playable). If you're buying a laptop with the intention of gaming or any other intensive computer tasks I would highly recommend you look into the $500+ price range for a laptop with more capable specs.



In my case, it runs all the programs I needed it for: Visual Studio 2013, Eclipse, and other IDE's run perfectly fine. Word and other Office 2013 programs run perfectly fine. Browsing the internet with Chrome is perfect. Streaming HD video or playing a 1080p movie file is perfect. Unity3D (a game engine) and Blender (3d animation software) run acceptably. For $250 I really can't ask for anything more.



Pros:



Price: $250 for a brand new full featured Windows 8.1 laptop is insane. I would recommend one of these over a similarly priced Chromebook any day.



Extremely lightweight: I was surprised when I took it out of the box at how little it weighed for the size--very easy to carry.



Quiet and stays really cool: Even while testing out the gaming I didn't notice any sound from fans and even after using it for a while it didn't feel warm at all.



Nice design: Not a flashy laptop, just clean and non-descript aesthetics. Doesn't look like a high-end laptop but also doesn't look like a budget one. I like the textured matte plastic on the back. Screen hinge feels solid with not much play.



No optical drive: I know for some this is a con--but I can't even remember the last time I used a CD/DVD and would much rather have the savings on weight, power consumption, and cost. If you need to format and reinstall the OS or something just make a bootable USB stick (very easy to do).



Nice screen: The screen is bright with decent contrast and a 1366x768 resolution that's pretty much the standard for this size of laptop (at least until you get to the $600+ price range). I don't think it is LED backlit but it does its job well.



Nice keyboard with a number pad: If you're doing office work or programming it's pretty much essential to have a keyboard with a num pad. The keyboard as a whole is decent, no complaints except there's just the tiniest bit of rattling noise when tapping away. The trackpad is offset so that your hands don't rest on it when typing in a normal position.



Cons:



Not upgrade friendly: There's no easy way to access the RAM, HDD, or even the battery. Although I really didn't have any intention of upgrading it so it's not a huge deal. This laptop is what it is and the slow-ish processor with low-end integrated graphics will always be this computer's bottleneck. If I need a faster laptop I'd rather just save the upgrade money to buy a new laptop.



Power cord input is very snug: I guess this could be a pro, but where the power cord plugs into the laptop is so snug and secure that if you (or a pet) tripped over the cord it would certainly pull the laptop off the table before it came out. Makes me a little wary.



No light for caps-lock or num-lock: It has a power/charging light and an HDD activity light on the front and that's it. Wish it had an indication light for caps lock and num lock. Also, it sometimes doesn't seem to remember if num-lock is on when waking up from sleep etc. I find myself having to reactivate num-lock even though I'm positive I didn't deactivate it.



Trackpad buttons: The left-click and right-click on the trackpad are a little hard to press for my taste and they are kind of noisy. Using the Asus Smart-gesture or whatever it's called makes it where you can just tap/double tap (or tap with both fingers to right-click) the trackpad to avoid using the buttons at all which seems like a better alternative.



All in all it's a decent and capable budget-friendly laptop with only a few minor gripes. I would definitely recommend it.

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HP Stream 13 Laptop Includes Office 365 Personal for One Year (Horizon Blue)

CUSTOMER REVIEW



I just bought my nephew who is going to college an HP Stream 13 for $230. Beautiful and powerful computer, but it took me 90 minutes to remove all the stickers and all the crapware & adware. I still need to offload the recovery partition to a flash disk to recover the SSD storage. It has a total of 32 GB SSD storage so every bit counts. I'm also waiting for a 64 GB MicroSD card http://ift.tt/S79fhJ so I can expand the storage.



Removing the crapware and adware took 2 hours plus another hour to install Windows update. I removed all the browser extensions and add-ons in IE and then installed Chrome. Then I installed CCleaner and removed McAfee anti-virus so that I can just use the free Microsoft AV. Also removed a bunch of bloatware like Cisco wireless networking utilities like LEAP and Apple Bonjour. Removed the Realtek card reader software since it slows the card reader down. Then downloaded fresh Realtek card reader driver and manually installed the driver without using their setup program.



UPDATE - I had to remove all the HP tools (support and registration) as well. They were intermittently hammering the CPU to 100% and other people in HP forums were complaining about this problem. Once uninstalled, the CPU usage problems went away. Something else that caused some mildly high CPU usage during media playback was the Realtek DTS audio processing service and I've disabled that and the system performs better. It was not needed for playback quality and it was actually detrimental to audio recording quality.



The thing that slowed me down was that I had to gather my nephew's personal info to create a Microsoft account for him. It was mandatory since this is the free version of MS Windows 8.1 (with Bing). But the MS Account allows him to use MS Office online for free so it's worth setting up. I also had to carefully remove 3 stickers on the keyboard rest. Intel sticker was tilted. Now it's a beautiful clean system and it boots very fast and loads everything fast. It handles most computing tasks just fine and now I'm loathed to give this away.



Some people will complain about the 2GB of RAM which is not expandable, but I never have any problems with 2GB RAM because I don't leave a 20 browser tabs open. You're not going to use this laptop for 3D intensive gaming or 3D rendering so the RAM shouldn't be an issue. I have a desktop computer with 8 GB of RAM for running games and virtual machines and content production and no one should expect the HP Stream 13 to perform this role. It runs fewer than 10 web browser tabs just fine and it's extremely snappy running Microsoft Office Online or Google apps.



I ran a Youtube 1080P on Chrome browser. Google is screwing all of us now by forcing their VP9 codec on us which forces this computer to use software video decoding. This dual-core CPU is pegged at 100% utilization and forced to overclock to 2.58 GHz and it will still hiccup if a youtube ad shows up. Of course this is just chewing up the battery. By comparison, I tested a 1080P H.264 .MP4 video downloaded from Google and the CPU hovered around 8% during smooth playback. Google needs to shove their VP8 & VP9 codec where the sun don't shine. But thank goodness for "Magic Actions for YouTube" (a Chrome plugin) letting me disable Google's VP9 HTML5 crap. Now Chrome runs Youtube in flash mode with H.264 hardware decoding and the CPU hovers around 20%. Here's a screenshot of the CPU pegged at 100% with VP9 software decode http://bit.ly/1u0O3bV. Here's the CPU hovering at 20% using Flash mode with H.264 hardware decode http://bit.ly/1uahXfx.



