Angela knocks Steve off his lightweight-laptops pulpit with a major beef: The small size of these machines makes them easy to cart around, but hard to actually use. She finds the screens too small to read easily and the keyboards awkward. Steve recommends using the Zoom feature in programs like Word and Excel to make documents readable and points out the advantages of having small screens in small places, such as when traveling in coach-class seats.
Angela still prefers her IBM's pointing device and full-size keyboard. Steve is okay with touchpads, but prefers ones manufactured by Alps, which are featured on Sony's line. Though he admits that none of the keyboards are wonderful, he prefers Sony's to the others in this bunch.
All this portability comes at a price--Sharp's MP30 starts at around $1650, Panasonic's Toughbook CFW2 at around $2100, and the Sony T250 at around $2200. They're expensive compared to full-sized notebooks, but your back will thank you for the lighter load.
Neither Steve nor Angela has much good to say about the Ogo, billed as the smallest full-fledged Windows PC in captivity. About the size and weight of a paperback book, it might (according to Angela) make a nifty e-book reader, but its weirdly squishy keys, poor Wi-Fi performance, and terribly ungainly docking cable--which functions as a docking station and provides extra USB, Firewire, Ethernet, video, sound, and power ports--make the Duo think about leaving the Ogo where they lost it during the testing process--under an envelope.
Save / Delete
Steve: SAVE
Angela: SAVE (grudgingly)
Ad Choices