what about an external burner. How often do you use a drive on a laptop. I installed the software with a usb one on my U3 and have never plugged it in again. You can either use a thumbdrive (1GB) ones are cheap as, or what I do is just wireless files to/from my desktop or the other laptop - too easy. I even installed photoshop on it the other week over the wireless.
In this comparision; for my money, the Libretto is the only subnotebook or ultra portable among them. Weight is everything, weight is the killer, death to weight!
[quote author=“japaneseimportscomau”]what about an external burner. How often do you use a drive on a laptop. I installed the software with a usb one on my U3 and have never plugged it in again. You can either use a thumbdrive (1GB) ones are cheap as, or what I do is just wireless files to/from my desktop or the other laptop - too easy. I even installed photoshop on it the other week over the wireless.
In this comparision; for my money, the Libretto is the only subnotebook or ultra portable among them. Weight is everything, weight is the killer, death to weight!
I agree. I started with an Acer without an Optical…I got the TR because it had a DVD/CD-RW…then I decided it wasn’t worth the weight/size. I don’t think I’ll ever buy another optical unit again, I never used it.
[quote author=“tifosiv122”][quote author=“japaneseimportscomau”]what about an external burner. How often do you use a drive on a laptop. I installed the software with a usb one on my U3 and have never plugged it in again. You can either use a thumbdrive (1GB) ones are cheap as, or what I do is just wireless files to/from my desktop or the other laptop - too easy. I even installed photoshop on it the other week over the wireless.
In this comparision; for my money, the Libretto is the only subnotebook or ultra portable among them. Weight is everything, weight is the killer, death to weight!
I agree. I started with an Acer without an Optical…I got the TR because it had a DVD/CD-RW…then I decided it wasn’t worth the weight/size. I don’t think I’ll ever buy another optical unit again, I never used it.
Erik
I like being able to watch DVDs on the road and burn CDs for friends (my TR is my only machine). If I had a desktop as well, I would feel like it was less necessary, but going out to rent a movie and watching it in bed with my girl at her house is a very nice experience, especially considering the clarity of the TR’s widescreen. Bringing an external player/burner around with me would be cumbersome and would complicate the process. It would just be another thing to remember. That said Alcohol 120% and DVD Decrypter allow me to basically function around it if I plan ahead.
I use my optical drive all the time so it’s essentially a must have on a notebook. It really comes down to the type of tasks that you do. I work on a lot of video stuff (burning videos for clients), photos (burning backups is very necessary), IT consulting (the ability to burn boot CDs, backup people’s data, duplicate aging discs, etc. is extremely convenient), and test out a lot of software (which comes on CDs). I’m also always on the go so it’s imperative to have it.
Of course, I don’t expect to have it if I’m using an alternative type of device like a TabletPC or even a handhelp-sized PC.
At any rate, I don’t think it’s fair to rate ultralights in one big group. You should separate them as ones that are single spindle and ones that are two spindle systems. That way, you don’t have to lame pros/cons (it’s bad because you have an external optical drive or it’s good because it has one) and you can focus on the real features/design of the notebook.
I originally fell in love with the Libretto 100CT (as the first subnotebook I’d ever seen) because it was so tiny and was a real computer; i.e. running windows instead of palm or similar. After I just loved all the cool little notebooks available in Japan and nowhere else partly because of the cool factor.
But I tell ya, things have changed.
This week I started a short term consultancy which requires a 2 hour train commute and a 20 minute walk each day. And after day 2 i stopped taking my 12 inch iBook into the office with me. Now the iBook (hereafter refered to as the brick!) isn’t a heavy machine coming in at 2.1 ish KG (sorry but i couldn’t be bothered converting for you yanks - no offence) which is why i went for an iBook over a powerbook. But it’s like carrying around a chunk of lead in my bag.
So all the stuff i read about Japanese dudes riding the trains with their ultra portables now made so much more sense. Rip a DVD to the drive as a DivX and there’s your movie for the train and only a 900 gram weight in your bag. Use it at work on the network, use some sort of wireless internet like iBurst or something and there’s a cool little tool which you won’t leave at home.
Groovy’s right too as there are advantage in the different types of units, which I think is why you have to have multiple laptops/portable/computers. Sort of like the fact you need a station wagon, a sports car and a ute to service al your car requirements.
So i’m keeping the Mac for when I need some kick butt processing power for a video or audio gig and anything that requires burning and i’m on the hunt for a U101 or a Panasonic R2 (my wife won’t give me my R1 back). Or if i’m feeling like living in the dog house for a while I might finally get that X505 i’ve been wanting. because my back is killing me.
D
