Dual Core Subnotebook Comparison
I consider to replace my current notebook with a new one. In general I'm quite happy with my Lifebook, but it is 6 years old now and coming of age.
I looked around for some candidates this weekend. My criteria were simple:
- It should be lighter and smaller than my current laptop which features a 13“ display and weights about 1.7kg
- It should feature a decent battery life time
- It should have a dual core CPU - I simply love the extra bit of snappyness a second core gives you
- It should have as much RAM as possible
- It needs to be available in Europe right now
I decided early on that I'm looking for something below 12” and found surprisingly few machines matching this requirement. Below is a list of the sub notebooks I found and their features as given by their manufacturers.
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| Brand | LG | LG | Sony | Asus | Asus |
| Model | C1 | A1 | VGN-TZ11 | S6Fm | U1F |
| Display | 10.6“ Tablet | 10.6” | 11.1“ | 11.1” | 11.1“ |
| Weight | 1.3kg | 1.0kg | 1.19kg | 1.37kg | 1.0kg |
| CPU | U2500 | U2500 | U7500 | L7200 | U2400 |
| Graphics | GeForce Go 7300 | GeForce Go 7300 | Intel 950 | Intel 945 | Intel 945 |
| RAM (max) | 1GB (1.5GB) | 1GB (1.5GB) | 2GB (2GB) | 1.5GB | 1GB (1.5GB) |
| Batt. Life | 3h (6h) | 3h (6h) | 7h | 2h (4h) | 2h (4h) |
| HDD | 80GB | 80GB | 100GB | 120GB | 80GB |
| opt. Drive | external | external | internal | internal | external |
| Price | 2000€ | 1900€ | 2140€ | 1800€ | 1680€ |
There are two laptops that immediately stand out from the table above.
The first is the LG C1. It's actually a Tablet PC which means the screen can be rotated and is usable as a touch screen. Unfortunately the touchscreen is not an active one. This means it is not pressure sensitive as most Tablet PC screens are. I also found reports about it not working in Linux which is a no-go for me.
The second very interesting candidate is the Sony TZ11. Not only does it look real great it also features a carbon fiber chassis. But the really amazing thing is the 7 hours of battery power. And this is the default battery - not an additional bigger (and heavier) one – 7 hours at 1.2kg! I read some reviews about the machine where testers even got higher life times.
So the Sony is clearly my favorite candidate right now. But I wonder if I missed a machine matching my criteria? If you know of one, please leave a comment.