ultralight laptop

[gweinstein]

Sorry if this is the wrong forum. I am looking to purchase an ultralight laptop (considering a touch screen but not absolute necessity). I would like to discuss with people who have had experience installing ubuntu (dual boot preferable), including recommendations, warnings, etc.

If this is not the right forum, please redirect. Thanks in advance.

[pqwoerituytrueiwoq]

Ultra book should be pretty light
in general a ssd is lighter than a hdd
if weight is important don't get one with a nvidia gpu, if it has a amd gpu be sure it has a APU and is not setup for crossfire
budget?
my current laptop feels light to me, much less than my old laptop that was 6.6lbs

I have dualbooted years ago, it got annoying maintaining to operating systems, i ditched windows after it got a virus via java while running chrome
now i just have virtualboxes i have not booted in years

[layers]

What is your criteria? Only weight? How much linux experience do you have?

Toshiba Satellite Z930 13.3" Ultrabook - Silver (Intel Core i7-3667U / 256GB SSD /6GB RAM/Windows 8) (http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/toshiba-toshiba-satellite-z930-13-3-ultrabook-silver-intel-core-i7-3667u-256gb-ssd-6gb-ram-windows-8-z930-013/10224582.aspx) - $999Samsung XE303C12-A01CA 11.6" Chromebook - Silver (Samsung E5250 / 16GB SSD / 2GB RAM / Chrome OS) (http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/samsung-samsung-xe303c12-a01ca-11-6-chromebook-silver-samsung-e5250-16gb-ssd-2gb-ram-chrome-os-xe303c12-a01ca/10242627.aspx) - $270Samsung Series 9 15" Ultrabook - Silver (Intel Core i5-3317U / 128GB SSD / 4GB RAM / Windows 8) (http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/samsung-samsung-series-9-15-ultrabook-silver-intel-core-i5-3317u-128gb-ssd-4gb-ram-windows-8-np900x4d-a03ca/10227115.aspx) - $999ASUS ZENBOOK UX32A 13.3" Ultrabook (Intel Core i5-3317U/ 24GB SSD/ 500GB HDD/ 6GB RAM) (http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/asus-asus-zenbook-ux32a-13-3-ultrabook-intel-core-i5-3317u-24gb-ssd-500gb-hdd-6gb-ram-english-ux32a-dh51-ca/10243112.aspx) - $1040Apple MacBook Air 11.6" Intel Core i5 1.7GHz 64 GB Laptop (http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/apple-apple-macbook-air-11-6-intel-core-i5-1-7ghz-64-gb-laptop-english-md223ll-a/10178804.aspx) - $999
The list goes on, and on, and on - so much choice. Just go into the store and see which one you like.

I played with the Samsung Chromebook - its amazing! You can buy 3 of them instead of a $999 laptop. Just put a 64GB SD Card in it, load ubuntu with XFCE, and you're good to go. Even my big laptop doesn't have the things it has - dedicated volume keys, being able to scroll, right and left click with the touchpad. And that price...

[gweinstein]

Thanks pqwoerituytrueiwoq (http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=865458) andlayers (http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=1169330)!

Main criteria: 13' min screen, weight, price. Second considerations: processor,screen quality, battery. At the moment for the list above the only realistic candidate for me is the Toshiba (i3 - about 750 here in Australia). I am also looking into the acer s3 (also an i3 - approx. 700) but there is some complaint about Ubuntu running on it. Instead Mint seems to be the recommended distribution. I have quite a bit of experience with linux (particularly Ubuntu), but can't really call myself an expert. However, I don't have any qualms about fiddling a bit during the installation to make the distribution work. Would prefer to keep the dual boot with minimal Win 7/8 partition.

[mips]

if weight is important don't get one with a nvidia gpu, if it has a amd gpu be sure it has a APU and is not setup for crossfire
budget?
s

Please tell us how a nvidia gpu makes a notebook heavier than one with a amd gpu/apu? Please, I would really like to know.

[EgoGratis]

http://www.ubuntu.com/partners/dell/dellxps

[layers]

I've also heard a lot about lenovo's

thinkpad X esries: http://shop.lenovo.com/ca/en/products/laptops/thinkpad/x-series/index.html
(http://http://shop.lenovo.com/ca/en/products/laptops/thinkpad/x-series/index.html)
ideapad U series: http://shop.lenovo.com/ca/en/products/laptops/ideapad/u-series/index.html

I asked about your experience, because if let's say you get apple's laptop, would you be comfortable making it work. You would be.

[pqwoerituytrueiwoq]

Please tell us how a nvidia gpu makes a notebook heavier than one with a amd gpu/apu? Please, I would really like to know.
IF it is a APU the gpu is integrated with the cpu, there would be no more weight than a Intel CPU

[mips]

IF it is a APU the gpu is integrated with the cpu, there would be no more weight than a Intel CPU

Never knew silicone was that heavy.

[pqwoerituytrueiwoq]

if you have a seperate gpu the power requirements are greater so there you need more cooling so it will be a thicker unit to house additional metal for the heatsync

[mastablasta]

you would need an extra cooler and fan on dedicated GPU. just might be a bit heavier. not sure if it is a lot.

i was/am strapped for cash so went with AMD. works well. is not strong. well it's more of a netbook with 11,6" screen. but ram can be uprgaded to 8 GB. with normal hard disk it weighs 1.6 kg. strong battery lasts 7-8 hours with wi-fi and bluetooth on. with wifi on lasts about 5 hours of work.

