Travel Technology - Laptop on trips, what do you bring?

I used to go backpacking and never brought my laptop with me, although sometimes I wish I did! Many hostels now have free wifi. Some internet cafes are just a scam, someone once stole my paypal password in China (prolly keylogger)! lol

But on business trips, I always have my laptop with me. Used to have a Powerbook 17'', but now downgraded to a macbook pro 15'', much lighter.

What do you guys use? Ever find it too bulky? or dangerous to carry around in dark places ? Been afraid of having the corrupt customs guy look at your sensitive info?

I carry an old Dell Latitude D400 that I bought on eBay for $300. It's thin, light, and fast enough. It's also relatively cheap so it won't sting so much if it gets stolen or broken.

I use a macbook 13". It's light-ish and relatively cheap, with really nice screen contrast. I'd hate to see it stolen or broken, but I'd be over it as soon as I got my files off the server from the office.

15" Lenovo T60 - regular battery and an extended one. Will usually get me close to 5 hours of DVD viewing time combined. :)

15" Lenovo T60 - regular battery and an extended one. Will usually get me close to 5 hours of DVD viewing time combined. :)

I have a Lenovo T-61 provided by my institution. It gives me a back-ache every time I carry it on board a plane (my back-pack with computer and other business stuff weighs in at 25#.)

If I'm just expecting really light internet usage, I will just bring my iPod Touch. It works really well for basic email, as well as browsing the web, and the included Google Maps application is great for finding things. Plus being very small and lightweight, I have that much more weight that I can use to carrying other things. :)

I have only one computer, a 17" PowerBook. I use it on my desk and travel with it. I've lugged it all over the place in a backpack. That said, I also walk up big hills with a heavy pack on my back and call it fun, so YMMV.

I have a Dell XPS 13.3", lightweight, thin, and the powerblock is small too. It's been camping and survived admirably, no problems whatsoever

If I'm only away for a couple of days and don't need the laptop, I just turn on mailforwarding to my phone, which is also fine for OLCI or short browse of the worldly wide web.

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I have the XO Laptop (OLPC program) that isn't bad for webmail and very basic web surfing, though there are some pretty notable issues with it and SSL (http://boardingarea.com/blogs/traveltechtalk/2008/04/22/traveling-with-the-toy-laptop/) certificates which can cause you to find yourself very offline at a hotspot.

I've traveled with a Dell Latitude D410, D520 and D630 at various times over the years. The D410 is the lightest and smallest making it the preferred option, but it also only has USB1.1 and can't charge my devices, so that is a major drawback (especially when I discovered it upon arrival in NZ :eek:). Generally I'll just drag my D630 along now. It is heavy, but it has everything I need on it already and I just deal with the weight issue. Of course, my whole kit including laptop and camera gear is a bit over 40 pounds so dropping 2-3 pounds wouldn't put a major dent in my load.

I recently gave up an old heavy 15" Toshiba for a half-the-weight and much prettier Vaio. 14" screen, bells and whistles everywhere and fits my lap.

The EEE is waiting for me (my darling Mom!) and will be picked up in August. Assuming I don't need much on the road - looking at docs and spreadsheets, web-based mail and a little surfing, plus Skype - I think the EEE will be a better travel machine for my major trips. Vacations combined with business, however, the Vaio will still be the main system.

That said, my husband carries a 17" FS Amilo because it handles the specific graphics needs. And he takes it everywhere - plus it has replaced his desktop system. I complain about the weight of his if I'm lifting both laptop bags, but honestly, it's still lighter than the Toshiba was.

I use a macbook 13". It's light-ish and relatively cheap, with really nice screen contrast. I'd hate to see it stolen or broken, but I'd be over it as soon as I got my files off the server from the office.Welcome to FlyerTalk, skaven!

MacBook (basic) plus iPod Touch.

Sony Vaio SZ460N, primarily for e-mail and photo editing.

If I'm not taking pictures, I may bring just the iPhone from now on :eek:

Panasonic Toughbook CF-18 tablet.

