ultraportable laptop

[nbourbaki]

greetings all,

 

i have been searching through all the forums (even posting in the wrong places, sorry), trying to find the best strategy for starting from scratch to build an ultraportable laptop that boots osX. I do not want to build the desktop (I like my dual G5), and many of the regular laptops seem to come out roughly equivalent to the macbook in price + headache.

 

HOWEVER, apple doesnt make a laptop under 5 lbs. any more, and i would love one under 4 or less. i am willing to forgo an optical drive (if there is a way to install OSX from external DVD drive).

 

so, in trying to find the right starting platform, i am befuddled. I would really really love any suggestions (I know very little about the hundreds of various pc laptop variety, so picking out the ultralites on a list is cumbersome).

 

are there a few good ultra light notebooks that are known to work well. I am especially interested in using wireless.

 

which lappies are sse3? how can you tell which ones are (with owningone and running c-prz or what ever it is called).

 

is something like the dell x300 do-able?

 

i really appreciate you taking the time to answer this question.

 

nick

[nbourbaki]

based on the number of views, i think there is a fair amount of interest, but no replies yet.

 

i do know the wiki has lots of wonderful information, and i have been through it quite thoroughly, but for my interests, and many others, i imagine it is set up almost backwards.

 

might it not be helpful to have a few sections organized around

So You Want to Build:

 

a lightweight laptop

a desktop replacement

a desktop

 

and then have a few of the more successful build options listed.

 

just from a quick glance, it is obvious some starting setups have worked better than others with certain software configurations.

 

so, along these lines, I would love it if a few more experienced members wouldn't mind listing their most successful *simple* build starting points, be they off the shelf or component packages in the three categories listed above (ultralight notebook, performance notebook, desktop).

 

for instance, I would be really interested in know what success has been made with off the shelf ultralight portalbes, like the dell x300 or x1 for instance. are there sse3 laptops that would work better?

 

I am not trying to be too demanding here, but I can assure you a great many of these fora readers would be very appreciative.

 

thanks,

 

Nick