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any lightweight laptops to consider besides Inspirion 700M and Latitude X1?

T

Tostada

Golden Member
I can't decide if I want to pay $1000 for the 700M or $1500 for the X1, but I can't find anything by anyone else that comes close to those.

My current laptop is 14" and weighs a ton. I'd like something light. I don't really care that the X1 has no optical drive. I'm thinking of getting a Bluetooth mouse, and I don't think that's available for the 700M. The WXGA resolution isn't the greatest, but I don't see anything better on a 12" screen.

It looks like the X1 has a slightly wider keyboard, but maybe there's just more space around the 700M's keyboard because the whole laptop is a little bigger. I hear the X1 gets a little hot on the bottom, but it might still be worth it just because it's so light.

I don't plan on doing any major gaming, but the integrated video is still a negative point on every lightweight laptop I've seen. I'm assuming the X1's Sonoma video would be slightly better than the older Centrino IGP.

I glad to see they're finally taking parallel/serial ports off the back of laptops. That took long enough.

I see that the X1 has an 8mm hard drive. Does this mean it's a 1.8" drive as opposed to a standard 2.5" drive? How bad is the performance on those? Any hope of upgrading it to something faster than 4200 RPM later on?

I'd really like to get a better look at these laptops, but I think my only option is driving around to different malls looking for a Dell kiosk that has them.


 
some of the averatec's are really small and light. Think they have them down to 10 inches or something.

also, panasonic? although they dont sell in the US, to my knowledge. Some asus laptops are also very small, might shop around online for them, dont think many retailers have them.
 
The only Avaratec Centrinos on Egg/Amazon are 3360's. They're similar specs to the Inspirion 700M, except they're $200 more, not widescreen and have lower resolution. That 4265 looks nice, but the only two places on PriceGrabber that have it have pretty low ratings and charge me tax in Ohio, and I guess in the end it's pretty much the exact same thing as the 700M but $200 more and 1" bigger. The keyboard might actually be more comfortable, but I just can't see paying more for something with a 1-year warranty from "Averatec." I don't think Dell is some high-quality company (they seem more like the Wal-Mart of computers to me), but with notebooks I do like having some warranty options. I think one of the strong points of the Latitude X1 is that it's actually a Samsung, but you get the Dell warranty.

I like some of the ASUS laptops, but I just can't find any places selling a good selection of them that don't look at least a little shady. I saw one site (have to wait till I get home to look up what it was) that had all kinds of options for building ASUS systems, and they'd even leave out the OS and hard drive so you could get them somewhere else if you wanted, but it looked more like a Yahoo Shopping site that some teenager cooked up in his mom's basement. On NewEgg, the ASUS W5A is $1650, and it has almost identical specs to the $1000 Inspirion 700M. I'm sure there must be one or two reputable places that have better deals on ASUS laptops. Half of those generic things you see advertized all over every PC magazine look like rebadged/painted ASUSes.

The ASUS S5N looks pretty similar to the Latitude X1, although the ASUS isn't widescreen (so the keyboard would be more narrow) and its resolution is lower.
 
Fujitsu has some good ultra-portable notebooks.
There's been some reviews on the X1, check those out. But I hear the 700M isn't manufactured that well.
You'll have to get over the integrated graphics part: it saves weight and power, and no one buying an ultraportable notebook wants to game; therefore no company is going to put discrete graphics in there.
 
http://laptopsinc.com/Merchant2/merchan...1CTO&Category_Code=SS1&Product_Count=2

3.85 pounds, a modular bay that will take an optical drive or second battery (for over 8 hours of real-world battery use), a nice screen, and a keyboard that's easy to use. It's also got a built-in card reader, which can be handy for backing up your most important data. It's also sexy but professional-looking.

Edit: Sorry, I didn't see the dedicated video requirement. I don't think you're going to find an ultraportable machine that has GREAT video, and I think that integrated video will be okay for all low-end chores, but I'm not you. 🙂 I really hope that when Fujitsu brings out the next S6000 series machine, it will have dedicated video and an SXGA+ option.
 
Originally posted by: fbrdphreak
Fujitsu has some good ultra-portable notebooks.
There's been some reviews on the X1, check those out. But I hear the 700M isn't manufactured that well.
Click to expand...

Where'd you hear bad stuff about the 700M?

The only bad thing I've seen people saying about the X1 is that it gets a bit warm since it doesn't have a fan, but that's not a very big deal to me. Being a Samsung might make it higher quality than the 700M.

I never said I needed dedicated video. I only said it's a negative point for every lightweight laptop.

Originally posted by: 6000SUX
http://laptopsinc.com/Merchant2/merchan...1CTO&Category_Code=SS1&Product_Count=2
Click to expand...

That's pretty nice, although I don't know if I could get a 1024x768 laptop. My current one is a 14" 1024x768 screen, and it sure is a pain to have more than 1 window open. At least 1366x768 gives you a tiny bit of side-by-side potential instead of always having to Tab around or go to the task bar.