I've been hammering on this system with tests for over two hours. The Intel N2840 2.16 GHz processor is being forced to burst to 2.58 GHz from all the work I'm throwing at it. Windows Update is hammering the IO and CPU. The brightness level is even set to 60% and the battery level still reads 79% with 4 hours 24 minutes remaining.



After all the tweaks and cleanup I've done, the slim HP Stream 13 3.42 lb laptop is running smooth as butter. The 13.3" 1366x768 non-glare matte screen is the perfect compromise between viewabiliy and compactness. Would be even nicer if HP could sell us a 1920x1080 13.3" screen but probably not at the $230 price point. Another small gripe is that the bezel is a little bigger than I'd like.



The Stream 13 has a 720P webcam, but I wouldn't even call it 360P quality. It's incredibly grainy using indoor lighting, but what were you expecting for a $230 laptop? It's certainly not going to look like the camera on the MacBook Pro. Get yourself a $66 Logitech C920 which has awesome image quality and 1080P hardware encoding if you want a nice webcam. Even a $29 720P webcam will look leaps and bounds better.



On the audio output side, the HP Stream 13 has good sound output from the TRRS jack. It can drive my large 808 headphones with authority. By comparison, my Lenovo ThinkPad T430 business laptop couldn't push my 808s at all! The audio recording on the other hand stinks in the default setting. The integrated microphone sucks like most integrated microphones on laptops. It is very laggy because of all the noise cancellation algorithms they apply to it. The recorded sound (using Audacity) is noise free but it is extremely unnatural due to excessive noise reduction. I don't like the recorded sound at all.



UPDATE - After disabling the DTS Realtek audio processing, the playback quality was still just as good. Recording with the internal microphone actually improved a lot. The internal microphone in the HP Stream 13 actually isn't too shabby. It is surprisingly usable quality for VoIP or Video Calling.



The Stream 13 also has a 3.5mm TRRS phone connector port for headphones and earbuds with microphones. That means you can use the same earbuds with mic that you use with your smartphone. The problem is that while it sounds a lot more natural than the integrated microphone, it's a faint yet noisy signal. The input volume was set to 100% with a 10 dB (fake software preamp) boost and it's still only reaching 20% peak sound levels in Audacity. My Nexus 4 and Samsung S4 on the other hand produce extremely good quality recordings with the same earbuds or headphones with microphones. To put this in context, my Lenovo ThinkPad T430 from work has the same audio recording quality problems with the integrated mic and TRRS port.



If you want to work around these sound recording issues, buy yourself a $34 Samson GoMic. It's the best money you'll ever spend on a USB microphone. The other option is that you can get a bluetooth headphone with microphone since the HP Stream 13 has bluetooth capability.



The trackpad on the HP Stream 13 is large and usable. It supports gestures like two-finger scrolling. But if you really want a good experience, buy a bluetooth mouse and use the integrated bluetooth in the Stream 13.



Lastly, here are the disk performance results for the internal 32 GB SSD storage. It's one of the slowest SSDs on the market, but it's still around 15 times faster than a normal hard drive when it comes to small file transfers.

http://ift.tt/1vNXldt



Conclusion:

This is a superb mobility laptop for the money, but only if you remove all the crapware and apply all the optimizations I performed above.



Summary of crapware removed and optimizations performed.



* Apple Bonjour.

* Cisco LEAP and EAPFAST

* McAfee AV

* Realtek cardreader software (note that you need to download just the new drivers and then just install drivers manually without software. Don't remove if you don't know how to install new drivers because you'll lose the card reader)

* HP Tools registration

* HP Tools support

* Disable Realtek DTS audio effects. Just type DTS at start screen and the program will pop up.

* Install Chrome

* If you use Chrome, install "Magic Actions for YouTube" plugin for Chrome to disable ads, pick the default resolution, and force Flash mode instead of HTML5 mode. Flash mode uses H.264 MPEG AVC video which supports hardware acceleration for very low CPU usage.



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Samsung Chromebook 2 (11.6-Inch, Classic White)

CUSTOMER REVIEW



Finally received my Samsung Chromebook 2 (11.6" version, jet black color) and have had a day to get it set up, mess around with it, and compare it to my Acer C720 Chromebook (2GB), as well as my previous experiences with the original Samsung Chromebook that was released back in 2012. My initial up front experience is that I am overall very satisfied with the improvements that Samsung has made! There are some areas I wish they improved, but overall for the price, this is an outstanding way to experience the Chrome OS. I'll touch on a few of my in-depth thoughts below, and I'll update this all in the future as I have more experience with the device. I'm going to focus more on the hardware and less on the operating system or software, since the OS will remain fairly consistent across all Chromebook devices and plenty of information already exists about Chrome OS online:



Design/Materials/Build Quality: As mentioned above, I went with the jet black version. This new Chromebook 2 features Samsungs "stitched leather" design to the outside of the top shell, similar to what you see if you have ever used their Galaxy Note 3. It stands out a lot more when you see it spread across a much larger device like this. I'm going to be honest, I think some people are going to find this slightly tacky looking/feeling (especially the fake stitching around the edges), but personally I am a much bigger fan of it than I thought. For a computing device in this price range, you cannot really expect them to be able to throw on a full aluminum/metal case like you might find on a MacBook Pro or a higher end Ultrabook laptop. You're going to get something that is plastic or a more cost effective material, and honestly, I kind of like the way that this faux-leather design makes it stand out from other devices. And the overall build quality of the Chromebook 2 feels much improved over the original. It doesn't have as much "flex" to it, and even though it is still almost entirely plastic-based, it certainly feels like a step up. Also, compared to my Acer C720 side by side, the Samsung CB2 feels significantly higher in quality.



