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Suggestions for ~$1000 ultrabook??

Oradian

So basically its for my sister, and she wants white, small, 13", w,e etc, 

 

My current suggestions:

Acer S7 $1300

...

...

...

thats all i got. 

 

LOCATION:

VICTORIA, BC

although i can buy from ncix or newegg.

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MacBook Air 13".

 

Seriously. No, it isn't an Ultrabook, per se. But, Apple knows their shit. They make quality machines. So, again, 13" MacBook Air, then install Windows on it if she wants.

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Yep 13'' air with bootcamp

 

Or an Asus ultrabook

Lenovo x1





 
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a 13" Air would definitely be a great option, I'm on-board with that. 

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MacBook Air 13".

 

Seriously. No, it isn't an Ultrabook, per se. But, Apple knows their shit. They make quality machines. So, again, 13" MacBook Air, then install Windows on it if she wants.

the panel is shit

 

1440x900 and TN

 

Don't get me wrong the battery life is great but the lack of screen real estate due to the constraining resolution is a big deal. 

"Common sense is not so common." -Voltaire

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To @Oradian

 

I would say the Thinkpad X1 carbon (the brand new version) or the Yoga 13 if she is used to PCs.

 

Yeah I realize they're not white but then again there are no white notebooks at that price range other than the s7 because white is usually cheap plastic. Most of the laptops in this price range are black or have gray aluminum. 

"Common sense is not so common." -Voltaire

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the panel is shit

 

1440x900 and TN

 

Don't get me wrong the battery life is great but the lack of screen real estate due to the constraining resolution is a big deal. 

 

I don't think that 1440x900 is too bad for 13", at least until Windows can proper handle UI scaling.

1920x1200 on that 13" screen estate and everything is tiny.

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I don't think that 1440x900 is too bad for 13", at least until Windows can proper handle UI scaling.

1920x1200 on that 13" screen estate and everything is tiny.

1920x1080 on a 13.3" screen is fine by me. Sure you'll have to have your face pretty close to the laptop but it's way worth it for the extra windows you can have open.

 

Apple handles ui scaling well so they could have definitely put a better display in there or at the very least have the 1440x900 panel be an IPS panel with no color shift. 

"Common sense is not so common." -Voltaire

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the panel is shit

 

1440x900 and TN

 

Don't get me wrong the battery life is great but the lack of screen real estate due to the constraining resolution is a big deal. 

 

OSX allows for multiple desktops by swiping left and right, this means you can maximise multiple windows and put them in different desktops so you don't need to minimise and maximise windows as they're used. Apple have screen real estate figured out.

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OSX allows for multiple desktops by swiping left and right, this means you can maximise multiple windows and put them in different desktops so you don't need to minimise and maximise windows as they're used. Apple have screen real estate figured out.

that's like saying I can press alt tab repeatedly to access different windows and it's the same as having a lot of real estate

 

I know exactly how OSX works since I've used it extensively but being able to have different fullscreen windows doesn't mean crock shit when the resolution is still barely above 720p. it's not like high res panels cost a lot these days either (even Asus can put a freaking 1920x1080 IPS panel in a 200$ nexus 7 tablet for god's sake!) 

"Common sense is not so common." -Voltaire

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I know exactly how OSX works since I've used it extensively but being able to have different fullscreen windows doesn't mean crock shit when the resolution is still barely above 720p. it's not like high res panels cost a lot these days either (even Asus can put a freaking 1920x1080 IPS panel in a 200$ nexus 7 tablet for god's sake!) 

 

1) a 13" 1080p display is much more expensive than a 7" 1080p display

2) I doubt that there even is a 1920x1200 panel avaiable (the Macbook Air 13" form factor is 16:10)

3) 1440x900 is 1.4 times the 'screen estate' as 1280x720

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1) a 13" 1080p display is much more expensive than a 7" 1080p display

2) I doubt that there even is a 1920x1200 panel avaiable (the Macbook Air 13" form factor is 16:10)

3) 1440x900 is 1.4 times the 'screen estate' as 1280x720

1)13" 1080p panel costs 60$ tops to the manufacturer. Even less when you take into account the amount of money it costs to upgrade from a 1440x900 13" to a 1920x1080 13" (probably around 20$ if we assume the 1440x900 panel costs 40$)

