Ultrabooks: Your Opinion?

[Ravynmagi]

My ideal "ultra book" must have the following...

Detachable screen.
Touch screen.
IPS panel.

Not a must, but highly desirable...

Passively cooled.

So as you can see, it's not so much an ultra book, but a hybrid I'm after I suppose.

 

[Red Storm]

My ideal "ultra book" must have the following...

Detachable screen.
Touch screen.
IPS panel.

Not a must, but highly desirable...

Passively cooled.

So as you can see, it's not so much an ultra book, but a hybrid I'm after I suppose.

I suspect the next round of Android Transformer tablets will do the job quite well, just have to hold off on the temptation to buy a current gen one.

 

[zoiks]

I have the current Air. There are a lot of great things about it and very few bad things if any. One thing that most people overlook is how fast it boots up. It also starts almost instantly from a suspended state. It's very fast (I also have 8gb of ram so that helps) and applications (Eclipse, chrome etc) run effortlessly. It's made my productivity go much higher as I use it in the train and at work. I also use it on my 30" monitor at home and it's a joy to use there.
One other thing that people don't talk about is how fast it charges up. It can fully charge in like 50min and I get a good 5 hours use out of it. Overall I'm a pretty happy user. In my other windows laptops (Lenovo, Dell), there were always something that I hated about them. The Air is basically a fresh breath of well..air.

 

[ponyo]

I have the current Air. There are a lot of great things about it and very few bad things if any. One thing that most people overlook is how fast it boots up. It also starts almost instantly from a suspended state. It's very fast (I also have 8gb of ram so that helps) and applications (Eclipse, chrome etc) run effortlessly. It's made my productivity go much higher as I use it in the train and at work. I also use it on my 30" monitor at home and it's a joy to use there.
One other thing that people don't talk about is how fast it charges up. It can fully charge in like 50min and I get a good 5 hours use out of it. Overall I'm a pretty happy user. In my other windows laptops (Lenovo, Dell), there were always something that I hated about them. The Air is basically a fresh breath of well..air.

You just described the Samsung Chromebook. For light user, Chromebook can do that at less than 1/4 the cost of Macbook Air.

 

[Red Storm]

You just described the Samsung Chromebook. For light user, Chromebook can do that at less than 1/4 the cost of Macbook Air.

Too bad I can't find it in stock anywhere.

 

[zoiks]

You just described the Samsung Chromebook. For light user, Chromebook can do that at less than 1/4 the cost of Macbook Air.

Can you use Eclipse on the Chromebook? Last I checked it wasn't possible. I do all my perl, python, java stuff on it.
I'd get the Chromebook but there are limitations.

Just saw that it only has 2gb of memory and a 16gb ssd. Won't work for me.

 

[poofyhairguy]

I want a faster Transformer, not another fan-dependent Windows machine.

Amen.

Give me a Transformer with an i3-level of power and a good Linux install and I am happy.

 

[ponyo]

Can you use Eclipse on the Chromebook? Last I checked it wasn't possible. I do all my perl, python, java stuff on it.
I'd get the Chromebook but there are limitations.

Just saw that it only has 2gb of memory and a 16gb ssd. Won't work for me.

You're not a light user. You need the Air. But for other light users Chromebook is a cheap new alternative. Optional 3G and complete passive cooling are bonus features missing from traditional laptops.

 

[buggers]

I want an ultrabook. but the price....

 

[I Saw OJ]

Picked up a Samsung series 9 13inch in September and havent had one complaint about it. i5, 4gigs of ram, 128gig SSD running windows 7 pro 64bit. Speed is great, battery life is 7+ hours while im at school doing homework and the screen is bright and crisp with a high resolution. I would pick another one up in a heartbeat.

 

[dagamer34]

I want an ultrabook. but the price....

You can get a high quality 13" Ultrabook with a 1080p screen for under $1000. How much were you expecting to pay, $500?

 

[lopri]

It's not for me. To be blunt, now that smartphones and tablets are here, I don't consider laptops at all. Because.. I drive. When I am home there is a computer. When I am at work there is a computer. So that leaves me with a couple hours (at most) and occasional trips (business or vacations) for mobile computing. It was hard to justify laptops to begin with because I so rarely needed them.

 

[Aikouka]

I'm pretty happy with my ASUS Zenbook UX31A. Although, I probably should have swapped my plans around. I was going to wait for Haswell to buy a new gaming notebook, but I should probably have bought that now, and waited on Haswell for an ultrabook. :hmm:

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

I just got the Asus UX32VD

Immediately upgraded the 500GB SSD to a 256GB SSD. Love that I can do this.

