The Best Ultra Portable Laptops for Travelers

September 26, 2008

Choosing the correct ultra portable laptop can help you be more productive on a plane, save your back from lugging around a heavy computer, and have a machine that can be your primary machine at both home and on the road.

The first step is to layout the minimum specs for an ultraportable that can meet the demands of travelers:

Processor: Minimum of a 1.3 dual core processor. While you can often find 2.4 dual processors; usually you are giving up something in the process (such as a DVD player) for the machine to fit into the ultra-portable category.

Memory: Minimum of 2gigs

Battery: Rated for 6 hours with the extended battery. Even 6 hours of ’standard computing’ might only be 3-4 hours of video or WI-Fi.

Power: Ability to turn off the Wi-Fi and broadband card and have other energy saving/management software.

Broadband card: Built-in broadband is both faster than an external card and often leaves an external slot open for expansion.

Bluetooth: Ensure that your phone, Bluetooth headset, presenter, mouse, etc can connect to your computer without extra adaptors.

Ports: Minimum of 1 USB (you can always carry a mini-hub), VGA out (for presenters), speaker in/out (for Skype calls or other headset functionality, often can skip this if you have a Bluetooth headset). 7-1 card readers, SD card slot, express card slots, etc are bonuses; but often not mandatory.

Weight: Max 3 pounds (excluding power adaptor and including standard battery)

Screen size: Max 12.1 inch. I will examine a couple of nice 13.3 inch monitors, however, the idea is that you can be in a plane, someone can put their seat all the way back, and you can continue to work. In the majority of plane configurations, with first class often being the exception, if your screen is larger than 12.1 inch, you can’t effectively work.

Docking Station: The system must have a docking station. This allows you to keep your regular monitor, mouse, keyboard, speakers, etc constantly connected to the docking station and then you can just undock the computer when you have to run. No messing with cables when you move from your desk to putting your computer away in its briefcase.

The Ultra Portable Contenders

Sony VGN TZ Series

The Sony TZ series is 11.1 inches of back-saving freedom. I’ve had an older model of this computer for 3 years and it has been an exceptional computer. This is the smallest of the computers in the ultra portable category at just 11.1 inches. You can even work on this computer in a cramped economy seat.

The biggest advantage of this computer is it’s integrated DVD player. With its extended battery life and DVD player, this doubles as a very nice media device for long trips.

The biggest disadvantage is that it maxs at 2 gigs of memory. This is the smallest max memory in my favorite ultraportable category.

The keyboard is 90% of the size of a regular keyboard. It only took me a few days to get use to the small keyboard, and I don’t mind it anymore. However, if you prefer a real size keyboard, you’ll want to pass on this computer.

The main reason why I won’t buy another one is that all Sony broadband cards only have Sprint as an option. I’ve had some bad experiences with most mobile broadband card providers except for Verizon. In fact, on my current Sony TZ, I don’t use the built-in card; I use an external Verizon card.

Overall, this computer falls into the middle price range between the three ultraportables. It starts at $1699; however, when you have it fully configured, it will be more in the $3k range.

Sony customer support has been fairly good. If you want a reliable, very small computer, this is one of your best bets.

Lenovo x200

The Lenovo x200 is the most powerful of the 3 computers in the top ultra portable category. You can have up to a 2.4 dual core processor. It’s also the most configurable:

OS: XP to Vista 64 bit (64 bit OS is necessary for more than 3.5 gigs of memory)
1-4 gigs of memory (1067 MHz)
Up to 320 gig harddrive, or a 64 gig solid state drive.
PAN option
Verizon or AT&T broadband card
12.2 inch screen

Where some users will not like this computer is that it’s TrackPoint only. No touchpad. I had the older model of this computer (the x61, and still a viable option if you want a cheaper ultra portable) and after a couple weeks, I didn’t even look for the touchpad anymore. It was quite odd switching between my x61 and my Sony TZ. I found the TrackPoint more useful for precision work, and the touchpad more useful for general browsing I do wish there was an option to have both. While this will kill the deal for some, the other advantage is it’s full sized keyboard.

You can also have GPS, built-in camera for conferencing, fingerprint reader, lo-jack, etc in this computer.

