Light and good battery life but not a netbook!

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guptavis

Adept
Hello all, am thinking of buying a small notebook that can be carried around and have good battery life. But i dont want to get a 10" netbook they are just way too small.

I dont have very high performance requirements. My use would be surfing the net (10's of tabs in two or three browsers) with backgound music and watching movies. Just want it to be portable, light and have a long battery life. So i can carry it around all day, I'd say 6hr+ battery is good.

What's your Budget? <26k

What will be your primary usage for the notebook be? web surfing / movies / (Casual Gaming (can be omitted altogether))

What size and weight considerations do you have? small and portable, no more than 14" but no smaller than 11.6"

Any brand that you prefer, or any brand that you detest? I would prefer to stay away from HP, dell. Would be okay with any brand including MSI, Gigabyte, Fujitsu, Asus, Acer, Sony etc

Any other considerations? higher the Battery life the better ; Matte screen a big plus, should be a sturdy build that can last
Thanks to the awesome reviews provided by s_anuj and others about the Lenovo x120e http://www.flipkart.com/lenovo-x-se...tbook/p/itmd6jyejztxvqhd?pid=COMD6JYDWERH3HQZ

in the thread:

http://www.techenclave.com/topic/511073-my-review-lenovo-thinkpad-x120e/

i had my mind set on getting one of these. The only apprehension i had was the small screen size.

I went to some shops today to check out the look and feel of a 11.6" notebook.

But i did not like what i saw. I saw a 11.6" acer AspireOne which looked like a toy. felt very cheap, even cheaper than the price of Rs19.5k. Even though it was between a 10" and a 14" laptop, the screen looked too small to be routinely usable, the 14" looked so much bigger and useable.

Went to another shop and saw the HP DM1. http://www.flipkart.com/hp-pavilion...tbook/p/itmd52gjgx4z4jda?pid=COMD52GGPMZZHEUV

Have to say it is a very good looking piece of hardware. I immediately liked it and was impressed with the look and feel of it. Looked like a very premium and quality product. Only con was the glossy screen (and the HP badge
<
) . It was priced Rs 23.5k. Was seriously thinking of buyin it there and then, but finally came to my senses and decided against it.

I saw a 13" Macbook, looked like a decent enough screen size. But the cost was too prohibitive.
So anyone who has used an 11.6" screen please tell if this smalll screen is okay for long hours of browsing and reading on the net.

Also i was looking at Fujitsu Lifebook LH531 http://www.flipkart.com/fujitsu-lif...reviews/ITMD2ZQPGM8PVHRX?pid=COMD2ZQZEQMPDYVT

A reviewer says he is getting battery backup of 6hr, Is this possible? If this is true then im surely getting this one.

please suggest the best option under 25k.
 
One suggestion- Don't get moved ever by specs and reviews of flipkart. Those morons always end up giving wrong specs and edit/delete all the negative reviews. Just try to find a sigle negative review, you will have a big time.

I'm giving you two options-

1) X43TA-VX052D - Perfect blend of CPU + GPU performance. @ 27k

2) ASUS A43SJ-VX510D - Bare min config for you, best in this budget. One of my friend bought this. Also a member #[member='destroyme'] few days ago. @23.6k

Lastly, if you can live with 11"6 screen, x120e is absolute winner.
 
JuGGa said:
One suggestion- Don't get moved ever by specs and reviews of flipkart. Those morons always end up giving wrong specs and edit/delete all the negative reviews. Just try to find a sigle negative review, you will have a big time.

I'm giving you two options-

1) X43TA-VX052D - Perfect blend of CPU + GPU performance. @ 27k

2) ASUS A43SJ-VX510D - Bare min config for you, best in this budget. One of my friend bought this. Also a member #[member='destroyme'] few days ago. @23.6k

Lastly, if you can live with 11"6 screen, x120e is absolute winner.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice Jugga, i actually went through the reviews and hardly any negative review is there (even when a product has many negative ratings), will take flipkart with a pinch of salt from now on.

So ill probably get the usual ~3hr of battery life with the Fujitsu then? I found the same model with a B960 instead of a i3 2310M. Will this model have better battery life: http://www.flipkart....OMD7VG66367UHQ3

About your suggestions:

1) has a good processor and graphics. But wont the higher end graphics eat up the battery sooner which is my main requirement? Im not going to do any gaming, will i need the gpu power?

