Could Ultrathin Value Notebooks Threaten the Success of Ultrabooks?
If you use a Windows laptop, it is time to get excited. MacBook Air users have known the joy of having a really lightweight yet fully functional laptop for a few years now and thanks to the Ultrabook movement, PC users will be getting laptops in similar form factors. And these new models are stunning.
I have been using the Dell XPS Ultrabook for some time now and it is so sleek and well-designed that I sometimes forget it is a Windows PC. Dell and many others are using Intel’s Ultrabook spec to design some of the best laptops we have ever seen in the Windows space and the good news is that these designs represent the future of all clamshell-based laptops.
But these new Ultrabooks come at a steep price. Because of Intel’s Ultrabook spec, most of these new thin and light laptops will be priced anywhere from $699 to $1,199. The $699 versions will be pretty stripped down models and the top of the line models will be the most powerful in terms of processing power and battery life. But make no mistake; these are exciting new laptops that will really shake up the portable computing market.
What if you can’t afford an Ultrabook? Well, some of the PC vendors are planning something for you, too. While they may not have the specs of an Ultrabook behind it, their new laptops will be sleek and relatively thin compared with today’s clunkier laptops. These new models are loosely called “ultrathin value notebooks” and should be priced somewhere in the $349 to $599 range.