Best Current Ultraportable?

hp01jpc

hp01jpc

hp01jpc

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Alright,

Looking to replace my netbook with something slightly larger but still portable. I'll be taking it to lectures, don't really want anything as big as 15" so I'm looking somewhere around the 12/13" mark.

Been looking into the Asus UL20A and the Acer Aspire Timeline 3810TZ as they have both got excellent reviews and seem to fit the bill.

The only thing is, they have both been out for a number of months and knowing my luck if I were to purchase either of these, a new model would come out straight after :)

Are there any other machines I've overlooked? Or should I just get one of these now?
 
Sony X Series. Pretty much the best money can buy (you didn't mention price...:p)

Otherwise what about Dells offerings? They do a couple at a similar price point and power (skimmed) or one or two full fat offerings too, but you'll be paying for that (£1000ish).

The Dell Vostro V13 may be in your price range and tbh I'd take a Dell over an Asus or Acer any day.
 
Lenovo ThinkPad X201. It is the best 12.1" laptop available, at the moment, according to some people.

>>"Bottom line: if you want the best performing 12-inch business notebook on the market, the ThinkPad X201 is the notebook to have."
 
EchoFox said:
Lenovo ThinkPad X201. It is the best 12.1" laptop available, at the moment, according to some people.

>>"Bottom line: if you want the best performing 12-inch business notebook on the market, the ThinkPad X201 is the notebook to have."
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Seconded.

Thinkpads are without Equal.
 
I'd agree with that pretty much, just why are they so plain/ugly (and no I don't think Alienware laptops are nice!):p
 
What do people think of the Thinkpad Edge? Comes in at the 13'' mark and has reasonable specs.

I'll be needing a laptop for uni and a smaller one of this size seems to fit the bill, appreciate other advice though.

(Have around 400-450 to spend.)
 
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Ah, but when you say they're plain, I say they're efficient. I think the HP EliteBook line is also pretty good in that regard, and brushed steel may be more aesthetically pleasing than rubberised matte black plastic, depending on your tastes.

Edit > oh, didn't see your post there Jamie. I've never used an Edge myself, but they're fairly well regarded. For example, I remember reading this: http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/03/lenovo-thinkpad-edge-13-review/

In that review it says:

When we pulled the Edge from its box the glossy black lid actually prompted us to check and make sure it hadn't come from HP or ASUS. Nope, this isn't your father's ThinkPad: gone are the classic scratch-proof, matte lid, dark metal hinges and right angled edges. And though die-hard ThinkPad fans may scoff at some of the more modern design elements, like like the optional ruby red color and the red LED in the ThinkPad logo (like that on the ThinkPad SL series), overall we're impressed with the aesthetics and the solid build quality of the budget system.
Click to expand...

As you might have guessed, I'm that guy "scoffing" at the more modern design elements - looks like it lacks the titanium hinges and probably doesn't have the magnesium alloy roll cage - but Engadget seem to think it's a solid machine, and they know what they're talking about.

I do think that 13" is pushing the ultraportable boundaries, but that is still perfectly portable. I used to have a 14" ThinkPad (one from back in the day when 4:3 was the aspect ratio of choice) and that was fairly bulky. Not too bad, it wasn't awful or anything, but I like my current 12.1" laptop more. Obviously it's worth pointing out you won't get an optical drive with the Edge's 13" model, but I don't have one on my laptop either and I've never even noticed. If you really need to read a disc, you can always keep an external drive handy.

For university purposes, I sometimes take my laptop to lectures and take notes. I also use it in the library to find books (which is really useful when it's the end of the semester and every single computer is being used by people trying to scrape together their essay they should have finished three weeks ago) or I'll just use it around campus generally. Those are very mobile environments, so I can certainly see why you want to go the ultraportable route - chugging a 17" everywhere you go will suck. However, it is also worth considering that if this is going to be your only computer, you might want a larger monitor at home to output to.
 
