Is 12" Screen Enough Real Estate?

[Astral Fridge Magnet]

Hello,

I would like to get myself a 12" Screen laptop. The Dell XPS M1210. It seems quite good from the specs. The reason I want something that small is for portability. However, is it too small? Anyone out there use something the same size and if so is it feasible?

If worse comes to worse though, I can always work on something with more real estate with what I have already have, but I want portability (but not if it is unworkable). Admittedly, my desire for a 12" is partly because of gadget factor too.

My current 15" Centrino 1.8 GHz feels too big and heavy to lug around (about 3 Kg, but including the carry case and power adapter it is about 4 or 4.5 kilos) which is why I am looking into something small. It is nice when I am at home and it still serves me well but carrying it around is a drag. I also travel to Australia fairly regularly, therefore the reason why I am asking about a 12".

I primarily use my laptop for music making (maybe the odd PC game or two), but as you no doubt know, music programs take up and need quite a bit of screen space. I want portability but only if it is reasonably workable, otherwise I will stick with what I have.

Actually, I really want something that weighs about 2-2.5 Kg.

Any opinions will be appreciated.


Thanks

[astroman]

well, if your eyes can get along with the somewhat tiny screen display, there are plenty to choose from.
Google for subnotebook 13", they usually come as CoreDuo with 1280x800 screens, between $1k-2k, but I dunno if the weight (in the 2kg range) includes the akku.

cheers, Tom

[Astral Fridge Magnet]

Hi again,

Well if worse comes to worse and my eyes can't take it I could always connect to a bigger external screen I suppose.


By the way, to confuse the issue I have also found this laptop on the web:

Satellite Pro U200 Series


http://nl.computers.toshiba-europe.com/ ... _ID=116666



And there is the Dell link:

http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/produ ... l=nl&s=dhs

But the sites are in Dutch, but should be decipherable in terms of specs. So Dell or Toshiba?

Hope you don't mind me asking so many questions.