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The best ultra-portable punch(video) / size

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PauloSilva

Junior Member
I?m looking for the best sub-notebook ultra-portable form factor.
But I have some prerequisites like:
- Has to have at least a ATI RADEON 9000 >16MB
- Centrino tech >= 1.4MHz
- Wireless
- Light and small as any ultra-portable is expected to be
Apparently the only problem here is the ATI 9000. It?s hard to find a sub-notebook with anything more than an ATI RADEON. 🙁
So after taking a look at this competition
Acer travelmate 370
dell inspirion 300m
fujitsu lifebook P1120
fujitsu lifebook B2620
fujitsu lifebook S2000
fujitsu lifebook S6000
fujitsu lifebook P5010
fujitsu lifebook P2120
HP compaq nc4000
IBM thinkpad x31
nec versa e120
nec versa s900
nec versa s260
nec versa s800
panasonic toughbook r1
panasonic toughbook w2
samsung Q20 (NQ20)
Sony vaio 505
toshiba portege r100

I end up choosing the NEC Versa S900 as the best option performance price size.
(Yes I know it has a short battery life)
Any one has an opinion about this, which could help me make the decision?
PS: the things we do for an ATI
 
Originally posted by: PauloSilva
Apparently the only problem here is the ATI 9000. It?s hard to find a sub-notebook with anything more than an ATI RADEON. 🙁

I end up choosing the NEC Versa S900 as the best option performance price size.
(Yes I know it has a short battery life)
Any one has an opinion about this, which could help me make the decision?
PS: the things we do for an ATI
Click to expand...

Ultra-portable and decent graphics are a tough combination to find. I'm not familiar with the NEC model, except for this this zdnet.uk review. NEC is a respected laptop manufacturer in the Japanese market and the specs on that model look good.

From your list, only a couple stand out with discrete GPUs: the IBM x31 (only 16MB M6) and the Sony V505 (32MB M7?). The Samsung X10 also has a good feature set and discrete GPU, the Nvidia GeForce4 440 Go.

Do you want a discrete graphics chip for gaming or another purpose? And what other things will you be using the notebook for? If you are a gamer, what specific games are you playing and do games take priority over portability and battery life?
 
I'll be using it for everything.
First of all I want portability and battery life.
I want something really small (NEC is a bit large for a ultra-portable).
But I also want something that is capable of some graphics performance.
I?m in college and recently I created a presentation in VRML and it was terrible to see it on my notebook Toshiba 1400-103 (Trident XP 16MB shared).
Also I?ve found out after a year of carrying it around I?d been better of buying a smaller notebook as small and light as possible, and since small tends to equal Centrino and Centrino equals wireless, very important at college, and long battery life, very important to increase mobility after all why do I want a laptop if I need to be constantly connected to a plug (lan or voltage).
Let me try to rate it (not relevant 1-10 very important)
Size 9
Weight 8
Graphics 8
Battery life 7

Ok battery goes last since and after all I can use tow batteries at the same time.
The long life 9cel as main battery and the 6cel battery in the versa bay, which I suppose to be replacing the optical drive.

Paulo Silva
 
Dell Latitude D600

it's pretty much perfect for you. Has a Mobility Radeon 9000 32 MB. My only gripe about is that you cant customize it to get a 64 MB MR9000 on it.

Why not D800? Simple.
Weight.
Unless you want an 8 pounder, stick with the D600.
not to mention that it has a great, sturdy casing.
 
Originally posted by: PauloSilva
I'll be using it for everything.
First of all I want portability and battery life.
I want something really small (NEC is a bit large for a ultra-portable).
But I also want something that is capable of some graphics performance.
I?m in college and recently I created a presentation in VRML and it was terrible to see it on my notebook Toshiba 1400-103 (Trident XP 16MB shared).
Also I?ve found out after a year of carrying it around I?d been better of buying a smaller notebook as small and light as possible.
Click to expand...

Well, it seems like you want the best of both worlds, but will have to make a choice between one or the other. You haven't mentioned whether or not you will be gaming or not. If you are not gaming, I think the newer ATI and Intel 64mb integrated/shared graphics might be up to the task of your VRML work (and would be an improvement on your current Trident chip).

If you've decided that you absolutely have to have a discrete chip, you will have to exclude most of the smallest and lightest ultra-portables. In that case, your NEC Versa S900 does look to be a good choice on paper. Maybe you can find someone who has first hand experience with that model on a non-US site. Here's a positive review of the S900. And another review
 
holy crap. its $3999? you would be better off getting an IBM machine a bit less than that with the best stuff, inside and outside.
 
Honestly I think think you can have it both ways without paying too much for it.

I say either
Dell Inspiorn 600m or Latitude D600 (not exactly super-portable but some nice features/specs and is fairly light)
or
Acer TravelMate800 series you got the thin, battery, and graphics performance. Except it is a pretty large footprint laptop.
 