Display: My Chromebook 2 is the 11.6" model. This is one of the very few areas where I am finding myself wishing that Samsung would have improved this new model, even if it came at a slight cost increase. The resolution on the 11.6" model is only 1366x768, which is the same as you'll find on pretty much every other Chromebook aside from the Pixel (which is way too expensive), and the upcoming 13" version of the Chromebook 2 (which will more to a full HD 1920 screen). I'm actually OK with the resolution topping out at only 1366x768 on a screen of this size, but they are still using a TN-based panel when I think that they should have stepped it up to an IPS panel and really made it stand out. It's about on par with the screen on my Acer C720, doesn't feel like much of an improvement. I wouldn't consider myself too overly picky, but side by side with a device with an IPS panel, and the screen on the Chromebook 2 just looks kind of dull and washed out in comparison. According to the specs I've seen, even the 13" version of the Chromebook 2 is going to have a TN panel (just in higher resolution), so I wouldn't be surprised to hear more people complaining about this aspect.



Processor/RAM: The Chromebook 2 utilizes one of Samsung's own ARM-based chips, called the "Exynos 5 Octa 5420", which is rated at 1.9GHz. Most of the computing experiences in my life outside of smartphone use have been with either an Intel or an AMD processor; even my trusty Acer C720 Chromebook uses an Intel Celeron-based processor. I was a little hesitant to make the jump to a newer generation of Chromebook without an Intel processor since I know Acer is going to soon release a variant of the C720 with an Intel i3 chip. However, so far, I am quite impressed with how quick this Exynos 5 Octa chip has felt through normal use. I haven't run any actual benchmarking programs or applications (if someone has a suggestion, I'll be glad to try one, if they even exist for Chrome OS?), but directly comparing it side-by-side to the Acer C720 running on the 1.4GHz Celeron processor, this is no comparison. Apps load much more instantly on the new Chromebook 2, but the biggest difference can be seen when using anything that involves video. Doing a Google Hangout on my older Chromebook was always slightly laggy enough that it was moderately frustrating, especially when trying to multi-task during a hangout. That lag has seemingly disappeared with this new model, and in all honesty, I haven't found a task yet where I've been wishing that it was faster than it is now. This may also partially be aided by the fact that the Chromebook 2 has 4gb of RAM, versus my Acer C720 which only has 2gb, and my previous experiences with the original Chromebook 1 which also only had 2gb. Either way, the improvement in speed has been fantastic and you will certainly notice it.



Keyboard/Touchpad: This is one of the most important things to me on any computing device I own. Nothing is more frustrating than a keyboard with a weird design or layout that becomes a permanent hassle for the life of the device. Luckily, this might be the BEST overall feature of the Chromebook 2. Normally when I get a new device, I find myself needing a period of adjustment as I get used to the feel of a new keyboard, new keys, new layout. I found myself instantly loving the feel and use of the keyboard on the Chromebook 2. The keys feel sturdy and solid, and the spacing feels very natural between keys. The keys themselves have a very natural "curved" feel to the top of them that yields a very pleasant typing experience. Honestly the best possible comment that I think I can give an input device is that it feels so natural and correct that you immediately stop thinking about it once you start using it, and that is the case here. I didn't have many complaints about the keyboard on my Acer C720, but I can definitely say that the keyboard on this Chromebook 2 is noticeably improved and Samsung did a great job here. The touchpad itself is pleasantly wide (wider than the spacebar!) and feels accurate and smooth. Overall I can say without a doubt that this is the best keyboard and touchpad I've used on any Chromebook device to date outside of the Pixel.



Hard Drive/Storage: My 11.6" Chromebook 2 came with a 16gb solid-state hard drive, only a little over half of which is actually accessible by the user to use as storage. Everyone has different needs so opinions will vary on this, but one of the main draws of Google OS and the Chromebooks are how well they function as cloud devices. Other than space used to install apps, which for the most part are very small (20mb or less in size), almost everything else I use my Chromebooks for can be performed from the cloud or require very little onboard storage. There are many options available to store files, pictures, data on the cloud (Google Drive, Dropbox, etc), so I honestly don't think the storage space is going to be much of an issue for most people. Plus, being that it is a solid-state drive, it is VERY fast compared to traditional hard drives in terms of accessing files and data; also, since solid state drives have no moving parts inside, a lot more stable and damage proof for lugging it around on-the-go. Unless you are going to be installing literally hundreds of apps (most people probably only regularly use two dozen or less), or unless you regularly need to work where you have no internet access at all for extended periods of time, I think the size of the drive will suffice.



Battery: This is a section I will need to update further in the future. Samsung is claiming 8 hours of battery life on a full charge. I haven't noticed anything yet that would lead me to believe this claim is false, but I also haven't owned it long enough to go through a full charge from start to finish. I'll update my thoughts on this after I have run a few full cycles through the battery.



Speakers: I'll be honest, I don't personally use the built-in speakers a ton on any laptop or device I've owned. I'm typically either just using this for web browsing or productivity, but when I do listen to music with it, I've found myself using Bluetooth to connect to external Bluetooth speakers in the past (namely my Logitech Boombox or my Jawbone Jambox if I am on the go). I did test the speakers out for a while though on my Chromebook 2, and I have to say I am fairly impressed. Considering that the speakers are located on the bottom of the device, I was surprised at how well they projected sound. And considering their tiny size, they were able to get louder than I expected while remaining fairly clear. I wouldn't expect booming base from these, but they don't sound "tinny" either and have a decent balance to them. I'll still probably stick to using my Bluetooth speakers when I want to blast music around my house or when working outdoors, but I can't see the built-in speakers disappointing anyone who came in with reasonable expectations.



Other features: I'll come back to this and add to my review once I have had more time with the unit. Webcam, software, pictures, any other likes or dislikes that I find as I continue to use it further beyond the first few days.