While this is the best ‘pure power machine’ of our three top ultraportables, it does not have a built-in DVD drive. There is base you can add so you have a DVD drive; however, this will add enough weight to the machine to take it above 3 pounds.

The other huge disadvantage is Lenovo support. I’ve never had good luck with Lenovo support. In fact, the reason I don’t own this machine today is because their presales support is so bad (and rude), along with their huge technical website launch issues (wrong SSD drive upon launch, then no warranty option, then no lo-jack option) than I grew frustrated when trying to buy the highest model (around $4.5k, but there are options well under $2k) that I finally gave up to wait for the new Dell (below). The website is past the technical issues at present, but beware of any Lenovo support you may require.

If you buy this machine, make sure you also buy the slimline AC adapter. I have no idea why this isn’t standard. It is both smaller and lighter than the standard AC adapter.

Overall, the most powerful machine of the ultra portables. If you don’t need a DVD drive (and I went 2 years with my x61 without one) and can live without a touchpad, this is one of the best ultra portables on the market.

Dell e4200

The machine I’m waiting on; the Dell e4200. The reason it hasn’t shipped yet is that Dell is waiting on the latest low voltage Intel processor. As soon as Dell receives those processors, it will be launched into the wild.

This machine has several solid features going for it. First the battery life. I’ve heard that with the extended battery and the new processors you might be able to hit 19 hours of battery life. While that sounds high, I have no doubt that when watching a video (it has an internal DVD player), you could get 6 hours of high-powered computing from this machine with the extended battery.

The next is the weight. At 2.2 lbs, this is the lightest laptop I’ve seen (not including Netbooks, and laptops with so little functionality you can’t use them as your primary machine).

The third is configuration. While the processor is less powerful than the Lenovo, the rest of the options are fantastic:

1-5 gigs of memory (if you break 3, get a 64bit OS)
64 or 128 SSD Drive
Multiple Wi-Fi options
Verizon or competitor cell cards
Smart card reader, fingerprint reader, GPS, etc

For those with exchange, it will have a unique option to not power-up the entire computer, but to instead just connect to exchange without powering on the entire computer.

I’ve had a Dell laptop for 5 years (one of the behemoths that I call a ‘destination machine’ 8 lbs to carry but when you get there you have a fully functional desktop replacement) and have had very little issue with their customer support. I’ve heard stories go both ways on Dell. However, overall they have been one of my favorites (which really isn’t saying that much as I’ve not seen companies with great customer support for those who want to just jump pass the ‘yes my computer is plugged in’ stage). While HP is one of my favorite CS companies, they don’t have a computer that meets these specs for review.

This computer has not shipped yet, but the day it does - I’m ordering one.

The 13.3 inch Contenders

If you want a larger screen for when you reach your destination, and not just one an ultraportable, there are three machines in the marketplace worth examining.

Sony Z Series. Billed as the executives dream, it has some fantastic configuration options. It can get quite expensive starting at $1799; but you get Sony features, some creative graphics options, and a fantastic display.

Lenovo x300. Forget the MacBook Air. This machine is is a travelers dream. It has more functionality and options than most machines in the marketplace. The only thing that kept it back from our ultra portable review is it’s 13.3 inch screen. Due to many of its options, it’s actually less powerful tan the x200 above. That shouldn’t stop you from reading the reviews of why it’s on many editors top-choice list.

The new Dells. The Latitude e line looks to be worthy of consideration. It’s been quite some time since I seriously considered Dells as I had been quite happy with Lenovo’s power and Sony’s media. However, it appears that Dell is once again making a strong foray into business computing.

Written by Brad Geddes aka eWhisper · Filed Under Blog | 1 Comment

Q&A: What is a good Click Through Rate?

September 23, 2008

This is one of the most common ‘it depends’ question where the answer ‘it depends’ is reality. I’ll try to explain why that question can not be answered without additional definition.

Consider these two words : ‘TV’ or ‘Samsung 63 1080P Plasma HDTV FP-T6374′. Which is more specific?

Consider these two words: ‘mysql database optimization’ or ‘mysql database hosting’. Which is more commercial?

Specificity and commercial intent are two major factors when considering how high your CTR should be. Yahoo has even offered a commercial intent search engine with Mindset. Microsoft adLabs has a nice commercial intent tool.