You can get the Inspirion 6000 with a 1920x1200 screen, Radeon X300, Bluetooth and an extra 9-cell battery for $1,177, which is quite a deal ... I just think I'd be saying "why am I carrying around a 7 lb. laptop when I'm mostly typing/surfing on it?"

The real problem is that I'm used to a 3-display system with a 22" CRT in the middle, and I'm looking for a laptop that I can carry around all afternoon. I doubt there's anything I'll really be happy with.

I'd get a 15.4" laptop in a second -- maybe even a 17" -- if they would actually use that extra space to make a bigger keyboard.
 

> I'd get a 15.4" laptop in a second -- maybe even a 17" -- if they would actually use that extra space to make a bigger keyboard.

Total monsters, but the sagers/HP ZD8000 have bigger keyboards (including numeric keypads).

Pricey but have you checked out the 14" thinkpads? Yeah same screen size as your current laptop but probably much lighter (unless you already have a thinkpad!).

Dell Lattitude D610 is getting pretty good reviews. Might be a little lighter than what you have now, plus you get the port replicator goodness (DVI and VGA out at the same time) of the lattitude family......


 
Yeah, fujitsu, asus, IBM, acer and others offer quality ultraportables, but your going to pay alot more for them. I would say a sonoma chipset is paramount. With the integrated graphics in ultraportables, the GMA900 GPU in sonoma can do twice what the old IntelExtreme2 graphics did in the old chipset.
 
the build quality on the Dell 700m is excellent - I have worked with Dells, Thinkpads, Toshibas and Asus laptops, and the 700m is one of the best built machines I have seen in a while - whatever OEM Dell picked to make these is a good manufacturer.
 
Originally posted by: RichieZ
thinkpad X31
Click to expand...

I know IBMs are good and all, but $1100 for a used Pentium M 1.4? A 700M is essentially the same thing, except it's widescreen, higher resultion, and has a Pentium M 1.6 ... and it's about $1050 new.

Originally posted by: trikster2
Total monsters, but the sagers/HP ZD8000 have bigger keyboards (including numeric keypads).

Pricey but have you checked out the 14" thinkpads? Yeah same screen size as your current laptop but probably much lighter (unless you already have a thinkpad!).

Dell Lattitude D610 is getting pretty good reviews. Might be a little lighter than what you have now, plus you get the port replicator goodness (DVI and VGA out at the same time) of the lattitude family......
Click to expand...

I think 17" probably is pushing it, and those big ones aren't available with a Pentium M. I'd really like something light, but if I can't settle on something, I'll just go with a 15.4" semi-desktop-replacement.

The 1380x768 (or something like that) resolution of the 12.1" Dells is the only reason I'm still trying to decide if I want one or not. I like having a huge desktop, and I like to RDP into my main system. I really don't want another 1024x768 screen.

My current laptop (OmniBook) is similar to the D610 in size/screen, althogh it's a 6.65 lb. laptop before you consider that I've removed the CD drive to use a 2nd battery, so it's probably slightly over 8 lbs. If I go with the Inspirion 6000, I can get a Radeon X300 and a 1920x1200 screen and fit all kinds of things on the screen, and it'll still be about 1.5 lbs. lighter than the brick that's currently killing my shoulder.

So, I'm pretty well settled on what I'll get if I go with something more than 4 lbs. I'm just trying to find something small that'll I'll be happier with.

Originally posted by: Plester
the build quality on the Dell 700m is excellent - I have worked with Dells, Thinkpads, Toshibas and Asus laptops, and the 700m is one of the best built machines I have seen in a while - whatever OEM Dell picked to make these is a good manufacturer.
Click to expand...

Sounds pretty impressive for such a cheap little laptop. I think the only real downside there is that it's not a Sonoma laptop, and I don't think you can add Bluetooth onto it.

So am I correct in thinking that the Latitude X1 uses a 1.8" HDD whereas almost all other laptops (including the 700M) use a 2.5" HDD?

I'm actually more concerned with being able to upgrade the HDD to the latest 7200 RPM model than I am with the integrated video, and it doens't look like you'll be able to get a fast 1.8" drive anytime soon.
 
Originally posted by: Tostada
The only Avaratec Centrinos on Egg/Amazon are 3360's. They're similar specs to the Inspirion 700M, except they're $200 more, not widescreen and have lower resolution. That 4265 looks nice, but the only two places on PriceGrabber that have it have pretty low ratings and charge me tax in Ohio, and I guess in the end it's pretty much the exact same thing as the 700M but $200 more and 1" bigger. The keyboard might actually be more comfortable, but I just can't see paying more for something with a 1-year warranty from "Averatec."
Click to expand...

I dont know where you looked but Staples had the 4265 for $999 AR ($100 easy rebate, which are painless from what I have heard). It had P-M 1.6 (Sonoma platform), 512 MB RAM, 80 GB (5400 RPM) HD, Dual Layer burner. I can't say much about the warranty (maybe you can get a service plan once other stores start to sell them) but that is one hell of a deal.
 
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