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urrl78 · 05:57 PM

I need (or just want) a laptop much smaller than my 17" with a PC card slot.
The slot will be used for my Verizon wireless Broadband PC5220 card which I am now using in my 17" Powerbook and it works incredibly well. I don't need a base station/Airport or router to get on the net.

The iBook and the 12" Powerbook come to mind but I don't think they have PCMCIA slots. Has anyone heard of the next revisions getting them? Should I wait? I am really tempted to get the VAIO PCG-TR3AP2 or even more tempted to get this:

http://reviews.cnet.com/Fujitsu_Life...-30974700.html

More Specs:

http://webshop.fujitsupc.com/fpc/Eco...n.do?series=P7

In my case a 10" wide screen would be charmingly perfect and both the Fujitsu and the Sony have the XBRITE screen technology.

Can you believe the Fuji burns DVD+/- and DVD-RAM? Data bus speed 400 Mhz? 802.11 a & b? Somebody slap me. If the thing didn't have 64 MB shared memory, only a 1 Ghz processor and Windows I would not have to think twice.
Apple...wha happened?

romeosc · Jan 28, 2005, 05:49 PM

olderTIPB 15 have PCMCIA slot

urrl78 · Jan 28, 2005, 05:59 PM

Originally posted by romeosc:
olderTIPB 15 have PCMCIA slot

True, and so does the 15" aluminum, but they are almost as big as the 17".

audvidsvs · Jan 28, 2005, 06:05 PM

I 'll slap you even more.
I read that Fujitsu actually manufactures these tiny machines for Sony!
So the quality should be great but you still get that Sony "charm".

wuzup101 · Jan 29, 2005, 03:51 PM

Both the small lifebooks and the sony TR series are really nice notebooks. The screans are absolutely beautiful. They literlally kick the **** out of the 12" powerbook screans. I mean yes they do run windows, have integrated video, etc... I believe some of the small lifebooks also had various card readers built in, removeable drives (with second batt options and/or weightsavers), and digital (optical) sound out. I've had a chance to play with both, and I can tell you that if you can deal with windows, they are great little machines. I wish apple would get on the stick here!

urrl78 · Jan 30, 2005, 06:38 AM

Thanks for the heads up wuzup. The pictures of the Sony make it look white. I can't find any detailed photos of the thing. Is this model silver or white? I would rather have silver like the Powerbook or black like the Fujitsu.

wuzup101 · Jan 30, 2005, 08:47 AM

Outside of the TR series is silver (which is a bit darker than that of the PB. Inside of the notebook is like pearl white. It's not the same pure white as the iBook. www.newegg.com sells them for pretty decent prices and has some fairly high detail pics. Honestly this would be one of the only PC notebooks I'd purchase, they are pretty nice looking in person. They are thicker than the 12" PB (at about 1.4ish inches IIRC); however, they have a smaller footprint and weigh like 3.5 lbs. Build quality is pretty good from my limited experience, but I hear sony's customer support isn't exactly great.

With this tiny subnotebooks one thing you lose is speed. They are, for the most part, very portable (except like I said they can tend to be a bit thicker than one would like). If you have the money, and want a portable, full featured notebook outside the powerbook world, I would also suggest looking at an IBM T42. Their 14" model (also have a 15") not only has great battery life (about 4+ hrs real world), but they have high resolution screans 1450 x 1080 (might have mixed some numbers up there), and are thin and light (1 inch thick and 4.6lbs). A friend of mine just got one and I've had the chance to play with it quite a bit. Though XP still isn't OSX, the notebook is VERY solid... VERY VERY solid! Fugi has always made good stuff too... but IBM's build quality and customer service outclasses that of both sony and fugi put together...

audvidsvs · Jan 30, 2005, 09:30 AM

I am afraid the Sony's and Fijitsu's that have screens that "Kick" the Apple is some minds do so by using contrast enhancing dark plastic filters in fron tof the LCD. Thes may look good is some situations but are almost unviewable in bright and/or direct light.
Any video image can be enhanced by placing a grey filter in front of it but there is always a price to pay.The contrast goes way up and thus readibility in indoor lighting but it is well documented and discussed that this makes for amazing reflections that obscure functionality in less than ideal lighting.

Also I wanted to point out that the TR series with thhe cameras built-in do not seem to have this problem as badly as the newer one without the camera.
The older camera models are indeed white outside and smaller than the 12"PB all the way around.
I was working on one on Friday and stuck my PB into the sleevecase for the TR and the PB went in fine but stuck out a couple of inches in back.
They are made of and feel like plastic toys compared to the PB to me.

They are also Dog-Ass slow but do get good battery life.

The newer ones are grey/silver and even lighter than the camera models and they are more elongated too more like the widescreen might imoly.
They have a darker/more reflective screen filter that looks great in some lighting and terrible in other.

Sitting my PB next to it I was imporessed with the Sony but I also have had to deal with Sony before and I don't easily forget that kind of service.

