Laptop Buyer's Guide: 14-inch and Smaller
by Vivek Gowri on July 19, 2010 12:01 AM ESTGaming Portable: Alienware M11x
This pick is almost a given, but hey, can you blame us? Alienware’s gaming ultraportable has been all the rage since it was unveiled at CES 2010, and for good reason: an overclocked CULV processor and an NVIDIA GT 335M dedicated graphics card in an 11.6”, 4lb frame starting at $799? Yes please!
Now, since then, the familiar Core 2 Duo ULV chip has been replaced with the new Arrandale ULV chips, Optimus has been added, and the pricetag has gone up to $949 (the old C2D model is still available for $799), but the principle behind the M11x remains the same: as much GPU as you can stuff into a 4lb chassis, at as low a price as possible. And given the performance, it’s not a philosophy we can argue with. The GT 335M absolutely screams when compared to basically any other portable notebook, and graphically, this is the most powerful notebook this side of 5.5lbs. So far, so good.
The performance side of the deal only got sweeter when the distinctly not-screaming 1.3GHz C2D was replaced with the new i5/i7 ULV chips. This isn’t to say that the original CULV platform was slow; it was certainly adequate for most tasks and the overclocked version in the original M11x was better still, but it was never a powerhouse and definitely did hold the M11x back in certain games. That goes away for the most part with Arrandale’s dynamic clock speed adjustment that can boost processing frequency to 2.13GHz when needed. And even with all the computing power under the hood, the M11x can still last nearly 8 hours on battery power. Pretty sweet, and certainly worthy of the Silver Editor’s Choice Award we gave it last week.
Which isn’t to say that everything is all and well in the M11x’s world: the styling is polarizing, the build quality and keyboard aren’t anything special, and the lack of Gigabit Ethernet strikes us a bit daft in this day and age. But the biggest issue is the screen. As usual, the panel itself isn’t of particularly high quality, but the bigger problem is that the M11x chassis is easily big enough to handle at least a 12” screen, or a even a 13.3” panel in a pinch. Considering that at 4lbs, it’s about the same size and weight as most 13.3” notebooks, Alienware had no real reason to equip the M11x with just an 11.6” WXGA screen. If they could ship it with a WXGA+ (1440x900 or 1600x900) 13.3” screen, it’d be set. However, these are all nits to pick - it’s still the fastest notebook of it’s size by a long ways.
Alternative #1: Sony VAIO Z series
The Z series from Sony is the only sub 4lb notebook in the same performance range as the M11x. It has standard voltage Core i3/i5/i7 processors and the NVIDIA GT 330M graphics chip, which has less shader cores than the GT 335M (48 vs 72) and a faster clock speed (575MHz vs 450MHz). It also has dual 64GB SSDs in RAID 0 configuration, a high contrast 1600x900 13.1” display, and an integrated DVD burner, all in a 3.04lb package. Also, it carries a neat and tidy $1949 MSRP. Gaming performance is close and general performance is likely far better, but the price is just about double the M11x base price. So, it’s an alternative in that gaming performance will approach the M11x, but it isn’t really a competitor to the M11x in any sense of the word.
Alternative #2: ASUS U30Jc/U33Jc/U35Jc and UL30/50/80Jt
At the same price as the M11x, there is the previously covered ASUS ultraportable lineup, all of which have dedicated graphics cards. Yes, they all share the rather anemic GeForce 310M, but when you’re looking at 4lb laptops that get 10 hours of battery life, any form of dedicated graphics is a plus point. Unfortunately, the GeForce 310M is pretty far from adequate for anything other than older games, so if gaming performance is a high priority, the M11x will still kill all of these.
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DanaG - Monday, July 19, 2010 - link
You also missed the EliteBook 8440w:http://hpfansite.com/hp-elitebook/hp-elitebook-844...
It has all sorts of awesome features, and awesome build quality.
The only bummer: the business-grade laptops are expensive.
VivekGowri - Monday, July 19, 2010 - link
There'll be a lot more on the 8440w later this week. The reason it didn't make the list is because it really isn't a portable-style notebook; it's up near 6 pounds with the larger battery. As a portable workstation, it's okay - rugged, but rather expensive.At the same price, I'd wonder if it wouldn't be a better idea to get a far faster (both CPU and GPU-wise) ENVY 14. At the $1500-ish retail price of my review SKU, you could get yourself the Envy with a quad-core, the HD5650 and like 8GB of RAM...Just something to think about.
seanleeforever - Monday, July 19, 2010 - link
as an actual user of few business laptops for business purpose, i think i might have some valuable opinion to share.as great as Elitebooks are, they are just not where thinkpad is. since I am typing this on my 4 thousand dollar elitebook, i believe my opinion is completely unbiased.
