Reviews related to : Ultrabooks

Gigibyte are best known for making motherboards for both desktop and notebook computers. They also make rather good notebooks as the motherboard is itself perhaps the single most important component in the notebook.
The Gigabyte i7 Notebook U2442F measures 33.5x23x2cm, the last figure is thickness and the figure quoted is at the front add another.5cm at the rear. It weighs 1.6kilos. The screen display is 1600x900. Model numbers for some computers often give no indication as to what is on offer, for instance I recently reviewed a U2442N little thinking that the next offering from them would be a U2442F but there are many differences.
Yes finally a HP unit I know its taken 18 months since their last offering but at last they have reverted to their original PR agency and so review items have started to become available to be tested, here a rather nice Ultrabook.
tHE HP Spectre XT Ultrabook 13-2100ea measures 31x22x1cm. The last measurement is the thickness at the front and it increases to 1.5cm at the rear. The unit weights 1410grams. It is silver grey in colour apart from the screen surround which is black but rubberised so no fingermarks show. The viewable screen is 29.5x16.5 with a notional diagonal imperial measurement of 13.3inches. The screen resolution is 1366x768. The 1cm empty space above the screen has a webcam mounted in the centre.
A powerful notebook with lots of memory and joy of joys no shiny black in sight anywhere as the whole thing is silver grey. The screen is of course reflective but not nearly as much as a lot of other offerings I have used.
This is an Intel Core i5 unit with a 500GB hard disc and a small SSD that helps make things quite a bit quicker in starting. It is 36x25x2cm and it weights 2.175kilos. The unit feels really sturdy probably because the screen back is aluminium. You will note from the dimensions that there is no increase in size towards the back – normally caused by an oversize battery.
The buzzword around today is Ultrabook not simply because they are small and light but they also boot exceedingly fast. So what exactly does this Acer unit have to offer that will make you reach into your wallet to buy.
The Acer Aspire S3 ultrabook measures 32x22x1.5cm at the back and less than 1cm thick at the front, it weights 1330grams. With care it should power your needs for a full day. With such thin sides the only place most connections can be is at the back. The right side has only an SD card slot. The front has nothing not even LEDs. The left side has an earbud jack. Both the earbud and SD card port are close to the back.
Its not often the weight on something is the first thing I mention, this notebook is 1155grams and is also extremely thin. But it still has a 13.3inch screen and good connectivity. The only thing missing is an optical drive.
It is 31x21.5x1cm and that last figure the thickness is at the back, at the front it is only just more than half that. Because of the extreme thinness some connections such as VGA, HDMI and Ethernet are made with the help of adapter cables (all provided). The left side has DC input, USB3 port as well as mini HDMI and Ethernet ports.
Not just another thin notebook - it is very thin – but this has a far bigger selling point. Simple figures, initial boot time 70 seconds, initial shutdown time 25 seconds, once the 16GB SSD second drive gets to work boot is 20 seconds and shutdown 10 seconds
I have not reviewed any other Windows notebook that boots in 20seconds and 10seconds shutdown is also rapid. However before the first set of updates and changing the way Samsung send in their products to go to Standby rather than Shutdown the story was very different 70 seconds to boot and 25 seconds for it to shut down. It weights 1740 grams and measures 33x22.5x2cm.
Sometimes the appearance of letters in a certain configuration can lead you off into flights of fancy when really there is a more prosaic reason behind the letters.
When I came across the letters ETS displayed in that order recently at an event, I could not help but imagine that extra-terrestrials were to be the subject under discussion and maybe they were due to arrive in the very near future.  Fortunately, some would say unfortunately, in this case those three letters did not refer to intergalactic visitors but the latest series of notebooks from Sony belonging to the E, T and S series.
The portable computer family continues to expand. First we has laptops/notebooks, then came netbooks closely followed by tablets. Now Ultrabooks join the party.
Originally coined by Intel, the term "Ultrabook" refers to a notebook-style computer that conforms to certain specifications. The unit needs to be no more than 20mm (0.8-inch) in thickness and be powered by an Intel Core i5 or better processor. Storage can be in SSD format with battery life giving at least 5 hours rising to over 8 hours in some circumstances. The unit’s graphics should be capable of delivering HD quality.