Intel Ultrabook: Right Time, Wrong Product

[Guest]

Perhaps it is just me, but I find Intel's ultrabook pitch somewhat confusing. Is this an evolution of the notebook, is it a replacement for the netbook or is it a targeted alternative to tablets?

Intel Ultrabook: Right Time, Wrong Product : Read more

 

[Guest]

Do something with the power consumption I want to us my ntbk whole day without recharging. Still have ntbk from Asus, and battery lastst only 1:30 hour.

 

[clonazepam]

Ultra to me suggests massive battery life above the current offerings, higher resolution, lighter in weight, more processing power and ram. Never does it invoke the thought of it being thinner.

 

[aaronzz]

To be considered an ultrabook, it needs to be very fast with a very good battery. Everybody knows that batteries are late for the party and it will need lots of research to catch the evolution of computers and tablets.

 

[dapneym]

Don't we essentially have this already in the form of the MacBook Air? It gets around seven hours of battery life and is 0.68 inches thick at its thickest. Granted it's not principally a Windows machine, but still, it's not like this is a new idea. The Windows PC manufacturers could already do this too if they tried. The only real difference between what the MacBook Air is and an ultrabook is price. Even there the Macbook Air technically falls under the category since it starts at $999 here in the US (granted if I were to get one, I'd probably want something larger than 13 inches). The point is, I just don't see anything particularly new or special about ultrabooks versus what is currently possible.

[citation][nom]zekk[/nom]Do something with the power consumption I want to us my ntbk whole day without recharging. Still have ntbk from Asus, and battery lastst only 1:30 hour.[/citation]

I am curious, is it that hard to type out "netbook?"

 

[wintermint]

Intel's version of Macbook Air?

 

[billj214]

I personally think the Asus Eee Pad transformer should be a new PC segment called Ultra Portable.
You can use it like a tablet or with keyboard like a laptop and if they made a desk dock it will work more like a home PC connected to a full size keyboard and mouse.

 

[Guest]

Thin as a tablet, deep as a PC. You forgot to mention about the new features of the ultrabook.

New features, the ultra Books could start as a new subset of PCs, include Smart Connect and Rapid Start. Smart Connect, according to Intel is a new form of update to the web sites such as Twitter and Facebook and also works when the computer is idle. Rapid Start uses on-board flash memory to speed boot-up times to a few seconds. Even if the computer is off and no battery, it will remember the programs and data that are opened when it was switched off were.

 

[td854]

[citation][nom]dawave[/nom]Rapid Start uses on-board flash memory to speed boot-up times to a few seconds. Even if the computer is off and no battery, it will remember the programs and data that are opened when it was switched off were.[/citation]

This is pretty much just Hibernate with flash memory, and we all know how long Hibernate has been around, it's not really anything new.

 

[alidan]

half keyboard half screen?

what? you want the keyboard on screen?

qualify that, tell us what would be the next step in evolving what it possibly the best design?

 

[AMD_pitbull]

Sorry, but, there's nothing revolutionary here. I applaud them for thinking that a name change is a completely different category, but, ummm...no. Call a Dodge Charger with a lighter body a Dodge Mega Capacitor, and it's still a Charger. As previously commented, I'd love to see battery life extended in laptops. THAT would be something worth getting. And, no, I don't mean surfing the web, basic word processing, I mean a gaming style laptop that could last a good 6-8 hours while gaming. I know the video card companies have to step-up Power efficiency, but, AMD's already on it's way. Intel: Give me a laptop that has a decent quad-core power, and 5770 Graphics (atleast) with an average of 7hrs+ battery life while being used, and you'll have a great product. Until then, just like in the graphics category, you're just playing catch-up.

 

[eddieroolz]

There was a time I considered slimming down, even though I used a tiny (by consumer standards) laptop measuring 14.1". For me it was mostly centered on weight savings as well as battery life - while offering an experience not too different from a usual laptop (read: not netbook). Indeed, carrying a 15.6" one makes me wish that I could have this power in a 11" or 12" form factor.

So I don't think that it's a wrong time for this. It's leaps and bounds better than netbooks. They feature a laptop-grade processor, more RAM and better experience overall than netbooks.

However, the only thing that can strike this concept down is the price. Less than $1000 sounds acceptable, but for many university students the price needs to be closer to $500.

 

[JOSHSKORN]

As far as I'm concerned, "Ultra-notebook" should be lightweight, thinner, and yes, it should play Crysis. Additionally, battery life should be much, much better. That is, be able to last at LEAST an entire day without being plugged in AND/OR find an alternative power source. Whatever that is, solar, artificial light, whatever. This would be great for students that take their "ultra-notebooks" to class and have to use them all day without the availability of an outlet.

 

[Guest]

I like the concept of ultrabooks. The first ones based on Sandy Bridge will be around $1000, but price should come down with Ivy Bridge, then further with Haswell as battery life and SSD increases too. Intel VP Sean Maloney expects ultrabooks to be under $600 in 2013 with Haswell. Battery life should be around 10 hours by then. It's the SSD that is a big factor in the price right now for the Asus UX21. Yes, Macbook Airs have been around awhile, and yes Ultrabooks are basically a copy, but the name is more for marketing and to create a set of expectations and attributes to set this product apart from others (e.g. Centrino was a great marketing tool; same with netbooks). I expect all Ultrabooks to have SSD, and they "should" have touch screen interfaces as well as the other features mentioned (rapid start, higher security, always on, best in class graphics and performance, multiple OSes and seemless interconnectivity between devices USB 3, etc and probably thunderbolt) that are mentioned in the slides David Perlmutter showed at the Investment presentation a couple of weeks ago. I think Intel has Windows 8 in mind for them also, which seem to be a faster and smoother touch friendly GUI. Ultrabooks are not supposed to be netbooks replacements, since obviously, Intel is putting a lot of effort into ramping Atom chip evolution. We will still see netbooks (unless sales continue to tank), desktop replacements (probably with HDD+SSD Smart Response Technology caching in the future) and budget laptops (with HDD only) alongside ultrabooks. Hopefully, Intel will kill off CULV and avoid putting these overpriced/underpowered chips in ultrabooks.

 

[fir_ser]

Good article Wolfgang Gruener and the ideas that you have discussed are interesting.
I’m interested to see were the Ultrabook will be in 2012 with Ivy Bridge and in 2013 with Haswell.

 

[fir_ser]

I believe for the current generation of Ultrabooks Intel intends ULV Sandy Bridge processors.

 

[Guest]

I think you have it all wrong. The notion of a laptop was that it is portable, which none of the previous gen laptops were. They were all bulky, heavy and thick. I haven't used my DVD drve which comes with the laptop along, for more than one year.
These requirements need to be revisited. This is the future. Plug in whatever device you want or carry them extra. But the basic laptop to be carrie to a bar or just around the house or on travel needs to be light. 1 KG is fine...it will come. 1.3 is already good.
You seem to have taken for granted our present definition of laptops and defined ultraoboks on that. The present day laptops need to be destroyed completely.