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Showing posts with label ULTRABOOK. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ULTRABOOK. Show all posts
Jan 21, 2013
IdeaPad Yoga 13 Specs
Specification:
Lenovo ThinkPad X230 Review
September 19, 2012: The ThinkPad is to personal computing what polka dots are to fashion – it’s a classic. Originally an IBM product, and taken over by Lenovo about seven years ago, the concept and construct of a ThinkPad has changed little over the years. The Japanese Bento-box inspired design remains largely unchanged with tweaks made only to improve ergonomics or adapt to new screen sizes.
Design details
We got our hands on one of the new-age ThinkPads, the Lenovo X230. While retaining its executive-like all-black look, this ThinkPad is designed to be lightweight and compact to meet the needs of an increasingly mobile lifestyle.
In a market where thinner is apparently better, the 1-inch plus girth of the Lenovo X230 seems like an aberration. However, Lenovo manages to pack all of it in about 1.5 kgs, an easily portable bulk. The build quality is sturdy with a magnesium roll cage housing the tech inside and a soft rubberised panel on the body which keeps scratches away.
The 12.5-inch screen is an IPS display, which means readability/visibility was excellent at all times. The viewing angles too were better than the usual fare. We watched ‘Before Sunrise’, the 1995 romantic classic and although we had to use it with external speakers, the video experience was quite good.
The creators of the ThinkPad, and the engineers who have carried the company’s legacy on, have always paid an uncommon amount of attention to the device’s keypad. Although it’s one of the most used components of any personal computing device, users seldom prioritise a genuinely ergonomic keypad over more aesthetic features when going for a laptop. However, for someone who hasn’t used a ThinkPad keyboard before, the typing hardware is quite a pleasant revelation. The island – type keyboard seems to have been spaced at just the right distance, with the keyboard depressed just a little bit so your finger’s natural curve find the right fit every time you hit a key.
The space bar also doubled up as a function key for an overhead lamp that highlights the keyboard. A simple addition but extremely useful considering how many times we fumble around in the dark when trying to tweak volume or pause in the middle of a movie we might be watching before going off to bed.
Targeted at the business traveller, the X230 has been made ready for video and voice conferencing with a dual-array noise cancelling microphone that keeps ambient noise at a minimum. During conference calls or video chats, you can even choose to mute the sound of keys being typed on your keyboard for a clearer conversation. The webcam is a high-definition 720p HD camera which has face tracking enabled.
A device which aimed at the business traveller needs to be equipped with the latest connectivity options. The ThinkPad X230 hence comes with three USB ports (2 x USB 3.0), a memory card reader, Gigabit Ethernet port, VGA and Mini DisplayPort outputs and an Express Card slot.
Multimedia
The ThinkPad X230 is equipped with Dolby speakers with Advanced Audio v2. However, the audio experience on the laptop was definitely not one of the best we’ve come across. Most times the volume on the speakers was too feeble and the audio had little impact. Hence, we inevitably had to plug in the headphones while watching a movie or sitcom.
Our ThinkPad X230 review unit operates on Microsoft Windows 7 Professional and is powered by an Intel Core i5 3210M with an over clocking speed of 2.5GHz.
We ran our regular Novabench test on the Lenovo X230 and it scored about 676 points shooting way ahead of a bunch of Ultrabooks and laptops we had reviewed in the last couple of months, including the Dell Inspiron 17R Special Edition and the Acer Aspire TimelineUltra M5; the only exception being the Dell XPS 14z which we reviewed earlier this year.
Like most other manufacturers there’s a bit of bloatware that comes with Lenovo ThinkPad X230, the only good thing is you might actually be able to use this software regularly. You’ll find programs such as Evernote, Google Chrome, Skype etc on board already. With the screen dimmed and constant Wi-Fi connectivity the Lenovo ThinkPad X230 gave us close to six hours of email and media usage.
Crafted as a modern, compact device to be carried along for presentations or business trips, the Lenovo ThinkPad X230 does the job efficiently. For those who might want to replace say an older version of a ThinkPad, the X230 is a decent option, unless you are saving up for slimmer devices such as the Carbon X1. For those who are considering buying their first ThinkPad, the X230 competes well when it comes to productivity with its competitors in the market. - source
Jan 20, 2013
LaVie World’s Lightest Ultrabook
How light would you like your Ultrabook? If even 3 pounds seems to heavy to you, try packing the 13.3-inch NEC LaVie Z, which weighs a paper-light 1.9 pounds. We had a chance to go hands-on with the svelte system here at Intel’s Developer Forum and we just couldn’t believe how light it felt in our hands.
