What's a light, but not lightweight, laptop?

August 10, 2008 2:18 PM

Can you recommend powerful, yet light notebook computer for my injured mother?

My mom has carpal tunnel and arthritis in both wrists, and can't use a computer keyboard. She's been using Dragon Naturally Speaking at work for voice recognition, and she loves it. Now she'd like to buy a laptop so she can use it at home.

So basically, we're looking for as light of a laptop as possible, that comes close to these recommended specifications: CPU: Intel Pentium / 2.4 GHz processor (1.6 GHz dual core processor) or equivalent AMD processor; Memory: 1 GB RAM; L2 Cache: 1 MB), Microsoft Windows XP/Vista. Bluetooth ready. DVD-ROM drive.

I'd love it if the EEEPC or one of it's subnotebook cousins could handle it, but I haven't seen any that quite match those stats. Macbook Air is an interesting option, but that's a little above our budget. Any recommendations?

posted by Newbornstranger to computers & internet (8 comments total)

What is light? 4lb? 3lb? How much is too expensive? The $1,800 Macbook Air? The $2,600 Macbook Air? You might try CNET's laptop finder so you can enter your own preferences and skip past the ones that are too expensive. It looks like a lot of the ultralight ones are $1,700 and up. Google "laptop finder" for other similar chooser tools.
posted by Askr at 2:49 PM on August 10, 2008

The Lenovo X61s or X200? If you don't mind the lack of a trackpad, that is. The X200 has better specs, a bigger keyboard (though I guess this doesn't matter so much), and very good reviews; the x61 is the older model (and rumour suggests the x200/x200s will replace the x61 line eventually). Either one meets your basic specs, but I'm guessing the x200 will be more viable a few years down the road. The x61 is slightly smaller, though, and of course a few hundred cheaper.
posted by chrominance at 2:54 PM on August 10, 2008

Oh, except the x61 doesn't come with an optical drive and the x200 seems to only have one if you get the docking station (though the Lenovo site is somewhat unclear on this). If you only need the DVD-ROM drive for installing Naturally Speaking, you can always pick up an external USB optical drive or somesuch, but otherwise you may want to consider something like this Asus 12" laptop. Asus isn't quite as good a brand as the Lenovo Thinkpads, but they're pretty solid machines, and $1000 is a pretty decent price for a 12" machine with an optical drive.
posted by chrominance at 3:07 PM on August 10, 2008

Oh, and if all else fails, Notebookreview.com's "what laptop should I buy" forum should get you set up.
posted by chrominance at 3:11 PM on August 10, 2008 [1 favorite]

i have the x60 and it has a docking station (which you have to pay extra for); i'm pretty sure the x61 is the same. however, i wouldn't bother with the docking station - it's way bigger (and no doubt more expensive) than a usb cdrom, and doesn't do anything else useful.

but aren't those outside your price range? i thought they were similar to a macbook air?
posted by not sure this is a good idea at 4:45 PM on August 10, 2008

One advantage of Mac OS is that I can tell you from experience that the built in voice controls work really well, even without a headset. If she also has trouble with a mouse it can really come in handy.
posted by hydropsyche at 6:09 PM on August 10, 2008

I've been happy with my Dell Inspiron XPS M1330. I got one this summer with Vista Home Premium, 3 GB memory, and a fast hard drive (7200 RPM) for a little over $1000 refurbished. Sometimes you can get new ones for $1K.
posted by lukemeister at 9:15 PM on August 10, 2008

lenovo x61 or the upcoming x200 seem to your best bet. THE EEE pcs could probably handle it but with the small keyboard, I would not reccomend your mom touching such a keyboard
posted by radsqd at 1:18 PM on August 11, 2008