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Bill Machrone
Ultraportables take tech on the road. What to know... before you buy

Bill Machrone
Contributing Editor PC Magazine
Tuesday, February 27, 2001
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Subnotebooks will always command a price premium over full-sized notebooks because they use the latest miniaturized technology, packaging techniques, and high-strength materials. Devotees put up with the inconveniences of fewer ports, shorter battery life, and no floppy or CD-ROM drive for the benefits of lighter weight, ease of use in tight spaces, and unobtrusiveness. Oh, and they also like having the coolest, greatest-looking new technology.

In a recent PC Magazine roundup, we've looked at ultraportables from Compaq, Dell, Gateway, HP, IBM, NEC, Sony, and Toshiba. (Click for more.) We've selected two Editors' Choices, and you won't go wrong with those machines. But as computers become smaller, they become quirkier.

FINDING THE RIGHT ONE is a process of selecting the features that you like most or that fit the way you work best. To do that, you'll have to get hands-on with the machines.

For example, some of these machines have pointer sticks, while others have touchpads. I don't much care which I use, but some people are passionately committed to one or the other. Both kinds have buttons for clicking and scrolling; make sure they're located where you like them.

Another important factor to weigh: whether you like the navigation keys. The location and size of the cursor keys will make a big difference in your happiness with the machine, but don't underestimate the importance of the accessibility of the Home, End, PgUp, and PgDn keys. Likewise, the Ctrl and Alt keys have to be where you expect them to be, and the reaches have to be comfortable. Get your hands on the keyboards and decide what works for you.

BATTERY LIFE IS ANOTHER ISSUE. Will you be spending minutes or hours unplugged? Unfortunately, no benchmark test (not even ours) accurately predicts real-world battery life, because the machines' power-saving algorithms monitor keyboard and I/O activity and turn various internal components on and off accordingly. They also vary the processor speed with the demand placed on the machine. Task-oriented benchmarks, even those with built-in "think time," keep the machines far busier than you ever will. So regard them as worst-case numbers--all of these machines will do better in real life.

For example, our BatteryMark test of the Toshiba Portege 3480 came out to a shade under two hours. I use one of these machines every day, and my typical battery life is three and a half hours. You can't apply a fixed ratio of benchmark numbers to real-world numbers, however, because manufacturers differ in their power-management technology and how aggressively they apply it.

We've covered a lot of ground in reviewing these eight little beauties; if you've been thinking about an ultraportable, this is a great place to start narrowing down your choices.

Would you buy an ultraportable? If you own one, what are the pros and cons? TalkBack to me!

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