I've been doing some research around this area, it's for my mother-in-law who happens to be a programming lecturer, so she knows her stuff PC wise, but isn't to up on the latest hardware and options. She's going to be doing a lot of travelling this year having retired from her main job and is looking for a fully flegded x86 machine that is going to offer a proper computing experience (she'll be using it for work), have good battery life (I define this as 5 hours minimum during normal browsing), and is as light as possible.
An ultra book seems like the ideal choice then, but which one?!
Storage space is not an issue, so a 128Gb SSD would be ideal for speed, battery life and weight reduction. I want a machine that has a quality build feel to it, ideally with an IPS panel. This isn't going to be for gaming so the GPU isn't critical, but HD4000 or better would be preferable.
Must haves I would say are:
SSD drive, ideally 128Gb
ULV Core processor (preferably an ivy bridge model, although sandy bridge is also acceptable if other factors are met)
13" screen minimum (older people prefer bigger screens, so this is a good compromise I feel!)
5 hour battery life
Sturdy build quaity
Prefer to have:
IPS screen, ideally higher than 1366x768 but res is less of an issue. If not IPS, then at least a good screen with decent viewing angles. This seems to be the downfall on a lot of the cheap ultrabooks.
Matte / anti-glare screen....another major issue in finding a suitable unit!
Comfortable keyboard, i like the look of the one on the Lenovo Yoga 13 for example. Also a nice large track pad.
Minimum 4Gb RAM (shouldn't be an issue I suspect)
Not important:
DVD drive
USB3
So far I've looked at:
Acer Asipre S3
Samsung Series 5 Ultra
Asus S200
Microsoft Surface Pro
Asus Taichi
Lenovo Yoga 13
I had initially had the idea this should have a tablet option to it, but in retrospect this isn't important for her. A good quality ultra book is what she's needing. Can people point out some models I should be considering, or once which are going to be released in the next 2/3 months?


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