Ultra Portable Options

I’m still keen on getting an ultra portable or nettop, netbook, webbook – whatever you call them.

I’ve decided it’ll have to have;

• xp or linux (preferably XP although i could buy the linux version cheaper and install XP myself if i wanted 😈 )
• 1gb RAM
• Processor not too important.. any ‘Intel Atom’ would do the job.
• Min 80gb hard-drive (i need my space and peace of mind that i can download anything)
• Integrated webcam
• Integrated bluetooth
• Integrated SD slot
• 6 hours minimum battery life – the more the merrier
• Screen size – below 12″, nothing lower than 9″

Currently, i can’t buy a laptop with the above specs, even though some now exist. Here’s the options i’m considering, although i’ll not actually be buying one of these for another couple of months, i might even wait until the new year to see what sort of netbooks are on the horizon but at the minute, here’s what i could get;

MSI Wind U100

10″ screen with a 1.6GHz Intel Atom and 1 gig of RAM. Has the camera + bluetooth. Around 5 hour battery life. The U120 is due out in December which means it’ll probably hit the shores here around December 2010 😉 At the minute though the U100 comes in at about €400.

Acer Aspire One

My Acer Ferrari served me well for over 3 years and the Acer Aspire One is definitely worth a look. It starts off at around €300 but you only get 8gb storage. The 120gb version with 1gb RAM costs about €330. It lacks bluetooth and the screen is a tad small at 8.9″ but it does have an SD reader. It’s also a bit heavier than the MSI wind at 1.26kg. Battery life is around 3 hours.

Asus Eee PC 1000

These babies start off at around €200 and go all the way up to €450. Similar to the MSI and Acer One but weighs in at 1.45kg. It does, however boast up to 7 hours of battery life. There’s also newer versions on the way. The S101 for example weighs 1kg and has all the features i’m looking for bar the large hard drive.

Dell Mini 9

Starts out at €349. Again, similar to the rest, but has slower RAM. It does have an SD card reader though. 4 hour battery life.

So there’s choice out there… the battery life is a huge factor for me. I hate having to charge things regularly whether it’s phones, laptops or cameras. I like to be able to take them with me fully charged and not have to worry about whether or not they’ll need to be charged before i get home. Being able to take a laptop to college with no charger would cut down on weight, wires and encourage me to use it more.

That’s the whole point of me gettig one – to turn not so productive time in to productive time. The faster and easier it is for me to whip out a laptop, the more likely i am to do so during those 10 minutes between classes.