[mips]

you would need an extra cooler and fan on dedicated GPU. just might be a bit heavier. not sure if it is a lot.


It's a few measly grams, it won't even add 200g to the weight and that's pushing it. The heatpipe from the cpu is usually integrated with the gpu heatsink to form a single unit going to the fan.

[drawkcab]

One of my primary criteria is durability and almost all the ultrabooks fall short. I drag a 12" Lenovo Thinkpad with an ssd around because its small, ergonomic, efficient, inexpensive and built like a tank. I've never understood weight weenies who wring their hands over a couple of grams or even half a pound or so.

[mips]

One of my primary criteria is durability and almost all the ultrabooks fall short. I drag a 12" Lenovo Thinkpad with an ssd around because its small, ergonomic, efficient, inexpensive and built like a tank. I've never understood weight weenies who wring their hands over a couple of grams or even half a pound or so.

Some people prefer form over function, I'll never understand why but that's just the way it is.

I'm with you on the little tank ;)

[gweinstein]

please see below

[gweinstein]

thanks to everyone for the advice. I went with the Z930 (toshiba) and installed 12.04. So far so good. Quite happy with it.

One nagging problem is with the suspend. the menu item in the system tray just send the machine into a black freeze, and closing the lid does almost nothing (only locks the screen as far as I can tell). That means that basically I am left with turning the machine off like a desktop. Any ideas would be greatly welcome (including where this should be posted). Incidentally, two notes: 1. In power control under settings, the option selected when lid is closed is 'Suspend'. 'Hibernate' is grayed out. Also I the fn keys to control brightness didn't work, so followed the prescription at this page (scroll down): http://www.linlap.com/toshiba_portege_z930.

Thanks in advance!!

[gweinstein]

More detail: Actually, resume works once (not more) and then shutdown actually hangs. It's no biggie, because if you just shut down and start up again, it's super fast anyway, but just in case you forget and close the lid, you're messed up until you reboot. Any idea which forum this should be posted in. Thanks in advance for the help

[AllRadioisDead]

Some people prefer form over function, I'll never understand why but that's just the way it is.

I'm with you on the little tank ;)


Well, I'm one of those people.

I have a desktop at home, but I needed something small that I could just throw in my bag and rush off to class.

I ended up purchasing a 13" Macbook Air on boxing day and I can say with confidence that it's the best laptop I've ever owned.

It's extremely lightweight and slim, I don't even feel it in my small bag and it fits great even with textbooks. The backlit keyboard is a staple for me, and it has pretty much the same specs as any other decent laptop (Ivy bridge i5, 4gb's of ram, 1366x768 screen, etc). It also has pretty solid battery life lasting well over 5 hours.

[gweinstein]

It's extremely lightweight and slim, I don't even feel it in my small bag and it fits great even with textbooks. The backlit keyboard is a staple for me, and it has pretty much the same specs as any other decent laptop (Ivy bridge i5, 4gb's of ram, 1366x768 screen, etc). It also has pretty solid battery life lasting well over 5 hours.

You get all that and more in the Toshiba Z930 for about $300-400 less. E.g., I picked up the MacAir at the airport store and it feels clunky compared to the Toshiba.

Only 3 Drawbacks in the Toshiba (from serious to less): 1. Why on earth put in a glossy screen?? 2. The keyboard is very shallow (but hey, that's the price to pay for getting an ultra-ultra-thin! 3. Tiny storage, but who needs more.

Any idea where I can get an answer about the suspend function.

Thanks in advance.

[AllRadioisDead]

You get all that and more in the Toshiba Z930 for about $300-400 less. E.g., I picked up the MacAir at the airport store and it feels clunky compared to the Toshiba.

Only 3 Drawbacks in the Toshiba (from serious to less): 1. Why on earth put in a glossy screen?? 2. The keyboard is very shallow (but hey, that's the price to pay for getting an ultra-ultra-thin! 3. Tiny storage, but who needs more.

Any idea where I can get an answer about the suspend function.

Thanks in advance.

The Air has a few advantages over the Toshiba, mainly being the much more responsive glass trackpad, Mac OSX, and a higher resolution screen. Not deal breakers, but I find those 3 things make it a particular joy to use.

[gweinstein]

Bump. Anyone can answer question in post from 2 weeks ago.


One nagging problem is with the suspend. the menu item in the system tray just send the machine into a black freeze, and closing the lid does almost nothing (only locks the screen as far as I can tell). That means that basically I am left with turning the machine off like a desktop. Any ideas would be greatly welcome (including where this should be posted). Incidentally, two notes: 1. In power control under settings, the option selected when lid is closed is 'Suspend'. 'Hibernate' is grayed out. Also I the fn keys to control brightness didn't work, so followed the prescription at this page (scroll down):

And since I'm into quoting, here is more detail:

More detail: Actually, resume works once (not more) and then shutdown actually hangs. It's no biggie, because if you just shut down and start up again, it's super fast anyway, but just in case you forget and close the lid, you're messed up until you reboot. Any idea which forum this should be posted in. Thanks in advance for the help

Thanks in advance for any help, including where to post this to get answers!