The Lean Machines

If you are a heavy user of notebooks and a person on the go, and complain
about a nagging pain on your left shoulder blade, it's time to switch over to
an ultra portable notebook-slim, sleek, and stylish. You can definitely make a
statement. That said, there is certainly a higher price to pay if you desire to
own an ultra portable notebook, as comfort does not come cheap.

Let's peek into this segment of the notebook space. The ultra mobile, as a
sub-segment of the notebook segment, is still in its nascent stages in India.
The total size of the notebook market (all segments) was just about 91,000 units
during 2003-04. For 2004-05, analysts put the figure at 2-lakh units. If we look
at the whole notebook pie, the ultra portable represents a thin-but growing-slice
that's consumed by a very niche segment. Quips Devita Saraf, executive
director at Zenith Computers: "The ultra mobile is the most advanced
category of the notebook segment. Many people not used to carrying heavy
notebooks, such as the top management, are now getting into the habit of
carrying smaller form factor notebooks with 12 inch screens. At the same time,
these laptops must have all the features like the CD Writer/DVD ROM and even
flash card drives. The prices of these laptops are the highest owing to their
features and lightweight."

Ultras up close

So what make the notebook an ultra are the form factor and the weight. Any
notebook weighing in excess of 2.2 kg and with a screen size of more than 13
inch goes out of this segment. The ultra portable can be a power monger but it
cannot be a workhorse. Due to the thin form factor, it is not meant for rugged
use; this probably is one major inhibitor holding back these machines from
coming into the mainstream. Says S Rajendran, general manager, sales and
marketing, CPG, Acer India: "There are certain key parameters on which an
ultra mobile notebook is judged-form factor, weight, battery life and wireless
functionality. If a notebook is sufficiently covered in these aspects it can be
called an ultra mobile in the real sense."

According
to Saraf of Zenith Computers, "Screen size is an important aspect in making
a laptop ultra mobile. A screen size of more than 12 inches increases the
overall weight of the laptops." Second is number of spindles (hard disk
drive and optical drive) in any laptop: "If one is willing for a laptop
without built-in optical drive, the weight reduces further," she says.
"Other default features like Intel Centrino technology, sleek portfolio
design, wireless LAN, new age I/O interfaces like USB ports, Infrared, card
readers, built-in cameras also help to make the laptop more sleek, light and
complete. Floppy drives and legacy ports (serial/parallel)-are a complete no
no for ultra mobile laptops."

With ultra portables going to the discerning consumers, here we list
(alphabetically) some those that are riding high on the popularity index.

Dell
INSPIRON 700m

Inspiron 700m, the company calls it the Ultra Mobile Road Warrior, weighs 1.72
kg. The company is targeting it at students, professionals, corporate executives
or those who travel frequently and require a lightweight PC that's easy to
carry and fully featured. It offers a 12.1-inch wide-screen display and includes
the power and portability for consumers who want a unique viewing experience on
the smallest chassis in the Inspiron family of notebooks. It comes loaded with
the Intel Pentium M 725 1.6 GHz processor without sacrificing optical
capabilities. Choices of integrated optical include DVD, DVD/CD-RW, or DVD+RW.
The Dell 700m includes internal wireless capabilities and memory that can be
configured from 256 MB to 2 GB.

Price: Starting from Rs 67,900

ACI Ethos Lite

Competing with Zenith's Presidio in terms of price, ACI has brought a
1.72-kg ultra with a 12.1-inch screen. Like some other models listed, the
optical drive being external is the key reason for its lightweight. In terms of
configuration, the Ethos comes with a Pentium M 1.7 GHz, 256-MB memory and
defaults like Wi-Fi et al.

Price: Rs 59,999

Acer TravelMate 380

Weighs
just about 1.61 kg; this is a portable powerhouse with Intel Centrino Mobile
technology with Pentium M 1.5 GHz processor. The screen: 12.1" XGA color
TFT LCD supporting 1024 x 768-pixel resolution, 16.7 mn colours. The system
memory built-in is 512 DDR 266, upgradeable to 2 GB. In terms of storage this
ultra comes with a 60-GB, 4200-RPM real estate and an external IEEE DVD/CD-RW
Combo. With a 4.5-hour battery life, the system has a whole lot of other
features like Wi-Fi. A pretty packed configuration that will keep the user
current for quite some time.

Price: Rs 84,999

LG
LU 20

At just 1.58 kg, this lightweight LG ultra notebook comes with a 12.1-inch
display screen. A Pentium M Processor 1.4Ghz powers this machine. In terms of
wireless, it comes with Intel Pro Wireless and a Dual Quad Band antenna. Other
features like Intel extreme graphics, a 30 GB HDD that is expandable to 80 GB,
and a range of communications port makes this ultra portable notebook a thin,
light and a powerful machine.

Price: Rs 85,000

Zenith Presidio VU

Another
one from the Zenith stable that sports Intel Centrino Mobile Technology with
Intel Pentium M Processor, Intel Wireless LAN 802.11b/g, 256 MB RAM, 40 GB HDD,
12.1" wide aspect ratio screen, DVD-CD RW Combo, built-in web camera,
3-in-1 card reader, Infrared port-all packed in just 1.8 kg.

Price: Rs 70,000

Sony
VGN-S36 GP

Sony's VAIO (Video Audio Integrated Operation) is more of designer PC when
it comes to looks and this ultra portable from Sony is no exception. With a
wide, clear, bright 13.3-inch display, the S 36 GP notebook weighs 1.89 kg. The
configuration is more industry standard default-Intel Centrino, Pentium M
Processor 1.60 GHz, Pro Wireless 2200BG and Integrated Bluetooth.

Price: Rs 99,990

At Rs 80,000, another popular models is the Fujitsu Lifebook S2020, which
comes with an AMD Athlon processor. It weighs around 1.9 kg. Toshiba's slim
and sleek Portege M 100, which has got rave reviews across the world, and is
also one of the best buys in many of the notebook shootouts in trade magazines.

Ultra portable notebooks are now perceived more of a luxury than a necessity.
But, with low priced-high performance models coming in, it will trigger a price
war in this segment in the ensuing days. In the end, buyers will end up with
more options and features at a lesser price.

Shrikanth G in
Chennai