Also can upgrade the RAM to 10GB (2GB on board and an 8GB stick).

1920x1080p IPS display.

GREAT speakers.

Backlit keyboard.

Core i7. 620M GT.

Not a touchscreen or convertible to a tablet though. But I'm happy for what it has.

Cons: bottom aluminum sheet metal is REALLY thin. The touchpad is located in an absolutely retarded place and requires you to turn it completely off or else your palm/thumb portion will be moving the cursor and tapping all over the place while you type. Plus the Synaptics software won't install even though it's a Synaptics touchpad "Synaptics device not found!" "Uhhhh... I'm staring right *at* it..."

 

[you2]

Isn't the asus zen screens nicer than the samsung series 9 ? I might be mistaken but i thought the series 9 was kind of washed out with poor viewing angle ? I want to pick one of these up in the next year (but will run linux).

 

[swanysto]

I just got the Asus UX32VD

Immediately upgraded the 500GB SSD to a 256GB SSD. Love that I can do this.

Also can upgrade the RAM to 10GB (2GB on board and an 8GB stick).

1920x1080p IPS display.

GREAT speakers.

Backlit keyboard.

Core i7. 620M GT.

Not a touchscreen or convertible to a tablet though. But I'm happy for what it has.

Cons: bottom aluminum sheet metal is REALLY thin. The touchpad is located in an absolutely retarded place and requires you to turn it completely off or else your palm/thumb portion will be moving the cursor and tapping all over the place while you type. Plus the Synaptics software won't install even though it's a Synaptics touchpad "Synaptics device not found!" "Uhhhh... I'm staring right *at* it..."

Wow that is sick laptop for that price. I wish I had that budget when I was getting my laptop.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Isn't the asus zen screens nicer than the samsung series 9 ? I might be mistaken but i thought the series 9 was kind of washed out with poor viewing angle ? I want to pick one of these up in the next year (but will run linux).

The Zenbook IPS screen is, well, accurate. Not too saturated. Not too washed out. Just right for photo work. The viewing angles are great. Not sure what to say about it - IMO the look of an IPS is a minimum that all screens should have.

I haven't seen the screen on a Samsung 9 but the overall specs like the 1080p screen and ability to upgrade RAM and HDD drove me to the Asus.
i wouldn't even consider an ultrabook where the RAM or SSD are soldered in, so that funneled me to only the Asus.

Wow that is sick laptop for that price. I wish I had that budget when I was getting my laptop.

I got mine for $1300 I believe. I've only had it for a couple days but so far I feel it's going to be worth it. I travel a lot and lugging around a 15" Sony was a pain, although having a number pad is nice as well as a CD-ROM bay that I converted into a second hard drive.

I only wish the Zenbook had Thunderbolt (for attaching an external graphics card to run games) and an extra RAM slot so I can install an even 16GB RAM instead of 10GB.

 

[dagamer34]

The Zenbook IPS screen is, well, accurate. Not too saturated. Not too washed out. Just right for photo work. The viewing angles are great. Not sure what to say about it - IMO the look of an IPS is a minimum that all screens should have.

I haven't seen the screen on a Samsung 9 but the overall specs like the 1080p screen and ability to upgrade RAM and HDD drove me to the Asus.
i wouldn't even consider an ultrabook where the RAM or SSD are soldered in, so that funneled me to only the Asus.






I got mine for $1300 I believe. I've only had it for a couple days but so far I feel it's going to be worth it. I travel a lot and lugging around a 15" Sony was a pain, although having a number pad is nice as well as a CD-ROM bay that I converted into a second hard drive.

I only wish the Zenbook had Thunderbolt (for attaching an external graphics card to run games) and an extra RAM slot so I can install an even 16GB RAM instead of 10GB.

Buy the time the Thunderbolt external GPU dream is finally realized, you'll probably have a new laptop.

 

[zerogear]

The closest laptop that was perfect for me was UX32VD, hopefully they will have one with touchscreen.

 

[TuxDave]

You're not a light user. You need the Air. But for other light users Chromebook is a cheap new alternative. Optional 3G and complete passive cooling are bonus features missing from traditional laptops.

My impression from the reviews of the latest Samsung Chromebook is that it's not FAST. It's acceptable but noticeably slower. I would say the Chromebook vs Air is definitely one of those "you get what you pay for".

