[Tfug] Netbook with a good screen? y3a6a3a9

[Harry McGregor]

Hi,

On 6/20/12 11:45 PM, John Gruenenfelder wrote:
> Greetings TFUG,
>
> I'm looking for some recommendations on an upgrade to my
> netbook/laptop.  Something with a better and/or larger screen.
>
> Back in '06 or '07 I replaced my (badly) aging laptop with a Dell
> Inspiron E1405.  This has a Core 2 Duo running at, I think, 2.2 GHz
> with 2 GB of RAM and a 1440x900 pixel display.  It's a good machine,
> but I found its weight in my backpack (5.5 pounds, 6.4 pounds with AC
> adapter) rather uncomfortable.  About 2 years later, I also bought an
> Asus EeePC (1008HA) with a dual-core Atom (32 bit version) running at
> 1.7 GHz with 2 GB of RAM and a 1024x600 pixel display.
>
> I like the EeePC quite a lot.  It weighs much less (2.42 pounds, about
> 3 pounds with AC adapter), it's small, the battery life is quite good,
> and it wasn't very expensive.  There are some minor issues, of course,
> but overall it has been a good machine.  The display resolution, on
> the other hand, is by far the biggest problem.  It's tiny.  *Very*
> tiny.  I have also encountered more than a few poorly designed GUI
> programs, often dialog windows, that do not handle small displays well
> at all.  The most common problem is buttons (OK, Cancel, etc.) being
> cut off because the window is taller than the screen.  This is a
> problem in both Linux and Windows, and even though windows generally
> default to being resizable in X (unlike Windows), that usually isn't
> enough to fix the problem.
>
> The display resolution on the Dell laptop is better, but it's still not great.
>
> So, my problem is trying to find a small laptop with a good display
> with good resolution.  In general, I'm happy with the specs I
> currently have with the two existing machines.  There's enough CPU
> power, enough battery life, and so forth.  I usually get by with 2 GB
> of RAM with no problems, too.  The only time 2 GB becomes an issue is
> when I'm doing some development work.
>
> What I would like is something comparable to my current netbook, but
> with a better display.  Obviously, a new machine would certainly be
> more powerful than my existing netbook, and that's fine.  Looking
> around online, however, I just don't seem to be finding anything that
> matches this and doesn't cost over $1000.  Netbooks are still around
> and still inexpensive, but they all *still* have tiny displays.
> Larger laptops have better displays, but they still weigh a lot more
> than I would like to carry around.
>
> There exists a new category of portable computers now called
> "ultrabooks" and this, as best I can tell, is the name given to
> machines that wish to compete with the Macbook Air.  They are
> certainly nice computers, but they also carry rather hefty price tags.
>   For example, most of these computers are ultra slim and have nice
> brushed metal or aluminum body construction.
>
> Does anybody make an inexpensive netbook-like machine with a good
> display?  That is, a plastic body, a non-SSD hard drive... things of
> that nature.  Features (or non-features, I suppose) such as these are
> why netbooks are inexpensive.  Does such a class of machine even
> exist?  Maybe I'm just not looking in the right place?
>
> The computer that is closest to what I would like is the Asus Zenbook
> UX31.  It has a Core i5 CPU, 4 GB of RAM, weighs less than 3 pounds,
> and, best of all, has a wonderful 1600x900 pixel display.  The
> downside is, of course, the price.  At just over $1000 for the most
> basic model, it's definitely up there.
The resolution is a big issue.  For some reason high resolution an ultra 
portable just don't tend to mix.

On the low end I would look at the Lenovo Thinkpad x120e (or possibly 
x130e), it's 1368x768, easy to service, easy memory upgrades, and a good 
battery life.  CPU is only an e-350 (AMD), but the graphics is a good 
ATI/AMD graphics.  If you look at any Lenovo, email me off-list and we 
can check my IBM/Lenovo EPP pricing, as I can make it available to 
family and friends.
> My goal is to replace both of my current laptops with a single new
> portable.  I was hoping that selling both would cover nearly all of
> the cost of the new machine.  If my hoped for machine class simply
> doesn't exist, then I suppose I'll have to look towards the
> ultrabooks, but that will mean a much larger expense than I was hoping
> for.
>
> To summarize, does the class of computer I'm looking for exist?
> Either way, I would appreciate any recommendations you might have.  If
> what I would like does in fact exist, please point the way.  If not,
> does anybody have any experience with the UX31?  Are there other good
> ultrabooks with good displays?
>
> And, just so I'm not needlessly blocking out some machines because of
> terminology, the machine need not be an "ultrabook".  It just needs a
> good display, meaning *at least* 1440x900 (but bigger is better), and
> should weigh less than four pounds.  Computers in the 3-4 pound range
> are light enough that I can just drop it in my backpack and take it
> wherever and not worry about the weight making my shoulder sore by the
> end of the day.
I don't have any experience with the UX31, but I have setup a 
U36SD-DH51, which was a good balance between weight, power, and screen size.

Unfortunately it's resolution is also in the 1366x768 range.  More 
processing power (by about 3x) then the x120e, but also about 3x the price.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834127643 is the 
only laptop I am finding that comes anywhere close to your combined 
requirements, but after personal history with Sony's warranty support 
(sending a different laptop as a replacement that was 100% different in 
internals, and shape, and cooling, and capabilities, and trying to say 
it was an upgrade when it was not), I won't buy a Sony laptop again.

The x130e is probably a good match for you, but a little light on the 
screen resolution: 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834246453  I have 
not priced it via EPP yet to see if it's cheaper.  I know the x120e is 
relatively linux friendly, as that is what my Wife is running (with 
Ubuntu 11.10), and the x130e should be virtually identical.

The Ultrabook spec virtually requires an SSD to meet some of the height 
limitations.  WD came out with an ultra short HDD that can work, but in 
general mSATA based SSDs are becoming standard for that price point / 
weight / power budget.

-Harry
> Thanks in advance for any input!
>
>
> --John Gruenenfelder    Systems Manager, MKS Imaging Technology, LLC.
> Try Weasel Reader for Palm OS  --  http://weaselreader.org
> "This is the most fun I've had without being drenched in the blood
> of my enemies!"
>          --Sam of Sam & Max
>
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