Ultrabooks for students?

[antecedent]

Hi everyone,

I've been making noise in various threads about this, so I thought I would centralize my thoughts and see what wisdom you all have to add.

I'm doing my Masters next year and will have to replace my laptop before I start. I'm looking for a light-weight computer with a long battery life. Additionally, I'd prefer a 13" (at least) screen as it will be my primary computer during the school year so I'll have to do a lot of writing and researching on it. I won't have any heavy programming to run, and it's possible that all I will really need it for is writing, word processing, and various media downloading/streaming.

I definitely can't spend more than $1000 on it, and I'd like to spend a good deal less.

So, does anyone have any experience with Ultrabooks? I've been looking at Asus, Lenovo, HP, Acer, and Toshiba, and while they all look great it's hard to wrap my head around all the details. Ultimately I need the computer to work relatively quickly and last for a few years.

Any personal experience or recommendations would be very much appreicated!

[OregonGal]

I'd suggest looking at some comparison guides from tech sites like the Verge. In case you need the short and simple version of "what on earth is an Ultrabook":

"Ultrabook" is a label promoted by Intel. To be an ultrabook, the laptop must be lightweight, super-thin, have an Intel chip and run Windows. That is why technically, MacBook Air isn't an ultrabook--a) Apple wants to feel special and unique as a snowflake, and they aren't sold running Windows.

Most ultrabooks, though not all, feature solid state drives--instead of a "hard drive" which has moving parts, the storage on these computers is flash--the same kind of storage in iPod touches and smartphones, so you have near-instant program startup. The lowest-priced range of ultrabooks have a hybrid system; they have 32GB or so in SSD to 'cache' programs and documents so you can pull them back up quickly, but most of the storage is HDD. More storage capacity (usually), but slower processing.

The tiers of pricing are based on a couple different major aspects: the size of the storage capacity (128GB/256GB/512GB), the screen size (11" vs 13"), and how powerful the processor is (i3/i5/i7). I would suggest not going lower than the i5 processor because I think the i3 will be really outpaced in a year or two, and you want this computer to be effective compared to what's on the market for a couple years.

I think that because all these computers will be running the same operating system (Windows 7 or 8) that you should be looking at the hardware. Go to a Best Buy or wherever and test out the keyboards and trackpads. Some have backlit keyboards (great for typing in the dark) but have sticky keys; others have great keyboards but the trackpad sensitivity is whacky.

I'm a big fan of MacBook so I'm planning on buying an Air; however, if you want a 13" then those are out of your price range. If you buy an ultrabook, my only recommendation is to buy the extended warranty: the reason I switched to Mac in the first place is because I kept on buying PC laptops that quit on me right after the 1-year warranty expired.

[antecedent]

Hey! Thanks for the quick-n-dirty on ultrabooks. I'm vaguely aware of how they stack up against eachother/regular laptops, but it's always helpful to have it broken down.

You're right that hardware (along with price) is the only real negotiating factor. I wish there was a store around here that had all of them in stock, but the only ones I've really been able to test are the Asus Zenbook (too pricey) and the Acer Aspire (too flimsy). Thanks Canada, for not having good stuff. Luckily I'll be buying in the States so I won't have to contend with Canadian prices!

I've been using this list to go off of, with perhaps the Lenovo U310 substituted for the U300:

http://www.pcmag.com/reviews/Ultrabooks+Screen+Size+13+to+13.9

I'll check out Verge for more comparison info. I like the Macbook Air, but I just can't afford one. I would also be shunned from my family for owning an Apple product (I come from a family of opinionated engineers!).

[OregonGal]

Yeah, I'll admit to being a bit lazy about it and just going with the MacBook Air, but I did do my due diligence on making sure I was getting a good computer. For me, the big difference is being able to trade in my current MacBook for much better pricing than with a 3rd party reseller. Also, if you're going to a US school you should check and see if they sell laptops through their university bookstore--you might be able to get an education discount on one or more of the machines on that list.

[Nerd_For_Life]

Another thing to keep in mind is that most ultrabooks don't have an optical drive (no dvd/cd capabilities). I am also looking for a new lightweight and ultra-portable laptop for grad school in sept and keep wavering between buying now and waiting to see what happens with Windows 8 (which is designed primarily for touch screen pcs/laptops/etc.) and the Microsoft Surface that is being launched this fall (Microsoft's computer to compete with ultrabooks, tablets, and Mac).

