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Ultraportable Laptops Buying GuideWhat Are Ultraportable Laptops/Ultrabooks? What Are Ultraportable Laptops/Ultrabooks?Ultraportable laptops are a new class of laptop designed to provide portable computing that doesn’t compromise on performance. We have already had netbooks for a number of years. Although these succeed in terms of portability, they are far less powerful than full-sized laptops, and often offer cramped screens and keyboards. The new trend for high-spec ultraportable laptops started with the MacBook Air. An emphasis was placed on design meaning that you could still have a relatively large glossy screen in an ultra-light model. Thanks to the success of the original MacBook Air, many Windows laptop manufacturers have jumped on the trend to create a range of laptops geared towards business-people on the go, as well as travelers and students. Key Features Of Ultraportable LaptopsIn order to better understand what constitutes an ultraportable laptop computer, it helps to look at some of the features that models typically have in common. Note that not all laptops classed as “ultraportable” will come with all of these features, but they’re a good place to start. Size Ultraportable laptops are ultra-thin, usually less than an inch thick, making them easy to slip into a backpack, handbag or briefcase. To save on space, they make use of lightweight processors and often forego the optical drive. The good news is that most ultraportable laptops still come with screens between 11 and 13 inches, meaning they’re more comfortable to use than tiny netbooks Weight True ultraportable laptops will weigh around 3 lbs. or less, though some lightweight laptops that include a DVD drive will weigh a little more than this. Hard Drive The very best ultraportable laptops use the newest technology in their hard drive. Solid state disk (SSD) drives are much faster than traditional hard disk drives. There are a number of benefits to this kind of drive, not least the fact that they are far more resistant to bumps – perfect for travelling! Start-Up And Resume SSD drives are also a lot quicker than standard hard drives, meaning that most ultraportable laptops will have excellent boot up times. You can usually load your laptop in under a minute, making it easy to quickly look something up on the go. If you’re resuming from standby it should only take a few seconds. The Top Ultraportable Laptop Manufacturers Although more and more computer manufacturers are now getting in on the ultraportable laptop craze, these three are considered top of the game: * Asus with its Zenbook * Acer with its Aspire S3 * Apple with its MacBook Air These are a good starting point for anyone shopping for a new ultraportable laptop. They will help to give you an idea of the way they look, and the kind of features you get for the price. Note, however, that these three laptops (especially the MacBook and Zenbook) are high-end models that cost $1000+. If you don’t have this much money to spend, it is possible to find cheaper options by foregoing the SSD or opting for a laptop that may weigh a little more. Important Specifications To Look For In An Ultraportable LaptopWhen shopping for your new ultraportable laptop, it first helps to think about what you will personally use it for. If you just want something simple for word processing when you’re away from home, for example, then you may opt for a cheaper but less powerful computer. However, if money is no object and you want the best specs you can get, then you’ll consider aspects like the SSD, RAM and processor a lot more carefully. Here’s a guide to the main specs you’ll want to look at when shopping for your brand new ultraportable laptop. Price Because the whole aim of ultraportable laptops is to provide a portable computing experience with no compromise on processing power, these laptops cost far more than your typical lightweight laptop or netbook. In general, expect to pay $1000+ for the best designs in systems such as the Asus Zenbook and MacBook Air. The good news is that there are several more budget options available in the $700 - $900 price range, but these may forego certain features, such as the SSD drive, which bumps up the price on high-end models. Size Ultraportable laptops are a similar size to any other laptops in terms of width, thanks to the fact that they don’t come with tiny screens. As such, they are wider than netbooks. The main benefit comes in the width of the product. Most ultraportables are less than one inch thick, and can be as thin as just a quarter of an inch at the front of the product. This is what helps to make them so light, and so easy to carry around in your bag or your hand. Weight Although the lightest ultraportables will weigh less than 3 lbs., this kind of weight is only usually available in the top models such as Acer Aspire S3, Asus Zenbook and MacBook Air. If you want to broaden the search for a more affordable range of portable laptops that come with extra features (such as an optical drive) then you may want to look for laptops weighing 5 lbs. and under. These are still incredibly light and easy to carry around considering what you’re getting in that small package! Battery Life Unfortunately, ultraportables don’t yet offer the same kind of battery life as their less powerful netbook cousins. Don’t expect your battery to last for an entire day on any of these machines. In general, ultraportable batteries can be expected to last for between 5 – 9 hours. Many ultraportables utilize power-saving programs that’ll help you to reduce