Notebook, Netbook, or Ultra Portable?

Choosing the right laptop from a gallimaufry of available products has always been a challenge. And moving forward, life won't become any easier with an even more variety of laptop sized devices coming your way. There's already a plethora of different types of laptops to choose from --standard configuration, desktop replacement, gaming, and ultra-portables. Then came along Intel Atom powered netbooks, which were thinner and lighter both in weight and on the pocket. So there were debates over whether to choose a notebook or a netbook. Now that this debate is out of the way, another one is about to start, for ultra-portable laptops. Till now, ultra-portables were very expensive, premium products, meant for the upper crust of the management. But now, vendors have lowered their price without an equivalent dip in performance or features, so that more people can afford them. Should you therefore go for a low cost ultra-portable, or a standard laptop? That's why our shootout this time focuses around laptops, netbooks, and ultra-portables. Here's what you should know about each to find one for your needs.

Which type of laptop?

Notebooks: They can be used for everything ranging from running routine apps to doing high-end work. From our previous discussions on notebooks versus netbooks, you already are aware that if your work involves more of 'content creation' (such as running heavy applications) and lots of multitasking, you should be looking for a notebook with an Intel Core or an AMD Athlon processor. The add-ons come in the form of a full array of connectivity ports, the luxury of a large 13 inch (up to 17 inch) display and even dedicated on-board graphics. While the Intel Core i3/i5 processors are sufficient for most office applications, the Core i7 caters best to your heavy application usage. If security is a concern features like face recognition and finger-print reader can just be valuable add-ons to your notebook. Talking about web-cam which are important for web-conferencing sessions, 1.3 MP is now a standard feature and 2MP can be looked up to in the high-end notebooks.

Netbooks: If your requirement is more inclined towards working-on-the-go and you are more of a 'content consumer' (browsing Internet, e-mails, social networking), netbook is the thing for you. Netbooks became a common option for notebooks since last 2-3 years. The processor is generally confined to either a single core Intel Atom N455 or a dual core Intel Atom N550 with 1GB/2GB RAM. With comparatively longer battery backup of around 4-5 hours and lighter weight ranging across 1.5 Kg, the netbook can be the choice for professionals on the move. The compromise, however, comes in the form of a smaller screen size (approx 10 inches) and absence of CD R/W drive. The pricing generally varies from 16K to 25K. While the lower end provide you the basic configuration of Intel Atom N455 with 1GB RAM, the higher ends can provide you with high-end features like gig-Ethernet, Bluetooth 3.0, etc.

Ultra-portables: Ulra-portables give you a perfect balance between notebooks and netbooks. Their prices can vary anywhere between 25K to 1 lakh.While the usual configuration is of a 320GB HDD and 2GB RAM, ultra-portables come powered by processors varying from AMD Athlon Dual Cores right up to high performing Intel Core i7 where these can compete with fully loaded notebooks. The weight kept below 2 kg just balances out well with a screen size of approximate 12 inches. What you usually miss on is dedicated graphics and CD R/W drive.

Technology Trends

Besides regular configuration trends and must have features which were covered in detail in our January 2011 issue (http://bit.ly/hGIpgB), we tried to explore some additional features to look for across the three categories.

We covered laptops in August 2010, and since then there hasn't been a major technology change incorporated in notebooks available today. A welcomed technology upgrade is expected of the Sandy Bridge processor laptops which were still to make in roads to Indian markets in 2011. But the faulty design of Cougar point (a component in P67 and H67 chip-set) may just delay things further.

However, what we could see in the products we received this time were some fine upgrades on technology and feature fronts. We see our voice pitched in right loud and clear last time to all the major laptop brands as we see higher adoption of most of our key technology trends prognosticated in the previous shootout with a few pitching-in afresh this time.

Android OS in netbooks

We discussed about Linux-based HyperSpace OS in August last year, which can co-exist with Windows.The advantage is of using such an OS was that booting up your conventional OS for light apps like browsing and checking e-mails may in a way result in loosing battery inefficiently. Now, we see the adoption of this OS reach a level with Google's popular Android OS co-existing with Windows.

Bluetooth 3.0

The latest version of Bluetooth is visible in Asus Eee PC 1215T/1015PEM models and in Dell XPS L501X and is a fresh feature when compared to previous shootout. The new standard offers wireless data transfer speeds of up to 24 Mbit/s. But this is not through the Bluetooth link itself. Instead, the Bluetooth link is only used for negotiation and connection establishment; the actual data transfer is carried over a co-located Wi-Fi link. It actually incorporates a new feature, AMP (Alternate MAC/PHY), the addition of 802.11 as a high speed transport.

Powered USB and USB 3.0

Besides USB 3.0 which facilitates faster transfer speeds than the USB 2.0, we could also see 'powered' USB 2.0 being a common feature across various models this time. The powered USB 2.0 lets you power a device connected to your USB port even when the notebook is powered off. This means you can now charge your mobile phone from your laptop without switching on the laptop!

Adapter Plug-in Charger

We see most ultra-portables and netbooks getting the light portable adapter plug chargers. We do not see a good reason why this has not been adopted for full sized notebooks where weight is a major factor. The weight gauge clearly shows a difference of approximately 300-350 grams between the conventional chargers (approx 500g) and the newer ones (approx 200g).

Sub Woofer/JBL speakers

A sub-woofer embedded in the rear of a notebook was interesting and sound quality simply unmatchable. The bass could be felt and the volume does get enhanced enough to play videos in your Powerpoint presentations loud in conference rooms. This feature was exclusively found in the latest model from Dell, the XPS L501X. JBL speakers in the Lenovo Ideapad Y560 just adds on to the list of crisp sounding laptops for professionals.

Privacy Shutter on Web-camera

Privacy shutter on an integrated web-cam is another interesting feature, which lets you prevent unwanted images streaming over the Internet. It helps you discontinue capture mode of the web-cam without discontinuing your conference call.

How we tested

We received 11 products for the shootout this time, which included notebooks, netbooks, and ultra portable laptops. We ran industry standard benchmarks --PC Mark Vantage, 3D Mark 06 and Battery Mark 4.0 on all the products. PC Mark Vantage evaluates overall performance of the hardware and its multitasking capabilities. It also checks the performance of motherboard, CPU, system memory, etc. 3D Mark 06 checks the CPU and Graphics workload balance to evaluate the graphic capabilities. Lastly, Battery Mark 4.0 checks the overall battery backup of the laptop. The price score is the average score calculated using the price of product,warranty and OS provided by the manufacturer. Higher the scores for these parameters, the better the laptop. We used the Brown Gibson Statistical Model to weigh every aspect of configuration, feature, design, price and warranty against each other.

Moreover, we've provided a QR code in every review. You can use these to seek more information about any of the products we've reviewed. To use QR codes, please load our QR code application to a smartphone that has a built-in camera Internet connectivity, and scan these codes. For detailed video on how to use QR codes, please see the video on one of this month's PCQ DVDs.

We leave you with the individual reviews. Go ahead and choose your right one!