Ultrabook advice?

[Otis11]

Hey guys, not a regular over here in Mobile but seems like the best place to get some advice. I'm looking to get a ultrabook/ultraportable as my (old) laptop is anything but portable. Doesn't need anything special in terms of performance, but I'd really prefer a SSD and a matte screen. Quality is more important than performance here. My biggest issue with the ultrabooks I've looked at are the keyboard - type more than a few hundred words and your fingers just hurt!

Thanks for the suggestions guys!

Minimum specs: (not really asking for much here, but thought I'd write it out)
CPU: C2D P7350 performance or greater (so just about anything)
GPU: Integrated preferred for battery life
RAM: 4GB (8GB preferred)
SSD: 100GB+ (Might be able to settle for 64GB, but would prefer 100GB)

Other requests:
Nice, functional keyboard (Doesn't have to be perfect, but need better than my gf's Acer aspire s3)
Matte Screen
Integrated Webcam
Decently long battery life (6 hours reasonable?)
Light! (~3lbs preferred)

Ideal price range: $1200 or less.

Haven't looked too far into ultrabooks lately so don't know what's really out there. Thanks again guys!

[NKrader]

got my girl a Lenovo its pretty nice, its pretty peppy once you get rid of bloat ware

pretty durable so far, other than that I don't have much help, I'd personally say anything but Acer

[Otis11]

got my girl a Lenovo its pretty nice, its pretty peppy once you get rid of bloat ware

pretty durable so far, other than that I don't have much help, I'd personally say anything but Acer

Idk, the Acer Aspire S3 has actually been really nice, my only significant complaint is the keyboard. I would also prefer a matte screen, but that's not a huge deal for her.

What lenovo are you talking about?

Edit: Is it the IdeaPad U510? I've been eyeing the Asus Zenbook Prime UX31A... and my reading today has made me realize my battery expectations may be a little too optimistic...

[NKrader]

battery expectations may be a little too optimistic...

yes.

not sure which one, but overall build quality SHOULD be across the board with most companies. and i dont like acer becuase way too much plastic and cutting of costs, crap seems to shake iself apart in a year or two.

[Otis11]

Well, I can't talk to what's "normal" but that acer regularly gets carried around in a backpack, bumping with books an binders and nothing has come loose yet - actually it still looks brand new...

And looking at the Asus Zenbook Prime UX31A-DB51:

CPU: 1.7GHz Core i5-3317U (should be enough)
GPU: Integrated
RAM: 4GB (eh)
SSD: 128GB

Other requests:
Nice, functional keyboard (anyone know? reviews say it's better than most... so probably ok?)
Matte Screen (Check!)
Integrated Webcam (even 720p!)
Decently long battery life (6 Hours!)
Light! (2.9 lbs!)

price: $1100

Any comments?

And that one appears to be discontinued, this one looks to be just an updated model??? UX31A-DH51

[kjeldoran]

Lenovo x1 carbon? Heard it has a good trackpad and a good keyboard. If I was in the market for an ultrabook it would be my first choice.

6 hours of battery life? A bit high, 4 was normal for my fianc? mba.

[s1nykuL]

I have a Samsung Series 9 15" I have had it almost a week and so far I am very impressed.

matte screen
8Gb Ram
128Gb SDD
i5 with HD4000
comfortable island type keyboard
smart pad.
looks good
feels solid
managed over 7 hours with my average work load.

I think it can be picked up for around $1,100-$1,200.

It is certainly worth considering.

[Otis11]

@s1nykuL - Looks good. I really like the fact it's a 15 inch as my current laptop is 17, yet still fairly light. Reading up on it the main complaint I see is the keyboard, which is a deal breaker for me as I type 6-8 hours a day and don't have an external keyboard, nor is it convenient for me to carry one around. Any comments on that front? Otherwise a solid choice.

@kjeldoran - The Carbon seems to be a little bit more pricey and have a lower battery life and lower screen quality. While it does have some premium business features that can justify the cost for most, I don't know that they're necessarily worth it for non-business applications. Thoughts?

[kjeldoran]

@s1nykuL - Looks good. I really like the fact it's a 15 inch as my current laptop is 17, yet still fairly light. Reading up on it the main complaint I see is the keyboard, which is a deal breaker for me as I type 6-8 hours a day and don't have an external keyboard, nor is it convenient for me to carry one around. Any comments on that front? Otherwise a solid choice.

