We couldn’t keep ourselves from trying out Samsung and Toshiba’s Ultrabooks, which were on display at a trade show in New York yesterday. Though we’ve heard bad things about the battery life of Samsung’s Series 9 ultraportable, it certainly looks good. Toshiba’s newly announced Portege Z830 was even thinner. So thin, in fact, that the Ethernet and external monitor ports had to be placed on the edges as stands because the laptop is thinner than they are. It was an elegant solution–one of a few that help make this guy the lightest laptop on the market. We look forward to reviewing it soon.
Aiming to best the MacBook Air, Intel’s Ultrabook category is an attempt to make laptops look more attractive as touch tablets begin to invade the market. Ultrabooks are super-thin (some are half an inch), have about 8 hours of battery life, boot up quickly thanks to solid-state drives (flash storage), and can perform some basic tasks while in sleep mode, much like a smartphone. They are pretty attractive, though we’re not sure how well they will be received. Apple’s MacBook Air has been selling incredibly well.
