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Fastest and best ULTRAPORTABLE laptop?

B

Bananadude

Member
I'm looking to buy an ULTRAPORTABLE laptop, but having a bit of trouble finding exactly the right one for my needs.

Must be small and lightweight and powerful enough to run Photoshop. I use that prog quite a bit, but need to be mobile with it when on the road. I'm not bothered about games.

The THINKPAD X60S has caught my eye, although it's lack of widescreen and max 1024x768 resolution isn't great. Widescreen would be my preference, but most of the other models I've seen (such as Sony, Fujitsu for example) are less powerful than the Thinkpad. Plus the X60S has amazing battery life (8+ hours with 8- cell battery). The X60S has a L2400 1.66GHz Core Duo CPU, 1GB RAM and Intel 950 graphics. It's a good spec for my needs I think, save for the monitor resolution.

Are there any models with comparable spec to the X60S that aren't stupidly expensive and have a widescreen monitor/higher resolution? It may that the X60S is my best bet, but I want to be sure if that's the case.

Any advice much appreciated...
 
What is your budget?
How important is an optical drive?
Define UltraPortable (less than 6 pounds, 4 pounds?)
 
Originally posted by: TheStu
What is your budget?
How important is an optical drive?
Define UltraPortable (less than 6 pounds, 4 pounds?)
Click to expand...

Budget about £1200-1300 (I live in the UK) so I guess that equates to about $2500, but prices here are quite a bit more given the exchange rate at the moment.

Optical drive not so important. Would be nice, but to save on weight I figure I can always just get one of those slim external ones. Would only be used for the odd movie watching and to install progs now and again. I'm not bothered having one in there permanently.

Weight not so much an issue as size. If size is right (definitely less than 30cm wide) then weight is going to be pretty low anyway. I'm not bothered about a difference of a pound or so really. Main thing is performance and reliability.

Dell I'm not sure about. Have heard mixed things, and certain things about the Dell I'm not mad on. The Thinkpad X60S ticked alot of my boxes, but the biggest problem is the max 1024x768 resolution. I really don't think that will cut it for my use as I'm used to much higher. Maybe I just will have to make a compromise though.

Sony seem good, although their prices are a bit nuts for what you get. How are Asus and Samsung regarded these days? Some of their models seem half decent.
 
i've been really pining for the Sony SZ series myself, ever since they came out a little less than two years ago in Japan and we carried them at my previous job (a tech import company).
Since then, they're all in the US too - price is still high, but specs justify it, not to mention fit my bill for an ultraportable and my expected uses (light gaming/movie watching etc) - Core 2 Duo procs, upto 2gb ram, SATA drives, 13.3 inch bright LCD widescreen 1280x800, under 4 lbs and here's the killer - 2 video cards for optimum battery life lasting between 3-6 hours that you can switch on the fly(an intel 950 accelerator for light load/2d work, and another Nvidia GeForce® Go 7400 turbocache for gaming/performance work).

i've been looking if any other manufacturer makes a dual video config like this, but haven't found any other alternatives yet - please point them out if anyone finds such.

Sony does get a bit of flack for their high prices and below average support, and their machines are not the toughest physically but if you can baby your rig a bit, you'd be in fine shape for a flash deathmatch in the airport lobby - and impress your seatmate.

the older SZ models had the Core Duos, now the newer models have Core 2 Duo. and so prices can range from 1300 for plain-Duos and to 2000 and up for the loaded 2Duo ones.
 
What about the XPS M1210? I don't think it's classified as an "ultra portable" but it definitely packs a lot of power into a small package.
 
I would stay the heck away from dell if you're a "Road Warrior", or just take your laptop with you everywhere. They're just not up to the task. (I've owned - and worked with - Dells, if you must know.) Sony has excellent design, but reliability is lacking.

I own an IBM X40 (the predecessor to your laptop), and it's wonderful. It's built like a brick - but weighs far less - and even the tech support is good. The Fujitsu laptops I've seen also appeared very nice - you can't go wrong with them either.

Also consider that the X60S is not "stupid expensive" once you factor in the tech support and build quality. I'd say "worth it".
 
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