Ten Windows 8 Ultrabooks

Stop anyone on the street and ask them for a definition of the term ‘Ultrabook’ and I suspect they will look at you with utter incomprehension. Hardly surprising, since Intel’s effort to create a popular brand for thin’n’light notebooks hasn’t really been a roaring success. To me, the Ultrabook is the logical evolution of the …

[Anonymous Coward]

> The new Ford Fiesta is more economical, more spacious, more comfortable and better equipped than previous models, but that doesn’t make it an ultrahatchback.

It does if you price it at £20K. For that money I would want "ultra" performance and comfort. Or more likely decide I'd prefer the perfectly good older Fiesta at £10K.

[Anonymous Coward]

Fiesta?

But then the Fiesta has gotten a bit bloated - the latest model is mk1 Focus sized, the Ka could be thought of as a spiritual Fiesta (though the mk2 doesn't seem to be a huge seller).

Ultrabooks would be the size of desktop computers if they followed the car analogy, and people who once bought family desktops would now be buying sports utility minicomputers with bullbars for their offspring to do their homework on.

[Anonymous Coward]

Are there?

Are there still people who buy into this 'ultra book' fantasy?

Or have they been drugged?

I thought they were wiseing up to this myth.

[tabman]

Re: Are there?

Hi AC, I own a Sony VAIO which I use for Uni as a postgrad MBA student. It runs win 8, has a touchscreen, full enterprise ms office courtesy of a work deal - £15). Start menu replace men installed with no fuss.

The machine fits in a document folder, battery lasts about 7 hours and it starts up in under 10 seconds. the cost was £600.

its not my daily machine but it is bloody good at what it does. So yes, I bought into the ultra book fantasy and I am glad I did.

[Chairo]

@tabman

its not my daily machine but it is bloody good at what it does. So yes, I bought into the ultra book fantasy and I am glad I did.

Good for you. For the rest of us - we are not students and have to work for our money, so no, we prefer something mundane with a good price/performance ratio to get the maximum use out of our bucks.

Ultra books unfortunately suck on that scale.

<- Paris - she doesn't come cheap either...

[Anonymous Coward]

The true parent of the Ultrabook

Are the MacBooks, especially the Air.

And you can run Windows 7 on all of them using parallels or boot camp.

Granted it can't run Win 8 yet, but who wants that anyway?

[Daniel B.]

Re: The true parent of the Ultrabook

You can run Win8 con 'em now, thanks to the 10.8.3 update. But why would I want to inflict Win8 unto my MBP? I actually switched to Mac *because* of Win8!!!!!

[Inventor of the Marmite Laser]

"The new Ford Fiesta is more economical, more spacious" etc.

Which is about as far as the analogy goes. The new Ford Fiesta comes with a round steering wheel, not a square one. The steering wheel is mounted in front of the driver, not attached to the parcel shelf. You do not have to prod the bottom left corner of the windshield to make the instruments appear and you don't have to go to Halfords for an accessory package to change everything back to how the old Fiesta was made

Any of these laptops would be a delight with an operating system UI that wasn't the result of an intellectually challenged marketing droids wet dream.

[Anonymous Coward]

Sexy and Windows 8

Sorry, not compatible....

[Aberdeen Angus]

Beware the Yoga...

The Lenovo Yoga is a brilliant device but it's unusable due to a really crappy WiFi adapter/installation. A Google search of "Lenovo Yoga WiFi problems" will tell you all you need to know.

Oh, and the fan never stops.

Took mine back.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Beware the Yoga...

Errr, yeah.....am calling Aberdeen Angus excrement on that post. You could not afford one in the first place.....

[Aberdeen Angus]

Re: Beware the Yoga...

Oh yes, sorry. I didn't buy one, I didn't find it unusable and I didn't return it.

Oops!

Thanks for putting me right, you anonymous seer you.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Beware the Yoga...

Doesn't surprise me, the Thinkpad line has gone downhill since IBM got rid of their PC manufacture branch.

I'm on my 3rd T410 thanks to fan issues.

[Christopher Rogers]

Got the s200 and its perfect for the money. Yes the screen isn't the best and fan is louder than i'd like, but considering its half the price of the others and still very capable, value alone makes it the best machine.

