Laptop Recommedations

[JJHA04]

This was also posted in the photo gallery section, but thought it might fit more in this section.

 

For our upcoming 4/29/06 TP cruise, I would like to bring along my laptop to upload and store photos from my digital camera and then convert them to CDs. My question to you guys is if there are any recommendations for any "small or mini laptops" that are cheap that I can bring solely for this purpose. I already own a big and powerful laptop that will do all of this, but I really don't prefer to bring the beast along, so I thought about buying a cheap and also fairly good laptop that would have a cd/dvd burner and be able to upload and store photos successfully. I would then convert my photos to CD's. I also have a Sony Camcorder that uses mini-dv tapes that I would like to convert to a DVD and would like to do that on the ship with any laptop that you would recommend. Thanks for all of the replies and happy sailing to all.

 

PS-What software would this laptop need to have???

 

Joe R.

[nparmelee]

Nikon has something called the Coolwalker that is a 30GB device that allows you to download pictures and view them. You can find it for about $300 or less. It may be a smaller way to go if you don't need all of the features of a laptop. We have to take a laptop with us, VPN connections to our offices, there's always some strange emergency when we go away, otherwise, I'd look at the smaller devices for just holding photos.

[kitty9]

I have a Sony Viao PictureBook which is great to travel with. It's much smaller than a regular laptop, and can be used to view movies also.

[JJHA04]

I have a Sony Viao PictureBook which is great to travel with. It's much smaller than a regular laptop, and can be used to view movies also.

 

Kitty9, can you tell me some more info. on the picturebook. Sounds like what I need. I mostly want something that I can connect via usb my photos from my digital camera to a laptop type device that is fairly small and inexpensive so that I can use to email back home. Is it possible to have a cd/dvd rw external device attached to it? Thanks.

[kitty9]

You can attach what's called a Sony iLink DVD-RW device to the Vaio. I just purchased what's called a Sony U8G, which is known in the business as a handtop computer. It has a 5 inch screen, runs Microsoft XP Home, Excel, and has a Sony iLink DVD-RW. It's the greatest thing I've ever seen. This unit also has a detachable full size keyboard, 20 gigabites hard drive and can play mp3 files and photos from cameras.

[JJHA04]

You can attach what's called a Sony iLink DVD-RW device to the Vaio. I just purchased what's called a Sony U8G, which is known in the business as a handtop computer. It has a 5 inch screen, runs Microsoft XP Home, Excel, and has a Sony iLink DVD-RW. It's the greatest thing I've ever seen. This unit also has a detachable full size keyboard, 20 gigabites hard drive and can play mp3 files and photos from cameras.

 

Thanks for the reply, if you don't mind me asking about how much did this U8G device cost you? Does Sony still produce the Picturebooks? I've found a couple on ebay. I really don't want to shell out a lot of money for something that would only be used for photo editing, storage, and cd burning on my cruise. I already own a big and powerful Toshiba, however I don't want to bring the beast along with me and would prefer something smaller, such as the picturebook or anything else that others would recommend.

[kitty9]

I did some checking for you and unfortunately, the U8G is only available in Asia. Isn't that a bummer? I bought mine on a trip to Hong Kong. It really hacks me off when I travel to places like Hong Kong and Singapore and see what's available to those consumers, but never brought to the US. You should see some of the cameras, computers and other tech stuff that they get easily, but the US market never sees. The U8G is a fantastic computer, but it is pricey at $1500 and up depending on what you put on it, like more RAM and such.

 

I know there are other smaller laptops, they are called sub-notebooks, but since they are so new, they're running in the $2K range and up. Fujitsu has a model similar to the Viao Powerbook, but again, I don't know if it's available in the US.

 

Sony makes their TX series notebook, which I believe is less than 3lbs, and they also have their FS745P/H which is also a very small notebook, and I know that one, fully loaded, is under $1500. But for any of those smaller laptops, you're going to pay top dollar because they are the newest.

 

Good luck hunting for something that works for you.

[JJHA04]

Kitty, thanks for all your replies. I will evaluate my options and see what I can do. BTW-since you have a new Sony U8G, would you be interested in parting with the picturebook? Just curious. There are so many gadgets nowadays and it's mindboggling to say the least. I hopefully will find what I'm looking for and if all else fails, I will lug around my big laptop and use that on our cruise, I was just looking for something smaller and easier to carry around.

[Lewdog]

Any laptop would serve your purposes. The Sonys while nice and quite capable are fairly expensive. The importnant thing to look for for this use would be USB and or Firewire connectivity, plenty of RAM to make it snappy and lots of storage.

 

I would steer clear of a hanheld as they typically employ some sort of compression thus degrading your image.

 

Extra storage media is your best bet. Store the photos until you get home.

 

I would not even consider trying to edit video and create a DVD on anything other than the most decked out laptop.