울트라북

30일 관련 업계에 따르면 LG전자, 아수스코리아를 비롯한 울트라북 제조사들이 후속모델을 출시했거나 출시를 준비하고 있다. 본격적인 신학기 PC 수요를 잡기 위해 지난해 말 선보인 13인치대 울트라북을 다양한 크기와 성능으로 세분화해 제품군을 확대하고 있다. 울트라북 첫 제품을 200만원대 고가에 선보인 업체들이 가격을 낮춘 신제품으로 시장 대응에 나서고 있다.

LG전자는 지난달 13인치대 프리미엄 울트라북 'Z330'을 출시한 데 이어 내달 초 14인치 '엑스노트 Z430'으로 라인업을 확대해 시장 공략을 강화한다. 320GB와 640GB의 대용량 HDD를 탑재했으며 HDD와 SSD 듀얼모드 제품도 선보인다. 320GB HDD 탑재 모델은 SSD 없이 부팅 속도 10초대를 구현했다. 인텔 2세대 코어i5 프로세서와 익스프레스 캐시(Express Cache)를 적용해 프로그램 구동 속도가 일반 노트북보다 빠르다. 1.5㎏의 동급 최경량 무게로 13인치대 일반 노트북보다 가볍다. 가격은 140~160만원대다.

도시바코리아는 인텔 코어 i5 프로세서를 선보인 첫 모델 '포테제 Z830'에 이어 인텔 코어 i3 프로세서를 탑재한 Z830 추가모델을 유통하기 시작했다. 첫 모델과 동일한 13인치 크기며 핵심 프로세서를 제외한 다른 성능은 모두 동일하다. 기존 149만원보다 20여만원 낮춘 120만원대로 출시가격을 확정했다.

도시바코리아 관계자는 “소비자 선택의 폭을 확대하기 위해 다양한 프로세서 성능을 갖춘 제품을 확대하고 있다”며 “고성능 울트라북을 원하는 사용자를 위해 인텔 코어 i7 프로세서 탑재 모델도 조만간 선보일 계획”이라고 말했다.

아수스코리아는 13인치 'UX31'에 이어 11.6인치 'UX21E'를 선보인다. 이번 신제품은 인텔 2세대 코어 i7·i5 프로세서와 최대 256GB SSD, 450칸델라 LCD 패널 등 기존 UX31E와 동일한 수준의 성능을 갖췄다. 이전 모델이 200만원대였던데 비해 가격은 100만원대로 구현해 이전 모델보다 가격 경쟁력을 높일 계획이다.

한국HP는 오는 4월경 새로운 울트라북 후속모델을 선보일 예정이다. 현재 120만원대로 형성된 자사 울트라북 제품 가격대에 맞춰 성능과 디자인을 강화한 제품을 출시할 계획이다.

한국레노버는 지난 CES에서 울트라북 신제품을 공개했으나 아직 정확한 출시시기를 확정하지 않았다. 당시 레노버는 아이디어패드 'U310'(13인치)과 'U410'(14인치), 기업용 울트라북인 싱크패드 'T430u'(14인치)를 발표한 바 있다.

한편 오는 4월부터 인텔의 차세대 CPU 아이비브릿지를 탑재한 울트라북 신제품이 대거 쏟아질 예정이다. 이에 따라 4월말부터 주요 울트라북 제조사들이 아이비브릿지 기반 신제품을 대거 선보일 전망이어서 경쟁이 한층 치열해질 것으로 보인다.

http://www.zdnet.co.kr/news/news_view.asp?artice_id=20120130120731

===

State of the Art

A Bevy of Beauties, and So PC

From left, the Dell XPS 13, Lenovo IdeaPad U300s, HP Envy 14 Spectre and Toshiba Portégé Z835-P370 ultrabooks.

By DAVID POGUE

Published: March 28, 2012

• Recommend
• Twitter
• Linkedin
• comments (115)
• Sign In to E-Mail
• Print
• Single Page
• Reprints
• Share

What’s an ultrabook?

Pogue's Posts

The latest in technology from the Times’s David Pogue, with a new look.

• Go to the Posts »

Readers’ Comments

Readers shared their thoughts on this article.

• Read All Comments (115) »

It’s an absolutely gorgeous, sleek wedge of a laptop, clad in shining brushed metal. There’s no DVD drive. The battery is sealed and nonremovable. The keys protrude through individual square holes in the laptop’s deck. The multitouch trackpad is buttonless — you get different clicks by pressing different spots. You generally need a separate adapter dongle if you want to connect to Ethernet or a VGA projector.

And there’s no hard drive. Instead, you get a solid-state drive (SSD), which is like a giant memory card. It helps with battery life and fast start-up times.

Those expensive SSDs make ultrabooks ultra-expensive ($900 and up), and you get very little storage, usually 128 gigabytes. In a laptop with a regular hard drive, you can get eight times that storage, for a lot less money.

So what is an ultrabook? It’s MacBook Air that runs Windows.

That’s just about everybody’s description — except Intel, which developed the concept. (“Was the MacBook Air an inspiration for this category?” I asked Intel’s P.R. team. “No,” was the answer. “The Ultrabook category was conceptualized out of multiple rounds of research going back several years.” Chalk up one for mind-blowing coincidence.)

Because of the tiny storage, an ultrabook doesn’t make a good primary computer, and can store only wee photo, music and video collections. Forget high-horsepower games, too. And to install non-downloadable software, you’ll have to buy an external DVD drive.

But never mind all that. If you have the money, you’ll love how satisfying, beautiful and exquisitely designed these machines made by the major PC makers are. For most uses — e-mail, Web surfing, chat, Microsoft Office, music, streaming movies — an ultrabook is pure joy. If you can stop running your hands over the cool, polished metal.

