On Jun 20, 2011 I wrote The laptop I want, 2011 edition, on the subject of Wishes and Rants.

I want a new laptop. After nearly three years with my Dell M1330, I've been trying to come up with a set of requirements for whatever I buy next, and they end up based around things that I've found annoying with my Dell. Now, to be honest, there isn't much. I like my M1330, mostly. However, there is one thing that's viciously annoying: it's too heavy.

What? I hear you say. 1.94kg is too heavy? What are you, a six*-stone weakling?

The reason it's too heavy is this: when I'm at a conference, I carry the laptop, with its 6-cell battery, and two 9-cell batteries, and the power supply which is a huge great big brick of a thing. And my shoulder hurts.

So, there I was thinking: what I want is a laptop which will last a whole day without recharging, and has a really small power supply as well.

Sidebar: "Runs Ubuntu perfectly" is, of course, another requirement. And you'd have to talk pretty fast to persuade me that buying a laptop without Ubuntu already on it is a good idea. End sidebar.

So, I had a number of semi-related thoughts, which looked like this.

Why not buy a netbook? No, that's a crap idea. I don't want two computers. I want one which is perfect.*
Clearly ARM is the way to go here. You get 7 hours life! Off a 3-cell battery! Even given that every laptop manufacturer on the planet could bullshit their way through a solid brick wall when it comes to expected battery life, that's still easily enough for a whole day and more besides if you threw an 8-cell or 9-cell battery in it. Gimme gimme gimme.
Now, hang on. I've been hearing "there'll be ARM laptops this time next year" for the last decade at least. I mean, the bloody Acorn A4 was an ARM laptop* fergawdsake and that was in 1991, and that was the last real one that existed. ARM laptops are not just jam tomorrow but jam, marmalade, peanut butter, honey, and Mrs. H. S. Ball's Original Peach Chutney tomorrow. How many more times do you have to get burned by this expectation, Charlie Brown?*
My phone's got an ARM chip in.
My phone's got a bloody small power supply, too; thin cable, small plug, just what I want for a laptop. Charges over USB too, if I need it to.
Hey, that Motorola Atrix thingy where you plug your phone into a "lapdock" and it becomes a laptop powered by the phone is a good idea, isn't it?
Hey, that Asus Padfone thingy where you plug your phone into a tablet shell and it becomes a tablet powered by the phone is a good idea, isn't it?
Hey, that Eee Pad Transformer thingy where it's a tablet that docks into a keyboard to become a laptop is a good idea, isn't it?
Wouldn't it be nice if my phone and tablet and laptop all shared the same data?
64GB micro SD cards exist now, don't they?

...and all these thoughts lead me towards the idea of having my phone, which runs Android on top of a Linux kernel, plugging into a "laptop" which can also be separated into a "tablet", and which runs Ubuntu. Since all the storage and CPU are in the phone, the "laptop" bit can basically be entirely full of batteries (maybe some extra RAM, I don't know) and so it'll have superb battery life, especially since it's ARM and therefore lasts longer anyway.

So, something combining the Atrix, the Eee Pad, and a standard socket so any "enabled" mobile phone can plug into it*. That's what I want. For Christmas — and this is not a joke; I actually want to be able to buy this for myself by Christmas 2011 — please, manufacturers. Is anyone working on this? I suspect that, like most of the stuff I want, it doesn't and will not exist, but maybe I can get close...?

@Steve Marshall

Running Ubuntu on any hardware IS like fitting an engine to a horse

...

You could wipe the Mac OS off any Mac hardware and install Ubuntu on it easily.

avilella

The Asus UX21 is in the ultrathin range but with a powerful CPU. It's touted like a Macbook air, but lighter and way more powerful. And it's not Apple hardware, so will make a great Linux laptop:

http://www.engadget.com/2011/05/30/asus-outs-ux21-ultrathin-laptop-with-up-to-core-i7-cpu-video-ha/

We are very hopeful it will have great Linux support, for what I've seen so far from http://launchpad.net/~asus-ul30 owners.

sil

avilella: it's Intel. So the battery life is going to be no better than what I have at the moment :(

TheBootroo

I just wrote a mail to Asus this morning, about cre

Aquarion

Actually, I've been thinking for a while that what I actually want is either a tablet with bluetooth support or a small tablet sized monitor and a phone with HDMI out, into which I could plug a monitor and bluetooth keyboard, and not need a laptop at all.

