How small can an every-day laptop be?

eyolf · 2010-07-16 14:18:11

I have to get a new laptop, and I'm considering getting a small one. Not necessarily the 10'' things, but something that it's easy to grab and take to the couch or on a plane. I'm getting too old and weak to lug around my 17''-er...

Important:
- Battery life,
- temperature/fan,
- speed.
- sound (I have an external audio card)

Unimportant:
- gaming,
- advanced multimedia, including "social networking yada yada", apart from a well-functioning jack,
- cd drive (goes without saying)
- price (well, not unimportant, but I'm not necessarily after the cheapest discount items)

Any experiences, recommendations? I a 12-inch screen too small as the only computer? 14-inch? I do most of my work in the console (vim, awesome, etc.), and if I REALLY want to enjoy a wide-screen movie, I prefer to watch it on TV, just to give an idea.

My other option is to get two laptops: a mini and a bigger one. My fear if I do that is that I end up using only the small one (or for that matter only the big one). Any experiences here?

karol · 2010-07-16 14:26:28

> - advanced multimedia, including "social networking yada yada", apart from a well-functioning jack,
Are we talking about software or hardware?

How big are your hands? I find 28cm-wide kdb to be the smallest I can comfortably use. Also, 12" is the smallest screen I'm OK with.
Asus Eee PC Seashell 1201N Atom N330/2GB/250GB/nVidia ION/WiFi(n)/BT/W7H has both.

You have to balance speed (cpu power) v. battery life.

Inxsible · 2010-07-16 14:27:57

14" Thinkpad 410 would be the best. Good durability for thinkpads, light but powerful enough at the same time. Get a 9 cell battery.

or the Toshiba 13.3". Unfortunately they all have the Intel SU processors with great battery life, but I can't do any of my work. But the good thing is there is no CD drive. so its light too.

I like to get the biggest screen available in the weight category that I am looking for. So 14" suit the best for me. 15.6" become too bulky for me. More screen space make me scroll less which is good.

Last edited by Inxsible (2010-07-16 14:31:29)

eyolf · 2010-07-16 14:34:45

@karol: I guess I was primarily thinking hardware, but not soundcard -- rather the ability to get some kind of real-time interaction with my external Edirol ua-25ex. I'm no hardcore audiophile, though, I just want to be able to put down some tracks once in a while.
My hands are medium size. I've tried some of the newer mini-laptops, and I actually find the keyboards quite ok. The earlier eeepc size is horrible, of course, but that size is not an option for me in any case.
@inxsible: Thanks for the tips. I don't quite get it, though: what's so unfortunate with a long battery life...? or is it because of the size that you can't do any of your work?

Last edited by eyolf (2010-07-16 14:37:27)

karol · 2010-07-16 14:38:08

> what's so unfortunate with a long battery life...?
Are you referring to
> they all have the Intel SU processors with great battery life, but I can't do any of my work
?

It was about the weak processors, not the battery. The SU-type cpus are to weak for Inxsible to do any serious work.

Inxsible · 2010-07-16 14:38:45

eyolf wrote:

@inxsible: Thanks for the tips. I don't quite get it, though: what's so unfortunate with a long battery life...? or is it because of the size that you can't do any of your work?

Nothing wrong with the battery life. What I meant was the SU processors have great battery life, but they aren't powerful enough to run multiple servers like tomcat and weblogic etc on which my work mostly depends. I would love to have power + battery life, but alas, that's not possible on a laptop

litemotiv · 2010-07-16 14:40:28

one of the nicest ultraportables is the vaio-z series, 1.5kg for a 13" @ 1600x900. it's expensive though..

eyolf · 2010-07-16 15:19:32

@inxsible: OK, I see. About the Thinkpad, though: I know some people just love that sad little red excuse for a mouse... Whenever I've tried it, it has driven me crazy, but they say one learns to like it. Is that true? I hardly ever use the mouse, so it may not be much of a problem, but it has puzzled me.

eyolf · 2010-07-16 15:21:15

karol wrote:

It was about the weak processors, not the battery. The SU-type cpus are to weak for Inxsible to do any serious work.

Do you mean to say that they ARE weak, or that inxsible has too high demands (or runs too demanding processes -- more than an average user would)?

karol · 2010-07-16 15:22:27

> but they say one learns to like it. Is that true?
One of informal names for it is "the clitoris": it's small, centrally placed and red, you operate it w/ a finger and ... it takes some time to master it :-)

karol · 2010-07-16 15:27:47

eyolf wrote:

karol wrote:
It was about the weak processors, not the battery. The SU-type cpus are to weak for Inxsible to do any serious work.
Do you mean to say that they ARE weak, or that inxsible has too high demands (or runs too demanding processes -- more than an average user would)?

I meant that they are too weak for him. A Celeron 266 MHz is weak. A 1.2 GHz SU-type processor is power-efficient.

Inxsible · 2010-07-16 15:44:53

When buying a laptop, you should most definitely "know for sure" what you will use it for. Its very difficult, if not impossible to change hardware in a laptop after the purchase. So if you bought a SU processor and suddenly you have a need to run weblogic servers, well you are f*****.

But if you never gonna run anything like that and you are only using the computer for internet browsing, chatting and occasional word processing, then buying an i7 quad core will be an overkill. So it goes both ways.