Overall, this is a great product, especially when you factor in the value that you get for the money. If I could give it partial stars, I'd give it about a 4.6/5 (and the only deduction would really be because I wish they had upgraded the screen further). It's very very quick in everyday use; boots up almost instantly from sleep (or about 10 total seconds if you shut it off completely), gets very solid battery life, and ChromeOS allows you to easily do almost any normal computing task that you would normally do with Apple OS or Windows. It's very lightweight and portable, and the build quality is solid. If you come in expecting this to perform like a $1000+ i7 Ultrabook or a MacBook Pro, you might leave disappointed. But other than that, especially at a price point of just over $300 at launch, I feel like the Chromebook 2 is not only going to sell a lot of new customers on the Chrome OS, but offer a very noticeable speed and function upgrade to people who are using previous generation Chromebook models. If you have only used traditional laptops your whole life and this is your first experience into Chrome OS, your mind is going to be blown when you first realize that you are INSTANTLY at the desktop and ready to go when you open the laptop up from sleep mode. I will revisit my review and update it further as time passes and I notice new things to comment on. Anything you want me to review that I missed, let me know in the comments and I'll come back and add my thoughts.



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Toshiba Satellite C55-B5300 15.6-Inch Laptop (Intel Celeron Processor N2840, 4GB RAM, 500GB Hard Drive, Multiformat DVD±RW/CD-RW drive, Windows 8.1)

CUSTOMER REVIEW



It's a perfect "light-duty" computer.



We bought it for home office/back-up machine.

We don't need to carry it around like a tablet, and keyboard is a must for long e-mails.

Getting used to Windows 8.1 was confusing at first.

But after downloading a free word-processor from Apache (OpenOffice), we were good to go.

For WiFi, 3 walls and 1 floor away from router antennas, I get 4 bars out of 5.



For off-hours, we use it for Skype, Netflix and web browsing.

With Celeron N2840 (2.16Ghz)'s rather weak processing power and integrated graphics, I'm not even going to try games like Bioshock Infinite.

Skype is smooth.

Netflix movies are smooth...as long as you don't fiddle with other apps/programs.

Playing a Netflix movie takes about 40-55% of processing power of Celeron N2840.

Opening task manager or even other folders would make the processor usage jump to 100% and flash player will be jerky for a moment.

(Intel Core i7 would use only 5-10% for watching movies, in comparison)

On the other hand, writing a report while playing Youtube music videos in the background is perfectly doable.



And Please Toshiba, hire somebody who can name your products!

Our neighbor had told me about $250 Toshiba.

When I looked up, there were half a dozen laptops in that range with confusing array of names.

I went to Best Buy but I returned home even more confused (but I did remember "something-5300").

After more research, I still got confused and bought C55-B5300 instead of intended C55-A5300.

By dumb luck, "B5300" happened to be better than "A5300" at the same price range.



Imagine a conversation:

"I'm interested in BC55-B5202, but is it faster than S55-B5289?"

"It's comparable to L75-B7270, but not as good as C55-B5298"

"Really? you are saying it's as good as C55-B5299?"

"Yes Mam, it even beats S55-B5258."



Sadly these are all actual models of "Toshiba Satellite."

Above conversation wouldn't make sense because S55-B5258 might be one of the fastest.

But there in lies the problem.

With names like that, you'd never remember the name of the one you want, let alone compare it amongst other models.

These numbers might be convenient for engineers, but I think Toshiba should try selling computers to people outside of Toshiba R&D labs.

But I digress.



Tiny speakers sound as if I'm listening to other people's ear buds from a foot away.

I'm exaggerating, but you get the idea.

(Edit: I found that I can select from 2 dozen sound profiles and adjusting it made it decent enough for Netflix)

There is only one socket for headset/microphone.

For quiet Skyping, we cannot use existing mic and a separate headset.

We'll need to get a mic-headset with just one combined jack.

(On second thought, just using a headset might work with built-in mic)

Touch pad is almost seamless with surface of the machine, and I often found my fingers wandering (bad fingers!).



Even with a naming scheme dreamed up by Mad Hatter, and resulting confusion at purchase,

Toshiba C55-B5300 is a good "light-duty" computer.



It's best strength is price.



At $250, it's cheaper than many tablets.

Even if we get a new one every 2 years, it's only $125 a year.

As far as electronics go, that's almost disposable.

It's not a Ferrari, it's a cheap scooter.

But as a scooter, it gets used.

For that, C3PO, I mean C55-B5300 gets 4 stars.



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ASUS Transformer Book 10.1" Detachable 2-in-1 Touchscreen Laptop, 32 GB

CUSTOMER REVIEW



I love it! I already owned a couple of iPads and Android tablets, but overall couldn't find a device that would meet my daily needs.



All I need to do is write email, check some websites, and take notes in school!

But.... the iPad doesn't offer much control over the device and files, so sending and sharing files was a nightmare, and the Android crashed too often. With that said...



Some Information

+ I find the ASUS Transformer very easy to use

+ Very open and customizable

+ Battery life on average lasts me about 10 hours

+ Easily send and receive files because of the Windows File Explorer! :)

+ Comes with a USB port

+ Transforms from a Tablet into a Notebook so you can have the best of both worlds.

+ Unlike the iPad it has a SD slot to easily upgrade memory + It actually comes with only about 8GB of memory, which might not be enough for most people so I'd recommend the 128 GB SanDisk SD card ( http://amzn.to/11uCCj3 )

+ Runs Flash videos and games

+ Webcam (front facing camera)

+ HDMI port to hook up to a TV

+ Fully compatible with Microsoft Office and comes with Windows 8.1



The specs are great and the features are amazing, it's definitely a grande experience. One thing I might also recommend is buying a $4 protective screen cover at to keep the fingerprints and dust under control. Because the screen gets a little smudgy from all the touching.



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Microsoft Surface 2 (32 GB)

CUSTOMER REVIEW



I heard a lot of lackluster reviews about the original Surface tablet but I heard that Microsoft fixed a lot of issues in the Surface 2 so I checked it out. I liked what I saw in the store demo so I bought it. After using it for 2 days solid, I can say that this is an excellent tablet and entirely underrated. I give it 4 1/2 stars overall.



