Computer technology continues to advance at a phenomenal pace, and as it does, it continues to get smaller. Perhaps the most exciting advancement is the mini laptop. What makes a mini so special is that, unlike a Netbook or tablet PC, it doesn’t sacrifice any power or speed in order to squeeze into its compact, lightweight shell. So without further ado, let us examine five of the most brilliant tiny laptops available on the market right now.
5. APPLE MACBOOK AIR
At 13 inches, the Apple MacBook is actually at the edge of how we would define a mini. Nevertheless, it’s one of the smallest and lightest Macs available, and it’s a perfect option for those who want the mini experience but prefer Apple. The Air is easily one of the sexiest “minis” around, and of course, it doesn’t come cheap. But it’s also quite powerful, and under the hood, it boasts either a 1.86GHz or 2.13GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, and 6MB of RAM. The Air also boasts a large touchpad and a deluxe gestures system that makes it one of the easier minis to manipulate.
4. HP PAVILION DV2
Hewlett Packard’s Pavilion D2 weighs 3.8lbs, has a 12.1-inch screen and a battery that easily lasts three hours, which is an hour more than the Air provides. For those familiar with the Pavilion series, what’s interesting about the DV2 is that it’s a departure from the traditional Pavilion design. But that calculated risk paid off in a layout much better suited to the mini design. The D2 is also surprisingly loaded in the power department. It has 1.6GHz Athlon Neo CPU, 4GB of SDRAM, a 320GB HDD and even an ATI Radeon HD 3410 VPU with 512MB that makes this a decent gamer.
3. SONY VAIO VGN-P588E LIFESTYLE PC
With its 8-inch screen, the VAIO Lifestyle PC is something of a cross between a tablet PC and a Netbook with the power of a mini laptop mixed in. This unit has a unique, highly usable design that only weighs 1.4lbs. This makes it the perfect option for the person who values portability above all else but needs to perform work to which Smartphone’s and tablets are ill suited. Perhaps the one issue with this VAIO is that it uses a pointing stick rather than a touchpad. We prefer the stick in this configuration, but that will be a deal-breaker for some.
2. SAMSUNG NC10
The great thing about the 10.2-inch screened NC10 is its 5 hours of battery life running a fully capable edition of Windows. That’s more battery life than most any other mini offers, and it should be enough for even the most demanding users. And this is the reason we rank it so highly. Battery life is the top consideration for most mini buyers. The Samsung NC10 does have some issues. For instance, Samsung has chosen an odd placement for the touchpad that takes some getting used to. But the performance on this mini makes up for the shortcomings.
1. ASUS N10J-A1
Despite its long-time reputation with the hardcore computing crowd, ASUS is just now starting to achieve recognition with the more casual consumer. A big part of that successful effort is machines like the N10J-A1. This Asus has a 10.1-inch screen, weighs 3.5lbs and offers 4 hours of battery life. Beneath its shell, it has a 1.6GHz Intel Atom, 2GB SDRAM and an NVIDIA GeForce 9300M with 256MB RAM. One of the nicest features is that it also has on-board graphics, so when you’re not gaming it shuts down the GeForce and conserves power.
This is a guest post by Spencer Hogg from Broadband Expert where you can find the best free laptop deals.
Kewl and awesome!