Lightweight -- and light on purse

Many of us don't  care much for the virtual on-screen keyboards that come with tablets and mobile phones. Yes,  they are OK for answering emails or creating short text files. But  for sustained writing, we prefer a physical keyboard any day, one which gives  a  reassuring tactile feedback for every key stroke. 

But  a standard laptop is difficult to lug around  and the  extremely thin-n-light ones are also extremely pricey.    Which is why  many will be happy to find that the Hyderabad-based RDP Workstations  has launched  a 14.1 inch  ThinBook which  at 1.45 kg is very light and still manages to pack in a  10,000 mAh battery that is good for about 7-8 hours of use. 

For those, who want to get as close to conventional laptop experience as possible, it will be reassuring that the  RDP ThinBook runs the latest Windows 10 operating system  and  not a flavour of Android  as many convertible tablets do.

Fueled by an Intel Atom processor, the device has 2 GB of RAM  which is OK,  but the onboard storage is just 32 GB. You could expand this by inserting  a micro SD card of up to 128 GB.  But it is still pretty small storage compared to what we are used even on small form factor portable PCs like NetBooks. About 10 GB is already taken away by the installed  software -- so there is not much more that  you can download by way of favourite tools.

Machines like this are clearly meant for an always-on-Net scenario, where you have almost all your tools and storage in the Cloud.  The ThinBook comes with all necessary  connector options --  USB 2 and USB 3; Audio out, MicroHDMI -- as well as WiFi and Bluetooth, though the  VGA camera  is  a bit underpowered for today's taste.

We  found the startup and shutdown to be very fast.  Windows 10   can give you the look and feel of Windows 7 if you don't like the tiled menus of Windows  8 --- so  we are  guessing many buyers will  be comfortable with such a familiar,   but very light,    'Wintel'  machine  -- and the asking price of Rs 9,999 almost makes it irresistible.

- IndiaTechOnline