Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Weight: At 4.2 pounds I wouldn't call it light as air but it is very portable and I have no problems carrying in hand. If it's in a backpack I hardly even notice it there. My books are heavier and more cumbersome. The slim design definitely helps in making it that much more portable also. If you want something that so light it wows you every time look for a laptop weighing 3.5 pounds or less. Again, I have no problems carrying this laptop around with me all day. I weight 135 lbs as a reference point.
Battery: This is really where it shines. You really do get a little more than 8 hours if everything is turned down. But since I don't work for 8 hours straight on a laptop I turn up the brightness, stream video, browse websites, use Word, listen to music and still get an amazing 6 hours plus. The AC adapter is small and light weight if you need to carry it around.
Design: The lid is made of aluminum and unfortunately is a finger print magnet (maybe I just have oily fingers). The notebook is in a very conservative gray. It won't turn any heads but that's perfect for me in a meeting or in class. The keyboard is flat surfaced but feels great, took almost no time to get used to it. Overall the notebook feels very sturdy with a little bit of flexing if I press hard on the side of the keyboards. Hinges have a good feel to them.
Performance: It won't play 3D games nor can you do intensive video editing but it's more than fast enough to do your basic tasks. Basic meaning email, web browsing, music, occasional DVD, using Microsoft Office 2007. I can have Office, Firefox with multiple tabs and music running with no slow downs at all. This is probably 80% of consumers anyway. It also loads and runs Photoshop just fine. However it will not run YoutubeHD since it is flash based and depends solely on the processor. DIVX and videos codecs that can offload to the GPU work just fine. I was able to watch videos in 720p just fine.
Important notice: You MUST MUST update the video driver, LAN driver, and Bios to get it to function correctly. The initial drivers caused the machine to run very slow and crash often. After the update it runs perfectly. If I could take a half star I would. I ended giving it five stars because it comes with a free upgrade to Windows 7, which makes this machine last even longer, run even faster, and would not have had the initial driver problems. Can't wait for the retail release!
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