Dear community members,
I have been with this problem for years. I decided to share it on the internet now. Perhaps I hope, that some of the big hardware vendors could get involved.
I am quite often on the go, so I need a small, lightweight, but at the same time powerful laptop.
Exactly 2 years ago, I bought an 11.6" Acer TravelMate. It came as a standard configuration with a 1.8 GHz i5 CPU, 4 GB RAM and 500 GB disk. The special thing about that laptop is, that it has TWO memory slots. The design by Acer is VERY smart - just 3 or 4 screws and I had access to everything. So it took me just a couple of minutes to replace those 4 GB with 2x8GB Kingston (despite of the fact, that according to specification, only 2x4GB are the maximum amount of installable memory!!! But it works FLAWLESSLY with 16!!!) and the 500 GB disk with the (at that time) brand new Western Digital 1 TB blue low profile (7mm) hard drive.
So, for 2 years I am pretty happy with that machine.
Over the weekend, I had the idea to have a look, now after 2 years... maybe the market could offer some new wonders.
So, I have checked a few local internet shops, which offer a good variety of computers. And WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT !!! All the machines, with quite an acceptable CPU, had the memory directly soldered on the mainboard !!!!!!! And they either had just 1 memory slot or EVEN no memory slot AT ALL !!! So, according to manufacturer specification, the maximum amount or RAM that could be installed, was 12 GB, which is certainly not enough for my needs !!!
So, I would here ask 2 questions:
1. Could anyone advise about a known 10" or 11" model, which supports 16 GB RAM at least, actually 32 GB preferably.
2. WHERE IS the technical progress gone ??? I remember the times around 2009-2010, each 6 months there was a new model with twice the performance or disk capacity of the previous models (it was like 120GB, 160GB, 320GB, 500GB). And now, since 2011 all that got stuck !!! It's no more fun to go and have a look at laptops at the electronics stores !! 90% of the models they are offering are: i5 / 5 GB RAM / 500 GB disk.
If I would extrapolate the innovation rate, today we should have high-end laptops in the shops, like i9 4.5 GHz / 128 GB RAM / 4-6 TB disk !! But NOPE, this hasn't come yet! WHY ???
I realize, that most of the producers are now switching to SDD. Yes, it is super fast, but about storage capacity, it's nothing !! 256-500 GB is NOTHING for me !! Bearing in mind, that a Windows installation is about 30 GB, programs have grown so much, that each application is somewhere between 2 or 4 GB installed on the hard drive. With HD videos and photo collections from 18-20 mpix cameras... Where is all this going ? Where are we supposed to store all this ?
Please don't come back here with suggestions like NAS or cloud. I need my data with me all the time and NO, I DO NOT TRUST any cloud provider. And on the go, there is often no internet connection (THANK YOU, Paris airport for the incredible offer of about 2 Euro for 30 Minutes internet access!!!).
So, now I am looking at the 2 TB SSD drive from Samsung and I am playing with the thought of replacing those 2x8 GB with 2x16 GB with the hope, that it will work !!!
I didn't find a 2 TB classical low profile (7mm) hard drive on the market. I didn't even find a 2 TB drive on 7200 rpm with a 9 mm profile for my 17" laptop for home usage! So, nothing inspiring about today's technology. (P. S.: I don't like tablets and iOS).
I would be very grateful for your opinions, suggestions and comments!
I have been with this problem for years. I decided to share it on the internet now. Perhaps I hope, that some of the big hardware vendors could get involved.
I am quite often on the go, so I need a small, lightweight, but at the same time powerful laptop.
Exactly 2 years ago, I bought an 11.6" Acer TravelMate. It came as a standard configuration with a 1.8 GHz i5 CPU, 4 GB RAM and 500 GB disk. The special thing about that laptop is, that it has TWO memory slots. The design by Acer is VERY smart - just 3 or 4 screws and I had access to everything. So it took me just a couple of minutes to replace those 4 GB with 2x8GB Kingston (despite of the fact, that according to specification, only 2x4GB are the maximum amount of installable memory!!! But it works FLAWLESSLY with 16!!!) and the 500 GB disk with the (at that time) brand new Western Digital 1 TB blue low profile (7mm) hard drive.
So, for 2 years I am pretty happy with that machine.
Over the weekend, I had the idea to have a look, now after 2 years... maybe the market could offer some new wonders.
So, I have checked a few local internet shops, which offer a good variety of computers. And WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT !!! All the machines, with quite an acceptable CPU, had the memory directly soldered on the mainboard !!!!!!! And they either had just 1 memory slot or EVEN no memory slot AT ALL !!! So, according to manufacturer specification, the maximum amount or RAM that could be installed, was 12 GB, which is certainly not enough for my needs !!!
So, I would here ask 2 questions:
1. Could anyone advise about a known 10" or 11" model, which supports 16 GB RAM at least, actually 32 GB preferably.
2. WHERE IS the technical progress gone ??? I remember the times around 2009-2010, each 6 months there was a new model with twice the performance or disk capacity of the previous models (it was like 120GB, 160GB, 320GB, 500GB). And now, since 2011 all that got stuck !!! It's no more fun to go and have a look at laptops at the electronics stores !! 90% of the models they are offering are: i5 / 5 GB RAM / 500 GB disk.
If I would extrapolate the innovation rate, today we should have high-end laptops in the shops, like i9 4.5 GHz / 128 GB RAM / 4-6 TB disk !! But NOPE, this hasn't come yet! WHY ???
I realize, that most of the producers are now switching to SDD. Yes, it is super fast, but about storage capacity, it's nothing !! 256-500 GB is NOTHING for me !! Bearing in mind, that a Windows installation is about 30 GB, programs have grown so much, that each application is somewhere between 2 or 4 GB installed on the hard drive. With HD videos and photo collections from 18-20 mpix cameras... Where is all this going ? Where are we supposed to store all this ?
Please don't come back here with suggestions like NAS or cloud. I need my data with me all the time and NO, I DO NOT TRUST any cloud provider. And on the go, there is often no internet connection (THANK YOU, Paris airport for the incredible offer of about 2 Euro for 30 Minutes internet access!!!).
So, now I am looking at the 2 TB SSD drive from Samsung and I am playing with the thought of replacing those 2x8 GB with 2x16 GB with the hope, that it will work !!!
I didn't find a 2 TB classical low profile (7mm) hard drive on the market. I didn't even find a 2 TB drive on 7200 rpm with a 9 mm profile for my 17" laptop for home usage! So, nothing inspiring about today's technology. (P. S.: I don't like tablets and iOS).
I would be very grateful for your opinions, suggestions and comments!
/www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/productID.325711500?vid=325713300
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