I also was using an older Sony 505 there to program some remote controls and it is MUCH smaller than either the PB or the TR and still works well.
I can get my PB and the older Sony both in my bag and carry bothh most of the time.
I think the 505 is a timeless machine.I wish they still made them in that form factor at a reasonable price.

crazeazn · Jan 30, 2005, 06:32 PM

i had the sony SRX 87 and it ran actually quite quickly for its size and its processor. it some cases it seemed to outrun my dell which had twice the processing power. overall i think buying sony isnt too bad of a bet (the SR series i had was made in japan.. which helped).

urrl78 · 07:49 AM

Thanks much for all the replies. Right now I am leaning toward the P7010 since I hear a newer faster 1.2 Ghz version will be out mid February with possibly Sonoma technology. I posted as a newbee here:

http://www.leog.net/fujp_forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=7368

and was pleased to see a few Powerbook users there who also gave good advice.

Yes Wuzup, the present Fujitsu P7010 does have a removable, upgradable modular 80 GIG drive and built in card readers. Looks like a great choice and even better a few weeks from now. The HD will probably be 100 GIG in the next revision. With an internal DVD burner it is just incredible what they packed into such a small package.

http://www.computers.us.fujitsu.com/...specs/p7010_ts

Michael1980 · Jan 31, 2005, 09:40 AM

Originally posted by audvidsvs:
I am afraid the Sony's and Fijitsu's that have screens that "Kick" the Apple is some minds do so by using contrast enhancing dark plastic filters in fron tof the LCD. Thes may look good is some situations but are almost unviewable in bright and/or direct light.
Any video image can be enhanced by placing a grey filter in front of it but there is always a price to pay.The contrast goes way up and thus readibility in indoor lighting but it is well documented and discussed that this makes for amazing reflections that obscure functionality in less than ideal lighting.

Also I wanted to point out that the TR series with thhe cameras built-in do not seem to have this problem as badly as the newer one without the camera.
The older camera models are indeed white outside and smaller than the 12"PB all the way around.
I was working on one on Friday and stuck my PB into the sleevecase for the TR and the PB went in fine but stuck out a couple of inches in back.
They are made of and feel like plastic toys compared to the PB to me.

They are also Dog-Ass slow but do get good battery life.

The newer ones are grey/silver and even lighter than the camera models and they are more elongated too more like the widescreen might imoly.
They have a darker/more reflective screen filter that looks great in some lighting and terrible in other.

Sitting my PB next to it I was imporessed with the Sony but I also have had to deal with Sony before and I don't easily forget that kind of service.

I also was using an older Sony 505 there to program some remote controls and it is MUCH smaller than either the PB or the TR and still works well.
I can get my PB and the older Sony both in my bag and carry bothh most of the time.
I think the 505 is a timeless machine.I wish they still made them in that form factor at a reasonable price.

The IPS screens are not because of "filters" infront of the screen. IBM has IPS models which do not have that reflective surface. It is upto the manufacturer.

wuzup101 · Jan 31, 2005, 10:40 AM

Some people also happen to like the resolution offered by these tiny machines. I mean I'd certainly rather have a 1280x768 screan (or whatever they are) instead of the current 12" powerbook screan. Besides I typically do my work indoors... and I've never heard of anyone having a problem with indoor lighting. I'd much rather have a screan that looked a lot better 95% of the time and looked much worse 5% of the time... not to mention in the 5% of the time that I'm working in really bright conditions I'd probably be outside on my balcony dicking around anyway...

audvidsvs · Jan 31, 2005, 11:52 AM

I don't know about the IBM screens and I did not comment on them.
The Sony screens I am referring to do have plastic contrast enhancing filters in front of the LCD.
I was not placing a value on this really but just pointing out that in some lighting situations they are very reflective and glare badly enough to be unusable.

I actually prefer the resolution and sharpness of these too. Unfortunalely Apple has not choosen to go with higher res. for whatever reason.

I work in a lot of different locations and can never know in advance what the environment will be like.Recently I was working with two of these Sony's in the same house and I did have a hard time using them because of the glare.

That is my experience.

urrl78 · Jan 31, 2005, 02:27 PM

I also found out the Sony T150 is another good alternative:

http://reviews.cnet.com/Sony_VAIO_T1...2.html?tag=top

and there will be a new revision, the T250 perhaps in early February.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...amp;n=13632161

As you can see Amazon is already advertising them although they are not in stock yet. To bad that Sony is only upgrading to 60 gig 4200 RPM hard drives though. However the T150 does have Bluetooth. The Lifebook P7010 does not. Then again the Lifebook has S-Video out; the Sony T models only have VGA out.

tooki · Jan 31, 2005, 04:55 PM

Originally posted by urrl78:
True, and so does the 15" aluminum, but they are almost as big as the 17".

Uhh, I think not!

tooki

urrl78 · 07:52 PM

Tooki I respect your point of view it but I just see it very differently. The difference being a little over a pound between the two for me would be kinda insignificant compared to less than half the weight of the 17" (the Sony P7010d only weighs 3.3 lbs). I don't need the screen real estate of the 15". I have more than enough with the 17". What I do need is something I can put in a sleeve with a shoulder strap and walk around all day without shoulder pain. Something that has a brighter screen that can also be viewed outdoors if need be. Too bad it only runs Windows but Apple just doesn't offer anything like that with a PCMCIA slot and a modular, removable, upgradable optical drive. Anyway, pardon the rant. I just need something more transportable and incognito, kinda like Mr. Spocks tri-quarter. Ya know? Something where someone won't say "Oh, I thought that WAS your 17..."