trying to find a light school laptop

[core2duofreak]

hey everyone,

I am looking for a very portable, light, small laptop for school use. I am in college want to start using a laptop/tablet pc to take notes because my classes involve lots of notetaking and it gets very tiring to copy as fast as I can which usually becomes unreadable notes. Anyways, I just want one for note taking and basic web surfing. But hopefully the laptop wont be too slow. My price range is under $400 if possible. The lower the better. Anyways, I saw a couple from various websites, please tell me if they're good or not. If you know better deals, please let me know.Thanks!

http://cgi.ebay.com/Toshiba-Portege-...QQcmdZViewItem

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=206650173

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834220266

[Masaki 7-11]

The toshiba is your best choice if you are okay with buying from ebay, 7 inch eeepc is too small, and the thinkpad is too big, in addition the toshiba has tablet pc capability, which is useful sometimes.

[Lespaul20]

I'd take a look at the Thinkpad X series. Unless you are using this as you primary computer I'd try to look at laptops with 12 inch screens. They are so much more portable and lighter.

[Masaki 7-11]

From what I gather, the toshiba has a 12 inch screen, and unlike the thinkpad, it has built in wifi, usually 12 inch laptops are more expensive then the 14 or 15 inch laptops, so it may be hard to find a thinkpad x series that fits your budget. The toshiba should work great for office applications and internet, if that's all you're looking for.

[Lespaul20]

Originally Posted by Masaki 7-11 From what I gather, the toshiba has a 12 inch screen, and unlike the thinkpad, it has built in wifi, usually 12 inch laptops are more expensive then the 14 or 15 inch laptops, so it may be hard to find a thinkpad x series that fits your budget. The toshiba should work great for office applications and internet, if that's all you're looking for.

I understand the Toshiba has a 12" screen. I was speaking in general not specifically the T40 the core2duofreak linked. I recommend the Thinkpads because I have owned two including an X31. That particular Toshiba is 5 years old and Thinkpads that old will be similarly priced. I don't see anything wrong with the Toshiba I was just recommending a brand I happen to think is good.

[Masaki 7-11]

I wasn't sure about the thinkpad fitting the budget since it's pretty good quality and 12 inch which are quite rare. The only thing to look for when buying thinkpads though is to make sure it has a wi-fi card built in, since it uses proprietary cards which are expensive to buy if the laptop doesn't come with it.

[thefultonhow]

Actually, ThinkPads use standard wireless cards (MiniPCI for the T30 through T43 and X30 or X31 through X41, and Mini-PCI-Express for the T6x and X6x models). That T40 could easily be upgraded with any Intel PRO/Wireless MiniPCI card, from the 2100B to the 2915ABG.

[Masaki 7-11]

Only IBM cards that are sold by IBM work with the thinkpads since they have the BIOS set up so that it won't boot if the card is not in the accepted list of wireless cards in the BIOS. So when buying wifi cards for the thinkpads you have to make sure they're compatible since IBM and many of the other laptop manufacturers are modifying their laptops so only their version of the wifi cards work with the laptop and not just any wifi card. If you intend to get a thinkpad, either get one with wifi built-in, or find a compatible wifi card for a good price.

[thefultonhow]

On the T4x and X4x, though, I believe that Intel cards will work no matter what. (This is not true of the T30 and X3x, though, because the Intel cards are not supported on non-Centrino-compatible chipsets.) I could be wrong, but I don't think the Intel PRO/Wireless cards supplied by IBM have special firmware.

[Masaki 7-11]

Not sure about the technology behind it, but the BIOS wont' accept most types of wifi card unless they are specifically compatible for that make and model. Companies like Acer don't use this type of technology, so you can use pretty much any wi-fi card with those laptops, but manufacturers like HP and IBM have very limited choices regarding compatible wi-fi cards.

[joytime365]

You can have a look at the Asus Eee Pc Super Mobile Internet Device, it is only only 2 pounds!
Or you can get this Acer Aspire 4315-2004 14.1" (1.73GHz, 512MB, 80GB).
Or you can go to the Dell, they offer some pretty nice laptop with good price.

[Masaki 7-11]

EEE PC is probably too small for typing since it's 7 inches only. 14.1 inch is about the minimum for comfortable typing.

[Lespaul20]

My 12" X31 isn't uncomfortable typing on. A lot of papers have been written on it.

[glc]

12 inch screens are pretty much the standard for ultralight laptops. It's big enough to use effectively and the keys are reasonably usable. The 7 inch EEE is just too small for the proposed use.