Top 10 ultrabooks

New Delhi: Ultabooks are fast conquering the realm of personal computing. The demand for ultrabooks is fast growing in Indian and overseas markets due to its unique design and performance. An Ultrabook was defined by Intel in 2011 as a notebook sub-genre that offers thinner, longer lasting notebooks that are high on on performance. The introduction of the Ultrabook was naturally seen as Intel's answer to the widely popular Apple MacBook Air.An Ultrabook must now be outfitted with a touchscreen, and Intel is encouraging device makers to build two-in-one convertible designs (notebooks with touchscreens that detach from their keyboards to become tablets). Also, no laptop can be thicker than 23mm (0.9 inches) if it's to be marketed as an Ultrabook, and it must now be hardware-ready for voice command and control. Ultrabook battery-life requirements have been extended to provide at least six hours of HD video playback; a minimum of nine hours when Windows 8 is idling; and at least seven days of standby time. An Ultrabook must now wake from sleep mode in less than three seconds.In addition to supporting wireless networking, an Ultrabook must now also support Intel's Wireless Display technology for streaming its video output to a supported display or adapter.Also, all Ultrabooks will come with antivirus and antimalware software preinstalled and support Intel's antitheft and identity protection technology. Here are our top 10 picks: Acer Aspire S7 (2013)The 3-pound Acer Aspire S7 is exceptionally light and has a fast SSD and a crisp display with wide viewing angles. The S7 features a powerful fourth-generation Intel Haswell processor, a fast 128GB SSD and a gorgeous 1080p touch screen display that displays vivid colors, particularly blues, greens and yellows. The $1,699 model (S7-392-9890) has a 1.8-GHz Intel Core i7-4500U processor, 8GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD and an Intel HD Graphics 4400 GPU with 128MB of VRAM. The Acer Aspire S7-392's 4-cell, 6280mAh lithium-ion battery lasts 8 hours and 53 minutes.Lenovo IdeaPad U310 TouchThe Lenovo IdeaPad U310 Touch offers a sleek design with curved edges and a slight curved slant across the edges of the top of the display case. Measuring at 13.7" x 8.9" x 0.71" and weighing in at 3.9lbs. the Lenovo U310 Touch is lightweight and easy to carry. The U310 Touch is all about value; as it is equipped with an Intel i5 processor and 500GB HDD (with 24GB SSD cache), and for $700 price point, it offers solid performance. Equipped with a 1.8 GHz Intel i5-337U Processor, Intel HD Graphs, the machine is able to tackle basic word and web functions with relative ease. With 4GB of RAM, the notebook was also able to multitask fairly well running multiple programs with no noticeable drop in performance. A good keyboard, accurate touchscreen and crisp audio, makes it a good choice at this price point. Dell XPS 12 (2013)The XPS 12 is built from black carbon fiber and is lined with precision-cut aluminum. The XPS 12 has a screen that rotates within its aluminum frame, so it can be used either as a tablet or a traditional clamshell laptop. Two catches on the top and bottom of the frame hold the screen firmly in place. At 12.48 x 8.46 x 0.59-0.79 inches, the XPS 12 is a tad bigger than the VAIO Pro 11 (11.22 x 7.78 x 0.68) and the Yoga 11s (11.73 x 8.03 x 0.67). Running Intel's fourth-generation 1.6-GHz Core i5-4200U Haswell processor with 4GB of RAM, the XPS 12 delivers smooth and speedy performance. The XPS 12's battery lasts an impressive 9 hours and 24 minutes. With a $1,199 starting price, the new XPS 12 is somewhat more expensive than its competitors.Toshiba Portege Z935-P300The Portege Z935-P300 measures 12.4 x 8.9 x 0.3 - 0.6 inches and weighs just 2.4 pounds. Toshiba outfitted the Portege Z935-P300 with a 1.7-GHz Intel Core i5-3317U processor, 4GB of RAM, a 128GB Toshiba SSD and an Intel HD Graphics 4000 GPU. In tests, POrtege's 8-cell battery lasted 6 hours and 35 minutes. The system has a 13.3-inch widescreen display with a 1,366 by 768 resolution. It has two USB 2.0 ports on the back, a full-sized Ethernet port, full size HMDI port, VGA, SD car slot, and a USB 3.0 port on the side. The Portege Z935-P300 includes a mid-level