your power usage and get the very most out of your laptop battery. Thankfully, most ultraportables also have extremely small and light power adaptors, so it won’t be too difficult to carry them around alongside the laptop. Connectivity Because ultraportable laptops are designed for travel and business, they should always come with Wi-Fi connectivity as standard, and most will include Bluetooth. Due to the thin design of many models, they will often leave out an Ethernet port. Display Ultraportable laptops don’t come with tiny, hard-to-read screens like netbooks do. Instead, they stick to standard laptop screen sizes, usually 11 inches or 13 inches, though some are as large as 14 inches. Most ultraportable laptops will feature a resolution of 1366 x 768, meaning that the screens are clear to read, and it’s easy to lay out your programs and documents side by side. Most ultraportables feature good-looking glossy screens that make for a better performance when watching movies. However, these glossy screens are extremely reflective and can be difficult to read outside. Some laptops feature matte screens that don’t look as good but are better for outdoor use. Processor Most of the ultraportable laptops on the market today come with Intel’s low voltage Core 2 Duo processors, which are good for portability and the fact that they run a lot cooler than other laptop processors. The Intel Core i5 processor is most common in laptops in the $800 - $1300 price range. You’ll usually find CPU speeds of between 1.6 GHz – 2.0 GHz. Ultraportables aren’t the speediest of laptops in this respect, and budget models carry even lower CPU speeds. Memory The RAM, or memory, is important for helping you to determine how well the laptop will cope with running many programs at the same time. As with processing power, many ultraportables will carry less RAM than standard-sized laptops. 4 GB is the standard offering for $700 - $1300 ultraportables, but 6 GB is also becoming more and more common, especially in those laptops that don’t quite fit into the high end ultraportable specs. Graphics Graphics are not a priority with ultraportable laptops. Most come with integrated graphics to support the graphics of the Windows operating system. That said, some manufacturers are creating very portable laptops that include better graphics cards to deal with a number of the newest games. For example, Sony Vaio has a media dock that’ll help boost gaming performance, and Alienware have also produced lightweight offerings. Connectivity You should always look for laptops that feature wireless networking (Wi-Fi) as standard, supporting the 802.11a, g and Draft N standards. Bluetooth is now becoming more and more common in all types of laptop, and Bluetooth 2.1+ Enhanced Data Rate (EDR) will help ensure compatibility with other devices. Some laptops will even allow you to connect to wireless data networks through cellular providers, though this is less common and isn’t available in models such as the MacBook Air. Hard Drive Ultraportable laptops are often bought as a second computer, for use out-and-about, and not designed as the sole computer in any household. As such, hard drives are smaller than on standard laptops. True ultraportable laptops will come with SSD drives, which are better suited to bumps and knocks from travel thanks to the fact that they have no moving parts. SSD drives also work a lot quicker for reading and writing files, and will help to ensure that your laptop loads up as quickly as possible. Because SSD drives are more expensive, they come in smaller sizes usually between 64 GB – 128 GB. If you opt for older and slower standard hard drive technology then expect to find hard drive sizes of between 250 GB – 750 GB. Most will not need so much space on a laptop, but it’s useful if you tend to download or store many large files such as videos and movies. There’s nothing wrong with opting for the older technology, and it can help save you some cash if you need to. Load times won’t be as quick as with SSD drives, but this won’t be a problem if you’re used to using standard hard drives anyway. SSD drives are recommended if you’re moving around a lot and want the added durability against bumps and shocks. Keyboard Keyboards can vary widely between different ultraportable laptop models. They are usually more spacious and easier to type on than netbook keyboards, but they may still be compact compared to standard computer keyboards. In order to save space, many ultraportable laptop manufacturers will remove certain keys, such as number pads, which can take a little getting used to. If possible, try out various keyboards before you buy to help get a feel for how easy it is to type. Trackpad The MacBook Air has an excellent trackpad that makes it easy to perform a variety of functions without a mouse, including: zooming in on web pages, scrolling through pages, going back to the previous web page and so on. Since many ultraportable laptops are based on standards set by the MacBook Air, most also include a number of two-finger gestures that’ll help you navigate your laptop more intuitively. Some models are more successful at this than others, so it pays to check reviews for any complaints. Optical Drive Many people are shocked to discover that the lightest ultraportable laptops don’t have a DVD drive included as standard. Instead, you’ll need to transfer files via network connections, the internet, or external media such as SD cards and hard drives. However, it is possible to find ultraportables that do include optical drives. Understandably, these may be a little thicker