New Dell Vostro V130

I kind of like this update with the HDMI and boosted processor. If I hadn't just bought an E4310 I would consider it. I'm in grad school and I need something ultra portable, as I carry my laptop with me everywhere, everyday. To be honest though, 98% time there is outlet nearby, so the while I need portability, battery life isn't really an issue for me.

 

Yeah, I always tell myself that I really don't need 6 hours of battery life - until I do. Looking back at all the notebooks I've ever owned, 4-5 hours is the dividing line between a useful notebook and buyers remorse.

I do think that the $429 Ubuntu V130 is a great deal. However, for the Windows 7 variants, the value just isn't there considering the sub-3 hour battery life, especially considering how decent the current HP DM3 seems to be. I'd gladly trade 7.5 hours of battery life for a glossy screen. How does HP do it? HP uses a battery with over twice the capacity - 62WHr for the DM3's battery against the measly 30WHr for the V130's.

 

Or try the Lenovo U260, waiting for more reviews to come out but it seems pretty decent.

 

It's in the $1000 category and it's an IdeaPad, not a ThinkPad. For that money, you can get an E4310 with a 3 year warranty.

 

Battery life sucks...

 

Ok the battery life isn't great, but honestly, how long do you all normally use your laptops in one sitting? Not more than a couple hours, right?
I'm gonna scoop this up at the lowest config and use it when I'm on the go; at $430 it can't be beat, as far as ease of portability and looks go. I just need something when I'm giving presentations, etc, and there are always plugs-a-plenty in offices and schools.

 

It all depends, as they say. When you travel for business, you might have a few session of a "couple hours" where you don't have access to an outlet. Batteries also degrade. A couple years from now, just how bad will the battery life of a V130 become?

I'd agree with that assessment. For $429, it's a convincing value. However, for higher spec Windows 7 configurations, running $800-900, the V130 can't even compete with overpriced MacBooks with very outdated hardware, which is very sad indeed.

 

There will be an 8 cell option for the V130 (my dell rep said so). I already ordered mine and this option wasn't available, hope they swap it.

Edit: My V130 just shipped and I got another mail from another(!) salesman, she says that there isn't going to be a bigger battery. Well, confusion.

 

R U serious? Dude, you should delete that post.

My gaming notebook gets better battery life and it is a DTR that I hardly ever travel with.

A thin and light notebook in 2010 should last at least five hours - and those have to be productive hours, not idling.

I regularly fly cross country and often need to spend the full flight getting ready for meetings. When work is busy I can't afford that much down time. Not every plane has power jacks.

The product manager who released this notebook should be fired. They took a surefire hit product and ruined it by dousing it with stupidity.

 

Just about.
Product Manager's thinking: Look at this ULTRA portable laptop. You can use it on your lap, during a meeting, etc. It is light, and compact. However you need to be stuck to a wall every 2 hours, so you can be humbled and brought back from the clouds of true portable productivity.
Definitely fired.

I would expect nothing less then 4 hours for ultraportable laptops like this one.