Time has come for a new laptop/ultrabook

Alanstrainor

I've just started final year of my computing degree, and I just can't put it off any longer. I need a new laptop.

Portability is my main concern, which has me looking at ultrabooks, and laptops which are on the small/slim side. My only concern, is if I go for something too small it will wreck my head having to develop applications, and do a lot of research and write ups on the go, or in college.

So budget, is 8/900, preferably less.
Want more than 4GB of RAM, and am wary of systems with RAM soldered to the Mobo.
Would prefer a fully fledged SSD over a hybrid disk, but I'm not completely against hybrid disks.
Want as much processing power as possible, so i7 3rd gen, but realise my budget is not working in my favour in that respect.

Levovo U410

The above tickled my fancy when looking around last night, it just so happened I got to take a look at a friends one today, and was quite impressed with the build quality. Only cons, are it's a bit on the heavy side. I know some would argue it's not really an ultrabook, but it does have a full size ethernet, and hdmi and SD slot.

Any ideas!?!:D

Torqay

Well, you're right, it's not an Ultrabook in my my books. First thing I'd do with it, rip out the HDD and mSATA flash card and replace it with a proper SSD. The hybrid solution only affects the write speed (the addon card serves as cache for the platter HDD) and hibernation. The battery has to provide for two storage devices. Using an SSD in a laptops is not only about speed but also about robustness, why would I want a platter HDD in a laptop, ultra or otherwise?

And then there is the GT 610M. What is the point of this GPU??? Yes, it's dedicated graphics but in reality it is poorer than the HD 4000 IGP and drains more power when in use.

Since Ultrabooks are all about mobility these cheapos really don't fit the bill. People read SSD and Nvidia and think "Whoa" while they're only falling for a marketing spin. You're about to spend a lot of money, do yourself a favour and go for the real deal.

Alanstrainor

Right, so any suggestions? Wouldn't be completely against a 13.3" machine wither. Graphics is not something that is important to me at all. This machine will be used for Windows Phone development and research.

Torqay

Have a look at the ASUS U36SG. Available at laptopsdirect for 769 yoyos

Only a 2nd gen Core i5 2450M, however, since it's not of the ULV variant the processing power is not too far off the mark compared to the i7-3517U, and yet the battery life is still very good, up to 10 hrs.

The memory is not soldered, 2 slots allowing for max 8 GB RAM.

Memory upgrade and a real 128GB SSD should be just about within your €900 budget.

And there is that GT 610M again... why, oh why?

Alanstrainor

Actually have a 120GB SSD sitting on my desk, so could always use that.

I've bought the above laptops for a few people in work, and tbh I was never that impressed by them. I wouldn't buy one myself. Never found them to be particularly quick and didn't like the build quality. Although it's lighter than the u410, and obviously smaller, it doesn't seem as well built.

Jarren

a word of advice.

In order to get you best possible deal you would have to make a trip your local HV/Pc World/Currys to check all lappys/Ultrabooks personally.
Only that way you'd know what you really want from an ultrabook.
Give us a model/brand name and we will find you the best possibly deal online

Torqay

Right, there's always a Lenovo ThinkPad, they're built like a tank.

ThinkPad Edge 330 for 784 yoyos at laptopsdirect.

The Core i5 3210M is just as fast as as the ULV Core i7, RAM is expandable (2 slots, 8 GB max) and best of all, no GT 610M!

Alanstrainor

I also feel like this could be pretty retarded seeing that Win8 will be out in October, I can imagine a lot of these machines having a drop in price when that does happen. I currently have a dell d420, which is just very slow, it might do me another month I guess.

What do you guys think, can you see a drop in price when Windows 8 hits the market?

Torqay

Alanstrainor wrote: »

I also feel like this could be pretty retarded seeing that Win8 will be out in October.

What do you guys think, can you see a drop in price when Windows 8 hits the market?

Since you intend to use it professionally, why would you want to wait for Windows 8? New MS operating systems are riddled with bugs (decreasing the release interval certainly doesn't do much good in a way of changing this). I'd rather have a matured and reliable system than playing guinea pig for Microsoft, especially since Windows 8 it not just an evolution, an entirely new shell will be introduced.

And I doubt there will be a price drop for Windows 7 OEM computers. The hardware is still the same, and usually a free upgrade is offered for those who buy now.

Alanstrainor

Torqay wrote: »

Since you intend to use it professionally, why would you want to wait for Windows 8? New MS operating systems are riddled with bugs (decreasing the release interval certainly doesn't do much good in a way of changing this). I'd rather have a matured and reliable system than playing guinea pig for Microsoft, especially since Windows 8 it not just an evolution, an entirely new shell will be introduced.

And I doubt there will be a price drop for Windows 7 OEM computers. The hardware is still the same, and usually a free upgrade is offered for those who buy now.

Cool, of course, I'm not worried about missing the boat on Win8, I'll get licenses for free regardless, was just thinking that there might be reductions.

Asus Zenbook UX32

Just came across the above, which I can get for 700 on the dot(ex.VAT from my supplier). Again this has a hard disk drive, with hybrid drive. But this can be swapped out with that SSD I have laying about if I really wanted it.

From reading reviews, they seem pretty positive, still very slim, and pretty true to the original ultrabook philosophy. Really like the look of it. And the battery life is supposed to be up in the 7+ hours range which is very impressive. If I swapped out the Drive for an SSD that would undoubtedly improve also.

