5 ms·

What's interesting is that as a power user I still cannot buy a good ultrabook. I have a Samsung New Series 9 13" , that besides having major quality problems (

by cft 14y ago

What's interesting is that as a power user I still cannot buy a good ultrabook. I have a Samsung New Series 9 13" , that besides having major quality problems (dead pixels, clicking fan noises), lacks several essential features that I think many people would like to have: -Retina display (at least like on iPad 3, 2048 x 1536 ) -Default fan-less thermal profile (i.e. no moving parts- it has fanless thermal profile, but it "forgets" it every time it's turned on) Further down the road: -Lid can be detached from the keyboard and used as a touchscreen tablet

seanmcdirmid 14y ago
Obviously, retina is not Intel's problem; plenty of notebooks sold by the fruit have these displays already. Its only a matter of whether the OS/app ecosystem can deal with high resolution displays.
caw 14y ago
>Lid can be detached from the keyboard and used as a touchscreen tablet You should check out the computers known as "convertibles". There's some listed here: http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ultrabook/shop-ultrabook.html http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ultrabook/shop-ultrab... Of course, Intel is in the position that it can't compete with the people that makes its products--choosing to be horizontal rather than vertical in the PC market. So those quality and options are really on the OEMs, and Intel can only provide so much of a carrot and/or stick.
Taylorious 14y ago
Preach it. I can't find a decent Ultrabook. It's amazing that there are so many that dont even have at minimum a 1080p screen. That really should have been part of the Ultrabook specs. What is really astounding is how completely clueless OEMs are. Intel, a chip manufacturer, not only had to go to each OEM and convince them to make some competition for Apple, but they had to help them design the laptops too. What the hell do engineers at Dell, HP, and even Lenovo do all day? They are the ones who should be coming up with laptops and telling Intel what they want.
- gamble 14y ago
  From what I hear from a friend that worked in laptop development at Dell and HP, most of the actual design is done by the Chinese companies that will eventually manufacture the hardware. American hardware companies have stripped themselves down to the point where they basically just specify and test outsourced designs. It's a system designed to produce commodity hardware at low prices, not innovative products.
  - ajross 14y ago
    That mostly just shifts the frame without answering the core question. Why can't the chinese design a decent laptop?
    - seanmcdirmid 14y ago
      R&D spending: when you are in a race to the bottom, you can only afford to invest in safe designs, and most of your focus is on efficiency. In contrast, Apple can afford lots of R&D spending.
      - chii 14y ago
        and yet, long term, it's apple that makes the bulk of the profits in this sector, while the rest rat race tothe bottom. I m not sure if its by design, or these smaller companies just cannot come up with a long term plan...
    - gamble 14y ago
      They're stuck in a local optimum. These companies have to be structured in a certain way to succeed at low margin, high volume commodity hardware sales. It isn't easy to adapt that to higher-end products, and when they try the market is slow to recognize changes in a brand, which discourages them from trying.
- MichaelGG 14y ago
  I'm just complaining, but it feels like Lenovo is busy pissing off all the loyal ThinkPad users. Each iteration takes ThinkPad one step closer to shiny crap laptop, like a Dell or HP. And they still can't get decent resolution screens, even on 14" models. Some of the newer stuff looks neat (like the Helix), but has nerfed hardware, like 8GB RAM max. I don't even really care about "ultra" book. The old X-series ThinkPads were great. 12", a few pounds, portable enough. They killed that line by switching to a crap consumer screen. I wonder if the laptop market will go to hell and the shiny factor won't be an issue cause consumers will be buying other things. At that point, perhaps laptop companies will once again focus on people willing to spend a lot on good hardware.