The good:

1) Excellent look and feel. The frame is made of a beautiful alloy and it feels both strong and light. Unlike all the other tablets I've seen, this one is widescreen. This is great for media viewing, and provides a substantial and useful difference in viewing between portrait and landscape mode. The screen is full 1080p and everything looks super clear. Comparing it with the ipad, the ipad is sharper but not quite as clear. It kind of feels like with the ipad you are looking through thicker glass so it seems "cloudier" than the Surface 2, even though the iPad has higher resolution.



2) Microsoft Office comes bundled FOR FREE. This is awesome. No other tablet has anything comparable. Fully functional versions of Excel, Word, Outlook, Powerpoint, and Onenote.



3) A micro SD slot for expansion of primary storage. Up to 64gb additional storage. Ipads don't have this, and with androids some do and some don't. Very useful and welcome.



4) A mini HD port, so you can output the display directly to a tv or monitor. You might need a mini HD to HDMI adapter, depending what you have on your bigger screen. This is awesome because you can play movies, show photos, etc directly to your tv from the tablet. Apple has airplay, which only works over wireless IF you have a $100 apple tv box, but the direct cable is better in my opinion because you never have network lag or loading issues, which I sometimes get on my apple tv. I think this also can do wireless streaming to a tv via an xbox but I don't have an xbox.



This is also great because you can attach a type cover or keyboard and mouse, and connect this to a monitor, and use it like a full pc dual monitor system.



5) Bluetooth support for keyboards and mice and other devices.



6) The Surface has a built-in kickstand with 2 angles that makes viewing and using very convenient, especially when used with the touch or type covers or a usb keyboard.



7) A fully functional USB 3.0 port. This is another HUGE advantage. If you need more storage you can connect a full hard drive and have all the storage you want (I connected a 1.5 Terabayte media drive to mine and transferred files using windows explorer). Also this makes it easy to transfer files to and from the device. I was always emailing or texting stuff to myself on my ipad because the ipad doesn't have a better way to do this.



8) You can have 2 apps open on the screen at the same time, split with a vertical bar between them. You can change the size of the split to anywhere you want by dragging the divider left and right for 50/50, 80/20, 29/71, whatever breakdown you want.



9) There are front and rear cameras. I think the front is 3.5 megapixels and the rear is 5.0. You can record video as well.



10) Live tiles. This means that tiles are large enough to show useful information without opening the app. The weather app shows the current weather, the email app shows the latest email subject, the NFL app shows recent scores. These update in the background automatically.



11) Gestures. Open by tapping, close by swiping down, go back to the main page by swiping in from the right, switch between open apps by swiping in from the left, and open split screen by swiping down and then to either side. I find them second nature after a couple hours.



12) Battery life is fine. Over two days I used it about 10 hours before charging it at 12%, including about 4 hours of video streamed to the device. The charger is a cool magnetic clip.



13) Handwriting recognition. This works with a stylus or your finger, and reads both block and cursive. I love this because I like to write out my onenote notes. Some people may not care about this but this is one of the Galaxy Note's key points and the Surface 2 can also do it.



14) There is a desktop app that looks like the windows 7 desktop with a few basic things like control panel, windows explorer, ms office, etc.



15) The type and touch covers are awesome, they are like 3mm thick and provide both a protective cover and a full keyboard and mousepad. The connector is a cool magnetic thing that can be pulled right off.



Now for the not so good:



1) This is not a full version of windows 8, so you can't install standard windows software on it. To do that, you need a Surface Pro. A lot of reviewers in the media made a big deal out of this, but it's not like you can install Photoshop on an ipad, or any other mac os software on the ipad. Android doesn't even have a desktop OS that I know of. So this to me isn't a big deal but be warned that you need to have Surface Pro to install standard windows software, and the pro costs about twice as much.



2) The app selection is fairly limited. It's much better than it was 6 months ago when I first looked at the older surface but it still is noticeably behind Android and IOS. The difference is enough that it may be a dealbreaker for some people. I found most of the major apps I cared about but I don't use a whole lot of apps in general. Check out the app store online to see if you will be missing anything you use a lot, because that is super important. This alone may outweigh everything else if your favorite apps are missing.



3) The type covers ($120), micro SD cards (up to $50 for 64gb), hdmi adapter ($10), stylus, and other add-ons are not free.



4) If you hold the surface in portrait mode, it is possible to have your thumb bump the start button, which returns you to the tiles screen. After this happened twice, I got around the issue by rotating it 180degrees so the button was on the opposite side of my hand.



5) The version with LTE connectivity (i.e. cell phone data) is slated to be available in Spring 2014. This doesn't bother me because that's not how I use this, but if you need a data connection everywhere, you might want to wait for the LTE version.



EDIT:

6) The operating system takes up more space than I originally realized, so you don't get the full 32 GB of built in storage. It's more like 20 GB. I looked up the iPad and IOS uses about 2.5 GB of space. I take off half a star, but a) you still get more than 16 on the base model and B) the micro SD slot mitigates this somewhat. Still, it feels a little deceptive since the OS is big.



Check if the apps you want are available or coming soon, and if you need cell data wait for the LTE version, but in every other way this is an excellent tablet with a lot of advantages.



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Samsung Chromebook 2 XE500C12-K01US 11.6-Inch Laptop (Metallic Silver)

Product Description

Product Description

For Everyone. The Samsung Chromebook 2 is a new computer that helps you get everyday things done faster and easier. It starts in seconds, has virus protection built-in, and runs your favorite Google apps plus thousands more. The Chromebook comes with leading Google products, like Search, Gmail, YouTube and Hangouts, so you can work, play, and do whatever you want, right out of the box. Chromebooks are a unique class of mobile computing devices designed for Web-based tasks. They run the Google Chrome OS, perfect browsing the Web, sending and receiving e-mail, and video chatting with friends and family. You can easily share it with multiple people- switching accounts takes seconds, and everyone gets their own files, apps and settings. And it's simple to use. There's no setup, and your files are automatically backed up in the cloud. At just 2.65 pounds, 0.66 inches thin, and with up to 8.0 hours of battery life, the Samsung Chromebook 2 can go anywhere you go. It's built to stay cool, so it doesn't need a fan and runs silently. And being productive is easy with the latest Intel Celeron processor. It also includes 100GB of free Google Drive storage (for 2 years), a built-in webcam, and 802.11ac Wi-Fi to make it easy to connect to wireless networks.






