Deciding on an Ultrabook

[Kayn]

OK I've been looking for an ultra book for some time and I've want to get one this Black Friday/Cyber Monday and I don't have a lot of experience with Ultrabook but I know that some of you do know a lot more than me. I was looking around and wanted an Ultrabook for school work only so I don't need a GPU other than the IGPU from Intel. My budget is around $700 and I really don't want to go over that price. I found one that I actaully like on amazon (click here) and wanted some people opinions and see if anyone else had something better for around the price. I wanted a full 128Gb SSD but all the ones that I have looked were way to expensive.

 

Thanks in advanced.

 

Edit:Ok so I talked to my parents and they are willing to go up to at least $900 so that I can use it from now (senior year in high school) till my college years. I do like that Asus ultrabook but I need some more suggestions from other people who are more informed.

[Guest]

I have an S56CA, which is sort of similar. It's a decent ultrabook, although the battery life is only around 4 hours (5 if you're careful and not using WiFi). The lid gets a bit annoying too, since the black aluminum attracts finger oils very easily and it's hard to clean.

[Kayn]

okay here is this one but 100$ over the budget. 

http://www.amazon.com/UX31A-DH51-13-3-Inch-Zenbook-Silver-Aluminum/dp/B009AEYDZA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1378523271&sr=8-2&keywords=zenbook

Hmm...interesting....I do like that laptop but it's $800, hopefully that it goes down later on. Nice find.

 

 

I have an S56CA, which is sort of similar. It's a decent ultrabook, although the battery life is only around 4 hours (5 if you're careful and not using WiFi). The lid gets a bit annoying too, since the black aluminum attracts finger oils very easily and it's hard to clean.

Yeah was reading some reviews and that the battery life isn't the greatest but it's definitely useable. Yeah the finger prints might be annoying but it won't bother me too much (maybe a little) but I can live with that.

[GoodBytes]

I don't know where you are in your education, and what degree you do, but if your doing anything with diagrams, special symbols, graphs, etc in your notes. Definitly get one with a digitize pen, if there is one, else AT LEAST a touch screen, so that you can use your finger to draw. This will help you a lot.

 

Also, check out Microsoft OneNote (part of Office), this is the ultimate note taking software. If you have a MSDNAA/Dreamspark subscription from your school, you have it free there, if you don't have it already.

Like the app is specially designed for taking notes for school. Click anywhere and you time, texts are in blocks so you can move anywhere, you can add audio/video recordings, add checkboxes, stars, exclamation point and more icons to text, for you, and Make tables, just by hitting Tab key, and smartly know what you want in adding rows and columns as you enter data, and much more.

 

Here are 2 old pictures of OneNote. What you see has been done in class, a bit of polishing when re reading my notes.

 

 

Few people know about it (and use Word like idiots), this is the software to get.

Oh and you can have your notes sync between your systems, so that you can view your notes on your desktop when you come home.

[beebskadoo]

OK I've been looking for an ultra book for some time and I've want to get one this Black Friday/Cyber Monday and I don't have a lot of experience with Ultrabook but I know that some of you do know a lot more than me. I was looking around and wanted an Ultrabook for school work only so I don't need a GPU other than the IGPU from Intel. My budget is around $700 and I really don't want to go over that price. I found one that I actaully like on amazon (click here) and wanted some people opinions and see if anyone else had something better for around the price. I wanted a full 128Gb SSD but all the ones that I have looked were way to expensive.

 

Thanks in advanced.

I know it's factory reconditioned but for 500 Dollars...it's a great buy. I have used one and I think it was a pretty good experience overall. Similar to the one on Amazon but a bigger HDD including the SSD, A slightly larger screen and most importantly, a full sized keyboard! the cpu is basically the same too. So for $170 dollars less you get more...

[Kayn]

I know it's factory reconditioned but for 500 Dollars...it's a great buy. I have used one and I think it was a pretty good experience overall. Similar to the one on Amazon but a bigger HDD including the SSD, A slightly larger screen and most importantly, a full sized keyboard! the cpu is basically the same too. So for $170 dollars less you get more...

This there suppose to be a link, because I don't see one. I wanted a small screen because I'm going to be taking laptop around for my senior year in high school and then use it in college so I want it to be light and small. I don't want full size keyboard and the larger screen as said before, for portability.

[beebskadoo]

This there suppose to be a link, because I don't see one. I wanted a small screen because I'm going to be taking laptop around for my senior year in high school and then use it in college so I want it to be light and small. I don't want full size keyboard and the larger screen as said before, for portability.

Oh snap, the link function must have glitched Oops, I feel silly Here 

[Kayn]

Ok I have made an update in the original post and would like some more feed back.

[GoodBytes]

So 900$ budget?

Well that opens doors to Intel powered tablet powered by Windows 8, with digitize pen.

For example, http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msca/en_CA/pdp/Surface-Pro/productID.283431300 (Canadian Student pricing on the page - switch to your region to know the price). Get the 128GB model.

