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-   -   frankmehta wants ® an Ultraportable: 12-13" Lightweight Laptop (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/gadgets-computers-software/94386-frankmehta-wants-ultraportable-12-13-lightweight-laptop.html)

Whenever I buy a gadget, I make sure I do a lot of research on it and it's competitors which can get mind numbing, sometimes. This time around, I would like to do the same and get something that provides me with the best of all worlds.

I want something thin, light, fast, good looking and reliable.
This time around, I also have one more criterion: Resale Value. As everyone on this forum might have noticed, I do go through a large variety of gadgets in a year and there are times when I feel like upgrading to a slightly (or wholely) better gadget within a short span of time. This would entail not losing a large sum of money over the gadget that is going out at that time.
Eg: An Acer laptop purchased last year at this time for 48k is going for around 27k. That's a huge loss for the seller and a KILLER deal for the person buying it.
This time around, I need something that holds it's value better than the others.


Stellar build quality, 3.5-5 hour battery life (i don't care about the 8-9 hours you get in an Atom single core since it actually takes the same amount of time to open an application in them) fabulous screen, atleast 3 USB ports, a core i3 or AMD K325 processor (NO ATOM bull**** for me), USB 3.0, Bluetooth 3.0, 320 gigabyte hard drive, minimum of 2 gb of RAM and decent hardware acceleration are required.

Budget: 20 k to 35 k. Depending on what catches my fantasy. Obviously, the lower the better.

My candidates are:
1. Dell M101Z (4GB, 320 gb version)
2. Asus 1215N (not available in India officially, damn)
3. Lenovo Thinkpad Edge (13 incher)
4. MSI 13 incher (am I mad or is it a worthy candidate?)
5. HP DM series/ Touchsmart series
6. Dell Vostro V13/V130
7. Dell Adamo XPS (at a KILLER rate in USA)
8. Toshiba Portege (13 incher I think)
9. Fujitsu Lifebook (13 incher)
10. Samsung (if any 13 incher is available in their range)

I intend to use this laptop for daily purposes (1080p movie watching, powerpoint, word processing, internet surfing, NO gaming, a little bit of photoshop etc) and I just cannot get myself to buy one of those Atom 'netbook' toys as they call them. My Samsung Galaxy S Android phone does a lot of things faster and better than them! What I need is quite a powerhouse, packed in a small package.

Order of preference this time,
Size>Looks>Performance>Build Quality and then Value for Money


Thanks for reading. Go on , drop your 2 cents.

Dell M101Z is your cheap and best bet. Dell laptops are built well and last longer. It is priced reasonable, so when you intend to sell this, it doesn't hurt you. Service is one of the best.

Cheers,
Rajesh

Hi Frank , just wondering , why a laptop . I was also looking for something similar this year and after a lot of research and reading I felt these laptops were a waste . Just my opinion . I wanted something new . Something fast and something that was ,as you stated Ultra portable. Enter the new Gen PAD ! And after a lot of research I narrowed down to the notion ink. Amazing configuration. You should really see all teh videos that have been posted on their blog . Really really cool stuff . Resale , am not very sure of it . The only thing you might not like about this pad is , that there very little onboard memory , the notion ink boasts of just 8 GB onboard . but , and theres always a BUT , he he , its expandable .

Resale for a electronic gadget? You must be kidding! The moment its sold value drops faster than you read this!

I would suggest you to pick the one which is cheapest and has relatively good review, thats it. Reputation wise Lenovo's still give good service. Dell we have not been very happy especially in the recent past

Frank - dell is the best bet and it also comes with the 4GB ram. M101Z

If you do decide to buy Dell, make sure you buy extended warranty as well. I have burnt my fingers twice with expired warranty. As long as you are covered, Dell has the best customer service by far.

I was/am thinking of getting the Dell M101Z for myself and bro. Neat machine and packs a punch but seems it may fry your.. or just a rumor?

Asus 1215N and 1215T can be bought for 34k from ebay.in :)

I am now thinking of getting a G460 from Lenovo as it would fit into my budget of 30k.

Frank: I don't think you would notice any difference between a FullHD and a Standard Definition movie on a 12-13 inch screen.
Most of your other requirement are pretty standard, which any decent configuration can handle.
If you are looking at running 1080p movies on your laptop and hooking it up to an external FULL HD display then HDMI interface should also be featured in your requirements along with the rest (3 USB ports, etc. etc.)

Share your thoughts.

Frank I reduced your choces to 3. To add to these I would also look at the Dell Alienware 11x.

Alienware M11x Laptop Details | Dell India

The Del M101 is probably the most VFM, The Vostro/Thinkpad give your a corporate look, and the Alienware can even be used for gaming (in a pinch).

Get the Dell with dual core's and 4GB. It even plays 1080p .

And its 1210T (AMD) and 1215N (Atom Dual with ION).

Asus support is fast! Just got a mail from them.

How much would a Dell Vostro V130 cost here?

Get a Mac Air mini. One hell of a machine compared to the other little fellows. And you dont even have to think about reselling as you'll love it so much.
I think you can get one for around 40 Grand from the states. Even though a little higher than your budget, its a nice change.
Plus I see you have this habit of like doubling your budget for everything at the end. :D

Akshay, are you talking about the 11" Macbook air? IMO it is not worth its price. Common 40k for a machine with just 64GB memory? Not to mention the extra you need to pay for even the Ethernet port.

EDIT: It does not have the 3 USB ports that Frank requires :)

If you are okay with going 1 inch more, Toshiba Satellite has an AMD model with 512MB Dedicated graphics for around 26000 INR The model is L640
You can buy the same with Core i5 processor too if you are willing to pay a bit more.
It has 1 esata/USB and 2 USB ports, so a total of 3 USB ports :)
https://www.toshiba-india.com/laptop...lite-L640.html

The 512KB card means full HD movies are a breeze to watch.
WE connect this to the 37" full HD TV and can watch 1080p movies.

Native resolution is 1344X768 or something like that, good enough for 720P

If you get yourself a small ATOM kind thingy without dedicated graphics it will choke on HD movies.