Business/school laptop around $800
 

All I'm really interested in is having a good battery life and a solid laptop.

I'm looking at the ASUS UL30A as my main candidate, but I really have no idea when it comes to laptops.

Any recommendations? It will be used for working away from the office/home (hence the long battery life) Doc editing, spreadsheets, skype, music.

The Asus is a great choice if you don't need a optical drive.

+1 for asus

i recommended my cousin to get the asus ul80jt. a bit more pricy than 800 bucks

any of the ul series from asus are good for what you are doing

Lenovo X201 is good too if you're able to get it at one of those 35% off sales.

For working away from the office I have only 1 requirement: screen resolution. For that the best deal I found was the Dell Studio laptops cause for $50 you can upgrade to the 1080p screen.

What kind of size are you looking for?
If you don't need an optical, there's a 12" Dell Netbook that has a 6 - 7 hour battery life and would do you pretty well if that's all you're doing on it.

The Dell is underpowered and slow. Atom processor vs. Core 2 duo

My last laptop was a Dell and I had nothing but problems with so will not be purchasing another. I'm really just wanting to stick with the "Ultra-portable" design, so I guess that's my only other real criteria. Optical drive isn't to big of an issue as I have a USB key for transporting docs/slideshows etc.

Lenovo is pretty good, I used one when I was with the Gov before. What 35% websites are you talking about?

I bought the Asus UL50ag on sale for about $780. Its pretty fast with core 2 duo but if you need more battery life, can always change power options. I could easily get around 8 hours of battery life on Quiet office power mode.

Here's a link: http://www.redflagdeals.com/deals/ma..._available_ag/

You have to spend over $1500 to get the 35% off so ends up around high $900. Ends Sept.1

i got the ul50vt and im very happy with it
although i think they are going to update their lineup pretty soon..?

I agree with Mikroft, a Lenovo is a great purchase if you can get a discount on it.

I bought an Acer timelineX as3820tg-3022 few weeks ago. Powerful, has discrete graphics,small, light, cheap...oh and great battery life.

http://www.staples.ca/ENG/Catalog/ca...dCode=WW&=&=&=

^
The Timeline series is pretty much my only other option right now. How do you like it? What kind of life do you get? I know it's rated at 8 hours, but is that true? What are you using it for? How's the build quality? And was it onsale, or was it the $699 price?

lenovos will last you a decade..

My old timeline rated 8 hours and it got 8 hours.

^
How long did it last? I've heard that acer doesn't have the best build quality.

Alienware m11x

1 year. And it works/looks just like the day I bought it. Sold it to get something faster. Acers have come a long way in quality. Especially the timeline series.

No CD drive :(

IMHO cd drive isn't that important anymore. The only time I used one was to install an OS and a few apps. Never used it afterwards.

Lenovo Thinkpads are a pleasure to type on.
IMO it's worth it, think of all that time you'll be working on your laptop... typing.

If you plan on carrying around your laptop, I would agree with !mik, the x201 is great choice, and u can get it with a decent processor. I used to carry a 6-7 lb laptop (14"), after 2 years of school, I had enough and stopped lugging around.

The only thing is that the text on the x201 can be really small.

I bought an X201 during the last 35% off sale. The text is not bad actually. Core i5 540m with 4gb ddr3. I might swap in my 128gb SSD for the extra oomph.

My buddy has a x200. 1280 x 800. It looks tiny to me, but its fine for him.
I guess its preference.

^+1
Got one myself 2 weeks ago.
Brought it for $699 + tax + found a $40 off staples coupon online.

Best 13'' for the price imo
-Good battery life
-Switchable graphic mode; intergated or the ATI dedicated
-Good size, plus not that heavy at all
-Cheap price for what your getting at 13''

Only cons I have is the keyboard is is kinda weird

Can run Starcraft 2 on low~med settings at high performance setting on videocard (eats more batteries at this setting)