TOSHIBA Satellite S55t-A5277 Touchscreen Notebook Intel Core i7 4700MQ(2.40GHz) 15.6" 12GB Memory DDR3 1600 1TB HDD 5400rpm DVD Super Multi NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M

Pros: I purchased this when it was about a $150 discount. For under a grand, this is a pretty tricked out laptop. Amazing graphics card displays high quality images for gaming. Startup to homescreen is almost instant. A fast processor, high memory, and more HD space than I could possibly use makes this a great buy. The touch screen is sensitive, and responds even through the screen protector I purchased. Battery life is about 4 hours of continuous use, which is great for a 15.6" laptop.

Cons: I'm not a huge fan of the Windows 8 interface - I miss having my start button in the lower left corner of my desktop. The slide-to-right touchpad function is a bit annoying at times, popping up the settings and options functions when you're not trying to. Might work better for left-handed individuals. Also, sometimes the right-click below the touchpad selects links and icons instead of bringing the right-click menu.

Other Thoughts: For the price, this is an awesome purchase. I will have to see how long it lasts before deciding to repurchase this brand.

Pros: The NVIDIA GT 740M is a decent midrange GPU, and provides adequate performance in a number of recent titles. Could it be better? Yes, but it's certainly not the worst. A quick web search on the GPU should get you the information you need about how well it runs various games.

Cons: The main issue with this laptop is that the display it's using is a 15.6" 1366x768 display. Such a resolution in a display this size makes things onscreen rather large, the resolution itself doesn't let you fit much onscreen to begin with, and -- as is typical of display panels this size and resolution -- it's a low-grade display panel with very poor image quality due to low contrast. Really, for a laptop in this range, you should be able to expect a decent display, long before "i7" this and "12GB RAM" that. The display in this laptop is not a "decent display" -- it's actually pretty bad. There are a number of laptops out there in similar budget ranges that will get you a similar or better GPU, and a decent display, at the same time -- some even with touchscreen like this laptop has.

Other Thoughts: One thing that's important to keep in mind about this laptop is that, while it may initially seem attractive due to its "Core i7" and "12GB" of memory specs, those are -- for the most part -- overkill for the majority of users. Processor and RAM aren't the keystone defining aspects of how good your computer is, despite what marketing may imply.

Before you jump on this laptop, you'll want to make sure you evaluate what'll actually have an effect on your user experience with proper weight over what won't. For example, game performance will tend to be bottlenecked by a midrange mobile GPU / Graphics Chip before it matters too much what type of CPU / Processor you have. Getting a more powerful GPU will go a lot further than getting a Core i7 instead of an i3/i5/etc. And the display, of course, pretty much affects everything you do, both in terms of how much you can fit onscreen due to resolution itself, and in terms of quality that creates its impression continuously.

Pros: Amazing speakers for a laptop. I don't even turn them up all the way because they're so loud. The boot time is terrific. It literally takes seconds to boot up. The touch pad isn't overly sensitive but it also isn't impossible to move the mouse. It comes with a number pad and a touch screen, which makes Windows 8 easy to manipulate. Also, running multiple applications is easy and incredibly fast.

Cons: If the speakers are turned all the way up, sometimes the bass from music is muffled and sounds choppy. Also, the built in microphone has an echo. The battery is inside the laptop so if it ever goes bad you'll have to pull apart the laptop to replace it. Also, it only lasts for about 4 to 5 hours depending on what you're doing. All in all though, these are just minor annoyances.

Other Thoughts: Windows 8 takes some getting used to but it runs really well on this laptop. One thing I would suggest is to avoid the beta for 8.1 because it messed up the OS and I had to reset the laptop to factory settings.

Pros: Runs every modern game on high/ultra without flaw. CS GO runs at 100 fps +.

The processor is amazingly fast! and for the price I think it is a steal.

The keyboard and touchpad are amazing.. And the touchscreen is SUPER responsive.

Cons: Speakers lack bass, but its a laptop.

Screen resolution, but I use my laptop are a portable and plugin devie for a monitor when I am home so it does not really affect myself that much. The screen is very nice though in my opinion.

You get a lower resolution thus why this laptop is under 1000 dollars.

Other Thoughts: This laptop is amazing fast. Just disable stupid windows metro and you have a powerhouse laptop. I highly recommend