Just four years ago, netbooks were considered the next big computing revolution. They were affordable (at Rs.14,000-24,000), had a small footprint (11.6-inch screens were common), and enough power for Web browsing, emails and media playback.
Suddenly, however, they disappeared as laptop makers shifted focus to the 13-inch and 15.6-inch laptops, in the Rs.20,000-30,000 range. But things are changing again.
HP Stream 11-d023TU
Rs.19,990
The Stream’s striking design and vibrant blue colour draw attention. It doesn’t have the cheap-looking shiny plastics common to low-priced laptops. Instead, the shell is made of high-quality plastic. The lid is fingerprint-resistant, there is a nice imprint on the keyboard deck, and the chassis is stiff enough not to flex. It weighs 1.3kg, and can be carried easily in a handbag.
The keyboard layout is similar to HP’s pricier laptops. For the price segment the Stream is positioned in, the excellent typing experience, given the adequate spacing and key size, is a real bonus.
The 11.6-inch display has a resolution of 1,366x768 pixels. Not ideal for movies and videos, but it gets most Web browsing and productivity tasks done. The fact that the screen isn’t as reflective as some of HP’s other laptops is good—it makes the Stream a lot more usable outdoors, and in brightly lit offices.
It packs in a dual-core Intel Celeron N2840 (2.16 GHz) processor, paired with 2 GB of RAM, and comes pre-loaded with the Windows 8.1 (64-bit). This processor is part of the Bay Trail series of chips, designed for low power use.
The Stream is meant for basic use—Web browsing, document creation, music and movie playback. Full HD movie files play back smoothly, without stuttering. Open seven tabs in Chrome and have iTunes playing music in the background, and the next software will take some time to load.
Internal storage is a quick 32 GB flash drive, but that may not be enough space. We would recommend that you slot in an SD card for all data and files.
In our video playback battery test, the Stream’s battery lasted nearly 8 hours on a single charge. While browsing the Web or working on a spreadsheet, you will be using minimal resources and could easily touch the 10-hour mark.
Lightweight laptops are ideal for travellers and people who are always rushing from one meeting to the other. And for its price, the HP Stream 11 is a steal.
Asus EeeBook X205TA
Rs.14,999
Asus makes some beautiful laptops, and the X205TA is no different. The 11.6-inch screen X205TA tips the scales at 980g, making it the lightest laptop we’ve tested.
Keeping the weight down hasn’t compromised construction—the plastic chassis is well put together, and doesn’t creak or flex. The rounded edges around the lid and keyboard deck add a touch of sophistication, as do the colour options—blue, champagne, white and red. This laptop has a fan-less design—no cooling fan is needed, so there are no vents spoiling the look.
Limited space has ensured that historically, keyboards on the smaller-sized laptops have not been very good. The X205TA’s island-style keys, however, are spaced out adequately and are consistent in their response.
Individual key size is slightly smaller though—it takes a while to get used to them. Unfortunately, the glass above the screen reflects your environment—though it makes up for that with crisp text and good colours.
The X205TA packs in an Intel Bay Trail-T Z3735F quad-core processor (1.33 GHz) with 2 GB of RAM. It’s enough for basic tasks—Web browsing, YouTube videos and media. Despite lower clock speeds than the Stream 11, this laptop can handle six Chrome tabs and iTunes easily, and opening a Word document or a PowerPoint presentation at this point was in fact marginally quicker.
It comes pre-loaded with Windows 8.1 (32-bit). This particular processor is designed for tablets, which is why the fan-less deployment is possible. The X205TA doesn’t heat up even when it has been in use for more than an hour.
Internal storage is a fast 32 GB flash drive. Asus is also bundling 500 GB cloud storage. Considering our poor broadband speeds, however, a simple microSD card will be a better bet
The X205TA’s battery lasted more than 8 hours on a single charge (8 hours and 21 minutes, to be precise), in our tests. It should last close to 10 hours in most usage cases, so it would be capable of lasting an entire day at work.
The X205TA doesn’t have a single USB 3.0 port (the Stream 11 has one) or a SIM card slot. It is ideal for someone who wants a lightweight laptop for basic use at home or for document and spreadsheet work in office. And at this price, we cannot really fault it for minor shortcomings.