[Ad@m]

I've got one and it's great, flashing the BIOS to the latest version quietens the fan significantly.

[Christopher Rogers]

Really? Excellent, i think i'll get on to that now. I also slapped in a SSD which is nice.

[Anonymous Coward]

had a 5 min play with an s200 on display at PCW and it made me think that with a touchscreen win8 may almost start to make sense. That said ... just bought a laptop for my son and was very pleased to find someone still selling win7 ones.

[Anonymous Coward]

"with a touchscreen win8 may almost start to make sense"

Yes, until you need to use some traditional specialist desktop software (the main reason for considering Windows really) and the fscking thing keeps jumping to the Metro screen or store for no obvious reason :(

[tabman]

Re: "with a touchscreen win8 may almost start to make sense"

Really? Just install a start menu replacement or is that to hard?

[Dapprman]

I might have to revist the S200

I tried oen in PCW and liked it but was put off by the low hardware spec as I will be wanting to process photos on it ( though it did cross my mind that my present travel laptop is 6-7 year old technology and so probably much slower).

[Ad@m]

Re: I might have to revist the S200

Don't by the model sold by PCW, it's only got the lowly pentium processor, you can pick up one with an i3 for only a few quid more elsewhere.

[druck]

S200E not an utlrabook

The S200E isn't an ultrabook, it has a shiny metal keyboard deck, it's thin and light with a good battery life, but it leaves out the most important feature that Intel requires for it to be called an ultrabook - being hideously overpriced. I have an S200E and it does everything I want of a small laptop, I wouldn't buy some of the grand plus machines even if you gave me the money.

[Longrod_von_Hugendong]

Wrong title...

Why didnt you call it '10 MacBook Air rip off / copies' Would be great to see some truth in Journalism.

Fail because you need to invent things - not just copy apple.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Wrong title...

I think you'd be very hard pressed to describe the hybrids as macbook air copies, since they do stuff that the macbook air doesn't.

If I had the cash handy, I'd jump at a dell xps, and I say that as a macbook pro and ipad owner.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Wrong title...

By that logic you might as well claim a machine that copies the MBA design but is running Windows or Linux isn't a copy since they do things the OSX doesn't.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Wrong title...

never realized that the macbook air had a screen that either rotated in its bezel or bent back on itself ... if you've got a macbook air then could I borrow it and check that the screen does bend in these ways!

[Efros]

Too expensive

I'm not spending that sort of dosh for something that is 'sexy', give me performance and value and I'll think about it. MY 5 year old lenovo Y550 (cost ₤450 with about ₤100 in upgrades spent on it since) is more than adequate for my mobile needs and will continue to be so until something not easily replaced on it dies. When it does die I will not be looking at ₤1000 replacements.

[JDX]

Re: Too expensive

Then you can continue to buy 4Kg 2" thick laptops that meet your needs.

[Efros]

Re: Too expensive

Actually closer to 2.5 Kg, and about 1.5" thick, besides my use of my laptop is not on the move. It is invariably on the couch or at my desk, lugging the thing to work is not that big a deal as it fits snugly into my rather large briefcase anyway. Meeting my needs is what I do at the minimum expenditure, these "Ultrabooks" don't do that for me. And in answer to Eadon I wouldn't give Apple so much as a sou of my hard earned cash for their slant on overpriced kit with underwhelming performance.

[JDX]

Re: Too expensive

Yes I wasn't being sarcastic... if you are happy with cheap bulky laptops then good for you but there's no need to tell the world you don't like slimline versions. I would rather spend £500 than £1500 myself but so what, both are available.

[Code Monkey]

Fiestas and marketing wonks

If you're looking for a review of the new Fiesta on [well known car review magazine site], it's listed under the "Supermini" category, which is close.

Bastard marketing wonks.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Fiestas and marketing wonks

Superminis, which are now as large / larger than C segment family hatchbacks of a couple of generations ago?

[Mr Spock]

I wanted to write a review, but I can't - I've strained my right arm trying to use a touchscreen on a non-horizontal surface.

[Anonymous Coward]

>I wanted to write a review, but I can't - I've strained my right arm trying to use a touchscreen on a non-horizontal surface.

Right arm strain eh? Can happen after hours on the internet.... This occurred before trying to write the review?

[HereWeGoAgain]

Quite so.

