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Ultraportable(ish) guru's come help!

post #1 of 31
11/26/05 at 4:28am
Thread Starter 
So to all you people in the know regarding thin-and-light to ultraportable notebooks, what can you suggest? I am looking for a notebook that has (in decreasing order of importance)
  • 12.1" or 13.3" WXGA(+)... MUST be widescreen
  • Very nice screen (preferably glossy)
  • Battery Life > 2 hours under heavy intensive work
  • Durable (no distortion in screen from pressing on lid)
  • Efficient use of space on notebook
  • Solid keyboard

Note that the screen is my most major concern - I want a very nice screen.
Either AMD or Intel will do fine. A whitebok/barebone notebook is preferred. Sony/Dell/HP/Emachines/Asus not preferred. So far I've found the MSI 1012, MSI 1013, Uniwill 22EII0, Clevo 120W. If anyone has any experience with these notebooks (I have read reviews on them), please comment. If you know any other notebooks that fall into the above preferations, please tell me!

Thanks for the help!
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post #2 of 31
11/26/05 at 4:33am
I personally like the 1013, from the reviews I've read. Unfortunatly I cannot provide anything new and insightful you havn't likely read, I don't own one :-). Just an extra 2 cents really.
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post #3 of 31
11/26/05 at 5:11am
Nietsnie, the bad news for you is that if you want a nice screen, Sony is the route to go. They have the best displays around.
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post #4 of 31
11/26/05 at 11:56am
The Dell 700m has a beautiful screen, certainly comparable to the Sony.
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post #5 of 31
11/26/05 at 2:58pm
Thread Starter 
I know Sony has very nice screen, but I just cannot buy a Sony. Far too many stories of bad tech support and all.

I don't need quite Sony quality screen, but as close as possible to them.
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post #6 of 31
11/26/05 at 3:37pm
Asus not preferred? They make whitebooks and laptops for many other manuacturers, including the Sony notebooks (hence the excellent build quality and screens). For an ultra portable, they've got the award winning W5A, the W5Ae is out now too. Comes with a built in camera. As for a whitebook, they've got the Z33A. An excellent customizable unit. Both durable, long battery life and solid performers.
Don't get me wrong, I like the MSI's also, but for build quality, Asus tops it. Sony's are nice too, it's just an Asus with a heavy price tag.
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post #7 of 31
11/26/05 at 4:06pm
ASUS S5A is on sale for $1395.
12" 2.8lb Ultraportable Notebook!
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post #8 of 31
11/26/05 at 4:38pm
The S5 is a nice unit, but isnt widescreen. That's where the original W5A came into play.
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post #9 of 31
11/26/05 at 4:42pm
Who tells you that SONY support sucks? They accepted to change my failed motherboard (partially due to my fault)
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post #10 of 31
11/26/05 at 4:48pm
Thread Starter 
Who tells me? Many people, including people on this board and people I know. On average they CS isn't as good as other, but of course many people will have an awsome experience with them. I don't want to risk it.

Are there any Toshiba 13.3" or 12.1" widescreen notebooks?
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post #11 of 31
11/26/05 at 4:50pm
I think you should just give any 12" notebook that you like & fits your specification a try. In my opinion, almost all the support services of all the brands are similar.... in my opinion, all are half excellent & half s***s. But I would think that what happened to other people (bad service) may not happen to you & as you know, we all have our different levels of service expectations, so even if you constantly read about a particular brand's support service being poor doesn't really mean much unless you try it yourself!!! Good luck with your purchase too!!!
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post #12 of 31
11/26/05 at 4:57pm
This:


From:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...2E16834110159R

Only kink is this is a 10.6" widescreen and you are more partial to 12.1 or 13.3
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post #13 of 31
11/26/05 at 5:04pm
I agree with SPEEDwithJJ, you really have to try it out. Unless there was a flood of bad experiences, most people with good experiences don't really share with the world and go off on their merry way. The ones with bad experiences usually come one to post in anger with a vendetta (ok, just a little exageration). But what I meant to say is that you'll see more complaints than praises, mainly because people go on with their lives and not share with the world. I saw this one lady screaming bloody murder at a dept store so the whole world can here, she said she was going talk to the supervisor, contact corporate, write a letter, tell all her friends and all that. When does praise ever get that kind of play?
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post #14 of 31
11/26/05 at 5:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by LaptopExtreme
When does praise ever get that kind of play?
Never...
That's why in our industry no news is usually good news.
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post #15 of 31
11/26/05 at 5:19pm
How did I miss the widescreen comment...
I would definitely go with the W5A, very sexy 12" widescreen.
Carbon fiber body.
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post #16 of 31
11/27/05 at 11:55am
Sony support may suck, but they're computers are pretty good, and for a 13.3" widescreen with a good screen, they're the way to go. Dell is the way to go for a 12.1" widescreen with a good screen.
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post #17 of 31
11/27/05 at 2:25pm
Thread Starter 
I just found the Sharp M4000... it's amazing! There is also a Japanese version that has better specs that would be interesting to try and get
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post #18 of 31
11/27/05 at 5:16pm
Do you know where to get the Japanese version of the M4000? I've been looking for it but I can't find anyplaces to get it...
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post #19 of 31
11/28/05 at 3:20am
Yes the 700m really does have a great screen, however I personally am not a fan of the white trim (even my own 9300). But if you wanna save some cash and get a beautiful screen then this is the way to go.
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post #20 of 31
11/29/05 at 2:18pm
Do any of the ultraportable widescreen laptops like the 1012/1013 have a full size keyboard? I know I read the sharp did, but for the most part do you have to move up to the 14" widescreens? Trying to find the smallest laptop that I can still type on with my big hands! I don't really care if all the extra buttons like page up and down are in wierd spots, just so the normal letter keys are normal size. I wanted to have a low end graphics card too, but thinking about just throwing that out.
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