best ultraportable laptop for $1000-$1200?

maverick2604

Member
Jun 8, 2005
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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.
 

fbrdphreak

Lifer
Apr 17, 2004
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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.
 

Hersh

Senior member
Oct 14, 1999
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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.
 

Busithoth

Golden Member
Sep 28, 2003
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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).
 

fbrdphreak

Lifer
Apr 17, 2004
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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!
 

maverick2604

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Jun 8, 2005
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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...
 

beatle

Diamond Member
Apr 2, 2001
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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.
 

Ionizer86

Diamond Member
Jun 20, 2001
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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.
 

Hersh

Senior member
Oct 14, 1999
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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!
 

Fox5

Diamond Member
Jan 31, 2005
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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.

What qualifies as an ultraportable? I believe IBM has a 2.5 pound one for less than $2000.
 

sheltem

Senior member
May 18, 2000
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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
 

maverick2604

Member
Jun 8, 2005
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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.
 

cheesehead

Lifer
Aug 11, 2000
10,079
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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.
 

RedBeard

Diamond Member
Sep 29, 2000
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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.
 

deejayshakur

Platinum Member
Aug 7, 2000
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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.
 

cheesehead

Lifer
Aug 11, 2000
10,079
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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).
 

wirelessenabled

Platinum Member
Feb 5, 2001
2,191
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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.
 

cheesehead

Lifer
Aug 11, 2000
10,079
0
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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.

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.