A reader asks: “What is your favorite laptop that you have ever had or used and why?”

Reader Jenni Wieter asks; “What is your favorite laptop that you have ever had or used and why?”

Hmmm. Two top contenders come to mind:

Model 100: This was my first portable computer: a TRS-100. Back in the day when PC’s were usually bulky, desktop units with several separate components, this lightweight, all-in-one portable design was a revelation.

The Model 100 was powered by four standard, cheap, easily-replaceable AA batteries, and was miserly in its power use anyway — important because, back then, airplanes, cabs, and buses didn’t have seat electrical outlets. On one business trip that featured a 22-hour flight (Taiwan to Moscow), my Model 100 used up one set of four AA batteries, and was still going strong on the second set when I landed. No other portable PC could have done that.

The built-in modem (300 baud) also made it easy to phone in columns and stories; and to remotely work on various projects.

IBM ThinkPad 701: Perhaps the cleverest physical design ever in a laptop, the IBM ThinkPad 701 featured a “butterfly” keyboard that was actually wider than the laptop that housed it: The keyboard unfolded, origami-like, when you opened the laptop lid.

As a writer who then traveled a lot, having a full-width keyboard in a highly-compact and portable PC made working on the go much easier than otherwise.

I’ve had many other laptops and notebooks, but those two were true standouts!

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