Elitebooks are heavy, so heavy that it becomes a burden to carry around. they use excessive amount of aluminum for fashion NOT for utility. case in point: exactly why do you need aluminum on the palm rest? it looks cool, but it is a pain to use because they are good heat conductor, which means you palm will either be cold (when machine first start up) or hot (when your computer heats up). those shining surface also require much more cleaning or it will look like crap after a week of use.
laptop, for all intention and purposes, is designed to work on the lap when no table is around. Why, oh WHY would most laptop manufacturers design a freaking venting spot on the bottom that could EASILY be covered by soft surfaces? it is like a phone that is designed to greatly reduce its reception when you touch it. Only two computer manufacture got the design right: Apple and Lenovo. look under any thinkpad, you will not see any venting spot that you have to pay special attention to avoid. HP is miles away in this aspect.
volume slide: again, form over function. HP played fancy by putting a touch sensitive volume bar that no one knows how to control . in a thinkpad, you get solid buttons and you know each press counts, in a HP, not so much. it is very tricky because it can be very sensitive one second, and completely ignore to you command the next. it is SUCKS that change the volume on Elitebook will always kick you out of the full screen mode, a MAJOR deal breaker when you do presentation,
track point: those of whom never used track point, you guys are missing something in life. IMO, track point a particularly useful in small laptops because you don't have too much room to play with, you can rest your palm on your computer while navigating the cursor. the track point in a thinkpad is simply the most delightful to use. the track point on the HP, however, is like a last minute design that no one pay any attention to. the track pointer buried in the keys give you no room to fit your finger tip. it is very tough to move around, and the mouse buttons are stone hard that i have to press it with a lot of effort. three mouse buttons made of the same shape and put in the same place that you will always confuse right click with middle click. the software driver to support track pointer is also not there.
ruggedness: the top of the Elitebook is actually make of cheap plastic that is not rugged.
there was once that my elitebook, (stored in the HP carry bag), dropped from my luggage onto the floor. the drop is about 1 meter in height (40 inches) and it broke the plastic piece on the top. This would NEVER happen to a thinkpad where the whole cover is made of Magnesium alloy. in fact, Thinkpad are so strong that I can safely stand on a thinkpad without any concern that my weight will break the LCD. other than Toshiba Toughbook, i have yet to see any other main brand that allow me to do this.
keyboard layout: why would FN keys are smaller than letter keys? why would Page Up and Page DN placed horizontally instead of vertically ( you know, like in any standard keyboard)
if you are a road warrior and your laptop would face accidental drop and abuse, there is no better product than a Thinkpad. they are black, they are ugly, they got no shining parts, no touch sensitive volume controls and fancy LED lights, but they mean business.
before you call i am a thinpad fan boy, knowing that my most experiences computers (business and personal), has all been HP brand.
Chloiber - Monday, July 19, 2010 - link
I have to agree in most points.I've got an older 6910p, which was replaced by the Elitebookseries about 1 or 2 years ago.
The touch volume keys are pretty much unusable. Plus now I got some strange thing that they are lighting up when I press Caps Lock (volume goes up, down, mutes, HP Info Center opens...as if I press every single button).
Track point: unusable. I tried it for a week and it just didn't work. The funniest part: it's broken now (fell off, can't put it back). But I rarely used it.
The MOST annoying part is, as you mentioned, the vent in the bottom. It happens that I am working on my lap or that I am watching some movies while lying in my bed. I tried many things...a small cushion in the middle...no way...a magazine on top of the cushion...nah, not working, still gets hot and loud...
It's not a laptop, it's a "sidetop" O_o
wkeller - Monday, July 19, 2010 - link
Nice article, but I missed a table with all the mobility specs, in particular weight and batterylife, besides screensize and cpu. We have several Ácer 1810T at home and we love them because of the right combination of these 4 dimensions. We never want a heavy laptop with limited batterylife anymore!Zok - Monday, July 19, 2010 - link
While it helps to know what major uses cases are best served by a single laptop (or one alternative), perhaps it'd be beneficial to know what other devices were considered - even without a writeup on them.I say this because, for people who don't drink the Apple haterade, the 13" MBP can provide some pretty sick battery life. I recognize that there are articles dedicated solely to the MBP, but I think it'd be helpful for people to understand where they fit in "with the rest of the pack."
... Or at least mention that they were deficient, which leads me back to my first point.