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6422/samsung-chromebook-xe303-review-testing-arms-cortex-a15

Technically the Chromebook can do a lot, but for anything other than browsing, YouTube and Google docs use I wouldn't get my hopes up. The heavier apps just don't run smoothly on the platform. Even web browsing isn't what I'd consider fast, but it's still acceptable. To put things in perspective, I got a performance warning trying to play Cut the Rope on the new Chromebook. Stability can also be a problem. Try to deviate too much from normal web browsing and you'll be greeted with long pauses and even system locks. For example, while testing WebGL performance on the new Chromebook I had to power cycle the machine after the browser became unresponsive. Normal web browsing is fine though.

 

[swanysto]

I got mine for $1300 I believe. I've only had it for a couple days but so far I feel it's going to be worth it. I travel a lot and lugging around a 15" Sony was a pain, although having a number pad is nice as well as a CD-ROM bay that I converted into a second hard drive.

I only wish the Zenbook had Thunderbolt (for attaching an external graphics card to run games) and an extra RAM slot so I can install an even 16GB RAM instead of 10GB.

The card that comes with it isn't very good? I have a 550m in my laptop and it exceeded my expectations for laptop performance. I have to play stuff at medium settings, but everything I seem to play doesn't make me wanna throw my mouse across the room.

 

[you2]

What is the battery life like on the UX32VD?

 

[Munky]

Windows 8 and MS Surface are setting a fire under OEM's butts, so it would seem. I was checking out the MS Surface Pro, and realized that there are already similar tablet/laptop hybrids from other makers like Dell and Sony. I consider these more innovative than anything Apple has done, because they are full-fledged computers in a tablet form, and not oversized phones.

 

[IntelUser2000]

So as you can see the newer ultrabooks are pretty much the same as the old ultrabooks but with a faster chip inside.

3rd generation ultrabooks
Shark Bay platfoorm will be using intels 4th generation core processors (nicknamed haswell)
9 hour battery life
"Responsive Voice Commands"
720p Camera
Wireless Display
2x2 wirless attenna thus you are guaranteed 300mbps if using wifi n
Having the ability to go to sleep yet still accept push/pull data to be always up to date.

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I like the original guidelines for they were designed to encourage thin, yet good battery life, and responsive with some ssd. They were also flexible enough that oems could make a profit and also allow the device to be be cheaper than apple by having some flexiblity with hybrid drives. Unfortunately in my opinion while these guidelines help created a new "category" of laptop they didn't cause people to buy the device. The reason they failed to do so is

• The ultrabooks are too expensive, yet in the end they were just like normal laptops, just thinner and sometimes light (but not always lighter).
• They didn't have any form of "wow" to sell them. In the end they were just thinner / lighter.

I believe the second generation ultrabook definition was a failure for in the end it was the same guidelines as the previous generation but now it is a little bit faster.

There's actually an in-between one nicknamed "Gen 2.5". That's the touchscreen and convertibles. See, that starts to make more sense. The one I have is a Convertible Ultrabook, and waited specifically until now to get one. Because, really, the first two generation don't have a clear differentiating factor.

XPS 12: http://www.dell.com/ca/p/xps-12-l221x/pd

Chose it because it has an awesome keyboard almost on par with my desktop one and the switching mechanism is very solid.

What I think would drive sales:

Convertible device, say the XPS 12
-Few mm thinner
-Bring the weight from 1.5kg to <=1kg
-SSD caching to save space, but use 64GB SSD + 500GB HDD. An option to use it as cached, or pure SSD. Maybe a 3rd option to do 32GB for installation and 32GB for caching purposes
-<=$899

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

The card that comes with it isn't very good? I have a 550m in my laptop and it exceeded my expectations for laptop performance. I have to play stuff at medium settings, but everything I seem to play doesn't make me wanna throw my mouse across the room.

I haven't tried out the card, honestly. But what I'm looking for is a card that can run games at 1920x1080, which I'm going to guess isn't going to be possible, even on the lowest lowest settings. I have gaming on a lower resolution because the non-native res just makes things blurry as hell.

Thunderbolt would alleviate the issue and truly make an ultra book into a viable desktop replacement, but like mentioned, that will either not happen or it will take a long long time. Thunderbolt just isn't being adopted worth a damn and the MSI thunderbolt e-gpu thing seems to have disappeared off of the face of the earth.

What is the battery life like on the UX32VD?

Haven't tested it. So far at least 4 hours though.