What laptop do you travel with?

[david-au-2000]

Switched from Windows a few years back, would have been very tempted by a 'netbook' like Serfty's back when they were so popular but the new thin and light ones look good. But now I'm using a MacBook Pro 13 and waiting to see what the new MacBook Air will be like. Only concern is the solid state drive on the MBA might not have enough room for all my stuff.

 

[djfuzz]

Switched from Windows a few years back, would have been very tempted by a 'netbook' like Serfty's back when they were so popular but the new thin and light ones look good. But now I'm using a MacBook Pro 13 and waiting to see what the new MacBook Air will be like. Only concern is the solid state drive on the MBA might not have enough room for all my stuff.

Am in the same position as you - considering new MBA (if it arrives before EOFY) but might just cary around a 1TB portable drive for overflow media if the storage is not significant (and I don't think it will be). Otherwise, might just have to refresh the MBP.

 

[TonyHancock]

Switched from Windows a few years back, would have been very tempted by a 'netbook' like Serfty's back when they were so popular but the new thin and light ones look good. But now I'm using a MacBook Pro 13 and waiting to see what the new MacBook Air will be like. Only concern is the solid state drive on the MBA might not have enough room for all my stuff.

Netbooks have lacked processing power for me. (I went through the first two Asus iterations and then on to the 10" MSI Wind) I also struggled with the keyboard and screen size.

The MBA overcomes these problems, but the disk size is a bit of a minor issue for me. I carry around an external hard drive to resolve this. It's not ideal but works. I originally started with the first gen MacBook air 13", and dropped down to the 11" earlier this year.

It just works.

 

[serfty]

Netbooks have lacked processing power for me. (I went through the first two Asus iterations and then on to the 10" MSI Wind) I also struggled with the keyboard and screen size. ...

That would be an issue if I needed processing power. Mainly internet browsing; some minor word processing/spreadsheeting and watching movies.

If I need to do any 'serious' computing I VPN and remotely access my work computer.

My Acer has quite a decent sized keyboard. I put up with the small screen size due to the weight benefits and the fact it now takes up about 20% of my travel laptop bag - giving more storage space for other things.

 

[david-au-2000]

I originally started with the first gen MacBook air 13", and dropped down to the 11" earlier this year.

How did you find the downshift in size going from 13" to 11"?

 

[TonyHancock]

How did you find the downshift in size going from 13" to 11"?

No problems at all!

The 11" is a much better design than the 1st gen 13" too. The power connector was a little more fiddly, the USB port* less accessible, and there were some overheating issues.

I still use my 13" at home and find no problems switching to the 11".

* Yes port - only one on the 1st gen!

 

[pblackm]

Yes, liquids spilt on the keyboard will drain out the bottom - in my case, a Qantas milk portion.

At the office i use the displayport to connect to to a Dell ultrasharp at 1920x1200 resolution. wonderful.

And as an aside, the cooling system manifold design was based on the Owl's wing to provide the proportion of cooling required with minimal impact.

 

[david-au-2000]

I am so careful opening milk portions on the planes, those little cups of water and OJ too, more often than not the time they spurt or spill.

 

[TonyHancock]

My Acer has quite a decent sized keyboard. I put up with the small screen size due to the weight benefits and the fact it now takes up about 20% of my travel laptop bag - giving more storage space for other things.

My 11" MacBook Air takes up less space in my backpack than my 10" MSI Wind, and has a full size keyboard. At it's thickest point it the same thickness as my Blackberry Torch :shock:........it was however three times the price of my MSI Wind and has a built in battery. :-|

I'm still a fan of the netbook. (I have fond memories of the Asus 1st gen eee pc, less fond memories of the 8.9" eee pc, and I still use my 10" MSI Wind. ) In the dark days of Y travel only, I would carry a couple of spare batteries and knew I could get from MEL-LHR and still have some power left!!

 

[RB]

Toshiba NB 300. Up to 8hrs battery, 1.25 kg, sleep & charge & good keyboard. Only web surfing, simple excel & word so no great requirements & no work needs to be done, just holidaying

 

[Timtammi]

1.Toshiba Portege R700 - ultralight, extra long battery life and the only decent 13" laptop I could find with an optical drive.
2. Blackberry Bold 2
3. Kindle

I'm going to the US next month and am toying with the idea of picking up the BB Playbook, not sure yet.

Cheers

 

[TonyHancock]

I'm going to the US next month and am toying with the idea of picking up the BB Playbook, not sure yet.

I picked one up early in May. I'm not convinced yet. The screen is superb, it's quick, allows genuine multitasking and has flash.

