Top 5 Thinnest & Lightest Laptops Ever Made

Thin and light laptops made waves in the last decade. Since these cute little devices first started to appear, others have followed and when Apple released the MacBook Air, the company set the standard for the thinnest and lightest laptops of all time.

Since then, ,just about every laptop manufacturer has joined in the game releasing their own versions of ultra-portable ultra light laptops including big name manufacturers such as HP, Lenovo, Dell and many others. Even Google is set to release their newest device, the Chrome OS netbook, which is in its standard beta testing phase. Take a look at these ultra-thin and light portables and see why they were some of the best of the thinnest and lightest laptops ever made.

The Original MacBook Air

The twiggy of the laptop line, the MacBook Air is the original "skinny' laptop. Its clean lines and thin profile captured the consumer right away. Starting at $999.00 its not the cheapest though and with extra features it runs up to $1599.00 what do you get? Well to start with the spec's the $1599.00 version measured in at 12.8 x 8.94 x 0.76 inches and weighs 3 pounds, and sports an 1.86GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 2GB of DDR3 SDRAM storage is provided via a 256Gb flash module and graphics, courtesy the nVIDIA 320MB GeForce. Smart and Sleek.

The Dell Adamo

Not to be outdone, Dell stepped into the lightest and thinnest arena with the Dell Adamo. Measuring in at a rightly small 13.03 by 9.5 by 0.65 inches, the Adamo is thinner than the Air. The screen is also larger by a half inch, although the Adamo's storage is lighter at only 128GB, but the RAM is doubled with 4GBb of DDR3 memory. Battery life is estimated at 4.5 hours against the Air's 5 hours so it doesn't last as long either. Price wise, well the Dell Adamo is $899 and certainly a decent competitor to the MacBook in this area. However, even though the Adamo is a thin and light laptop, it is on the heavier side at four pounds, which is a full pound heaver.

The Fujitsu T2020

This Fujitsu wins on a number of counts. First, at only 3.5 pounds, it is still heavier than the Air, but it is lighter than the Adamo, so it's not "the' lightest, but it isn't bad. The T2020 is driven by a 1.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Mobile CPU and a 2 GB of memory, storage is a 160 GB hard drive. It's measurements? 11.69 inches wide by 8.62 inches tall by 1.34 inches thick, which makes it much thicker than the Adamo and Air. So how does it win in the thinnest and lightest laptops ever made? It is a tablet PC with a swivel screen and the battery will go for 6.75 hours, a workday minus lunch almost. The price is $1399 depending on options, but it is a nice one.

The Lenovo ThinkPad x301

When the Lenovo first appeared, it also ran in the race for thinnest and lightest laptops ever made. The advantage with this device was its overall weight and at only 3.2 pounds, 0.9 inches thin and 12.5 inches wide and 9.1 inches tall, it was certainly comparable to other models its size. The X301 sports an Intel Core 2 Duo SU9400 1.4Ghz and 2Gb of RAM. There is a 1.3-megapixel camera in the bezel and the display is very rich and sharp. However, with only 64 GB of SSD onboard memory and its very short battery life of 4.3 hours makes little sense to consumers today. The real story is the price, which comes in at $2920.00. Yes that's not a typo, it rally does cost that much.

The Sony Viao Z VGN-Z598U/B

This one was a real winner. At 12.4 inches wide by 8.3 tall by 1.3 inches thick, it makes the Sony a bit thicker, but at only 3.42 lbs, it is certainly light on its feet. The real story is inside the VGN,which contains a 2.53 P9500 Intel Core 2 Duo and 4 GB of RAM. Storage is a real achievement with a 256 Gb SATA hard drive and enough battery life to last for 5.5 hours. The problem is the price, though. Starting at $1499 and, depending on the exact specifications ordered, it can go up to over $4,000, making it one of the most expensive laptops in the coral.

Please, keep in mind that not every laptop on this list of the thinnest and lightest laptops of all time may be in production. However, they can oftentimes still be found or a decent price on Amazon.com or EBay.com, among other online shopping sites. Happy Hunting!

Sources:

"MacBook Air: Apple.com
Sony Viao Z: Specifications & Features: Sony (PDF)
Dell Adamo Features & Specifications: Dell.com
Fujitsu LifeBook Laptop/Tablet PC: Fujitsu Solutions
Lenovo ThinkPad x301 Features & Specificaitons: Lenovo