Lightweight: the best cheap and compact laptops

Acer Aspire ES1-111 (ES1-111-C66H)

Acer laptops are valued by customers for their good price-performance ratio. This is also relevant for the Aspire ES1-111 netbook, which is available on our market in 3 trim levels. The key difference between them is in the drive — you can buy a laptop with either a 32 GB flash drive or a 250 or 500 GB HDD. Please note that the model with the highest capacity drive runs Linux, and not Windows 8.1 like the other two trim levels. However, there will be no problems with the installation of the usual operating system. A drive is not needed for this (Google will tell you how to get by with a flash drive), and drivers for Windows 8.1 64-bit are available on the manufacturer's website.

Three of the five models in our TOP-5, including Acer, are equipped with Celeron N2840 — processor for entry-level laptops. Its parameters are: two cores, a base frequency of 2.16 GHz (under heavy load it temporarily accelerates to 2.58 GHz), 1 MB of cache memory and an Intel HD Graphics video adapter. By the way, its cost is just over $100, so about a third of the cost of the reviewed netbooks is "spent" on the processor. Acer has 2 GB of RAM, expandable up to 8 GB, which is not available on all netbooks. With this equipment, the laptop is able to work on a single battery charge for 5-7 hours in office mode.

The Aspire, like all models in this collection, has Wi-Fi 802.11n wireless adapters and Bluetooth 4.0. In addition, it has an Ethernet network card with data transfer rates up to 1 Gbps. Please note that the location of the connectors is unusual. Most of them are located on the back side: USB 2.0 and USB 3.0, HDMI, network card output and power supply connector. The SD card slot and headphone and/or microphone jack are on the left side. On the one hand, it is not convenient to connect devices from the back, and on the other hand, the connected flash drives and other devices will not interfere with the movement of the hand with the mouse.

The Acer Aspire ES1-111 is one of the cheapest laptops among 11-inch laptops. models, and among all that are available for sale. Therefore, we recommend it to those who are looking for an ultraportable laptop and have a small low-cost to buy it. The model is inferior to competitors in terms of weight (1.3 kg) and thickness (22 mm), however, given its price, you can close your eyes to this. Actually, there are almost no alternatives with the same price as Acer.

HP Stream 11-d000 (11-D076UR L2R80EA)

In early 2015, Hewlett Packard introduced several laptops for schoolchildren and students, which expanded the Education Edition line (from English — educational version). The ProBook 11 features a durable rubberized chassis, while the Stream 11 comes in vibrant body colours. Since only the second model arrived in our region, we included it in our rating. The company also has other 11 inch laptops. Only it is incorrect to compare them with the participants in the selection, because even the most affordable of them (HP Pavilion 11-h001er x2) costs almost twice as much as the models we are considering.

Stream 11 is available in two trim levels, which differ only in body colour. Looks like blue is for boys and pink for girls. Here, in fact, this model attracts attention. After all, there are practically no small and pink laptops on the market now (except maybe Acer Aspire E3-112). With Stream 11, you can stand out from the crowd with a pink laptop. Otherwise, the parameters of HP are similar to the first model in the TOP-5. The difference is that you cannot increase the amount of memory (2 GB). After studying the description of this model, we can assume that the situation will not change and Hewlett Packard will not release other configurations in the near future.

Like other models, the touchpad recognizes gestures. For example, scrolling pages with the touch of two fingers. The set of connectors is normal and includes one USB 3.0, one USB 2.0, HDMI and an audio output. The manufacturer offers to compensate for the lack of connectors with proprietary adapters for Ethernet and HDMI to VGA. It's just hard to find them for sale. Although nothing prevents using standard solutions like D-link DUB-E100.

Bonus from HP , emphasizing the purpose of this model — a one-year subscription to Microsoft Office 365 and 1 TB of space in the OneDrive cloud service. A good help for working with documents outside the office. This model is worth paying attention to those who communicate a lot on Skype. First, the webcam has a high resolution of 720p. So the image will be clearer than other computers and better than low-cost such devices. Secondly, the built-in microphone is equipped with a noise reduction and echo compensation system. And here is another "trick" of this model — the Trusted Platform Module — is unlikely to be useful to users. After all, such modules are used for hardware encryption of information and it is impossible for an ordinary person to use it without special knowledge.... and there is really no reason for it.

The battery life of a Hewlett Packard netbook is excellent. According to various reviewers, the battery lasts from 6 to 10 hours, depending on the load. So it is second only to Asus EeeBook X205TA and ahead of the rest of the reviewers.

Lenovo S21e (S21e-20 80M4000YUA)

Recently, Lenovo has been pleased with excellent smartphones and tablets, but there are few interesting novelties among laptops. However, they are, and we included one of them Lenovo S21e in our review, because in terms of parameters it corresponds to other netbooks. The model went on the market in the spring and in June was available in only one configuration: Celeron N2840, 2 GB of RAM and 32 GB of permanent memory running Windows 8.1. Whether it is possible to increase the memory is not exactly known, but the Celeron N2840 can work with 8 GB of RAM. Perhaps, over time, configurations with 4 GB of memory will go on the market.

The outside of the Lenovo S21e case is silver, and the inside is black. The laptop gets dirty to a minimum, and the matte screen is suitable for working in bright light (although it may not be bright enough for outdoor gatherings). When connecting an external display, you will have to use a non-standard micro HDMI — HDMI cable, but the SD card slot is normal, which means you can copy photos taken with the camera without an adapter or increase the storage capacity SD.

The "chip" of this model can be called a successful keyboard. It may not be as convenient to work with texts as on a 15-inch laptop, but among netbooks this is one of the best solutions. Apparently, the company's rich experience in the production of ThinkPad office laptops, which are known for their good ergonomics, is affecting. And the subject of criticism in the comments and reviews was a thick bezel around the display and a bulky power supply. Yes, by modern standards they are really large. Look at the photo of the model beforehand so you don't get disappointed when you see her outdated design. But in the spirit of the times, the cooling system is made passive (like other netbooks), which means the device works silently, although it heats up a little.

