Any new (faster) processors coming for better tiny notebooks?

Hello,

I have a 2.5 year old SZ laptop which still works well but I could use something even smaller since I carry it in my legal portfolio. I'm looking at the TZ and TT models and although they are nice and small they only have 1.2GHz processors. Yes I realize they are Core 2 processors, not duo core hyperthreading processors but some of the apps I run require very fast processors and I tried them on the TZ and they just weren't quite fast enough. I'd like something extremely small but with a fast hard drive and a fast processor. I would imagine if I put in a good SD HD I'll be fine but I can't replace the processor.

Anyone know if there are any new processors coming out for notebooks which might mean actually putting a fast processor in a small laptop like the TZ or TT?

Of course processors get better almost every year but I was wondering if there was something coming any time soon anyone has read about.

I wouldn't want to go any smaller than the TZ or TT as I wouldn't be able to type on anything smaller. Frankly if they made a super slim Z or SR that would be ideal but they tend to be too bulky but I would love it if they made a Z or SR with a couple of USB ports, gigabit ethernet, VGA out that was only about 3/4" thick at the fatest point.

Thanks

 

The fastest cpu you can get on a laptop is the X9000, and this one is not avalaible in small laptop. I don't know if intel is going to release some new processor for small laptop. Go for a 13" and take the T9600. it's the fastest processor you can get on a laptop of that size.

 

Thanks - I would get a 13" but as I said I really want something slim to replace my SZ model. Most Sony 13" models are over an inch thick. As long as I get a T9400 or even a P8600 or comparable I should be OK. So my question is are there any new tiny or at least very slim laptops with fast processors coming out soon or are there any new fast processors coming out soon that will allow them to put the processors into tiny or slim notebooks?

While my applications run adequately on my 1.3" SZ laptop, I would like a much slimmer or smaller laptop so I have more room in my legal porfolio. I do not wish to get a larger carrying case as I will probably do a lot more flying in the next year.

Thanks

 

Mid-2009 should be when mainstream notebook users can expect to afford Intel's new quad-core mobile CPUs. In late 2009/early 2010, Auburndale for notebooks should be out, which is the new Intel Nehalem platform. I have no idea if those CPUs (the quad-cores) will be for small-sized notebooks, I would tend to guess not.

 

The very smallest of the ultraportables tend to put all their proverbial eggs in the battery life basket (if that even makes sense?). The TZ etc use the ULV (ultra low voltage) CPUs which are slower than their low voltage siblings. I think 13.x" is the first size you'll get a powerful CPU (and sacrifice some of that battery life, of course).

Get something like the P9500 and I'm sure you won't be disappointed with its performance. It shocked me how fast my Z was when I got it.

 

Thanks - I guess I'll just hold on to my old laptop if my only upgrade gives me more processing power with the same sized laptop or to cut my performance but get a smaller notebook.

 

Don't know if you know but Z is a bit smaller than SZ. Almost an inch if I remember correctly.

Lenovo X200 is probably the smallest computer with full power CPU.

Are you sure it was the CPU that was the bottleneck, and not the hard drive? TZ comes with a slow 1.8" 4200rpm drive.

 

My SZ140 is about 1.3" at the thickest point - pretty sure the Z is also about 1.3" at the thickest point of course I could be wrong. Both taper down to about 1" thick in the front. If I were to get another 13" (which I'd actually prefer) I would want it no thicker than .75" at the thickest point on the laptop although I wouldn't want something gimped like an airbook, I would want VGA out, at least two USB ports and a Gigabit network adapter and most importantly, a built in optical drive with burner functionality- DVD would be fine.

Good question about the hard drive - first thing I do when preparing a new laptop for a client is replace the default hard drive and upgrade them to XP. For example in my 2.5 year old Sony I have a Momentus 200GB 7200 HD - gives me much better performance for a number of things. I am sure it isn't the hard drive on the TZ unit I tested as one of the applications I use is processor intense but not HD demanding.

 

What I meant to say is that the Z's screen is about one inch lower than the SZ. I was not talking about thickness.

 

The Z's 1.3" is a lot down to the huge rubber feet Sony stuck on the bottom!

 

I'm sorry but there is not any notebook with 0,75 thickness and powerful CPU's yet.

But let's look at the alternatives in relation of size.