My current favourite in terms of price, weight, and function is the Samsung ultrabook b/c it has good storage and an optical drive. It's also priced around $800. http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Samsung+-+14%22+Series+5+Ultrabook+Laptop+-+4GB+Memory+-+500GB+Hard+Drive+and+16GB+Express+Cache+-+Silver/4700116.p?id=1218509235873&skuId=4700116

[OregonGal]

While it can be a bit of an obstacle to not have an optical drive on your laptop, I think that it's not as big of a deal as a lot of people think. If you watch a lot of DVDs you can buy an external optical drive, and if your issue is data storage then you can rip the CD at your university's computer lab and transfer the data onto a jump drive.

Microsoft Surface does look pretty--the keyboard cover looks really cool--but my concern with it is that they didn't really highlight the software capabilities at that tech conference. That makes it hard to gauge what the app ecosystem is going to be like at launch, or how 3rd party applications even interact with the tablet.

[antecedent]

While it can be a bit of an obstacle to not have an optical drive on your laptop, I think that it's not as big of a deal as a lot of people think. If you watch a lot of DVDs you can buy an external optical drive, and if your issue is data storage then you can rip the CD at your university's computer lab and transfer the data onto a jump drive.

Microsoft Surface does look pretty--the keyboard cover looks really cool--but my concern with it is that they didn't really highlight the software capabilities at that tech conference. That makes it hard to gauge what the app ecosystem is going to be like at launch, or how 3rd party applications even interact with the tablet.

In regards to the optical drive, my only concern about not having it is that some programs have not switched over to being available online yet, so I'm concerned about getting them set up on my new computer (for example, my Garmin Forerunner needs to be loaded on to my computer and I can't find the software for that online anywhere).

The Microsoft Surface looks waaay too fancy for me. I'm mainly interested in an ultrabook for it's form and function, not so much the cool factor

The samsung that nicolemc posted looks pretty sweet. I wish Canada had more stuff so I can see it before I go to home for a week and have to buy it blind in the States. I'd really like to test it out!

[OregonGal]

Hmm... for me the big appeal of an ultrabook is the speed, thinness and lack of weight of a SSD and fewer peripherals. I wouldn't go for that Samsung because it has a regular hard drive with only 16GB flash cache and weighs 4 lbs. My current laptop weighs 4.5 lbs and can still be a bit of a drag, so I definitely want the "ultra" to be applied to how light-weight my new computer is (the 13" Air is only 3 lbs, the 11" is only 2.4 lbs).

[SeriousSillyPutty]

Thanks for all the feedback!

Whelp; I bit the bullet and ordered my computer tonight. Based on another thread, I decided that a 14-inch computer would be the best compromise for bike commuting and writing million-page papers. I was debating between the Dell Inspiron 14z Ultrabook, which has a CD drive, and the Lenovo IdeaPad U410, which doesn't but is a little lighter. I don't know if .4 pounds will make a difference, but I decided to go with the IdeaPad anyway. (Oh, it's supposed to have slightly long battery life, too.) They came to about the same price, though the IdeaPad was more heavily discounted, IF you can trust that the MSRP wasn't inflated to begin with.

Gulp.

I don't like spending money, so I'm already having a bit of buyer's remorse. (I currently own a Dell, so maybe accessories would have been compatible between them?) Really though, I think either would work out for me just fine; I just need to stop obsessing over it!

Best of luck to others and their purchases!

[antecedent]

I'm not sure where my last response post went, but anyway I'm looking pretty seriously at this one. I need to make a spreadsheet comparing all of my options I think...

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+13.3%26%2334%3B+Folio+Ultrabook+Laptop+-+4GB+Memory+-+128GB+Solid+State+Drive+-+Steel+Gray/5020909.p?id=1218597399995&skuId=5020909&st=HP%20Folio%2013-1020us&cp=1&lp=1

[chiruyam]

Re: Ultrabooks for students

Hi everyone,

I've been making noise in various threads about this, so I thought I would centralize my thoughts and see what wisdom you all have to add.

I'm doing my Masters next year and will have to replace my laptop before I start. I'm looking for a light-weight computer with a long battery life. Additionally, I'd prefer a 13" (at least) screen as it will be my primary computer during the school year so I'll have to do a lot of writing and researching on it. I won't have any heavy programming to run, and it's possible that all I will really need it for is writing, word processing, and various media downloading/streaming.

I definitely can't spend more than $1000 on it, and I'd like to spend a good deal less.

So, does anyone have any experience with Ultrabooks?

Hi, have you considered Toshiba Portege or Sony Vaio? Those are the brands I know that cost only around $700-800 and the reviews were pretty ok. They also come with a warranty just in case they break down.