Stuart Kennedy | November 04, 2008
CHEAP and cheerful netbooks have been stealing the limelight in the compact notebook department lately, but they're not the only game in town.
The Lenovo X300 makes a handy travelling companion for those who like a more sprawl space than a 12in screen provides
The HP 2530p has all the business-use hardening of its bigger brethren
Dell's Latitude E4200 weighs just 1kg and is a svelte 19mm thick
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For those after more battle-hardened power along with good-for-business features such as finger swipe security and built-in 3G networking, there's the ultraportable notebook class.
It pays to shop around in this sector because you certainly pay for the privilege of stepping up to business-class portable computing.
Netbooks top out at almost $1000, but an up-spec ultraportable can cost well north of $3000.
We took a look at the three approaches to ultraportability: the new Hewlett-Packard EliteBook 2530p, the Lenovo X300 and the Dell Latitude E4200.
All three have business basics such as finger swipe security, Bluetooth, gigabit ethernet ports, speedy 802.11n wireless networking and headphone and mike jacks.
The Dell and HP have FireWire ports and SD card readers, while the Lenovo doesn't.
The HP and Lenovo have webcams, but the Dell does not.
Lenovo X300
THE Lenovo is a little longer in the tooth than the other two, having been around since the beginning of the year, and its 13.3in, 1440 by 900 pixel screen puts it a level up in the bulk and weight stakes.
At 1.42kg and just 23.4mm thick, the Lenovo is light and slim for a notebook carrying a DVD drive.
While its length and width are greater than the HP or the Dell, it still makes a very handy travelling companion for those who like a little more sprawl space than a 12in screen provides. There's a Iow voltage 1.2GHz Intel Core2 Duo SL7100 processor in the engine bay, 2GB of RAM and a shockproof 64GB solid-state drive. Graphics come by way of Intel's X3100 chipset.
The review unit came with Windows XP, which gave it a slightly unfair edge over the other two, which were burdened with resource-hogging Vista Business.
Like its larger ThinkPad brethren the X300 has an excellent, tactile keyboard with a trackpoint button in the centre as well as a touchpad, so you can choose which way you want to wrangle the little beast.
SPECIFICATIONS
Features: 13.3in 1440 by 900 pixel LCD, integrated 3G, trackpoint button
Price: $3399
More at: www.lenovo.com.au
Rating: 8.5/10
HP EliteBook 2530p
HP has got itself firmly back into the high-margin, business notebook game with its new EliteBooks and the 2530p is the lightweight of the EliteBook litter.
In this case though, lightweight does not mean flimsy. The 2530p has all the business-use hardening of its bigger brethren.
It has HP's scratchproof finish on the case, a mag alloy chassis, spill-resistant keyboard and shock guards around the hard drive enclosure.
The whole plot is certified to MIL-STD 810F spec for temperatures and dust.
Weight is a handy 1.45kg, and while the HP ships a DVD drive, it's still only 25mm thick.
There's a 12.1in, 1280 by 800 pixel anti-glare screen and a videoconference-friendly 2 megapixel webcam, which includes a business card reader for sucking in contacts on the move.
A pop-out keyboard light sits next to the webcam but there's no keyboard backlighting.
The review unit came with an optional ($199) 3G wireless pack, and after we stuck a Telstra Next G SIM in the under-battery SIM holder and powered up the radio, the connection worked without fuss.
Under the hood there's a low-voltage Intel Core 2 Duo L9400 1.87GHz processor married to 3GB of RAM, an Intel 4 Series graphics chipset and an 80GB solid state drive. Performance was brisk in desktop jobs and applications under Windows Vista Business.
Like the Lenovo, the HP has a very pleasing keyboard and offers the choice of trackpoint or touchpad navigation.
We also liked the touchpoints on the top edge of the keyboard to handle stuff like volume and muting, and wireless radio on/off.
SPECIFICATIONS
Features: 12.1in 1280 by 800 LCD, 2 megapixel webcam with business card reader, scratch-proof case, MIL-spec ruggedisation
Price: $2999
More at: www.hp.com.au
Rating: 9/10
Dell Latitude E4200
DELL'S built-for-business compact notebook can split down the middle and travel as an optical driveless but super-slim notebook, or clip on an optional media bay and score a DVD drive, albeit with extra weight and girth.
The clip-on, clip-off media bay also has a pair of USB ports.
Without the media bay, the Dell weighs just 1kg and is a svelte 19mm thick. While commendably light it's no weakling, with a mag alloy chassis keeping things taut and well-protected.
The E4200 also has a feature that works around Windows' notoriously long boot times.
For quick access while on the move to basic tasks such email, the E4200 has a feature called Latitude ON Reader.
Press a button on the keyboard and the Dell boots in a matter of seconds into Latitude On Reader instead of Windows.
At least that's the theory. We kept getting Error 15 as the Dell booted, even after enabling the Latitude On feature in the BIOS.
The Dell computes with a 1.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo U9400, 3GB of memory, Intel 4 Series graphics and a 64GB solid state drive.
Performance under Windows Vista was strong for an ultraportable. Other neat touches on the Dell include the find-it-in the dark blue LED on the power cord.
The Dell can be had without or without 3G data capability but be very clear if ordering an E4200 that you don't want 3G, because even though you can retrofit the 5530 3G card, out of the box 3G versions score a special screen with built-in antennas.
SPECIFICATIONS
Features: Very light at 1 kg, 12.1in 1280 by 800 pixel LCD, clip-on media bay
Price: $4999
More at: www.dell.com.au
Rating: 8/10
Conclusion
WE liked the Dell's extreme portability but the $4999 price tag had us wincing, especially in these straitened times.
The Lenovo and the HP were on more even ground on price and both are rugged road warriors with good performance for workaday tasks.
The Lenovo is the choice if you want a bit more screen real estate and it makes a better mobile theatre, but my money would go on the HP for the best mix of performance, portability, rugged construction and an all-you-can-eat feature list.