LaptopAdvisor

The Sony VAIO NW160J matches a Blu-ray disc drive with a vivid, 15.5-inch display, ATI graphics card, and an Intel Core 2 Duo processor. It’s not a multimedia laptop, per se. It’s more of a middle-of-the-road laptop with one really great multimedia perk, the Blu-ray disc drive. If you’re interested in a reasonably powerful laptop that can also playback high-definition movies and make the most of Blu-ray’s Internet-enabled BD Live functionality, the Sony VAIO NW160J is a solid pick for under $1,000.

Beyond the Blu-ray drive, the NW160J has plenty of appealing features that make it a good candidate for consumers interested in gaming or other tasks that require solid, speedy performance. The 2.1Ghz Core 2 Duo processor is a nice start, as is the 320GB hard disk drive and 4GB of RAM that’s included. The rated battery life is modest, only about four hours, though that’s sure to plummet if you’re doing viewing an HD video with your Blu-ray disc drive. They keyboard is worthy of note, as well. It’s not a traditional keyboard, but rather an isolated keyboard with each key set in its own opening cut into the body of the laptop.

The NW160J also features an HDMI output, meaning you can pipe your high-definition movies directly to your high-definition television. This makes the NW160J not just a powerful laptop but also a convenient Blu-ray disc player for your television set.

Years ago, Gateway was known for their computer showcase stores and their quaint cow-patterned boxes. After a streak of bad luck that led the once popular and prosperous company retreated somewhat, but they’re still out there plugging away in the hopes of recapturing past glories.

The Gateway LT2000 is the brand’s second attempt at a netbook. The first try, the Gateway LT3100, had an AMD processor at its core. This time around, they’ve opted to go with an Intel Atom N270 processor, which is relatively common among netbooks, so performance-wise, the LT2000 should be roughly on par with competition from Asus, Acer, and MSI. The processor checks in at 1.6Ghz, fairly speedy, certainly enough to handle most netbook tasks.

The LT2000 netbook has just about everything you’d expect from a computer of this type. It features a 10.1-inch LED-backlight display with a roomy native resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels. Under the hood, you’ll find the aforementioned Atom processor, as well as a 160GB, 5400RPM hard disk drive, with plenty of capacity for files and media. The LT2000 includes 1GB of RAM; it’s not clear whether this can be expanded. Fun perks include a built-in webcam, stereo speakers, and a media card reader for quick access to digital photos or other files.

One caveat: the LT2000 only comes with a three-cell battery, which will only support the netbook for about three hours of unplugged useage. The choice of a smaller battery is no doubt to keep the weight down. The LT2000 weighs in at 2.62 pounds, average for a netbook.

It’s nice to see a little competition in the netbook space, however the design and specifications of the LT2000 are becoming pretty standard. Nobody is truly mixing it up and the configuration is becoming tedious. Perhaps in the next few months, someone will come along and shake up the market, but until then you’ve got your choice between a whole host of similar products. The LT2000 has a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $299.99.

When checking out the Asus N81Vp, at first, it looks like a walking, well rather sitting, contradiction. If you were to take a look at its specs list, you would see a Intel T9550, 2.66GHz, processor, 4GB of RAM, and an ATI 4650, 1GB, Graphics card. When looking at these specs, the first thing that comes to mind is gaming computer. If you want more generic terms: high performance computer. But then you take a look at the screen size, 14.1”, and the weight, just under 6 pounds. With most high performance computers having a 17” screen and a weight of at least 7 pounds (usually), this laptop seems very out of the ordinary, and maybe even impractical.

At First Glance

Looking at the laptop, it’s nothing special, but has much necessary functionality. As far as looks go, it seems that Asus has adopted a similar style to the HP DV laptops, with a polished black outside, and a standard, low-key interior. Nothing special, but by Occum’s Razor, simpler may end up being better. There is a standard 1.3 megapixel camera, 14.1” LED backlit screen, Bluetooth, and a Dual Layer CD/DVD-R drive. Again, nothing out of the ordinary here.

