Welcome to a laptop battery specialist of the Toshiba Laptop Battery
Moving onto Lenovo's IdeaPad U series, you can choose from either the 13-inch U310 ($639 and up) or the 14-inch U410, which starts at $749 (note: we're quoting web-only prices from Lenovo's site). In many ways, the U310 is more similar, even though it has a smaller screen than the U845: it starts with a Core i3 Sandy Bridge processor and a 500GB hard drive (disks with flash storage attached are available as an upgrade). The U410, meanwhile, is roughly the same size as the U845, but it comes standard with a 1GB NVIDIA GeForce 610 GPU. Also, the U410's hard drive spins at 7,200RPM by default, though it's not coupled with an SSD for faster boot times. Speeds and feeds aside, we've been very impressed with the U series' classy design and super comfortable keyboard.
Another good value: the Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M5, which for a similar price of $780 offers a Core i5 CPU (again, a boost over Core i3), 6GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive with a 20GB SSD. For $830, it includes a discrete NVIDIA GeForce 640M LE GPU with 1GB of RAM. As it happens, we appreciate its keyboard, graphics performance and narrow bezels, too.
In contrast, we're less impressed with the specs you'll get on HP's Envy Sleekbook 4t. At $650 (after instant savings), it has a last-gen Sandy Bridge Core i3 processor, 4GB of RAM and a 500GB drive, sans SSD. It does have a tasteful, understated design and decent battery such as Toshiba PA3191U-1BAS Battery , Toshiba PA3166U-1BAS Battery , Toshiba PA3331U-1BAS Battery , Toshiba PA3098U-1BAS Battery , Toshiba PA3084U-1BAS Battery , Toshiba PA3399U-1BAS Battery , Toshiba PA3250U-1BAS Battery , Toshiba PA3356U-1BAS Battery , Toshiba PA3291U-1BAS Battery , Toshiba PA3591U-1BAS Battery , Toshiba PA3757U-1BRS Battery , Toshiba Qosmio F750 Battery life -- we'll say that much -- but in our testing we've been pretty underwhelmed by the jumpy trackpad.
If you're in the market for a thin and light, not-too-expensive laptop, the Toshiba Satellite U845 isn't exactly a slam dunk, but it's certainly worth considering. While the build quality, battery life and overall performance are about on par with competing machines, we've tested models with more comfortable keyboards, and if you do your homework you'll find laptops offering better specs for the same money. On its own, though, the U845 is a dependable choice, and matches up well against its competitors, even if it doesn't beat them wholesale.