Top 5 notebooks for frequent flyers
Travelers come in all shapes and sizes. From tourist bloggers to business professionals, the computing needs of a frequent flyer are as varied and personal. However, one factor which is important to them all is the portability of their laptops. Gone are the days of lax baggage allowances. With sky-high fuel prices, some airlines are even charging check-in luggage by weight to recoup costs. Hence, you'll want to keep your packing as light as possible.
But the heft of a frequent flyer notebook should be equally matched by a long battery life. Not all long-haul flights in economy offer charging points if you need to rush that presentation. Moreover, many have experienced delays and missed connections at the airport which could have been made a little more bearable if you had a laptop for entertainment or writing a quick blog entry. Here are our selection for those among you who often fly the friendly skies.
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Apple MacBook Air (Core 2 Duo processor 1.6GHz, 2GB, 13.3-inch TFT)
CNET Asia rating: 7.7 out of 10
The good: Incredibly thin yet surprisingly sturdy; new touchpad gesture controls are very useful; remote optical drive makes living without a built-in drive much easier.
The bad: Very limited connectivity; slower than other MacBooks; SSD hard-drive option is ridiculously expensive and standard hard drive is small; battery is not replaceable.
The bottom line: The design is revolutionary, but Apple's MacBook Air will appeal to a smaller, more specialized audience than the standard MacBook, thanks to a stripped-down set of connections and features.
It's also possibly the only ultraportable with a generous 13.3-inch display. The MacBook Air suits the needs of those who need the strong multimedia features in iLife.
Great for: Photographers; designers; socialites.
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MSI Wind (Intel Atom N270 processor 1.6GHz; 2GB)
CNET Asia rating: 8.8 out of 10
The good: Large screen; excellent keyboard; value for money.
The bad: Average battery life; no integrated 3G.
The bottom line: The MSI Wind is arguably the best Netbook on the market. It's stylish, it's easy to type on and it's quick. The wireless connectivity could have been better and the standard battery life is relatively poor, but these are issues you can get around since some vendors add an extra six-cell (4-5 hours uptime). With that in mind, this device comes highly recommended.
Great for: Bloggers; writers; students; budget users.
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Panasonic ToughBook CF-W7 (Core 2 Duo U7500 Processor 1.06GHz, 1GB RAM)
CNET Asia rating: 7.1 out of 10
The good: Slimmed-down design; low starting price; high-end extras are available, including HDMI and touch-sensitive media control buttons.
The bad: Far from attractive; pricey compared to ordinary laptops.
The bottom line: The Panasonic ToughBook CF-W7 is great for anyone who's prone to breaking things. It's by no means unbreakable, but it'll withstand more punishment than most users will be able to inflict upon it.
Great for: Adventure travelers; professionals in semi-hazardous environments like construction.
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Sony VAIO VGN-TZ38GN/X (Core 2 Duo U7700 Processor 1.33GHz, 2GB RAM)
Outlook
The new 11.1-inch VAIO TZ series is Sony's premium ultraportable equipped with an optical drive under its petite body. Weighing just over 1kg and coupled with an impressive uptime of over 12 hours (18 hours using the optional high-capacity cell), frequent travelers will have no issues making the compromise between its smaller keyboard and sheer mobility factor. If techies were to nitpick, they would point out that the costly VAIO TZ series went with the last-generation Intel 945 chipset instead of the latest Intel platform. The key difference is the integrated graphics solution of the latter is more powerful with DirectX 10 compatibility. The VGN-TZ38GN variant is an update of the VGN-TZ17GN with a better processor and 48GB SSD instead of conventional magnetic storage.
Great for: Business professionals; socialites.
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ThinkPad X61s (Core 2 Duo Processor L7300 1.4GHz, 1GB RAM)
CNET Asia rating: 8 out of 10
The good: Solid performance, thanks to the latest Core 2 Duo processor; extremely portable design; excellent keyboard; fingerprint reader; easy-to-use ThinkVantage utility; lengthy battery life with optional extended battery.
The bad: Lacks built-in optical drive; standard-aspect display feels outdated.
The bottom line: The ThinkPad X61s provides excellent dual-core performance in a lightweight, compact package that's still comfortable to use. It is also the only one in this list to use a full-powered Core 2 Duo processor.
Great for: Business professionals; power users.
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