Operation Laptop - Which laptop to buy (within 40 days and 40 nights)

[lemonadesoda]

Today, my trusted SONY Z600NE died a click of no-start

I loved that machine. Has (previously) been very reliable and has gone through an upgrade path of Win98 to Win2000 to Win2K3. The format is, IMO, perfect. Small, light, strong (non-warp non-flexi case) with non-reflective screen with better quality and resolution than most netbooks today.

But now I'm in the middle of the process of trying to recover the data from the HDD. Wow, that Seagate laptop backup device posted the other day would have come in handy if I had it!

So while I try to get my data back, I'm thinking of a replacement. Whaddayathink? I'm looking for a EMAIL CLIENT and a bit of internet, MS Word, MS Excel and PDF. Nothing more.

I'm shortlisted some laptops that I could see myself using. Thoughts?

Acer Aspire One Pro 531
Acer Aspire One 751
Acer Aspire D
ASUS Eee PC 1000HE
ASUS Eee PC 1002HAE
ACER Eee PC 1008HA
ASUS S101
ASUS U2E
HTC Advantage X7510 -link-
LENOVO IDEAPAD S10e
LG X110
MacBook Air
MacBook Mini Air (oh, so hush hush, but expected soon)
Motion F5 -link-
MSI Wind U110
Samsung NC110
Samsung N310
Sony Vaio VGN-TZ31
Sony Vaio VGN-TT11
Sony Vaio VGN-P19 -link-
Toshiba NB200 -link-

 

[erocker]

I just picked this up today: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220441

Good price and it seems as if it can and will do everything you are looking for. Though it does use the 8.9" screen and not 10".

 

[lemonadesoda]

OK, been looking at a fiew day in-store.

SONY TZ31 is OFF the list due to keyboard wobbling/flex. Nasty and cheap feel. Poor show for a premium product. Nothing like the quality that went into the Magnesium alloy case of the Z600 series.

Acer Aspire One D is OFF the list due to very glossy reflective screen, and very poor (sticky) touchpad.

The MacBook Air is OFF the list due to the very glossy reflective screen. Idiots. With a matte screen it could be a winner. It needs a thinner bezel too. No need for that flying saucer look. Make it a bit smaller.

 

[iBeer&Knife]

Sony Vaio VGN-P19

 

[WhiteLotus]

I have a sony VAIO and i frigging love it. Lovely keyboard, great battery life and amazing screen. The only thing i don't like is the sheer amount of Sony VAIO crap that comes with it, although that can easily be removed/formatted.

 

[DrPepper]

Well when getting a laptop you usually need to do a little trade off. That would be portability versus features. Since your only using it for the internet etc I'd say get one that wouldn't be a pain to type on for a long time so I'd say go with the Sony VGN-TT11.

 

[lemonadesoda]

Currently, I'm liking the SONY TT, the SONY P30 (but a BIT small other than pulling out of my handbag to check my shopping list LOL ), and the Toshiba NB200 which seems to have been released in the UK this week but isnt available in Europe yet.

HTC Advantage X7510 -link- if off the list due to being a glorified PDA and not actually useful as an email machine.

I have a sony VAIO and i frigging love it...

Which one? My old Z600 was truely a piece of art and specs, screen and engineering wise (apart from the CPU) is superior to nearly every single laptop available on the market today. And that Z600 is already more than 8 years old!

NEW ENTRY

I'm temporarily sticking the SONY Z on the list. I have just seen a big price drop and it has a fabulous size 1600x900 screen on 13". http://geizhals.at/deutschland/a400031.html. But the data and pictures say "GLARE". That's a no.no on a business machine. But if the "glare" is semi-glare like on the TT then it is just nearly about passable. If it is as shiney as the gloss models in the SONY range, then forget it.

BRING BACK MATTE SCREENS!

NOTE
Huge price drop on the "golden" TT http://geizhals.at/deutschland/a374320.html. It's the slightly older version with the P9300 rather than P9400, but, TBH, who cares about such a small difference? Price has dropped nearly 40% since February... I wonder if SONY is about to release a new model?

 

[WhiteLotus]

The Sony VAIO NS-Series

 

[lemonadesoda]

Added to the list (unf. cant edit the poll)

ASUS S101/S101H
http://eeepc.asus.com/global/products101-spec.html
http://www.liliputing.com/2009/01/asus-eee-pc-s101-vs-eee-pc-s101h.html

ACER 1008HA / 1002HAE
http://www.t3.com/news/asus-launches-lightweight-1002hae-eee-pc?=38817
http://www.t3.com/news/asus-eee-pc-1008ha-ready-for-pre-order?=38802