Tuesday, February 7th 2012
Current-Generation Ultrabooks In For Price-Cuts
Although the current generation of "Ultrabooks" don't really conform to a rigid specification apart from being really slim, unlike the next-generation Ivy Bridge-based ones which will have to conform to a specification laid down by Intel, the name "Ultrabooks" (short for ultra-portable/slim notebooks) has stuck. With Intel's newest processing platform just a couple of months away, notebooks manufacturers are reportedly lowering prices of current-generation Ultrabooks.
The move to lower prices of Ultrabooks is simply to clear inventories and pave the way for the next-generation. The prices will be cut significantly. Acer's Ultrabook S3 already saw its price drop to US $799 from $999; while HP's Ultrabooks will see prices cut by as much as 25 percent. Price of Lenovo's Ultrabook will go down by up to 21 percent. In short, every $999-ish Ultrabook will see its price go down to $749-799.
Source:
DigiTimes
The move to lower prices of Ultrabooks is simply to clear inventories and pave the way for the next-generation. The prices will be cut significantly. Acer's Ultrabook S3 already saw its price drop to US $799 from $999; while HP's Ultrabooks will see prices cut by as much as 25 percent. Price of Lenovo's Ultrabook will go down by up to 21 percent. In short, every $999-ish Ultrabook will see its price go down to $749-799.
32 Comments on Current-Generation Ultrabooks In For Price-Cuts
The i5 2557m of course, smokes these chips in almost every way, including perf/W.
But this does prove my point further. An Atom dual-core is comparable to a MOBILE chip from 2004 (probably the top one) while the i5 2557m is on par with the top mobile chip from 2009. So the top of the line gaming computers from 2009 had a chip equivalent to the i5 2557m... Granted the i5 2557m GPU is not nearly as impressive, with a GPU equivalent to the 310m, but it is more than enough for most and crushes what the Atoms have to offer, even ION 2 or the GMA 3650.
As a side note my netbook has a N450, and its my work computer. For all my general task's it's perfect, and as a diagnostic tool at work it's a God send. So my experience with a less then stellar Atom has taught me the diligence of why would I need more power?
I don't understand your point though. Just because I do light gaming and like to watch high quality movies I automatically won't benefit much from portability? On a 5 hour bus/train/flight I'd like to be entertained with a movie or 2. I'd like to be able to bring a laptop with me to my cousin's place so I can game a little with him, without losing a competitive edge because my computer can't handle it. A lot of people, without realizing it, LIMIT themselves with their netbooks, and refrain from doing stuff they'd like to do.
I personally wouldn't buy an ultrabook, I would probably buy a Lenovo X220 with IPS screen and add a 2nd 4GB RAM DIMM myself and probably purchase an extra the 9-cell battery if the size is reasonable (while still keeping the 6-cell or 4-cell for the sake of portability when I need it). I'd also use my GT 240 as an external GPU when I am at home (using the ExpressCard). Having to buy a DisplayPort to HDMI/DVI cable doesn't bother me really.
This is something I'm pretty disturbed by actually. As soon as we have some time for ourselves we feel a need to entertain ourselves. Why are we so afraid of hanging with our own thoughts? Part of all travels are the actual travels, there is so much to see and we just close our eyes and look at flashy blingbling zooming stuff instead. When I'm traveling these days it feels like I'm surrounded by objects rather humans. If a beautiful sunrise, sunset or landscape comes by, people scoff and draw down the curtains so they can watch the Simpsons without sunglare. We are all brainwashed in some way.
*back to normal*
Aye.