11,1" notebooks:
- SONY VAIO new TT Series:
I think that you can't find any better than the new Sony TT.I know that it has a 1.4GHz limit but this is almost the best you can take in a 11,1" notebook
- LENOVO IdeaPad U110:
I think it is the most powerful 11,1" notebook as far as the CPU is concerned.It has a L7500 Core Duo processor at 1,6Ghz.But if you see the overall specs the Sony Vaio is better because of the Intel 4500MHD graphic card and the SSD option.Battery life should be much better on the Sony too.

12,1" notebooks:
- Lenovo X200 (CPU upto P8600 2,4 Ghz)
- Asus N20 (CPU upto T9400 2,53Ghz - Thick:31mm)
- Asus U6V (CPU upto 8600 2,4Ghz - Thick:31mm)

13,1" or 13,3 notebooks:
- Sony Z series. It is not extremely slim but it is the lighter notebook with a powerful CPU (P9500 2,53Ghz)
There are some alternatives from Asus too but i don't remember the model numbers now.

These are the best alternatives if the CPU power is your main concern.
If thickness is your main target there are other alternatives such as:
LENOVO X301
SONY Vaio TZ or TT
VOODOO Envy
MacBook Air
Samsung X360 (13,3" - 1,29Kgr very slim)

Hope that helps you a bit

 

PhilFlow - thanks. I guess I'm not being clear. My goal would be to have a laptop that is no more than .75 or so inch thick at the hinge. I'd prefer a 13 inch screen so I could have a bigger keyboard and larger screen but I don't want a laptop that is very thick.

Marengo - thanks for the detailed comparison!

 

One reason the 11" Lenovo U110 can fit a 1.6ghz low voltage processor vs 1.2-1.4ghz ultra low voltage processors in the Vaio TT is that both are the same size, but the Lenovo lacks a built-in optical drive, which gives more room for a beefier CPU.

 

I could consider the TT 1.4GHz - if I could deduct $500 for the BR I'll never use and put in a standard drive. Of course when they say it is .93" - who knows what the real dimensions are as they don't like to post the thickness of the back hinge area in press releases. http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...0151&langId=-1&categoryId=8198552921644576899

 

I see.You want absolutely a notebook that is no more than 0.75 thick.
In that case you don't have much choice.The only notebooks that slim are:

1. MacBook Air (0.14" front - 0.76" back)
2. Voodoo Envy (0.7" front - 0.7 back)

The next one that comes close is:
3. Lenovo X301 (0.73" front - 0.93" back)

None of them though has a powerful CPU.
So, at the end, you have to choose between a "slow" but slim notebook or you have to accept a thicker but more powerful notebook such as Sony Vaio Z.You can't have the best of both worlds.
I'm sorry but the notebook you want does not exist yet!

I am a big fan of slim notebooks too.Unfortunately the thin notebook can't be the primary notebbok if you need power.

 

I forgot:

In the thin category will be soon added these two netbooks:
Asus S101 (0.63" front - 0.83" back) with a 10.2" display
Dell E+ Slim (0.83 front - 0.94" back) with a 12.1" display

Both will have the Atom N270, an even weaker CPU

 

Isnt the Ideapad u330 .9 inches front-back?

Anyways, what kind of rediculous requirement is that? Is there some reason that if your notebook is like .8 to 1.1 inches thick your back will break or your arms will be too sore to carry it?

Im just trying to understand why you need a computer thats specifically less than .75 inches thick?

 

The SZ that you owned weighed 3.69lbs so it is quite light if you want something that is lighter it might make sense to be looking at something under 3lbs so you might notice any difference.

You have stated that you do some intensive things with your laptop. I don't know if you mean Photoshop, Office and editing or something else? The current 1.4 processor that is in the x301 really does perform quite well in productive tasks and the SSD drive gives it a little kick as well.

These performance tests might interest you. Also you might want to have a read of the whole review as well if you have not done so already.
http://www.pcmag.com/image_popup/0,1871,iid=217459,00.asp

 

As I said in the beginning, I carry it in a leather legal pad binder. I don't want to carry anything larger such as a notebook carrying case - this is extremely convenient as I use the notepad and the laptop equally.

My current SZ laptop is just a tad snug and since I lug this arround everywhere - thinner would be better. I don't care about the size as long as the screen is no bigger than 13" it should fit in my portfolio. I also don't have an issue with the weight - my current laptop is a tad over 4lbs and I could handle another laptop that is 4lbs - I just don't want one as bulky -otherwise not much reason to upgrade.

