Archive for August, 2011

Asustek launching Ultrabook in October

Johney Shih, Asustek’s company chairman, said Asustek is getting set to launch 5-6 Ultrabooks in October ranging from $899-$1,999.  The laptops will be revealed in a product launch conference.

The Ultrabooks released by Asustek in October will range in screen size from 11.6 inch to 13.3 inch.

Shih has said that the price drop in DRAM and other key components has enabled the company to lower the production cost of the Ultrabook, and will pass that savings on to the consumer.  With HP going in a different direction that PCs and Dell and Toshiba being cautious about the new Ultrabook, it should give a nice edge to Acer and Asustek who are bringing the first Ultrabooks to the market.

The Ultrabook is the next generation of laptop made by Intel.  The ultra slim laptop will be thinner than an inch and have flash memory that will let it boot up from sleep in less than 7 seconds.  The Ultrabook is expected to compete directly with the Macbook Air but at a much lower cost and also some models combined with a touchscreen will help it combine the usefulness and practicality of a tablet.

Features I’m looking for in the Ultrabook

There have been some great features that have come out that will be in the new Intel Ultrabook.  We know that it will be really thin, less than .8 of an inch thick.  We know that it will have at least a 5 hour battery life and that it will run on flash memory that gives it the ability to awake from sleep in less than 7 seconds.

There are some rumors of other features that the Ultrabook will have, not a lot has been released about them.  We still do not know if HP or Asus will be the first with one on the market.  Here are some features that I would like the Ultrabook to have.

For starters, I would like a touchscreen.  I have read some reports that this will be included on later models, but probably not on the first Ultrabooks to hit the market.  A touchscreen would be the perfect touch to combine a laptop computer with a tablet.  Isn’t that what Intel is trying to do?  Hp, Acer, Asus, Lenovo and every other pc maker, please include a touchscreen on all models of the Ultrabook.

Secondly, I would like to have some USB ports.  I have read a few articles online stating that there won’t be any USB ports on the Ultrabook.  I really hope that they misread or were given wrong information.  USB connects so many of our devices like scanners, phones, card readers, printers, and cameras.  I can’t imagine paying a $1,000 for a “laptop” that doesn’t have USB ports.  Hopefully as more features leak out about the Ultrabooks, we can get a more definate answer on whether or not they will be included.

Other features that I would like but can live without would be a battery that lasts longer than 5 hours, maybe closer to 10 although I’m not sure if that is economically possible yet.  I know it can be done but they are trying to keep the price at $999 and under on all models.  A webcam for Skype would also be nice, and I would love to have an ”App” store for programs.

For now, we will have to just wait and see what features the different models have when they are released.  It could come as soon as September, but we definitely will know by Christmas.  Until then, all we can do is speculate and hope for features that we want.