Category: Laptop / PC

15 inch ultrabooks are best for business as well as for doing any kind of serious work. If your job requires you to sit in front of computer screen for long durations then going for a 15 inch ultrabook laptop will be an ideal choice. 2015 was clearly the year of ultrabooks thanks to the powerful and very power-sipping processors from Intel and AMD.

Best Cheap 15 inch ultrabooks: 15 inch ultrabook reviews

The year 2016 is going to be even more exciting as competition will only grow fierce and we will see more and cheaper 15 inch ultrabooks. So what are the things you should look when buying a ultrabook under 300 or 500 dollars? Well, if price is an issue, make sure you get one that retails for under 500 dollars. Back in 2014, there were absolutely no ultrabooks under 500 but fast-forward to 2016 and you will see plenty of them. No need to search the web for them as our laptop experts have already found the best cheap ultrabooks for you under 500, 400 and even 300 dollars.

Number #1: Lenovo Ideapad 100

Priced at 299, the Ideapad 100 is super slim and packs latest processor from Intel. This CPU is optimized for Windows 10 operating system and it will surprise you with its speedy performance and excellent battery life. Lenovo is giving everyone in the cheap ultrabook department a run for their money. So if you are in the market for cheapest ultrabook, the Lenovo Ideapad 100 should definitely be on your list.

] 15.6 inch display with HD resolution
] 500GB hard disk drive with 4GB RAM
] Windows 10 genuine operating system
] Latest Intel N3540 processor

• More Information + Latest Price

Number #2: Dell Inspiron 15

Dell Inspiron series is well known for its great build quality and this Dell ultrabook is no exception. Packing full HD display, this laptop costs 465 dollars and runs on latest i5 processor from Intel.

] 15.6” display with 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution
] 1000GB hard disk with 8 GB RAM
] Core i5 CPU and Windows 10 OS

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Number #3: Asus X550ZA

Chassis of this Asus ultrabook is made from aluminum that gives it a very premium look and feel. It is premium on specs too – packing quad core processor from AMD that is backed by healthy 8GB RAM and 1 terabytes of hard disk space. Current price is $477.

] 15.6” HD LED backlit display
] Quad core AMD A10 processor
] Dedicated GPU for excellent GPU performance
] 8GB RAM + 1000 GB HDD; Windows 10 operating system

• More Information + Latest Price

If big ultrabook is not your cup of tea, then you go for a mini laptop. Our laptop experts have prepared a list of best mini laptops of 2016 and we are sure you would want to check out that list.

MSI GS40 Phantom is a 14 inch laptop packing latest technologies. MSI GS40 Phantom specs include an Intel Core i7-6700HQ sixth generation processor, high-end processor that perhaps is a bit too much for games but MSI has wanted to be on the safe side so we have no problem.

Continue reading MSI GS40 Phantom Specs, gaming laptop with 14 inch screen

Shuttle DH170 is a mini PC from popular German computer manufacture. Powered by the new Intel Skylake platform, it is only measures 43 mm in thickness, thus ideal to be placed in small spaces and even the VESA attachment of a monitor.

Has said Tom Seiffert, head of marketing and public relations Shuttle,  “This type of box is ideal for all situations, including those where environmental or space are not the best conditions for a PC, but still needed have a team that provides good computing power.”

Shuttle DH170 is barebones which means that the user must install the hard disk and RAM on your own. So you will not be able to use it straight out of the box. For processors, you get to choose between Intel Celeron, Pentium and Core i-series processor that go up to 65W TDP. It offers active cooling system with two built-in fans.

The system supports configurations up to 16GB of DDR3L RAM and M.2 SSDs with PCI-Express interface of any capacity so that users could integrate a fairly powerful and fast inside this little device system. Shuttle DH170 incorporates Intel Gigabit network card with two RJ-45 inputs, four USB 3.0, four USB 2.0 and two Display Port outputs and a HDMI video. It also has two RS-232 ports to integrate relatively old industrial devices or those who still use this interface.

The recommended retail price for these new DH170 Shuttle is 224 euros and remember that you have to buy SSD and RAM memory separately.

A lot of HP dv6 and dv7 700XX and 71XX series users that includes 7100, 7039tx, 7040tx, 7010tx, 7011tx, 7138us, 7134nr, 7135nr, 7180, 7137nr, dv7 7000, 7212nr, 7338ea, 7008tx and 7047cl are facing over heating problem. The HP dv6 and dv7 are so poor at cooling because they come with powerful i7 or i5 processor and Nvidia discrete graphics that generate a lot of heat.

1) Buy a cheap laptop cooling pad or mat from amazon or some other shop to place underneath your HP dv6 or dv7. The is right under the Esc key so to get the most out of the laptop cooling pad, place one of its fans directly underneath it.

2) On Window’s battery settings, do the following: go to more power options > change plan settings > advanced power settings > processor power management > change the maximum processor state to “99%”. This will prevent the HP’s processor from using turboboost and keep the CPU running at base clock. This will keep the system run cool and prevent overheating problem.

3) Clean laptop’s fans or reapply thermal paste. For this, you will have to disassemble the laptop and reply the thermal paste on to the laptop. You can also reapply the thermal paste on the CPU and/or GPU to make them run cooler. Here is its disassembly video.

The quick but less effective solution to clean your fans is to blow compressed air into the intake and ex-take vents of the fan.

HP Envy 15-3200 is an excellent laptop but if you have installed Windows 10 update, you will be facing the brightness issue. There is a fix for this brightness toggle problem in Windows 7 and Windows 8 but that would not work in Windows 10. Fortunately, there is a solution.

Download this reg file from here and double click on it to install it on your HP Envy 15-3200 running Windows 10 operating system. You can also do it manually by following these steps.

Press win + R
enter regedit
press ctrl + F
enter FeatureTestControl

In following directories, find “FeatureTestControl” and change his value to “0000ffff”

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4d36e968-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}\0000
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\intelkmd

And now reboot. Of course, you can just install the registry key mentioned earlier to fix it.

The Dell Alienware M11x laptop is one of the most powerful mini laptops of all time. A lot of users have been asking me on how to restore Windows the easiest way or how to get hold of an official windows ISO.

Continue reading Alienware M11x: Restoring Windows the easy way