A Laptop Problem

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(Warning: boring nerd rage ahead)

I need help finding a new laptop.

For the last couple years, I’ve have a Fujitsu P1610 (which replaced my stolen P1510). It should last me for another year or two, but I’m pretty hard on my computers. This one has started developing problems typical of an overused, aging machine — your standard hardware failures, screen damage, random crashes, unexpected hangings, paradoxical package syndrome, retrograde memory leakage, Hamitic keyboard, fan tearing, Indian screen burn-in, dysfunctional Haskell, LCD torsion, tab key thrombosis, trackpad sclerosis, dry RAM syndrome, scroll-wheel arousal, systemic rainbow failure, peristeronic disk fragmentation, hyperactive tilde key, heat-sink apricity, kernel duplicity, space bar plasticity, and cross-site chlamydia.

So I know that in the next year or two, I’ll be in the market for a new laptop. Here’s my problem: as far as I can tell, nobody makes the laptop I want. I really only have two criteria:

  1. Weight under 2.5 lbs
  2. Screen at least 1280 pixels wide

This isn’t an impossible combination. My current laptop fits it. The Fujitsu Q2010 fit it. The Fujitsu U820 fits it but is actually too small and light (the size of a CD case, with a 270 dpi screen!). The problem doesn’t seem to be technology. And, given the recent popularity of netbooks, it’s probably not lack of demand for small laptops, either. Everyone just seems to assume that if you want small, you also want a cheap and crappy display. Is there nothing between the netbooks and the Lenovo X series (which are a bit bulkier than I want)? Other than buying a laptop that is several years old (hunting down a Q2010) or has a touch screen that I don’t really want (the newer model of my current one, the P1630), do I have any options?

(Side note: I find it odd that there are so few laptops with high-DPI screens (>175)? Everything above 150 on that Wikipedia list is either a Fujitsu or a smartphone. Aren’t we supposed to be moving out of the era of pixels by now?)

133 thoughts on “A Laptop Problem”

  1. If you’re still pondering laptops, the Dell Mini 12 comes pretty close to fitting the bill. 1280×800 screen, less than 3 lbs.

    Editor’s note: Comment moved here from other post

  2. Hey there! Might I suggest the Dell (I know, it hurts to type) Inspiron 1525? It’s what I’ve been using for the past year or so, and it’s usually worked for me just fine.

    It’s one of the cheapest computers on the market, at $650 at most retail stores. It comes standard with Vista, but in my experimentation, it runs many distros of Linux cleanly. After a few days of work, I have even been able to run Mac off of it. It’s a very compatible computer.

    The only downsides to the computer (and I’m not sure if these matter to you) are that 1. It has a low graphics ability. For example, Portal lagged on it. 2. The sound isn’t the best, in that it isn’t very loud compared to most other laptops.

    It has all the standard specs: wireless card, ethernet/modem port, 1394 port, HDMI port, external monitor port, CD/DVD+RW drive, PCIExpress slot, and 4 USB 2.0 ports.

    It’s a very useful computer, especially if you don’t want to spend your entire life savings.

  3. First thing that comes to mind is the MacBook Air, but sadly you trade a number of features (i.e. USB ports) to get those weight and screen requirements.

  5. I’d second/third the Dell option, I’ve got a xps 1330 and it pretty much fits your bill and is nice to use, and I dual boot it with linux (in fact quintuple boot) as I have the original windows tucked away, and 3-4 different linux distros running on it as I play around

  8. I have an HP 2133, which fits both criteria. It’s pretty under powered though. It might be faster if I upgraded the ram. It came with 512, but upgrading to 2G is $26.

    I actually really enjoy coding on it, I don’t stress it with anything. But if you ran photoshop in windows, it would cry.

  9. Have you considered the Sony Vaio P-series (8″, 1600×768, 1.4lb)? Or if you want something slightly bigger/more laptopish the TT-series (but that’s slightly over the weight limit)?

  10. “Is there nothing between the netbooks and the Lenovo X series (which are a bit bulkier than I want)?”

    okay, ignore that :-)

  14. The Dell inspirion XT tablet is 1.3lb, 1280×800…but you’re going to pay for the fact that it’s a tablet (as in, the base price is more than $2K).

