How many of you own only ultraportable laptop(s)

I'm trying to decide whether to get rid of my 14" T61 and only use ultraportable Thinkpads (12.1"). It just seems I am fine with using an ultraportable even at home. When I bought my 14" T61 I really wanted an x-series but was worried about the lack of optical drive, but now I've become familiar with external cd drive.

So I'm interested to know how many of you only use ultraportables, i.e. 12" or under?

 

I do. Well, sort of. I do sometimes have to use some stationary computer somewhere from time to time, but that has more to do with their set-up than my choices.

However my GF wouldn't be able to make do with the same computer as I am (she therefore has a T400), and I was quite worried when I bought mine, because I was afraid I had made the wrong choice.

Anyway, it depends entirely on what you do and want to do with your computer. Many will be able to live with a netbook with a battery life of an hour, wereas others will need 12 hours of battery life or the power of a W500 or whatever.

In reality I think you'll get some better answers if you fill out the FAQ - especially when it comes to usage, battery life and so on.

 

At one point in time all I had was a 12.1. It worked out, but at the time a home desktop or 17in would have been nice. Now with a 17in to fall back on at home I have messed around with a 12.1 tablet, acer aspire one netbook, and now a 14.1 t400. Of the three mobile laptops I prefer the 14in for the GPU, res and general size. But if I could have gotten a 12in lenovo with 1440x900 and a discrete or ati3200 level card I would have gone that route instead.

But for everyday use and work it is a workable size. I used mine for work all day as my primary PC.

 

Depends how your work flow is at home too. I use my x200 all the time, but when I am at home I have a docking station and a 24" monitor. So that being said I need more resolution to be the most productive.

 

I only use an ultraportable. For me, the X200 is the perfect notebook to have for a grad student, or any university student in general where weight, battery life, and reliability are at the top of the list. Day to day, I see people lugging in 15" notebooks to lectures, some even bring their desktop replacements (I often find myself laughing when the huge screen blinds them in dark settings).

 

Yeah, I saw the same on my flights, too

 

The only notebook I have is my x200 Tablet.

However, I do have a desktop with three LCDs, a quad core CPU, 2TB+ storage, and discrete GPUs that I use for heavier work and storage.

However, I find myself using my x200 Tablet about 90% of the time. With a decent NAS/home server and possibly an external monitor I could find myself using the x200 Tablet exclusively.

 

I might think of doing something like this if my dell died or I had to sell it.

See I never had an issue with bringing my 17in to class, even lugging it across campus didnt bother me. In fact having a full size keyboard with numpad and wuxga resolution was awesome on the go. The only bad thing was the battery life.

 

X200 + docking station + large IPS or PVA display (Lenovo L220x in my case) + external storage = no need for another computer

...unless you are a gamer
(I am not)

 

I agree 100%. Now if only the x200 came with a normal C2D + wxga+ and a 3200 or better GPU I would have done this setup. After hearing it a lot I have started to consider it with my t400, just cant seem to bring myself to sell the dell.

 

Have you considered x200s?

 

I would imagine he's put off by the low voltage CPU. If he wants a "normal" C2D, I would assume that to be a T series (35 watt TDP) rather than P, SL, or SU.

 

Yes I did, but the low voltage CPU and intel IGP were a major turn off. Plus my t400 is a perfect size for me right now. Im starting to seriously consider this setup for the t400, but Id have to sell and replace my dell to do so.

Exactly. I require some GPU power for gaming, and I definitely require a full powered C2D for coding and multitasking.

 

Adding those parts will probably ruin the X200. A normal C2D isn't that huge of a difference from the P8600 processor and the ATI HD3200 is a huge power hog. Having both in a small frame will easily burn holes through your pants.

 

The x200s uses an 800FSB SU series CPU, not the p series and yes there is a very noticeable difference between a p/t series C2D and the SU series. And I wasn't necessarily set on the 3200, just something of that level or higher.

 

The difference isn't as large as you think as the SL series has a 6MB L2 cache. You can tell from the benchmarks that the cache does make a difference. And the FSB is 1066 MHz, not 800.

 

Wasn't referring to the sl series, but I do agree with you on the sl. Either way still not up to par for me. Besides Im perfectly happy with the p series and the 9-10 hours of battery life with my t400.

 

But the X200s currently has either a SL processor or a Celeron 723, not a SU like you said.

 

Add me to the list.

It has been more than a decade since I own a desktop. It's been laptops and notebooks after that. I've owned 14.1" thin and lights before.

But my X61 is my only and primary computer at the moment.

I have an external CD/DVD writer for the rare occasions when I need to use optical discs. I use Alcohol 120% to mount virtual images of those CDs/DVDs I need to use/access. Alcohol 120% is fantastic as it is a smart, compact and easy access solution to run optical media without dragging the extra bulk and weight of optical discs around.

I use 2.5" external portable HDDs for off site storage and backups.

I also place my lappy on notebook cooling fans at home to pamper my petitie beauty.

I like my tech small, thin, light and compact while packing decent power and punch to do the heavy lifting.

The legendary solid and satisfying ThinkPad keyboard in my X61 is of course the definition of heaven!

 

+1. 12.1" HP 2510P (see signature). Though would recommend a newer 12.1" HP 2530P since it has X4500 graphics, dual RAM slots and has a 1.8" SATA primary bay plus can do a hotswappable 2.5" HDD/optical drive setup. Caddy is same idea as ultrabay used in Lenovo systems. There are some real bargain SU9300 cpu models that pop up on ebay for < $650US. 3yr onsite warranty on non-refurb units. Or could just get a 2510P. They go for ~$350US on ebay. A super netbook

 

I use my x200s exclusively.
For the rare occasion when I do need to burn a disc, I have a USB optical drive that works just great.
I do have a portable bluetooth mouse that's a MUST for long sessions.
The only games I play are Diablo II (yes it's oldie but it's something my x200s and my girlfriend's Latitude D820 can handle very easily) and Dungeons & Dragons Online (on lowest graphics settings).
I had a high-powered desktop for a while along with my thinkpad, but I NEVER used it, so I sold it.

 

Oh, I also wanted to mention that my X200s' processor is C2D L9400, 1.86 GHz, 6MB L2, 1066 FSB and it's amazing with 4GB of RAM. It offers a great range of power: high, say, when you're plugged in or low, when you're unplugged and need the battery life.
I *highly* recommend it.