Possibly.

TheBootroo

I just wrote a mail to Asus this morning, about creating a device like their EEE Transformer, but more powerfull and bigger (about 12 inches and intel Core i5 ULV : low power consumption) which would be sold directly with Linux MeeGo Tablet Edition (can be replaced by Ubuntu easily), and would fix some problems of the current Transformer : more ram (4Go instead of 1 Go) and USB ports directely on the tablet, not only on the dock.

For 500/600 euros i would by it.

I hope they will listen me (in the mail i told that i'm not the only requester of this kind of device, and you post say me i was true).

So wait and see.

Cheers.

sil

Aquarion: that's essentially what I'm talking about. Having a "tablet" and a separate keyboard and saying "look I don't need a laptop" seems a bit disingenuous, because that *is* a laptop in my opinion, but that's fine; I suppose tablet+bt keyboard is similar to the Eee Pad, so I could perhaps live with that.

Alan Pope

I note that you didn't mention cost anywhere in your post. So I am going to assume that cost is not an issue and therefore recommend a MacBook Air.

So there.

*tick* long battery life

*tick* lightweight

*tick* ssd

*tick* PSU that you can easily borrow off any other mac fanboy to top up

The "Runs Ubuntu perfectly" bit is a tiny bit sticky. I am not going to attempt to argue with you about OSX vs Ubuntu, but just say "VirtualBox".

daniels

How about a Chromebook?

sil

popey: it's that "tiny bit sticky" I don't want. I'm in favour of giving my money to people who want their machines to support Ubuntu. Failing that, I'm in favour of giving my money to people who are prepared for their machines to support Ubuntu. Running an OS I don't want and had to pay for anyway just in order to run VirtualBox and then running Ubuntu inside that VirtualBox is a daft idea, like buying a horse and then trying to fit an engine in it to make it run faster.

br41n

I was about to recommend the Macbook Air also but Alan was faster :)

I just love mine and new ones with SandyBridge should be available soon i read.

Steve Marshall

I, for one, think fitting an engine to a horse to make it run faster is a fucking ace idea, Langridge. You should sack off all this Ubuntu nonsense and work on that.

Alan Bell

so you want a bento book then http://technabob.com/blog/2011/05/07/bento-book-laptop-tablet/

concept design at the moment, but I expect it will be built one day, not sure if it will be ready for christmas.

Michael Burke

I've read a review on the Atrix, and personally to me it wouldn't be good enough. It's a netbook sized device. So people with big chunky fingers like me struggle to type on them. However, if you have fingers the width of a HB pencil then it's for you.

When recommending laptops to people, I always recommend ThinkPad's. I know they're not built by IBM any more, but hear me out.

I bought my current ThinkPad in 2005 (it's an R50e, one of the last to be badged as IBM but as with other ThinkPad's in the late 90's it was built by Lenovo) and it has never let me down. So much so, I still use it today. I've upgraded it as much as I can, it's running a 1.7Ghz Pentium M (was 1.4Ghz Celeron M) and it's running 1.25Gb RAM (256MB RAM originally). It's run Fedora brilliantly since 2006/2007 although it's too long in the tooth to run GNOME 3. The battery still gives 45mins/60mins of run time. Which is crap, but it's the same battery that came with the laptop originally, and back in 2005 it would give 3 1/2 hours anyway.

