Choosing a laptop seems to get more confusing by the day. Netbooks, ultra-portables and even mobile phones are all now an option when you’re looking for a machine you can travel with. But for the ultimate in portability without having to put up with a tiny screen or cramped keyboard, the ultra-portable is perhaps the most interesting new category for frequent travellers.
In a nutshell, the ultra-portable is a full-sized laptop in terms of its screen and keyboard. However, it has been put on a strict diet, with a lot of the expected external connectors, and usually the DVD drive, left out. To make it even more useful, a lower power processor is also used to increase battery life. This does, admittedly, affect performance a little, but unless you’re an avid games player, it’s unlikely you will notice any difference.
As with so many recent trends in mobile computing, the ultra-portable phenomenon was kick-started by Apple, when chief executive Steve Jobs unveiled the Macbook Air from inside an envelope, hailing it as the world’s thinnest computer. Since then, every other manufacturer has, or is planning to, follow suit with a size-zero machine.
For purchasers, there are a few warnings. First, never leave home without a couple of memory sticks – as many of these machines don’t have DVD drives, it’s the only way to move data around easily. Also, be prepared to invest in a decent laptop bag or carry-case – while these machines may look gorgeous, they are a little more fragile (and a lot more expensive) than the average laptop.
Apple Macbook Air
From £1,271
Apple’s Macbook Air is the best-looking machine here by a huge margin. It’s sleek, phenomenally thin and boasts a great screen and keyboard. The Air tapers from 0.16 inches to 1.94 inches thick – and feels even thinner thanks to its design – and at 1.36kg, it’s also very light.
Despite this, it still manages to pack in a high-resolution 13.3-inch screen that is superb quality, and it has one of the most impressive keyboards on an ultra-portable. The keys don’t quite have the same feel as a “normal” laptop, but this doesn’t make too much difference.
The trackpad is directly below the keyboard, which works well, and also features “multi-touch gesture support”, which allows you to swipe, rotate, scroll with two fingers, double-tap, and so on. (It’s worth learning these.)
Of course, the size comes at a price, and there’s no DVD drive. However, what you do have is some neat drive-sharing software that means you can use the drive of a nearby Mac or PC as if it were attached to the Air. It’s a good solution, but bear in mind that you need to install software on the “donor” machine.
For corporate users, it’s worth checking first whether your IT department will support a Mac. If they will, then this is the best ultra-portable machine you can buy. It’s slick, powerful and incredibly simple to use. More importantly, it’s small and light enough to take anywhere, and is bound to become a talking point as soon as you take it out.
Pros Slick design and incredibly portable
Cons Costly, no external drive
Lenovo ThinkPad X200
£1,054
Weighing 1.36kg, the X200 is one of the smallest, lightest machines in Lenovo’s range, and it’s a solid, dependable workhorse. The 12.1-inch screen is sharp and bright, and unlike most of its rivals, has a matte finish – something I generally prefer. The build quality is exceptional – you get the feeling you could run this over with a truck and it would still work perfectly.
Otherwise, the X200 is a fairly standard ultra-portable. It’s not particularly small or thin compared with others on the market, and has no optical drive. There’s also no touchpad – instead you get a mini joystick in the middle that works very well. The keyboard is excellent, and the IBM heritage really shows through (Lenovo bought IBM’s Thinkpad business). It’s also, thanks to the widescreen display, a full-sized keyboard.
On the whole, it may seem that the X200 is a little uninspired, but this would be giving it too little credit.
In a market where leather, aluminium chassis and almost every other gimmick you can think of are being used, this is a refreshingly solid, reliable machine. With a nine-cell battery (the larger of the two available and worth paying the extra £12.50 for), you should get about six hours of usage.
