One of the cooler things I saw at CES this year was the arrival of mini laptops that didn't suck.

Over the past couple of years, I've seen more and more people (including myself) starting to use full-sized laptops as their main machines.

I think there's a reasonable chance that these mini laptops (laptops weighing less than 2 pounds) might be the next step. 

Two in particular stood out.

OQO Model 2

First there is the OQO Model 2. Running Windows Vista, it seemed reasonably peppy. It doesn't support running the DWM so don't think to use this for video game playing. But with a 1.6Ghz CPU, 64GB SSD and a gig of RAM, it's quite impressive.

If you have Verizon, you can even have it connect to the Internet with mobile Broadband.  It also supports 802.11a/b/g out of the box, Bluetooth 2.0 and even has an Ethernet port. 

It's not perfect.  The resolution is only 800x480 which means it can't natively view many modern websites without scrolling around. 

It is also a little clunky in terms of navigating, no touch screen, and I didn't like the keyboard.

But these are minor nits compared with the utility of the device. It has an HDMI port, track stick (instead of a mouse), USB, and more.  If it had a built in camera, I'd pick one up in a second.  It's only 16 ounces.

One other nice feature, it has an awesome docking station which supports external output up to 1920x1200.

It will set you back over $1,300 so it's not a toy to be sure.

Fujitsu  Life book U810 / U910

The Fujitsu mini laptop is a bit bigger. They only had the U810 on the show floor but a new model (I think the U910) is in the works. 

It's about a pound and a half so it's heavier than the OQO. But it has a much better keyboard, has a web cam.  But it is quite a bit slower than the OQO. It uses an Intel A110 (800mhz based). But it has a faster graphics card built in.

Like the OQO, it has WiFi built in and Bluetooth support. It doesn't include Mobile Broadband.

On the other hand, its display is 1024x600 which is key because most websites will fit fine at 1024 pixels wide. 

It has a decent touch screen and an optional integrated webcam.

It sells for $1,100.

So which one is better? Hard to say. I haven't gotten to play with either one for any length of time.  I wish I could take features from both and put them together.   The lower resolution display of the OQO is a near show stopper as is its weak keyboard. But on the other hand, it's only a pound, has good performance, and high utility. 

The Fujitsu is cheaper, has a better keyboard and much better display. But that 800mhz CPU worries me and it's heavy enough that I could start thinking about lugging a ThinkPad X60 around.

Fujitsu

OQO