Originally posted by: Frightcrawler
holy crap. its $3999? you would be better off getting an IBM machine a bit less than that with the best stuff, inside and outside.
Click to expand...

Australian Dollars. This model is not available in the US. With the conversion it comes out to $2,886, but I think all notebooks over there are more expensive than they are here.

I'm not sure what country Paulo is in...

I think those Dell 600s are really in a different class than he's looking for. If anything, an X300/300m (which is on his original list) or D400 is closer to what he wants, but they're both shared graphics.

 
The Sony V505DC1 and the V505DX are nice it also has a 1.7GHZ Processor, and it has the ATI RADEON 9200 with 32MB of Memory.
 
Originally posted by: VTboy
The Sony V505DC1 and the V505DX are nice it also has a 1.7GHZ Processor, and it has the ATI RADEON 9200 with 32MB of Memory.
Click to expand...

ATI RADEON 9200!? Where have you seen this?

Fallowing the link www.sonystyle.com you will find (under products/notebooks/vaio505)
"? Graphics
ATI® MOBILITY? RADEON? 32MB video DDR SGRAM, Dual display support"
So I don't think so!
 
I live in Portugal (Europe) and here notebooks are expensive. But in the UK
"http://www.nec-online.co.uk/product/P_Range.asp?id=408" you will find it for
949.00 GBP United Kingdom Pounds = 1,604.00 USD (plus 17.5% tax)
That?s much less than the other ones specially Sony vaio (my 2nd choice if not for the gpu but if it is a RADEON 9200 then it?s different).

I will use it to play games and create games (using openGL an direct3D).
14.1" is out of the question. I have 1 year experience that proves that size does matters.
GPU is also very important.
As for battery life I think that using both batteries (a main long life bat. plus the normal one that goes in the bay of the optical drive) will do the trick.
Thank you all for your comments. 🙂

 
well..its rather hard to fufill your expectations, since basically you want an ultraportable that performs like a desktop. Desktralportable, me thinks?

anyway, perhaps you might want to check out the Compaq X1000.
It has an ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 32 MB, but it is configurable to a 64 MB Radeon 9200. Pretty much the second best mobile GPU currently. (second to 9600 and equivalents). The problem is, it weighs in at about 6 lbs. But, since many consumers give it praise, i thought it would be worth mentioning. I personally think its specs are great, and the price is very good too.

X1000
You also might want to check out X1000 Forums
 
Originally posted by: Frightcrawler
well..its rather hard to fufill your expectations, since basically you want an ultraportable that performs like a desktop. Desktralportable, me thinks?
Click to expand...

😀 That's what I want too. A 2 lb. Desktralportable with a 256MB M11 for under $1,000. 😉

Anyway, I think Paulo has already found the closest thing, which is the NEC.

Originally posted by: PauloSilva
ATI RADEON 9200!? Where have you seen this?
Click to expand...

UK Sony Vaio 505 Series info

According to this site, there are a range of Vaio V505 models, ranging from the PCG-V505AK with a 16MB ATI Mobility Radeon M6 to the PCG-V505CP with a 32MB ATI MOBILITY RADEON 9200. The Japanese site also shows two models with the Radeon 9200: the PCG-V505W/P and PCG-V505F/B. It's interesting that the US Site does not specify the exact model number of Mobility Radeon anywhere that's easy to find.

Actually, looking closely at the specs, only the P4m models have the older Radeon M6, the Centrino model has the 9200.

I don't have personal experience owning a Sony laptop, but I have seen more complaints about their hardware and service problems than with some of the other brands...
 
If you go to the specs for the V505DX a centrino/Pentium-M Versions of the V505 it reads

? Graphics
Click to expand...
ATI MOBILITY? RADEON? 9200 32 MB video DDR SDRAM
Click to expand...

V505DX


Edit: Sorry about the double post, Actually I noticed if you go to the V505DC1 site it says "ATI® MOBILITY? RADEON? 32MB video DDR SGRAM, Dual display support" But I assure you it is the same card in the V505DX. It is the 9200, the site may not say 9200 but it is.
 
Originally posted by: VTboy
If you go to the specs for the V505DX a centrino/Pentium-M Versions of the V505 it reads

? Graphics
Click to expand...
ATI MOBILITY? RADEON? 9200 32 MB video DDR SDRAM
Click to expand...

That?s great. Now I have 2 ultra-portable laptops with decent GPU. The only problem with the Sony is the price :/ and the fact that they are not sold in Portugal 🙁
But on the other hand I have a even bigger laptop with a not so good GPU!
I don't know what to do.
I could risk myself buying a Sony in Macao or Hong Kong and paying the taxes on my way back. Hum could this be a way? :/
Click to expand...
 
i dont think you should get the sony. 32 MB 9200 is noticably worse than 64 MB. If you get a 64 MB, you'll be thankful later, when you need it.
 
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