If you are interested, I would recommend to wait for Surface Pro 2, due to the improved battery life, faster IGPU, 8GB of RAM, Windows 8.1 (which is suppose to bring DPI scaling improvement as well, which will help a lot, if you don't have good eyes) and larger storage option (rumor).

 

The reason why I suggest this unit, is for the ability to use a digitize pen (the good pen technology) to write notes/math/phsycis/diagram/and so on. So with OneNote, you can use it for all your classes.

 

My only concern is the small keyboard. I have never experienced it, so I don't know how it is. Perhaps check it out (version 1) at a retail store, to know, and judge

I think I saw Lenovo with something similar but larger that is coming out. This might be a better option if you want something larger.

[Kayn]

So 900$ budget?

Well that opens doors to Intel powered tablet powered by Windows 8, with digitize pen.

For example, http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msca/en_CA/pdp/Surface-Pro/productID.283431300 (Canadian Student pricing on the page - switch to your region to know the price). Get the 128GB model.

If you are interested, I would recommend to wait for Surface Pro 2, due to the improved battery life, faster IGPU, 8GB of RAM, Windows 8.1 (which is suppose to bring DPI scaling improvement as well, which will help a lot, if you don't have good eyes) and larger storage option (rumor).

 

The reason why I suggest this unit, is for the ability to use a digitize pen (the good pen technology) to write notes/math/phsycis/diagram/and so on. So with OneNote, you can use it for all your classes.

 

My only concern is the small keyboard. I have never experienced it, so I don't know how it is. Perhaps check it out (version 1) at a retail store, to know, and judge

I think I saw Lenovo with something similar but larger that is coming out. This might be a better option if you want something larger.

I can see why you're suggesting the Surface pro But honestly I don't want to have a tablet, never found them appealing. I would like to stick with a regular laptop.

[atomicmonkey101]

Get an Asus Ultrabook, they are soo good.

[Pwns9678]

I also recommend getting a Asus Zenbook , any model is fine as long as it's under your budget. Source: I own the

ASUS UX31A-DH71 13.3-Inch Zenbook  

 

Specs here : http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009AEYEVS

[Kayn]

Ok so my parents and I are still talking about which ultrabook to get and now again they again are saying they want something that will last a lot longer (probably enough to last me through college) and be sure what I get is what I really like. I did find one that I really, really like. It's the Acer Aspire S7-392. From all the reviews that I have read and the videos a lot of people are giving this positive reviews and it's almost flawless. I really like it and this is the only white laptop that I like too. BUT the price is a HUGE draw back. I also like this ultrabook because of the Haswell CPU and the battery time, up to 7 hours and some people reach 8 or 9 which is a big plus. Kinda conflicted because once I see something that I like it's kinda hard for me to find something else.

[quan289]

How about the Asus V500CA-DB51T Touch? http://www.xoticpc.com/asus-v500cadb51t-touch-p-6154.html

It allows for configuration of the SSD.

There's also theV550CA-DB71T Touch; although, the upgrade with the mSATA SSD would bring it your $900 budget : http://www.xoticpc.com/asus-v550cadb71t-touch-p-6156.html?wconfigure=yes

[GoodBytes]

How many years is your program? If its 3 years and over, you may want to get a device with switchable battery, so that you can replace it.

Remember that battery life degrade over time.

[Kayn]

How many years is your program? If its 3 years and over, you may want to get a device with switchable battery, so that you can replace it.

Remember that battery life degrade over time.

It's going to be a minimum of at least 4 years for my undergraduate. But If go through graduate school I most likely will find an upgrade at that point.

 

How about the Asus V500CA-DB51T Touch? http://www.xoticpc.com/asus-v500cadb51t-touch-p-6154.html

It allows for configuration of the SSD.

There's also theV550CA-DB71T Touch; although, the upgrade with the mSATA SSD would bring it your $900 budget : http://www.xoticpc.com/asus-v550cadb71t-touch-p-6156.html?wconfigure=yes

Yeah this is nice but the rated battery time is only 5 hours and in real world testing it's usually much lower.

[GoodBytes]

Yeah this is nice but the rated battery time is only 5 hours and in real world testing it's usually much lower.

Actually not really. Assuming you take notes, wireless ON but not really using it, and brightness at minimum.

The problem is that after 1 year, the battery life will go down to 3h.

My laptop has 9h of battery life (my usage), after 1 year it dropped to 7h and half, second year 5 hours and half about.

My laptop is 5 years old, and I already changed my battery twice. It's a 5 year old laptop.

[Kayn]

Actually not really. Assuming you take notes, wireless ON but not really using it, and brightness at minimum.

The problem is that after 1 year, the battery life will go down to 3h.

My laptop has 9h of battery life (my usage), after 1 year it dropped to 7h and half, second year 5 hours and half about.

My laptop is 5 years old, and I already changed my battery twice. It's a 5 year old laptop.

Hmm intresting...I never really read too much about battery degradation on laptops. Going have to read more about it.