What ultrabook?

[bigboss]

I'm thinking of getting an ultrabook. My requirements are:

1) 13 inches
2) 512GB SSD storage
3) No optical drive
4) Decent battery life
5) Touchscreen
6) Ultraslim profile

I can't find anything decent. I can get a 13-inch MacBook Air with 512GB SSD & 8GB RAM for £1305. I can't believe there's no competition for it on features & price. I already have a MacBook Pro, so want a Windows 8.

 

[Paul.]

If you can stretch to 14" you could look at that carbon Lenovo?

 

[bigboss]

Yes, I've checked that. That's the closest I've found matching my requirements. But only 256GB SSD unfortunately.

 

[scene]

The Dell XPS14 has a 512 SSD option - but it's 2.1kg and £1460!!

EDIT: And come to think of it, when I looke a month ago, I'm sure the Toshiba Portege Z930 had a 512GB SSD option - that I can't seem to find anymore. I have an older Toshiba portege that has lasted 6.5 years now.

 

[cheeseboy]

might be easier to buy one with the spec you want and a small ssd, then just buy a 512gb ssd and stick that in.

 

[professorhat]

Buy a Macbook Air and install Windows 8 on it using Bootcamp / VMware Fusion / Parallels?

EDIT - ah, you want a touchscreen

 

[bigboss]

Buy a Macbook Air and install Windows 8 on it using Bootcamp / VMware Fusion / Parallels?

EDIT - ah, you want a touchscreen

Well, touchscreen only if it's Windows 8. To be honest, I am mulling over the option of having 2 MacBooks ( while my Windows 8 next to me is stuck in a restart loop |( ) - the MacBook Pro is my wife's. I just feel that if I have 2 systems at home (Windows & Mac), I will have the flexibility of both ecosystems. Besides, I can foresee compatibility problems when I want to use it for work purposes (NHS). Apple makes beautiful hardware. Lenovo ThinkPad runs it close.

 

[bigboss]

might be easier to buy one with the spec you want and a small ssd, then just buy a 512gb ssd and stick that in.

That's an option! Would that not void manufacturer's warranty?

 

[bigboss]

The Dell XPS14 has a 512 SSD option - but it's 2.1kg and £1460!!

Looks nice, but it's still 2.1 kg!

EDIT: And come to think of it, when I looke a month ago, I'm sure the Toshiba Portege Z930 had a 512GB SSD option - that I can't seem to find anymore. I have an older Toshiba portege that has lasted 6.5 years now.

How is Toshiba? A friend of mine hated it, as it broke down a few times.

 

[bigboss]

I was looking forward to Asus announcing more models in its Zenbook series, but they haven't done so as yet.

 

[professorhat]

Buy a Macbook Air and install Windows 8 on it using Bootcamp / VMware Fusion / Parallels?

EDIT - ah, you want a touchscreen

Well, touchscreen only if it's Windows 8. To be honest, I am mulling over the option of having 2 MacBooks ( while my Windows 8 next to me is stuck in a restart loop |( ) - the MacBook Pro is my wife's. I just feel that if I have 2 systems at home (Windows & Mac), I will have the flexibility of both ecosystems. Besides, I can foresee compatibility problems when I want to use it for work purposes (NHS). Apple makes beautiful hardware. Lenovo ThinkPad runs it close.

Windows 8 runs quite happily on my Macbook Air as a virtual machine in VMware Fusion. You get the best of both worlds as you can still run PC apps, but VMware Fusion ensures Windows supports all the normal Mac gestures i.e. two finger scrolling, three fingers to move windows etc, plus four finger swish to move from the Mac desktop / full screen apps to the VMware Fusion version of Windows running full screen. It can even make Windows apps appear to be running as normal Mac apps, though I've found this functionality to be a bit flaky personally (though that could just be the dodgy work apps I use!).

