school has started, and i am left feeling like i need a laptop to cope with the work that i have to do this year. and for a senior student like me with a thesis involving manipulating multimedia programs, i pretty much have a concrete idea of what i want:
1. 12.1" display - this means that it won't be such a pain to lug around school, since i don't plan on leaving it anywhere, not even in my locker.
2. intel centrino 1.4 GHz processor - anything less is shitty (pardon my language), especially when you're working with flash and stuff like that. besides, this means that besides being fast (it's equivalent to a 2.4 P4), it also won't heat up so quickly, which is what Athlon, its cheaper counterpart, does.
3. a dvd combo drive - do i need a reason? ok, ok. so i can watch my pirated DVD movies. fine! you caught me!
4. built in wi-fi capabilty - since the school went wi-fi as are many other places, around the city, this is going to come in very handy. the built in ones are more stable than the USB or PC Card variety, and it's more practical to buy it together anyway.
the negotiables:
video adapter:
i prefer the ATI Radeon 9000 (at the very least sana) 128Mb, more than anything else. this would give me enough juice to edit videos! however, this is negotiable, since i can do it in my desktop. i don't have a pressing need to edit videos on the spot, so i don't see this as a major drawback. i'm just... wistful.
HDD Memory:
the standard 40Gb would be preferrable, but i can take it down as far as 20. again, this is because i can just transfer anything i need to keep on my desktop or else just burn it and archive it! the problem is that i won't be able to put as much programs in it as i want if i go for 20. so maybe i have to hitch up my minimum to 30? well, i probably should, especially if i have to store any videos and pictures that i need to use for projects.
the hunt!
although it sounds easy when you have a definite criteria already, it's apparently not common for 12.1" notebooks to have both centrino and ATI. i've scouted the brands, and although quite a few have centrino on the 12 inchers, none--and i mean NONE--have ATI onboard. they usually have the intel extreme graphics and similar others, but no ATI. i can have ATI if i am willing to take a 14-incher, but ... that's the whole point of a laptop, isn't it?! i know 14 inches isn't really a lot to take, but it's a long way from 12, believe me.
in the process of my search, i have seen some pretty cool stuff, like sony's funky new VGN-U50. this baby is a bit awkward, but the size just blows your mind. you've gotta see it to believe it. it has a 5.0" SVGA TFT display and a 20Gb hard disk. however, it operates on a 900MHz celeron processor. the thing is, this baby rocks in mobility and portability--you can take it out of it's cradle (which connects you to a foldable keyboard) and use it tablet PC style. not powerful enough for much multimedia and you have to buy a CD drive separately, but if portability is what you need, then this is IT. i mean, it packs everything a laptop does except that it comes in something around twice the size of a large PDA (boxy, i know). the screen is so small, however, that you have to keep scrolling to see the whole screen. however, you have to give credit to sony for the effort. a little refinement in design is all it needs for it to be an absolute knockout. and oh yeah, i recommend a diet too, it needs a lot of slimming!
another sony product that caught my eye is the PCG-U1, which somehow reminds me of the sony clie PEG-UX50. it has a 6.4 inch XGA TFT display (not much bigger that the U50, huh?) and runs on 867MHz crusoe TM5800 and a 20Gb hard disk. not much juice there, for sure, but if all you need is to type some papers and surf the net, then i say "why not, choc nut?!" unfortunately, i have to say "no" to this because, simply, it does not fit my needs (i wish it did, though). it has ATI Radeon, yes, but with only 8Mb to work with, it just won't fly. besides, it doesn't have wi-fi built in (although there is a PC Card slot...). the biggest tempation, though is the size and the weight (0.82 kg!!!).
fujitsu's P1120 was also a tempation in the portability category, as it has an 8.9" widescreen LCD monitor and weights 0.9kg. it runs on practically the same processor as the U1. it wins over it, however, by having wi-fi built in and a 30Gb hard disk drive and it's cheaper than the U1 even though it has better features. and that's sony's problem. they make beautiful hardware, but what's inside doesn't compete well with its peers. you'd have to be a big fan of sony (which i am, but you don't see me wasting any money on their laptops) to fall for their designs.
the prey!
after having described some of the things that i wish i had enough money to just buy without them meeting most of my requirements, i was able to narrow it down to two contenders: the ASUS S5 and Twinhead's Efio! E12B. Both meet my minimum requirements (although Twinhead's display is XGA) and are matched in practically every way. the catch? the S5 is priced at PhP90,288 but has a slimmer, sleeker look and is only 1.35kg. the E12B, at only PhP69,888, is not as pretty with a rather industrial look -- not sleek at all, but only weighting in at 1.8kg. it's not that big a difference, but their looks say it all.
my problem now is vanity versus frugality. oh momma! that's more than PhP20,000 to spend for looks and a little extra weight! no matter what i decide, however, i'm in good hands, for sure.
