Suggestions: thin/light 13" - 14" laptop

[White Widow]

The screen just cracked on my 4-year-old Acer (yeah, I guess so,me Acer's do las a while) and I'm more than ready for something new. This is *not* a gaming system. All I really want is:

- under 1" thick
- USB 3.0
- backlit keyboard (preferably chicklet style)
- solid battery life

I was looking at the Samsung Series 7 ans Series 9 as well as the Acer Aspire S. I really like the matte-finish/higher res on Samsung 7 screen.

Any other suggestions are appreciated, especially if I can save a few hundred $$$.

Thanks,
Aaron

 

[tbike06]

The HP Folio is on sale at the microsoft store this weekend. Looks like it meets most of your requirements.

http://www.microsoftstore.com/store...?ClickID=dhckrnnttzxwxxy2n0orwcbkw2cnyro2shhx

 

[Phynaz]

I bought the wife a Dell XPS 14z.

http://www.dell.com/us/p/xps-l412z/pd

 

[Hulk]

The Samsung Series 9 is looking like the bomb. Especially the 15" model that is coming with Ivy Bridge and the Super PLS display.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/samsung/650581-samsung-15-series-9-np900x4c-ivy-bridge-cpu.html

 

[Zap]

If budget allows, probably anything marketed as an Ultrabook will fit all your requirements with the exception of backlit keyboard.

For something cheaper... how about a Dell Vostro V131? While not perfect, it meets many of your requirements. It starts around $500 with a dual core Sandy Bridge CPU, weighs 4.1 pounds with the 6 cell battery and is mostly under 1" thick, except the 6-cell battery sticks out the bottom rear (almost like a stand). Battery life is a claimed 9 hours, so it should easily make 6-8 in normal, non-demanding use. Supposedly there is a 4-cell battery available which sits flush with the bottom, thus the notebook would be under 1" thick. Screen is 13.3" matte. A backlit keyboard is available, but usually comes with the more expensive models and not the cheap $500 model.

Anandtech reviewed the Dell Vostro V131

The review wasn't that great, but I like mine just fine. Known problems are that it isn't silent, and the left side hinge can start clicking or get loose.

 

[Pardus]

Lenovo is to release two new ultra books, the 13" IdeaPad U310 and the 14" IdeaPad U410 in May. No back-lit keyboard in any Lenovo products.

HP Pavilion dm4 and dm4 Beats Edition are also solid machines.

Laptops I didn't care for:
Lenovo Thinkpad: very poor resolution
Acer Aspire TimelineX: poor build quality
Dell XPS 13: TN panel with poor viewing angles, poor color, poor contrast, and just poor quality all around.