The touch screen works well when it is rested on a lap. At arm's length, it does not.

I think HP had a 24 inch touch screen. Great if I want to wear out my arm, otherwise completely pointless.

[Elmer Phud]

Re: Quite so.

I replied without lifting my elbows off the desk, to be able to lazily prod without the unpleasant long-distance prod is possible.

As is holding a mug of tea and prodding with a spare digit.

[Buzzword]

Still only 4GB ?!

What's with laptop makers only providing 4 GB of memory in this day and age? Many of them don't even offer an upgrade option. 4 was standard some years ago; I'd expect at least 8 today, even in a laptop.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Still only 4GB ?!

to be precise, 4GB was what I got on a lenovo N500 budget laptop, 400 quid, about 4 years ago. Actually, 2007, make it over five years ago.

...

and it's still going strong and I've successfully beaten off my wife's suggestions, that we "need" a new laptop ;)

[JDX]

Re: Still only 4GB ?!

Maybe because you still only need 4Gb for a well-performing system for most peoples' uses.

I was more surprised none of these are higher than HD-res though, after Apple & Google upped the stakes in that department.

[dajames]

SSD is a problem

Don't get me wrong: SSDs are great, but expensive.

The Intel definition of an "Ultrabook" specifies SSD rather than spinning rust. That means that any Ultrabook will be limited in storage or have a high-end price. That doesn't make ultrabooks bad, but does limit their mass-market appeal.

Personally, I'd love a lighter laptop, but I'd pick 1TB of spinning rust over a similarly priced 128GB SSD any day. For me, the whole point of having a mobile PC is that I can store everything I need and everything I might need on it, and not find that work (or play) stops when I haven't got an internet connection (or the internet connection is too slow and/or too expensive).

Desktop PCs, on the other hand, can be useful with relatively small disks because they're always going to be a connected to a server.

The whole "Ultrabook" concept seems wrong. It's just an overpriced sexed-up netbook, but it should be a lightweight laptop replacement.

[JDX]

Re: SSD is a problem

Laptops seem the ideal place for hybrid drives, which appear to work wonderfully well.

[Steve78]

MacBook Air (11" or 13") absolutely batters this list of sorry looking machines. Yeah, they aren't cheap but you get what you pay for.

Obviously this site is full of Apple hating folk so they will immediately dismiss the Air.

[1Rafayal]

What does this article have to do with the Mac Book Air exactly?

So there are a couple of posts here talking about the Air.

What does the Air have to do with a Windows 8 device round up exactly?

Yes, they look very similar etc etc, but this is a Windows 8 article.

If this were a 10" ultra portable product round up, then there would be cause for its inclusion, I am sure.

[nigel 15]

Ugly

God them think pads may have perfect ergonomics. But they is ugly. Always have been always will be.

[Will Godfrey]

Re: Ugly

I'd much rather have something ugly that does what I want and reliably over a long time, than something pretty that fails in 6 months. You can pay for quality or looks.

[Ru]

No battery life listed?

I'd say that's a pretty important property of a laptop. I ignored a broad swathe of the last generation of 'ultrabooks', because their batteries were only good for a short commute.

screen makes do with a resolution of only 1366 x 768, though on a panel this size that’s arguably all you need or want

No. No no no no no. You do us a disservice by repeating such things. Have we not expressed our dissatisfaction with the state of laptop screens enough by now?

I'm hoping that Google's new Chromebook Pixel will herald a new batch of small laptops with rather more sensible resolutions and aspect ratios. Now if only they'd give us a non-glossy screen and slice a few hundred quid off the price, none of these other offering would get a look in...

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: No battery life listed?

Screen resolution of 1080 lines should be the absolute minimum these days!

Can't up-vote 'Ru' enough on both the screen and battery life information.

[Brenda McViking]

Re: No battery life listed?

The "Ultrabook" as defined by Intel, must have a battery life of at least 5 hours for the previous 2 platforms (Huron River and Chief River). The next platform (due mid-2013), Shark Bay, must have at least 9 hours.

There is absolutely no way in hell that *any* ultrabook will only last a short commute, unless you consider transatlantic your commute. Hell, I could play GTA IV on my 40 minute commute with it and still have enough juice left over to run word for an hour when I get to work.

