Laptop Buyer's Guide: 14-inch and Smaller
by Vivek Gowri on July 19, 2010 12:01 AM ESTMedia/HTPC Notebook: Sony EA series
Our pick here was a complicated one. With the launch of the new Core i3/i5/i7 processors, any laptop with a basic Core i3 and Intel’s integrated HD Graphics solution had enough power to handle 1080p video playback and a standard HDMI output for connecting to an HDTV. Even adding the requirement of a Blu-ray drive (fair expectation in a notebook used for media playback) didn’t help much, since most 14”ers from mainstream manufacturers like Dell, HP, and Sony have at least the option of a BD-ROM drive these days for not a whole lot of coin. With standard media playback about the same regardless of notebook, the differentiating factor is going to come from something else.
Something like Intel’s Wireless Display. I really love the concept of WiDi, which is having a notebook wirelessly connect to a TV’s HDMI port. Press a button, and bam, what’s on your notebook screen is on your TV, simple as that. Pretty awesome. Very focused, very user friendly, not a lot else going on. There are a couple of problems, starting with the 720p limitation and the 2 second delay between laptop and TV. Also, you need to buy a $100 box to connect to the TV. The delay isn’t much of a problem, since WiDi will be mostly used for videos, which work smoothly, just 2 seconds behind your laptop. The 720p cap was implemented for bandwidth purposes, but it goes away in the WiDi 2.0 (which also eliminates the delay time). The problem of the box still remains: a Benjamin is pretty pricey for what is essentially the wireless replacement for a $4 HDMI cable. Overall, it’s a slick piece of technology, though it’s still got a ways to go as far as market traction, and some of my fellow editors (*cough*Jarred*cough*) don’t see the value in it. On an economic level, the skepticism makes sense, but it’s a very elegant solution and would make sense for a few specific uses, like watching downloaded and streamed movies on your TV (which is what a lot of HTPCs are used for).
The Sony VAIO EA series is one of the few notebooks that has both WiDi and Bluray. In addition, it has a 14.1” 720p screen, Core i3/i5/i7 processors, Intel HD graphics with an optional ATI Radeon HD 5470, and all the other standard stuff. Oh, and it’s available in every colour of the Skittles rainbow, and then some. The $999 model with an i5-450M, 4GB/500GB, Intel HD, WiDi, and Bluray is probably the best config for purely media purposes. Customizing your own model gets pricey (Sony price gouges on options like no other), so if you need the dedicated graphics you’re probably better off getting a different notebook.
If you don’t need the WiDi, you can look at something like the 14.5” HP dv5t, which is available with a BD-ROM drive starting at $749, though that only has a Pentium P6000 processor at that price and likely poorer build quality and display than the VAIO.
And if you’re more like me and don’t use physical disks anymore, all you need is an HDMI out and a fresh install of VLC, so basically any newer notebook will suffice. 1080p playback is no longer a big deal, any computer costing more than $500 can do it fairly comfortably. So if that’s your only criteria, you have an unlimited number of choices. But for overall media playback versatility, the VAIO EA series is about as good as it gets, with both Bluray capability and Wireless Display.
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VivekGowri - Monday, July 19, 2010 - link
Oops! Fixed now, thanks for catching that!EarthwormJim - Monday, July 19, 2010 - link
I'm surprised that the 13" Macbook wasn't included. Doesn't it have a better display than all the other laptops here?ExodusC - Monday, July 19, 2010 - link
Well, the Envy 14's screen is 1600x900 (that's in the base model, too!), which definitely beats the 1280x800 on a MBP. I'm not sure if it's IPS, but early reviews of the screen say it is amazing.erple2 - Tuesday, July 27, 2010 - link
No, the screen is not IPS. It's a TN just like every other notebook is. The screen has slightly better viewing angles than some other screens, but it's ultimately more of the same. Same basic color reproduction, same basic everything else.While it is "better" than other screens in the 13" market space, I wouldn't call it any better than various other high quality notebook screens (Envy 15 1080p looks a little bit nicer, though the Dell "RGB LED" screen does look noticeably better).
zshift - Monday, July 19, 2010 - link
I know it's currently only available at Best Buy, and it's not even mention on Asus' website, but the U52f is a pretty good laptop. 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, DVD Super Multi drive, Core i3-350M, and around 6.5 hours of battery life (listed), it's a pretty good deal at $679. Granted, it only has Intel HD graphics, but for anyone not interested in gaming or 3D content in general this laptop is pretty good. Also, I've personally used it in the store at my local Best Buy, and the build quality is excellent, being nearly as tough as the Protege 705. As far as the touchpad, though, the buttons were a little uncomfortable to press, requiring a little too much force. All in all, I would recommend this as a cheaper alternative.8steve8 - Monday, July 19, 2010 - link
I'm super-familiar with this market segment and think there's a real lack of good choices out there with ULV or LV arrandale CPUs.It's not just the power consumption, it's the heat generation.
the X201s with the i7 LV cpu is not available for sale (hasn't been for months)
what the market needs:
dell V13 with arrandale ULV cpu and a little better battery
X100e-like thinkpad with arrandale ULV (trackpoint FTW) @ 2.5lbs
macbook air with arrandale ULV or LV (not waiting for this since apple is sold on having nvidia graphics)
the R700 is nice (ive used it), it should use a LV cpu, but still nice... too bad they spent the volume and weight on an optical drive, totally useless now days.
VivekGowri - Monday, July 19, 2010 - link
Arrandale ULV is still brand new, most of them (other than the one Acer TimelineX 1830T I'm struggling to think of one) haven't started shipping yet.I'd love to see what Toshiba could do with the R705 if they took out the DVD drive. Can you imagine like a .8" thick 2.7lb notebook with those specs and a $749 pricetag? I really hope they think about that.
HHCosmin - Monday, July 19, 2010 - link
the article seems ok but i guess you do injustice to acer. i do not really know the acer models you mentioned but i have the 3820tg featuring i5 430m, 4gig of ram, hdd, 13,3", 1,8kilos, up to 6,5hours of REAL battery life, discrete ati 5460 graphics, 640gb of hdd. it has no optical drive and i do not think it is useful to have optical unit in a ultraportable. an ultraportable needs to be light, have lots of conectivity and be powerfull enough.HHCosmin - Monday, July 19, 2010 - link
and it has aluminum chasys and it is quite strong.5150Joker - Monday, July 19, 2010 - link
Anandtech made terrible choices in the entire article. What's the deal with all the Asus picks? They make cheap laptops with some of the worst build quality and displays around.