6 Reasons to Consider an Ultrabook

As with today’s market trends, standalone tablets and smartphones are gaining popularity. Most people still realize that everything from typing a research paper to crunching video to giving presentations or gaming works better on a laptop. There’s a wide variety in sizes, features, and price which makes choosing the right laptop a challenge. That’s why you need to figure out what your needs are.

1. Ultrabooks vs Laptops — Difference between budget, mid-range, and high-end laptops.

Standard laptops are mobile personal computers and come in a wide range of forms and sizes. They can sport displays between 10 to 20 inches in diagonal,can weigh anywhere from 1.4 kg to 3kg and come in variety of hardware configurations and features. To cut a long story short an ultrabook is a high-end laptop, sleek in design and faster in performance. The term Ultrabook and all its specifications were defined by Intel. Ultrabooks also feature Finger Print Scanner, NFC and thus are more secure than laptops.

A budget laptop is perfect for browsing the Web, composing documents, viewing photos and basic photo editing. Those are the most common tasks performed on computers, anyways. In the mid range, the hardware specifications are actually more advanced than budget laptops featuring Intel Core processors, larger storage etc and tend to offer better performance. On the other hand if gaming or need to edit high-resolution photos or videos is your thing then a high-end laptop may be just the machine for you. These are powered by Intel Core i7 processors, have dedicated graphics unit for smooth multitasking, 3-D graphics and advanced graphics editing.

2. What’s the importance of screen size? How important is Full HD display?

If portability is your main concern, then you need to consider a ultrabook that has a small screen and a light weight. Ultraportable laptops with screen size that measures 12 inches or less, are now coming equipped with better processors and higher resolution screens.

11 to 12 inches: The thinnest and lightest systems around have 11 to 12 inch screens and typically weigh 1 kg to 1.2 kg.

13 to 14-inches: Offer the best balance of portability and usability. Laptops with 13 or 14-inch screens usually weigh between 1.2 to 1.4 kg and fit easily on your lap while still providing generously-sized keyboards.

A screen display is something a user spends most of the time interacting with. The more pixels you have, the more content you can fit on-screen, and the sharper it will look. Most mainstream ultrabooks come with 1366 x 768-pixel resolutions. However Full HD panels can cost a bit more but are worth the investment. Using Outlook or Excel in Full HD means you see a lot of data without the need to scroll. Viewing angles are good and so are colors on the screen.

3. Some ultrabooks come with 4 modes viz Tent Mode, Tablet mode etc. Do they really matter when buying one?

Some high -end ultrabooks allow you to flip the screen around into four modes: Laptop, Stand, Tablet, and Tent. Laptop and Tablet modes are exactly what you think they are. Stand mode has the screen facing you with the keyboard upside down on the table, while Tent mode has the screen facing you with the keyboard facing up and away from you.

With both Stand and Tent mode, you use the touch screen without access to the physical keyboard, but Tent mode may work better when you have limited desk space, like when you’re working on an airplane tray table. Stand mode is useful while watching movies or using as a TV.

4. Why should one pay more than 80K for a high-end laptop? What is the additional capability one gets by investing more?

Expect higher resolution screens, faster processors , and possibly discrete graphics. The lightest, longest-lasting ultraportables like the MacBook Air 13-inch and Dell XPS 13 tend to cost over 80k. Some ultrabooks come with 8, 16 or 32GB flash cache memory that you can use to increase performance. While not as fast as an SSD, a flash memory will help boost load and boot times while allowing you to store all your data on a large hard drive. Apart from flash caches, these devices generally come equipped with SSDs that cost quite a bit more than traditional hard drives and come with less capacity (usually 128 to 256GB), but they dramatically improve performance. You’ll enjoy faster resume times, and faster application open times. Plus, because SSDs don’t have moving parts such as mechanical drives, failure is much less of an issue.

5.What are the key features to look for?

If performance matters, don’t settle for less than an Intel Core M for thin systems or a Core i7 CPU /AMD A Series for mainstream laptops. When it comes to memory, or RAM, even the cheapest notebooks have 4GB these days so don’t settle for less. Look for 8GB or more RAM so you will be better prepared for high-end applications and lots of multitasking. Gamers and power users should look for 16GB of RAM. Windows 8 is simply more fun and immersive with a touch screen, but if your laptop is not a hybrid with a detachable or folding screen, you can probably live without it.

6. What is the importance of battery life?

There is no point arguing whether you will be using laptop at one place only. You will move your laptop from the desk to the couch and the bed or from your cubicle to the conference room, and would not want to plug-in the supply everytime, thus battery life matters. If you’re buying a 13-inch ultrabook, look for at least 4 hours of battery life. Those who are more mobile and spend most of the time travelling should shop for ultrabooks that offer more than 6 hours of battery life, with 7-plus hours being ideal. Your actual battery life will vary depending on your screen brightness and what tasks you perform (video eats more power than web surfing).

5 KEY ULTRABOOKS TO CONSIDER

HP Spectre x360 (Price: Rs. 1,29,990)

The HP Spectre x360 is designed with an all aluminum chassis and is 15.9 millimeters in height and weighs 1.48Kg. Users can transition seamlessly from notebook mode for work, stand mode for viewing entertainment, tent mode for touchscreen entertainment, or tablet mode for on the go. The HP Spectre x360 supports Intel Core i7 processor to tackle the most demanding tasks without lag. With a lightning fast SSD up to 256GB, customers can expect their PC to turn on instantly and load apps quickly.

Dell XPS 13 Touch (Price: Rs. 1,21,990)

Dell XPS 13 Touch’s strengths are the brilliant touch screen, sturdy build quality, thin construction, and very solid performance from the fifth-generation Intel Core i5 processor. The (QHD+), 3,200-by-1,800-resolution display is beautiful to behold, and produces higher amount of detail when viewing Netflix and YouTube videos. The system comes with 8GB of memory and a 256GB solid-state drive (SSD).

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch (Price: Rs. 84,000)

The X1 Carbon features slim profile, has a lovely carbon fiber construction, and is powerful enough to view and edit large spreadsheets. The ultrabook is light enough to be carried around when you are on the move. The QHD display features anti-glare technology for crisper text and brighter images – so you can work longer, and focus better, without causing eye fatique.

Macbook Air 13” (Price: Rs. 86,900)

The 2015 version of Apple’ flagship product gets new generation of processors, improved battery life, while maintaining its now classic thin and light metal exterior. It is one of the best ultraportables around making it faster and more powerful and offers more than 13 hours of battery life.

ASUS ZenBook UX305LA (Price: Rs.97,990)

At just 12.3mm, the ASUS ZenBook UX305LA  is the world’s slimmest 13.3-inch QHD ultraportable laptop . With 8GB RAM, 512GB solid-state disk and battery life of up to 10 hours, ZenBook UX305LA is the ultimate ultraportable laptop for power users and breezes through any task, no matter how demanding. Applications load in an instant, and boot time is also reduced significantly. The crisp, vibrant and stunningly-detailed 13.3-inch display has a resolution of 3200 x 1800 pixels produces accurate colors no matter what you’re watching. It facilitates powerful connections with USB 3.0 for fast peripherals and recharges. The advanced ASUS thermal management design removes the need for cooling fans, so UX305LA is fast yet completely silent, and remains cool at all times. ASUS IceCool technology ensures that the palm-rest area remains below body temperature at all times for maximum user comfort.