Linda posted on August 31, 2009 09:50
Recently, one of our clients shared their requirements list for a new notebook. First, it had to weigh under 5 pounds, but it needed to have a full sized keyboard and be capable of running Office. It would be fine if it didn't have an optical drive, but it should run on battery for at least 7 hours.
My first thought was that there wasn't such a machine, but I started looking anyway. I didn't find anything that fulfilled all of that, but I sent along what I found along with prices and weights. Then I headed to Detroit for some Intel training that I was scheduled for.
While the training was all about servers and not about notebooks, the class was small and I had ample time to ask Max Glover, Intel technical evangelist, any question I wanted to. So I ran the specifications by him to see what he had to say.
He told me that there was a new line of notebooks just beginning to be released based on the Intel ULV (Ultra Low Voltage) mobile processors that are able to deliver that kind of battery life. These models are ultra thin, typically about 1", and weigh 1 to 2 pounds less than standard notebooks. He told me to expect these models to be released as whitebooks, which is what we typically sell, within a month (which is just about now), but also said that some of the bigger manufacturers had them available now.
So, I started searching again, this time using Google to search on ultra thin notebooks, rather than browsing specific manufacturers' sites. I was able to find some independent reviews, and ran across this one for the Acer Timeline 3810T at laptopmag.com. This turned out to be a great site for this research because there were also reviews of several other models by other manufacturers. I read them all, and decided that the Acer Timeline looked like the best bet.
So I forwarded the links to the client and worked up a price for exactly what she would need. She thought it sounded good too, so I placed the order and in just a few days, everything arrived. We had some reconfiguring to do before it was ready for her. She needed Vista Business and Microsoft Office, so we had to upgrade the operating system and install the additional software.
When she picked it up, I was a bit anxious. I never know if the machine will perform for my clients the way they did for the reviewer, and in this case, it was pretty important that it lived up to its billing. I am happy to report that within about 24 hours of picking it up, she was writing on my facebook wall to let me know how happy she was with it. I was thrilled!
I happened to see her just last week, and was able to ask her some questions about it. While she isn't sure that she has ever gotten the full 8 hours out of the battery, it runs a very long time and she is easily able to take it to a meeting without worrying that the battery will quit before the meeting ends. It weighs just a bit over 3 pounds, so it is much easier for her to carry around, and she works in more than one location, so this was a really important part of the wish list.
We also talked about the things that reduce battery life, and with the tips I gave her, she just might be able to get 8 hours in a pinch. I listed those tips in an earlier blog post here.
In short, she is very happy with this notebook and is considering getting one for her personal use sometime between now and Christmas. I'm happy because the machine lived up to the review, and I am glad I asked Max for his input!
The whitebook models are just now being released, so I will have to see if any of them are as good as the Acer. I'm betting more people will be choosing this type of notebook, not just because they are light and easy to carry around, but also because they have phenomenal battery life.