2)11" macbook air has a 16:9 aspect ratio (1366x768) . Nothing retains macs from having 16:9 aspect ratios, they work perfectly fine with that 

3)1920x1080is 2.25x the real estate of 1280x720. That's not exactly a small difference

4)Using a TN panel on a minimum 1300$ notebook is downright pathetic (again, the cost difference to get a better IPS 1080p panel is very minimal)

"Common sense is not so common." -Voltaire

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4)Using a TN panel on a minimum 1300$ notebook is downright pathetic (again, the cost difference to get a better IPS 1080p panel is very minimal)

 

Why so much hate on TN? Some TN is bad, but I bet 99.9% of people can't tell the difference between a really good TN and an average IPS. People should actually look at displays before judging them. 

 

A 13" 1080p windows ultrabook is crap. Icons are too small. People need to stop focusing on raw specs and actually see how devices work. Plus the apple trackpad is the best out there and nothing comes close. 

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2)11" macbook air has a 16:9 aspect ratio (1366x768) . Nothing retains macs from having 16:9 aspect ratios, they work perfectly fine with that 

3)1920x1080is 2.25x the real estate of 1280x720. That's not exactly a small difference

4)Using a TN panel on a minimum 1300$ notebook is downright pathetic (again, the cost difference to get a better IPS 1080p panel is very minimal)

 

2) They would have to completly redesign/reengineer the whole 13" model.

Also Apple (and many Apple customers) don't like the 16:9 aspect ratio. There is a reason why the 13" MBA and both the 13" and 15" Macbook Pro are 16:10  ;)

 

3) 1920x1080 is 1.6 times the real estate of 1440x900. (But that also has nothing to do with your orginal statement, where you said, that 1440x900 is only slightly larger than 1280x720, though in fact you have 40% more screen 'estate' on a 1440x900 display compared to a 720p panel.

 

So if by your standards 40% is 'slightly' larger, 60% can't be 'a lot'.

 

4) Again 16:10 and bad UI scaling. OS X UI scaling is for ultra high resolution panels (aka 'Retina').

 

 

--------------

 

Also if you wan't a very high quality screen, you could always go with the Macbook Pro 13" model.

You'd pay $200 more for a better screen and better graphics ;)

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Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro would be best, $1049 starting price

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It got Best design award, the Best one!.. go for it!

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Go get a Macbook Air that's all there is to say

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If you really want 13inch, then your choices aren't much. The Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro is very nice, and the MacBook Air, as is assuming she can live without white.

However, if size can differ, and be black, then the Surface Pro 2 crushes the MacBook Air, in terms of value, and product itself.

The Surface Pro 2 is very powerful, very fast, uses an 1080p IPS display, 10-point multi-touch screen with excellent response time, Wacom digitizer with 1024 pressure point tracking, meaning she can draw, sketch, do diagram, match, physics, not taking, you name it. The TypeCover 2 is great with the device, why? Because, despite it's small size, where many people think of netbook, the keyboard is actually enjoyable to use, because they manage to fit almost normal size keys. It's a full keyboard as well (minus number pad). So it's easy to get use to it. I program and take notes on it no problem. Its small, compact, and has great battery life, at around 7-8h (what I get) of note taking, checking e-mail and surfing the web. What is nice is that the keyboard (backlit) which act like a cover can be flipped on the back of the device, and the keyboard and track pad gets disabled, so you don't have to worry about hitting keys as you hold it as a tablet.

Surface Pro 2 128GB + TypeCover 2 is: 1130$

MacBook Air 13 + Windows 8: 1219$, and you have no pen digitizer, no multi-touch, 1440x900 display - TN panel only.

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GUYS BEFORE YOU CONTINUE, and I forgot to mention this.  The ONLY reason why I am doing this is because I DO NOT want her to buy anything apple related. In any way. What so ever.... unless its free.

 

SO if anyone wants to suggest a macbook.... well no.

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GUYS BEFORE YOU CONTINUE, and I forgot to mention this.  The ONLY reason why I am doing this is because I DO NOT want her to buy anything apple related. In any way. What so ever.... unless its free.

