I'm not quite sure where to put this, so here goes. If this is the wrong forum, I'm sorry.

What's the smallest / lightest laptop running Windows, with an internal CD or DVD burner? I do NOT want a Vista machine, and changing the OS & finding drivers can be hell, so I would prefer something that ships (shipped) native with either Win7 or WinXP.

Thanks in advance for any helpful info or comments.

I recently bought Asus Zenbook Prime 13". It's very light with IPS 1920x1080 full HD display. However, just like most ultrabook, it doesn't have CD/DVD drive. It doesn't bother me. I bought an external USB CD/DVD burner for less than $30 at newegg.com.

Otherwise, I can think of Sony VIAO T series is light weight with optical drive. I don't think you can find any laptop out there with Vista anymore. It will be either Win 7 or 8.

Thanks for the quick reply.

I presently have a small Dell, along with the external optical drive. But I'd rather have a slightly larger machine with the optical drive internal, it would be much more convenient for field work.

I definitely do *not* want Vista. The reason I mentioned XP as an option is that I would be willing to look for a used machine (eBay or wherever) if for some reason an older XP machine is a good solution.

I haven't explored the VAIO line... I'll take your advice and start checking specs on those.

Thanks again.

Panasonic has a series called Toughbook. They are made for field work purpose. I don't think they sell it in the US. You can find them at Dynamism.com. But they are expensive :)

My favorite brand is the IBM/Lenovo. They are made for business, solid quality for the price.

See this one for example, 12.5" diagonal Lenovo ThinkPad X230 2320-HMU 12.5" Notebook 2320HMU B&H .

My pet peeve with Thinkpad series is they still insist to have the Fn key on the bottom left, left to the Ctrl key. :/

Are you sure? I just purchased an Ideapad and the bottom left key is CTRL.

See Lenovo Ideapad Yoga 33.78 cm Convertible Ultrabook: Amazon.de: Computer & Zubehör (http://www.amazon.de/Lenovo-Ideapad-Convertible-Ultrabook-Windows/dp/B00AU2T9V4)

ThinkPad.. not IdeaPad.

If you want light, buy an external burner. I'm VERY happy with my 11" Macbook Air running Windows 7 on Bootcamp.

A 14"+ ultrabook (Asus being my brand of choice) should have an optical drive. Some of the Vivobooks have optical drives to be a little more specific.