2) same as above, dedicated graphic card will eat more battery and also i cant imagine walking around with a red laptop!
123.gif


Im sorry im again quoting flipkart but the reviewer says he gets 9 hours battery with samsung NP305-U1A-A02IN also the samsung india site claims 10hr+

http://www.flipkart....OMD2GB7RTEWTFHH

if i can adjust to the 11.6" screen will this really give me 9hr versus the Lenovo x120e 6hr

Also weighs just 1.21 kg vs the x120e 1.5kg

In 14" how about these and what is the difference? i couldnt spot any difference in specs of these two ocne is x44h-vx024d other is x44h-sx024d

http://www.imitu.com...44h-vx024d.html

http://www.homeshop1...oduct:27738331/
 
guptavis said:
Thanks for the advice Jugga, i actually went through the reviews and hardly any negative review is there (even when a product has many negative ratings), will take flipkart with a pinch of salt from now on.

So ill probably get the usual ~3hr of battery life with the Fujitsu then? I found the same model with a B960 instead of a i3 2310M. Will this model have better battery life: http://www.flipkart....OMD7VG66367UHQ3

About your suggestions:

1) has a good processor and graphics. But wont the higher end graphics eat up the battery sooner which is my main requirement? Im not going to do any gaming, will i need the gpu power?

2) same as above, dedicated graphic card will eat more battery and also i cant imagine walking around with a red laptop!
123.gif


Im sorry im again quoting flipkart but the reviewer says he gets 9 hours battery with samsung NP305-U1A-A02IN also the samsung india site claims 10hr+

http://www.flipkart....OMD2GB7RTEWTFHH

if i can adjust to the 11.6" screen will this really give me 9hr versus the Lenovo x120e 6hr

Also weighs just 1.21 kg vs the x120e 1.5kg

In 14" how about these and what is the difference? i couldnt spot any difference in specs of these two ocne is x44h-vx024d other is x44h-sx024d

http://www.imitu.com...44h-vx024d.html

http://www.homeshop1...oduct:27738331/
Click to expand...

Without knowing the battery capacity (WHr) of any battery its senselss to guess its back up time. But yeah 3-4 hrs shouldn't be a problem.

B960 is also a second generation procy. The difference between B960 & an i3 is just that the former lacks hyper threading. No feasible power difference you will see.

About your comments on my suggestions-

1) Ditch that.

2) There's a white version also available this
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(this model is the best in lower range IMHO, you can go for)

About the dGPU in 2nd, see it has got 520MX which is actually a very low range GPU. It will provide about 20% more performance than Intel HD3000 at loss of 5 % backup, hardly. And I think, its sensible to get a GPU these days. Games are not only ones to require them.

Any 11"6 lappi must give at least 6 hrs of back up. But again without knowing battery capacity and using the lappi, I can't tell.

Also again shame on flipkart, in the samsung model, those noobs have written "AMD APU dual core" !! Do those suckers even know what an APU is?!!
<


No, there's no diff b/w those two.

Lastly, what I personally feel, 11"6 is just too small for any kind of use, rest is up to your personal orientation.
<
 
You know what my reco would be
ohyeah.gif


For me, a small ultraportable was a must. I've used 12.1" laptops (IBM X41 & Dell D410) in the past and never had a problem with the size so just losing half an inch wasn't too different. & I didn't want a toy-plastic-looking machine either.... So got a x120e.

Now 11.6" might not be the best for watching movies at home (neither is an iPAD/tablet thou
sign42.gif
) so there look at the options #[member='JuGGa'] has given.
 
If you can increase your budget to 30-35k you can easily pick up the x220i core i3/ matte ips display/ 4gb ddr3 1333/320gb 7200rpm drive 6/9 cell battery with 1 yr international warranty with options to extend your warranty from IBM India.(Not Lenovo - IBM handles Thinkpads )
 
JuGGa said:
Without knowing the battery capacity (WHr) of any battery its senselss to guess its back up time. But yeah 3-4 hrs shouldn't be a problem.

1) Ditch that.

2) There's a white version also available this
123.gif
(this model is the best in lower range IMHO, you can go for)

About the dGPU in 2nd, see it has got 520MX which is actually a very low range GPU. It will provide about 20% more performance than Intel HD3000 at loss of 5 % backup, hardly. And I think, its sensible to get a GPU these days. Games are not only ones to require them.

Lastly, what I personally feel, 11"6 is just too small for any kind of use, rest is up to your personal orientation.
happy19.gif
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice Jugga,

3-4 hrs seems too less. dont want to keep lugging around the charger everywhere. I just got my hopes up seeing that Fujitsu review (also liked the looks a lot).

2) Even this one's white! I think it will get dirty and look bad, also the battery life reported is just ~3 hours. So a no go.

the gpu is becoming important that is why was thinking of amd APU
<
.

will go and have a look at some shops again to see if i can do with an 11"

s_anuj said:
You know what my reco would be
ohyeah.gif


For me, a small ultraportable was a must. I've used 12.1" laptops (IBM X41 & Dell D410) in the past and never had a problem with the size so just losing half an inch wasn't too different. & I didn't want a toy-plastic-looking machine either.... So got a x120e.

