Ultrabook buying advice

[Nyxos]

So, my current laptop is pretty much dead and since I have a desktop that plays all the games and stuff I'm looking for an ultrabook so I can have a lightweight laptop I can bring everywhere to work on.

What I need is a semi powerful computer that weight almost nothing that I can take anywhere. I've been looking at the HP spectre and the macbook air, but I can't figure out which one is best, they are both pretty much at the same price, with pretty much the same specs but what I really really is a computer that won't be dead in 2 years, or even 3. I want to be using this computer for the next 5 years.

I'm also looking (not for me this time) for a powerful laptop, for calculations and stuff, light enough to carry around all the time (under 2.5kg) but still powerful enough to do engineering stuff (fluid transfer, engine management, hardcore stuff). We've been looking into the latest macbook pro, with the retina screen and also into the HP spectre fully maxed out. This computer will also be sued for games and stuff.

Price isn't really an issue, as long as it's reasonable (around $1000, maybe $1500 for the first one and around whatever for the second one).

thanks a lot guys.

[karamazovmm]

between the mba and spectre, there is a clear winner, mba.

the asus ux31 with the IPS FHD display shoud be a good for an ultrabook. Aside that I would go for the hp elitebook folio 9470m, thinkpad x1 carbon or the mba.

All of those ultrabooks have good build quality, being clearly superior in that regard the enterprise class ones (folio and x1), however all of those are still not available to buy with the exception of the mba. Since Im a sucker for thunderbolt and the idea to have a pcie slot outside of your laptop for whatever thing you want in there (desktop gpus, cameras, and a lot of other devices that are going to use it, not to mention docking options), Im going to say go for the mba, or, depending on the price, the x1 carbon, due to the 1600*900 screen.

Now for the 2nd notebook, depending on what programs your friend is going to use, he is going to be better served by a fermi core instead of a kepler one, and if the app has opencl support by any of the GCN based amd gpus (basically anything from the 7700m/7800m/7900m series). The diference is substantial in the power of the cuda cores for precision calculations if you compare a fermi to a kepler core, and both lose in terms of opencl calculations for the gcn cores.

I know that a lot of content creation apps are already supporting opencl (MASSIVE, 3dsMAX, CS6....), and the sheer power of gcn in this is well worth. Dunno about CAD programs, but there is a talk that updates will bring opencl support.

Thus that leaves us:

Retina MBP (RMBP) - lovely notebook, great power, awesome screen, excelent battery life. I love this one in every way and Im considering of getting one and selling my mbp 13 2011

Thinkpad w530 - great build quality, awesome service with next business day support (tech comes to your place with the parts needed to repair)

Elitebook 8570w - great build quality, awesome service with next business day support (tech comes to your place with the parts needed to repair)

Precision m(whatever number the m4600 is the current one, the ivy update would have a different name) - great build quality, awesome service with next business day support (tech comes to your place with the parts needed to repair)

In terms of screens, the RMBP can, with an app, display the true 3840*2400 res that it packs, yes that 2880*1800 is for pansies! The elitebook can be configured with a 1k screen called dreamcolor2, this is a screen for pros that need color accuracy, both aforementioned screens are IPS, with the w530 and the precision packing a 95% sRGB gamut FHD screen, though still TN.

Regarding bootcamp, you go start the app, download the drivers, chose the amount of space that windows will have, reboot,and install windows and the previous downloaded bootcamp drivers.

Your awesome touchpad is going to feel like a normal windows trackpad, for apple users it means terrible. The battery life will be diminished to a normal windows parameter (5 hours on the previous 15 mbp). Aside that there are no problems in running windows, I have been running win 8 since the RP.

[Nyxos]

thanks, well after reading this I'll probably go for the mba, basic version in 13' (11' seems really small to me), I don't need RAM or a large SSD drive, it's still expensive, even after the $150 rebates I get from the school but with apple care I'm sure it'll last at least 3 years and probably more (my dad's old macbook pro lasted 5 years before he sold it).

As for my friend he'll also go for the mba, since he figures that his job will get him the computer he needs for calculations and stuff.

[karamazovmm]

one thing that I failed to mention is that there is thinkpad x230, and that is the best ultraportable right now. The weight is good, the battery life can be had for more than 20h+, and there is a next business day on site service, and it packs a full voltage processor, and you can upgrade ram and HDD in the future.

[Nyxos]

So hey, it's me again and I'm too lazy to open a new thread for what is basically the same thing

I got this friend that wants to get a new laptop, only he has these specs in mind : quad core last generation processor (Ivy bridge right ?), 16GB of RAM, a SSD drive (size doesn't matter much, 128GB would be cool though imo), 13' wide screen all that for under 2kgs (that's under 4.4 pounds).

So far he wants a retina mac book pro, but he'll need to install windows on it anyway to use his programs. Price isn't an issue here afaik.

[karamazovmm]

You described the vaio Z13, its exactly that.

[Nyxos]

I guess I did

no other brands ?

[karamazovmm]

you can try to mod a hp 2570p, replace the cpu and put a i7 3612qm or 3632qm, both are 35w tdp and put a SSD in there. Problem here is the res and the screen, latter is 12.5 and it could have used the ips panel on the x230, the former is just a low res.

Im currently running parallels with win 8 in my mbp, since I discovered that I can have a 1920*1200 res using that way, its LOVELY!