Roundup: Top 5 Ultraportable Powerhouse Notebooks

We've been keeping a keen eye on this whole "netbook" trend. Tiny computers with no optical drives and only 2 USB slots for less than half a grand - perfect for typing, right? Well, word to the wise, if you've ever tried doing more than 2 things at once with these things, you're going to experience a little something called lag. Evil, terrible, and unbearable lag. We're not having any of that. Here are our picks for best powerful ultraportables that do much more than simple web browsing.

Fujitsu P8010: It has a 12.1-inch Crystal View LED widescreen display notebook, super slick speed, 6.5 hours of battery life, and is designed for maximum portability ($1699)

Lenovo IdeaPad U110: This desktop replacement features a 11.1-inch LED screen, face recognition technology, and the shiniest keyboard you'll ever see ($1,899)

Toshiba R500: While not the fastest of the bunch, it's probably the sexiest 12.1-incher you can get ($1550)

Lenovo ThinkPad X301: With its 13.3-inches of high resolution, low voltage processor, and sleek design, it's a definite winner for those looking for a sturdy contender for laptop of the year ($3000)

Apple Macbook: There are no surprises here. Apple's latest 13.3-inch model sports multi-touch, a sleek aluminum finish, and power to keep the RAM hogs at bay ($1300)

Comments (7)

What about the Sony Vaio TZ?

posted by jake95825 on October 28th 2008 at 11:37am
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I hear that's out of production? I might be wrong though...

posted by ekoshyun on October 28th 2008 at 11:55am
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What about the Dell Inspiron Mini 12? Not sure if it is in the US yet, but seems like an ideal candidate for running Ubuntu and having a nice, basic "netbook".

posted by gypsumsatellite on October 28th 2008 at 12:04pm
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I think your "lag" statement may be a little embelished. I've been able to multi task pretty easily on my Acer Aspire One (netbook) and as long as I don't try to do it with photoshop or some other processor hungry program it does great.

Not to mention that most netbooks cost less than a third of the cheapest notebook you mentioned above.

posted by matsayswhat on October 28th 2008 at 12:11pm
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what about the Air?

posted by Matt. M on October 28th 2008 at 12:42pm
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love the new MacBook

posted by emily! on October 29th 2008 at 6:04am
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Seriously, this is a badly put together list. The Air is the "ultraportable" of the apple lineup, not the MacBook, for starters.

posted by hja on October 29th 2008 at 11:41am
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