At just .59-inches thick, the LaVie Z is also one of the thinnest notebooks on the market. Despite the thinness, we were pleased to see that the Ultrabook, which is made from a lightweight lithium-magnesium alloy, has room for several ports including an SD card reader, two USB ports (one of which is USB 3.0) and a full-size HDMI port. We wish there was an Ethernet port, but you can’t have everything on a system this light.
The 13.3-inch screen touts a respectable resolution of 1600 x 900 which, in our brief hands-on, made images fairly sharp, but colors were not particularly vibrant and the viewing angles on this glossy screen seemed poor as a lot of light reflect off its surface. Even at maximum brightness, the display did not seem particularly bright to us, but to be fair, the notebook was on display in an area of the convention center with a lot of sunlight coming in and hitting its surface.
The LaVie Z’s keyboard has some awkward key sizes and placements, with a tiny undersized right Shift key that sits to the right of the up arrow key, a giant rectangular Enter key that looks like it belongs on an old-school typewriter and a tiny square backspace key. When we pressed the keys they seemed a bit shallow but not overly stiff or mushy. The small, matte touch pad appeared reasonably accurate in our use.
However, the most impressive feature of the NEC LaVie Z is clearly its lightweight chassis. While we normally have difficulty holding a notebook by its deck with just one hand, we were able to hold up the LaVie Z with our left, non-dominant hand while filming with our right. Better still, the Ultrabook did not feel creaky or loosely constructed even when we held it this way.
Though it is made for the Japanese market where it was released in August, Dynamism is now selling the LaVie Z to U.S. consumers for $1,799 with a 1.9-GHz Intel 3rd Generation Core i7 CPU, 4GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. - source
Jan 10, 2013
Samsung Series 5 Ultrabook
Samsung is taking the wraps off its 13-inch Series 5 Ultra Touch Windows 8 ultrabook today, and at a starting price of $809.99 for the Core i3 version, it’s one of the more reasonably-priced machines we’ve seen so far. An extra $50 will buy you a Core i5 processor upgrade, but otherwise, both models will have the same 1366x768 10-point touch display, 4GB of RAM, and 500GB hard drive with 24GB of ExpressCache — Samsung’s term for high-speed solid state storage directly on the logic board. The Series 5 Ultra Touch isn’t breaking any records with its 3.83-pound weight, but it’s not bad for a machine with a spinning hard drive.
The company also took a minute to touch on its renamed Ativ Smart PC 500T and 700T Windows 8 tablets, which will be selling for $749.99 and $1,199.99, respectively. While both will be running Windows 8 and not the more limited Windows RT, that extra $450 will buy you an Intel Core i5 processor (the 500T comes with an Atom Z2760), a bump from 2GB to 4GB of RAM, and a doubling of storage, from 64GB to 128GB.
ASUS Zenbook Prime UX31A
The new ASUS Zenbook Prime UX31A might look exactly like the old Zenbook UX31E, but remember it is what is on the inside that really counts! ASUS appears to be all about consistency these days and have kept the sleek aluminum chassis the same on this razor thin Intel Ultrabook .
The weight of this thin Ultrabook also remains the same, at 1.3 kg or about three pounds. It is only when you open the Zenbook Prime UX31A that you'll start to see the improvements over the last model. For example you have an illuminated keyboard with a gorgeous 1080p IPS (in-plane switching) display for you to look at when you use it and on the inside you have a 3rd Generation Intel Core i5 or i7 'Ivy Bridge' processor along with the new Intel HM76 Express chipset.
The new processor is faster and also includes improved graphics thanks to the inclusion Intel HD Graphics 4000 technology. The new Intel HM76 Express Chipset brings native support for a pair of USB 3.0 ports, so both USB ports on the Zenbook Prime are SuperSpeed USB 3.0 enabled. ASUS didn't stop there though and fixed a number of smaller issues that end users griped about on the original Zenbook. For example the power connector easily came out on the Zenbook, so it was changed to a different type that 'clicks' in and stays in place on the Zenbook Prime. Basically, ASUS fixed what needed to be fixed and left what was working alone! This is great news for consumers as you get a refined product that has been tried and tested by millions of people.
Before we dive into the Ultrabook that we will be reviewing we need to cover what an Ultrabook is. For starters, Intel has trademarked the Ultrabook name, so only certain laptops that meet the Ultrabook criteria can be called that. According to Intel, a laptop has to meet or exceed these five characteristics to be an Ultrabook.
