You may not know it yet, but notebooks will be going through a revolution in the next 12 months. A new class of mobile PC will emerge: thin, light, style-focused and high-performing.
We've been concerned about our waistline for years and now it seems we also want thinner notebooks.
Fuelled by advancements and competitive innovation from both AMD and Intel, notebooks have ramped up in performance and specifications, but with the exception of a few, haven’t really shed their traditional notebook dimensions or basic characteristics such as boot up time and battery life. At the same time, tablets have become a mainstream product that can replace a notebook for some tasks.
The Ultrabook range, coined by Intel, addresses some of these issues affecting the notebook market. Although netbooks were the more mobile and lighter version of its notebook sibling, they are limited to a smaller screen and fitted to more basic PC tasks. Ultrabooks are designed to deliver the full PC experience, with the core propositions of “thin” and “light” manifesting themselves in stylish, eye-catching designs.
Ultrabooks will be the portable PC you want to use, and be seen using. The casual look-at-me email or Facebook check at a café will never have been more popular once these machines start making their way into the market.
There’s no doubt that notebooks are the best value they’ve ever been, and from a “bang for buck” perspective there’s never been a better time to upgrade if you feel the need to. But with longer battery times, an “always on” state similar to tablets, and a burning desire to reveal your sleek Ultrabook at every opportunity, you may find the attraction too hard to resist.
Intel are predicting that Ultrabooks will make up 40% of the consumer notebook market by the end of next year, with each successive Intel chip development driving even greater performance. The first range, due out in October, will make use of a low-voltage variant of the Sandy Bridge processor.
Acer will be the first PC manufacturer to reveal their Ultrabook lineup in Australia later this week, and we’ll be there to take a close look at their offering.
The revolution starts now.
Smartphones and tablets (ipad etc) are already mainline consumer products, while computers (even sleep laptops!) are regarded as for “work”! I suppose it is time to well and truly farewell desktops – do they still sell them?
Hi Pritam, there is one area that desktops are still growing, and that is in the all-in-one area. Touchscreen PCs have the luxury of a large screen with the familiar gesture control that tablets have taught us to expect. Some AIOs have full high definition screens, Blu Ray players and digital Tuners, which fits the entertainment PC mould for the home nicely.
hi ritchie – I would not hold my breath for touch screen PCS – they are ok to use say when buying tickets etc – but you cannot really interface with a touchscreen PC for extended period with gesture control. I think it was Steve Jobs who said touch screen PCs wont work due to “gorilla’ arm!! touchscreen interface works on tablet and phone since they are usually close to you or in your lap so your arm is along your body and not stretched in front!!
As with tablets, the success of all-in-ones is the creation of apps to make the touchscreen a compelling feature to use. I agree you wouldn’t be holding your arm out for more than a couple of minutes at a time, but it does make social gaming an interesting area to develop.