For the keyword ‘TV’, someone could be looking for:

TV guide
TV repair
How to choose a HDTV
How far should my new HDTV be from my couch
What is the best plasma TV

For the keyword ‘Samsung 63 1080P Plasma HDTV FP-T6374′, someone could be looking for:

Product guide
Where to buy that specific TV
What accessories go with that TV

We can quickly see that the more specific keyword is more focused around that specific product; where ‘TV’ is a very undefined query.

If you received a 2% CTR for the keyword ‘TV’ you could be doing exceptionally well (especially if it’s broadmatched). If you have the top position for ‘Samsung 63 1080P Plasma HDTV FP-T6374′; you may see a CTR well above 10%.

While CTR is a major component for quality score; (QS factors chart) CTR is normalized by position (i.e. Google examines expected CTR of position 1 vs 2 vs 3 etc and looks at your CTR as it relates to your keywords position - you are not penalized for not being in the top ad position).

It is more important for you to test your ads so you can improve on your own results than worry about trying to benchmark your own keywords.

So, what is a good CTR?

A keyword with a very high commercial intent and is very specific - 10%-20% from ad position 1 (or 5% from position 5 on the side) can be seen.

A keyword with a low commercial intent and is non-specific might gather less than a 1% CTR.

In both the above instances, you could have a nice CTR from a quality score standpoint.

So, what is a good CTR?

There isn’t a good answer - it really does just depend.

Written by Brad Geddes aka eWhisper · Filed Under Blog, PPC Info | 2 Comments

Q&A: My site is all flash, can Google spider my site?

September 22, 2008

The short answer is yes! However, be careful - Google’s indexing of site’s is still new and if they make a mistake on your site it can seriously affect your quality score.

One way to test what AdWords things your site is about is to use the Google Keyword Tool. When you navigate to the keyword tool, use the ‘website content’ option and paste your URL into into the box and hit submit.

If you’d like to see a few examples of all-flash sites keywords’ copy and paste these URLs into the AdWords Keyword tool:

Google is still not viewing images, nor seeing all the contents within flash - they are mostly looking at the text. Please read the Webmaster Central post closely. An alternate method is to use sIFR.

There is additional information at Google Webmaster help on Flash, images, and other non-text files.

Written by Brad Geddes aka eWhisper · Filed Under Blog, Google AdWords | 1 Comment

The Best Entertainment Distractions that Easily fit into your Computer Bag

September 19, 2008

Being a frequent traveler you quickly have to learn how to relax on a daily 30 minute commute or a 5 hour cross country flight without carrying a 20lb backpack.

I’ve played with many distractions over time, and these are the best way to entertain yourself for minutes or hours that will easily slip into into your bag.

Personal Video Player

Archos 605 WiFi. This small video player did something unique; its basic version is not that expensive allowing a low cost to entry; and it has many add-ons which do raise the price - but you don’t have to pay for it you’ll never use them. It’s main purpose - watching video. A clear crisp screen and decent battery life will allow you to watch several TV shows or movies on your flight. It supports quite a few formats, more than most players and doesn’t lock you into a single provider like the next selection.

iPod Touch. This is the iPhone for those who don’t want AT&T. While it doesn’t make calls, it’s other features (WiFi, music, video) are top notch. I only have two complaints about the touch. The first is that you’re locked into iTunes (one of the biggest walled gardens ever created). The second is that it does not have stereo Bluetooth support. When it has bluetooth 2.0; this product might leapfrog the Archos just due to the simplicity of use.

CNet did a great prizefight between these two products.

The only product that can be considered in 3rd place is the new Cowon. The last product worth considering is the 80gig Video iPod, especially if you connect it to a set of video glasses. Note: Some people (including me) hate video glasses; they just don’t look right. Some people love them. Make sure you have the option of returning them.

<added>Since I wrote this post, Archos launched a new set of products. They are more focused around being an internet tablet than just a PVP player, however, they are worth a look.</added>

Free Video

For those of you who want free *legal* video; there is absolutely one best option - TiVo.