A MacBook Air still has the best combination of design, screen, keyboard, trackpad and battery life. But ultrabooks come close, and they offer the advantages of choice. For example, ultrabooks come in larger screen sizes, like 14 inches (Hewlett-Packard) and 15 (Samsung). You can buy one with a nonglossy screen — the colors aren’t as vibrant, but you don’t get annoying reflections. Most ultrabooks have dedicated keys that Apple leaves out, like Home, End, Page Up and Page Down.

Finally, most ultrabooks cost less than an Air, which is $1,300 for the 13-inch model.

I tested ultrabooks from Acer, Asus, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Samsung and Toshiba. Most have identical guts: 4GB memory, 128GB SSD, Intel Core i5 processor, 13-inch glossy screen (1366 x 768 pixels), an SD slot for your camera’s memory card, two or three USB jacks (including a USB 3.0 for faster charging of gadgets), a miniature HDMI jack for connecting to a TV, Web camera, mike/headphone jacks and illuminated keys. Most weigh just under three pounds and get about six hours on a charge. In most cases, you can pay more for a bigger SSD (256 gigabytes) and faster Intel i7 processor.

Despite those similarities, they have personalities all their own.

ACER ASPIRE S3 ($800). You read that price right: this is the least expensive ultrabook so far.

To reach that price, Acer kind of cheated. The SSD is small (20GB) and holds only start-up files; all your files go onto a 320GB hard drive. Result: lower price, more storage, slower laptop.

More compromises: The keys feel like you’re typing on concrete. The cursor keys are the size of Tic Tacs. Also, only the top is metal (a gorgeous muted silver). The keyboard, deck, palm rest and bottom are all plastic. The battery life isn’t great — about five hours.

ASUS ZENBOOK UX31E ($900). Gorgeous dark gray metal lid, Bang & Olufsen circuitry for slightly richer sound. But the keyboard doesn’t light up, and the keys don’t travel much. You press the left and right lower corners of the trackpad to produce right- and left-clicks, but mine often produced the wrong kind of click.

The screen has higher resolution than most (1600 x 900), meaning that you can see more without scrolling (at smaller size). An 11-inch model is also available.

DELL XPS 13 ($1,000). “Dell” and “gorgeous” don’t generally appear in the same sentence. But the aluminum top, carbon fiber bottom and satisfying keyboard make this ultrabook a look-and-feel triumph. It’s thicker than most ultrabooks, but a whole inch shallower, so you can still work when the joker in front of you reclines his airplane seat.

Sadly, there’s no memory-card slot, HDMI port, navigation keys or Ethernet jack (you can buy an Ethernet dongle). The trackpad never misses your clicks, but its multitouch response is flaky.

LENOVO IDEAPAD U300S ($1,050). This solid, thin, exquisitely engineered black beauty doesn’t taper from front to back; instead, the top and bottom panels (available in charcoal or orange) protrude slightly, like the covers of a book. This machine is unbelievably pleasurable to use.

Typing feels great; some engineer gave each keystroke just the right amount of movement and click. The trackpad is also superb.

Only two omissions mar the perfection: no memory-card slot and no Ethernet jack. Otherwise: Mmmm.

SAMSUNG NOTEBOOK SERIES 9 ($1,400). The black aluminum-alloy lid feels incredibly silky; just touching it is good for the soul. The screen is bright and vibrant — and it’s nonglossy. Thumbs-up on the keyboard, trackpad, weight (2.5 pounds) and battery. The only heartbreaker is the nosebleed pricetag. (Be careful to distinguish it from the 2011 model, which now goes for $970 and includes only a micro-SD slot.)

I tried out the 15-inch model (coming in late April for $1,500): maybe the thinnest, most luscious-looking, most expensive 15-inch laptop ever. Thanks to its 8GB of memory, you might be able to get away with simple video editing — a good use for that vast screen.

TOSHIBA PORTÉGÉ Z830 ($1,150). This laptop is a delightful outlier for four reasons. First, it’s the world’s lightest ultrabook. It even feels a little hollow, and the screen flexes like a piece of shirt cardboard — but at 2.47 pounds, it practically needs a paperweight.

Second, it’s the only ultrabook with a full suite of full-size jacks. There’s a real Ethernet socket, a real VGA port for projectors, a real HDMI port for TV sets. You even get an extra USB socket (three in all). How great not to have to pack a bunch of dumb little dongles!

Third, there are dedicated buttons beneath the trackpad. They’re plastic chrome fingerprint magnets, but at least they never miss a click.

Finally, this model has 6GB of memory instead of 4 — thanks, Tosh! (Best Buy’s version, the Z835, costs only $850. It has a slower chip and only 4GB of memory, but what a deal!)

HEWLETT-PACKARD ENVY 14 SPECTRE ($1,400). Glass, baby. Nearly this entire laptop — lid, screen, keyboard deck — is covered with Gorilla glass, the supertough glass of iPhones and iPads.

That bold, original, shiny, fingerprinty design makes this laptop much heavier than most (3.8 pounds). And pricier. But you get full-size Ethernet and HDMI ports, a glorious screen (1600 x 900), good sound, very good keyboard and one of the best Windows trackpads ever. Free copies of Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements take the sting out of the price.

(The price-conscious may be more interested in H.P.’s more conventional ultrabook, the $900 Folio, notable for its astonishing 8-hour battery life.)

If you like the ultrabook concept, you’ll love the Lenovo and Dell for getting all of the essentials right; the Samsung for its screen and materials; or the lighter-than-Air Toshiba.

But if you wait, more goodness is coming. The fall crop will bring faster Intel chips and, in some cases, touch screens and Windows 8.

Either way, an ultrabook can bring you many pleasures. Starting with the day it arrives, when the delivery guy slips it under the door.