When do you think we'll see a laptop along these lines? (15.6 4thG SSD, no optical)

Infohawk

Lifer
Jan 12, 2002
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I'm hoping for a 15.6–inch Haswell laptop with a high-resolution touchscreen, a 256 SSD and that is generally light as possible for the components (no optical drive and marketed as an ultrabook). So far all I'm seeing is 13.3-inch ultrabooks and larger Haswell laptops with traditional HDDs.

Is it a matter of time before what I'm looking for comes out? Or is there a reason it's not feasible? I understand the price might be high, but I'd be willing to go close to $2,000.
 

GusSmed

Senior member
Feb 11, 2003
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It's feasible, it's just that there market for it is very small. The people who are buying lightweight laptops are looking at weight as their #1 criteria. If you sell two lightweight laptops, both with the same important features (touchscreen, 1600 x 900 resolution or better, SSD), the one with the smaller screen will be lighter. So they buy the 13" or 14" model, and your sales of 15" models are poor.

I'm looking for the same thing, though I've decided I want at least a middle-of-the-road GPU as well. My choices are all 13" or 14". Well, not Haswell yet, they're all Ivy Bridge, but there are 14" laptops with GPU / Touchscreen / SSD / 1600x900 that weigh ~4.4 pounds (Sony Fit 14), and the lightest 15" laptop with the same requirements is 6 pounds even (Asus n550JV).

6 pounds is a lot if you're really traveling with it, rather than just putting it in your suitcase. I can't quite bring myself to gain 1.5 more pounds for the better performance and screen size. Heck, I wish someone made a Vaio Pro 13-class (2.3 pounds!) with a GPU.
 

Infohawk

Lifer
Jan 12, 2002
17,844
1
0
It's feasible, it's just that there market for it is very small. The people who are buying lightweight laptops are looking at weight as their #1 criteria. If you sell two lightweight laptops, both with the same important features (touchscreen, 1600 x 900 resolution or better, SSD), the one with the smaller screen will be lighter. So they buy the 13" or 14" model, and your sales of 15" models are poor.

I'm looking for the same thing, though I've decided I want at least a middle-of-the-road GPU as well. My choices are all 13" or 14". Well, not Haswell yet, they're all Ivy Bridge, but there are 14" laptops with GPU / Touchscreen / SSD / 1600x900 that weigh ~4.4 pounds (Sony Fit 14), and the lightest 15" laptop with the same requirements is 6 pounds even (Asus n550JV).

6 pounds is a lot if you're really traveling with it, rather than just putting it in your suitcase. I can't quite bring myself to gain 1.5 more pounds for the better performance and screen size. Heck, I wish someone made a Vaio Pro 13-class (2.3 pounds!) with a GPU.

Yeah, I can see how people would probably go for something smaller if they're looking for something light. I would be sticking with 13.3 if I didn't need a larger screen for work. I didn't mention it but I probably want a mid-range GPU too. I am still hopeful we'll see something though because all this exists with pre-Haswell processors and without SSDs.

I wonder if it would be a good idea to go with a 13.3 or 14 and use an external monitor when needed... but it would still need a video card.
 

GusSmed

Senior member
Feb 11, 2003
403
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81
There isn't that much overlap if you care about gaming. Most touch screen models don't have GPUs. Most laptops with GPUs don't have touch screens. The Razer Blade 14, for example, is lightweight and has a good GPU, but no touch screen.

There are some which fit the bill, but which still have that crappy 1366 x 768 resolution. The Gigabyte U24T for example is 3.8lbs, touch screen, GeForce GT 750M, but I've found that some work requires more than 768 pixels vertically, so I'm not considering it.

Here are the ones I've seen. Some I've mentioned before. All have touch screens and GPUs, at least 1600 x 900, and there's some way to get a 256 GB SSD into it (though that may requires upgrading it yourself). All are 6lbs are less. None are less than 4lbs.

Sony Fit 14. 4.2 lbs, 3rd gen CPU, 1600 x 900, GeForce GT 735M (2GB), 256 GB SSD, 8GB memory, optical drive. $1150 as configured. My second choice if the Acer V7 fails to materialize.

Asus n550JV. 15.6", 5.9 lbs, Haswell CPU, 1920 x 1080, GeForce GT 750M (2GB), 256 GB SSD, 8 GB memory, optical drive. Most places don't have it with a SSD, but you can get it configured that way from XoticPC. $1255 as configured.

Acer Aspire V7. 14", 4.4 lbs, Haswell CPU, 1920 x 1080, GeForce GT 750M, 256 GB SSD. However, this is somewhat hypothetical, since only "first look" articles talk about these specs. Actual units for sale are earlier versions with 3rd generation CPU and 1366 x 768 display, or lack the SSD. This is what I want if/when it comes out. August maybe?

Samsung Ativ book 8. 15", 5.6lbs, 3rd generation CPU, 1920 x 1080, Radeon 8770M. Impossible to buy with a SSD, so you'd have to add about $180 and do that yourself. There's some discussion of the SSD upgrade at the NoteBookReview forums. I'm not sure if it's a 7mm or 9mm space, but lots of people have done it. Price is $1200, so $1400 if yo include the SSD upgrade.

Lenovoa IdeaPad U430. 14", 4.2lbs, Haswell CPU, 1920 x 1080, GeForce GT 730M, 256 GB SSD. Not yet released, "3rd quarter."