14 DAY TRIAL // Windows-based ultra-mobile PCs got unleashed these days and most of them are trying to take the MacBook Air down. It would be hard to believe that a Windows-powered generic PC could ever become as good as a Mac, but the race pays off and our generic notebooks get dream-like features.
I have already told you about the 1.3 kilogram Fujitsu LifeBook P1620 and the 1.4 kilogram Lenovo's 13.3" X300 that will arrive soon on the market. Now it's time to introduce you a refurbished version of Toshiba's Port?g? R500 , that now comes rigged with additional features.
PC vendor Toshiba decided to mix its Port?g? R500 lightweight notebook with 3G functionality. This could easily become a MacBook Air killer (or at least, demolisher), since its manufacturer claims that it is the thinnest and lightest notebook on the market. According to its tech sheet, the laptop is just 25.5mm thick and weighs only 771 grams.
The functional upgrade brought the laptop HSDPA support, to match either personal or business needs. The laptop is now available in two flavors: the R500-11J and the R500-11I. The notebooks are similar as basic hardware, but they differ in storage options, and (of course) in weight.
The notebooks come with an 1.2Ghz Intel ULV Core 2 Duo U7600 processor, Intel 945GMS Express chipset, Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950, 12.1" (1280x800) LED-backlit display, 2GB of DDR2 memory, Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11a/g/n, and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR.
The storage options come to meet either the portability or the data needs of the users. While the R500-11J model comes with a 64GB solid-state disk (SSD) and no internal optical drive, the 900-grams R500-11I features a normal notebook hard-disk drive with 120 GB of storage for your own needs and an ultra-slim Super-Multi DVD burner.
I would personally pick the latter, since it is actually 200 grams fatter than its brother, but it gets much more functionality. At the same time, you might spare some $658 you would have paid for a 64GB solid-state drive. The R500-11I is available for an estimated retail price of $3,000, while the "sophisticated" SSD version will pull $3,658 off your pocket. $658 is a whole lot of a difference, but how much is it worth to own the world's thinnest, lightest notebook powered by Windows?