was there any word next version of Taichi that will be touchscreen on both sides? that sounds like a pretty nice offering to me, good for sales presentations. add 4G LTE and nice data package...i'd be willing to pay Apple prices for that... a lot of people sound bias against ultrabooks....but don't think you can compare something like Taichi to any Apple offering....just apples and oranges....sounds more like too many istuff users own too much sinking AAPL stock :(
Since it has been "launched" over half a year ago Asus has been very quiet about this model. I think there are allot of people interested in knowing when is it going to be available as well as extremely interested in an AnandTech review of one of the most promising convertible unveiled this last year.
Microsoft Surface Pro will end up being the Best Ultrabook ever !!! MArk my words. Even though it is not a full blown laptop, it is still one of the best available !!!!!
I agree with pretty much everything in this piece, as for me screen quality is a major sticking point. Spare a thought for the UK though. You bemoan a $1,200 price point for some of these premium products, in the UK the Dell XPS 12 (my current favourite choice) with 8GB RAM is priced at the equivalent of almost $1,900! The ASUS UX13A has been a contender as well, but ASUS only import the i7 with 256GB SSD and charge $2,400 for it. The ASUS Taichi looks great too, but again only i7 with 256GB SSD and coming in at a whopping $2,700+!
Even in mainland Europe prices for the ASUS models is SIGNIFICANTLY lower, along with i5 SKUs being made available. Not quite sure what they're playing at over here!
Have come close to importing a US model for almost half the price, but can't get on with the US keyboard layout.
What are you talking about? The US keyboard layout us far superior to the UK layout! Proper left shift key, an enter key you can reach without moving from the home row, etc.
But I agree with you on pricing. These ultrabooks cost far more than an MBA, even before the student discount Apple offer. If the 2013 MBA comes with an IPS (or even retina) screen, it'll kill all these competitors.
It's amazing (in a very bad way) that no one has been able to actually make a laptop that can compete with Apple. I'm not thinking about the software, only the hardware and price. Is it really that difficult?
If you mean "best period no one is ever better", I'd agree. If on the other hand he means "one of the best", I have to support that. I don't like Apple products, per se -- I'm a Windows and Android type of user -- but if we take the MacBook Pro it has:
Best-in-class build quality Best-in-class wireless Best-in-class touchpad Best-in-class battery life Good LCD contrast Good LCD colors Good LCD resolution Good keyboard (not my *favorite* layout, but it's consistent for Apple users at least) Good speakers Good SSDs for storage (though I might downgrade that a bit for Toshiba SSDs on some models) Good CPU Good GPU, depending on model (the iGPU only models fall well short here, though)
Now if we move to the MacBook Pro 13 Retina, you can modify the LCD stuff so that it's: Best-in-class LCD Best-in-class color (pre-calibrated) Best-in-class resolution
Basically, the only areas where I would say Apple's MacBook lineup isn't consistently near the top is in their displays on non-Retina models, their speakers, and their SSDs. And even in those areas, they're certainly good. It's a shame I just don't particularly care for OS X, and I'm not willing to pay for the privilege of using OS X. If someone were to give me an MBP Retina, though, I would happily spend a lot of time with OS X until I was comfortable using it in place of Windows.
Worst-in-class Windows drivers Worst-in-class Intel speedstep support under bootcamp(as in none at all) Worst-in-class lag on retina models(non-retina setting)
On the OSX side though they are the best. No doubts there. But they're flawed under Windows.
I would love to be wrong, but please prove me wrong by providing a series of laptops or just a single laptop that can compete with the Macbook Pro's and not have at least 1 big flaw like a lousy screen or trackpad? I haven't read a single review of an ultrabook where that's the case.
I'm glad someone finally put into words my impression of all these non-apple ultrabooks. I keep looking at them hoping to buy one, but they always seem to have a flaw that I can't get over. They never seem to create the ideal full package. I'm also sick of these 16:9 ratio screens on everything, especially lower res screens.
The difference between a crap 1366x768 TN panel and a quality 1920x1080 IPS panel isn't that much - probably $100 tops, but usually something like $50 extra in volume shipments.
High-density displays are a bit more (my rough guess is around $200-$250 for the 2880x1800 panel in the retina MBP) but it's not that much considering it's going into a $2000 machine. With greater manufacturing volume those prices too should come down.
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vanbako1 - Thursday, January 10, 2013 - link
I don't see the Asus Transformer Book (TX300) in the list.Does anybody know a release date?
JarredWalton - Thursday, January 10, 2013 - link
Note that these were the Ultrabooks at Intel's booth. It is by no means a comprehensive list.brewnas - Friday, January 11, 2013 - link
was there any word next version of Taichi that will be touchscreen on both sides? that sounds like a pretty nice offering to me, good for sales presentations. add 4G LTE and nice data package...i'd be willing to pay Apple prices for that...a lot of people sound bias against ultrabooks....but don't think you can compare something like Taichi to any Apple offering....just apples and oranges....sounds more like too many istuff users own too much sinking AAPL stock :(
AncientWisdom - Thursday, January 10, 2013 - link
Indeed.Jarred,
Can we kindly request you guys to look into this?
Since it has been "launched" over half a year ago Asus has been very quiet about this model. I think there are allot of people interested in knowing when is it going to be available as well as extremely interested in an AnandTech review of one of the most promising convertible unveiled this last year.
