Mobile Working Experiences
The realities of remote working
Friday 1 June 2007, 4:24 PM
Any recommendations for road-tested laptops?
Are these ultraportables getting too thin and making compromises in robust design?
Can anyone recommend a more rugged laptop (preferably not weighing over 1.5kg...)?
PreviousComments on this post
Thinkpad X61
Take a look at the Sony Vaio TX, series, they are a little pricey, but the quality of them is excellent. They offer good battery life, the TX series comes with an 11.1 screen, and they are really light.
I used to have a Toshiba but when I wanted to upgrade, there was nothing very up to date in the way of Ultra-portable options so I've switched to Sony. I love the TX and it's great if you only want to use it now and again but if you are going to be using it without a docking station/screen for long periods, it will drive you mad.
I eventually went for the SZ3XWP, it's not quite as light as I would like at 1.69Kg but it's got a full size keyboard, 13.3" screen and 3 hour battery life. I can use it all day without any eyestrain, cramped wrists and so far it's proved pretty reliable being transported every day in my (non laptop) bag.
We like the Samsung Q40, which is slim and lightweight (~1.2kg) and pretty well featured -- it has Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and 3G/HSDPA integrated and comes with 2 batteries (although the RAM limit is 1.5GB and the optical drive is external).
It's pretty rugged too, if our experience with its predecessor the Q30 (aka the Dell Latitude X1) is anything to go by: this machine has coped admirably with the vicissitudes of a travelling journalist's life for the last 2 years.
Many thanks for the suggestions. The Samsung looks like a great machine and frankly if its predecessor can survive 2 years with Rupert then I have 100% faith in its robust design.
On the same subject - another gripe about laptop design. Why do some laptop designers continue to include only 2 x USB ports and make them particularly difficult to use? I carry round 4 USB devices now (a 3G card, a wireless mouse, a memory stick and the USB charger for my Blackberry) - having two ports is just plain dumb. I could invest in a USB splitter port but a) it is something else to forget and b) on my toshiba the USB ports are so close together that the splitters tend to block access to the other port!!
I know this might sound like extreme pedantry but I have become blinkered in my pursuit of reducing the number and weight of mobile work related devices....
Try a price comparison site like Kelkoo Laptops or www.pricegrabber.com, it at least helps me at the moment as I choose.