It doesn't have 3G capability but piggy backs off a Blackberry handheld via Bluetooth. (Surprisingly seamlessly) it is also WiFi enabled.

Unsurprisingly it is light years behind on apps. :-|

 

[munitalP]

I have a new 13.3 Lenovo X1 (in the hands of the IT Gods at the moment) which is my work laptop.

I have a 11" MBA for private or if only doing powerpoint presentations while on the road. Its faster to boot etc than the Lenovo.

This is my 2nd Lenovo - my previous was an X301 - awesome machine. My last job kitted me with a VAIO 11" and an iPad - both jokes IMHO for heavy duty business requirements.

munitalP

 

[Oneworldplus2]

...the USB port* less accessible, and there were some overheating issues.

* Yes port - only one on the 1st gen!

Tony, this put me off the MBA so l went a MBP 13" instead. The MBA are pricey too...(but that's Apple for you).

MBP 13" (putting in another 4gb RAM soon ~$100).
Blackberry (Might change the BB for a iPhone 5 when it comes out)

 

[Ric]

Have anyone tried the Samsung series 9? Any good?

Ric

 

[TiredOldFlyer]

10" Acer - Cheap, works well, does not matter too much if it gets scratched dropped or ripped off.

Locally a next G USB Modem - great for sitting on the side of the road to see if I have enough money left in the Bank.

And of course the must have iPhone for which I have found a new use --ringing up !

 

[prozac]

I recently traveled to Europe for 5 weeks and needed a laptop to keep up to date and in-touch. I have never owned a laptop and being concerned about weight I wanted something light that still punched above it's weight for business performance. One other thing that worried me was battery life.

I settled on an ASUS U31F. At 13.3" it fits neatly inside my cabin luggage, and weighing in at only around 1.88kg it doesn't break my back. It packs an Intel i5 processor and 4GB DDR3 memory so is no slouch in the performance department. The HDD is 500GB, and battery life is an astounding 10hrs!

Oh, and the price? A bit under $1,000 from Asus or $900 from some retail stores.

For my first laptop I am very happy with the Asus as my traveling companion.

 

[john john]

Recently returned from 7 months flashpacking RTW, mostly South America and Africa. We found our Fujitsu netbook invaluable (model escapes me now, N450 processor but you can do better now). We chose Fujitsu because it, among others, has global warranty so if there were any issues (none though) you don't have to ship it home for repair. We also carried a USB DVD burner and had VLC media player installed so I didn't have to worry about region coding for any DVDs we borrowed.

Also useful until it was stolen on the Caracas Metro was my HTC Desire with Apps able to store offline maps of destination and PDF copies of LonelyPlanet.

Whatever laptop you go for, make sure it has a physical switch for wireless (both WiFi, bluetooth and 3G) so you have ease of going flight-safe if you forget before you board.

 

[kevrosmith]

Dell Latitude E6410 with Windows 7 64-bit, 8GB RAM and 228 SSD. The 15" is a little bit heavier than I was hoping for, but the 13" Latitude E series was too small for using as my primary development tool. I don't think too many of the IT depts I work in would appreciate me rocking up with a Mac, though I'm sure I could do everything I need with VMWare.

I find the E6410 takes us that little bit too much room on the tray table, and have nearly had the screen squashed when person in front of me reclined their chair! :evil: Fortunately, I get exit row more often than not and also get to spread out in the middle 4 chairs on the A330 from CNS-OOL when I gotta get some serious work done.

Was concerned at smaller size of hard drive, but carry around 2 x 1 TB WD usb-powered drives: they are fantastic. One for long term data storage and one for system backups (hmm.. gotta remember to do one soon!)

Also have a bluetooth notebook mouse which I use constantly when at client sites. Not as useful on-board, but laptop has both trackpoint and touchpad.

Overall, very happy with the machine: it's solid, stable and I haven't had any troubles with it, yet. Got the next-day business warranty, and DELL has a fantastic reputation for coming good on that as well.

Though I've never done a proper long haul yet, I kitted out with a spare battery and the travel power kit in case I had the need. Preferred to get all the accessories up-front while things were available for my model.

Use the iPhone 4 constantly and am still trying to find that useful work justification for the new iPad 2: though email and browsing while travelling without having to get the laptop out and booted is still good enough justification, plus down time entertainment.

I didn't realise you (might not) need to screen iPad separately. I've always just pulled it out and put in a separate tray.

 

[kevrosmith]

Can anyone recommend a good portable scanner that's not too bulky or heavy? Must have scan-to-PDF ability.