Now 11.6" might not be the best for watching movies at home (neither is an iPAD/tablet thou
sign42.gif
) so there look at the options #[member='JuGGa'] has given.
Click to expand...

Not a doubt about your reco !
<


It would have helped a lot if i could find the x120e in a local shop and look at it. If its build quality is as good as HP DM1z i would buy it. But its not available and i dont want to end up in a situation where i make a compromise on screen size and then i dont find a great build either.

I wont be watching movies at home in 11.6", at home i would connect it to my 21" G2220HD to watch movies. Also i already have my desktop for home (where i spend too much time
<
) This machine is for outside the home use.

sunny27 said:
If you can increase your budget to 30-35k you can easily pick up the x220i core i3/ matte ips display/ 4gb ddr3 1333/320gb 7200rpm drive 6/9 cell battery with 1 yr international warranty with options to extend your warranty from IBM India.(Not Lenovo - IBM handles Thinkpads )
Click to expand...

i dont have that kind of budget but even if i did the cheapest of the three x220 on flipkart is for 53k

http://www.flipkart.com/lenovo-thin...aptop/p/itmd8c5xcagd7wcm?pid=COMD8C5W9EPWY4RX

I just want a usable portable laptop that can be carried around without any problems but should not end up like a toy.

Should i wait for the trinity laptops to appear? i hear they are a little more powerful and a lot more power efficient. When are they expected?

Also my uncle is coming to india from the US on 10th april. Is there something i can get in the US which fits my requirements?
 
ev1lb0ygen1us said:
#sunny27

From US store? BTW Thinkpads really have international warranty?
Click to expand...
Thinkpads come with international warranty as standard and can be extended by buying warranty from IBM India. An additional 3 years will cost 7k. I got mine from Ebay USA. (www.ebay.com) The best advantage you have with the Thinkpad is apart from the build quality/reliability, you have the freedom to go on upgrading it and it won't hurt your warranty and the Thinkpad gives you maximum upgradability/customization options almost akin to a desktop - you can change most of the bits and pieces.

@ OT - get the x220 if you have someone coming from the USA. The prices I quoted are the US prices. You can find a x220 for less than 30k with the sale going on now. Or you can get yourself a factory refurbished x220 real cheap from USA. The warranty would be valid in India and can be extended to 3/5 years should you choose to do so.
 
#[member='guptavis']

If you can wait for Trinity, then I'd seriously suggest to wait. It will bring some damn decent GPUs, good enough to blow away 540M, and fix all the driver & BIOS issues related to ACF/HCF. Not much gain on power area though. But will be an absolute winner in mid segment.
 
sunny27 said:
Thinkpads come with international warranty as standard and can be extended by buying warranty from IBM India. An additional 3 years will cost 7k. I got mine from Ebay USA. (www.ebay.com) The best advantage you have with the Thinkpad is apart from the build quality/reliability, you have the freedom to go on upgrading it and it won't hurt your warranty and the Thinkpad gives you maximum upgradability/customization options almost akin to a desktop - you can change most of the bits and pieces.

@ OT - get the x220 if you have someone coming from the USA. The prices I quoted are the US prices. You can find a x220 for less than 30k with the sale going on now. Or you can get yourself a factory refurbished x220 real cheap from USA. The warranty would be valid in India and can be extended to 3/5 years should you choose to do so.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info mate. My next laptop is gonna be a Thinkpad for sure. I really loved their build quality but price here of the same is sky high. Will wait for Ivy Thinkpads.
clapping.gif


guptavis said:
i dont have that kind of budget but even if i did the cheapest of the three x220 on flipkart is for 53k

http://www.flipkart....OMD8C5W9EPWY4RX
Click to expand...

The price was 70k+ a week back for x220 on FK. This isnt a bad price. Comes with 3 year warranty as well.
 
guptavis said:
It would have helped a lot if i could find the x120e in a local shop and look at it. If its build quality is as good as HP DM1z i would buy it. But its not available and i dont want to end up in a situation where i make a compromise on screen size and then i dont find a great build either.

I wont be watching movies at home in 11.6", at home i would connect it to my 21" G2220HD to watch movies. Also i already have my desktop for home (where i spend too much time
123.gif
) This machine is for outside the home use.
Click to expand...

Don't think you'd find the x120e in a local shop. I tried looking for one all I got was 'we can get it by tomorrow if you want'. Also the online prices were much lower than what the shops quoted.