Thanks!
madhavk8 - Thursday, January 10, 2013 - link
Microsoft Surface Pro will end up being the Best Ultrabook ever !!! MArk my words. Even though it is not a full blown laptop, it is still one of the best available !!!!!yankeeDDL - Thursday, January 10, 2013 - link
LOL.Microsoft should pay a bit more for people to scout forums and advertise ...
guidryp - Thursday, January 10, 2013 - link
I can only assume this must be epic sarcasm.With one of the worse keyboards and one of the worse touchpads, it is pretty much guaranteed to be one of the worse ultrabooks.
Thorburn - Thursday, January 10, 2013 - link
I agree with pretty much everything in this piece, as for me screen quality is a major sticking point.Spare a thought for the UK though. You bemoan a $1,200 price point for some of these premium products, in the UK the Dell XPS 12 (my current favourite choice) with 8GB RAM is priced at the equivalent of almost $1,900!
The ASUS UX13A has been a contender as well, but ASUS only import the i7 with 256GB SSD and charge $2,400 for it. The ASUS Taichi looks great too, but again only i7 with 256GB SSD and coming in at a whopping $2,700+!
Even in mainland Europe prices for the ASUS models is SIGNIFICANTLY lower, along with i5 SKUs being made available. Not quite sure what they're playing at over here!
Have come close to importing a US model for almost half the price, but can't get on with the US keyboard layout.
r3loaded - Thursday, January 10, 2013 - link
What are you talking about? The US keyboard layout us far superior to the UK layout! Proper left shift key, an enter key you can reach without moving from the home row, etc.But I agree with you on pricing. These ultrabooks cost far more than an MBA, even before the student discount Apple offer. If the 2013 MBA comes with an IPS (or even retina) screen, it'll kill all these competitors.
xi1152 - Thursday, January 10, 2013 - link
What about the Vizio ultrabooks? Did you guys have a change to check those?jramskov - Thursday, January 10, 2013 - link
It's amazing (in a very bad way) that no one has been able to actually make a laptop that can compete with Apple. I'm not thinking about the software, only the hardware and price. Is it really that difficult?ananduser - Thursday, January 10, 2013 - link
That's an exaggeration. Apple does not make the best laptops. Some items in their lineup are among the best though.JarredWalton - Thursday, January 10, 2013 - link
If you mean "best period no one is ever better", I'd agree. If on the other hand he means "one of the best", I have to support that. I don't like Apple products, per se -- I'm a Windows and Android type of user -- but if we take the MacBook Pro it has:Best-in-class build quality
Best-in-class wireless
Best-in-class touchpad
Best-in-class battery life
Good LCD contrast
Good LCD colors
Good LCD resolution
Good keyboard (not my *favorite* layout, but it's consistent for Apple users at least)
Good speakers
Good SSDs for storage (though I might downgrade that a bit for Toshiba SSDs on some models)
Good CPU
Good GPU, depending on model (the iGPU only models fall well short here, though)
Now if we move to the MacBook Pro 13 Retina, you can modify the LCD stuff so that it's:
Best-in-class LCD
Best-in-class color (pre-calibrated)
Best-in-class resolution
Basically, the only areas where I would say Apple's MacBook lineup isn't consistently near the top is in their displays on non-Retina models, their speakers, and their SSDs. And even in those areas, they're certainly good. It's a shame I just don't particularly care for OS X, and I'm not willing to pay for the privilege of using OS X. If someone were to give me an MBP Retina, though, I would happily spend a lot of time with OS X until I was comfortable using it in place of Windows.
ananduser - Friday, January 11, 2013 - link
Worst-in-class Windows driversWorst-in-class Intel speedstep support under bootcamp(as in none at all)
Worst-in-class lag on retina models(non-retina setting)
On the OSX side though they are the best. No doubts there. But they're flawed under Windows.
jramskov - Friday, January 11, 2013 - link
I would love to be wrong, but please prove me wrong by providing a series of laptops or just a single laptop that can compete with the Macbook Pro's and not have at least 1 big flaw like a lousy screen or trackpad? I haven't read a single review of an ultrabook where that's the case.ananduser - Friday, January 11, 2013 - link
Plenty of laptops that have IPS screens and excellent touchpads (Zenbook,Series9 are two examples). Again you're exaggerating.jramskov - Monday, January 14, 2013 - link
I can only state what I have seen but I of course haven't read every single laptop review on the internet.It does seem like this could be worthy:
http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/05/asus-zenbook-pr...
The Samsung Series 9 are very nice as well, but they cost quite a bit more than a comparable Macbook.
Roland00Address - Thursday, January 10, 2013 - link
Do not hurt it...pretty things should be treated with respect, not casually allowed to fall and hit the hard pavement.pixelstuff - Thursday, January 10, 2013 - link
I'm glad someone finally put into words my impression of all these non-apple ultrabooks. I keep looking at them hoping to buy one, but they always seem to have a flaw that I can't get over. They never seem to create the ideal full package. I'm also sick of these 16:9 ratio screens on everything, especially lower res screens.AncientWisdom - Thursday, January 10, 2013 - link
Completely agreed, I'm DYING to buy an ultrabook but can't find one to justify the price\meet all my requirements.Zink - Thursday, January 10, 2013 - link
You want lower prices and better screens. That is not how it works.r3loaded - Friday, January 11, 2013 - link
The difference between a crap 1366x768 TN panel and a quality 1920x1080 IPS panel isn't that much - probably $100 tops, but usually something like $50 extra in volume shipments.High-density displays are a bit more (my rough guess is around $200-$250 for the 2880x1800 panel in the retina MBP) but it's not that much considering it's going into a $2000 machine. With greater manufacturing volume those prices too should come down.