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itty bitty laptops

-dustin

boring
Jun 10, 2002
7,155
1
austin
so what all is out there in the realm of these smaller laptops. looking for something to take with me this coming season. have a Dell desktop...not sure if communication between the 2 is anything to be worried about these days. right now, Toshiba's Portege (R500), and Apple's Macbook are the front runners. But I'm a noob. Educate me.

Now that I think about it...is it a pain to transfer music/ pictures from a Windows platform to a Mac?
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,092
1,132
NC
No, it's not a pain.

I've got a Thinkpad X40 (the newest one is the X61) that is straight out awesome. Great build quality, tiny and lightweight. They usually run a 15-20% off coupon, too, so let me know if you decide to go that route and I'll see if I can dig up a coupon.
 

Mike B.

Turbo Monkey
Oct 5, 2001
1,522
0
State College, PA
I'm getting use to my Dell XPS M1330 and seems to be built rather well but not quite itty bitty. Stan's wife has an R500 and it is flat out flimsy to the point I thought I was going to break it when I opened it and watched the screen twist. Super light but I'd be scared to travel with it and frankly I think they're overpriced. Some of the Vaios are rather tiny and people seem to like them but can't go wrong with a Lenovo/IBM it seems.
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,092
1,132
NC
I'm not sure I could strangle myself down to a 7" screen. My 12" Thinkpad is nice but it's really pushing it on screen size.
 

skatetokil

Turbo Monkey
Jan 2, 2005
2,383
-1
DC/Bluemont VA
it runs xandros linux.

7 inches is too small for some ****, but I have a nice desktop too. great for sitting in coffee shops or bed and doing emails and web research
 

dan-o

Turbo Monkey
Jun 30, 2004
6,499
2,805
I've got an Asus EEE PC. Cheap, runs linux, starts up instantaneously, and is extremely tiny. I'm pretty happy with it.
That's good to hear. I'm getting one for my 5yo and possibly another for my truck/office.
 

skatetokil

Turbo Monkey
Jan 2, 2005
2,383
-1
DC/Bluemont VA
FYI, there are a couple fan sites that have sprung up already to provide support. Last night I followed their instructions to switch from "easy mode," the tabbed browser that Asus sends stock to the XP-like xandros interface. If you know your way around a computer already, the hidden interface lets you get at the guts of the machine a bit better. Also, no stupid little icons.
 

skatetokil

Turbo Monkey
Jan 2, 2005
2,383
-1
DC/Bluemont VA
Also, I picked up a 4 gig sd card on ebay for like 10 bucks. If you're willing to spend a bit more, they make 16g+ cards now, and are constantly improving.
 

-dustin

boring
Jun 10, 2002
7,155
1
austin
I'm getting use to my Dell XPS M1330 and seems to be built rather well but not quite itty bitty. Stan's wife has an R500 and it is flat out flimsy to the point I thought I was going to break it when I opened it and watched the screen twist. Super light but I'd be scared to travel with it and frankly I think they're overpriced. Some of the Vaios are rather tiny and people seem to like them but can't go wrong with a Lenovo/IBM it seems.
I was looking at the M1330 today...how long have you had your's? how does it feel? travel with it much?
 

syadasti

i heart mac
Apr 15, 2002
12,690
290
VT
Yeah that one looks nice but they better keep the price the same otherwise you might as well buy a regular laptop if size and/or SSD isn't your only criteria. Dell sells their Vostro 15.4" laptop with Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM, 160GB HDD, and 8X DVDRW for $580 right now that that even includes the Vista tax...
 

Mike B.

Turbo Monkey
Oct 5, 2001
1,522
0
State College, PA
I was looking at the M1330 today...how long have you had your's? how does it feel? travel with it much?
I got it a little less than 3 weeks ago, there's a thread here somewhere about it. It has the LED screen which is really nice but kind of limited in viewing angle. No complaints otherwise.

It's fairly light (6 cell battery) and thin though the regular screen adds a little to the thickness and weight if you go that way. Feels solid overall, keyboard feels good and not too cramped and my keyboard is nice and flat unlike some have mentioned on notebookreview.com

I've not traveled with it yet but it will fit in the notebook slot of my Crumpler photo bucket and in the sleeve inside my Niner Bikes/Patagonia messenger bag so I don't see that being a problem. I have yet to fully test the battery life since I've just not had time.
 

-dustin

boring
Jun 10, 2002
7,155
1
austin
Anyone have an experience with Lenovo's customer service? Wondering how it rates.

The Apple Genius told my g/f that they service computers in-store. If that is truely the case (is it?), damn.
 

dan-o

Turbo Monkey
Jun 30, 2004
6,499
2,805
The Apple Genius told my g/f that they service computers in-store. If that is truely the case (is it?), damn.
They do. I brought my out of warranty macbook pro into the local store to have the power button replaced (kid pushed it through the case) and they fixed it @ no charge on the spot.