laptops: June 2008

Asus Eee PC 900 (white, Windows XP)

When we first saw the diminutive Asus Eee PC back in the fall of 2007, we were duly impressed by its capability to mix small size with a small price, and rightly predicted it would be popular with consumers and influential with other PC makers (although, to be fair, the OLPC XO and Intel Classmate first blazed the same trail in the education space).

At the time, we said the Eee PC could be the perfect secondary or travel laptop as long as expectations were kept modest, and we found its small screen, Celeron processor, and tiny flash-based hard drive adequate for Web surfing and working on office documents. Later the Eee added different colors and Windows XP, but other systems, such as HP's 2133 Mini-Note were already expanding on the original concept with bigger screens, more storage, and sharper designs, while keeping the price fairly reasonable ($599 for a Mini-Note versus $399 for the 7-inch Eee PC).

Just as the original Eee PC started to feel a bit dated, Asus comes out with an updated version, called the Eee PC 900. Although it occupies only a marginally larger footprint than the original, this new model finds room for a 9-inch screen, accomplished by moving the tiny speakers away from the sides of the lid, leaving more room for the display. With a much more reasonable 1,024x600 resolution (the 7-inch screen was a paltry 800x480), the new Eee PC 900 feels more like a laptop and less like a portable Internet appliance.

While the RAM has been bumped from 512MB to 1GB, and the onboard storage from 4GB to 12GB (or 20GB in the Linux version), you're still stuck with the same 900MHz Celeron processor. With new mobile CPUs from Intel and Via on the way, and more powerful mobile processors available in the Lenovo U110 and MacBook Air (both of which admittedly cost nearly $2,000), that's starting to look dangerously dated, especially now that, at $550, the Eee PC has passed the point of an impulse purchase.

Toshiba Satellite P305-S8825

The 17-inch Satellite P305 is part of Toshiba's recent rebranding of its mainstream Satellite laptop line. The new look and feel adds a shiny metallic sheen and a clever new Sleep-and-Charge feature, which lets you charge USB devices even if the laptop is powered off.

The $1,009 fixed-configuration Satellite P305 is inexpensive for a desktop replacement laptop and features Harman Kardon speakers and an HDMI output, but is missing some basics, such as Bluetooth connectivity. For about $300 more, you can trade up to an Acer Aspire 8920, which adds a Blu-ray drive, or the Gateway P6860FX, which has a high-end Nvidia GeForce 8800 video card. But if those special features don't matter, the Satellite P305 is a decent way to get maximum size for minimum bucks.

Gateway P-172X FX

Gateway's current laptop line offers something for gamers with widely varying budgets, without sacrificing too much in terms of components or features. We were previously very impressed with the high-end $3,000 P-171XL-FX and the low-end $1,249 P-6831FX. Both include Nvidia's GeForce 8800 graphics card, making the P-6831FX the best gaming laptop bargain we've seen.

Between those two extremes, Gateway offers the new $1,999 P-172X FX. It keeps the high-end graphics and 1,900x1,200 resolution of the $3,000 system, while dropping the CPU down to a still-impressive Intel Core 2 Duo T8300 and ditching the now-worthless HD DVD drive. Both Dell and Alienware offer 17-inch gaming rigs that can cost more and offer a few more bells and whistles (especially if you're fond of strobe lights), but Gateway's FX gaming laptop lineup does a great job of covering the low, middle, and high end of the market.

Asus M70

The Asus M70 is the most fully loaded laptop we've seen in a long while. Aside from its massive terabyte of hard-drive space (enough to hold a few hundred movies or a few hundred thousand MP3s), the multimedia system incorporates a Blu-ray drive and a full-HD display, plus an HDMI port, TV tuner, and five-speaker stereo sound. Given its full feature set, the M70's $2,399 price tag seems like a steal, especially compared with the $2,499 Acer Aspire 8920 , which offers similar features and an 18-inch display, but lacks the storage space and connections of the M70. A more casual media enthusiast could be satisfied with the HP Pavilion dv9700t, which offers similar features (though with a lower-resolution display, less hard-drive space, and no TV tuner) for nearly $500 less than the Asus. But the well-equipped M70 offers the ultimate feature set for film buffs, file hoarders, and others who want their laptop to serve triple duty as a computer, media library, and high-def home theater.

Dell Latitude D630

Manufacturer:: Dell, Inc.
Part number:: BLCWJ1S_2

General

Notebook type: Budget

Processor

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo T7250 / 2.00 GHz

RAM

Installed Size: 1.0 GB
Technology: DDR2 SDRAM

Storage

Hard Drive: 80 GB - 5400

Optical Storage

Type: CD-RW/DVD
CD / DVD read speed: 24X

Display

Display Type: 14.1

Video

Graphics Processor / Vendor: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100

Manufacturer Warranty

Service & support type: 3 years warranty

Operating System / Software

OS Provided: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, SP2, with media

Greenpeace 'Guide to Greener Electronics'

Greenpeace 'Guide to Greener Electronics' manufacturer rating (Mar 2008): 7.3

Lenovo IdeaPad U110 (red)

The Lenovo IdeaPad U110 looks more like an object of art than a piece of consumer electronics. The tendril pattern etched into its aluminum lid (available in black or red) and the patterned vents on its base both bring to mind an illuminated manuscript or a fine textile. But a laptop it is, and for its $1,899 price tag, the IdeaPad U110 is a pretty good ultraportable. Despite its compact size, the IdeaPad U110's screen and keyboard are comfortable to use for long stretches. Its case is stocked with current-generation components and a decent set of features--though media fanatics should note that its DVD burner is an external drive. The fastidious should also note that the very shine that makes the laptop so appealing is easily dulled by fingerprints. Despite these imperfections, the Lenovo IdeaPad U110 offers a combination of price, features, and performance that's competitive with such ultraportables as the Toshiba Portege R500 and the Sony VAIO TZ150, inside a package of unparalleled beauty.

Price	$1,899
Processor	1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo L7500
Memory	2GB of 667MHz
Hard drive	120GB at 4,200rpm
Chipset	Intel 965GM Express
2.9 / 3.6 pounds with 7-cell battery	Intel GMA X3100 (integrated)
Operating System	Windows Vista Home Premium
Dimensions (WDH)	10.8x7.7x0.72 inches
Screen size (diagonal)	11.1 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter	2.4 / 3.1 pounds with 4-cell battery
Category	ultraportable

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Saturday, June 7, 2008