bcoates 14y ago
If you can handle the tiny-ass (but much higher res) screen the Surface Pro comes pretty close and is in about the same price bucket. It's silent/vibrationless in practice (I don't know if the fans are off or just very quiet) on any workload other than games. I'm happy with mine.
- isaacwaller 14y ago
  I can also vouch for the Surface Pro. It's extremely well made, and pretty much the only downside is the small (but hi-res) screen.
  - MichaelGG 14y ago
    And the tiny amount of RAM and extremely limited storage? SD expansion, if you don't mind slow transfer rates. Also, I understood that you can't actually use the Surface Pro as a laptop; it has to be with the kickstand at just that angle. That seems to indicate the keyboard/laptop mode is fairly limited.
    - bcoates 14y ago
      It's not a no-compromises device, the whole thing is a portablity/power tradeoff. I'm happy with the result; moving from a 5+ pound laptop that I lugged around in a bag or left behind to a 2 pound one that I don't mind carrying around everywhere and using as a main workstation has been a nice change. The big downside is limited customizability, I would put a much larger SSD in it if it were at all feasible. I just keep the stuff I don't use often on a server or an external USB drive. Using it on your lap isn't as awkward as it would seem. I'm a largish guy so I'm sure it looks preposterous tapping away at this tiny thing perched on my knees but it works just fine, although the flexible keyboard sounds like a bongo when I type on anything but a firm surface. You can also flip down the stand and use it unfolded 180° so you get your choice of two whole screen angles. In a pinch pen input is sufficient for writing an email or filling out a webform, or you can scribble freehand notes and transcribe them later. The RAM hasn't been an issue. I haven't found any software that truly needs more than 4G of RAM, and the fast SSD makes swapping/not caching disk not a big deal. I don't think I'd want to take the battery life hit of a ton of RAM even if it were upgradeable. If there were one thing I could add to the Surface Pro 2 wishlist it would be built in LTE, having to carry around a USB dongle or drain the hell out of my cellphone to get connectivity in places with no wi-fi is a drag. Reliable connectivity would also make the scarce disk space less annoying.
bajsejohannes 14y ago
Not sure what constitutes an ultrabook, but would the macbook air fit your needs? It's really high quality and fan is off almost always. It doesn't have retina at the moment, though.
- tterrace 14y ago
  I read "ultrabook" as "any high-end laptop not made by apple".
marshray 14y ago
I have an "ultrabook" and I love it. Except for the lack of F{n}, Home, End, and Insert keys, and the 4 GB RAM. The 13" 1080p screen is about as retinarrific as I can stand. I'm not sure if I'm being ironic or not.
kunai 14y ago
Well, the Retina MacBook Pro very nearly fits your profile. The fans are whisper-quiet, and the screen is beautiful. I'm a ThinkPad die-hard, but somehow Lenovo is managing to destroy every last bit of the legacy IBM worked so hard to build, so, sadly, I'm typing this from a 13" MacBook Air. I couldn't bring myself to buy a cheapened fiberglass budget laptop after my lovely T60p.
- GHFigs 14y ago
  It seems like many Ultrabook shoppers are unaware that there is a 13" Retina MacBook Pro. It's obviously not everybody's cup of tea, but surely worth considering. Typed on an IBM ThinkPad. :)
- whyenot 14y ago
  It's frustrating. I bought a MacBook Pro to replace my aging but much loved Thinkpad X200, but it just doesn't measure up. The Thinkpad has a better keyboard, is more easily expandable (at least memory/hd), and most importantly for me, is built like a tank. The MBP already has a dented corner after an unfortunate tumble, the Thinkpad has endured much, much worse. All I want is a newer version of the X200, but Lenovo has moved off in a different direction...
- general_failure 14y ago
  The mbp also heats up like crazy

