I have owned this laptop for just under a year now, and I have loved it since day one. The speed, processing power, graphics performance, and versatility of this machine makes it worth the cost. Having used this laptop for just about everything you can think of, I have found it able to hold up to every task I ask of it. Whether it's the compilation of home made movies I've created in excess of one hour in length, and requiring large quantities of RAM, which it handled wonderfully, or gaming on such titles as Call of Duty 4 modern warfare which can be played with the settings just about as high as you want to go, or even Crysis, which is a pretty demanding game. The size of the 1080p screen and the blu-ray player make for beautiful experience when watching HD movies. Also the HDMI output makes for plugging into hotel flat screen TV's a sinch, and much nicer than paying $15 for a hotel title. The full keyboard with numberpad is excellent and the raised keys make for an extremely easy, and comfortable typing experience. With a super fast WiFi, and the built in webcam, I am able to keep in touch with my family on a level that I have never been able to in the past.
Overall I rate this laptop a 4 out of 5 stars, as there are a few things more that I would wish for, even though it seems to do just about everything you could dream of. It has only 3 USB 2.0 ports.. there is only so much room for peripheral inputs on a laptop, but 3 USB ports can be somewhat frustrating when you use a lot of external media devices, or if you have say a cell phone charger, thumb drive and a usb mouse plugged in.. you have to remove one of the devices to plug anything else in. For smaller laptops to come with 4 ports, I was somewhat disappointed in this. There is also, no sata port for external devices. This is somewhat annoying as it can be up to 3 times faster than USB 2.0. for external HD's. It comes with compact Flash port, which I don't even know of anyone that uses this input anymore, but no XD card slot, a rather common one.
Lastly, this is not a laptop to take to the coffee shop that has no plug in. This is basically a desktop replacement, and it needs to stay near power. Also, It's big. I've heard from everyone how large this piece of equipment is. As long as you don't mind the size, weight, and it being somewhat cumbersome in transportation, it will do just about anything you ask of it. If I had the choice to make all over again, I would choose the same laptop.
