Am I seriously being forced to buy a Macbook air?!

[ViviTheMage]

Yeah, the x200 is a bit older...but :

• 12.1" TFT display with 1440x900 (WXGA+) resolution (LED backlight) 250 nits

 

[snuuggles]

I was in the same boat as you ... I bike around with my x220, sucker lasts 13~ hours with the 9 cell and an i7 2420m.

I can DEAL with the resolution, because of the epic battery life, usb3, 12.5", full keyboard, IPS panel....and man, my SSD runs very fast in this little guy.

Yeah, I guess that all those positives are awesome, but things I don't personally care about or need; I really only need it for 4-5 hours per day max. One thing I was considering, actually, was seeing if I could *downgrade* the t420s battery to something lighter, lol. But now I'm really being rediculous, I know.

 

[ViviTheMage]

Yeah, I guess that all those positives are awesome, but things I don't personally care about or need; I really only need it for 4-5 hours per day max. One thing I was considering, actually, was seeing if I could *downgrade* the t420s battery to something lighter, lol. But now I'm really being rediculous, I know.

You have a set of requirements, stick to them ... resolution was maybe in my top 5....I wanted high battery life, usb3, i7, and IPS panel...before I cared about resolution a whole lot. Do I wish it was higher ... yes, but the laptop is just amazing for what I wanted.

 

[Griffinhart]

Asus announced the UX21 this week. No idea what the resolution of the screen is, but It's an ultra thin laptop with an i7 processor 2.1 pounds (lighter than the Macbook Air), USB 3

It should be out sometime this year. (September is the rumor)

 

[ViviTheMage]

Asus announced the UX21 this week. No idea what the resolution of the screen is, but It's an ultra thin laptop with an i7 processor 2.1 pounds (lighter than the Macbook Air), USB 3

It should be out sometime this year. (September is the rumor)

http://www.warungdigital.com/asus-u...the-light-and-thin-the-macbook-air-killer.htm

1,366 x 768

 

[snuuggles]

You have a set of requirements, stick to them ... resolution was maybe in my top 5....I wanted high battery life, usb3, i7, and IPS panel...before I cared about resolution a whole lot. Do I wish it was higher ... yes, but the laptop is just amazing for what I wanted.

Yeah, at first I wavered on the resolution thing, but you are right - I'll stick to it and see what I end up with

Thanks for your input on the x220, good to know it's working out for you.

 

[hmsrolst]

I notice both the X200 and the X200s have been mentioned. I like the "s" much better, and 1440x900 is not available on the non-s. And even some of the s's might not be 1440x900.

 

[zerogear]

I <3 my 1080p 13" vaio z.

 

[ghoster]

I <3 my 1080p 13" vaio z.

I jel u.

 

[Ninjahedge]

Snug, just a drive by comment here.

Unless you are doing CPU intensive multitasking (like video conversion, structural analysis, or folding) you REALLY do not need much CPU power.

HD and Memory will make things run much faster than the CPU in most cases.

The only other thing I would suggest to do a backup of your old machine and do a clean install. See what happens to the performance. If you see it jump up, then you know it is bloatware, not CPU that is your problem, and any machine will have similar problems after a time (apple less so simply because you can't INSTALL some of it w/o having a virtual windows environment...).

I am not jumping into the whole Apple battle, but I just hope you find what you need.


BTW guys, 5lbs is nothing in a backpack, but why carry an extra 2-3 lbs if you really do not NEED to? Don't answer, just a rhetorical question, but think about it a bit. If he CAN go smaller, why not? (IF he can...)

 

[zerogear]

Exactly, 5 pound is nothing in a backpack until you have to carry said backpack for the entire day/traveling. Which is why I thought Vaio Z is worth it. When you carry around photography equipment, any amount of weight you can reduce is worth it.

 

[smackababy]

Exactly, 5 pound is nothing in a backpack until you have to carry said backpack for the entire day/traveling. Which is why I thought Vaio Z is worth it. When you carry around photography equipment, any amount of weight you can reduce is worth it.

