Lenovo Laptop IdeaPad G780 (59352497) Intel Core i7 3rd Gen 3632QM (2.20 GHz) 6 GB Memory 750 GB HDD NVIDIA GeForce GT 635M 17.3" Windows 8

Pros: Packed with hardware you wouldn't expect to find in a laptop in the $600 range. i7 CPU, 6 gigs ram, dedicated 635m. The chiclet keyboard feels nice, with the added bonus of having to worry less about my cat running across it and ripping the individual keys out. Plays World of Warcraft on high settings around 40 fps in congested areas. It handles Skyrim very well, and a bunch of older games not worth mentioning. Windows 8 screams, it performs very well. I don't miss the start menu, and like a few of the apps.

Cons: Keyboard is set fairly high, which can be uncomfortable on the wrists as they lay across the laptop. The touchpad is huge (some may think this is a pro), but it is common while typing that you rub your palms across it. It is simple enough to fix, press FN + F6 to disable the touchpad. For people who prefer mice to touchpads, this should not be an issue. Microphone is just to the left where you rest your left wrist. The microphone itself works great, but I see this being an issue in the future as it is likely to get clogged.

Overall Review: I haven't noticed the flimsy display as others. It stays in place while typing I haven't taking it out on bumpy roads and don't plan to, so it does well. Windows 8 is going to come with every laptop now, it is easy enough to figure out, learn a few keyboard shortcuts and you won't even miss the start menu. At this price range, you are not going to have the best gaming experience. It will be good, but not comparable with higher end machines. With that said, I am very impressed with the performance of the laptop playing Skyrim, and World of Warcraft. I tried to focus on the cons, with this review. Really this laptop is fantastic, for the price. Thus it gets 5 stars, I don't expect perfection in a $670 laptop.

Pros: Big, Light, Fast, play lots of LoL maxed settings and very stable, Skyrim modded works great too. Never gets too warm even after hours of consistent play, you never hear the fan. Lenovo keyboards are nice, very well done. Been able to do a good amount of multi-tasking with no drops in performance. Skype chats + LoL + Internet Pages all running at same time, no problem, no drops in performance.

Cons: Microphone placement by where left hand would be for a gamer. (Not really that big of issue since I usually wear a headset) Though the computer design is nice and light, at times it may feel a little too light and flimsy. But not too big of deal. Few issues with the wifi not re-enabling once you bring the computer out of airplane mode. Once you figure out how to deal with it, it's a 5 second fix, but still a little annoying at times.

Overall Review: Windows 8 takes some getting used to, but once you learn it and make it fit your needs, it is actually quite convenient at times. Windows 8 is definitely better for either a touchscreen or a track pad. (note: one of the gestures that occurs a lot in Windows 8 on it's own if you don't know it. Sliding your finger horizontally from left to right switches what app you have open. Once you learn it, you accidentally do this a lot less.) All in all fantastic computer, pros definitely outweigh the cons here.

Pros: i7 CPU 6G RAM Discrete video card.

Cons: Broadcom wifi, rather than the available intel centrino wifi adapter

Overall Review: Set it up for my wife, and as soon as she started playing wow, the internet connection lost connectivity (but remained connected to the router, but NO access to anything) Disconnect, reconnect to the router.. back up.. for 5 minutes. BUT. Updating the WiFi driver through the driver manager was simple, and resolved the issue for me. BUT, it's still a broadcom wifi chip. 43xx for those who know/care what this means. I would buy it again, even knowing this, however. Good machine, better support. Lenovo makes great laptops.

Pros: Does everything I need.

Cons: None really.

Overall Review: Plenty of SSD drives come with ghosting software. Disk imaging software can also be bought cheaply. I imaged my 5400 hdd to an 128gb SSD with no issues. I did have to organize the partitions better, whoever thinks I need 5 partitions needs a new job. I kept the restore partition for now but I still have the original hdd as a backup.

