It’s that time of year in which a traveler’s attention turns to the frost-covered windows displaying the latest in ultra-thin laptops. Maybe I’ve just been feeling sorry for myself for having to trudge though slush and rain or maybe it’s just that my laptop has been feeling heavier and heavier in my bag but I decided that it’s time to see what I can get to replace my aging Acer with something that will restore both my sanity and my geek cred.
Some quick research wiped out the majority of the competition – I need something rugged enough to withstand some pretty extreme travel, but stylish enough not to get snickered at behind my back at the office for having one of those “baby laptops.” Also, a 10” screen isn’t really big enough to do anything other than some basic word-processing and maybe updating twitter.
My research led me to two models: the MacBook Air and the Dell Vostro V13. Both of them are super-thin, full-sized laptops with enough power to do design mockups, use the Adobe suite of products as well as comfortably write my next article on the go without squinting or jamming my fingers onto a tiny keyboard.
The MacBook Air was one of the first computers that came to mind when I thought “light and powerful” and I was even more interested when I learned that it had been upgraded since its original acclaimed launch. With a thickness of less than .8” and a total weight of 3 pounds (1.36kg for those of us who don’t live in the US of A) I don’t have to worry about it fitting in my briefcase along with my notes and not worrying at all about the size/weight.
All that is good and nice, but can it handle those inevitable coffee shop meetings with no power outlets in sight? The most reliable stress-test I could find clocked it in at about 4.27 hours (just shy of the claimed 5 hours) but even they admitted that it would go up to about 5 hours if all I’m doing is showing PowerPoint slides or word processing. If your coffee shop meetings go on for longer than 5 hours, you really ought to be investing in an office, not a laptop. Before you get too excited though, there is a flip side: the Air’s battery lasts for less than two hours if you decide to do anything even slightly more strenuous, like watch a video. I can just imagine deciding to present a short movie during a meeting and find my battery is now dead halfway though. No cool, Apple.
So the weight is great and the battery of the MacBook Air is just barely within my needs, now it’s time to drill down and see exactly what using it will be like. Since the Air as no DVD drive, I’m going to have to have the option for an external one, as well as a USB port for my disk-on-key and 3g cellular modem (a must for hardcore travelers.) sadly, not only does the Air have only one USB port, its angled in a weird way that won’t allow fatter USB devices to plug into it without an extension cord. Goodbye 3g.
The price is also on the steep side at 1,499$ for 2gb ram and a 1.86GHz processor. As long as I’m running OSX that is bearable, but as soon as I decide to boot windows, that’s pretty pathetically weak for such a steep price tag.
My other option seemed better and better the more I compared. The Dell Vostro V13 (which should lose points for such an ugly name. who wants to admit they have a “Vostro?” the first question I would ask is “was it made in ’49?” and “can it take unleaded?”) is competitively designed to be a MacBook Air killer and its beautiful aluminum casing and .78” rival the Air (though a bit heavier at 1.6kg) you may have read that the Vostro is much thinner at only .64” but that is just its thinnest part, not its thickest. Still, an easy fit for my briefcase.
The specs of the Vostro are slightly below the Air in processing power (1.4ghz) and merely match it in ram, but considering the price is far below the Air (600$), it’s fairly simple to add up to 4gb ram and still be comfortably below the Air’s massive price tag
Since USB ports were such an issue in the Air, it was one of the first things I checked. The Vostro V13 has two USB ports (though one of them is also a combo ESATA port that looks like a standard USB cable would fall right out of). Since they are mounted normally, my 3g modem plugs right in with only the minor hitch of slightly blocking the other port. Still, that’s far better than not plugging in at all.
The battery of the Vostro seems to be generally equivalent to the Air as well, assuring me around 2 hours heavy use and more if I drag it out by only using it to write scathing articles about how I want an ultraportable with a decent battery. I asked about a larger battery and I was told the model doesn’t’ have one. Having said that, the Vostro still outperforms the Air because the battery is removable and replaceable to get that extra 3 hours when you need it, whereas the Air needs to be plugged in.

Also, I’d love to be able to run Linux out of the box, with support from the manufacturer. You might think that’s a slightly irregular demand, but I find dual-booting is increasingly important for getting things done, especially when the latest virus prevents me from booting windows. This is another place where the Vostro clearly outshines the Air – Dell supports Ubuntu Linux out of the box on the lower end models and will still supply basic support even on the higher-end ones.
In summary, I find that while the Vostro slightly under performs when it comes to processing power, it seems equivalent or better in all other ways: Fully upgraded, it is still cheaper than the MacBook air and having those extras (spare battery, extra ram) go a long way towards being useful, especially when you are on an airplane and just can’t get an easy wall socket to plug in. coupled with the ability to run linux and still be productive in the event of a full system failure, it’s easy to see who wins this match.
Winner: the Dell Vostro V13