The one I use everyday--a four-year-old Toshiba Tecra.

One of the lightest biz sub-notebooks on the market: IBM/Lenovo X61

One battery will give 6 hrs (low brightness settings). I use it mainly to watch my own movies/videos on flights.

MacBook Air with SS drive most of the time. Occassionally a 13 inch MacBook or a Asus EEE.

I carry an old Dell Latitude D400 that I bought on eBay for $300. It's thin, light, and fast enough. It's also relatively cheap so it won't sting so much if it gets stolen or broken.


I've got a 410, same thing, thin, light, does it's job. I've also picked up one of the handheld internet devices, when I don't want to bring the laptop I bring that, though hardly ever use it.

Stinkpad T60p with an extra battery. It's a bit heavy, but has everything I need and I also use it in the office as my desktop computer.

I think "a bit heavy" is being generous. ;)

Soon, an Acer Aspire One. Before that, various Thinkpad variants (nice, but too heavy).

Lenovo Thinkpad X300 - absolutely outstanding machine - light, great battery life, superb screen. My fifth Thinkpad. I recently did a head to head comparison with a friend's Airbook - we both concluded our machine was the better.

We did a 3-month RTW this spring and instead of a laptop, I brought Nokia N810 internet tablet with me. It has a built-in GPS with navigation software w/ "worldwide" maps and I hoped to use it as a navigation device as well.

The good is that it's very small and easy to carry around, even to a wi-fi hotspot in a pocket. The batteries last quite long. It has a number of basic applications available so you can do quite a bit with it -- sort of. It can work as a USB host so I could download pictures from my camera / memory card / photo bank and upload them to our blog the same night. The browser is fine for the most common things, like checking news or flights. The screen is very sharp and hi-res for it's size.

The bad is that it's underpowered, like most devices of that size. Many airlines and hotels have web sites that require quite a bit of processing power and wouldn't work fast enough with the N810. Some compatibility issues exist as well (IE-only sites). The tablet could use more memory for e.g. photo editing (even simple cut & crop). The GPS is A-GPS variant and has trouble keeping GPS fix -- basicly useless for navigation, we used it just as a backup for paper maps.

The concept is great, though, but we ended up preferring internet cafes to the N810. At the end of the trip, we bought a MacBook Air and didn't use the N810 even once after that.

We are planning a new trip and I'm seriously planning to leave the N810 home and bring MacBook Air along. External drive for data storage (and safety measure for possible theft), I doubt we need much more.

I have the XO Laptop (OLPC program) that isn't bad for webmail and very basic web surfing, though there are some pretty notable issues with it and SSL (http://boardingarea.com/blogs/traveltechtalk/2008/04/22/traveling-with-the-toy-laptop/) certificates which can cause you to find yourself very offline at a hotspot.

I also have an XO but haven't travelled with it. Have you encountered any issues other than wifi (such as TSOs)?

I used to carry a laptop all the time, but now on short trips the iPhone suffices.

For work travel, a heavy Lenovo T63.

For personal travel, a featherweight Lenovo X61. :)

I also have an XO but haven't travelled with it. Have you encountered any issues other than wifi (such as TSOs)?

I used to carry a laptop all the time, but now on short trips the iPhone suffices.

No problem with the TSOs or anything else. The battery life is pretty good and it is a pretty resilient device. Most importantly, if I do something to it to hose the OS (which I have done :eek:) restoring it to a factory default only takes about 15 minutes. I haven't played too much with the OS and adding additional apps, and there are some things I don't like about it out of the box, such as tablet mode not having a means to actually navigate web pages, but overall it is a good little toy to use for travel. And it is a great conversation piece.

I used to have an old cheap Averatec that was very portable and great to use. When that one broke I decided to go with a new Dell 17" Inspiron ... good laptop but it's a little big and heavy sometimes. When I switched from a shoulder bag to a backpack I realized how foolish I had been carrying my laptop around like that for so long...

