home :: hardware :: newlaptop5

More on Ivybridge ultrabooks

I have not yet bought a new laptop, but the first few IvyBridge ultrabooks are starting to come out.

As I've written before, I am interested in a lightweight machine that is going to be powerful enough to last a few years. I don't want one of those silly 1366x768 screens that you find on many otherwise fine machines (like on the Toshiba Portege Z930), and I do not think that the Intel HD Graphics 4000 are going to be sufficient to run the odd game on the road (Diablo 3, World of Warcraft, or various Steam games).

I fear I am a few months too early :-( The new Dell XPS 14 looks promising, but the reviews I've seen so far have been fairly disappointing unfortunately. So, I had almost decided on an Asus Zen Prime UX32VD-DB71 which has a backlit keyboard, a nice 1080p screen and a proper GPU (though unfortunately it is Nvidia's entry-level GPU, the GeForce GT620M, instead of the GT630 like in the XPS14, but apparently it is good enough for 60+ FPS in World of Warcraft). However, they are sold out at Amazon Canada, and in most other Canadian resellers I've seen... Oh well, if it takes them too long to stock them up, new machines will come out that may fit my requirements even better :-)

Hmpf. For the price of a Dell XPS14, one can almost get an Alienware M14xR2, but that's not an ultrabook... it even comes with a DVD drive! (pity you can't configure it out to lighten the weight of the machine)

Going forward, I think that the Microsoft Surface gizmos actually look quite attractive... let's see if I'll wait until they come out to renew my machine.

(pictures from the Dell and Asus websites)

/hardware | Posted at 20:06 | permanent link