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i emailed hypersonic about getting another color paint job on the cx5 model a few weeks ago (i.e. black, silver, etc). they said they would do it, but for $499

$623 for the red/black metallic is just ridiculous, and now it's $423 for red and blue?

there must not have been enough of a demand for the paint for them to justify offering them at any kind of affordable cost.

damn them, i wanted a paint job badly on whichever new laptop i choose Its a good thing i still cant decide yet DECISIONS DECISIONS, someone help sway me to just choose one already Build quality on the Aopen still worries me but now its even more expensive to get paint done on the CX5

k, i've decided to go ahead with the CL56 since ibuypower doesnt have 2 year warranty. How is powernotebook's warranty compared to hypersonics? And who has better service?

AH! Its the two I have come down to! Anyone have any comments on the LCD's of these two? That and perhaps weight are the only two deciding factors left for me at the moment. Which one has the better LCD? I dont mean res, I mean overall quality

*edit*

Or for that matter, if you can think of a reason (the heat issues have apparently been resloved? for the aopen) to get one over the other, that would be good

the heat issues are definitely resolved go back, and search recent posts on the 1557 for exact info

the cl56 is a sturdier notebook if you look closely in pictures you'll see it's square all around and generally more solid that the aopen (kb is also a little better). i believe the 1557 weighs a little bit less however, and might be slightly thinner.

a choice between these laptops is really just preference on the chassis, they are essentially identical otherwise

i think the LCDs are pretty much the same, they both have the same specs, the 1557 is a tad lighter/thinner and battery lasts a few mins longer. The 1557 does have some flex according to those who have it so the CL56 is a bit better build. They both look like outstanding notebooks and they both look good style wise. Its really hard to choose between the 2 Also, do only voodoopc, hypersonic, and velocity micro do paint jobs for the CL56?

haha, I'm having the same problem, I can't seem to make my mind up on whether i want the CL-56 or the 1557GL. I checked out there specs, and they are practically identical. I hear the CL-56 is a more solid build but that doesn't matter to me because, i won't be dropping it or moving it around a lot at college.(or so i think). Right now, i'm leaning more towards the 1557GL because of it's awesome look compared to the standard look of the CL-56; probably looks better when painted.
also anyone know which one has a better LCD?
and does anyone have accurate battery times for both laptops?

isn't Aopen own by acer? just wondering

I honestly would not trade my 1557g for anything the heat has not been an issue as the fan hardly ever runs build quality is fine and nothing on the laptop feels flimsy enough to break off most of the talk about the aopen having poor build quality is speculation due to the way it looks without the standard square chasis but i can assure you that this is a solid laptop. Cheasiest parts of the laptop are the left moust button which i never use, the flexing keyboard users talk about, but that is completely a non issue as the keyboard types very nicely and has a springy yet sturdy feel when typing. Battery life is amazing and the 128 card and pentium m at this price make this a deal you can not pass up on. I doubt there are any major problems with the cl56, but this laptop is top notch for the price.

aopen is owned by acer but they're different divisions unrelated so relating the crappy aopen motherboards to acer notebooks can't really be done... though i'm not saying all acer notebooks aren't bad...

anyways ricey if you're savvy enough to take apart a laptop and aren't afraid of voiding warranty you can always get it cheap from mwave and have the body painted cheaper/professionally at an autobody place to any color you want... total cost with a gig of ram and 1.7 dothan would be like 1600ish after paint job.