All New Gadgets Updates

Recently, we’ve been getting queries as to what one should buy; a netbook or a laptop, from a budget point of view. Well, both these devices serve different purposes, while netbooks are mainly meant for basic computing on the go, laptops are capable of doing more than just chat, email, casual Internet surfing and such. Even the most entry-level laptop is much more powerful than a standard netbook. Unlike netbooks, laptops are more comfortable to work on, in terms of ergonomics. Laptops are better at handling demanding applications like designing suites, multimedia, video playback and such. But netbooks tend to become sluggish even with multiple tabs during heavy Internet browsing, let alone multitasking and heavy applications. However, this fact is also about to change soon when netbooks with Nvidia’s Ion platform and dual-core Intel Atom processors take the market with storm.

We’ve listed a few budget laptops, a few of which might already be owned by some of you and some might be new. All laptops in this list fall under the Rs 30,000 price bracket, and most of them can perform the daily computing tasks seamlessly. Let’s take a quick look at them and see which one bags the ‘best pick’ title.

Computex 2011 has gone off to a flying start and some truly innovative products have launched this year. ASUS have already announced the innovative Padfone this year along with a number of other interesting products. Their announcements haven’t stopped, and the company launched the UX21 laptop codenamed Ultrabook.

The UX21 is clad in an aluminum alloy shell that has a unique 'spun' finish; the UX Series has a number of impressive features, including 2nd generation Intel Core mobile processors, including the powerful i7. ASUS claims that the Ultrabook has up to 7-hour battery charge and an Instant-On feature where the laptop can resume in 2 seconds from sleep mode. At its thickest, the ASUS UX21 is a mere 17mm and weighs 1,100g. Further to this the laptop also features a SATA III SSD and USB 3.0 connectivity.

Sean Maloney, Intel’s Corporation Executive Vice President speaking about the Ultrabook at Computex said that the performance and capabilities of today’s laptops have tablet-like features and deliver a highly responsive and secure experience, in a thin, light and elegant design. The ASUS UX21 Ultrabook is expected to be launched by September and with its slim design and impressive attributes we are sure it will pose some worthy competition for the MacBook Air.

Intel has revealed its latest laptop-based chip plans over at Computex, putting the emphasis on low power and skinny looks in order to claw back some share from the tablet market.

The term Intel has coined for this 'new' category is 'Ultrabook', which we've already reported to the hyperbole police and expect the chip maker to be hauled into the exaggeration station along with Steve 'Magical' Jobs and HTC any minute now.

Although no official Ultrabook products have been unveiled, Intel's executive vice president, Sean Maloney, reckons they "will make up 40 per cent of the market by the end of 2012."

Now here’s a surprise. At the Computex fair in Taipei, ASUS has unveiled the Eee PC X101, an ultra-thin netbook at 17.6mm and ultra-light at 950g, which has both Windows 7 and MeeGo variants. The Eee PC X101 has a 10.1-inch display, 802.11 WiFi b/g/n and an Intel Atom N435 processor, which will probably be unveiled later at Computex. It will also come in X101H variant, which will have a SSD hybrid hard drive.

Here’s what ASUS had to say about the Eee PC X101: “ASUS evolves the Eee PC further with new models that take netbooks to ever-greater heights. The new Eee PC X101 has been designed from the start to be the perfect ultraportable for modern mobile users, with its Intel MeeGo operating system incorporating full support for a wide range of social networking services. Eee PC X101 Series netbooks are also offered with the Windows 7 operating system, and models ship with both solid state and mechanical hard drive storage configurations.”

The base MeeGo model will cost a mere $200 (~Rs. 9,000) which is pretty good. We hope to hear more about this series of netbooks soon.

The demand for portable laptops seems to be on the rise. Almost every manufacturer is out in the market with a lightweight and slim laptop hoping to impress customers with his designs.

Lenovo plans to do the same with their IdeaPad U260 notebook that is designed to be a stylish portable companion.

Features
The IdeaPad U260 is a slim, but not necessarily sleek notebook. There are no fancy curves and glossy panels covering the external surfaces of this notebook. In fact, the matte finish has a somewhat softer feel to it, like synthetic leather.

Open up the lid and you find a 12.5-inch LED backlit display that supports a resolution of 1366 x768 inside. The bezel surrounding the display could have been thinner. In terms of specifications, it’s not very impressive. There’s only an Intel Core i3 U380 1.33 GHz powering it with 4 GB of memory. The processor supports hyperthreading on its two cores. Lenovo ships this model with a 64-bit version of the Windows 7 Home Premium operating system. In terms of storage space, you get a 320 GB Hitachi Travelstar hard drive running at 5400rpm. It’s not the ultimate in performance, but space of just 320 GB is a little low by current standards.

The smaller form factor means limited connectivity options, as well. For example, there are only two USB 2.0 ports, an HDMI port, D-Sub and an Ethernet port on the notebook. There’s also a WiFi toggle switch on the left side of the notebook.

Build quality and Design
The treatment to the external surfaces is pretty and feels good to the touch as compared to a hard glossy finished surface. It comes in a mocha brown and the sides and the insides of the notebook are black. The upper panel holding the screen is thin but, solidly built. The screen wobbles a  bit but nothing that will annoy you while you’re using it at work or home on a desk.

The keyboard feels a little smaller than other notebooks primarily because of its smaller size. The touchpad too has been scaled down to a smaller size. The touchpad though is decent and the mouse clicks are really soft. They seem sturdy and at the same time they’re fun to use.

The surface surrounding the keyboard too, has a matte finish and has a texture similar to the top surface of the notebook. The screen does lean back quite a bit, which is a good thing.

The battery charger Lenovo supplies with the IdeaPad U260 is compact and we noticed that it gets pretty heated up after charging the notebook for more than an hour or so.