CUSTOMER REVIEW



A decent Chomebook for sure, but there are better options out there. First, let me review this and then I'll tell you about a couple others to look into. First of all, this is Samsung's newest released Chromebook and it packs some decent power, RAM, and hard drive space, but nothing extraordinary that you can't find on other newly released Chromebooks.



PROCESSOR:



Like many Chromebooks being released, this one is still using the Intel Celeron 2.16 GHz dual-core processor. It's a decent processor and there's no doubt it will handle everything you need it to, however, it is starting to become outdated, especially when you compare it to Acer's new Chromebook which offers the NVIDIA Tegra K1 Quad Core 2.1 GHz Processor. HUGE difference in processing power. That said, even though Acer is currently leading the way for other Chromebook manufacturers, you can't go wrong with the Celeron processors as this is a Chromebook, not a full Windows running laptop.



SCREEN:



The screen, again, leaves much to be desired. It is still only 1366x768 pixels which is to be expected for a Chromebook running an 11.6" screen. Again, there are other Chromebooks out there running full 1920x1080p screen resolutions with more processing power, longer battery life, and a slightly larger 13.3" screen, FOR THE SAME PRICE as this Samsung Chromebook.



The screen on this Samsung is decent and I don't think you'll really have too many complaints about it. It's easy to see, doesn't look too muddy, and reproduces colors accurately.



WI-FI:



The Wi-Fi is great and uses the latest 802.11ac protocol which is up to 3x faster than the older Wi-Fi being used on older laptops and Chromebooks. This makes a huge difference as I've noticed this Samsung Chromebook connects quickly and easily to available networks and gets a really good signal where even my phone or Windows based laptop will not. Very impressed by the Wi-Fi.



BATTERY:



The battery life is slightly above average when compared to most new Chromebooks. At 9 hours, you're able to use the Chromebook all day without having to lug around your AC adapter. That said, there are other Chromebooks (specifically the Acer Chromebook 13) that are offering 13-hour battery life. They have the same specs as this Samsung Chromebook with a faster processor but the cost is the same. So, if you're a power-user who needs to stream lots of video, chat on Skype, download and upload large files, etc., you may want to look into the Acer Chromebook 13 as it's at the top of the list of Chromebooks at the moment. (On a side-note, Acer also offers a Full-HD version of the Chromebook 13, this time sporting an amazing 1920x1080p display, a much faster processor, and 11-hours of battery life... FOR THE SAME PRICE. If battery power is not super important (ie: you're just going to be surfing the web or taking notes in Google Doc, etc., 9-hours of battery life is plenty!)



USB PORTS:



Okay, it's 2014... NO laptop, desktop, or even these Chromebooks should be running anything besides USB 3.0 ports. This Samsung Chromebook does give you a single USB 3.0 port and another USB 2.0 port. I don't get it. Why not just make both of them USB 3.0? And while I'm comparing this Samsung Chromebook to others that just hit the market, I'm going to have to mention the Acer Chromebook 13 again as it wins in the USB department with 2 USB 3.0 ports and an HDMI output port as well.



SIZE AND WEIGHT:



At only 2.6 lbs and 11.4" inches wide with nice 0.66" thickness, this is a very light and comfortable to carry Chromebook. If you're going to throw this in a bookbag or messenger bag, it's going to slide in just like a small book or folder, not some clunky laptop. Samsung did a nice job here with keeping this Chromebook light and compact, yet still providing it with a solid feel and a well laid out keyboard that resists flexing when typing.



OVERALL DESIGN AND BUILD QUALITY:



As I mentioned above, the build quality is very nice. I love the stitched look on the cover... it gives it an elegant and sophisticated look without going too over the top. The keyboard is well laid out, I didn't notice much flexing of the keyboard while typing, as you'll sometimes find on other Chromebooks, and overall, the whole thing felt nice and solid while carrying it.



BOOT TIMES AND WAKE TIMES:



The Samsung Chromebook is right on par with the competition when it comes to boot times and wake times. Booting in 10 seconds is only a couple seconds longer than Acer's Chromebook 13, and the wake from sleep time is identical. It will be out of sleep mode and ready to go before you even get the screen opened!



SECURITY:



The Chrome operating system is very stable and secure at the moment and Samsung emphasizes that with this newest Chromebook claiming it keeps the operating system files and app files separate to avoid "cross-contaminating" the files if a virus happens to pop up. Since the OS is still new, hackers are still trying to find ways to exploit the system but for the most part, they're still having fun hacking Windows and Apple machines. For now, Chrome is pretty safe and safety and encryption is something Google takes seriously. (I can't believe I just said that as Google Drive was down today for hours, but seriously, overall Google operates its services flawlessly while protecting your important files.)



BUILT IN WEBCAM:



Surprisingly, the picture quality is pretty decent using the on-board camera. It's certainly not going to be as good as some of your high-end smartphones that can literally double as a camera, but it's right on par with the rest of the competition including the iPad, Acer's lineup, and so forth. I haven't tested the Google Pixel Chromebook yet but I'd imagine it's pretty similar in quality to that overpriced laptop, too.



SUMMARY:



You really can't go wrong with this Samsung Chromebook. I LOVE Samsung products as they have a history of being reliable and high quality. As you could probably tell from my review, I honestly believe there are better choices out there right now that are a few steps ahead of the Samsung Chromebook in terms of processing power, battery life, and screen resolution, for the SAME PRICE. I don't want to steer you towards one over the other but I'd be doing you a disservice if I didn't compare this Chromebook to at least one of the competitor's in a similar price range. I'd really suggest reading this review and the review on the Chromebook 13 before you make any decisions. They are both great machines and I think you'll be satisfied no matter which one you choose. This Chromebook is still too new to give you a 1-10 rating but I'm guessing it's going to fall in the 8/10 range. The Chromebook 13 Acer 13 CB5-311-T9B0 Chromebook (13.3-inch Full HD, NVIDIA Tegra K1, 2GB) will probably fall in the 9/10 range, so both are pretty comparable.



