small laptop

[soboyle www.oboylephoto.co]

Looking for recommendations on a small laptop to use on the road for file

reviewing, web design, perhaps a little photoshop work, but the emphasis is on

small and light and cheap.

My current favorite is the Dell 640M/E1405 for size, weight and price, about

$750 w/widescreen 1440x900 res truelife.

 

This isnt supposed to be a photoshop laptop, but a portable machine that

allows review, archiving onto cd, and webdesign work.

Any other contenders out there that are worth a look @ about 5-6 pounds?

[tobiasfeltus]

inevitably, Apple will always have something lighter and with about twice the battery life on offer. Also they come with photo review/archive/burning software out of the box.

 

t

[bobatkins]

Of course if you have photoshop on your PC and want to put it on the laptop, you'll have to buy it again if you get a Mac - or try to run some sort of Windows emulator.

 

That fact that most of my photo software won't run on a Mac is what made me rule out an Apple laptop.

 

Take a look a the Acers. Seem like decent value.

[soboyle www.oboylephoto.co]

I'm going to stick to a windows machine since everything I have is windows based. I'm currently looking at the xps m1210, more money than the e1405, but I really like the size, nice 12.1 screen, 4 pounds, dvd burner. about $1300

Any other suggestions for competing notebooks this size?

[frank_skomial]

Most all latest models of laptops would be sufficient.

 

I would make sure that the USB is compliant to version 2.0 High-Speed, and do not settle for USB 2.0 Full Speed.

 

If you get it with USB 2.0 High-Speed, your DVD recorder could be an external unit, and the laptop can be smaller and less expensive. $750 sounds low - I am not sure if you get the widescreen and resolution for this price. Perhaps 1 GB of RAM is something that you could use.

[paul_viapiano]

I have the Dell 700m...smallest and lightest I've seen without getting into the super expensive Sony VAIO models. Also, very good prices on them...and don't forget to check out the Dell Outlet on their web site, great prices on undelivered or refurbished items.

[soboyle www.oboylephoto.co]

Paul

Thanks for the suggestion on the 710M, I just purchased a refurbished one from Dell, nice deal, saved myself many hundreds $$over the xps 1210, which is nice, but at double the price not worth it.

[photo_smith]

"Of course if you have photoshop on your PC and want to put it on the laptop, you'll have

to buy it again if you get a Mac - or try to run some sort of Windows emulator.

That fact that most of my photo software won't run on a Mac is what made me rule out an

Apple laptop".

 

Actually that's no longer true. All new Apple laptops come with Intel CPU's and you no

longer need to run under emulation.

In fact you can Just run XP on a Mac Laptop natively.

here:

http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/

[JeffOwen]

I know it's not a laptop but I use an Archos with a 80Gb memory and has a large viewing screen for it's size. I take raw and small jpg on my 20D and use the Archos to store (as a backup) and review device. It has a long battery live and is small enough to put in my jacket pocket. I wait until I get home to do any Photoshop work.