13 inch Ultrabooks?

[plowking]

Anyone got one of these?

Market seems to be expanding for these ultra-portable computers more than ever, with computing on the go being pushed as more important than ever.

Apple has their Air Macbook, Dell with the XPS 12 and 13, Asus with the Zenbook, HP with Spectre, etc.

The few times in the computer market where Apple is in line with their competitors in terms of price and what not, but still maybe lacking in terms of specs, mainly the screen resolution. Still Apple seems to be the favored among critics and reviewers.

Another tablet/ultrabook hybrid is the Microsoft Surface 3. These seem interesting, and I believe it has actually won a lot of awards last year over a lot of these ultrabooks I mentioned.

Anyone have one of these, or gone through a bunch and able to comment on which one they preferred? My GF is getting one through work, and she basically gets to pick whichever computer she wants, so some input would be great.

[navy]

Surface 3 is great but expensive. Runs the real windows.

The Mac Airbook is everything you want in mac. I have one of these. Newer models are also expensive.

I would take the surface if she isnt paying the cost as it is the best for it's value, unless she has a need for a mac (like imovie) or is a general apple head.

I would avoid the Dell. HP batteries often need replacement. Asus is fine.

[J Shuttlesworth]

I have a Surface Pro 3. ****ing love it. So light/portable and switching between it as a touch screen tablet, and a full on laptop is seamless. I mean the thing is 2x more powerful than my desktop, and it can output 4k, and you can even put it up to 3 external monitors. Windows 8 makes perfect sense on that device.

Macbooks are obviously legit, but they're not touchscreen so probably not the right product to compare to an SP3.

If it has to be a touch screen tablet/laptop, the Lenovo Yoga series is supposed to be good, and Dell has some 2 in 1's out now.

[plowking]

Which Surface do you have J? The i5, 128GB SSD?

I heard some of them have problems with fan noises at times. Experience anything of the sort? This is the one I told her to look at as well, since she likes to work while on the couch or in bed at times, so switching to a tablet would be useful at times for her.

navy, she isn't paying for it, but here in Australia, the Surface with similar specs to the mentioned ultrabooks is probably the most cost effective solution.

[J Shuttlesworth]

Which Surface do you have J? The i5, 128GB SSD?

I heard some of them have problems with fan noises at times. Experience anything of the sort? This is the one I told her to look at as well, since she likes to work while on the couch or in bed at times, so switching to a tablet would be useful at times for her.

navy, she isn't paying for it, but here in Australia, the Surface with similar specs to the mentioned ultrabooks is probably the most cost effective solution.
I have the 256 GB SSD i5, 8gb ram. Never had problems with fan noise. The fan only goes on if I'm using heavy processing power, and it's never been more noisy than any other laptop I've used. I'd actually say it's pretty quiet overall

[highwhey]

You caught my interest at 13 inch - then lost me at ultrabooks

[plowking]

I have the 256 GB SSD i5, 8gb ram. Never had problems with fan noise. The fan only goes on if I'm using heavy processing power, and it's never been more noisy than any other laptop I've used. I'd actually say it's pretty quiet overall

Nice, nice.

How often would you say you use it as a tablet compared to laptop? Not practical using it as a laptop in bed due to having to have the kickstand out and what not?

[dubeta]

Don't buy the Surface, too many compromises in its tablet/laptop hybrid.

It doesnt even included a keyboard which costs another $130 and is not as good as an actual keyboard. And its still only a 12 inch screen at the end of the day.

Also the surface 'needs' to be used on a flat surface, since it uses a hinge to stay upright, so you cant really use it naturally on the bed or couch on your lap, it needs a hard surface like a table, or else it loses balance.


The best bang for buck laptop is the new Asus UX305. By FAR the best price/performance, especially as it also includes the brand new broadwell processors.

The Dell is more expensive with a sexy screen, but battery life is not as good as advertised.


But if you want a laptop that COVERS all the bases, not the best value, but the best all-rounder, believe it or not it might be the new macbook pro 13 inch updated with broadwell and forcetouch trackpad, just released last week. You get exceptional battery life (10 hours minimum) New Force trackpad thats really useful, extra fast SSD, and guaranteed updates with a intuitive operating system.


*HOWEVER, a word of advice, the newest processor Intel Skylake, is supposed to come this summer with Windows 10. A brand new wave of laptops is just around the corner, with all-day battery life and a all new design.



So if you can literally wait 3-4- months you can get a laptop noticeably better than whatevers in the market right now. This generation will be cut short due to impeding tech, yes I know you can always wait for the latest and greatest but this is actually some brand new tech and computing coming out soon.

[J Shuttlesworth]

Nice, nice.

How often would you say you use it as a tablet compared to laptop? Not practical using it as a laptop in bed due to having to have the kickstand out and what not?
I use it fairly often as a laptop, even lying on the couch. You can still use the desktop mode with touch screen, so i'll open up torrents and shit on it. You can type fairly comfortably with the kickstand resting on you.

I use it as a tablet for shit like browsing, amazon, netflix, etc. I use it mostly as a laptop at work though

[J Shuttlesworth]

Don't buy the Surface, too many compromises in its tablet/laptop hybrid.

It doesnt even included a keyboard which costs another $130 and is not as good as an actual keyboard. And its still only a 12 inch screen at the end of the day.

Also the surface 'needs' to be used on a flat surface, since it uses a hinge to stay upright, so you cant really use it naturally on the bed or couch on your lap, it needs a hard surface like a table, or else it loses balance.

.
It actually works great in the lap, at least the SP3 does. I've heard the SP1 and 2 weren't as optimized design wise, especially with the SP2 being bigger than the 3, but still smaller screen size.

The Surface Pro's are a better fit to use as a tablet that doubles as a laptop, but there are other 2in1's with bigger screens that would probably be better for a work laptop that doubles as a tablet. It depends on what your primary use for it is.

[imnew09]

I'm loving my 13in Mac Pro. It's durable and the battery life is pretty nice.

[dunksby]

Dell Inspiron 13 7000 (http:// http://www.ultrabookreview.com/5395-dell-inspiron-13/)series is crazy good, I'd recommend Lenovo Z70 but it's 17" although it's such a complete notebook for the money.