A question of cost
Pricing is a legitimate concern for the big
OEMs that deal with smaller margins and a dogmatic aversion to risk. The
possibility of spending millions on a new and experimental line that fails tto
catch on has serious consequences for them.
Take the Dell Adamo XPS for example. The
laptop is only 10mm thick, with a design quirk that places the hinge mechanism
partway up the screen, forming a kind of stand with the keyboard that allows
you to type at an angle. It had an Intel Core 2 Duo CULV processor and it weighed
only 1.5kg. Despite that, the machine pretty much sank without a trace.
Dell
Adamo XPS
The Adamo XPS launched at $2,625 in 2009,
which is too much to pay for a machine with a 61-minute battery life. Dell felt
that the design warranted the price, but was forced to cut it dramatically in
2010 and failed to capture the kind of sales Apple had been achieving for two
years beforehand. The product was discontinued and now the only trace of its
existence is a clearance model going for $1,500 at Best Buy UK.
However, there is still the belief in the
technology industry that a light, durable and fast premium machine represents
the future of mobile computing.
According to Peter Hortensius, Lenovo’s
product group president, ‘This new type of personal computing aligns with our continual
focus on engineering innovative laptop solutions that push the boundaries on
mobility.’ And Asus (which, along with Acer appears to be leading the Ultrabook
pack) has revealed that 20 per cent of its shipments of laptops next year will
be Ultrabooks. When launching the Macbook Air, Steve Jobs also remarked that in
the future, all laptops would look like it.
The light aluminium unibody design, solid
state hard drive, long battery life and standby period are all similarities
between the two, but the ability to use Windows will be key to the Ultrabook’s
success against the Air.
Operating systems
Games
and applications for Windows compared to iOS
Windows usage still outranks OS X across
the UK, and accounts for 80 per cent of computers around the world. In some
cases, users are happy to install Windows or Microsoft Office onto a Macbook
Air through Apple’s Bootcamp driver because the advantages outstrip the effort
involved.
With the much greater choice of third-party
software, games and applications for Windows compared to iOS, there’s a large
section of the market who have been put off the idea of switching to a Mac
because of the limitations of its operating system.
Microsoft is turning corners itself. Vista
is all but forgotten thanks to the success of Windows 7, and plenty of us are
excited about the impending arrival of Windows 8. The company has a vested
interest in the success of the Ultrabook platform – particularly considering
the battering it’s been taking in the mobile arena, losing out to Apple and
Google.
That said, even with a large Windows
following opting for an Ultrabook, it would be dangerous to count Apple out of
the fight. The company produces some of the most desirable consumer electronics
in the world and inspires devout loyalty from its customers. It still has a
strong hold over the tablet and smartphone markets.
A strong start
Acer
Aspire S3 Ultrabook
The Ultrabook platform has got the
important things right – primarily design an performance. The only barrier that
may hamper the success of the platform is keeping the price at acceptable
levels for consumers, but based on the current crop of models, that doesn’t
appear to be a problem. At the time of writing, the 13.3in Acer Aspire S3
Ultrabook with Core i5, 4GB RAM, 320GB SSD and a six-hour battery life costs
$1,050 at John Lewis. Elsewhere, the 11.6in Asus UX21E also with Core i5, 4GB
RAM and 128GB SSD and seven-hour battery life is on sale at Ebuyer.com for
$1,275.
Despite coming round to the idea of an
elegant, premium Ultrabook standard has started strongly by refusing to
compromise – a decidedly Apple-lie approach. Furthermore, considering the
models available now are the first iteration of the new platform, we still have
significant developments to look forward to – not just the addition off Ivy
Bridge processors, but also Windows 8. Even though the Ultrabook platform took
its time getting here, the result is already impressive and its brightest days
lie ahead.