My Ultrabook is quoted at 8 hours, and real-life use is around 5.5 hours (films/internet/music/photo editing)

Gaming will drain it in around an hour (my knees won't last that long with the heat the Kepler GPU pumps out).

RE:screen res, 1366x768 might be low for todays panels, but in the real world, I've yet to really think "you know what, Skyrim would look better at 1080p on low settings rather than 1366x768 on high." I thought I'd regret it when buying it, but actually, I've barely noticed. Note - this is not an excuse for laptop makers to stop improving screen res, but by all means let apple fanbois subsidise 2K panels for the rest of us for a while - I'm happy for them to pay the early adopters tax rather than me.

[tim 52]

Just got a Samsung Series 9 with Windows 8

I've just recently bought a 13.3inch Samsung Series 9, and I'm pretty happy with it. It's very light and beautifully made. Screen, keyboard, touch pad and battery life are all good. The only downside is that you need a non-standard adapter for VGA out.

It came with Windows 8. Once you turn off all the Metro/IFKAM stuff, and add a start menu, it's actually a decent upgrade to windows 7. The start-up time is fantastic.

[supersquirrel]

Re: Just got a Samsung Series 9 with Windows 8

I did the same, except the first thing I did was ditch W8 and put a sensible linux distro on it.

I'm very happy with the results. too. :)

[plrndl]

An ultrabook is a glorified and over-priced netbook, a form factor the market has already replaced with tablets. It's several years too late to be a Mac Air wannabe.

A business machine needs an all day battery as a MINIMUM requirement. Since full HD screens are becoming the norm on smartphones, anything less is like going back in time. As Mr Jobs noted, "touch secreens want to be horizontal", they have no place on a laptop-type machine. Hybrid devices have failed in the market since the beginning of time.

And then there's the OS and the price...

[bag o' spanners]

I'm quite happy with the hybrid drive on my clapped out core 2 duo laptop. Seeing as a 32bit OS can't see more than 4gb of ram, I doubt that I'll be adding four more anytime soon. I'd have been interested to find out how many of these top o' the line gizmos are running a 64bit version of Win8, and more importantly for business users, how many films they're good for in twoo HD during an arduous train journey to company outpost X in the low wage hinterlands. One simply can't abide an executive laptop leaving one in battery fail limbo just as that nice Mr Bourne/Bond is tearing someone's leg off with his pinky.

[David Black]

Asus S200 does have 64-bit Win 8 and will do just short of 4h-ish of video viewing on VLC.

Picked it up in the US for $449 from Best Buy and was stunned at the value for money... I was looking for a cheap machine for my daughter but have hung onto it myself and am recomending it to everyone and their dog... consequently the price has been creaping up... was £379 in the UK for the 1.8G i3 model and now it is £420ish... in the space of the last month!

[sad_loser]

Good old Portege

ultrabooks before their time - I used to have 2 x 7200 porteges - one linux, one W2000 and they were stable and pretty bomb-proof with magnesium frames.

you could pick them up ex-business when the execs had moved onto their next shiiny for 1/4 of their new value and barely used other than for watching cat videos and playing minesweeper.

ah those were the days....

[Anonymous Coward]

Samsung Series 7 Ultra

But does it brick?

[ecofeco]

Ultrabook = Overpriced laptop

Why do people pay a premium for something that is going to be obsolete in about 3 years?

[Anonymous Coward]

re the Acer Inspire S7-391

" The design isn’t perfect, though: the underside is bit slippery when resting on your lap and it’s difficult to prise open if you keep your fingernails short"

I knew a girl like that once

[johnwerneken]

Oh I get it now

If a half way reasonable "ultrabook" or Windows 8 touch screen hand held costs $600.00 USD or more, and an iPad costs less, and while it might do a tad less, what it doesn't do can't really be done on a touch handhold, and what it does, it does well...all the windows thing offers is extra customizability, less coherent design...

[dougal83]

Samsung 900X4C Ultrabook = I win (am wondering why the series 7 is reviewed). Anything smaller that 15" and the compacted keyboards are just a pain for me personally. I got told by a MacBook Air owner that my Samsung wasn't portable so he wouldn't buy one... He's creative and I'm not so I took his word for it and carried it off under my arm while scratching my head.

On this Samsung though... why do I need 8Gb of RAM? :/