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This story was printed from CNET Asia.
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So was power or portability the defining factor when consumers pondered over which notebooks to buy last month? Unsurprisingly, the answer was neither. Like always, price was the most important point, with value-for-money offerings from Acer and HP/Compaq dominating the charts. However, the ThinkPad T61 made a strong showing due to its reputation for robustness and strong after-sales support. The latest UMPC from Fujitsu, the LifeBook U1010, also struck a chord in consumers' hearts for being feature-packed despite its petite size.
But just which were the popular models that were flying off the shelves? We polled what readers searched for on our site, as well as sales
figures from Singapore stores AAAs Com Solution and Renova Pte Ltd, for our latest chart busters.
Barring its flagship high-end models like the TravelMate 8215 and Ferrari series, most of Acer's lineup are targeted at consumers on a budget but who are unwilling to compromise on performance. The TravelMate 6291 does not depart from this strategy, offering a good set of features at an entry-level price for the business user. If even more processing power and a fingerprint biometric sensor are required, its higher-end sibling in the form of the TravelMate 6292 is also available for S$350 more.
Outlook: Based on the same design as the earlier Presario V3000, the V3500 delivers a strong set of components based on the Core 2 Duo platform and a decent set of basic features for a competitive price.
The good: High-end specifications; excellent performance; brilliant screen.
The bad: Grey coloring; misplaced USB port; overall design.
The bottom line: The Aspire 5920 is a candidate for the ugliest laptop of the year. It's smeared in enough grey to put British skies to shame, and has had some absolutely awful design touches. But the rest of the laptop is a very good one. It's fast, feature-packed and is excellent value for money.
The first generation of UMPCs were more technological showcases than consumer-ready products. High prices and poor battery life simply did not justify replacing a full-sized ultraportable with a pint-sized device, regardless of the fact that the latter could run a full-fledged operating system. This changed when the Kohjisha SA1F00 was introduced at a very attractive price point of just over S$1,000 with 5-hour battery life to boot.
Outlook: Like its predessesor, the dv9100, this desktop replacement may not be much of a productivity performer, but plug in an external TV tuner and the HP Pavilion dv9500 would more than satisfy your entertainment and gaming needs.
The good: Internal roll cage protects LCD; 802.11n Wi-Fi for faster wireless throughput; very small AC adapter adds little to overall travel weight; Intel's Active Management Technology provides remote support.
The bad: New Centrino technology doesn't offer outsized performance gains.
The bottom line: Lenovo's 14-inch ThinkPad T61 shaves a few millimeters off the company's more mainstream R-series laptops, but still boasts the same solid ThinkPad DNA along with IT-friendly features by way of Intel's new Centrino Pro platform.
Click here for a feature comparison table.
