Intel’s Centrino 2 chipset has been well received by laptop manufacturers, but which are the more notable ones out of a huge crop? After all, Fujitsu, Toshiba, Lenovo, and Sony are in the game, and it would be pretty time consuming to go through all of them, which is why we’re here to provide a community service message for all and sundry who are considering picking one of these puppies up. Small and thin ones will be the main focus here, since I doubt you’d want to lug around a brick on your travels. More details are available after the jump.
Fujitsu
Out of Fujitsu’s half dozen LifeBooks, two of them, the T5010 and the T1010, are convertible laptops that get my vote with 13.3″ displays while falling under the 4.5-5.3 lb. range. Both models will also come with a backlit-LED screen for the first time, ensuring you don’t have to squint your eyes even in bright sunlight.
Sony
Sony’s VAIO range isn’t the cheapest in the market as everyone knows, but you know that the Z Series is extremely svelte and worth staring at all day long. They come with a 13.1″ display and prices run from $2,000 upwards, depending on the configuration you choose. Features include a pretty speedy processor (2.26GHz to 2.53GHz), a carbon-fiber casing with shock protection, 128GB SSD, optional Blu-ray drive and up to six hours of battery life.
Toshiba
Toshiba isn’t always at the forefront of style and good design, and the same applies even until today with the functional but boring Satellite Pro S300, the Tecra M10, and Tecra A10. All of them are pure business machines, so you can forget about using them as an all-round gaming and multimedia notebook. The Pro S300 does come with Intel’s new Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD for better graphics performance compared to the past, while a Sleep-and-Charge USB port lets you juice up gadgets even when idle. To round off the business-like aura, it has a built-in business card reader.
Lenovo
Lenovo has released a whopping nine new ThinkPad models, comprising of SL small-business series and updates to the R, T, and W series. The SL series will come with optional GPS navigation and Blu-ray recordable drives, while one of the size options carries a pretty decent 128MB Nvdia GeForce 9300 graphics card for portable gaming. As for the X series, it will feature a large keyboard, WWAN, GPS navigation, and a 64GB SSD option. Lenovo claims a 9 hour battery life with this new Centrino cheap, which would be a boon to long distance travelers.
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