Laptop computer advice

jthomas

I'm considering the purchase of a small, lightweight, laptop computer for travel.
I've narrowed the choices to the Toshiba "Portege" series or the Sony vaio. The Sony looks like the best choice as it includes a DVD burner.

Does anyone here have experience with either of these that could influence my decision? Or are there better choices?

Andy

jthomas wrote:

I'm considering the purchase of a small, lightweight, laptop computer for travel.
I've narrowed the choices to the Toshiba "Portege" series or the Sony vaio. The Sony looks like the best choice as it includes a DVD burner.

Does anyone here have experience with either of these that could influence my decision? Or are there better choices?

The Sony TR-1 series is aces in my book. I owned two different models over two years, they're great. Light, 3lbs, great screen, too.

HeldDown

Take a look at the ASUS Z33A Build-Your-Own notebook. Small, powerful, slick, cheap -- I love it. I paid $1900 CDN for a 1.73 533mhz P4m, 768 megs of ram, 80g 5400rpm hdd, 9 cell battery (7 hours life). You're probably looking at around $1500-1600 AMR for it now. It's a WICKED laptop!

jthomas

Andy wrote:

The Sony TR-1 series is aces in my book. I owned two different models over two years, they're great. Light, 3lbs, great screen, too.

Apparently the TR series has been superseded by the "TX" series, which is what I'm considering. 2.76 lbs!

Andy

jthomas wrote:

Apparently the TR series has been superseded by the "TX" series, which is what I'm considering. 2.76 lbs!

Almost $1000/pound, fully tricked out

jthomas

Andy wrote:

Almost $1000/pound, fully tricked out

:hurt

JohnR

jthomas wrote:

I'm considering the purchase of a small, lightweight, laptop computer for travel.
I've narrowed the choices to the Toshiba "Portege" series or the Sony vaio. The Sony looks like the best choice as it includes a DVD burner.

Does anyone here have experience with either of these that could influence my decision? Or are there better choices?

Better choices? yes!

You could always get either:
12 inch iBook
$999.00
1.33GHz PowerPC G4
512K L2 cache @1.33GHz
512MB memory (DDR333 SDRAM)
12.1-inch TFT Display
1024x768 resolution
ATI Mobility Radeon 9550
32MB DDR video memory
40GB Ultra ATA hard drive
Combo Drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
Built-in AirPort Extreme
Built-in Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
Scrolling Trackpad
Sudden Motion Sensor


or
14" iBook
$1,299.00
1.42GHz PowerPC G4
512K L2 cache @1.42GHz
512MB memory (DDR333 SDRAM)
14.1-inch TFT Display
1024x768 resolution
ATI Mobility Radeon 9550
32MB DDR video memory
60GB Ultra ATA hard drive
SuperDrive (DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Built-in AirPort Extreme
Built-in Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
Scrolling Trackpad
Sudden Motion Sensor

OR

12" Powerbook
$1,499.00
12.1-inch TFT Display with 1024x768 resolution
1.5GHz PowerPC G4
512MB memory (DDR PC2700 SDRAM)
80GB 5400 rpm hard drive
Slot-load 8x SuperDrive (DVD±RW/CD-RW)
NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5200 graphics card with 64MB DDR memory
Full size keyboard
10/100BASE-T Ethernet
USB 2.0 and FireWire 400

Or even

15" Powerbook
$1,999.00
15.2-inch TFT widescreen display with 1440x960 resolution
1.67GHz PowerPC G4 processor
512MB memory (DDR2 PC2-4200 SDRAM)
80GB 5400rpm hard drive
Slot-load 8x SuperDrive (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 graphics card with 128MB DDR memory
Full-size, backlit keyboard
Gigabit Ethernet
USB 2.0 and FireWire 400 & 800


http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore/

jthomas

JohnR wrote:

Better choices? yes!

You could always get either:
12 inch iBook

How much do they weigh? I want small and light for carrying on an airplane, etc.

JohnR

jthomas wrote:

How much do they weigh? I want small and light for carrying on an airplane, etc.

Size and weight (12.1-inch model)

* Height: 1.35 inches (3.42 cm)
* Width: 11.2 inches (28.5 cm)
* Depth: 9.06 inches (23.0 cm)
* Weight: 4.9 pounds (2.2 kg) (1)


I have one and it's really light and small.

jthomas

My only reason for buying a new laptop now is to have a small, light machine for travel. Thus the only essential criteria are:

a) < 3 lbs;

b) DVD burner;

c) minimum 60 Gb disk;

d) minimum 512Mb memory.

ScottMcLeod

jthomas wrote:

My only reason for buying a new laptop now is to have a small, light machine for travel. Thus the only essential criteria are:

a) < 3 lbs;

b) DVD burner;

c) minimum 60 Gb disk;

d) minimum 512Mb memory.

Buy a mac. For this work, there's nothing better.

I bought a PC laptop, and while it's only 3.2 lbs (or even less if I swap out the CD drive...), it's just not and fast and stable as one of those 12" powerbooks.

The new ones have longer battery life too. Mine gets 4hrs (at the time, so did the mac's, but they're up to 5hrs now)