Ultrabooks? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Ultrabooks?

knowledge

knowledge

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After 5 (satisfied) years, I'm in the market to replace my first gen. macbook unibody and I was thinking of going the ultrabook route. Are they worth the extra coin coin? I've been shopping around and I honestly have no idea how to narrow it down, so I'm hoping to go with people's testimonials since ultrabooks are a relatively new segment. In my experience, specs don't mean much when comparing mac vs another OS since they'll always be technically underpowered but work well enough.

I just need something that works quickly, has a keyboard, and is portable/as small as possible. I don't care for gaming, so I just need something reliable that works. It's for traveling, so the lighter, the better. I just have to be able to answer e-mails, watch videos/movies, listen to music, etc.

The first instinct is to go with the macbook air. Solid state drive, 9-12 hour battery life, and it's a mac. But it's pricey and not touch screen (I'm not gonna lie...having a keyboard + a touchscreen is pretty badass/convenient).

I was looking at the other options and it seems that I'd have to go with a windows OS. I have a windows phone, and while I like the phone itself, I'm not impressed by Windows.

Any suggestions/alternatives? Or should I just bite the bullet and go with the mac?

It's amazing how far along laptops have come.
 
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It's all personal preference. If you like the MAC OS environment, then the Air is the way to go.
If you wanna give windows a go, there's MANY options available. Here's one I picked up for a family member and they love it (they're traveling through France right now).

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7491253&CatId=927

A50-101217-CA_vmain01_plp_gl_7382000.jpg

Asus Taichi TAICHI21-DH71 Ultrabook - 3rd Generation Intel Core i7-3517U 1.9GHz, 4GB DDR3, 256GB SSD, Dual 11.6" Touchscreen, Windows 8 64-bit


and there's also other options: (half the price)

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8509800&CatId=927

VSU-101747124_ph02_gl_8509800.jpg


[h=1]Asus ZenBook UX31E XB51 Intel Core i5 4GB Memory 128GB SSD 13.3" Ultrabook Windows 7 Professional [/h]
 
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I try to stay away from Asus stuff now. Their quality is really lacking. Their stuff for me always breaks within a year or two.
 
If you want something comparable to the Air for functional features such as battery life, you're going to be spending about as much. Windows laptops seem cheap on the surface, but if you want something with similar battery life, keyboard/trackpad, build quality, they generally cost about the same or more.
 
Why do you need a touch screen? That's what a touch pad/keyboard is for...... no? It's an expensive gimmick should the screen malfunction or fall out of warranty and need replacing.
 
Mr.Azim said:
Why do you need a touch screen? That's what a touch pad/keyboard is for...... no? It's an expensive gimmick should the screen malfunction or fall out of warranty and need replacing.
Click to expand...

Using Windows 8 without a touchscreen is akin to driving a car, and only being able to shift into first gear.

I wasn't a believer or Win 8 (still on the fence) but once you get used to having that OS with a touchscreen laptop, flows much easier.
 
LiNK666 said:
I try to stay away from Asus stuff now. Their quality is really lacking. Their stuff for me always breaks within a year or two.
Click to expand...

I've had that issue with Acer, not Asus. I still have their transformer tablet from 2 years ago, and it's as good as the day I bought it.
 
Mr.Azim said:
Why do you need a touch screen? That's what a touch pad/keyboard is for...... no? It's an expensive gimmick should the screen malfunction or fall out of warranty and need replacing.
Click to expand...

I get a massive budget for new tech every year. I could buy any Mac I wanted and I looked. Nothing had what I had grown used to, a touch screen that you can use a stylus on for accurate annotation of documents via hand. For me it's indispensable and incredibly useful for things like signing documents while I'm travelling (ones that I can't append a digital signiture to, or ones where I don't have a printer/scanner handy), annotating slides, maps, e-mail attachments, photos etc. Drawing freehand diagrams etc etc..list goes on. I have a Lenovo X201 Tablet which isn't slim by any means. It's not too heavy but not an ultrabook. I'd replace it with the newer model but they start at $1500 and by the time it's tricked out they are well over $2k.

What I'm trying to say is that a touch screen is very handy indeed. My travel device is an i-pad with a bluetooth keyboard that gives me most of what I need on the road now. If I needed extra computing power though I would definitely look to get something similar to my Lenovo with a stylus.
 
knowledge said:
After 5 (satisfied) years, I'm in the market to replace my first gen. macbook unibody and I was thinking of going the ultrabook route. Are they worth the extra coin coin?
Click to expand...

I was in your exact situation last month, and researched the hell out of this. My old Macbook bit the bullet. I wanted something thin and light. Whatever you do, buy a laptop with the latest Haswell Intel chipset. Battery life is amazing!!!! Its available on MAC and PC.

I narrowed it down to these 2 :
http://cnettv.cnet.com/sony-vaio-pro-13-vs-apple-macbook-air/9742-1_53-50152840.html


My conclusion after owning both, is that each has a compromise and if the PC and MAC could marry, I'd be happiest. Allow me to explain.

Sony Vaio Pro 13 :

First, I bought and tried the Sony Pro 13 for a week. Pros : absolutely Gorgeous hi res display, thinner and lighter than the Mac, faster processor than Mac. LOVED the touchscreen. Win8 was great, no problems to report, and figured it out quick and easy.