  16. Actually, the Macbook Air is 3 pounds, so it doesn’t meet the first criteria. Display is 1280×800. Given the specialized hardware, though, I suspect getting Linux running on it would be a huge chore. But maybe that makes it more desirable?

    Besides, what better way for randall to troll mac users than to show up to conferences and such with an MBA and when asked be all, “Actually, I’m running gentoo.”

  19. Crossposted from lj:
    The HP mini 2140 is the best I’ve found – it’s a 10″ laptop that starts at 2.6lb and has the option of an “HD” display, which is 1,366×768. Unfortunately, the HD option isn’t available yet. I’m hearing 1-6 months on that. If you go that way, it’s available with SuSE and FreeDOS.

    The upside is that for (I think) another half lb, you can put in a six cell battery and get an 8.5 hour battery life (HP’s numbers, not mine).

  21. And for all the Dells being suggested — I actually thought the one Dell ultraportable I looked at was really pretty, but it didn’t have the screen. Of the models you’re suggesting, are any of them really under 2.5 lbs? I’m not finding that, though I can’t look at all right now.

    The Sony P thing is extremely intriguing. Possibly even enough to get me past the “Sony” issue.

  22. I’m currently posting this from a Thinkpad x200s. I absolutely adore it. It’s incredibly light (unless you get the 9-cell battery, which I did, and though it provides me with >9 hours without wifi, or ~5.5 hours with wifi, the battery weighs almost as much as the computer itself, so you may want to go with the 6-cell), has the best screen ever (LED, 1440×900), and if you trick it out right, you can get a CPU with 6MB of cache so you’ll never have to flush firefox again.

    This thing is like a dream come true. The only caveat is that it’s too small to have a trackpad, so you’re stuck with the trackpoint/nipple/clit mouse (which I prefer, but you might not).

  24. I’m not sure what Dell’s current lineup is, but I have had several of their ultra-lights, and found them to be extremely durable.

    I usually pick up used ones from my employer’s “loaner” pool (minimal usage, cheap!), and I think Dell’s X1 would match your req’s. It’s a widescreen, and it’s close to your ideal weight (at 2.7 lb – I have a minor disability that makes me hyper-aware of how much all my daily stuff weighs…). If they don’t make them anymore, you might consider a lightly used one, or one from the Dell warehouse site.

  25. Hmmm. Just poked around a bit – the X1 with the smaller battery is actually only 2.5 lb, and its resolution is 1280×768… but they don’t seem to carry them anymore, even in the Dell outlet. So probably not, unless you are willing to buy a used one.

  26. It’s good to hear I’m not the only person with such views – my much-loved Fujitsu P2110 is 5 years old and is so well-used that several keycaps have their legends worn off, and one even has a hole worn through it. There are some nice Sony machines (including one with, iirc, 1600×900 in 8″), but they’re Sony, so they’re not just expensive, they’re evil too.

    I shall look forward to comparing notes with you in Limerick!

    cjb

  27. My wife loves her 13″ macbook, though that might be a bit heavy for you. She’s dual-booting os-x and Linux, and both work like a dream on the base config. Durable little bastard, as well — the new unibody ones are even moreso.

    I’ve heard good things about the Toshiba Portege series as well.

  28. the Dell Inspiron 12s are 2.7 lbs … almost 2.5. Considering how the netbook fad has been going (steadily larger, but still light), it’s only a matter of time before someone hits your specs.

    When I get a new laptop it will probably be a Dell with at least a 2.0 GHz processor and under 3 lbs … if I could get one with a square screen rather than a widescreen, I would.

  29. The HP 2140 with a nice Intel Atom under the hood instead of a Via C7 in the 2133. It same nice screen resolution.

  32. My graphics professor actually touched on the high-DPI display issue yesterday. The reason displays aren’t generally more than 175 PPI or so is because of human physical limitations. As he recounted, the IBM T221 monitor was 204 PPI, and a magnifying glass was needed to see all the detail it could display. Density at that rate just becomes a waste of money if you’re just expecting normal use.

    Printers need higher DPI in order to display colors correctly, so this probably throws off our understanding of DPI. As for the cell phones, I’m guessing they expect to have their product held closer to the face than desktop or laptop monitors, in which case higher PPI would make more sense. (Also, software designers are probably used to working with larger numbers of pixels — of course, this is the big problem if you’re asking for “more pixels” when you really mean “more screen space, please”.)