Dell M70. It's a beast but I have no choice.

I'm currently on my fourth generation of Sony VAIO subnotebooks, though I've been a bit less satisfied with each iteration even as they gained features, speed, disk size, etc. They seem to be becoming more fragile and finicky, and I don't think that's so good in a travel laptop.

The last few trips I made I also carried an ASUS EEEPC 900 (it was the only laptop on my most recent trip) and it may well be the successor to the throne. Though the Acer Aspire One looks pretty intriguing, also...

I'm going on holiday overseas soon - first time taking a laptop - I have a little 12" HP Pavilion. I'm leaving all my files on a PC at home and carrying a little tiny 160gb portable hard drive (you can even put, on the PHD, Portable Firefox browser - if you can't use your computer you can plug the PHD into the usb on someones computer and still have all your browser settings and bookmarks). I'll put all my photos on that as I go. I've got Voip through pennytel.com (8c a call untimed to any landline), a free softphone through Express Talk, and headphones from an electronics store. Sometimes people mention taking a cord to plug in - don't know what that is but would like to know.

I've traveled with a bunch of laptops over time - a Packard Bell 286, a Leading Edge 386SX, a Powerbook 5300 (my one flirtation with the Mac, ugh), some old Thinkpad I got loaned from work (early Pentium, I think), a Toshiba Satellite Pro 440CDT, a Toshiba Tecra 8100, then a couple of surplus Tecra 8000s, a Dell Inspiron 4150, and most recently a Dell Dimension D620.

I've never had a separate travel machine, but since I started traveling internationally a lot in 2003, I have used a separate hard drive for travel... that way, my main data is protected, I don't carry *cough* "adult" *cough* into or out of the US (or into other countries which might not appreciate it), and private stuff like my tax returns don't sit around if it's stolen.

Also means that if it gets virused, or screwed up by a hotel internet setup (as happened once), it's on a "disposable" windows install.

I've looked a couple of times at getting a cheapie subnotebook to travel with, but it hasn't ever worked out; instead, I've just avoided bigger/heavier main ones so that I have some hope of using it in coach. These days with the Eee and the proliferation of other cheap subnotebooks, that may change - I'm probably going to get a 900 or 901, and hopefully that will be my travel machine.

The best machine I've had (for the time) was the Toshiba 440CDT; it's a phenominally durable machine - it survived being sitting in my front seat when my car rolled over, and it is still working at ten and a half years old. With modular bay battery instead of the CD installed, it had enough battery life to make it coast to coast, and it was small enough (12" screen, if very thick and chunky compared to modern 12" models) to comfortably use in coach. Expensive, though.

These days I travel with a MacBook Pro and an iPhone. Both are nestled nicely in a Tumi case. Now I'm just waiting for those new cases with which you supposedly don't even have to take your computer out for security.

Lenovo Thinkpad X300 - absolutely outstanding machine - light, great battery life, superb screen. My fifth Thinkpad. I recently did a head to head comparison with a friend's Airbook - we both concluded our machine was the better.

lucky you thats like a 2500$ machine, my sister has the x41 (similar dimensions) and it does the job for her!

I always bring my 15" Macbook Pro with me. It's certainly been banged around a bit, but it's held up great.

My next purchase will definitely be the Air, once they release the next generation, and I'll keep the MBP at home. I don't think I'll spring for the SSD (price doesn't seem worth the benefits yet), but I love the sleek design. I just hope they put a built-in optical drive in the next version, then it'll be perfect.

My trusty MacBook.

Occasionly I am forced to boot into windows. Boooooo



I also avoid doing any finical transaction over wifi esp in public places.

I would bring what I can't do without and NOT what I can do with. Weight is usually the criteria for me to decide what goes or stays.

My Vaio 11" notebook (2.5 pounds) and even then I think twice about the weight and whether I really need to bring it.

lucky you thats like a 2500$ machine, my sister has the x41 (similar dimensions) and it does the job for her!

