Ultra-books for a Frequent Traveler

Ultra-book boasts of a self-confessed fan in photographer Ben Rayner whose work involves a lot of travelling all over the world. He captures life and is on the move continuously. Being a photographer he has to carry gears and cameras for work. He has to travel light and because of the powerful configuration and sleek and compact form he is able to carry his ultra-book to work. He moves with it, as his work calls for it, and he can use it anywhere at any time. The long battery back-up guarantees he doesn't have to hunt for charging points. Travellers like him can benefit a great deal from ultra-books.

Basically ultra-books for travellers include those specific ultra-books which are lighter and sleeker amongst ultra-books, which promise to stand up in terms of hours. Traveling with minimal gadgets is an aspiration that can be fulfilled with ultra-books, which can double up as a notebook and an ultra-portable computing device with a wow factor attached to it. Not only, it can be carried in just any other bag but can be carried in hand too.

Apple Macbook Air 11

The list begins with Macbook Air 11, because it is the lightest and also the smallest ultra-book in the market. It stands in great stead with a battery back-up of upto 5 hours. It features a USB 3.0 port, a thunderbolt port and SD card slots along with Intel's HD4000 graphics. Its added attraction is that it comes with Core i5 processor, though the flip side is that it only has a 64 GB SSD. The RAM has been increased to 4GB and that along with the i5 processor makes it a sturdy performer. It runs the latest Mac OS X Lion 10.

What makes it ideal for travelers is the robust form swamped in an aluminium chassis with the thinnest dimensions around, measuring 11.8x7.6x7 inches and weighing a mere 1.08 Kg. When closed, it almost resembles an 11 inch tablet. If you are thinking that the keyboard or trackpad or the display will be fraught for space, don't worry because the keys are big and easy to manoeuvre and the 11.6 inch screen has a resolution of a 13 inch ultra-book (1366x768p). The trackpad is multi-touch and the keys are backlit and both score in terms of responsiveness and comfort.

Bottomline: With 1 year warranty and a price tag of Rs 67k, this is the lightest and smallest ultra-book in the market. The Acer Aspire S3 and Macbook Air 13 are the closest second best on those terms.

Apple Macbook Air 13

The Apple Macbook Air 13 with its stunning unibody design looks similar to Macbook Air 11. It also boasts of an Aluminium body with dust and smudge free matte finish, however, at 1.3 kg it weighs a little more and at 12.8x8.94x0.68inches, is a little bigger than its smaller counterpart. Macbook Air 13 has two USB ports, one thunderbolt port, one SD card slot, power port and a headphone jack. The keyboard is followed by a quick to respond big multi-touchpad with wide resting space on both sides. Beneath the stunning exterior, Macbook Air 13 has a real livewire with Intel's cutting-edge Core i5 processors, a valuable upgrade over its predecessor, which ran on Intel's Core 2 Duo processor and was priced beyond many folks' reach.

Macbook Air 13 boasts of a stunning bright display with a native resolution of 1440x900 pixels, rendering visuals clear and sharp. The glossy display has also been improved with an anti-reflective coating to avoid it from shining under bright light. Its battery lasted six hours and is a significant boost for traveling workers, who can easily lug it in their suitcases with other stuff. Besides having Core i5 processor and 4GB RAM, the new Air features Intel HD Graphics 4000.

Rs 89k is a fairly decent price given the quality and

weight it carries in its light body. Also, it is available with 1 year limited warranty.

Bottomline: The MacBook Air 13 is an excellent update to MacBook Air series with an excellent design. It's a must have for ultra-book seekers, who travel light and secure.

Asus Zenbook UX31

Equipped with a 1.7 GHz Intel Core i7 processor and 4GB RAM, the device, like MacBook Air 13, has 256GB SSD. It runs Windows 7 and in the PC mark test it scored an average at 4077, while in 3D mark it mustered a passable 3696. The battery is a real stunner as it lasted an impressive 6 hours in the BatteryMark test, which is why it has made it to this category. Overall, it is a stunning ultra-book with brilliant sound quality, display and build. But, ports have been generously endowed in it. Not only, it includes the regularly used USB 2.0 port, headphone, microphone jack, built-in card reader, mini VGA, micro HDMI port, USB 3.0 but also includes an Ethernet port, a rarity in many ultra-books including Macbook Airs.

The keyboard will generate mixed response from users as the big size and smooth surface will make typing fun and at the same time the absence of backlighting pushes it behind MacBook Air 13. The touchpad supports multi-touch gestures with distinct right and left mouse buttons on it. Its complete reliance on SSD for storage, like the Macbook Air, does compromise on storage capacity but with 2 sec of wakeup time and 20 sec of bootup, one has no reason to complain. It is light and measures 12.8x8.78x0.12 inches and weighs 1.3 Kg.

Bottomline: Zenbook is the one of the slimmest ultra-books after Macbook Air, making it an ultimate traveller's choice. It has more ports than Macbook but comes at a similar price.

Acer Aspire S3

This is an ideal ultra-book with a blend of both SSD and HDD experience. Powered by Intel Core-i7 processor and 4GB RAM, the latest Aspire S3 has been upgraded with the latest Ivybridge processor. It is ultra slim and despite the metallic build, it is an ultra-light device weighing just 1.3 Kg. It boasts of USB 3.0 ports and an HDMI connector along with an audio jack and multi card slot. Unlike, Asus Zenbook it lacks Ethernet jack, and so the only Internet connectivity is through Wi-Fi.

The display is good and supports HD and has a max resolution of 1366x768p. Battery life is not the best but almost touches 5 hours. According to Battery Mark it gives 4 hrs 50 mins of backup. It is an impressive performer with scores of 9473 in PCMark and 3029 in 3D Mark. With its build and dimensions, it has been equated to Macbook Air 13 as it comes very close. It boasts of 500GB HDD and 20GB SSD, which brings solidity in terms of storage and performance and is an added advantage for travelers, especially those who feel ultra-books don't have enough storage.

Bottomline: It is a powerful device and cannot be classified in any one category. However, the build, compactness and long battery life make it a treat for travelers.

Dell XPS 13

Dell's first ultra-book is a 13 inch, compact and sturdy metallic device with a robust build. Dell has used carbon fibres along with aluminium to keep this robust ultra-book light and easy to carry. It weighs just 1.3kg, like the rest featured here, but its dimensions are pretty impressive at 12.4x 8.1x 0.7 inches as they put it very close to Macbook Air. It features a premium quality bright display with a generic resolution of 1366x768. The black keyboard boasts of wide backlit keys and a unibody track pad with both mouse keys together. They are a little odd especially the right click. The 13 inch edge-to-edge display features a Gorilla coating that makes it resilient to abrasions or damage.

The configuration includes an Intel Core i5 processor, 256GB SSD, 4GB RAM and Intel HD3000 graphics, making it a decent companion for professionals on the move. It has plenty of connectivity ports like USB 3.0, USB 2.0, WiFi and Bluetooth. Despite the high price, it doesn't have an Ethernet port. In performance benchmarks, it scores highly with 9465 in PCMark, but a poor 1551 in 3D Mark. Its battery backup, is the saving grace at 4 hrs 30mins.

Bottomline: A perfect traveling companion based entirely on SSD like the Macbook Air. The only issue is the price which at Rs 80 k sounds unreasonable.