The Clevo W110ER  shows how far high-power portable laptops have come but also shows the trade-off between the Ultrabook platform and a standard notebook computing platform. Ultrabooks are unlikely to reach this level of performance in 2012; This level of processing power won’t reach Ultrabook sizes and weights!

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Acer just launched an 11.6” ‘ultra-thin’ notebook that might interest some looking for Ultrabook alternatives. Pricing starts at €499 and there are options for Nvidia discreet graphics (GT640M,) but only in the larger 14 and 15” versions.

The  11.6” version is going to be targeted at two markets. The netbook market will receive a low-cost ‘Aspire One’  version of this with Pentium or Celeron CPUs (no Atom version) but there will be a V5 version with Core CPUs. Target weight for the 11” version is 1.4KG. Launch is expected in Q2 but there’s talk of upgraded versions with Ivy Bridge versions later in the year. The screen resolution for the 11.6” version will be 1366×768

More images and press release below.

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I know the Samsung NP350 isn’t an Ultrabook but there’s a method in my madness here. SSD upgrade!

I bought the Samsung NP350 before Christmas for a very low price of £436 (£363 pre-tax) which I’m beginning to think was some sort of mistake because soon after I bought it, the price shot up by about 30%. (It’s currently out of stock at Amazon UK for £479) In the USA there is a new 1.4 GHz Intel Core i3-2367M version (ULV, like an Ultrabook) for $679 and a 2.30 GHz Intel Core i5-2410m version  for $729. Yes, not quite as cheap as the £363 / $572 I paid but that ULV Core i3 version could be a prime candidate for a very long battery-life set-up.

Samsung NP350 naked pics below. NP350 Information page including review is here.

Before we get into the detail on the Samsung NP350 I need to make it clear that I bought the Core i3 (2.2Ghz) version in the UK for a pre-tax price of about £370 (pre-tax business purchase price that equates to under $600 in the USA) In the UK, Ultrabooks start at around £680. The price differential isn’t so pronounced in other countries. E.g. In the USA, the Core i5 version of the NP350 is around $700 (where Ultrabooks start at $800) Having said that, the NP350 offers features that match, and in some cases beat Ultrabooks. I’ve bought the NP350 for use over the next months while i wait for the next wave of Ultrabooks and will be using it for blogging, video production, image editing, storage and as my day-to-day desktop.

Update: The original article had a battery capacity calculation error. Please see the correct figures in the battery testing section below.

Note: In the UK, the Amazon price is up by £100 now. Keep an eye out for offers.

Model tested: NP350U2B

Full specifications and information links in the database.

Looking more like an ultra thin Atom-based netbook rather than an Intel Core-based notebook the Samsung Series 9 900X1B combines quality throughout and presents it in a very stylish and portable package that’s capable of some smooth, desktop-like computing experiences. Not everything is perfect but now that prices have dropped since launch, this 1KG wonder will fit the bill for those looking for a very small and light, capable notebook. It’s not strictly an Ultrabook but is build around the same principles.

The 11.6” Samsung 900X1B, the 1KG sibling to the 13” 900X3A that we tested a while back, arrived today and I’ve had a solid afternoon of testing, and enjoying, this pre-Ultrabook. I won’t call it an Ultrabook alternative because  just like the Apple MacBook Air it pre-dates the Ultrabook launch but uses the same design principles…and it’s just as good. With an 11.6” screen it obviously goes up against the Asus UX21 and Apple MacBook Air. Here are some first impressions, relatively detailed, that might help you raise or lower the 900X1B on your list.

We love Ultrabooks but we also love the competition from other parts of the notebook industry.  Lower prices, faster processors, bigger batteries, discreet graphics and other features give the consumer a choice and challenge the designers of  future Ultrabooks.  There are some devices that are closer (MacBook Air, Series 9) than others (DM1, SH771) but we can’t ignore them.

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I often refer to the Sandy Bridge platform as an HDR Computing platform that can span multiple mobile usage scenarios but how about adding that platform to a product that covers every angle in terms of hardware too? The Gigabyte T1132N might just be that device.

Forget Ultrabook looks but do think about flexibility and expandability.
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