2008 is shaping up to be a big travel year and I’m dreading lugging my Dell 8.2 pounder around  (not to mention it’s old and sucky) so it’s time to shop for something lighter.    I have a good laptop backpack but even with that I notice my back gets really sore if I lug it around for a conference day.  However I like to live blog sessions so I like to have the laptop available.  Some conferences, like SES, do an amazing job of providing computers in press room and in lobbies, but it’s still best to have one on hand at all times.     Hmmm – I really should look into Treo keyboard interfaces as well.  

 Mark Kyrnin at About.com had a nice little article that helped, especially this breakdown of relative size and weight for the various notebook and laptop classifications (not sure where he got those):

 Ultraportable: <11″ x <10″ x <1.3″ @  <4  pounds

Thin and light: 11-14″ x <11″ x 1-1.5″ @ 5-7 poundsDesktop Replacement: >15″ x >11″ x >1.5″ @  7+  pounds 

Luggables: >18” x >13” x >1.5” @  12+ pounds

Looks like I’ll be OK with a “thin and light” in the lower weight range.