The only thing I'd recommend if going down this route would be to spend the £80 to up the RAM to 8 GB so you can assign Windows enough RAM and not affect your normal usage of Mac apps.

 

[Scissor_digits]

Sony VAIO T Series 13 Ultrabook

On Sony's website the standard version is £619 but when pimped up to your spec it's £1,189

Your requirement for 512GB SSD means you'll be lucky to get anything below £1,000

 

[dreddric]

I am really happy with my Toshiba Z930 (i7, 8GB RAM) and it is so light to carry, but it is not Touchscreen. It initially came with a 128GB mSATA SSD which I upgraded to 256GB, I don't think a 512GB mSATA SSD is commercially available yet? If there is, no doubt it will be very expensive!

The Toshiba U920T sounds similar to what you are looking for, its a Window 8 hybrid (laptop/tablet), but again only with 128GB SSD and not sure how easy it would be to upgrade.

 

[cheeseboy]

might be easier to buy one with the spec you want and a small ssd, then just buy a 512gb ssd and stick that in.

That's an option! Would that not void manufacturer's warranty?

nope, shouldn't do, that's one of the points of having upgradable parts

 

[bigboss]

Sony VAIO T Series 13 Ultrabook

On Sony's website the standard version is £619 but when pimped up to your spec it's £1,189

Your requirement for 512GB SSD means you'll be lucky to get anything below £1,000

Now that looks very nice! A little beefier to my liking, but not bad at all. Will go & check in store.

 

[bigboss]

might be easier to buy one with the spec you want and a small ssd, then just buy a 512gb ssd and stick that in.

That's an option! Would that not void manufacturer's warranty?

nope, shouldn't do, that's one of the points of having upgradable parts

:cheers:

 

[bigboss]

I am really happy with my Toshiba Z930 (i7, 8GB RAM) and it is so light to carry, but it is not Touchscreen. It initially came with a 128GB mSATA SSD which I upgraded to 256GB, I don't think a 512GB mSATA SSD is commercially available yet? If there is, no doubt it will be very expensive!

The Toshiba U920T sounds similar to what you are looking for, its a Window 8 hybrid (laptop/tablet), but again only with 128GB SSD and not sure how easy it would be to upgrade.

512GB SSD is available, & the prices are falling:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-CT512M4SSD2-512GB-2-5-inch-Internal/dp/B004W2JL3Y

Thanks, will look at Toshiba as well.

 

[cheeseboy]

either way, whatever you are buying, I want

 

[Overdose]

might be easier to buy one with the spec you want and a small ssd, then just buy a 512gb ssd and stick that in.

That's an option! Would that not void manufacturer's warranty?

nope, shouldn't do, that's one of the points of having upgradable parts

:cheers:

In support of the above....

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/600069-vaio-warranty-effect-ram-hard-drive-upgrade-done-owner.html

 

[dreddric]

I am really happy with my Toshiba Z930 (i7, 8GB RAM) and it is so light to carry, but it is not Touchscreen. It initially came with a 128GB mSATA SSD which I upgraded to 256GB, I don't think a 512GB mSATA SSD is commercially available yet? If there is, no doubt it will be very expensive!

The Toshiba U920T sounds similar to what you are looking for, its a Window 8 hybrid (laptop/tablet), but again only with 128GB SSD and not sure how easy it would be to upgrade.

512GB SSD is available, & the prices are falling: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-CT512M4SSD2-512GB-2-5-inch-Internal/dp/B004W2JL3Y Thanks, will look at Toshiba as well.

You are refering to a standard 512GB SSD drive, some ultrabooks (i.e. Tosh Z930) are so thin that a standard SSD drive is too bulky to accommodate.
An "mSATA" SSD drive is essentially just the flash board (an SSD wihout the casing) looks very much like a 2.5" memory stick, which connects directly to the SATA interface on the motherboard.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/256gb-crucial-m4-slim-msata-ssd-msata-iii-6gb-s-marvell-mlc-flash-read-500mb-s-write-260mb-s-50000-i

As I said, I have not seen any 512GB "mSATA" drives available.