Intel Core i5-3317U processor, four GB of system memory, a 128GB SSD, and Intel HD Graphics 4000.ASUS Zenbook UX51Vz (2013)The Zenbook UX51Vz's 4.6-pound, 15 x 10 x 0.2~0.8-inch frame is lighter and slimmer than the Samsung ATIV Book 6 (5.4 pounds, 14.75 x 9.8 x 0.9 inches). The Zenbook features a 15.6-inch 2880 x 1620 IPS display that is almost on a par, pixel-wise, with the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display (2880 x 1800). The laptop's 2.2-GHz Intel Core i7-3632QM CPU is powerful and duly supported by Nvidia GT650M GPU with 2GB of video memory. Outfitted with Nvidia's Optimus technology, the ASUS Zenbook UX51Vz switches automatically from its discrete GPU to integrated Intel HD 4000 Graphics to conserve battery life. Still, the Zenbook lasts for just 4 hours and 38 minutes.Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon TouchThe Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch ($1,648) is an executive's ultrabook. It's slim and is powerful enough to view and edit large spreadsheets. It's measures 0.74 by 13 by 9 inches (HWD) and weighs in at 3.25 pounds. That screen has a larger than usual 1,600-by-900 resolution, while most mid-tier ultrabooks come with a 1,366 by 768 resolution screen. The X1 Carbon Touch has an excellent backlit keyboard, with scalloped keys. The X1 Carbon Touch comes with an Intel Core i5-3472U processor, 4GB of memory, Intel HD Graphics 4000, and a 180GB SSD. The X1 Carbon Touch comes with a battery that lasts five and a half hour.Sony VAIO Pro 13Measuring about 325 x 215 x 17mm (WxDxH), and weighing 1.04kg, the Vaio Pro 13 will fit in most travel bags easily. The Pro 13 uses carbon fibre for lightness and strength. The Pro 13 has a very bright 1,920 x 1,080 resolution (Full 1080p HD) IPS display. The Vaio Pro 13 displayed very good performance levels due to its fourth-generation Intel Core i5-4200U processor and PCIe-based 128GB SSD. The Pro 13 has good, if not exceptional, battery life. It lasts 6 hours and 23 minutes. Samsung ATIV Book 9 PlusSamsung ATIV Book 9 Plus is a bit like a MacBook Air, but with Windows 8 and better specs. Its shell is all-aluminium and has a toughened glass screen panel, which gives it the same top-end, hard and cool feel as a Macbook Air. At 1.3kg it's light enough not to give you shoulder ache and is seriously slim. It has a 13.3 inches screen that uses a PLS panel with a jaw-dropping resolution of 3,200 x 1,800 pixels. This gives the laptop pixel density of 282dpi, which is much, much higher than the average laptop. The Samsung Ativ Book 9 Plus is available in a bunch of different spec line-ups, topping-out with a Haswell-generation Intel Core i7 chip, 512GB SSD storage and 8GB RAM. Samsung claims the laptop will last for 11 hours.Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11SLenovo's IdeaPad Yoga 11 S is an Ultrabook designed to appeal to users who want both conventional notebook and tablet form factors in one package. The laptop comes with a flexible hinge that allows you to flip the display back a full 360 degrees so that the screen rests against the bottom of the keyboard deck when you're using the device in tablet mode. The 11.6-inch IPS delivers 1366 by 768 resolution which impresses with its vivid colors, and dark scenes. The ultrabook comes with an Intel i7-3689Y 1.5GHZ processor; 8GB RAM; and 256GB Solid State Drive. The battery of Ideapad Yoga 11S is good but not outstanding. Sony VAIO Pro 11The Sony Vaio Pro 11 weighs less than 2 pounds and uses a fourth-gen Intel Core i5 to deliver long battery life and very good everyday performance. It has an excellent 11.6-inch 1080p touch screen and is competitively priced for its features. Measuring 11.2 inches wide by 7.8 inches deep by 0.68 inch high, it's a laptop that begs to be taken everywhere. The new 10-point touch LCD uses Sony's Triluminos Display for Mobile technology, which is similar to what you'll find in Sony's high-end LCD TVs. Its native resolution is 1,920x1,080 pixels and it does use IPS technology, giving it wide viewing angles on the sides, top, and bottom. It has fourth-generation Intel Core i5 low-power processor backed by 4GB of memory. It offers over 14 hours of battery life with the optional battery sheet.