Two Ultralight Laptops Offer Lots of Features, Improved Portability
Traveling with a laptop has become harder in recent years. Toting the portable computers around was always rough on your back and shoulders, but now you have to quickly yank them out for inspection to get through airport security. And once you're on the plane, the inhuman space allotment for coach seats can make working on a laptop a painful experience.
All of this makes carrying a large laptop less and less practical. But the smallest, lightest models have historically included design compromises that have ruled them out for many users.
Lately, however, the computer industry has been beefing up the capabilities of the so-called ultralight models. They cover all the key bases for mainstream travelers. And you can actually use them in coach.
I've been testing two good examples of this new class of full-featured ultralight laptops, the Sony Vaio T250 and the Fujitsu LifeBook P7010. I like both machines, but there are some key differences between them.
The Fujitsu costs less, at $1,999 after rebate, yet it boasts more and better features, including a larger hard disk and more ports and connectors. But the Sony, which costs $2,199 after rebate, wins this comparison in three areas that matter greatly to travelers: It's a bit lighter, a bit thinner, and it has much better battery life.
The Fujitsu LifeBook, top, and the Sony Vaio
And the Sony's screen, while the same size as the Fujitsu's, doesn't extend upward as far when fully opened, making the Sony a bit easier to use when you're seated behind a serial recliner.
Both laptops weigh only about three pounds and have very small footprints that fit easily on a coach-seat tray table. But, unlike past generations of light laptops, these two models include internal disk drives that can play, and record, both DVDs and CDs. So you can install software from a CD or watch a DVD on the plane.
The two laptops use the same Intel processor, a power-saving Pentium M running at 1.2 Gigahertz. That's plenty of processor for common tasks. And both have built-in Wi-Fi wireless networking.
Each has a decent 512 megabytes of memory, though, in both cases, up to 64 megabytes of that memory can be siphoned off by the identical Intel graphics chips they use. The Fujitsu's hard disk holds 80 gigabytes, the Sony's 60 gigabytes.
Both laptops have wide-angle screens that measure 10.6 inches diagonally. That's very small by today's standards. But size isn't everything. A high screen resolution can squeeze lots of material onto a small display, and both the Fujitsu and Sony sport a resolution of 1,280 by 768, which does the trick.
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How do Sony and Fujitsu's new ultralight laptop computers compare? Walt Mossberg reviews.
Also, both of the screens are of the new, reflective type that delivers great contrast, though that can be a problem if there's a strong light source over your shoulder.
Because of their small size, both models have slightly cramped keyboards. But I found both quite usable. I liked the feel of the Fujitsu's keyboard slightly better than the feel of the Sony's, though the Sony has larger right-hand Backspace, Enter and Shift keys.
Another limitation common in past generations of little laptops has been battery life. To keep weight and size down, manufacturers have often scrimped on battery size. But these two models boast battery life that would allow for nearly constant work on a cross-country flight.
I put both machines through my tough battery test, where I turn up the screen brightness all the way, disable all battery-saving controls, and play an endless loop of music to keep the power-hungry hard disk spinning. The Fujitsu's battery lasted a very respectable three hours and 38 minutes, meaning that in a more normal usage pattern, with battery-saving controls turned on, it would likely approach five hours of life on a single charge.
But the Sony's battery life was truly amazing for such a small machine. In my test, it lasted four hours and 25 minutes, or 22% longer than the Fujitsu. In more normal use, with battery-saving controls enabled, the little Sony could likely approach six hours of life.
The Fujitsu weighs 3.3 pounds and is 1.26 inches thick, 10.27 inches wide and 7.83 inches deep. The Sony weighs 3.04 pounds and is one inch thick, 10.7 inches wide and 8.1 inches deep -- mainly because its battery protrudes from the back a bit.
Both laptops have two USB 2.0 ports; a PC card slot; and a Firewire port (also called "1394" or "iLink"). And each has a standard video-out port for use with desktop monitors, and a touchpad for controlling the cursor.
But the Fujitsu also has a built-in fingerprint reader, which can lock out anyone but people whose fingerprints it recognizes. And it has an S-video port, for hooking up to a TV, and a multiplicity of slots for camera memory cards. It can handle the popular Secure Digital and Compact Flash types of cards, as well as the Memory Stick Pro cards that are mainly used by Sony cameras.
In Sony's typical proprietary fashion, the T250 can handle only Sony's own Memory Stick Pro cards. And the Sony lacks S-video and a fingerprint reader.
If the extra features and lower price matter a lot, go with the Fujitsu. But if lower weight, thinner size and better battery life are your key considerations, the Sony is the better choice.
