Need help choosing a portable / thin'n'light laptop

maxheadroom

Hi all,

I may be getting a laptop soon, and need a little help choosing. I'm looking for something very portable (less than 2kg weight), because it'll be coming in and out of college with me every day in a backpack, probably on the bus / luas. So far I've found the following possible contenders:
Samsung x05 HTM 725
Samsung x10plus HTM 745
Sony Vaio VGN-S2XP
Acer Travelmate 382TMi
Asus M5678N "White Christmas Edition"

Portability is my number one concern - if its too bulky or heavy to fit inside a standard backpack and not cause shoulder pain, then its no use to me. Useability is number two - screen quality, keyboard quality, quietness etc. The specs on the machines above should do a good job of general email / office / research type stuff.
Nice to haves are decent graphics and sound but they're not tremoundously important.

I was wondering if anyone has any experience of these machines (or their slightly older cousins which will use the same exterior parts, keyboards, LCD panels etc), or if anyone knows of a laptop that is in this category but I'm leaving out.

I'm not too keen on having an external optical drive (I'd prefer a 2 spindle machine), but I could be convinced otherwise (which is why the acer is listed above).

I'm aware that the ASUS machine is only available from Germany and would have a German keyboard and software package

Thanks for reading this far, and hope you can give me a bit of "hands on" advice. Reading specs is one thing, but first hand experiences are nice to hear. I've had trouble finding reviews on most of these on the net so any input is appreciated.

MH

Boro

I know someone who has one of those Samsung X05's. It was a really nice machine to use and good on the eye. Very light and thin. Anyway, Civilservant has one listed in his sig, maybe you should PM him to ask him what he thinks of it.

optiplexgx270

the Dell latitude X300 with media base is the sweetest lil thing with a M processor for xtra long battery life.

Starting at only 1.32 kg in weight and a height of just 20 mm, the Latitude X300 is a perfect notebook for users who travel often. With a crisp XGA screen, the latest ultra-low voltage Intel® Pentium® M Processor, integrated Ethernet and optional Bluetooth, you have the most mobile notebook ever offered within the Latitude range.

Intel® Pentium® M 738 Processor Low Voltage (1.40GHz, 2 MB L2 cache, 400MHz FSB)
Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition
Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional Edition
Bright, easy to read 12.1" XGA display
Optional X300 MediaBase - with abundant connectivity ports, choice of media and battery bay/charger
Optional Extended Life (high capacity) 8-cell 65Whr Lithium-Ion battery and optional X300 battery charger
All communications standard including 56 Kbps V.92 modem, 10/100 Ethernet LAN in system (10/100/1000 Ethernet LAN via the X300 MediaBase) and a choice of Intel® PRO/Wireless 2100 802.11b wireless miniPCI card or Dell TrueMobileTM 1300 802.11b/g wireless miniPCI card. Optional Integrated Bluetooth


Had them in work and there sweet but are pricey

€ 1631 for base model with vat inc.

Sarunas

applie ibook g4 12" might be good idea, but i dont think its under 2kg, it something like 2.2kg. you can pick it up for ~1030 euros with a student discount. check out apple.com/ibook

just my 2 cents, since im a student aswell and looking for a laptop.

damnyanks

My friend hsa a ASUS its very good. He got a gig of ram in it still has a lot of battery life in it.

If I were you I'd invest in a laptop back pack. It has the padding to protect the laptop and more importantly keep it dry. It does tend to rain in Ireland

Sherifu

Sony Vaio lead the way for portability imho.
If something goes wrong and you have to send to sony it can be expensive.

maxheadroom

Boro wrote:

I know someone who has one of those Samsung X05's. It was a really nice machine to use and good on the eye. Very light and thin. Anyway, Civilservant has one listed in his sig, maybe you should PM him to ask him what he thinks of it.

Thanks - have PM'd him about this thread. What did you think of the screen on the x05?

optiplexgx270 wrote:

the Dell latitude X300 with media base is the sweetest lil thing with a M processor for xtra long battery life.

Afraid the X300 is a little out of my price range, especially given the ULV processor (lower performance for longer battery). I tried to spec a D400 but it was coming in way way more expensive than the Acer machine above, for similar specs.

Sarunas wrote:

applie ibook g4 12" might be good idea, but i dont think its under 2kg, it something like 2.2kg. you can pick it up for ~1030 euros with a student discount. check out apple.com/ibook

IMO they're not really great on price / performance, plus I'd have to learn OS/X. Also, Office software etc is way more expensive on the mac. And both the ibook and powerbook g4 are over the weight limit...

damnyanks wrote:

My friend hsa a ASUS its very good. He got a gig of ram in it still has a lot of battery life in it.