Pros Solid and reliable with a superb keyboard
Cons No touchpad
HP Pavilion DV2
From £499
Hewlett-Packard isn’t generally at the cutting-edge of technology, but in the small notebook market it has done well with its “mininote” range, so it has decided to up its game with the DV2, which it says is a “non-netbook”. Quite what this means is anyone’s guess, but in effect this machine is somewhere between a netbook and a “real” notebook – while not quite an ultra-portable, it still deserves a place here owing to its dimensions – it’s only 0.93 inches thick.
The DV2 is light, weighing 1.7kg, and the 12.1-inch screen isn’t bad at all. It’s a glossy model and is sharp and bright. The keyboard is excellent, although at 92 per cent of a full-size one, a few touch-typists I showed it to did complain. The most impressive thing about the DV2 is its looks – never has a machine been made so shiny. The smooth black finish doesn’t attract fingerprints quite as much as you’d think either.
The DV2 runs AMD’s Athlon Neo processor, aimed at netbooks, and this shows – this is far from the most powerful machine to be tested here. However, it is one of the cheapest, and that has to come into consideration, especially as email and spreadsheets are the most likely things travellers will be using it for on the road. There’s no DVD drive, but an external drive is supplied.
Overall, the DV2 is an intriguing concept – the size of an ultra-portable but with the price and performance of a netbook. It may not be for everyone, but if you’re on a tight budget, it could be a good buy.
Pros Glossy look, bargain price
Cons Underpowered
Dell Adamo
From £1,649
Dell is the first of the traditional firms to take a pop at the Apple Air’s crown, and its long history of PC making shows in the Adamo. It’s a thin machine, slimmer than the Air, at 0.65 inches thick. However, it has a boxy design milled from a single piece of aluminium, and while it’s comparable to the Air in terms of size, it’s not in terms of weight. (It weighs 1.81kg, which may not sound a lot, but really takes you by surprise when you pick it up.)
As you’d expect for the size, there’s no DVD drive, although a 128GB solid state drive (SSD) gives ample storage. The 13.4-inch screen is possibly the most glossy I’ve seen, to the point that it can be quite distracting. However, it is sharp, bright and easy to read. There’s also a 1.3-megapixel built-in camera above the screen, which is useful for video-conferencing.
Battery life is reasonable – it’s quoted as five hours, although four hours is probably more likely. As with the Air, you cannot replace the battery yourself so you have to send it back to the manufacturer when it reaches the end of its life.
Overall, the Adamo is a rather odd beast. It looks superb when up against virtually any other PC, but put it next to the Air and it looks a bit like Dell has been trying too hard with snazzy effects such as grilles in the casing. But it does have one major advantage – a built-in 3G modem. And for Windows users it’s a revelation – finally you can run Windows on a machine that doesn’t look like it was designed by accountants.
Pros Incredibly thin
Cons Heavy
Asus U6V
£1,217
The Asus ultra-portable is a little smaller than Apple’s and Dell’s offerings, with a 12.1-inch screen – more than enough to work properly on, but worth thinking about if you spend most of your time looking at spreadsheets. The keyboard is great, and the well-placed trackpad has a fingerprint reader for those who are concerned about security.
If you were in any doubt as to how important looks are in the ultra-portable market, it’s worth noting that Asus offers the U6V in a variety of finishes, including leather and a supposedly eco-friendly bamboo. Surrounding the keyboard and trackpad is a leather finish, which creates a luxury feel. Even the packaging has been well thought out – a slick black box lined with felt.
The Asus U6V weighs 1.57kg but add another 400g if you want to lug around the power adaptor – the chances are you will, as battery life isn’t brilliant. (Expect around 3.5 hours out of it.)
One neat touch is the “quick start” menu, which doesn’t go through the time-consuming wait for Windows to load – press a button and within seconds you’ll have access to a web browser, Skype and a photo viewer. There’s no DVD drive, but a huge 320GB hard drive makes up for that.
Overall, this is a well thought-out machine. It’s one of the most powerful ultra-portables you’ll find, and while it doesn’t have a “wow factor“, it’s a good high-end Windows machine.
