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90

Lean Up-to-date (only) Ultraportable concentrating on size & weight

90 points posted to Latitude products by bretta May 21

The E-Series looks great - but please give us a couple of thinner and lighter models in the 13" - 15" screen size *without* internal optical drive, VGA, DVI, PCMCIA/ExpressCard and Firewire; the idea being minimal size and weight (along with sufficient power, of course).

Keep DisplayPort, at least 2 USBs, eSATA ('til USB 3.0 is ready) and give us solid processing including at least P8400 & P8600. If there's room left over somewhere, include a small SSD (1.8"?) as an optional second drive (that's one of the few 'extras' I'm fine with). I assume it'll have built-in wireless and I couldn't care less about GPS (I hope I'm not paying much in dollars or bulk for it).

I think of this as an updated version of my favorite laptop; a ~2002 Latitude X200. And no docking station, please; just an external optical drive. Thanks. (My $.02)

bretta
May 21		 Jervis961: Any chance of getting you to expound a bit on why you wouldn't want Dell buyers to have the option of buying a Latitude that's thinner & lighter (read smaller) than exists so far, please? (Well, than has existed since X200, which is *still* thinner/lighter than ~98% of laptops now,)
echoleaf
May 21		 I just got my wife a Thinkpad x41 and I would want one myself if it didn't have a ULV cpu. Other than that, it's an outstanding laptop/tablet pc. I wouldn't mind seeing something similar from Dell, without the price tag of the XT.
winoffice
May 21		 I would almost agree with the idea, except:
1. Why just 13-15"? I think that "ultraportable" should include 12.1".
2. It must have an internal optical drive.
bretta
May 22		 Yeah, Echoleaf... If I can't get it from Dell - I've bought nothing but Optiplex and Latitide since '97 - I'll get it elsewhere... that seems a pity. But I just looked at an X41 review, dated May, '05! Surely there's much better Thinkpads around now(?)

Well, WinOffice, I wouldn't care if you wanted smaller or larger - add them in to the suggestion if you wish - but personally I find my 12" X200 a little restrictive nowadays and I'd never want to lug around a ~17".

But I'm curious - just what do you use optical for? I download almost all software, I've done backups to servers since I've had a laptop, I don't do games (it *is* a business laptop), don't care about 15" movies (and I notice Netflix is now streming movies for you), and wouldn't likely do these on the road anyway. Why wouldn't you just buy the (now) 100% of other Dell mobiles if you wanted an optical drive? (That's where most of the savings will come from for thinness.) Do you always demote ideas not having exactly 100% of what *you* want (as per your frequent other demotions)?
bretta
May 27		 N.B.: I can be swayed... I just looked at the ThinkPad X300 and learned that, critically, the (very thin - 7mm) DVD burner can be replaced with an additional battery. This is OK, but if they were easily swappable, would even be preferable! 10 hours+ unplugged, indeed! Of note, the X300 form factor is almost identical to my 2002 Latitude X200 (with a huuuge increase in capability, of course).
winoffice
May 27		 Bretta: Well, I use optical drives for many reasons. I am not comfortable with downloading software, some of my backups are of software (and many of my other backups are also on optical media), I do not use games or movies either way. I might be able to use a laptop without an optical drive, but it still would be a big plus (for me) if the option was available. 13.3" is okay, but as far as I know 12.1" laptops are lighter. 15" is more of a mid size laptop than an ultraportable.
bretta
May 27		 Interesting, WinOffice... I was expecting to hear that you were a gamer. Given we're talking about *builtin* optical, I see an implication that you do these away from one or two prime locations where an external drive could be. I don't think I've ever loaded software on the road (though one could still use an ISO file without an optical drive if you were on a network) and I'd certainly never back software up on the road. And even if I did backups via optical, I'd use a flash drive on the road - which I'd carry whether or not I had optical, just for ease of use. Different strokes. Worth demoting? Hmmm.

Re 15", I'd hazard there aren't any standard definitions of 'ultraportable' (many use wieght - say, under 4 lbs.) and I'd hazard we'll get down to 3 lbs. / ~1/2 thick for 14+" screens within not too long (SSDs and OLED will help, plus Nehalem's onboard graphics and more). So I'm kind of promoting the idea that ultraportables could include 'wide-ultraportable' ('cause that's what I'd personally like to see as an option). My take is that if it'd fit in the top part of my briefcase much like a legal-size folder... 'ultraportable' applies.
winoffice
May 27		 As far as I know, "ultraportable" means laptops that measure less than 14" in screen size.
bretta
May 27		 Cite, please? I've seen lots of places with varying specs (again, often dealing with weight - e.g. <2 KG - and many times having multiple criteria), but never this one specifically.
winoffice
May 27		 I classify laptops by their screen size. Ultraportable is 12.1" and 13.3" (more precisely, laptops that are less than 14" in screen size). Mid-size is 14.1" and 15.4" (between 14" and 17"). Desktop-like notebooks are 17"+.
bretta
May 27		 Oh, I see... "As far as I know..." = "I classify...". Kewl. Who knew.... Same with me and everyone else of course, 'cept the classifications are all different. What I said.
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