 

[bigboss]

( while my Windows 8 next to me is stuck in a restart loop |( )

Turns out that enabling "Fast startup" in power options (enabled by default) is the culprit. Disabled it, & problem solved.

 

[bigboss]

I am really happy with my Toshiba Z930 (i7, 8GB RAM) and it is so light to carry, but it is not Touchscreen. It initially came with a 128GB mSATA SSD which I upgraded to 256GB, I don't think a 512GB mSATA SSD is commercially available yet? If there is, no doubt it will be very expensive!

The Toshiba U920T sounds similar to what you are looking for, its a Window 8 hybrid (laptop/tablet), but again only with 128GB SSD and not sure how easy it would be to upgrade.

512GB SSD is available, & the prices are falling: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-CT512M4SSD2-512GB-2-5-inch-Internal/dp/B004W2JL3Y Thanks, will look at Toshiba as well.

You are refering to a standard 512GB SSD drive, some ultrabooks (i.e. Tosh Z930) are so thin that a standard SSD drive is too bulky to accommodate.
An "mSATA" SSD drive is essentially just the flash board (an SSD wihout the casing) looks very much like a 2.5" memory stick, which connects directly to the SATA interface on the motherboard.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/256gb-crucial-m4-slim-msata-ssd-msata-iii-6gb-s-marvell-mlc-flash-read-500mb-s-write-260mb-s-50000-i

As I said, I have not seen any 512GB "mSATA" drives available.

Can't you simply take the casing off from the 512GB drive?

 

[cheeseboy]

might be easier to buy one with the spec you want and a small ssd, then just buy a 512gb ssd and stick that in.

That's an option! Would that not void manufacturer's warranty?

nope, shouldn't do, that's one of the points of having upgradable parts

:cheers:

In support of the above....

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/600069-vaio-warranty-effect-ram-hard-drive-upgrade-done-owner.html

yep, so long as there is a problem, and everything is back to stock you're well within your rights to send it back. Otherwise, you do an apple and solder everything in and make it impossible to get inside.

Just remember, most of the new apple offerings are not upgradable. At all.

 

[dreddric]

I am really happy with my Toshiba Z930 (i7, 8GB RAM) and it is so light to carry, but it is not Touchscreen. It initially came with a 128GB mSATA SSD which I upgraded to 256GB, I don't think a 512GB mSATA SSD is commercially available yet? If there is, no doubt it will be very expensive!

The Toshiba U920T sounds similar to what you are looking for, its a Window 8 hybrid (laptop/tablet), but again only with 128GB SSD and not sure how easy it would be to upgrade.

512GB SSD is available, & the prices are falling: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-CT512M4SSD2-512GB-2-5-inch-Internal/dp/B004W2JL3Y Thanks, will look at Toshiba as well.

You are refering to a standard 512GB SSD drive, some ultrabooks (i.e. Tosh Z930) are so thin that a standard SSD drive is too bulky to accommodate.
An "mSATA" SSD drive is essentially just the flash board (an SSD wihout the casing) looks very much like a 2.5" memory stick, which connects directly to the SATA interface on the motherboard.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/256gb-crucial-m4-slim-msata-ssd-msata-iii-6gb-s-marvell-mlc-flash-read-500mb-s-write-260mb-s-50000-i

As I said, I have not seen any 512GB "mSATA" drives available.

Can't you simply take the casing off from the 512GB drive?

Good question, I'm not sure to be honest. Although, if it was that simple, surely the likes of Crucial would be selling 512GB mSATA drives by now?

 

[cheeseboy]

Can't you simply take the casing off from the 512GB drive?

probably not as they probably have different connectors. usually the connector board is wired directly to the rest of the unit in the large hard drives and the msata connects are just part of the pcb.