TiVo offers a desktop software which will let you transfer (via the net) files from your TiVo to your computer. If you don’t have an encoding program, you can also use the upgraded TiVo software to create mp4 files for your iPod that can be managed via iTunes. Easily auto-schedule your favorite shows and movies to be moved to your computer.

Which headset to choose?

Everywhere you look around first class you will see the Bose noise canceling headsets. While they are decent headsets (and heavily promoted by the affiliate-minded airlines) - they are too big to easily fit into our commuter bag. Here’s the best of the small headsets.

The best bluetooth stereo headset is from Jaybird Gear. This headset has nice sound, and easily pairs with bluetooth 1.0 and 2.0 devices. You can also buy bluetooth receivers that work with an iPod, iPhone (which also isn’t bluetooth stereo), or any device with a standard headset jack. If you ride a train everyday, the lack of wires between your iPod and headset that catch on things will make your life much easier.

My favorite bluetooth headset for my phone (while Jaybird gear is a great stereo headset, I don’t find it’s noise canceling technology great for calls) is the Jawbone II. My only complaint is that it does not fit everyone’s ears perfectly; and if you’re trying to adjust the fit, you can accidentally make a phone call.

Since you can’t use bluetooth on a plane, there is a need for a corded headset with a small footprint that sounds great. The Sennheiser earbuds have been my favorite - but not just for the sound. The street and sport earbuds have a version that does not actually fit in your ear. It has a twist clip at the top of the earbud that easily fits into the ear without having to push them into the ear. I find this is better for the changing ear pressure of a plane. Best of all, they’re under $50.

If you want top of the line small footprint earphones, the Shure e3 or e4 doesn’t have a comparison. They are also $300+ depending on the model you choose. Due to the air pressure of planes, I’ve found that my ears will actually push these out of my ear on decent making them unusable for me. So, the Sennheiser’s are 1/4th the price and almost as good for a few hundred dollars less.

Music

If you choose the iTouch under video; you’re probably done picking music. If you choose the Archos, there’s only one reason to carry a second music device - size (the larger Archos isn’t always jeans pocket friendly).

There’s been so much written about iPod vs Zune vs Creative, etc - I’m not gong to rehash the conversation. However, if you carry a larger PVP device, you might want to also carry a small iPod or Zune for music listening; this can be useful if you’re working on a laptop and just want some extra music to drown out the neighbors on a plane.

Portable Games

Nintendo DS vs PSP. While the Nintendo DS does have some interesting abilities to connect DSs together. The PSP has Wi-Fi, has been known to be hacked for Skype, and includes more mainstream games. Overall, if this is your first portable gaming unit - take a look at the types of games available for each system - that will help you decide more than a feature comparision list.

Reading - Carry Thousands of Books with You

Don’t want to carry 10 books with you? Don’t even want to carry one heavy book? I don’t blame you; I now carry hundreds of books with me. How? The magical Amazon Kindle. I can’t say enough good things about this device. Easy-to-read screen interface. No LDC to wear out the eyes. Due to the ink technology, I’ve had the battery last two weeks before recharging. Need a new book? Use the built-in wireless technology to shop for new books on Amazon from the device. You can even send your PDF files to the Kindle so you can catch up on all the eBooks you download but don’t read.

There are rumors of a new one coming out before Christmas, so while you might want to hold off buying one; I’d recommend the first generation if they go on sale when the next gen is released.

Written by Brad Geddes aka eWhisper · Filed Under Blog, eWhisper's Notebook | Leave a Comment

Q&A: How can I tell if Google’s Ads Bot can spider my landing page?

September 18, 2008

Google’s adsbot will spider your landing page to determine your landing page’s impact on your quality score. If Google’s ads bot cannot properly spider your page, you may see very high minimum bids and low exposure.

Google webmaster tools has a tool where you can see if Google’s adsbot spider will index specific pages on your site. Here’s a step-by-step guide to checking if specific pages can be spidered.

Create a Google webmaster tools account.
Verify your domain.
Once your domain is verified, login to your account and navigate to: Google webmaster Tools > Tools > Analyze robots.txt
Either view your robots.txt or enter a new robots.txt into the first text box
- Please note, if you use meta tags or nofollow tags to control what pages Google can spider, this tool will not show what pages are being disallowed by methods other than the robots.txt file.
At the bottom of the page is a section labeled ‘Choose user-agents’. Select Adsbot-Google
Hit the ‘check’ button and view the results.

