http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/mobile/display/asus-s5200ne.html

I’m quite tempted to pick one up and give it a whirl.  I realized Asus doesn’t have much of a track record but Xbit gave it fairly positive review (5 stars)  Downsides?  Less battery life, DVD/CD-RW are not built in (but it does include an external DVD/CD-RW with the unit).  Larger physical dimensions.  Only 1024x768.

Newegg: $1389 new….about $500 less than a refurbed TR.

The lack of an integrated optcal drive and the 1024x768 resolution turn me off immediately from the device.

Yeah, same for me. I don’t even think you can compare the two notebooks in the same class. Most people who end up buying TRs generally need and use the optical drive often so they wouldn’t even be looking at the single spindle designs.

The only other worthy competitors for the TR are the Fujitsu Loox-T (aka P50x0) and the Panasonic Let’s Note Y2…these all have optical drives and are 3.5lbs or less.

Guys…guys…guys…you are being way too nice!  My apologies to the creator of this thread, but this notebook does not even deserve to be compared to Sony’s V505 series.  For the same money the V505 gives you the same size screen and much better specs, not to mention the 2nd spindle!  This machine is way off.

I’d say an EARLY first round knock out for the TR…

Sorry dude.

Well I stand corrected….