Source: Tom's Guide | Keywords: sony, toshiba, 12-inch | Themes: Business Notebooks, Laptops and Notebooks, Business
- 1. 12" Power Notebooks
- 2. HP Compaq 2510p: Design, Weight, Quality
- 3. HP Compaq 2510p: Hardware, Software, Usability
- 4. HP Compaq 2510p: Features, Heat, Noise
- 5. Samsung P200-Pro: Design, Weight, Quality
- 6. Samsung P200-Pro: Hardware, Software, Usability
- 7. Samsung P200-Pro: Features, Heat, Noise
- 8. Sony VAIO VGN-G21XP: Design, Weight, Quality
- 9. Sony VAIO VGN-G21XP: Hardware, Software, Usability
- 10. Sony VAIO VGN-G21XP: Features, Heat, Noise
- 11. Toshiba Portégé R500: Design, Weight, Quality
- 12. Toshiba Portégé R500: Hardware, Software, Usability
- 13. Toshiba Portégé R500: Features, Noise, Heat
- 14. Benchmark Testing
- 15. Application Testing, Battery Testing, Noise Level
- 16. Conclusion: Underdog, Sprinter, Endurance Racer and Flyweight
- 17. Spec Sheet
- 18. More on this topic
1. 12" Power Notebooks
Notebooks are increasingly conquering the workplace. Today’s devices offer almost the same power and hardware configurations as their desktop equivalent. Such devices are not really mobile anymore, though, since size and functionality take their toll, resulting in rather heavy units.
A hardworking businessperson who wants to stay mobile will look for a smaller notebook with screen sizes of 14" or less. At 9" and 10" you find so called “netbooks”; these are not very convincing in terms of power and battery life, although the Medion Akoya Mini E1210 leaves a good overall impression. That leaves 12" and 13" notebooks.
In this report we compare four systems, each taking a different approach. The HP Compaq 2510p attempts to be the well-rounded choice, Samsung sends the P200-Pro T8100 Bordoso into the race with the fastest processor, Sony presents the endurance racer VAIO G21XP/B, and Toshiba‘s Portégé R500, despite its Core 2 Duo processor, weighs less than 1 kg (2.2 pounds).
Out of the competition, so to speak, but still competing in the battery benchmarks, is the Zepto Notus A12. It weighs less than 1.5 kg (3.3 pounds), is very well machined, and has previously shown great endurance. However, its CPU performance was low.
Since this is a business notebook comparison, you would expect a Thinkpad to also be in the mix. Unfortunately, Lenovo was not able to send a test device in a timely manner, despite the company being a reference point in the business sector.
- Next page HP Compaq 2510p: Design, Weight, Quality
Why only these four?
The Acer Travelmate 6293 (or older 6292 model) competes well with these models. The review would have been much more useful if you had included the Acer.
What about x300, x61, d430 etc.... the review is grate, just pour choice of Notebook's if you ask me.
Nice article, especialy useful in times when mini-notebooks, or netbooks come to be more and more popular. I am owner of HP 2510p almost 6 months and I love this notebook. It was extremly cheap for me - just 450USD from ebay. Small, well featured, ultra-light /1.6kg/ and 6-7h on 6-cell battery. Btw I think that overlaping battery is quite useful - just try it - as IT admin I use it every day - one can hold this notebook easily in one hand while doing many common service work, and type with other hand. I got my HP with Windows XP Pro, so its much faster than with Vista. I installed tripple boot on it, XP Pro, Ubuntu and Mac OSX 10.5.4 - just used external USB WiFi for Mac OSX, all other HW is working in all OSs.
I never understand while to bother with popular trends like Asus Eee - no DVD, limited HDD options, extremly LOW battery time /I expected much better performances with Atom and SSDs/, small size-display like from Gullivers fairy-tale. Thers only one good point - price. And its fun that if you want all these features on new EEE-like notebooks, you have to pay 500-700USD. So why not to pay more and have all fetures together like in HP 2510p or Toshiba R500. Or try ebay like me, and its even cheaper than new EEEs with Atom.
But maybe I am wrong and EEE targets different audience.
I cant believe you have done a review user "power" and "12.1" in the same sentence and failed to include uber powerful Asus U6V. My god this thing would blow your choices out of the water for under $1700 anywhere in north america!
HP recently introduced the 2530p with substantially faster ULV processors (up to the SL9400, 1.86GHz, 6MB L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB) and with 2 DIMM slots for up to 8GB of 800MHz DDR SDRAM. It weighs a little more with a starting weight of 3.16lbs, but with some additonal durability features built-in, it meets the Mil-Std-810F standards for vibration, dust, humidity, altitude and high temperature. The spec's can be found at this URL:
http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products [...] 01_na.HTML
The 2510p will be going away shortly so the 2530p is the one to look at if one is considering HP.
HP also introduced the 2230s with a 12.1" screeen, and although it weighs a little more than the 2530p, it boasts a regular mobile processor such as an Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor P8400 (2.26 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB, 3 MB L2 cache). This is a new form factor for HP as this model did not replace any existing models, but rather it is a new addition to HP's notebook lineup.
Marcus
The Top Floor