索尼和富士通的超轻笔记本功能全面
近年来，携带笔记本电脑旅行正变得越来越难，你的背部和肩部总是很难熬，而且现在为了通过机场安检，你还得很快把它拽出来。而一旦你登上飞机，给经济舱座位留出的非人般的狭小空间可以让打开笔记本工作成为一种痛苦不堪的经历。
所有这一切都让携带一台笨重的笔记本越来越不实际。但是，那些号称最小、最轻的型号通常总是在设计上照顾不周，因而许多用户宁可舍轻求重。
不过最近，电脑行业一直在增强所谓的超轻型笔记本电脑的性能。它们涵盖主流旅行者的所有核心基础。实际上，你可以在经济舱内自由使用。
在这种新推出的全功能超轻型笔记本电脑中，索尼的Sony Vaio T250和富士通的Fujitsu LifeBook P7010是两个很好的代表，我一直在对它们进行测试。这两款我都喜欢，但它们之间存在著一些关键的差别。
富士通比较便宜，打折后的价格为1,999美元，但具备更多和更优的功能，包括硬盘空间较大，配有更多端口和连接器。索尼打折后的价格为2,199美元，但在对于旅行者非常重要的三个方面都明显胜出：更轻、更薄、电池使用时间更长。
索尼的显示器大小虽然与富士通的一样，但在笔记本完全打开后没有富士通延展得那么开，因此，当你恰好坐在一个斜躺著的旅客后面的时候，索尼使用起来就更容易。
这两款笔记本电脑的重量都只有3磅左右，占地面积都非常小，很容易放在经济舱座位的餐板上。不过，与过去几代轻型笔记本电脑不同，这两款都包括可以播放和录制DVD和CD的内置磁盘驱动器。因此，你可以在飞机上通过CD安装软件或者观看DVD。
这两款笔记本电脑都使用节电的1.2G Pentium M英特尔处理器。这样的处理器对于一般工作来说已经足够。而且它们都配置内置的Wi-Fi无线网络。
这两款笔记本电脑的内存都相当大，均为512M，不过其中64M用于它们共同采用的英特尔图形晶片。富士通的硬盘空间为80G，而索尼为60G。
两款笔记本电脑均配置10.6英寸广角显示器。以今天的标准来看，这属于非常小的显示器了。但大小并不代表一切。显示器如果分辨率高的话，即便很小，也完全可以显示许多资料，而富士通和索尼的分辨率都高达1,280*768，这才是关键所在呢。
同样，两款笔记本电脑的显示器都是最新的反射型，对比度很高，但如果你的肩膀上有强光源的话，这可能成为一个问题。
由于非常轻便，两款笔记本电脑的键盘稍显局促。但我发现它们都相当适合使用。我对富士通键盘的感觉要略好于索尼，但索尼右手边的Backspace、Enter和Shift键更大些。
过去几代笔记本电脑的一个共同局限性就是电池使用时间。为了降低重量和大小，制造商们通常以牺牲电池大小为代价。但这两款笔记本电脑的电池使用时间足以让你在跨国航班上不间断的工作。
我对两款笔记本电脑进行了严格的电池测试，将显示器一直亮著，关上所有节电控制器，不间断的播放音乐，让硬盘持续转动。富士通的电池可持续3小时38分，这意味著在更为正常的使用模式中、打开节电控制器的情况下，富士通的电池经过一次充电后的使用时间可能接近5小时。
但索尼的电池寿命当真是令人惊奇，尤其是对于这么轻便的电脑来说。在我的测试中，索尼的电池使用时间长达4小时25分，比富士通的电池长22%。在更为正常的使用模式中、节电控制器被打开的情况下，小小的索尼笔记本电脑的电池可能持续6小时。
富士通重3.3磅，厚1.26英寸，宽10.27英寸，深7.83英寸。索尼重3.04磅，厚1英寸，宽10.7英寸，深8.1英寸--这主要是因为它的电池从后面突出。
两款笔记本电脑均配置两个USB 2.0端口；一个PC卡插槽；一个Firewire端口（也称为'1394'或'iLink'）。它们都配有标准外接视频(video-out)端口，用以连接台式电脑显示器，以及用来控制光标的触控板。
但是，富士通还配有内置的指纹识别系统，可以锁定个人的笔记本电脑，只限特定的授权者登入。同时，它配有一个S-video端口，可连接电视；还配有多个连接数码相机存储卡的插槽，可处理广受欢迎的SD和CF卡，以及主要用于索尼照相机的Memory Stick Pro卡。
与索尼典型的自有产权模式相符，T250只能处理索尼自己的Memory Stick Pro卡。而且索尼没有S-video端口和指纹识别系统。
如果你很在乎功能和价格，那么就选择富士通吧。但如果更轻、更薄、电池使用时间更长是你主要的考虑因素，索尼则是更好的选择。
