Core i7 laptops

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Light (around 2 kg) but fast laptops

What are your options if you need a light but powerful laptop? If you carry your laptop with you often it is likely that your first concern when looking for a laptop is weight, but to save weight a laptop has to lose something: usually screen size and probably performance, specially in graphics. But there are laptops that represent a good compromise.

General considerations: if you need performance, you are limited to laptops with screens of 12.1-14.1" and a weight of around 2 kg that, while not being as light as it is desirable, are full-featured laptops with fast processors and often with dedicated graphics cards. Lowering weight while keeping performance and features drives the price up, so light and powerful laptops are more expensive that 15.4" laptops of comparable specs. But if you don't need a high 3D performance, these laptops are powerful enough to be used as main computer, maybe using an external monitor, keyboard and mouse when possible. If you need a lighter laptop, you will have to pick a less powerful laptop: a full-featured ultraportable or a netbook; a notable exception are the 1.5 kg Sony Vaio Z series, and 1.6 kg Asus U6 series, that are available with powerful processors and dedicated graphics, but they are very expensive. If you need more graphics power, the 13-inch LG P310 comes with an Nvidia GeForce 9600M and the Asus N81Vp with an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650; if you can't find (or afford) them, you would need to buy a good 15.4" laptop. In case of doubt, ask in the forums.

Processor: laptops in this category use the same kind of processors as 15.4" laptops, excepting the Intel Core 2 Extreme. Your best option are Intel Core 2 Duo processors of at least 2.0 GHz: mainly 7000 and 8000 series, both P and T. Compare laptop processors. Processors in the 9000 series have higher performance, but are considerably more expensive. If you are in a budget, there are some options with Intel Core 2 Duo 5000 series (such as the HP Compaq 2230s, 976 USD at Buy.com) or slower processors that are OK too.

RAM: 3 GB is the sweet spot, but as RAM prices are low currently, you can find some configurations with 4 GB (32-bit operating systems cannot use the full 4 GB, but the performance is still higher than with 3 GB). If you do not use lots of programs or big files simultaneously, 2 GB can be enough.

Hard drive: 160 GB is enough for most users, but if you are going to store movies, lots of pictures or music, go for a bigger hard drive. Current games take a lot of disk space, too. If you prefer performance to storage space, look for a hard disk spinning at 7200 rpm (usually available in configurable Dell laptops).

Screen: most light laptops use 1280x800 screens of 12.1" to 14.1". For outdoor use, look for a matte monitor.

Graphics card: you can find current integrated cards such as the Intel GMA 4500MHD, Nvidia GeForce 8200 and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3200 and low-end dedicated graphics such as the Nvidia GeForce 9200M and ATI Mobility Radeon 3450. None of these cards is intended for gaming, but enable you to play at low detail levels or to older games, and are good to watch HD movies. As said above, to my knowledge only the Asus N81Vp and the LG P310 have enough graphics power to play modern games. Laptop graphics cards performance comparison.

Other features: look for an HDMI output if you want to attatch the laptop to a HDTV. If you need to be able to connect to the Net at any time, look for a laptop with mobile broadband (WWAN, HDSPA). If you use the laptop mostly unplugged, look for a high-capacity battery.

Price: varies greatly depending on the configuration. Around 900-1400 $ you can get a good price/performance ratio, but sometimes it is wise to spend a bit more. Some models, such as the Sony Vaio Z series, are much more expensive (from 1650 $, but they weight 1.5 kg). There are some cheaper models too, such as the Dell Vostro 1310 (from 649 $).

 

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