The touchpad on the Sony was the deal breaker. Very frustrating to use. Maybe it was my touch, but it kept randomly clicking on stuff I didn't want it to click on. I thought it was just a bad unit, and sent it back for a another brand new sony. Same crap!! Such a shame, I sent it back for a refund. The touchpad would have drove me bonkers.


MacBook Air :

Normally, apples cost much more than the PCs, but I was happy to hear that the new 2013 model had the Haswell chipset, and Apple reduced the price of the Mac Air, so this was back on the list.

Pros : Battery life is truly amazing. I can go days without charging (compared to my old macbook)!! Lasts longer than the Sony, likely due to the Sonys high res display gobbling up power. Other than that, impressive track pad control, much thinner an lighter than the old macbook, love the maglock charger, and did I mention the great battery life?

Cons : lousy display (compared to Sony), no touch screen. I don't understand why Apple doesn't include one. The first week of ownership I kept reaching out to touch the screen. OS stability is still an issue? Still crashes and does funny stuff like my old macbook did. very disappointing.


Conclusion :

-if Apple could give the Air the retina display, and touchscreen capabilities, and keep the price as it is, they would have a winner.
-if Sony had the Apples trackpad, I would have kept it.


Bonus feature : After second week of ownership of the MacBook Air, I spilled a mug full of hot coffee all over the keyboard. Lots of it. The computer shut down automatically. I did my best to wipe, and blow dry the keyboard as quick as possible. I lifted up the laptop, turned it sideways, and watched coffee pour out of the case! I thought it was done and just kissed big money down the toilet. After 12 hours of drying, charged and fired her up. A few keys were sticky, but worked. A week later, with use, all the keys work fine, and everything works like brand new! So I have to give a shout out to the build quality of the MacBook Air.


All the best in your choice and let us know how you make out!
 
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Lenovo X1 Carbon (w/Haswell chipset).

Who doesn't love Carbon Fibre anything? :D (use coupon code SEPTSAVINGS for 12% off on the lenovo site).
 
Gahhh, the Asus Taichi and Lenovo Helix look wicked (REAL tablet ultrabooks), but the price just isn't right. I really gotta give that Taichi some thought, though as the tablet part is perfect for browing while lying down or on an airplane. Lol...first world problems.

Mr.Azim said:
Why do you need a touch screen? That's what a touch pad/keyboard is for...... no? It's an expensive gimmick should the screen malfunction or fall out of warranty and need replacing.
Click to expand...
+1 on Windows needing it. If mac ever got a touch screen, it'd be game over. You'd be surprised how efficient having a touchscreen + keyboard is. For example, if you're editing documents or filling in fields, you can press the screen with your left hand while beginning to type with your right. You can zoom in on things while still having one hand on the cursor, etc.

You're partially right, though. It's still a luxury and something that'd be nice to have. Luckily, the mac's trackpad is better than having a mouse, imo.

SunnY S said:
http://cnettv.cnet.com/sony-vaio-pro-13-vs-apple-macbook-air/9742-1_53-50152840.html

All the best in your choice and let us know how you make out!
Click to expand...
Thanks for the review + input, Sunny. I know what you mean about the trackpad on the Vaio being weird. I was messing around with it today and after I would click on something, it would sort of unclick if I didn't hold it long enough. Same with the touchscreen.

What about HP ultrabooks, though? They're a decent price. I haven't had an HP since before my macbook and I wasn't happy with it...but it's been a good 7 years so it might be time to let that grudge slide.

Also, what's the deal with ultrabooks not having Android? It seems like it'd be a great platform for laptops...
 
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knowledge said:




After 5 (satisfied) years, I'm in the market to replace my first gen. macbook unibody and I was thinking of going the ultrabook route. Are they worth the extra coin coin? I've been shopping around and I honestly have no idea how to narrow it down, so I'm hoping to go with people's testimonials since ultrabooks are a relatively new segment. In my experience, specs don't mean much when comparing mac vs another OS since they'll always be technically underpowered but work well enough.

I just need something that works quickly, has a keyboard, and is portable/as small as possible. I don't care for gaming, so I just need something reliable that works. It's for traveling, so the lighter, the better. I just have to be able to answer e-mails, watch videos/movies, listen to music, etc.

The first instinct is to go with the macbook air. Solid state drive, 9-12 hour battery life, and it's a mac. But it's pricey and not touch screen (I'm not gonna lie...having a keyboard + a touchscreen is pretty badass/convenient).

I was looking at the other options and it seems that I'd have to go with a windows OS. I have a windows phone, and while I like the phone itself, I'm not impressed by Windows.

Any suggestions/alternatives? Or should I just bite the bullet and go with the mac?

It's amazing how far along laptops have come.
Click to expand...

This is what you need.
http://www.futureshop.ca/en-ca/prod...spx?path=f8dc1044c45ef25a806ab2947060e58een02

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HP1quX-8Fyg
Sent from my SGH-I727R using Tapatalk HD
 
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knowledge said:
What about HP ultrabooks, though? They're a decent price. I haven't had an HP since before my macbook and I wasn't happy with it...
Click to expand...

HP was on my short list, comp geeks I know and trust, like computer laptop repair guys said to stay away from HP for their poor interior build quality.

The people in my circles recommended Sony, Apple or Toshiba.
 
The Win 8 Pro should run any Win 7 program I believe. Might just be driver issues, dunno.
 
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