  36. I would suggest the 13.3 MacBook Pro. It’s 2 pounds heavier than you’d like, but has the screen resolution, small footprint and is just a fantastic device. I dual boot it with Windows Vista and it is by far teh fastest Windows machine I’ve ever owned.

  37. Another vote for the X200s… I don’t have one myself, but I’ve handled one and they’re deceptively small – the bezel may be annoying after the X61, but it’s not huge, and it fits the weight requirement with the 3-cell (and probably the 6-cell).
    The screen is 1440×900 if you get the nice WLED one, seems excellent to me.
    I was going to buy during the recent 55%-off sale here, but decided to stick with my eee for another year :P

  38. I played with the Sony P at a SonyStyle store and while the screen is amazing, I just wasn’t happy with the dimensions. The width vs depth was just kind of awkward to me. YMMV, though.

  41. HP 2510p. I have one and love it. It is slightly heavier than your optimum (2.8 lb) but I don’t find that a problem (the PSU is also relatively light to compensate).

  42. Randall I had same challenge — I had my Lifebook P1510 for a while and loved it, but it slowed down horribly and nothing would make it faster. I wanted a little bit better screen resolution this time, and powerful enough to play with photoshop on it. I really looked a lot and I don’t think there’s anything out there. I ended up compromising on the size and weight for power — I got a Sony Vaio Z that’s 3 and a half pounds and has a 13 inch screen. It’s nice and light but not that small.

    But I agree with previous posters, if you’re going to go larger and are ok with Mac, I would get the Macbook Pro, all the ratings etc really seem to point to it.

  45. Still love my Fujitsu P7120 I got off eBay. Upgraded to 2GB RAM (and soon SSD!), 1280×768, 6-10 hr battery life (7800 mAh primary + 2300 mAh drive bay), and the always-taken-for-granted-option: no fan.

  46. My vote goes towards the HP Mini 2140… 10.1″ screen @ 1366×768 = 155.16 DPI screen, I have a Lenovo T61P, running a 15.4″ screen @ 1920×1200 = 147.02 DPI… I’m not sure I’d want to go with any higher DPI, past 150, I think you need to increase the font sizes to allow you to see what you are doing at a distance.

    It has a 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor, so common in notebooks these days. It comes with 1GB or RAM, upgradable to 2GB, nuff said.

    The battery life is beyond decent too, the 6 cell rated at 8 hours 30min with HDD, 10 hours with SSD.

    It is a little heavy at 3.4 lbs including the power supply… 3.0 lbs without the PSU, its full aluminium casing and high quality keyboard certainly dont help that weight, but give it more durability by far. I think the 2140′s build quality would stand up to the abuse you are bound to give it.

    Hell, after writing this… I want to buy one D:

    Looking forward to seeing what you get.

  47. I’d recommend against a Dell, for a couple reasons. I’m using a 3.5 year old Inspiron 700m, which meets your resolution requirements, with a 12.9 inch screen, but probably doesn’t meet the weight requirements (this became apparent when carrying with a calculus book in the same backpack). Granted, it isn’t very young, but it is not holding up as well as expected. I like the size and capability, but after a year or two it started feeling really cheap. Speakers stop working due to a design flaw (they’re in the lid, and a very weak wire in the hinge gets stressed every time you open it). Also, last time I looked for a replacement from Dell, the only one they had that would be significantly better cost significantly more than this laptop. Honestly, I don’t think you’re going to find an acceptable replacement right now that isn’t used.

  48. The Dell Latitude E4200 fits the specifications without breaking the bank, although it doesn’t look quite as nice as some of the other stuff that was suggested.

  49. Is the MacBook Air really too big? It’s only 3 lbs; I have never heard anybody say “man, the MacBook Air is just too heavy”. On the contrary, I’ve heard nothing but praise for how light it is.

    JohnTheBastard: Intel Macs can run Windows, so I would be surprised if you couldn’t get Linux running on one without much difficulty.

  50. Whelp, its a bit older, but there’s the Asus U1E

    Mass: 1 kg (which is like 1/4 of a cat)
    Display: 11.1″ 1368*768

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