The laptop market, like the rest of the mobile high-tech market, is becoming increasingly sub-segmented. Once limited to alternatives based on screen size, users can now find four or five sub-categories of products, ranging from the most basic to the most powerful, from featherweights to competition bricks. The subnotebook pro has long been the star of PCs. It combined power and lightness with thinness, compactness and... high prices. There's no better way of asserting social status than with a slim, compact machine displayed in an airport lounge - a world of subtle, but clearly defined, social codes.
These 12- to 14-inch machines have been steamrollered by two new products from the industry. On the one hand, netbooks have won the prize for extreme compactness, but at the price of minimal performance. On the other, the race for computing power has come to an end. The subnotebook has adapted to this new situation. It continues to offer a compromise between a capacity to handle most needs (with the processor and memory power that go with it) and significantly improved battery life. With thinness now a virtual requirement, it no longer relies as heavily on this argument. As a result, the very top end of the portable computing market has shifted to extremely rare machines.
The Vaio X series and Dell Adamo benefit from a meticulous design that signals rarity and special performance. But the desire to compete with the king of glamorous geekery, Apple, is clear, making them niche objects in their own right.
Range of possibilities
The choice in the powerful, thin and durable 13-inch category has therefore become very wide. At the same time, PC manufacturers continue to offer pro models designed for large companies. Virtually made-to-measure, tailored to meet a wide range of needs, they allow you to work in a comfort level matched only by the ease with which IT departments can integrate them into a fleet of machines. They tend to be unadorned, with no games or entertainment-oriented interfaces, and to look reassuringly bulky and graceless. But versatility has come a long way. These devices have autonomies of over four hours, integrated graphics cards (Intel circuitry) or dedicated graphics cards (Nvivia or ATI type) with HDMI output (essential for connecting to a projector or television).
As a bonus, they offer a resource management interface that can replace the data scattered around Windows Seven and present it in a synthetic, user-friendly way. It's a great way to get rid of home-grown components that aren't very useful, and the unbearable anti-virus software that can't be scratched. Even for professionals, the PC becomes less dull without losing any of its capabilities, and remains portable.