*** DISCLAIMER: (and some fun now that we're finished!) I do not work for Amazon or any manufacturer so my reviews are based on my own research and experience. I only review products I have either purchased here on Amazon, which account for over 95% of my reviews, and a few other products I either purchased elsewhere or have had the time to evaluate, so my reviews are based solely on my own research and/or using the product itself. Some people out there who, in my opinion, seem paranoid and stalker like, may find it odd that I review so many products and may also think that, since I do review so many, I must work for the hundreds of different manufacturers I've purchased products from... that's a lot of people I must work for! They may spend substantial amounts of time becoming infatuated with the reviewer and their product reviews, so much so that they read every review the reviewer has posted, calculating how much they spend, how many reviews per day they've written on various days, and so forth. Thankfully, when these types of people mouth off, Amazon is quick to delete their comments if they violate Amazon's Terms of Service. Thank you Amazon! That said, enjoy the review and if you have any questions not addressed in the review, please feel free to ask me! ***



*** I hope this review has helped you at least a little with your research into what Chromebook to buy... If it has helped you, let me know! You can also leave a comment or post a question in the comments section and I'll try to answer it for you. I don't work for any computer manufacturers and so my reviews are based solely on my own personal experience in using the product. For every product I review, I either own the product, or have extensively tested it. I do my best to be as objective as possible and give you as much info as possible so you can feel good about your purchase. ***



I will update you if any information in this review changes or to make you aware of any upcoming changes. Thanks!

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HP Pavilion X2 10.1-inch Detachable 2 in 1 Laptop (32GB) (Includes Office 365 Personal for 1-year)

CUSTOMER REVIEW



This tablet is decent for the price. the tablets only has 2GB of ram, I see this as a drawback as my laptop has 8GB ram inside. You can not open this tablet up and add more ram or a bigger hard drive. the keyboard is ok to type on it is a little mushy, but so is the keyboard on my laptop. I typed this review on the tablet keyboard.



When I received the tablet it only had about 8GB free on the internal storage if you enable disk compression in settings you will save 2-5GB of space. I feel if you do not get the 64GB version you must purchase a micro sd card that is rated UHS 1 30mbs or better and 32GB in size of bigger. it includes one year of office 365 a $100 value on a card at least in my version so you could redeem it on a laptop or desktop if you want office on that device.



I was running iTunes and chrome at the same time with about 10 tabs open in chrome and a HD movie playing in iTunes it was using about 1.2GB of ram. I installed the propresenter demo and it runs fine. If you want to connect to a TV screen you have to set the TV to stretch the image so it fills the whole screen if you do not it just fills a square in the middle of the screen. When you really stress the tablet it get warm but you can still hold it without burning yourself. Do no get a sleeve made for a 10.1 inch tablet as it will not fit instead get a 11.6 netbook sleeve to fit it. the battery last about 8-10 hours of



Over all I like the tablet. There are a few things I would like to be more open to repair or replacement by the end user.

As a tablet it is great as a laptop there is more i would expect from a laptop than what this delivers. I would like 64bit windows and a full SDXC card slot but can understand why these were not included. The pen is synaptics as far as I can tell if I find out later that it is different I will update this to reflect that.



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Acer Aspire E 15 ES1-512-C88M 15.6-Inch Laptop (Diamond Black)

CUSTOMER REVIEW



I have done thorough research and compared this with other similarly-priced products from Toshiba, Dell, Asus (2 of them), and HP. This Acer is definitely the BEST one of the five 15.6" in the $200-$250 price range. All five have the same basic specs (Celeron / 500GHz / 4GB / 500GB) but the below specs give this an edge over the others.



PROS:



USB 3.0

- Dell doesn't have it, the rest do.

- Acer has one port.



Bluetooth

- Only Toshiba has it, the rest don't.

- Acer has Bluetooth 4.0.



Battery Life

- One Asus has 3.75 hr life, the rest range between 4-5.5.

- ACER HAS SEVEN FREAKING HOURS OF BATTERY LIFE!



Speaker

- The Toshiba and HP speakers suck big time! They are very low quality and thin.

- ACER HAS AN AMAZING SOUND SYSTEM FOR A LAPTOP! You don't need a speaker to get crisp sound with enough base.



Thinness/Sleekness/Appearance

- Toshiba is the thinnest and sleekest, the rest are at least 0.25-0.50 inch thicker.

- Toshiba and Asus have a bad case of finger marking! It is so disgusting to look at. The slightest touch leaves finger marks on it. HP and Dell are okay.

- Acer is almost as thin as the Toshiba, which makes it neat looking too.

- Acer repels finger marks, thus no disgusting finger marks on them!



CONS:

- Acer is the heaviest of the lot, adding 0.50 lbs.

- Acer does not have the Caps or Num lock lighting

- Acer does not have an optical drive.

- Acer ports are at the back of the laptop, as opposed to the traditional sides.



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Acer 13 CB5-311-T9B0 Chromebook (13.3-inch Full HD, NVIDIA Tegra K1, 2GB)

CUSTOMER REVIEW



Acer has been dominating the Chromebook market by releasing high-quality, affordable, and reliable Chromebooks that stifle the competition--but does the new Acer Chromebook 13 really offer improvements worth ditching you old Chromebook for this newer one? Let's look at what upgrades have been made and let you decide if it's worth taking the plunge into this new Chromebook.



I'm going to focus a lot on the new processor as it is the first Chromebook to use the NVIDIA Tegra based K1 processor.



THE NEW NVIDIA TEGRA K1 CPU:



Switching to the NVIDIA Tegra based K1 CPU has given the newest Acer Chromebook 13 a peppier power plant while retaining the same 2GB RAM, 16GB on-board storage as its predecessor. The Chromebook c720 was the best Chromebook you could buy until the introduction of the Chromebook 13 although since it's so new, only time will tell if it truly outshines the Acer c720.



While the more powerful NVIDIA CPU may seem like a major upgrade, in reality and actual use-case scenarios, the difference will be virtually unnoticeable to the user. Why? Because the Acer c720, running a lower end Intel Celeron processor packed enough power to do literally everything you needed to do on a Chromebook.



