Buying an ultraportable laptop

[Saxito Pau]

After more than a year of enjoying my Asus EEE PC 1000HA laptop, I've decided that it is indeed time for a laptop upgrade.

What I will miss about my laptop the most is the white keyboard and the matte screen, as none of the potential relacements have this. I am not fond of glossy screens, but I guess I will have to deal with it.

My choices are based on the following requirements:

Screen should not exceed 12.1"
Weight must not exceed 4lbs (preferably closer to 3lbs)
Must have bluetooth (or at least support an internal bluetooth upgrade)
Must at least 2GB RAM
Hard Drive - 160Gb or higher
CPU must  Intel ULV SUxxxx or AMD Neo (X2) for ultrathin laptops
Battery must be at least 6 cell and should exceed 4 hours with routine use
Price must not exceed US$600
OS: Windows XP or Windows 7 Home Premium (Basic and Starter is crap!)

There are my finalists:

1. Acer Timeline AS1810TZ-4008 (Olympic Edition)
US$580 on Amazon

This is the 11.6" notebook I been eyeing the most and longest of the four contenders. I like this over the other acer timeline series as it is silver with the olympic logo. I doubt it willbe available for too much longer as the Winter Olympics has long passed. I'm considering this becasue it has a dual core CPU, bluetooth, and up to 8 hours battery life.


2. ASUS UL20A-A1
US$565 on Amazon

This 12" is what i liked best of Asus' offerings. it has a lovely aluminum finish and just has that sexy look that none of the other has. Bluetooth is optional, so I have to be careful to make sure it does have it before buying. User reviews say the 7.5 hour battery life is more like 4 though. Also not fond of the rocker touchpad buttons.


3. Acer AS1410 series
US$400 - US$480 on Amazon
This 11.6" laptop is the Well, best value for performance netbooks Acer been pushing for a while now. Available with various colours, CPU and hard drive sizes,  the best specs top out at US$480 for a Core 2 Solo SU3500 CPU, 320GB HDD and 6 hours battery life in a red colour. While none of them has built-in bluetooth, I have seen forums showing you how, and it enourages me enough to want to pull out the bluetooth module I installed in my EEE PC  and install it in this.


4. MSI Wind 12 U2xx
US$479 on Amazon (U230)

This is a last minute 12" contender i found just before I created this thread. Threre is an AMD CPU version (Wind12 U210 and Wind12 U230) with Neo x2 CPU and HD 3200 graphics and the Intel CPU version (Wind12 U200) with Core 2 Duo CPU and a WHITE keyboard.
None of these appear to have been released yet.
 

5. Toshiba Satellite T115D-S1125
US$470 on Amazon

I'm just throwing this 11.6" one in as lagnappe. Brown laptops are just not my thing, but toshiba supposed to be reputed for building sturdy laptops.



OK, so I think I have given you hopefully enough data to help me choose. choose your candidate carefully!

*rests tired hands from all the typing...*

[Arcmanov]

For me, its a toss-up between the Asus UL20A, and the MSI Wind 12 U230,
and I'm kinda leaning towards the MSI.  I'm pretty sure that the HD3200 chipset
on it will handle video better than the Intel GMA4500HD chipset on that Asus.

Also, price.

...and well, I'm kinda partial to MSI too eh, but still.  Price and specs have me leaning towards the Wind 12 U230.

[Netizen1]

I think I'll have to agree with Arcmanov here, and cast my vote for the MSI.

[Saxito Pau]

A pity that I didn't get more responses, but I have decided on the Asus UL20A and placed my order yesterday for just US$530

Just to order my internal bluetooth module for it while I awaite its arrival...

[Notnice]

A pity that I didn't get more responses, but I have decided on the Asus UL20A and placed my order yesterday for just US$530

Just to order my internal bluetooth module for it while I awaite its arrival...

lol i just voted then to scroll down to see you picked the 1 i voted for lol

[Arcmanov]

I dunno...I think you made an out there.

Please explain what that extra 50 US gets you, because I can't see it. 

[Saxito Pau]

In all honesty Arc, I was really gonna buy the Acer Olympic one.

When I ready to add to cart - OUT OF STOCK, even though they had stock just  a day earlier.

and the Price of the UL20A had drop since I created this thread. So, I took the plunge.

At least I get the chance to play super IT guy and find an internal BT module for it. An Asus BT-183 as I seen on ebay..


vs the MSI one... I'd have only gone MSI if the whit Intel one was available and I didn't like the apparently sub-par power saving features of the AMD CPU

[Crixx_Creww]

Why exactly are you buying an ultra portable?
Consequently the lenovo that wyatt has is pretty nice for an ultra thingy..
but at the price you going after.. why not a regular laptop?

[Saxito Pau]

Why exactly are you buying an ultra portable?
Consequently the lenovo that wyatt has is pretty nice for an ultra thingy..
but at the price you going after.. why not a regular laptop?

I do not like to carry load, plain and simple. I get spoiled by the netbook weighing just 3 lbs and just decided I want something faster performing with the same weight and not too much more expensive...

Like the Asus 1000H netbook before it, this will be just my 'work' laptop for when I in the field doing private jobs.

[phoenix31tt]

well the man already buy it you know.. so a bit to late to chip in now lol