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EchoFox said:
Ah, but when you say they're plain, I say they're efficient. I think the HP EliteBook line is also pretty good in that regard, and brushed steel may be more aesthetically pleasing than rubberised matte black plastic, depending on your tastes.

Edit > oh, didn't see your post there Jamie. I've never used an Edge myself, but they're fairly well regarded. For example, I remember reading this: http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/03/lenovo-thinkpad-edge-13-review/

In that review it says:



As you might have guessed, I'm that guy "scoffing" at the more modern design elements - looks like it lacks the titanium hinges and probably doesn't have the magnesium alloy roll cage - but Engadget seem to think it's a solid machine, and they know what they're talking about.

I do think that 13" is pushing the ultraportable boundaries, but that is still perfectly portable. I used to have a 14" ThinkPad (one from back in the day when 4:3 was the aspect ratio of choice) and that was fairly bulky. Not too bad, it wasn't awful or anything, but I like my current 12.1" laptop more. Obviously it's worth pointing out you won't get an optical drive with the Edge's 13" model, but I don't have one on my laptop either and I've never even noticed. If you really need to read a disc, you can always keep an external drive handy.

For university purposes, I sometimes take my laptop to lectures and take notes. I also use it in the library to find books (which is really useful when it's the end of the semester and every single computer is being used by people trying to scrape together their essay they should have finished three weeks ago) or I'll just use it around campus generally. Those are very mobile environments, so I can certainly see why you want to go the ultraportable route - chugging a 17" everywhere you go will suck. However, it is also worth considering that if this is going to be your only computer, you might want a larger monitor at home to output to.
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Thanks a lot, really appreciate the quick response. Think i'll be ordering tomorrow :)

I think my only issue is the processor, due to money i'll be ordering the cheapest possible which comes with an "AMD Turion Neo X2 mobile processor L625 - 1.6 GHz", shouldn't be using too many intensive programs and it will be used mainly for programming so i hope i'll be able to get away with this processor.
 
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Apologies for not speccing my budget.

Found the UL20A for £400 and the 3810TZ for £350. Don't really want to go over the £400 mark if possible :)

I'll look into the suggestions thus far. Cheers chaps.

EDIT:

Getting tempted by the Dell M101 now. Wasn't sure if the 11.6 inch screen would be much bigger than my current netbook but I think it would be big enough to work on? Supposed to have a great keyboard too. Does anyone have one? Do you reckon the dual core AMD chip is worth the extra £50?
 
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Here's the competition

Toshiba T130 (on sell here at OCUK).
Acer 3810TZ
Asus UL30A (similar to UL20A).
Asus 1215N (dual core atom 1.8Ghz + ion2, 12'').

If I didn't need the Ion graphics, for £350, either the Acer or the Toshiba. They have similar specs, then the deciding factor would be build quality and screen. The Acer is popular laptop and a better known quantity.

I use a UL30A, ultra-portable, and it's great for travelling. I would think a 12'' would be even better, the most important aspect imo is the resolution and not the screen size. Anything below standard laptop resolution isn't worth it (I used to have a netbook). A 12'' would shave off a couple of hundred grams in weight, and slightly easier to carry around.
 
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It's not coming to the UK :/ We've (well, I) been waiting for it for quite a while to appear on the market. I think someone managed to snatch a unit for under £500.

Equivalents are :

Acer 3820TG with a i3-330m, HD 5470.
HP DM4-1060ea : i5-540 + HD 5470.

Both expensive, around £800.
 
Do any of these portable laptops have bluray drives, or are they too demanding on the graphics cards/chips that they tend to put in laptops this size? I note that some have no optical drive at all, which I'm assuming is to keep the weight/size down?
 
I would guess that once you factor in a blu ray drive, the added cost/size/weight means you're looking more for a 'desktop replacement' laptop. I can't find bluray equipped machines under 15" display size. You can get them fairly cheap still though. OCUk do the Acer Aspire 6930G for circa £400 but that runs Vista. You can also find the Acer Aspire 5740 which is core I3 and Windows 7 on a competitor website for £440 with bluray but again its over 15" so not exactly 'ultraportable'.
 
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