They aren't cheap though, especially as I know you'll want one that will basically leave flaming tyre tracks on the desk you will use the laptop on (or your lap, God help you in that case). Mine cost me £400 in 2005, but is still going strong today. The build quality is still the same, and has actually improved. The only downside with Lenovo is that they are Windows-centric, but Linux still runs amazingly well on them. Also, no other laptop manufacturer builds dual-screen laptops. Lenovo build ThinkPad's with two screens :)

sil

daniels: the 12.1" Samsung one only weighs 0.4kg less than my M1330, it's got a smaller screen, it's got an Intel processor so it won't have great battery life, and I don't know if you can actually get Ubuntu running on it easily. All of these things are concerns :(

Janne

I have a Panasonic Let's Note CF-S9. Intel, 12" screen, just over 1kg, runs Ubuntu just fine and I get somewhere around 7-8 hours with just the included battery. And it's part of their Toughbook line so it can take coffee spills and getting dropped from the desk too. There's both smaller and larger machines in the same series if you want to save even more weight, or want a larger screen

David Stevenson

I agree completely with your analysis, and am waiting the delivery of my Asus transformer (on the delivery truck expected within the hour....)

But it does not run Ubuntu. Yet. How do we fix this......

sil

Michael Burke: agreed that I do not want a netbook-sized device. However, I don't want a thinkpad either, because they're so *ugly*. They just are. They look like they should be up on bricks outside someone's trailer, or possibly that they were designed by a Soviet engineer in 1973. I hate them :(

sil

Alan Bell: if it was more than just some industrial designer's wank fantasy I'd be all over that Bento Book thing, but it's just pictures right now :)

sil

Steve Marshall: I'll get right on it as a Friday project. Surely I could make a bit of money off the Racing Post at least :)

Chris

Is 7:50 hours with a six-cell-battery, at 3.4 pounds, long-lasting and portable enough? (If not, it lasts longer than 20 hours with a 9-cell-battery + battery slice at 5.2 pounds weight):

http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptops/lenovo-thinkpad-x220.aspx?page=3

moimael

Have you taked a look at the toshiba R630 (or the new series R8xx) ? I own one, it weight only 1,4kg, ultra-slim, has a small power supply and 8h30 battery life. It run ubuntu without problems. And the design is beautiful (magnesium case)

cosku

what about AMD APUs? http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/a8-3500m-llano-apu,2959.html

stock battery lasted 7.6 hours in their test. and note that it's a desktop level CPU not netbook.

foo

All of the ARM SoCs have non-free 3D drivers only so say goodbye to games, compiz, Unity, GNOME 3, Qt 5 etc if you want to run free software on such a thing.

Claude

What you want should be out "soon" (well, that's only downside, this company keeps on delaying their products, which does not always look very good), it's the smartbook from always innovating (http://www.alwaysinnovating.com/products/smartbook.htm)

-ARM

-Ubuntu/Android/others

-Phone (well, a MID not 3G stuff) + tablet + netbook

-lotsa batteries

-opensource down to most of the hardware

Now, will they get one out before christmas? will it be worth it?

Jonathan Carter

I've always loved the X and T series Thinkpads. Lightweight, durable, good hardware (everything typically just works with Linux systems). Battery is also quite good. With my X200s I get about 5 hours with the standard battery (or 4 hours before I upgraded to SSD). My flatmate has an X201s with the 9 cell battery and it pretty much lasts an entire day.

Also, if something breaks on your laptop you can replace it. Not like a Macbook that's pretty much unserviceable.

ARM based devices are probably not going to give you great performance by the time you want to buy something. Also, you can't do virtualization on it.

Atrix is a great Android device, it's not a complete laptop replacement.

Lars Gunther

When it comes to battery life, there is a Thinkpad that claims 15 hours of real world usage. (Yes. with an extra battery, but its still impressive.)

http://www.gottabemobile.com/2011/03/23/thinkpad-x220-review-editors-choice-ultraportable-w-15-hour-battery/

I am eyeing it up right now. Then OTOH, I would prefer a 17 inch behemoth, which Thinkpad no longer offers, having dropped the W701.

(For me, having a Thinkpad quality Trackpoint and keyboard is a sine qua non.)