Pros Slick design
Cons Small screen
Toshiba Portege R600-108
£1,499
One of the lightest machines, starting at about 775g, the R600 has a body built from eggshell-thin magnesium alloy. Boasting a 12-inch screen with the obligatory webcam built in, Toshiba’s unit looks rather bland.
The keyboard is good, and apparently spill-proof as well, although I thought it best not to test this too extensively – suffice to say the odd small coffee spill should be okay. Below the keyboard is a touchpad with a built-in fingerprint reader, and under the battery there’s also a SIM-card slot for the internal 3G modem.
The R600 is powerful enough for most everyday tasks, with 3GB of RAM and 128GB of solid state drive (SSD) storage. It’s fast, and certainly more than enough for everyday tasks. However, the Achilles heel is the battery. To save weight, it has been cut right down in size, so you’ll only get about two hours’ use out of it.
For those who really like to travel light, this unit is a decent option, but it feels a little fragile compared with the other products here. Performance-wise it’s an excellent machine, but the terrible battery life cripples it. In the face of some exceptional competition, the Toshiba doesn’t quite hit the sweet spot between performance and portability.
Pros Very light, built-in 3G
Cons Poor battery life
Sony VAIO Z Series
£1,439
Sony has always aimed for the more stylish end of the market with its Vaio range, so it’s no surprise to see it is a contender in the ultra-portable area. This, known as its Z Series, is a thin, sleek machine.
Sony has gone for a relatively subtle look, with a carbon fibre black or grey lid and brushed aluminium keyboard surround. The keyboard is similar to the Macbook Air, and instead of normal keys, you get “tiles”, rather like those used in Scrabble. They take a little getting used to, but work well, especially with the large trackpad.
Its 12.4 x 1.3 x 8.3-inch dimensions may not sound particularly petite, but this machine scores highly on weight – it’s only 1.5kg. Amazingly, even at that weight, there’s a built-in DVD writer.
The Intel Core 2 Duo processor is powerful, and 4GB of RAM speeds things up. There’s also a neat switch to flip between power and stamina, worth it if you’ve got the machine plugged in. Generally, battery life is pretty impressive at about six hours, but with the stamina setting you might get up to nine hours.
This is a superb all-rounder. It may not have the head-turning looks of the Dell Adamo or the leather finish of the Asus, but the inclusion of a DVD writer lifts this product above the competition, making it the ultimate Windows machine. If you are considering the Macbook Air, you should check this Vaio out too.
Pros DVD writer, very light
Cons Keyboard a little lacking
LAPTOP BAGS
Transporting your laptop used to mean carrying around some of the ugliest luggage known to man, seemingly designed to make you look like a salesman or attract muggers. Thankfully, that’s now changed, and the latest bags are indistinguishable from normal handbags or “manbags”.
One of the leaders is London firm Knomo. Its new Rubi is a leather handbag-briefcase for women, with a protective sleeve for a laptop of up to 15 inches. At £235 it’s not cheap, but this is a quality item. For men, the Bungo is a brown and blue leather expandable messenger bag with a padded laptop sleeve, and is available for either 15- or 17-inch laptops from £195. Both bags are incredibly well made, and there are dozens more online at knomo.com or at retailers such as Selfridges.
Howies is a name generally associated with surfwear and T-shirts, but its range of Hand-Me-Down products is well worth a look, particularly the gorgeous messenger bag. It is made from canvas with leather detailing, and costs £185. Visit howies.co.uk for more details.
If you want to use your own bag, then a laptop sleeve might be the answer. Wrappers produces them in a vast range of patterns and fabrics that are very affordable – for example, a linen sleeve for a Macbook costs £18. The firm offers sizes for dozens of machines, and even phones. Visit wrappers.typepad.com to find out more.
Mark Prigg is science and technology correspondent for London’s Evening Standard
