4 Ultra-Portable Laptops You Could Buy Right Now

Here are some ultra-portable laptops presently on the market. They are cheap, love to travel, and allow you to actually type things rather than having to laboriously write an e-mail with your thumbs alone. Even better, this recent wave of “let’s make our computers cheap and just big enough for a keyboard” seems to be just beginning.

All these computers have wifi cards. I think they might get striped of their “netbook” title and expelled from the kingdom if they didn’t. That is just wild speculation though, as I don’t know of any company that has dared to release a netbook without built in wifi.

Asus eee PC 701 - around $320 on ebay

This was the computer that is thought to have started the recent ultra portable laptop craze. Sure there were previous really small laptops, including the OLPC’s innovative XO. However, this model was was designed with your normal internet-addicted consumer in mind.

One thing that rightly earned it some attention was it’s software. This software allows the computer to boot in 15 seconds and is incredibly easy to use. Turns out, that is just what people wanted.

Creative Commons picture by roland.

Acer Aspire One - around $380

The aspire one is a more recent addition to the club. It uses a new-fangled Intel chip that is supposed to be super energy efficient. It also sports a slightly larger keyboard than the eee PC 701. However, the keyboard is not quite full sized. Notably, it’s keyboard is more sturdy than the keyboards on most other “full-sized” laptops I have used (yeah, i have one of these).

Because of it’s recent arrival, there hasn’t been quite enough time for the Linux community to iron out all the bugs. For example, at the time of writing this the Ubuntu community is still grappling for a way to get this computer’s internal microphone to work. Despite the bugs, I still think Linux is the software best suited for this compu-pu.

Asus eee PC 901 - around $600

So many eee 701s have sold since it was released last October, that it probably seemed like a no-brainer for asus to come out with a new model. Now, they can even put in the more energy efficient chip. This eee “version 2″ PC sports the same line of processor that the aspire one has and a nearly full-sized keyboard.

However, you do get a little more for the extra money. The hard drive can hold more and are a bit faster, not to mention that this machine comes with a bigger battery allowing it to be separated from an electrical oasis for longer.

MSI Wind - around $500

Yup, this one also uses the same line of electricity sipping processor that both the eee 901 and the Aspire One use. However the wind brandishes a FULL SIZED keyboard and a bigger display (10 inches, compared to the 901 and aspire one’s 8.9 inches).

Unfortunately, the bigger screen and keyboard do come at the cost of making the whole shebang bigger. Though it is still ultra-portable, it is less ultra-portable than some of the other ultra-portables.

This post is part of an 2 part series on ultra-portable laptops:

• A Traveler’s Introduction to Ultra-Portable Laptops
• 4 Ultra-Portable Laptops You Could Buy Right Now