GearBits

Lightweight Laptops

I'm all about reducing the weight of the stuff I have to carry when travelling, so I just shudder when I think about having to lug my 7-lb. Dell Inspiron with me on trips. That motivation, along with my blog entry Honey, I shrunk the PC, got me to wondering how light I could go and still have access to a full installation of Windows XP and Microsoft Office. Here are some interesting options I turned up.

• Often touted as the standard in sub-notebooks is the Sony Picturebook series (pictured above right). At just over 2 lbs, these little dudes are marvels of engineering. As always, Sony's notebooks have terrific screens -- I just wish Sony took better care of its customers when they have problems.

• In the not-yet-available category is this Vulcan Mini-PC (shown to the right). It's supposed to meet up with standard laptop specs, but feature an 800x480 5.8" screen and weigh in at about a pound. Gizmodo suggests, and I might agree, that the keyboard looks really crummy -- let's hope the final product is more finger-friendly than the mock-ups appear.

• Another amazing lightweight notebook is the Fujitsu Lifebook P1000. This has the standard notebook physical form factor, but also includes a WXGA touch-screen, and all for 2.2 lbs. Pretty impressive! If I could fold the screen 360' around, so that the screen was on one side and the keyboard the opposite, that would make for a pretty keen Tablet PC-esque setup. Granted, cooling would be a challenge since you just smothered the bottom of the notebook with the back of the screen, but if it runs cool enough, this should be possible (and it would get rid of that big ugly hinge on so many of tthe convertible Tablet PCs).

Let me know if there's a micro-notebook on your wishlist (or better yet, already in your bag).