I had an X41 before and thought it was a marvellous machine. I didn't upgrade to the X61 because the screen resolution was the same as the X41, 1024x768. The X300 is 1440x900, or 60% more pixels - a big help when working on documents and spreadsheets.

Like another poster, I gave up having two machines a few years back, and now I have given up having a docking station and screen on my desk - the X300 is satisfactory without it - it has a dvd drive built in and a full size keyboard. Once you count the cost of the separate dock, dvd drive, screen and keyboard I had with the X41 and would have bought with an X61, the difference isn't so great.

It is also wonderfully light and has a solid state HDD - much more robust and faster than conventional drives.

I currently travel with my 13.3" Black MacBook, which is my be-all and end-all. It's joined me in Asia, Africa, the US, and Europe.

My previous machine was a 12" PowerBook, and prior to that a 14" iBook.

Although Macs aren't the lightest machines out there (bar the MacBook Air), I love mine and wouldn't ever go back to a PeeCee.

If it's personal travel, then a MacBook Air. If it's work, then a MacBook Pro.

My Fujitsu Lifebook P1510D. It weighs 2 lbs 7 oz with the extended battery, the power brick and cords weigh 7 oz, and my retractable-cord USB mini-mouse adds a few more ounces. It's small enough to even fit in a mid-sized purse (or a small hotel safe), and has wifi, ethernet, a touch screen, and slots for SD and CF memory cards (which let me download my pictures as I go). No CD/DVD player, but I just burn over whatever movies I might want to watch via the external DVD drive before I hit the road, or download a few torrents.

I've owned it for three years, and it's a real workhorse for me. In case you can't tell ;), I luuurrvve it.

As there are more and more free WiFi-Spots (Hotels, Airports etc., even McDonalds), I bring my Macbook anywhere. The battery lasts for (at least) four hours, so it's perfect ;)

My trusty MacBook.

Occasionly I am forced to boot into windows. Boooooo



I also avoid doing any finical transaction over wifi esp in public places.
I feel your pain....Vista on a Mac just doesn't feel quite right. When will they make engineering programs for the Mac?...

I love my Sony Vaio TX3 for travel. Light, and with an extended battery I get ~6 + ~12 hours battery use which means I never worry about power in planes.

I own a X61 Tablet. It's small and light enough to carry around (although it is a little heavier than the X61s) and the battery time is also quite good..

Sony TX 670P--if it ever comes back from repair.:rolleyes:

I also avoid doing any finical transaction over wifi esp in public places.
I don't connect over WiFi without using a VPN, but financial transactions involving secure websites (https) are actually okay--it's the transactions over non-secure websites that anyone could view in plain text (e-mail (if not https), web surfing, flyertalk posting...)

Sony TX 670P--if it ever comes back from repair.:rolleyes:

:eek: That's not the same repair from.......February/March wasn't it ?

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 4.01; Windows CE; PPC; 240x320))

My trusty MacBook.

Occasionly I am forced to boot into windows. Boooooo



I also avoid doing any finical transaction over wifi esp in public places.
I feel your pain....Vista on a Mac just doesn't feel quite right. When will they make engineering programs for the Mac?...

No Unix ones you can use?

I don't connect over WiFi without using a VPN, but financial transactions involving secure websites (https) are actually okay--it's the transactions over non-secure websites that anyone could view in plain text (e-mail (if not https), web surfing, flyertalk posting...)

just so you know, https doesn't guarantee you safety. as an example, you can session jack the cookies of an gmail HTTPS session and read the email. (http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/01/ssl-gmail-not-a.html)

In the past few years I have gotten by with my PDA w/Microsoft Office Mobile. Now I'm at the point where I want something with a bigger screen and a wee bit more power, but still uber portable. Thinking about this mini-portable... (http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/15/evidence-mounts-for-august-eee-pc-carnage-with-299-dell-e-launc/)

I have an eeepc 900/xp that has travelled with me extensively over the past three months, and in two weeks I am off again from SYD-SFO-ORD etc etc for several weeks, and this pc does just fine for little things you need such as emails, light surfing the web etc. The keyboard is a bit small, but as I now only travel with carry on the weight, or lack of it, is great. I have a separate memory stick for saving documents etc, leaving plenty of room on the D drive for three MP4 movies compressed to 700mb. The built in camera is also great for Skype calls to keep in touch with family.

