Laptops for travellers

Round-up reviews let you compare four related products and find out which one is best for you

Last updated: 29 Jun 2007

Summer's here, and the holidays beckon. But there's no need to do an Andrew Lim-style tech detox. Just because you're leaving for sunnier climes doesn't mean you have to do without your trusty laptop and life's little luxuries, such as Facebook.

Below, we've rounded up four of the best portable PCs for travelling with. The first of these is the Sony Vaio TZ series -- a laptop that does for sexy what the Spice Girls did for cheesy pop. This 11-inch beauty is about as small as you can get for a clamshell-style laptop without risking RSI, and it's perfect for sitting on the seat-back tray of a commercial airliner while you watch a movie on it.

Its excellent battery life means it'll last an entire intercontinental flight, but be warned -- the glossy screen coating isn't designed for outdoor use. The screen becomes more of a mirror than a display when exposed to direct sunlight.

The HP Pavilion TX1020ea is also sun-shy, but it has an important trick up its sleeve -- it's convertible. The screen twists through 180 degrees to lay flat against the keyboard in Tablet mode. This space-saving feature is ideal when the dangerously overweight person sitting in front of you decides to recline their seat as much as possible.

There's one drawback, though -- the TX1020ea's fancy hinge means it's quite heavy: 2.5kg, in fact. If you aren't built like an Eastern European shot-putter, you may want to look at the slightly lighter Lenovo ThinkPad X60. It too has a convertible hinge, but its 1.7kg chassis is more portable, it has a claimed 10-hour battery life and its non-glossy screen means you can use it both inside and out.

If 11- and 12-inch laptops are still too big to fit in your Gucci travel bag, you might want to check out an ultra-mobile PC-style device. The OQO model 2, for example, is small enough to fit in your pocket (having baggy jeans helps), but it's a full-blown PC that runs Windows XP or Vista. Don't expect it to run very quickly, or for very long (1.5 hours), but otherwise it's the perfect travel companion.

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	HP Pavilion TX1020ea	Sony Vaio TZ	Lenovo ThinkPad X60 Tablet	OQO model 2
Review date	6 Jun 07	5 Jun 07	18 Dec 06	26 Jun 07
Editors' rating	6.8	9.0	7.5	6.8
Price range	£799	£1,278.96 - £1,336.83	£1,660	£1,100
Review summary	The TX1020ea is an unusual beast, but we like its clever twisting screen and its price tag. Our only gripes are that it's rather slow and too heavy to be classed as an ultraportable Read full review	Ridiculously pricey, but the VGNTZ11XN/B.CEK is a stunning example of what an ultra-portable laptop should be. It has good battery life, it's highly portable and it's packed with features Read full review	The Lenovo ThinkPad X60 Tablet strikes the best compromise between a ultraportable tablet and a full-featured laptop Read full review	It may not have as many features as its Sony rival, but the OQO model 2 has one crucial thing the Japanese giant's model doesn't -- a useable keyboard. If the ultra-mobile PC concept appeals, this is worth consideration Read full review
User rating		6.0
Clock speed	1.6 GHz	1.06 GHz	1.66 GHz	1.5 GHz
Processor type	Turion 64 X2 TL-50	Core 2 Duo U7500	Core Duo L2400	C7M ULV
Processor manufacturer	AMD	Intel	Intel	VIA
RAM installed	1024 MB	2048 MB	1024 MB	1024 MB
Hard drive size	120 GB	100 GB	80 GB	60 GB
CD / DVD type	Hl-DT-ST GSA-4084N	DVD+/-RW DL	n/a	n/a
Display diagonal size	12.1 in.	11.1 in.	12.1 in.	5 in.
Dimensions (W x H x D)	xxmm	xxmm	274x33x267mm	142x84x25mm
Weight	2.5 kg	1.19 kg	1.71 kg	0.45 kg
	Full specification	Full specification	Full specification	Full specification