J.D. Hodges

Specifications as ordered:

• Intel 3825U CPU
• 4GB DDR3L Memory
• 500GB Hard Drive
• Intel GMA 5500
• 15.6″ (1920×1080) IPS Touchscreen Display
• WiFi AC (2×2) + Bluetooth 4.0
• 3 Cell Battery
• Windows 10

Price: $329.99 after $70 rebate.

Upgraded to:

• 8GB DDR3L
• 1TB SSD

Review:

Out of the box performance was good. I upgraded the RAM to 8GB (DDR3L) and the SSD (2.5″, 7mm) to a 1TB 840 EVO, now performance is excellent for normal tasks.

As for the CPU, it is better than most people give it credit for! This is a dual core with hyperthreading, so it is a quad thread CPU. 1.9GHz with no turbo, but still better than a lot of the Core-M CPUs I’ve seen in high end ultrabooks and also better than the quad core Celerons like N2940.

I even installed VMWare Player and it is running VMs fine with no problem. Chrome is responsive with a lot of tabs open. Overall I have no qualms with this CPU.

Pros:
+Relatively nice IPS screen w/great viewing angles
+1920×1080 at a low price
+Easily upgradeable
+Good build quality
+Elegant looks
+Good basic port selection
+Backlit keyboard
+Not a ton of bloatware

Cons:
-Screen is not overly bright (not a deal breaker, just don’t expect it to be super bright)
-Wasted space in the case (they could have put a m.2 SSD slot or almost another 2.5″ bay in there… I know it is a budget laptop but still)
-Relatively small battery (but batter life still seems solid, i.e. 5 hours with pretty good usage)
-Keyboard does not have numpad and thus keys seem a little widely spaced for me

Overall this is one of the better laptops I’ve purchased for less than $500. Comment if you have any questions not answered here! 🙂