I'm planning on replacing my ageing eee 901 netbook with something a tad more powerful. I’m mainly after something around 11”/12” in size, but a more fully featured laptop as opposed to a netbook and I’m happy top spend around the £400-500 mark. After having a brief look around, the Lenovo X121e (i3 version) appears to meet my criteria, but I thought I would gauge everyone’s opinion relating to this or similar small laptops. Are there any other laptops that are worth looking at? Does anyone have the X121e, is it worth getting, any upgrades worth having? I did see the Asus Zenbook advertised, it does look superb, but don’t think I could justify the £800ish price tag! Cheers for your help
I've spent a long time over the last couple of days looking at the same thing, as a replacement for my S12 (Ion version). My conclusion was to go for the X121e - the nearest competition I could find for anything like the same price is a Samsung 300U with the Pentium version of the same CPU (P967). The Samsung is lighter, but a little slower. There aren't many reviews of the Samsung either, except in its US incarnation ("Princeton" with an i3). I'll probably be ordering an x121e direct from Lenovo - it's a hell of a lot cheaper, even if you do have to wait a couple of weeks.
Curve Ball choice: Alienware M11x R3. If you check out the Dell outlet site you can often find a ULV Core i5 (SB) equipped model for around £500 once VAT is added. General spec is: 11.6" 1366x768 display 1.3-2.3GHz Core i5 ULV Sandybridge CPU Nvidia GT540m 1GB with HD3000 & Optimus 4GB memory 250-320GB 7200rpm HD All the usual connectivety seen on a modern laptop (USB3.0/Bluetooth/Gigabit LAN/Wireless N etc). Size wise my M11x R1 (basically identical in outwardly appearance to the R3) was a little wider (0.5"), thicker (50mm or so) and deeper (0.5-1") than my old work Lenovo X61. It is the same thickness from front to back and the battery (8 cell, 64w/hr) is integrated. Battery life should be in the 5-8 hour region depending on usage.
Cheers guys, it looks like I may be ordering the X121e tonight. Ergath - It looks like you can get a 10% discount if you order from Lenovo through Quidco, which will be about £45!
I recently bought the X121-E, and I'm very happy with it. Got 15% off as well (using a code on Lenovo's main webpage) in November. It's very cheap, but well made with a non-glossy screen and a great keyboard. The only downside is the slightly rubbish trackpad. This was my main source of information on it. Delivery was quick (UPS), customer service was fantastic (based in Ireland). Avoid Dell Outlet, I've only had bad experiences with the UK site! Infact, avoid Dell completely, I've had nothing but bad experiences with them over the years - and their customer service is appauling.