I would believe laptop memory is the only thing that you can easily add later. So I always buy laptops with 1GB RAM if that option is available. I can always buy RAM from newegg and add it later. In fact it turns out to be cheaper to upgrade RAM that way.

Last edited by Inxsible (2010-07-16 15:45:25)

ngoonee · 2010-07-16 16:08:26

karol wrote:

> but they say one learns to like it. Is that true?
One of informal names for it is "the clitoris": it's small, centrally placed and red, you operate it w/ a finger and ... it takes some time to master it :-)

I'm not sure what circles you move in, karol, but I have NEVER heard that sort of name given to that pseudo-mouse thingy.

Now its stuck in my brain. Damn you!

Gusar · 2010-07-16 16:53:54

ngoonee wrote:

karol wrote:
> but they say one learns to like it. Is that true?
One of informal names for it is "the clitoris": it's small, centrally placed and red, you operate it w/ a finger and ... it takes some time to master it :-)
I'm not sure what circles you move in, karol, but I have NEVER heard that sort of name given to that pseudo-mouse thingy.
Now its stuck in my brain. Damn you!

LOL.

I haven't read "clitoris" yet, but I did read "nipple" on more than one occasion. You gotta admit, both fit

lucke · 2010-07-16 17:07:16

Kh, it's called that in Polish. Polish name for clitoris is, literally, "the thing you tickle'.

Last edited by lucke (2010-07-16 17:09:44)

.:B:. · 2010-07-16 17:25:13

litemotiv wrote:

one of the nicest ultraportables is the vaio-z series, 1.5kg for a 13" @ 1600x900. it's expensive though..

It's what I would buy if I had plenty of money (I have a Vaio TZ now - 11,1" 1366x768).

I personally owned a 15,4" and a 14,1". Both were too large imho. 11,1", well, it's too small . Screen size is not the only thing though, the resolution counts as well, high resolutions on small screens are great for screen real estate but I find usability suffers from it.

I'd go for a 13" laptop myself, and certainly an Intel if you need battery life. I don't know how the integrated graphics on the new Intels are doing, it seems they're still a bit problematic on Linux...

rb · 2010-07-16 20:32:49

I've a Vostro v13, (13.3" screen) and I'm quite happy with it.

Prost:

- It's really lightweight
- Really, really quiet
- Thiner that other laptops
- The batter last about 3:30~4hs with wireless connection and music
- The keyboard feels really nice
- It's really cold (spelling?). You can have it on your lap and barely notice
- The cover is made from aluminum, and is really clean

Cons:

- The screen isn't that good (the vertical view angles aren't as good as expected
- Doesn't have a CD/DVD drive (I don't care at all)
- Doesn't have many features (like HDMI and such)

Arch cons:

- I wasn't able to make the Bluetooth work
- I wasn't able to get the touchpad recognized, and despite that it works, I can't scroll

karol · 2010-07-16 20:37:23

rb wrote:

Arch cons:
- I wasn't able to get the touchpad recognized, and despite that it works, I can't scroll

Scrolling w/ touchpad? Bah, the kids those days ;-)

rb · 2010-07-16 21:06:36

karol wrote:

rb wrote:
Arch cons:
- I wasn't able to get the touchpad recognized, and despite that it works, I can't scroll
Scrolling w/ touchpad? Bah, the kids those days ;-)

Oh I was pointing that out... I don't use it. I browse with Vimperator, for everything else dwm + vim-like stuff

karol · 2010-07-16 21:08:40

Ah, I was a bit surprised that sb would list a non-scrolling touchpad as an arch-con :-)

Arch Linux

#1 2010-07-16 14:18:11

How small can an every-day laptop be?

#2 2010-07-16 14:26:28

Re: How small can an every-day laptop be?

#3 2010-07-16 14:27:57

Re: How small can an every-day laptop be?

#4 2010-07-16 14:34:45

Re: How small can an every-day laptop be?

#5 2010-07-16 14:38:08

Re: How small can an every-day laptop be?

#6 2010-07-16 14:38:45

Re: How small can an every-day laptop be?

#7 2010-07-16 14:40:28

Re: How small can an every-day laptop be?

#8 2010-07-16 15:19:32

Re: How small can an every-day laptop be?

#9 2010-07-16 15:21:15

Re: How small can an every-day laptop be?

#10 2010-07-16 15:22:27

Re: How small can an every-day laptop be?

#11 2010-07-16 15:27:47

Re: How small can an every-day laptop be?

#12 2010-07-16 15:44:53

Re: How small can an every-day laptop be?

#13 2010-07-16 16:08:26

Re: How small can an every-day laptop be?

#14 2010-07-16 16:53:54

Re: How small can an every-day laptop be?

#15 2010-07-16 17:07:16

Re: How small can an every-day laptop be?

#16 2010-07-16 17:25:13

Re: How small can an every-day laptop be?

#17 2010-07-16 20:32:49

Re: How small can an every-day laptop be?

#18 2010-07-16 20:37:23

Re: How small can an every-day laptop be?

#19 2010-07-16 21:06:36

Re: How small can an every-day laptop be?

#20 2010-07-16 21:08:40

Re: How small can an every-day laptop be?

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