Laptops Reviewer

Its sleek, it's small, and available in Red or Black colors to match your designer taste. What is this? Would you believe it's an ultraportable from Lenovo? The IdeaPad U110 is Lenovo's attempt to grab consumer's attention with an ultraportable designed to turn heads. It's everything a business professional would want in an ultra light machine, without the suit and tie conservative look found in its bigger ThinkPad brothers.

IdeaPad U110 Technical Specifications

* Processor Intel Core 2 Duo L7500 1.6 GHz
* Memory 2GB DDR2 RAM
* Harddrive 120GB
* OS Microsoft Windows Vista
* Weight 3 pounds
* Screen 1366 by 768
* Screen resolution 1366x768
* Graphic Card Intel GMA X3100
* Battery Life 3 hours

Product summary

The good: Gorgeous design; lightweight, yet solid construction; sharp screen resolution; comfortable keyboard; ships with two batteries.

The bad: Lacks a built-in optical drive; glossy screen finish sometimes produces annoying reflections; piano finish on keyboard is prone to smudges; fixed configuration can't be customized; no WWAN option.

The bottom line: The 11.1-inch Lenovo IdeaPad U110 is the most beautiful laptop we've seen in years, and behind those good looks is a well-appointed, fairly priced ultraportable. Despite a few minor nitpicks, we recommend the IdeaPad U110 to those who want a lightweight, eye-catching laptop for frequent travel.

It's obvious that the Vaio TZ from Sony has been designed from the ground up with 100% mobility in mind. It looks stunning in its carbon fiber casing and remarkably thin design, and with up to eight hours of battery life, there is very little that discerning road warriors won't appreciate about the TZ.

Sony Vaio TZ Technical Specifications

* Processor 1.33 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo U7700 (Low Voltage)
* Memory 2 GB DDR2
* Harddrive 64 GB SSD (Solid State Drive)
* OS Windows Vista Business
* Weight 2.65 lbs. (1.2 kg)
* Screen 11.1 inches
* Screen resolution 1366x768
* Graphic Card Intel GMA 900
* Battery Life 8 hours

Pros: Has only a 2.6-pound weight, which is considerably lighter than some similarly priced notebooks.Also, this notebook has a 320GB hard drive, which is considerably larger than some similarly priced notebooks.

Cons: Integrated graphics controllers that rely on shared video memory are sometimes an acceptable trade-off for budget-minded users.

Suitability: Suitable for those who consider weight the most important feature.Preserve favorite home movies for future generations by saving them onto DVD with this computer's DVD writer.Includes advanced word processing software -- fine for most serious business or academic document authors.Make your home movies sing by using the bundled video software to edit material uploaded from a digital camcorder.If you have a wireless network at home, wirelessly browse the Internet from any room in your house with this Wi-Fi enabled laptop.

Value: In general, this notebook's features are as expected for this price.However, the average price of ultra compact products with a similar screen size is quite a bit less.

A highly diverse series of business-oriented laptops ranging from tiny 8.9" ultraportables up to more traditional models like the one we're looking at today. The Fujitsu Lifebook 8410 is quite large and heavy for a business laptop with its 15.4-inch frame and 6 pounds (2.7 kg), so those who travel a lot might want to opt for one of the smaller models in the Lifebook lineup. That being said, the 8410 is quite pleasing to the eye with a nice-looking aluminum LCD cover and an overall build that looks solid.

Fujitsu Lifebook 8410 Technical Specifications

* Processor 2.1 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 3 MB L2 Cache, 800 MHz
* Memory 2 GB 667 MHz DDR 2
* Harddrive 120 GB 5,400 rpm SATA
* OS Windows Vista Business
* Weight 6 lbs (2.7 kg)
* Screen 15.4 inches
* Screen resolution 1280x800

Product summary

The good: Interesting design, particularly for a mainstream business laptop; comfortable keyboard; plenty of ports

The bad: Overpriced; so-so battery life.

The bottom line: Although it's a solidly constructed business laptop with an appealing design and decent performance, it's hard to make a case for the Fujitsu LifeBook E8410 because it costs much more than competing 15-inch models.

Although it looks completely different (apart from its measures,) the Lenovo X300 is a direct competitor to the MacBook Air; it's a 13.3" super-slim, business oriented laptop that fits into a standard size interoffice envelope.

Lenovo X300 Technical Specifications

* Processor 1.2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo L7100 (Low Voltage)
* Memory 2 GB 667 MHz DDR2
* Harddrive 64 GB Solid State Drive
* OS Windows Vista Business/Windows XP
* Weight 2.93-3.51 lbs (1.33-1.59 kg)
* Screen 13.3 inches
* Screen resolution 1440x900

Product summary

The good: Extremely thin and light; sleekest ThinkPad yet; built-in DVD burner, plus WWAN, GPS, and wireless USB.

The bad: Solid-state drive comes at a high premium; touch pad's location makes it easy to accidentally graze while typing.

The bottom line: The ThinkPad X300 breaks new ground by packing a broad display, full-size keyboard, and nearly every feature a mobile user needs into a sleek, lightweight case.

I have covered ultra portable laptops before, and like those heftier ones before it, the Portege makes you wonder how many moving parts can be fit in such a lithe frame.

Portege R500 Series: A Wafer-Thin Wonder Technical Specifications

* Processor 1.2-1.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo ULV
* Memory 1 or 2 GB, 667MHz DDR2
* Harddrive 120GB SATA 5400rpm (Optional 64GB SSD)
* OS Windows Vista Business
* Weight 1.72-2.40 pounds (0.8-1 kg)
* Screen 12.1 inches
* Screen resolution 1280x800
* Graphic Card Intel GMA950
* Battery Life 7.5 hours

Product summary

The good: Extremely thin and light laptop; includes solid-state hard drive.

The bad: Fixed configuration; no mobile broadband; expensive external optical drive option; ULV CPU limits performance without seeming to do all that much to extend battery life.

The bottom line: Toshiba's SSD version of the Portege R500 may be the best ultraportable laptop available right now, and it packs in much of what the MacBook Air lacks while weighing nearly half as much.

Value and performance are two factors that appeal to almost every buyer looking for a new notebook, and that's what the 1525 Inspiron offers in abundance.

Dell inspiron 1525 Technical Specifications

* Processor 2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7250, 800MHz FSB
* Memory 2GB DDR2, 667MHz
* Harddrive 120GB 5,400rpm SATA
* OS Windows Vista Home Premium
* Weight 5.9 pounds (2.7 kg)
* Screen 15.4 inches
* Screen resolution 1280x800
* Graphic Card Intel GMA X3100 IGP
* Battery Life 3-3.5 hours

Product summary

The good: Slimmed-down design; low starting price; high-end extras are available, including HDMI and touch-sensitive media control buttons.

The bad: Not as many configuration options as some of Dell's other laptops; plastic construction feels somewhat flimsy; base $499 configuration about as powerful as an abacus.

The bottom line: Taking consumer complaints to heart, Dell updates its mainstream 15-inch laptop with the Inspiron 1525. It's thinner, lighter, and less expensive than its predecessor.