The ONLY Ulta Mobile Gaming Laptop on Earth

[redsmurf]

Have been searching high and low for an ultra mobile laptop with gaming performance and I found this, the LG P300, which is the ONLY 13" laptop with a good graphics chip.

Check out the specs below:
http://ca.lge.com/en/products/model/detail/p300series_p300u.apb3a9.jhtml

Core 2 Duo 2.1 GHz, 4 GB RAM, 320 GB Hard drive, LCD LED Backlit, and NVIDIA Geforce 8600M GS 256 MB.

AND the best part is 13" screen, only about 1" tall, and only 3.4 pounds ! This is like the Macbook Air for gamers.

Unfortunately for most of you reading this, it's not available. This is a rare laptop: amazing specs in a 13" and it's only available in Canada. Wtf ? Since when does Canada get the good stuff, usually it's the other way around.

Anyways, since I do live in Canada I am going to buy one. However, I wanted to make one last attempt at finding something comparable. Do you have any recommendations on an ultra mobile gaming laptop?

 

[frozenlead]

the 8600GS will do, but it's not a very strong card. Expect bare 30 framerates with settings at high, 40fps or so high-med. (my friend gets these with his HP notebook, but he plays games at around 1680x1050 or 1440x900)

"gamer" and "ultraportable" don't generally go together - there's a reason for this. Good parts require good cooling, which takes up space, and seeing games with a good quality screen requires a larger screen. your screen has a pretty low resolution (one of the lowest standards, in the widescreen category) - but then again, it is 13".

I've never heard of LG making laptops. You should catch some reviews on it before you buy.

 

[cjl]

Good parts also take power, and most ultramobiles skimp on the battery (as it tends to be one of the larger and heavier parts in a laptop). I wouldn't expect much battery life.

 

[hagel]

This is the most powerful 13.3" laptop that I know of. User reviews on notebookreview.com show the laptop gets around 3.5-4 hours on battery life and almost all reviews I've seen agree the thing stays plenty cool considering all the hardware its got crammed into it's tiny chassis, apparently it's one of the first laptops to use carbon nano tubes for cooling.

 

[cjl]

Bull.

Carbon nanotubes are currently going for prices on the order of thousands of dollars per gram. Not only that, but the benefit isn't in cooling, but rather in strength.

 

[frozenlead]

I agree. You may be misconstrued with "copper heat tubes" or heat pipes...which have been in use in laptops for probably the last 10 years.

 

[hagel]

What do you think are the LG differentiators that make your products stand out from the other big notebook makers?

First would be our testing procedures. We perform over 3000 quality assurance tests which range from physical abuse tests to application usage tests. Our notebooks are dropped, baked, frozen, rattled, and every hinge, button, and switch is tested 25,000 times. We also do 5,000,000 key taps. In addition to these structural tests, we test software compatibility, we run them straight for weeks, we load viruses on them, all to make sure the consumer receives a quality product. If you compare an LG notebook on shelf, it feels remarkably solid, as you can read from reviews here on NotebookReview.com.

Second is our Multi-Source cooling technology. LG notebooks have copper heat pipes that draw away heat from sources like the CPU and GPU, and distribute it more evenly throughout the notebook, and ultimately disperse it using carbon nano-tubes which are 15X more conductive than copper. Our keyboards also allow heat to dissipate upwards, rather than forcing it all out the bottom. This lets the fan run less often to increase battery life. When the fan does run, it is extremely quiet.

Source:

http://outsiders69.blogspot.com/2008/03/not-too-long-ago-most-consumers-only.html

 

[frozenlead]

it is a blog, you know.

I still don't believe it. It just isn't possible for a notebook like that to be ready for any consumer to buy. Notebookreview.com does not mention anything about carbon nanotube cooling at all. Such a feature would surely get a mention.
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4296

LG would never load viruses on it's own notebooks to test them, that doesn't make any sense. LG makes the notebook hardware - it does not make antivirus software. Why would they bother testing someone else's product?

Also, it is a pretty stupid design to allow heat to come out of a keyboard. That's like a car engine running coolant through the steering wheel.

 

[hagel]

That blog links to an interview that was conducted by notebookreview.com

"NotebookReview.com contributor Perry Longinotti managed to have a candid conversation with Alexander about the things that make LG worth talking about. Let's see what Mr. Alexander has to say about the present and future of LG notebooks."

 

[cjl]

It doesn't matter. Something isn't correct about that. As I said, carbon nanotubes cost more per gram than that entire notebook.

 

[hagel]

Yes, but you also said that they don't provide any cooling benefit which just isn't true according to multiple sources around the net.

Here's another site that lists an LG laptop (this time a 12.1" version) using carbon nanotubes for cooling - http://www.chutneytech.com/lg-xnote-r200/

 

[frozenlead]

I still agree with cjl. It has to be some cheap/cheat version of using such technology. You can't buy a viper with the price of a prius.

Also, disreguarding the link you just put down (becuase i've never heard of the site, and notebookreview is a good site) Notebookreview did not say anything about the tubes. The interview said that they were in all of LG's notebooks. This has to be false.
That site looks awefully copy&paste-esque from a spec sheet or something.

How much is this thing, anyway?

 

[hagel]

The only site I could find after doing a quick google search that lists their prices for CNTs doesn't list 1g anywhere close to the price cjl is claiming, 1g according to them costs a maximum of $200 and a minimum of just $5.

The P300 costs $1699 CND

 

[frozenlead]

Even if it's just $100, what do you think that heat assembly weighs? At just a couple grams, the notebook's price skyrockets half a thousand dollars.

 

[hagel]

Well when it launched it was priced at $2300 which is stupidly expensive for a 13" laptop

 

[frozenlead]

Apple doesn't seem to think so

 

[hagel]

Hmm, true. Let me rephrase, $2300 is stupidly expensive for a laptop that isn't blessed by Jesus 😛

 

[frozenlead]

Or Steve Jobs.

 

[hagel]

Didn't you hear? Steve IS Jesus!

 

[cjl]

Interesting - either those that you found are fairly low purity, or their price has dropped like a rock in the past month or so (or both).

Oh, and

@ Steve Jobs comments