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best ultraportable laptop for $1000-$1200?

M

maverick2604

Member
i have the Dell Inspiron 700m in mind as the best ultra portable laptop for the price range of 1000-1300. is there any other that i havent seen?

and remember... ultra-portable.
 
For ultra-portable, Dell & Averatec are the only things in that price range to my knowledge. Might be a brand I'm forgetting. But Sony, Thinkpads, Fujitsu are all well above that.

We're working on an ultraportable roundup, but these models will all break $1800 easy I'd have to guess.
Look for it early Jan.
 
I just purchased a Fujitsu Lifebook S2110:
http://store.shopfujitsu.com/fpc/Ecommerce/buildseriesbean.do?series=S2

Starts at around $1299 but can get it down some by downgrading some components and purchasing addons by yourself. I bought one of these last week for $1219 and spent about another $130 or so for another stick of 512MB ram and 60GB 5400RPM drive.

When I was on my laptop hunt, like you, I wanted something light-weight and ultraportable. I also considered the Dell 700M for a LONG time but looking at both 700M and the Fujitsu S6231 side-by-side (same body and weight as S2110 but an Intel CPU instead of AMD Turion), I personally liked the Lifebook better.

Bottom line is that it's all about what you would prefer but I certainly would add Fujitsu in your list.
 
what are you planning on doing with this ultraportable?
if DVDs aren't an option, you can pick up a used x31 or so and have money left over to bump its ram/HDD should it need it ($150 to get the best 100GB drive on market).
 
iBook is not ultraportable.

I didn't know Fujitsu's had ultraportables that cheap; go that route, Fujitsu laptops ROCK.

Also a used Thinkpad X-series is a good choice!
 
i thought about the ibook, but im not in the mood to go for a mac. plus the dell 700m seemed perfect for what i wanted... dvd player, wireless, decent sized hdd, 512 ram, small and widescreen, and light. i would like to use whatever top to take to class, and take notes. Not looking to game on it. DVD's is prob a necessity. and i was looking to partition the hdd and use Ubuntu as my main OS along side winXP.

now that youve shown me the fujitsu i'll take a look at it. it looks to be taller than the 700m tho...
 
Yup, the 700m might be your best bet. The Fujitsu is not widescreen, has a display resolution of only 1024x768, and unless its screen is glossy like the Dell's, it's no contest when it comes to the display. The Fujitsu does have a modular battery which can get the battery life up to 7 hours (that'd be nice) but I'd rather buy 2 extended batteries for the 700m. Each will get you 5 hours, plus you can keep your optical drive in the machine.
 
You can get 700m's for under 800 with the right coupons and stuff (see hot deals).

I've seen the X41 tablet for 1.4k on a thread over at FW. So IBM X4* non tablets might be had for less.
 
The Fujitsu S2110 (Turion 64-bit CPU) or S6240 (Intel Centrino) laptops are not widescreen like the 700M but it does come with a 13.3" ClearView screen which is very vivid and glossy and is definitely not a normal laptop screen. Comparing the screens of both 700M and the S6231 that I looked at, yes, quality is very similar. If one of your main reasons for buying the laptop is for watching DVDs, then 700M would be a pretty good choice because of the widescreen.

What made me choose the Fujitsu Lifebook was the battery life and the weight. A lot of people said 2hours for the 700M without the extended battery which will add some more weight to it. For the S2110, the standard battery's life is close to 4 hours (more if wireless is off and screen brightness is not high). For weight, they have about the same weight at around 4lbs.

I was so close to buying a 700M a year ago when they had those $750 off $1500 deals but when I went to a local Fry's to take a look at the S6231, I knew I had to get it sooner or later (and almost a year later and all that reading, I finally just bought the S2110 which is the AMD 64-bit mobile version).

If you can get the 700M for about $750 like they used to sell them for after coupons, then it'll be perfect solution for you.

Good luck!
 
Originally posted by: fbrdphreak
For ultra-portable, Dell & Averatec are the only things in that price range to my knowledge. Might be a brand I'm forgetting. But Sony, Thinkpads, Fujitsu are all well above that.

We're working on an ultraportable roundup, but these models will all break $1800 easy I'd have to guess.
Look for it early Jan.
Click to expand...

What qualifies as an ultraportable? I believe IBM has a 2.5 pound one for less than $2000.
 
