Updated 10 Feb, 2012, 6:29 pm IST

Laptops For People On The Go!

26 Jul, 2010, 10:31 am IST | Dushyant Khilnani

Here's a list of laptops that offer good battery life and are easier to carry.

Today, there are laptops for all application areas, be it for staying connected with friends and exchanging emails, or for editing heavy video and audio files in full throttle. There’s no dearth for power on the go. However, portability is what laptops were always meant for in the first place right?
Initially, powerful laptops were restricted to being bulky and heavy, which is how the concept of desktop replacement gained popularity. Then, with the advancements and dipping prices if core hardware, laptops became lighter in weight without compromising on performance and battery life. So today, one can actually carry a laptop that weighs less than a couple for kilos and run heavy applications on it without a hiccup. Also, if you don’t need performance, all you need is an affordable basic laptop that feels just like another dairy in your bag. These are the kind of machines we’ll be discussing in this article.

When on the move, there are two primary needs that a laptop must fulfill, it should be light in weight and offer good battery runtime. Here, we’ve prioritized weight and then the battery runtime. Also, we’ve tried to restrict the list with laptops that weigh 2 kg or lesser and offer over 5 hours or more.

Entry-level

Dell Vostro V13

Weight: 2.1 kg
Battery life:� 5 hours
Screen size / resolution: 13.1-inch / 1366 x 768
Processor: Intel Celeron
RAM: 2 GB DDR3
Hard drive: 320 GB
Graphics: Intel GMA 4500 MHD
Operating system: Windows 7 Home Basic (64-bit)
Price: Rs 32,900

If you like the Dell Adamo and want a cheaper alternative, the Vostro V13 will instantly get your attention. It’s a laptop meant for basic office use and it even looks very professional, apt for a business environment. Considering the hardware, you can’t expect phenomenal performance, like a mainstream laptop would offer, but it’s one of the best ULV laptops you will find. At the company website, you can opt from three CPU options.

Even the Vostro 1320 and 1220 models are quite light in weight and offer decent battery backup, but the V13 really catches the eye in terms of aesthetics and price. In terms of performance the other two will be more powerful (and more expensive), as they feature much better hardware.

The Dell Vostro 3400 has four variants to choose from, out of which, the Rs 34,900 model offers the best bang for the buck (which is why we’ve included it here). But again, user reviews on the company website state that the battery back up is merely about 3 hours, due to the hardware. Here’s what it offers:

Weight: 2 kg
Battery life:� Over 3 hours
Screen size / resolution: 14-inch / 1366 x 768
Processor: Intel Core i3 350, 2.26 GHz
RAM: 2 GB DDR3
Hard drive: 250 GB
Graphics: Intel GMA HD
Operating system: Windows 7 Home Basic
Price: Rs 34,900

Acer Aspire Timeline 3810TZ

Weight: 1.66 kg
Battery life:� 9 hours 8 minutes
Screen size / resolution: 14-inch / 1366 x 768
Processor: Intel Pentium SU4100, 1.3 GHz
RAM: 3 GB DDR3
Hard drive: 320 GB
Graphics: Intel GMA 4500 MHD
Operating system: Windows Vista Home
Price: Rs 31,414

Though we now have the new Timeline X series of notebooks with powerful hardware and very good battery life, we’ve included the previous Timeline 3810TZ, mainly because of its phenomenal battery backup. Nine hours battery runtime for a 14-inch laptop is truly amazing, thanks to the ULV processor and absence of an optical drive. Speaking of which, it’s even more interesting to see the new Timeline X series which features the latest Core series of CPUs, features an optical drive and claims to offer upto nine hours battery runtime.

Compaq Presario CQ42-116TU (WT453PA)

Weight: 2.2 kg
Battery life:� upto 4 hours
Screen size / resolution: 14-inch / 1366 x 768
Processor: Intel Pentium T4400, 2.2 GHz
RAM: 2 GB DDR3
Hard drive: 320 GB
Graphics: Intel GMA 4500M
Operating system: Free DOS
Price: Rs 27,817

While this laptop offers decent battery life, other models are more powerful and weigh the same. The best part is that they offer very good value for money. For instance, the CQ42-176TX is priced at Rs 39, 703 and is powered by an Intel Core i5-430M CPU, has 4 GB RAM, a 500 GB hard drive and a discrete ATI Radeon HD 5430. This price is quite impressive for this hardware configuration, but you won’t get as much juice on the go, in comparative terms. Nonetheless, the option, for more power at an attractive price, is open.

HP Pavilion DM1-1000

Weight: 1.48kg
Battery life:� upto 7 hours
Screen size / resolution: 11.6-inch / 1366 x 768
Processor: Intel Pentium SU 4100, 1.3 GHz
RAM: 3 GB DDR3
Hard drive: 320 GB
Graphics: Intel GMA 4500 MHD
Operating system: Windows 7 Home Basic (32-bit)
Price: Rs 34,857

Looking at the hardware, this laptop will easily give over 5 hours of battery life, under medium load. Now depending on how you use the machine, you might even get upto seven hours, as the company claims. In any case, at this price, it’s a good laptop, even if the performance is modest. Speaking of performance, even the DM3-1111AX comes under our radar, as it weighs about 1.9 kg and is good for 5 hours under medium load. However, with a price tag of Rs 47,429, it falls under the mainstream category.

Tags: thin and light laptops , expensive laptops , high-end , sony vaio laptops , lenovo laptops