For the build quality, you can't doubt a ThinkPad. I haven't seen the HP one myself so can't comment on how that holds up against the x120e. but a quick google search throws up points in equal proportion for these two.

Perhaps, get the one that you get a better deal on?
cool43.gif
 
Fortunately I have owned the Hp DM1z for 8 months and used it extensively. I have reviewed it here (http://www.techenclave.com/topic/494568-hp-dm1-z-the-fusion-intervention/) The build quality on the Hp DM1z is equally good. But the DM1z is prone to scratches where as the Thinkpad is not. The Hp Dm1z gives 10-15 minutes more battery life and performs better by 1-2% when compared to the Thinkpad x120e. Its almost too close to see any differences among the two. It all boils down to the design. The Dm1z looks like the Macbook Air (at first glance) whereas the Thinkpad looks like any other thinkpad. My HP DM1z survived 3 motorbike accidents (2 of them were very bad accidents) along with me and the both of us lived to see another day! I sold the Hp dm1z for 22k after 8 months of thrashing it in Dec 2011 to replace it with the Thinkpad x220.
 
X120e's build is much better than HP DM1z , but HP DM1z looks better but such looks last 3 months after purchase. Thinkpad's plastic is very strong and it's finish is less prone to scratches, you'll have to see it to believe it. The only disappointment on X120e's part is the 11.6'' screen, but I personally feel 11.6'' should cover your movie watching needs in terms of portability, anyway you'll never enjoy watching movie on a laptop be it a 17'' or a 10'' so better stick to a more portable option.
 
sunny27 said:
@ OT - get the x220 if you have someone coming from the USA. The prices I quoted are the US prices. You can find a x220 for less than 30k with the sale going on now. Or you can get yourself a factory refurbished x220 real cheap from USA. The warranty would be valid in India and can be extended to 3/5 years should you choose to do so.
Click to expand...

Can you suggest a link for it? My uncle is coming from detroit for a wedding here. So i could ask him to get one (but only if there is a lot of difference in the price)

JuGGa said:
#[member='guptavis']

If you can wait for Trinity, then I'd seriously suggest to wait. It will bring some damn decent GPUs, good enough to blow away 540M, and fix all the driver & BIOS issues related to ACF/HCF. Not much gain on power area though. But will be an absolute winner in mid segment.
Click to expand...

Any idea when will trinity laptops be available, and when they come to India. But if there is not much improvement on battery life dont know if it will really benefit me too much.

ev1lb0ygen1us said:
The price was 70k+ a week back for x220 on FK. This isnt a bad price. Comes with 3 year warranty as well.
Click to expand...

Might be a good price for that model but im thinking of spending around 25k or thereabouts.

s_anuj said:
For the build quality, you can't doubt a ThinkPad. I haven't seen the HP one myself so can't comment on how that holds up against the x120e. but a quick google search throws up points in equal proportion for these two.
Click to expand...

I wish i had a thinkpad to check how the 11.6 looks. I remember a friend of mine got a thinkpad in college around 8 years ago. you cannot imagine the kind of rough use it was put through. Gaming and downloading 24x7 in hostel, and it was still working last time i visited him around 3 years ago. Lasting 5 years in such use means it was definitely well built, but it was IBM back then, i have heard things are still good but not the same after Lenovo took over.

Anyways the main issue is the screen. Dont know if ill get past it.

sunny27 said:
Fortunately I have owned the Hp DM1z for 8 months and used it extensively. I have reviewed it here (http://www.techencla...n-intervention/) ! I sold the Hp dm1z for 22k after 8 months of thrashing it in Dec 2011 to replace it with the Thinkpad x220.
Click to expand...

I have read your review, infact i would have bought the DM1z after reading your review but didnt have the cash to buy it at the time.

So you have used both! Please compare the build quality of your DM1z to x220 (i guess this will be similar to x120e).

Also how much of a difference does it make to the usability by the slight increase in screen size. Is text a little more easy to read on x220?

naveen chauhan said:
X120e's build is much better than HP DM1z , but HP DM1z looks better but such looks last 3 months after purchase. Thinkpad's plastic is very strong and it's finish is less prone to scratches, you'll have to see it to believe it. The only disappointment on X120e's part is the 11.6'' screen, but I personally feel 11.6'' should cover your movie watching needs in terms of portability, anyway you'll never enjoy watching movie on a laptop be it a 17'' or a 10'' so better stick to a more portable option.
Click to expand...

Thanks naveen chauhan, Im not so concerned about the size being a problem while watching movies, as i said i have a 21" monitor for that and im only going to watch movies once in a while on the notebook. What im worried about is reading text and webpages on the small screen. My usage is going to be 90% surfing and reading content on the internet.
 
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