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☖ Forums → Discussion Forum → Ultraportable laptops
Ultraportable laptops
2007-06-05, 1:33 PM #1
I've finally saved up some cash and am looking to replace my aging and massive laptop.

I haven't looked terribly hard so far, but this is what I am looking for:

1. Ultraportable. Small, lightweight, and great on battery.
2. Decent CPU (I was thinking Intel Core 2 ~7500 or whatever?)
3. 2GB RAM (Vista :argh:)
4. Any video card, intel graphics is fine.
5. Much prefer to have a DVD burner built in, but if not I can buy a USB one off Newegg.
6. Widescreen > 4:3 but I am not picky on this.
7. Must have wireless, at least 2 USB, and ethernet port.
8. For God's sake no tablets!

Basically I'm most interested in having something I can easily carry around and can at least run Photoshop/Office. That's about it though.

I've looked at Lenovo, and I really am digging their X61 series (non-tablet version) Thinkpad. It's got a lot of crap, and after configuring my own I came up with this:
Code: 
Processor and display: 12.1" XGA TFT and Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7300 (2.0GHz, 4MB L2, 800MHz FSB), 2x3 Ultraconnect II antenna                             
    Operating System: Genuine Windows Vista Business                             
    Operating System Language: Genuine Windows Vista Business US English                              
    Total memory: 2 GB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM)                                 
    Keyboard: Keyboard US English                                   
    Pointing device: TrackPoint                             
    Hard Drive: 120GB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm Serial ATA (2.5")                                 
    Wireless card: Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG                             
    Battery: ThinkPad X60 Series 8 cell High Capacity Battery                             
    Power cord: Country Pack North America                         
    Modem cable (RJ-11): PSTN cable                             
    Language Pack: Language Pack US English                                 
    Warranty: 7675: Express - 1 Year Depot Warranty


for $1469USD. (Before shipping and tax)

Anyway, good/bad and any other suggestions would be awesome.
2007-06-05, 1:36 PM #2
There are some laptops out there that can use a 12-cell battery. If that's one of your primary concerns, you may be interested in finding one of those. You can get some pretty ridiculous battery lives with 12-cell (9+ hours).
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2007-06-05, 1:41 PM #3
Originally posted by happydud:
There are some laptops out there that can use a 12-cell battery. If that's one of your primary concerns, you may be interested in finding one of those. You can get some pretty ridiculous battery lives with 12-cell (9+ hours).


According to what I've read, this one makes it for 8 hours on an 8-cell.

My current laptop (a beast) has a 12 cell and it doesn't last 3 lol. :D

I guess I should mention that I consider anything over 4 hours to be good.
2007-06-05, 1:42 PM #4
Acer has a new 15" with an 8 series gpu in it.
2007-06-05, 2:31 PM #5
I suppose that you're not interested in a MacBook or MacBook Pro (not exactly ultra-portable)? I work on Lenovo's at work quite a bit and while they're nice machines...they're very difficult/irritating (compared to other brands, despite what many may say) to actually have to work on. However, this has very little to do with you as you'll almost certainly have a decent warranty and won't have to for quite some time.

Whatever you do...stay away from Sonys. I know a few guys at work that have Toshiba Portege's and really like them. My brother has the smallest Dell XPS and likes it very much as well.
2007-06-05, 2:35 PM #6
I don't think you're going to find anything classified as 'ultraportable' with those stats. Portability ratings are mostly based on weight and battery life, and all those things weigh a lot and suck up battery.

The biggest determining factor is going to be screen size. Obviously, a bigger screen is going to mean a bigger laptop.

You'll find a better deal if you aim for the middle, instead of for 'ultra portable'. I got one that meets almost all your stats (It's six months old - so, no vista, and the processor is 1.8ghz) for $950 on sale at BestBuy right before Christmas. Really, the next great time to buy is going to be august. You should wait until then, and hit the retail places.
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2007-06-05, 2:39 PM #7
Originally posted by Isuwen:
I don't think you're going to find anything classified as 'ultraportable' with those stats. Portability ratings are mostly based on weight and battery life, and all those things weigh a lot and suck up battery.

The biggest determining factor is going to be screen size. Obviously, a bigger screen is going to mean a bigger laptop.

You'll find a better deal if you aim for the middle, instead of for 'ultra portable'. I got one that meets almost all your stats (It's six months old - so, no vista, and the processor is 1.8ghz) for $950 on sale at BestBuy right before Christmas. Really, the next great time to buy is going to be august. You should wait until then, and hit the retail places.


The one I just listed matches what I want pretty well :/

I don't want a midrange, and I do have a bit more to spend.
2007-06-05, 2:39 PM #8
There are quite a few ultra-portables out there with similar stats. They're just expensive.
2007-06-05, 2:56 PM #9
Yeah, but the price to hard ware ratio is abysmal. :(
Wikissassi sucks.
2007-06-05, 3:25 PM #10
Originally posted by MentatMM:
There are quite a few ultra-portables out there with similar stats. They're just expensive.


I have $1500+ to spend. Is it just expensive or is it "omfg you're getting ripped off so bad you must be out of your mind" expensive?
2007-06-05, 3:46 PM #11
Depends. I saw one that weighed ~3 pounds and had a flip-around screen. Guess which category it was in.
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2007-06-05, 3:56 PM #12
Really portable.

The TX series for Sony Vaio laptops are also good.
I tend to like Sony Vaio laptops.
Then I guess its mac books.

From CNet for the Sony VAIO TXN17P/B
Quote:
The good: Great battery life; built-in mobile broadband antenna; typically impressive Sony industrial design; LED-backlit display provides bright screen and aids battery life; compact and light; still includes optical drive.

The bad: Slow Core Solo processor; small and slow hard drive; expensive warranty extensions.
Back again
2007-06-05, 4:25 PM #13
Sony's massively overcharged. $2500 for a core solo? Rape my wallet kthx.

Anyone else have any recommendations, maybe not "ultraportable" but pretty damn small then?
2007-06-05, 5:37 PM #14
There is always mac book.
Back again
2007-06-05, 6:12 PM #15
I'm not sure how you feel about Macs, but they just updated their MacBook Pros to the new Intel Santa Rosa chips.

[EDIT] Ultra-portable, nevermind my comment
2007-06-05, 7:12 PM #16
Keep your eyes open for a good deal. I just got a Dell laptop that has higher specs than what you just posted for $700 before shipping.

'course, maybe it'll explode on me some day, but it was a crazy good deal.
2007-06-05, 7:50 PM #17
Well I have, but I need it pretty soon. Sucks, I know.

But above all I'm really dead set on getting something small, because I absolutely abhor my current laptop.
2007-06-05, 8:24 PM #18
I love my laptop. Of course, I had a crappy one, and loved it, then it died, and I was stuck with a desktop for almost a year. So going back to a laptop again is like, OMFG! I'm mobile again! I can crap without losing productivity!
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2007-06-06, 12:16 AM #19
It's a shame Apple withdrew the 12" PowerBook and didn't give it an intel replacement. Apart from the processor my little 12" has most if not all your needs covered :(
2007-06-06, 3:35 AM #20
If I was in the market for a notebook, I would get a MacBook (I've worked on these things quite a bit and they're pretty portable). If I wasn't interested in an Apple product, I'd probably go with a Dell XPS M1210, Acer TravelMate (I forget what the latest series is), or a Toshiba Portege (I forget what the latest series is). All of these are within your price range, within your system expectations, and are fine notebooks.

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