The problem with the new Tegra K1 based processor from NVIDIA is that during extensive testing, it is having problems running some apps because of compatibility issues. Why does that matter? Well, since the Acer Chromebook 13 is the only Chromebook on the market right now using the NVIDIA Tegra based K1 processor, many Chrome app developers haven't built their apps to run on these CPU's and as a result, some apps simply won't run on this new model. While this won't affect everyone, especially those of us who only use the core Chrome apps like Google Docs, Sheets, Calendar, Drive, and so forth, it will affect users who heavily use other niche apps available on the Chrome App Store.



These app developers will likely not be in a hurry to make their apps cross compatible when only one Chromebook model is utilizing the processor, at least not until other manufacturers start using the ARM based processors. And again, there's no guarantee any other manufacturer will. Intel, although known to be the sleepy giant when it comes to introducing new processors, has gotten the hint and is working on a new Intel Core M processor to be used in Chromebook devices and is due to be available in late 2014.



I'm pretty partial to the Intel x86 based CPU's as they're the type you'd typically find in typical laptops and desktop computers and have a proven track record of success in mobile devices such as tablets and Chromebooks. Only time will tell if Acer's switch to NVIDIA Tegra based processors was a good move for the company, or a premature one.



As an avid Linux user who has Ubuntu Linux installed on my Acer 720, I'm also a bit concerned on how the new processor will work with Linux and its apps. Some more detailed testing (which I will update you on) should give us an idea of how well they play together. I know this doesn't apply to most people, however, many of us do use Linux for various reasons and switching processors from x86 to NVIDIA Tegra, could be deal breakers for us.



Since I'm partial to the Intel x86 based processors, I'm personally waiting until later in 2014 when Intel releases its Core M processor before ditching my trusty Acer c720 Chromebook. While the Intel Core M processor based Chromebooks will likely cost a bit more, I personally feel the benefits will definitely be worth it. We should also see the same screen or a slightly upgraded one, perhaps offering touch-screen, or glossy finish versus the current matte finish. Since the NVIDIA Tegra processor is so new to Chromebooks, I want to wait to see how they work in the real-world as people's comments begins rolling in. Will it really be all it claims to be or will the drastic change in processor type be a deal breaker?



BUILD QUALITY:



Like most Chromebooks, with the exception of the outrageously overpriced Google Pixel (top of line model costing nearly $1,500 for a Chromebook,) the new Chromebook 13 sticks to the trend of a plastic body with decent build quality and durability, not much different than you'd find on your typical Windows based laptop.



SCREEN UPGRADE:



Going from the 11" screen to the 13.3 inch screen is a pretty noticeable upgrade especially since it addressed repeated complaints from users of the Acer c720 Chromebook, for example. With this new, larger, and more vivid screen comes a full 1080p resolution, something Acer users have been asking for, for a while now. The new screen is noticeably "clearer" and less muddy looking than the c720's screen and is more on par with your average laptop than your average Chromebook (again, with the exception of Google's overpriced Pixel.) For about $50 more than the Acer 720 Chromebook, this upgrade alone may be the clincher for users to make the switch.



BATTERY LIFE:



The battery life upgrade from the Acer 720 is HUGE. Going from 7-8 hours to 13 hours is an amazing feat. I was expecting to see at most a 2 hour battery life upgrade, maybe no upgrade at all considering the full-HD screen size, but somehow Acer has been able to do it!

In an actual use-case scenario, using not only Google Docs, Sheets, Calendar and so forth, but also streaming YouTube and Netflix, Pandora, etc., I actually only got about 8 hours of battery life out of the Chromebook 13. That's still very impressive but as is usually discovered when using a laptop from any manufacturer, the advertised battery life versus the actual battery life based on real-world usage, is vastly lower, in this case by a huge margin of 5 hours!



CHROME APP TESTING:



When testing the new NVIDIA Tegra based processor on various apps in the Google app store, I noticed that several apps simply refused to run with the new processor and as I mentioned above, it is highly unlikely that the various app developers will be in any hurry to make their apps cross-compatible, at least until more Tegra based CPU's are introduced into the Chromebook lineup. Several popular games refused to run not only for me, but also for another reviewer so this is obviously a problem both Acer and Google are aware of.



OTHER MENTIONABLE UPGRADES:



Besides the faster processor, which as I said before, will be virtually transparent to the user, the larger, more vivid, full-HD screen, and longer battery life, the Chromebook 13 gets some other small upgrades, or maybe I should say, "changes."

The Chromebook 13 moves to a fanless design due to the power-friendly Tegra based processor, but also manages to only gain a little weight, coming in at 3.3 lbs. (and a mere 0.71 inches thick.)



CONCLUSION:



I really feel that the Acer Chromebook 13 is an amazing machine that has addressed upgrade requests from Acer users, specifically in regards to the display. Although I'm extremely impressed with the upgrades to the display and battery life, I'm still hesitant to jump on the bandwagon and make a drastic switch from x86 based Intel processors to Tegra based processors. No other Chromebook utilizes this processor and I feel there may be some hiccups with this processor until Google and its various app developers address them. I'd personally recommend waiting for the next model Acer Chromebook to hit the market and see what it offers before making the switch. As many people will tell you, you never want to be the guinnea pig for a brand new piece of technology... it's best to let the manufacturers and developers work out the bugs and buy a product with all of the issues resolved.



However, if you feel the upgrades Acer is offering in this latest Chromebook lineup is worth it, go ahead and take the jump. Acer has consistently impressed me with every new Chromebook model they release and I have confidence the new Chromebook 13 won't let us down.



I'll update my review as I continue to use the Chromebook 13 and post any mentionable issues I discover.



*** If this review has helped you in any way with your research into a new Chromebook, please let me know [...]. I really love helping others when they're looking at upgrading their computers and other technology and I do my best to provide you with as much information as possible along with my own professional experience in working with these products. Thank you for taking the time to read my review and good luck on your search for your new Chromebook! ***



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