Elessar

I think what you want it th Smart Book from Always Innovating.

https://www.alwaysinnovating.com/store/product.php?productid=10&cat=3&page=1

Pistahh

man you do not want a Motorola phone, trust me. Having a Milestone since 1.5 years, this is for sure I will never in life will buy another Motorola phone again. Crappy software, locked down boot loader and updater (so you can't change kernels, etc. though for updates there are hacks), crappy customer support. For their ex-flagship product. They don't deserve a dime.

Bastien

You seem to be saying that you don't want to buy a laptop that doesn't already run Ubuntu. For pretty much all the Dell laptops that'd mean the biggest collection of blu-tack as system integration: custom kernels, custom drivers, custom packages, nothing upstream, and you don't even know whether the thing will run the next version. Con fere the Poulsbo Dell Mini netbook. I'm sure there's loads more bad examples around (and probably too few counter-examples).

Rodney Dawes

And this is why I am just going to end up building my own laptop.

Also, if you're goign to put a bunch of red asteriskses all over the place in your post, the least you could do is provide footnotes for them.

Also, your site is totally horrible on any font and zoom configuration that isn't your own. :)

Alan Pope

Okay, Apple products are out (despite them fitting _most_ of your requirements). In that case Thinkpad. All other laptops can burn in a fire as far as I am concerned. End of.

Alexander Patrakov

You want Thinkpad X201

"I, for one, think fitting an engine to a horse to make it run faster is a fucking ace idea, Langridge."

I seem to remember that the great man once owned a car which was a banana with an engine attached to it, so he does have previous in this area of development.

sil

foo: Unity 2d is fine, I think. I don't play games (I have a PS3 for that). So I'm not too worried.

sil

Claude, Ellesar: interesting. The Always Innovating site really doesn't say much about their smartbook, though! Where can I get decent information about it?

sil

dobey: agreed on the font stuff. Asterisks: mouseover. Building your own laptop: how is this doable? Wouldn't it cost thousands and thousands to get a case machined?

sil

popey: that's useful info to know. I don't like thinkpads, as mentioned (they're so *ugly*), but I know they're good hardware...

Adam Williamson

While you're waiting for your unicorn, I'd say something with the new AMD Llano CPUs would be a decent bet; they seem to be delivering good-enough-for-a-main-system performance with pretty nice battery life, per Phoronix and Anandtech reports.

I run a Sony Vaio Z, which is absurdly powerful and ridiculously light, but the battery life probably doesn't meet your requirements (it gets four hours on a good day).

Alan Pope

"I don't like thinkpads, as mentioned (they're so *ugly*)"

That applies to pretty much every single PC(*) laptop there is. None are as good looking as Apple kit. At all. Perhaps that funky new air-like Asus thing mentioned up the top, but I don't know what crack _all_ PC laptop designers are on, but I suspect it's the cheap stuff.

So, it's "beautiful, (arguably) functional, long lasting" Apple, or "ugly, functional, long lasting" Thinkpad. All other computers are plastic crap.

FWIW I have owned/used Sony, Dell, HP, Toshiba, Fujitsu, Thinkpad, Apple, Asus computers in the recent past. I tell myself sometimes that I should look at other vendors, then slap myself and remind myself of how disappointed I always am with those pieces of crap.

Note: I have had a crap day, apologies if this comes over more narky than usual. Love and kisses.

* Yes, I say PC to mean non-Apple computers. No I don't care if you think Apple computer == PC 'because they're Intel based' and 'because they run windows'. -> /dev/null

Craig

I believe the laptop you want was released recently by RIM as their latest Blackberry Tablet. ;)

Leif

@Alexander Patrakov, surely Lenovo has something newer than the Thinkpad X201 worth buying? It's over a year old now.

Thibaut

always innovating as innovated for you. here the smartbook. where the computer is a phone than a tablet than a laptop..

http://www.alwaysinnovating.com/products/smartbook.htm

Rodney Dawes

@sil Well, it wouldn't cost that much to get a case machined. And I'd do it myself anyway. A small mill isn't that expensive, and can be used to make a lot more than one thing. And a little bit of aluminum is also not particularly expensive.

