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Top 5 desirable notebooks

By Darius Chang
March 30, 2009

The first premium fashion laptop from Dell is a sexy unibody number.

Step aside, gamers and tech nerds. Sometimes it's not just about being able to achieve blazing-fast speeds or running insanely beautiful games requiring the performance equivalent of a supercomputer. Nowadays, a notebook is fast becoming a fashion accessory which needs to look good out of the office and at LAN parties.

But if you think color options are all it takes to reach the pinnacles of good looks, then you're sadly mistaken. To qualify as a desirable laptop, the notebook should not only be slim and sexy but possess good design features that continue to be emulated by its competitors. Despite being over a year old, the MacBook Air continues to set the standard for slenderness. In fact, the Apple has such an incredible design, vendors like Dell are still playing catch up with the latest Adamo notebook which has a sleek unibody design. If you want a subnotebook that excites the aesthetics sense, there is no other but the Sony Vaio P series. Essentially, being a droolworthy laptop is all about having a headturning design that looks right at home in high society.

Click here for a feature comparison table.

Apple MacBook Air (Core 2 Duo processor 1.86GHz, 2GB, 13.3-inch TFT)

CNET Asia rating: 7.9 out of 10

The good: Lightweight and thin; excellent construction; SSD and internal upgrades make the MacBook Air an excellent performer.

The bad: Non-removable battery; limited expandability; mini-DisplayPort; thin grey lines visible on screen in some models; over-sensitive trackpad in Windows.

The bottom line: If you weren't a fan of the previous MacBook Air, nothing will change your mind here. It does, however, present an excellent user experience. We can only hope the next revision is a little more feature-laden.

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Dell Adamo (Core 2 Duo U9300 Processor 1.2GHz, 2GB RAM)

First take

One of the most buzzed-about new laptops of 2009 is Dell's Adamo, a high-end, ultrathin 13-inch model that starts at US$1,999 and shares a design sensibility with the MacBook Air and HP Voodoo Envy 133.

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HP Pavilion dv2 (AMD Athlon Neo MV-40 Processor 1.6GHz, 2GB RAM)

First take

The latest laptop to join the HP stable has two firsts to its name. For one, the Pavilion range now has a 12.1-inch clamshell brother to round up the series (the HP Pavilion tx2 is a convertible tablet PC). For the other, the Pavilion dv2 is the notebook to pioneer the use of the latest AMD Yukon platform.

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Sony Vaio VGN-P15G (Intel Atom Z530 Processor 1.6GHz, 2GB RAM)

CNET Asia rating: 7.5 out of 10

The good: Elegant, thin design; large keyboard; multiple networking and connectivity options; high-resolution screen; less expensive than Sony's other UMPC experiments.

The bad: Stuck with Windows Vista (for now); trackpoint navigation isn't ideal.

The bottom line: Sony's upscale Atom-powered Lifestyle PC has the components of a cheaper machine but the design of a more expensive one. The end result will be a useful travel PC for some and a conversation piece for others.

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Sony Vaio VGN-TT17GN/X (Core 2 Duo SU9400 Processor 1.4GHz, 4GB RAM)

First take

Before the advent of Netbooks, the Sony Vaio T series and Fujitsu LifeBook P lineup gave glimpse of true mobility. With a petite form factor and long battery life, the Vaio T remains the premium model for the traveling executive. Though on the surface it may seem to compete with low-cost Netbooks, the Vaio brings the Core 2 Duo platform and integrated optical drive to the game. Sony further justifies its premium price tag by encasing the T series with a carbon-fiber chassis. The latest iteration, the Vaio TT series, ups the ante by offering dual solid-state drives (SSD) as well as a Blu-ray writer drive, a feature not seen in ultraportables before.

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