- Quick Startup - Going from hibernate to keyboard interaction in 7 seconds or less. Resume from sleep should be even faster than that.
- Long Battery Life - The minimum for a single charge of the battery must be at least 5 hours.
- Thinness - Ultrabooks need to be less than 21mm (0.82-inch) thick.
- Enhanced Security - The laptop firmware must support Intel's Anti-Theft and Identity Protection technology.
- Performance - Must be powered by Intel processors.
Basically, The Intel Ultrabooks are Windows powered alternatives to the hot selling Apple MacBook Air! They are thinner, lighter and often faster than ultraportables that many have used in recent years. The thinner designs on Ultrabooks don't look half bad either thanks to use of lightweight materials like aluminum and magnesium alloy for the housing. Inside you'll find powerful 2nd or 3rd generation Intel Core processors and a solid-state drive to give you a laptop that is snappy and responsive.
The downside of Ultrabooks being so thin is that you have to give up a few features that most don't need in 2012 and beyond. For starters the optical drive has been kicked to the curb, so if you want to run a CD, DVD or Blu-Ray you'll need to invest in an external USB drive. Other features missing from most Ultrabooks are the ethernet port and DVI video outputs due to how large those connectors are and a removable battery. Most people are running just Wi-Fi now days, but we still run across a hotel or two that don't have Wi-Fi and that wouldn't be a good thing with an Ultrabook. You can always get adapter cables, but who wants to carry that around as that defeats the purpose of having something so light and portable.
Now that you have know what an Intel Ultrabook is all about, we can get back to the Ultrabook that we will be reviewing here today.
The ASUS Zenbook Prime is available in two sizes, the ASUS UX21A (11.6" display) and the ASUS UX31A (13.3" display). Both sizes come standard with a 16:9 HD display that runs at a screen resolution of 1600x900. If you are buying an Ultrabook we highly suggest spending a little extra and getting the by IPS FHD 1920x1080 pixel display. The 1080p display also includes an antiglare technology that looks much better than a high-gloss display. Once you figure out what size Zenbook Prime that you want and what display you want, you then get to pick the processor and how much storage capacity you want! You have your choice of 128GB or 256GB of SSD drives and either an Intel Core i5-3317U or Intel Core i7-3517UM processors.
The model that we are going to be reviewing today is the ASUS Zenbook Prime UX31A-DB51. This model is the 13.3-inch model with the 1080p IPS display, 1.7GHz Intel Core i5-3317U processor, 4GB of DDR3 1600 MHz memory (RAM), and a 128GB solid-state drive.
ASUS Zenbook Prime UX31A-DB51 Specifications:
- 1.7GHz Intel Core i5-3317U Dual-Core Ivy Bridge CPU
- 4GB of DDR3 RAM
- 128GB SATA III 6Gbps Solid State Drive
- Integrated Intel HD 4000 Graphics
- 13.3" Widescreen IPS Antiglare Display
- 1920 x 1080 Native Resolution
- 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0
- Bang and Olufsen ICEpower Speakers
- Integrated Webcam and Microphone
- Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
The ASUS Zenbook Prime UX31A-DB51 runs $1049.95 shipped, which is price competitive with other brands with similar specifications.
Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga Review
Lenovo’s IdeaPad Yoga 13, which starts at $1,000, is just one attempt to take advantage of Microsoft’s dual-sided operating system. Out of the box, it looks like a traditional notebook, but keep tilting the 13-inch touchscreen back along its hinge, and it folds all the way around until the clamshell is closed again. Only now, the screen is face-up, and the keyboard hangs from the underbelly. You can also open the Yoga partway, keys down, so the screen is facing outward, or stand the device on both of its edges in a tent-like configuration.
This approach is simple and logical enough, but after spending a week with a Lenovo Yoga review unit, I think it’s a better laptop than it is a tablet.
The Yoga is clad in plastic, but it’s a soft-touch material that doesn’t feel like the cheap shells of budget laptops, and the area where you rest your palms almost has a leathery feel. Among Windows laptops, it’s the rare high-end design that doesn’t feel ripped off from Apple‘s MacBooks, yet its keyboard and trackpad are just as good
The trackpad is generously sized and covered in glass, so your fingers glide over it smoothly, and the entire surface clicks with ease. It also supports multi-touch gestures, such as two-finger scrolling, pinch-to-zoom and the ability to simulate right-clicks by depressing the pane with both fingers. The Yoga’s keyboard is also a pleasure to type on, with island-style keys that let out a satisfying clack. One particularly nice touch is the rounded edge on the bottom of each key, which seems to leave just a bit more room for your fingers to land.
