I do not deny that Apple and Asus have a great influence on my dream laptop. They really make good laptops.

I envision the ideal laptop to have just a sufficiently powered processor such as a Ultra Low Power processor (currently the Core i5 2537M) with 2 x 4GB of RAM, and a Solid State Drive HDD of 120GB. SSD allows near instantaneous booting and speed when working.

It should have switchable graphics allowing users to switch between the low power integrated graphics or high performance dedicated graphic card.

It does not have a DVD-RW or BluRay drive internally; instead it is externally coupled via USB3. An external 1TB hard disk serves as an offload for the laptop SSD HDD. Think of it as the laptop having a working memory while long term memory and backups are stored in an external hard disk.

The screen should be sufficiently large – 13″  with a resolution of 1600 x 900. LED backlit IPS panel calibrated for sRGB color space, allowing for wide viewing angles and accurate colors. Matte finishing to prevent reflection.

Chassis is made of aluminium (taking a leaf out of Apple here), and weighs around 1.8kg. The thickness should be within 2cm. Battery should be flush with the bottom chassis, and provide up to 8 hours of power.

Keyboard keys are full sized and are chic-let style ala Sony or Asus or Apple. Touchpad should be large, smooth and support multitouch (again, Apple).

Accessory ports and connectivity such as USB3, SD card reader, Gigabit ethernet, Wireless N, Bluetooth, Audio/Mic ports, VGA/HDMI output (standard stuff actually).

An external wireless keyboard/mouse combo on my workplace, with the external HDD and BluRay disk. Possibly an external projector or 27″ LED S-IPS display such as Dell Ultrasharp or Apple LED Display.

I’m thinking the notebook would cost around RM5k, and the accessories another RM1k. But it’ll serve as an all-in-one workstation – capable of doing most work, portable, stylish, responsive and reliable. You have an external hard disk for more storage, mouse/keyboard for better control, DVDRW or BluRay drive if you need it.