All told, this is an enticing ultraportable. We wish there were more space between the keyboard and the touch pad, and that the touch pad were recessed slightly to minimize thumb-bumping and mouse-jumping, but those are nitpicks, not deal-breakers. And given the low $799 price, we can’t complain much about the performance. If you need the functionality of a notebook with a full-fledged processor along with ultimate portability, the Asus UL30A-A1 is your best bet. It’s the only $800 ultraportable we’d recommend. If price is paramount, but you want more choices, you’ll have to sacrifice performance and go with a netbook, or sacrifice portability and go with a bigger thin-and-light laptop.
The computer also comes with Microsoft Works and Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer preloaded as well as McAfee Internet Security. It’s not the most impressive set of software, but you can always uninstall any programs you don’t need to free up disk space.
If you can handle the odd touchpad, the Dell Inspiron Mini 10v is a solid 10 inch netbook with good build quality, a decent keyboard, and above average battery life. But the touchpad may be a dealbreaker for some people. If you generally plug in a mouse, or don’t have a problem with the Inspiron Mini 10v touchpad’s integrated mouse buttons, then don’t sweat it. At $299 and up, the Mini 10v gives you a decent bit of bang for your buck.
From the beginning, HP’s approach to Voodoo was more modest than Dell’s approach to Alienware, the boutique PC maker it acquired in March 2006. Dell brought Alienware as a brand into its consumer division, but uses it only on a gaming desktop, a gaming notebook and gaming mice and keyboards. The biggest change seems to be the brand’s scale: Before the acquisition, Alienware was available in six countries; it’s now for sale in 37.
Slim PCs were the earliest style of small form factor system. Essentially, they were desktop systems that removed some of the bulk by removing space for full sized expansion cards. This reduced the desktops height or width by half. Since that time, they have reduced their size even more through the reduction of component sizes. They still tend to have expansion slots, but have “half-height” slots that require specific expansion cards that are difficult to find.
HP seemed more ambitious at first about bringing Voodoo into the mainstream and not keeping it a strictly gaming brand. Sood writes that though he wanted to make the Voodoo Envy available in Dubai, London, and India, that hasn’t happened yet.
Businesses tend to prefer standard computers that don’t have a lot of expansion capabilities. This is done because the companies depreciate the cost of the computers over their life span or they lease them. Once a system has reached its “lifespan” it is replaced by a new updated computer. Because there is no need for expansion, an integrated system such as a slim PC makes perfect sense. The computers don’t have to be top of the line when it comes to components since most business computing done is for word processing, spreadsheets and corporate communications.