I have an eeepc 900/xp that has travelled with me extensively over the past three months, and in two weeks I am off again from SYD-SFO-ORD etc etc for several weeks, and this pc does just fine for little things you need such as emails, light surfing the web etc. The keyboard is a bit small, but as I now only travel with carry on the weight, or lack of it, is great. I have a separate memory stick for saving documents etc, leaving plenty of room on the D drive for three MP4 movies compressed to 700mb. The built in camera is also great for Skype calls to keep in touch with family.

This is the correct answer.

My travel laptops consist of two models currently. My primary personal laptop is a Dell Vostro 1400 with a 250gb hdd, DVDRW, and 3 batteries capable of running the laptop for ~14 hours which keeps me covered wherever I am going. Additionally, I keep the gigantic drive loaded with movies and music and an 8gb USB flash drive for moving it to my cheapo laptop.

My second travel laptop is a Dell Latitude C400 that probably seems like a good laugh for many, but I'll detail the merits in a second thread. Simply put, it has Windows XP, a 1.2 ghz Pentium IIIm, 512 ram, and 40gb HDD which is great for any applications I use, plus it weighs only 3 pounds and cost me $150 off eBay. This is my cheap laptop that I could care less if I smash and take it wherever I am going that I don't need the big one at.

Check out my post on the $200 EEE PC Alternative: http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=849902

I have a Sony Vaio TZ. Small and light enough not to get in my way :D

When my lovely Macbook Pro craps out, I'm getting the regular macbook (white, or whatever equivalent color they have then).

Or the Macbook Air with SSD (if they have a 160+GB version by then), but only if Apple gets rid of the black keys....it looks kind of tacky. Why can't they be the nice aluminum finish like the rest of the computer?

Since I expect my MBP to hold up for at least 5-6 years, the next laptop will probably be on my dime...:(

Fujitsu LifeBook P8000. Never leave home without it. 3 pounds, and far more capabilities than the MacBook Air. Before that, a Fujitsu LifeBook P7000-series

My Macbook 13.3" White C2D. Very Portable!

MacBook 2,4 Ghz 250Gb it's light, small and I love it! (I wish Apple would still sell 12' powerbooks/Mac Book Pro though)

I usually also bring along at least 1 spare cell phone + all kinds of power adapters + cables + docks + batteries + Install DVDs...

This is the correct answer.

I agree. I picked up one of these little beasties recently and took it on my recent trip to SFO. Very nice little machine.

Before I had the EeePC900, I took my XO OLPC to Costa Rica.

The really small and light form factors are a major plus.

I am carrying a Dell xps m1210. It is little, and light and fits perfectly in a smaller bag. Works great with my Air card from Cingular. I never trust internet cafes. I am married to a network engineer, so I am uber protective of my system. It is even has a hidden security device that will reach out and bite the wrong person..:eek:

I have a beautiful pink Dell that has gone all over with me but now that the EEE has a pink version, I'm going to switch over to that. I find I use my laptop more than my desktop and I figure I will use the laptop less on the road after I get the EEE.

It's a couple years old, kinda waiting to see if there are revisions to the MacBook/Pro/Air family this fall before I decide whether to upgrade.

I've typically also got (in my backpack, my rollaboard, or my pocket - yes, I'm carry-on only) an iPhone, DeskJet 460 portable inkjet, some kind of WiFi router (I used to lug an organization-owned NetGear FW114G, foisted it off on someone else, bought myself a pair of Airport Express's that combined weighed less than 1/3 as much as the NetGear, power brick and voltage converter... and now can't figure out where I left them!), a DSLR with about 4 lenses, a compact digital camera, and all the associated cables, chargers, and batteries.