Of course I need to decide on the screen size issue, but I am coming from a 12.1 so maybe it's not as big a deal as I'm making it seem.

Torqay

Pro: Memory can be upgraded, 2 GB soldered, 1 slot which can take either 2 (stock), 4 or 8 GB.

Looks (although it doesn't inspire the robustness of the E330).

Con: the ULV processor (since you "want as much processing power as possible").

Alanstrainor

Torqay wrote: »

Pro: Memory can be upgraded, 2 GB soldered, 1 slot which can take either 2 (stock), 4 or 8 GB.

Looks (although it doesn't inspire the robustness of the E330).

Con: the ULV processor (since you "want as much processing power as possible").

Cheers, I'll have to weigh up just how much processing power I will need, I suspect I was being a bit over dramatic with wanting "as much processing power as possible"!

I'm going to pop out to PC World tomorrow and see if they have any of the Asus machines on display, to hopefully get an idea of size/weight and see if I like them. For 700, i'd be tempted. That's the ex.VAT price in case anyone is wondering.

Alanstrainor

Ordered the Asus, saw one in PC World and I was pretty impressed, and decided I needed one pretty urgently so just took the plunge. I'll see how quick the hybrid drive is in it, and if it's not quite up there I'll pop in my SSD. Cheers lads, and I'll post up a first impressions thread when I get it.

Alanstrainor

Machine arrived. It's a very slick piece of hardware. Very apple esque in design.

Was disappointed with the omissions in the box however. There was no protective sleeve for the laptop, which I saw on the Asus site. There was no adapter for ethernet, really can't understand the logic there, it's needless penny pinching imo. (Although I have on in the house, so it should be grand enough.)

As for the machine, like I said, it's a sexy piece of kit, would make your Jaw drop when comparing it to your typical cheap laptop. It's heavier than I expected for a laptop of this size. It feels sturdy, but you definitely notice the weight in your bag.

Keyboard is quite nice, this is only a first impression, probably not fair to make a definite comment on it just yet, but so far so good.

Screen is grand, nothing to shout home about, but not a bad point either. It does the job, it's sufficiently bright and clear.

The system boots quickly from a cold boot. Quicker than expected, but not as quick as an SSD, which is to be expected. But tbh, it only took 20 seconds or (although I didn't actually get the stopwatch out).

The sound from the on board speakers is very impressive for a machine of this size. Although that being said, my last laptop Dell D420, had a mono speaker that any phone in the last 5 years would annihilate, so maybe my standards are low!

I'll write up a proper review in a week or so, but first impressions are very good.

Once again, thanks lads, really appreciate the help.

Alan

Media999

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Machine arrived. It's a very slick piece of hardware. Very apple esque in design.

Was disappointed with the omissions in the box however. There was no protective sleeve for the laptop, which I saw on the Asus site. There was no adapter for ethernet, really can't understand the logic there, it's needless penny pinching imo. (Although I have on in the house, so it should be grand enough.)

As for the machine, like I said, it's a sexy piece of kit, would make your Jaw drop when comparing it to your typical cheap laptop. It's heavier than I expected for a laptop of this size. It feels sturdy, but you definitely notice the weight in your bag.

Keyboard is quite nice, this is only a first impression, probably not fair to make a definite comment on it just yet, but so far so good.

Screen is grand, nothing to shout home about, but not a bad point either. It does the job, it's sufficiently bright and clear.

The system boots quickly from a cold boot. Quicker than expected, but not as quick as an SSD, which is to be expected. But tbh, it only took 20 seconds or (although I didn't actually get the stopwatch out).

The sound from the on board speakers is very impressive for a machine of this size. Although that being said, my last laptop Dell D420, had a mono speaker that any phone in the last 5 years would annihilate, so maybe my standards are low!

I'll write up a proper review in a week or so, but first impressions are very good.

Once again, thanks lads, really appreciate the help.

Alan

Would you prefer one of these over a powerful laptop of the same price. Perfect laptop for me would be an ultrabook thats good with Graphics but not easy to find. In fact havent found one at all.

I want a smallish laptop with an i5/i7 and good graphics for around 1000.

Torqay

Media999 wrote: »

Perfect laptop for me would be an ultrabook thats good with Graphics but not easy to find. In fact havent found one at all.

Then you haven't seen the ridiculously expensive SONY Vaio Z yet.

With the (external) HD 6650 it costs what? Like two and a half grand?

Alanstrainor

I suppose it depends what you want to do with it. So far the core i5 with integrated graphics seems very snappy indeed to me. But if you're gaming, encoding video or anything else graphics card intensive an ultrabook probably isn't the best route to go down.

I forgot to bring my charger home with me:o

I figure I've gotten 5 hours out of it, with around 25% left. Very impressed. All of that was spent browsing the net, at 2nd lowest brightness, with some application installs thrown in. It'll take me ages to get it all setup!

I probably should have done a fresh install with Windows 7 Pro, instead of Home Premium too...ah well, not arsed, and I'm not on any domains so it's grand for now.

Media999

I think ill be going for this one. Not an Ultrabook but looks good and performs well. 3 Year warranty is only 50 aswell so ill be covered till i finish college.

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Samsung_CHRONOS_700z_1217865.html

deisedevil

Oops, posted wrong place, ignore.