I'm more interested in the $800-1000 range hopefully... do you think we'll see any Haswell based ultrabooks cropping up south of a thousand dollars anytime soon? I feel like Haswell should be handling anything above $6-700, while Silvermont should legitimately take care of the rest.
Silvermont is still four to six months out I think, so it will be a while and even then Silvermont will be more like Kabini levels of performance (and pricing). I think we'll see a few budget Ultrabooks with Haswell south of $1000, but the models with 128GB and higher pure SSD solutions will tend to be above $1000. VIZIO on the other hand has some nice looking updates that should be out soon with 256GB SSDs if memory serves, priced under $1000, so keep an eye out for them.
Well, Samsung Series 7 Chronos 780Z5E (the 2013 version with Ivy Bridge) comes as close as I've found. Excellent everything but especially the screen and battery life. With 8h actual battery life for light-medium loads I felt no need to wait for Haswell. The only thing missing (for me anyway) to be truly excellet is a DisplayPort (or even better a Thunderbolt port).
When will Sony finally decide to put (mini) DisplayPorts connectors on their laptops!!! There is no possibilité to use full resolution on an external 27" or 30".
current hdmi can output up to 4k (at 30fps) but a number of the 30" or 27" monitors can only accept full resolution via dvi or displayport (so these might work with an hdmi to dual link dvi adaptor or hdmi to displayport adaptor, but I am not sure).
I agree, laptop shopping this year was a pain because every time I looked at a nice ultraportable machine the first check was "Does it have display port?" So many nice laptops from Asus, Lenovo, Samsung etc. aren't even an option if I can't use them with my screen.
I'm a bit disappointed they seem to have stripped down the ports as that was one of the main reasons I went with the Vaio Duo 11 as Sony are one of the only companies who put a decent range of ports so it has a standard VGA port, LAN port and standard hdmi while still being a small machine. It's very useful when testing ports not to have to use adapters which I find an annoyance as they defeat the purpose of having a small and light machine that you have to carry a bag of separate adapters.
less ports = slightly more room for battery and cpu cooling It's hard to get a decent ultabook with lots of ports, so maybe get a docking station for the video and ethernet when you're at home and just have usb, etc. in between
The Samsung is not a bad machine but the number pad killed it for me. Macbooks don't come with number pads and Apple is right about that. They destroy the ergonomics of the laptop because the keyboard can't be shifted to the right to get the spacebar and touchpad in the middle of the screen. What's good for a separate keyboard for desktop computers is not good for laptops. Furthermore I'm really against glossy displays. There are many places where I couldn't work if I didn't have a matte one.
Do you think using a 13.3 inch matte screen protector would make it look a bit ugly? Maybe it would look good to have a glossy border instead of a glossy screen
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karasaj - Wednesday, June 5, 2013 - link
I'm more interested in the $800-1000 range hopefully... do you think we'll see any Haswell based ultrabooks cropping up south of a thousand dollars anytime soon? I feel like Haswell should be handling anything above $6-700, while Silvermont should legitimately take care of the rest.JarredWalton - Wednesday, June 5, 2013 - link
Silvermont is still four to six months out I think, so it will be a while and even then Silvermont will be more like Kabini levels of performance (and pricing). I think we'll see a few budget Ultrabooks with Haswell south of $1000, but the models with 128GB and higher pure SSD solutions will tend to be above $1000. VIZIO on the other hand has some nice looking updates that should be out soon with 256GB SSDs if memory serves, priced under $1000, so keep an eye out for them.karasaj - Wednesday, June 5, 2013 - link
Oh wow, have they had a press release on that yet?gxtoast - Wednesday, June 5, 2013 - link
Still waiting for a 15" Ultrabook that really shows us the meaning of excellent.blabbermouth - Wednesday, June 5, 2013 - link
Well, Samsung Series 7 Chronos 780Z5E (the 2013 version with Ivy Bridge) comes as close as I've found. Excellent everything but especially the screen and battery life. With 8h actual battery life for light-medium loads I felt no need to wait for Haswell.The only thing missing (for me anyway) to be truly excellet is a DisplayPort (or even better a Thunderbolt port).
-=Hulk=- - Wednesday, June 5, 2013 - link
When will Sony finally decide to put (mini) DisplayPorts connectors on their laptops!!!There is no possibilité to use full resolution on an external 27" or 30".
urbanshepherd - Wednesday, June 5, 2013 - link
doesn't it depend on hdmi version?jkresh - Wednesday, June 5, 2013 - link
current hdmi can output up to 4k (at 30fps) but a number of the 30" or 27" monitors can only accept full resolution via dvi or displayport (so these might work with an hdmi to dual link dvi adaptor or hdmi to displayport adaptor, but I am not sure).Zink - Friday, June 7, 2013 - link
I agree, laptop shopping this year was a pain because every time I looked at a nice ultraportable machine the first check was "Does it have display port?" So many nice laptops from Asus, Lenovo, Samsung etc. aren't even an option if I can't use them with my screen.apertotes - Wednesday, June 5, 2013 - link
Any word about integrated 3G/LTE sim card?Johnmcl7 - Wednesday, June 5, 2013 - link
I'm a bit disappointed they seem to have stripped down the ports as that was one of the main reasons I went with the Vaio Duo 11 as Sony are one of the only companies who put a decent range of ports so it has a standard VGA port, LAN port and standard hdmi while still being a small machine. It's very useful when testing ports not to have to use adapters which I find an annoyance as they defeat the purpose of having a small and light machine that you have to carry a bag of separate adapters.John
lxgoldsmith - Friday, June 14, 2013 - link
less ports = slightly more room for battery and cpu cooling It's hard to get a decent ultabook with lots of ports, so maybe get a docking station for the video and ethernet when you're at home and just have usb, etc. in betweenOtunia - Saturday, June 8, 2013 - link
The Samsung is not a bad machine but the number pad killed it for me. Macbooks don't come with number pads and Apple is right about that. They destroy the ergonomics of the laptop because the keyboard can't be shifted to the right to get the spacebar and touchpad in the middle of the screen. What's good for a separate keyboard for desktop computers is not good for laptops. Furthermore I'm really against glossy displays. There are many places where I couldn't work if I didn't have a matte one.Otunia - Saturday, June 8, 2013 - link
That was an answer to http://www.anandtech.com/comments/7029/sony-introd...lxgoldsmith - Friday, June 14, 2013 - link
Do you think using a 13.3 inch matte screen protector would make it look a bit ugly? Maybe it would look good to have a glossy border instead of a glossy screenslateface - Tuesday, July 23, 2013 - link
wish Sony would make a 15" ultrabook