I used to travel with both a MacBook Air and Sony TZ, which together weigh about six pounds, but even so it became to much. Since both had too-small SSD drives, I sold the MBA, am ready to dump the Sony TZ and switched back to my year-old MacBook. :rolleyes:

I'm waiting for the upcoming MacBook with glass touchpad, WOOHOO! Hope the aluminum form factor makes it lighter too. :D

Macbook Pro, 15", with the nice screen. +Bose QC II's, makes for a nice movie experience.

Have an empower adapter, and will carry an extra battery for those trips with no empower.

just so you know, https doesn't guarantee you safety. as an example, you can session jack the cookies of an gmail HTTPS session and read the email. (http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/01/ssl-gmail-not-a.html)Not anymore, apparently:
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2008/07/gmail_gains_two_new_security_f_1.html

Took an Asus EEE 701 all round south america in the spring. Brilliant.
Light, small, small power supply, effective, tough, versatile.
And at £200 ($399) not a disaster if it gets trashed or stolen.
I keep all my most important files on an SD card which goes into the EEE when I travel and a card reader on the PC at home.
Now changing up either to an Asus 901 or Acer Aspire One for larger screen.

Used to travel with a 17" Dell 9300, but swiched late last year to a Sony Vaio CR220 14.1"

Best thing about the new laptop is that at lowest brightness I have yet to run out of juice on a domestic flight (3+ hrs).

I used to run around with a 2.5lbs Dell X1, awesome little fanless machine, these days I run around with a Panasonic CF Y5 at 3.3lbs. Its okay but it's actually detoriating faster than the X1 :( I would *kill* for a sub 3.5lbs 14" fanless notebook.

Dell Latitude D630... 14" widescreen, 2ghz Core 2 Duo, 2gb Memory, DVD+RW, 2 x 9 cell batteries (worth around 8 hours each) and a Kensignton slim universal air/car/home charger that is extremely thin and light. The laptop isn't the smallest/thinest/lightest 14" out there but it's durable and the 9 cell batteries keep it running a long time. That said, I'm hoping I can convince IT to get me an Desktop and MSI Wind w/ 6-cell battery next time I'm upgraded... would travel better and be less expensive than the Latitudes they have been buying.

Doesn't anyone vary the routine based on the length and nature of the trip?

The usual SOP:


Business trip shorter than 1 day or Weekend leisure trip, just blackberry + cell + iPod Touch.

Business trip 1+ day, add IBM thinkpad (formerly Dell Lat).

Leisure trip 3+ nights, will usually bring laptop if staying in hotel.


However there are times when I am happy not to have added baggage. Last year we took a 3-week trip to Australia/NZ with no laptop. We used prepaid SIM cards in our cell and hotel biz center to check email. It was wonderfully liberating. :cool: It worked so well that I left the laptop at home when we spent a week in Cabo. Alas, my iPod Touch was unacceptably slow for internet use (possibly due to slow hotel connection), but it worked great for retrieving email.

I am not sure that I would bring a laptop on a 3-month backpack style excursion. I realize the wired world has changed since I last did such a trip, but there is a benefit to spending your time experiencing a country rather than spending hours on a wi-fi connecion surfing the 'net. I guess it depends on the accessibility of internet cafes. But the Touch and other devices with WiFi are quite adequate for catching up on email at free hotspots.

MacBook Pro 15", with my trusty Bose headphones. That's all I need.

I used to have a tiny 2001 Sony Vaio (7 inch diagonal screen). When the HD went out, it cost me $450 to replace it since it was a non-standard component. As it was getting advanced in years, I replaced it with a Macbook.