 

SO if anyone wants to suggest a macbook.... well no.

Then no Other go, Except Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro..  :)  :)

Simply go for it!  :)  :)

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Honestly you aren't going to beat the Macbooks when it comes to portable laptops that won't be used for gaming. With that budget you could even get the 13in Retina which while not an "ultrabook" is extremely light and portable. 

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Honestly you aren't going to beat the Macbooks when it comes to portable laptops that won't be used for gaming. With that budget you could even get the 13in Retina which while not an "ultrabook" is extremely light and portable. 

 

Like I agree that the MacBook Air is worth considering, but saying nothing beats it, is a bit extreme.

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I know you mentioned you don't want to go Apple, but for your sister's needs the 2 best options are:

 

-Macbook Air as many others mentioned.  You may be able to get the edu discount, its portable, has excellent battery life, good speakers, trackpad and keyboard.  It has been designed entirely for a general laptop user.  While not the best laptop ever, its shortcomings (TN panel and 900p resolution mainly), she won't even notice.  She will notice the other things I mentioned, which for most people are important.

 

-Surface Pro 2 as @GoodBytes mentioned is also a great choice.  Much smaller screen, but the better option if she is in school or likes to draw/ be creative.  Surface Pro 2 +  keyboard cover will be about the same price as the 13" Air (~$1100 i think).  IMO extremely underrated device these days.

 

There are other good products in that price range, but nothing great.  I looked long and hard to find an ultrabook around the $1k price point and ended up with a macbook air.

 

-Yoga Pro 2 is a great value, but the single band wifi sucks, period.  All the units I tried in stores were slow to load youtube and other webpages vs. most of the other laptops in the respective stores.

-Acer S7 is good, but battery life isn't a super strong point with it (worse than the Air), also expensive.

-Thinkpad X1 carbon

 

Also in terms of build quality, the Macbook Air and Surface Pro 2 reign supreme in the price bracket.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I know you mentioned you don't want to go Apple, but for your sister's needs the 2 best options are:

 

-Macbook Air as many others mentioned.  You may be able to get the edu discount, its portable, has excellent battery life, good speakers, trackpad and keyboard.  It has been designed entirely for a general laptop user.  While not the best laptop ever, its shortcomings (TN panel and 900p resolution mainly), she won't even notice.  She will notice the other things I mentioned, which for most people are important.

 

-Surface Pro 2 as @GoodBytes mentioned is also a great choice.  Much smaller screen, but the better option if she is in school or likes to draw/ be creative.  Surface Pro 2 +  keyboard cover will be about the same price as the 13" Air (~$1100 i think).  IMO extremely underrated device these days.

 

There are other good products in that price range, but nothing great.  I looked long and hard to find an ultrabook around the $1k price point and ended up with a macbook air.

 

-Yoga Pro 2 is a great value, but the single band wifi sucks, period.  All the units I tried in stores were slow to load youtube and other webpages vs. most of the other laptops in the respective stores.

-Acer S7 is good, but battery life isn't a super strong point with it (worse than the Air), also expensive.

-Thinkpad X1 carbon

 

Also in terms of build quality, the Macbook Air and Surface Pro 2 reign supreme in the price bracket.

 

Sorry for the late replies but

 

I do agree that Macbooks is amazing when it comes to pure durability, BUT the osx or whatever they call it, it sucks, alot. I know that its a "different" os, and i respect that, but, there are alot of small features that are missing in the osx than windows. I do agree they may last longer, but when it comes to the os, it just sucks. And the amount of questions I will deal with from my sister will not be worth it. In conclusion, I prefer windows more.

 

Sorry no surface pro 2, too many problems and bugs.

 

But the lenovo thinkpad is a great choice or so I have heard.

I love the acer s7 but didn't they address the battery problem in the new revision?

And is it me or can I not find an asus zenbook anymore. NCIX doesn't sell them online, although I did see one in store, Futureshop nor Bestbuy sells them, And I don't want to order from newegg cause I hate RMAs that take more than a week.

 

I was gonna buy a laptop for her at the start of May but I have been way to busy with school. So I will probably buy this laptop at the end of August.

 

I will try and keep you guys posted and Thank You for all the help.

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