Under the Hood

Here’s where things get really interesting. The video card contains 1GB of video RAM, making it a powerhouse for video graphics – a much needed quality in gaming, or graphic design, video editing, etc laptops. Then, backed by its 4GB of RAM, the laptop can pretty much handle any program or game you have to throw it at. In fact, if you compare this to any other 14.1” laptop, such as the HP DV4t or Lenovo T400 (two other big contenders), the N81Vp blows them out of the water performance-wise. Granted, the Asus does have 4 times as much video RAM as any of its competitors. Also, the processor doesn’t quite compare to the Lenovo or the HP, which each contain a 2.8GHz processor, but it can still hold its own. By gaming and video standards, this laptop is the crème de la crème of the 14.1” world.

Overall Thoughts

The laptop has a price tag of $1399.99, making it one of the more expensive 14.1” laptops by far, but I guess with 1GB of video RAM, the graphics card accounts for the significant price increase. As I mentioned before, this laptop is a powerhouse in the 14.1” world, but that’s not saying much. The fact of the matter is this laptop tries to combine 2 worlds, and does a very poor job of it. Looking at the gaming aspect, 1GB of RAM with only a 2.66 GHz processor is completely unbalanced, and overkill on the side of graphics; your processor will limit you far before the graphics card does. Further into the gaming aspect is the 14.1” screen – unless you have an external monitor, no serious gamer or even graphics designer wants to compromise screen space. Now on the portability side, its nice to have a laptop with a 14.1” screen, and a weight 1-2 pounds less than the most other high end laptops. But, weighing slightly under 6 pounds still accounts for a hefty computer. Furthermore, the fact that there’s so many high performance parts in the computer shoots the battery life way down, making it an impractical solution, unless you are constantly plugged in to an outlet. But, that again, defeats the purpose of being mobile. It’s a nice idea combining gaming and mobility, but in the end it just doesn’t encompass enough of each world to be ideal for gamers/graphics designers, or people desiring portability.

Unless you are going to be constantly plugged into an outlet, and have a serious need for portable performance, I would stay away from the Asus N81Vp.

Check out our buyer’s guide to the best gaming laptops! Updated 2/2010

Although this debate has been going on for a while, even more users are asking this question now, primarily because of the growing popularity of netbooks. Netbooks, unlike most other laptops give the option of choosing between Windows XP or Linux. Some netbooks come with one or the other by default, while others give you the option to choose, such as the Acer Aspire One. Most of the other hardware specs (hard drive, RAM, processor speeds, etc) are pretty self explanatory, but the choice of software is not so evident. So, in this article, we’ll talk about a couple of the different aspects when choosing an operating system, and help you get a better idea of what fits you best.

Performance

This is probably the first question that people come to when choosing. The simple fact of the matter is that, in most cases (and by that I mean most of the tests performed), Windows XP is almost twice as fast as Linux. This is primarily in the start up of the laptop, as well as, the opening of new programs. So if you plan on having several applications that you need to open, and you don’t want to compromise your laptop speed dramatically, then Windows XP is probably the best choice for you. The other thing to consider is that though faster is better, if you don’t need speed, you may want to go with Linux. If you plan to only run the internet, e-mail, and open the occasional document, then Linux would probably be best. Now, I bet you’re wondering, why would I ever go with the slower one if there isn’t a big difference in price of the initial laptop? Well, keep reading and you’ll find out.

Compatibility

This is more of an issue with businessman, students, and people who have established networks. To start, some networks only are compatible with Windows XP, especially if there needs to be security software/login software installed. So, if you do plan to get a netbook and are using it in other places than your own home network, double check whether you have to have one or the other. And yes, there are usually always workarounds to get Linux to work on a Windows-only network, but usually this is a pain. The other thing you want to do is double check that you don’t have any software programs that only work with Windows. Linux is becoming more and more compatible with almost all Windows software, and has programs mimicking programs like the Microsoft Office Suite. A lot of higher end games are not compatible on Linux either, but if you’re a hardcore gamer, I doubt you’ll be looking at a netbook for gaming. So, you may have the option available, or may be able to find a work around, but double check to be sure.

Price

As you take a look at netbooks, there’s not a huge difference in cost of Windows XP netbooks and Linux netbooks, all things considered. It’s typically $50 or so extra for a Windows XP netbook than a Linux version. Usually the Windows XP versions come with more memory, a faster processor, and sometimes more hard drive space, and are therefore more expensive. This is because people expect users using Windows XP to want higher performance, as discussed above. So, where does cost become an issue? As you start putting software on your laptop, then the costs start adding up. For Linux users, almost all the software is free, so having programs that run Word documents, Excel documents, etc, won’t cost you an extra penny. But for Windows users, they must purchase the Microsoft suite, plus pay for almost any other software they need, which adds up to a couple hundred dollars at least. So, to save some money, at least in the long run, go with the Linux netbooks.