@popey Apple computers are PCs because they are personal computers. It doesn't matter two craps about what OS they run. You're going to run Ubuntu on it anyway, for the purposes of this comment argument. :) The specific hardware and software mean nothing for the term PC. What matters is that it's a computer sold to the masses. That's what makes it a PC.

Also, Fujitsu laptops can be pretty ace if you get the right ones. They've made plenty of meh stuff, but so have Apple, Dell, IBM/Lenovo, and others.

GiacomoL

AlwaysInnovating looks like a terrific company let down badly by a kooky website. I'd order their smartbook in a heartbeat if the site didn't look like something put together by a Nigerian scammer -- I'm not saying they are scammers, just that they should go buy a professional website theme, because otherwise people like me won't send their $$$ without feeling like they've just gifted some random Taiwanese guy hiding behind a French name.

Chris

Just recalled how disappointingly lower than advertised the actual battery-life of the Toshiba AC100 Smartbook is (Tegra 2): http://www.netbooknews.com/7336/tegra-2-benchmarked-tops-smartphones/

It might not be a good idea to shun Intel; their chips have caught up immensely as far as power efficiency is concerned. Whatever advantage ARM architecture had, seems to dwindle quickly now. And the hardware available now that will run Linux without problem is, well, Intel-based.

Urfoex

Eat this:

http://www.hercules.com/uk/ecafe/bdd/p/156/ecafe-trade-ex-hd-black-/

Technical specifications

LED screen: 10.1 inch, 1024*600, high brightness

Storage: 16Gb extensible to 72Gb: 8Go Flash (iNAND) + 8Gb SDHC card + additional 50GB available online**

ARM CortexTM A8 FreescaleTM i.MX515 @ 800 MHz processor

RAM: 512 Mb

HDMI output

WiFi N technology

Battery: 6800 mAh (7.4V) for 13 hours +

Comfortable "chiclet" keyboard with flat, separate keys - 88% of a standard keyboard

0.3MP webcam with built-in microphone

Connections: 3x USB, 1x Headset, 1x Microphone, 1x LAN RJ45, 1x DC-in 12V, 1x External card reader: SD/MMC/SDHC, 1x Internal card reader: SD/SDHC

DIP Switch

sil

Urfoex: that Hercules thing is a netbook. Small screen, small storage. I couldn't use it as a main machine :(

Chris

To help you making the decision (^_-), here is a report about how Fedora does on the ThinkPad X220:

http://paul.frields.org/2011/06/21/fedora-15-rocks-on-thinkpad/

mu3en

Always Innovating SmartBook concept aims in the right direction. However, as pointed out, AI is just not a serious company. Been trying for over a year to love their TouchBook, but there is just too much wrong with the hardware and a total lack of support or responsiveness.

Beyond that though, for a couple of years I've been pushing the idea that desktops, laptops, tablets, etc. are all already redundant: all we need is a little box in our pocket that connects to external displays and input devices as required.

While Apple [and others] anticompetitive business model dominates the hardware market, this concept is likely to remain theoretical since it implies selling far fewer high cost devices, and hence less profit...

Chris

Perhaps we should all just wait for Santa to deliver ARM-based notebooks: http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20110622PD206.html

durex real feel

its interesting and well judged analysis is reflecting in this writing.

SAD

ASD

Ben Mather

Try the Genesi EFIKA.

http://www.genesi-usa.com/products/smartbook

It looks like exactly what you want.

olivier

I also really like the idea of a phone you could dock to transform into a full computer. But I'm far less confidant than you on manufacturers agreeing on a single standard connector, laptop docks have existed for years and we still don't have standard connectors.

Richard Appleby

I've been running Ubuntu 10.10 on a Lenovo Thinkpad x201, with an upgraded 500GB 7200rpm disk for the last 6 months. I get 7ish hours continuous use with a 9 cell battery with the screen brightness set to 2/3rd max. I added the Lenovo travel adaptor for a rather dinky universal PSU (mains, car & airline) that also charges my phone.

It may not be perfect, but it's pretty darned close.

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