HEL-80 vs. HGL-30...HEL80 bulky?

Hi.

I'm going to buy myself a new laptop now, and I've narrowed the candidates down to the HEL80 and HGL30. I must say I'm somewhat into design... I'm having a hard time choosing between the two laptops, 14" screen would be nice, but definately not a requirement, and the 15" has a higher resolution (with matte ), which I like.
On pictures, the HEL80 looks thick and bulky, otherwise it looks great...I have experienced that pictures lie, and things often look different in real life. So how is it guys?
Would be great with a quick response, thanks!

Kjetil.

 

i would also like to know. i'm down to those 2 notebooks as well plus the z96j

 

Pictures do lie. This has been asked and answered here before, and there are pictures of the HEL80 next to the Z96J showing that they are virtually identical size wise.

If you study the specification for both you will see the same result.

Compal HEL80 = 14.25" x 10.4" x 1.25~1.5" (slopes upward to the rear)
ASUS Z96J = 14.25" x 10.55" x 1.54"

 

Well, the HEL80 is 22% larger (by volume) and 27% heavier (7lbs vs 5.5lbs). I went with the HGL30 because 7lbs was just going to be that much of a difference. Honestly, day to day, you adjust to the size of your screen. I have a 17" monitor for my desktop, and I'm going to upgrade to a 19" soon, but I know I'll want a 21" after a year. That's just how it works. So day to day the 1.4" isn't going to affect your happiness. However, the weight will, and 1.5lbs might make the difference between it going everywhere with you and sitting all day on your desk.

 

I always thought the HEL80 looked rather sleek and slim. 7 pounds shouldn't be much of a back breaker. Back in high school my backpack was regularly 30 lbs or more.

 

The HEL80 isn't bulky at all, and I don't find it hard to travel with when I have it in my backpack.

 

Honestly, you're not going to go wrong with either one. You'll have to decide between screen size and resolution on the one hand, and system size and weight on the other.

I don't find the HEL80 at all onerous to carry to and from work every day, and that's in a normal laptop bag; in a backpack, it'd be even easier. The WSXGA+ screen is nice, I'd say very nice -- I'm a developer, so I'm all about realestate.

OTOH, if you have to carry your machine a lot (e.g. all day around campus), or use it in tight space situations (e.g. small desks in school or on a plane) often, you might want to think hard about going with the HEL30, instead. The 14" WXGA will just be more comfortable in those situations.

 

been there... that's really fun when the ~0.6 mile hill I had to walk up was covered in ice.

 

Thanks for the replies! I'm a programmer myself and like to do some graphic stuff (hobby), so I'd love the high resolution...
When I'm dragging it around, it will be most likely in a bag so I think I will notice the weight difference more when I carry it from downstairs to upstairs .... I don't mind the low clock of the GF card in the HEL80, I'll be clocking it at least up to stock anyway...
How is the build quality of the HGL30? (not a review out there yet...). I like clean design, and decent materials (reffering f. ex to the aluminium on the HEL80). The HEL80 has a lot of curved edges, while the HGL30 has more straight lines, am I correct?
The HEL80 does look thick (for example, there is a large amount of space over the ethernet on this picture http://www.notebookreview.com/assets/14235.jpg), but when I see the size in numbers, I'm amazed that it's just as (and even smaller) than the Asus. I'm confused, that's for sure . Wow, I just found out that the slim laptop I now have is around 30mm, and the HEL80 is about 32! Doesn't look like it at all!

I can't seem to find that picture?

Thanks!

 

Scroll through this thread; there are a couple of posts with side by side comparisons:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=65819

 

Be sure to look at this post in that thread.