Except 5lbs vs 4lbs isn't a noticeable difference.

 

[snuuggles]

Snug, just a drive by comment here.

Unless you are doing CPU intensive multitasking (like video conversion, structural analysis, or folding) you REALLY do not need much CPU power.

HD and Memory will make things run much faster than the CPU in most cases.

The only other thing I would suggest to do a backup of your old machine and do a clean install. See what happens to the performance. If you see it jump up, then you know it is bloatware, not CPU that is your problem, and any machine will have similar problems after a time (apple less so simply because you can't INSTALL some of it w/o having a virtual windows environment...).

I am not jumping into the whole Apple battle, but I just hope you find what you need.


BTW guys, 5lbs is nothing in a backpack, but why carry an extra 2-3 lbs if you really do not NEED to? Don't answer, just a rhetorical question, but think about it a bit. If he CAN go smaller, why not? (IF he can...)

Thanks Ninja, yeah that's true, I actually would love to just do a clean install of win 7 on an ssd with the x-340 I currently have. I suspect I could go another couple of years that way... only problem is that this thing was not made to be opened easily, and while I'm completely comfortable with desktop hardware, I've never opened a laptop.

But shoot, maybe it's time to try, since I'm not seeing exactly what I'd like out there...

Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[Ninjahedge]

NP.

I did not even THINK of the SSD.

BTW:

http://deals.woot.com/deals/details...sata-ii-internal-solid-state-drive-after-r#10

$1/gig after MIR.

Only 64G though, so if this is ALL you have on it, it may not be enough....

 

[Zen0]

Here's what I want:

- light and thin. I bike around and every pound/inch matters
- fast enough for multiple windows/applications open w/o crawling (eg, no netbooks)
- higher than 1360x768 resolution
- ideally with ssd but this is not required

So far:

- x220, screen too low rez, same with x1 and samsung series 9 whenever that comes out
- t420 too heavy (I think)
- t420s still kind of heavy for the price, sheesh!

I'm at a loss for other contenders. 12/13/14" is fine, but the resolution is pretty important to me - what is the deal with the PC side?!? It's honestly crazy that lenovo and samsung can't provide a 1-to-1 feature competitor with the air.

Or did I miss something obvious?

Yes, you're missing the new Macbook Air coming out in a few months.

 

[snuuggles]

Only 64G though, so if this is ALL you have on it, it may not be enough....

Actually, I hardly store anything on the drive itself, but I was actually thinking I have a x25-g2 80gig drive I was considering upgrading out of on my desktop, could throw that in. I just need 100% confirmation that drive will fit, searching for that kind of specific information has been tough. If anyone has actually swapped a SSD into a x340, I could use some basic pointers (size of OEM drive, driver/installation issues, whatever)

Yes, you're missing the new Macbook Air coming out in a few months.

Yeah, I may just get the SB version when it comes out, and load win 7 on half the drive. Who knows, maybe I'll even like OSX.

 

[Silenus]

OP I have found myself in a similar situation as you. I am on the lookout for a new notebook but still can't find quite the perfect thing. In my case my requirement were:
1) 13-14" size, less than 4 pounds. Closer to 3lbs would be better.
2) At least halfway decent display quality. This one is the hardest! I'd like something a little higher than 1366x768 but I'd be willing to take that res IF...it had at least decent color accuracy and contrast.
3) Backlit keyboard
4) < $1300

Those are my hard requirements. Everything else I'd be flexible on. No optical drive is fine. No SSD is fine (I'd add my own anyway). No discrete graphics is fine (i actually prefer intel graphics to keep power down and battery life up).

Heck of a time trying to get all though things at once! In may case about the closest thing so far is actualy a 13" macbook pro. It's a little heavier at 4.5lbs but has a decent screen (16:10 bonus also). The samsung 900 series is actually an even better match (though screen quality is unknown)....but the price is ouch!