So, the bottom line, if you want to save money and don’t need higher performance, go with Linux; if performance is something you desire, and you don’t mind paying a bit extra, go with Windows XP. Now that you know the differences and can find which operating system suits you, check out our other articles on netbooks.

First, and foremost, laptops are meant, by design, to be portable. Their counterparts, desktops are the ones you don’t throw in your briefcase or backpack and take around with you. Therefore if you’re buying a laptop, instead of a desktop, one of your obvious goals is for it to be, at least a little bit, portable. Now that we’ve established that, there are obviously different degrees of portability, and if you’re considering buying a laptop, this is probably where you should begin. Let’s address the spectrum so you can place yourself somewhere on it. On one side (the light side) you have business laptops, which can weigh as little as 1-2 pounds, and is for, as the name states, people in business and/or people who travel a good amount. On the other side you have “desktop replacements,” which are mostly used by gamers, entertainment enthusiast, and maybe people in the graphic/video industry; these can weigh over 10 pounds. Then, there’s everything in between, which is approximately 4-7 pounds, and is what most people tend to purchase. If you’re a student, or someone who must traverse large distances with no car (seriously you wouldn’t believe how big some college campuses are), definitely shoot for lighter. Try to place yourself somewhere in the 3 categories first, then work from there; there’s definitely a lot of leeway here though – I know graphic designers with 11 inch laptops (who consequently use an external monitor), and students who only word process with a 17 inch laptop.

Next, let’s discuss the relationship between screen size and weight. The most obvious thing to start out with is, the bigger the screen size, the heavier the laptop. I know 17 inch laptops seem appealing, but unless you’re a die-hard gamer or watch tons of videos on your laptop (video and photo editors included), I’d stick to a 15 inch. 13 inches and under, in my opinion, is a tad small. It’s difficult to be ultra productive on a 13 inch screen, because you can’t have several windows open side by side. You could always get a 13 inch loaded with a high definition amount of pixels, but it’s never nice to have things so small that the text is straining to read. If you only really plan to word process, use the internet, write emails, and watch the occasional video, then the 13 inch might be an option. Quite simply, try and go as light as you can, without compromising screen space.

Alright, now one of the bigger aspects for many people: the relationship between size and cost. In most cases, bigger means better and better usually means more expensive. But, go on a laptop site and you may end up seeing the opposite, gaming computers an exception. I know earlier I said shoot for lighter, and now it seems as though I’m contradicting myself, but the key here is to find a balance between lightness, functionality, and price. When laptops get smaller, especially in the business aspect, they tend to get more expensive. As it turns out, it is rather expensive to cram high performance parts into small spaces, go figure. So if you’re on a limited budget, and want to maintain decent functionality, stay away from the 13” laptops. Now, let’s address the issue of big laptops. Once you go from 15 inches to 17 inches, the chassis and the screen get more expensive, and thus your price goes up – pretty simple. 17 inches is the choice for most gamers and photo/video editors, because more performance parts (like SLI enabled graphics cards) and bigger screens with more pixels. These are also reasons why you may want to consider it if you’re a serious videophile. If you’re looking for an ultimately cheap alternative there are miniature laptops that can basically word process and surf the internet for very cheap (a couple hundred).

Finally, if you’re still confused, well let me just try to tell you what I think you should do. If you’ve read the previous paragraphs, you can see that on average, and based on the functionality, weight, and price ratios, 14-15 inch laptops are probably the size to gravitate toward. This is especially true if you’re moving your laptop over extended distances (more than from the car to the home office, and from the car to the actual office). Serious gamers and people that love entertainment, and don’t plan to move extended amounts, go toward the 17 inch side. Frequent travelers and businessmen look to the 13 inch laptops. If you’re going through the airport, and/or if you have to carry something in your briefcase (as opposed to backpack or pseudo-backpack), you definitely want ultra-light. For everyone else, my recommendation, as I’ve said several times before, go for the 15 inch. Hope this helps answer some questions, but if you want some more perspective, I’ll do a follow up article soon about my experience with my 17 inch laptop.