The display isn’t too chintzy, either, though it does beg for the occasional swipe of a cloth as fingerprints build up. Although some users may pine for a higher resolution than 1600-by-900, this pixel density strikes a happy compromise, where text is fairly crisp but the desktop elements remain large enough to tap on, should the modern interface of Windows 8 fail to suit your needs.
As for performance, the Yoga’s Intel Core i5 processor provides more than enough power for ordinary tasks such as word processing, web browsing and streaming video. It can even handle some newer PC games; I loaded Guild Wars 2 on it, and had no trouble adventuring through its massive world.
The Yoga does falter slightly on battery life, which in my experience floated in the five- to six-hour range. That’s not terrible for a laptop, but it’s far below average for a tablet. Unfortunately, any tablet based on Intel’s Core processors will have this problem, and the only alternative is to sacrifice processing power.
The bigger issue with the Yoga is its storage situation, as pointed out by the Wall Street Journal‘s Walt Mossberg and ZDNet’s Ed Bott. The Yoga uses solid state storage instead of a hard disc drive, so instead of having lots of space, you get much zippier performance. That’s a fine tradeoff in the age of cloud storage and cheap external hard drives, but the problem is that despite an advertised 128 GB of storage, only about half of it is available to users, and it’s divided across two partitions. The rest is gobbled up by recovery services, built-in software, the operating system itself and other mysterious partitions whose purpose is unknown. Users can reclaim some of this storage through an elaborate workaround, but that only underscores how bad the situation is out of the box.
Those gripes aside, Lenovo’s Yoga is still an excellent high-end Windows laptop. But its laptopness (for lack of a better term) is exactly what prevents it from being an excellent tablet.
My feeling is that if PC makers are going to put touchscreens on their laptops, they ought to at least provide some way for the keyboard and trackpad to get out of the way. The Yoga accomplishes this goal, but crudely. Hold it in your hands as a tablet, and you’ll feel the keys under your fingers.
In practice, this isn’t as bad as it sounds; the keys are disabled in tablet mode, and they’re barely noticeable when the device is resting on your lap. Still, the combination of awkward key placement, a weight of 3.3 pounds, a thickness of 0.7 inches and the jumbo 13-inch display can all feel like too much, especially if you’re playing a touchscreen game or propping the tablet on your chest for bedtime reading. You’ll hear the whir of the system’s fan the whole time as well.
I must admit that on a few occasions, the Yoga achieved hybrid greatness. The hinged design is so easy to flip around that I’ve gotten into the habit of switching to tablet mode just to read a long article — usually in portrait mode, like some futuristic broadsheet newspaper — or to scroll through Twitter. If I had this device for longer, I could imagine using its outward-facing screen to check recipes while cooking, or to play games while reclined with a controller in-hand. There’s something to this design, despite its flaws. Even so, the lack of Windows 8 apps so far holds the Yoga back from what it could become.
The question, then, is whether Lenovo’s IdeaPad Yoga is worth the price premium over other high-end Ultrabook laptops. The answer is only “yes” if you need to buy a laptop now, if your basic tablet needs are already covered by another device — say, the iPad or a smaller tablet like the Nexus 7 — and if you’re willing to gamble on Windows 8′s app situation getting better. Worst-case scenario, you’ll still end up with a great laptop.
But as someone who’s personally in the market for a new laptop, I’m planning to see what comes in the next few months, including Microsoft‘s Surface with Windows 8 Pro and other announced but unreleased hybrids. I’ve enjoyed using Lenovo’s Yoga, but this being a time of experimentation and all, I’m also anxious to see more results.
Acer Aspire S5 world’s thinnest Ultrabook
The Acer Aspire S5 “world’s thinnest” Ultrabook measures just 15mm in depth at its thickest point. That’s 0.59 inches in old money. In comparison the MacBook Air is 0.68 inches and the Samsung Series 9 2nd Generation Ultrabook is 0.58 inches thick. Well, it seems like there’s more than one “world’s thinnest” Ultrabook around…
Acer managed to keep the thickness of the laptop down partly due to how the ports on the S5 are accessed. On the bottom of the laptop a panel hinges down to form a wedge(when a button is pressed), at the thickest point, towards the screen hinge, the ports are revealed and are accessible. Acer call this “MagicFlip I/O”. The action of this hinge will also tilt the keyboard of the laptop on your desk for a better typing angle, so it has a secondary ergonomic function.
