In case you haven't heard, laptops are getting thinner. And lighter. And sexier. The shrinking phenomenon is often attributed to the MacBook Air, and Apple deserves a great deal of credit for pushing the industry toward the compact-yet-versatile laptop.
After working with Apple to help craft some of the technology in the initial MacBook Air design, Intel took the ball and ran with it, launching the Ultrabook concept. Ultrabooks are the Air's ethos adapted to Windows PCs — thin and light laptops that sacrifice a few rarely used features (like optical drives) to create a nimble machine that can actually perform.
The performance aspect is key, since substandard tech was the main criticism of netbooks, which tried to give people the sexy form factor without the guts to back it up. The combo proved initally popular until owners realized they couldn't do much with a netbook. Sure, you could send email — but speed was lacking, screens were small and you could forget about any "power user" functions like video editing.
The Ultrabook Promise
Ultrabooks remedy that by packing better processing power. Instead of using the "just getting by" Atom processors that Intel puts in netbooks, Ultrabooks command their own subcategory among the company's top-tier Core processors. They use the same chip architecture as high-end laptops and desktops, just tailored to lower voltages so they don't suck Ultrabooks' smaller batteries dry.
There are a bunch of specifications that a laptop must meet to qualify as an Ultrabook, but suffice it to say the laptop must be thin and light, it has to both boot up and wake from sleep mode quickly, and it needs to be packing Intel Core chips (the term "Ultrabook" is an Intel trademark, after all). Apple's MacBook Air technically doesn't count, since it doesn't run some of the Intel-based tech involved, even though it has the chips.
I've been using an Ultrabook, the Dell XPS 13, off and on for the past few months, using it for both personal tasks and many demanding work situations, like this week's Apple event liveblog for Mashable. It's also filled in as a substitute laptop for a few colleagues in emergencies.
Now that ultrabooks have recently gotten a boost from the introduction of Intel's latest processing tech, Ivy Bridge, it bears looking at how effective the concept is as a whole. Can you really get lots of work done? What are the downsides? And ultimately: Is the Ultrabook ready to be your primary computer?
'Ultra' Computing
The Dell XPS 13 is a gorgeous machine. With its slim silver casing, it's easy to mistake for a MacBook Air. The chiclet-style keyboard feels great to the touch, and it even sports a backlight. The 13.3-inch screen has 1,366 x 768-pixel resolution, which is pretty standard for a machine this size, and it's protected by Corning Gorilla Glass.
Dell launched the XPS 13 in March, so it packs a second-generation Intel Core processor (Sandy Bridge, not the latest Ivy Bridge). But since its launch, Dell has released a couple of updates, the most impactful being the introduction of multi-finger gestures, like using two fingers to scroll through a document. It's a welcome addition, though it's not as smooth out of the gate as on, say, a MacBook.
That might be in part due to the rubbery material Dell uses for the pad itself. I found the texture to be a little too "sticky," making some movements (such as selecting text) a little unwieldy, and it was prone to clumping up dust.
Overall, though, the XPS 13 is physically a dream — a textbook Ultrabook. I was very comfortable just tossing it in a carry-on or using it in a cramped airplane seat. Short falls (under 3 feet) had no effect on it. The durability is partly due to the XPS 13 packing a solid-state drive (SSD), with fewer moving parts, instead of a hard disk.
The Accessory Trap
However, that SSD is just a mere 128GB for the entry-level version, which starts at $999. That was a decent amount of storage a few years back, but today it's probably not enough for all your needs. That means you'll need to choose between configuring your Ultrabook with more storage or buying external drives, but either way you're spending money.
That's just one example of how one of the promises of Ultrabooks is counterfeit: that it would bestow sleek, well-performing machines at a fair price (i.e. in the $1,000 range). While technically true, accessories almost become a necessity with an Ultrabook.
On more than one occasion, I found the XPS 13?s lack of an Ethernet port a serious problem. Ethernet-to-USB adapters are available, of course — for a small fee. And the one or two times I needed to fire up a CD or DVD would lead me to buying an external optical drive.
That said, it's much more preferable to have the thin-and-light form factor in a machine that satisfies 95% of my laptop needs on its own, than a more expensive, bulkier full-featured laptop. Just know before you click "Complete My Purchase" that buying an Ultrabook is really buying an Ultrabook + friends.
Can It Perform?
While Ultrabooks pack Intel Core chips, they're actually lower-voltage designs than what you get in bigger laptops. They're also strictly dual-core, whereas the higher-voltage processors can be either dual- or quad-core.
However, if there was any sacrifice in performance, I didn't see it. The XPS 13 is nimble creature — apps install and launch fast, files copy quickly, and web browsing was only limited by connectivity. And that's on a machine with a Sandy Bridge processor and USB 2.0 — last year's tech. I can't wait to taste the boost in speed in the new Ivy Bridge Ultrabooks (and MacBook Airs) that feature USB 3.0.
The XPS 13 also boots up fully in just 28 seconds — faster than even the Samsung Galaxy S III, and that's a phone! It wakes up from sleep in far less time (a few seconds), ready to resume all your apps right where you left off. That's the power of solid-state drives combined with proprietary Intel Rapid Start tech.
Battery life was outstanding. After a five-hour flight of near-continuous use (with wireless turned off and brightness turned down), the XPS 13 still had more than 50% of a charge left.
Ultra-Thin: Not Just a Fad
Coming back to the key question: Can an Ultrabook now serve as the center of your digital life — the gateway through which all your "serious" computing flows? The answer is yes … as long as you're willing to pay. Putting that kind of weight on an ultra-thin design guarantees the need for accessories to fill in those gaps (like burning a DVD), unless you really are just using your PC for web browsing and email.
But in today's world — where even "average" users are being pulled toward former power-user-only fare like cloud services, external backups and even secondary displays — that's not asking too much. The XPS 13 convinced me that Ultrabooks aren't some fad or special-case computer. They're ready for duty as a go-to machine for the majority of users.
Maybe if enough of those users actually get one, we can just start calling them what they should be called: laptops.
The Dell XPS 13 is your typical Ultrabook -- light and thin, with the power of full-size laptop.
The 13.3-inch screen on the XPS 13 is 1,366 x 768 and is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass.
The 15-inch MacBook Pro on the right is the computer I use for work. I rarely found myself reaching for it when I used the Ultrabook, but I often missed the Ethernet port and SD card slot.
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