I was hobnobbing with the idea of a new laptop for over 10 months now. I was keen on 5 top things -- must be light (lighter than all my past laptops) ie less than 4 pounds, have backlit keyboard, have 8GB of RAM, have Solid state disk and have minimum of 5 hours of battery life under normal usage. And yes, if the price would be less than $1500 it would be cool but the 5 things I listed above, they were must.
My idea was that I would either wipe off the factory installed OS or shrink the volume to make room for my favorite OS - Linux. I was using the Ubuntu 11.04 until then on my previous laptop but then someone brought in their laptop with Fedora 16 on it and my first reaction was 'Hey thats neat' and 'I will try it'. This especially because I last used Fedora about 5 years ago when the GNOME desktop was at best a colorful little desktop but not very polished. By the way, its no secret, my dislike for Windows and Apple. So that really limited the choice of hardware with my Top 5 requirements above.
After a long trying search spreading over months, where I looked at laptops from Sony, Lenovo, Dell, HP, Asus etc, I finally narrowed down to Sony Vaio and Lenovo. Both had two models that I liked. Lenovo had IdeaPad U series and Thinkpad X1. Sony had Vaio S and Vaio Z Series.
I had used Lenovo laptops in the past and my opinion of them were 'sturdy' but 'bulky'. Although they seem to have good support for Linux drivers and community. But Ideapad U (although very beautifully done) did not have backlit keyboard. Thinkpad X1 on the other hand with the configuration I was asking for came to around $1800. Besides, I already use a Thinkpad (T series) from my work and I think it is a bit heavy too.
As for Sony, Vaio Z was a good combination of power and lightness but it had a separate media-dock. Come on, I dont want to carry and appendage with my laptop. Especially when I travel. A laptop is got to be self contained, with all its bang and whistles in one little body form factor. Plus Z series is pricey, the configuration I was asking came close to $2200. Ouch!
So Finally, Sony S series came the closest to what I wanted at the minimum - 3.7 lb weight, backlit keyboard, 8GB RAM, 256 GB Solid State Disk & 5+ hours of battery life on one charge. Bonus was that it was less than 1 inch thick, had HD graphics and was right around $1500 price mark. Actually with taxes and all the net price was about $1700. Hmm.
I actually went to the nearby Sony store to take a look and feel of the S and Z series. Although they did not have a S series with 8GB of RAM in the store and therefore I was relegated to ordering it online.
Honestly, I must make something clear, I had not used Sony Vaio earlier and did not see much on the web about people running Linux on Vaio. So I was a bit sheepish and worried about the driver compatibility on the Opensource side for Vaio. Who knows I might end up disappointed if I failed to get Linux to run on a brand new expensive laptop. Go figure.
Anyway, finally it arrived 3 weeks ago and in my next post, I will explain my experience with Linux on Vaio S and why I would give it 7 out of 10 instead of 10 out of 10.
I had used Lenovo laptops in the past and my opinion of them were 'sturdy' but 'bulky'. Although they seem to have good support for Linux drivers and community. But Ideapad U (although very beautifully done) did not have backlit keyboard. Thinkpad X1 on the other hand with the configuration I was asking for came to around $1800. Besides, I already use a Thinkpad (T series) from my work and I think it is a bit heavy too.
As for Sony, Vaio Z was a good combination of power and lightness but it had a separate media-dock. Come on, I dont want to carry and appendage with my laptop. Especially when I travel. A laptop is got to be self contained, with all its bang and whistles in one little body form factor. Plus Z series is pricey, the configuration I was asking came close to $2200. Ouch!
So Finally, Sony S series came the closest to what I wanted at the minimum - 3.7 lb weight, backlit keyboard, 8GB RAM, 256 GB Solid State Disk & 5+ hours of battery life on one charge. Bonus was that it was less than 1 inch thick, had HD graphics and was right around $1500 price mark. Actually with taxes and all the net price was about $1700. Hmm.
I actually went to the nearby Sony store to take a look and feel of the S and Z series. Although they did not have a S series with 8GB of RAM in the store and therefore I was relegated to ordering it online.
Honestly, I must make something clear, I had not used Sony Vaio earlier and did not see much on the web about people running Linux on Vaio. So I was a bit sheepish and worried about the driver compatibility on the Opensource side for Vaio. Who knows I might end up disappointed if I failed to get Linux to run on a brand new expensive laptop. Go figure.
Anyway, finally it arrived 3 weeks ago and in my next post, I will explain my experience with Linux on Vaio S and why I would give it 7 out of 10 instead of 10 out of 10.