 

[Zen0]

OP I have found myself in a similar situation as you. I am on the lookout for a new notebook but still can't find quite the perfect thing. In my case my requirement were:
1) 13-14" size, less than 4 pounds. Closer to 3lbs would be better.
2) At least halfway decent display quality. This one is the hardest! I'd like something a little higher than 1366x768 but I'd be willing to take that res IF...it had at least decent color accuracy and contrast.
3) Backlit keyboard
4) < $1300

Those are my hard requirements. Everything else I'd be flexible on. No optical drive is fine. No SSD is fine (I'd add my own anyway). No discrete graphics is fine (i actually prefer intel graphics to keep power down and battery life up).

Heck of a time trying to get all though things at once! In may case about the closest thing so far is actualy a 13" macbook pro. It's a little heavier at 4.5lbs but has a decent screen (16:10 bonus also). The samsung 900 series is actually an even better match (though screen quality is unknown)....but the price is ouch!

Wait for the Macbook Air refresh.

Screen quality is not resolution, I can't believe people don't understand this.

The Macbook Air's screen is absofuckinglutely blow your ass out of the water STUNNING. It has little to do with its resolution, but its display quality, contrast, and brightness.

I had a 13" Air and I loved it, I just never used it that much as a portable so I sold it in anticipation for Sandy Bridge. I'll be waiting to see what the SB 11" Air brings to the table.

 

[Emulex]

400K I7 macbook airs being built..

 

[Puddle Jumper]

Screen quality is not resolution, I can't believe people don't understand this.

The Macbook Air's screen is absofuckinglutely blow your ass out of the water STUNNING. It has little to do with its resolution, but its display quality, contrast, and brightness. .

That's why people keep suggesting the ThinkPad x220, it may not have the highest resolution screen but it does have an IPS panel unlike the Air.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

OP, I take it you don't need a lot of 3D power? Otherwise, the M11x is hard to beat for the price, although it is on the porky side (~4.2lbs).

 

[Zen0]

That's why people keep suggesting the ThinkPad x220, it may not have the highest resolution screen but it does have an IPS panel unlike the Air.

And an IPS panel doesn't instantly mean it's better than a TN one. Comparing an iPad's IPS panel for example, is fairly subpar compared to an excellent desktop TN.

I haven't seen any reviews on the X220 or seen it in person so I can't comment on that one.

 

[Emulex]

IPS is meant for low nit color gamut reproduction with laggy screen response. They came up with 6-bit E-IPS to combat the high MS transition time but that then puts you back at 6-bit which is the reason to go IPS.

so yeah TN+super bright can be better for some things compared to IPS+slow depending on your usage type.

 

[vbuggy]

One of the issues with the Macbook Air is the build quality, or should I say the engineering quality. The design ensures excellent fit & finish but in terms of materials it's intended for uninformed consumers who automatically think metal = tough, vs actually educated users who know that engineering plastics and magnesium are tougher in terms of how they're used in laptops.

It's worth bearing in mind that as a consequence the Macs are probably the least 'toss it in your bag and forget' computers around, certainly in comparison to other established makes around the same price point for each system. I've lugged around the entire Apple catalog in the last few years and I've yet to come across a system lineup with lower reliability / genuine durability.

The current Macbook Air's screen is marginally less 'stunning' in comparison to the high-end glossy Sony's. The panel is nothing amazing, but it is decent in TN terms. The plastic-fronted glossys are not as bad as the glass glossys when outside, but the Thinkpad's screen does better in all light conditions in terms of general legibility.

I don't know whether you're like me and tick every box in the online order, but the X220's expansion potential and flexibility it affords is a major boon in comparison to the Air, at least for me.

It does ironically end up looking like crap in no time - the finish is really prone to marking, but structurally it is a true 'toss it in the bag' workhorse. Remember also that you can dock it if this is going to be your primary system, which might mitigate your resolution issues. I'd say it's one of your better bets for a true travelling companion, especially as it won't be screaming for fresh air when confronted with something just a tiny bit strenuous like, well, the Air...

... until Sony pulls the Z replacement (finally) out of the bag, that is

 

[Emulex]

just put a speck shell on your air and its good to go. you can put a shell on the sony/lenovo yeah?