What ultrabook?

[Overdose]

Just for info, there is a deal for a Macbook Pro 13" @ £1200. Don't know if it's of any use but here's the link.

http://www.groupon.co.uk/deals/national-deal/ask-direct/18978364?nlp=&CID=UK_CRM_1_0_0_74&a=1664

 

[bigboss]

Thanks. Yes, I've seen the Groupon offer. Strangely enough, I'm getting it cheaper with my 15% University discount, then their supposed "17%" discount.

 

[Overdose]

It is actually quite rare that Groupon offer 'real' deals. I find a good hunt on the net often yields better results.

You do get the odd bargain though.

 

[TheDuke]

I've got a Toshiba 830 with 128 Gb and I want to upgrade for more memory but I've got to say, it's a really good machine. The flexy screen can be tricky (it got cracked once when I was on a bus and someone fell on me!) but that aside it's excellent. Don't take them on buses and you're fine.

 

[bigboss]

Finally found the perfect ultrabook - the Sony Vaio Pro 13!!

http://www.sony.co.uk/product/vn-pro/tab/overview

Just ordered it! :cheers:

 

[D3CYPH3R]

Finally found the perfect ultrabook - the Sony Vaio Pro 13!! http://www.sony.co.uk/product/vn-pro/tab/overview Just ordered it! :cheers:

That looks all kinds of awesome, been getting pretty good reviews too, Free 4 yr warrenty is also nice, don't think i will ever have that kind of cash to spend on a mobile device.

 

[bigboss]

Ok, cancelled my order in a moment of sanity (or madness). The difference between 256GB & 512GB SSD is £300. Is the price difference worth it?

I'll have to put all music and pictures to an external hard drive if I choose 256GB. Obviously, all will be in 1 place if I choose 512GB.

I've got until 17th to avail of the 4 years free warranty offer. :?

 

[lxd55]

Hi bb, but is memory that big a deal for you re pics and music when you have a couple of nas drives already? Save the cash...

 

[bigboss]

Hmmm....you do have a point there. Should also look at cloud options (& still save some serious amount of cash).

 

[D3CYPH3R]

My wife manages on 128ssd in her ultrabook, but we store everything here on a home server, no idea if you can expand the ssd on thr pro, you can with my wifes but we've never needed to.

 

[professorhat]

Personally I'd go for the extra storage - virtually everytime I've gone for the cheaper, lower storage option, I've regretted it about a year later. It does depend on what you'll use it for, but if you like tinkering with all things IT, then you'll always find a use for extra storage!

 

[bigboss]

That's what's confusing me!

I do realise that I have accumulated a lot on my laptop over the years, a lot of which I'm not even using. I could move them to an external hard drive. It doesn't have an optical drive, so I'm less likely to rip music CDs (yes, I still buy them!). So 256GB may be adequate.

However, it is portable, & I will be carrying it out & about. So I will want to put a few movies to watch on the go. 512GB will definitely satisfy my needs for a long time. But it's £300 extra, which is 30% of the cost of the laptop!

 

[expat_mike]

If your main use for the extra SSD is just to store movies, why not opt for a small SSD, and store your weeks supply of movies on something like:

http://www.dabs.com/products/lexar-jumpdrive-s73---64-gb---usb-3-0-7YH1.html?refs=55970000&src="2"

 

[AnotherJoe]

Make sure its a brand new 4th gen intel i7 processor (Haswell) - not the current 3rd gen i7. 4th gen have around 50% battery life

Haswells are designated with a 4. Eg i7-4500 as opposed to the older i7-3500.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7047/the-haswell-ultrabook-review-core-i74500u-tested

 

[bigboss]

Make sure its a brand new 4th gen intel i7 processor (Haswell) - not the current 3rd gen i7. 4th gen have around 50% battery life

Haswells are designated with a 4. Eg i7-4500 as opposed to the older i7-3500.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7047/the-haswell-ultrabook-review-core-i74500u-tested

Yes, it is Haswell. What's the main difference between i5 & i7 in practical use?

 

[bigboss]

If your main use for the extra SSD is just to store movies, why not opt for a small SSD, and store your weeks supply of movies on something like:

http://www.dabs.com/products/lexar-jumpdrive-s73---64-gb---usb-3-0-7YH1.html?refs=55970000&src="2"

Hmmm.....good idea. I think 256GB is making more sense.