Pros: Dedicated Graphics! I couldn't find a pc with a reasonable dedicated graphic card for under $800.00 so finding this one with a 2GB dedicated graphic card, a quad i7 for 659.00 (i see it's more now) I was very happy. I was terrified of Win 8 but received it, went to the desk top first, installed Retroui to put my start button on as I want to try it and start 8 (both offer a free trial) and cost $5.00 if you like it after trial. Now once that was there, I just installed all my programs. Macromedia Fireworks 2004 (old program, no problem). Office XP, installed and activated with phone call, no issues. Everquest (old game) installed worked, no issues. Diablo III new game, installed no issues. Photoshop CS6 no issues, ran. Dreamweaver ran from my portable drive with no dll installs on the main pc, awesome, no issues, hp printer... had to install from the HP site their disc didn't recognize the OS, no issues with the download and install from there. My list goes on, old and new programs, updated the wireless driver at the suggestion from someone elses feedback.. never lost connection all day. Checked 4 USB ports all working. Uninstalled McAfee... Win 9 has Microsoft Security Essentials built in and updates with Windows Defender and it is my preferred anti virus and spyware tool for little bloat and it's always worked for me when others failed so I don't need another one. Uninstalled Nitropro 7 and installed the free Nitro pdf Reader, awesome, beats adobe pdf reader, have been using it some time now. Over all with all of this I have not hit any issues really with the pc or with Win 8. AFter completing all updates tonight I am running a back up to my external drive, that takes 45GB but will be my restore in future. All good. I was so scared of going to win 8 and looked hard for a win 7 pc. My son said I'd have no issues (he's an it guy though) and in the end he could say I told you. I had no issues so far. Everything worked, all programs ran, all installed even my oldest.

Cons: To pin many of my programs to the task bar I had to go to Windows Explorer (now called File Explorer) and right click the exe in the file to find the pin to task bar instead of pin to start menu. That's my biggest win 8 con so far, . I really don't like the number pad on the keyboard. It's smaller then the one on my laptop i'm replacing which is a 15.6" laptop so I wish they had mad that larger. Otherwise it seems to work fine and the letters are okay to use, but some buttons are small, i wish it was larger. I tried out the mic with skype which I use pretty regular. My other laptop has a very clear microphone that is better then my headphone mic, this one really isn't nice, sounds tinny and is in an awkward spot so I will have to use my headphone and mic for calls.

Overall Review: I am ecstatic that I didn't have the issues I dreaded with win 8 and to this point have no issues at all. So I would suggest you install an inexpensive program ($5.00) that allows you to use the best of win 8 and your familiar win7 start up, Start8, RetroUI, both seem nice. There's free ones too but the small purchase price gives a little more versatility on set up when you know more and want it later.

Pros: Great crisp clear display, lightweight, good battery life, USB 3.0 ports, i-7 CPU, 2GB-Video RAM dedicated Nvidia

Cons: Very flimsy cover (display), flexes far too much. No external eSATA port. HDD is only SATA2, NOT SATA3 high speed data transfer speed. VERY odd to use todays high tech of a CPU (i7/Ivy Bridge), but then throttle it back with old tech SATA2 HDD speed. No locking cover latch. Comes pre-loaded with Win 8 basic, and I for one HATE that goofy tiled home screen! In under 2 hours usage I'd installed "Classic Shell" to revert from the useless Win 8 interface, BACK to the useful Win 7 w/Start button!!!

Overall Review: Being one of IBM's economy line laptops, it's fairly well equipped. Nice 2GB Nvidia dedicated GPU-RAM No locking cover latch.

Pros: Solid construction, fast and quiet. Geforce card has played all the games I've thrown at it flawlessly(CS GO, LoL, Smite, other random misc...) Keyboard is solid and great to type on. Not horribly loud like some less expensive machines. Overall great bang for the buck (Picked mine up on sale, but knowing what I do about how it performs now I'd have paid the full price for it and still been happy). Screen is gorgeous, I imagine it'd have problems in high direct light as it is glossy, but it really is bright and crisp, no dead spots or weak areas.

Cons: Speakers are sort of wimpy, but I don't care because I use a headset 100% of the time. Mic is underneath your left palm, which would be bad for those headset free people, again I am not worried about that because I use a headset (which syncs up with the built in bluetooth flawlessly btw) No independent volume control (I.E. buttons on the top or side) Have to use FN+ <- -> keys. No biggie, just inconvenient in a hastened volume down moment.

Overall Review: I love this thing thus far... I have used Lenovo before and they are a solid brand, their machines have lived up to the legacy they represent.

Pros: The price is amazing for what you get. Foremost is the quad core i7, that thing can really haul. On top of that you get a dedicated GPU that supports CUDA, so you can offload some serious power to the GPU as well. I bought this as a budget Premiere Pro CS6 mobile workstation, and it's doing the job great.

Cons: Get rid of that HDD and put an SSD in there. And the screen has a bit of a fade top-to-bottom due to the placement of the backlight on only one edge.