Click picture to see full view.

Here you can see where to navigate to view the robots.txt tool. Next, the first box is your robots.txt file (and you can change what is being tested here), the URLs you wish to check, and finally the results. In the graphic below I entered Google.com to show why you need to verify your site. You cannot see information outside of your domain.

Additional note: If you have a global disallow, adsbot-Google will ignore your entire robots.txt file (but Google’s other bots will follow your robots.txt instructions).

Article resource links:

Written by Brad Geddes aka eWhisper · Filed Under Blog, Google AdWords | 1 Comment

Q&A: I use location targeting but I don’t live in the areas where I advertise. How can I see my ads?

September 17, 2008

If you are looking to see ads at a metro level, this is a very straightforward process.

Use the Ad Preview Tool to choose your location (country, metro, etc), keyword, language, and domain (Google.co.uk, Google.com, etc).

If you wish to see mobile ads, you can use the mobile ad preview tool located at the same page - just click the ‘trying to preview mobile ads’ link.

It does get more complex if you wish to see ads at specific coordinates. It can be easier to use Google Earth to first find coordinates before previewing the ads.

Written by Brad Geddes aka eWhisper · Filed Under Blog, Google AdWords, PPC Info | Leave a Comment

Fixing Chrome’s SSL / HTTPS Errors

September 16, 2008

Google’s Chrome browser has issues when accessing HTTPS (SSL) sites when you are behind a corporate firewall. While this is a known error, the latest version of Chrome is suppose to fix this.

You can download the nightly builds here.

You can see Chrome’s last built info here.

There is an official Chrome blog here.

If you are still stuck with Flash issues in either Chrome or Firefox, read the Fix flash for Chrome post.

Written by Brad Geddes aka eWhisper · Filed Under Blog, Browsers | Leave a Comment

PPC Payment Options - Risk vs Reward

September 15, 2008

My latest Search Engine Land column was published today entitled PPC Payment Options, Risk vs Reward.

It examines invoicing vs credit card payments, business models for payments, etc.

Worthwhile read for both agencies and advertisers.

enjoy.

Written by Brad Geddes aka eWhisper · Filed Under Blog, PPC Info | Leave a Comment

The Simpliest way to Jumpstart Your Keyword Research

September 15, 2008

There are two simple webpages that will help re-energize your keyword research process.

First: Google AdWords Keyword Tool

Second: Any page on the web that can be spidered and contains related information

Does that sound ambiguous?

Google’s keyword tool has a feature where it will spider any site on the web (it does obey robots.txt directions). This does not have to be your page. It could be a search result page, a static page, etc. The optional feature (which is checked below) spiders pages linked from that URL.

Now find a page on the web that contains related information. The thesaurus is always a nice place to start:

Do a search on thesaurus.reference.com and take the search result URL (http://thesaurus.reference.com/browse/mortgage) in the case of the above result and input that into the Google keyword tool. The results can quickly help you find related ideas to continue your keyword research:

Here’s a few suggestions of where to start:

Ask.com
Thesaurus.com or Dictionary.com
Local.com
Cuil.com
wikipedia.org (but not necessarily knol.google.com - it’s all no-follows - Google doesn’t seem to trust it’s contributors)
Any site that want’s its search results to be indexed… see some huge site that’s really just mod rewriting their search results to static URLs - that’s a great site to add to your list
You can’t use Google.com - they don’t allow their search results to be indexed

When you’re not sure where to turn next to expand your research, don’t go hunting for new tools - just find some new sites on the web to explore. Fun and productive at the same time.

Written by Brad Geddes aka eWhisper · Filed Under Blog, PPC Info | 2 Comments

San Francisco Seminar Special Late Sign-up Bonus

September 12, 2008

Due to our late promotion of the San Francisco AdWords Seminar for Success; we are waiving the 7 day advance sign-up requirement to receive the special $50 coupon from Google.

Come join us in the Bay Area for a full day of AdWords learning.

AdWords Seminar home page.

Google’s seiminar event page.

Written by Brad Geddes aka eWhisper · Filed Under Blog | Leave a Comment