Ultraportable laptops, aka mini laptops or sub notebooks, are a new wave of computers designed for people on the go. These technological newcomers are part of the "smaller is better" mentality when it comes to portable technology. However, is smaller necessarily better? I will look at the pros and cons of these novel devices.
The main positive that mini laptops bring to the table is their size. First, they are obviously smaller and lighter than regular laptops. Normal laptops usually have 14"-17" screens, while mini laptops screens are usually 10.6"-13.3" or under. Thickness is less than 1" for ultraportable laptops versus greater than 1" for all purpose laptops. Normal laptops weigh anywhere from 5.3lbs to 8.5lbs, while mini laptops weigh anywhere from 2.6lbs-4.5lbs. These smaller dimensions of ultraportable laptops make them easier to carry around. Another plus is that battery life is usually greater for ultraportable laptops compared to all purpose laptops.
There are many negatives when looking at ultraportable laptops. First of all, the size of these mini laptops can take some adjusting due to smaller screen size, smaller keyboard, and smaller mouse. Also, in order for these sub notebooks to be compact, hard drive capacity/performance as well as optical drives and other features (e.g. DVD burner) may have to be sacrificed. The other issue with ultraportable laptops are their relatively greater cost. On average, mini laptops cost $1275-$2558 whereas all purpose laptops prices range from $1000-$2314.
All in all, ultraportable laptops might not be the best choice for everyone. However, if you are a business person that is always using your laptop on-the-go, an ultraportable laptop would be the way to go.
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2 comments:
I agree that these ultraportable laptops are a good idea only for a select population. I believe the standard laptop size is not very big or heavy, so the advantage of a slighly smaller, lighter model is modest at best. Hard drive and memory space is usually more important to me, so a smaller laptop that sacrifices these would be hard to justify purchasing. This may be the wave of the future, however, if companies can find ways to offer smaller models without sacrificing the options that are available on the computer itself. I have a regular laptop right now, and love it. The size is small enough for me, and anything much smaller would make it difficult to type. I already have problems sometimes of hitting 2 keys at once, so smaller keys would probably just cause this to be more of a problem.
I also agree that these ultraportable laptops are more appealing to a select population and that sacrificing features is not something I would do. I think that along with on the go business people students who like to have their laptop with them all the time would benefit by having one of these laptops. The extended battery life and light weight are huge when having a laptop in your bookbag for eight hours. The smaller keys and monitor you can get used to if you want to have access to your laptop at all times. If you want to use your laptop at home more often and plan on only carrying it around for short amounts of time then a regular laptop is the better option.
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