The tiny ones all have USB ports you can attach a keyboard of your choice to. The one thing that would worry me about those is spending a lot of time with that tiny screen. You can plug in a full size screen at home. But if you will be doing a lot of composing on the road, I'd worry about serious lost productivity.

But as long as most of your heavy use is as home (and work where they can damn well supply you with a screen), and your use on the road is light use, then go with the tiny ones. Way I intend to go if my current computer dies (though I hope it doesn't, old but suits my needs).

I know I'm predictable on this, but I'd say look at a MacBook. Even if you just install windows on it. They have a great screen, tend to last a very long time, and the magsafe powerplug is one of the best things ever.

the magsafe powerplug is one of the best things ever.

This is true....

I <3 magsafe.

Well, I wouldn't be using it for work at work. I'm thinking of taking it along so I can more easily work on my WIP during my lunch hour.

Are there relatively lightweight options that aren't the tiny ones? I want something self-contained, you know? I feel like attaching it to a different keyboard and screen would be kinda unwieldy for a computer I'm planning to haul back and forth between the living room couch, my bed, and maybe the deck on nice days.

Macbook Air is one of the super lightweight ones. I know Lenovo also makes the X300 system which is quite lightweight. I believe both are on the order of 4 lbs. and they have full size keyboards.

Well, I wouldn't be using it for work at work. I'm thinking of taking it along so I can more easily work on my WIP during my lunch hour.

For that, the tiny ones really are perfect -- they're about the size of a trade paperback, and you can easily toss one in your bag for lunchtime without the extra weight and hassle. I'll also note that the keyboard isn't an issue at all for a number of ultra-portable users I know, and is for others; no way to know until you feel it out. The screen is more of an issue than the keyboard, I think.

On the other hand, your weekend use pattern suggests something in the 12-13" range -- I'm as biased as ND, of course, but I'd also suggest looking at a MacBook if that's the size you really need. What's your tradeoff point? In other words, is portability for weekdays and traveling more or less important than having something that's all in one unit?

My lust for the MacBook air is massive. Like mass of Jupiter massive.

The tiny ones all have USB ports you can attach a keyboard of your choice to. The one thing that would worry me about those is spending a lot of time with that tiny screen. You can plug in a full size screen at home. But if you will be doing a lot of composing on the road, I'd worry about serious lost productivity.

Yeah, for me plugging in a screen and keyboard (and having the desk set up to do so) pretty much negates the value as a laptop.

If it's not your primary home computer, I think the tiny screen on the little ones would be workable for lunch/transit work times, and the portability factor would be huge. If it is primary, I'd definitely go a bit bigger.