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Latest by M. Smith

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Acer Aspire S3 Review

Review: The Acer Aspire S3 Ultrabook costs less than a MacBook Air and even other knockoffs, but not without a few sacrifices.
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Falcon Northwest Mach V Review

Review: The Falcon Northwest Mach V combines top-shelf components with an innovative tilted design for a nearly unbeatable – if expensive – gaming rig.
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Lenovo IdeaPad U400 Review

Review: The Lenovo U400 encompasses an elegant design and juggles being both a high-end consumer laptop while also trying to come in at a decent price point.
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Sony Vaio SE (15.5 inch) Review

The Sony Vaio SE 15.5-inch entertains and impresses with a 1080p display, Blu-ray drive, and potent discrete graphics card.
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HP EliteBook 2560p Review

Review: The ruggedly handsome HP EliteBook 2560p offers durability and great performance, but may still be a tough sell beside cheaper, slimmer competitors.
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Cooler Master CM Storm QuickFire Rapid Review

Review: The Cooler Master CM Storm QuickFire keyboard hacks off the numpad to make more room for your mouse, and makes typing a breeze with impressively clicky switches.
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HP Envy 15 (2012) Review

The HP Envy 15 manages to outgun Apple’s 15-inch MacBook Pro in just about every category, and still come in cheaper.
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Asus Zenbook UX31 Review

The Asus UX31 sets the performance bar high for Ultrabooks, but doesn’t quite offer the solid feel you would expect of a notebook with its price.
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Dell Inspiron 14z Review

Dell's Inspiron 14z provides consumers with a laptop that possesses an impressively fast performance and solid design, all at an unbeatable price.
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Acer Aspire M3970 Review

The Acer M3970 desktop pleases with its solid design, plethora of ports, and quiet fans, but ultimately fails to impress with an underwhelming graphics card.
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Toshiba Portege Z835 Review

The Toshiba Portege Z835 is thinner and lighter than many of its Ultrabook peers, but feels a bit flimsy as a result.
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HP TouchSmart 520-1070 Review

The HP TouchSmart 520 offers a smart, touch-friendly design that would look at home in any living room, but gets expensive fast with upgrades.
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Maingear Shift Super Stock X79 Review

We find out if Maingear's extreme configuration of the Shift, the Super Stock X79, can outdo its predecessor.

Lenovo ThinkPad X230 Review

Lenovo’s ThinkPad X230 races past Ultrabooks without bulking up or losing the brand’s legendary keyboard or durability.

Alienware M17x R4 Review

The Alienware M17x R4 blends outrageous style and power with a price that’s surprisingly down to earth.
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Falcon Northwest Tiki Review

Falcon Northwest sets a new standard in high-end desktops with the small but surprisingly powerful Tiki.
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Apple MacBook Air 11.6-inch (2012) Review

Intel’s latest hardware gives Apple’s 11.6-inch MacBook Air a performance boost without biting into battery life.

Sony Vaio S Premium 13.3-inch Review

The Sony VAIO S Premium offers great overall performance, but competes in a very crowded price point.

Acer Aspire M3985 Review

Acer’s uninspired Aspire M3985 makes a pragmatic and affordable desktop, but benefits little from an upgrade to the latest Ivy Bridge processors.
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Toshiba Satellite U845 Review

Toshiba’s Satellite U845 Ultrabook improves upon the company’s freshman effort, but still struggles to stand out in an increasingly crowded market.
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Dell XPS One 27 Review

The premium Dell XPS One 27 all-in-one integrates a 27-inch LED-backlit display with 2560 x 1440 pixel native resolution, an Intel H77 chipset, and an Intel HD 4000 GPU.

Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E530 Review

Lenovo’s chunky ThinkPad Edge E530 edge won’t woo like an Ultrabook, but for the price, it’s hard to find a more practical notebook.
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Sony Vaio E Series (2012) Review

The affordable Sony Vaio E series hides its inexpensive design with an aluminum lid and backlit keyboard, but can’t match the value of its competitors.

Lenovo IdeaCentre A720 Review

The Lenovo IdeaCentre A720 may be even more stylish than competitors from Apple and Dell, but low-end hardware at a high-end price knocks it out of the competition.

ASUS Zenbook Prime UX32VD Review

The Asus Zenbook Prime dazzles with a brilliant 1080p display, discrete graphics and a unique, attractive design.

Toshiba Satellite S955 Review

Toshiba's Satellite S955 offers a very basic, no-frills Windows 8 experience that doesn't disappoint, but should really come in cheaper for what it is.
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Dell XPS 12 Review

A Windows 8 Ultrabook that converts into a tablet? To find out how Dell's XPS 12 stacks up against other convertibles, we put it to the test ... and liked what we saw.
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Acer Aspire M5 Touch Review

We gave a rave review to the Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M5 earlier this year, but will the company’s updated touch model equally impress?

Acer Aspire V5 Touch Review

We reviewed the Acer Aspire V5 Touch’s touchless counterpart during the summer. Let’s see how the laptop does now that touch is involved.
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ASUS Zenbook UX51Vz Review

Most laptops, even expensive ones, require a sacrifice here or there. This laptop requires none. It’s closer to perfect than any laptop we’ve ever reviewed. The Zenbook UX51V is a masterpiece very much worth its price.
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Lenovo ThinkPad Edge Twist Review

Lenovo updates its ThinkPad X Series convertible with the Edge Twist. At just under $800, is this Windows 8 tablet/laptop hybrid for the masses?
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Samsung Series 7 Gamer 700G7A Review

The names Alienware, MSI, and ASUS usually come to mind when we think of gaming laptops, but Samsung is entering the game for the first time with its Samsung Series 7 Gamer.

HP EliteBook 2170p Review

HP hasn’t done much to change the design of its EliteBook line of business laptops. But does the idiom “you can’t judge a book by its cover” hold true for the HP EliteBook 2170p laptop?
Acer Aspire S7 review

Acer Aspire S7 Review

Acer gives the Ultrabook another try with the Aspire S7. At just half-an-inch thick and weighing less than 3 pounds, will this be Acer’s best Ultrabook to date?