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hitachi369
Embrace Your Rights
Premium Member
join:2001-10-03
Cincinnati, OH
(Software) pfSense
Switches Trash Bin
Ubiquiti UniFi AP

hitachi369

Premium Member

[Laptop] Ultrabook Suggestion

I was recently burgled and my laptop was stolen. I am in the market now for a new laptop, I desire portability and if possible improvements of my previous Ultrabook.

Previously I had an Acer Aspire S7-391-6818 13.3-Inch Full HD Touchscreen.

Pros:
Size
-small
-light
Battery Life
-would last full class period (4+ hours)
Pretty
-aluminium
-glass

Cons:
Keyboard sucks
-Keys to far apart, how this is possible on a 13" laptop I dont know.
-arrow keys were 1/2 keys.
Trackpad sucks
-not receptive
-click was wonky

Price range is preferably in the sub $1,000 range, but I'm flexible. My only hard fast requirement is Windows only. I am primarily looking for personal opinion, gaming is not important and not needed.

Tursiops_G
Technoid
MVM
join:2002-02-06
Brooksville, FL
ARRIS TM1602

Tursiops_G

MVM

Maybe look at something like the ASUS Zenbook line: »www.amazon.com/ASUS-Zenb ··· 0S44HXRW

Search around for possibly better pricing...

HTH

aurgathor
join:2002-12-01
Lynnwood, WA

aurgathor to hitachi369

Member

to hitachi369
The Surface Pro 4 should be released soon, if you want to, or can spend that much. At the same time, the Pro 3's price should drop $100 - $250, depending on configuration.

WK2
Premium Member
join:2006-12-28
united state

WK2 to hitachi369

Premium Member

to hitachi369
I just picked up a Toshiba Ultrabook which I really like

Camelot One
MVM
join:2001-11-21
Bloomington, IN

Camelot One to hitachi369

MVM

to hitachi369
The newer s7-392 version improved quite a bit on the 391. (I have owned both) I think the actual key layout is the same, but battery life, touchpad, and fan noise are all a lot better. I had trouble with some keys being finicky on the 391, but no such issues with the 392.

hitachi369
Embrace Your Rights
Premium Member
join:2001-10-03
Cincinnati, OH
(Software) pfSense
Switches Trash Bin
Ubiquiti UniFi AP

hitachi369

Premium Member

Just so I'm not guilty of a Post and Run, I wanted to leave a follow up.

I was initially thinking about a ThinkPad X1 Carbon 3rd gen, but just couldn't get it to to line up for me.

Then I started to look at the new Dell XPS13, it has a nice spec sheet. But it's a Dell... And to be honest if they had a store front on Amazon, I might have gotten it.

Next it was a peak at the Zen Book, I was originally going to get the i7 with the QHD screen. The complaints on the yellow screen and the $200/$300 premium was hard to justify verses the i5.

So I got the i5 that Tursiops_G See Profile posted, once I get it tomorrow I may post something more though.

This whole thing has reminded me how much Amazon has spoiled me, and sometimes how complicated it is to find what you are looking for. In this case the ThinkPad X1 if available on Amazon I would have gotten it, they did do Amazon Payments, but after adding in taxes, shipping time 5-7 days, its like meh.
hitachi369

hitachi369

Premium Member

So we are a week into ownership and I have a few reports.

So far the keyboard is light years ahead of the Acer. It has actual keys verses whatever the Acer had.

The screen appears a bit duller, but strangely I like it better for actual work, I haven't tried it with media yet.

One issue I have seen is the battery and sleep. With the Acer I could close the lid, it would go to sleep and I could pick it up later in the week. The Asus seems to keep something running as the battery will be dead.

Tursiops_G
Technoid
MVM
join:2002-02-06
Brooksville, FL

Tursiops_G

MVM

Check the Hibernate function... Standard Hibernate should keep for up to 2 weeks on Battery, AFAIK.

Don't enable 2-Second "Instant-On", as this will consume more power (intended only for Short-term suspension).

Krisnatharok
PC Builder, Gamer
Premium Member
join:2009-02-11
Earth Orbit

Krisnatharok to hitachi369

Premium Member

to hitachi369
Sister-in-law has an Asus Zenbook, wife has both a Sony Vaio (don't think they make them anymore) and an HP ProBook, and while the Zenbook has a loose connection that causes the keyboard to cut in and out, the Sony and HP have been great for the wife. We got an HP ProBook 430 G1 (~$800-900) for under $400 on Ebay with an i5, 128 GB SSD, and 4GB of ram.