Being lightweight has become a must-have feature for any laptop in the age of portability. Competing alongside tablets, laptops now need to find ways to make life easier for commuters who have to carry them to and from the office, or for those who frequently travel for business.
Whilst there are plenty of lightweight laptops available, you’ll need to ensure whichever model you select doesn’t choose portability over speed and performance. If you are travelling for business you’ll want one that can handle your work requirements and perhaps allow for some entertainment in the form of movie watching, music streaming or gaming.
Today’s lightweight laptops are known as Ultrabooks. Of all varieties, the MacBook Air is probably the best known. However, where Apple leads, other manufacturers follow and there are several other versions that offer the same great features, but with a lower price tag.
MacBook Air
The MacBook Air undoubtedly looks great. It’s slim and sleek with the durable aluminium shell and that shiny Apple logo guaranteed to impress all who see it. It also weighs just a measly 1.3kg, making it easy to stash in your hand luggage on business trips.
The battery lasts up to 12 hours, which means you can work unplugged the entire day, from the moment you leave home until you get back in the evening. It’s features like this which have increased the popularity of the Air, with retailers selling the Apple Macbook Pro now finding it increasingly difficult to compete.
Other Ultrabooks
Ultrabooks are slimmer laptops which run on the Windows operating system, and many boast just as many features as the MacBook Air, yet at a more affordable price. In fact, some of the very best cheap laptop deals come on these high-spec Ultrabooks. With Intel processors and long battery life ratings, most have screen sizes which are between 11 and 13 inches, making them highly portable.
Some of these are aimed squarely at the business market. The Dell Latitude E7440 is lightweight and stylish and has plenty of space to store documents and spreadsheets. It also has several options to keep your files secure, including a fingerprint scanner.
Another device aimed at the business market is the ThinkPad T430u. Weighing less than 5lbs, this Ultrabook is ideal for travelling or commuting and is durable and built to last. The keyboard is designed with advanced technology and the audio visual features are configured for web conferencing.
Also worth a mention is the Aspire S7, one of the thinnest and lightest ultra-portables on the market. The keyboard lights up, so you can catch up on some work whilst travelling and it features a touch screen, making it the perfect device for business and pleasure.
Ultrabooks deliver the entire laptop package and are affordable, portable and come with powerful processors. They are streets ahead of their bulky predecessors which have to be carried around in large laptop bags.
Although they are usually cheaper than Apple products, they do however still come with a fairly high price tag, and if budget is your number one concern, a decent Windows laptop makes a reasonable alternative. Most laptops are designed to be light and portable, even the old fashioned ones!