VivekGowri - Monday, July 19, 2010 - link
Well, the MBP has a Core 2 Duo, integrated G 320M, and 10 hours of battery life. Asus U30Jc has a Core i3, G 310M with Optimus, and the same 10 hours of battery life for $300 cheaper. To be fair, the MBP is built better, has a better display, and has OS X (if that makes a difference to you), but it's older technology for more money....See why there's a problem there?It's not that I don't like it (I nearly bought one) but they're clearly not for everyone and with the above problem with the whole value proposition, I figured it wasn't worth it.
feelingshorter - Monday, July 19, 2010 - link
Its not about haterade but its the fact that Apple has always charged more for their stuff when you get less.Lets take the 13inch MacBook first. Yeah you get the 320M instead of the 310M but the MacBook's 320M can only use up to 250 mb of ram while the 310M uses 512 of the system ram.
To make matters worse, the MacBooks only have 2 gigs of ram in total to begin with. All windows laptops come with 4 gigs at the price range of $1000 with the lone exception of Lenovo ThinkPad (but the ThinkPads are built like tanks). Also the MacBooks weigh in at 4.7lbs, which isn't sub 4lbs. It also uses the older Core 2 Duos instead of the newer i3/i5, which are more powerful yet gives better battery life due to on die graphics.
I compared to the MacBook instead of the Pro b/c $1000 is already a lot. Fine you want to compare the MacBook Pro? Ok you get 4 gigs of ram but hell your graphics card is still the G320M with the same 256 mb limitation. The ram is also the same speed at 1066mhz as in windows ones. It weighs in at 4.5lb which is still not sub 4lbs. Not to mention you still get an abysmal 320gb hard drive. Not that you would use more space but larger hard drives = higher density = faster speeds (b/c were not talking about WD Raptors or anything, just normal drives). And your still on the Core 2 Duo, old technology once again yet paying 1200. You can get soo much more from the options listed in the In this Laptop Buyer's Guide
The fact of the matter is you also only get 2 USB ports whereas most windows laptops come with 3 (i dont know why that is). If i remember, one of the USB ports on the mac isnt even full speed b/c half of it is used for the Bluetooth or Webcam (not sure if this is still true since i last read about it). So once advantage is that you get bluetooth built in but you can easily buy an adapter for like 10 bucks that sticks no more than 3-4mm anyways. But the half powered and half speed USB is bad since sometimes you want to use it to charge your phone or need the full speed for a USB drive.
Ok, you want an i5 MacBook Pro? Lets compare the $2000 MacBook Pro so we can compare it to the HP Envy listed in this Buyer's Guide (note: the cheapest i5 MBP is still 1800 anyways). Weighing in at 5.6 lbs, its still heavier than the HP Envy at 5.25. MBP has 4gb ram at 1066mhz and 500gb hard drive @ 5400 rpm. The Envy as 256gb SSD, which is going to be soo much faster than the MBP. For the $1989 Envy, you also get the i7-720 Quad core, which is faster than the MBP's i5. You also get the ATI 5650 on the Envy, which is again faster than the GT 330M by a good margin. And yes the Envy does have a backlit keyboard. Oh i forgot to mention the $1989 14 inch Envy i configured includes TWO 8 cell battery instead of 1, just so i can get the price closer to the $2000 price point to compare to the MBP. But just to recap, the Envy weighs less, has a faster hard drive, has a faster and overall better CPU, faster video card by a good margin, and added an extra 8-cell battery in there just to even match the MBP's high price point. All that and its still 11 bucks cheaper than the MacBook Pro.
I'm in the market for a new laptop that can play SC2 so i just spent 3 hours or so doing my research. Hope that helps you in your decision with which laptop to buy. If your waiting for the next MacBook and MBP update, it is estimated that Apple will update them in 3.5 months. They update their notebooks every ~200 days and its only been 100 days into the last update (of both MB and MBP). So if your gonna wait 3.5 months or so to get a MacBook, do understand that the Windows PC market will also move along with it. Then where does that put us? In the same position as always. If you like OSX just buy it. If not, MBPs just aren't price competitive but their laptops are some of the best looking IMO.
TEAMSWITCHER - Tuesday, July 20, 2010 - link
My daughter just got a 13" MacBook Pro, and I have to admit that I am very impressed with the design and construction quality. Performance isn't everything. I would rather give up one or two performance points for a machine that feels as solid and looks as good as the MacBook Pro.Her battery life is also incredible, she can use it all day long and not have to plug in. I gifted her a copy of Portal (through STEAM) and while I didn't run any benchmarks the game played just fine. I know its an older game, but she's not a hard core gamer.
Toms Hardware really needs to stop ignoring hardware just because it has an Apple logo on it. You do yourself and your readers a huge disservice by pretending Apple hardware is less than what it is. Not the fastest machine, or cheapest equipment to be sure, but it does have noteworthy qualities. Better than many of the computers in your comparison.
8steve8 - Monday, July 19, 2010 - link
" Spec’ed the same as the $799 Toshiba R705 (Core i3, 4GB, 500GB hard drive, 6 cell battery, Bluetooth, etc) "the R705 does not have bluetooth.