 

[bigboss]

These are the specs I'm considering. What do you think?

Processor: Intel® CoreTM i5-4200U 1.6 GHz

Operating system: Windows 8 Pro

Storage: 256 GB SATA Flash SSD

Memory: 8 GB 1600 MT/s DDR3L-SDRAM

Display: 33.7 cm LED, 1920x1080

Ethernet Wi-Fi & VGA dongle: No Ethernet Wi-Fi & VGA dongle

Battery: Battery life up to 7 hours

Also Included

HDMI(TM) output: HDMI(TM) output

Warranty: 4 years warranty

Bluetooth®: Bluetooth® 4.0

NFC technology: NFC technology included

AC Adapter: 1 AC Adapter

Keyboard Style: Backlight keyboard

Security features: With security chip (TPM)

Graphics: Intel® HD Graphics 4400

Wireless LAN: Wireless LAN (IEEE 802.11abgn)

Language and keyboard: English (QWERTY)

USB Port( s ): 2x USB 3.0

Touch Screen: Touch Screen

 

[AnotherJoe]

Its looks like a nice spec - I'd pay the extra £100 for the i7.

1.8/3.0Ghz vs 1.6/2.6Ghz, 4MB cache vs 3MB cache, and GPU 1.1Ghz vs 1.0Ghz - probably about 15% faster under load.

256GB should be plenty shouldnt it? I'm only using about 200GB on my desktop and most of that is games

 

[Anderson]

Configure to suit

http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/notebooks/ultraNote/

 

[bigboss]

Its looks like a nice spec - I'd pay the extra £100 for the i7.

1.8/3.0Ghz vs 1.6/2.6Ghz, 4MB cache vs 3MB cache, and GPU 1.1Ghz vs 1.0Ghz - probably about 15% faster under load.

I don't play games at all. Will use it mostly for Microsoft Office and Internet, with occasional movie watching (rare). Not sure if it's worth it.

 

[bigboss]

These are the specs I'm considering. What do you think?

Processor: Intel® CoreTM i5-4200U 1.6 GHz

Operating system: Windows 8 Pro

Storage: 256 GB SATA Flash SSD

Memory: 8 GB 1600 MT/s DDR3L-SDRAM

Display: 33.7 cm LED, 1920x1080

Ethernet Wi-Fi & VGA dongle: No Ethernet Wi-Fi & VGA dongle

Battery: Battery life up to 7 hours

Also Included

HDMI(TM) output: HDMI(TM) output

Warranty: 4 years warranty

Bluetooth®: Bluetooth® 4.0

NFC technology: NFC technology included

AC Adapter: 1 AC Adapter

Keyboard Style: Backlight keyboard

Security features: With security chip (TPM)

Graphics: Intel® HD Graphics 4400

Wireless LAN: Wireless LAN (IEEE 802.11abgn)

Language and keyboard: English (QWERTY)

USB Port( s ): 2x USB 3.0

Touch Screen: Touch Screen

I've placed an order for this configuration.

 

[pauln]

Make sure its a brand new 4th gen intel i7 processor (Haswell) - not the current 3rd gen i7. 4th gen have around 50% battery life

Haswells are designated with a 4. Eg i7-4500 as opposed to the older i7-3500.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7047/the-haswell-ultrabook-review-core-i74500u-tested

Yes, it is Haswell. What's the main difference between i5 & i7 in practical use?

i7 would be a waste in an ultrabook. That extra cpu grunt is only really noticeable when doing video encoding, 3d cad, gaming, heavy duty engineering calcs and so on. An ultrabook is not meant for that kind of useage; you'd be looking more at a 3.5kg workstation like an HP Elitebook.

The Sony seems to have an excellent screen, which is good as that's what you're spending all your time looking at! It's maybe not as robust as the metal offerings from Dell and HP.

Unfortunately for me I have to lug around the 3.5kg monster described above. It's a brilliant machine though.

 

[bigboss]

Not checked the Sony one in flesh, but they claim its carbon fibre body is stronger than aluminium. Reviews suggest it does flex a bit though.

 

[SarahMiller]

I would recommend not o go for ultrbooks since they don’t have much life span and for that money you can just buy a netbook or a tab.

 

[simonlewis]

Sarah the general idea is when you spam is you don't give out your real name. :O