Monkey thinking - what laptop i should buy.

I have to admit that I'm a computer addict. I could spent 12-18 hours a day in front of my computer and try to get access to internet anytime possible. I could use my wife PC at home, however, when the school start and i usually stay at school for 6-7 hours everyday, a laptop became necessary. It's time to searching for a new one.

As a customer, i have a preferred list of brands that i want to buy from. Sorry to say that HP, Compaq, Toshiba and Acer are never in that list. Bias? yes, but i just don't like them due to some really bad experiences in the past. Therefore the list is left with Apple, Sony, Dell and Lenovo. I don't care much about the i5, i7 or other super power CPUs, GPUs, RAMs, HDDs out there because i prefer to use PC whenever i'm home due to big screen and much more comfortable. No laptops could come close to it. Another more problem is i'm also super lazy, even the thought of carry a 3kg laptop around could make me sick. 

As always, the first one i look at is a Macbook Pro 13", which is cost around S$1700+ at the moment. I admire Apple and their Macintosh computer since iBook day. And as a student, i could get a free iPod touch 8GB when buy it. But when i remember my backpack with my wife's white Macbook and a DSLR with several lens during last Hong Kong trip, my back and shoulder protest before i could say a word.

Next, when surfing around on a classified website, a Lenovo X100i catch my eyes. Lenovo, especially X series is always my favorite. A lightweight and reliable X200 served me well last year, however, X100i is another story. AMD CPU is known for the heat, and the plastic outlook of X100i is really make me think that it is a toy, not a Thinkpad laptop. I miss my old X200, not this toy.

In the same classified website, i found a pre-own Sony Vaio P15 with extended warranty to 2014. At first i think that Sony Vaio P is an accessory for people who have too much money to burn. Buying a Vaio P like buying a watch to match with your dress, any tech savvy looks at it specs and price will say the same thing. However, the idea to carry a 0.65kg laptop with nearly-full size keyboard around is temping. And for the price of the pre-own but upgraded everything-set, which is less than 2.5 times than the original price, i think it could worth a try.

Love in first sight, i could say that, its beautiful and small, with glossy black cover and silver keyboard (different to the 2nd version, where the keyboard color match with the cover). The Atom CPU is adequate for my needs now, which are internet surfing, office software, quick photo editing on the go. 2 hours and half is quite low for nowadays standard, but what could you ask for this baby? even the laptop itself is lighter than others' batteries, i can live with it. The screen is where Sony shows off technology, imaging the high 1600x768 resolution fitted in a 8" screen?. It is 21:9, not 16:9 like other widescreen. The color display is one of the best i ever see, its neat and beautiful, even the smallest font or photo details. However, with that high resolution, the common question is not "Who ever use the zoom function?" on a normal computer will be "Who not use the zoom function?" on Vaio P. With some tweaks on DPI, the font become much more easily to read.

Vaio P and Macbook

Another good thing is the SSD. Everybody want to have it in their own laptop, you can carry around anytime without worry about shock and losing data again, not mention that the read and write speed is higher than mechanical HDD. The SSD price is ridiculous now, therefore the built-in SSD of Vaio P is really appealing. 

People always complain that Atom could not watch HD movie. Actually i watched 720p video without any lagging issue on Windows 7 Home Premium, and of course, 1080p is too much for this little boy. But hey, who want to watch 1080p video on this tiny screen? How about extend to display to another monitor? you can, with a provided port replicator you will have VGA out and a RJ45 jack. I usually put the replicator together with my presentation remote to use whenever i need to do some Powerpoint presentations.

Sony takes one step extra to satisfy its users, the Instant On mode. If you own a PSP or PS3, use should found familiar with the UI of the Instant On mode. Take about 17-20 seconds to start, the customized Linux mod allows user to use most of functions like browsing Internet, taking Note, IM, listen to m3, watch movie, view photo, which i really love to review my photos right after shot them without need to wait the Windows to load. 

My new buddy: Vaio P15 with Microsoft Mini Explorer mouse.

Now i could throw a laptop in my bag to carry around without concern much about the weight. For my needs, its done the job in very elegant way.