Do you know what model it is? What did you think of the screen? - I've read some bad reports about the screen in the M5 series machines (that its a little 'fuzzy' or indistinct?)

damnyanks wrote:

If I were you I'd invest in a laptop back pack. It has the padding to protect the laptop and more importantly keep it dry. It does tend to rain in Ireland

I've seen them, and I think they're useless. Way too bulky and not enough room for non-laptop stuff. I'll get a ballistic sleeve for the laptop and an accidental damage warranty and put it in my normal backpack

rmulryan wrote:

Sony Vaio lead the way for portability imho.
If something goes wrong and you have to send to sony it can be expensive.

Have you used one of the S series laptops? I've read that the fan in it can be a bit annoying?

Also, I'm assuming I can just bring the laptop up to Sony Ireland in whatever industrial estate they're in just like I'd bring up a dodgy walkman or stereo?

Thanks for everyone's input so far. I'm really hoping someone out there will have experience on one or more of the systems linked, or that someone's going to point out a fantastic system I've somehow missed. Also, when the rep regenerates, +rep for anyone who helps out here

NeverSayDie

Never used one, but IBM's Thinkpad X31 seems to get some very good reviews in most of my usual magazines/sites for these things, been looking at getting one for a while. Very portable, good build quality, etc. Not for gaming mind, but a great business laptop by all accounts. A couple of reviews:
ZDNet
CNet

CivilServant

I've had my Samsung X05 for a while and have gotten great use out of it. The first thing that strikes you is the thinness and sleekness. Samsung definitely got their styling right with this one. It just looks better than the Sony.

As for portability, the thing is so light you can carry it anywhere and not notice it. Seriously it's like holding a folder/binder under your arm. I don't know the exact weight of it (you can find out on samsungs website) but if you put it in a backpack, you wouldn't even know it was there.

I was in the same position as you when I bought the laptop. Looking for something quiet, light, powerful and easy to use (thats apple out the window ) and just plain looks good when I'm using it. It definitely is that. Bring it into college and count the number of head turns and questions you'll be asked!

The 1.5Ghz Centrino processor is as fast as a 2.4Ghz P4 but without the noise. It's so quiet you can't hear that it's on until you put your ear up against it. I'm a quiet sleeper hate noisy pcs. With this thing I can go to sleep peacefully without earplugs.

And when I do want to switch it off I put it in standby mode. This caches everything into the ram and waits till you switch it on again. While in standby mode everything is off, ie. it's totally silent. Come out of standby mode and you'll be greeted by a useable windows in a few seconds.

The RAM was a bit low I thought, only 256Mb when I bought it. Installed an extra 512Mb chip and every was like butter. My typical use would be around 5-6 IE windows open, bittorrent in the background, winamp going, antivirus, and a bunch of other applications and processes running. Everything was so smooth after the ram upgrade.

maxheadroom

I went up to peats yesterday and had a look at the vaio s2 series. The screen on them is incredible. I don't know how impressed I was with the trackpad buttons - they're rounded and chromed. I suppose they'd be easy to get used to.

CivilServant, how do you find the screen on the x05? Sharp, good response time (like when scrolling a word doc)?

Civilservant wrote:

It's so quiet you can't hear that it's on until you put your ear up against it. I'm a quiet sleeper hate noisy pcs. With this thing I can go to sleep peacefully without earplugs.

The sony was the same, couldn't hear anything from it until I put my ear right against it. Which was nice because I'd read some reports that it was a bit of a screamer

MrPinK

It's pretty damn expensive, but if you don't mind paying for your portability I don't think you'll do better than an X Series VIAO. It's the lightest (822g) laptop that I've ever heard of.

And for a keyboard that small it's suprisingly nice and natural to use

CivilServant

maxheadroom wrote:

I went up to peats yesterday and had a look at the vaio s2 series. The screen on them is incredible. I don't know how impressed I was with the trackpad buttons - they're rounded and chromed. I suppose they'd be easy to get used to.

CivilServant, how do you find the screen on the x05? Sharp, good response time (like when scrolling a word doc)?


The sony was the same, couldn't hear anything from it until I put my ear right against it. Which was nice because I'd read some reports that it was a bit of a screamer

I find the screen very good. No ghosting during scrolling and light gaming, with good viewing angles. The screen on the vaio series is using what sony call "xbrite" which gives a deeper shade of black and thus improve overall contrast, but the downside is that it's far too relfective.

I've seen them in person, but I couldn't imagine using it in a study situation, eg in a lecture hall or library. The screen would reflect back the overhead lights. You really only want to use it in a dim light environment or lighting behind the laptop.