According to the results of the reviews, the non-removable battery lasts for two to three hours of intensive work and five hours in office mode. Given the practical case, matte screen and good keyboard, we recommend this model to those who work with the Internet and office documents on business trips or want to use a netbook for education.

Asus EeeBook X205TA (X205TA-FD027B)

In 2015, Asus has three models in its product range that can be roughly classified as netbooks, although the company calls them laptops − X205TA, X102BA and X200MA. In our opinion, the first model has the most balanced set of qualities, so we included it in our review.

The first thing this model stands out from the competition is very thin (17.5 mm) and light (0.98 kg) housing. In addition, she has excellent battery life. In the mode of office work, surfing or playing music, the X205TA will last up to 12 hours without recharging. Moreover, the power supply is also miniature — its dimensions are 5.3x5.3 cm. The second quality that observers note is ease of use. The laptop has a good keyboard with the usual block of arrows and a relatively large touchpad. And the device works silently — there are no fans inside. Another important point — the computer is sold with an annual subscription to Office 365, which includes Word, Excel and other popular office programs, and offers 500 GB of file storage in a proprietary cloud service for two years. Connected Standby technology allows the laptop, like smartphones, to receive letters, messages and notifications in "sleep" mode with the lid closed. Therefore, the X205TA is perfect for people who need a laptop for business trips, university classes, etc.

The first Asus netbooks were part of the Eee PC family, which meant Easy to learn, Easy to work, Easy to play. The X205TA is part of the EeeBook line, whose name can be deciphered similarly — "Easy to learn, easy to work, easy to play." Promising? Yes, especially when you consider that the laptop costs only $300. In fact, everything is not so optimistic — the device is suitable for study and work (with certain restrictions), but for games more difficult than card games — no.

The computer is based on the Intel Atom Z3735F processor, which has a very low power consumption and heating, however, its performance is small. Atom handles with simple tasks like working with office programs, surfing the web, playing music and video, but it can't cope with 3D games and applications like Photoshop. At the same time, neither increasing the amount of RAM (2 GB) nor replacing the drive (32 GB eMMC) will work, because these components are soldered on the motherboard.

The model has recently gone on the market and is still available in two versions , which differ in the colour of the body — you can choose blue or gold. On the manufacturer's website, white and red colours are also claimed, but we do not have such models for sale. Instead of four versions of different colours, it would be more rational to release bundles with 2 and 4 GB of memory ... but Atom Z3735F does not support more than 2 GB. If you want an Asus netbook with a more powerful processor and 4 GB of RAM, take a look at X200MA, which is equipped with Celeron and Pentium. Just keep in mind that it is thicker and heavier, and you still won’t be able to play GTA 5.

The disadvantages of this model include the lack of a USB 3.0 port (there are two USB 2.0), a MicroSD card slot instead of a standard SD, and micro HDMI output instead of regular HDMI. The webcam also fell victim to savings — its resolution is 640x480 pixels (the worst indicator in the TOP-5). However, there is an advantage over other models — a VGA video output, which is useful for connecting old monitors (without HDMI) and projectors.

Asus Transformer Book T200 (T200TA-CP004H)

In addition to regular laptops, Asus releases tablets with an attachable docking station with a keyboard and connectors. The device can be used both as a tablet (when the dock is disconnected) and as a laptop (when the dock is attached). If you do not plan to work a lot with texts, then this gadget will suit you. The company released five similar models this year — 10.1″ (inch) T100, 11.6″ T200TA, 12.5″ T300FA and T300 Chi, as well as 13.3″ T300LA. In terms of parameters, T200TA corresponds to other participants in the rating. We included it in our TOP-5 as an alternative to conventional netbooks.

The IPS touch screen is the second feature of this model. Firstly, the image quality is better than that of netbooks with TN matrices — colours are displayed more correctly, and viewing angles are close to perfect. Secondly, with a touchscreen, there is a benefit from the Windows 8.1 tiled interface (just like on tablets with this operating system). You can only find fault with the fact that the screen has a glossy finish. So on a walk on a sunny day, the screen may glare. And the low resolution of 1366x768 pixels is explained by the low price of the gadget. Installing a Full HD screen would noticeably (for a low-cost price category) increase its cost.

The disadvantage of this model is a relatively large weight. The tablet weighs 0.78kg and its dock is 0.76kg for a total of 1.54kg. That is, with the keyboard, the T200 is one and a half times heavier than the Asus X205TA, but without it, on the contrary, it is lighter. Battery life is also inferior to the most "tenacious" netbooks: 3 hours under heavy load, 5 hours of HD video viewing or surfing, 7 hours of reading. If not for these nuances, the model was excellent.

In terms of equipment and performance, this model is similar to the previous one: Intel Atom Z3735F, Intel HD Graphics and 2 GB of RAM (not expandable). There are also several differences. The T200TA has an Ethernet port (in the dock as well as USB ports) for connecting to a wired network and a 5 MP camera on the back (except for the 2 MP camera for Skype). You can't take a beautiful portrait of her, but you can take a picture, for example, of an important announcement.

The "transformer" T200TA has only two configurations so far. The variety comes down to a choice between a 64 GB eMMC drive or a combination of a flash drive and a 500 GB HDD housed in a docking station. If you plan to store a lot of files in your computer's memory and are willing to pay about $80 more for it, choose the modification with HDD (T200TA-CP004H). If maximum portability is more important to you (eMMC is lighter and consumes less power than HDD), choose the model with flash storage (T200TA-CP001H).