Lenovo X201

I've always been interested in the high end laptop market offering top performance but at the lightest weight possible. As you will be aware already searching for the right one involves many compromises.

By far the Sony Vaio Z series has been at the top of its game offering cool factors such as carbon fibre top, up to 512gb SSD, i7 2.8ghz cpu etc. However, by the time you have customised your top spec order  you'll be expected to pay $5279 NZD. The majority of the price coming from the 512gb SSD.

Since competitors do not offer such a hard core spec and also the fact that the price for 512gb SSD is overpriced at the moment, I will use the following spec for the Vaio Z in this comparison.

Vaio Z
i5 580m 2.66ghz
6gb ram
128gb SSD
HDMI port
Weight 1.4kg

$3499 NZD (http://www.sony.co.nz/product/vpcz136gg)

There are some competitors out there such as the Toshiba Portege R700 which also has an optical drive identical weight but lacks in design and doesn't seem as solid as the Vaio in construction.

Toshiba R-700
i5 560 2.66ghz
8gb ram
128gb SSD
HDMI port
HD Display
Optical drive
Weight 1.41kg

$2391 NZD
(http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/cdetland.to?poid=496495&src=EXPL&cm_mmc=explore-_-bto_series-_-portege-_-R700)

Another alternative is the Lenovo X201. The Lenovo Thinkpads are proven professional laptops with features such as Lenovo enhanced experience, spill resistant keyboard, and tested for extreme conditions Torture test . However, it the screen is only 12 inchs and there is no optical drive unlike the similarly priced Toshiba. It also doesn't have an HDMI port.

Lenovo X201
i5 580m 2.66ghz
8gb ram
128gb SSD
Weight 1.41kg

$2766 NZD (www.lenovo.com)

One other light weight altertanive laptop is the new 2010 Apple Macbook Air. It is similar in price to the above mentioned models but lacks a lot in spec. The only good thing about this laptop is it's cool design, light weight and the Mac OS.

Apple Macbook Air
Core 2 Duo 1.86ghz
4gb Ram
128gb SSD
1.32kg

$2400 NZD (http://store.apple.com/nz/browse/home/shop_mac/family/macbook_air)


I like the Lenovo X201 because of the strong build quality and good rep behind their business laptops. However, it lacks the optical drive, HDMI port of the R700 and also only has a 12inch screen. I know that the Toshiba brand is also a reputable brand that has been around for a long time and is also the first company to create the portable laptop. However, I'm not so sure on the construction of the R700 without looking at it. Before I make a decision I will have to have a look at both models and compare.

Which one would you go for?