by cft 14y ago

seanmcdirmid 14y ago

Obviously, retina is not Intel's problem; plenty of notebooks sold by the fruit have these displays already. Its only a matter of whether the OS/app ecosystem can deal with high resolution displays.

caw 14y ago

>Lid can be detached from the keyboard and used as a touchscreen tablet You should check out the computers known as "convertibles". There's some listed here: http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ultrabook/shop-ultrabook.html http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ultrabook/shop-ultrab... Of course, Intel is in the position that it can't compete with the people that makes its products--choosing to be horizontal rather than vertical in the PC market. So those quality and options are really on the OEMs, and Intel can only provide so much of a carrot and/or stick.

Taylorious 14y ago

Preach it. I can't find a decent Ultrabook. It's amazing that there are so many that dont even have at minimum a 1080p screen. That really should have been part of the Ultrabook specs. What is really astounding is how completely clueless OEMs are. Intel, a chip manufacturer, not only had to go to each OEM and convince them to make some competition for Apple, but they had to help them design the laptops too. What the hell do engineers at Dell, HP, and even Lenovo do all day? They are the ones who should be coming up with laptops and telling Intel what they want.

gamble 14y ago
From what I hear from a friend that worked in laptop development at Dell and HP, most of the actual design is done by the Chinese companies that will eventually manufacture the hardware. American hardware companies have stripped themselves down to the point where they basically just specify and test outsourced designs. It's a system designed to produce commodity hardware at low prices, not innovative products.
- ajross 14y ago
  That mostly just shifts the frame without answering the core question. Why can't the chinese design a decent laptop?
  - seanmcdirmid 14y ago
    R&D spending: when you are in a race to the bottom, you can only afford to invest in safe designs, and most of your focus is on efficiency. In contrast, Apple can afford lots of R&D spending.
    - chii 14y ago
      and yet, long term, it's apple that makes the bulk of the profits in this sector, while the rest rat race tothe bottom. I m not sure if its by design, or these smaller companies just cannot come up with a long term plan...
  - gamble 14y ago
    They're stuck in a local optimum. These companies have to be structured in a certain way to succeed at low margin, high volume commodity hardware sales. It isn't easy to adapt that to higher-end products, and when they try the market is slow to recognize changes in a brand, which discourages them from trying.
MichaelGG 14y ago
I'm just complaining, but it feels like Lenovo is busy pissing off all the loyal ThinkPad users. Each iteration takes ThinkPad one step closer to shiny crap laptop, like a Dell or HP. And they still can't get decent resolution screens, even on 14" models. Some of the newer stuff looks neat (like the Helix), but has nerfed hardware, like 8GB RAM max. I don't even really care about "ultra" book. The old X-series ThinkPads were great. 12", a few pounds, portable enough. They killed that line by switching to a crap consumer screen. I wonder if the laptop market will go to hell and the shiny factor won't be an issue cause consumers will be buying other things. At that point, perhaps laptop companies will once again focus on people willing to spend a lot on good hardware.

bcoates 14y ago

If you can handle the tiny-ass (but much higher res) screen the Surface Pro comes pretty close and is in about the same price bucket. It's silent/vibrationless in practice (I don't know if the fans are off or just very quiet) on any workload other than games. I'm happy with mine.

isaacwaller 14y ago
I can also vouch for the Surface Pro. It's extremely well made, and pretty much the only downside is the small (but hi-res) screen.
- MichaelGG 14y ago
  And the tiny amount of RAM and extremely limited storage? SD expansion, if you don't mind slow transfer rates. Also, I understood that you can't actually use the Surface Pro as a laptop; it has to be with the kickstand at just that angle. That seems to indicate the keyboard/laptop mode is fairly limited.
  - bcoates 14y ago
    It's not a no-compromises device, the whole thing is a portablity/power tradeoff. I'm happy with the result; moving from a 5+ pound laptop that I lugged around in a bag or left behind to a 2 pound one that I don't mind carrying around everywhere and using as a main workstation has been a nice change. The big downside is limited customizability, I would put a much larger SSD in it if it were at all feasible. I just keep the stuff I don't use often on a server or an external USB drive. Using it on your lap isn't as awkward as it would seem. I'm a largish guy so I'm sure it looks preposterous tapping away at this tiny thing perched on my knees but it works just fine, although the flexible keyboard sounds like a bongo when I type on anything but a firm surface. You can also flip down the stand and use it unfolded 180° so you get your choice of two whole screen angles. In a pinch pen input is sufficient for writing an email or filling out a webform, or you can scribble freehand notes and transcribe them later. The RAM hasn't been an issue. I haven't found any software that truly needs more than 4G of RAM, and the fast SSD makes swapping/not caching disk not a big deal. I don't think I'd want to take the battery life hit of a ton of RAM even if it were upgradeable. If there were one thing I could add to the Surface Pro 2 wishlist it would be built in LTE, having to carry around a USB dongle or drain the hell out of my cellphone to get connectivity in places with no wi-fi is a drag. Reliable connectivity would also make the scarce disk space less annoying.

bajsejohannes 14y ago

Not sure what constitutes an ultrabook, but would the macbook air fit your needs? It's really high quality and fan is off almost always. It doesn't have retina at the moment, though.

tterrace 14y ago
I read "ultrabook" as "any high-end laptop not made by apple".

marshray 14y ago

I have an "ultrabook" and I love it. Except for the lack of F{n}, Home, End, and Insert keys, and the 4 GB RAM. The 13" 1080p screen is about as retinarrific as I can stand. I'm not sure if I'm being ironic or not.

kunai 14y ago

Well, the Retina MacBook Pro very nearly fits your profile. The fans are whisper-quiet, and the screen is beautiful. I'm a ThinkPad die-hard, but somehow Lenovo is managing to destroy every last bit of the legacy IBM worked so hard to build, so, sadly, I'm typing this from a 13" MacBook Air. I couldn't bring myself to buy a cheapened fiberglass budget laptop after my lovely T60p.

GHFigs 14y ago
It seems like many Ultrabook shoppers are unaware that there is a 13" Retina MacBook Pro. It's obviously not everybody's cup of tea, but surely worth considering. Typed on an IBM ThinkPad. :)
whyenot 14y ago
It's frustrating. I bought a MacBook Pro to replace my aging but much loved Thinkpad X200, but it just doesn't measure up. The Thinkpad has a better keyboard, is more easily expandable (at least memory/hd), and most importantly for me, is built like a tank. The MBP already has a dented corner after an unfortunate tumble, the Thinkpad has endured much, much worse. All I want is a newer version of the X200, but Lenovo has moved off in a different direction...
general_failure 14y ago
The mbp also heats up like crazy