Need help - 14" portable notebook w/ decent battery and screen

[veeren318]

Hey guys,

I'm looking for a 14" laptop with decent screen quality, good build, and portable. My budget is $600-850 and I will be programming, using the internet, and watching some movies in 1080p on an external screen. I will be moving around so i want it to be light and have 4-6hrs of battery life. Prefer 1366x768 resolution glossy or not with at least 200GB of hd space.

I'm currently looking at the acer timeline 4810T and just trying to make sure it has a good build quality! I really liked the Asus UL80 in terms of features but it apparently has a bad screen and build.

Thanks a bunch for the advice!

(Oh, I'm buying in the USA)

 

[slugg]

Honestly, after owning two Thinkpads, I think everything has a bad build quality except for Thinkpads.

Look into the Thinkpad T400. Not a glossy screen though, but that's actually a good thing (in my opinion).

 

[veeren318]

Thanks for the input. I've definitely seen thinkpad's around and they do have great build quality. I was looking for something more lightweight and I don't really like how the thinkpads look

As far a build quality for the laptop...I just don't want it to be flimsy and parts of the exterior breaking apart and enjoy aluminum casing. I had an Asus F3JP and it was flimsy even though the rest of it was great. The Asus UL80AG was my top choice until I found out the build was mediocre and the screen was too bright/not enough contrast .

 

[Hacp]

At 850, get a mac.

 

[Skott]

If you want long battery life you may want to look at Toshiba. They have the 12 cell battery that fits many of their models. I have one of their A505-S6980 models and I like it. Build quality is pretty good. Is it the best quality? Dunno about that. There are definitely worse out there. Toshiba has 14" models so it may be worth looking into.

 

[bliq00]

interestingly, I've read that Asus has good build quality. Where did you read UL80t had poor build quality? I just bought a X83Vp-A1 this morning. Maybe that fits your bill?

 

[CurseTheSky]

interestingly, I've read that Asus has good build quality. Where did you read UL80t had poor build quality? I just bought a X83Vp-A1 this morning. Maybe that fits your bill?

The UL series are wonderful - decent build quality, decent specs, very thin and decently light, but above all amazing battery life. Unfortunately their screen is lacking in quality compared to a number of other notebooks, but it's still no where near as bad as many people make it out to be. Viewing angles are so-so at best and black levels are not so good, but the LED backlit display makes the colors really pop out well.

I love mine, but I wouldn't suggest it to anyone doing photo work. For just web surfing and general desktop use, ESPECIALLY if you're using an external display to watch movies? Absolutely.

 

[veri745]

the ul series are wonderful - decent build quality, decent specs, very thin and decently light, but above all amazing battery life. Unfortunately their screen is lacking in quality compared to a number of other notebooks. Viewing angles are so-so at best, and black levels are not so good.

I love mine, but i wouldn't suggest it to anyone doing photo work.

qft

I love my UL80Vt, but CurseTheSky is right about the screen quality photo work.