Some people just want to surf the Web, check e-mail, and watch movies, occasionally shuttling their laptop to another room in the house. For these buyers, the Fujitsu LifeBook A6120, a large but well-performing 15.4-inch notebook, may be just right. If your needs are basic, you’ll get good performance for the $799 price tag.

Thick But Attractive Design

At 1.6 inches thick and 6.6 pounds, the LifeBook A6120 is bulky for the screen size, but it looks a bit more modern than some other budget notebooks. The dark gray lid matches the matte black keyboard and bezel, and the arc-like cutouts to the left and right of the keyboard help to make the chassis look less boxy. We also like how the design tapers in toward the front, where you’ll find the two silver speakers.

Above the keyboard are controls for Fujitsu’s support site, volume, Web search, your home page of choice, and two other programmable keys. The launch buttons are labeled in a large, sans serif font and the keyboard characters are a dingy beige.

Keyboard and Touchpad Quality

One welcome feature, especially at this price, is that the LifeBook’s A6120 is spill-resistant. The layout itself is roomy, but we observed more flex than we like while typing. The touchpad is wide, without too much friction, and the mouse buttons were responsive and relatively quiet. Between the buttons lies a small scroll button.

Built to Last

The LifeBook A6120 boasts some durability features you’d be hard-pressed to find in other budget notebooks: In addition to the spill-resistant keyboard is a 200GB hard drive that’s shock-mounted and protected by a 3D accelerometer with adjustable sensitivity. We also like that the lid locks firmly into the latch; it feels more stable than notebooks without a latch.