 

rachuk - thanks - I did skim through the specs and read the review on the 26th of the new TT - even watched the video from the 25th- unfortunately - I couldn't find the total dimensions - just the front dimensions.

 

Marengo - thanks for the info - I found some very basic info about the 12" E slim plus on engadget or gizmodo but not a full blown detailed spec sheet - do you happen to have a good link?

 

not familiar with these, but do they come with slightly more room to move...or are they all stock sizing? i was wondering if you can change your binder so it carries a slightly thicker notebook more easily?

 

I could carry a large cardboard box and carry an entire server with me but my goal is to have something that fits my leather binder which fits a legal pad, some CDs (in paper holders) a flash drive some pens and just enough room for my laptop.

I'm hoping for laptop that is a tad slimmer so my legal binder isn't stretched out. I've been using it for about 2 and a half years now and overall it is a good combo but I'd like a laptop that is a tad slimmer.

 

Dell hasn't made an official announcement yet, so we don't have a detailed spec sheet at this time.The best i could find is this:

http://www.eeextra.com/news/dell-e-specs.html
http://news.cnet.com/more-dell-e-series-netbook-details-leak/

 

Apart from the slim aspect, the main issue of this product is that it represents the first 12,1" low cost netbook.This may cause a serious trouble at all the previous expensive ultraportable notebooks.
I understand that the expensive ultraportables such as the Sony Vaio TZ or the Asus U1E is in another class but let's compare the Vaio TZ with a typical netbook:

CPU: The TZ clearly wins.The Ultra Low Voltage processors are the slower Core 2 Duo CPU but still way faster than the Atom N270.
RAM: Parity.You can have 2GB on the netbook too.
Video: Intel 950 integrated graphics is typically found on both products.Even the X3100 suits only for office work anyway. Parity here.
HDD:There are already many netbooks with 160GB 5400rpm drives or even 320GB on the Asus N10.You can still upgrade yorself on a SSD drive as the Vaio.Again parity here
Audio: Parity
Optical drive: TZ wins cause simply the netbooks don't have one!But many don't feel that an optical drive is necessary on a ultraportable PC.If you use it rarely it is just an added weight.
Ports/Connectivity: The TZ wins
Quality: TZ wins
Design: TZ wins
LCD Resolution: TZ wins but the new dell 12.1" will probably have a similar resolution screen. (1366x768)
Price: The netbook rules!
Battery life: Parity.The Asus Eee can last upto 6 hours with the 6 cell battery.

So let's have a summary:
The expensive ultraportable have better CPU, build quality and design, better LCD and more connectivity options.
Is this enough to explain the price difference?2000$ instead of 500$?
It's up to you to decide.

Without doubt a revolution has started!
The new Dell 12.1" netbook is a key product, more important than we can imagine at this moment.
I think that it is extremely dangerous for the whole ultraportable market.It can shake everything we know until today.

 

Marengo - many thanks again! You're right - looks like version 1 will probably only support the Atom - bummer.

 

Thanks to the TT thread- I found out the TT is 1.2" thick in the back. My current unit is about 1.5" thick so it would be about half a centimeter thinner.

 

I am in the same boat as you. I would go a little smaller if the processing power was there but I couldn't find the power we got used to with the SZ so I upgraded to another SZ. I just did it three weeks ago and I really liked the Z but I got so used to my SZ and I still had a boat load of accessories. After I got my new SZ691N/X on Amazon I sold my old SZ. The upgrade cost me less than $500 after purchasing and installing the X9000 2.8ghz processor. I am undervolting the new processor and my system runs cooler than the stock chip. Typing at 37c now. The smallest ulltraportables could never run X9000 or 7200rpm hard drives. The Z would be a worthy upgrade if you wanted to completely move away from the SZ, in my opinion.

 

Thanks everyone for the info. I don't know what I'll do yet but I really appreciate all the info everyone gave me. Looks like my ideal laptop still isn't available yet. Maybe in another year.

 

Anyone know what the total (hinge end) thickness of the Latitude E4200 is? They only list the front end from what I can tell.

 

well i wasn't saying to change from your binder but asking if another binder may give you that tiny bit of extra room to accomodate say the Z
anyway it was just a question

 

I could carry a larger binder but my goal is not to carry anything larger. My goal is either to have what I carry be less bulky.