Small laptops

Soldato
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Hi, just after your experiences really.

I'm no gamer, I'm just looking as I have the gadget itch (happens about once every six months, I go on a google-research rampage on a particular item), and if I get the job I want, I am sooo splurging on a present to myself :D

Basically, I want a laptop with a screen size of (and hence a body size of just over-) 12" or *less*. I want to be able to keep it in a largish handbag, and be able to whip it out when there's a hotspot or on a train etc without elbowing whoever's next to me. Also for the future it'd be nice to give presentations from it, or do last-minute work on photoshop (not heavy stuff obviously).

There's the Sony TR*MP or TX* series
There's the new Flybooks
The smaller-screened Dells
The JVC MiniNote
12" Apple iBook/Powerbook (Apple I know but good as plan to get into design industry)
Thinkpad X41...
...so much to choose from!

Also cheapness is a factor!
Any recommendations?
 
Associate
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Hmm... I do not find any of the models cheap.... In the same price-range I can recommend the Toshiba Portégé R200.

It is superlight have a fair battery time... and I like the looks ;)

http://www.toshiba.fr/flashxnet/public/flashtour2.asp?idprod=75&language=en

The lightness and batterytime have taken out any optical drives though, and you would have to run an external.

Anyways I am pretty happe with mine :)
 
OcUK Staff
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Hi there

Just look at the specifications, the DELL is incredible value for money. It has a 12" screen, is one of the lightest out of them all only weighing 1.1kg and has a great specification which is very hard to beat with its 1280MB of memory, 60GB drive, Pro Wireless, Bluetooth and most of all its has 3yr on-site warranty.

The Sony's are heavier, smaller screen only 1 year warranty and are more expensive and the specification is hardly no better.

Not sure on the others but I'd be betting the DELL is more or less unbeatable and plus its one of the cheapest too because of OcUK been able to offer DELL at such low prices. :)
 
Man of Honour
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Hehe I think we went through a similar question last week. So I'll start off with the first IBM X series appreciation post...

Get the X41 it's a lovely bit of kit.

EDIT: Oh and the JVC Mininotes seem to be a little cheaper recently so perhaps they are bringing in a new model (time to grab a bargain?)
 
Associate
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When I bought mine, last December, I did browse around a bit... The x41 got very good reviews... But it seem that Dell actually won out on most of the compares. So some might not like Dell desktops, but they seem to have put together quite a package for laptops. Even their gaming laptops seem to fare pretty well = aka in the top 3 or such.

I just very much like the design of the Toshiba. So it swayed me over ;)
 
Man of Honour
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I've just had another think about this. If you're after something for a handbag then the Sony TR or the JVC Mininote would be ideal. Currently the JVC would be the cheapest for reasons outlined above.

EDIT: Those flybooks look interesting too though. Never seen them before.
 
Soldato
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Mmm the JVC is swinging it for me at the moment. Esp as it's small and includes the optical drive :) It's been through several iterations so I think it's just a case of looking for the right price... mind you, the clip-on battery's a bit ugly...
...the fly book is cool though, over the JVC it has the tablet function plus being able to stick a SIM in it and send messages etc, that's pretty cool...
 
Man of Honour
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The Flybook only has a 1ghz Transmeta Crusoe chip. This effectively emulates a Pentium instruction set so is slower than the 1ghz Pentium M found in the JVC (Transmeta did once employ Linus Torvalds though :)). I know someone who had a similar machine and he said it was fine for email and word but not great for anything more demanding.
 
Soldato
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Ooh that's a diamond piece of information, thanks Hades :)

I hate these gadget-itches I get, makes me feel like I'm missing some important part of myself until I've got myself one! Last time it was a camera :D
 
Soldato
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i'd recommend a thinkpad, going by the thinkpad i've bought recently, When compared to dells/sonys i've used the build quality and features are far superior.
 
Man of Honour
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The Libretto suggested by Sputnic II seems to have a good spec so it's worth looking at this too.

A couple of other things: the really small laptops sometimes have a small maximum amount of memory (e.g. 512mb). This would result in slower Photoshop work. Also Apple are about to launch their Intel based laptops and so the older PowerPC based ones may start to be discounted soon (just an assumption). The Powerbooks are a thing of beauty.
 
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OcUK Staff
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Hades

You seem to know quite a bit about laptops.

Fancy comprising a list for myself of the good ones you'd like to see available from OcUK please?

These Toshiba's, IBM's, JVC and Apple models all sound like they could be potential candidates to go one sale here at OcUK. :)
 
Man of Honour
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Sure. About to go to bed now but I'll try to dig up a list tomorrow. Samsung currently do some lovely machines and seem to be rivalling Sony for styling.


EDIT: Sara, it's a little heavier than the Mininote's and Sony TR's. But this little machine from OcUK looks very good:

Asus Lightweight Intel Yonah Dual Core T2400 1.83Ghz - XP Professional (W5F-G001P) (LT-091-AS)

It's a 12" lightweight (1.6kg) dual core machine. I have an older Asus myself and really like them. That one will be quite fast, especially in applications which make use of the dual cores.
 
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Soldato
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If Powerbooks are things of beauty, what is to be made of the iBooks? As I think the 12" one can be had at £601.60 (or less if I get a refurb one straight from Apple, saw one the other day at about £550)...
 
Soldato
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That might be what I do in the end tbh - familiarity with another OS could never be a bad thing (esp in the design industry where they're blinkered to apples being best), and I dislike fiddling with Linux after several attempts :p
 
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