Get an Asus Z33a. It's a 12 inch barebones notebook system so you'll have to buy your own CPU and HD. It is $822 at Ewiz /w free shipping. ere are some specs:

# No CPU; No HDD.
# Processor:

* Intel® Pentium® M Processor with 2MB on-die L2 Cache, Speeds at 1.6Ghz-2.13Ghz (Dothan)
* Mobile Intel Celeron M Processor with 1MB on Die L2 Cache, Speed from 1.3Ghz-1.7+Ghz

# Chipset: Intel 915GM & ICH6
# Memory: 512MB DDR2-400 On board (1x uSODIMM socket for expansion upto 512MB DDR2 DRAM support)
# Display: 12.1" XGA (1024X768) TFT Display
# Graphics & Video Module: Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 900
# Hard Disk Drive: 2.5-inch 9.5mm HDD w/ Ultra DMA/100, Supports upto 80GB
# Optical Storage Device: 24X/16X/24X/8X CD-RW/DVD combo drive
# Audio: Built-in High Definition Audio compliant audio chip, with 3D effect & full duplex; Built-in speaker and microphone
# Connectivity:

* Integrated MDC Fax/ Modem
* On board 10/100Mbps RealTek Fast Ethernet controller
* Built-in Wireless 802.11a/b/g

# Interface: 1x VGA; 3x USB 2.0; 1x 1394a; 1x 4-in-1 Card Reader (SD, MMC, MS, MS Pro support)
# Battery Pack & life: 24 WHr 3-cell battery pack, 2-2.5 hrs run-down life
# Color: Black
# Dimensions(WxDxH): 10.8 x 9.25 x 0.96~1.17 inches
# Weight: 3.3 lbs

You can pick up an older Pentium-M off ebay for under $100 if you find the right auction. I bought a 1.5ghz Dothan for $74
 
way to heavy... 10 lbs? i was looking at the expired dell coupons on the 700m, and the last $750 off was in July. unless dell gives something out before xmas i might move on and look at the fujitsu. i do like the idea of longer standard battery life.
 
My NC4010 arrived today! Jubilation! (I'm typing on it right now!)
It's a very, very nice laptop. 800$ at Geeks.com is quite a deal. Although it's quite zippy, the LCD appears a bit washed out, and it lacks an internal optical drive, the major selling point of the Z33A. On the other hand, it's a good deal cheaper; I paid 750$ for it, plus 13$ shipping. (Geeks.com is a very nice website. Shipping's slow, but the prices are reasonable, and the lack of rebates is nice.) It also uses standard laptop components.
A customer of mine just ordered the Z33A. It requires Micro So-DIMM RAM, which is roughly four times as expensive as the standard stuff. Expect to pay 180$ for a 512mb module.
Also, battery life is a lousy 1.5 hours, unless you get the jumbo-sized battery, which is another 170$.
On the other hand, it's quite possibly the best ultraportable on the market. Not cheap, but very, very good.

BTW, I have quite a few laptop parts for sale, notably a 1.6 ghz Pentium M, laptop hard drive, a Mini-PCI wi-fi module, and 1GB DDR266.
 
Consider the IBM X40. (2.7 lbs!)
I picked one up off ebay for under $800.

I owned a 700m (deal about 1 year ago). The X40 makes the 700m seem like a 700lb gorilla.
But again, you are asking for a ultra-portable. I like Dells, but I don't consider the 700m an ultraportable.
 
fujitsu p1510d, although it's pushing your price limit a little. i have one on order that i paid $1549 for. it's a convertible, measures less than a 8.5x11" sheet of paper and weighs 2.2lbs. memory's expensive though ($800 for 1gb--it uses 172-pin PC3200 DDR2 micro-DIMM) and there's only 1 slot.
 
The NC4010 is 800$ at Geeks.com. It's a good system. I've been testing mine, and it does its job very well.
I highly reccomend it.
(Note: It's 3.5 lbs., and has a 12" screen. It's very portable).
 
Originally posted by: wirelessenabled
Dell x300 about $800 off Ebay.

12 in screen up to 1gig ram, 1.2 or 1.4 Pentium M. Weighs only about 2# by itself.
Click to expand...

If you get the 10% off cupon for Geeks.com that's been floating around, one can obtain the NC4010 for 720$. The NC4010 has a 1.7 ghz Pentium M, and a 40 gigabyte hard drive. It only weighs a shade more, and has a factory warranty.
Also, it's not a dell.
 
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