Here is my current vacation setup (business is the same without the all the camera stuff):

Mac laptop w/ 4 GB RAM 250 GB HD
VMWARE to emulate Win XP
160 GB USB HD
CF card reader
AT&T Tilt (ensure I have Internet access via tethering)
CANON DSLR w/ 3 lenses
tripod
CANON point and shoot with underwater housing
GPS Logger


HOWEVER! If I were backpacking and concerned about weight, I would invest in an EEEPC as others have recommended in a heartbeat. The Mac is wonderful but relatively heavy. Also, Mac cost ~$2400 and the EEEPC is $400 + (in the configuration I would need). Main need is to move files off of camera and GPS logger. Shooting raw photos while traveling exceeds 6 GB of data per day. Would still need to carry portable HD.

I used to run around with a 2.5lbs Dell X1, awesome little fanless machine, these days I run around with a Panasonic CF Y5 at 3.3lbs. Its okay but it's actually detoriating faster than the X1 :( I would *kill* for a sub 3.5lbs 14" fanless notebook.

Been trekking almost continuously with my X1 since I got it, not long after they were released. Absolutely refuses to die in spite of much abuse on my part - indeed it's the most resilient piece of PC hardware I've ever owned (mixed feelings about this, obviously ;) ).

Likewise, I'd love to find a modern equivalent for when it does finally give up the ghost.

Generally:

1 x Laptop (IBM X31 or MacBook white depending on the purpose. Macbook tends to win as it has most of my photography stuff on itv which when working on shoots is kinda core, X31 wins when I need to slim my luggage to nothing and its just a weekend away)
1 x Camera (Canon 40D)
5 x Lenses (Put them in hold? Off your nelly!)
1 x Backup Drive for CF cards
4 x CF Cards (2Gb each)
2 x Phones (iPhone + a HTC Universal/N95/Whatever phone is unlocked)

This of course fits into a mini backpack, a messenger bag or a laptop bag, although the security screeners are pondering how many bricks I pack in it bag these days :rolleyes:

EeePC isn't a consideration for me due to the photo work. A pitty as I like that form factor :(. I've issued out some Toshiba R500's at my office, and the users like them and the weight (at 1kg) - however, unless I won the lotto, I wouldn't be able to afford one :(

Sony Vaio VGN-TZ270N. Love it! Absolutely love it!

Just received an Asus 901 today, and I'm itching to take it on my trip overseas next week.

Dell Latitude D640 (work) & Dell XPS M1530 (pleasure). Usually end up carrying both, as one usually has data which will be needed that the other doesn't. Makes the carryon a bit weighty, but I'm a tech junkie. :)

Lenovo T60p. Love the ergonomics!

Dell Latitude D640 (work)Where can you get that? I can only see the D630 on the website...

I just ordered my new laptop! A Sony Vaio Z Series. :) 3.4 pounds of full featured goodness, which is going to be my travel laptop.

...now I just have to wait for it to get here next month. :(

Dell Latitude D640 (work) & Dell XPS M1530 (pleasure). Usually end up carrying both, as one usually has data which will be needed that the other doesn't. Makes the carryon a bit weighty, but I'm a tech junkie. :)

Im a tech junkie too, but I just cant see carrying two laptops although I guess some employee situations could possibly require it. I think I would leave the personal one at home in that case though.

Over the years I keep stripping down what I carry. I now have a Lenovo X60 Tablet. 12 inch screen and travel weight of 4 lb. It does not even have a CD drive in it (it is in the docking station at the office). Anything I might have kept on CD before now goes on a flash drive. I have the extended battery and I can usually go all day (4 to 5 hours of "on time") with it if I manage power. Great machine for business. I also carry my treo 755P and my Ipod Nano with the FM tuner. It keeps the load light and I can get all of my work done.
Paper Tiger

Dell C610. (15" screen, fast enough to watch movies, good design.)
2 batteries. (Almost 10 hours battery life.)
High-powered wifi card with external antenna.
Empower adapter (about $10 on ebay) if I'm flying UA.

I've actually traveled to trade shows with two laptops: one for me to write on (I'm a journalist), and one to use for accessing the Internet and press releases. Each laptop weighs just 3 pounds, and they share the same single charger, so it works out fairly well...