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REVIEW
Heavyweight power in a featherweight package
It has long been one of the most difficult choices in selecting a notebook computer: Do you opt for portability or power and functionality? Not too long ago, selecting a computer that weighed in at around 3 pounds meant choosing a solution that offered slow performance, a barely legible display, a small hard drive and an inordinately high price tag.
The times they are a changing. In surveying the field and testing the latest generation of ultralight notebooks, we have found that buying a lightweight device no longer requires users to settle for a system light on performance or options. For the most part, anyway.
Ultralight notebooks now offer faster, brighter displays, faster processors and larger hard drives. Most units also include Wi-Fi, which means you don't have to use up a PC Card slot for a wireless adapter.
What's more, all the units we tested come with USB 2.0 or FireWire ports, which can be used to attach external drives (such as CD or DVD). The ports offer high enough throughput that the ultralights are finally able to deliver performance in the same ballpark as heavier notebooks with integrated drives.
Finally, while coputer makers are packing more power into smaller packages, they're also delivering them at steadily dropping prices.
For this comparison, we looked at devices from six market leaders: Dell Computer Cort., Fujitsu PC Corp., IBM Corp., Sharp Electronics Corp., Sony Corp. of America and Toshiba America Information Systems Inc. Hewlett-Packard Co. and Panasonic are in the process of releasing new ultralight models that could not be tested in time for this comparison. We will review those models in the near future.
We found that each unit tested has something that makes it the best selection for certain users. Nevertheless, two ultralight computers stood out from the others as very attractive solutions for a broad range of users. Thanks to its high performance and security features, the IBM ThinkPad X31 is an excellent choice. And the Toshiba Portege 2010's excellent design and portability make it a top selection.
Dell Latitude X200
If security and diagnostic tools are not a special concern, the Dell Latitude X200 offers a lot of value for its price...