and more heavy than those that don’t, but if you regularly use a disc drive then it may well be worth the compromise. Ports Again, because of the thin design of ultraportable laptops, they usually come with fewer ports than standard laptops. You’ll usually find USB ports (look for USB 3.0 for faster transfer times, though 2.0 is more widespread), Ethernet ports for connected to a wired internet connection, HDMI ports for connecting to HD displays and headphone jacks. Case Most ultraportable laptop casing is made from a metal alloy: designed to be lightweight, stylish and durable all at the same time. In order to protect the laptop even further, you may choose to purchase an additional laptop case or sleeve to absorb shocks and bumps. Ultraportables Versus Other DevicesAlthough ultraportable laptops are becoming more and more popular among travelers and general consumers, there is still a range of other portable devices available to buy. Keep reading to decide which one of these devices fits your needs best. Ultraportable Laptops Vs. Standard Laptops Throughout this buyer’s guide we have discussed many of the benefits of choosing an ultraportable laptop, notably the fact that these models are lighter and thinner, yet still have good quality screens, and often come in very stylish designs. That said, there are some drawbacks to ultraportable laptops when compared to standard models. These are: * Fewer ports * Often no optical drive * Smaller keyboards * Poor integrated graphics * Lower battery life * Less powerful processors * More expensive in proportion to features Ultraportable Laptops Vs. Netbooks Before the release of the Apple MacBook Air, netbooks were king in the world of portable computing. The main draw of netbooks is the fact that they are tiny, and have a tiny price tag to match. You can buy a netbook for as little as $200, which is a world away from the $1000+ price tags of many ultraportable laptops currently available on the market. But price isn’t always the determining factor, as the success of the expensive MacBook Air has proven. Here’s a quick overview of the benefits and drawbacks of buying netbooks vs. ultraportable laptops. Benefits Of Buying Netbooks Over Ultraportable Laptops * Very cheap * Less of a loss if damaged or stolen while traveling * Aren’t as attractive to thieves with their simpler designs * Battery life can last almost a whole day (11+ hours) * Very light and small – can even fit into small handbags Benefits Of Buying Ultraportable Laptops Over Netbooks * Much more stylish * Come with SSD drives (good for travel and fast load speeds) * Bigger screens are easier to read * More space for keyboards that are easier to type on * Larger trackpads supporting multi-touch gestures * Slimmer than netbooks * Can often support more programs running at once Summary If you want a device for the basics, such as sending emails or word processing, and don’t mind about the way it looks then a netbook is the best option. However, if you want something more stylish that can handle a wider range of tasks, viewable on a much better screen, then an ultraportable laptop is your best option. Ultraportable Laptops Vs. Tablets Tablet computers have taken the market by storm in recent years, especially popular with business-people, students and travelers: i.e. the same demographic that the ultraportable laptop manufacturers seem to be targeting. So should you go for a tablet or an ultraportable laptop? Here are the benefits of each. Reasons To Choose A Tablet Over An Ultraportable Laptop * Cheaper * Very quick for looking up information * Even more portable in both width, height and thickness * Even lighter than ultraportable laptops * Excellent for use in confined spaces such as planes and trains * Good range of apps available * Very good for connecting to the internet, often with 3G built in as standard * Often have a longer battery life Reasons To Choose An Ultraportable Laptop Over A Tablet Computer * Tablets are too limited to be used as sole computer, whereas ultraportables could be * Full keyboard means they’re much better for typing long lengths of text * Have a proper file system which makes it easy to store and arrange your files * Larger screens are much more useful for viewing photos and movies, or working within certain programs * Usually more powerful than tablets * Can include an optical drive, though many don’t * Come with USB ports for connecting external devices. Summary The device you choose largely depends on what you want to do on it. If you’d just like to send short emails, play a few games, and keep up with your favorite websites then a tablet is a great way of doing this. However, if you want a computer that lets you organize all of your files and perform a fuller range of tasks, an ultraportable laptop is the best choice. ConclusionAlthough ultraportable laptops may cost a lot of money, you can see from the above that they have a lot to offer the consumer in terms of powerful computing in a portable package. When shopping around, decide whether premium features such as the SSD drive and extreme thin designs of models such as the MacBook Air are crucial to you. Also think carefully about whether you’d still like an optical drive included, and how much RAM you’ll need for the kind of tasks you will be performing. The good news is that there’s an ultraportable laptop out there to suit just about any budget and any requirement – and these laptops are some of the most stylish you can get. Read more Laptop Reviews.
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Ultraportable Laptop Buying Guide |