@kjeldoran - The Carbon seems to be a little bit more pricey and have a lower battery life and lower screen quality. While it does have some premium business features that can justify the cost for most, I don't know that they're necessarily worth it for non-business applications. Thoughts?

Really up to you on what you want to compromise on. For example, do you want a better screen or trackpad or keyboard?

If you are looking for a good trackpad, I'd suggest a mba. Honestly, I haven't found a laptop that rivals it. The x1 carbon supposedly does, but I haven't used it.

If you want a better screen, then the zenbook with the 1080p ips screen is the way to go.

Keyboard? Hit or miss. Personally I haven't found a keyboard I like on any laptop. Probably because I use a cherry brown filco keyboard.

Battery life is similar between ultrabooks because it is a specific form factor. In reality, it depends on what you are doing with the computer. The mba is rated at 7 hours, but in my experience it is not even close to that. I used my fiancees mba with a medium to high workload and got about 4 hours. Anandtech's review has similar results.

My suggestion is to go to a local store to try the keyboards since that seems to be your priority. Microcenter has the zenbook I believe.

[safan80]

If you can wait the haswell based ultrabooks are suppose to increase battery life

http://www.extremetech.com/computing...een-ultrabooks

[s1nykuL]

The perfect ultrabook is subjective. We all have different priorities.

kjeldoran is right, it is a matter of deciding on which feature to compromise. For me it was the display. I code, I don't watch vid or edit production graphics on the laptop. I just needed a display I could read in a beer garden, for this the screen is good enough. The SDD could have been larger, but I can correct that when needed. Other than that the Samsung is perfect for me.

I actually like the keyboard on the Samsung, it is very responsive, small travel in fact the best keyboard I have used on any laptop. Although my experience of laptops less than 5 years old is limited. I guess it is personal preference though.

Good luck on your search.

[Otis11]

Really up to you on what you want to compromise on. For example, do you want a better screen or trackpad or keyboard?

If you are looking for a good trackpad, I'd suggest a mba. Honestly, I haven't found a laptop that rivals it. The x1 carbon supposedly does, but I haven't used it.

If you want a better screen, then the zenbook with the 1080p ips screen is the way to go.

Keyboard? Hit or miss. Personally I haven't found a keyboard I like on any laptop. Probably because I use a cherry brown filco keyboard.

Battery life is similar between ultrabooks because it is a specific form factor. In reality, it depends on what you are doing with the computer. The mba is rated at 7 hours, but in my experience it is not even close to that. I used my fiancees mba with a medium to high workload and got about 4 hours. Anandtech's review has similar results.

My suggestion is to go to a local store to try the keyboards since that seems to be your priority. Microcenter has the zenbook I believe.

Yeah, I realize that every computer has a trade off, but I almost never use the trackpad as I carry a mouse with me everywhere... so the zenbook's biggest detractor that I could find was negated to a point.

Unfortunately I don't have a Microcenter near me... and the Fry's I went to didn't have one... Only ultrabook that they had with a decent keyboard was the Dell XPS 13...

If you can wait the haswell based ultrabooks are suppose to increase battery life

http://www.extremetech.com/computing...een-ultrabooks

Yeah... sounds so tempting, but I really need it in the next 3 weeks... Quite unfortunate i know.

The perfect ultrabook is subjective. We all have different priorities.

kjeldoran is right, it is a matter of deciding on which feature to compromise. For me it was the display. I code, I don't watch vid or edit production graphics on the laptop. I just needed a display I could read in a beer garden, for this the screen is good enough. The SDD could have been larger, but I can correct that when needed. Other than that the Samsung is perfect for me.

I actually like the keyboard on the Samsung, it is very responsive, small travel in fact the best keyboard I have used on any laptop. Although my experience of laptops less than 5 years old is limited. I guess it is personal preference though.

Good luck on your search.

Yeah, I know everything is a compromise - but as I don't have a TV, the few videos/Movies/Shows I do watch will be on this screen (Even my desktop screen in broken - only shows blue...) So really the most important things are keyboard, and to a lesser extent the screen.

Thanks for all the help though guys! I've been digging through review after review based on this. Looking to order it early next week!